WWE No Mercy and NJPW Destruction in Kobe fan feedback
NJPW Destruction in Kobe — Thumbs up
- Best Match: Kenny Omega vs. Juice Robinson – Kenny doing the things he did that soon after surgery is beyond impressive. Total “next-level” performance.
- Worst Match: Ten man with Suzuki-Gun.
Really enjoyed the show, can’t wait for Naito/Ishii, thought they did a great job building it and EVIL/Okada and think both Michael Elgin and Trent had excellent showings tonight. I’m a big KES fan(Harry rules!), so I’m happy to see them go over and the match was fun and am looking forward to all the potential matchups we’ll be seeing in the coming months as they build to peak at WK on Jan. 4.
Solid, entertaining show that keeps building up the upcoming feuds and big matches and kept the ball rolling in logical directions.
– Jeff Parker
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NJPW Destruction in Kobe — Thumbs up
- Best Match: Kenny Omega vs. Juice Robinson
- Worst Match: Togi Makabe, Tiger Mask, Jushin Thunder Liger, Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Takashi Iizuka, Desperado, Taka Michinoku, Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Kenny Omega willed himself to a tremendous performance in the main event. Juice did a good job as well, but Omega clearly was working extremely hard to have a great match. And, to their credit, they had me believing Juice might actually win the title with the 2.9 kickout by Omega after Juice hit his very carefully protected Pulp Friction finisher.
Beretta got a better match out of Yujiro than I had expected.
As I noted in the NJPW thread on the board, I’ve come around to your way of thinking with Ricochet. New Japan is under-utilizing him, and it’s crazy to think NJPW has the two best wrestlers under 30 with Okada and Ricochet yet the company seems unlikely to ever book them in a singles match. If it doesn’t happen in Rev Pro soon, it might not happen before Ricochet makes his oft-foreshadowed jump to WWE.
– Lou Pickney
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Destruction in Kobe
- Best: Omega vs. Juice Robinson (What a finish!)
- Worst: Opener. Tenzan, Kitamura, etc. Sloppy and slow, even for a show opener.
I am CONSTANTLY amazed at how good NJPW is at making me buy into things. I started the match with zero percent that Juice would win. By the end, I believed it. Kenny’s knee could need rest, he could win it back in a month, etc. I believed Juice COULD win as the match progressed. SOOO great.
– Danny West
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No Mercy — Thumbs way down
Generic paint by numbers show.
The Miz vs Jason Jordan set the vibe for the night. A nothing, no heat bathroom break. Complete with a generic babyface promo by Jason Jordan after the loss.
Finn Balor Vs. Bray Wyatt…ugh Finn should be in the main event and Bray should have a coherent character. Is he a swamp prophet, a southern conman or a drug dealer at a Grateful Dead Festival? Finn wins with his finisher.
Enzo getting the cruiserweight belt is laughable and had me close to canceling my account.
Tag title match was highlight of night (that’s not a good thing). I enjoy Sheamus/Cesaro as a team. The jackets, the look. They have a late 80’s heel team thing going on. But this match was a tv main event at best. No heat and not PPV worthy.
Womens title match: Poor Bayley. When Emma is in the match and Bayley takes the pin, something is wrong.
John Cena/Roman Reigns was…a match.
Brock/Braun boy did they miss the boat on this one. This was the only match that felt strong and Brock wins with an F5 out of nowhere.
I love Brock but his matches are stale and boring these days.
Why do I still watch WWE???
– Jake St. John
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Destruction in Kobe — Thumbs up
- Best Match: LIJ vs. Chaos tag
- Worst Match Tenzan and Kojima vs. Young lions
Juice and Omega worked a really great match with a lot of new moves for Juice. I thought the Evil/Takahashi vs. Ospreay/Okada set up two future matches very well. Okada looked vulnerable despite the win, and Will and Hiromu teases having great chemistry.
No Mercy — Thumbs up
- Best match: The Bar vs. The Shield
- Worst Match: Enzo vs. Neville
Really good show overall. The Cena stuff is interesting. I’m wondering what this means for him in the near future. He seemed to be overselling for much of the match, the story seems like he may be taking a break, or stepping back, the door for a rematch seemed very closed at the end of the match.
