Well, this is a spot of a 6-star match

14 comments

1. Unsafe ospreay at it again

2. I fucking loved this! In the moment it honestly elevated the match for me seeing just how exhausted naito was and no concussion stuff came out of it so I can still love this.

   Shibata okada is still universally loved

3. This spot, as unfortunate as it was, made the match better.

4. Was Naito not actually concussed during that match? If not he sold it to perfection

5. Who cares how many stars it had. It fucking ruled. Naito! Naito! Naito!

6. The point of pro wrestling is it is scripted. It’s supposed to look real to the audience while also not hurting the talent. Naito got hurt. And he collapsed because he got hurt by Ospreay’s mistake.

   This should not be celebrated but seen as a cautionary tale.

7. It was an awesome spot and completely sold how exhausted he was. The whole story being told is that Naito was beaten the hell up beyond belief. He was going against Ubermensch Okada after getting destroyed by his G1 opponents and looked like the ultimate underdog. I sure as hell bought into his loss both here and vs Okada. It was a true shock to me when he pulled the victory out of his ass through sheer grit and determination. He didn’t outwrestle Ospreay nor Okada. He simply wanted it more than they did.

8. Oh no, a whole five seconds of an entire match. My immersion is ruined, and my fandom is forever stained.

9. This spot will be mimicked for the next 5 years – even though it wasn’t really a spot.

   It’s PERFECT story telling.

10. You just love your poor takes in this sub, huh? This match was incredible. It’s neither Ospreay, nor Naito’s fault that an accident happened.

11. I love it when a comment section collectively serves the op back their trash take.

12. The dude had just eaten an accidental stiff ass kick to the head less than two minutes ago.

13. Having trouble even deciphering what you mean by this, are you saying this isn’t a fantastic match because of this spot? Or is this a critique of Meltzer (did he give it six many stars)?

    If it’s the latter, fair enough. Meltzer is a scrub. But I don’t think this spot in the match serves to prove much. A lot of beloved matches still include moments where you can see some amount of cooperation, despite the wrestler’s attempts to hide it. This moment wasn’t scripted, if anything it gave some legitimacy to the match.

    In any case, star ratings are maybe very dumb. Leads to moments like these where we can nitpick tiny moments to see if it still holds up to a slightly higher rating than it would have otherwise. Just enjoy the wrestling. 😀

14. Is that a fucking issue? It’s storytelling at its finest. That, and Naito was actually knocked out because of that Ospreay kick. What’s your excuse?