NJPW - TPWW ***OFFICIAL*** Discussion Thread -- New Japan of America announced

[Fignuts]

Watching them today

[DaveWadding]

Eddie vs Ishii was 7.5/5 stars in Korakuen Hall and I'm changing my last name to Meltzer

[Mr. Nerfect]

Hearing no buzz about this at all.

[ClockShot]

Naito wins the G1.

So that SANADA/Naito match I totally forgot about will be happening at Wrestle Kingdom.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Not a shocking outcome. If they’re planning an Okada/Danielson rematch in the Tokyo Dome, Naito is probably like the low-hanging fruit for a Sanada opponent.

[Mr. Nerfect]

So I checked out the Wrestle Kingdom card just to see what’s going on. Nothing really too exciting outside Naito/Sanada and Danielson/Okada. “Exciting” might be too strong a word.

There are rumors that WWE are interested in Okada. That would be a good move for Okada. Totally fucks New Japan tho. Unless they can work out something with WWE, which would send ripples everywhere.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Going through the card:

* Shingo vs. Tama for the NEVER Title. Not sure if I’ve seen Tama wrestle. People used to say he wasn’t very good, but they also said that about Hikuleo and when I saw him, he was actually impressive.

* Takahashi vs. El Desperado…eh. If it’s your sort of thing, I guess this feels like the biggest juniors match they can put on? I dunno.

* Tanahashi vs. ZSJ…so boring. I guess it’s their first time at WK? Tanahashi used to be a really good worker. ZSJ hasn’t been very good.

* Tag Team Titles…don’t care. New Japan has never been very good with tag teams, have they?

* I’m glad Clark Connors is making a WK card. He’s a great little wrestler. Don’t know what his tag team is like, but I hope they beat Catch 2/2.

* Three-way loses a lot of suspense when you know Ospreay is leaving and Mox is AEW. I guess David Finlay, the Bullet Club leader, is going to win it for New Japan? It’s just a weird dynamic. And Moxley sucks. Oh well.

* Bryan Danielson vs. Okada will be good.

* Sanada vs. Naito doesn’t feel special to me. Given their histories and all that. Naito just underwhelms me.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Okada is leaving New Japan.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Selfishly, I want to see him in WWE. It’d certainly be an interesting move for Okada, legacy-wise. I could also have an effect on WWE/New Japan politics.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Anyone excited for Wrestle Kingdom 19? Anyone at all?

Most NJPW fans accept that AEW and TK have hurt them. They’re rebuilding and seem cold as ice, but I’ve been intrigued by some of the moves they’re making out of desperation.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It’s not ideal, but I think it’s making chicken salad out of chicken shit to have two guys entering their first Wrestle Kingdom main event against each other. I like that it’s got those stakes. Where they go from here is important.

Lol at Ricochet being Zack Sabre, Jr’s opponent night 2 though.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I watched some New Japan to see how I’d take to the current product.

Zack Sabre, Jr. is better than I last saw him. Wish he wouldn’t invite people to hit him. It’s just a hack trope at this point. But his overall performance was a lot better than when I last saw him at Wrestle Kingdom against Ishii years ago.

Ishii is a bit shit. He was the weakest part of the Road to Wrestle Kingdom tag I watched. He doesn’t even register getting hit. The match structure protected him, but they should really move him out of that spot soon.

Ryohei Oiwa impressed me. He seemed to have it together really well. His facial expressions and overall presence was good. Thought his pants looked a bit shit.

Speaking of shit pants, Shota Union probably needs a main event look. His work was excellent. I thought he and Oiwa were the better halves of that match.

I also watched two Takeshita matches from the G1, since people rave about him. He’s good. He’s got a shit-sniffing look and plays to the crowd well. I saw him against Hirooki Goto and Yota Tsuji. Those guys were great too. Goto apparently stepped up this year. Tsuji has got real good flare to him.

I might give New Japan World a go. I’ll check out more stuff tomorrow. I think I want to check out some Gabe Kidd, Jeff Cobb and maybe some of the junior heavyweights.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I liked Gabe Kidd vs. Shingo from the G1. Gabe has got something. A bit too much “hit me, I’ll hit you,” but I can kind of buy it from their personalities. Some cute spots.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I decided to get WK19. Why not? Here are my thoughts:

Ranbo was fine. Some of the older dudes are not ageing well. It really picked up when Alex Zayne bumped around for them. The Ishii/Honma interaction was fun. Hirooki Goto has become one of my NJPW faves. Great O’Khan seems pretty good too. Smart move putting them in with older guys to make the current guys look good? Glad Goto won. Seemed like a cool moment for him and I think the crowd appreciated it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Ladder Match:

I’ve seen so many of these spotfests it’s hard to care, but the context of this being in New Japan at the Tokyo Dome adds a little something special to it. Please don’t do it again for a long while.

