#< putting in the aew tag in case those fans want some deep lore

[fang-revives]

Yes please drop your Jay White match recs I would owe you my life!!! Those gif sets of White and Okada have been rotting my brain for the last two days now I need to know what their deal is 😭

HIIII!!! Sorry it took me a day-ish to get to this but I’m so excited to drop some match recs! 

So the gifs driving us all up the wall are mainly from the conclusion of Wrestle Kingdom 17 (link: https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTkzMjA1ODM0OA==.html?playMode=pugv&frommaciku=1 ), the main event! In many ways, this is the denouement for Jay White, the last step towards a devastating spiral that would see him exiled from NJPW just two big matches from this moment. It was also the first match I saw that really made me obsessed with them, so of course, I recommend it passionately as a first go even if it is at the end :) 

Post match comments are also basically required viewing, featuring Jay at his most pathetic and gut-wrenching (https://youtu.be/UxIM0FkYoSY?t=693 )

I think the overarching thing to understand about Jay and Okada’s whole deal is that it’s a very simple wrestling story at its core. Okada is the golden boy, the ace, the native heir to New Japan’s wrestling legacy. Jay is the gaijin, the heel outsider, good but willing to do whatever it takes to put himself at the top. But they both bring really really good layers to their roles that brings something new to every time they clash in the ring. And they’re both just, of course, really fucking good in ring, as top guys have wont to be. 

Jay is compelling because he is in many ways equal parts caring and conniving in his role as Bullet Club leader. He takes the time to have fun and gas up his teammates, even get goofy with them in a way that hardline Bullet Club leaders shy away from– but every so often this insecurity rears up that drives him to pre-emptively stab back. This is also present in his in-ring work– he starts as a cocky upstart heel who can truly out-wrestle opponents and cheats in a kind of cheeky “because I can” way. But into the 2021 ish you start to see him using the cheating as more of a crutch because of his insecurities, and it’s eating away at him. By the time this WK17 match has happened, he’s IWGP champ, yes, but he’s also pre-emptively backstabbed two core members of his Bullet Club and his kind of a deranged wreck. 

Okada’s whole deal really starts with Hiroshi Tanahashi – and I haven’t deep-dived their series, but there’s a pair of great summary videos if you want the supplemental reading here: https://archive.org/details/showbuckle-pack/The+Battle+for+Ace+of+NJPW+Okada+vs+Tanahashi+Part+1.mp4 .  What I love about Okada is that even though he’s mainly in kayfabe a cocky little shit grown into the role of New Japan’s ace, off-duty he’s a really silly weird dude (no, really – Shinsuke Nakamura in his autobiography referred to him as “the weirdest guy he’s ever met”. Let that sink in, I’m sure Shinsuke has met so many weird dudes). Anyways, in the few moments where Okada is off-duty as ace, he’s done some real compelling and memorable character work. 

Which brings me to the actual next set of match recs – the Balloon Okada / Jay White’s initial rise to prominence in NJPW. This was a fantastic co-incidence of storytelling that really cemented being obsessed with their rivalry to me. Jay had just come back from excursion as “Switchblade”, and was coming in hot; with a title challenge to Tanahashi right from the get-go, teasing joining Bullet Club only to ratfuck Kenny Omega (then Bullet Club leader), and nab the IWGP US belt. And he joined up with Okada’s faction, CHAOS. 

Okada was just coming off of the IWGP-belt reign of his life, a record-breaking reign after he finally unseated Tanahashi to ascend as the ace. But when he lost the belt to Kenny Omega, it triggered a super weird mid-life crisis in him, the “balloon Okada” era. He dyed his hair an ugly red. He changed his gear to long bois (which everyone hated! Covering up those thighs is a crime!!!), he yells SCOOBY DOOBY DOO as he’s jumping off the ropes. He was weird. Because he didn’t know who he was without that belt. Here’s my favourite summary article about that: https://www.how2wrestling.com/articles/okada-and-the-portrayal-of-a-crisis 

So with that, I recommend for you three other matches! 

Destruction in Kobe 2018, Tanahashi vs. Okada but Jay is there I pinky promise. Also heck Tana and Okada are just Really Fucking Good so enjoy :)  (https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1kW411z7Sv/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click ) 

Wrestle Kingdom 13, Okada vs. Jay White (https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1j4411F7g9/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click ) 

G1 Supercard, Okada vs. Jay White(https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV15b411u7Q8/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click ).

If you’ve ever heard Jay bray about “selling out Madison Square Garden” that’s this match! It’s also super fucking funny that he credits that all to himself considering Okada is like. The Guy in Japan lol <3 love him 

There are some other matches narratively in between – if you’re really in for it you can check out Jay getting the IWGP belt off Tana. But for the OkadaJay highlights, these would be a great place to start. Something about a rivalry that shakes you out of your worst moment (Okada) and gets that fighting spirit going in you again…

Anyways, if you’ve read all this, thank you, and enjoy! Would love to hear how you liked the matches, and let me know if you find any other recs, it’s very possible I haven’t seen em yet – big back-catalogue :”)