Post by brockobama on Oct 7, 2017 2:51:55 GMT -5
More of a mixed bag candidate than the other DG standouts, I'd say, but someone worth considering if you're at all into that promotion. I think it's easy to say that 2017 has been the best year of T-Hawk's career outside of 2014. He's not putting on the high level stuff this year like he did with Eita three years back, but I find him to be more fleshed out as a performer today. He's the second biggest heel in the company and you could argue he's more the 1B than the distinct lesser #2. It's a title he wears well, notably shining in most of the tags I saw him in this year against all sorts of opponents. His performance late in the unit disbands match against the Jimmyz was, to me, the highlight of what ended up being a real messy affair all around. I've also loved him in smaller singles matches against younger opponents like Yamamura and Ben-K, where he shows a lot of veteran instincts in being generous and giving these rookies their shine without selling the farm.
His biggest weakness has been his big main event singles matches, most notably against YAMATO and Doi, but I'm more inclined to blame the shortcomings of the style and his opponents than T-Hawk directly. It's an indictment against the guy they're building as the next top heel to shit the bed in tournament finals and the main of the biggest show of the year, of course, but for my money Doi and YAMATO, respectively, were the two worst people available for those matches and T-Hawk did what he could. He's still got to find his feet as a heel if he's going to replace Shingo anytime soon but I'm not sure if it's quite fair to compare this 27 year old to the best thing DG's ever produced.
There's certainly time left for him to make or break his case. If he ends up facing Mochizuki for the Dream Gate this year I think he may well knock it out of the park and end up on my list. Right now he's teetering towards the top and could go either way.
His biggest weakness has been his big main event singles matches, most notably against YAMATO and Doi, but I'm more inclined to blame the shortcomings of the style and his opponents than T-Hawk directly. It's an indictment against the guy they're building as the next top heel to shit the bed in tournament finals and the main of the biggest show of the year, of course, but for my money Doi and YAMATO, respectively, were the two worst people available for those matches and T-Hawk did what he could. He's still got to find his feet as a heel if he's going to replace Shingo anytime soon but I'm not sure if it's quite fair to compare this 27 year old to the best thing DG's ever produced.
There's certainly time left for him to make or break his case. If he ends up facing Mochizuki for the Dream Gate this year I think he may well knock it out of the park and end up on my list. Right now he's teetering towards the top and could go either way.