The Puroresu (Japanese Wrestling) thread

RollieFingers · 29-08-2020 3:58pm

Naito gets the belts back

Much better match between him and EVIL this time, Suzuki and Shingo was a cracker too. Hiromu losing is interesting with the rumored open-weight G1 coming up.

Neil3030 · 08-09-2020 11:09am

According to wiki the G1 is supposed to start on the 19th, have the blocks been announced yet?

RollieFingers · 08-09-2020 11:30am

Neil3030 wrote: »

According to wiki the G1 is supposed to start on the 19th, have the blocks been announced yet?

The participants are being announced on this Wednesday's show.

sky88 · 08-09-2020 2:59pm

what are the rules with outside talent being able to travel in still very restricted?

RollieFingers · 09-09-2020 1:16pm

Block A

Kota Ibushi
Kazuchika Okada
Tomohiro Ishii
Shingo Takagi
Yujiro Takahashi
Taichi
Minoru Suzuki
Will Ospreay
Jeff Cobb
Jay White

Block B

Hiroshi Tanahashi
Hirooki Goto
Toru Yano
Yoshi Hashi
SANADA
Tetsuya Naito
EVIL
Zack Sabre Jr.
Juice Robinson
KENTA

Love that announcement, two great blocks. Early stand outs are
Shingo/Okada, Shingo/Ospreay, Ibushi/Suzuki, KENTA/ZSJ and Naito/Tanahashi.

Neil3030 · 09-09-2020 4:43pm

RollieFingers wrote: »

Block A

Kota Ibushi
Kazuchika Okada
Tomohiro Ishii
Shingo Takagi
Yujiro Takahashi
Taichi
Minoru Suzuki
Will Ospreay
Jeff Cobb
Jay White

Block B

Hiroshi Tanahashi
Hirooki Goto
Toru Yano
Yoshi Hashi
SANADA
Tetsuya Naito
EVIL
Zack Sabre Jr.
Juice Robinson
KENTA

Love that announcement, two great blocks. Early stand outs are
Shingo/Okada, Shingo/Ospreay, Ibushi/Suzuki, KENTA/ZSJ and Naito/Tanahashi.

I love how every year one block always looks a lot stronger on first viewing, but then the more you look at the other, the stronger it looks.

RollieFingers · 09-09-2020 5:05pm

Neil3030 wrote: »

I love how every year one block always looks a lot stronger on first viewing, but then the more you look at the other, the stronger it looks.

Always the way man! Block A obviously jumps off the page as the standout this year, but like you said the more you look at B...

B has a lot of guys who either put on a worldie or a very mediocre performance depending on how motivated they are, I'm thinking Naito, SANADA, EVIL, KENTA, Goto. Hopefully they are motivated to outperform Block A!

Also two first time encounters in Ishii/Ospreay and Ibushi/Shingo stand out as potential crackers.

LineOfBeauty · 10-09-2020 9:43am

Delighted with those blocks. OK there's Yujiro, but the injection of the internationally based guys has strengthened and freshened up the lineups considerably and, as expected, I'm very excited for the G1.

In terms of winners I've no read on it at all so I'll go with Jay White.

beakerjoe · 10-09-2020 1:07pm

LineOfBeauty wrote: »

Delighted with those blocks. OK there's Yujiro, but the injection of the internationally based guys has strengthened and freshened up the lineups considerably and, as expected, I'm very excited for the G1.

In terms of winners I've no read on it at all so I'll go with Jay White.

Id love to see Shingo myself. Its very unpredictable which means at least it will be exciting.

RollieFingers · 10-09-2020 1:21pm

My heart says Shingo or Ishii, my head says Okada or the Switchblade!

RollieFingers · 11-09-2020 3:26pm

Ibushi vs Okada and Naito vs Tanahashi announced for the first two nights to hopefully kick both blocks off with a bang.

The White Wolf · 11-09-2020 8:49pm

RollieFingers wrote: »

Ibushi vs Okada and Naito vs Tanahashi announced for the first two nights to hopefully kick both blocks off with a bang.

