Essential Japanese Wrestling Discussion/News

[Jmare007]

him being exclusive to new japan would help his case immensely. everything going on with aaa is proof that you don't push guys unless you got them locked into deals.

ibushi and shibata are only going to reach a certain level under non-exclusive deals, which sucks, but makes sense business wise.

If someone other than Gedo had the book, I would buy this.

 

[sid the kid]

If someone other than Gedo had the book, I would buy this.

that's just what's going on. gedo ain't a dummy. it's wrestling 101.

his booking has been superb anyways minus a few weird decisions here and there.

 

[Jmare007]

that's just what's going on. gedo ain't a dummy. it's wrestling 101.

his booking has been superb anyways minus a few weird decisions here and there.

Couldn't disagree more.

Freelancers have worked historically in puro, specially in New Japan. No reason to be scared now, specially with a guy like Ibushi who's never been hard to work with. Shibata is more of a thing were his past is fukking him over more than his contract status, is he even free lancing? where?

And Gedo has done a horrible job with creative in the past 2 years, he's had wasted an amazing roster at heavyweight by pushing the same people, repeating matches and the same storylines over and over again. The only thing I give him credit for is pulling the trigger with Naito....something he should've done 2 fukking years ago but at least he did it.

And attendance has been getting slightly worse too in the last year, even hardcores are getting sick of the same old shyt. WK 10 and what he does after are his big test. I get he wanted to build 1 year from one Dome show to the other - he did a horrible and uninspired job imo, but I get his direction - and he better have something interesting planned for the aftermath.

 

[sid the kid]

Couldn't disagree more.

Freelancers have worked historically in puro, specially in New Japan. No reason to be scared now, specially with a guy like Ibushi who's never been hard to work with. Shibata is more of a thing were his past is fukking him over more than his contract status, is he even free lancing? where?

And Gedo has done a horrible job with creative in the past 2 years, he's had wasted an amazing roster at heavyweight by pushing the same people, repeating matches and the same storylines over and over again. The only thing I give him credit for is pulling the trigger with Naito....something he should've done 2 fukking years ago but at least he did it.

And attendance has been getting slightly worse too in the last year, even hardcores are getting sick of the same old shyt. WK 10 and what he does after are his big test. I get he wanted to build 1 year from one Dome show to the other - he did a horrible and uninspired job imo, but I get his direction - and he better have something interesting planned for the aftermath.

landscape is a bit different in new japan than in the past so no running with free lancers makes sense. although, i get the argument of "well, where else would ibushi go" because the rest of japanese wrestling is on the down swing. however, i also get gedo's cautious stance.

the only thing gedo has botched has been okada's push. half ass making okada the top star while tanahashi is sorta kinda still the top star obviously hasn't worked, but he's righting that wrong in a couple months. i will agree that he's kind of hit a wall this year and that's largely in part because he's got his hand in so many cookie jars in terms of who is the undisputed top guy, but like i said, he'll be fixing that issue in a couple months once okada becomes the top guy once and for all.

 

[3Rivers]

Tenryu DVD
天龍源一郎引退記念 全日本プロレス＆新日本プロレス激闘の軌跡 | 新日本プロレスDVDサイト

The recorded fierce fight of Legend Genichiro Tenryu Japanese world of professional wrestling to DVD6 sheets!
Legend Genichiro Tenryu Japanese world of professional wrestling that was called Mr. Wrestling is, finally declares a professional wrestler out of business Omotte November 15, 2015.
His name game that sent a really '51 martial arts life from sumo containing, divided into All Japan Pro Wrestling era and the New Japan Pro Wrestling war era, the fan must-have to look back with the latest interview DVD-BOX!

Disc 1

☆ October 15, 1976 Tokyo Hilton Hotel (first time on DVD)
Joined press conference

☆ 1976 年 12 月 9 日 Nihon University auditorium (the first DVD of)
Danpatsu formula

☆ March 20, 1977 North Carolina, USA Greensboro Coliseum (the first DVD of)
Jumbo Tsuruta & Tenryu vs The Mafia

☆ June 11, 1977 Setagaya gymnasium (the first DVD of / Uncut)
Domestic debut Giant Baba & Tenryu vs Mario Milano & Mexico Grande

☆ December 2 1977 Korakuen Hall
World Open Tag Team Championship official game The Fankusu vs Tenryu & Rocky Haneda

☆ July 30 1981 Korakuen Hall (the first DVD of)
International Tag Team Title match
Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta (champion set) vs Billy Robinson & Genichiro Tenryu (challenger set)