– Adam Bogan
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No Mercy — Thumbs up
- Best Match: Reigns v Cena
- Worst Match: Elias v Crews
A big feel show that delivered. All the talk about Mania level matchups and the build felt justified.
Crews – Elias was my least favorite but it was fine for a pre show. Enzo – Neville was the only other weaker match. I would rank the rest of the card Reigns-Cena, Tag title match, Women’s match, Finn – Bray, Lesnar-Stroman, and then Miz-Jordan.
Miz Jordan has great heat, even though the angle is death. I love what Jordan does in the matches and Miz continues to be on fire. Looking forward to when a heel Jordan says the son stuff was a ruse to get a shot and then move on.
Lesnar-Wyatt was hard to top their interactions before at SummerSlam, then on Raw. Though a bit slower, I enjoyed the “big guy” match. Wondering what Lesnar’s big match(es?) will be in between now and Mania
Balor-Bray was solid. The injury storyline at least added something to another matchup. Would be pushing it if they go back to ot at TLC though.
Though the women are always forced into the multi women format, it at least allowed for some great spots and everything was hot.
Contrary to the Balor comments, I hope we do get one more encounter at TLC between The Shield duo and “The Bar” it’s still a shame Cesaro was never used at the top in singles but at least he brings a lot here. Cringing still at the teeth stuff!
Cena was amazing doing everything he could to get Reigns over in the match and on the post show. There were times when there were glitches in the timing of some moves but the atmosphere and what the match meant glossed over those bumps. What do they do to divert Roman to from a storyline perspective until his Lesnar match? Another Strowman stretch making it the HHH v Rock feud type. Though this still likely won’t accomplish the actual mission of getting Reigns to where Vince wants him; Cena couldn’t have done more and Reigns I don’t think ever has a bad match but doesn’t get that credit.
– Michael OBrien
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No Mercy — Thumbs down
- Best Match: Cesaro & Sheamus vs Ambrose & Rollins
- Worst Match: Reigns vs Cena
This felt like a waste of my time. Every finish was either completely expected or dumb. I’m sure Enzo vs Neville will get the most worst match votes, and it was bad, but I didn’t think it was nearly as bad as Cena Reigns.
I know Dave said Reigns and Cena was great in his run down, but I don’t know that I’ve ever actively disagreed with him more. The match was slow, boring, and predictable while having a finish that both came out of nowhere and was exactly what we figured would happen at the same time. Reigns seems to have regressed, Cena’s slowed down tremendously, and every spot you could see coming from a mile away. I kept thinking they were going to kick it into high gear after the slow build, but it never happened.
Typically, Cena has an opponent kick out of his finish early so the audience doesn’t know when the actual finish is coming so every other move feels more dramatic, but this time there didn’t seem to be any actual earned drama to anything that happened because we all knew Cena was going to have to get to the rolling AAs to do anything and Roman was had to hit more than one spear. It was the worst example of the WWE style match, where nothing matters until they hit finishers and then they just kick out until it’s time to stop. I haven’t seen a Cena singles match that I disliked this much since he faced Del Rio.
Braun vs. Brock was about what you’d expect, given that Braun can’t go very long and they went out there with ten minutes left, and it wound up being the same old stuff over and over again. The cruiserweights match was a weird metaphor for the division. Women’s match was good, but didn’t seem to have a point, especially since we know Asuka is coming at TLC. They’ve basically buried the entire division before she even got on the roster, since Nia looks like a doofus, Bayley and Sasha have been destroyed, Alexa has no credibility and Emma’s a joke, but the match was good.
– Jonathan Beckner
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No Mercy — Thumbs up
Best match: John Cena vs. Roman Reigns
Worst Match: Miz vs. Jordan
I thought Lesnar did a very good job carrying the very limited Strowman to what was ultimately a bit of a letdown. After all the rage & determination Strowman has displayed during his journey to the title shot, he let Lesnar rest between big bumps, mini beatdowns & other opportunities. He looked tired and sort of disappointed he wasn’t getting the title, & kinda just went through the motions.
Lesnar, on the other hand, worked very hard, sold convincingly, & carried Strowman to a match I enjoyed, but could’ve been more brawling/brutal/longer.
– John Raad