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

[Mr. Nerfect]

Unfortunately, Jay White moved to Florida sometime before this all happened so it would really depend on if Bushiroad can get some sort of exemption for international travelers.

The US has been a COVID-19 hell hole so I don't know if Japan would make an exemptions even though they could be immediately quarantined and tested, etc.

Ah, thought he was still in New Zealand. Silly bugger moving to the States.

[Emperor Smeat]

NJPW enacted a new change for this year's G1 Climax tournament.

Those competing in the tournament will not be wrestling on shows that do not feature their tournament matches.

Official reason is related to their current coronavirus health safety precaution policy for talent.

As part of our ongoing Coronavirus prevention measures, we will limit the number of wrestlers participating on the G1 Climax 30 tour.

B block tournament entrants will not compete on A block nights and vice versa throughout the tour, which begins in Osaka on September 19.
https://www.njpw1972.com/78801

[Fignuts]

That’s good and and bad.

Bad because the tag matches gave them a chance to add a little story to the upcoming match. Almost like a mini feud.

Good because the G-1 is already a lot of wrestling to watch in a small amount of time. Add in the tag matches and it can start to feel like a slog, despite the quality of the content.

[Emperor Smeat]

Yeah it does throw a wrench in how NJPW usually builds up storylines and cards but on the bright side, those in the tournament now get more rest during NJPW's most grueling part of the year.

Instead of around 20 matches in a span of a month, it would be just 10 matches for this year's tournament for each A & B block guy.

[Evil Vito]

Meh, I know that the prelim tags add to the story but they're fairly formulaic and I invariably have to ditch them and just watch the tourney matches to catch up.

[Emperor Smeat]

Seems NJPW might have gotten a new ring for tonight's NJPW Strong show since it doesn't look as tiny as before and Kevin Kelly mentioned its size.

[Emperor Smeat]

Even a week later, clean shaven Tama Tonga still looks really weird.

[Emperor Smeat]

Probably a lock Moxley's defending his IWGP US belt against either KENTA or Jeff Cobb based on what just happened with the David Finlay vs. Tama Tonga.

[Fignuts]

Jesus I forgot he even had it.

[Emperor Smeat]

Cobb vs. KENTA was decent despite its very sluggish pace.

Finals of New Japan Cup USA tournament:

David Finlay vs. KENTA


This week's episode was ok or average overall. Neither of the two tournament matches were that special.

[Evil Vito]

Mox hasn't been allowed to work any televised US bookings since signing with AEW, which is why he couldn't be on night 1 of the G1 in Dallas last year. Assuming his next title defense is the US (which it would almost have to be with Japan unlikely to allow anyone from the US anytime soon), it'll mean NJPW and AEW worked out an agreement of some sort.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don't care about the US Title at all.

[Tom Guycott]

I don't care about the US Title at all.

I'm close to agreeing with you, but likely for vastly different reasons.

It seems kinda like a monkey's paw on Mox. On the one hand, it felt like they were trying to use him to make it a big deal and something worthwhile for whoever he dropped it to (maybe his protege/kidnap victim/illigitimate Japanese son, Shota) to defend it in the US branch they're so keen on launching; and it was poised to work with the right combination of timing, booking, and luck. On the other, you had exactly the opposite luck roll in right after with a combination of the airline snafu, his staph infection, and now pandemic travel restrictions keeping him from freely bouncing between AEW and NJPW as planned; and only one of those things could be argued to be his fault.

It can't be a valued prize if it's never seen, especially for months at a time. And even though I say this as a sarcastic joke, but almost not... I'm surprised they didn't find a way to strip him of it and "arbitrarily" put it on EVIL.

[Mr. Nerfect]

All reasonable points. The belt always felt way too much to me though. You have the Heavyweight, IC and NEVER ones -- do you really need to create another one? It's never really felt "embedded" to me. I mean, there's nothing "wrong" with it, per se. It's a belt with a name. You could always treat it like the IC Title and it'd be like the IC Title. But you've already got the IC Title so it's not the IC Title so what does it matter? I dunno if I'm explaining that clearly, haha.

[Emperor Smeat]

Seems Jay White got a new entrance tron since I don't remember shots with blades and logos on blades being in his original one.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ouch at Chase Owens getting spiked on the head for the tag match finish.

[Fignuts]

If they were going to make a new title after the NEVER title, they should have made one focused around the Young Lions. Especially considering all the YL focused shows they’ve been promoting in recent years.

[Emperor Smeat]

Feel giving the Young Lions their own title and division would sort of defeat the purpose of their current Young Lions system.

Like those Young Lions shows are mostly just so they get more in-ring experience in front of crowds and nothing in terms of actual feuds or storylines.

[Emperor Smeat]

Next IWGP US title match should be pretty good based on the results from tonight's New Japan Cup USA Finals.

KENTA vs. Jon Moxley

Compared to NJPW's other trophies, the one for the New Japan Cup USA tournament pales a lot by comparison.

[Fignuts]

Yeah it would be unnecessary. I’m just spitballing that if they felt they absolutely HAD to have another singles title, it would be the lesser evil compared to the ones we have now.

[Emperor Smeat]

This week's NJPW Strong episode was decent but these shows really need a crowd of sorts since it suffers from the same lack of atmosphere problem as Impact's empty arena shows.

[Emperor Smeat]

Yeah it would be unnecessary. I’m just spitballing that if they felt they absolutely HAD to have another singles title, it would be the lesser evil compared to the ones we have now.

As hit-or-miss as the KOPW title idea has been so far, I look at it more as just something NJPW decided to do as an emergency idea to freshen things up and something out of the box because of the current situation they are in.

Okada having to feud with Yujiro and them going hyper drive on EVIL's big push were clear signs whatever big plans they had for the year went out the window due to the coronavirus.

[Emperor Smeat]

NJPW announced both the date for this year's Fighting Spirit Unleashed tour in the US and former WWE talent Darren Young will be making his official debut for the company during this tour.

NJPW has released details on Fighting Spirit Unleashed, a two night event that will take place on NJPW Strong.

The company announced that the shows will take place on September 4 and September 11. The events will be headlined by a KENTA vs. Jeff Cobb match that will take place on the second night. That match will be for KENTA’s IWGP US title match contract, which he won by winning the New Japan Cup USA tournament.

A match between Jay White and ROH’s Flip Gordon will take place on September 4. White attempted to lay out Gordon with a bladerunner after losing a tag team match, but was saved by Brody King.

King will face Hikuleo on September 4, a clash of two behemoths. Hikuelo made his debut for NJPW of America last week by attacking Lee after he made the save for Gordon.

Fred Rosser, formerly known as Darren Young in WWE, will be making his NJPW debut on the September 4 show.

[Fignuts]

I’d make some snide remark about Darren Young in NJPW, but after Juice Robinson and Lance Archer, I’m not going to write anybody off.

[Emperor Smeat]

Missed the first match on tonight's NJPW Strong show due to getting some food but the 8-man tag between Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks, ACH, & TJP vs. Adrian Quest, Blake Christian, Barrett Brown, & Misterioso was pretty good.

Misterioso almost botched a sunset flip counter and came very close to landing head first onto the mat.

[Emperor Smeat]

Chase Owens vs. PJ Black was decent but NJPW should have went with the 8-man tag for the main event since it was more enjoyable.

Wasn't that into the Owens vs. Black match. Nothing was really wrong with it but didn't feel like something worthy to close out a show.

This week's episode was enjoyable based on what I was able to watch though.

[fundiddle]

it's reassuring to hear that owens vs black didn't feel like something worthy to close out a show, because it sure as fuck doesn't sound that way

[Emperor Smeat]

Thought they would have at least done something interesting with the ref bump spot but the ref sort of botched the moment and nothing really came from it anyways.

Also for some unknown reason, kept thinking Jay White was wrestling tonight and not Chase.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Darren Young was awful. Hopefully he has gotten A LOT better.

[Emperor Smeat]

Fred Rosser's (Darren Young) debut match in NJPW on tonight's Strong show ended up being decent.

[Emperor Smeat]

Never bothered to really pay attention to it before but Karl Fredericks' theme sort of sounds like something that came straight from hack-and-slash game Castle Crashers.

[Emperor Smeat]

Hikuleo beating Brody King was a bit of a surprise.

Their match was a pretty good big man/hoss fight and best match on tonight's show so far.

