Big Van Vader critisizes amazing NJPW match: Internet freaks out

I haven't seen what Vader said but I can see where he's coming from. It's a cracking match, the part where the go toe to toe with the flips at the start was cool. (Just read thats the part he didn't like) But you can't keep relying on it, especially if you do something and it misses or looks like shit.

There's a part where Ospreay hits two meaty punches and then follows it up with a handstand, backspring into something. The psychology just isn't there. At the end of the day, its a fight, not an acrobatics display.

Ospreay also does Okada's signature pose for some reason. That would be like Heath Slater randomly doing Cena's "You Can't See Me" mid-match.

^ But we see people mocking others' taunts all the time.

Oh, I just realised he did it to a guy not in the match. Weird.

Last edited by rhys (Wed-1-Jun-2016 22:12:29)

I'm mixed here. What they did was impressive but it really started looking like a show and not a match. I know the keyword here is "entertainment" but the whole idea of believable is thrown out the window. Again very impressive but still goofy. I totally agree, this is suppose to be a fight.

Some of the acting against regular attacks wasn't all that good. Everything seems to be put in the front/back flips off the ropes and just showmanship.

I don't wanna hate to much bc some of it was really cool but I'd prefer the old school was of doing things

I don't see what the fuss is about. The match was great.

Both guys have a reputation for being acrobatic, this was what people wanted to see from this match and they delivered. The moves themselves were largely for show, but that's the gimmick. They both wanted to outdo each other. The contrived spot from the start ends with them mirroring each other, showing that they're equals and that they'll need to do something special to prove that they're the better man.

Look at the moves that actually mattered in the match, the ones that inflicted the most damage. They're all forearms and suplexes. The flips were more or less mind games. Maybe the selling was a little weak at points, especially the slam on the apron, but it still wasn't all that bad and they did sell frustration really well throughout.

The other complaint seems to be that the spots looked too choreographed. Well shit. 30 years ago we got headlock, whip, tackle, drop down, get it again. Then the likes of Regal and Benoit would counter hammerlocks and top wrist locks. Now we get tilt-a-whirls and backflips. What's the difference, really? Wrestling is and always has been choreographed, if you're being critical then this match really isn't any worse than that old spot they used to do with the handstand counter to the head scissors. The difference is that back then the guys were 300lbs and moved like syrup, Ricochet and Ospreay are 190 and can't rely on bear hugs. It was weird enough seeing CM Punk use a firemans carry finisher on the likes of Kane, smaller guys have to work like smaller guys. Of course Vader doesn't think anything of the match, it would be ridiculous if Vader tried to do any of it.

RPW who are one of the UK's largest promotions has booked Will Ospreay vs. Big Van Vader for their August show.

Also, reading an interview with Ospreay, the ultra high-flying style he's adopted is taking its toll.

Ospreay on planning to leave the independents in 2017: “By 2017, I’m going to start leaving the independents because my body can physically not take it anymore, so I’ll probably be wrestling for five promotions in Britain altogether and sticking with New Japan just because my body has started giving up on me.”

He's only been wrestling for 4 years, just turned 23 and his body is deteriorating.

Ospreay is fucked already... no hope of him making it really big then. Far too young for his body to be "giving up on me". Hope he has another career lined up.

I'm still shocked that Big Van Vader wrestles. The dude is old, really old.