Essential Japanese Wrestling Discussion/News
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Oh man the Onita injury is not even during a scuffle. It's after the match, after the post match brawl angle, and it happens as he jumps off the apron heading to the back. The crowd initially laughs at him. 
I should have the archive through 1995 downloaded by the end of the day....there's a clipped Tiger Mask vs Flair match that sounds like a disaster of clash of styles to me. Misawa vs Flair, tho 
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1983 really is a big year for All Japan. I think it's safe to say that puro companies in general stay status quo for years at a time, but a lot of changes were happening in 1983.
The red/blue split mat debuts
Jumbo switches to all black and fully adopts his role as the ace and top star of the promotion, finally leaving the UN Championship behind to win the NWA International Heavyweight Championship and go on to hold that title for 3 years straight. While he had been obviously the best native worker in the company really since the start, 1983 is the year he truly became the top guy as Baba was phasing himself out and down the card, particularly as a singles guy. He also definitively made the backdrop his true finish.
At the same time, Tenryu adopts the black and yellow and rises to the spot Jumbo had been in for years.
Ace of the burgeoning junior division and charismatic spit fire Atsushi Onita suffers a freak knee accident and misses a year of action that eventually leads to his first retirement, but this leads to his former partner Fuchi filling his spot and taking over the division for years to come.
Brody and Hansen completely dominate all year, with Brody being NWA International Heavyweight Champion for much of the year, Hansen ending Baba's reign as PWF Champion, and winning both the World Tag Team League and Real World Tag League.
Terry Funk retired (lol), leading to 1983 being the first year not to have the Funks or Baba/Jumbo teams in the RWTL. Instead, Dory would team with Baba, and Jumbo/Tenryu being the top Japanese team in the tournament.
This would be the last year of significance for Harley Race in All Japan. In 1982, he won and lost both the UN and PWF championships on the same tour, and 1983 would see him win the NWA Championship from Ric Flair and get his last Japan tour as NWA Champion. After this, he was mostly used as a special attraction and tag worker in the RWTL.
Great Kabuki returned from excursion and debuted the gimmick in AJPW and was instantly a star, ending the year with a title shot at Ric Flair.
Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada began getting booked more often, with them having their first tag match together as pros and a couple of singles matches against each other, including the Lou Thesz Cup, which Misawa went to the finals in in a losing effort to Shiro Koshinaka.
Terry Gordy makes his AJPW debut.
The red/blue split mat debuts
Jumbo switches to all black and fully adopts his role as the ace and top star of the promotion, finally leaving the UN Championship behind to win the NWA International Heavyweight Championship and go on to hold that title for 3 years straight. While he had been obviously the best native worker in the company really since the start, 1983 is the year he truly became the top guy as Baba was phasing himself out and down the card, particularly as a singles guy. He also definitively made the backdrop his true finish.
At the same time, Tenryu adopts the black and yellow and rises to the spot Jumbo had been in for years.
Ace of the burgeoning junior division and charismatic spit fire Atsushi Onita suffers a freak knee accident and misses a year of action that eventually leads to his first retirement, but this leads to his former partner Fuchi filling his spot and taking over the division for years to come.
Brody and Hansen completely dominate all year, with Brody being NWA International Heavyweight Champion for much of the year, Hansen ending Baba's reign as PWF Champion, and winning both the World Tag Team League and Real World Tag League.
Terry Funk retired (lol), leading to 1983 being the first year not to have the Funks or Baba/Jumbo teams in the RWTL. Instead, Dory would team with Baba, and Jumbo/Tenryu being the top Japanese team in the tournament.
This would be the last year of significance for Harley Race in All Japan. In 1982, he won and lost both the UN and PWF championships on the same tour, and 1983 would see him win the NWA Championship from Ric Flair and get his last Japan tour as NWA Champion. After this, he was mostly used as a special attraction and tag worker in the RWTL.
Great Kabuki returned from excursion and debuted the gimmick in AJPW and was instantly a star, ending the year with a title shot at Ric Flair.
Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada began getting booked more often, with them having their first tag match together as pros and a couple of singles matches against each other, including the Lou Thesz Cup, which Misawa went to the finals in in a losing effort to Shiro Koshinaka.
Terry Gordy makes his AJPW debut.