I like Clark Connors. TJP is a very good professional wrestler. Kevin Knight botched a lot. Kushida went the long way to get back to right where he was. Drilla has a good look, but wtf was the table spot? He went to powerbomb Kushida threw one of their ridiculous tables (please get wrestling friendly ones) and he just kind of bounced his own tailbone off.

Robbie Eagles & Yohei Fujita impressed me. I’ve heard good things about Eagles. He was the stand out to me here. He puts his head down and tries to be into everything he does. I liked the false red herring of both touching the belts earlier in the match, as if to indicate they weren’t going to win, but then Fujita does end up pulling them down.

I liked Knight & Kushida giving them their due after the match. Was fine for your multi-team spotfest Ladder Match.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Had to go and do something so I lost my place. Made it back for the top four matches.

El Desperado/Douki:

I take it Douki got properly hurt. Would be silly to run that as an angle. Great save by Desperado, but it’s a shame that it went that way. I’ve heard Douki had a great reign, so it sucks, but it’s hard to feel *sorry* for someone who does a seated senton off the top rope to a guy resting on the barricade.

Yota/Finlay:

Big fan of both these guys. Tsuji comes across as a star. Finlay has got this bravado that makes it seem like he doesn’t give a shit, but it slips in moments when it’s time to show ass. Finlay trying to grab the belt after losing was a nice touch. Finlay actually conjured up some moisture in his eyes too. Great stuff.

I’ll get to the other two matches later. Finlay/Tsuji was my favorite.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Women’s Title:

Fun match. We’re a far cry away from AJW, but Mayu Iwatani and AZM did ok here. Mayu was especially impressive. Some classic joshi spots. Wasn’t a classic by any means, but I can imagine if you’re nuts for either woman you’d enjoy it.

TV Title:

Actually really loved this match. I hear a lot of bad about the House of Torture gimmick. I get it, but I do see how it comes off like bullshit pantomime to a lot of fans. Jeff Cobb is really impressive. Ryohei Oiwa is one of my guys. He’s fantastic. First time seeing El Phantasmo. The name turns me off. He gives me Logan Paul meets Lexis King vibes. He’s good. Glad he won. Dude beating cancer is worth a feel-good title win.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I say this as someone who doesn’t like Kenny Omega: Check out his match with Gabe Kidd at Wrestle Dynasty. The best Omega match I’ve ever seen. Kidd is great.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I watched Battle in the Valley. Pretty boring show. Gabe went from impressing me to boring the fuck out of me. Easy come, easy go.

Kushida vs. Takeshita was great though. Takeshita is very talented. He even cut a good broken English promo afterward. Kushida more than held up his end. ZSJ vs. Hechicero and El Desperado vs. Taiji Ishimori were fine in execution, but they just didn’t pull me in. Takeshita vs. Kushida goes on my list of “matches you should watch” for 2025.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Jeff Cobb is pretty great too. It seems like he’s got stuff to do if he sticks around, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Triple H poaches him.

[Mr. Nerfect]

So after ruminating over Omega/Kidd for a bit over a week, I think it was pretty overrated (by myself included). I popped on Backlash 2001 and Raven vs. Rhyno from that PPV is basically in-line with what Omega/Kidd was. No springboards, so I guess what makes classic matches are springboards.

[BFP]

Yeah, after thinking about it, Omega/Kidd felt overrated. It had the hype, but it didn’t hit the mark. Raven/Rhyno from Backlash 2001 was actually more solid, no flashy moves, just good storytelling.

[Mr. Nerfect]

My NJPW trial continues! Bring on Blue Justice!

Shota Umino is teaming up with the young lions.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don’t think NJPW is going to make the cut. Still haven’t gotten around to New Beginning. Product just isn’t very good. Goes against Dave Meltzer’s assertion that this is the easiest time to book and you can do almost anything and people will eat it up.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The Rock accidentally posted a photo of him trying to solve a Rubik’s cube in a New Japan shirt.