Ibushi surely coming out of that round as the big headliner.

RollieFingers · 19-09-2020 11:18am

Cracking start to the G1, the condensed show of just the young lions match and then the G1 matches is an excellent format, easily digestible.

Ishii/Suzuki was excellent, can't beat a bit of ultra-violence on a Saturday morning! Was surprised Ibushi won but was another fantastic match, Shingo/White was good but they need to relax on the Red Shoes bumps, happens way too often. Was delighted Taichi won and good to have Ospreay back too, nice little return match with Yujiro.

raven136 · 19-09-2020 12:51pm

White is the perfect heel, plays it so well

Really excellent start to the G1

Neil3030 · 19-09-2020 1:32pm

Enjoy the G1 folks, not a hope I can keep up with it this year, so will be dipping in and out of NJPW world as I can find time; hopefully catch up by the Tokyo Dome in Jan

LineOfBeauty · 20-09-2020 8:56am

Loved it yesterday morning. It really felt like big time wrestling was back. Lowest I went on any match yesterday was 3.25. The show flew by, effort level all around super high too. Some interesting stories being told with Ospreay and Okada too. Nothing beats G1 season.

RollieFingers · 20-09-2020 12:24pm

Big time wrestling is back! Today's main event was brilliant, it was the Naito and Tanahashi of old going to war, Tana even bringing back the High Fly Flow to the outside.

Juice/YOSHI-HASHI turned out really good too, and a great reaction to ZSJ getting the win. Yet again another Red Shoes bump though!

Naito/ZSJ, Ishii/Ospreay and Suzuki/Taichi to look forward to during the week.

LineOfBeauty · 20-09-2020 4:06pm

I wanna do some takes on today's show later but I just want to say it was a great show and I've got Naito / Tana in my top 5 matches of the year.

LineOfBeauty · 22-09-2020 1:23pm

Just finished Night 1 of NOAH's N1. Very enjoyable I thought. Had no tournament matches below 3 stars and went 4 stars on the Nakajima/Kenou main event.

Kiyomiya/Mochizuki was solid, though my gripe was that after the extended leg work Kaito just didn't sell it nearly enough. I'm pretty laid back on limb selling but like if the entire match is built around leg work (and really great leg work on top of that from Mochizuki) then you've got to sell it. If anything, he should be hobbling to the ring for the next match!

With Shiozaki/Soya you saw a more experienced pro selling the limb (Shiozaki's arm in this case) without it limiting his offence, it added to the match and ultimately to the finish. Shiozaki starts the tournament strong and, if you have enjoyed at least 1 of his out of the ordinary GHC Title defences then he's got to be in your top 10 wrestlers of the year so far.

I'm a mark for stiff matches and Nakajima and Kenou walloping each other absolutely did it for me.

RollieFingers · 22-09-2020 3:30pm

Man Japan is killing it at the minute, I still need to catch up on the N1. I believe the first night is free to watch on DDT Universe?

Finished the 5 Star and caught Dangerous Gate over the weekend. The 5 Star was the usual STARDOM greatness, looks like they're strapping the rocket to Utami.

She is great but I still think DDM are the best thing in the promotion at the minute. Giulia is the total package, Syuri is an OG killer and there's huge potential in Maika and Himeka.

Dangerous Gate was really good too, Doi/Kzy, Ishida/Maria and the Twin Gate mathes were all fantastic. The cage match was the usual madness, was convinced EITA was getting the boot, delighted he hung on. Poor Big R!

Seems the Champion Carnival is getting slightly lost in the shuffle, haven't watched any and have barely heard about it online.

LineOfBeauty · 22-09-2020 5:23pm

RollieFingers wrote: »

Man Japan is killing it at the minute, I still need to catch up on the N1. I believe the first night is free to watch on DDT Universe?

Finished the 5 Star and caught Dangerous Gate over the weekend. The 5 Star was the usual STARDOM greatness, looks like they're strapping the rocket to Utami.

