Essential Japanese Wrestling Discussion/News

[Silkk]

Why does New Japan have license for some music only some of the time

ReDragon's "Waiting 4", which is already a sub for their real theme & The Kingdom's theme specifically

 

[Jmare007]

Tokyo Sports awards are like the PWI500. They are mostly bullshyt, but still...these are 2015 winners

◆ Most Valuable Player Award (MVP): Kazuchika Okada
◆ MOTY: 11.15 Tenryu project Ryogoku Kokugikan - Genichiro Tenryu vs. Kazuchika Okada
◆ Best tag team Award: Chigusa Nagayo & Atsushi Onita (First time ever Mixed Tag Team)
◆ Distinguished Service Award: Minoru Suzuki
◆ Fighting Spirit Award: Okabayashi Yuji
◆ Skill Award: Tomoaki Honma
◆Rookie Award: None
◆ Achievement Award: Genichiro Tenryu
◆ Joshi Award: Io Shirai

Honma not getting Benoit'd yet

at tag team of the year

MOTY makes sense considering the nature if these "awards".

Yuji getting a shout out SMARTEN UP GEDO

 

[The Rainmaker]

◆ Most Valuable Player Award (MVP): Kazuchika Okada

Damn right he was the MVP of 2015

Spoiler

Actually, for me, AJ Styles has been this year's MVP, but that doesn't go right with my gimmick

 

[Jmare007]

Damn right he was the MVP of 2015

Spoiler

Actually, for me, AJ Styles has been this year's MVP, but that doesn't go right with my gimmick

AJ just had piff matches in New Japan, Okada transcended that with the Tenryu farewell tour. It's not like there's much of a pool to pick a real MVP though, puro still in status.

 

[3Rivers]

20:24 onward

Suzuki gave no fukks

 

[Evil genius Jay]

20:24 onward

Suzuki gave no fukks

WHY SUZUKI WHY

 

[The Rainmaker]

Spoiler

Seems like the domestic violence accusations were false after all.

 

[3Rivers]

411MANIA | Full NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 10 Card Announced
Official Wrestle Kingdom 10 card

IWGP Heavyweight Championship
(c)Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

IWGP Intercontinental Championship
(c)Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles

NEVER Openweight title
(c)Tomohiro Ishii vs Katsuryori Shibata

Special Singles Match
Hirooki Goto vs Tetsuya Naito

IWGP Tag Team Championship
(c)Karl Anderson/Doc Gallows vs Tomoaki Honma/Togi Makabe

IWGP Jr Heavweight Championship
(c)Kenny Omega vs KUSHIDA

Special Singles Match
Michael Elgin vs Jay Lethal
(If Lethal is still champ it will be for the title)

6 man tag
Yano Toru/TBA/TBA vs Tama Tonga/Yujiro Takahashi/Bad Luck Fale

IWGP Jr Tag Team Championship
Roppongi Vice vs (c)reDRagon vs Young Bucks vs Ricochet/Sydal

Battle Royal
New Japan Rumble

 

[3Rivers]

Taguchi

New YL

 

[MightyHealthy]

I got my gal an authentic Betty Boop Bullet Club shirt for a Christmas.

A pretty penny, but I feel comfortable with the gift

 

[The Rainmaker]

No EVIL WK needs more EVILAlso, no Yoshi-Hashi. Maybe he will be one of Yano's partners, who knows.

I find it weird that after being sort of featured players, they were left out of the main card. Yes, they could be on the Battle Royal, but who wants to be there with Nakanishi and the Great Kabuki.

 

[The Rainmaker]

Meltzer notes:

Kevin Kelly, Matt Striker and a third party with knowledge of Japanese (which they needed for the live broadcasts) (Finally ) will be the announcers in English for the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show on New Japan World. Even though the show was a solid success on PPV last year, it won’t be on PPV this year as New Japan never got back with Jeff Jarrett, who was trying to do it a second time, nor did they make a deal with ROH, which had at least some interest in doing it.


Kushida did an interview which confirmed what we already reported, saying that New Japan officials were shocked to find out that La Sombra was going to WWE, and that he was scheduled as the star for Fantastica Mania (These luchadores have no loyalty)


No word on Tokyo Dome ticket sales, but to me, no word means not good because in recent years by this time we were told how the advances were ahead of prior years.

 

[Jmare007]

No EVIL WK needs more EVILAlso, no Yoshi-Hashi. Maybe he will be one of Yano's partners, who knows.

I find it weird that after being sort of featured players, they were left out of the main card. Yes, they could be on the Battle Royal, but who wants to be there with Nakanishi and the Great Kabuki.

It's all part of Gedo's "plan" breh

 

[Ric_Moon]

This is what Vince is doing to WWE fans. I can't wait for WK10!

