#ibushi vs. okada

[softambrollins]

okada and the bucks vs kenny/hangman/ibushi is gonna hit like CRACK though

[danwhobrowses]

I'm sorry if you think All In Wembley's card is not 'Good Enough'

I honestly am, because you must really be finding ways to make sure you're disappointed in the event.

Let me remind you that the original All In had MJF vs Matt Cross (fka Son of Havoc in Lucha Underground), Flip Gordon vs Lethal, Okada (and not Rainmaker Okada, red dye and party balloons Okada) vs Marty Scurll, Hangman vs Janela (followed by grown men in dick outfits coming out so Joey Ryan could show up), Omega vs Penta, and CD vs Stephen Amell. All this on the main card while SCU vs the Briscoes were on the pre-show. If AEW did something like that today for a PPV it'd be ripped to shreds on paper, especially since some matches were announced with little to no build, but it was the best wrestling show of that year and is still a pivotal and momentous event in wrestling history.

So I'm sorry that you didn't get Omega/Ospreay III because New Japan likely want it for Wrestle Kingdom, I'm sorry early reports of Omega being in a trios match (against two men he brought into the limelight, including a faction he once led, and teaming with his closest friend/lover and his former tag partner who he was champion with) and Ospreay/Jericho turned out to be true, I'm sorry you're getting Punk, Joe, Adam Cole, the Elite, FTR, Kota Ibushi, Jay White, Eddie Kingston, the BCC, Hikaru Shida, Toni Storm, Sting, Chris Jericho, Will Ospreay and more on a single show - which has already had to deal with injuries to Bryan Danielson, PAC and Jamie Hayter - and you still think it's not enough, but that's a you problem.

Also stop with this 'no build' nonsense; multiple storylines have been built from segments over the past few months, Eddie vs Claudio started in March for christ's sake.

[eldesperadont]

now with Jay White having left njpw ….. im mourning all the interesting development for his character that they didnt do. It makes me so tired of njpws „longterm booking“ and how it doesnt really work with their big name gaijins cause nobody stays long enough like an Okada or Naito.

since he joined Bullet Club it’s basically been the same plotpoint on repeat with some characters around him getting changed and replaced, and everytime sth happened that had me hoping for bigger development it just .. was the same again.

And i know im not alone with having wanted more out of Jays character, just look at the fan reaction to his WK loss to Ibushi, how that match and the promo afterwards got people to genuinely care for this pathetic asshole, cause of Jamies amazing performance as a broken insecure fucked up dude. Wishing for a faceturn or literally anything that wasnt the same “oh actually im great and im gonna ignore my issues”-thing again.

Over the last 5 years ive seen so many interesting ideas and speculations fans had about what we were shown on screen, but barely any of it actually led anywhere. (the amount of times they could have done an interesting betrayal with interesting fallout is driving me insane, instead they dragged this storyline forward like a corpse till Jay left)

I know that they needed Jay in that role with BC cause it makes them money, but as someone who enjoys wrestling the most cause of the stories: they are not getting me to pay for their product when i constantly have to hold back my excitement over sth cause the chance of it actually leading somewhere satisfying has been so damn low in the last 2-3 years.

from the top of my head: the last njpw storybeats that stayed with me and had me go „god this is why i watch wrestling“ were

Ibushi vs Despe cause of how perfect it was with their history (and that was on accident!! If hiromu wouldnt have been injured we wouldn’t even have gotten that)

the ELP/Robbie single matches saga

pretty much all of Jays big matches, BUT *read the above paragraphs again*

Hiromu and Desperados first BOSJ Final match cause of everything leading up to it and everything in the match - after that they kinda hit the repeating storybeat problem too

double champ Naito.

But also way too many that led nowhere/had immersion breaking ridiculous outcomes (I’ll never be over how dirty they did Kenta with that stupid US title).

Theres small stuff inbetween that i enjoyed, and theres definitely stuff i missed that i might have loved if i would have seen it, which i didnt cause all my issues with their product led me to stop watching 🙃

anyways: i have a toxic love hate relationship with NJPW and all their characters that i like are my ocs now, i took the kids in the divorce

[schadentekkers]

hi jackie do u have fave tekkers matches i wanna add some to the lost of matches me n my friends watch together. feel free to go buck wild

oh gosh ok let me think!! so obvs i'd have to say the matches against naito and sanada at summer struggle and wrestle grand slam where they lost and then subsequently won the iwgp tag titles back. and thne i'll spew off a couple more below~

vs ibushi and tana at summer struggle and dominion. vs tom lawlor and royce isaacs from this year's g1 (21:00). vs okada and yano at hyper battle (1:58:40). and while it's not just zack and taichi, the match against lij at kizuna road (1:06:04) has one of my all time favorite moments at the end in which naito and sanada trick zack and taichi into signing a contract for a title match.

[straightedgesavior434]

So are we gonna do an Elite Civil War for Blood & Guts this year? Matt/Nick/Okada/JB vs Kenny/Hanger/Ibushi/secret fourth guy? Or does the Golden Lovers both being injured forever mean we’re just kinda… doing whatever

[asenkaengel]

ZACH SABRE JR??????

ORANGE CASSIDY VS SWERVE??????

POTENTIAL OKADA AND/OR IBUSHI????

[adampage]

Hi. I see you as a sort of Hangman expert, so might you have any recommendations of your favorite matches of his or just his best?

