NJPW World

[Olly1984]

3 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Nice! I've booked tickets for Doncaster the night before so am hoping to see the New Japan stars there too. Fingers crossed. 

Snap mate, be good to see a show at the Dome not run by a complete cunt, and also not to have to break up a fight like i did the last time i was at a Dome show?

[Snitsky's back acne]

24 minutes ago, Olly1984 said:

Snap mate, be good to see a show at the Dome not run by a complete cunt, and also not to have to break up a fight like i did the last time i was at a Dome show?

Yeah me and my mate saw that! Crazy times! 

[Olly1984]

2 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Yeah me and my mate saw that! Crazy times! 

Never seen owt like it at a show, i was  talking to my friend about taking her little girl to the next show and think that was what made me jump onto a chair, run along the back and haul 1 of em off the floor and stop him. Basically hugged him but with my arms locked so he couldn't go back for more. And believe me he wanted to go back for more. Mental

Edited August 18, 2024 by Olly1984
Spelling

[Merzbow]

I can't believe Linus Tech Tips won the G1.

[JLM]

15/08/24 G1 Play Off Quarter Final: Takeshita vs Yota Tsuji

The opening day rematch. The first match these two were close but Takeshita had that bit too much power and explosiveness. Tsuji had also never fought Takeshita before and was overwhelmed from the opening bell. This time it's a different story. Tsuji knows what he's up against *and* Takeshita's knee is in ruins following the attack by House of Torture and the sustained assault from Ren Narita. There is hesitation when he would normally be immediate, there is a reduction in power across the board. 

Takeshita still has Tsuji's number at the start. He wins the opening exchanges, he takes charge with the Takeshita Line, he's landing big hits and he's breaking Tsuji down like he did the first time. However, every single move is racking up more wear and tear on the knee. There is longer recovery time than usual after every hit, and one of these moments of hesitation allows Tsuji to take charge when he gets the knees up on a senton attempt. 

Tsuji on offense starts actively working the knee, naturally. Takeshita in loads of trouble here, at one point failing to run the ropes entirely when Tsuji tries an Irish whip.  I particularly loved the call back to the Finlay match. Once again when his back is against the wall, he goes to the DDT roots and covers Tsuji in a big pile of chairs. This time he hits his signature Tope with no run up because he can't run, and instead of following up he crawls back into the middle of the ring and prays for a count out. 

Tsuji is able to rally back, and with a big roar to the crowd you can see he believes it's his match this time. There's an amazing 50/50 bomb throwing bit where they're going even but Takeshita's knee is still gradually letting him down. The turning point is an awesome sequence where they both do a three point stance, charging into a collar and elbow tie up that feels like it's the final test to see who has it. This time, crucially, Takeshita's base isn't strong enough and it's Tsuji who's able to overpower Takeshita and land the big deadlift Falcon arrow.

Takeshita gets his big final adrenaline dump and it's a white hot closing stretch for 5 minutes that has everyone in the building (and me) on the edge of their seat. It is just sensational stuff. Again, both landing enormous bombs but Takeshita's stuff not quite hitting as hard as usual *and* with moments of hesitation and recovery that aren't normally there.

The ending sequence was amazing, with Takeshita landing the world class elbow and going for the spinning Falcon Arrow again. These have been his two big finishing moves for this entire tournament. Tsuji is able to stay on his feet after the elbow, then counter the falcon arrow into a Stundog Millionaire! Fantastic pop for this. *Then* Takeshita does the GIGANTIC release german suplex and removes the pad for the super powered world class elbow. This is the EXACT finishing sequence from the Narita match. However, again, the hesitation is his undoing. It takes him just that bit too long to get up from the German, remove the pad and turn around. Tsuji is already up, he hits his Gene Blast running spear and our boy's G1 dream is over. 

 

 

God damn that was a match. I adored all of the little nods to the previous one, the cumulative effects of previous injuries, Tsuji showing what he'd learned from their last encounter, Takeshita using tactics from multiple previous matches. All of the brilliant in-ring story telling opportunities a tournament provides were used wonderfully here. I've seen people say this match wasn't as good as their first one, but they're two parts of the same story and this one is a perfect compliment to the opening night match and the natural, logical follow up. Personally I can't even pick which one is better

Notably, this could not have felt more like Chapter 2 of an AT LEAST 3 match saga. Again, these two are natural generational rivals., they're now 1-1 against each other and this runback win for Tsuji has the "Takeshita's knee was fucked" asterisk next to it.
 

Tsuji's post match promo says as much. He says Takeshita had previously asked him what he's striving for. Tsuji says it's a simple answer, he wants to be IWGP Heavyweight champion. To him, IWGP is still the standard, the highest prize, whereas he thinks Takeshita may have his eye on a "broader world". He says when they're both champions down the line they need to do this again. It has Forbidden Door written all over it and I would love to see them go again. 

So there ends my G1 coverage. I will try and watch the semis and final at some point as I'm sure they were exceptional, but I was mostly in it for Takeshita and he somehow exceeded all expectations. I knew he'd be brilliant in this, but I've seen a good amount of chatter about him being overall tournament MVP across both blocks and, if someone else was better, they've pulled off a bloody miracle. Outrageously strong set of matches, and we also saw him tell long-term ongoing stories across the whole tournament that we haven't seen from him before. Again, I have to believe he signs with New Japan in the next few years. I would dearly love him to stay in AEW and for them to put him firmly in the main event scene because he's one of the best on the planet right now. But yeah, the next Ace of New Japan feels like it's written in the stars for the lad, and if that happens I'll be watching him there too. 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2024 by JLM

[Merzbow]

Interesting that Kenny Omega makes his potential comeback promo for New Japan rather than AEW, even down to starting a feud with Gabe Kidd.