She is great but I still think DDM are the best thing in the promotion at the minute. Giulia is the total package, Syuri is an OG killer and there's huge potential in Maika and Himeka.

Dangerous Gate was really good too, Doi/Kzy, Ishida/Maria and the Twin Gate mathes were all fantastic. The cage match was the usual madness, was convinced EITA was getting the boot, delighted he hung on. Poor Big R!

Seems the Champion Carnival is getting slightly lost in the shuffle, haven't watched any and have barely heard about it online.

Tried to get through Night 1 of Champions Carnival, couldn't do it. Compared to G1 and N1 it seemed very plodding and basic, low effort all round. I will try again I'm sure.

LineOfBeauty · 23-09-2020 1:01pm

Right some hot off the press takes from the G1 Night 3 show that just finished.

Shingo 0-2 is a bit disappointing but it looks like he's pegged in that Ishii 5-4 or 4-5 role at the moment. Never thought he'd win it but I'd like to see him get a W against one of the big heavyweights in the block. All action match against Cobb. Cobb isn't always a lock for strong performances but 2 matches so far and both really good. ***1/2

Okada's match followed the story of the last match against Ibushi and of his summer. The man is all over the shop. Yujiro must have had like 70% of the match, Okada never attempted the Rainmaker. Outclassed by Ibushi and pushed to the edge by Yujiro, Okada will have his redemption as the tournament goes on. The action was OK, but I like the story so a bit of a generous ***

Taichi getting a clean as a sheet win over Suzuki is pretty cool and lined him up for a NEVER Title shot down the line. ***1/2

Loved Ospreay/Ishii. That finish was mental, the work was super crisp. I can see why maybe the complaint about the match was not enough selling in between spots but it didn't bother me here, the work was just too good and the Ospreay evolution into a heel was well underway here. I went big here with ****1/2

Not that many shenanigans in the White/Ibushi match. Really good work, White was always a lock to go deep in this tournament (he's my pick to win it) and I liked this a lot more than the numerous ref bumps we usually see. Given the Okada story atm, would love to see White beat him clean in the main event of the next A block show. ****

RollieFingers · 23-09-2020 9:31pm

For me Ibushi/White was a better match than last year's final, great stuff, Jay is one of the best heels around. I think it could be the J1 when all is said and done too.

Loved Suzuki/Taichi as well, Suzuki-gun are usually kept apart in tournaments so was very interesting to see. Taichi was fairly relentless and got a convincing win over the King, wouldn't surprise me if we are on the road to Taichi-gun.

LineOfBeauty · 25-09-2020 1:48pm

Jay White really stepping up here. Absense has made the heart grow fonder and with less shenanigans in his matches it's far easier to warm to him. He's got star presence, wrestles like a main event guy and carries himself as such. That Ibushi main event from Night 3 is a must see banger.

Night 4 was probably the weakest show yet. I'm seeing mixed reviews for the last 2 matches but I enjoyed Yoshi Hashi /EVIL. Certainly not to the same extent as White/Ibushi (it's nearly impossible not to compare the White matches to EVIL matches) but it got the crowd hooked, the work was good. Not sure about Yoshi pushing EVIL to the limit, but given that they played off the NJ Cup squash in the story of the match I can give that a pass. Went 4 stars flat.

The main divided opinion but I really enjoyed it. Zack makes you wrestle his match and it was only at the 25 minute mark (I think) when Zack has to up the pace to get the win that he loses control of the match which allows Naito to win. Nice little story, I don't think it's the best match these 2 have had against each other but again I went 4 stars on this too.

Sunday's Block A show has all the makings of an absolute banger!!

RollieFingers · 27-09-2020 12:38pm

That Ospreay/Shingo match was incredible, two of the best in the world without a doubt. Ospreay was heeling it up in the build up saying he would beat Shingo in the Dragon Gate stronghold of Kobe,and continued that with the overly cocky performance in the match, delighted Shingo caught him slipping.