Hi! sorry this took a while to answer, yesterday was a super busy day for me so i havent really had the time to reply until now. Thank you for seeing me as a hangman expert; it's totally not the case as I really haven't seen too many matches from before he started in AEW, but I will give you some that I enjoyed for different reasons. Adam Page vs Zane Dawson - CWF Mid Atlantic Wrestling - Jan. 25, 2014: I like this match because the color commentator is literally all of us. He is a very loud country man objectifying and complimenting Adam with his whole chest. There is a point in the match where Adam does a beautiful indian deathlock and the commentator is just. Chef's kiss. I also just love to see baby Adam in all his glory.

Hangman Adam Page vs Kota Ibushi - Supercard of Honor - Apr. 7, 2018: this match really shows off how agile and fast he is and can be. the man stood toe to toe with kota fuckin ibushi. he's a badass.

Hangman Adam Page vs Kazuchika Okada - G1 Climax 28, Day 5 - Jul. 20, 2018: love this one because the story going into it is that Okada, who had lost his IWGP heavyweight championship, was kinda....gone off the deep end. rather than being the badass rainmaker, he dyed his hair red and was all spiky, didn't come out in his badass robe, was always smiling, and had balloons with him all the time. during the g1, i had my url as balloonmakerokada because i thought it was funny. im digressing - so hangman didn't want to wrestle this okada. he wanted to wrestle the badass, the man who held the title for so long people didn't know a world where he wasn't the champion. he wanted the REAL okada. so he spent the entirety of this match trying to bring him out. it's great. he curses, does the okada pose. love that for me. hot.

Hangman Adam Page vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - G1 Climax, Day 7 - Jul. 22. 2018: love this one too for story purposes. the ace promises everyone that he will take the poison out of hangman. he knows he has so much potential and the bullet club is just making him worse. he wants to save him. and they're also both comedy kings. i lvoe them together.

Hangman Adam Page vs PAC - Wrestlegate Pro - May 18, 2019: it seems he's had TWO great matches on may 18 because the takeshita match three years after this one on the same date is also fucking good.

Matches from AEW i've liked him in that i can remember:

Hangman vs Takeshita, May 18 2022

Adam Cole vs Hangman (Texas Deathmatch), Apr 15 2022

Adam Cole vs Hangman, AEW Revolution 2022

Hangman vs Bryan Danielson 1, 2, and 3 - Winter is Coming, New Year's Bash, and the post-All Out dynamite 09/07

Hangman and Kenny vs the Young Bucks, AEW Revolution 2020

Hangman vs Kenny, AEW Full Gear 2021

I'm sure there are more but my memory is really bad. i hope these are good ones for you to start with!

if anyone else would like to rec some, you are more than welcome to!!

also, nonnie, i'm certain my friends @cowboyshit and @adam-page also have some good insight into other matches of his that you might enjoy, as im certain they've actually uh. Watched ROH and possibly NJPW more than i have.

[mjfass]

What's your All In card prediction?

Waaaay too early for a prediction so this is just my dream card:

Britt Baker, Shida and Riho vs Ruby, Toni and mystery tag team partner (Davina Rose).

Bryan Danielson vs ZSJ.

Wardlow vs Goldberg (loser leaves AEW).

Lucha Bros vs The Acclaimed vs Young Bucks vs FTR for the AEW Tag Team Championships.

Kota Ibushi vs PAC vs Orange Cassidy International Championship.

Adam Cole and Hangman Page vs Jay White and Juice Robinson.

Jade Cargill vs Taya Valkyrie vs Kris Statlander for the TBS Championship.

Samoa Joe vs Eddie Kingston (ROH Television Championship).

Sting and Darby (Sting last match) vs Sammy and Jericho.

Moxley, Claudio, Yuta vs House of Black for the Trios Championships (Street Fight Match)

Jamie Hayter vs Mercedes Moné for the AEW World Women’s Championship.

Okada Vs Ospreay for the IWGP title.

MJF vs Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship. (CM PUNK RETURNS)

[knifepervert]

I finally subscribed to NJPW. Which Jay White match should I watch first? And which Jay White feud/rivalry should I follow first?

Ahhh yayy nonnie!! I’m so happy to hear this! Totally worth it ☺️ Hmm, so many choices lol. But a personal favorite that I always love is Jay vs Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 15! Really can’t go wrong with any match he has with Ibushi. But I would also recommend checking out any matches with him and Tomohiro Ishii (truly underrated!) and hands down any matches with him and Kazuchika Okada!! I could watch them forever 😩 Happy watching nonnie!! Feel free to reach out if you need more recs!

[wrestlingisfake]

Wrestle Kingdom 17 preview

Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada - White is the fifth IWGP world champion, making his third defense since winning the title from Okada on June 12. Okada won the G1 Climax tournament to earn this rematch.

Okada recruited White into his CHAOS faction in 2018, but within a few months White betrayed him and took over Bullet Club. Since then, White has been a thorn in Okada's side that he can't quite remove. For all his accolades and accomplishments, Okada is 1-4 against White in one-on-one matches, and White is the kind of pecker that will remind you at every opportunity.

I'm not counting on seeing the best match either of these guys can deliver. White's performances at Wrestle Kingdom in 2020 and 2021 were effective for getting heel heat but nearly put me to sleep with all the stalling and shenanigans. I though the June 12 match was better, but the bottom line is I've seen this match five times already and I don't feel like there's anything new to cover.

It's basic Booking 101 to have the top babyface beat the top heel to regain the world title to close the biggest show of the year. Of course, that simple logic has burned me before when it comes to Jay White--that 4-1 record against Okada says it all. It's almost unthinkable that a non-Japanese wrestler (especially a heel) could win in the main event at Wrestle Kingdom. But White's career is full of moments where I didn't think they'd go there but they did anyway. If nothing else, they've got me believing he doesn't have to lose, which is good enough. I always bet on Okada, but I wouldn't bet the farm this time.

Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega - This is Ospreay's fifth defense of the IWGP United States title. Omega is making his first appearance in New Japan since leaving the promotion in January 2019 to become an executive vice-president in AEW. Since then Ospreay has been staking his claim to being Omega's replacement as the top gaijin in the promotion. Needless to say, a lot has changed since their previous singles encounter, at a PWG show in 2015.

Both men started planting seeds for this back in the summer, with passive-aggressive comments and T-shirts and what-not. They finally squared off in October, in an AEW trios match; after Omega's team won, Ospreay's team laid them out in a vicious beatdown.

In theory the hype for this match is supposed to be two of this generation's best in-ring workers tearing it up on the big stage. In practice, all the buzz is just about Omega returning to New Japan, and the Kota Ibushi shirt he was wearing last week in AEW. I get where people want another chapter in the Golden Lovers saga, but Omega has been constantly throwing out teases for that for years, so no one hint can give us a timetable for when it'll go down.

In most promotions I think a returning megastar has to win his first match back, 99 times out of a hundred. In New Japan, I'm not as confident. They're comfortable telling stories where a guy loses his return match, to illustrate that he's not quite warmed up yet, or that he hasn't acclimated to facing the best in the world again. On the other hand, Ospreay's US title reign feels like it's run its course, and we're probably due for a new champion. Moving the belt to Omega would be a clear sign that he'll stick around for more NJPW dates, and I can see where the promotion wants to send that message loud and clear.

Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado vs. Master Wato - This is a four-way for Ishimori's IWGP junior heavyweight title, so the first man to score a fall on any opponent will be the champion. Ishimori won the title from Desperado on May 11, and successfully defended it against Hiromu on June 12. KUSHIDA returned for a title chase, but that got derailed due to illness. Master Wato subbed for Kushida and pinned Ishimori in a non-title match on October 10. You'd expect this to set up a one-on-one rematch for the belt, but no one actually cares about Wato, so Despy and Hiromu interjected themselves, making it a four-way.

I assume the long-term direction is to get Kushida back in the title picture, but I don't know if it matters which guy is champion when that happens. The safe bet in a four-way title match is to pick the defending champion or the heel to retain. Ishimori is both, so it's looking good for him.

Keiji Mutoh & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino vs. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA & BUSHI - Mutoh, who just turned 60, will be retiring on a NOAH show in February, so this is his final match in NJPW. Note that this is just his standard regular guy gimmick, as opposed to his Great Muta character, that made his final NJPW appearance a couple of months ago.

There isn't much of a story here for the other five guys in the match. Tanahashi, Naito, and Sanada ought to have something more important going on at Wrestle Kingdom, but they don't, so here they are. It's a great spot for Umino, however, as he's surrounded by bigger names and under a bigger spotlight for it. Bushi is lucky this match needed a sixth guy, or he'd be in the prelim battle royale.

Unless Mutoh is going to do the job on his way out, I would expect Tanahashi to pin Bushi to end this one.

Karl Anderson vs. Tama Tonga - Anderson won the NEVER openweight title from Tama on June 12, so this is the rematch, even though Anderson signed with WWE months ago. Anderson's WWE deal caused him to pull out of a title defense against Tonga's brother Hikuleo, which got rescheduled to December 14. Anderson beat Hikuleo and then got into it with Tonga, so here we are.

I have to think this is Anderson's last night in New Japan, and dropping the belt to Tama is merely a formality at this point. I sort of expected the same thing with the December 14 bout, but it makes sense for Anderson to want a Wrestle Kingdom payday if he can get it. So I'm picking Tonga to win, but if that doesn't happen I'll be real intrigued with whatever they have planned next.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ren Narita - This is a tournament final to determine the first NJPW World television champion. (The name is a little confusing; the winner will not be the world TV champion of NJPW, but rather the TV champion of NJPW's streaming service, which is named NJPW World.) Per the rules of the new title, this match has a 15 minute time limit; it's not clear what happens to the belt if there's a time limit draw.

Narita is fresh off returning from his US excursion, and he's already scored a huge win against Tomohiro Ishii in this tournament. Beating Sabre in the Tokyo Dome for a new championship would establish him as a fast-rising superstar. But it's more plausible that New Japan will try to get him over with a tough loss so he can valiantly overcome the heartbreak.

Another wrinkle here is that this is Sabre's first match since his faction, Suzuki-gun, peacefully disbanded a couple of weeks ago. It's not clear yet what's next for the former members, but winning this TV title would be a big statement about Sabre's future. Something tells me that's the direction we're heading in here, and Sabre will win.

Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI - FTR (Dax and Cash) are the defending IWGP heavyweight tag team champions. Bishamon won the World Tag League tournament, which put them in line for this title shot. FTR have been on top of the world for most of the past year, but they're currently in a 0-4 slump that cost them the ROH and AAA tag team titles. The IWGP belts are the only gold they have left.

A title change seems inevitable. I'm sure New Japan liked having their tag title in a major US promotion for a few months, and FTR are thrilled to work the Tokyo Dome, but it's high time the belts come home. If FTR retains there's no telling when they'll be available for another title defense, and Goto and Yoshi are the strongest challengers available (at least until Tanga Loa returns to resume his team with Tama Tonga). I'm picking Bishamon to win, and the FTR losing streak to continue.

KAIRI vs. Tam Nakano - Kairi became the first IWGP women's champion on November 20; this is her first title defense. Western fans will know her best as Kairi Sane in WWE, where she held the NXT women's title. Nakano spent most of 2022 as the Wonder of Stardom champion (basically STARDOM's #2 singles belt), until she was defeated for it on December 29.

