Current New Japan

[Mad Dog]

Nothing mind blowing in the World Tag League so far but almost all of the matches have been fun. Rooting for Juice/Finlay and Tencozy even though I doubt either team wins. 

[Migs]

I've really enjoyed Taichi/Sabre so far, particularly against LIJ and Page/Takahashi. Agreed that it's been a fun tournament so far, although nothing must-see. 

[Mad Dog]

I liked their match against Chaos as well. Taichi nailing Yano with the turnbuckle pad cracked me up. 

[El-P]

Haven't followed that tour at all. Any interesting matches planned for the final night ?

[Migs]

40 minutes ago, El-P said:

Haven't followed that tour at all. Any interesting matches planned for the final night ?

The only thing announced for the final night is Goto-Ibushi for the NEVER title.

[WingedEagle]

18 hours ago, El-P said:

Haven't followed that tour at all. Any interesting matches planned for the final night ?

I don't believe anything's been pushed for the final night beyond Goto/Ibushi as noted above.  Fingers crossed that leads to Ibushi/Ospreay for WK.

There are a couple 6 man tags any day now featuring Tanahashi & Okada working together.  Absolutely checking those out, but otherwise no plans to dip in here unless I hear something is particularly compelling.  Its still so odd to me that the company almost books itself cold 6 weeks out of its biggest annual show.

[Migs]

I'm really not sure what the end game would be on a Best Friends feud. Chuckie T going to Bullet Club and being part of a new North American version?

[Zoo Enthusiast]

They had an awesome match in PWG.

[SomethingSavage]

That was so, sooo good. But a lot of that had to do with it being built on the back of Chuck's rich history with PWG and all them feels.

[Migs]

On the plus side, Best Friends vs. GOD was the best match in at least a week and a half (I really liked Evil/Sanada vs. Sabre/Taichi). 

[Boss Rock]

On 11/26/2018 at 12:41 PM, El-P said:

Haven't followed that tour at all. Any interesting matches planned for the final night ?

Along with Goto-Ibushi for the NEVER title they're doing Taichi-Ospreay for a title shot, which I imagine sets up Ospreay-Ibushi at WK.

[El-P]

3 hours ago, Boss Rock said:

Taichi-Ospreay

Nice. I actually look forward to this more than Goto vs Ibushi, simply because it's probably gonna be more *fun*.

[WingedEagle]

6 hours ago, Boss Rock said:

Along with Goto-Ibushi for the NEVER title they're doing Taichi-Ospreay for a title shot, which I imagine sets up Ospreay-Ibushi at WK.

Let's hope.  A bit worried they could shoehorn Goto in and make it a threeway.

Anything worth checking out on this tour yet?  I popped in for a couple of the Tana/Okada tags, which were all fine, but have yet to hear of anything in the tag league that is appointment viewing.

[Migs]

4 hours ago, WingedEagle said:

Let's hope.  A bit worried they could shoehorn Goto in and make it a threeway.

Anything worth checking out on this tour yet?  I popped in for a couple of the Tana/Okada tags, which were all fine, but have yet to hear of anything in the tag league that is appointment viewing.

If I'm picking one match, Taichi/Sabre vs. LIJ. Taichi/Sabre also had good matches with Page/Takahashi and Suzuki/Iizuka. Best Friends vs. GOD was also pretty fun. 

[Boss Rock]

5 hours ago, WingedEagle said:

Let's hope.  A bit worried they could shoehorn Goto in and make it a threeway.

Anything worth checking out on this tour yet?  I popped in for a couple of the Tana/Okada tags, which were all fine, but have yet to hear of anything in the tag league that is appointment viewing.

Not that I know of, I typically tune out during the tag league. But I agree on Goto. Like he's decent, but not really the guy I would always give this sort of push to.

[Migs]

Ibushi-Ospreay is official, and no Goto (I guess he'll be in the NEVER six man gauntlet thing).

[superkix]

Bummed Suzuki isn't a featured player and will likely be stuck in the six-man bullshit. 

[NintendoLogic]

Taichi/Ospreay was awesome. By far the most Kawada-esque performance Taichi has ever turned in.

[El-P]

14 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said:

Taichi/Ospreay was awesome. By far the most Kawada-esque performance Taichi has ever turned in.

Damn, and now I really want to watch that match despite the fact I don't care for the card very much. Yeah, I noticed the Kawada influence before too when he gets serious.

[Boss Rock]

On 12/10/2018 at 5:59 PM, El-P said:

Damn, and now I really want to watch that match despite the fact I don't care for the card very much. Yeah, I noticed the Kawada influence before too when he gets serious.

I believe Kawada trained him.

[El-P]

And it showed. Excellent match indeed. Best match of the show really, which went down after that point (Goto vs Ibushi wasn't as good and the main event was just there, the Tongans aren't main eventers by any stretch of the imagination). 

[WingedEagle]

Everyone should check out yesterday's Tana/Ospreay vs. Golden Lovers main event.  Another outstanding tag from New Japan's singles crew.  While not exactly a focus of the promotion as these outings are never part of the tag title picture, the company has quietly put on a ton of spectacular tags this year.

[Migs]

Just now, WingedEagle said:

Everyone should check out yesterday's Tana/Ospreay vs. Golden Lovers main event.  Another outstanding tag from New Japan's singles crew.  While not exactly a focus of the promotion as these outings are never part of the tag title picture, the company has quietly put on a ton of spectacular tags this year.

Adding the Golden Lovers has really elevated these main event tag matches. Their matches with Ishii/Ospreay, Ishii/Okada, Cody/Page have all been excellent too, and I can't imagine another pair of singles guys reaching this consistent a level in tags.

[El-P]

Definitely gonna watch those Korakuen shows in the days to come.

I didn't realize until now, but on paper the Tokyo Dome line-up is absolutely insane.

[WingedEagle]

2 hours ago, El-P said:

Definitely gonna watch those Korakuen shows in the days to come.

I didn't realize until now, but on paper the Tokyo Dome line-up is absolutely insane.

IN-SANE.

You can be selective on the Korakuen shows.  Night 2 main event is required viewing, and I enjoyed the young lions opener because its fun to see them get a chance to go that ong, but beyond that go for whatever looks appealing.  Nothing else is really required.