Ibushi and Ishii beating the sh*t out of each other was brilliant too, of course. Probably the best night of the G1 so far for me.

sky88 · 29-09-2020 10:16am

Harold is out wonder could that mean more cooperation between aew

https://twitter.com/RossWBermanIV/status/1310838491476119552?s=20

LineOfBeauty · 29-09-2020 4:28pm

The last A Block show rocked and now I have Shingo/Ospreay as my current match of the tournament. Ishii/Ibushi is at 3rd (Tana/Naito dropping to 2nd) and Jay White is great. Maybe it's because he was gone for a while, maybe it's because the EVIL version of his act comes across really low rent in comparison, but my Jay White appreciation has never been higher. He's the best heel around.

Today's show was pretty good. Yano being the semi main meant all other matches had a few extra minutes that their slots wouldn't normally allow for. My favourite match of the night was ZSJ/Kenta which I genuinely think was a banger. They worked it nice and stiff, some cool reversal spots and that GTS was brutal! ****

Juice/Tana a bit disappointing, probably around ***1/4 and the finish wasn't the slickest.

Naito has the working boots on this tournament. His main event here against Goto was very good ***3/4 and afterwards him saying that he dispatched Goto easier than his previous 2 opponents was a cool touch. The champion right now is on fire, that's the story. But next up it's Sanada in his home prefecture and it could all change very quickly for Naito.

RollieFingers · 29-09-2020 8:43pm

Loved KENTA/ZSJ too, cracker. SANADA getting beat by YOSHI-HASHI is certainly something, was expecting more from Cold Skull. Looking forward to Ospreay/White and Ishii/Shingo tomorrow.

LineOfBeauty · 30-09-2020 9:54am

RollieFingers wrote: »

Loved KENTA/ZSJ too, cracker. SANADA getting beat by YOSHI-HASHI is certainly something, was expecting more from Cold Skull. Looking forward to Ospreay/White and Ishii/Shingo tomorrow.

Ospreay/White particularly has me excited. They've great chemistry together, they, along with Ibushi and Ishii, are probably the tournament stand outs so far.

RollieFingers · 30-09-2020 8:54pm

A Block is wide open now after Ospreay's victory, was hoping the Switchblade would win, really good match though. The main was good but for me something was missing to make it great. Impressive performances from Cobb and Taichi in particular against Okada today I thought.

raven136 · 10-10-2020 11:37am

The G1 is just great.
Love NJPW so much

RollieFingers · 10-10-2020 12:22pm

I think today's show was the best so far, Ibushi/Suzuki and Okada/Shingo were both brilliant. Four way tie at the top of A Block now with two matches to go!

raven136 · 10-10-2020 12:31pm

RollieFingers wrote: »

I think today's show was the best so far, Ibushi/Suzuki and Okada/Shingo were both brilliant. Four way tie at the top of A Block now with two matches to go!

Great show today and great booking

RollieFingers · 17-10-2020 12:12pm

Two good nights from the final round of block matches. Ibushi/Taichi is up there for match of the tournament for me, fantastic match with a really unique structure. Not much more can be said about how good Ibushi is but Taichi has had a really solid G1 too, and has the NEVER shot against Suzuki in the bag.

The Ospreay heel turn is fascinating, him turning on Okada is huge. Had a feeling he might finally get the win against him but never thought it would involve Bea and the Great-O-Khan! Khan looked great, wonder is this the beginning of a new unit? The match itself was a cracker too.

Ishii/White and KENTA/Naito were very good too, I enjoyed EVIL/SANADA but there was way too much interference throughout.

Overall I thought it was a really good, borderline great G1, but as said had a tad too much WWE-trope sh*te involved, mostly from BC, to make it really great. Thankfully Ibushi/SANADA will give the final the great wrestling match it deserves.

LineOfBeauty · 28-10-2020 12:37pm

Wrote a big long thing about the G1 final week, near the end my laptop decided to do an automatic restart so not doing that again!

