[3venflow]

Bishamon vs. Okada/Tanahashi was surely the best tag match of 2023 so far. Outstanding. Beating the two aces was huge for Bishamon who deserve this second title reign. I always love it when two 'lower' guys who make up a polished tag team beat two singles stars. It happened when the Bucks beat Jericho/MJF and Mox/Kingston. They'd always lose singles matches against the same wrestlers, but it makes sense for a tag team to win matches like these.

 

[thorwold]

The NOISE towards the end of the Tag Title match on the Anniversary show rasslin' in Japan is back, baby.

 

[RainmakerV2]

I'm sorry but Finlay looks like he's a wish.com cosplaying Jay White.

 

[TD Stinger]

Alright, I'm here to give you my deep, in depth analysis on Evil vs. Narita & Davis vs. Ya.......HAHAHA.

Nah. Fuck that, I ain't watching these. Evil & Davis won. Moving on. The matches for tomorrow look a lot more interesting with Shingo/Henare & Fletcher/Yoshi.

I'm sorry but Finlay looks like he's a wish.com cosplaying Jay White.

You would think someone would have looked at him and be like ".......let's at least do something different with the hair" so he doesn't feel like he's trying to capture Jay's energy that much.

 

[BigCy]

Matches haven't been all that great yet but nothing terrible. Agree on Goto/Hashi vs Okada/Tanahashi being some great tag wrestling and is easily match of the tour thus far.

Yeah, I've been vocal about it all over this board since Finlay came back from excursion but not feeling the Finlay thing. To his credit he has looked more serious since his heel turn and joining BC but he'll never be Jay White. I have a feeling he's going to be one of the final four. Please don't let him win the Cup Gedo. Your analogy is spot on @RainmakerV2 lol.

Shingo vs Henare should be good. I'm rooting for Henare (I doubt he's winning though.) Always liked him and think he's underrated.

 

[3venflow]

I'm just watching the tournament matches.

Day three was pure trash. Davis vs. Yano was as bad as it gets and I like Davis in Aussie Open. Yano's comedy suits undercard tags, not big tournament matches.

EVIL vs. Narita sucked too. I want LIJ era EVIL back, he was good. HoT era EVIL is the opposite.

However, today's show had two great additions to the tournament in Shingo vs. Henare and Kyle vs. YOSHI-HASHI. Henare vs. Shingo felt like a real 'NJPW' high drama main event and this has to be Henare's best match yet.

I saw a comparison between Kyle and a young Ospreay on Twitter and there's some truth to it. NJPW are apparently high on Kyle and if he stays there long-term, he could be HBK-ized and Davis Jannetty-ized. He and YOSHI-HASHI tore it down in their match.

 

[TD Stinger]

Caught the 2 matches from today. Wouldn't say they're anything blow away but unlike the previous 2 matches they feel like they belong in the tournament.

Fletcher beating Yoshi will probably lead to a Tag Title Match with Aussie Open & Bishamon at some point which is nice. I liked the match though I can't say I loved it like I've seen others claim. IDK, the Aussie Open guys, while very talented, are just missing something for me. They're great "MOVEZ" guys but they're missing an extra layer to their game.

Shingo vs. Henare was a nice hard hitting match, something that would felt appropriate for the old format of the Never Openweight Championship. And it's nice to see Henare pick up a big win.

 

[BigCy]

Oh yeah! Loving my boy Henare getting that big W and it was a good hard hitting stiff affair. Hashi vs Fletcher was solid.

My ranks for the first round...best to worst.

SANADA vs Taichi - 7.1 / 10
Henare vs Shingo - 7.0 / 10
El Phantasmo vs Naito - 6.9 / 10
Finlay vs Ishii - 6.7 / 10
Hashi vs Fletcher - 5.6 / 10
Shota vs Takahashi - 4.8 / 10
Narita vs EVIL - 4.0 / 10
Yano vs Davis - 2.9 / 10

Naito vs Owens and SANADA vs KENTA are next. Both should be decent.

 

[BigCy]

Naito vs Owens - 5.3 / 10 - Ok little popcorn match.
KENTA vs SANADA - 5.1 / 10 - About the same.

I'm already kind of wtf with some of these results. They're running stable vs stable on a couple of occasions, which isn't too unordinary but surprised to see more than one of those occurrences and there could yet be another one if Cobb takes out EVIL. I'm also surprised Fletcher and Davis both got past the first round. I would've guessed both would be eliminated first match or only one would make it at best.

Well KENTA's out, there goes one of my dark horse picks.

Honestly I don't care too much who wins but please let it be a fresh challenger for Okada or something we haven't seen in a long time.

 

[3venflow]

I didn't like either day five match.

KENTA vs. SANADA was average enough at sub-15 minutes last year, so they go for the half hour main event this time? This is your textbook example of long main event when not needed. It was excruciatingly slow and bad, with KENTA playing the Jr. heavyweight version of EVIL. The number of ref bumps was so absurd I had to laugh. SANADA has a new finisher but could use a new personality if he's ever going to be pushed further.