 

[Honga Ciganesta]

Lucha but not sure where else to post this, absolutely insane, high spot filled match. Don't expect any selling or psychology but it's a fun car crash, starts at 6:30:



Here's the Meltzer write up describing all the spots

Spoiler

The 12/4 show was built around what looks to have been the climactic Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi insanity match for the CMLL lightweight title as Kamaitachi is expected to be leaving Mexico. This match was one of those bouts where you’d have to be blind to say it wasn’t incredible, but you’d feel guilty in saying so because there was no selling and a lot of the moves were dangerous and career shortening. Kamaitachi is a real talent but he’s too small for the current New Japan product because they don’t have the junior heavyweight focus and guys like him will be put in short multiple man matches and do their three high spots over and over. Anyway, I’d give the match ****½, but that’s on a CMLL style scale. They did the quick first two falls and the usual long third fall filled with big moves and near falls. The heat was off the charts even though these guys are never in main events. You know it’s nuts when in the first move of the match, Kamaitachi went for a dropkick off the apron to the floor, missed and went splat. And then they got right up. Dragon Lee went for a tope and Kamaitachi caught him and gave him a brainbuster on the floor and Lee crashed into the barricades. And he was up seconds later and just fine. And I don’t think the brainbuster was part of the plan, it’s just the way he landed and the way Kamaitachi caught him. Kamaitachi then won the first fall in 1:09 with a Canadian Destroyer off the top rope. Lee did a dropkick on the floor in the second fall and won it with a double foot stomp in 2:41 with Kamaitachi caught in the ropes, basically Alberto Del Rio’s finish. Third fall the heat was great. They kept showing this Japanese woman in the front row going crazy cheering for Kamaitachi. Kamaitachi tackled Lee through the ropes knocking him to the floor. Then, in just a crazy spot, Kamaitachi came off the top rope with a senton onto the floor. In the ring, he did a double kneedrop off the top rope for a near fall. Lee did a running flip dive, a running kick, and a GTS for near falls. In another insane spot, Kamaitachi was on the apron and Lee ran across the ring, hurdled the top rope and went to huracanrana Kamaitachi onto the floor, but Kamaitachi blocked it and gave him a power bomb to the floor. Please don’t try this at home. Kamaitachi delivered a second running power bomb on the floor. Lee ended up tangled in the ropes and Kamaitachi did a windsprint dropkick on the ramp. Kamaitachi then went back to the floor and did another windsprint on the ramp, jumped over the top rope into the ring and nailed Lee with a dropkick. It gets better. With Kamaitachi on the apron, Lee again went for the leaping over the top rope from the ring into a huracanrana on Kamaitachi, and this time it worked and they flew to the floor. Lee then did a last ride power bomb on the floor. Lee went for the double foot stomp with Kamaitachi tangled in the ropes that he won the second fall with, but this time Kamaitachi kicked out. He tried it again, but Kamaitachi moved. Kamaitachi used double knees. Lee used a standing Spanish fly for a near fall. Lee did a running knee to the chin. Lee went for another last ride, but Kamaitachi reversed it into a reverse huracanrana for the pin. At the count of two, Lee got his foot on the rope but neither ref saw it and the fall ended at 12:04 (time of the original match start to finish with the rest periods was 18:22. The crowd was booing like crazy for the apparent title change, except the Japanese woman was going nuts and some other American and Japanese fans were going crazy. Maximo Sexy, who was Lee’s second, was going crazy yelling at the ref that Lee’s foot was on the ropes and the crowd was vociferously yelling to the refs that Maximo was telling the truth. Luis Mendieta of the commission, who wrestled as Rambo and was a pretty big star, came to the ring and told the refs that Lee’s foot was on the ropes. Given that everyone knows this stuff is taped, the old gimmick of the ref not seeing the finish and having it stand is way behind the times when used in modern wrestling, but it’s been done so long they don’t even realize how dumb it is outside the wrestling hardcore world. Mendieta showed the tape of the finish with Lee’s foot clearly on the ropes. So the match was restarted, one fall to the finish. The Japanese fan in the front row was smart enough to know what was up. Kamaitachi attacked with a German suplex, but Lee landed on his feet. But Kamaitachi hit the Canadian Destroyer, the move he won the first fall with, but Lee kicked out. Kamaitachi went to the floor again for another windsprint and leap over the top into a dropkick, but Lee at the last second jumped up and dropkicked him first. Given the two spots they’d done earlier, this was a super climactic spot. Lee then used the Nagata bridging back suplex for the pin in 1:11. The place went totally nuts. Kamaitachi attacked Lee after the match and the referees. There is some talk of a rematch in New Japan in January