A few takes though, Sanada was so mediocre throughout it's crazy. He has a strong crowd connection, his post match stuff looks great. He looks like a guy you'd build your company around. The problem is his in ring isn't capable of reaching the highs of other NJPW headliners and he just doesn't radiate star presence most of the time. NJPW believe in him, but I think they've got the wrong guy.

Jay White on the other hand is the right guy. He's great, he's never been better than he was in this tournament. He has all the things NJPW look for in a headliner, and he has the in ring and star presence to go with it. He's the best heel in wrestling right now without doubt, but when the switch happens he'll be a monster face for them.

Really excited to see where the Ospreay stuff goes. Another great tournament for a great pro wrestler, the company believe in him, he's gotten his own faction and a match with Okada at the Dome awaits. The Ospreay push has well and truly begun.

All in all really enjoyed the G1. With the limitations in terms of travel (at least 2, probably 3 of the guys in the tournament would not have been in had the full roster been available) and the clap crowds they did their best and it really was all you could ask of them. As good as other G1's in recent times? No, but the mere fact that we had a G1 and that it was not a million miles off the quality of previous G1's in 2020 that must be considered a success.

RollieFingers · 02-11-2020 3:52pm

The participants in the BOSJ have been announced - Ishimori, El Desperado, Douki, Kanemaru, Hiromu, Taguchi,
Robbie Eagles, BUSHI, SHO and Wato.

Predictable enough lineup, but only one block instead of the usual two which is good. Hiromu or SHO have to be favourites you'd think.

They also announced the return of the Super J cup, running as a one-night tournament with the American roster.

ELP, Clark Connors, Lio Rush, ACH, Blake Christian, TJP, Chris Bey and Rey Horus will take part, so there is representation from Impact, GCW and ROH but interestingly nobody from AEW.

Should be a cracking week of Puro ahead with Power Struggle and the Gate of Destiny. For NJPW Ibushi and White stands out, for DG EITA/KZY and in particular Ishida/Okuda have the potential to be late MOTY contenders.

LineOfBeauty · 02-11-2020 6:12pm

RollieFingers wrote: »

The participants in the BOSJ have been announced - Ishimori, El Desperado, Douki, Kanemaru, Hiromu, Taguchi,
Robbie Eagles, BUSHI, SHO and Wato.

Predictable enough lineup, but only one block instead of the usual two which is good. Hiromu or SHO have to be favourites you'd think.

They also announced the return of the Super J cup, running as a one-night tournament with the American roster.

ELP, Clark Connors, Lio Rush, ACH, Blake Christian, TJP, Chris Bey and Rey Horus will take part, so there is representation from Impact, GCW and ROH but interestingly nobody from AEW.

Should be a cracking week of Puro ahead with Power Struggle and the Gate of Destiny. For NJPW Ibushi and White stands out, for DG EITA/KZY and in particular Ishida/Okuda have the potential to be late MOTY contenders.

Super J Cup lineup is definitely more newsworthy. Can't wait for that show. It's a great weekend of wrestling when you throw Full Gear into the mix too!

LineOfBeauty · 03-11-2020 5:01pm

Really enjoyed Gate of Destiny earlier, Okuda/Ishida was great stuff and the main event was fantastic. No spoilers but the post match was crazy too.

RollieFingers if you've got any recommendations on what to watch that's currently available on the Dragon Gate Network please do fire them my way!

RollieFingers · 04-11-2020 9:07am

Really enjoyed it too, Ishida/Okuda was class, I think it's been the feud of the year and that match was brilliant, hard-hitting and loved that it didn't go overly long in match length. Already looking forward to the rematch at Kobe World.

Thought the main was almost great until the end, that finish was BS though. Aside from that was one of the more violent KZY matches and a much needed defence for EITA. Some ending alright, Shun looked incredible.

And talk about strapping a rocket to Kento Kobune. Two submission victories and now a part of R.E.D along with a championship less than a year into your pro career is a very good nights work.

The DG network can be a bit random in terms of uploads, I'm not sure what's on there in the library really. You can't go wrong with DG though, it's the best and most entertaining Japanese promotion around at the minute for me.

