Essential Japanese Wrestling Discussion/News

[DocZulu]

We're having a good exchange, but I think we're misunderstanding each other.

Yes, I agree that it is like a a best of "WWE 2014", and that is why I'm critiquing it the way that I am. What I'm saying is that they are choosing to expose their audience to pinfalls.

Along with those decisions they are choosing to build their weekly shows on the World Title, the IC title and the (Never Open?) Weight titles.

In that same way, I have no idea who the NJPW tag champions were in April of 2014. (I'm pretty sure today's matches were from April of last year.) I also don't know the difference between the World Tag Titles and the other tag team titles.

These are choices that they are making, and, especially in light of your post about submissions, I don't understand their decision making.

But you realize that's like if they had a Best of WWE show where they just showed some shyt from a very small window of time, and they just happened to show be a bunch of Dbry matches that end with the YES Lock and the big matches Cena won with the STF and Del Rio matches and saying they really need to mix in more pinfall finishes to increase the drama?

The only reason I even comment on this is because It just struck me as incredibly weird that you mentioned this a few times.

 

[krazykid18]

Aint no japanese wrestling games made any more

 

[Scottie Drippin]

We're having a good exchange, but I think we're misunderstanding each other.

Yes, I agree that it is like a a best of "WWE 2014", and that is why I'm critiquing it the way that I am. What I'm saying is that they are choosing to expose their audience to pinfalls.

Along with those decisions they are choosing to build their weekly shows on the World Title, the IC title and the (Never Open?) Weight titles.

In that same way, I have no idea who the NJPW tag champions were in April of 2014. (I'm pretty sure today's matches were from April of last year.) I also don't know the difference between the World Tag Titles and the other tag team titles.

These are choices that they are making, and, especially in light of your post about submissions, I don't understand their decision making.

The point I'm making is that these big matches last year just so happened to end in pinfalls. There is no choosing, no statement, it's entirely coincidence. Something else you've got to understand is that NJPW wrestlers work fewer than 20 singles matches all year. In one given year there is no enormous supply of big matches to choose from.

 

[Numero Deux]

My main man Hiroshi Tanahashi: Ace of the Universe

Spoiler: YT vid

 

[The Rainmaker]

Now THIS is a movie I'd watch "Boma-ye: The Hounds of Hell", starring Swagsuke.

 

[PlayerNinety_Nine]

Now THIS is a movie I'd watch "Boma-ye: The Hounds of Hell", starring Swagsuke.

Michael Jackson and Queen soundtrack on deck

 

[JohnB]

Hideki Suzuki wins the Wrestle-1 world title after a disappointing run by Kai, He lost in 6 minutes

WRESTLE-1 "WRESTLE-1 TOUR 2015 CHERRY BLOSSOM", 01.04.2015 (GAORA TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,050 Fans

1. Kuma Goro besiegt Shotaro Ashino (6:40) mit einem Boston Crab.
2. Hiroshi Yamato Yusuke Kodama & Rionne Fujiwara besiegen NOSAWA Rongai, MAZADA & Hiroki Murase (9:10) mit einer Northern Lights Bomb von Yamato gegen NOSAWA.
3. WRESTLE-1 vs. DESPERADO: Masakatsu Funaki & Jiro "Ikemen" Kuroshio besiegen TAJIRI & Koji Doi (9:06) mit dem Ikemen Flash von Kuroshio gegen Doi.
4. WRESTLE-1 Cruiserweight Title Tournament - Round 1: El Hijo del Pantera besiegt Andy Wu (8:08) nach einem Special DDT.
5. WRESTLE-1 Cruiserweight Title Tournament - Round 1: Minoru Tanaka besiegt Seiki Yoshioka (17:26) nach einem Tornado Kaki Cutter.
6. WRESTLE-1 vs. DESPERADO: Keiji Muto, Ryota Hama & Yasufumi Nakanoue besiegen Masayuki Kono, Ryouji Sai & KAZMA SAKAMOTO (10:13) mit dem Ryota Hammer von Hama gegen KAZMA.
7. WRESTLE-1 Tag Team Title: Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo (c) besiegen AKIRA & Manabu Soya (18:57) nach der King Kong Lariat von Kondo gegen AKIRA.
8. WRESTLE-1 Title: Hideki Suzuki besiegt KAI (c) (6:57) nach einem Double-Arm Suplex - Titelwechsel.