[Fignuts]

Hikuleo was the shits last I saw him. Sounds like he’s gotten a little better?

[Emperor Smeat]

Yeah seems like it although tonight's good match from him likely was more due to Brody being very good in the ring.

Tonight's main event between Flip Gordon & Jay White was decent but was also better than last week's main event match.

[Evil Vito]

G1 field finally getting announced tonight.

That they waited until days before the start of the tourney to make the announcement makes me think they were stalling for as long as possible to see if they could get anybody into the country. Presumably anybody that is coming in for the tourney has already been there for a week for quarantine purposes, and that's if they were able to get an exemption to bring them in at all.

I'd give better odds to Ospreay and Juice making it in from the UK than White and Kenta making it in from the US. But we'll see.

As I said on the last page, they still have enough people to keep it totally in house. Apparently Yuji Nagata said he'd be fine with walking back his previous G1 retirement given the circumstances, a bit like a player unretiring to help an injured team during a playoff push. I'd be all for more Nagata.

[Evil Vito]

Well I’ll be damned, they got everybody back.

A BLOCK (Sept. 19, 23, 27, 30; Oct. 5, 7, 10, 13, 16)

Kota Ibushi
Jeff Cobb
Kazuchika Okada
Tomohiro Ishii
Will Ospreay
Shingo Takagi
Minoru Suzuki
Taichi
"Switchblade" Jay White
Yujiro Takahashi

B BLOCK (Sept. 20, 24, 29; Oct. 1, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17)

Hiroshi Tanahashi
Juice Robinson
Hirooki Goto
Toru Yano
YOSHI-HASHI
Tetsuya Naito
SANADA
Zack Sabre Jr.
KENTA
"King Of Darkness" EVIL

[Evil Vito]

So of the three not returning from last year’s tourney, two were already known (Mox and Archer) so Suzuki and YOSHI-HASHI get back in after missing last year.

The only other change being Bad Luck Fale replaced by Yujiro

[ClockShot]

I was going to say Japan announced a while back anybody who got a residence there who was stuck outside the country is going to open up to get them back in.

Yujiro & Toru are easy wins for their blocks but obviously they'll fuck over someone when the time comes. Pretty balanced this year.

[Evil Vito]

A Block is loaded. Okada and Ibushi there of course but you also have the returns of Switchblade who is always protected and Ospreay who was reportedly in line for a big 2020 push prior to the pandemic. Will those two be re-established straight away? I'd imagine when schedules are out, those four will be paired off in some combination on the final day.

I can't imagine the B Block "main event" being anything other than Naito vs. EVIL part 3.

[Evil Vito]

Yano will win a couple of matches by trickery as he usually does. He's a "night off" for guys in a grueling tournament but his gimmick also presents a unique roadblock in that he can pull off an upset anybody on the roster.

Yujiro on the other hand is a legit candidate to get Honma'd, but I think he'll sneak a win or two just because if White and KENTA are back to the US after this...Yujiro is depressingly the #2 heavyweight in Bullet Club.

[Jordan]

Looks pretty much the same as always.

[ClockShot]

A Block is loaded. Okada and Ibushi there of course but you also have the returns of Switchblade who is always protected and Ospreay who was reportedly in line for a big 2020 push prior to the pandemic. Will those two be re-established straight away? I'd imagine when schedules are out, those four will be paired off in some combination on the final day.

I can't imagine the B Block "main event" being anything other than Naito vs. EVIL part 3.

Eh, a lot of us are waiting for SANADA to get his moment. But, I think you're right.

[Evil Vito]

Looks pretty much the same as always.

Last year had the biggest shake up in the field in a long time with 6 debuts (Ospreay, Shingo, KENTA, Mox, Cobb, Taichi) and Archer returning for the first time in years, so I'm not surprised this year's field is very similar especially given the global climate.

I think in a non-pandemic timeline, Yujiro never would've sniffed the tourney and YOSHI-HASHI probably wouldn't be back in either. I could've seen them maybe giving a spot to one or two guys from other Japanese promotions, but this year it's not really an option as everyone's running their big tournaments concurrently.

[Ultra Mantis]

Kinda disappointed EVERYONE is back, would have loved to have seen Hiromu and SHO continuing to take it to the heavyweights. Also fucking Yujiro is going to be a total buzz kill, honestly even Honma has pulled off some better performances this year. Feel like his spot as the A Block butt monkey should have gone to Koji and hes really only there to screw Okada out of two points. Wouldnt have missed Cobb either actually.

[Emperor Smeat]

A Block seems a bit too loaded and both blocks could have been better balanced had they swapped a couple guys around.

Other than that, nice looking field for this year's tournament.

[DaveWadding]

I am goddamn ready for Ishii in this A Block. I see at least 7 different 4 star matches in there.

[Fignuts]

I'm just ready for Ishii in general, regardless of what time of year it is.

[Evil Vito]

I hope Suzuki Gotch-style piledrives Ospreay into oblivion.

[Evil Vito]

The schedule is set:

https://www.njpw1972.com/80304

Actually very surprised Naito/EVIL is Night 14 and not 18. They could be once again giving me false hope on a SANADA win!

Looking at nights 17 and 18 thought my best guess is Okada vs. EVIL in the finals with Okada winning to set up Okada/Naito at the Dome again. We shall see.

[Ultra Mantis]

SANADA is definitely winning B Block and then getting cucked in the finals because SANADA is SANADA.

[Ultra Mantis]

Popular opinion seems to be a Switchblade victory, but honestly SANADA taking it seems a hell of a lot more interesting than just doing White / Naito at the Dome for the second year in a row.

[Evil Vito]

The fact that Switchblade goes up against Okada and Ibushi so early is a bit of a head scratcher to me, I would have figured he'd have to go through one of them as the final hurdle if he was going win A Block.

The other thing is....is he going to be going back to Florida after this tourney or is he staying in Japan? I think they had to pull some strings to get all these guys back into the country in the first place. Even though it's Switchblade I can see them maybe not wanting to commit him to a Dome main event unless they know for sure he'll be there, nobody knows what the world will look like in the winter.

[Ultra Mantis]

The A Block finals seem to be set up in a way where every potential winner is up against a potential spoiler rather than somebody winning or losing the block outright. Okada taking it to face SANADA could also work thematically, if they are actually giving SANADA the nod. Ibushi making the finals and not Tanahashi could also potentially happen to set up their WK match.

[Evil Vito]

I actually feel like Okada/Ospreay could be for an outright A Block win, provided they still want to give Ospreay the huge push they were planning to pre-pandemic. He'll rack up some wins.

Ospreay will presumably be staying in Japan for the long haul, he and Bea Priestley live there, they just happened to be in the UK when shit went down and they had to ride it out.

[Emperor Smeat]

The fact that Switchblade goes up against Okada and Ibushi so early is a bit of a head scratcher to me, I would have figured he'd have to go through one of them as the final hurdle if he was going win A Block.

The other thing is....is he going to be going back to Florida after this tourney or is he staying in Japan? I think they had to pull some strings to get all these guys back into the country in the first place. Even though it's Switchblade I can see them maybe not wanting to commit him to a Dome main event unless they know for sure he'll be there, nobody knows what the world will look like in the winter.

Probably staying in Japan since if he leaves, that's another 2 week quarantine if they want him for a future show or tour.

In terms of their NJPW Strong series, they don't really need him to be on the show based on how its setup and KENTA, Cobb, and Juice likely are going back to the US to boost the star power of that series.

[Ultra Mantis]

I actually feel like Okada/Ospreay could be for an outright A Block win, provided they still want to give Ospreay the huge push they were planning to pre-pandemic. He'll rack up some wins.

Ospreay will presumably be staying in Japan for the long haul, he and Bea Priestley live there, they just happened to be in the UK when shit went down and they had to ride it out.

I feel like Ospreay will get a few key wins but pushing him as a top contender in THAT block seems a bit much, I'd expect him to be levelling off around Shingo / Ishii / Suzuki /Taichi in the middle of the pack but yeah thats totally viable, they could have him almost go the distance. You never know how Gedo is going to book it, Yujiro shouldn't be getting any points at all but he could easily get 8 and beat all the top 4 guys if he really wanted to fuck with everyone.

It is going to be interesting seeing if Gedo has that much faith in Ospreay at this point, especially a super roided up, controversial in the West Ospreay who hasnt wrestled in months or even put his new body to the test yet.