LineOfBeauty · 05-11-2020 12:46pm

RollieFingers wrote: »

Really enjoyed it too, Ishida/Okuda was class, I think it's been the feud of the year and that match was brilliant, hard-hitting and loved that it didn't go overly long in match length. Already looking forward to the rematch at Kobe World.

Thought the main was almost great until the end, that finish was BS though. Aside from that was one of the more violent KZY matches and a much needed defence for EITA. Some ending alright, Shun looked incredible.

And talk about strapping a rocket to Kento Kobune. Two submission victories and now a part of R.E.D along with a championship less than a year into your pro career is a very good nights work.

The DG network can be a bit random in terms of uploads, I'm not sure what's on there in the library really. You can't go wrong with DG though, it's the best and most entertaining Japanese promotion around at the minute for me.

Shun looked jacked up!! And ye talk about rocket strapping a guy in one night, Kento Kobune arrived!

As ever, thanks Rollie. Their back catalogue is quite good, I thought it would be far more limited than it is given what I've heard about their OTT service. I've begun to run through shows from yesteryear.

LineOfBeauty · 06-11-2020 2:01pm

Where'd you all land on DDT Ultimate Party? Really enjoyed the last 4 matches, all 3.75 or above. Went 4 on Akiyama/Take****a and 4.5 on the Endo/Sasaki main event. Main was story heavy, lots of interference but the work was really top notch, and I popped big for the Ishikawa singing spot at the end.

Also loved Dragon Gate's show from Korakuen yesterday. High effort. Putting the company firmly in a new direction.

RollieFingers · 07-11-2020 1:52pm

Haven't seen Ultimate Party yet, sounds good though! DG in Korakuen was really good yeh, so Kento is now going as SB Kento. Love that he's getting the push, he doesn't look out of place in R.E.D at all. Kobe World next week should be a cracker too, huge month for Dragon Gate and they have got off to great start.

I'm a fan of Jay winning the G1 briefcase today, something a bit different at least. Thought it was a good match as you always get with him and Ibushi, White's deadlift German looked class. Enjoyed Shingo/Suzuki and KENTA/Tanahashi too, EVIL/Naito was ok but I've seen more than enough of that pairing recently, they need to keep them apart for a while. Pretty decent Power Struggle overall from NJPW.

LineOfBeauty · 10-11-2020 10:56am

RollieFingers wrote: »

Haven't seen Ultimate Party yet, sounds good though! DG in Korakuen was really good yeh, so Kento is now going as SB Kento. Love that he's getting the push, he doesn't look out of place in R.E.D at all. Kobe World next week should be a cracker too, huge month for Dragon Gate and they have got off to great start.

I'm a fan of Jay winning the G1 briefcase today, something a bit different at least. Thought it was a good match as you always get with him and Ibushi, White's deadlift German looked class. Enjoyed Shingo/Suzuki and KENTA/Tanahashi too, EVIL/Naito was ok but I've seen more than enough of that pairing recently, they need to keep them apart for a while. Pretty decent Power Struggle overall from NJPW.

Ye loved Ibushi/White, White has never been better and the double shot Title defences at the Dome should do well.

The feedback to the main event is super mixed. I've ranged from middling to simply hating the Naito/EVIL series of matches. By far this was there best work together, where I think I deviate is in the final 3rd of the match where it got super interference heavy. I didn't hate it, infact I enjoyed it. I thought it added to the drama and as a blowoff to this particular feud it made sense with both guys emptying the holster. Do I want this in all (or any) of my NJPW main events? Not really, but for this particular match and feud it was fine. Now that EVIL is out of the way, hopefully we can get back to regular NJPW main events. That being said, I went big on this ****1/4

LineOfBeauty · 15-11-2020 11:14am

Well the big headline news, Shun Skywalker the new -(and youngest ever at 24) Open the Dream Gate Champion and the match with generational rival Ben K is on. Just great stuff.

LineOfBeauty · 16-11-2020 2:46pm

RollieFingers hit me with some Kobe World takes!

