Okada vs. Omega

[Uncle Sam]

I watched it. It was very good, and not just because I'm a big fan of anything Terminator related. Six stars? Ridiculous - it was five and seven eighths at best.

 

[ShinChan]

Six star is too ridiculous.

I mean it's so dumb. I don't know why Meltzer overrated it.

It's just like an advertisement about pencil which said that you'll get 110 marks out of 100 because of extra 10 marks due to good handwriting by that particular pencil.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

I don't really care for Meltzer, yes he has probably seen more matches than anybody else but I think he think he definitely has biases towards Japanese matches (even though I too usually prefer them, at least I admit my biases).

The guy "invented" star ratings for matches right? So I guess he never said 5 was the highest his system could go lol

Personally I'm very happy the match has got so much exposure and generated interest in New Japan.

As for the mach itself. Well I will repost my review I did the high after WK.

And now for our main event. As I mentioned before, I was sitting with many foreigners. Every single one of them was behind Kenny. But interestingly enough not one of them voiced anything negative about Okada. No boos, pure respect.

Heavyweight Title: Okada vs Omega. Absolutely amazing build up package (with English subtitles! Fit the "going global" theme excellently). Entrance videos before the match were great as were the entrances themselves.

When the match started I was very worried. Because while the two of them were doing nothing fundamentally wrong in the opening minutes, it was not as gripping as the previous match. The crowd were not reacting as strongly to what was going on. But oh boy, my fears were quashed. All it was, was a slow slow burn to an absolute masterpiece of a match.

Again, no idea how the internet viewers took this match. But after the point

Spoiler

they did the spot with the table on the floor

the match was unlike anything I had experienced in my life before. The crowd, the excitement, the near falls. It was crazy. When I said before that WK felt like a celebration of wrestling, this match absolutely summed it up.

The match had it all: traditional spots, technical work, high flying, brawling, psychology, masterful near falls, all of it told by two expert wrestlers at the top of their game. I actually CRIED watching this, and I was not the only one! Yes I do mark out, but I never thought I would ever say that about a wrestling match. I always found the "fight forever" chant tacky but it wouldve applied here. Every time there was a kickout there was the shock but also joy that the match will go on just a little longer. This match felt like an ultimate love letter to wrestling and I will never forget it!

Spoiler

As I mentioned, huge Kenny support but the crowd was 100% unified when Okada won. Everyone was overjoyed, men, women, kids. He is an excellent standard bearer for the company. The two of them are made men. That's the true beauty of a match, when you're put over even in defeat. Kenny's star has risen and he will absolutely get the belt!

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

It was an incredible match. Not the best in the history of professional wrestling for everyone, just for Meltzer and some avid New Japan fans. I've been watching puro for a long time now and I remember Meltzer shitting on New Japan some 10 years ago. He was hard on them and now he's hard for them. He's totally biased and he knows it.

He may be a reliable source of information, but his rating system is flawed. It's not the law. It's his opinion and it doesn't matter if you've seen 1 match or 10000. Wrestling is universal and the way it talks to you and stands out in your memory is how you rate it.

My favorite match of all time is also a New Japan one, I think rated with 5 stars at the time. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi, some two years ago. I loved everything about that match. I obviously have a bias towards Ibushi, ence my username and probably my decision for it.

Omega and Okada was really good, but in the end I know I won't care about it in a year's time. I think Okada has the facial expressions of an avocado and that Omega is the overrated wrestler of the year. See? Bias.

 

[ShinChan]

Omega = Overrated?

Wow.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Does anybody know if NJPW World has English commentary for everything or is it just for select events? Asking for a friend.

 

[ShinChan]

I guess, for select events.

Not fully sure.

 

[Papa Pillman]

Does anybody know if NJPW World has English commentary for everything or is it just for select events? Asking for a friend.

They don't even have Japanese commentary for every event that they put on NewJapanWorld.

They did a really small handful shows with English commentary in 2016. If English commentary is that important, and being behind on the product isn't that big of a deal, possibly turn to the AXS TV show.

