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Csonka’s NJPW on AXS TV Review 6.26.15

June 26, 2015 | Posted by Larry Csonka
9.5
The 411 Rating
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Csonka’s NJPW on AXS TV Review 6.26.15  

Introduction
As a reminder, this will not be another traditional recap, but instead it will be a mash up of the Rs, Instant Analysis and my usual Twitter ramblings I would do during the shows; completely uncensored and as the ideas flow unfiltered to the old keyboard. Remember, this is a review; and I am here to review the show. As always, I encourage discussion and even disagreement, just do so in a respectful manner. I will be doing the review for Raw and most PPVs and iPPVs going forward.

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NJPW on AXS TV Review 6.26.15

– All of the matches for the next eight episodes come from night one of the 2014 G1 Climax tournament, which many have called the greatest tournament in the history of wrestling. This was a tremendous show to kick off the tournament, one of the best shows of the year at the time. It’s like a PPV opener, you hope that they didn’t do too much too soon, but overall you cannot complain about the match quality that we got on the show. The first five matches were perfectly fine and set the stage well for the beginning of the tournament, and then it turned into an awesome New Japan show with the final five bouts ranging from good to amazing. The usual suspects (Tanahashi, Nakamura and the guys they worked with) brought the goods and made sure that you would remember the show when all was said and done. The Styles vs. Okada match was amazing, and am actually shocked that it did not appear as the featured match on this show. Okada has obviously been delivering in big time matches for some time, and this was one of Styles’ best performances. The match was laid out so well, they played off of the other matches they have had, and in the end Styles lost nothing but Okada came away looking better than ever. This is a must see show and you can’t ask for a better way to kick off the tournament and this series of shows on AXS TV.

Katsuyori Shibata defeated Shinsuke Nakamura (15:27) with a PK. [****¼]: This was a really good match, worthy of being featured for sure although I feel Okada and Styles should have gotten the featured spot. They worked a methodical opening, with a lot of grappling and then Nakamura stepping up the intensity with a kick to the face. They action escalated through out the match as the work got really snug, featuring Shibata using some rough forearm strikes. Choreographed violence is what this match developed into, as they traded big time offense down the stretch. Shibata would use the go to sleep, followed by the penalty kick for the hard fought victory. Ranallo and Barnett were great here calling the action, as well as selling the story of Shibata leaving NJPW and returning to face off with Nakamura after 10 long years. This was a great in ring story and a tremendous job from the commentary team. This was an awesome day one match, great action, great physicality and a tremendous pacing for the time given. The only negative was I wanted to see a long match from them right away.

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Highlights From: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomoaki Honma & A.J. Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada: The results for the highlight matches are Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Tomoaki Honma (11:01) with the High Fly Flow [****] and Kazuchika Okada defeated AJ Styles (18:03) with the Rainmaker. [****¾]. Tanahashi vs. Honma is a very good wrestling match, with an awesome crowd and the ultimate underdog in Honma fighting with everything he has to try and win, but ultimately failing. This was just some great stuff, even in clip form. They showed about 6-minutes of that match, with Tanahashi winning with the high fly flow. If you don’t love Honma, you don’t love good wrestling. Okada vs. Styles had a great crowd as well, as they were behind Okada from the opening bell. We were still early in his NJPW run, but AJ in this match put in one of his best singles performances ever. Everything seemed to click for him as far as adapting and of course having another chance to work with Okada doesn’t hurt either. The brief interference by Takahashi didn’t hurt the match, because that stuff is limited to Bullet Club, and it played off of the first match. Okada’s counter of the Styles Clash into a tombstone for a near fall was beautiful. The Rainmaker got the win for Okada, giving him some revenge on Styles. If you haven’t seen the full match, seek it out. They showed about 7-minutes of this and then Okada’s post match promo, I still think it should have been the featured match on this show.

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THE OTHER STUFF ON THE SHOW: Josh Barnett and Mauro Ranallo continue to work very well together and make these matches, which I have already watched, feel fresh with their commentary. They provided some great background on the participants and the tournament as a whole. Shibata was here for the welcome to the show segment this week. Shibata also did the fresh interview for the show, discussing the importance of his match with Nakamura and that it had been 10-years since they last fought. We also got post match comments from Shibata and Nakamura, putting over the match and what it meant to them. I really enjoy these additions and how NJPW does this, as it adds a real feel to the matches as well as an importance to the outcomes. Shibata reflects on the match, noting that he was not sure how people would view him and react to the match. He knows that it’s not over between them. Really good stuff.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia.”

9.5
The final score: review Amazing
The 411
The show is great, don’t get me wrong, but I have some issues with the decisions made here on what to show. First of all, if you were to only show one match, it should have been Styles vs. Okada. It was the best match on the show, and also featured the IWGP Champion (Styles at the time). Secondly, I get that there was a LOT of awesome stuff on this tournament, but I really would have preferred that they show two complete matches instead of one complete and two via clips. That all being said, this show featured a lot of great wrestling and if you missed the G1 last year, this is essential viewing for you. Despite my personal criticisms, this was awesome.
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