The Rainmaker
Mr. Money in the Bank
Deathmatches in 2020 
Deathmatches in 2020 with the fukking flu lurking
NOAH the Reborn Reborn with their biggest audience in years
Deathmatches in 2020 with the fukking flu lurking
NOAH the Reborn Reborn with their biggest audience in years
The Rainmaker
Mr. Money in the Bank
Go and Fujita went 57 minutes in an empty Korakuen Hall with part of the roster watching
NOAH is insane
30 of those minutes consisted on them staring at each other. I'm not kidding.
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Jmare007
pico pal q lee
Putting youtube links in spoilers so it doesn't fukk up the thread. Y'all should really check BJW's 3/21 show, it was a fukking blast to watch. It literally has a match for almost any taste in wrestling. Even though it doesn't have legit MOTYC match, it's filled with fun to great stuff to watch, one of the best shows of the year so far 
@3Rivers @Legal @Ace of the Metropolitan @Beautiful Bobby Eatin @PlayerNinety_Nine @SubZeroDegrees @The Rainmaker
Party Boys vs El Lindaman & Koju Takeda - BJW 3/21/20
Short match with a couple of minutes clipped but this felt like a fun opener, crowd was really into it.
Takuya Nomura, Kazuki Hashimoto & Kosuke Sato vs Hideyoshi Kamitani, Kazumi Kikuta & Yoshihisa Uto - BJW 3/21/20
link:
non stop fun action for 7 minutes. Hoss Kamitani beating the shyt out of younger people is always great, Young Gawd was as on point and his matchup with Kikuta was the best I've seen from them yet (they've gotten SOO much better when facing each other compared to previous years). Too bad Kazuki wasn't able to do anything due to the length of the match but Sato getting a couple of sequences to shine was dope You can never go wrong with a short 6 man Strong BJ tag and this is no different.
Ryuichi Kawakami vs Akira Hyodo - BJW 3/21/20
Well damn this was really fukking fun Back to back banger tournament matches for Kawakami. Some Korakuen magic at play here as they are fully into Hyodo's fight for an upset. It's a very simple yet effective type of match, a Strong BJ staple 
Isami Kodaka vs Taishi Takizawa - BJW 3/21/20
So yeah, the "deathmatch guy" manages to have the smartest worked match of the year
Takizawa was incredible working the mid section and throwing stiff chops. Kodaka sold well but the most impressive thing he did was working a fukking headlock/cravat as a hope spot AND a weapon. This doesn't have a strong finishing sequence nor big strikes or moves exchanges, but for the match to really work it didn't need to have none of that shyt. This is why I love the Strong Climb, for awesome shyt like this that comes out of nowhere @Scottie Drippin
Yuya Aoki vs Yasufumi Nakanoue - BJW 3/21/20
This one last 13 minutes. The first 9 are good with a standard young star vs established wrestler story, Korakuen is pretty into it, similar to Kawakami and Hyodo earlier in the show. The last 4 minutes are fukking awesome with Korakuen losing their shyt and both trading big stuff and great nearfalls
Yuji Okabayashi vs Ryota Hama - BJW 3/21/20
Yuji continues to be Hama's best opponent. He always finds a way of making the formula of "how will [insert wrestler name] handle Hama's weight" work, and this is no different.
Daichi Hashimoto vs T-Hawk - BJW 3/21/20
Daichi is a very inconsistent wrestler. For some reason, getting his legs worked on brings the best out of him, dude is one of the few current wrestlers that actually sells the pain it generates to use a leg that has had some damage (if Seth Rollins saw this match he wouldn't understand what is going on). In this match T-Hawk finds an opportunity very early on and does a really good control section that sets up Daichi's slow comeback perfectly. Final minutes are very good too. I think my only complaint about the match would be T-Hawk abandoning the leg work for no reason but that's a very minor issue I had with this. Very good main event to end a dope fukking show
ALSO,
BJW Anniversary show:
Daichi Hashimoto vs Daisuke Sekimoto - BJW 3/16/20, Strong Heavyweight Title
link:
I'm so glad this fukking building is closing so Big Japan can stop booking big matches here. It's their version of Differ Ariake or Ariake Coliseum it's just impossible to have a great atmosphere, even more considering the circumstances of coronavirus (and still, 1k people showed up). This is one of those matches that it takes a while to get going, as Daisuke goes full minimalistic and basically works headlocks and back submissions to establish control over the champ. Your enjoyment will depend on how compelling you thought Sekimoto's control work was and how invested you get in Daichi's fight from underneath. I ended up feeling it was good enough, though nothing to give that much praise to. Crowd heat is imperative in these type of matches and this building will never give you that so that's gonna hurt it no matter what. Finishing sequence was really good with both throwing haymakers without going full retard. Loved the deadlift germans, and the few nearfalls it had were really well done. Interested if a fellow Sekimoto stan likes this or is indifferent by it @TheGodling
@3Rivers @Legal @Ace of the Metropolitan @Beautiful Bobby Eatin @PlayerNinety_Nine @SubZeroDegrees @The RainmakerParty Boys vs El Lindaman & Koju Takeda - BJW 3/21/20
Short match with a couple of minutes clipped but this felt like a fun opener, crowd was really into it.
