NJPW Dominion (June 9, 2019): Okada/Jericho, Ibushi/Naito, Dragon Lee/Ospreay, Moxley
- Thread starter Ill Lou Malnati
- Start date
MenacingMonk
Tranquilo
I’m hoping to watch it live, but I’m not sure. My sleep rotation been different lately. See what happens.
interested to see if this'll be better than DoN or NXT 25
Or another show that shall not be named.
TobiOT
Veteran
Of course it will :MartialLit:interested to see if this'll be better than DoN or NXT 25
Hope Okada’s ready to get a busted nose
so I'm thinking they will definitely have a match that caters to Jericho's strengths.... I don't see them going over 30 mins.
can see a DQ/Dusty finish if they're willing to do that on a big show.
can't see Jericho taking the title knowing he'll be rocking it in AEW
Scottie Drippin
Should Never Mention Me
That's just untrue. Naka was more popular than Okada and Tana to a lot of US viewers, but NJ's numbers say that Okada has been the best draw in the company for some years. And yes it's a pretty fair comparison given they started splitting the roster for shows with the IC on top for one and world on top for the other.
Now, can Naito be that level of draw? We won't know unless they really try.
But if we want to complain about Okada on top, we gotta do it with the facts that NJ's business has grown year after year with him on top.
Jmare007
pico pal q lee
We have enough evidence to show that Naito is a big draw - bigger than Omega and Ibushi in Japan - so yeah, he can be that level of a draw. Specially when you take into account that New Japan sold out Sumo Hall without a fukking card 1 week before a huge show like KOPW last year, there's nothing in Naito being champ for a while to suggest New Japan would suffer business wise.
They really didn't suffer with from January to April either when White was on top for Terry Funk's sake.
The IWGP/IC belt comparison is not "fair" in the sense that they never run the same kind of building. Gedo has been at least smart enough to book mid sized venues for IC main evented shows. Naito has been fantastic in those with a bunch of no named guys (in Japan), and better than any other IC champ.
Saying Okada is not as popular as Nakamura (and fukking MiSu, who is an abysmal draw no matter how cool he is) is ridiculous. But let's not act like a guy like Naito has to prove himself at this point, that's just as ridiculous.
Scottie Drippin
Should Never Mention Me
When I say really try, I mean run with him on top for years like Okada and grow business. It's easy for NJ to stick with Okada as the main guy as it's been such a successful formula to them. Naito would probably be the same but they'll probably never do it as they haven't been punished for any of their weird calls yet.
I think what people miss in complaining about Okada on top is that despite this predictable and lazy booking they keep on winning, so why exactly would they change.
Should they? Yeah, but for years we've been saying if they don't they'll pay for it...but the only only people paying for it all their fans who are literally paying more money for it month after month
Jmare007
pico pal q lee
When I say really try, I mean run with him on top for years like Okada and grow business. It's easy for NJ to stick with Okada as the main guy as it's been such a successful formula to them. Naito would probably be the same but they'll probably never do it as they haven't been punished for any of their weird calls yet.
I think what people miss in complaining about Okada on top is that despite this predictable and lazy booking they keep on winning, so why exactly would they change.
Should they? Yeah, but for years we've been saying if they don't they'll pay for it...but the only only people paying for it all their fans who are literally paying more money for it month after month
That's what fans always do though. WWE was lazy and won by a landslide for 18 years
people were spot on a lot of the criticism.And by the way, I don't think anyone is asking for Naito to be an Ace, or have an Ace-like run with the belt. It's just the fact that the Okada-gaijin-transitional champ-Okada formula has been used for so fukking long that people want something fresher.
And when you have an alternative that wont hurt business at all and would freshen things up, it's deflating that the same formula keeps being used.
I don't think that most of the complaints about Gedo's lazy booking have ever been about business, at least not as the main point.
Ibushi vs Naito should be a classic 
I’m not talking about right now, I’m talking about 2014/2015. Nakamura wasn’t more popular than Okada?
So does CoDeane face that Dragon Lee guy in this event since he beat Juice Robinson or was there another best of the super juniors winner? 
Jmare007
pico pal q lee
I’m not talking about right now, I’m talking about 2014/2015. Nakamura wasn’t more popular than Okada?
Money wise, no he wasn't. Which I think was the point @Scottie Drippin was making.