RIPPA Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 SHINSUKE NAKAMURA vs. Doc Gallows http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x22x6y0_g1-climax-24-block-a-match-doc-gallows-vs-shinsuke-nakamura_sport vs. Bad Luck Fale http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1j81wh_new-japan-cup-2014-finals-bad-luck-fale-vs-shinsuke-nakamura_sport TIMOTHY THATCHER vs. Joe Graves vs. Biff Busick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 Absolute hideous luck for Thatcher with the draw. I ask that folks still watch the matches even if their minds are made up - especially the Busick one since he has yet to come up in the tournament Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Nakamura should win the whole thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Nakamura is so great! It's him or Wyatt. In particular, that April 2014 match Nakamura had with Tanahashi = aces, IMO. I like Thatcher a lot, though. He works a style that I really have to be in the mood for, but I'm into joint work and lots of struggle for holds and all that in general, and to see it as the focal point of a match is a great chance of pace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Another vote for Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura stands out, the entrance and particularly the mannerisms. Prescense. Nakamura currently has my 2015 Match of the Year with Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 9. The two Ibushi matches I like the most are against Shinsuke at the aforementioned Wrestle Kingdom 9 and at the G1 Climax in 2013 (best match of the whole tournament) probably as he beats the shit outta him. Bonus: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man Known as Dan Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Watch Thatcher no matter what, because he's great, but you have to vote Nakamura here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bustronaut Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Nakamura's WK9 entrance was the first time one of the over the top "royalty" entrances didn't feel overblown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cristobal Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Who the hell is Concrete and why does he hate wrestling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoBaltimore Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Poor, poor Thatcher. He's so goddamn good, but has no chance against Nakamura. If it gets to this point, I'm begging for him against Ambrose. Both for the tournament.and an actual match. Them trying to outcrazy each other would be money. Of course Shinsuke would win, but it'd be fun to see anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concrete Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 My top 2 workers are going to be ousted by the notables. Makes me weep at the pairing of WEAKLINGS! Thatcher was amazing in the time frame. You have his matches against Busick and Gulak. Then he has EVOLVE matches with Ricochet, Roderick Strong, and ZSJ with the latter being one of the best matches in 2014. DANG YOU NAKAMURA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I might put in a pity vote for Thatcher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DylanWaco Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Sad to see one of the two or three best workers in the World lose so badly to a guy who has a few tremendous matches every year in between doing nothing at all.* *I am a Nakamura fan, would vote for him over most people, but no way in hell I'd vote him over Thatcher even if he's going to get slaughtered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I guess this is part pity vote for Thatcher who is amazing and part a vote against the meme-ification of Nakamura. I swear half of twitter is people just retweeting pictures of him making funny faces. His popularity seemingly has very little to do with his wrestling, which has very defined peaks and valleys. Nakamura had awesome stuff this year, but I think a lot of people pretend that he doesn't have a good amount of mediocre stuff to go along with it. He can make the final four and deservedly so, but Thatcher has had a bunch of great stuff this year as well that was comparatively unheralded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 First time seeing these guys' work. Based my vote on who I would actively seek out matches to see them in. Nakamura just barely gets the nod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DylanWaco Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I guess this is part pity vote for Thatcher who is amazing and part a vote against the meme-ification of Nakamura. I swear half of twitter is people just retweeting pictures of him making funny faces. His popularity seemingly has very little to do with his wrestling, which has very defined peaks and valleys. Nakamura had awesome stuff this year, but I think a lot of people pretend that he doesn't have a good amount of mediocre stuff to go along with it. He can make the final four and deservedly so, but Thatcher has had a bunch of great stuff this year as well that was comparatively unheralded. Two things about this. 1. I voted Nakamura WOTY for the Observer last year. I thought in many ways he was the most important guy to his promotion in the World last year. I think it is worth recalling that he was asked to carry feuds and big time matches v. Bad Luck Fale and the Gracies, and while we can argue about the quality of the matches produced, I think generally he succeeded at doing what they were asking him to do against deadweight. IT's also worth noting that on an international level I think he's more over and has more star power than anyone else in that company by far (see the matches v. Steen and Sabre Jr. respectively). 2. Having said that - and I have made this point many times before - Nakamura is your .240 power hitter. He will step up to the plate every time with swagger and confidence, and will let you down with uninspired, thoughtless performances far more than he should. If he gets jammed up early he'll give up and turn into a lazy fuck. But when he makes contact, he's going to completely crush it and a deliver a MOTYC level match. I thought last year was one of his better years from start to finish - I'd say he may have hit .280 last year for analogy purposes, which is a good clip for a power hitter - but he still had matches that left you shaking your head thinking "how the fuck is this the same guy from the G1 Final and/or the Invasion Attack match with overrated fraud Tanahashi?" This year he made everyone lose their shit at WK9 and became a favorite with nominal NJPW fans - but it's notable that he's done fuck all since then in the way of delivering. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVA Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I voted Nakamura because he's my dude, and I'm admittedly not overly familiar with the Gulak/Busick/Thatcher scene. But of all the tape I've seen of those guys, I think Thatcher is clearly the best and definitely has the most upside as far as being able to take that retro grappling style to the next level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Thatcher's great but I really love it when he works loudmouth dick heel and still works in some of the other stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cole Miner Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Love Thatcher. Wish him and Hechicero were facing off so at least one of them would move on to the next round. I'd likely vote Sheamus over them if he were in but that is pretty much it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Of all the guys that I'm discovering for the first time, I like Thatcher the best, but Nakamura was my favorite guy in my favorite company during the voting period. Thatcher is the anti-Sabre, everything he does looks painful and works logically in a competitive sense. That wristlock sequence he had against Biff Busick was probably the most compelling wristlock sequence I've ever seen. I'm ready to see a lot more of Thatcher, but Nakamura gets the vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DylanWaco Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Thatcher suffers because his best stuff is not available for free. He wouldn't have beaten Nak anyway, but still Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadEffect Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I voted for Thatcher, partially as a pity vote, but also due to his work being fantastic over the last year.Shinsuke is awesome and will probably go quite far in the tournament, but I can't help but think he's a bit hit and miss at times. He's awesome on the big shows sure, but i've seen some other matches where it looks like he's doing the bare minimum to get by too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I voted for Thatcher, partially as a pity vote, but also due to his work being fantastic over the last year. Shinsuke is awesome and will probably go quite far in the tournament, but I can't help but think he's a bit hit and miss at times. He's awesome on the big shows sure, but i've seen some other matches where it looks like he's doing the bare minimum to get by too. Nakamura has the privilege of being judged almost exclusively on his biggest matches. New Japan is a company you can keep up with by watching 6 shows and the G-1 every year and that is not much wrestling at all when you think about it. I'd be willing to bet that most of us who consider ourselves New Japan fans don't watch 20 Nakamura matches a year. Compare that to someone like John Cena who we see 50+ times a year and you can see that the grass in New Japan grows a little greener. Nakamura is someone we don't ever have to watch have nothing TV matches where he might be tempted to mail it in. It is going to be interesting how this plays out next year when NJPW World is more established. The New Japan guys could either be ranked a lot higher by the board or much worse because we are seeing them work those multi-man tags no one usually pays much attention to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Of all the guys that I'm discovering for the first time, I like Thatcher the best, but Nakamura was my favorite guy in my favorite company during the voting period. Thatcher is the anti-Sabre, everything he does looks painful and works logically in a competitive sense. That wristlock sequence he had against Biff Busick was probably the most compelling wristlock sequence I've ever seen. I'm ready to see a lot more of Thatcher, but Nakamura gets the vote. So far my absolute favorite thing about March Madness 15 has been you comparing basically everyone favorably to Sabre Jr. I'm not being sarcastic, I sort of love it. It's like 'Wins above Zach Sabre Jr' or something. A totally new definition for sabremetrics. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I'll like a bad pun anyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Nakamura has the privilege of being judged almost exclusively on his biggest matches. New Japan is a company you can keep up with by watching 6 shows and the G-1 every year and that is not much wrestling at all when you think about it. I'd be willing to bet that most of us who consider ourselves New Japan fans don't watch 20 Nakamura matches a year. Compare that to someone like John Cena who we see 50+ times a year and you can see that the grass in New Japan grows a little greener. Nakamura is someone we don't ever have to watch have nothing TV matches where he might be tempted to mail it in. It is going to be interesting how this plays out next year when NJPW World is more established. The New Japan guys could either be ranked a lot higher by the board or much worse because we are seeing them work those multi-man tags no one usually pays much attention to. Since getting NJPW World, I've been watching the smaller shows and they've been mostly garbage. I generally skip the first half of the shows because the NJPW undercard is as offensive to me as WWE booking. Still, the multiman tags with the big boys, Nakamura included, have been really disappointing. While I think Dylan is trolling by throwing around the term "fetishists" to describe people who primarily watch New Japan and/or WWE instead of lucha libre (and if there aren't lucha "fetishists", then I don't even know), he has a point that Nakamura is inconsistent and can mail it in frequently. This then asks what do you value in your wrestlers (at least when Nakamura faces off with a fellow board favourite): the ability to deliver classic matches when the most eyeballs are directed at you, or the ability to consistently put in solid performances even when it's just a throw away show with nothing but a hardcam? I feel like this is also answered in the Suzuki/Sekimoto poll, too. I highly value Nakamura's ability to pull good and sometimes even great matches out of opponents who range from the hapless (Fale) to the offensive (Ibushi). He's a miracle worker when he decides to bring it. Saying all that, I need to watch some Thatcher. I've been watching Hechicero and Jimmy Havoc matches tonight, though, so I don't think I'll be able to watch his matches before the poll closes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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