Essential Japanese Wrestling Discussion/News

[JerseyBoy23]

Ibushi probably getting that strap finally sometime this year

He should be but now that I think about it. How often do they give the strap to someone who isn’t from the dojo or the top foreigner?

 

[Toe Jay Simpson]

Naito...hold ya head man...

 

[Honga Ciganesta]

I'm hereby retiring from this thread due to the circumstances I was forced to endure earlier today. fukk Gedo, he's a charlatan, a fraud; it sickens me he's mentioned alongside Baba da gawd by those that should know better. That's it for Honga, it's over. Forever. Fooooorever.

Naito 4 lyfe

 

[bigdaddy88]

It should have been jay white

 

[SubZeroDegrees]

Timebomb getting the first title shot over SANADA.

Yep, he solidified in the Goto role.

 

[DaylitoJames]

Timebomb getting the first title shot over SANADA.

Yep, he solidified in the Goto role.

Sanada gonna enter the fall G1 Climax and lock down the victory for that WK15 title shot

 

[SubZeroDegrees]

ZSJ and Taichi are tag champs

Iron Claw threw Ibushi in the bushes, then Tana's legs got Dragon Screw Leg Whipped to oblivion on some shyt.

Dangerous Tekkers - We Outchea

We need a long run from DT. Nothing conspiracy theories and shyting on the UK government promos.

 

[Jmare007]

He should be but now that I think about it. How often do they give the strap to someone who isn’t from the dojo or the top foreigner?

3 times since the belt was created 30 years ago.

BUT, Ibushi is primed to be the 4th one. He's the closest to Kensuke Sasaki in the sense of being a "New Japan guy" without literally being a New Japan guy...and Sasaki got the big belt (5 times, including winning the G-1 as champ).

Tenryu was a huge star and only held the belt for 25 days

Takayama basically got it because of the Don Frye match and Inokism...and he only held it because they wanted Tenzan to beat an invader/outsider, IIRC

 

[Jmare007]

Timebomb getting the first title shot over SANADA.

Yep, he solidified in the Goto role.

Goto had the iconic 07' match with Tana and was supposed to be "fourth musketeer"....Sanada ain't close to that

 

[The Rainmaker]

What is a tekker anyways and why is so dangerous?

 

[PlayerNinety_Nine]

What is a tekker anyways and why is so dangerous?

A tekkers is British slang for someone who is highly skilled at something. It's basically short for Technique, which is probably to do with ZSJ's wrestling style, with Taichi bringing the 'dangerous'

 

[TrueEpic08]

So I just watched the Naito/EVIL main event...

Holy shyt, that...when Red Shoes hit that three count, I just asked myself, "when was the last time you felt insulted by a NJPW main event?"

First of all, EVIL...

I was kind of with the theme until it started to sound like something from a Castlevania boss fight, but his gear SUUUUUCKS. The armor makes him look like an off-brand Glacier (I know we're supposed to have an ironic love of the guy, but main eventers should remind you of Glacier) and the gear itself is fukking atrocious. He looks like an off-brand ASAP Mob stan circa 2013 as opposed to a top guy, and the mediocrity of his actual wrestling or the fact that nobody gave a single solitary fukk about him didn't help any. Atrocious.

Naito was barely any better himself. Clearly out of shape and fatter off the COVID layoff, not to mention his complete disinterest in expressing any emotions or selling that much. He seemed to find a groove during the finish (not helped by a couple of EVIL brainfarts or some general timing issues between the two), but he certainly wasn't great here either. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he tanked the match in protest of the sheer stupidity of the booking.

And the finish...my god.

Spoiler

Jado does a walk-in and I think the sea levels out here in SoCal rose a bit as he made his way down to the ring. Taiji Ishimori, not wanting to die before Jado finishes his walk-in, sprints down to the ring as fast as he can and gives Naito a springboard senton, then stalls because Jado STILL hasn't finished his walk-in. Jado gets to the ring as the sun dies and kills us all, gets ready to brain Naito with the kendo stick, but is stopped by Hiromu, the best worker in the match. He runs Jado and Taiji off with the vigor and fire this match desperately needed (didn't Naito and EVIL hate each other. Didn't EVIL, Naito's first recruit into LIJ, turn on him and join the Bullet Club all of ONE DAY AGO? Could've fooled me). EVIL procures a chair and brains Naito with it after Naito takes an age to crawl over to EVIL and pick him up. Some more fairly decent wrestling happens, then some guy in a BUSHI mask who looks and moves nothing like BUSHI (he may have, in fact, eaten BUSHI. Of course, we know it's dikk Togo) forearms and garrotes Naito, then takes the ref as EVIL stomps Naito in the balls. Only then is Naito hit with the EVIL and pinned.

By the way, the crowd reacted to the above with either mechanical booing or silence.

Garbage.

If I weren't watching a FIRE ass Lou Thesz/Buddy Rogers match alongside this, it might have made me less of a fan of wrestling. As it is, it's a goddamn mediocre ass match capped off with one of the most ridiculous finishes I've seen from NJPW in damn near two decades. Just shyt.

EDIT: Oh, and before I forget: This did NOT need 38 minutes. NJPW needs to stop already with this nonsense.

 

[krackdagawd]

A tekkers is British slang for someone who is highly skilled at something. It's basically short for Technique, which is probably to do with ZSJ's wrestling style, with Taichi bringing the 'dangerous'

I thought it was some star track shyt

 

[Jmare007]

Yuji Okabayashi vs Ayato Yoshida - 2AW Openweight Title match 7/5/2020
link for the whole show

It tried to be an epic but they didn't click at the level needed to get one. Still a good match were Yoshida shows he can hang with the big boys now that he's passed the "promising star" phase of his career. It's a shame the Taka fukkery killed his deal with New Japan because I was looking forward to him developing there. Anyways, it's a standard "Yuji gets his arm worked and he overcomes it because he's a beast" type of match, so you get all the good things asociated with that formula. There are a couple of good nearfalls and some good drama but even though Yoshida did way better than say, a Jake Lee type of guy, you can tell he still hasn't figured everything out, he's getting there though you but that he can go toe to toe with Yuji, his strikes are good and he has some good moves. He also has good charisma.

I thought it was some star track shyt

I remember watching a documentary like 15 years ago about the "Trekkers vs Trekkies" Star Trek fandom. Not a good doc

 

[stro]

Rough year for Japan. First they lose the Olympics to COVID, then Evil becomes IWGP champ champ ending Naito's "for real this time" run on top after one defense.