Personally, I loved the Shingo work horse reign. His matches against Taichi, ELP and Henare were great (we don't need to speak of the horrible O-Khan match) and loved seeing Taichi get his moment where he finally defeated Shingo. Also I liked the unpredictability of the title and the weird ass stipulations created for it.
by mrchefigan
11 comments
I don’t watch NJPW that often, but I do like “2-count pinfall”. It’s like we’re seeing kayfabe to be broken at some point (All normal wrestling matches always ends in a 3-count. But all of the wrestlers always kicking out at 2. So, if they kickout at one, that usually means that their finisher or move is not not enough to beat them. But in KOPW match, I believe that was Yano who sets this match, wants this match, signifying that this match is like testing their habit if they will or will kickout at one. Kinda like a mental challenge for wrestlers.)
Shingo vs HENARE Ultimate Triad
I enjoyed yano vs. nobu, where they had to stop to drink the whiskey
Taichi vs. Kanemaru in the Whiskey Ladder Match is genuinely a master class from two vets in how to end a midcard feud without it at all feeling midcard.
O-Khan vs. Yuya in their Rural Revitalization Match was the peak of that gimmick, absolute comedy gold that match.
Getting rid of the KOPW is such a bummer since it was the only midcard title that actually felt like anything. The NEVER has 0 identity nowadays aside from Shingo holding it 3 separate times a year, the TV title’s gimmick is just inherently limiting for the sole purpose of futilely trying to garner YouTube viewers, and the STRONG Openweight is literally just a discount NEVER from back when it was good.
Seriously, could we not have just made the TV title match at WK its retirement match, with the winner receiving an IWGP title shot if we had to keep this #1 contender’s match angle?
I’m really going to miss the title honestly. It could be whatever NJPW needed it to be. I thought it had its place on the card.
My favourite is Taichi vs SHO.
Mainly because the stipulations were all chosen by Sho and were so creative like one of the proposed one was “Weapons legal but Yujiro is the one who hands them out”
Shingo vs Taichi. Any of them
Either the 30 count match or here you had to get to a 30 count. Or the 3/5 ways to win (pin, submit, ko, DQ or count out)
Taichi & Shingo really made the belt important when they held it
In my opinion there’s just too many to pick and I would have to seriously go back and think about all of them that actually sounds like a good idea
If they’ll gonna retire the KOPW title, so should the Strong belts. Unify them with other titles.