KingofSports

 

Just a little surprised that given NJPW are doing so well at the moment, the attendance wasn't higher or more seating made available. None of my f'n business of course & I'm sure they know what they're doing. Haven't seen the show yet, but I assume the upper tiers were left largely vacant. It'd be nice to see a 63,000 again like they got back in '95, or thereabouts. NOAH pulled 58,000 in 2004 didn't they. When it is near capacity, the Dome properly goes off.

 

 

As for New Japan today, it's got to be softly-softly in terms of seeing how many tickets they can sell. They only reported 18,000 for the G1 final in August in the Seibu Dome which is a baseball stadium you can get 30,000 plus inside for baseball - and you know they'll always report more than what they actually do. There's a fine line between trying to capitalize on rejuvenated popularity and opening up too many blocks and having the world see your empty seats, making you look like tits.

 

My interest & later love of Puro, mostly stems from mid-late 90s onwards. Originally through NJ on Eurosport, occasionally getting to see Japanese wrestlers in WWF/ WCW / ECW & very short clips of Cactus Jack in Japan. I vaguely remembered Muta in the NWA circa 1989, so that must have aired here at some point. I didn't have the internet until late 2001 & so missed the 'internet explosion', which would've started around '97 I guess. Shaun Gold @ violentjtapes was my 'mentor', in so much as he was the first trader I came across & he got me into the death match stuff, which was still pretty novel at that point & provided the first really substantial New Japan footage I'd seen. I remember watching all 4 volumes of the classic Muta collection back-back one afternnon on one 6 - 8 hour EP tape & thinking it was the best thing since ever. I then 'discovered'  Highspots & Wrestleholics (slambamjam) & followed my own path from there. So essentially by the time I had half a clue, Puro's popularity had already started to diminish & NOAH would have probably been the one shining beacon, though to be honest my interest in All Japan / NOAH wasn't that great at the time & it's fair to say I've always been Shin Nihon at heart. I guess Mutoh & Hashimoto jumping ship might have stirred-up some interest/business at the time, or pissed people off, whichever the case, but I've never really studied 'business', in terms of numbers or followed the latest gossip/news on forums etc...too busy building-up my back catalogue, which now stands at somewhere around 1100, with pretty much all bases covered & that's been a selective & informed process. So in the period I'm referring to Puro has been on an almost permanent decline. New Japan between 2002 & 2006/07 is a largely 'missing' & somewhat moribund period for me, seemingly consisting of; has-beens, never will-be's & a couple of promising rookies (Shinsuke & Tana). Additionally, I think the company was struggling for direction, with Inoki leaning more towards a more MMA-geared product. There must be a point to this shit..ah yes, Dome figures:

2004 – 53,000

2005 – 46,000

2006 – 53,000

2007 – 28,000

2008 – 27,000

2009 – 40,000

2010 – 41,500

2011 – 42,000

2012 – 43,000

2013 – 29,000

2014 – 35,000

2015 – 36,000

Particularly surprised by the '05 & '06 numbers. 2005 was a fucking appalling event, truly dreadful, with one exception Tana vs. Shinsuke. 2006 was better but not great. I don't understand the dip in 2013, because the product was hot & the recent numbers still fall short of what I perceive to be lesser shows. That said, I'm not Japanese & as you rightly say many of the competitors have faced each other on multiple occasions, so the matches aren't 'special' in that respect, albeit that they're arguably of a higher claibre.

On my blog, I've listed my recommended / highly recommended shows. Despite all the nostalgia for this or that in the 1990's; the Mutoh's, Hashimoto's, Chono's, Choshu's, feuds, massive attendances & pops only two 4/1 events (2001 & 2013 - still to view this year's) have made it in there [other non-4/1 shows did however make it, just to clarify]. When push comes to shove, the actual matches of late as opposed to; hype, hysteria or selective memory still stand-up very well by comparison. I'd use SummerSlam at Wembley as an analogy - great memories, but on the whole really not very good.

edit - watching the daylight matches in the Seibu Dome has to be one of the most disconcerting wrestling spectacles I've ever witnessed. Very odd & just wrong.

Is it safe to review Wrestle Kingdom yet, or am I playing with fire assuming that all the New Japan fans on the board that haven't had chance to watch it yet might be intelligent enough NOT to go onto  a wrestling forum and read a New Japan-specific thread before they do?

 

Or shall I give it another day, just in cases?

 

The Dome attendance is credited as 36,000 (no vacancy). Never did fully understand how that's fathomed, possibly based on configuration,

 

That's exactly what it's based on. "No vacancy" means they sold every seat they made available for purchase.

Just a little surprised that given NJPW are doing so well at the moment, the attendance wasn't higher or more seating made available. None of my f'n business of course & I'm sure they know what they're doing. Haven't seen the show yet, but I assume the upper tiers were left largely vacant. It'd be nice to see a 63,000 again like they got back in '95, or thereabouts. NOAH pulled 58,000 in 2004 didn't they. When it is near capacity, the Dome properly goes off.