Naito vs. Owens was ok and inoffensive, but again felt very slow with Naito working at half-speed and Owens not being someone you'll get a very good match out of unless its a motivated top-level wworker.

It felt like a very lazy day despite them being in Nagoya, a region that has turned out in good numbers for NJPW going back decades.

Not the best NJC so far but the best is probably yet to come. Goto vs. Kyle Fletcher on the next show could be good and Tama vs. Henare has the potential to surprise if they work at their best recent standard.

Goto is still my dark horse pick for the tournament with it being his anniversary year... so watch him go out later.

 

[BigCy]

I didn't like either day five match.

KENTA vs. SANADA was average enough at sub-15 minutes last year, so they go for the half hour main event this time? This is your textbook example of long main event when not needed. It was excruciatingly slow and bad, with KENTA playing the Jr. heavyweight version of EVIL. The number of ref bumps was so absurd I had to laugh. SANADA has a new finisher but could use a new personality if he's ever going to be pushed further.

Naito vs. Owens was ok and inoffensive, but again felt very slow with Naito working at half-speed and Owens not being someone you'll get a very good match out of unless its a motivated top-level wworker.

It felt like a very lazy day despite them being in Nagoya, a region that has turned out in good numbers for NJPW going back decades.

Not the best NJC so far but the best is probably yet to come. Goto vs. Kyle Fletcher on the next show could be good and Tama vs. Henare has the potential to surprise if they work at their best recent standard.

Goto is still my dark horse pick for the tournament with it being his anniversary year... so watch him go out later.

I feel ya but I've been watching the matches on 2x speed so they never feel too long and that might be why I rated them higher than some would have. The KENTA/SANADA match had me laughing a couple times so that buttered the score up a little but yeah objectively neither match was that good just ok imo.

Tama vs Henare should be good. I'm not as sold on Aussie Open as some here might be but they're still good wrestlers.

Goto is not a bad shout out. They're already doing stable warfare all up in this tourney might as well make the resulting Sakura Genesis title match one as well. 3 of my 5 picks are still in. Go Cobb, EVIL, or Umino!

Inb4 David Finlay Cup win.

 

[TD Stinger]

Don't really have much to say about the last couple of days of action. I have pretty much no desire to see any Chase Owens match, even with Naito. Sanada vs. Kenta had a lot of shtick in it and got more boring as it went along. New Japan World has "Skip 10 Seconds ahead" button on their screen and I abused the hell out of that late into this match.

And then Goto vs. Fletcher and Henare vs. Tama were both.....fine, but nothing more. Honestly the last couple days of action were just kind of boring. Part of that were the crowds for these last couple shows. I know people think Japanese crowds are always quiet but for big matches, they can be some of the best and loudest crowds out there. But the last couple of crowds? Some of the clap & stomp crowds from the pandemic were better than these ones.

As for picking an eventual winner, my early pick of Kenta was gone, lol. Figures they'd start giving Sanada something to work with as soon as I pick against him. Naito/Sanada in the Quarterfinals is super interesting as I didn't think they'd pit 2 LIJ guys against each other.

I assume Ospreay, though he's the favorite on paper, will lose somewhere in here as I expect him to win the G1. And I can't see Naito or ZSJ winning either, especially ZSJ. But then, who do you go with? Do you go that far with the Finlay push? Go for Sanada vs. Okada again?

 

[BigCy]

Don't really have much to say about the last couple of days of action. I have pretty much no desire to see any Chase Owens match, even with Naito. Sanada vs. Kenta had a lot of shtick in it and got more boring as it went along. New Japan World has "Skip 10 Seconds ahead" button on their screen and I abused the hell out of that late into this match.

And then Goto vs. Fletcher and Henare vs. Tama were both.....fine, but nothing more. Honestly the last couple days of action were just kind of boring. Part of that were the crowds for these last couple shows. I know people think Japanese crowds are always quiet but for big matches, they can be some of the best and loudest crowds out there. But the last couple of crowds? Some of the clap & stomp crowds from the pandemic were better than these ones.

As for picking an eventual winner, my early pick of Kenta was gone, lol. Figures they'd start giving Sanada something to work with as soon as I pick against him. Naito/Sanada in the Quarterfinals is super interesting as I didn't think they'd pit 2 LIJ guys against each other.

I assume Ospreay, though he's the favorite on paper, will lose somewhere in here as I expect him to win the G1. And I can't see Naito or ZSJ winning either, especially ZSJ. But then, who do you go with? Do you go that far with the Finlay push? Go for Sanada vs. Okada again?

I like Owens alright but I get the apathy for him. I really think they do Cobb or EVIL. I'm less on EVIL than before since now they have Finlay to replace White and probably be the eventual leader. But if they want EVIL in that top BC spot again then I can see him winning.

I don't know what I was on when I thought Umino or Narita might win the whole thing but Umino is still in I guess. Cobb seems like the likeliest. He was an absolute beast in the G1 and him and Okada had a good to great match.

Please...just not Finlay lol. I think Umino beats ZSJ for the TV Title shot. Finlay beats Tonga for the NEVER shot. Finlay loses to Cobb in the finals. Finlay's push still looks good and they revisit Okada/Cobb which is relatively fresh.

