January 15, 20178 yr comment_5783547 YES to Strong BJ vs Twin Towers Not their best matchup but this was a fun as fuck hoss tag team battle in front of a hyped Korakuen Hall, that will always get a thumbs up from me.
January 15, 20178 yr comment_5783562 I'd like to see Shibata vs Goto represented, even if everyone says no. I'd say yes to Shibata/Goto. Just a note, nominations and votes should be accompanied by a sentence or two explaining why. Shibata works like a rabid dog. It's such an adrenaline-frenzied way of working that his "no selling" doesn't bother me and I think his long-term selling pays off in the end after all the shit he's endured catches up with him. The W1 Akiyama match is a perfect example of that. I thought this match was great, the only one that had me hooked in from start to finish. I don't get too excited by Goto and I think he was decent to good for most of the match but they built heat and escalated the violence in a believable way that by the finish, he looked really strong and pissed off. Shibata's selling and facials were terrific down the stretch and made Goto look even more dominant coming out as champ.
January 15, 20178 yr comment_5783572 Shibata vs Goto - NO Naito vs Tanahashi - YES Omega vs Okada - YES Thoughts on those in the WK11 thread. Strong BJ vs Twin Towers- YES I really enjoyed this. I thought it was a half step below some of their best they had back in 2015 (it was 2015 right?) but still a lot of fun. That headbutt was unreal. Maybe my favorite so far. Nominating- Kushida vs Takahashi NJPW 1/4 When was the last time the Dome crowd gave a shit about a junior match? I can't think of it. Thats what these guys accomplished, they made the Dome crowd care about a Junior match that involved a guy who had been away on excursion for the past 3 years. Yeah there were botched spots, but that almost added to the frenetic pace of the match. This was exactly what it needed to be- Takahashi returning and being crowned as the next junior ace.
January 15, 20178 yr comment_5783609 No on Kushida/Takahashi. Fun match with some psychotic spots & bumps, but there was too much slop and way too disjointed to belong in a MOTY discussion on my end.
January 15, 20178 yr comment_5783636 Yes to Shibata/Naito. See WK11 thread for thoughts. Upped it to ****1/4 on a rewatch today. Assume you mean Shibata vs Goto here?
January 15, 20178 yr comment_5783638 Yes to Shibata/Naito. See WK11 thread for thoughts. Upped it to ****1/4 on a rewatch today. Assume you mean Shibata vs Goto here? Correct, will edit that now. Shibata/Goto! One of my favorite Goto matches.
January 16, 20178 yr comment_5783728 Pete Dunne vs Tyler Bate from the finals of the UK Tournament. A great story with Bate's arm injury, but just great work all around. Love this match!
January 16, 20178 yr comment_5783732 YES to Dunne vs Bate. I had never seen either of these guys. Really enjoyed this, enjoyed the shoulder work and Bate's comeback.
January 16, 20178 yr comment_5783790 Big YES to Shibata/Goto 1.4: I reviewed it here with pics/gifs: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/new-japan-pro-wrestling-142017-never.html I wrote: Hirooki Goto beat Katsuyori Shibata with the GTR. Awesome match. This was all brawling all the time and I loved it. A real man's man battle here with tons of haymakers. Everything Shibata did looked good. He even made corner stomps look legit, which almost every wrestler I've seen has been unable to do. Goto and Shibata match up so well together and this was another instance. They took it to the next level here with some of their exchanges and everything looked like it hurt. They did do a few no sells on suplexes which I hated, but overall I can forgive it for the strong work in other area's. Awesome pro wrestling and a definite must see match. Goto got the big win here and maybe NJPW can figure out how to get him in the main event in 2017. Rating:****1/2
January 16, 20178 yr comment_5783792 YES to Dunne/Bate. While I would have liked to have seen the shoulder/arm factor more into it a bit since it was injured, they did play up to it well. The crowd was hot and the match had built it meaning, so it was pretty much guaranteed to be something good.
January 17, 20178 yr comment_5783844 Nominating El Phantasmo vs Kyle O'Reilly (ECCW 1/14/2017) KOR returns to his hometown and promotion for a title shot and the crowd is nuts for this. El Phantasmo seems to be one of the best high flyers in the world and I've never seen him before. Seriously he does a rope walk moonsault to the floor and a dropkick from turnbuckle to corner diagonally across the ring. Just insane.. KOR worked his ass off keeping the match super dramatic and intense. KOR was just on another level working in his hometown. I'd say this is the best match I've seen all year (maybe on par with Yehi-Henry, but the crowd is super hot here). Easy nomination.
January 17, 20178 yr comment_5783850 I'll go with a yes to Bate/Dunn. Just a great match. My only critic is Bate didn't sell much of the shoulder injury. I loved the finish. I think Bate go the Tiger Driver over as legit finisher. Nominating: Pete Dunn vs Mark Andrews 1/15/17. I thought this was every bit as good as the final. Andrews is graceful when he does is shooting star press!
January 17, 20178 yr comment_5783851 Voting: Dunn vs Bate-Yes. A tremendous final. The only critique I have is Bate really didn't do a good job selling the shoulder. Still though I overlooked it. Bate really got the Tiger Driver over as a legit finisher. Nominating: Mark Andrews vs Pete Dunn. I thought this was just as good as the final. Andrews just is so graceful with everything he does in the ring, especially his shooting star press.
