NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 / Wrestle Dynasty Discussion

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

7 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

They barely promoted the show at all. If you only watched AEW you probably wouldn't have even known it was happening. 

Wasnt there a segment on Dynamite where Ricochet tries to stab Swerve and whilst covered in his blood turns to the camera and say "oh zack sabre... see ya sunday."

Like its insultingly one sided.

[LaGoosh]

Watched Kidd/Omega. My first time seeing Kidd (I think) - not a fan at all. Comes across as a right try hard goof. This match felt like a one man show to me and good lord, what an absolute lunatic of a man. If AEW don't book Omega as a goddamn mega star/second coming/special attraction then they're idiots. If he goes anywhere near Jericho again I might fly to Jacksonville myself and kick Tony Khan in the bollocks.

I also watched Ishii/Takeshita and that was loads of fun. I could watch Takeshita do that big lunging forearm he does all day long. It's a thing of beauty.

[Supremo]

Out for a year. Nearly died. Back a day. Instantly the best in the world. Contrast this with the cartoon nonsense Mox is doing. If I was Jon I wouldn’t even be able to make eye contact with him on Wednesday.

I always think back to that time Nakamura debuted in NXT. Having never seen him before, it was like watching a God, or someone from another dimension. He was so many levels above everyone and everything, he didn’t even seem real. It didn’t last of course, and Nakamura turned into a lazy waste of space, but man, for that one night, it was incredible.

Kenny gives me that feeling for his entire career. Even Will Ospreay. I’m sorry, bruv. There are still levels to this and you’re not even close.

 

[BomberPat]

On 1/4/2025 at 8:48 AM, Supremo said:

I'm forever fascinated by how New Japan continues to work with AEW despite how lopsided the relationship has become.

It's like finding out your wife has been cheating on you, she takes the house, the kids, even the dog, and then you help her move her new boyfriend in.

The promotion on AEW's side for Wrestle Dynasty has been a shambles, for sure, to the point that I wonder if there's some pressure from WBD on Tony Khan to try and cut down on mentions of shows and promotions that aren't featured on their networks, because ordinarily AEW bloody loves to talk about other companies.

I don't think the relationship in general has been all that lopsided, though, outside of the lack of mentions of Wrestle Dynasty on TV. You can't really overlook that AEW have let NJPW have Kenny Omega's comeback match, or the Young Bucks' first match in months, and in a more boring business sense I imagine NJPW gets a hefty cheque for Forbidden Door, and to keep the relationship going in general.

The reality is that NJPW is in pretty dismal shape at the moment, and has done a poor job on building new stars, or leveraging the previous generation to build new headliners, and all of that is coming home to roost. On top of that, the Yen is the weakest against the US Dollar that it's been in decades, and that's likely to have played a huge part in them losing names like Ospreay and Okada, and will probably hit them again this month as more contacts come up for renewal. Without the AEW relationship, I expect NJPW would be in a far worse position than they are now.

A friend of mine has a theory that NJPW booked two dates at the Tokyo Dome before they knew they were losing Okada, and that it was supposed to be for Tanahashi's retirement. When it became clear that Okada was leaving, Tana delayed his retirement by a year in the hope that him sticking around would help them weather that storm. No idea if there's any truth to it, but it certainly seems plausible. 

[LaGoosh]

15 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I don't think the relationship in general has been all that lopsided, though, outside of the lack of mentions of Wrestle Dynasty on TV. You can't really overlook that AEW have let NJPW have Kenny Omega's comeback match, or the Young Bucks' first match in months, and in a more boring business sense I imagine NJPW gets a hefty cheque for Forbidden Door, and to keep the relationship going in general.

If anything New Japan seem to be getting more AEW talent on their shows than AEW does theirs. Top AEW people regularly turn up on NJPW shows it seems. AEW just seems to get Minoru Suzuki and Ishii every now and again.

[tiger_rick]

39 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I wonder if there's some pressure from WBD on Tony Khan to try and cut down on mentions of shows and promotions that aren't featured on their networks

I'll vote WBD babyface of the year if this is true.

[Infinity Land]

5 hours ago, BomberPat said:

The promotion on AEW's side for Wrestle Dynasty has been a shambles, for sure, to the point that I wonder if there's some pressure from WBD on Tony Khan to try and cut down on mentions of shows and promotions that aren't featured on their networks, because ordinarily AEW bloody loves to talk about other companies.

AEW struggle to promote their own shows, let alone others It was the same during the TNA relationship. Things might happen online but I don't really remember them doing anything meaningful to promote another company's show.

Unless its Forbidden Door which is ultimately an AEW show or the half-hearted "CMLL invasion". There's very little beyond here's a wrestler or a title.

 

[BomberPat]

5 hours ago, tiger_rick said:

I'll vote WBD babyface of the year if this is true.

FWIW, Meltzer seems to think there's some truth to this - the Max deal prevents them from promoting another streaming service, so if they couldn't mention NJPW World, they were pretty limited when it comes to promoting a show that streamed there.

[tiger_rick]

1 minute ago, BomberPat said:

FWIW, Meltzer seems to think there's some truth to this - the Max deal prevents them from promoting another streaming service, so if they couldn't mention NJPW World, they were pretty limited when it comes to promoting a show that streamed there.

[Chris B]

Apparently, one of the commentators has been suspended for the level of AEW-shit-talking he was doing. Not surprised - if it wasn't part of an angle, it was pretty over the top for a partner. Called Tony Khan a money mark, slagged off Okada and Ospreay, saying they hadn't achieved anything, and said the Continental Classic was nothing compared to the G1. 

[Statto]

Would he have worked a lot with Kevin Kelley? Taking up for his mate maybe? 

[Chris B]

Even dumber if so. It was literally a show co-produced with AEW.

[Daaaaaad!]

It’s British-born New Japan expert Chris Charlton who’s the culprit. Remarkably stupid behaviour, especially when you consider that with Forbidden Door being over here later this year, he’d surely have been asked to be involved. 

[Merzbow]

Is he a member here?! I'll buy him a pint because pettiness like that in wrestling is still too funny.

Takeshita announced that he's now under contract with NJPW, has anyone else ever been under contract with three major companies at one time? (If you class DDT under CyberAgent as major)

[garynysmon]

2 hours ago, Chris B said:

Apparently, one of the commentators has been suspended for the level of AEW-shit-talking he was doing. Not surprised - if it wasn't part of an angle, it was pretty over the top for a partner. Called Tony Khan a money mark, slagged off Okada and Ospreay, saying they hadn't achieved anything, and said the Continental Classic was nothing compared to the G1. 

Given Tony Khan was on TNA every week calling them muppets and that Scott D’amore later revealed that Tony Khan was explicit that TNA wasn’t to retaliate, I hope @Merzbow manages to buy that man a pint.

Edited January 6, 2025 by garynysmon