Do we think he'll be back for Wrestle Kingdom? Looks like they're teasing that, at least.

Edited November 7, 2024 by Merzbow

[BomberPat]

30 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

Do we think he'll be back for Wrestle Kingdom? Looks like they're teasing that, at least.

He's working Wrestle Dynasty, the AEW/NJPW crossover show in Japan on January 5th, so I don't expect he actually works Kingdom, but probably puts in an appearance.

Given that the only match announced for Dynasty beforehand was The Young Bucks vs. TBA, I was predicting that the Bucks' opponents would be Omega and Tanahashi, but it looks like it'll be Omega vs. Gabriel Kidd instead.

Edited November 7, 2024 by BomberPat

[Merzbow]

 

[Michael_3165]

Just found out that they have just done another Royal Quest (IV) in October 2024. I've seen in previous posts that it was announced a little in advance but why the fuck aren't NJPW promoting the hell out of their shows over here? They went from 6000+ to 1300 ish in the space of five years. That's insane.

The card looks like the shits with Sabre vs Sanada in the main event for the title. Shane Haste (?) Drilla Moloney (ditto), Callum Newman (double ditto), Michael Oku (ergh), Robbie X (okay?), and Oskar Munchow (who knows?)

I haven't kept up with NJPW much in recent years but how they have fallen since the first Royal Quest. Its staggering how over they were when the first one happened but they appear to have given up completely. Its a shame because I was a huge fan of 2016-2019 NJPW and I know they have the potential to put on great matches but its all disappointing. 

Edited November 23, 2024 by Michael_3165

[FLips]

On 11/7/2024 at 7:32 PM, Merzbow said:

 

That's a great little angle that.

[westlondonmist]

18 hours ago, Michael_3165 said:

Just found out that they have just done another Royal Quest (IV) in October 2024. I've seen in previous posts that it was announced a little in advance but why the fuck aren't NJPW promoting the hell out of their shows over here? They went from 6000+ to 1300 ish in the space of five years. That's insane.

The card looks like the shits with Sabre vs Sanada in the main event for the title. Shane Haste (?) Drilla Moloney (ditto), Callum Newman (double ditto), Michael Oku (ergh), Robbie X (okay?), and Oskar Munchow (who knows?)

I haven't kept up with NJPW much in recent years but how they have fallen since the first Royal Quest. Its staggering how over they were when the first one happened but they appear to have given up completely. Its a shame because I was a huge fan of 2016-2019 NJPW and I know they have the potential to put on great matches but its all disappointing. 

Look at how many of the roster for Royal Quest are still around. 

Okada

Ospreay

White

Ibushi

GoD

All gone 

Also Tanahashi isn't what he once was. 

Edited November 24, 2024 by westlondonmist

[TildeGuy~!]

The Wrestle Kingdom card is pretty shit, so with AEW’s involvement the following day at Wrestle Dynasty hopefully it’ll be a better watch.

Current Wrestle Kingdom card

IWGP Heavyweight Title

Zack Sabre Jr(c) Vs Shota Umino

IWGP Global Title

David Finlay(c) Vs Yota Tsuji

IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title

Douki(c) Vs El Desperado 

IWGP Women’s Title 

Mayu Iwatani(c) Vs AZM

Never Openweight and AEW International Double Title Match

Shingo Takagi(c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita(c)

NJPW TV Title

Ren Narita(c) Vs Jeff Cobb Vs Ryohei Oiwa

IWGP Jr Tag Titles

Kushida and Kevin Knight(c) Vs Clark Connors and Drilla Maloney Vs Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita Vs TJP and Francisco Akira

Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs EVIL

IWGP Tag Team Titles
Great O Khan and Henare(c) Vs Tag League Winners Vs 

and of course the Rumble

Wrestle Dynasty currently has

Zack Sabre Jr Vs Ricochet

The Young Bucks Vs Tag Champs

Winner of Shingo and Takeshita at WK Vs Tomohiro Ishii

Shota Umino Vs Claudio Castagnoli

Yota Tsuji Vs Jack Perry

The Women’s Cup Final 4 Way Match represented by

AEW Vs Stardom VS CMLL Vs ROH

Kenny Omega Vs Gabe Kidd

Rumoured match ups are

Douki Vs Sami Guevara

World Tag League winners vs Tag Team Champions

 

 

Edited November 26, 2024 by TildeGuy~!

[DavidB6937]

That Wrestle Kingdom card is horrible.

[Merzbow]

It's definitely lacking in "star power" but that's NJPW right now, it's pretty solid but it's the young guys doing the heavy lifting.

Shingo Vs Takeshita is going to be MOTY though.

[westlondonmist]

I think the Openweight and Main event look good. Umino should have been the guy ages ago though. They didn't prepare stars for Okada leaving, Tana leaving the main event or really Naito being shot. They did try with Evil I suppose, but they just showed how shit he was working main events instead of 10 minute openweight matches with Ishii.