Your random great match of the day: Tanahashi v. Suzuki from the October 2012 NJPW PPV. What a brutal and great match. Tanahashi looks and acts like a rock star and Suzuki is this grizzled tough guy and it's such an awesome dynamic, especially with Suzuki just beating the hell out of Tanahashi with everything he has, and the supposed pretty boy champion coming back with shots to the leg. Plus there's this awesome spot where Tanahashi puts him into an abdominal stretch and plays air guitar on him, and Suzuki has a supremely pissed off look and proceeds to just slap the shit out of him. 30 minutes just flies by, an easy ***** match.
Your random great match of the day: Tanahashi v. Suzuki from the October 2012 NJPW PPV. What a brutal and great match. Tanahashi looks and acts like a rock star and Suzuki is this grizzled tough guy and it's such an awesome dynamic, especially with Suzuki just beating the hell out of Tanahashi with everything he has, and the supposed pretty boy champion coming back with shots to the leg. Plus there's this awesome spot where Tanahashi puts him into an abdominal stretch and plays air guitar on him, and Suzuki has a supremely pissed off look and proceeds to just slap the shit out of him. 30 minutes just flies by, an easy ***** match.
I think "your random great match of the day" should become a tradition. Have an actual random great match EVERY DAY!
ReplyDeleteWhile none of the 3MB guys will be as good as either of these two, they should steal the abdominal stretch/air guitar spot for their matches.
ReplyDeleteWhere does the match start for those of us unfamiliar with NJPW?
ReplyDeleteIs this like NJPW's Wrestlemaina or something? 4:20 (heh...) is awfully long PPV.
ReplyDeleteAlos, I second the idea of having a Random Great Match of the Day every day. Sure wouldn't hurt traffic to the site.
I haven't closely followed puro in a while, but New Japan's "Wrestlemania" has usually been the annual Jan. 4 Tokyo Dome Show. Longer shows are more common in Japan generally because they have longer matches. The main events of classic 90s All Japan could easily run in the 40-60 minute range alone.
ReplyDeleteThe lead-in video starts around the 3:09:10 mark.
ReplyDeleteI'd also recommend the fourth match on the show, TenKoji vs. Lance Archer & Harry Smith (or, as he's known here, Davey Boy Smith, Jr.). Go fig, get Harry away from WWE creative and he's not too bad.
ReplyDeleteSeems like they're doing more big shows, though, with the recent forays into iPPV.
ReplyDeleteSmith was great, the matches he was having on Superstars right before he was released were always really good. I really hope TNA gives him a shot someday.
ReplyDeleteWatch it all, it's a great show. DO IT.
ReplyDeleteIt's 12:07 PM, I didn't sleep a single minute last night and I'm somehow not tired. This is happening.
ReplyDeleteA match of the day is a great idea! I would like it of we could see a MOTYC each day and then vote on a winner.
ReplyDeleteWhile it was an insane spot fest, Ibushi v Omega is just not getting enough love. Also, Generico v De Sol is a must.
Which Generico/Del Sol... Part 3, Evolve 17?
ReplyDeleteThis looks like it might be a lot of fun to watch from the first five minutes. Does anyone have a match listing and any backstory on the fueds so I know who's who? I only recognize some of the gaijins like Low Ki, Smith and Alex Shelly.
ReplyDeleteSorry! I should have specified! But yes, that's the one. I really enjoyed it, but I may be the only one who considers it MOTYC. Wouldn't be the first time I was alone in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteHas there ever been a serious attempt to show Japanese shows in North America with English commentary? I'd drop a few bucks on a PPV, but I need to understand what's going on.
ReplyDeleteRGMOTD is a fun idea. Maybe a few choices from the contributors - commenters even.
ReplyDeleteOut of interest, Scott, was there any reason you docked The Shield vs Ryback/Hell No a 1/4 star?
Not sure about any backstories, but here's the lineup courtesy of...ahem...well, don't worry about it.
ReplyDelete01. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Strong Man vs Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii
IWGP Jr. HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH;
02. Forever Hooligans (Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov) (c) vs Time Splitters (KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley)
IWGP Jr. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH;
03. Kota Ibushi (c) vs Low Ki
IWGP TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH;
04. TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) (c) vs Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.)
05. Tetsuya Naito vs Yujiro Takahashi
06. Togi Makabe & Wataru Inoue vs Kazushi Sakuraba & Katsuyori Shibata
TOKYO DOME IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CONTENDERSHIP MATCH;
07. Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Karl Anderson
IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH;
08. Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs Hirooki Goto
IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH;
09. Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Minoru Suzuki
Is Strong Man someone that has worked much in the US? Forgive my noobness with Japanese wrestling, but he looks familiar. It may be b/c I thought he was Goldberg when I saw him walking out.
ReplyDeleteI've watched that match in it's entirety about 10 times now.. Awesome match, so you're not that far off.. I know it won't get that MOTY love in the same way that we enjoyed it, but that probably has to do with the buyrate, and the crowd being on Library Status didn't help.. But yes, supremely dope match..
ReplyDeleteDel Sol has all those funky state of the art moves like the Slingshot Snap 450 and the Rising Sun, and that thing he does where he stops in mid somersault on his hands.. Dude is a certified G..
Japanese tag team names are so infinitely cooler than American team names. For one thing, they don't all have "Team" at the start, for another they aren't just a portmanteau (well, except TenKoji I guess) of both guys' gimmicks, and lastly, they are just f**king awesome.