 

[SirReginald]

Hideki Suzuki wins the Wrestle-1 world title after a disappointing run by Kai, He lost in 6 minutes

WRESTLE-1 "WRESTLE-1 TOUR 2015 CHERRY BLOSSOM", 01.04.2015 (GAORA TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,050 Fans

1. Kuma Goro besiegt Shotaro Ashino (6:40) mit einem Boston Crab.
2. Hiroshi Yamato Yusuke Kodama & Rionne Fujiwara besiegen NOSAWA Rongai, MAZADA & Hiroki Murase (9:10) mit einer Northern Lights Bomb von Yamato gegen NOSAWA.
3. WRESTLE-1 vs. DESPERADO: Masakatsu Funaki & Jiro "Ikemen" Kuroshio besiegen TAJIRI & Koji Doi (9:06) mit dem Ikemen Flash von Kuroshio gegen Doi.
4. WRESTLE-1 Cruiserweight Title Tournament - Round 1: El Hijo del Pantera besiegt Andy Wu (8:08) nach einem Special DDT.
5. WRESTLE-1 Cruiserweight Title Tournament - Round 1: Minoru Tanaka besiegt Seiki Yoshioka (17:26) nach einem Tornado Kaki Cutter.
6. WRESTLE-1 vs. DESPERADO: Keiji Muto, Ryota Hama & Yasufumi Nakanoue besiegen Masayuki Kono, Ryouji Sai & KAZMA SAKAMOTO (10:13) mit dem Ryota Hammer von Hama gegen KAZMA.
7. WRESTLE-1 Tag Team Title: Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo (c) besiegen AKIRA & Manabu Soya (18:57) nach der King Kong Lariat von Kondo gegen AKIRA.
8. WRESTLE-1 Title: Hideki Suzuki besiegt KAI (c) (6:57) nach einem Double-Arm Suplex - Titelwechsel.

Da fukk? I thought they wanted to make KAI their Tanahashi of Wrestle-1. Way to bury your suppose top guy.
"Promoting Manhood and Protecting Womanhood"

 

[Honga Ciganesta]

JR

The Invasion Attack show on 4/5 has sold out Sumo Hall in advance, making it the fastest non-G-1 or non-special show to sell out the arena in more than a decade. That speaks volumes because none of the big three (Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada or Shinsuke Nakamura) were in the main event, which is A.J. Styles vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP title. And it’s not all that loaded of a show. The show airs live on Saturday night/Sunday morning at 3 a.m. Eastern and midnight Pacific.
Also sold out is the 4/2 and 4/17 Korakuen Hall shows.

The G-1 Climax schedule will be announced the first week of June.

Jim Ross was talking to New Japan officials in San Jose this past week and made a suggestion, which he talked about at his show, that New Japan broker a deal with WWE to send Kazuchika Okada to NXT. Ross said that with his size, look and ability, he’d make the main roster quickly and be a U.S. superstar and then could return to Japan having been a WWE success, and he said he could be another Antonio Inoki. Nobody is going to be another Inoki. It is true that being a WWE success will help him be more of a star to the Japanese people, but there’s no lock that will happen, plus you have the issue that if WWE gets a talent on loan for a certain amount of time, how much are they really going to invest in it? Okada as a middle of the pack guy in that mid-card WWE purgatory, then going back to Japan and having to be the anchor of the company could go either way as far as his ability to lead. It usually doesn’t hurt Japanese guys to go overseas and not be used on top, but those are young guys, not one of the company’s big three established stars. Plus, New Japan needs Okada right now more and more, because he’s already one of the big three and they are trying to grow their business now. He’d get over to the NXT audience, probably huge, but the main roster is a tough one to navigate.

They did a New Japan World show on 3/29 in Hamamatsu, but it was a one camera shoot house show with no announcing. The show drew 2,900 fans, a sellout, with nothing but tags and just basic stuff. Usual New Japan house show style card with all multiple person matches. Everything was above average to good, but nothing was great. A.J. Styles & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi beat Kazuchika Okada & Gedo & Yoshi-Hashi when Styles pinned Gedo. Styles, after the match, said that Okada will be destroyed by Fale at Invasion Attack, and he’ll do the same to Kota Ibushi. He dropped the mic twice during his promo. They are doing a Styles winning streak gimmick on this tour in all the main events, so in a sense they’re putting the heels over every night. They’re also putting Trent Baretta & Rocky Romero strong as Roppongi Vice on their debut tour. After a multiple-person match, there was a big pull-apart between Tomohiro Ishii and Togi Makabe, so they are headed toward a singles Never title match. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata & Tomoaki Honma beat Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Tama Tonga when Shibata pinned Tonga after a penalty kick, but Honma and Shibata argued and were about to go at it and Goto played peacemaker. They also gave Captain New Japan a rare win in the second match, when he and Mascara Dorada beat Kenny Omega & Cody Hall, when he pinned Hall.