Shame about the Covid stuff messing up the Twin Gate match in particular, but I thought they rolled with it pretty well with the Yamato stuff, KZY and Yamato challenging at Sendai should be a banger hoping they win it. The post match ignoring of Kota Minoura seemed way to much on the nose not to come back up later.

Ishida/Okuda was fantastic, ****1/2 from me. Okuda as the Brave Gate champion is just so great and Ishida has it, 24 years old and he has all the superstar charisma in the world (on top of having a great entrance theme and, even with dreads, getting my vote for hottest wrestler 2020 if such a vote existed).

SB Kento has the rocket packet attached to him, there's no stopping him. The 3 way Triangle Gate match itself just ended up existing purely for the visuals of SBK tapping out UT and, more importantly, Masato Yoshino at Dragon Gate's biggest show of the year in the semi main event. At 20 years old, the kid is a lock to be a major player in the top of the card of Dragon Gate for another 20 years barring injury or him leaving the company.

In ring it wasn't as good as some recent Dragon Gate shows sure, and probably below other recent Kobe World events (though the clap crowd did not help) but there theme pre show and coming out of it is that we are now in a new era of Dragon Gate and this was cemented by the result of the main event. The Final Gate is confirmed headlined by Shun Skywalker vs Ben K, generational rivals, two guys under 30 and both of whom only debuted in 2016, what a vote of confidence from the company to both guys and really a show of belief in themselves that Dragon Gate back that their star making process has been a hit. I know every podcast under the sun has said it, but it's worth reiterating, as a recent full time convert myself, if you're going to get into Dragon Gate, this is the time to do it. Full English commentary on the big shows, a complete overhaul of the main event scene, a half dozen or so young guys being elevated at the same time (with more to come), this is the ideal time to start following it.

RollieFingers · 16-11-2020 6:25pm

I agree with pretty much everything you said man, I don't think it will be a contender for show of the year from an in-ring perspective, but it was still a cracking event and pretty much everything you'd want from Kobe World. In fairness to DG all the covid stuff didn't help in that regard, but thankfully didn't take too much away from the show.

I loved Ishida/Okuda, it's up there for feud of the year for me. Everything they do looks crisp and brutal, and I like that their matches never go too long, I think the empty arena match was the longest at around 15 minutes. The right result for me too, plenty of options for Okuda to defend against, and surely the next thing in Ishida's future is the Dream Gate.

It's a real shame that Jason Lee was one of those affected by the Covid precautions, him and Kota Minoura deserved to defend them on the biggest stage. Thought the match was decent if a bit all over the place in the beginning, result was never in doubt.

Big announcement about them running two nights next year for Kobe World next year, with the second night for Masato Yoshino's retirement. For me he is one of the greatest wrestlers ever and absolutely deserves to have fans in person at his send-off.

Which leads on nicely to the Triangle Gate, which of course was the SB-Kento show. Him tapping out U-T was another nice notch on his belt, but obviously submitting Yoshino is a completely different story, one of the biggest seals of approval you can get in DG really. He's a class act, it's almost unheard of for someone so young to be given such a prominent position in a big Japanese promotion.

I thought EITA/Shun was good but not great. The ending was a bit abrupt, I would have liked another five minutes or so. Shun looked great though, and I found the story on commentary about his Hayabusa connection really interesting. And the natural progression of his story into defending against Ben-K made him the correct winner in my eyes.

And I echo what you say about anyone looking to get into some more Puro that now is the time to check out DG. I love NJPW and I'm looking forward to catching the opening night show from the weekend but it's just not as exciting as DG at the moment, doesn't feel as fresh.

The DG network always works perfectly and the English comms when they appear are really good, Jae has an encyclopedic knowledge of the product that really helps people on our side of the world to know what's going on.

Also helps that they have the best young roster anywhere in wrestling - Ishida, Okuda, SB-Kento, Shun, Dia, Eita, Jason Lee, Ben-K, Tamei, Kikuta, Kota Minoura, U-T, Fujikawa all under thirty years of age! The future is bright.

