Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma (NJPW 02/14/15)

Post by **SammyJ_D** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 2:17 am

Discuss here

Post by **InYourCase** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 12:08 am

I have this at ****3/4, which means I should probably have this on my Top 100. I can't take a stand on this right now. Not an all-time great like the two WK9 main events, so I need to sit on it for awhile.

Post by **Jareddatdude** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 2:57 am

This match was pretty good. One of my favorite NJPW matches ever. While I only started really watching New Japan this year I was fully invested and ready to pop big if Honma won. Yes I knew he wasn't going to win but that son of a bitch had me going. Hats of to Ishii, he was no slouch

Post by **Statoke** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 3:32 pm

I have it rated ****3/4 too but I doubt it would make my top 100, it just doesn't feel like an all time great, really I only rated it so high due to being such a mark.

Post by **brandonbitw** » Sun Nov 15, 2015 12:09 am

*****. My 2015 MOTY. Honma is a madman with the headbutts and plays the role of the underdog better than almost anyone I've seen; Ishii is truly a stone pit bull here. No match this year had me marking out like this war.

Post by **Rah** » Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:19 am

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I don't get any of the praise, here. I've read that it gets better once they get past the obligatory Ishii shtick, but I just cannot justify sticking it out in hopes that it does, especially in a project where there are so many matches with better starts.

I enjoy both men, and they had a great match before, but this just feels recycled and too long. I'm equally not sure if Ishii's prototypical formula is too over-exposed for myself (and I barely seek NJPW out), or I'm the unlucky recipient of matches that conform to that, but the overrelience in opening a match with elbow strikes, losing, and resetting to chest slaps is irksome. Especially when the spots themselves drag on so mundanely. It's fine if you've built the exchanges up to mean something with two "bulls", as opposed to other guys who cannot hang in these exchanges, but if it happens over-and-over, it loses any meaning or importance.

Post by **Statoke** » Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:42 am

Rah wrote:I enjoy both men, and they had a great match before, but this just feels recycled and too long.

This was there first match I thought?

Post by **Rah** » Mon Nov 16, 2015 11:37 am

Statoke wrote:
Rah wrote:I enjoy both men, and they had a great match before, but this just feels recycled and too long.
This was there first match I thought?

They've had a couple. The better match, I thought, was their outing from Dontaku 2014. Again, it starts off with the typical exchanges that I'm far from a fan of, and seemingly in a minority in saying so, but it's not only 10 minutes shorter (allowing for things to be more compacted) but a much higher performance from both men.

Post by **sternness** » Wed Nov 18, 2015 12:18 am

Statoke wrote:
Rah wrote:I enjoy both men, and they had a great match before, but this just feels recycled and too long.
This was there first match I thought?

Nah. They had a NEVER Title match at Wrestling Dontaku last year and a match at the 7/26/14 G1 show.

Post by **Tim Cooke** » Wed Nov 18, 2015 2:06 am

I don't think this is their best match against each other. The 2014 G-1 match is a lot more compact, has more heat, and generally plays better in rewatching.

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