WingedEagle

Is this one any good?

I mean, they could touch on that but Ospreay and Scurll went 30 minutes and the Bucks vs Lovers tag went 40 so I think it's just the house style now Agreed. It's all about excess now. Too many dangerous spot, too many moves, too many finisher kick-outs, too many minutes. It's the Pornhub generation of pro-wrestling, they can't just have fun sex for 15 minutes, they need a giant gang-bang that lasts an hour with a hundred money shots and double anals and whatnot to be able to come, or so they seem to think. As much as that cracks me up, I don't think Okada/ZSJ fits that profile other than length. I don't recall any particularly dangerous spots. There was certainly some work down the stretch around countering finishers, given Sabre's run in the NJ Cup getting so many submissions via arm work that was exactly the right direction. I'm unabashedly a fan of the style at the top of the card so while I don't necessarily agree with some of the criticisms of the main event picture, I can certainly understand where its coming from as they're now routinely 30+ minute affairs and often do feature a plethora of double anal spots along the way. Just not on this night. This match seemed very logical and compact in that you had an opening segment with Sabre using his work on the mat against the champ to seek out an opening, a middle portion that focused on arm work to raise doubt about the Rainmaker, and a finishing stretch with ZSJ looking for the kill while answering the question about whether Okada could still end things with the Rainmaker. Other thoughts on the show: I'm usually a fan of the Bucks when they work Japan and almost never a fan when they work domestically. That was the case here, as even against Yujiro (who may not be awful, but brings absolutely nothing to the table) and Chase Owens they worked a solid tag to continue establishing them as heavyweights. What a horrific waste of Tomohiro Ishii. I know any kind of meaningful push is unlikely and I'm not clamoring for it. But unless you tell me these outings are necessary to preserve his body its just a tease. The Tanahashi and Naito/Suzuki 6 man tags were solid and brisk, even if I thought both iterations of these multi-man matches from Korakuen were better. But they did good job furthering feuds building for the upcoming round of shows, and Tana winning should've been a sign that his match was coming sooner than Dominion. Junior tag titles was a waste. It seems like all 3 teams could be put to better use. It looks like these feuds will be more focused on the April/May shows, so hopefully that's borne out in the ring. I'm not a Will Ospreay guy. At all. Its also not clear if I care less for him or Marty Scurll. But this match was fantastic. Marty's work on the neck was vicious and focused, while Will's selling was consistent and meaningful. He even seemed to curb down the screaming and cursing that are usually staples of his act. There was also less flying to reflect how they were working and as a result the big spots meant even more. The Spanish Fly off the apron was absolutely bonkers and the botch & resulting blood made the finish that much stronger. Golden Lovers vs. Cody & Page was solid. Its amazing to see how effective a heel Cody has become on this run, as well as how NJPW big matches are booked to further an ROH PPV main event. Strong booking here with the Bucks showing up but keeping a slow burn and saving big angles to play out down the road. I'm curious where this eventually leads. It seems like they're subtly teasing a Bucks split, and while I could see that happening for purposes of a short term angle or match, there's no way that's a result of this feud. Presumably Omega/Ibushi in a big singles outing is an eventual destination, but I'm not sure what other matches are interim goals. I loved Ospreay/Scurll and Okada/Sabre and had both at ****1/2. No complaints about a show that top heavy. The lineups for end of April/early May look pretty great. I thought they'd load up the Naito/Suzuki and Okada/Tana shows, but are putting NEVER and US Title matches on Korakuens. Should be fun.

For those that usually skip the smaller shows, I'd recommend checking out yesterday's Road to Sakura Genesis show. Yagi vs. Narita was one of the better young lion matches in some time, with active, effective mat work, big chops and even a strong finishing stretch. Nagata vs. Umino wasn't quite at that level but again showed why Umino may have the highest ceiling of any young lion. The White/Goto/Ishii vs. Juice/Finlay/Henare six man was a hot, fun match that did an excellent job spotlighting three feuds that have been building which will hopefully lead to singles matches at the upcoming Dontaku shows. Similarly, the LIJ/Suzuki Gun 10 man built a couple other feuds, particularly Naito/Suzuki. That looks like a headliner for one Dontaku show and should be terrific. The Okada/ZSJ tag that headlined was arguably weaker than all of the above matches but still a nice teaser heading into tomorrow's main event. Not a must watch, as I'd check out all of the above matches before this one if you're pressed for time. And of course, stick with the Japanese commentary.

I've always considered that a distinct possibility. But between understanding calls of the big moves and an enthusiastic announcer who seems in tune with the flow of the match, its one hell of an experience -- and a vastly superior one -- even if for all I know he's reading the phone book. No doubt this has also impacted my tolerance for WWE announcing.

I'd highly recommend always sticking to the Japanese commentary. It absolutely enhances my enjoyment of the shows.

Thanks, I'd actually bookmarked this when it was posted but haven't gotten there yet. Here's one of my favorite tags and crowds -- its not quite Kobashi & Kikuchi vs. Can-Ams from '92, but I think the entire scene draws you in in similar fashion. Also one of my favorite Liger performances. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Jushin Liger & Wataru Inoue from NOAH 2/17/2002.

This would indeed be tremendous and I'm now going to be bitterly disappointed when Ellsworth makes his way out.

Has anyone checked out the 3/11 Sendai Girls show? Curious to hear if there are any matches I need to go out of my way to see.

Certainly the New Day feud (Summerslam, Hell In A Cell, Battleground, Smackdown from 9/12) and vs. Cesaro & Sheamus at Survivor Series. Those seem to be the standouts / most widely well regarded outings.

This is my biggest problem. While its conceivable that Owens & Zayn take their loss and move onto Smackdown, the situation absolutely reeks of one with a heel turn and Bryan on his back. I'm just not sure how you don't book that match to get him 3 big pops -- entrance, hot tag and finish. Well, I do know how. I just didn't think they'd screw with it that soon. We shall see.

Stardom usually gets full shows up pretty quickly, at least by my standards, given their resources and that they go to the trouble of subtitling all promos. I want to say full shows are generally up within a week or so, but you can check their Twitter feed as they post when every match goes up. That should give you a sense of timing. Stardom World is the only joshi site I subscribe to, but you can follow other promotions that don't have sub sites through the puroresudream site. Donsem and others may have some recs for other companies's subscription offerings.

Are you implying his facial expressions suck? You have not watched Tim Duncan sell a foul call.

Loved the opening Brock/Roman angle. Both looked tremendous throwing all those shots, and Brock looks dominant as hell at the end. Especially standing on the steps as Roman is down and out. Big fan of that that visual. Its unrealistic and unfair to expect that they can approach the Mania 31 match, but I'm stoked as hell to see them try.

Thanks, interesting to hear.

Apparently Kris Wolf finished up with Stardom today. Anyone know more about that situation?

Can you please go away? Immediately and forever.

This is great.

Matt, please leave me out for this week as I'm away. Back in next week.

You're really getting me excited at the idea of doing this myself. Is there a comprehensive listing of what's available chronologically on the network from this era?

Cena's promo was terrific. Between that and Roman's segment they've done a great job building those two matches.