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[2016-09-25-NJPW] Tetsuya Naito vs Michael Elgin


JKWebb

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I really enjoyed Elgin's selling of the left leg. I liked that he was going back to it, even when he was on offense, after big moves like the running lariat into the corner. Naito was on point picking that leg apart. Elgin's offense looked super stiff, which I always enjoy. I loved Naito smacking Elgin around on the back of the head until it pissed him off and he fired back at him. The reversing of the Naito's swinging DDT into a powerful falcon arrow was awesome. The interference lost me a little bit, but I was quickly sucked back in during Elgin's comeback with some killer looking lariats. ****1/4

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Here's what I wrote over at my blog. Similar sentiments.

 

 

This was a doozy. A bit long winded but I still enjoyed the performances from both guys. Big Mike is the such a good "larger-than-life" 90's gaijin. The fans eat up his impressive power offense and Naito, of course, bumps like crazy for him. Naito's comfortably in his groove, he was so good here. The limb work was top notch, as he's constantly going back to Elgin's weakness in a moment of his own, managing to survive Elgin's atomic bombs like the cockroach he is. And yeah, Elgin got in plenty of bombs, hitting a number of his deadlift chart toppers. I especially liked the Falcon Arrow counter off of Naito's swinging DDT attempt, and his clubbing lariats are especially gnarly. There were a couple of head-scratchers, like the lead up to the big apron spot, and of course, we get some Los Ingobernables shenanigans toward the end of the match. But I though it worked and made Big Mike look ever bigger and badder. Naito hits the Destino out of nowhere, which I thought would set-up the finish, but we get even more action before Naito finally picks up the win. Big main event-style entertainment for sure.

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Man an Elgin match has no business going 32 minutes. So much of this match was dull, uninspired and predictable time filling. A big problem was that Elgin was doing the stuff he does thirty minutes into the match three minutes into the match. He has no clue how to properly structure has a match. This wasn't Naito's best showing either. I did really enjoy the opening but it's very telling that the only character work Elgin can do is based on mocking someone else. Then came the long middle portion of the match where absolutely nothing of significance happened. The leagwork was meaningless and pointless-it didn't affect anything Elgin did whatsoever, Naito didn't take advantage of it in creating interesting cut-offs as well as he should've and Elgin's selling was as bland as ever. How many times can I see Naito run into an Elgin power spot before I stop caring about it when Elgin's power spots aren't really that impressive on their own? How many times do I need to see Naito dropkick Elgin's leg and hit Elgin with a running move once Elgin bounces off the ropes? For all the circle-jerking about 90s All Japan I truly wish people would steal everything they did inbetween the moves and look at how they kept their transitions fresh. The finishing stretch was fun, although as usual used questionable psychology (a big move doesn't hurt fifteen seconds later if you counter the next big move). **1/2

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Couldn't disagree more on this match. Thought it was brilliantly laid out to take advantage of both of their strengths and didn't feel like it went anywhere near a half hour. Elgin was incredible selling his leg most of the way, showing more depth and personality as a performer than he's ever approached domestically. Meanwhile this was definitely good Naito, absolutely keyed in on the leg, focusing on chopping Elgin down from that angle while neatly incorporating a number of big spots. Even with the interference they kept the finish hot and fresh while not feeling remotely cheap with the title win coming across as a big deal. Easily the best New Japan match of the year outside of the G1 and Tanahashi/Okada from Wrestling Kingdom. ****1/2

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  • GSR changed the title to [2016-09-25-NJPW] Tetsuya Naito vs Michael Elgin

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