☆ October 6, 1981, Miyagi Prefecture Sports Center (the first DVD of)
NWA World Heavyweight Championship match Ric Flair (champion) vs Genichiro Tenryu (challenger)

☆ February 4, 1982 Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (first time on DVD)
IWA World Heavyweight Championship bout Mil Máscaras (champion) vs Genichiro Tenryu (challenger)

☆ April 16, 1982 Fukuoka Kokusai Center (the first DVD of)
10th Champion Carnival official game Jumbo Tsuruta vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ March 1, 1983 Akita Municipal Gymnasium
Lumberjack deathmatch Genichiro Tenryu vs Umanosuke Ueda

☆ February 23, 1984 Kuramae Kokugikan (the first DVD of)
UN heavyweight playoff Genichiro Tenryu vs Ricky Steamboat

☆ February 5, 1985 Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (first time on DVD)
Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs Choshu force & Masa Saito

☆ March 9, 1985 Ryogoku Kokugikan (the first DVD of / Uncut)
International Tag Team Title match
Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (champion set) vs The Road Warriors (challenger set)

☆ June 21, 1985 Budokan (the first DVD of / Uncut)
Special game Genichiro Tenryu vs Choshu force

☆ April 26, 1986 Omiya skating center (the first DVD of)
UN heavyweight playoff Genichiro Tenryu vs Ted DiBiase

☆ June 12, 1986 Budokan (the first DVD of)
UN heavyweight championship bout Genichiro Tenryu (champion) vs Super Strong Machine (challenger)

☆ September 3, 1986 Osaka Castle Hall (the first DVD of / Uncut)
Special game Genichiro Tenryu vs Choshu force

Disc 2/3
☆ February 5, 1987, Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center (the first DVD of / Uncut)
International Tag Team Title match
Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu (champion set) vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (challenger set)

☆ June 8, 1987 Fukuoka Kokusai Center (the first DVD of / Uncut)
Wajima Hiroshi & Ishikawa Atsushi vs Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara

☆ June 11, 1987 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (the first DVD of)
Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask vs Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara

☆ August 21, 1987, Miyagi Prefecture Sports Center (the first DVD of / Uncut)
Jumbo Tsuruta, Great Kabuki, Samson Fuyuki vs Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara, Toshiaki Kawada

☆ April 15, 1988 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (the first DVD of / Uncut)
Three Crown unified against Genichiro Tenryu (PWF & UN champion) vs Bruiser Brody (Inter champions)

☆ June 4, 1988, Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center (the first DVD of)
PWF certified World Tag Team Championship match
Genichiro & Ashura Hara Tenryu (champion set) vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu (challenger set)

☆ July 27, 1988 Nagano citizen gymnasium (the first DVD of / Uncut)
PWF & UN heavyweight double championship bout
Genichiro Tenryu (PWF & UN champion) vs Stan Hansen (challenger)

☆ June 5, 1989 Budokan (the first DVD of / Uncut)
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship bout Jumbo Tsuruta (champion) vs Genichiro Tenryu (challenger)

☆ July 11, 1989 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center (the first DVD of / Uncut)
World Tag Team Championship match
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu (champion set) vs Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen (challenger set)

☆ August 19 1989 Korakuen Hall (the first DVD of)
Jumbo Tsuruta & Kobashi Kenta vs Genichiro Tenryu & Yoshinari Ogawa

[DISC 3]
☆ November 29, 1989 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center (Uncut)
89 World's Strongest Tag Determination League official game
Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura vs Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen

☆ December 6, 1989 Budokan (Uncut)
89 World's Strongest Tag Determination League official game
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen

☆ January 28 1990 Korakuen Hall (the first DVD of / Uncut)
Genichiro Tenryu vs Isao Takagi

☆ April 19, 1990 Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium (the first DVD of / Uncut)
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship bout Jumbo Tsuruta (champion) vs Genichiro Tenryu (challenger)

☆ January 28, 2001 Tokyo Dome (the first DVD of / Uncut)
G Baba second death anniversary memorial tournament Genichiro Tenryu & Stephen Hiroshi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Sasaki Kensuke

☆ January 8, 2005 Nippon Budokan
Special game Mitsuharu Misawa & Chikarasumeragi Takeshi vs Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka

☆ April 24, 2005 Nippon Budokan
Kenta Kobashi & tide Yamazaki Australia vs Jun Akiyama & Genichiro Tenryu

☆ July 18, 2005 Tokyo Dome (Uncut)
Yoshinari Ogawa vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ October 8 2005 Korakuen Hall (Uncut)
KENTA vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ November 5, 2005 Budokan (Uncut)
Special game Mitsuharu Misawa vs Tenryu Genichiro

