|
|
Post by elliott on Aug 15, 2019 17:43:16 GMT -5
I wanted to start a thread for him to see if anyone has any Heavyweight Ohtani recommendations. In spite of the 90s NJ Junior Backlash, Ohtani still finished 65th during GWE. Oddly enough he only had one match make the GME top 100 but it finished 66th (vs Samurai).
I feel like his juniors work held up really well the last time I watched a lot of his major matches.
|
|
|
|
Post by elliott on Sept 11, 2019 3:27:44 GMT -5
No love for Otani? His top tier matches are some of the best Junior Matches ever. Great mat worker and one of the most dynamic offensive wrestlers of the 90s. Would love some recommendations on his Zero-1 stuff.
Shinjiro Otani & Wild Pegasus vs Great Sasuke & Black Tiger 10/16/94
Shinjiro Otani vs Koji Kanemoto 4/16/95
Shinjiro Otani vs Ultimo Dragon 12/13/95
Shinjiro Otani vs Eddy Guerrero 12/27/95
Shinjiro Otani vs El Samurai 1/21/96
Shinjiro Otani vs Jushin Liger 3/16/96
Shinjiro Otani vs Wild Pegasus 3/20/96
Shinjiro Otani vs Ultimo Dragon 8/5/96
Shinjiro Otani vs Jushin Liger 2/9/97
Shinjiro Otani vs Yoshihiro Tajiri 5/20/97
Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto vs Jushin Liger & Dr Wagner Jr 3/6/99
Shinjiro Otani vs El Samurai 6/3/99
Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka 10/11/99
|
|
|
|
Post by KB8 on Sept 12, 2019 17:37:42 GMT -5
I watched that 2/97 Liger match again earlier this year and wound up being sort of disappointed by it. Thought Liger's match with Kanemoto the following week was a fair bit better, actually.
Ohtani/Samurai from 1/96 still rules. I don't LOVE the Liger and Ultimo Dragon matches from later in the year but I appreciate how they further his story and I thought he was pretty great in both of them. If that's the Tajiri match where he just abuses him like Tajiri's a scrub then of course that one's awesome. I loved at least one of the big junior heavyweight tag title matches from the late 90s whenever I last went through all that stuff, but it's been aaaages. I'm hyped to check out the '99 Samurai match at some point.
I really haven't seen much heavyweight Ohtani, but that tag in NOAH from '05 where he was a total dickhead to Misawa and Suzuki is a fucking great match with an incredible Ohtani performance. Oh and there's that Takayama tag I brought up in the Takayama thread (Zero-One, 2/18/07), which is tremendous.
|
|
|
|
Post by bossrock on Sept 13, 2019 17:21:41 GMT -5
Have liked a lot of what I've seen from Otani. He seems to have settled into a nice, grumpy veteran sort of role over the years and continues to deliver (he's had two really good matches with Yuji Hino and Daisuke Sekimoto this year).
|
|
|
|
Post by nintendologic on Sept 13, 2019 19:25:09 GMT -5
For heavyweight Ohtani, I remember liking his 2009 IWGP title match against Nakamura.
|
|
|
|
Post by microstatistics on Sept 22, 2019 17:07:42 GMT -5
I don't think it would be outrageous to consider Ohtani a Top 25 contender. Amazing mid-late 90s peak and a really impressive heavyweight run. His selling later in his career wasn't always the most consistent but his offense and character stuff was as great as ever.
|
|
|
|
Post by bossrock on Sept 23, 2019 17:03:27 GMT -5
I don't think it would be outrageous to consider Ohtani a Top 25 contender. Amazing mid-late 90s peak and a really impressive heavyweight run. His selling later in his career wasn't always the most consistent but his offense and character stuff was as great as ever. There's more I need to see but considering his longevity, I don't think it's outrageous either. He's still very good to this day. |
|
|
|
Post by fxnj on Sept 24, 2019 1:21:14 GMT -5
Anyone seen the 98 Liger title match that NJPW World put up in full a few years ago?
|
|
