In Defense of Long Matches
By Ross W Berman IV
New Japan is no stranger to long matches. Their main events usually stretch 30+ minutes and can test the attention spans of the audience. Just last year they presented an unrivaled 60-minute draw between Kenny Omega & Kazuchika Okada. They are no longer the sole proprietors of long match main events anymore.
This past Monday, WWE made history by presenting a nearly 2-hour gauntlet match. It was a marathon of athleticism and a bold way to start an episode of Monday Night RAW. The match was history making as it was the closest that WWE has come to topping NJPW’s 1987 Ganryujima Island Deathmatch between Antonio Inoki & Masa Saito. Also nearly 2-hours, with no crowd noise, just the sound of a helicopter whirring above, the Island Deathmatch is a slow, but beautiful viewing experience. It also feels like one of the more realistic fights in NJPW history, mainly because the lack of time limit lets the to fighters wrestle until there’s a clear, definite winner.
The two men's struggle in the foreground is accentuated by the struggle between nature and modern society in the background. This match is going full Herzog. pic.twitter.com/Q99qKXTiKh
— Ross W Berman IV (Philosopher Pirate) (@RossWBermanIV) February 20, 2018
It is this trust in their audience’s patience that makes New Japan Pro Wrestling a world-renown promotion for adults. In the post-Attitude era of wrestling, where car crash TV and quick matches are the norm, NJPW’s willingness to slow things down can be a meditative reprieve from the Saturday morning cartoon that WWE provides Monday to Wednesday. WWE has always been a blockbuster, a colorful, kinetic, pyrotechnic display of athleticism, delivered at break neck speed. Much like The Last Jedi, WWE’s gauntlet match was their usual wild, frantic, blockbuster affair, but it carried itself with the patience and power of a prestige picture.
It is the prestige picture in which New Japan has always specialized. From huge Tokyo Dome main events to lesser matches in Korakuen Hall, NJPW has always shown a patience with their main events. While WWE likes to their matches to have the pressure and the power of a firehose, NJPW has always been in favor of letting their matches flow like a river. It makes the matches feel more natural.
It is that natural vibe that made the Gauntlet match so enthralling. It fought against WWE’s usual scripted rhythms. No real fight ends because it’s close to 9pm. A real fight ends because one fighter can’t continue. WWE’s gauntlet match finally cracked NJPW’s main events template. It’s not about false-finishes. It’s not about swerves. It’s about making the audience have a very specific conversation:
“When’s this match going to be over?”
“When they’re done beating the tar out of each other.”
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