Disc 4-6
WAR, New Japan Pro Wrestling war era
And carefully recorded fierce fight of New Japan mat from a number of through a fierce fight with the organization top wrestler upheaval of 1990 that the name of the was to immobile ones "Mr. Wrestling"!
WAR × New Japan and compete against, free war was composed of exciting game of the era to Single Nippon.
37 game of TV Asahi ownership to deliver the mix of uncut game digest match.
In addition, it recorded a new interview in order to know more of the historical background of the time!
● interlocutor
Shiro Koshinaka / Shinsuke Nakamura / Tomohiro Ishii, Red Shoes Umino (referee) / MC: flow Tomomi

Main recording scheduled game] 37 games recording
☆ February 10, 1990 Tokyo Dome (the first DVD of / Uncut)
Riki Choshu & George Takano vs Genichiro Tenryu & Tiger Mask

☆ October 23 1992 Korakuen Hall
Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura

☆ November 23, 1992 Ryogoku Kokugikan
Tenryu, New Japan appearance
Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka & Aoyagi Masashi vs Genichiro Tenryu & Ishikawa Atsushi & Koki Kitahara

☆ December 14, 1992 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (Uncut)
Shiro Koshinaka vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ January 4, 1993 Tokyo Dome (Uncut)
Choshu force vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ February 5, 1993, Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center
Keiji Mutoh & Hashimoto Shinya & Nogami Akira vs Genichiro Tenryu and Ashura Hara & Ishikawa Atsushi

☆ March 23, 1993 Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (first time on DVD)
Tatsumi Fujinami & Choshu force vs Genichiro Tenryu & Ishikawa Atsushi

☆ April 6, 1993 Ryogoku Kokugikan (Uncut)
Choshu force vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ May 3, 1993 Fukuoka Dome
Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Choshu force & Genichiro Tenryu

☆ July 14, 1993 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center (the first DVD of)
Tatsumi Fujinami & Masahiro Chono vs Genichiro Tenryu and Ashura Hara

☆ August 3, 1993 Ryogoku Kokugikan (the first DVD of)
Tatsumi Fujinami & Jushin Thunder Liger vs Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara

[DISC 5]

☆ August 8, 1993 Ryogoku Kokugikan (Uncut)
Hashimoto Shinya vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ September 23, 1993 Yokohama Arena
Stephen Hiroshi vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ December 10, 1993 Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (the first DVD of)
Genichiro Tenryu & Super Strong Machine vs Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsutoshi Goto

☆ January 4, 1994 Tokyo Dome (Uncut)
Antonio Inoki vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ April 29, 1996 Tokyo Dome (Uncut)
Tatsumi Fujinami vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ July 15, 1998 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center
IWGP Tag Team Championship match
Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (champion set) vs Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka (challenger set)

☆ August 1, 1998 Ryogoku Kokugikan (Uncut)
G1 Climax tournament second round
Hashimoto Shinya vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ May 3, 1999 Fukuoka Kokusai Center (Uncut)
IWGP Heavyweight Championship bout Keiji Mutoh (champion) vs Genichiro Tenryu (challenger)

☆ June 8, 1999 Budokan (the first DVD of / Uncut)
Hashimoto Shinya comeback Hashimoto Shinya vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ October 11, 1999 Tokyo Dome (first time on DVD)
Sasaki Kensuke vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ November 1, 1999 Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall (the first DVD of)
Sasaki Kensuke & Kazuyuki Fujita vs Genichiro Tenryu & Nakanishi

[DISC 6]

☆ December 5, 1999 Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (the first DVD of)
Tatsumi Fujinami & Iizuka Takashi vs Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka

☆ December 10, 1999 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (Uncut)
IWGP Heavyweight Championship bout Keiji Mutoh (champion) vs Genichiro Tenryu (challenger)

☆ January 4, 2004 Tokyo Dome
Nakanishi vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ February 15, 2004 Ryogoku Kokugikan (Uncut)
IWGP heavyweight first round class championship tournament Masahiro Chono vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ February 15, 2004 Ryogoku Kokugikan (Uncut)
IWGP Heavyweight Championship Tournament semifinals Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ February 15, 2004 Ryogoku Kokugikan (Uncut)
35th IWGP Heavyweight Championship finals Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ March 21, 2004 Amagasaki Memorial Park Gymnasium (the first DVD of / Uncut)
Genichiro Tenryu vs Tadao Yasuda

☆ March 28, 2004 Ryogoku Kokugikan
IWGP Tag Team Championship match
Yoshihiro Takayama & Minoru Suzuki (champion set) vs Genichiro Tenryu & Nakanishi (challenger set)

