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Post by Yambag Jones on Sept 12, 2020 9:40:42 GMT -5
My predictions based on the final night matchups:
Jay White wins the A Block if Okada loses, setting the stakes for Okada/Ospreay which Will could totally win.
The winner of Sanada/Evil will be the Block B winner (not a fan of either guy, but they're over in Japan).
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Post by hitmancmedge on Sept 16, 2020 8:38:10 GMT -5
My predictions based on the final night matchups: Jay White wins the A Block if Okada loses, setting the stakes for Okada/Ospreay which Will could totally win. The winner of Sanada/Evil will be the Block B winner (not a fan of either guy, but they're over in Japan). I predicted Okada vs Sanada in the finals so that Sanada could finally beat Okada.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2020 9:06:02 GMT -5
I'm taking Jay white to win this year over Sanada.
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Post by Yambag Jones on Sept 16, 2020 9:42:22 GMT -5
My predictions based on the final night matchups: Jay White wins the A Block if Okada loses, setting the stakes for Okada/Ospreay which Will could totally win. The winner of Sanada/Evil will be the Block B winner (not a fan of either guy, but they're over in Japan). I predicted Okada vs Sanada in the finals so that Sanada could finally beat Okada. Not kidding, if Sanada wins G1 I'm done with NJPW until WK. Evil's run was such trash that adding Sanda winning the G1 would make 2020 my least favorite year in NJPW since I've been watching.
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Post by Yambag Jones on Sept 16, 2020 9:44:39 GMT -5
I'm taking Jay white to win this year over Sanada. Jay White makes sense given the Dome won't run at 100%. A Wrestle Kingdom headlined by Naito/Whit could totally sell 20-30k tickets. I'm sure Sanada/Naito could too, but that's the darkest timeline. I think they'll do Okada/Naito for the final time at the dome.
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Post by hitmancmedge on Sept 16, 2020 9:46:53 GMT -5
I predicted Okada vs Sanada in the finals so that Sanada could finally beat Okada. Not kidding, if Sanada wins G1 I'm done with NJPW until WK. Evil's run was such trash that adding Sanda winning the G1 would make 2020 my least favorite year in NJPW since I've been watching. Gedo just always does stuff for a reason, and unless it’s Sanada vs Okada at Wrestle Kingdom then they have been building to Sanada finally beating Okada in a big match for so long. He just keeps getting closer and closer. It would make sense for Sanada to finally get that monkey off his back leading to facing his mentor on the biggest stage. Agreed that if they go in that direction the Evil thing makes even less sense, but that was just my G1 prediction at the beginning of the year and I’m gonna stick with it for now.
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Post by Yambag Jones on Sept 16, 2020 9:53:29 GMT -5
Not kidding, if Sanada wins G1 I'm done with NJPW until WK. Evil's run was such trash that adding Sanda winning the G1 would make 2020 my least favorite year in NJPW since I've been watching. Gedo just always does stuff for a reason, and unless it’s Sanada vs Okada at Wrestle Kingdom then they have been building to Sanada finally beating Okada in a big match for so long. He just keeps getting closer and closer. It would make sense for Sanada to finally get that monkey off his back leading to facing his mentor on the biggest stage. Agreed that if they go in that direction the Evil thing makes even less sense, but that was just my G1 prediction at the beginning of the year and I’m gonna stick with it for now. Didn't Sanada get his win over Okada already? I agree that'd make sense which is why I think that Ospreay could upset Okada in that final match (even though it hasn't been as set up as Okada/Sanada). I know the Japanese crowd loves the guy, but everything about Sanada just doesn't work for me. Especially his in ring skills.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2020 11:06:39 GMT -5
Not kidding, if Sanada wins G1 I'm done with NJPW until WK. Evil's run was such trash that adding Sanda winning the G1 would make 2020 my least favorite year in NJPW since I've been watching. Gedo just always does stuff for a reason, and unless it’s Sanada vs Okada at Wrestle Kingdom then they have been building to Sanada finally beating Okada in a big match for so long. He just keeps getting closer and closer. It would make sense for Sanada to finally get that monkey off his back leading to facing his mentor on the biggest stage. Agreed that if they go in that direction the Evil thing makes even less sense, but that was just my G1 prediction at the beginning of the year and I’m gonna stick with it for now. I mean you could do Sanada/Okada as the G1 final, but then you have WK as Sanada/Naito which doesn't feel like WK main event, though I suppose the Japan crowd would go nuts for an all LIJ WK. Plus, the Evil story to me sets up who is the true leader of Bullet Club, and with Jay coming back, after Evil losing the belts back to Naito, Jay coming up and winning the G1 feels like his way of saying "Yes, I'm the true leader of Bullet Club Evil", especially since you'd have sanada over evil to get to the finals, so White does what Evil couldn't do. I think White beats Naito at WK and has a better run than Evil. Right now both Evil and White have very short tenures as IWGP champ, White having a longer one feels like the next step there.
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Post by Yambag Jones on Sept 16, 2020 11:32:53 GMT -5
Gedo just always does stuff for a reason, and unless it’s Sanada vs Okada at Wrestle Kingdom then they have been building to Sanada finally beating Okada in a big match for so long. He just keeps getting closer and closer. It would make sense for Sanada to finally get that monkey off his back leading to facing his mentor on the biggest stage. Agreed that if they go in that direction the Evil thing makes even less sense, but that was just my G1 prediction at the beginning of the year and I’m gonna stick with it for now. I mean you could do Sanada/Okada as the G1 final, but then you have WK as Sanada/Naito which doesn't feel like WK main event, though I suppose the Japan crowd would go nuts for an all LIJ WK. Plus, the Evil story to me sets up who is the true leader of Bullet Club, and with Jay coming back, after Evil losing the belts back to Naito, Jay coming up and winning the G1 feels like his way of saying "Yes, I'm the true leader of Bullet Club Evil", especially since you'd have sanada over evil to get to the finals, so White does what Evil couldn't do. I think White beats Naito at WK and has a better run than Evil. Right now both Evil and White have very short tenures as IWGP champ, White having a longer one feels like the next step there. If they keep the interference sh*t to a minimum, I'd be so down for a legit Jay White run with the title.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2020 18:09:10 GMT -5
I haven't seen New Japan since before the pandemic, so I only know bits or pieces of what's even going right now. So I can't guess. Being this year isn't a show you can legit sell out, I think you could really do about anything, within reason.
I'd blindly guess like, EVIL defending against Okada?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2020 18:37:12 GMT -5
I mean you could do Sanada/Okada as the G1 final, but then you have WK as Sanada/Naito which doesn't feel like WK main event, though I suppose the Japan crowd would go nuts for an all LIJ WK. Plus, the Evil story to me sets up who is the true leader of Bullet Club, and with Jay coming back, after Evil losing the belts back to Naito, Jay coming up and winning the G1 feels like his way of saying "Yes, I'm the true leader of Bullet Club Evil", especially since you'd have sanada over evil to get to the finals, so White does what Evil couldn't do. I think White beats Naito at WK and has a better run than Evil. Right now both Evil and White have very short tenures as IWGP champ, White having a longer one feels like the next step there. If they keep the interference sh*t to a minimum, I'd be so down for a legit Jay White run with the title. Maybe that could be the real story. Evil needed help but Jay is good enough on his own, eventually leading to him just abandoning bullet club and going tru solo. I'd be down for that, cuz I agree, I want a real Jay white run, but not much of the usual bullet club interference for it
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Post by LK3 on Sept 17, 2020 5:15:48 GMT -5
SANADA beat Okada at the G1 last year. So the story of him “finally” beating Okada doesn’t really fit, the monkey is off the back.
