At the start of 2015, signs really do seem to be suggesting
that wrestling is entering a new world. Yes, that’s a reference to New Japan
Pro Wrestling and its WWE Network-like streaming service, launched at the tail
end of 2014 and likely to have received a boost in subscribers with the occurrence
of Wrestle Kingdom 9; but it goes beyond this. A startling number of outlets
for quality wrestling are orbiting the once unparalleled WWE, with increasing
velocities and more than a slight chance of causing some collisions. Although
WWE is still the biggest fish in the pond, other organizations, with their
growing prominence, have potential to exert a force from without on the WWE,
hopefully leading them to up their game. If not, fans have the option to take
their chants and go home. And dedicate their viewing to more exciting
territories.
It’s as good a time as ever to start looking at a few of the
varied promotions out there and highlight what’s going down by reacting to the
highs and lows. By no means will I try to be first with reviews nor am I
interested in breaking news. There are plenty of places out there for that with
far more experience and resources. What I hope to bring is some interesting
takes on what’s out there from one singular perspective and build a community
of likeminded fans with some critical thoughts and a bit of a sense of humor.
This week has been extremely eventful for the promotions I
hope to keep track of with NJPW having their biggest event of the year, made
available to international audiences via Pay Per View and New Japan World for
the first time, TNA airing their first episode of Impact on its new host
station Discover America, and Lucha Underground holding a critical show in its
narrative, one which would name their first championship belt holder. I find I
cannot just ignore the WWE so I also plan to give a look at a few of the goings
ons over there and, like other proponents of NXT, I’ll treat it as a separate
program as well. Despite the fact that it is under the WWE umbrella, its
uniqueness and high quality earns it a distinct look. I’d also like to include
Ring of Honor in the mix, though the challenge of getting eyeballs on their
product will be a theme I revisit, as I am not in range of their tv show and
find accessing the re-broadcasts on the website to be a less than stellar
experience.
And now, the good, the bad, and the weird for the week of
January 4 – January 11, starting with New Japan Pro Wrestling.
The Good
NJPW Far be it
from me to offer anything all that different from the heaps of praise already
bestowed upon the increasingly hot promotion and this powerhouse, delivering a
solid card of technical wrestling and two main events that have many describing
as match of the year candidates. The one that took top honors in my book, and
quite possibly being the best pro wrestling match that I feel I have ever seen
is Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kota Ibushi. It starts with the creative and intensely
charismatic entrance of Nakamura, bringing out the ‘King’ in his ‘King of
Strong Style’ moniker, and doing so with peculiar flair that many would shy
away from. Then, the realness of the rivalry between him and Ibushi came right
out with Ibushi shoving away Nakamura’s patented leaning head clean break, and
then Nakamura returning the favor by suckering him in with an insincere
handshake and a stomp to the back of his head. Ibushi would continue with
several taunts, mocking the intercontinental champion’s numerous mannerisms.
Both would begin hitting each other with alarmingly stiff shots, specifically a
series of punches that actually gave credence to the old school rule of closed
fist punches being an illegal maneuver. Ibushi also not only recovered from
some of Nakamura’s most intense throws, but did so with a maniacal grin spreading across his
face. One jaw-dropping sequence found Ibushi hitting Nakamura with Nakamura’s
own back drop suplex, mimicking some of Nakamura’s trademark ring entrance
theatrics, and then delivering a running knee at such high speed, the camera
couldn’t keep up fast enough to show the point of impact. These two pushed
themselves and the art of choreographing a dramatic and physically demanding
fight simulation. Their continued confrontations will no doubt be legendary and
highly sought after on whatever platform its available.
I’m gonna give a couple more mentions, though keep in mind,
I am pointing out a couple of extremely strong points amidst a whole show and
roster of strong points. No way to report it all, these are just a few
personally highly reqarding aspects. First goes to the team of Bobby Fish and
Kyle O’Reilly, Reddragon, who are tag title holders in both ROH and NJPW. In a
four way tag team match filled extraordinary coordination and technically
impressive feats, I was glad to see Reddragon come out on top, with their style
combining quick paced high impact strikes and sharply executed throws. In the
final minutes of the match they pulled off a number of impressive double team
maneuvers beginning with Demolition’s classic finisher with the elbow from the
second turnbuckle replaced by a stomp. Then, they pulled off a dizzying
multi-step sequence with O’Reilly hitting a double underhook DDT as Fish
assisted by hoisting the opponent up by his legs; then off the impact of the
DDT, Fish lifted the opponent up into a vicious back suplex as O’Reilly kicked
him up and away. Finally came their often used finished, Chasing The Dragon, in which O’Reilly holds an opponent up in a
suplex position, Fish hits a roundhouse kick to the back of the opponent’s
head, followed by O’Reilly doing a brainbuster. The kick comes across like an
executioner hitting the switch to trigger a guillotine to come crashing down,
precise and brutal. Very impressed by this team and looking forward to more in
Japan and the US.
Another honorable mention goes out to jr. heavyweight
challenger and now champion Kenny Omega, now ‘The Cleaner,’ who prior to
Wrestle Kingdom 9 joined the Bullet Club and adapted anew heel persona. He fuly
owned the sleazy look and mannerisms of his newly invented character and they
were highly entertaining. While working a style that involves cheap shots and
dishonorable tactics, Omega found well placed spots to hit impressive maneuvers
in line with the cruiserweight style, including a lightning quick snap
full-nelson suplex and a fantastic finisher that takes his opponent from the
top of Omega’s shoulders and flips him into a driver-like slam. Kenny Omega
looks to bring some heated storytelling top the Jr. Heavyweight title scene
along with a very impressive arsenal of moves.
The Bad
NOTHING on this show struck me as outright bad. I could see
how the Omega’s opponent Ryusuke Taguchi lacks direction, with a move-set that
is all over the place, echoing several American wrestlers, but without a clear
unifying aesthetic of his own. This has been brought up by the hosts of JAW
(Japanese Audio Wrestling), a great show that airs monthly on LAW Radio, and
perhaps the notion got into my head while watching this match. It definitely
came through as he tried to mock Omega’s heelish posturing. It came off as
lacking in passion as the villain in the fight an circles around him in the
charisma department.
The Weird
Minoru Suzuki’s opponent, Sakuraba brought an MMA background
to a match that was supposed to bring the influence of that style of combat
heavily into the mix. He himself is a pretty diminutive figure and without much
background on him, it could be difficult to be engaged by his appearance or
grappling style. The mask he wore out to the ring seemed like a nod to old
school Scifi superhero shows. I wonder what effect that has on the audience in
Japan but it was a little difficult to grasp a vibe from for me.
I watched the show on New Japan World and after the
impressive show, which had so many more bright spots than the ones mentioned
above, I will check out all future events that are aired. If this quality level
continues, and I see no reason why it wouldn’t, there is potential for New
Japan to bring a few shows to the US via Pay Per View per year. I would not
hesitate even a little, though, to pick up ‘World to fill in the gaps.
That’s it for now. I hope to weigh in on this Lucha
Underground and TNA’s first offerings of 2015.
There’s no community without an ‘I’ and a split apart ‘you’
so please bring your opinions, dissent, hat tip, ridicule, questions and what
have you to the comment section below.
Shout at me on twitter at @mondcurrymark.
よろしく
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