William Bologna

I don't know. It was good, but it didn't make any sense. I think my real problem is that I don't really buy Okada. As mentioned above, when he stood there with Shibata, he looked overmatched. So what does he do to counteract that? Nothing really. He can't hit as hard; he's not as good at submissions; he's not a flyer; he doesn't cheat. You can get away with getting beat on and then winning out of nowhere if you've got a killer finish, but the Rainmaker isn't it. So i just didn't "believe" it when that mediocre clothesline took out Shibata. Also, I thought Okada's transitions were lacking - it was just "this time I'll get up faster." It started with that first one where he set Shibata on the top rope and dropkicked him off. Shibata just let him pick him up and swing him around, I guess? Think how much more sense that would have made if he'd poked him in the eyes first.

I like how when Sabre locks in a submission, he always has an extra move he can throw in to get heat. Like, he'll lock up your arm, wait a beat, and then start messing your wrist or whatever. That said, I found my attention wandering during this. Neither of these guys is particularly engaging, and nothing made that clearer than Minoru Suzuki's involvement. There's a guy who knows how to project a character.

I liked this, but I can't help but grade Fale matches on a curve. It's like, everyone says he's crappy, and he looks like he's going to be crappy, and then he's a little better than crappy and I'm all "Good job, Fale! Good for you!" I found Shibata a little colorless in this. There was neat payback spot - Fale had thrown him into chairs and throttled him with a towel. Later Shibata throws Fale into chairs and chokes him with his own shirt. Neat. But it didn't really land because Shibata didn't react to getting throttled with a towel much differently than he does any other kind of damage he takes. He didn't evince any outrage when Fale resorted to that, and there was no sense that he was doing something out of character when he responded in kind. Still, pretty darn good. Better than Shibata/Suzuki. Everything looked like it hurt, and I'm amped for Shibata vs Okada.

Long time (I guess? It's not like I keep track) lurker here. I watched some WWF as a kid in the 80s, but I really got into it again in 1995 (I didn't know it was terrible!). I really enjoyed the Monday night wars, and then seeing the Michinoku Pro match on the first ECW PPV changed everything for me. I rented an AJPW tape from a Japanese video store, and I've been a 90s All Japan mark ever since. (It was the 97 tag league. Misawa/Akiyama vs Kobashi/Ace. They teased a draw but then Misawa pinned Ace with a tiger driver. I didn't have to look any of this up.) I'd kept up reading about rasslin on the internet without actually watching much of it, but I always enjoy New Japan on AXS. That, combined with needing something to watch while I do cardio, got me to sign up for NJPW World. My likes include Tenryu, Kawada, and matches where it's a flippy dude vs a shooty dude. My dislikes include Furnas and Kroffat being stuck at All Asia tag title status.