Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

DVDVRMM: R1 Match 26: OKADA vs. OKABAYASHI


OKADA vs. OKABAYASHI  

61 members have voted

  1. 1. NEW JAPAN vs. BIG JAPAN SUPER NO VACANCY BATTL

    • The Rainmaker
    • Yuji Okabayashi


Recommended Posts

I'm not sure anyone had a better year volume wise. He had a stack of big matches and delivered everytime. He should cruise to the elite 8 where he's gonna have a tough time. Okada vs Bryan will cause me to dork out with the research.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone know where Barry Darsow was 9 months before Okabayashi was born?

 

EDIT:  Okabayashi has never to my knowledge had a dinosaur escort him to the ring.  Okada has.  Voted Rainmaker.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I appreciate that Okada at least tries to sell and does so very well in the short term considering where he is working.  Like just take the Shibata match up thread.  Okada is at least registering a far larger percentage of strikes than anyone else I've watched in New Japan.  Everyone else seems to want to fill up their combo meter by letting the other guy forearm them in the face 20 times with no defense.  Hell, Shibata kicked a damn ring post and didn't bother to sell it.  Okada is like the one guy watching John Cena matches and going "Hmm I could totally do that" while everyone else is getting their Fighting Spirit all over each other.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not a huge fan of either guy.  Okada does a lot of little things well, and has a lot of the elements I look for in a wrestler, but there are other things that absolutely don't click, and I hate the countering sequences that come out of the Rainmaker.  There are Okada matches I like well enough, some of which I like a lot (I really did like the 12/23 tag match a whole lot), but the majority of his most heavily praised matches I find to be either decent but overrated or boring and tedious.  He's certainly not anyone I seek out.  

 

Okabayashi doesn't really do a ton for me either, though I did think his 3/31 match with Sekimoto was surprisingly really good.  

 

There is a part of me that says "abstain" here, but I will vote for Okada based on the fact that I think he gets underrated on the business end of things, and he was in more matches I saw that I liked to some degree. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The rainmaker reversal sequences can look a bit sloppy depending on the person but the rainmaker's so well protected that they draw a visceral 'argh!' reaction out of me when someone's desperately trying to avoid it. I particularly like when it's tanahashi and he goes for the slingblade. I can totally see the criticism though...

Have you mentioned who from Japan you would have put in this year generally dylan? You dont seem high on much of what got in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you mentioned who from Japan you would have put in this year generally dylan? You dont seem high on much of what got in.

Nooooooooooo. Don't fall into his trap toooo!
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like Okada well enough, even if he doesn't have much of a personality that strikes a chord with me. Sometimes, he forgets to sell in order to do some cool move - and then goes back to selling, which is more distracting than if he just dropped it altogether. He also tends to cut a quick pace no matter what sometimes. However, I did enjoy Okada/Tanahashi from January more than most matches I've seen this calendar year, and those two have good chemistry despite their faults. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sometimes, he forgets to sell in order to do some cool move - and then goes back to selling, which is more distracting than if he just dropped it altogether.

 

I don't understand why people have a problem with this. He's basically saying "This is going to hurt you more than it hurts me."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The rainmaker reversal sequences can look a bit sloppy depending on the person but the rainmaker's so well protected that they draw a visceral 'argh!' reaction out of me when someone's desperately trying to avoid it. I particularly like when it's tanahashi and he goes for the slingblade. I can totally see the criticism though...

Have you mentioned who from Japan you would have put in this year generally dylan? You dont seem high on much of what got in.

 

There really weren't a ton of guys from Japan I thought had great years.

 

Jinsei Shinzaki was incredible the few times he made tape, as was Tajiri.  But they didn't make tape a ton, certainly not near the amount of times Okada did.  I was a big fan of Fujiwara and Nishimura from last year, but they sort of fall in the same category (though I think they actually had more matches make tape, they almost certainly had less ring time).  

 

If you are going to do an international March Madness Okada absolutely deserves to make the field, even if there are easily 64 guys in total I would rate ahead of him (not 64 in Japan in his case).  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Sometimes, he forgets to sell in order to do some cool move - and then goes back to selling, which is more distracting than if he just dropped it altogether.

 

I don't understand why people have a problem with this. He's basically saying "This is going to hurt you more than it hurts me."

 

 

Fair point. For me, it can work sometimes (RVD selling the damage to his ribs after a five-star frog splash), but it depends on the context. With Okada, usually he's all of a sudden doing a damaging move with a limb that was hanging uselessly by his side before he did the move, and it just takes me out of things. Like how are you going to throw a strike with any power if your arm is shot?

 

But I do get your point. It just doesn't work for me, even though I still enjoy him overall. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My issue with Okada's Rainmaker is I am used to big burly dudes like Stan Hansen and JBL using a lariat as a finisher. Okada is a bit too lanky for me to believe it as a finisher and the setup takes too long, even if certain guys like Machine Gun sell it like death.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Sometimes, he forgets to sell in order to do some cool move - and then goes back to selling, which is more distracting than if he just dropped it altogether.

 

I don't understand why people have a problem with this. He's basically saying "This is going to hurt you more than it hurts me."

 

 

Its one thing to drop an elbow when your arm hurts.  Its something else to throw a picture perfect leap 6 feet in the air dropkick when you couldn't run the ropes or stand a moment before.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...