[Lock Jaw]

Doesn't seem like an accidental post

[Lock Jaw]

He also was probably trolling and knew what wearing the shirt would do. Immediately cause all the newz goblins and internet fans to immediately start jumping to wild speculations and theories about what it means....

[Mr. Nerfect]

Tetsuya Naito has gotten the fuck outta there.

[Mr. Nerfect]

New Japan fucking sucks. I tried watching the Dontaku shows. Boring as shit. It got to the main event of night 1 and they’re doing a garbage spotfest in the main. I turned it off after one clown smashed another over the head with a steel chair. Got no time for that shit in 2025. Reeks of desperation.

Zack Sabre, Jr. is probably my least favorite wrestler on the planet. He is aggressively boring. He’s a collection of these annoying ticks and tropes that come together in this poorly presented package. His limb work never goes anywhere. The neck twist he does is just lame as hell — Giulia should stop doing it in WWE too. His selling is poor. His gear barely fits him. I cannot stand him. Of course he drives down business and of course these fuckers go back to him as a main eventer.

[Evil Vito]

Wrestle Kingdom is gonna be on Japanese national TV for the first time in 22 years

Time for them to royally fuck it up by basing the entire card around House of Torture as they have been

[Mr. Nerfect]

I watched Dominion. Oh boy…

[Destor]

Sabre is everything wrong with modern wrestling

[Mr. Nerfect]

Sabre is everything wrong with modern wrestling

Thank you! I’m glad someone else sees it. Well, I guess lots of people do since the attendance for NJPW shows dropped off when he became champ. But it’s nice to see it here.

[Mr. Nerfect]

When I checked out Dontaku (I think that was the double night show they did recently), about the only thing that didn’t absolutely suck was the young lion match. I quite enjoyed Murishima vs. Nagai lol. It’s like they have to forget everything they learn when they graduate.

[Destor]

Modern Puro took the worst of the US indy style that made TNALOL sucha meme and fused it with the worst of worked mma and flooded the circuit with guys who look half as tough as Punk.


Sabre is the crown jewel of the farce stylistically. He cant work a hold. He cant sell a shotgun to the face. He looks like he's going to die from malnutrition at any moment. He cant talk. He's a blackhole where charisma goes to die. His psychology is nonexistent. The only thing he has going for him is his ring timing. Not his crowd timing mind you cause i dont think he's aware he's working in front of an audience. But he's where he needs to be in order for the nonsense to continue.

So his memorization is fine too i guess. Congrats.

If i were going to shoot any 2 wrestlers into the sun he'd be my 2nd pick only behind Orange Cassidy and for shockingly similar reasons.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Modern Purp took the worst of the US indy style that made TNALOL sucha meme and fused it with the worst of worked mma and flooded the circuit with guys who look half as tough as Punk.


Sabre is the crown jewel of the farce stylistically. He cant work a hold. He cant sell a shotgun to the face. He looks like he's going to die from malnutrition at any moment. He cant talk. He's a blackhole where charisma goes to die. His psychology is nonexistent. The only thing he has going for him is his ring timing. Not his crowd timing mind you cause i dont think he's aware he's working in front of an audience. But he's where he needs to be in order for the nonsense to continue.

So his memorization is fine too i guess. Congrats.

If i were going to shoot any 2 wrestlers into the sun he'd be my 2nd pick only behind Orange Cassidy and for shockingly similar reasons.

This is perfect. I was comparing OC and ZSJ the other day. They both lack credibility in the same way. ZSJ will just swim through holds while OC will do dives.

When WWF and WCW starting locking talent down in the 90s, I think the days of big name stars going to Japan started to die. Then AJPW died, Inoki went to his dark place, Misawa literally died and puroresu has been left with what they can get. I’m starting to question whether or not they’ve convinced themselves they actually prefer that nonsense though. I think the coverage guys like Meltzer gives them has colored their thinking and they believe this stuff has a chance of catching on.

[Destor]

Puro died with Misawa. Once we lost NOAH the form shriveled and died. The more they court a global audience the more true it is.

[Mr. Nerfect]

You might be right, but I’m not sure it’s their pursuit of a global audience so much as the type of global audience they are seeking.

[Mr. Nerfect]

LOL at fucking New Japan.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I gave them a shot. Fucking dogshit promotion.