Get Ready For Uncle Dave To Declare A New Greatest Match Of All Time

[Jack-Hammer]

It's been announced that the main event for New Japan Pro Wrestling's Dominion event next month will see Kazuchicka Okada vs. Kenny Omega in a no time limit, 2 out of 3 falls match.

These two men wrestled three times in 2018, first at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in January, then at Dominion in June and once more in August as part of the G1 Climax. Okada was victorious at Wrestle Kingdom, they fought to a 60 minute time limit draw at Dominion and Omega defeated Okada in their tournament meeting with Dave Meltzer giving each match 6, 6.25 and 6 Star ratings respectively. So you know, you just automatically know, that he's almost certainly going to do everything possible to rank this match above any other that's come about in 2018 so far. Uncle Dave's a huge mark for both of these men, though they are talented and there's no question about that, they'll do pretty much everything they've always done before, it's being held at New Japan's 2nd biggest show of the year and it'll quite possibly go in excess of 1 hour so all the ingredients are already there for him to rate this match a 6 Star rating at minimum. The only way it doesn't is if a meteor crashes into the middle of the ring, though that might cause him to mark out even more and declare the match so epic that the sky itself was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of awesome.

[jmt225]

I'm on the boat that says their 2nd match (the one hour draw) is the greatest match I've ever seen. I hate to agree with Meltzer but I don't think he overrated the Okada/Omega trilogy at all (although the extra star shit is dumb; he should just rate his 5 star matches on a list from best to least best). I'm very much looking forward to their 2-out-3 Falls match.

BTW Okada's match with Tanahashi yesterday morning was absolutely superb. Incredible storytelling and it's amazing that these two could still have such a great unique match after already facing each other so many times (their match from Invasion Attack 2013 remains their best though imo).

[#AbsoluteUnit]

I do not understand his love with Japanese wrestling.

[Jack-Hammer]

I do not understand his love with Japanese wrestling.

I get why he's into some elements of it. For instance, I really dig the presentation of pro wrestling in New Japan as being a sport; I like that it's treated, presented and formatted more along the lines of something that's competition rather than just entertainment. Don't get me wrong, of course it's about entertaining fans just as any 100% legitimate sport is but the way it's done in a way that's more...well I would say reverent than here in the United States, at least for the most part. NXT is presented more along the lines of competition rather than "entertainment" and the wrestlers are presented more like athletes rather than men and women who're part of a TV show. The main roster, on the other hand, is more along the lines of the opposite where Raw & SmackDown Live are presented as ultimately "just" TV shows with actors playing parts. There also seems to be vastly less micromanaging among most Japanese promotions than we're used to due to our exposure to WWE because the simple truth is that creativity in WWE is stifled to a significant degree because Vince McMahon is so paranoid about a talent saying something that's going to upset a few sponsors or that'll do something to damage this image that he's spent so many years trying to build and set apart from the raunchy Attitude Era. Vince is cautious to such a degree that it's really, in my opinion, something of a detriment to the product.

As to what I don't like about Japanese wrestling, I really tend to dislike the whole "tough man" aspect of some of the matches. For instance, you have Wrestler A deliver a chop or a forearm to Wrestler B and Wresler B will no sell the move and deliver one of his own and they'll just keep going back and forth like that sometimes ad nauseam, often at multiple times during the match. That can add a storyline element to matches if done maybe once, you know, like when that adrenaline kicks in and a guy sort of "hulks up" but not 5 or 6 times in a single match as it just sort of takes me out of things a bit. It's like doing 20+ superkicks during a match in that it becomes more about popping the crowd than anything else.

[#AbsoluteUnit]

I knew someone was going to quote me. But thanks for your analysis Jack Hammer. I still do not like Japanese wrestling. Now, I didn't say they sucked, but I just can't get into their style of wrestling. You make some valid points and opinions and I'm not saying you're wrong, but I've grown up watching WCW, WWE, and Mexican promotions. I think "Uncle Dave" is overrated as hell when it comes to the IWC. He has a huge crush for Japanese wrestling. Cool, we all like what we all like, right? But dude has overblown everything to say NJPW is the greatest thing since slice bread.

