New Japan iPPV thread

[Mr Butternut Squash]

Na, I didn't like Goto vs Shibata at all either. Didn't find any of the matches on that Dominion PPV to be blow away really.

[Big Rob]

The 1st of August show looks to be a great lineup, I'm really into the G-1 this year. Don't know how much of it I'll see on iPPV just due to work and also I get quite fidgity watching stuff for a long time on my computer. Minoru Suzuki vs Kota Ibushi sounds like the craziest thing ever.

[AshC]

New Japan is the promotion of the year so far, for me.

[seanz25]

How do you follow NJPW? From what i'm aware no English commentary etc no? Just wondering as always hear tremendous stuff but I try to get into it and cant..?

[AshC]

How do you follow NJPW? From what i'm aware no English commentary etc no? Just wondering as always hear tremendous stuff but I try to get into it and cant..?

 

First, you get one of these -

 

 

Then, you get one of these -

 

 

Finally, you get one of these -

 

 

Sorted.

[air_raid]

How do you follow NJPW? From what i'm aware no English commentary etc no? Just wondering as always hear tremendous stuff but I try to get into it and cant..?

 

The physicality speaks for itself. I don't need an English narrative telling me what I can see happening with my own eyes, any more than I do at live wrestling. I sure as hell don't need anyone telling me what they're fighting over as it usually comes down to one of three things :

 

(1) They're fighting for a belt.

(2) They're fighting because they're enemies.

(3) They're fighting because wins are important for potential future shot at a belt.

 

If there's any backstory, the hype video before the match usually shows explicitly one bloke pinning the other (if it's a rematch), pinning someone else (to earn contendership for the belt) or attacking the other bloke with his goon squad (if it's a grudge match). If you need anything more concrete there are a couple of decent English sites, notably Puroresufan.com where you can keep up with the current events. Personally I use Purolove because often it's updated quicker, but that's in German.

[seanz25]

How do you follow NJPW? From what i'm aware no English commentary etc no? Just wondering as always hear tremendous stuff but I try to get into it and cant..?

 

The physicality speaks for itself. I don't need an English narrative telling me what I can see happening with my own eyes, any more than I do at live wrestling. I sure as hell don't need anyone telling me what they're fighting over as it usually comes down to one of three things :

 

(1) They're fighting for a belt.

(2) They're fighting because they're enemies.

(3) They're fighting because wins are important for potential future shot at a belt.

 

If there's any backstory, the hype video before the match usually shows explicitly one bloke pinning the other (if it's a rematch), pinning someone else (to earn contendership for the belt) or attacking the other bloke with his goon squad (if it's a grudge match). If you need anything more concrete there are a couple of decent English sites, notably Puroresufan.com where you can keep up with the current events. Personally I use Purolove because often it's updated quicker, but that's in German.

 

Okay fair enough - Can anyone recomend some shows that don't stretch too far back to try attempt getting into the product?

 

EDIT* I take it there's also a list of the shows in-order etc?

[JNLister]

The iPPVs this year are:

 

January 4, Wrestle Kingdom VII (Tokyo Dome show, Tanahashi-Okada)

February 10, The New Beginning (Tanahashi-Anderson)

April 7, Invasion Attack (Tanahasi-Okada)

May 4, Dontaku (Oakada-Suzuki)

June 22, Dominion (Okada-Makabe)

July 5, (Devitt-Goto, bit of a B show, skippable)

July 20, Kizuna Road (Okada-Devitt)

 

 

I'd be tempted to start with Invasion Attack just because the main event is superb, plus it's the start of Devitt as a heel and forming his Bullet Club gang.

[cobystag]

Okay fair enough - Can anyone recomend some shows that don't stretch too far back to try attempt getting into the product?

 

EDIT* I take it there's also a list of the shows in-order etc?

 

I'd really recommend the first iPPV. It's only from October and the full show is on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0M_ySexWWs

 

The card:

 

1. Manabu Nakanishi Return Match: Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata & Strong Man vs. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii

2. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Forever Hooligans (Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov)

[seanz25]

The iPPVs this year are:

 

January 4, Wrestle Kingdom VII (Tokyo Dome show, Tanahashi-Okada)

February 10, The New Beginning (Tanahashi-Anderson)

April 7, Invasion Attack (Tanahasi-Okada)

May 4, Dontaku (Oakada-Suzuki)

June 22, Dominion (Okada-Makabe)

July 5, (Devitt-Goto, bit of a B show, skippable)

July 20, Kizuna Road (Okada-Devitt)

 

 

I'd be tempted to start with Invasion Attack just because the main event is superb, plus it's the start of Devitt as a heel and forming his Bullet Club gang.

 

Thanks for this. I believe this is where I will start!

[air_raid]

July 5, (Devitt-Goto, bit of a B show, skippable)

 

He means Gedo. Which makes it 50x more skippable than if it had been Devitt v Goto.

[JNLister]

Oh, fuck yeah.

 

Anyhow, a quickish guide to who's who and what's happening:

 

The "WrestleMania" of the year is the Tokyo Dome show in January. There's then the Super Juniors tournament in June, followed by the G-1 Climax (heavyweight) tournament in August. The current deal is that the G-1 Climax winner gets a title shot contract like Money in the Bank, but you have to name the date of cashing it in in advance and you may have to defend it in the meantime.