LineOfBeauty · 16-11-2020 9:06pm

RollieFingers wrote: »

I agree with pretty much everything you said man, I don't think it will be a contender for show of the year from an in-ring perspective, but it was still a cracking event and pretty much everything you'd want from Kobe World. In fairness to DG all the covid stuff didn't help in that regard, but thankfully didn't take too much away from the show.

I loved Ishida/Okuda, it's up there for feud of the year for me. Everything they do looks crisp and brutal, and I like that their matches never go too long, I think the empty arena match was the longest at around 15 minutes. The right result for me too, plenty of options for Okuda to defend against, and surely the next thing in Ishida's future is the Dream Gate.

It's a real shame that Jason Lee was one of those affected by the Covid precautions, him and Kota Minoura deserved to defend them on the biggest stage. Thought the match was decent if a bit all over the place in the beginning, result was never in doubt.

Big announcement about them running two nights next year for Kobe World next year, with the second night for Masato Yoshino's retirement. For me he is one of the greatest wrestlers ever and absolutely deserves to have fans in person at his send-off.

Which leads on nicely to the Triangle Gate, which of course was the SB-Kento show. Him tapping out U-T was another nice notch on his belt, but obviously submitting Yoshino is a completely different story, one of the biggest seals of approval you can get in DG really. He's a class act, it's almost unheard of for someone so young to be given such a prominent position in a big Japanese promotion.

I thought EITA/Shun was good but not great. The ending was a bit abrupt, I would have liked another five minutes or so. Shun looked great though, and I found the story on commentary about his Hayabusa connection really interesting. And the natural progression of his story into defending against Ben-K made him the correct winner in my eyes.

And I echo what you say about anyone looking to get into some more Puro that now is the time to check out DG. I love NJPW and I'm looking forward to catching the opening night show from the weekend but it's just not as exciting as DG at the moment, doesn't feel as fresh.

The DG network always works perfectly and the English comms when they appear are really good, Jae has an encyclopedic knowledge of the product that really helps people on our side of the world to know what's going on.

Also helps that they have the best young roster anywhere in wrestling - Ishida, Okuda, SB-Kento, Shun, Dia, Eita, Jason Lee, Ben-K, Tamei, Kikuta, Kota Minoura, U-T, Fujikawa all under thirty years of age! The future is bright.

Agree with all that and ye the English commentary with Jae is sooo good! Really brings you up to speed with everything and Ho Ho Lun is charming!

Also the 2 NJPW shows from this tour have been OK, yesterday's main event definitely the standout match so far.

RollieFingers · 17-11-2020 9:23am

Have seen the first night, thought it was decent enough.

Hiromu and Ishimori obviously the match of the night, really good stuff although that piledriver on the apron made me wince.

Enjoyed Despy/Taguchi and Douki/Eagles too.

The WTL is kinda just there, it's good that the shows are split from now until the final night, much easier to get through. Not sure about Cobb in the Empire, I thought he would have been a better fit with Suzuki-Gun.

LineOfBeauty · 17-11-2020 10:07am

RollieFingers wrote: »

Have seen the first night, thought it was decent enough.

Hiromu and Ishimori obviously the match of the night, really good stuff although that piledriver on the apron made me wince.

Enjoyed Despy/Taguchi and Douki/Eagles too.

The WTL is kinda just there, it's good that the shows are split from now until the final night, much easier to get through. Not sure about Cobb in the Empire, I thought he would have been a better fit with Suzuki-Gun.

Aside from like snarling slightly more Cobb's act is like exactly the same. It's early days and hopefully he can find his groove. Also gonna say I prefer O'Khan's trunks look to the baggy pants, I thought they looked lower level indie.

LineOfBeauty · 19-11-2020 10:49pm

I'm saying it now, I'm enjoying World Tag League way more this year than Best of the Super Juniors. It's early days, but BOSJ lost so much without the overseas talent and then the Kanemaru injury.

The last 2 matches on today's show were both 4 star in my book.

The Puroresu (Japanese Wrestling) thread

Comments