Current New Japan

[Luna_Bourke]

On 4/29/2026 at 11:47 PM, Boss Rock said:

Seeing that Roppongi Vice is wrestling tonight on Dynamite got a friend of mine reminiscing about Roppongi 3K and man, there's a distant universe somewhere out there where Sho got a proper singles push and became a huge star.

So many H.o.T members have had basically no good matches since they joined, and it is such a shame.

[El-P]

Jeff Cobb in the G1 in 2026 ? I mean...

[The Thread Killer]

21 minutes ago, El-P said:

Jeff Cobb in the G1 in 2026 ? I mean...

You clearly didn’t see any of his WWE work. He’ll only go if there is free catering, and then he’d get winded climbing the ring steps. That dude has fallen off HARD since the last time you saw him, let’s just say that.

I hate TKO with a passion, but I totally get why they released Cobb. He was terrible in WWE, and missed every opportunity they gave him. I literally could not believe he was the same guy I saw in New Japan and AEW years ago. I was actually excited when he signed…and then he showed up.

[El-P]

Yeah, I know but I really don't care how he looked in WWE. That's pretty irrelevant. Maybe WWE has ruined him like they do with so many people. Maybe he'll go back to Japan and be really good again because he'll actually be motivated again. He's not on the younger side either though. And sometime, WWE ruins people for ever (KENTA rings a bell ? Anyone heard of Gran Metallik lately ? Or, in the last few years ?). NJPW is the most logical landing spot for him (except he moved back to the US when signed to WWE apparently). 

[El-P]

Andrade winning the white belt and sending the US NJPW fans into disarray is kinda funny. Seriously, it was predictable. Plus, Yuta Tsuji has been overrated by both the fans and the company. He's not the guy. I mean, he's worlds better than the failures they have tried before these last few years (you know the ones, not talking about the great Goto/ZSJ wins, I mean the EVIL and SANADA's of the world), but he's not the next ace. I don't see it. Just switch toward Uemura already at G1. And then, you know the one eventually...

[WingedEagle]

2 hours ago, El-P said:

Andrade winning the white belt and sending the US NJPW fans into disarray is kinda funny. Seriously, it was predictable. Plus, Yuta Tsuji has been overrated by both the fans and the company. He's not the guy. I mean, he's worlds better than the failures they have tried before these last few years (you know the ones, not talking about the great Goto/ZSJ wins, I mean the EVIL and SANADA's of the world), but he's not the next ace. I don't see it. Just switch toward Uemura already at G1. And then, you know the one eventually...

Amen. If they ran with Tsuji when he came back and let him beat Naito right out of the gate he had a chance to be that guy. But they didn't, and he's not. It feels like Uemura is getting the next 15 minutes and if I had to I'd bet on Tsuji defending against him at WK after a Uemura G1 win. Ospreay vs. Newman feels like the big match at that show but there's no reason it needs the title. At least not the IWGP Title.

So we'll what Uemura can do when given a push unless its also too late for him. But let's get onto Yuto and Oiwa sooner rather than later. Its going to be a problem if we're talking about them in 2029 the way we're talking about Tsuji & Uemura today.

[sek69]

13 hours ago, El-P said:

(you know the ones, not talking about the great Goto/ZSJ wins, I mean the EVIL and SANADA's of the world)

Speaking of SANADA he just got revealed as the guy who stole the TV belt from Takeshita, so that's a program that is happening now. 

 

[El-P]

2 hours ago, sek69 said:

Speaking of SANADA he just got revealed as the guy who stole the TV belt from Takeshita, so that's a program that is happening now. 

Oh, great... They got Takeshita to work with Chase Owens and now SANADA. After he became an undercard joke last year. Wow. 

Yeah, I have zero faith in whatever Gedo's gonna do in the big picture next.

[sek69]

Ospreay, Henare. and Great O-Khan won the 6 man titles but Will wasn't happy at Callum Newman doing heel shenanigans to retain the big belt. 

[sek69]

They're basically redoing the angle from AEW when he was with Don Callis and didn't approve of their tactics either, which makes him look like an idiot for once again ending up in a stable he doesn't agree with. 

[El-P]

3 hours ago, sek69 said:

They're basically redoing the angle from AEW when he was with Don Callis and didn't approve of their tactics either, which makes him look like an idiot for once again ending up in a stable he doesn't agree with. 

Don Callis could do the funniest thing. I mean, he's a bit low on talent right now in the Don Callis Family with all the injuries...

[Control21]

If Yota Tsuji isn't the "guy," then I don't know who is. It's certainly not Umino. And Uemura isn't someone Gedo is going to push. I don't have much faith in Aaron Wolf at the moment, and that's entirely because of Gedo as well.

[El-P]

2 minutes ago, Control21 said:

And Uemura isn't someone Gedo is going to push. 

Yeah. Because Gedo is toasted as a booker.

[Jmare007]

Night 1 one of Dontaku did similar to last year (500 less people) and Night 2 did 1.8k less. Interestingly enough, they announced a No Vacancy for this year even though it was in the same place as 2025. I guess they set it up smaller and sold those tickets out. 

Agreed on Uemura being the best choice of this year's G1. The sad thing is the lack of options they have right now though, it's Uemura and basically no one else, unless they wanna keep punting shit and give it to a veteran or to Tsuji (which wont mean a thing, sadly). 

 

I honestly have no fucking clue how Gedo is still the booker. He's had the job for 2 decades, what's the harm in trying with someone else at this point?

[El-P]

1 hour ago, Jmare007 said:

I honestly have no fucking clue how Gedo is still the booker. He's had the job for 2 decades, what's the harm in trying with someone else at this point?

Don't give them bad ideas. With our luck they would give Dick Togo the book and EVERY match would be HoT shit.

