RIPPA Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 KOTA IBUSHI vs. Ricochet http://youtu.be/ynzr568q0k0 vs. HARASHIMA http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2haeiz_harashima-c-vs-kota-ibushi-ddt_sport Also see the match posted in KUSHIDA's poll Kota Ibushi WOTD CHRIS MASTERS vs. Tony Vargas vs. Timothy Thatcher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Voted Ibushi, but I really enjoyed that Masters/Thatcher match. Will be voting for Thatcher (and Busick for that matter) as long as I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoBaltimore Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Ibushi gets my vote for the Nakamura match alone. But he's been pretty fun to watch. It's great Masters has been improving since WWE let him go, but it's not enough to warrant a vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Chris Masters is the one guy in this tournament I am just going to be a mark vote for. It probably won't matter after this round anyway. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DylanWaco Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I have never been an Ibushi fan and I love Masters. But Masters is probably the least deserving guy in this tournament, and Ibushi - in terms of output at least - was probably the best worker in the World for the first 2 months of 2015. Yes he was the worst guy in both the Harashima and Nakamura singles matches, but those could be my 1 and 2 MOTYs at this point. He was also in arguably the best six-man so far this year (I don't rate it that high, but I've seen people do so), and some other underrated stuff along the way. Last year the Ishii match was better than anything Masters has done in years. And even though I thought it was overrated, the match v. Ricochet was probably the best Ricochet match I saw all year. If this was Ibushi v. Shaun Tempers, I'd vote for Tempers, but Masters didn't have anything close to a Tempers level year 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 If this match up had happened any time in the past 5 years aside from this 12 month voting period, I would've voted for Masters. Ibushi is a guy that has historically been annoying, but has actually had good matches this year. Masters is a guy that is always pretty great, but doesn't have the output that I think we have all grown accustomed to. Begrudging vote for Ibushi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Not flattered this year. Flattened, but not flattered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky Blue Sam Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Curiously, Masters has become a bit of an ever present in the UK in the last 12 months. Had good-great matches at PCW's Road To Glory last year, beating Cyanide, Chris Hero, Joey Hayes and Dave Mastiff en route to winning the tournament, plus a fun match with Jeckel at PWC and a really good match with Joseph Connors in SWE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 Yeah - I searched for the Mastiff one to post but I couldn't find it online The Hero match is online - I think Matt posted it when making the case for Masters in the nomination thread. I was kinda indifferent on that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazlo Woodbine Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I'd have voted for HARASHIMA over Masters, but not Ibushi. That's not to say I wouldn't vote for him above a bunch of guys in this. Choosing is hard, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DylanWaco Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Harashima should win the NIT 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamp, broken circa 1988 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Kota is something like a mortal enemy of mine, so I can't bring myself to vote for him even if I have to admit he had good-to-great matches in the voting period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Kota is something like a mortal enemy of mine, so I can't bring myself to vote for him even if I have to admit he had good-to-great matches in the voting period. I feel the same way as you and many others in this thread: don't like (sometimes hate) Ibushi's style but he's had so many good matches despite that. He's also gotten a little bit better in harnessing his goofy shit. Will check out the Masters matches but they'd have to be mighty special for me to vote for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I've never really understood the Masters love, and after watching the Timothy Thatcher match I still don't. He wrestles like a midcarder from the 80s, and while I love a lot of that stuff it doesn't really fit my tastes for modern wrestling. Ibushi is in my match of the year so far, and that is really all the justification I need to vote for him over Masters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Between the Nakamura Dome match and the Okada match from last March, this is an easy win for Ibushi. I'm favorably inclined toward Masters overall, but I feel like he's become a so-underrated-he's-overrated guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stay Gold Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I like Masters but I voted for Ibushi. His matches against Nak, Ricochet, Okada, Ishii, and Honma were all really good - great. He's an amazing high flyer, but I like how he changes it up whenever he's fighting a heavyweight. I don't think he performed a single dive in his WK match. The match against Kushida is the most uncomfortable I've felt watching wrestling last year, and it's too bad he had to miss the G1 because of it (but a blessing in disguise for Honma, obviously) I remember liking Masters' matches against Hero and Thatcher but neither bout blew me away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DylanWaco Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I forgot about that awful match with Okada from last year. I still think Ibushi deserves to win, but man was that a piece of shit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Kota Ibushi hung out with me and my friends at Hockeytown, is an awesome human being, and I seriously believe he slept with my co-worker, Karla. I cannot vote against this man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 Kota - 71 Masters - 19 Kota Ibushi advances Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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