☆ May 3, 2004 Tokyo Dome
Dolgorsürengiin Sumyaabazar & Dorugorusuren-Serujibude vs Genichiro Tenryu & timing

☆ June 5, 2004 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (the first DVD of)
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura vs Genichiro Tenryu & Tadao Yasuda

☆ August 8, 2004 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (Uncut)
Hiroshi G1 Climax A block official game Nagata vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ August 15, 2004 Ryogoku Kokugikan (Uncut)
G1 Climax finals tournament first round Genichiro Tenryu vs Kensuke Sasaki

☆ August 15, 2004 Ryogoku Kokugikan (Uncut)
G1 Climax final tournament semifinals Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ October 9, 2004 Ryogoku Kokugikan (Uncut)
Shibata Katsuyori vs Tenryu Genichiro

☆ November 13, 2004 Osaka Dome (Uncut)
Shibata Katsuyori vs Tenryu Genichiro

 

[Jmare007]

Holy shyt at that DVD too bad there's no All Japan post split work. Dude was one of the few standouts for a couple of years.

Anyone who is interested in puro should check it out.

 

[Honga Ciganesta]

I want that DVD I was planning on making a Tenryu post soon with a bunch of his must see matches too

Dave better give him 20,000 words when he retires

 

[The Rainmaker]

BULLet Club (Bull Nakano + Bullet Club)

 

[TOAD99]

Hope Ibushi is ok.
He gets pretty
In the ring

Don't need another Benoit like thing happening

 

[The Rainmaker]

Does anyone else dislikes the fact that the four teams in the Super Jr. Tag semifinals are all gaijin?

I mean, NJ is getting more international, but part of the appeal of the promotion is getting to see all this Japanese talent. And apart from Tanaka and Komatsu, there doesn't seem to exist an influx of new and future local talent

 

[JohnB]

Does anyone else dislikes the fact that the four teams in the Super Jr. Tag semifinals are all gaijin?

I mean, NJ is getting more international, but part of the appeal of the promotion is getting to see all this Japanese talent. And apart from Tanaka and Komatsu, there doesn't seem to exist an influx of new and future local talent

Which is weird considering all the good japanese jrs freelancing. Guess they dont care or are lazy about the jr division. Yujiro and Yoshi Hashi would be jrs.

 

[Honga Ciganesta]

Meltzer wrote a bit about the jr tourney this week

New Japan did a bold move in its Super Junior tag team tournament, which started on 10/24 at Korakuen Hall, in eliminating every Japanese wrestler in the first round.

The single-elimination tournament saw jr. tag team champions Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly beat Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask; Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta beat jr. singles champion Kenny Omega & Chase Owens; The Young Bucks beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Mascara Dorada; and the debuting team of Ricochet & Matt Sydal beat Alex Shelley & Kushida.

All four matches were good, and all were hurt by the crowd. The Bucks vs. Taguchi & Dorada had the best crowd reactions, but it was more for the comedy than the wrestling. Ricochet & Sydal vs. Shelley & Kushida would have been a fantastic match with a different crowd.

The semifinals, Bucks vs. Ricochet & Sydal, and Fish & O’Reilly vs. Romero & Baretta, takes place on 11/1 at Korakuen Hall. The finals will be on the next PPV show, on 11/7 at the Edion Arena in Osaka. The winning team would face Fish & O’Reilly on a major year-end show, or at the Tokyo Dome show.

Even with great workers, it’s been tough to get big crowd reactions to foreigner vs. foreigner matches on New Japan shows of late.

The 11/1 show airs live at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time on New Japan World. Besides the tournament semifinals, the rest of the show has Liger & Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka vs. Tiger Mask & David Finlay & Jay White, Togi Makabe & Captain New Japan & Juice Robinson vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata & Dorada; Shelley & Kushida vs. Owens & Omega, Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga and Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo.

But the overriding theme of the Korakuen Hall show was just how dead the crowd was. It’s one thing for a small spot show to have that quiet crowd that Japanese sports in general are often known for. It’s quite another for it to be at Korakuen Hall. Even when you had Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada squaring off in a six-man tag team match, the reaction felt like a “we’ve seen that all before” thing. Business is still good, but this didn’t feel at all like a hot promotion. In many ways, it felt many recent Raws in the sense everyone worked well but reactions were flat. It’s the pat hand promotion, which no matter how talented the wrestlers are, you don’t stay hot with the same talent forever. WWE has the huge advantage of being able to take their shows all over North America and the world. New Japan has to rely heavily on the Tokyo market, in particular Korakuen Hall, running constantly with shows filled with multiple–person matches.

