NJPW (Discussion)

[GuestTimekeeper]

Until I see the schedule, I'm assuming Hiromu's only loss will be to Dragon Lee. He can lose to his long time rival. Would love if Liger plays spoiler and gets a crafty veteran win. Losing to anyone else would damage his credibility I think. Not a lot, but some.

[dancecab]

See I strongly disagree. You've already had Hiromu completely run through all challengers. I don't think him loosing to someone like Ospreay or Ricochet will hurt him. Plus it sets up future challengers as well.

My money is on Ospreay winning the whole thing and then winning the belt. I just see the US getting Ricochet Vs. Ospreay 3 for the title in July. But that could easily just be fantasy booking. Although now that i say that watch Hiromu keep the title til Wrestle Kingdom and then drop it to Kushida.

[Frank Olson]

Didn't fully finish watching Dontaku until today (it's hard for old man Frank to watch these 4ish hour shows on work nights). I thought Omega vs. Ishii was really fantastic, and in fact so good that it kind of made their excellent New Japan Cup match seem worse in hindsight. I couldn't believe that they kept up that relentless pace for nearly 25 minutes. Ishii pulling out reverse hurricanranas is hilarious, but in a totally awesome way. I think I am at the point where I prefer Omega's V-Trigger to Nakamura's Boma Ye. He just hits it so crisply and with such a vicious snap. There was one point in the endless closing stretch of this match when Omega hit a big lariat and the impact of it made me jump out of my seat. Crazy match.

As others have pointed out the IWGP Title match suffered a bit because there was simply no way it was going to match the pace and intensity of the semi-main. There was also an unfortunate botch early on when Okada was supposed to have hit Fale with a DDT but Fale's head (which the camera had a close-up on at the time) clearly did not come anywhere close to hitting the mat. It was still a solid match, but definitely the weak link in the series of Okada IWGP Title defenses this year.

I know that everyone is tired of the Taguchi Japan vs. LIJ matches, but I really enjoyed both of those matches from this show. KUSHIDA reversing Hiromu's sunset flip powerbomb into an armbar on the apron was awesome, and I like that they are continuing the story of Hiromu dominating KUSHIDA.

Cody Rhodes remains thoroughly mediocre. It's so awkward to watch him on these New Japan shows because he just feels completely out of place. He does these poses like he is soaking in the audience reaction, but he usually isn't getting one.

[Frank Olson]

One possibility that occurred to me in regards to the Best of the Super Juniors outcome is Hiromu winning the tournament as champion but then being challenged to a title match by Tiger Mask W. I realize that Tiger Mask W hasn't been presented as a Jr. per se, but a bout between he and Hiromu would be a marquee match worthy of Dominion.

[Grammarian]

It's official.

[Danwaka]

[BackLash]

While New Japan themselves still haven't officially confirmed that Owens and ZSJ are HW, Owens has mentioned on his Twitter that he is.


And apparently, Sabre is not only being booked as one according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter but he's also going to be in the G1.
http://411mania.com/wrestling/zack-sabr ... t-in-njpw/

[Grammarian]

While New Japan themselves still haven't officially confirmed that Owens and ZSJ are HW, Owens has mentioned on his Twitter that he is.


And apparently, Sabre is not only being booked as one according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter but he's also going to be in the G1.
http://411mania.com/wrestling/zack-sabr ... t-in-njpw/

I'm not sure it really matters for Chase Owens. I can't see him in much more than multi-man tags for the foreseeable future. At least BOSJ would have given him some individual purpose. He doesn't really have a junior to tag with in Bullet Club as a regular tag combo.

[BackLash]

While New Japan themselves still haven't officially confirmed that Owens and ZSJ are HW, Owens has mentioned on his Twitter that he is.


And apparently, Sabre is not only being booked as one according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter but he's also going to be in the G1.
http://411mania.com/wrestling/zack-sabr ... t-in-njpw/

I'm not sure it really matters for Chase Owens. I can't see him in much more than multi-man tags for the foreseeable future. At least BOSJ would have given him some individual purpose. He doesn't really have a junior to tag with in Bullet Club as a regular tag combo.

I agree, I'm not sure if he pushed for the change or New Japan decided to make him HW on their own. As much as I like him, I think you're correct in saying that he's an extra body for multi-mans. While I can see him as a pin eater in the G1, with as many over and/or Japanese-born guys that are going to be in along with Cody and Sabre taking part, Chase may not even be touring then.

[Jacob's Bawks]

They confirmed it when they put him in the Tag League last year.

[Ferrante207]

Ugh ZSJ IN THE G1. I can't escape this skeleton.


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[Buzz Sawyer]

Didn't fully finish watching Dontaku until today (it's hard for old man Frank to watch these 4ish hour shows on work nights). I thought Omega vs. Ishii was really fantastic, and in fact so good that it kind of made their excellent New Japan Cup match seem worse in hindsight. I couldn't believe that they kept up that relentless pace for nearly 25 minutes. Ishii pulling out reverse hurricanranas is hilarious, but in a totally awesome way. I think I am at the point where I prefer Omega's V-Trigger to Nakamura's Boma Ye. He just hits it so crisply and with such a vicious snap. There was one point in the endless closing stretch of this match when Omega hit a big lariat and the impact of it made me jump out of my seat. Crazy match.

As others have pointed out the IWGP Title match suffered a bit because there was simply no way it was going to match the pace and intensity of the semi-main. There was also an unfortunate botch early on when Okada was supposed to have hit Fale with a DDT but Fale's head (which the camera had a close-up on at the time) clearly did not come anywhere close to hitting the mat. It was still a solid match, but definitely the weak link in the series of Okada IWGP Title defenses this year.

I know that everyone is tired of the Taguchi Japan vs. LIJ matches, but I really enjoyed both of those matches from this show. KUSHIDA reversing Hiromu's sunset flip powerbomb into an armbar on the apron was awesome, and I like that they are continuing the story of Hiromu dominating KUSHIDA.

Cody Rhodes remains thoroughly mediocre. It's so awkward to watch him on these New Japan shows because he just feels completely out of place. He does these poses like he is soaking in the audience reaction, but he usually isn't getting one.

Sometimes it better to look good then be good.

[Jacob's Bawks]

Matchcards for BoSJ were announced and so were additional matches for Dominion.



Dominion additions:

• IWGP Jr Tag-Team Championship: Roppongi Vice (c) vs. The Young Bucks
  
  IWGP Tag-Team Championship: War Machine (c) vs. GoD
  
  Special Singles: Michael Elgin vs. Cody
  
  Lumberjack Deathmatch for the NEVER Openweight Championship: Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Hirooki Goto

[Rainmaker_F7]

Fully expecting Elgin to win to set-up him vs Omega at the Long Beach show for the Heavyweight Title. Dunno what to expect from the Suzuki vs Goto match, I was hoping for a traditional singles match and I thought they could easily have a great match here on a bigger show, but this Lumberjack stipulation is not something I am trilled about, since it is probably going to be loaded with Taichi, Lizuka and Yano bullshit

This first BOTSJ show looks incredible on paper and there are two potential top tier MOTY candidates. Also Ricochet/Ospreay just a day later..can't wait, should be a legendary tournament with this A Block

[dancecab]

Very interesting that Block B has less tape delay nights.

I'm curious. How is Yano and Suzuki Gun seen by the japanese audience? I've been doing alot of thinking and foreign fans complaining about them might be missing the point if they're well received. I'm operating under the hypothesis that Japanese fans may not just want to watch NJPW for match quality as much as the foreign fan.