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[2016-10-10-NJPW-King of Pro Wrestling 2016] Naomichi Marufuji vs Kazuchika Okada


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I want to point out that I've rarely fucked with Marufuji for his entire career, and I generally think he embodies the same excesses that guys like The Young Bucks carry the torch for today. And I know Okada can fall into those same traps, so heading into this, I was worried they'd bring the worst out in each other. Instead, this was Marufuji's breakout performance as he enters the cunty vet stage of his career, and he finally decided he's start laying his strikes in. His shitty superkicks and combos always miss by miles, but here, he was drilling Okada with everything, and his chops were Kobashi-esque in their brutality. I do have to ask, what happened to his arm? It's pretty heavily atrophied, but it didn't slow him down one bit from laying in some of the nastiest chops I've seen in 2016.

 

The whole match felt like he was angling for a full time spot in NJ after NOAH is finally put out of its misery, and I'd fully support it if he's going to wrestle like this from now on. He was so impressive that the fans were pretty hot for the idea of him winning the title, and it really seemed like he might at times. Okada hitting him with the emerald flowsion was so great, reminded me a lot of Chono/Misawa when they started doing Inoki/Baba spots.

Not even Okada's best title match in 2016, but the most surprising for me, as I would never have believed Marufuji could be in something this good, and be this good, in 2016.

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Just like in the G1, Marufuji was God-like in this. I'm not a huge fan of Okada, although I concede he does deliver on big matches, but I have been a huge fan of old-ass Marufuji. His execution was at an all-time best, even with the infamous combo kicks. Great match. MOTYC without a doubt in my book.

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Just like in the G1, Marufuji was God-like in this. I'm not a huge fan of Okada, although I concede he does deliver on big matches, but I have been a huge fan of old-ass Marufuji. His execution was at an all-time best, even with the infamous combo kicks. Great match. MOTYC without a doubt in my book.

 

Agree with all of this, although I am a huge fan of Okada. Marufuji losing a half-step or step over the years has forced him to slow down to a point that limits the excesses that can bring him down, while Okada & the NJPW style also help towards that end. They put together a really smart match with a super hot finishing stretch and somehow built on and surpassed the G1 encounter.

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  • GSR changed the title to [2016-10-10-NJPW-King of Pro Wrestling 2016] Naomichi Marufuji vs Kazuchika Okada
  • 2 years later...

I truly love this match. Phenomenal execution on strikes, counters and storytelling. Okada's selling is sublime as well. He makes Marufuji's hard chops one of the most dangerous moves in wrestling and makes a potential upset seem very, very possible. And that closing sequence really solified its classic status with me as Okada hits an Emerald Flowsion to the ultimate Misawa protégé and hits a rainmaker to win. The ultimate big league move by the ace of the promotion. *****

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  • 7 months later...

The first & only time (before this) I watched this back when it happened in 2016, I didn't like it at all. Now though, the 2022-me got goosebumps during the finishing stretch when Okada busted out the Emerald Flowsion. It is quite possibly the single coolest & coldest thing he has ever done. I goddamn loooove it. It certainly helps that everything leading to that insanely amazing finishing stretch was simply phenomenal as well; Marufuji was just firing on all cylinders, he laid all of his shit in, upping the brutality w/ all of his offense, in particular those chops. The damn chops. Chops are so overdone in wrestling these days, but hot damn I can watch Marufuji chop fools all day long-- especially if one of those fools happen to be the ace & king of his rival company. There's also plenty of legitimately awesome counters here as one would expect in a big Okada match, and with all praise I've given to Marufuji, I must say that Okada also definitely brought the heat. The story they went out to tell was told perfectly via his output. It's a really special match. I am glad I finally decided to re-watch it. ****1/2

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