Still, the show sold out, with 1,738 announced paid. In fact, the first four shows on the tour that opened on 10/23 all have sold out, although they are also only running small buildings. On the first night of the tournament, the top stars all worked underneath and limited their stuff to the basics.

An announcement was made at the show that Fantastica Mania, the annual joint show tours with CMLL, would take place on 1/17 in Kochi, 1/19 in Kyoto, 1/20 in Osaka at the smaller Edion Arena, and 1/22, 1/23 and 1/24 at Korakuen Hall. Several of those shows will air on New Japan World. While not announced, a similar February tour, believed to be two dates, both at Korakuen Hall, will be done with ROH.

Other few notes

NEW JAPAN: The press conference where almost the entire Tokyo Dome show will be announced (probably all the key matches except the IWGP tag team title match since that’ll probably be determined based on the results of the tournament) takes place on 11/9. It will air live on New Japan World at 1 a.m. Eastern and 10 p.m. Pacific on the evening of 11/8. Every show on the next tour, which is the tag team tournament tour from 11/20 with the finals on 12/9, will be on New Japan World, although most of the shows will be without commentary

They are copying WWE and the John Cena open challenge to a degree. Shinsuke Nakamura announced an open challenge for the Tokyo Dome, but the deal is the person will be revealed on the 11/7 PPV show from Osaka at the end of the show, after his match with Karl Anderson. They are teasing an outsider, which means Go Shiozaki rumors are flying around since he just quit All Japan and the impression we were given is New Japan and Rizing (the new MMA group) were after him, and for obvious reasons, while the MMA group would pay him more for a one-time thing, it’s not the best idea for him long-term

Cheeseburger, who is Jushin Liger’s favorite gimmick, is being talked about seriously for the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show as part of a Battle Royal. Like last year, the idea right now is for a Rumble style Battle Royal to both get everyone on the card, plus bring back some legends from the past with quick cameo appearances.

A bit on MOTYCs

For those looking at early studying and rewatching the best matches of the year, for the Observer awards, Brandon Howard compiled the 20 matches that got the best composite rating between ratings by myself, Alan Counihan of Figure Four and Voices of Wrestling. What’s really notable is that these are three different independent ratings groups or systems, and while they are not identical at all, the variation is not all that much different either.

This isn’t meant to define the best matches in order as much as matches that are worth going out of your way to see. For example, I thought the A.J. Styles vs. Kota Ibushi match was better than many of the matches on the list, but the others were slightly less high on it, so it just fell shy of listing. But for people looking at comparing the best matches and making their own calls, this is a pretty good list to start from. And there are tons of matches this year that fall right underneath from every promotion, some of which I’d personally put top 20. It’s been a great year for top matches.

New Japan had 11 of the top 20, while Evolve and PWG each had two, with Dragon Gate, Lucha Underground, NXT, Big Japan and All Japan having one.

12/6/14 Shiozaki & Miyahara vs. Akiyama & Omori (All Japan) 4.63

12/11/14 Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville (WWE NXT) 4.73

1/4 Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW) 5.00

1/4 Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW) 4.92

2/14 Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma (NJPW) 4.83

3/28 Chris Hero vs. Timothy Thatcher (Evolve) 4.58

4/3 Roderick Strong vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (PWG) 4.75

4/3 Chris Hero vs. Tommy End (PWG) 4.50

6/7 Kushida vs. Kyle O’Reilly (NJPW) 4.75

7/5 A.J. Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW) 4.67

7/10 Roderick Strong vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Evolve) 4.88

7/20 Masato Yoshino vs. T-Hawk (Dragon Gate) 4.75

7/20 Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW) 4.67

7/20 Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Yuji Okabayashi (Big Japan) 4.63

7/29 Kota Ibushi vs. Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW) 4.75

8/5 Prince Puma vs. Mil Muertes (Lucha Underground) 4.67

8/9 Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW) 4.67

8/14 A.J. Styles vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW) 4.75

8/15 Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW) 4.67

8/16 Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW) 4.96

 

[sid the kid]

Does anyone else dislikes the fact that the four teams in the Super Jr. Tag semifinals are all gaijin?

I mean, NJ is getting more international, but part of the appeal of the promotion is getting to see all this Japanese talent. And apart from Tanaka and Komatsu, there doesn't seem to exist an influx of new and future local talent

considering the 4 semifinal teams are amongst the best teams in the world, no, i don't dislike it. i love it actually. i want the best matches possible.

 

[Jmare007]

New Japan hasn't given a fukk about their (japanese) Jr division depth for a loooong ass time though. This isn't news.

 

[Adam3000]

Nakamura/Ibushi WK9 on the AXS TV show last night. Mauro Renallo did great commentary work