[DNA 2.0]

This definately has the potential to be one of the greatest matches of all time.

I think it's time for Omega to win, isn't it?

[SD619]

I can see this match being really good, but I am not a fan of 30+ minute singles matches. Judging by their past encounters, this match may easily end up being more than an hour. While I have the utmost respect that these two guys are in the physical condition to pull this off, its just not my type of match. Their 60-min match bored me at times and I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it was 20-25 minutes.

As for Meltzer's ratings, its his choice to give it as many stars as he pleases.

[#AbsoluteUnit]

I never thought SCF had so many meltzer fans as I thought there were.

[#AbsoluteUnit]

Oh, and just one more thing..

Why all of a sudden is DAVEY BOY MELTZ "new favorite match" matter to us?

What if I want to know Lee's favorite match?

What if I want to know KB's favorite match?

What if I want to know Sly's favorite match?

Bruce Prichards favorite match?

No?

Want to know my favorite match?

Way to counter it to one guy who reports his newzz on a pre-determined sport.

Because we all care about that.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Oh, and just one more thing..

Why all of a sudden is DAVEY BOY MELTZ "new favorite match" matter to us?

What if I want to know Lee's favorite match?

What if I want to know KB's favorite match?

What if I want to know Sly's favorite match?

Bruce Prichards favorite match?

No?

Want to know my favorite match?

Way to counter it to one guy who reports his newzz on a pre-determined sport.

Because we all care about that.

Why do you care so much about people caring about Dave Meltzer?

He has his opinions about wrestling. You have yours. Why can't the two co-exist?

Now do some people take him too seriously? Sure, but that's a very small percentage of the people who follow him. Most people are just curious to hear what one of the most respected and well known wrestling journalists today thinks. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Yaz]

Why do you care so much about people caring about Dave Meltzer?

He has his opinions about wrestling. You have yours. Why can't the two co-exist?

Now do some people take him too seriously? Sure, but that's a very small percentage of the people who follow him. Most people are just curious to hear what one of the most respected and well known wrestling journalists today thinks. Nothing more, nothing less.

Man this is pretty spot on. I'm impressed with you duder.

Meltzer is obviously biased and I don't think his reporting is as accurate as it once was, but he was really the first respected pro wrestler journalist because his reports were often accurate. He didn't just write random garbage to grab reader's attention and he didn't just post vague garbage like "Hulk Hogan might consider joining ECW if they give him enough money."

I am old enough to remember a time before 24/7 instant internet access, I remember watching wrestling on VHS tapes, and in those days Dave was a big collector of all companies and styles in both the US and Japan. He originally put out WON to keep his friends and wrestling contacts in the loop, and grew it to the most respected publication of all time.

Yeah, it does annoy me when people rush to his ratings and view them as holy scripture and it does rub me the wrong way that he likes to put on a persona on social media to bring attention to himself and his product, but it works. He is good at his job and people shouldn't constantly give him crap for that. It isn't like his job is stealing formula from babies, he just writes about wrestling, a very silly form of entertainment all things considered.

[jmt225]

Well, this somehow managed to pass all expectations. Get ready to see 7 stars from Meltzer :lol:

Seriously though, I don't know how some of you can have such high praise for NXT Takeover matches and not appreciate the style in which they pretty much copied.

Every Okada vs. Omega match was phenomenal, with this morning's somehow topping all their previous bouts. It's unbelievable how talented these two guys are and the chemistry they have.

I'm going to watch the match again after I see Jericho/Naito (unfortunately didn't wake up in time to for it), but I hope you all give it a shot and keep an open mind. Listen, fuck Meltzer... don't let his opinions affect your way of thinking. It's okay to enjoy something he enjoys every once in a while, just like his fanboys need to learn that it's okay to enjoy something Meltzer DOESN'T enjoy. But you're pretty much no different from Meltzer's puppets if you refuse to be entertained by something just because he loves it.

[Storm Trooper]

It won't be 7 stars. It'll be 18 stars. It's 2 out of 3 falls, and each fall is a 6 star match. As such, 18 stars.