Essential Japanese Wrestling Discussion/News

[Beautiful Bobby Eatin]

That's a relief. I'd hate to see something throw off the incredible momentum NJPW has going right now.

I have a feeling they'll lose Prince Devitt to WWE sooner or later though.

If it gives me a shot at seeing Tyson Kidd vs Prince Devitt im all for it

 

[Miracle Violence]

If it gives me a shot at seeing Tyson Kidd vs Prince Devitt im all for it

Yeah there are a bunch of dream matches for him in the E, if he does eventually end up there.

With them snatching up guys like PAC and Generico recently, I can't imagine them not wanting to sign Devitt.

 

[TrueEpic08]

That's a relief. I'd hate to see something throw off the incredible momentum NJPW has going right now.

I have a feeling they'll lose Prince Devitt to WWE sooner or later though.

Is Devitt really hurting for the paycheck like that though? That would be the only reason he should go. Well that and the fact that he's beaten the Jr. Heavyweight division nearly twice over at this point

Other than that, he kind of has the promo charisma of wet plaster, so I'm not sure it'd be the greatest fit. But, you know, video game residuals and all.

 

[Miracle Violence]

Is Devitt really hurting for the paycheck like that though? That would be the only reason he should go. Well that and the fact that he's beaten the Jr. Heavyweight division nearly twice over at this point

Other than that, he kind of has the promo charisma of wet plaster, so I'm not sure it'd be the greatest fit. But, you know, video game residuals and all.

I remember him saying in an interview last year that someday he'd like a new challenge.

 

[Jmare007]

Bushiroad chief Takaaki Kidani held a talk show several days ago and gave no indication that he has resigned his post in New Japan/Bushiroad yet as has been strongly rumoured. Several wrestlers were there including Tanahashi, Makabe, and Taguchi. Kidani announced that New Japan will run Sumo Hall in April which is very unusual and for the first time in quite a while there will be two Sumo Hall shows in this year’s G1 Climax as New Japan starts to upscale again after a fantastic business year in 2012 and an impressive paid attendance for this month’s Tokyo Dome show.

Okada staying and now this

I guess it's fine as long as Bushiroads keeps investing in New Japan. But I hope they are not going overboard with the big shows just because of a perception thing.

 

[Scottie Drippin]

Okada staying and now this

I guess it's fine as long as Bushiroads keeps investing in New Japan. But I hope they are not going overboard with the big shows just because of a perception thing.

I just want news on the Laughter 7 situation.

Shibata losing to Makabe is the first time in a long time NJPW booking gave me the They threw away money. Shibata should've only dropped a fall in a title match to Tanahashi, or in a #1 contenders match to Okada, Nakamura, or Naito whenever he comes back. The win means nothing to anyone else as those are the only guys capable of looking like the MAN in NJPW. fukk a Togi.

 

[Miracle Violence]

Akiyama, Shiozaki, Aoki, Kanemaru and Kotaro Suzuki will show up Saturday at the All Japan show in Tokyo that Flair is on.

https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/status/294023635407077376

 

[Jmare007]

A freelance Akiyama army would be fun as fukk.

 

[Jmare007]

So a few days after that talk show....

Takaaki Kidani today announced his resignation as Chairman of the Board of New Japan. Rumours had been circulating for a while about his future after his decision to bring in Laughter7 turned out to be an unpopular one within the company. Kidani said he would continue to support New Japan from his post at Bushiroad but will no longer play a direct role in things. Kidani said he believes any hint of New Japan’s “Dark Age” came to an end on January 4th when 29,000 fans paid for a ticket, the largest in many years, and is excited by the future progress of the company.

President Sugabayashi held a presentation with Nakamura in attendance to discuss to global strategy of New Japan. New Japan wants to become better known around the world and the recent iPPVs are just part of the plan. Nakamura said he plans to defend his increasingly valuable IWGP Intercontinental Title around the world if possible to give it a true international feel and continue to differentiate it from the IWGP Heavyweight Title. Shinsuke talked of going to strange places such as the Amazon of Brazil or even North Korea to defend the title!

An English language version of New Japan’s official site will launch in April, giving the same information to English speaking people as Japanese. Spanish and Chinese versions of the site are also under development. Since 2001, I have run Strong Style Spirit and as far as I have seen it has been the only site in English solely focused on New Japan. New Japan did launch a Facebook in English but is now taking the next step of developing a full website. It’s quite possible the website may make this site obsolete, in which case perhaps my site will have outserved it’s purpose of providing information of the world’s best wrestling organization to people in English. If that is the case, for the first time I may have to consider it’s future but for now nothing will change and I fully support New Japan’s decision to launch a site that can reach more people than Strong Style Spirit.

I guess it's totally confirmed now that Laughter 7 ain't coming back.

I hope Strong Style Spirit doesn't die though


Also...

Kenta Kobashi held a special press conference at the Pro Wrestling NOAH office to make it official that he will be holding his final match on May 11th. The show will be a joint production between Kobashi and NOAH.

This is an update to the original to original announcement that Kobashi would be looking to retire in February. I cannot remember off of the top of my head if I touched on it or not, I assume I did, but just in case I'll mention it again.
It seems that Kobashi will need a few more months than originally planned to prepare for his final match. He says that his neck is doing better, and that he wants to spend February to April training and preparing for the upcoming match. He wants to take his time in training and he is not looking to rush things.
Kobashi is lookng to retire in the Nippon Budokan as the hall means a lot to his career and means a lot to pro wrestling.
Kobashi has not decided on what will take place for his final match, but he looks to have the show be almost like a festival with more than just 1 match to look forward to seeing.

FINAL BURNING in Budokan, Kenta Kobashi's Retirement Commemorative Match, 5/11/2013 [Sat] 17:00 @ Nippon Budokan

I hope he doesn't take a dumb ass neck bump just because he wants to give the fans a show.



And Finally...

 

[Jmare007]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J54Eoh6bxTU]TheRothShow: Episode 9: The Ballad of Rikidozan [David Lee Roth] - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Honga Ciganesta]

Ex-NOAH wrestlers Jun Akiyama, Go Shiozaki, Kanemaru ,Kotaro Suzuki, and Atsushi Aoki will wrestle in AJPW. Unit name is "Burning" They will go to Ota gym hall in January 26th.

Buisness picking up

 

[Beautiful Bobby Eatin]

No more Laughter 7?

 

[Jmare007]

Buisness picking up

Puroresu raising from it's grave in 2013?

 

[Honga Ciganesta]

But Ric dropped out of the match and was replaced by Reid

Some AJPW upcoming:

GET WILD vs. Akiyama & Shiozaki for the tag titles on March 17th

Aoki vs Yamato
Soya vs Shiozaki
Omori vs Akiyama
Hayashi vs Kotaro
Kanemaru vs Kondo (for title)

All at Korakuen, not sure of the date yet.

 

[Jmare007]

But Ric dropped out of the match and was replaced by Reid

Some AJPW upcoming:

GET WILD vs. Akiyama & Shiozaki for the tag titles on March 17th

Aoki vs Yamato
Soya vs Shiozaki
Omori vs Akiyama
Hayashi vs Kotaro
Kanemaru vs Kondo (for title)

All at Korakuen, not sure of the date yet.

Flair probably got that Coke Boy phone call minutes before going out. "Last second changes Ric :cokeboy:"

The Burning vs All Japan series will be in Korakuen and the tag titles match on Sumo Hall. The heat is gonna be something else