[Emperor Smeat]

Next tour or special for NJPW's weekly Strong series will be called NJPW Lion's Break Crown. NJPW made the announcement during tonight's Strong show.

[Emperor Smeat]

Its been weeks into his new look but Tama Tonga still looks weird with the clean shaven appearance.

If someone ever started an Ultimate Warrior-like urban legend of this Tama not being the original Tama, I'd believe it.

[Evil Vito]

The most Gedo thing ever would be to book Switchblade vs. EVIL in a Bullet Club wankfest final.

[Emperor Smeat]

KENTA managed to successfully defend his IWGP US case against Jeff Cobb tonight and still on track to face Jon Moxley for the IWGP US belt.

This week's episode of NJPW Strong was decent overall. So far, tag matches and multi-tag matches have been mostly good in NJPW's empty arena setting for these Strong shows while their singles matches has been very hit or miss.

[Emperor Smeat]

First time seeing Will Ospreay in a NJPW ring since they went on the coronavirus break and he's a lot more bigger/thicker than before.

[Emperor Smeat]

Seems this year's G1 shows are going to be around 2 hours long if Night 1 is any indication so far.

Half of tonight's card is done and hit the intermission break around 50 minutes into the show.

[ClockShot]

Yeah. No tag team previews and just the Lions fighting to open things up. Keeping the minimum amount of roster in the building. Which is understandable.

Not bad. So long as the "juicy stuff" at the end got some time to it, it's all good.

[Emperor Smeat]

Holy hell at the sound of these strikes Suzuki has been laying into Ishii.

Making the Thunder Rosa vs. Ivelisse shoot fight or not on AEW's Dynamite show earlier this week looking like child's play in comparison.

[Emperor Smeat]

Don't think I've ever seen Ishii get that brutalized in a match before.

Suzuki managed to even create a loud echo with one of his strikes.

Like if Ishii was a cat, Suzuki just took away 8 of his lives from that bout.

[Emperor Smeat]

Someone elsewhere mentioned Okada's popped collar jacket looks like a Ramen Noodle Cup and now I can't unsee it. Same style coloring and designs as well.

[Emperor Smeat]

Yikes at that DDT Ibushi took on the outside.

Got planted hard on his head and made a very loud thud sound when it happened.

[DaveWadding]

Tuned in really late. So far this Okada / Ibushi shit is top notch.

[DaveWadding]

Okada stay working the neck, which I'm not sure is very smart because Ibushi's neck is lined with admantium or something.

[DaveWadding]

Whoa.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ibushi vs. Okada was great.

Same for the whole show in general as well. Easily among the best wrestling shows of this coronavirus ravaged year.

[DaveWadding]

Suzuki and Ishii trying to murder each other with elbow strikes in the first 2 minutes of a match. Ya gotta love it.

[DaveWadding]

Fuck, the sounds these elbows are making.

[DaveWadding]

It just turned into Slapsgiving

[DaveWadding]

Fuckin Suzuki like a horror movie villain. Ishii keeps putting him down, Suzuki gets up, laughs maniacally, and then just continues to beat the ever loving shit out of poor Tomo.

[Evil Vito]

I really could watch Suzuki and Ishii fight forever.

[ClockShot]

Sooooooo, who shaved Yota Tsuji while he was sleeping?

[ClockShot]

Bummer. They couldn't pay Pieter to come back and shake her ass to make these Yujiro matches worth it.

:'(

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Juice Robinson's entrance gear.

Sort of looks like a long lost member of the Blues Brothers or Deuce 'n Dominio tag team. Not sure the slick back mullet-style look is a good choice for him either.

[Emperor Smeat]

YOSHI-HASHI vs. Juice Robinson was pretty good overall.

SANADA's new little mask looks a bit goofy. Like he left it in the dryer for a bit too long and it shrunk since it barely covered his face.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at the ending to the Yano vs. SANADA match.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ouch at Goto's arm.

KENTA did the Double Foot Stomp but overshot it a bit and landed right on Goto's arm.

[Emperor Smeat]

Goto vs. KENTA and EVIL vs. Sabre Jr. were very good.

One of the Japanese announcers, might have been Jushin Liger, screaming his support for Sabre during his match was pretty cool.

So far the show has been enjoyable but doesn't hold a candle to Night 1 in terms of greatness although Tanahashi vs. Naito hasn't happened yet.

[Emperor Smeat]

Naito's not going to have any knees left if Tana keeps up with his Dragon Screw onslaught.

[Emperor Smeat]

Tanahashi vs. Naito was amazing.

That match and Ishii vs. Suzuki already strong contenders for best match of this year's tournament.

:lol: at Liger giving the middle finger to Naito after the show. Was done as a playful taunt and nothing malicious.

Night 2 of this year's G1 Climax was very good overall.

[DaveWadding]

Yano/SANADA has me rolling.

[Evil Vito]

I like how Juice seemingly realized midway through his match that the crowd aren’t allowed to vocalize due to NJPW’s COVID rules and then got them involved with the claps and stomps instead. And it fit given his gear looked like a cross between the Blues Brothers and Freddie Mercury.

[ClockShot]

Watching night 2.

I miss Pimp Juice and/or Officer Juice. Not digging this new gear he got going on.

Now that SANADA got victimized by Yano, hope he rips apart the rest of the block.

[DaveWadding]

Card tonight looks real good.

Cobb/Shingo could be great
Ishii/Ospreay will def slap
Ibushi/White always good together

[DaveWadding]

Shingo is strong as fuck, holding Cobb up like that for the Made in Japan :eek:

[DaveWadding]

Dang....that was good.

[Emperor Smeat]

Okada probably should junk the Cobra Clutch finisher since no matter how many times he tries it, it rarely feels as good of a finish to his matches compared to the Rainmaker. Same for crowds not being that enthusiastic for it.

[Emperor Smeat]

Taichi vs. Suzuki was pretty good.

Suzuki's gameplan for this year's G1 Climax tournament seems to be him trying to set a new record of how many guys he can destroy since he tried doing the same to Taichi.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ospreay vs. Ishii was amazing.

Some of the shots Ishii took to his head and neck looked brutal though. A couple of them by Ospreay looked like he didn't hold back or missed hitting Ishii somewhere else besides his nose.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: Jay White trolling the crowd by trying to get them to chant Ibushi's name even though they can't due to NJPW's rules.

[Emperor Smeat]

White vs. Ibushi was very good.

Night 3 started off mostly fine but got a ton better after intermission. Show itself was very good overall.

[Evil Vito]

Suzuki vs Taichi was a treat. I popped for that finish.

[DaveWadding]

Finished last night's A block, everything was really good.

Goto/SANADA first match for B Block

[Emperor Smeat]

Goto vs. SANADA was pretty good.

SANADA's new mask still looks terrible.

[DaveWadding]

The True Ace vs. Tanahashi

[DaveWadding]

GO ACE

[Emperor Smeat]

Yano is such a great comedic wrestler not only in NJPW but also wrestling in general.

Laughed a lot at the match he had against Tanahashi.

First half of tonight's G1 Climax Night 4 show flew by quickly.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ouch at that ragdoll looking bump Juice took on the ropes.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Watch the impact of this knee drop by <a href="https://twitter.com/KENTAG2S?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KENTAG2S</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/G1CLIMAX30?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#G1CLIMAX30</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NJPW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NJPW</a> <a href="https://t.co/d63mH2znnl">https://t.co/d63mH2znnl</a> <a href="https://t.co/8iBhNeiqnw">pic.twitter.com/8iBhNeiqnw</a></p>&mdash; Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) <a href="https://twitter.com/BulletClubIta/status/1309078510141661185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

Juice vs. KENTA was very good.

The way KENTA was chopping at Juice's neck was as if he was trying to decapitate Juice with how some of his strikes sounded.

[Emperor Smeat]

EVIL vs. YOSHI-HASHI was very good.

Doesn't matter which wrestling promotion it is, wrestlers are still very dumb in general when it comes to not wearing cups considering all these years of low blows being dished out in matches.

[Emperor Smeat]

Sabre Jr. vs. Naito was amazing. Came very close to hitting the time limit draw.

Night 4 was very good overall and the longest G1 show so far this year but it was well worth the extra length.