I don't have much info on Nakano except that New Japan's website says she has a kawaii aesthetic and an "intense predilection for violence," and she's promised "a special kind of hell" for Kairi here. Looking forward to that!

Obviously this match has been overshadowed by reports that Sasha Banks has exited WWE and will be at this show. If she's going to appear, the logical place to do it is after this match to challenge the winner. So it's a tough spot for these ladies, as most of the attention on this match will be people waiting just to find out if Banks will even be there. My guess is that Kairi will retain, and Kairi vs. Banks will be a big match down the line. But ideally, the layout of the match will keep us focused on the present, not the future.

Francesco Akira & TJP vs. Lio Rush & YOH - This is the first match on the main card, scheduled for 5pm JST (3am EST). Lio and Yoh won the Super Jr. Tag League tournament, putting them next in line for Catch 2/2's IWGP junior tag team championship. Yoh has been in this high pressure situation before with his ex-partner SHO, but he's only been teaming with Rush for a couple of months. Catch 2/2, on the other hand, have been teaming since Akira joined NJPW in June.

I could see this one going either way, but I'm leaning a bit towards doing a title change. There's a lot of storyline potential in having Yoh emerge from the Roppongi 3K breakup with a successful new team, while Sho has little to show for his betrayal.

Tatsumi Fujinami & Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask vs. Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima & Togi Makabe - This is the Antonio Inoki memorial match, to honor the founder of New Japan, who passed away in October. It'll air before the main show at 4:20pm JST (2:20am EST).

Fujinami (68) was a teenager when he joined his trainer Inoki in leaving the JWA to start a new promotion. Suzuki (54) trained in New Japan's dojo in the 1980s, and wrestled Inoki as a young boy in 1989. Another key Inoki protege was Satoru Sayama (65), who became the original Tiger Mask in 1981; Yoshihiro Yamazaki (52), the fourth Tiger, appears here in his honor. Nagata (54), Kojima (52), and Makabe (50) were all around in the 1990s as Inoki's in-ring career drew to a close.

Aside from seeing the old-timers fight to commemorate Inoki, the most interesting thing going on here is long-time scoundrel Suzuki teaming with good guys like Fujinami and Tiger Mask. After the Suzuki-gun breakup, I'm curious if he'll settle into tag matches with the older guys in the undercard, or if he'll still be a giant dick and pick fights with everybody. I doubt we'll get a clear sense of that here, since the main idea will be to pay respects to Inoki. For similar reasons, I don't think it'll make much difference who wins the match.

New Japan Ranbo - This is a gauntlet battle royale billed as a "KOPW 2023 qualifier." Two men will start the match, and the remaining participants will enter one-by-one in timed intervals. Elimination can occur at any time via pinfall, submission, or exiting the ring over the top rope to the floor. The match ends once all but four participants have been eliminated; these finalists advance to a match on January 5 for the KOPW title belt.

No participants have been announced for the match, but I think we can assume any NJPW regular that isn't already booked could be in this. The biggest names to look for would be Shingo Takagi, EVIL, Tomohiro Ishii, Taichi, Jeff Cobb, Toru Yano, Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Kushida, Sho, and Kenta. Obviously there are many more wrestlers available, depending on whether they're in town that day, but you get the idea.

I assume someone halfway important will win the KOPW belt, but the other three finalists can be literally anyone, so this match is hard to predict. It's also hard to watch; New Japan's ranbos never seem as well planned or produced as WWE's Royal Rumble.

Ryohei Oiwa vs. Boltin Oleg - This is a three-minute exhibition match, scheduled for 3:20pm JST (1:20am EST), so I'm not even sure it will be broadcast on the live stream. Oiwa is currently a Young Lion who jobs in prelim matches during his training. Oleg is a standout amateur wrestler from Kazakhstan that New Japan made a big deal about recruiting a few months ago. So I guess this is meant as a showcase for Oleg, but the format makes it seem like they aren't sure he's ready for a full-fledged pro wrestling match. It's possible this will just go to the time limit, but I assume the point is for Oleg to win.

[heartsoulrocknroll]

NJPW Dominion 2021

Naito, Sanada, and Bushi vs. Taichi, ZSJ, and Douki -- I really enjoyed this, as I enjoy essentially anything involving Naito and Zack. Glad to see LIJ get the win here, and stoked for a potential LIJ vs. Dangerous Tekkers tag title match. Something fresh and exciting in this tag division at long last. Winner: Naito, Sanada, and Bushi

El Desperado (c) vs. Yoh for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship -- This was a good match. Good work on Yoh’s injured leg by Desperado. Thought the leg work would have lead to a submission finish, but this was fine. Yoh looked really good here. I would like to see him get a run with that title at some point, but Desperado having his first successful defense here is fine with me. Winner: El Desperado 

Kota Ibushi vs. Jeff Cobb -- Grudge match following Cobb's attack on Ibushi after Ibushi lost his title. After Cobb's talk about wanting murder-Ibushi, this match didn't feel especially heated or angry. I think I like that though. Cobb isn't on Ibushi's level, and Ibushi doesn't need to go to that place to beat him. The match was good and, thankfully, only went 15 minutes. What a relief. This is proof that a match doesn't need to be 30+ minutes long to be good and serviceable. Winner: Kota Ibushi 

