#showbuckle

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Tetsuya Naito vs Kazuchika Okada: The Main Event of Wrestle Kingdom 12

[pwrestlingxpress]

The Tale of the Golden☆Lovers by Showbuckle

The video above is the story of the Golden☆Lovers and its history.  How it all began, how it all ended, and how it all began again. Enjoy watching the history of the Golden☆Lovers from Showbuckle and be sure to watch their next match which will be on March 25th as part of Strong Style Evolved when they team up to face The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) while at the same time you can watch Kota Ibushi’s journey through the 2018 New Japan Cup starting on March 9th in Korakuen as he preps to face YOSHI-HASHI on March 11th in the first round in Amagasaki.

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[filthycasualsmark]

Showbuckle's videos are an excellent intro for anyone who wants to get into New Japan Pro Wrestling for the first time. He recently put out this great 12-minute retrospective of Prince Devitt’s Japan career. From his early years as a hardworking babyface in a scary new country, to his Apollo 55 partnership with Ryusuke Taguchi, to his gradual slide into darkness as an embittered heel who was never good enough, Showbuckle doesn’t hold back on just how much Devitt’s NJPW tenure is defined by both determination and self-doubt. 

If you’ve ever wanted to know just what was so special about Finn Bálor’s New Japan past, I highly recommend you watch this video. Prince Devitt wasn’t just a talented wrestler; he was also one of the most tragic characters in modern NJPW. 

[pwrestlingxpress]

History of Tanahashi and Okada according to Showbuckle

This Friday (May 4th), for the first time, fans worldwide will see one of the best rivalries of the decade as Kazuchika Okada will be defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship a record 12th time against Hiroshi Tanahashi in which you can only see it on NJPW World as part of Wrestling Dontaku 2018.

Down below are two videos chronicling the rivalry between these two men.  Part one focuses on the beginning of the rivalry in which Kazuchika Okada, just coming back from excursion, challenges Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.  At The New Beginning in 2012, he shocks the Japanese wrestling world by becoming the 57th IWGP Heavyweight Champion but that first reign only lasted four months as Tanahashi was able to regain the title for a 6th time.  Despite losing the title, Okada makes history once more by winning the G1 Climax and stakes his claim to once again become champion at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome with the theme that year being Evolution. However, at the Tokyo Dome, Okada falters to Tanahashi as the Ace of the Universe retains the title in a fairly awesome match.  The first video ends with Okada becoming a 2-time champion in Ryogoku as part of New Japan’s newest event entitled Invasion Attack. 

Part Two begins with Kazuchika Okada riding high in his second reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion as he and Hiroshi Tanahashi wrestle to a 30-minute draw at the 2013 G1 Climax.  After Destruction 2013, where Okada retained the title over Satoshi Kojima, both him and Tanahashi decide to settle this once and for all with one more match.  After the match was made official for King of Pro Wrestling 2013, Tanahashi promised that if he doesn’t win the title, then he would never pursue the IWGP Heavyweight Title again.  Then at the match itself, the roles are completely reversed as Tanahashi acts heelish throughout the match even to the point of doing some cheap moves to win the match including stealing Gedo’s signature pin.  Despite wearing him out to the point where his right arm was almost dead, Okada retains the title making him the number one ace in New Japan or so the people thought.  

Fast forward to Wrestling Dontaku 2014, where Okada loses everything as one of his own betrays him to make new Bullet Club leader AJ Styles the 60th IWGP Heavyweight Champion.  Meanwhile, Tanahashi climbs back to the top of the world, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for a 7th time and at the Tokyo Dome, once more defeats Kazuchika Okada who was in total shock as the three-count was made after the final high-fly flow.  After losing the main event slot in 2014, losing the title at Dontaku, and losing the main event itself, Okada breaks down in tears in which this served as the lowest point of his career post-excursion and it wouldn’t be until Dominion 7.5 in Osaka-Jo Hall where Okada would back on top again.  

By 2016, Kazuchika Okada is now a 3-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion but needs to defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi or the experiment that New Japan has done would be a failure.  At Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome, Okada was finally able to defeat the Ace and insert himslef as the Ace of the company, this time for good.  Though no longer feuding, both would have one more match against each other, also leading to a time-limit draw. 

Enjoy this 2-part series from Showbuckle and be sure to tune into Wrestling Dontaku on May 3rd and 4th where these two will write a new chapter into one of the best rivalries of the decade as Okada defends the IWGP Heavyweight Championship a 12th time against Hiroshi Tanahashi. 

[pwrestlingxpress]

Tale of The Golden☆Lovers on Vimeo

About to repeat what I said back on April 22nd when I learn that all the videos from Showbuckle were gone from YouTube:

Though they tried to fix the issue, on April 25th, Showbuckle announced this on twitter in which YouTube did the impossible:

And today, I just learned that Showbuckle has found a new home for all their documentary videos.  If you watch the video above of Tale of The Golden☆Lovers you will see that their new home right now is Vimeo which is a website that I barely even use but now probably will so that I can watch more of their videos when I can.  Also, this is a website where if you sign up for free, you can watch their videos but there is a upload limit on the website.  Take a look below to see what I’m talking about:

So if any of you want to, you can join Vimeo and enjoy Showbuckle’s new channel which features all of their documentaries including that of Tale of The Golden☆Lovers.  The Lovers will be competing later on today in Kagoshima against the team of Taka Michinoku and Zack Sabre Jr.  Though a lot of the fans want to see that match, it will not be televised but there will be pictures available the next night.  The next televised matches for the Golden☆Lovers will be singles matches as Kenny faces Hangman Page and Ibushi faces “The American Nightmare” Cody on May 3rd as part of Wrestling Dontaku 2018.  Enjoy this video of The Golden☆Lovers from Showbuckle through their new video service which is Vimeo.

Thank you Showbuckle for not giving up on finding a channel where the fans can enjoy your documentaries.  Happy you guys were able to find a home.  Hopefully, Vimeo will treat you guys fairly.  Very happy for you guys. Again, enjoy the video of Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi and stay tuned here for I’ll also be presenting the documentary that chronicles the history of the rivalry between Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi courtesy of Showbuckle.