[Evil Vito]

YANO GOING 9-0 BAYBAYYYYY

[Emperor Smeat]

According to Voices of Wrestling's Super J-Cast podcast, NJPW is currently rumored to be planning a combined Best of Super Jrs and World Tag League tour later this year instead of being separate tours like what would happen in a normal year.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rumours are a combined Best of the Super Juniors + World Tag League tour coming up post-G1.</p>&mdash; Super J-Cast (@thesuperjcast) <a href="https://twitter.com/thesuperjcast/status/1309143423199387648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

First round of the Lion's Break Crown tournament on this week's NJPW Strong show was pretty good overall.

Semi-final matchups for next week's show:
Logan Riegel vs. Clark Connors
Danny Limelight vs. Blake Christian

[Emperor Smeat]

Best moment from the Taichi vs. Yujiro A Block match on tonight's G1 Climax show:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Taichi's pants landed on the camera man. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/G1CLIMAX30?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#G1CLIMAX30</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NJPW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NJPW</a> <a href="https://t.co/d63mH2znnl">https://t.co/d63mH2znnl</a> <a href="https://t.co/L5NMCSkkgO">pic.twitter.com/L5NMCSkkgO</a></p>&mdash; Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) <a href="https://twitter.com/BulletClubIta/status/1310119908043304961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

Jeff Cobb vs. Suzuki was very good.

Cobb's been having a much better outing in this year's tournament than he did for last year's tournament.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ishii vs. Ibushi was amazing.

Had a bunch of stiff looking spots with each guy trying to one up the other at times.

[Emperor Smeat]

Shingo busting out a Burning Hammer was great. Difference between his and the usual way the move was done was that his used the ropes to bounce Ospreay off instead of just slamming him right to the ground.

[Emperor Smeat]

Takagi vs. Ospreay was great. Doubt Okada vs. White is going to tie or surpass it for tonight's best match.

A Block delivering big time so far in terms of very worthy MotY contenders.

[Emperor Smeat]

:eek: at the ending to Okada vs. White.

Starting to feel that this year might be the first time in a long time or maybe possibly ever where NJPW doesn't telegraph the winner of a block beforehand when they released the G1 schedule.

Night 5 was great overall.

[Evil Vito]

Taichi/Yano battle of the undefeated in the finals LET’S GOOOOOOOO

[ClockShot]

Juice beating KENTA and having a shot at the briefcase down the road got me wondering if there's some sort of plan in place for Moxley and the U.S. title. Obviously gotta see how the rest of the tourney shakes out to see what else happens.

Quite a few surprises so far.

[Evil Vito]

Harold Mejj has resigned

[Emperor Smeat]

Slept through most of today's show and only managed to catch the last 2 matches live.

Wonder who did SANADA piss off to get the treatment he's been getting so far in this year's tournament.

[ClockShot]

I got this sense of dread that SANADA is just getting a repeat of last year's G1. A big win here and there, the rest losses.

Sucks.

[slik]

Harold Mejj has resigned

That is big news

[ClockShot]

Eh. Not really. He's bounced around various places. One of those guys that comes in fixes things and brings success and moves on.

I wouldn't be surprised if he stays in Japan and takes on a similar role with another comapny/corporation. Nissan perhaps?

[Emperor Smeat]

Yeah he was never meant to be a long term stay as NJPW's president.

He mostly got promoted to the job to beef up their global expansion plans and lay the ground work for their NJPW America branch.

Rumors of him leaving had existed since last year and he probably would have left a lot sooner had it not been for the coronavirus throwing a wrench into NJPW's plans.

[Emperor Smeat]

Also didn't help that his rep never fully recovered after The Elite left to help form AEW and NJPW struggled to fill their void in terms of foreign star power.

Then you had some guys in the locker room that didn't really like him due to some of the new changes he tried to pass like the "no swearing" rule.

[Evil Vito]

SANADA’s still got EVIL on the final day so I think he’s due for a winning streak.

[Ultra Mantis]

Either SANADA is going on a win streak to take the block in a tie break over Naito and EVIL or hes going to lose ALL of his matches, give no backstage comments and then job clean to EVIL at WK in a grudge match which he never ever talks about in order to really solidify his status as next gen Goto.

[Emperor Smeat]

1st half of tonight's Night 7 G1 show really flew by. Shortest 1st half for a G1 show so far this tournament.

Suzuki vs. Yujiro was a nice brief brawl while Cobb had another very good showing tonight against Ibushi.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at the ref botching a pin count in the Okada vs. Taichi match because Okada wasn't going to kick out in time.

Looked like a fool having his hand up for a second without putting it down for the near fall spot.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ouch at Ospreay's neck after White chucked him to the outside. His neck clipped the ring apron on the way down.

Edit: White vs. Ospreay ended up being a fantastic match overall.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ouch at that elbow to the head Ishii just took.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ishii vs. Takagi was amazing.

If there was a MVP award for best G1 performer, Ishii would be a strong lock for its winner.

At first it looked like tonight's show was going to be the shortest in terms of length with how it was flying by but turns out it was just so the latter matches could get a ton more time.

Night 7 was very good overall.

[Emperor Smeat]

Seems two big reasons for Harold Meij's removal as NJPW's President were the company's finances tanking this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and them struggling to get a new TV deal in the US after Anthem kicked them off of AXS TV.

The first wasn't his fault but its related to the very lofty promises he made about raising NJPW's revenues to new higher levels with him in charge that was going to be tough to reach even under normal circumstances.

Also seems another issue was him rubbing a lot of people the wrong way with some of his actions on the job.

On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, it was noted Meij had initially promised $200 million in revenue for NJPW, but with the pandemic hitting that obviously was a much tougher task to achieve. Even without the pandemic, NJPW would have needed "monster television deals" and bigger expansion into the U.S. to hit those numbers. Meij was somewhat hands-off with NJPW expanding in America as that was the focus of Ohbari.

Another reported reason for the change was losing TV in the States, NJPW had previously appeared regularly on AXS TV since the end of last year. Had they decided to work with Impact Wrestling — its parent company, Anthem, purchased majority interest in the channel — then NJPW likely would have stayed on AXS TV.

During his time there, Meij was said to have brought in great mainstream publicity for the company, but some felt the focus was too much on him, rather than the company itself. Meij also had his own fan club in Japan, which rubbed some people the wrong way.

[DaveWadding]

Ishii / Shingo was probably the best match of the tourney so far. Just like last year. It's #IshiiSzn

[ClockShot]

Watched Ishii/Takagi last night and easily the best match so far. They need a rubber match down the road to settle things. 30 minutes plus, no holds barred, etc. Just let 'em go nuts.

Got through the first half of B Block day 4. 2nd half should be fun.

Gotten used to listening on the Japanese commentary. But, I honestly think Jay White or KENTA should have smuggled in Kevin Kelly in an oversized x-ray proof briefcase to get him to call the G1 live. Not sure if he's dragging his feet or Rocky Romero is holding things up, but I feel the English commentary turnaround is a day or two slower as opposed to the New Japan cup turnaround. Anybody else notice?

[Emperor Smeat]

This week's NJPW Strong episode was pretty good.

Bit surprised they didn't have the Lion's Break Crown matches be on the latter half of the show.

Finals of Lion's Break Crown tournament:

Clark Connors vs. Danny Limelight


Gotten used to listening on the Japanese commentary. But, I honestly think Jay White or KENTA should have smuggled in Kevin Kelly in an oversized x-ray proof briefcase to get him to call the G1 live. Not sure if he's dragging his feet or Rocky Romero is holding things up, but I feel the English commentary turnaround is a day or two slower as opposed to the New Japan cup turnaround. Anybody else notice?

Kevin Kelly mentioned that problem on Twitter after the first coupe shows. Seems NJPW has just been slower sending him the tapes to do English commentary work.

[Evil Vito]

SANADAAAAAAA

[ClockShot]

Match with Naito could have been kicked up a notch. Not bad, but not great.

Honestly thought Gedo would have a riot on his hands if SANADA went in a deep 0-4 hole.

[ClockShot]

Night 9 the dud of the bunch so far in terms of matches. Nothing going past 20 minutes and some sloppiness here and there.

The shock value however, was great.

Hope today will be much better.

