SpecialK

If only Ultimate Warrior was still around for the hometown pop.

I chose Bryan over Hardy because I feel if Hardy never existed WWE would still be the same. I think Bryan along with Punk changed how WWE viewed "indie guys" and you wouldn't have AJ, Owens, Zayn, Joe, Valor etc. pushed on the main roster and NXT in it's current form wouldn't exist.

My overriding thought while watching the recent WALTER vs. Devlin match was that it was like a 2018 version of Vader vs. Sting.

Don't get this at all. NJPW feels completely different to PROGRESS as to CMLL as to Impact as to EVOLVE as to DG as to Stardom as to wXw as to OTT as to AJPW as to BJW....

Tremendous backstage promos, too.

I'm really not a big Omega fan - I feel like I'm the only person on earth who actively disliked the Dominion match, but FUCK that Omega/Ishii match was awesome.

How is Gedo's booking baffling? I don't like a lot of his choices, but it's all completely logical.

Thanks, just listened to this today - a really fun show.

Have any of the folks clamouring for women in NJPW bothered to ask any of NJPW's female fans if they want to see joshi matches?

"We keep having to add extra seats!" - President Okamoto's speech at Kobe World every year.

Giant vs. Hogan sumo monster truck challenge and subsequent match from 1995, please.

And does it change week by week, according to circumstances? Do you have blocked parts of the week for watching, or do you just try to watch when you can? Is it difficult to fit in with your work/family/social responsibilities? At the moment, I'm on about 10-15 hours a week with an hour or so a day, and a 2-3 hours a day at weekends.

Watching some random episodes - amazing that someone heard Antonino Rocca speak and thought "THAT guy should be a colour commentator!"

As an ex-subscriber I was recently offered 3 months for one dollar, anyone else offered this? I don't give a shit about current WWE but seemed too good to turn down.

I'm an ESL teacher too, after 10+ years in Japan I returned to the UK last year, and moved to Ireland a few months ago

Seeing Atsushi Onita in person really made me understand how he became one of the biggest draws in Japanese history - he just has an aura. It's impossible to describe - you just feel it. It's very, very special.

Top of my head: Mad Men Breaking Bad South Park Fawlty Towers The Office The Young Ones I'm Alan Partridge Rick & Morty Brass Eye Father Ted

I should also warn you that Dead or Alive is not the best show for a DG newcomer. The main event cage match (which will be very long) has confusing rules (even hardcore DG fans struggle to really keep track of them), is based on a complex storyline, and is going to be - erm - very, very whacky. I personally love the annual 6-way cage match and am looking forward to the show, but I would warn you to tread carefully.

For a Western fan going in cold, DG is both very accessible and incomprehensible at the same time. Easy to get into in that almost everyone on the roster is in units which have distinct identities and there is always one clear heel group. Also, Jae's excellent iheartdg.com provides full recaps in English of all shows. On the other hand can be difficult in that yes, there's a lot of talking but also they're a promotion that really care about their own history and things from months or even years ago can be relevant in current storylines. Super rewarding for a long time fan but yeah, can make things tough to get for someone just coming in.

Absolutely, although I can't say how much of that was due to the atmosphere.

It was pretty much a sell-out, all but the cheapest tickets had sold out the day after the lineup was announced.

Hello, my name's Paul. I've lurked here a long time, but have finally decided to sign up. I'm from London, but have been living in Tokyo for some years. My wrestling fan history: I first got into the pro-wres in 1991, purely because all the kids in school kept going on about WWF. Shortly after ITV started showing WCW Worldwide. I would remain a fan of both promotions. Around 1994, I got into the tape-trading scene and started spending all my pocket money on Puroresu and ECW tapes. A couple of years later I drifted away from Puroresu completely and US wrestling partially, but got back into WWE in a big way around 1999/2000 and have been into it ever since. Oh yeah, and as I said, I'm living in Japan so I've got back into Puro. I have to fess up and say I'm a huge fan of Dragon Gate - which I know is a promotion a lot of people dislike. I usually go to 1 or 2 shows a month in Tokyo - either DG, NewJapan, AllJapan, DDT or others. In a few hours I'm going to NJ's Sumo Hall which I suspect will make some of you rather jealous. I can't promise I'll be a hugely prolific poster, but hopefully I can contribute something.