Not the best pictures, but it epitomizes the sort of thing I was talking about + the print on the 'official' one is chunky & raised, whereas the other is flat:

...a bit like wearing a Carter watch..but I'd still do it.

Didn't even realise that NJPW had a European distributor. I know they do sell through the US at http://www.prowrestlingtees.com/newjapan, which I believe is the official merch

Same deal as NJPW Europe. Seems like they purchase blank shirts from wherever & just print the logos (presumably under license). The NJPW collar label & other fancy bits aren't necessarily part of the deal & on one of the shirts I got, the print was so weak, you could virtually see through it.

The Dome attendance is credited as 36,000 (no vacancy). Never did fully understand how that's fathomed, possibly based on configuration, but the place can or did hold the better part of 60,000 + recentish 4/1 shows have drawn over 40,000. Hope the atmosphere was good, because it can suck in that place sometimes.

- edit -

Looks OK though

Have any of you guys used this site to buy NJPW merch before?

 

http://www.njpweurope.com

 

£18 inc shipping for a Bullet Club t-shirt is something I'd happily pay if the site is reliable!

 

Cheers.

Yeah, hit & miss to some extent. The quality isn't as good as the authentic Japanese product, but less expensive, particularly in view of the import duty you may have to pay on goods from outside of the EU. Some of the shirts are little more than cheap-ass Fruit Of The Loom affairs with the NJPW logo on the front & although I haven't made a study of it, the detail on the reverse or lack of it in some instances doesn't always match the Japanese product. Others are a bit more substantial. The service though was fine for me + NJPW shop isn't particularly geared to sales outside of Japan at present...time they sorted that out.

Masked Tanahashi

This may or may not be of use to subscribers; in 2013 & to mark its 30th anniversary, readers of the leading Japanese wrestling publication voted for their favourite matches (1983-2013). The complete list can be found at the link show below (go to the foot of the page). It took 2 of us a good few days to translate. I didn’t get around to noting which Promotion the matches were from, but in the main they should be fairly obvious to Puro fans, as they’re predominantly; NJPW, AJPW & NOAH. From my own perspective, it’s a pretty mixed bunch & to be honest I’ve little clue how some of the matches made it in there, perhaps they seemed better at the time. Anyway, it’s here for anyone interested, listed chronologically:-

http://puroresuview.blogspot.co.uk/p/puroresu-legends-arenas-promotions_22.html
 

- please ignore -

When did you finish up with TWC? It seemed to barely run for a while before it became the Fight Network. I remember it showing old films and hours and hours of World of Sport towards the end.

From memory, it ran from around March '04 (I got it around July of that year). It became TWC Fight & was eventually sold to the Fight Network, by which time the broadcast quality was as bad as old youtube footage, mostly WoS repeats & crappy MMA fed's. It was pretty solid between 2004 - 07. Herbie can no doubt correct me if necessary.

edit - we posted simultaneously

Vivid purportedly have one or more Iggy Azalea sextapes, with her ex. Sounds like she's made a half-hearted attempt at stopping it, but likely to be released:

http://forum.phun.org/showthread.php?t=1361956

I did read that it was a culture thing, where Samoan have huge portions and use dinner as a way of spending time with each other. Kinda like having a full Sunday roast dinner every night. Origninally they would eat lots fish and fruits but with the introduction of more meat from western culture it is very easy for them to put weight on

Sounds like you did a dissertation on it at uni.

I saw something on TV a while back. Samoans sitting down for family a meal - essentially just shit loads of fatty, red meat. Joe's svelte by comparison, but looks like he'd blow-up pretty quick these days. Given another few years and assuming he keeps the towel, he'll look like fat, near death Elvis circa 1976.

web address:http://puroresuview.blogspot.co.uk/

Puroresu; magazines, mooks, albums, photobooks & books, event programs & pamphlets, DVDs (including rarities and a good selection of Joshi Puroresu), T-shirts, signed & promotional photo's, washi & limited edition collectables + huge image galleries, match ratings / recommendations & links.

British wrestling (mostly old school 70s/80s); DVDs, documentaries + image gallery & match ratings.

Trades Taken: No

Payments: Paypal only.

Diva Diaries with Mia Yim. Didn't know much about her. The interview is moderately interesting, but the bonus matches are very enjoyable; a trilogy from CZW with her facing (the previously unknown to me) Greg Excellent. I thought they worked those matches very well, probably as well as any male vs. female stuff I've seen, perhaps with the exceptions of; Yuko Miyamoto v Kyoko Kimura & Ayumi Kurihara / Yoshihiro Takayama v Meiko Satomura / Minoru Suzuki.

It's like being sledged by this lot.