But yeah. Remember when Rossy left Stardom ? Some feared the company would crumble because he's the only one who knew how to book it. And there comes Taro Okada, some schmuck from Bushiroad, and see what happened. He's basically what Carlos Silva *thinks* he is. 

[sek69]

Gedo has even lost Meltzer, who was previously his number one fan, after booking Tsuji to drop both his titles in about a month's time. His argument was basically "Maybe Tsuji isn't the guy but ffs you need to make *someone* a Japanese star" made me think he's another secret PWO reader. 

[Scarletlikesounds]

On 5/4/2026 at 9:48 AM, Control21 said:

If Yota Tsuji isn't the "guy," then I don't know who is. It's certainly not Umino. And Uemura isn't someone Gedo is going to push. I don't have much faith in Aaron Wolf at the moment, and that's entirely because of Gedo as well.

You just know Callum Newmans gonna bolt too when he gets offered an AEW contract next year. New year, same shit. I saw the argument on the Trish and Sarah podcast that this is a pretty normal thing around this year and that the reason Tsuji is losing the IWGP is because his real crowning moment comes later...but, no???? Just no. I mean I get that, but you have one guy who stands there and represents the company to the whole world and steps up to the plate and makes it mean something, then you have him drop it after a couple months to another clearly AEW bound guy. Frustrating.

[Control21]

33 minutes ago, Scarletlikesounds said:

You just know Callum Newmans gonna bolt too when he gets offered an AEW contract next year. New year, same shit. I saw the argument on the Trish and Sarah podcast that this is a pretty normal thing around this year and that the reason Tsuji is losing the IWGP is because his real crowning moment comes later...but, no???? Just no. I mean I get that, but you have one guy who stands there and represents the company to the whole world and steps up to the plate and makes it mean something, then you have him drop it after a couple months to another clearly AEW bound guy. Frustrating.

Yeah, I don't get it either. I know Newman is on a "multi-year" contract, but I don't have much faith that this will pay dividends for NJPW in the long run. They should have given the push to Oleg Boltin instead. 

[El-P]

And so I watched Don Fale vs Aaron Wolfe. And if you ask yourself "Why ?", I feel the exact same way. About everything that got involved in this (and yes, that means Chase "it is actually possible to have a shit match with Konosuke Takeshita" Owens).

[Boss Rock]

2 hours ago, El-P said:

And so I watched Don Fale vs Aaron Wolfe. And if you ask yourself "Why ?", I feel the exact same way. About everything that got involved in this (and yes, that means Chase "it is actually possible to have a shit match with Konosuke Takeshita" Owens).

Oh God that "V-Trigger" clip. It reminded me of all the folks circa 2018 who insisted Chase was this super underrated talent.

[El-P]

11 minutes ago, Boss Rock said:

Oh God that "V-Trigger" clip. It reminded me of all the folks circa 2018 who insisted Chase was this super underrated talent.

While not as comical, I would absolutely put it alongside the infamous "Tanga Loa chops Okada" gif.

[El-P]

Since I don't have to *only* be miserable, I also watched Andrade vs Tsuji (skipped Narita vs Boltin, thank you very much, Narita matches are like EVIL, only worse). It's funny, I came out of it with the exact same sentiment as with the Takeshita match at WK. Great match, Tsuji did great in it. His opponent was better. And more charismatic. Overall, more of a star. I dunno exactly what's missing for me about Tsuji. But Andrade her was just better. Better and crisper offense and timing, better bumping, more connection with the crowd I felt. In the end, him winning just feels right, because he's just better.

Not sure about that analogy, but Tsuji to me is kinda like in the Kensuke Sasaki territory. He can have great matches with great worker. But he's basically as good as his opposition. The difference being, Sasaki was mostly underrated his entire career (less so in the 2000's when he also got objectively better), while Tsuji is kinda overrated now.

Anywoo. I now need to see Andrade do the G1. He's such a great fit in Japan too.

[El-P]

Last three matches of day 2 were really good indeed, with the main event being really interesting as far as how far Callum Newman already is. The whole "better than Will Ospreay at the same age" really is not a gimmick, although you could argue it's also the fact he's a very different worker from what Will was at the same age. But there's a sense of maturity already in his game that is super impressive, reminding me at times of Jay White (although again, not the same kind of worker, at all really).

It's crazy how good him and Leon Slater are (although with Slater you would have to watch more his RevPro stuff than his TNA stint to really grasp how *great* he already is) and how the English post-Ospreay generation is following up his footsteps with a ridiculous learning curve. Who knows where they will be at 30 (and that will also depend of where they work, and yeah, Slater ending in WWE won't do him any good), but they have a good shot at taking this stuff to another level.

[Robert S]

On 4/30/2026 at 12:47 AM, Boss Rock said:

Seeing that Roppongi Vice is wrestling tonight on Dynamite got a friend of mine reminiscing about Roppongi 3K and man, there's a distant universe somewhere out there where Sho got a proper singles push and became a huge star.

Were they any good? When I was watching NJPW somewhat more regular when they were fresh as Roppongi 3K, I thought they completely blew. I also remember watching some Fantasticamania stuff from around that time and thinking how bad Raijin and Fujin were even before I realized who was under the masks.

[Boss Rock]

25 minutes ago, Robert S said:

Were they any good? When I was watching NJPW somewhat more regular when they were fresh as Roppongi 3K, I thought they completely blew. I also remember watching some Fantasticamania stuff from around that time and thinking how bad Raijin and Fujin were even before I realized who was under the masks.

I always thought they were a good tag team, but when they got the chance to work as singles wrestlers in BOSJ, Sho was always a standout I thought. Great offense and fire.