Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega-NJPW 4.1.2017.

I've made my peace with what modern New Japan is and try to make use of my time and watch matches with an open mind and distance myself from the hype surrounding them since I'm so apart from the way most people watch these matches that I'd just be a waste of time to get into useless arguments. I enjoyed the match-about as much as I could without getting emotionally invested in it whatsoever. To say they did nothing for the first 20/30 minute or so would just be wrong-they did a lot of stuff. There was some teasing of the big moves that would come latear, a perfectly logical thing to do when you're working such a long match, and there were some big spots. What they cared about was those big spots. Inbetween it felt like they were just kicking things off a bucket list-ok, we do the headlock now, now the armdrags, now we're gonna go outside....and so on. They went through a lot of stuff without giving any of it meaning or establishing any sort of narrative. And I'm the last person to cry about "storytelling" in pro wrestling but if you're working a match this long there should at least be a focus. I didn't see any in this match. You could probably make up one about limbwork but the reality is that it just happens 80/90% of wrestling moves are done on the head/neck and back. The true focus of the match was the drama and the physicality of it. And, maybe if I were watching it live, without thinking about wrestling critically, I would've loved the match a lot more. But that's not where I am as a fan, and even just watching it the first time it was clear to me this match wouldn't have the staying power that I look for these days. The six star rating reminded me of the Ibushi/Omega match at the Budokan and how someone said something along the lines of it reaching " a new standard in workrate". I like that match a lot more because it was straightforward in what it was and didn't take almost 50 minutes. I also found the spots a lot more impressive and memorable. There was really nothing innovative or never seen before in this match-I've seen top rope Dragon Suplexes before, I've seen dumb table spots before, every New Japan match these days is built around finishing countering and selective selling. I understand why people think it's the greatest match of all time, because it embodies everything modern New Japan style is, and it was longer and featured more of the elements that people enjoy in it than any New Japan match since the style changed in 2012. Personally I can't say it really connects to what I want out of wrestling or that it even impressed me as a piece of art I might not personally favour but recognize as a peak of this dedication to recklessness and craziness. Not when you have Omega throwing himself from the second rope, rolling backwards and sprinting up, or him and Okada dancing through a German Suplex. Not when you have a million basic strikes inbetween all of those spots that look eye rolling. Not when Okada's big submission looks like a man in a midlife crisis in his first kung fu practice. I commend them for managing to have a match that garnered such buzz and discussion, but as someone familiar with the patterns that sees the important thing here is what works in the moment I give this ***. There were a lot of moments and I like my moments to sink in and be parts of significant control shifts in the match and so on. They have a different vision, that's fine, like what you like.