[Emperor Smeat]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4o05kxkcBn8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I guess we should’ve expected Juice to eventually cut a promo about his penis, with bonus WWF Attitude Era deep cuts and a shout-out to Toni Storm <a href="https://t.co/wMHac02V6N">pic.twitter.com/wMHac02V6N</a></p>&mdash; Super J-Cast (@thesuperjcast) <a href="https://twitter.com/thesuperjcast/status/1313691478367956992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2 years ago today:<br><br>Kenny Omega defeated Cody &amp; Kota Ibushi to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njpw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njpw</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KennyOmegamanX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KennyOmegamanX</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CodyRhodes</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ibushi_kota?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ibushi_kota</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZfK5crTXS9">pic.twitter.com/ZfK5crTXS9</a></p>&mdash; Ciaràn (@CiaranRH) <a href="https://twitter.com/CiaranRH/status/1314108265933008896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Ultra Mantis]

Seems to be something developing between Jay White and EVIL as a result of the KENTA match. White tells EVIL to stay in his lane while EVIL is planting seeds of doubt about Yujiro's loyalty. Perhaps Yujiro gets his two points at White's expense tomorrow and Bullet Club turns on the Knife Pervert? EVIL vs White for the Tokyo Dome?

[Emperor Smeat]

What if this all leads to a Yujiro on a pole match or winner of EVIL vs. Jay gets to keep Yujiro and his bunny for their Bullet Club faction.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">soon <a href="https://t.co/6czDRstDPl">pic.twitter.com/6czDRstDPl</a></p>&mdash; Emily Pratt (@emilyofpratt) <a href="https://twitter.com/emilyofpratt/status/1314658164009099264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Actually forget Yujio and just have a Bullet Club civil war over who gets to keep the bunny in their group since she's way more interesting and entertaining than Yujio.

[Ultra Mantis]

Loser keeps Yujiro.

[ClockShot]

Was listening to Night 11 last night on English commentary. Kevin Kelly finally getting those out lickety split.

He pretty much implied that there might be an EVIL vs. Jay White feud for Bullet Club control coming with all the "backstage comments" he kept mentioning. But, I'd hold off until they can get everybody else back in Japan so side can be taken.

Yeah, that tweet probably isn't far off.

But, Jay vs. Yujiro is the one I've been waiting for now to see if the trend holds up. Soldiers beating the faction leaders. SANADA beat Naito, Taichi beat Suzuki.

[Emperor Smeat]

Finals of the Lion's Break Crown tournament was very good and arguably the best match of the entire tournament.

The winner of it was pretty obvious when NJPW announced the field but the tournament was still very entertaining to watch.

Clark Connors won

The 12-man tag match was weird since it was Elimination rules style but done as a hybrid of a regular multi-man tag match and Battle Royale since tossing someone over the top rope counted as an elimination. Seeing as almost all the eliminations were done via the top rope way, it should have been a tag team Battle Royale match instead but without the dumb WWE rule of if one tag guy gets eliminated, then the whole team is eliminated.

This week's NJPW Strong show was pretty good overall although not sure why they didn't have the tournament finals be the main event.

[Emperor Smeat]

Cobb vs. Ishii match from tonight's G1 show was amazing.

[Emperor Smeat]

Looks like Yujiro is getting kicked out of White's faction of Bullet Club after what happened during their match tonight.

Match itself was nothing special but it had some good comedic moments and the big surprise of the crowd being completely behind Yujiro.

[Emperor Smeat]

Suzuki busting out a Liontamer during his match against Ibushi was amazing.

Another tease between AEW and NJPW guys about wanting to work together now that Harold Meij is out of the picture.

[Emperor Smeat]

Yikes at Tagaki's head getting spiked on the mat from Okada's Tombstone. His neck almost bent in the wrong direction afterwards.

Edit: Double yikes since it happened again in this match.

[Emperor Smeat]

Okada's Cobra Clutch is still lame as hell as his finisher but that match against Takagi was insanely great.

Night 13 was great overall and one of the best night's of this year's G1.

[DaveWadding]

Cobb vs. Ishii was so good. All strikes, suplexes and powerbombs. This is what I wanted last year.

[DaveWadding]

Catching up on some of this today. Ibushi/Shingo was another great match. The A Block nights are always loaded with
amazing matches.

[ClockShot]

Man, A Block sucks. Big 3 at the top............then Ospreay.

Ugh. Dreading this weekend.

[Evil Vito]

A month ago I joked that White vs. EVIL being the finals would be the most Gedo thing ever and now it's on the cusp of actually happening. Strange times.

[Ultra Mantis]

A Block is hard to call, Okada's refusal to pull out the rainmaker is surely going to cost him huge at some point, but will it be Ospreay or his self appointed rival SANADA who benefits from it?

Ibushi winning the block by beating Taichi while Tana has an awful run, doesnt even come close the finals and loses to Zack Sabre Jr gives him some motivation for a heel turn and adds fuel to the Ibushi / Tanahashi dome match. Failing to beat Taichi would throw him back into a tag program though so maybe that's the plan for now? Ibushi winning the block would work out but I dont think he's going to.

White seems on course for a WK match with EVIL, and if he wins the block then surely EVIL must lose to SANADA and in turn so must White so both guys are free to have their program. I feel like White is going to blow it and hes going to make sure EVIL blows it too. I'd be very surprised if the A Block winner goes on to win the G1, which is weird because they are the other 3 of the "big 4".

Honestly, I'm probably just setting myself up for a massive disappointment when SANADA does a Goto.

[Emperor Smeat]

Takagi vs. Suzuki was great.

Not as amazing as their prior encounter for the NEVER belt but was still a ton of fun to watch and just as hard hitting as that match was.

[Emperor Smeat]

That was an amazing lariat Okada busted out ... wait WTF Bea Priestley just randomly showed up.

Now a former Young Lion suddenly showed up to help out Ospreay.

[Emperor Smeat]

That ending was weird as hell

Group A guys still eligible to win:

Will Ospreay
Kota Ibushi
Jay White


Also
Ospreay now has his very own group to lead after turning on Okada afterwards. Guess that Okada's post-G1 feud till Wrestle Kingdom

[Emperor Smeat]

Ibushi vs. Taichi was amazing.

Both guys legs are going to be extra sore tomorrow. Probably the most kicks I've ever seen thrown in a match.

Group A guys still eligible to win with 1 match left tonight:

Kota Ibushi
Jay White

[Emperor Smeat]

Ishii vs. White was also amazing.

Winner of A Block:

Kota Ibushi

Ishii beat White meaning no Bullet Club civil war for the G1 Finals match

Night 17 was great overall and one of the best nights of this year's tournament.

[Emperor Smeat]

This week's NJPW Strong show was fine overall although nothing really worth watching if you missed the show.

[Evil Vito]

I think Okada vs Shingo from A Block was my favorite match of the tourney so far but there’s been loads of fun ones. Happy with the A Block result. Now to have my hopes and dreams crushed to dust in B Block.

[Emperor Smeat]

Hirooki Goto vs. Juice Robinson was very good.

Juice had some really good matches in this year's tournament.

[Emperor Smeat]

Tanahashi vs. Sabre Jr. was also very good.

Sabre came very close to getting dropkicked in the nuts by Tana since Tana almost missed the leg he was targeting.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at the ending to Naito vs. KENTA.

That might have been KENTA's best match of this year's tournament though.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Hiromu doing nothing to save his LIJ pal SANADA from the beatdown by Dick Togo and then when he finally decides to help, he gets quickly nailed in the nuts for his efforts.

[Emperor Smeat]

Also :lol: at almost every B Block match tonight involved a roll up of sorts for the finish.

SANADA vs. EVIL was fantastic though. Way better than their prior match at the New Japan Cup tournament.

Winner of B Block and G1 Finals matchup:

SANADA defeated EVIL to win B Block.

SANADA vs. Kota Ibushi for the finals


Night 18 was entertaining overall but Gedo got really lazy with the booking of the finishes for the final B Block show.

[Volare]

G1 Finals....I'm in!

Really hyped about Osprey vs Okada though, don't think that match would disappoint at all!

[Evil Vito]

Holy shit!

[Emperor Smeat]

NJPW just announced that next year's Wrestle Kingdom will also be held over two nights like this year's event was.

[Emperor Smeat]

That ending to the SHO & Okada vs. Great-O-Khan & Ospreay match was such a huge dud. Match itself was somewhat good but way below what SHO, Okada, & Ospreay are capable of.

Not even Okada's Cobra Clutch finisher got that much apathy from crowds.

