PUNQ Posted January 1, 2019 Posted January 1, 2019 Salman Hashimikov was during a experimental phase where NJPW invested a lot of money on ex-Soviet amateur wrestlers. Very unique period. The experiment only lasted a year or so, and in most ways could be seen as a transitional period when Inoki was stepping down and before New Japan had established their new generation of Muto/Hashimoto/Chono. The Russians was used for mostly short legit looking matches with a lot of suplexes. Hashimikov was probable the most credible of the bunch, but it was still a bit of a shock the way he would go on to win the big one. He didn't have much of a career after except for a spot in NWA's Pat O'Connor Tag Tourney of 1990 and a handful shots in UWFI in '93-94. Him winning the IWGP Title was a very 1989 thing. Quote
The King Of Swing Posted January 2, 2019 Posted January 2, 2019 Thinking about it, it was definitely a very Inoki thing to do. Wasn't he also one of the main guys behind the New Japan/WCW shows in North Korea? Quote
Paid Members PunkStep Posted January 2, 2019 Paid Members Posted January 2, 2019 Victor Zangiev was the real star of that team. What a look that guy had, the very definition of Soviet amateur athlete. Quote
Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 3, 2019 Paid Members Posted January 3, 2019 12 hours ago, The King Of Swing said: Thinking about it, it was definitely a very Inoki thing to do. Wasn't he also one of the main guys behind the New Japan/WCW shows in North Korea? Inoki was the driving force behind that - he's been very politically active in North Korea, and is big on brokering peaceful relations between there and Japan, and using pro-wrestling shows as a means to enter into diplomatic conversations. He's held shows in the Soviet Union and Iraq, and probably others I'm forgetting, too. 12 hours ago, PunkStep said: Victor Zangiev was the real star of that team. What a look that guy had, the very definition of Soviet amateur athlete. Zangiev is one of my absolute boys. I mentioned in the AEW thread how I don't like how homogenised a lot of modern wrestling is, and guys like Zangiev and Hashimikov are right at the other end of that scale - little glimpses at where wrestling could have gone if it just embraced entirely different styles and backgrounds. Quote
Liam O'Rourke Posted January 3, 2019 Posted January 3, 2019 Keen to know what people are hearing and feeling - I'm getting the impression Omega may be All Elite bound after the Dome show. Listening to Meltzer and Fumi Saito on Pacific Rim, and without directly saying so (here's one of those reading between the lines moments of mine, will see if I'm right in a couple weeks), Fumi implies people are leaving and won't say who, but thinks it'll be a big opportunity for Will Ospreay and Juice Robinson. Which to me sounds like an acknowledgment that the spot of top foreign regular is about to open up. Quote
Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 3, 2019 Paid Members Posted January 3, 2019 I think people are fair to assume that Omega is AEW-bound, as he's far more connected with that group than anyone else, but Meltzer's been very coy in saying that it's between NJPW, AEW or WWE for him. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see Omega go to WWE - it's maybe a year too late for it to get the huge buzz it would once have done, but they'd still get mileage out of him coming in for a programme with Styles, for example. But I suspect he's only going there for big money and a top spot, and if they can't promise him that, he'll end up in AEW. I'm curious what happens with Ibushi, more than anything. Quote
Paid Members Accident Prone Posted January 3, 2019 Paid Members Posted January 3, 2019 Selfishly, I'd like to see Ibushi sever ties with New Japan after this, just to see him head back to DDT and make frequent tours over here with Fight Club: Pro (this morning, DDT announced a working relationship with FCP). But we'll probably see Omega and Ibushi working out a deal to work both New Japan and AEW shows, what with the potential New Japan/AEW partnership. ROH have jumped into bed with NWA, at this point a complete after thought post-All In, so that gives me the idea of that direction. Quote
WyattSheepMask Posted January 3, 2019 Posted January 3, 2019 (edited) Jericho/Naito has had a No DQ stipulation added to their match Edited January 3, 2019 by WyattSheepMask Quote
AdamTH17 Posted January 3, 2019 Posted January 3, 2019 Makes sense I suppose given the nature of their last match, the stipulation will help Jericho out as well as he'll be able to rely more on plunder than keeping up with Naito, similar to his match with Omega last year. Massively excited. Alarm is set as I think I'm even going to drag myself awake for the NEVER Six-Man championship match on the pre-show. Won't post a link in case of advertising rules, but Voices of Wrestling have recently released their annual "NJPW in Review" e-book for 2018. If anyone on here is using Wrestle Kingdom as a jumping in point for NJPW, I'd point to that as being a good place to start to get you up to speed with the wrestlers, stables, feuds and differences found within Japan. Quote
Paid Members WeeAl Posted January 3, 2019 Paid Members Posted January 3, 2019 What time is the show expected to start at? Quote
Guest Posted January 3, 2019 Posted January 3, 2019 7 for the 3 man tag gauntlet, 8 for main show Quote
Paid Members WeeAl Posted January 3, 2019 Paid Members Posted January 3, 2019 Cheers Louch. I'll stay away from anywhere that'll mention the show after 7am and see what I can manage to watch of it tomorrow evening, and hopefully I'll escape spoilers of the main event. Quote
Paid Members I Bent My Wookie Posted January 3, 2019 Paid Members Posted January 3, 2019 All going well, I finish work around 7.30 tomorrow morning and should be on enough Coffee to drag me through this enjoying it. Otherwise it isn't getting watched until Monday and no chance I can remain spoiler free until then. Quote
MPDTT Posted January 4, 2019 Posted January 4, 2019 Anyone else having problems with NJPW World? Quote
TildeGuy~! Posted January 4, 2019 Posted January 4, 2019 1 minute ago, MPDTT said: Anyone else having problems with NJPW World? Working fine for me. Quote
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