Shingo vs. Taiji Ishimori in the finals is my gut feeling.

Shingo would definitely appear to be the odds-on favorite. Honestly once Hiromu is back he's probably either moving up to heavyweight or he'll float around in the NEVER scene like Ospreay did.

Yeah, I think so. Maybe a little bit of a courtesy run in the Juniors scene.

Speaking of Ospreay, I thought he was gonna formally move up to heavyweight and be in the G1 this year but I can't see it now. With BOSJ now being the same length as the G1, doing both tourneys back to back is insane.

I'm sure that will still be the plan, but I think this will just be a "farewell" for him to put over some of the guys in that style.

It's a good way to get Will Ospreay against Bandido and Dragon Lee without him actually slumming in the division past this tourney.

Looks like Tama Tonga is confirmed out of the G1.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Asked to get taken off the G1 tournament this year. Hope they grant it</p>&mdash; The 'Good Bad Guy' Tama Tonga (@Tama_Tonga) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tama_Tonga/status/1123902944762630147?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Good decision.

Cobb loses the NEVER title to Taichi in his first defense

I like Taichi but good lord that title is a hot potato

They seemed to be setting up Taichi / Ospreay before Cobb won it so I would not be at all surprised if it ends up back on Will at Dominion to give him a ticket to the G1. Seems like they just wanted it off Ospreay for Super Jrs, because obviously he's not winning the tournament and they don't want tiny guys like Boner Soldier or Marty Scurll pinning the current NEVER champ.

Probably. But that just kinda makes me question why he's in Super Juniors to begin with. After beating Ibushi, being in the NJ Cup, and defending against Cobb he could've believably stepped up to heavyweights without needing to potentially kill himself in back to back tournaments.

The big surprise at Wrestling Dontaku of who is "X" ended up being

Either Tanahashi decided to make a surprise appearance in his underwear or those are some really short shorts for someone of his size.

Sanada shaved his beard.

TPWW's #1 Sanada fan slik rooting for him to defeat Okada.

Perfect Suplex

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/seiyasanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@seiyasanada</a> connects with a Tiger Suplex. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njdontaku?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njdontaku</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/pq26SL4DGn">pic.twitter.com/pq26SL4DGn</a></p>&mdash; Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) <a href="https://twitter.com/BulletClubIta/status/1124603499449331712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Fuck Him Up Sanada


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">RAINMAKER FROM <a href="https://twitter.com/seiyasanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@seiyasanada</a>!!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njdontaku?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njdontaku</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/80AQsWXHUT">pic.twitter.com/80AQsWXHUT</a></p>&mdash; Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) <a href="https://twitter.com/BulletClubIta/status/1124606304981528576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Latter half of Wrestling Dontaku was really great overall.

U won this battle Okada...

Jericho!

Jericho vs Okada

:y::y::y:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">May 25th - Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho <br><br>June 9th - Kazuchika Okada vs. Chris Jericho <br><br>It will be an interresting 16 days for Jericho. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njdontaku?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njdontaku</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NJPW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NJPW</a></p>&mdash; Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) <a href="https://twitter.com/BulletClubIta/status/1124609773851357185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Okada vs Jericho makes me hard.

<iframe width="406" height="271" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XZ1R07I8INU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The Painmaker lol

That's a neat birthday present for me

Jericho is a legend. That was great. I'm gonna WIIIIIIIIIIN!

I remember in his first book how he wrote of talking to Japanese people in a way that imitates the way that they speak English because it's easier for them to understand. Comes off so offensive but it's really not. I love this Jericho, he's very unpredictable. Like he may be drunk, or want to do something crazy stupid, you just never know.

They are currently trying to make the Juniors come off as more of a big deal so it makes sense to not move Ospreay up just yet, hes a good selling point for this tournament, especially with Hiromu out.

Needlessly killing himself is Ospreay's favourite.

That’s true. He’s practically acknowledged he’s gonna end up like Dynamite someday, which is quite sad.

