Tetsuya Naito vs Michael Elgin New Beginning In Osaka 2017 Highlights

29 comments

1. Elgin, ew…

2. Man Elgin was a monster. I miss watching him wrestle.

3. 2017 New Japan was something else 😭

4. Loved Naito’s run with smashing the ic title up

5. Elgin ended up being a really weird prick, but man, he was something else in the ring.

6. I met him and Madman Fulton before a show one time, Fulton was more than nice. I clearly pissed off Elgin by trying to talk to him as he ordered something out of a vending machine. So its just nice knowing that somewhere out there, Michael Elgin hates me.

7. Naito and Elgin were both fantastic during this time, but this match went way too long, something like 48 minutes? It felt like it was an answer to Kenny v Okada. Main events started getting longer and more formulaic.

8. When I was started get into njpw, I thought this match was very epic lmao.

9. FuckMichaelElgin.gif

10. should had cut when Naito stepped on the IC title. You made me remember that belt and its history =(

    So much better than the US title imo

11. Man, Michael Elgin was so good in the ring. It’s such a shame his out-of-the-ring issues ruined his career. I miss his matches.

12. Elgin was in the right place at the wrong time. None of the non-Elite or Ospreay foreigners really got the attention they deserved back then because everything was about the Bullet Club. Elgin would have been perfect for UE, but it’s a shame that he couldn’t get his head on straight and keep himself out of trouble.

13. This was the match that made me a Naito fan.

14. Great match, in a year of great matches.

15. Unironically I think this was Naito’s best match. It was definitely Elgin’s. They had wicked chemistry.

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    Elgin is an absolute waste, he could have been a big deal in New Japan for years to come if he wasn’t a completely inexcusable person to associate with.

16. There was a NJPW MV set to a BABYMETAL song with clips from Omega vs Elgin wrestling at a smoky and hazy Hakata Star Lanes, and it was the coolest Elgin probably ever looked.

    With that said, fuck Michael Elgin. Cobb does what he does way better and can stay out of legal trouble.

17. I know Big Mike is a kinda shitty person, but man he was fun to watch in NJPW. I guess now we’ve got Jeff Cobb and Bad Dude Tito kinda doing the same thing though.

18. On this night Naito may have been best in the world. One of most overlooked matches in recent memory, probably because of Elgin being a scumbag

19. Michael Elgin was just disappointment after disappointment for me honestly. His ROH World Title run should have been incredible, but instead he dropped the title almost immediately because he.. wanted to try baseball? or put people over in PWG? It’s beyond strange.

20. Arguably the best match of either men’s career. Naito just made the IC Title feel special like Nakamura did and his story with the belt was great character work.

21. someone call him a pumpkin quick

22. Good video horrible song choice lol watched the thing muted after about 10 seconds of that

23. Too bad he’s such a piece of shit. He was great.

24. Damn…I treasure those 2016-2019 years so much. Everything New Japan produced during that period was so good.

25. What’s the song?

26. Looks like the whole match was a highlight reel.

27. Awful music. Great match. 👍

28. Shocked Elgin lost. He beat the hell out of naito.

29. I remember watching this match and it was the first time outside of a wrestle kingdom, I had seen anything from new Japan. I was truly blown away by them. I agree about Elgin and his weirdness, but man in the ring with Naito those two were magic!