Shingo Takagi vs. Kazuchika Okada for the vacant IWGP World Heavyweight Championship -- LET'S GOOOOOO. Shingo works on Okada’s midsection throughout the match, targeting his endurance. Shingo gets Okada up for an Argentine backbreaker, which is followed by a single-leg gutbuster and then a second double-leg gutbuster. Shingo pummels Okada with fists, chest chops, and headbutts in the corner! Okada responds with a viscous shotgun dropkick and a barrage of elbows to Shingo’s head!! BEAUTIFUL counter of a sliding lariat attempt by Shingo into the Money Clip by Okada!!! NASTY Made in Japan from Shingo to Okada on the floor!!!! Holy shit!!!!!!! Okada barely rolls back into the ring at 19!! Shingo counters Okada’s Rainmaker attempt into a Rainmaker of his own!! Okada lands two Rainmakers, then attempts a third, which is once again countered into a Rainmaker from Shingo!!!!! Huge pumping bomber by Shingo!! Okada kicks out!! Last of the Dragon attempt by Shingo is countered into a Rainmaker attempt by Okada, but Shingo counters and avoids it!!!! Dragon suplex by Shingo!!! Sliding forearm by Shingo!!!! Shingo finally hits Last of the Dragon!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1, 2, 3!!!!!!!!! Oh my god!!!!!!!!!!!! He actually did it, I am freaking out!!!!!! This match was absolutely great. These two work so well together. I loved their NJ Cup match, and I loved this. Winner: Shingo Takagi 

Shingo calls out Ibushi after the match. They face off in the ring and I am going insane!!! I cannot wait for this match!!!!!!!!

Shingo is IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and I will never get over it!!!!!!!!!

[romiswired]

Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW Dominion 6.9 In Osaka-Jo Hall - 2018)

La maldicion de las secuelas ataca de nuevo.

Oh wow, no pense que tenia que hablar de esta lucha y lo que pienso de ella como fanatica de Kenny Omega, pero se cumplen 6 años de que se hizo y la verdad es que ese es suficiente tiempo como para hacer una verdadera retrospectiva a lo que es la saga Omega-Okada en tiempos modernos, y como se ha vuelto inevitablemente una de las rivalidades mas importantes de la historia por los efectos mariposa que tuvo. Al mismo tiempo, decir que los efectos mariposa que estamos viendo actualmente son 100% responsabilidad de esta saga de luchas es mentir porque cualquier persona sabe donde comenzo todo realmente. A la hora de hablar de esta rivalidad, es muy complicado *elegir* que lucha es mejor que la otra, y por supuesto, este combate en Dominion 2018 es controversial como ningun otro.

Es muy dificil hablar de esta lucha o de cualquier Okada vs. Omega que paso despues de Wrestle Kingdom 11 porque estoy consciente de que mi opinion se encuentra en un lugar diferente al de la comunidad que ha decidido de manera empirica que esta lucha es la mejor de todos los tiempos, y ha hecho su ranking de las 4 luchas poniendo esta en lo mas alto como la Okada vs. Omega definitiva, la cual sera muy dificil de superar: pero para mi, esta lucha no es la mejor, porque ninguna secuela de una lucha de Kenny sera capaz de superar a la anterior que tuvo (con la excepcion del Omega vs. Ibushi II porque ese combate es sencillamente peak Kenny)

A este punto, creo que es una maldicion de las luchas de Omega. Omega vs. Ospreay I es mejor que Omega vs. Ospreay II. Omega vs. Naito I es mejor que Omega vs. Naito II. Omega vs. Jericho I es mejor que Omega vs. Jericho II. Y si me apuran, Omega vs. Hangman I es mejor que Omega vs. Hangman II. En esta saga de combates vemos lo que pasa cuando Kenny hace mas de una secuela para sus rivalidades, lo que desencadena en que cada lucha que le sigue a la primera entre en una especie de cadena de lucha peor que la otra.

El tema con esta saga en especifico es que la calidad de los combates es astronomica, por eso decir que una lucha es peor que la otra es mal visto. Porque se ha construido una idea de Okada vs. Omega como esta "saga perfecta" que automaticamente se piensa que todas las luchas son igual de buenas, cuando hay diferencias entre cada una. Al mismo tiempo, elegir entre las 4 luchas es una tarea que pocas personas pueden concretar porque como dije, esta rivalidad ya tiene la fama de ser perfecta. Pocas rivalidades logran hacer esto, y si tuviera que contar algunas con los dedos de la mano me sobran, pero el punto que quiero dar es que este combate es la peor lucha de las 4, porque las 4 han llegado a un nivel donde es muy dificil no considerarlas las mejores luchas que vas a ver en tu vida: y siento que para hablar de estas luchas se necesita una perspectiva mucho mas abierta que entiende que hay luchas en esta saga que son de menor nivel a la de Wrestle Kingdom 11, si no todas porque esta es una constante en la carrera de Omega.

No se si es la novedad en cuanto a las luchas de Kenny que las hacen ser increibles, o es el hecho de que en esta epoca New Japan estaba haciendo un shift de todos los programas que podian seguir explorando solamente para enfocarse en vender esta rivalidad y sumarle capitulos porque era un nuevo huevo dorado que tenian, por sobre historias como la de Tetsuya Naito que no termino en Wrestle Kingdom 12 porque esta lucha estaba en los planes, pero esta lucha fuera de ser una epica no logra equiparar el sentimiento de la primer Okada vs. Omega. Es realmente una pena porque si tuviera que elegir la lucha mas emocional (no emocionante) seria esta por lejos ya que el condimento melodramatico perteneciente a luchas de Omega en este combate se ve mas que nunca, con esta idea de que estamos presenciando el "final feliz" de la historia, y el hecho de que ahora si Omega le va a ganar a Okada porque encontro el amor verdadero y la razon del porque estaba luchando.