January 17, 20178 yr comment_5783859 Yes to Andrews vs Dunn I thought it wss a great contrast of styles and an awesome story. Both were top notch
January 17, 20178 yr comment_5783868 Yes to Andrews vs Dunn. Not as good as final but deserving of a spot
January 17, 20178 yr comment_5783884 El Phantasmo vs Kyle O'Reilly (ECCW 1/14/2017)- NO This match had a hot crowd and Phantasmo has some springs for legs. That's the good. The bad- There was so many over contrived, overly cooperative spots in this match. And this is coming from somebody who like Okada vs Omega (and usually likes Okada's work in general so I have a high tolerance for athletic overly cooperative nonsense). With that said there were several times in the match where I was like what the fuck. Really I feel like Phantasmo missed his calling as a gymnast. Anyways there was a really hot crowd and that sort of saved it from being unwatchable.
January 20, 20178 yr comment_5784329 Voting: Pete Dunn vs Mark Andrews-Yes. I thought this was better than the final. To me this match was also better than their match last year at the BOLA.
January 21, 20178 yr comment_5784515 Yes to Dunn/Bate from the UK Tournament. No to Dunn/Andrews from the UK Tournament. No to Goto/Shibata from Wrestle Kingdom...but it's really close. HARD NO to Kushida/Takahashi from Wrestle Kingdom
January 22, 20178 yr comment_5784606 My reviews of these are in the UK and WK threads, but I can dig them up if need be. YES to: Bate vs. Dunne Shibata vs. Goto Naito vs. Tanahashi Okada vs. Omega NO to: Dunne vs. Andrews Kushida vs. Hiromu Nominating: Drew Galloway vs. Bully Ray (WhatCulture, 1/6/17) This is a match where the face joins the crowd for a beer. It is one of multiple nut shots. Of a long heel promo in which Liverpool is praised and promises to be broken are made. Of mugging to the crowd and foreign objects. Whereas Rhodes-Ricochet in the match prior to this seemed to have no story, this is all story. A wild brawl through the crowd, with Bully doing hardly more than throwing punches and gouging eyes. Timeless characters played very well by both: Galloway is less obvious, but he is a killer babyface here as he gives Ray a ton and sells so believably. Not sure who the two small money mark looking dudes were at the end, but this also had an ending and post-match angle that felt big and crazy yet totally worked, presenting a big star who seems way better suited as a heel than his usual role as a face.
January 28, 20178 yr comment_5785660 NOMINATING- Matt Riddle vs Katsuyori Shibata RevPro 1/21/17 This was a lot a fun. It was a Shibata type match where they just beat the shit out of each other at a frenzied pace. Some really great echanges. Hot crowd. Only problem with it is there's some limbwork that doesn't go anywhere, but in the scheme of things, you don't expect much working over a body part in a Shibata type of match.
January 28, 20178 yr comment_5785689 I'll throw Shibata/Riddle a YES. My thoughts are in the match thread, but I feel like it's worth noting further how much fun Riddle's selling and facial expressions are here. His staggering dazedness reminds me of Kawada at times, and he really makes Shibata look like a badass. Only complaints I have are that Riddle's strikes early on felt pretty light compared to Shibata's, and then the inevitable German trading section was a bit obnoxious. This was certainly a Shibata match, and a real good one. I have it just above the Goto match. Also, while I usually hate the English crowd singing and chanting, I did enjoy them singing Spandau Ballet's "Gold" throughout this match. I had no context, no idea why they were doing it, but I thought it was fun.
January 28, 20178 yr comment_5785693 Yes to Dunn/Bate from the UK Tournament. No to Dunn/Andrews from the UK Tournament. No to Goto/Shibata from Wrestle Kingdom...but it's really close. HARD NO to Kushida/Takahashi from Wrestle Kingdom Please provide reasons, even a sentence or link to your words elsewhere.
January 28, 20178 yr comment_5785694 Nominating: Imposible vs Relampago (IWRG, 1/22) A really heated lucha match with an amazing beat down by the rudo for the first two falls. So much so the crowd (to be fair, a lot of them were his "clients") interfered giving the babyface water, distracting the referee, and saving him from future torture. The crowd brawling section was as good as I've seen that done in a long long time. Great match!
January 28, 20178 yr comment_5785707 I'll throw Shibata/Riddle a YES. My thoughts are in the match thread, but I feel like it's worth noting further how much fun Riddle's selling and facial expressions are here. His staggering dazedness reminds me of Kawada at times, and he really makes Shibata look like a badass. Only complaints I have are that Riddle's strikes early on felt pretty light compared to Shibata's, and then the inevitable German trading section was a bit obnoxious. This was certainly a Shibata match, and a real good one. I have it just above the Goto match. Also, while I usually hate the English crowd singing and chanting, I did enjoy them singing Spandau Ballet's "Gold" throughout this match. I had no context, no idea why they were doing it, but I thought it was fun. The crowd are replacing gold with 'bro' whilst singing. Pretty funny stuff.
January 29, 20178 yr comment_5785938 NO to Shibata/Riddle, per my thoughts in the MDA. A good, solid match but far from MOTYC.
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