Current New Japan

[Jmare007]

Incredibly happy that Aaron Wolf is for real, they have a guy that's already incredibly over and "gets it". So glad he showed proper fire and knew exactly when to play to the crowd. EVIL did a perfect job in the match as well, when the fans are so into it his shtick works because it feels like it has a bigger purpose than just be annoying. 

Looking forward to what Tsuji can do with the title. Really good match against Take and the crowd clearly wanted a title change so it was the right call. Feeding him Jake Lee is a tall task when it comes to selling tickets but they at least built him in during the show and he's a serviceable token title defense. I hope Gedo doesn't get other big ideas for Lee though, he's shown in every promotions he's worked in that he's nothing more than a midcard slimeball heel that's at best above average in the ring. 

Main event was mindblowing. How the fuck did those two pull off that match is beyond me, just so damn good at this prowrestling thing. Okada a perfect heel and Tana somehow finding a way to deliver an epic main event with his broken down body was incredible to watch.

The closing ceremony had me in tears a couple of times. When Shibata showed up, when Tana said he finally got to watch a sold out Tokyo Dome and in the end when he thanked that he got to love pro wrestling. Thank YOU, Ace. 

 

PS: Fuck WWE for not letting Nakamura show up tonight. It didn't hurt them to let the guy do the tribute at the end like Naito did. Takeshita wearing that tribute in his arm was a cool touch but man, he could've been there. 

 

[Timbo Slice]

I couldn’t actually believe the match I was seeing. They hit their usual notes and callbacks, but the ending, where Okada realized if he was going to bring the Old Man down he HAD to become the Rainmaker in the Dome if not for just a moment, was poignant as all hell. Everyone is gonna compare this to Cena/Gunther and it obviously blew it away, but it’s wild they had THAT match, and it’s the bigger story to me. The sneaky comparison is Okada/Kenny from All In last year, as it was clunky and felt like they wanted to do something different from what they usually do with the story/character beats (which was the wrong call). That was not an issue here. It was a marvel to watch and the last stretch, from when Tana locks in the sleeper to the finish, will be rewatched endlessly. 
 

The political reasons behind Nak not being there, but then Naito doing what Naito did, is hilarious to me. Especially with him being the last one to pay tribute (Tana tapping his nonexistent watch seemed more like a shoot than one would think); kinda took the wind out of my sails a bit, but the trip around the Dome was a nice touch, and they were sure to show Wolf being one of the Young Lions who was there pushing the cart. 
 

The fact the Boston Crab won a World Heavyweight Title match in 2026 fucking rules, and Okada trying to make Tana tap out to it was a fantastic touch. And yeah, they do have something with Wolf. Enjoyed the selling immensely, had stream issues so I missed the finish, but happy he won. You wonder if he gets a Supernova push given Tsuji is so clearly above his peers and they proved they weren’t on his level, but at the very least, NJPW is interesting in 2026. 

[sek69]

16 hours ago, Jmare007 said:

The closing ceremony had me in tears a couple of times. When Shibata showed up, when Tana said he finally got to watch a sold out Tokyo Dome and in the end when he thanked that he got to love pro wrestling. Thank YOU, Ace. 

I was okay until Shibata had to battle him one last time, then having to leave before 46,000 saw him get too emotional.

Also holy shit, Ibushi walking the whole goddamn Dome ramp with a healing femur may have been the toughest thing I've ever watched another human being do. 

[strobogo]

Wild how night and day the Cena and Tana retirements were. Cena got a 90 second video clip made up mostly of talking heads from interviews from over a decade prior and it was over in about 5 minutes.

Tana got his mentors, his mentees, generations in the ring to honor him, and an hour of speeches and waving goodbye to the entire arena and vanishing into the ether. Shame Nakamura couldn't have been there.

Having not watched NJ at all since last year's WK, I was a bit confused at the main event of last year's show in the opening match in a tag team battle royal. Did they give up on Shooter? 

[Boss Rock]

3 hours ago, strobogo said:

Having not watched NJ at all since last year's WK, I was a bit confused at the main event of last year's show in the opening match in a tag team battle royal. Did they give up on Shooter? 

Couldn't tell you for sure but apparently he got a ton of boos today at New Year's Dash.

[Jmare007]

Yuto Ice & Oskar vs Oiwa & ZSJ was the best tag title match I've seen in New Japan in forever. Just a great showcase for all three of the young guys, the crowd buying into Oiwa like crazy, Yuto showing he's comfortable as hell in a champion role and Oskar could be something special if he can work with people that can teach him (NJ should keep booking Shuji Ishikawa and should make a call to Sekimoto to take the kid to the next level).