Before I start I think it’d be better to write a quick paragraph about my experiences watching New Japan Pro Wrestling prior so that you can see where I was up to in my interest prior to watching. First, it’s probably best to note that my favourite New Japan wrestlers include Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Minoru Suzuki, Kazuchika Okada, The Young Bucks and Tomohoro Ishii. Also, I’ve been watching New Japan since Wrestle Kingdom 8 but not religiously so I’ve missed a few shows here and there. The version I watched of WK9 was the english commentary version with Jim Ross and Matt Striker so I'll give a little review of what I thought about their commentary at the end. This isn’t going to be me just hyping New Japan for the full blog although the show was really good. I’ll also give a rating of each match based on how much I enjoyed it so I’m not going to try and be Dave Meltzer or whatever and count how many variations of moves there was. Also, SPOILER ALERT.
Because of the version I watched I missed out on the starting Battle Royal/ Rumble thing that they did although Yuji Nagata won which is cool because the guy is still really over in Japan and entertaining. So, my point here is that my viewing of the show started with the tag match.
The Young Bucks v TimeSplitters v Forever Hooligans v ReDragon (c) for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight tag titles. (****)
This match was everything you’d expect from a 4-way tag match with a fast and fun match with ReDragon picking up the win to retain the titles. It started off the show well and it contained a few good spots with dives just as you’d expect. I’ve seen a few of TimeSplitters matches but it always surprises me how good Kushida and Alex Shelley work together considering Shelley is American and Kushida is Japanese, although saying that Shelley has been over in New Japan for so long now that he might as well BE Japanese himself and they’ve teamed for a long time so it makes sense really. ANYWAY, I’m a big fan of the Young Bucks and as per they put on a hell of a show for the crowd. It is a shame though that we didn’t get to see More Bang for Your Buck, I assumed we would just with opening the product up to wider audience, like most people, the first time I saw that move I popped big time even if it was for a near fall. Back to the main topic, the only criticism I can have of the match is that it felt too short at 13:31, this could have easily been a 20 minute match in my opinion. Anyway, overall I’ll give the match a 4 out of 5. Near to perfect opener.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma v Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Jeff Jarrett & Yujiro Takahashi). (**1/2)
This match was just a 5 minute throwaway match which was entertaining enough. The audience got to see the Kojima lightning chops which is always cool and always gets a pop from the crowd. We didn’t really get to see much in this 5 minute match so it was basically just filler, unfortunately, the teams came out together so I didn’t even get to hear the Bad Luck Fale theme music where the really deep voice goes “The Underboss” because for some reason that makes me pop. ANYWAY, back to the original point, this was a throwaway match which didn’t really need to be on the card. I’ll tell you what did annoy me though is the fact that Jeff Jarrett was involved in this and Tama Tonga wasn’t. I know he was involved in setting it up through GFW but Jeff Jarrett has been doing the same shit since 1996 and I’m sorry Jeff but you were never THAT over to begin with to still be doing it and to be put in matches on New Japan’s biggest show of the year. To me, Tama should have been in here instead because he’s been in Bullet Club for longer and to me he’s just more entertaining. It had the usual double J guitar spot but apart from that nothing much happened. 2 and a half out of 5.
Mikey Nicholls, Naomichi Marufuji, Shane Haste and Toru Yano v SuzukiGun (Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, Shelton X Benjamin and Takashi Iizuka). (***)
This match again was a 5 minute throwaway but it was better than the last match so I’ve gave it a 3 out of 5 for what it was. In this match you got to see Marifuji do some of his cooler moves although unfortunately he didn’t pull out the diving dropkick over the top rope because that makes me pop. Also, there was a vicious looking chokeslam by Lance Archer. It was cool to see the NOAH guys perform and it was good that they didn’t have Yano and Iizuka control the match because I’m not a fan of either guys. This should have probably been given more time to get more of the NOAH guys spots in I think but for what it was it was okay.
Minoru Suzuki v Kazushi Sakuraba - UWFI rules match. (***)
First of all this match was pretty good but I tend not to be much of a fan of seeing Sakuraba wrestle because it always feels like a worked MMA match which this match was meant to be so I suppose it did the job. Suzuki dressed in all white was cool to see and the match was pretty brutal in its slaps. It ended with Suzuki’s sleeper hold transitioned from a Saka Otoshi which is always cool to see because it looks like it would genuinely fuck someone up. Sakuraba working the left arm of Suzuki was good too and gave a bit of a story into the match. With these sort of matches I personally prefer that it ends in a KO because I think it looks better but a submission in New Japan, psychology wise, is probably equally as impressive. Anyway, it was decent and it didn’t last too long so 3 out of 5.
This is where the show really starts to pick up.
Togi Makabe v Tomohoro Ishii (c) for the NEVER Openweight championship. (****1/2)
This match was probably the most physical of the night. From the outset all the match was, was lariat after lariat after elbow after slap after forearm after lariat and that was NOT a criticism. These two guys are the most physical guys in the company and from what I gather this belt is based around that ‘strong style’ kind of wrestling. Ishii and Makabe go back and forth for 12 minutes with no rest-bite. Great match and what Japanese wrestling is really about. There’s not really much else to say about this match a part from that it is definitely worth seeing just to see these guys smash each other in the face for 12 minutes. Brilliant. 4 1/2 out of 5.