Takuya Nomura, Kazuki Hashimoto & Kosuke Sato vs Hideyoshi Kamitani, Kazumi Kikuta & Yoshihisa Uto - BJW 3/21/20
link:
non stop fun action for 7 minutes. Hoss Kamitani beating the shyt out of younger people is always great, Young Gawd was as on point and his matchup with Kikuta was the best I've seen from them yet (they've gotten SOO much better when facing each other compared to previous years). Too bad Kazuki wasn't able to do anything due to the length of the match but Sato getting a couple of sequences to shine was dope You can never go wrong with a short 6 man Strong BJ tag and this is no different.Ryuichi Kawakami vs Akira Hyodo - BJW 3/21/20
Well damn this was really fukking fun
Back to back banger tournament matches for Kawakami. Some Korakuen magic at play here as they are fully into Hyodo's fight for an upset. It's a very simple yet effective type of match, a Strong BJ staple Isami Kodaka vs Taishi Takizawa - BJW 3/21/20
So yeah, the "deathmatch guy" manages to have the smartest worked match of the year
Takizawa was incredible working the mid section and throwing stiff chops. Kodaka sold well but the most impressive thing he did was working a fukking headlock/cravat as a hope spot AND a weapon. This doesn't have a strong finishing sequence nor big strikes or moves exchanges, but for the match to really work it didn't need to have none of that shyt. This is why I love the Strong Climb, for awesome shyt like this that comes out of nowhere @Scottie DrippinYuya Aoki vs Yasufumi Nakanoue - BJW 3/21/20
This one last 13 minutes. The first 9 are good with a standard young star vs established wrestler story, Korakuen is pretty into it, similar to Kawakami and Hyodo earlier in the show. The last 4 minutes are fukking awesome with Korakuen losing their shyt and both trading big stuff and great nearfalls
Yuji Okabayashi vs Ryota Hama - BJW 3/21/20
Yuji continues to be Hama's best opponent. He always finds a way of making the formula of "how will [insert wrestler name] handle Hama's weight" work, and this is no different.
Daichi Hashimoto vs T-Hawk - BJW 3/21/20
Daichi is a very inconsistent wrestler. For some reason, getting his legs worked on brings the best out of him, dude is one of the few current wrestlers that actually sells the pain it generates to use a leg that has had some damage (if Seth Rollins saw this match he wouldn't understand what is going on). In this match T-Hawk finds an opportunity very early on and does a really good control section that sets up Daichi's slow comeback perfectly. Final minutes are very good too. I think my only complaint about the match would be T-Hawk abandoning the leg work for no reason but that's a very minor issue I had with this. Very good main event to end a dope fukking show
ALSO,
BJW Anniversary show:
Daichi Hashimoto vs Daisuke Sekimoto - BJW 3/16/20, Strong Heavyweight Title
link:
I'm so glad this fukking building is closing so Big Japan can stop booking big matches here. It's their version of Differ Ariake or Ariake Coliseum
it's just impossible to have a great atmosphere, even more considering the circumstances of coronavirus (and still, 1k people showed up). This is one of those matches that it takes a while to get going, as Daisuke goes full minimalistic and basically works headlocks and back submissions to establish control over the champ. Your enjoyment will depend on how compelling you thought Sekimoto's control work was and how invested you get in Daichi's fight from underneath. I ended up feeling it was good enough, though nothing to give that much praise to. Crowd heat is imperative in these type of matches and this building will never give you that so that's gonna hurt it no matter what. Finishing sequence was really good with both throwing haymakers without going full retard. Loved the deadlift germans, and the few nearfalls it had were really well done. Interested if a fellow Sekimoto stan likes this or is indifferent by it @TheGodling
PlayerNinety_Nine
Produced, Arranged, Composed and Performed by....
