[Seabs]

Kazuchika Okada vs Karl Anderson - NJPW 08.10.2012
Really good match. The improvement from Okada in just 10 months is incredible. Start of the year he looked like a great wrestler who could be lead to a great match with the right guy. Now he looks like a legit individual star in his own right. Thing I've been most impressed with him recently is how great of a worker in control of a match he is which is something that lets so many of the better wrestlers down. Just love how calm and collected he is when the match is going his way. Adored him just patiently waiting in the ring to see if Anderson can make the 20 count. If he doesn't then he's got the win, if not then cool, he's still got the match where he wants it. He's just as great when the tide changes too and he has to work from behind. Loved them doing the same sequence with the rail almost move for move but reversed. Sweet revenge spot and both the DDT and the Neckbreaker looked great. With New Japan finishing stretches you just know they wont let you down and almost always elevate the match to another tier. These are two of the better finishing guys so it's no surprise the last few minutes rocked with terrific drama, reversals and finisher teases. Anderson teasing the Rainmaker Lariat being reversed by Okada teasing the Ace Crusher was bossy as hell.

****

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Minoru Suzuki - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - NJPW 08.10.2012
I fell pretty comfortable calling this a carear Suzuki performance by some margin. Incredible showing from Suzuki and Tanahashi's the most reliable guy going in the world for putting in a main event showing when it matters. Air guitar spot set the tone for the match absolutely perfectly. Really put Suzuki into game mode and from then the match was just a wonderful main event battle. Limb work was great by both men. Dragon screw on Suzuki to set up the injured leg angle looked nasty as hell and was a perfect spot to set the leg work up. Leg work itself was magnificent and a huge step up from the usual leg work in New Japan main events where it can sometimes just be filler in the middle. Suzuki does as good of a sell job as you'll see all year. Absolutely adored him hobbling on one leg trying to run the ropes and then just launching himself with a dropkick. Lengthy submission holds would normally take me out of the match for a breather but these weren't rest holds and did a super job of really working the hold and continuing to build the drama up to it's peak. Goes 30 minutes but it barely felt like 20 and it was so great they didn't need to rely on big near falls to get to 30. Mentioned this about Naito/Okada II and it's worth a mention again here, I just love how they build the drama at the end from who's gonna hit their finisher and not is the finisher gonna be enough to win the match. There's a group of like 5-8 matches now that are all really close at the top of my MOTYC list and I'm not confident calling any of them my MOTY right now. Don't think I'll go that high with this but it's right up there. Still sticking with Okada/Naito I but maybe that has a lot to do with it being the pace setter for the rest of the year. AWESOME.

****1/2

[Bruce L]

Originally Posted by Yeah1993

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeKCHbWudDE

Aaand thank you!

[MF83]

Main event officially received WON ***** which if nothing else is a huge improvement for a match for others to try to emulate more than that ROH match.

The Gun Stun is not an Ace Crusher nor is it an RKO (almost identical because of its pouncing motion, but Anderson often attempts/sometimes hits it running) but its own upgraded maneuver. I'm not one of those move names matter kind of people but he should get credit for making arguably the best version of all the cutters even more unpredictable and more than well protected. Am I wrong?

I like the point about finishers. They've seemed to consciously switch back closer to more traditional strong style this year it seems, with that point along with more original match layouts, less formulaic matches, more mat wrestling and even shorter matches again.

Probably gonna break from wrestling again until the next iPPV but damn, what a show.

[Coffey]

Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Minoru Suzuki; New Japan Pro-Wrestling IWGP Heavyweight Championship; King of Pro-Wrestling 10/8/12

First off, you know a match is good when you're trying to nitpick it. I think the reason Dave Meltzer gushed over this match so much was because it had a very MMA feel to it, with a lot of the arm offense that Suzuki brought to the table. Tanahashi sold great, which I always think he does. The aforementioned arm work was great. I wasn't too high on a lot of the leg work that Tanahashi brought, although I did mark for the figure-four leglock spot. Also Suzuki works a lot better on offense than selling it. In my top five for the year, probably better than Richards/Elgin, but still firmly behind Tanahashi/Okada (Okada title win), Okada/Naito & Brock/Cena for me. Finished seemed abrupt & I wanted to see Suzuki go back to the Piledriver attempt. I also hated all of the standing slap spots.

Oh, I should mention the now infamous air guitar spot I guess: I don't see what the big deal was. It did seem out of character for Tanahashi & the crowd shit all over it, but it added some emotion to the match & fired up Suzuki, so I think it was fine.

[rafz]

NJPW King Of Pro Wrestling 08/10
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki
****3/4

by the moment, easily my pick to MOTY, fucking awesome match.

[Bruce L]

From "King of Pro Wrestling":

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki - ****½

Kazuchika Okada vs. Karl Anderson - ****¼

Kota Ibushi vs. Low Ki - ****

Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov vs. Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA - ***½

[Caponex75]

How is the Air guitar spot out of character for Tanahashi. Tanahashi is cocky and self adoring superstar....that spot was brilliant.

[Bubz]

Yeah I thought the air guitar spot was awesome, added a ton to the match.

[dukenukem3do]

PWG BOLA 2012

B-Boy vs Brian Cage ***
Kevin Steen vs Ricochet ****
Michael Elgin vs Davey Richards ****1/4

[EmbassyForever]

ROH Glory By Honor XI:
Davey Richards vs Jay Lethal - ****
Michael Elgin vs Kevin Steen - ****1/2
I've seen LOTS of people giving this full five stars, i'll watch this again