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WRESTLE KINGDOM 14 - Night 1 HM: LIGER RETIREMENT MATCH I - Jushin Thunder Liger, Great Sasuke, Tiger Mask & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi Not sure how a match almost entirely made up of guys you wouldn't be blamed for asking "Wait, he's STILL wrestling??" about managed to be so enjoyable but man, that was great. MOTYC: IWGP US CHAMPIONSHIP/TEXAS DEATHMATCH - Lance Archer vs Jon Moxley After the 2019 Lance Archer had this was about as excellent as you'd assume a big plunder-filled brawl with these two maniacs would be. My only problem with it is it's still really obvious Mox has some bad habits he developed in WWE, those knees to Archer were tragic. MOTYC: IWGP JR. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP - Will Ospreay vs Hiromu Takahashi https://twitter.com/GIFSkull/status/1213404161666011136 HM: IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP - Jay White vs Tetsuya Naito I love both these guys, I love a lot of New Japan matches people say go too long, but I think they probably could've shaved 5 minutes off of this one and it would've been way better. A bit of sloppiness (mostly covered well by the wrestlers or the English commentary team) combined with them almost hitting 30 minutes before the finishing sequence and I think it's a solid HM but both guys have done better in the last year or so. MOTYC: IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP - Kazuchika Okada vs Kota Ibushi Despite being about 5 minutes longer than the previous match it felt 7 or 8 shorter. Okada's power to warp the perception of time is incredible. These guys put on a clinic. Ultra Instinct/Murder Mode Ibushi is a fearsome sight but Okada is literally the Final Boss of Pro Wrestling. All around fantastic stuff.
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Jan 4, 2020 13:54
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WRESTLE KINGDOM 14 - Night 2 HM: LIGER RETIREMENT MATCH II - Jushin Thunder Liger & Naoki Sano vs Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee Sayonara, Jushin Thunder Liger. HM: IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo (c) vs Roppongi 3K These 4 always have great matches with each other, singles or tags, and this was no different. Special shouts out to SHO & YOH's gold and silver cups. MOTYC: BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP - Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs SANADA These two are magic together and this may have been their best match against one another yet. The opening sequence was one of the smoothest I've ever seen. HM: IWGP US CHAMPIONSHIP - Jon Moxley (c) vs Juice Robinson Incredibly intense brawl, just like their prior two encounters, and definitely Juice's best Tokyo Dome match. MOTYC: NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP - KENTA (c) vs Hirooki Goto Goto always delivers at the Tokyo Dome. Have you ever seen a strong style match where the two participants just hit and scream at each other a lot until one of them lands his finisher? This is like those, which means it was a loving banger. HM: Jay White vs Kota Ibushi An excellent bout but not quite the same atmosphere as their G1 Climax Finals in August, which is my only real knock against it, because I don't go into a Jay White match suddenly expecting fair play and sportsmanlike conduct and get disappointed like a bunch of other people seem to like doing. HM: Chris Jericho vs Hiroshi Tanahashi After the Dominion match against Okada I think people were worried about how Jericho would perform but I think wrestling more frequently on AEW has helped keep him in ring shape better than when he was basically doing jack poo poo in between WK13 and Dominion. Tanahashi played a perfect foil to him, as well. MOTYC: IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT & IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Tetsuya Naito (c) gently caress, man. 7 years. What a story. Even as someone who's only been watching since a year and a half ago, I felt it as though I'd been there the whole time. I remember some slight disappointment with the Wrestle Kingdom 12 match, like maybe Naito & Okada didn't gel as well against each other as they each do against Omega or Tanahashi, but this time it loving delivered. What a weekend.
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Jan 5, 2020 11:52
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forkboy84 posted:Less than 1 week into 2020 and me keeping a spreadsheet of good matches. This is why I can only keep up with one company. My head would explode if I tried to watch anything more than New Japan.
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Jan 5, 2020 13:52
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Yeah see I like 60+ hour JRPGs too much for that to ever be remotely feasible.
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Jan 5, 2020 15:34
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Rarity posted:Screw you guys I'm going MOTYC I'll say what I said in the WK thread: I want these four guys to do nothing but chop and forearm and lariat and crash into each other for the entirety of 2020. Thankfully early signs are looking good.
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Jan 6, 2020 16:05
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MOTYC NEVER Openweight Championship - Hirooki Goto (c) vs Shingo Takagi [NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo, 2/1] RevPro British Heavyweight Championship - Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs Will Ospreay [NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo, 2/2] IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship - Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs Ryu Lee [NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka, 2/9] IWGP United States Championship - Jon Moxley (c) vs Minoru Suzuki [NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka, 2/9] IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Championships - Tetsuya Naito (c) vs KENTA [NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka, 2/9] HM Kazuchika Okada & Jon Moxley vs Taichi & Minoru Suzuki [NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo, 2/1] Tomohiro Ishii vs EVIL [NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo, 2/1] Jon Moxley, SHO, YOH, & Ryusuke Taguchi vs Suzuki-Gun [NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo, 2/2] Kazuchika Okada vs Taichi [NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo, 2/2] NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship - Los Ingobernables de Japon (c) vs Chaos [NJPW Road to the New Beginning, 2/6] Jay White vs SANADA [NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka, 2/9] this was a good tour.
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Feb 9, 2020 12:07
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IMO Final Deletion would get a WMOTYC vote from me purely based on the obnoxious editing during the match portion. There were more camera cuts during it than most 15 minute raw segments. Everything else about it was A+ though.
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Feb 28, 2020 21:09
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Not being one who keeps track of a ton of promotions I only just now saw that Shiozaki/Fujita match and even though a MOTYC is at this point long redundant I'm gonna give it one anyway just for formality because that was a loving wild ride from start to finish. I think being in an empty arena definitely made it work way better than it otherwise would have.
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Apr 1, 2020 10:26
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Rarity posted:HM: Golden Aces/Yuji Nagata/Yuya Uemura vs. Dangerous Tekkers/Minoru Suzuki/Yoshinobu Kanemaru, NJPW New Japan Cup, 16/06 Nth, this match whipped rear end. Had a similar energy to a multiman during the G1 last year that had a similar level of both fun chaos and story advancement; it was the one before KENTA and Tanahashi fought on the next show, if anybody remembers the one I mean. Suzuki and Nagata had me grinning ear to ear, I was so elated to watch a "pissed off old men hit each other really hard" sequence again after all this time away. I think that Hiromu/Honma match is just *thiiiiiis* close to being an HM, but isn't quite there. They told a decent story of Hiromu really obviously putting the limiters on because he underestimated the broken down old man and getting a bit more than he bargained for (which also served the real life function of allowing Honma to actually keep up with him, because it would've been a total clusterfuck if Hiromu went full speed). It was just a hair too slow at points for me to actually push it over the edge and give it an HM, but A for effort to both of them. Jerusalem posted:HM: Tomohiro Ishii vs. El Desperado - New Japan Cup Night 1 6/16 BIG TIME NTH, Ishii is the best, Despy is the best, please give Despy more spotlight in the future, Gedo. He's never going to top Hiromu in terms of star power but he's such an excellent, underrated talent.
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Jun 17, 2020 06:51
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Jerusalem posted:MOTYC: Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki - NJPW New Japan Cup Night 2 6/17 Another completely unnecessary Nth but.... holy loving poo poo.
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Jun 17, 2020 23:38
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The tag match from night 1 is also worth watching, partially because it contains a few extra minutes of Suzuki and Nagata forearm-ing the poo poo out of each other, and that's always a value add.
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Jun 18, 2020 09:39
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Rarity posted:MOTYC: Toru Yano vs. Hiromu Takahashi, NJPW New Japan Cup, 24/06 I haven't been in much of a "post about wrestling" mood for the last couple days, go figure, but this put such a tremendous smile on my face. Finish of the goddamn century.
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Jun 24, 2020 12:20
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Jerusalem posted:MOTYC: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW New Japan Cup Night 7 yes Rarity posted:MOTYC: EVIL vs. YOSHI-HASHI, NJPW New Japan Cup, 02/07 yes Cerebral Bore posted:MOTYC SANADA vs Taichi New Japan Cup 02.07 yes Good poo poo all around. I even liked that Okada/Ishimori match that a bunch of people apparently hated but it wasn't quite HM level. Okada's proving to be... not great at empty arena wrestling.
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Jul 2, 2020 13:42
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MOTYC - NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs SHO [Dominion, 7/12] It was pretty much exactly what everyone expected it to be, and that's a good thing. I wasn't as big as everybody else on their previous 2 matches (still liked them a lot, just felt they were a tad underwhelming for how much the rivalry's been built up). This one definitely delivered, though. HM - IWGP Tag Team Championship: Golden Aces (c) vs Dangerous Tekkers [Dominion, 7/12] I felt the action got kind of muddy and nondescript in the middle, and by the last third of the match or so it got real obvious who was winning, but it was still a lot of fun. Zack and Taichi are a wonderful team. HM - IWGP & IWGP IC Championships: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs EVIL [Dominion, 7/12] I'm still extremely conflicted on this match. It's by no means a MOTYC. It absolutely felt stretched out. Even as a Naito fan I'm not loving blind, and I can see the guy's lost a step in the last year or two, but he's absolutely still capable of having great matches. I just don't think he is nearly as well suited to 40 minute epics as Okada or Tanahashi, but I think this one is more on Gedo though. He seems fixated on that being the standard, despite some guys like Naito being far better at doing a faster paced 15-20 minute match. Switchblade I think is somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. EVIL as well is much better in shorter, hard hitting brawls, and he was essentially tasked with doing a completely new style for two main events in a row. The interference... whatever. If you're expecting a main event with someone from non-Elite BC to happen with no shenanigans you're insanely naive. The muted crowd response also hurt it but I can't really hold that against the match too much, I can tell they wanted to boo the poo poo out of EVIL. At the end of the day what saved this match from not rating (It's nowhere near bad enough for a WMOTYC imo, even if you're ignoring WWE wrecking the grading curve and judging it purely by New Japan standards; let's not forget Jado/Yano also happened this year) is Hiromu. The overarching story of Hiromu having the one thing he's wanted all year (and even further back than that apparently) taken from him over and over until he devolves into a screaming mess at the end of the show was pitch perfect. This maybe belongs in the New Japan thread but whatever, gently caress that thread right now. If Naito gets another shot at a decent run, that'd be great, but if this is it for Naito's run at the top then that's fine too. He got his moment and he's more than made his mark, and I'm sure he's probably ok with going out in service of elevating his two kouhai as mainstays of the company.
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Jul 13, 2020 10:07
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Haven't really watched much NJPW in the last month so here are my (probably redundant) nominations from recent shows that I actually watched. Haven't gotten to Naito/EVIL yet but I'm assuming it's going to be another half hour and I'm too sleepy for that right now so I'll watch it later tonight. MOTYC Minoru Suzuki vs Yuji Nagata [Summer Struggle 7/31] NEVER Openweight Championship - Shingo Takagi(c) vs Minoru Suzuki [Summer Struggle 8/29] IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship - Hiromu Takahashi(c) vs Taiji Ishimori [Summer Struggle 8/29] IWGP Tag Team Championship - Dangerous Tekkers(c) vs Golden☆Ace [Summer Struggle 8/29] HM KOPW 2020 Qualifier - Toru Yano vs BUSHI [Summer Struggle 8/26] KOPW 2020 Qualifier - SANADA vs SHO [Summer Struggle 8/26] KOPW 2020 Qualifier - Satoshi Kojima vs El Desperado [Summer Struggle 8/26]
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Aug 30, 2020 00:04
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Thanlis posted:HM: EVIL vs. Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight Title - NJPW Summer Struggle 8/29 Nth. Bit sloppy at points. Really hope Gedo learned from this reign that EVIL isn't well suited to the Okada/Tanahashi style of main event match, but it was better than the other one for sure.
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Aug 30, 2020 10:54
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G1 Climax Night 1 [9/19] MOTYC Kazuchika Okada vs Kota Ibushi - The weakest of their 3 matches over the last year and change is still an excellent main event with two of the best wrestlers in the world. The Money Clip doesn't dock it enough points to knock it down to HM but loving hell Okada get over it already. Minoru Suzuki vs Tomohiro Ishii - gently caress YEAH HM Shingo Takagi vs Jay White - Very good match but didn't quite hit third gear for me. Not enough of Shingo lariating the gently caress out of everything that moves for my taste, I think. Taichi vs Jeff Cobb - By the end this was really fun but it started off pretty weak and, again, Jeff Cobb should not be selling even half as much as he does in New Japan, so I don't know why they book him like that. I'm not going to rate Ospreay's matches. Not that he and Yujiro were actually going to make the list, mind you. Maybe if I were feeling extra generous, but, gently caress Ospreay. G1 Climax Night 2 [9/20] MOTYC Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito - Fantastic. With how absolutely destroyed these two are they should not be able to put on a match this good at this point, but I'm happy to be wrong about that. Zack Sabre Jr. vs EVIL - This G1 is a chance for EVIL to prove that no, he is actually still a really good wrestler when he's not awkwardly forced into wrestling 30 minute Okada/Tanahashi style epics with 5 minutes of interference at the end where a finish is supposed to go. Zack is one of his best opponents so if anyone was going to pull a good one out of him it would be Zack. Juice Robinson vs YOSHI-HASHI - The in-ring of this one is probably on the border of MOTYC and HM, and normally I'd go HM to be safe but the crowd absolutely put this one over the edge. They were clearly very happy to see Juice back in action, even with as loving weird as his new look is. HM KENTA vs Hirooki Goto - Not quite on the level of their Tokyo Dome match but still pretty much what you'd expect out of these two. SANADA vs Toru Yano - Again, this is basically exactly what you expect, outside of the finish. loving Uemura heel turn. Absolute bastard.
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Sep 20, 2020 08:45
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G1 Climax Night 3 [9/23] MOTYC Minoru Suzuki vs Taichi - Poor Marty. These two psychos kicked the absolute poo poo out of each other and it whipped rear end. Suzuki owns. Taichi owns. Suzuki-gun best faction all year every year. HM Shingo Takagi vs Jeff Cobb - This is exactly what I wanted Jay White vs Kota Ibushi - If you're gonna watch one Ibushi/White match, make it last year's finals. This was very good but kind of by the numbers.
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Sep 24, 2020 06:16
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G1 Climax Night 4 [9/24] MOTYC EVIL vs YOSHI-HASHI - I really liked this. We dunk on Y-H a lot, and it's absolutely for good reason, but when the stars align just right, he's capable of putting on a great match as a valiant underdog babyface. HM KENTA vs Juice Robinson - Not quite up to what I figured these two would be able to do together but still a very good, high energy match. I can't say I'm doing great in the predictions but somehow I could just tell this would be Juice's big upset win for the year (assuming it's his only one). Tetsuya Naito vs Zack Sabre Jr. - Was a pretty slow match until the last couple of sequences, which bumped it into HM territory. They got there by the end but I maybe would've trimmed 4 or 5 minutes out of the middle.
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Sep 26, 2020 02:37
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G1 Climax Night 5 [9/27] MOTYC Tomohiro Ishii vs Kota Ibushi - I have no insightful commentary for this match. They hit each other a lot. It whipped rear end. Watch it. This was easily the match of the tournament so far. HM Jay White vs Kazuchika Okada - Okada and his fuckin' money clip dragging big match Jay down to HM level, smdh (v. good match though)
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Sep 27, 2020 10:18
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G1 Climax Night 6 [9/29] MOTYC Zack Sabre Jr. vs KENTA - One of the rare instances where it wasn't just "a ZSJ match featuring some of the other guy's offense and spots" and they gelled rather well. Definitely want to see this one again at some point for a title and with a bit more time because I really enjoyed it. HM Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Juice Robinson - This wasn't anything especially spectacular but both these guys are a ton of fun and ridiculously likable and the crowd loves both of them so I gotta give it props for just making me smile the whole time.
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Sep 30, 2020 01:54
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G1 Climax Night 7 [9/30] MOTYC Tomohiro Ishii vs Shingo Takagi - ... do I really need to explain why this match was good? HM Kota Ibushi vs Jeff Cobb - Enjoyable little match that I think hit HM about the point where Cobb no-sold a lariat and completely floored Ibushi with one of his own. You love to see it. Please continue throwing men around the ring, Jeff. Kazuchika Okada vs Taichi - I've decided I officially hate the Money Clip. Please stop using it, Kazu.
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Oct 1, 2020 01:54
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G1 Climax Night 8 [10/1] HM Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Yoshi-Hashi - It was basically exactly what you'd expect from a Tanahashi vs Yoshi-Hashi match with a properly motivated Yoshi-Hashi. They didn't do anything out of the ordinary but it was good. Tetsuya Naito vs SANADA - Pretty sloppy but solid enough, and the crowd were into it, so I'd say it's firmly at HM level.
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Oct 1, 2020 13:11
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G1 Climax Night 9 [10/5] MOTYC Kazuchika Okada vs Minoru Suzuki - Not even the money clip could ruin this one!! Taichi vs Tomohiro Ishii - These two are magic together. What a strange yet perfect pair of rivals they turned out to be. HM Jeff Cobb vs Jay White - Very fun, Switchblade's cheating went into overdrive for this match which made it all the better when Cobb countered it via the tried and true method of "throwing guys around a lot"
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Oct 5, 2020 20:25
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G1 Climax Night 10 [10/6] MOTYC Hirooki Goto vs Toru Yano - This will be one for the history books, folks. SANADA vs Zack Sabre Jr. - I've long felt SANADA's best opponent is Zack, they always put on a clinic. Ending was kind of abrupt but not every match needs an epic 5 minute finish full of counters and reverals, so I'm cool with it. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs KENTA - Now THIS is what the G1 is all about. Badass main event with everybody's hero, the Ace of the Universe Tanahashi, vs the hard hitting dirtbag KENTA. Nothing especially revolutionary or flashy here, just excellent wrestling from two guys who've been at it for 20 years each. HM EVIL vs Juice Robinson - Really good stuff from both guys. Could easily have seen Juice getting the upset if ~THE MATH~ were different. Tetsuya Naito vs Yoshi-Hashi - Y-H clearly making the most of his renewed moment in the spotlight with some impressive performances over the last month or so. A bit sluggish and holy poo poo the Butterfly Lock went on for an eternity and a half but otherwise this was really solid. Very good night of wrestling.
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Oct 6, 2020 13:00
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G1 Climax Night 11 [10/7] MOTYC Taichi vs Jay White - These two scumbags are so good. I love them both. Shingo Takagi vs Kota Ibushi - i don't know about anybody else but the idea that shingo takagi isn't iwgp champion right at this very second is enormously infuriating to me, personally, and i say this as a huge naito mark HM Kazuchika Okada vs Jeff Cobb - Cobb stronk.
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Oct 7, 2020 12:45
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G1 Climax Night 12 [10/8] MOTYC Zack Sabre Jr. vs Toru Yano - Excellent use of both guys. Tantrum-throwing hothead Zack is a perfect foil for Yano. Juice Robinson vs Tetsuya Naito - Starmaking performance from Juice. I get the impression he's in line for a decent push in the near future. Also, I don't know that I agree with peoples' assessment on this being the "best work Naito's ever done" (that'd be his G1 27 run for me) but he's certainly impressed this G1 for a guy who's clearly had some wear and tear issues over the last year or two. HM Hirooki Goto vs Yoshi-Hashi - Y-H loving going for it this year man. Putting on performances everybody knows he's capable of but rarely ever gets the chance or the motivation to do so. Fast paced and really intense. Plus I think this is the only chance we get to watch tag partners against each other, too, since Dangerous Tekkers and Golden☆Aces got separated by the blocks. SANADA vs KENTA - Solid match from the caps lock boys. Not much else to add. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs EVIL - They were having a good match until the finish, which drags it from a MOTYC to an HM for me. I'm pretty forgiving of Bullet Club interference and shenanigans compared to most of you guys but even I got pretty deflated at the end. One of the weaker nights on paper but ended up being pretty drat good. I'll admit I was really distracted for a lot of the show but I went back and re-watched Goto/Y-H and Juice/Naito to actually pay attention to them so I could rate them fairly. Just a shame the main event ended on a bit of a low note.
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Oct 8, 2020 13:12
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G1 Climax Night 13 [10/10] MOTYC Jeff Cobb vs Tomohiro Ishii - An absolutely sublime 15 minutes of BEEF. loving hell this was killer. Minoru Suzuki vs Kota Ibushi - Kota Ibushi and Minoru Suzuki are two of the best on the planet and this match shows why. Casual reminder Suzuki is 52 and may very well be this good at 62 if he decides he wants to keep going. HM Kazuchika Okada vs Shingo Takagi - Current count of Okada's G1 matches that could have been MOTYCs that he money clipped down to HMs: 3
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Oct 10, 2020 11:24
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G1 Climax Night 14 [10/11] MOTYC Hirooki Goto vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Absolutely fantastic. Two seasoned warriors who've been fighting each other for over a decade disregarding their own broken down bodies and putting all of themselves out there. HM Juice Robinson vs SANADA - Really good stuff from both guys. Juice has seriously been on fire since coming back and SANADA's performances lately have also been a step above the past year and a half or so. Tetsuya Naito vs EVIL - Probably the best match these two have had since the turn. Helps that it was shorter than the other two.
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Oct 11, 2020 12:13
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G1 Climax Night 15 [10/13] MOTYC Shingo Tagaki vs Taichi - About as expected. Probably the two most impressive guys in the tournament, alongside Suzuki and (in his own way) Yoshi-Hashi Jay White vs Minoru Suzuki - Suzuki rules. Switchblade rules. The finish.... didn't rule quite as much. Minor gripe in the end, though. HM Kazuchika Okada vs Tomohiro Ishii - Good match. They've had better. gently caress the money clip. That is all 
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Oct 13, 2020 12:54
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G1 Climax Night 16 [10/14] MOTYC KENTA vs Yoshi-Hashi - Y-H has really brought it in a way I don't think anybody expected this G1, and he perfectly matched up with the absolute master dickhead KENTA. This match was a banger. SANADA vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Started off with some nice matwork and grapplefucking and escalated into a pretty typical Tanahashi main event, but uh, I'm not complaining, 'cause those are great! HM Juice Robinson vs Zack Sabre Jr. - Still in awe that Juice has gotten the We Will Rock You over in Japan. They really like him. Tetsuya Naito vs Toru Yano - That was fun. Naito when he's playing along with the other guy's schtick is always so fun. That was one of the best Yano matches I've ever seen. EVIL vs Hirooki Goto - Very enjoyable BEEF battle with a pretty minimal amount of DICK involvement. Not quite on MOTYC level but one of EVIL's best of the tournament. I sometimes think "Am I too glowing with my praise of New Japan? I've nominated a LOT of these G1 matches." But for the life of me I can't take any of these off. Even Juice/ZSJ, the "worst" of the five, was rather good! This was a really good show.
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Oct 14, 2020 12:59
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G1 Climax Night 17 [10/16] MOTYC Kota Ibushi vs Taichi - This is one of those matches where I just couldn't stop smiling. loving watch this match. Jay White vs Tomohiro Ishii - I feel like this one kind of speaks for itself. A+++. HM Shingo Takagi vs Minoru Suzuki - Yo I heard you like it when a human slab of beef and The Scariest Man On The Planet crash into and scream at each other. Could've definitely used 6 or 7 more minutes, I'd assume they want to save a bit for the NEVER title match that's probably coming.
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Oct 16, 2020 12:55
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G1 Climax Night 18 [10/17] MOTYC Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Zack Sabre Jr. - Feels like these two have been attached at the hip for like a year and a half, between their RevPro title feud last year and the Tag Title program that occupied the summer, but it's one of those matchups that you see a lot for a reason: it's a good one. SANADA vs EVIL - Despite whatever problems I or the rest of this subforum have with these two, they're both very skilled wrestlers who know each other very well. Intense matchup that the crowd was all the way invested in, which added a ton. HM Hirooki Goto vs Juice Robinson - Stoic New Japan stalwart whose star has fallen into the midcard vs charismatic up-and-coming gaijin 10 years his junior. This is one of those matches that could be kind of whatever if either guy weren't totally feeling it but more often than not they're going to deliver a good, hard hitting performance. I'm so happy to see Juice again.
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Oct 17, 2020 11:23
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 10:35 |
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G1 Climax Finals [10/18] MOTYC Kota Ibushi vs SANADA - Just one or two tiny notches below last year's final. Excellent showing from both guys outside of, like, 2 or 3 kinda dodgy spots. Super intense in the back half. HM CHAOS (Goto, Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, and YTR) vs. Suzuki-gun (ZSJ, Taichi, Desperado, and DOUKI) - SZKG are faces idgaf what anybody says, let's get DOUKI his first New Japan belt!!! Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki - I am looking forward to Shingo and Suzuki beating each other up some more, and I love Hiromu of course. Uncle Nobu's great but he was admittedly kind of a bit player here.
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Oct 18, 2020 09:49
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