ReplyDeleteWWE calling their teams Team (whatever) is too fucking stupid for words to even describe.
ReplyDeleteAnyone have a lint to this match? Because it sounds pretty sweet.
ReplyDeleteI still think "Team Friendship" for Kane and DB would have been awesome. Otherwise....totally agree.
ReplyDeleteIf RGMOTD includes old matches from Mid south and Memphis I'm all for it.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to see your picks for non-TNA/WWE matches.
That would have been good on it's own (just calling a team "Friendship" makes no sense at all, of course), but as soon as they started calling Sandow and Cody "Team Rhodes Scholars" we'd run into the same problem. What was wrong with just "Rhodes Scholars"? Shit, what was wrong with calling Bryan & Kane just "Hell No"? That's a GREAT name, but when you add the word "Team" to it it sounds fucking silly.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I can't stand a lack of announcers unless it's in person. I loved that WWE added alternate English commentary to Japanese matches on their DVDs.
ReplyDeleteI say it has to do with Stephanie and her love of Twilight.
ReplyDeleteThat just makes it so much worse... Biggest mistake WWE ever made: letting Stephanie run creative. If there was ever one moment you can say is the reason WWE has gone down down the crapper, that's it. I know I'm stating the obvious here, but still...
ReplyDeleteI know he was a regular in CMLL for awhile.
ReplyDeleteabsolutely. has no Japanese promotion ever tried this? it seems like such a no-brainer.
ReplyDeleteIn my next life.. I want to be reincarnated as Tanahashi's Air Guitar~!
ReplyDeleteIt must be noted that Suzuki looks like Kin Corn Karn in black trunks..
ReplyDelete^^^ Who would give a thumbs down to a comment about how awesome Samurai Del Sol is ??.. To WIMC, you're a buster...
ReplyDeleteIt was mistake to appoint her to such an important post as Vince could never bring himself to fire his daughter. Especially a post that basically needs someone new to be brought in regularly.
ReplyDeleteThis reminded me of an old school NWA show. Not a lot of glitz or production, just a bunch of guys going out and putting on good to great matches. The main event was great...psychology that you don't see in WWE anymore (Suzuki constantly working that arm and Tanahashi constantly selling...then vice versa with Tanahashi working Suzuki's leg). I also enjoyed the tag match that involved Alex Shelley and Alex Kozlov (putting on the hat and doing the weird Russian dance while kicking the guy in the head was great). The first time I've watched any extensive Japanese wrestling and I must concur that it was awesome.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that match too. Seemed like a pretty emphatic win for Archer/Smith.
ReplyDeleteAnd wrestling always gets ratings even when it sucks. Surely ESPN the Ocho would go for it....
ReplyDeleteI can get into Japanese matches without understanding the commentary, but I agree it'd be nice if we had an English commentary team. I remember loving the When Worlds Collide ppv back in the day because I could watch some lucha and have someone explaining all the angles. Side note, but damn is that ppv great or what? My friends and I used to watch that tape all the time back in the 90s.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised they've never tried to run a card in the U.S. Hell, Dragon Gate is a pretty small-time promotion in Japan and they opened a whole company in the U.S. that's doing fine. I'm sure NJPW would make money if they just ran one card a year or something, especially if they did it in a city that has a decent-sized Japanese population.
ReplyDeleteRGMOTD is not over... dont let the johnny come latelys fool you.
ReplyDeleteIf the main eventers arent commenting on it, its not over.
you commented
ReplyDeleteRGMOTD is awesome
ReplyDelete...You win this round...
ReplyDeleteI actually think they can't call them "the Rhodes Scholars" for legal reasons since it's a registered trademark.
ReplyDeleteNOAH released some of their shows in English.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that. Trademarks are based on the context they're used in as far as my knowledge of it is concerned. I could be wrong, obviously, but even if I am wrong I HIGHLY doubt that's the reason.
ReplyDeleteI know there were some shows (NOAH, maybe, as Corwin said) that were released with English commentary, but it was SO BAD that I would rather have had King and Michael Cole behind the desk. I personally love listening to the Japanese commentary. Based on their tones of speaking it sounds like they're actually analyzing the matches, and when certain things happen they go batshit nuts as if, and brace yourselves because based on American wrestling commentary you might not believe it, they actually CARE!
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that they need to find guys (or even just one) who can A) perform well on commentary and B) know something about the wrestlers they're talking about. For whatever reason there's a lot of difficulty finding people like that.
ReplyDeleteFrom the glory days of The MV Zone, a guy named Alias made one of my favourite videos ever, and it's for Minoru Suzuki. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFXgQedqEmw
ReplyDeleteEven the camerawork was awesome. Suzuki's defiant screams while in the figure-four, the shot of the belt after Tanahashi finally made to ropes - the presentation made a phenomenal match even better.
ReplyDeleteThere were also some FMW releases awhile back, but HOLY SHIT was the commentary awful -- awful enough, in fact, to make a Hayabusa vs. Gannousuke match with HBK as the ref nigh-unwatchable.
ReplyDeleteIdeally I'd love Joey Styles to do the commentary. Maybe even Tenay.
ReplyDeleteTenay and Styles would be great as long as Styles gave a shit and Tenay was in professor mode instead of lead announcer mode.
ReplyDeletePlus there's this awesome spot where Tanahashi puts him into an
ReplyDeleteabdominal stretch and plays air guitar on him, and Suzuki has a
supremely pissed off look and proceeds to just slap the shit out of him.
30 minutes just flies by, an easy ***** match.
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