Es jodido decir que esta lucha es la peor, porque considero que es la lucha en donde esta idea del proposito de Kenny se entiende mucho mas y vemos a un Omega desesperado por ganar y poder compensar el daño que se hizo tanto a si mismo como a Ibushi durante todo este tiempo donde vivia pensando en el. Al mismo tiempo, esta lucha cae en una epoca de transicion para New Japan, donde el estilo mas metodico y enfocado en contar una historia en el ring se combino con uno bombastico donde pasa todo al mismo tiempo y se pierden muchas cosas entre un ritmo tanto acelerado como despreocupado. Si tuviera que dar un ejemplo de que lucha comenzo esta formula de "Main Event" que New Japan exploto hasta el hartazgo en pos de llamar la atencion de Occidente, tendria que ser este combate. Porque aun si en papel suena muy bien la idea de un "2 out of 3 falls" tener una lucha de 1 hora y 40 minutos es algo que puede ahuyentar gente muy facilmente. Reconozco tambien que este combate no golpea de la misma manera sin tener en cuenta toda la historia detras y sin haber conectado con ella a un nivel personal.

No voy a exagerar como otras personas y decir que esta lucha es la lucha mas "sobrevalorada" de todos los tiempos (si siquiera saben que significa esa palabra) pero si voy a decir, como persona que dedico 2 años de su vida a recopilar informacion de la carrera de Omega y a estudiarla de manera intensiva que esta lucha no se acerca al nivel de las que considero las mejores luchas de Kenny porque tambien siento que insiste mucho con esta idea de ser la mejor lucha de todos los tiempos. Como si tanto Omega y Okada te estuvieran diciendo con sus movimientos que tenes que decir que es la mejor lucha que viste en tu vida porque si no no se va a sentir realizada, cuando puede ser UNA de las mejores luchas que viste en tu vida tranquilamente y seguir siendo un final feliz como ningun otro. Porque lo que si le voy a dar a este combate es que el finishing stretch es una cosa impresionante porque pone a prueba las barreras de la lucha libre para contar una historia. Y aun si Don Callis me caiga muy mal, ese "HOOK THE LEG, HOOK THE LEG!" nunca va a salir de mi cabeza como un recuerdo de la mayor satisfaccion que senti como fanatica de este deporte.

De todos modos, no puedo no desearle un feliz aniversario a este combate aun si lo trate como el peor de los 4: porque este mas que ninguno logro cumplir lo mas importante. Cambiar el mundo.

[danwhobrowses]

My Highlights for AEW Wrestledream 2023

There was a dream, a dream of wrestling

And Antonio Inoki sought that dream when he founded NJPW

But now AEW has invited the dangling from its hinges Forbidden Door open again to celebrate Inoki on the anniversary of his death.

Let's see what was good about this show

Spoilers for the PPV

Zero Hour

"She's so sweet, but so dumb, god bless her" Richard of House Starks speaking of Lexy Nair, fiancée of one large William

Props for the Julia vignette, it aired on Collision and apparently someone on twitter helped film it so good for them

Stokely 'Urban Dictionary dot com' Hathaway

TK donning the Inoki scarf with Inoki's grandkids, Shibata and Rocky

Christian Cage Noooooo

Athena doing Billie's jump and Keith's Limitless pose, and then almost blindsided by Kojima XD

Meat chants always a win

Athena saved her minion!

Josh Barnett looks like a leaner Brock Lesnar don't he?

Moxley joining on commentary, showing he's well after the concussion too

I think that's an open invitation to Bloodsport for Claudio

Well, you can tell that Nick Wayne has trained with Darby, mans is bumping

Caster already going for the tentacle porn diss

Sounds like JR is open to scissoring

Main Card

MJF wearing as many belts as he has initials

Picking the right person to massage his shoulders

Alas no tag partner in the corner for Max

Dutch always has a great Bossman Slam

Some Guerrero tactics there, with some added pantomime by the audience

And he hits the bodyslam! The Seattle Stampede

MJF has put over a bodyslam, a double clothesline and a dropkick (Kangaroo Kick) which is proof that with enough charisma any move can be put over

Props to the dude in full Jeff Hardy cosplay

Shibata starting low like Inoki did vs Ali

Thesz drop early just like Inoki took it early vs him for his second ever NJPW match (first was vs Simon Gotch)

Uraken kicked out at 1!

Eddie again winning with the Powerbomb, he meant what he said to Kawada

Dang that crack as Statlander socked Julia

And Julia does have one hell of a moonsault

Brody having to carry his goth daughter back down the ramp

Reminder Julia Hart is 22 in November; younger than Hayes, Stratton, Dragunov, Dominik, Jade, Statlander, Anna, HOOK and more, she is a talent

Starting the 4 way with an International Title preview

and then OC tagging in??

Gunns doing the New Day 'both legal men' attempt

HOOK sold that superkick really well too

"It's always in their hometown huh?"

Nana gets his dance in

Serve remains that guy, so clean

Ooof, taking a trick out of Penta's book eh, Killshot?

Vicious discus lariat there from Hanger

The JML Driver is great too

Mox back on Commentary, he's one flirtation with Excalibur away from being Regal

Ricky's rope walk is just effortless

Ah poor Mox, he can't help but curse it's native to his vocabulary

Seahawks colours for Bryan

Moxley's passion for wrestling is shining through a lot in commentary, if he could control the cussing he could easily be an all timer play by play commentator

It also juxtaposes Nigel McGuinness' anti-Bryan vendetta

Bryan practically walked out of that Romero Special

Hitting the Itoh special with the rollover half crab

GOODNESS that Dragon Screw

I think his head was already fucking kicked in sheesh

That certainly was a technical masterclass, and it doesn't feel like we're done

I'm gonna say it too, give Bryan the IWGP World title. I mean it, he's beaten Okada and ZSJ, he could beat SANADA at like Sakura Genesis or New Year's Dash, have a little run with it, do the G1 and then drop it at Forbidden Door and then he's completed all his career goals

Mox's genuine surprise as he thought Demetrius Johnson was gonna wrestle Kenny Omega XD

I mean that Last Supper artwork is...definitely something

Geez starting with Omega/Ospreay?