Kenny Omega v Ryusuke Taguchi (****)
I’d like to preface this bit of the review to say that before this match I wasn’t very much a fan of Kenny Omega because I’d only seen some of his indie matches from a couple of years ago before he went to DDT but this match totally changed my opinion of him. Again, from the outset this match kicked off and both guys went all out. I’m not a huge fan of Ryusuke because I can’t stand any wrestler who uses the butt bump as a serious move (shots fired at Mojo Rawley, Naomi…it’s okay) but Ryusuke is decent, he’s not as bad as Mojo. Omega went from comedy gimmick wrestler to legit badass all in one match for me but trying to hear Striker sell the chainsaw arm gimmick he does was pretty funny. All in all 4 out of 5, entertaining but wasn’t as good as Ishii and Makebe, better than the rest of the show up to this point though.
Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata v Bullet Club (Doc Gallows and Machine Gun Karl Anderson) (c)(***)
Again, I think this match suffered because it was too short. 9 minutes for these 4 guys wasn’t enough especially because of how good all of them are. It sort of felt like the match was rushed and wasn’t timed out properly and we unfortunately didn’t get to see any of Shibata’s more vicious strikes that I pop for e.g the spinning backhand and we didn’t get to see Goto’s Shouten Kai. I’ve only gave this a 3 out of 5 because it was too short, if it was a 15 minute match I feel like this could have easily been a 4 out of 5 but that’s got to do with PPV restrictions. Decent match all in all and seeing Shibata and Goto pick up the win for me was good to see. i’ve been a fan of both individually ever since I got into New Japan (in fact, the first match I saw of them they were facing each other and that was a good match so check that one out on Wrestle Kingdom 8).
AJ Styles v Tetsuya Naito (****1/2 out of 5)
This match was exactly what you’d expect from these two guys, good fast paced action from the get-go. The match was given the right amount of time for these guys to not have to rush anything and AJ has been on fire since joining NJPW so you knew this was going to be good. Naito again is a light heavyweight that’s wrestling as a heavyweight so every time I see him wrestle I think it’s interesting. I didn’t think this was as good as the Ishii and Makebe match but it was still great fun. The match finished with a Styles Clash from the top rope and I specifically liked how JR and Striker pointed out how controversial and dangerous the move has become prior to the match (If you want to see my thoughts on it, go here: http://talkwrestlingtalk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/aj-styles-styles-clash.html). This match was good and it fit where it was on the card really well.
Shinsuke Nakamura (c) v Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. (*****) Match of the Night award winner.
This match was terrific. Everything from the commentary to the spots to the physicality was on point for me. Although I might be slightly biased because Shinsuke is my personal favourite, the way these two worked out the match to go back and forth and even the near-falls had me tense. They managed to redo the spot that they did at the last Korakuen Hall show where Shinsuke goes for the Boma Ye on a kneeled Ibushi and Ibushi springs up and foot stomps him. It has to be said that this match MADE Ibushi if he even had to be. It’s always been clear that this guy possesses some unbelievable talent but seeing this guy wrestle a match of physicality and with more of a story with a legit main eventer took him to the next level. We got to see Ibushi go for the Phoenix splash and taunt Shinsuke throughout, the story of the match pretty much was the young guy trying to outdo the older experienced guy and although he didn’t win the match, Ibushi’s performance was second to none. Brilliant. Match of the night for me and 5 out of 5. Phenomenal (no, there wasn’t an AJ run in).
Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) v Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. (*****)
This match was brilliant and a great main event. The match went 30 minutes and it didn’t drag out and the guys didn’t really stop moving. We saw Tanahashi hit some badass spots, hitting the High Fly Flow onto a standing Okada which was stood past the barricade on the concrete floor. The chemistry that these two have together is brilliant and this match really needs to be watched by any wrestling fan. The near-falls with Okada kicking out of 2 High Fly Flow’s and Tanahashi kicking out of the Rainmaker, Striker said that it was the first time someone has kicked out of it but I’m pretty sure Shinsuke Nakamura has before and I think Tanahashi has before. The effect was all the same though. These guys wrestled from the ring to the outside to the stage back into the ring and there was some great spots. Also, a good point to note was JR putting over Okada calling his dropkick the “greatest dropkick in the world” which I thought was 100% correct. The match was exceptional and I feel like Nakamura/Ibushi just edged it for match of the night but to give this any less than 5 out of 5 would be an injustice. Brilliant.
The Jim Ross and Matt Striker Commentary
The commentary for the most part was great. Hearing Jim Ross call a NJPW show was so unique and really made you miss solid, good commentary on WWE TV. We all knew going into it though that JR was never going to be a problem and he wasn’t. The best commentator ever covering some of the best wrestling ever was a good sight to see and hear. Striker on the other hand was annoying in bits. Sometimes he’d correct JR and try to have some sort of what I can only describe as Michael Cole banter (not a compliment) which was lost on me. However, he was good for the most part and again made you think of how much better the WWE product would be if someone commentated in a similar way. They put all the guys over and gave insight into even the filler matches at the start. Great stuff.
Overall, this is the best wrestling show I’ve seen in a very long time. Everything apart from the two 5 minute filler matches near the beginning was as close to a perfect wrestling show as you can get. If you’re a wrestling fan and you haven’t seen this then definitely watch it, it was truly amazing. The version I watched lasted 3 hours 40 minutes and I didn’t think about turning it off once and that is a long time to sit and watch a wrestling show for. Exceptional. 10 out of 10 show with some of the best wrestling in the world on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment