>era of high-octane flippyshitters who just want to get their moves in at a pace of 10 a minute and bump their necks to sawdust with increasingly retarded stuff
>is the GOAT and has a very basic vanilla wrestling moveset with stuff like flapjack, elbow drop, dropkick and lariat
Is he top 10 or top 5 of all time
Even wolfcuc likes him.
top 5
top 5
He's Bret reincarnated. Nobody in history other than Bret made basic shit look so god damn good.
I don't appreciate wrestling in the kind of way to get the Okada hype but I always list him as the best today because Omega is the worst kind of faggot and even though I like his style in ring I despise him as a person.
Okada is great, but Tanahashi still has enough IT left in him.
Okada will never be considered GOAT until Tanahashi starts getting Makabe booking.
He's a wrestler who provides a base for the more excessively flashy wrestlers to work off of. I think he's only as good as his opponent.
>I think he's only as good as his opponent.
Literally carried old Tenryu, Fale, Cody to great matches
"Only as good as his opponent" could logically apply to a lot of people but Okada isn't one of them. He's one of the few capable of genuine, fully-fledged carry jobs.
He's THE best of all time, it's time to stop sugar coating it.
Post rare okadas
>Legit 6'3
>Great look
>240lbs give or take
>Women love him
>Draw in Japan
>Kinda popular in the West
>Great matches
>Endorsed by GOAT Austin
>Chad
>Magnetic charisma
Other than the disaster in Dallas the other day, I genuinely can't think of a better wrestler currently tbqh, unless I'm wrong?
how was that a "disaster"
Terrible attendance despite Okada Vs Tanahashi main eventing. It was hard to watch knowing how they're literal dimes in Japan but in America it's hit or miss depending on venue size
Couldn't have put it better myself. He excells at working the match to his opponents style, it's genuinely impressive how good he is at all of them. I really want to see him vs a legit Luchador though, because I know he has a background in it but don't think he's ever really had to work with em in a big spot.
Trips of truth.
ok I thought you were implying the match was problematic. wasn't part of the attendance issue was that it was a practically gifted venue for them, that if they were paying for the venue they would've gone smaller? I'm parroting what I've read from somewhere else
It's not been confirmed but it's very likely considering AXS was pushing for that building and the channel is owned by Mark Cuban.
New Japan fucked up by not releasing the card early enough. It works in Japan but not here. Had I known that Okada v. Tanahashi was happening in Dallas further in advance I would have flown my ass down to watch it, but with the short notice we got it didn't pan out. If New Japan wants to expand Westward they need to announce their cards sooner rather than later for these shows.
Nah, I didn't watch the match because I didn't have time but you can never go wrong with Okada/Tanahashi.
I'm not sure about what the situation was with the arena... But still Harold could have at least gone for the hardcam gimmick lol
Maybe that was the case though like you say where it was a better option for them. Oh well, I suppose they'll learn from it and see if they can build a new top gaijin for their Western shows in future whilst Okada draws the house domestically
>>era of high-octane flippyshitters who just want to get their moves in at a pace of 10 a minute and bump their necks to sawdust with increasingly retarded stuff
This isn't true though, the flippyshitters of today are much much worse than the flippyshitters of the 90s. Their matches were genuinely exciting, the modern lot is boring as fuck.
>New Japan fucked up by not releasing the card early enough
Yeah I can imagine they shot themselves in the foot there.
There was probably a lot of uncertainty around January with Kenny leaving and AEW forming which probably contributed too. Would be sick too see a sold out attends that size watching a Okada in future though
Top 2 and he ain’t 2 brother
Fucking based.
>Their matches were genuinely exciting, the modern lot is boring as fuck.
That's because they knew how to pace a match instead of blowing all your moves in the first five minutes.
I unironically enjoy the style of flippy shitters as far as an enjoyable wrestling card should have a bit of everything on it, but I think a lot of indie guys would be way better off just blowing all their shit in 5 minute quick matches instead of trying to emulate 20 minute epics of people much better than them.
I would pay good money to see a 1997 Bret wrestle Okada.
True. I agree there is a place for them to a degree. Whether it's like an opener to fire people up or half way to break the show up a bit.
Main event stuff should be 'big match feel' style I think though. No place for gymnastics there
Nakamura
Hashimoto
Maeda
Misawa
Takayama
Sayama
Kawada
Otsuka
Kobashi
Volk Han
i might swap Okada in for Hashimoto, maybe. if i include brits and burgers he only makes top 20
>>era of high-octane flippyshitters who just want to get their moves in at a pace of 10 a minute and bump their necks to sawdust with increasingly retarded stuff
It's not really though. Look at Okada's peers. Tanahashi, Nakamura, Shibata, now Jay White. The flippiest guy is Ibushi, who has always been one of the flippiest jrs in Japan for over 15 years and now worked his way to heavyweight. Omega? Maybe that's fair he does rely on that stuff quite a bit.
It's mostly on the Jrs who do the flippyshits, which is fine as long as NJ respects and upholds the divisions. Personally I think they're blurring the lines too much with guys like Shingo and Ospreay and ZSJ. If they're not careful they'll end up like WWE did which has been a fucking disaster.
But personally I think Okada isn't as good as Shibata, and is only on the same level as those guys. It's the highest level we have now, but I don't think he's actually better than those guys, he's just really priviliged to be at that spot on the card with heaps of time and freedom and his pick of great exciting opponents to work with, of course he is always going to have amazing matches and look like a million bucks in that situation compared to the guys who aren't so lucky. I'm a big fan of Okada but I wouldn't even say he is top 20. Top 5 luckiest motherfuckers who worked hard, maybe.
based and fair
The thing about high flying is that, unlike most other wrestling styles, the way in which you up the ante is incredibly obvious. Everyone's trying to be the most flippy and such. If Jushin Liger was coming up today, theoretically, and he was trying to get the shooting star press over as a finish, people wouldn't think much of it because they've seen Ospreay pull them out like they're equally important with a slap. The most flippy person devalues everyone else's flips.
>Nakamura
>Hashimoto
>Maeda
>Misawa
>Takayama
>Sayama
>Kawada
>Otsuka
>Kobashi
>Volk Han
>
>i might swap Okada in for Hashimoto, maybe. if i include brits and burgers he only makes top 20
SANADA's moonsault and Jericho's lionsault are still over and treated as credible finishers despite being fairly simplistic so this is not true.
Easily top 5 and will probably make it to the top before the end. I still think his last title run is going to go down as the GOAT.
Not the guy you responded to but trueeeeeee I suppose.....
They are finishers though, of non floppy guys who don't traditionally do that stuff so that'll naitetty get a pop.
and it's a bigger deal for a boomer like Jericho using an iconic move like that to fans or Sanada using it as a finish especially on big matches where he nearly tops guys like Okada, Tana, Naito etc
Guys who's style is flippy stuff are having to get crazier and crazier though
Is it just me or does anyone else think he should still be champion?
Kenny didn't need it then especially if his contract was coming up anyway
What a fucking reign though. Just fantastic.
>I think he's only as good as his opponent
You think this because he does such a good job at logically working his opponents "stuff" into his own.
I never said otherwise, the 90's guys were much better. I'm just saying in the 90's it was a niche whereas today it's basically the prevailing style.
I think it just had to end. There's no way you could keep it up with that level of hype for too much longer. The Tanahashi match to break the the and his lakc of fresh, credible opponents really put them in a corner.
Quads of truth.
Flippyshit seems like the prevailing style because all the Indy geeks emulate it instead of saving their big shit for big moments.
>loser sellout
>fair enough
>who
>fair enough
>fatass never drew a dimola
>who
>fair enough
>literally who
>fair enough
>who
the plan was for kenny to drop it back to Okada at G1 Supercard.
Sayama was the original Tiger Mask
>user's phone autocorrects naturally to naitetty
based
He needed to drop it. People were starting to turn on him and wanting challengers to end his incredible run. Kenny was the guy too because of how well the matches were received and how Kenny was the only one to wrestle him to a draw. I enjoyed Tana getting one last run at the top to headline the Dome too. But I’m glad the belt is back where it belongs, because Okada is the champ. Doesn’t matter if he has the belt or not, Okada is the champ. It belongs on his waist until a new Ace is born.
This
What is your barometer for rating Maeda and Otsuka so high? They don't exactly have a high quantity of good matches.
The champion is the ace by definition. Otherwise, what does it mean to be a champion?
>The champion is the ace by definition
t. Nujapanlet
>Doesn't know Maeda, Sayama, or Han
>Having an opinion
You know the sport of MMA? Sayama literally invented that entire sport and is Tiger Mask, the most popular Japanese gimmick of all time, the character which Tekken's "King" is based on. Maeda was an amazing wrestler who would be an important figure in Sayama's story of leaving to found the first professional MMA promotion, Shooto, in 1986.
Idk why he included Otsuka but I get it because he is amazing if you like realistic style of wrestling and is one of the last legit shooters who was successful in MMA and pro wrestling, which is why he has such great psychology for that style, he also floated BattlARTS for a long time and pushed people like KANA (aka Asuka) and other young guys coming up, and in addition to that IIRC he was the first guy to popularise shoot headbutts and deadlift germans which have become a staple in today's wrestling.
Inoki should be on there. He meant more to wrestling specifically then Maeda and Han.
Nobody who hasn't drawn in WWE can be top 10 ever
The adults are talking right now Seth.