[Emperor Smeat]

Yikes at Ibushi almost seriously injuring his neck. The way he looked a bit dazed or lost afterwards and the commentators thinking he might have compressed his neck made everything look even more scary.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ibushi vs. SANADA was amazing.

Last couple near falls was insane in sense of the kickout timings and even got the crowd pissed off at Red Shoes since they bit hard on the first one.

Ibushi back-to-back G1 Finals winner

G1 Finals was very good overall. Undercard was fine to very good in terms of quality. Finals itself was amazing and was one of those Okada style matches where its extra long with the first half being mostly nothing special but then kicks into next gear and just ramps up huge in quality as it goes on.

[Evil Vito]

I couldn’t believe when they were making the 20, 25, 30 minute calls. That flew by.

[Ultra Mantis]

SANADAs gonna SANADA.

SADADA.

[Fignuts]

Ibushi definitely got fucked up early on. A number of spots afterwards that didn't go smoothly and looked a bit awkward.

It's a testament to both men's ability that it was still such a great match.

The never ending tragedy of Sanada continues. God damn it.

[Emperor Smeat]

The never ending tragedy of Sanada continues. God damn it.

Until he signs an actual contract, he's never going to get over that hump in NJPW.

[slik]

I didn't know that Sanada didn't have a contract


He's one of if not my favorite in NJPW too

[Emperor Smeat]

A good amount of NJPW's talent is like that especially some of their bigger name guys.

[Volare]

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[Volare]

Also digging the new style.

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CGeihzSJUaB/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CGeihzSJUaB/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; 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margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/beapriestleypw/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Bea Priestley</a> (@beapriestleypw) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2020-10-18T07:52:46+00:00">Oct 18, 2020 at 12:52am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>

[Ultra Mantis]

I'm not even sure why SANADA wont just sign a contract at this point, unlike Ibushi and Suzuki he never really worked anywhere else once he started with New Japan and he doesnt seem to have a side hustle or anything else going on.

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Full card revealed for Power Struggle November 7!<br><br>Six high stakes singles matchups!<br><br>Double IWGP title: EVIL vs Tetsuya Naito!<br><br>Tokyo Dome main event contract: Jay White vs Kota Ibushi!<br><br>US Heavyweight Contract: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs KENTA!<a href="https://t.co/BRqO4Zw45Z">https://t.co/BRqO4Zw45Z</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njpw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njpw</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njpst?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njpst</a> <a href="https://t.co/KIkfT3iMJi">pic.twitter.com/KIkfT3iMJi</a></p>&mdash; NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) <a href="https://twitter.com/njpwglobal/status/1318088148442697728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Full card revealed for Power Struggle November 7!<br><br>Six high stakes singles matchups!<br><br>Kazuchika Okada vs Great-O-Khan!<br><br>NEVER title: Minoru Suzuki vs Shingo Takagi!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KOPW2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KOPW2020</a>: Toru Yano vs Zack Sabre Junior!<a href="https://t.co/BRqO4Zw45Z">https://t.co/BRqO4Zw45Z</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njpw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njpw</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njpst?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njpst</a> <a href="https://t.co/5ys8rmeCEj">pic.twitter.com/5ys8rmeCEj</a></p>&mdash; NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) <a href="https://twitter.com/njpwglobal/status/1318088160891400193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[ClockShot]

That's...............................bland. Everything got rehashed from Summer Struggle with like 2-3 fresh matches.

And what business does ZSJ taking on Yano for that KOPW crap.

[Evil Vito]

Yeah I loved the G1 but that Power Struggle card doesn't really entice me at all.

Hopefully they drop the G1 Tag League/BOSJ fields within the next 10 days so I can decide whether or not to take a couple months off before the Dome.

[Volare]

Got this recommended to me this morning...for once YT didn't lie to me!

<iframe width="1019" height="573" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Tuy-dsmheY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This G1 has been an absolute goldmine for post-match promos, and this one from KENTA might be the weirdest and best of them all (Full version here: <a href="https://t.co/ANhClGbEIA">https://t.co/ANhClGbEIA</a>) <a href="https://t.co/GZtGjt6WEY">pic.twitter.com/GZtGjt6WEY</a></p>&mdash; Super J-Cast (@thesuperjcast) <a href="https://twitter.com/thesuperjcast/status/1318045574239637507?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Evil Vito]

BOSJ I see at least seven locks: Ishimori, Himoru, BUSHI, Desperado, Kanemaru, SHO, and Taguchi. I'd probably call Master Wato a "most likely" despite a less than stellar return from excursion as this'll give him the chance to properly show out in matches. The last two spots would depend on if they're willing to bring some more people back, if so two of Phantasmo/Eagles/Rocky are options. Otherwise you've always got DOUKI around and you can probably dig up Tiger Mask if you gave to.

WTL you've got Dangerous Tekkers, The Empire, SANADA/Shingo, two Chaos teams between Yano/Ishii/Goto/YOSHI, and they're probably giving honorary spots to Tencozy and GBH. Juice/Cobb seems like a possible team unless they're bringing David Finlay back. With travel in mind, G.O.D I figure will be back if allowed. If not, there's still gonna be a Bullet Club team and they have Switchblade/EVIL/KENTA as options....orrrrr it could just be one of them saddled with Yujiro who eats all the pins.

Only thing I don't know is if the Golden Aces will be involved, they've kept announced Dome match participants out of WTL in recent years and hopefully Kota will retain the briefcase after Power Struggle. Almost wonder if they'll revisit the Tana/Okada dream team and have them in the finals against Empire.

[ClockShot]

Only thing about Eagles is if he comes back, will he also leave Chaos and hook up with Ospreay and do Birds of Prey for WTL and leave O-Khan out. Or leave Chaos, stay lightheavy and be the rep for Super Jrs.

He's in a tricky spot right now.

[Ultra Mantis]

There's no way Eagles is going heavyweight, so I think Birds of <strike>War</strike> Prey were kind of dead as soon as Ospreay made the transition. I could see him becoming the Jr rep of Ospreays group and feuding with SHO until YOH comes back. Then YOH is totally going to turn on SHO and join Ospreay too. SHO is due a good singles push and Kamatsu / Robbie could become an offshoot tag team.

Robbie was quite well received as a baby though so maybe he stays with CHAOS, but then hes pretty much going to be treading water unless Ospreay recruits somebody for the Jr division.

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Looking for something a bit spicier in your face mask?<br><br>How about one featuring a picture of Tana's abs?����<br><br>Grab this new face mask today!<a href="https://t.co/5VvNyQ3dab">https://t.co/5VvNyQ3dab</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njpwshop?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njpwshop</a> <a href="https://t.co/bUyburqRyW">pic.twitter.com/bUyburqRyW</a></p>&mdash; NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) <a href="https://twitter.com/njpwglobal/status/1318612952157544449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[ClockShot]

That's just creepy.

[Emperor Smeat]

This week's episode of NJPW Strong was fine overall. Nothing really worth going out of your way to watch if you missed the show though.

Long singles matches in an empty arena setting is still a big downside to these types of shows and the Jay White vs. Rocky Romero match from tonight was no exception. Dragged at times due to the lack of crowd reactions and them stretching it out to almost 15 minutes long.

[Emperor Smeat]

NJPW Strong show this week was pretty good. None of the matches dragged in quality and was also one of the shortest episodes in series history at around 40 minutes long.

Probably would be more into this Finlay vs. KENTA feud for the IWGP US title case if NJPW didn't already book a Tanahashi vs. KENTA match for the case at next week's Power Struggle show.

[Emperor Smeat]

NJPW announced the field for this year's Best of the Super Jrs. tournament.

Biggest change is only 1 block and 10 guys are competing instead of 2 blocks and 20 guys total.

The participants for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors 27 tournament have been announced

This year’s format is a dramatic change from last year’s tournament. Instead of two blocks and twenty entrants, this year there is only one block with ten wrestlers. The top two wrestlers who score the most points will meet each other in the finals.

Most of this year’s participants are NJPW regulars. Robbie Eagles, who has not appeared on a New Japan Pro Wrestling card since the COVID-19 pandemic, will make his return on this tour. Master Wato, who returned from excursion earlier this year, will make his Best of the Super Juniors debut.

The ten participants for this year’s tournament include:

Ryusuke Taguchi
Master Wato
SHO
Robbie Eagles
Hiromu Takahashi
BUSHI
El Desperado
Yoshinobu Kanemaru
DOUKI
Taiji Ishimori



Meanwhile a one-night Super J-Cup tournament will be held in the US this December.

