wrestling / TV Reports
Csonka’s NJPW on AXS TV Review 7.24.15
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NJPW on AXS TV Review 7.24.15
– All of the matches come from the 2014 G1 Climax tournament (day eight this time around). This was an excellent show overall.
Highlights From: Katsuyori Shibata defeated Tomoaki Honma [****½] & Kazuchika Okada defeated Yujiro Takahashi [***¾]: During last year’s G1, Tomoaki Honma was having the greatest losing efforts in matches of all time, and the crowds were just dying for him to score a win. The man is so talented, and they root for him no matter what and it creates such a tremendous atmosphere. The match was everything I had hoped for, stiff strikes, the great Honma story, intense action and a great final stretch; it was just awesome. I need more of these two wrestling in my life. They showed 8–minutes of the match. We see Honma post match interview footage, claiming he may not win the title, but people will always know that he fought in the G1.
Kazuchika Okada defeated Yujiro Takahashi in a match where Okada worked some magic and actually made Takahashi look like a competent pro wrestler. If you’ve paid attention to Okada’s work, this should be no surprise, because he’s done this with a lot of guys, and doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He allowed Takahashi to hit his major stuff, he worked hard, sold well and made it look like Takahashi could win wile having a very good match. The right man won in the end, but Okada was awesome here. They showed 4–minutes of the match. We got the always fun Gedo post match interview, putting his man over.
Full Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Shinsuke Nakamura @ 17:00 via Japanese leg roll clutch hold. [****½]: This was obviously a huge match, featuring two of New Japan’s top stars, and two of the best in the world. This was well worked, and laid out and set up to tease you into thinking that they may be working a draw. I wouldn’t call this a classic by any means, but it was an excellent pro wrestling match that showed the very best from these men and was part of one of the best cards of 2014. At this point in history these men were 7-7 against each other in singles action, so they were not only battling for the G1 points, but for overall supremacy in NJPW. Both men also had something to prove, as they both lost to Shibata in the in the tournament. They did an excellent job of working a match that felt as if it was two rivals, battling not only for tournament points, but also to prove who the better man was. They worked a great match, they told their story and they had a great crowd. Tanahashi then hit the Japanese leg roll clutch hold (in tribute to Karl Gotch according to Tanahashi) to pick up the win. Nakamura was very emotional following the loss, upset losing to Shibata and Tanahashi; but also noting that he still had time to make a run. And then… AIR GUITAR TANAHASHI!
THE OTHER STUFF ON THE SHOW: Frank Shamrock, who was subbing for Josh Barnett, joined Mauro Ranallo again this week. Shamrock, to his credit, was much better this week and finally felt in the groove with Ranallo; offering some good color commentary. Considering I complained about him the last few weeks, it was only proper that I point out his improvement. Barnett will be back next week. Hiroshi Tanahashi was the special guest for fresh interviews this week. Tanahashi spoke about being in rough shape following his match with Fale in late July, and that he was still banged up. He was still upset over the loss to Shibata, and knew that his match with Nakamura was not only big to the fans, but to both men in the tournament. Looking back on the match, Tanahashi discussed changing his style a bit due to his neck injury, and using the Japanese leg roll clutch hold to win. He hopes to maintain hic concentration in the 2015 G1, to be strong mentally and that will determine how far he goes in 2015. he wants to become the champion again.
* End scene.
* Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia.”