So I'd consider Ospreay, Taichi, and Kojima (G1 farewell run) to be good bets

But that 4th spot really depends. Cobb for the Elgin power wrestler spot or Colt for Yano-like comic relief are possible, but it's an exceptionally long tournament so it would require them to have a lot of open dates on their schedule.

If they're sticking with NJPW contracted guys I really have no idea. Henare? Chase Owens?

Liger's been in a couple back in the day, maybe he says fuck it and gives it a go for his farewell tour.

Yeah I think those three are locks and the 4th is a wild card.

There's also the debuting Time Biker / Knife Pervert II to consider. Depending on who that turns out to be and how hard of a push he's getting they might go ahead and slot him straight into the G1.

Hopefully it's not Henare, Chase, Yujiro, Mikey Nicholls or Poor old Honma taking the last spot. I think all of them would struggle with a G1 in their present state. If they're going to fill that spot with somebody who's going to lose a lot, or all of the time, I'd go with Shota.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jericho side deal. He and Omega both have contracts that allow them to work in New Japan on their own. <a href="https://t.co/A4TzIX4Erp">https://t.co/A4TzIX4Erp</a></p>&mdash; Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) <a href="https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/status/1124724955843686400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Grease those wheels, Chris. I want Okada and Tanahashi on basic cable.

As Meltz says, this isn't a sign of AEW and NJPW working together.

Jericho and Omega both said very clearly during their AEW announcements that they had a clause which allows them to still work for NJPW, but it only applies to them and New Japan have no obligation to use either guy.

Jericho even discussed that he was talking to Gedo about programs with Tanahashi, Okada and Suzuki. Smart money would be Jericho / Tana at Wrestle Kingdom. Suzuki maybe at KOPW.

On the other hand, Omega said he was supposed to still be champion going into MSG but he told them he was leaving and they removed him from all of their booking plans to put over Tanahashi and Jay White instead. I don't think New Japan are as keen to work with him as they are with Jericho, which is possibly down to Jericho's friendship with Gedo. Maybe he will show up to challenge Ibushi, maybe not.

Don't expect any native New Japan stars in AEW any time soon, they are fine where they are.

Yeah, the contracts were just Jericho and Omega keeping their options open. AEW obligations still come first, it just gives them the option of turning up in NJPW if the interest was mutual.

And it was a smart clause to add because realistically, those two are the only ones I could see NJPW ever wanting to bring in because they could immediately be plugged into a main event level match that would generate buzz.

Like yeah I'm sure Cody and The Bucks could also go over if they wanted to since they run AEW, but there's no value for either side to do business unless it's to hammer out a proper working agreement.

Yeah, that’s always been the understanding, and what Meltzer alluded to in that tweet. It’s why I said “Come on, Jericho. Grease those wheels.” Because they’re not moving yet.

If Ibushi beats Naito yet again, I wouldn’t be against Sanada winning the IC Title from Ibushi, splitting him off from LIJ for a feud with Naito for WK. I’ve still got Jericho/Tanahashi, and would pipe-dream Omega/Ibushi. That would leave Jay White for Okada, which feels like a soft main event, but Okada could win the G1 and choose him for redemption. But maybe Ibushi wins the G1 and goes against Okada? Would be a great main event that Okada can win.

I get the sense a lot of LIJ fans are still pretty pissed off at Naito not winning the IWGP title off of Okada when his iron was red hot and are just hoping Gedo is reallllllly stretching things out vs. just permanently relegating him to Nakamura IC-level status especially since Naito doesn't care about that belt.

If they ARE going through with Naito - I think the G1 will end up with Ibushi going over Okada in one block (setting up a title defense in the process) and Naito going over Tana or ZSJ in the other.

Then Naito finally gets a win over Ibushi to set up the WK main.

That seems to be the hope, but the more I think about it, the more I just can’t see Okada losing two years in a row at the Dome. Next time Naito gets a Dome shot, he should probably win. I think his relationship with the IC Title leads to him oddly cherishing it, and it being carved out as his niche in the company, at least for a little while.

Is he really better than Nakamura? And Nakamura ended up in the Nakamura spot.

That would be a good way to set up Okada/Naito, should they go that route.