During the announcement of this year’s Best of the Super Juniors 27 participants, the company also announced that they will be holding a Super J-Cup tournament next month in the United States. Eight wrestlers will compete in a single elimination tournament, with the winner being crowned this year’s J-Cup winner.

Like with previous J-Cup tournaments, some wrestlers will represent different promotions across the United States. Impact, ROH, and Game Changer Wrestling will all have representatives.

Notable talent included in this year's tournament include ACH, who will make his tournament debut, and Lio Rush, who will make his debut for UWN Primetime Live this Tuesday. Chris Bey, representing Impact, will also participate, while Rey Horus will represent ROH.

The participants for this year’s tournament include:

TJP
ACH
Lio Rush
Chris Bey (Impact)
Rey Horus (ROH)
Blake Christian (Game Changer Wrestling)
Clark Connors (LA Dojo)
El Phantasmo (Bullet Club)

In last year’s tournament, El Phantasmo defeated Dragon Lee in the finals.

The show, which will take place on one night, will air live on December 12 on New Japan World.

[ClockShot]

El Phantasmo will probably go back to back Super-J Cup wins. Unless someone gives him a run for his money.

Piggybacking on that, I'm surprised he's not getting on a plane and doing the BOSJ. It sure ain't going to have that magic like last year going from 20 guys to 10.

[Emperor Smeat]

Suzuki vs. Shingo match at Power Struggle was amazing.

Every one of their recent bouts has been nothing less than a brutal hard hitting war between the two.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Will Ospreay's new British upper class snobby look.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ospreay just challenged Okada to a match at next year's Wrestle Kingdom event.

[Emperor Smeat]

Tanahashi vs. KENTA was very good.

Current status of IWGP US title match at Wrestle Kingdom 15:

KENTA retained his briefcase.

Him vs. Jon Moxley still on track for next year's Wrestle Kingdom

[Emperor Smeat]

HOLY SHIT

Jay White just beat Ibushi to win Ibushi's briefcase for the IWGP Heavyweight & IC title match at Wrestle Kingdom.

1st time ever the holder of the G1 briefcase lost a defense match.

[Emperor Smeat]

IWGP Double title match was great. Easily was the best EVIL vs. Naito match since EVIL's heel turn a few months ago.

Also probably had the most storytelling within a NJPW match in a long time.

Seems Yujiro is now a member of EVIL's faction of Bullet Club after trying to help him win the title.

Jay White teasing an attack on EVIL only to bluff and attack Naito to try to guarantee an all-Bullet Club title match at Wrestle Kingdom.

SANADA managing to not be a giant loser for once and actually was useful in saving Naito.

Ibushi going after White as a hint their feud isn't over and maybe the same for the briefcase's current ownership status.

and the Naito vs. EVIL feud ending on a very high note.


Power Struggle was great overall. Takagai vs. Suzuki and the last three matches are what I'd recommend the most for watching.

:lol: at White continuing his post-match interruption promo while running away from Psycho Ibushi.

[Evil Vito]

Gedo just likes to troll people at this point.

[Mike the Metal Ed]

https://i.imgur.com/5J3ss8B.png

So, Marty Asami confirmed blind? His positioning couldn't be better to see that.

That has to be the worst call of the year in wrestling.

[ClockShot]

I'm really hoping at this point the Heavyweight and IC titles get busted up before Wrestle Kingdom. Let Naito keep the heavyweight, drop the IC title down the road. SANADA beat him during the G1. Let him challenge for for it and win and make the masses happy.

[Mike the Metal Ed]

I'm really hoping at this point the Heavyweight and IC titles get busted up before Wrestle Kingdom. Let Naito keep the heavyweight, drop the IC title down the road. SANADA beat him during the G1. Let him challenge for for it and win and make the masses happy.

I think they'll wait and see how many people they can bring in for Wrestle Kingdom and beyond before they make that call.

[Emperor Smeat]

NJPW announced all of the teams for this year's World Tag League:


FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay)
Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.
Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare
YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto
Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii
Shingo Takagi & SANADA
EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi
Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens
Great O-Khan & "X"


It was announced that The Great O-Khan will team with a mystery partner, or "X". It wasn’t made clear who that would be. O-Khan is part of The Empire stable along with Will Ospreay and Bea Preistley.
Current rumor for who the mystery "X" person is:
Jeff Cobb

[ClockShot]

Can't wait to see what the Cold Skull Dragons can do.

What got me scratching my head is they broke up YOSHI-HASHI and Ishii. Which, I thought, had some legs and were a credible threat for the tag titles when they were together last year.

Gonna be nice to see some fresh Bullet Club faces too.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Gedo is a fucking genius.

[Ultra Mantis]

Can't wait to see what the Cold Skull Dragons can do.

What got me scratching my head is they broke up YOSHI-HASHI and Ishii. Which, I thought, had some legs and were a credible threat for the tag titles when they were together last year.

Gonna be nice to see some fresh Bullet Club faces too.

I think Yano had his run with Cabana and Goto was doing his LA Dojo gimmick which left us with YOSHI-Ishii as the CHAOS leftovers. Not sure why Goto-HASHI are bothering teaming again though considering they just got their arses kicked by the champs. Goto and Ishii would make the most solid CHAOS tag at this stage. They could have even had Kazu actually working the league as YOSHI's partner since he keeps saying they're still tag partners despite not teaming up in years. It's not like he would eat pins anywhere and he might actually try so his tag partner doesnt show him up.

[Fignuts]

Gedo is a fucking genius.

I think he's probably the best booker in wrestling in terms of consistent quality, but he needs to calm the fuck down with the outside interfernce and ref bumps. It's ramped up considerably in the last year, and it's honestly turned me off NJPW a bit.

I've also heard the constant 19 counts in every match are 100% a Gedo thing, although I can't confirm that. Either way, I hate that shit.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think he's probably the best booker in wrestling in terms of consistent quality, but he needs to calm the fuck down with the outside interfernce and ref bumps. It's ramped up considerably in the last year, and it's honestly turned me off NJPW a bit.

I've also heard the constant 19 counts in every match are 100% a Gedo thing, although I can't confirm that. Either way, I hate that shit.

Those are fair calls. I’m more looking at his broad booking strokes.

[Emperor Smeat]

The mystery new member of Will Ospreay's Empire stable and tag partner for Great-O-Khan for the World Tag League was revealed to be

Jeff Cobb

[Emperor Smeat]

NJPW must have some really big plans for Great-O-Khan since his first two feuds in the company are with their top stars. First with Okada and now set up a potential singles feud with Tanahashi next.

[Emperor Smeat]

Tama Tonga looks like a completely different person with his new buzz cut-like hair and clean shaven combo look.

Like he could pass off as Tanga Loa's twin brother with how similar both look now.

[Emperor Smeat]

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori Best of the Super Jrs. match was great.

Hiromu getting nailed with a piledriver onto the apron was crazy.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njwtl?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njwtl</a><br>HE DED <a href="https://t.co/qwoiWBx361">pic.twitter.com/qwoiWBx361</a></p>&mdash; GIFSkull III (Backup) - #SmackDown (@SkullGIF) <a href="https://twitter.com/SkullGIF/status/1327941730155466752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

If Night 1 is any indication, Best of the Super Jrs tournament is going to be amazing although not so much for World Tag League.

[Mike the Metal Ed]

Maybe it's because I was more used to him from regularly going to Revpro shows, but I couldn't give less of a shit about the new, boring Great-O-Khan. You need a gimmick of SOME kind to work that style.

[Evil Vito]

I get that they had to fill out Empire but man I wanted Cobb in Suzuki-gun.

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently Taguchi's new routine for matches is for his butt to get exposed as part of the finish and just let it hang out for the whole world to see afterwards for his post-match antics.

2nd match in a row that's happened although laughed at the disgusted WTF face Tenzan gave to him at ringside.

[Emperor Smeat]

Robbie Eagles vs. SHO and Hiromu vs. BUSHI were amazing from today's Best of the Jrs show. The latter being arguably the best match of the tournament so far.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: either Taguchi or NJPW got in trouble for having Taguchi's bare ass be exposed one too many times during this World Tag League & Best of the Super Jrs. tour.

Taguchi did the same exposed butt gag during his match tonight but this time has his red underwear shown instead for the spots.

