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Post by tactician on Jul 29, 2018 18:46:09 GMT -5
The culmination of years of storytelling. Possibly the defining match of NJPW’s resurgence. This match was very well-paced, there weren’t any dull moments. It had many callbacks to their previous matches. Execution was flawless. The drama was off the charts. The crowd in the Tokyo Dome was losing their mind down the stretch. Many memorable moments including the beginning when Okada went for a clean break, Tanahashi went for a slap, Okada dodged and hit a big forearm. The intensity was there from the beginning.
The finishing sequence is one of the greatest of all time. As Okada refuses to let go of the wrist, he refuses to let go of the spot as Ace of NJPW. He puts Tanahashi down with three straight Rainmakers to finally reach his destiny. In my opinion, the best Okada vs. Tanahashi match and possibly the greatest match in NJPW’s new “golden era”.
While Okada’s selling of the leg down the stretch was iffy, I believe that with the story that they were telling, it was tolerable. Okada had to fight through the pain if he wanted to become the Ace like Tanahashi had done on so many occasions and that’s what he did. That same leg injury failed him the prior year and it made sense that the natural progression of the story was for him to overcome. All in all, this match is a shoe-in for my top 10 and maybe a top 5 contender. One of the greatest matches of all time. *****
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Post by bossrock on Jul 29, 2018 20:57:51 GMT -5
I've always liked this match but only have it about fourth or so in their rivalry. This had all the makings of a classic and don't get me wrong it's still a great match, but it's held back by two things. 1) The opening matwork goes on for too long. I get having a feeling-out process but there's no reason this needed to be five-seven minutes long. 2) Okada's leg selling. Now I get Tanahashi going for the leg was always his winning formula against Okada and Okada utilizing the dropkicks as an offensive move rather than a counter calls back to his match with Tenryu. But Okada's ability to hit the dropkick with ease really made Tanahashi's leg work rather pointless. I'm not even a HUGE stickler for limb selling but this was noticeable. And while I can appreciate the point made above that Okada needed to overcome what caused his downfall the year prior, I just wish he had been a bit more creative in doing so or at least be more consistent in his leg selling.That being said, this match had a ton of drama and the offensive sequences and counters were very good. Okada holding on to the wrist after getting slapped by Tanahashi is also one of my all-time favorite moments in wrestling.
This to me is the sort of match that would make a top 10 or so list for best matches of 2016 because of the issues I took with the match. Had it shaved a few minutes in the beginning and Okada sold the leg a bit more, this would absolutely make my list.
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Post by Matt Ederer on Aug 14, 2018 19:51:34 GMT -5
I would safely put this match on any top 100 list. There is a real argument to be made that this is the culmination of the modern NJPW style... the big matches that have followed (in Okada's run and now Omega's) are different, far more movezzz.
Matches in the late 2010's all tend to have that exhausting, overkill feeling. I think this is an example of an amazing match that never veers into the overkill territory.
Respectfully disagree with Bossrock's criticisms of the match. I think that after 6-7 matches, it does make sense that Tana and Okada spend 7 minutes feeling each other out. Also, I do not read Okada hitting a dropkick as a mistake or a no-sell. To me, that's like Steph Curry hitting a three pointer on a sprained ankle. He shouldn't be able to hit that shot...but he does because he's Steph Curry. I think Okada's ability to still hit the dropkick was part of this beautiful, transcendent story, not him neglecting to sell.
Just my read. Incredible, 5* match. I could see myself settling on this as the greatest match of all time.
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Post by wrestlingfan on Aug 18, 2018 21:28:56 GMT -5
First of all, I have to congragulate the NJPW for the setting, the special effects and entrances. We always say how much WWE is great for all of those things, but New Japan also manage with those things. Okada's entry is tremendous; we hear his theme and then it suddenly stops and the lights are turned off, then the lights are turned on and the theme restarts and we see Okada on top of the stage. That's really impressive and cool. I consider this match to be used to Tanahashi to pass the torch on Okada, it's always good to have a classy entry in a match like that. The main problem with this match is the lack of selling, of course. Okada doesn't sell the leg but we are used to the fact that he's a bad seller. At the end of the match, he counters Tanahashi's high fly flow with a drop kick. It's ridiculous considering the efforts of Tanahashi to injure Okada's legs. It would have been much better if Okada had found another to counter it. Maybe with an uppercut, I don't know. But it still an amazing match. We feel that it's an important match. It's in the Tokyo Dome, the two greatest wrestlers of the promotion at the time face each other in the main event, the match must lasts over 40 minutes. All of those components make that it remains a classic and a great match despite the faults. Still, I prefer their match from Wrestle Kingdom 9. I'm not sure to know why, maybe because I prefer Tanahashi and he's the winner ...
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Post by bossrock on Sept 3, 2018 17:50:03 GMT -5
So I re-watched this and while I'm still not sure it will make my list, it's definitely better than I remember. I criticized the opening segment being too padded, but the matwork wasn't as long as I thought it was. It's very much both guys trying to big league the other and tensions boiling over. Both guys are ready to move on from each other and want a definitive win to prove that they deserve to be called the ace. And while Okada's leg selling was still a bit too inconsistent for me, it wasn't quite as egregious as I remember. It almost sort of reminded me of the Kobashi-Misawa matches where strategies in past matches just quite didn't have the same effect they did before (i.e. Misawa's ability to overcome arm work to hit the rolling elbow and Kobashi's ability to kick out of the Tiger Driver '91). Still, the section in particular where Okada hits several running dropkicks and then the springboard came off as too easy and he didn't appear to be in pain or fatigued after hitting them. But the drama and escalation delivered in spades and Okada maintaining wrist control after Tanahashi's slap still has the same effect as the first time I watched it.
If not in my top 100, then very much a top 110-120 match.
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Post by makaiclub on May 13, 2021 18:25:59 GMT -5
While the story doesn't end here, one arc of it does. Okada, the champion, finally beats his long rival for the Ace spot in the Tokyo Dome, redeeming a devastating setback in the year prior and setting a new path for himself in the process. The build to the finish was great. It had very smart work by Tanahashi on Okada's legs, utilising the Dragon Screws and all of their variations perfectly. Okada reveled in each moment, smiling in confidence when he outsmart Tanahashi on a counter, does a Rainmaker pose often and uses his charm and charisma to raise the crowd noise. Both bring great things individually to the match, like both can. The back end of the match had my heart racing like I was finishing up a marathon. It was one of the most nerve-wracking, and most importantly, exciting closing stretches that most people will ever see. The result didn't change that one bit. Okada seemingly had the match in hand, stealing the High Fly Flow and ready to hit the Rainmaker, but no, Tanahashi counted and hit one of his own, payback for the stolen HFF and made Okada almost rue his audacity and Okada fought and struggled to regain back the advantage with Tanahashi fighting against him along the way until Okada hit one Rainmaker and then another and then another to secure his crowd in a definitive and awe-inspiring way. This was a big finish to a big match. ****3/4
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Post by elliott on Oct 10, 2023 0:19:45 GMT -5
It's so boring. I'm sorry. I don't get it.
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