What a difference a week makes
If they're doing a shooter stable and don't have Shelton Benjamin involved
Beautiful Bobby Eatin
SWEEEEEEEEEETNESS!
Putting youtube links in spoilers so it doesn't fukk up the thread. Y'all should really check BJW's 3/21 show, it was a fukking blast to watch. It literally has a match for almost any taste in wrestling. Even though it doesn't have legit MOTYC match, it's filled with fun to great stuff to watch, one of the best shows of the year so far
Party Boys vs El Lindaman & Koju Takeda - BJW 3/21/20
Short match with a couple of minutes clipped but this felt like a fun opener, crowd was really into it.
Takuya Nomura, Kazuki Hashimoto & Kosuke Sato vs Hideyoshi Kamitani, Kazumi Kikuta & Yoshihisa Uto - BJW 3/21/20
link:
Ryuichi Kawakami vs Akira Hyodo - BJW 3/21/20
Well damn this was really fukking fun
Isami Kodaka vs Taishi Takizawa - BJW 3/21/20
So yeah, the "deathmatch guy" manages to have the smartest worked match of the year
Yuya Aoki vs Yasufumi Nakanoue - BJW 3/21/20
This one last 13 minutes. The first 9 are good with a standard young star vs established wrestler story, Korakuen is pretty into it, similar to Kawakami and Hyodo earlier in the show. The last 4 minutes are fukking awesome with Korakuen losing their shyt and both trading big stuff and great nearfalls
Yuji Okabayashi vs Ryota Hama - BJW 3/21/20
Yuji continues to be Hama's best opponent. He always finds a way of making the formula of "how will [insert wrestler name] handle Hama's weight" work, and this is no different.
Daichi Hashimoto vs T-Hawk - BJW 3/21/20
Daichi is a very inconsistent wrestler. For some reason, getting his legs worked on brings the best out of him, dude is one of the few current wrestlers that actually sells the pain it generates to use a leg that has had some damage (if Seth Rollins saw this match he wouldn't understand what is going on). In this match T-Hawk finds an opportunity very early on and does a really good control section that sets up Daichi's slow comeback perfectly. Final minutes are very good too. I think my only complaint about the match would be T-Hawk abandoning the leg work for no reason but that's a very minor issue I had with this. Very good main event to end a dope fukking show
ALSO,
BJW Anniversary show:
Daichi Hashimoto vs Daisuke Sekimoto - BJW 3/16/20, Strong Heavyweight Title
link:
I'm so glad this fukking building is closing so Big Japan can stop booking big matches here. It's their version of Differ Ariake or Ariake Coliseum
All the time in the world
PlayerNinety_Nine
Produced, Arranged, Composed and Performed by....
This Go Shiozaki vs Fujita match.
First 30 minutes made it a modern classic for these troubled times.
shyt has 'DDT Fukkery' written all over it
Fujita's Muta Mist spot with a mouthful of hand sanitizer
.....
Takagi was definitely somewhere backstage in an office like
I can only imagine the emotions Ibushi went through watching this. A mixture of
..
...
...
....... and that's just the first half
First 30 minutes made it a modern classic for these troubled times.
shyt has 'DDT Fukkery' written all over it
Fujita's Muta Mist spot with a mouthful of hand sanitizer
.....Takagi was definitely somewhere backstage in an office like
I can only imagine the emotions Ibushi went through watching this. A mixture of
............... and that's just the first half
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TheGodling
Los Ingobernables de Sala de Cine
ALSO,
BJW Anniversary show:
Daichi Hashimoto vs Daisuke Sekimoto - BJW 3/16/20, Strong Heavyweight Title
link:
I'm so glad this fukking building is closing so Big Japan can stop booking big matches here. It's their version of Differ Ariake or Ariake Coliseum
I'm familiar with this style of Sekimoto since it was a big staple of his matches against Suzuki (in 2018 I think), and while it's funny to see Final Boss Mode work like a mat wrestler he is good at it. The match (or perhaps indeed the crowd/venue) lacked the energy to really get me caring in the control segments but once the match hits the final stretch and it transitions into a battle of endurance, desperation and hitting that one power move to finish it the match really finds its way. That's when an otherwise meaningless Lariat can suddenly feel like the tide has turned completely and that's how wrestling is supposed to feel.