 

[The Rainmaker]

AXS TV EXTENDS ‘NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING’ FOR 12 MORE EPISODES RETURNING MAY 22

LOS ANGELES – April 2, 2015 – Based on the success of NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING’S (NJPW) inaugural run on AXS TV, the network today announced it has exercised its option to extend the current season by 12 episodes. The second cycle of NJPW will premiere Friday, May 22 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT with coverage of the “Best of the Super Juniors XXI” tournament.

Renowned combat sports commentator Mauro Ranallo and former UFC heavyweight champion and NJPW veteran Josh Barnett reprise their roles as critically acclaimed commentators for the series. The additional episodes feature a combined eight hours of comprehensive coverage of the 24th annual G1 Climax Tournament, including full matches and highlights, and three hours of coverage from “Dominion 6.21.”

The first cycle of NJPW episodes will wrap up April 10 featuring the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match between A.J. Styles and Kazuchika Okada from “Back to the Yokohama Arena.” New episodes air Friday nights on AXS TV leading into the network’s weekly, live AXS TV FIGHTS broadcasts.

“In the second cycle of NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING on AXS TV, we will focus a majority of the episodes on G1 Climax 24, which was hailed by many as one of the best pro wrestling tournaments in history,” said Andrew Simon, CEO of AXS TV FIGHTS. “We are thankful to New Japan Pro Wrestling and our programming partner TV Asahi in Japan for allowing us to acquire this unique series and share it with our audience.”

AXS TV’s NJPW episodes were produced by and acquired from TV ASAHI CORPORATION.

Jim Ross was talking to New Japan officials in San Jose this past week and made a suggestion, which he talked about at his show, that New Japan broker a deal with WWE to send Kazuchika Okada to NXT.

 

[3Rivers]

at more NJPW on AXS. If they ever decide to do things that are ongoing

And Okada needs to just stay in NJPW.

 

[Silkk]

Taking a break from main WWE, gonna try to get into more NJPW in the meantime especially with WOTW2K15 and Global Wars next month

 

[Scottie Drippin]

AJ Styles is a goddamn draw, brother

And Kota as a draw absolutely fukking confirmed

 

[Jmare007]

I really hope this is a legit sellout and not Meltzer not doing his homework like with WK.

Ibushi is a made fukking man if he draws 10k+ at Sumo Hall in his first IWGP title match. shyt, scrap that, he already is regardless because the show is at least gonna do 9k

 

[TrueEpic08]

Hideki Suzuki wins the Wrestle-1 world title after a disappointing run by Kai, He lost in 6 minutes

WRESTLE-1 "WRESTLE-1 TOUR 2015 CHERRY BLOSSOM", 01.04.2015 (GAORA TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,050 Fans

1. Kuma Goro besiegt Shotaro Ashino (6:40) mit einem Boston Crab.
2. Hiroshi Yamato Yusuke Kodama & Rionne Fujiwara besiegen NOSAWA Rongai, MAZADA & Hiroki Murase (9:10) mit einer Northern Lights Bomb von Yamato gegen NOSAWA.
3. WRESTLE-1 vs. DESPERADO: Masakatsu Funaki & Jiro "Ikemen" Kuroshio besiegen TAJIRI & Koji Doi (9:06) mit dem Ikemen Flash von Kuroshio gegen Doi.
4. WRESTLE-1 Cruiserweight Title Tournament - Round 1: El Hijo del Pantera besiegt Andy Wu (8:08) nach einem Special DDT.
5. WRESTLE-1 Cruiserweight Title Tournament - Round 1: Minoru Tanaka besiegt Seiki Yoshioka (17:26) nach einem Tornado Kaki Cutter.
6. WRESTLE-1 vs. DESPERADO: Keiji Muto, Ryota Hama & Yasufumi Nakanoue besiegen Masayuki Kono, Ryouji Sai & KAZMA SAKAMOTO (10:13) mit dem Ryota Hammer von Hama gegen KAZMA.
7. WRESTLE-1 Tag Team Title: Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo (c) besiegen AKIRA & Manabu Soya (18:57) nach der King Kong Lariat von Kondo gegen AKIRA.
8. WRESTLE-1 Title: Hideki Suzuki besiegt KAI (c) (6:57) nach einem Double-Arm Suplex - Titelwechsel.

Well, damn. KAI was supposed to be the chosen one, right? There that idea goes. Anyone know why he was such a failure that they got the title off of him like this?

-JR needs to shut the fukk up about Okada. Don't know why he thinks WWE would use him correctly, or why he thinks it would do more for him than being NJPW's top guy right now.

-Like @Jmare007 said, hopefully those sales figures are legit, for both AJ and Kota's sakes. That's fantastic for them if true.