 

[justinsayne]

JR & Josh Barnett do the commentary for the show on AXS TV

 

[ShinChan]

Josh Barnett of UFC?

 

[justinsayne]

Yes, he also use to wrestle for NJPW

 

[Papa Pillman]

Same Josh Barnett.

He was a regular in New Japan in '03/'04; competing on multiple complete tours, including a couple 1/4 Tokyo Dome matches(even getting a one-on-one match with Nagata at the main event of the '03 Tokyo Dome show for the IWGP title).

He also made several appearances in Inoki Genome between '08 and '12.

He has really come into his own as a high quality color guy on the NJPW AXS show.

 

[Uncle Sam]

If anyone from NJPW is combing this thread for market research, English commentary really does make a big difference to me. I was surprised by how well Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino did.

Omega = Overrated?

Wow.

This sounds like hyperbole... but Kenny Omega is maybe the most complete wrestler I've ever seen.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

If anyone from NJPW is combing this thread for market research, English commentary really does make a big difference to me. I was surprised by how well Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino did.

Have to agree. I don't mind the Japanese commentary, it's just I, yknow, like to know what is actually happening with back story and the arc the characters bare going through etc...

And Kelly and Corino were actually really quite good I thought.

 

[BaconBits]

Same Josh Barnett.

He was a regular in New Japan in '03/'04; competing on multiple complete tours, including a couple 1/4 Tokyo Dome matches(even getting a one-on-one match with Nagata at the main event of the '03 Tokyo Dome show for the IWGP title).

He also made several appearances in Inoki Genome between '08 and '12.

He has really come into his own as a high quality color guy on the NJPW AXS show.

Did you ever see the open workout he did before one of his Strikeforce or UFC fights that was him and his trainer more or less working a match? It was pretty cool.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I haven't, but I'll probably hunt out a video now.

 

[ABMorales787]

I actually did the same thing and rated the match 11/10. Thing is, and Dave points it out himself, the match before hand was also really good. Tanahashi vs Naito. And so was Goto vs Shibata. But they were progressive in quality and I had show that somehow. I rated Naito/Tanahashi 10/10 based on how good the match was and the fact that it was the most story driven match on the show. But then Okada and Omega was better and I had to somehow express that without having to tip scales. Hence the extra points.

Rating matches is a wacky business. Just don't take it too seriously.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'll get to it tonight or tomorrow. This has peaked my interest to put it mildly, though I doubt I'll go as high as some.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I'll get to it tonight or tomorrow. This has peaked my interest to put it mildly, though I doubt I'll go as high as some.

I doubt you'll be much of a fan of the undercard, but the only match in the final four that I could anticipate you having any chance of going under the B+/A- range on is Goto/Shibata, you will likely hate how they worked most of the last five or six minutes of that one(which I loved BTW). I'm guessing that if you don't find the opening minutes too fruitless, the main event should be an easy A with A+ possibilities on your scale.

 

[klunderbunker]

I doubt you'll be much of a fan of the undercard, but the only match in the final four that I could anticipate you having any chance of going under the B+/A- range on is Goto/Shibata, you will likely hate how they worked most of the last five or six minutes of that one(which I loved BTW). I'm guessing that if you don't find the opening minutes too fruitless, the main event should be an easy A with A+ possibilities on your scale.

I'm on the Goto match now and the Dolph Ziggler style story from the commentators is getting on my nerves.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I made the exact comparison in another thread actually. I feel you 100%.

 

[klunderbunker]

Tanahashi vs. Naito was very, very good.

 

[ShinChan]

If anyone from NJPW is combing this thread for market research, English commentary really does make a big difference to me. I was surprised by how well Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino did.



This sounds like hyperbole... but Kenny Omega is maybe the most complete wrestler I've ever seen.

I was sarcastically asking him the question how Omega is overrated of all things.

I have yet to listen him on mic but he's good enough in the ring for me to become his fan.

 

[Uncle Sam]

He's good. Really good. In two languages. I mean, probably - I don't speak Japanese.