 

The top two guys are Tanahashi and Okada. Tanahashi is the Cena of the group (minus the hatred from males) and has been the top guy for several years. He's arguably the best worker in the world. Okada's in his early 20s and does a cocky playboy gimmick (Rainmaker, taken from the rapper thing of being so rich you can make it rain money). He's kind of a heel, but people like him enough to cheer against someone more heelish.

 

Tanahashi was IWGP champion throughout 2011 and lost it to Okada in February 2012. Everyone went apeshit because it felt like Okada was getting too big of a push, but he turned out to be great and when he dropped in back to Tanahashi in June 2012, people said it was too soon. Okada then won the G-1 and cashed it in at this year's Tokyo Dome show. He lost, but won the title in a rematch at the April Dominion show.

 

Nakamura is kind of the Orton to Tanahashi's Cena -- he's really good, but kind of condemned to be behind him. He's had a few IWGP reigns but is currently the Intercontinental title which is a proper secondary belt rather than a jobber title.

 

Naito is the plucky babyface youngster role (though he's actually 31) where he's not quite going to be the top guy right now, but people like him and think he might have a shot even if he's an underdog, kind of Daniel Bryan level. He had a great match with Okada last year which was when people realised Okada was actually really good. Naito then injured his knee in the G1 last year and only came back last month.

 

Devitt is the top junior-heavyweight and current champ. He turned heel earlier this year and now has the Bullet Club, a foreigners gang of Karl Anderson (who was in the top foreigners team with the man who left to become Tensai), Tama Tonga (Haku's adopted son), Bad Luck Fale (who's pretty rubbish but huge) and Terrible (from Mexico.) They do lots of US-style interference, which stands out because it's so unusual here.

 

Suzuki is the scientific matwork guy, kind of like if Regal wrestled long matches regularly. He was one of the key guys in Pancrase in the 90s, which did real matches using pro wrestling rules.

 

Shibata and Sakuraba are the outside heel shooter team, kind of like lighter weight versions of Brock Lesnar, working a very different style to everyone else. They both started off as pro wrestlers (Shibata in New Japan, Sakuraba in the shoot-style UWFi) before doing MMA. Shibata had a mixed record, while Sakuraba was the big star in Pride and beat lots of Gracie brothers including a 90 minute win over Royce Gracie, though eventually he became totally broken down. Shibata's stuff is more high-impact and he's worked several matches with Goto, who does pro style but will kick you hard in the face. Sakuraba's worked with Nagata, who used to be a top star in New Japan but has moved down the card as he's got older; he's more of a technical matwork guy.

 

Tenzan and Kokima are the top tag team. They also used to be top singles guys but are getting on a bit now, so the teaming works out well for them. They've been in a multiway feud with teams including heels Davey Smith Junior (DH Smith) and Lance Archer (Lance Hoyt), and Yano & Iizuka (who always rips the shirt off the commentator). The tag title matches usually have a lot more weapons, cheating and the like than the big single matches.

 

Nakanishi sucks.

 

Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov are the junior tag champs. They always do a cossack dancing spot, usually work the opener, and do the Nikolai Volkoff singing the national anthem spot, except the crowd don't quite get it and always stand up and listen in respectful silence. They worked as the heels against Alex Shelley and Kushida about a million straight show before the most recent one.

 

Shelton Benjamin pops up occasionally and is generally quite good. Rob Conway comes in now and again as the cheating heel NWA champ and is generally quite bad.

 

Tanaka holds the Never Openweight title, which isn't particularly prestigious. He can still go, despite the fact he should be an Alzheimery cripple.

 

Takahasi, Makabe, Ishii and Honma are all mid-card guys who move up and down a bit. Makabe recently got a main event title shot and was great. Takahasi was billed as the guy who put Naito out, so had a grudge match with him on his return. Ishii and Honma are both arguably underrated and could be given a chance in bigger slots.

 

There's also usually a dark match with the likes of Gedo (the booker) and Jado, Jushin Liger (who occasionally works a big singles match as a treat, but is 50-something), Tiger Mask IV and Captain New Japan, who is a company mascot a bit like the Gobbledygooker if he wrestled -- he'll usually get the final hot tag but almost immediately start taking a beating.

 

Every now and again they bring in some CMLL guys from Mexico. Nakamura recently toured there and exchanged the title with La Sombra.

 

The other main things to understand are that a lot of the guys wrestle in distinct styles, so you get a lot of variety on the shows, and that although everyone kind of has a slot in the pecking order, they'll occasionally move people up and down for a short run to keep fresh matches, so you tend not to see the same headline bouts repeated from show to show as much as in the US. They also book quite logically, so normally you'll win a couple of big midcard matches before getting a main event slot/title match.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Not a single reference to Lance Archer's skull mask in Lister's review. I'm off to set fire to Slamthology and Turning the Tables. Why aren't people into this more than they should be?

Should be in Chris Sabin's position with a look like that.

[Edgehead]

I'm on annual leave for the whole of that week

 

But I don't have 100 odd quid

[jackhennessey]

I watched Kizuna road main event, just wondering the chap at the that won (no spoilers here folks, just in case) I know they love a cheque, placard, trophies and even flowers but what was that little gold trophy that looked like the Jules Rimet? and the massive silver one? I know the big bowl was to do with the sponsors of the event but what were the others?