[Emperor Smeat]

Guess Plumber's crack is perfectly fine by NJPW or whoever was upset over Taguchi's exposed butt routine these days.

[Emperor Smeat]

Hiromu Takahashi's last two matches (vs. Eagles and vs. SHO) during this World Tag League and Best of the Super Jrs tournaments have easily been the best matches of this combined tour so far.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Hiromu Takahashi was freaking amazing. Takahashi has been the MVP of this year's Best of the Super Jrs. tournament with all the gems he's delivered.

That match and the 6-man tag match were the best from the final regular Best of the Super Jrs. show on this tour.

[Volare]

I like this version of Osprey.

<iframe width="1019" height="573" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2sQETkVrO1o" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[ClockShot]

Haven't watch any of this. But judging by what Smeat's been saying, just watching anything involving Time Bomb and you're in for a match.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at the English commentary during the start of the DOUKI vs. Ryusuke Taguchi match tonight.

Kevin Kelly and Gino Gambino just making a bunch of "69" related jokes that would be worthy of the "I don't even known if that's PG" R-Truth gif.

[Emperor Smeat]

Final tournament matches show is almost half over and already one big surprise happened tonight.

Tanahashi tapping out to Tama Tonga's Sharpshooter.

He started this tag tournament with a surprise squash loss to Great-O-Khan & Cobb and almost got squashed again to end the tournament.

[Emperor Smeat]

If AEW and NJPW ever form a partnership, really want to see Omega face off against Yano in a match over who has the longer and more obnoxious entrance announcement routine.

[Emperor Smeat]

Latter half of the joint tournament show was amazing.

This upcoming Friday's Finals matches for World Tag League and Best of the Super Jrs.:

World Tag League 2020 Finals - FinJuice vs. Guerillas of Destiny
Best of the Super Juniors 2020 Finals - Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm not a big fan of Ospreay, but Gedo clearly setting him and Okada up to have a "modern classic" in the same vein as Okada/Omega from 2017. It's not exactly the same circumstances (not the title match), but Ospreay's stock is going to go way up after this and Meltzer will probably jizz himself to death.

[Evil Vito]

They went the path of least resistance with both tournaments, but that's not a bad thing.

Real happy Despy's had such a good showing, barring a Gedo shock he won't be winning on Friday but as a fan of his I'm glad he got to be a finalist and make a step up. Hiromu always felt like the obvious winner from the onset and understandably so, and he's been backing up the hype with incredible performances.

WTL is whatever but it is interesting that the two teams who have been an active part of the US expansion are running roughshod through the tourney in Japan.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ospreay got new entrance music for himself and Empire stable.

Sounds pretty good overall.

[Emperor Smeat]

Based on that Empire vs. Toa Henare, Hiroshi Tanahashi, &amp; Kazuchika Okada match, very likely getting Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan at one of the nights of Wrestle Kingdom.

[Emperor Smeat]

Add SANADA vs. EVIL and Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi as potential Wrestle Kingdom matches as well.

SANADA snapping after the match and beating the shit out of EVIL is probably the most interesting thing he's done character-wise in a long time.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Tama Tonga pulling a Scott Hall with his sell of David Finlay's Stunner.

[Emperor Smeat]

World Tag League Finals was great.

Guerillas of Destiny beat FinJuice.

1st time ever GoD won the Tag League.

Bit surprised they are actually doing a heel vs. heel match for the tag belts at Wrestle Kingdom.

[Emperor Smeat]

:eek: El Desperado removed his mask.

Sure most of it was ripped off because of Hiromu but that was a crazy moment.

Also Despy looks a ton more creepy or sinister sans mask.

[Emperor Smeat]

Best of the Super Jrs was freakin amazing.

Like a very strong contender to be in my Top 5 favorite matches of this year.

Hiromu Takashi beat El Desperado.

Officially challenged the winner of this Saturday's Super J-Cup to a match on Night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom

[Emperor Smeat]

Winner of the Super J-Cup and facing Hiromu Takashi at Night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom

El Phantasmo

:lol: at the NJPW official presenting the crooked Super J-Cup trophy to him that he almost broke over ACH's back at the start of the Finals match.

[Volare]

Eyyyyyy I'm down for that.

[Emperor Smeat]

Seems NJPW might be needing to give some refunds for Wrestle Kingdom 15 tickets since a new government order in Japan just set a strict limit of 5k for events at venues with 10k or higher in capacity until January 11th.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As my mentions tab reminds me, this will also affect Wrestle Kingdom, the annual New Japan Pro Wrestling event at Tokyo Dome - the hottest ticket in puroresu, scheduled for Jan. 4-5.</p>&mdash; Dan Orlowitz (@aishiterutokyo) <a href="https://twitter.com/aishiterutokyo/status/1341712564565069824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Evil Vito]

Wrestle Kingdom cards.

Night 1

Pre-Show: New Japan Rumble (22 entrants, final four advance to the #KOPW match on 1/5)

1. Hiromu Takahashi [LIJ] vs. El Phantasmo (winner advances to wrestle Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Jr. Title on Night 2)

2. IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr./Taichi) [Suzuki-gun] (V3 defense) vs. G.o.D. (Tama Tanga/Tanga Loa) [Bullet Club]

3. IWGP US Title Briefcase: KENTA (holder) [Bullet Club] vs. Satoshi Kojima [Sekigun]

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi [Sekigun] vs. Great-O-Khan [Empire]

5. Kazuchika Okada [Chaos] vs. Will Ospreay [Empire]

6. IWGP Heavyweight/Intercontinental Titles: Tetsuya Naito [LIJ] V2 defense) vs. Kota Ibushi [Sekigun]

[b]Night 2

Pre-Show: Stardom Exhibition Match (probably won’t be streamed)

1. #KOPW 2021 Decision Match: X vs. X vs. X vs. X

2. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Yoshinobu Kanemaru/El Desperado [Suzuki-gun] (V2 defense) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi/Master Wato [Sekigun]

3. NEVER Openweight Title: Shingo Takagi [LIJ] (V1 defense) vs. Jeff Cobb [Empire]

4. SANADA [LIJ] vs. EVIL [Bullet Club]

5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] (V1 defense) vs. Winner of Hiromu Takahashi/El Phantasmo from night 1

6. IWGP Heavyweight/Intercontinental Titles: Winner of Tetsuya Naito/Kota Ibushi (V3 or V1 defense) vs. Jay White [Bullet Club]

[ClockShot]

Kota HAS to win out. Right?

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">the Journalist Jay White��<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JayWhite?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JayWhite</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njpwworld?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njpwworld</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njpw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njpw</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njwk15?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njwk15</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wk15?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#wk15</a> <a href="https://t.co/KzFRlqojln">pic.twitter.com/KzFRlqojln</a></p>&mdash; Tony (@TonyWrestling1) <a href="https://twitter.com/TonyWrestling1/status/1341670220654665728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Ultra Mantis]

Kota HAS to win out. Right?

I really hope he does, but Gedo loves getting that bullet club heat and Jay is super protected. Naito still hasnt given his dome roll call but with the crowd restrictions I dont think that's a factor and it would fly in the face of the booking for him to win two in a row again. Feels like Ibushi will get a one day reign at the very least.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Jay White is better than Kenny Omega.

KENTA vs. Satoshi Kojima has to be some sort of retirement thing for Kojima, right? Or is there some special history between the two? I don't really care about that match on paper right now.

Okada vs. Ospreay is set to knock Okada/Omega off the pedestal as every geek's favorite match. Gedo is setting that up perfectly.

Like the idea of them giving Hiromu a big, built-up win.

I can't see Ibushi losing to Naito. It just seems like after losing the briefcase he needs something. But I don't necessarily see him walking out of Night 2 as champion either. It's really weird.

Maybe Naito to win Night 1 and Ibushi to get something back on Night 2? Because they'll surely have Naito and Ibushi working both shows, right?

[ClockShot]

Japan is going to ban foreign nationals from entering the country starting Monday. The new COVID strain has been detected.

Japanese citizens and foreigners who have a residence can still go in. But, of course, have to quarantine.

I wonder if anyone is gonna get out or try to come in.

[Evil Vito]

All of the talent working Wrestle Kingdom are already in the country, but if someone like Jay White, G.O.D, Jeff Cobb etc want to go home at any point they likely won't be allowed back into the country anytime soon. It'll be LA Dojo for them.