People want Takeshita/Ibushi, that tells you how elevated Takeshita has been

Callis trying to contribute to increating the stretch

Ibushi now joining Suzuki in 'he does what he wants', joining the Sex Gods pose

'You still suck' chants because Sammy still pulled off a picture perfect Shooting Star Press

Jericho invoking Omega in the Not Even One kickout

Murder Ibushi activated!

That is the best Ibushi has looked in AEW so far, hopefully he gets 100% for Takeshita

Dang just let Dax and Davis slap each other for 10 minutes, Davis has wrestled WALTER I know he has it in him

I've seen enough, I don't just need 10 minutes I need a full tournament of big beefy men slapping man meat; Dax, Davis, Keith Lee, Shane Taylor, Wardlow, Luchasaurus, Butcher, Brody King, Joe, Hobbs, Miro, Brian Cage, Big Bill, etc. let them all fight, give us the whole Buffet

Darby and Christian have done so much work that'll go understated in restoring the TNT title, it's main eventing a PPV!

Also if anyone can will it into existence we need Christian to start calling himself the Turtle Neck Titan, you know because Turtlenecks but also TNT

Hoisted by his own petard, blinded by the turtle neck

I mean Nick Wayne's mom is hot you gotta shoot your shot

Well that is for sure a Darby Allin bump, right on the steps twice over

Frog Splash onto a stretcher!

And a Killswitch on the canvas boards!

Scorpion Death Drop and Coffin Drop on the boards only for two

Nick Wayne heel turn

You think you know him? Adam Copeland is All Elite! And he brought Metalingus with him

He was so excited he glided through the smoke!

Edge, Christian and Sting all in the same ring what year is it? what timeline is it? WHAT IS IT???

Conclusion

Well that was a lot of fun.

Compared to No Mercy it was perhaps marginally better for me, again this could be due to being more in the loop with the storylines but stuff like the trios match, the main event, Swerve vs Hangman, the ultimate tekkers match it just clicked. Not a bad match on the card too, though I was rooting for Aussie Open to win, but Bucks/FTR IV will still be great. Plus I still wanted to see Statlander body slam Brody.

I do hope Fénix is okay, he disappeared from the 4-Way and he's the International champion, don't want back to back injury-induced title changes after all. But it was good to see Moxley just out there enjoying himself on the side, probably won't ever get to do it again mind you given all the cussing but still, did elevate the matches.

We've got intriguing directions too; Swerve needs to get somewhere with that W over Hangman (world title? I mean I kinda like Jay White for it, International Title? Maybe too soon), Claudio and Bryan have extended rematch invitations and you know Ricky ain't done with the BCC (still though I wouldn't put him in the BCC, Garcia should have that spot), even the Zero Hour did some development with Billie and Athena's dynamic.

So yeah, probably not better than All In and All Out but still pretty damn good, Inoki would be proud.

Match of the Night: I mean it's the Ultimate Battle of Epic Tekkers right? Hard to really say any match was better than that wrestling-wise. The Main Event is a close second with the drama. Best Entrance: Julia Hart gets this one just ahead of Adam Copeland's worst kept secret, not many flashy entrances in this show, in fact I think OC/Hook and Jericho didn't even get entrances. Best Attire: Again, not many here, most of them were kinda subtle so I'm gonna give it to Swerve so I can give him props somewhere. Best Performance: Tie for Bryan and Zack, masters of their craft, not much else you can say. Spot of the Night: Because Christian dropping Darby on the steps was messy and scrappy, it's Bryan's Dragon Screw that just looked so vicious like I'm sure I saw his foot facing another direction.

[wrestlingwiththoughts]

Will Ospreay (c) vs. Shota Umino, NJPW Power Struggle 2023, November 4, 2023

Will Ospreay is the best wrestler in the world in 2023. One could make good faith arguments in favor for luchadores like Titan, Rocky Romero, or Atlantis Jr. One could make bad faith arguments in favor for Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins. One could lean on old favorites like Bryan Danielson, Kazuchika Okada, and Zack Sabre Jr. After the words have been spilled and breaths spent, I am justifiably confident that the conclusion will still be that Will Ospreay is the best wrestler in the world in 2023.

NJPW hopes that Shota Umino will be a part of the best wrestler in the world conversation at some point, and they are really hoping that he’ll be a leading participant really soon. Ospreay is leaving NJPW for AEW in 2024 to join a former vessel of NJPW’s hopes, Kota Ibushi. Okada is entering the master veteran stage, a little slower than he used to be but still able to find the fire within himself. EVIL and Sanada didn’t work out. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito can turn it on if they really, really have to, but they’re not able to carry the everyday burden of carrying the Lion’s Mark masthead. Umino, cast as the combination of Tanahashi, Naito, and Moxley, is the first among equals of NJPW’s Reiwa Three Musketeers alongside Ren Narita, and Yota Tsuji and the first option for the Reiwa generation.