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Post by Yambag Jones on Sept 17, 2020 9:55:58 GMT -5
Only 2 more sleeps til G1!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2020 10:41:37 GMT -5
I don't know if I'll be able to do the G1 this year. One of my favorite parts is how rabid those crowds can get, and right now they can only stomp and clap.
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Post by Yambag Jones on Sept 18, 2020 10:57:10 GMT -5
I don't know if I'll be able to do the G1 this year. One of my favorite parts is how rabid those crowds can get, and right now they can only stomp and clap. It’ll be different, but the match quality should still be excellent
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2020 14:58:57 GMT -5
I don't know if I'll be able to do the G1 this year. One of my favorite parts is how rabid those crowds can get, and right now they can only stomp and clap. It’ll be different, but the match quality should still be excellent I am going to have to watch Ishii/Suzuki at the very least, to be honest.
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Post by Yambag Jones on Sept 18, 2020 15:25:13 GMT -5
It’ll be different, but the match quality should still be excellent I am going to have to watch Ishii/Suzuki at the very least, to be honest. The 1st two nights and the last 3 nights are always good. I think it’ll help out a ton that there are only 6 matches on every show.
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Post by LK3 on Sept 18, 2020 16:19:52 GMT -5
My desire to watch live is lessened without there being English commentary.
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Post by Yambag Jones on Sept 19, 2020 12:54:12 GMT -5
G1 Night One:
I've been looking forward to this all year! Post-WK NJPW didn't do much for me. The pandemic had a lot to do with it, but most of the booking just hasn't hit for me. Night One felt like good ol' New Japan. The crowd can't chant, but they were still there clapping and stomping to make enough noise to add a great atmosphere. I watched this with Japanese commentary and it took me back to when that's how I always HAD to watch it pre-Kevin Kelly.
It's good to have Ospreay back in the fold. Having bulked up, he's definitely not a Junior anymore. Even against Yujiro, he felt like a big deal. Will could be a top guy very, VERY soon.
Taichi/Cobb was everything I thought it'd be: totally fine. I expect these two to be towards the bottom half of the standings on the final night.
Ishii/Suzuki might have been my match of the night. The only things I didn't like were neither guy coming out with their belts (WTF, guys?) and not hearing the crowd sing KAZE NI NARE. Other than that, the match itself was great. Hard hitting from these two, just the way I like it!
White vs Shingo was good. They have really good chemistry, but they didn't give EVERYTHING. I think the best match between them will happen down the road. White & Gedo gimmicks weren't as offensive, so he's to hoping that White has turned that corner (for the most part).
Okada/Ibushi was a bit of a let down. It was nowhere near their 5 star match at Wrestle Kingdom and didn't address my worry about Okada. I'm not giving him crap (because most of his 2020 has been in lame matchups and multi-man tags), but for me Okada needed to come out and impress. I still think he's going to win the G1, but this match didn't even hit 4 stars for me. Kind of a bummer.
Overall, it was a great show (btw, the Young Lions starting the show and then going RIGHT into the G1 matches was great). On to Night 2!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2020 15:34:04 GMT -5
The crowd couldn't sing, but I could still hear them singing in my head.
Ospreay came out as expected. In full force, dominating and setting himself up for a big g1. He'll win the thing before 2025.
I think the point of taichi/Cobb was to tell us again to not totally sleep on taichi. Cobb will hopefully improve on last year's record but won't be a huge force.
Suzuki was my one wrong pick of the night. Great match though. I kinda dug them not bringing the belts. Ain't about what they have it's about the g1 only.
White/Shingo was really really good. Crowd got really behind Shingo as the match kept going and Jay ripped their hearts out in a manner of seconds. Jay was my pick to win and I'm sticking with that.
Okada/Kota was kinda what I expected. I don't think Okada is even really threatening to win this year. I think the story of the be g1 for him is finding himself again, before beating Ospreay on the last night to remind everyone he's still Okada. They were clearly holding back here on purpose, and when it was time for Kota to win he did so handily.
On to night 2!
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