Finally caught night 3 a tad late. Growing tired of chairs and ref bumps. The Bullet Club interference is fine, it’s storyline. Jay White’s win over Tanahashi could have been awesome…it was ruined IMO
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Giving you more of a reason to get behind Ibushi when they meet in the finals.
I actually had White winning these first two outings vs Okada and Tanahashi but not advancing to the finals after Okada comes back and winds up fully regaining his old form against Tanahashi on the last day to advance. That said, I didn’t have Okada losing to Fale.
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Thursday’s G1 match ups look solid for the most part. I’m not excited for Tama and Sanada for some reason (Think they not mesh well?).
The Ibushi/Juice match has me the most intrigued as I hope Juice has a good showing with Ibushi and it raises his stock further.
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So how we doing on the bracket? I have faith that you made some good picks.
I agree, I think especially if you are trying to pump up Jay White into this crazy heel you can’t make him a one trick pony. His reliance on ref bumps on consecutive nights is a bit lazy. I like his use of the barriers, especially when he ran Okada into the barrier then the apron multiple times.
The ref bumps need to stop, they are over used. I think small ones are fine like Yano having to be stopped from cheating by the ref as an example or being put in the line of an upcoming spot.
I don’t mind the BC interfering in matches, I have no doubt there is a build happening there. I’d like to see the Tongans win clean in a few of their matches especially if they are building them up to be a strongarm of Bullet Club.
Naito vs Ishii was an instant classic. Definitely MOTN and maybe match of the tournament thus far. Also the post match contained Kevin Kelly’s best line of the night. “there’s polite japanese fans, then there is this guy from the UK (footage shown of this dumbass from the UK making an ass of himself)”. Main event was solid as well. Pretty good show.
I will say I wasn’t a fan of the spot with Goto throwing and hit Omega with a chair when he was balanced on the top rope. There is so little margin for error on that spot anyways, throwing an object at someone trying to execute that is just asking for an injury. Not necessary. Crowd rightfully booed the shit out of that.
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The main tournament matches were really good. Except, I thought the Omega match was average. I also dug the fact that Hangman got in Okada’s face and told him to get his shit together and come heavy tomorrow. I will also die a great deal inside if Yoshi-Hashi beats Suzuki. 
Btw, TIL, that Suzuki’s theme is sung by Ayumi Nakamura. The lyrics in English is pretty badass!!
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Meltzer gave both Omega matches 5 Stars
I’m about as big of an Omega mark as you’ll find, but I’d have to disagree with Dave on the Goto one. Not as thrilling as either of the two previous matches in my opinion. Didn’t think for a second that there was even a sliver of a chance of Goto winning, and Kenny was more or less playing the hits, as Rocky said, minus the wacky Ibushi style moonsault off the bleachers. Don’t get me wrong, it was an enjoyable match, but not in the same league as the Naito/Omega insta-classic, nor that Naito/Ishii war.
On another note, I really hope this Yano losing streak story plays out for the rest of the tourney, just like it did for Honma in 2015. Each night he goes out and tries to match each opponent at their own game, and comes up just a bit short. Of course, the crowd’ll go apeshit when he finally ditches all semblance of fair play on the last night and hits a nut-shot to beat Tama.
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I listened to the Day 4 podcast late last night and to hear John and Wai discuss guys no more barricade spots because of toddlers, the Elgin/White match does it and you can see a man having to shield an older woman from getting trucked over
I came here to write how I hated the run ins but I popped for Red Shoes calling the DQ.
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I popped huge for the DQ. I enjoyed that they built to that, even if they know fans would be displeased with so much shannigans. I’d like someone to cut a promo challenging the locker room to stop with the DQ worthy tactics
As much as I share John and Wai’s frustration with NJPW’s presentation of refs, the brief moments of comeuppance heels get from them every year or so does make me chuckle.
In a new wrestling climate you have to find a new way to get heat, even if it’s go away heat. The Bullet Club OG is getting a lot of groans from me
My daughter almost took a guardrail to the face @ a Chikara show in Virginia. It’s a real possibility. She was less than an inch away.
A note on Tama Tonga
I’ve been trying to figure out why I can’t take Tama seriously as a dangerous heel, let alone a main event threat. Last night during his entrance it clicked. The dude has a serious babyface. And all that trap dancing and mean mugging only makes it worse. Anyone else think he should go back to the facepaint for this heel run?
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I’m a few days behind and I’m not sure if this has been talked about.
What does everyone think about “Broken” Okada?
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Apparently after his first few losses he said he was going to make it rain from here on. I am a fan of this turn as he’s basically made himself a goof with balloons but no matter how silly he seems he’s one of the top wrestlers in the world and always a threat. It’s a great use of his pedigree as a top guy during a tournament in which he has to have a ton of matches.
I have finally caught up! Some thoughts:
- it’s a shame Page isn’t getting more notable wins
- I expected Okada to make his come back when White started losing; seems that’s the booking at the moment
- real shame Kenny is working hurt (fractured heel if what he said on BTE is true); he seemed slow in his recent tag against Juice
- Ishii and Goto stole the show and while I was really confused why they were booked in the main it made plenty of sense (in Gedo we trust!); immediately in my top 3 matches of the tournament so far
- interesting story they are telling with Juice losing a ton after his big win at the Cow Palace; maybe a story where his hand is too much to overcome now but he gets many of these wins back when he’s fully healed and defending his title
- the Bullet Club story is getting so long in the tooth I don’t mind it anymore. The attacking the ref bit elevated the constant involvement and now I’m just waiting on somebody else to join them. They need a strong fourth: technically its 5 on 3 if they really all squared off.
Lastly, I am buying in to this C block. I know it’s between two guys who will have a singles match in Budahkan but I wouldn’t mind seeing a 3 day single elinimantion tournament between some of the non G1 competitors on the final 3 nights (Finley, Chase, Yujiro, Sho, Yo) with a spot in next years tournament on the line. Would be a cool way of elevating somebody and making use of all the match time leading up to the Finals on those final three nights.
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