Or they do an EVIL/Finlay final (yuck) to work on a further BC angle and possibly split them for good. If they do something more obvious Ospreay vs Finlay finals with Ospreay going over, just because he wins the cup doesn't mean he can't also win G1.

 

[TD Stinger]

Cobb vs. Evil was going fine for a bit with Cobb just throwing Evil around. Then it descended into House of Torture shenanigans and not even unique shenanigans. So, yeah.

Ospreay vs. Davis was one of the better matches since the 1st couple days of the tournament. It's an Ospreay match so no big surprise but Davis got a chance to really showcase himself as a singles guy with some big hits and moves that Ospreay is the perfect guy to sell for.

Ospreay feels like he'll at least get to the Final Four. Evil shenanigans can beat a lot of people but I don't see him beating Ospreay. But I do see him losing to Naito or Sanada there.

 

[BigCy]

Realize I left off some ratings.

Goto vs Fletcher - 5.9 / 10
Tama vs Henare - 6.1 / 10
Cobb vs EVIL - 4.2 / 10
Ospreay vs Davis - 6.2 / 10

There goes the Cobb theory.

Right now I'm just going through the end result against Okada in my head and we're getting...

Okada vs SANADA - Please not again. They did this to death way too often.

Okada vs Naito - Too soon and too often.

Okada vs EVIL - .....at least it's fresh....

Okada vs Ospreay - Seems like another one they're doing too often.

Okada vs Goto - Really fresh, wouldn't mind seeing it. Poor Goto though, I remember him getting booed out of the building in the G1 final in 2016 or 2017 against Omega when the fans thought they were going with another Goto win.

Okada vs Tonga - They had a really good match recently but too soon to revisit. Plus Tonga is the NEVER strap holder.

Okada vs Finlay - I really hope they don't but I won't be too surprised if they want him as a direct copy of White.

Okada vs O'Khan - Lol, just no.

Okada vs Umino - No, unless the nepotism is extremely high. Would be a rocket push.

Okada vs ZSJ - Would be good but they've done this too recently, plus ZSJ is the TV strap holder.

 

[BigCy]

Oh snap! Ospreay has a shoulder injury and no set date for a return. My guess is he is out of the tournament although that hasn't been made official.

 

[3venflow]

Shota getting a big push, beating ZSJ at today's show. I haven't had time to watch it yet but it was a very long match and is getting much better feedback than Shota's match against Naito online.

After watching Tana and Naito work in slow motion at times, they really need Shota and Narita to move up as fast as possible without it coming across as forced to replenish the native ranks.

 

[RainmakerV2]

God I miss Jay White.

 

[TD Stinger]

Ospreay getting hurt to avoid a match with Evil. I respect it.

Finlay vs. O'Khan was whatever. But ZSJ vs. Shota was possibly match of the tournament so far. It was the kind of match Shota needed to have after the disappointment with Naito. Loved his aggression and his willingness to match ZSJ's style of offense. A great win for him.

So now we're down to:

Sanada
Naito
Evil
Davis
Goto
Tama
Finlay
Shota

At this point, I would guess Sanada is going all the way.

 

[BigCy]

Ospreay getting hurt to avoid a match with Evil. I respect it.

Finlay vs. O'Khan was whatever. But ZSJ vs. Shota was possibly match of the tournament so far. It was the kind of match Shota needed to have after the disappointment with Naito. Loved his aggression and his willingness to match ZSJ's style of offense. A great win for him.

So now we're down to:

Sanada
Naito
Evil
Davis
Goto
Tama
Finlay
Shota

At this point, I would guess Sanada is going all the way.

The only guys I picked that are still in are EVIL and Umino.

Naito beats SANADA? This is the hardest to predict imo. I think whoever wins this wins the tournament. Okada vs SANADA would be fresher but the better money match up would be Okada vs Naito but Naito HAS to beat Okada or he's flushed down the card hard. He's taken way too many L's to Okada but so has SANADA. Wtf New Japan.

EVIL beats Davis. I do wonder if Ospreay was supposed to win here?

Finlay beats Umino. Continue the Jay Finlay push. (See what I did there?)

Tama beats Goto. Another hard one to predict. At this point I want Goto to win it all but probably not gonna happen.

Battle of LIJ as Naito (or SANADA) battles EVIL. Don't even care who wins.

Finlay beats Tama for the NEVER strap shot and goes to the final.

Naito/SANADA/EVIL vs Finlay for the Final. Don't care who wins that much. EVIL and Finlay would be the freshest matches for Okada. EVIL needs to drop his shit gimmick and actually wrestle again, not that he could all that well, but he was an ok player if he had a strong opponent. Who knows if they had to change the ending and maybe Ospreay was supposed to win?

Finlay vs O'Khan - 5.0 / 10 - Whatever is right lol.

Umino vs ZSJ - 7.5 / 10 - Match of the tourney for me as well but I'm kind of a ZSJ mark so somewhat biased. Umino is looking jacked. He looks like he slabbed on about 15 pounds of muscle in the last month.