NJPW had serious doubts that Umino could even be a part of the best wrestler in the world conversation when he last faced Will Ospreay in Revolution Pro’s Uprising 2021. Quarantined during his learning excursion in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 Umino seemed listless, unsure of himself, and unable to keep up with Ospreay. The match was highly regarded, but the praise was for Ospreay guiding Umino through it rather than Umino stepping up for deliver something memorable with one of the best wrestlers in the world.

Umino stepped up here to deliver something memorable with the best wrestler in the world in 2023. The story was that he showed resilience and courage to fight back despite a broken nose suffered at Ospreay’s hands. Umino showed an intensity that earned my sympathy. That intensity inspired me to root for him not because he was the adorable man-child adopted by Jon Moxley as his little Shooter but because he would not allow himself to be victimized by Ospreay’s greatness. When Moxley emerged to cheer Umino on, the attention wasn’t on Moxley, a bigger name, for coming to the ring. The attention was on Umino, as Moxley embodied the crowd’s hopes that he could summon that extra little bit to beat the best wrestler in the world.

And of course Ospreay beat Umino. He’s the best wrestler in the world, and Umino wasn’t ready for that upset win yet. Nevertheless, Umino proved that he was able to project the fire within that made Tanahashi, Okada, Naito, and other greats truly great.

Umino isn’t the best wrestler in the world, and he’s nowhere near that conversation. However, it’s not as ridiculous now to think that Umino might be in that conversation within the next five years.

[buttdawg]

G1 Climax Blues

The pattern I see with these G1 tournaments is that I enjoy the round robin blocks and then feel let down by the finals. I'll try to explain what I mean.

This year had a pretty good setup, with 32 wrestlers in four blocks. They managed to keep me guessing for most of the month, and even though SANADA and Okada dominated their respective blocks, there was still a spirited competition for runner-up. So I was looking forward to the playoff portion, since it could have some fresh faces threaten to upset the whole thing. Even if the Cinderella stories didn't pan out, they could keep it interesting.

But in the end, the only Cinderella story was Hikuleo, who lost in the quarterfinals. Arguably, Zack Sabre making it was kind of a milestone, but he's been an established NJPW guy for years, and he's the leader of his own stable now. Doesn't matter, because he still lost in the quarterfinals.

So the semifinals were Okada vs. EVIL and Naito vs. Will Ospreay. Then the finals turned out to be Okada vs. Naito, and Naito won. I can't exactly fault New Japan for booking their top babyfaces in the finals of their premier tournament. It just makes sense, but the problem is that it makes a little too much sense, because they've done it a lot.

I mean, look at the storylines both finalists were involved in. Okada wanted to win the G1 because he... already won it four times... but if he won this time he would have been the first person to ever win three in a row, and his fifth win would tie the record held by Masahiro Chono. On the other side, Naito really needed to win the G1 so he could secure his dream of winning the world title in the main event of WrestleKingdom... again, because he already did that in 2020. But that time didn't count because KENTA ambushed him in the middle of his post-show address to the Tokyo Dome. So he has to do it all over again and get it right! Tetsuya Naito cannot be happy until he does the LIJ roll call in the Tokyo Dome. Who can't relate to that?

NJPW has written itself into a corner where Okada or Naito is always involved in the biggest, most important tippy-top storylines, to the point where the biggest possible match you can do is Okada vs. Naito, except they've already done it several times. And it seems to work, I guess. The fans are invested, and they seem to make money this way, and both guys are healthy enough for it. But creatively, the whole thing stinks. This is why you have storylines like "Okada might as well threepeat, because who can stop him?" and "Naito must return to the Tokyo Dome because the last several times he went there the vibe was off."

This was the same nonsense I saw when Kota Ibushi was in the mix, and he won back-to-back G1's, and might have three-peated himself if it weren't for that shoulder injury in the finals. The thing is, what does it achieve to have Ibushi or Okada or Naito win multiple G1 tournaments? The first time, Ibushi sweet-talked the match-makers into letting him challenge for the IC title too. The second time he was on this weird crusade to "become God". Then he got the shoulder injury and left the company. Fans wanted him to jump to AEW for three years, but instead he spent all that time doing victory laps in New Japan. And now that he's gone, Okada and Naito are doing the victory laps Ibushi would have run, on top of the victory laps they were already doing.

What frustrates me about the promotion is that they have this murderer's row of great talent, but they keep pushing the same guys every year, long after they stopped needing it. Okada's won how many world titles? At some point you would think he would just stop participating in G1 tournaments, since he's won so many that there's really nothing left to prove. Or have an up-and-comer sneak past him to come after his spot. They've been teasing Will Ospreay for that role since 2021, but he's still cutting promos about how he's the future of the company. Dude, you were supposed to be the future four years ago. It's the present, and you're still trying to prove you can hang with Okada.

It's just as well, because I'm sick of Ospreay's act anyway, but New Japan is going to keep shoving him down my throat no matter what. He's the greatest wrestler of all time, even though he's never won a G1 tournament, and he can barely beat Okada, and so on. He's New Japan's Lex Luger.

What frustrates me is how little things have changed since I got into New Japan in 2019. I expected a lot of twists and turns and big shakeups, but by 2021 it became clear that the company's booking philosophy is "malaise forever". They'll be talking about "The New Three Musketeers" well into 2026. One of them will upset Okada to win the world title, and then have an uninspiring reign while Okada sweeps another G1 to win back his belt at the Tokyo Dome. Rinse and repeat.

So I guess I'll cancel my subscription again, since things change so slowly over there that I won't miss much. I might check in on them for G1 34 next year, assuming the lineup catches my interest. But I kind of want something big to happen, and it doesn't feel like it will.

[breadclubrising]

i hope ibushi is finally going to Return To The Sea after he heals bc there is just no recovery from this level of under-bus-throwing