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46 minutes ago, El-P said:

Omega leaving NJPW sucks. Hope he's going the AEW route at least.

Watch Kushida be wasted as all hell in WWE.

Eh, it's not like KUSHIDA had a lot more to do in New Japan. Even a failed WWE run will give him a higher status in Japan once he returns. Shit, guys like KENSO and Yoshitatsu milked their WWE stints to this day to a way bigger effect than they should. KENTA got a Sumo Hall main event an permission by WWE to do it.

I like this move for him to ne honest.

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50 minutes ago, Jmare007 said:

Eh, it's not like KUSHIDA had a lot more to do in New Japan.

Understood, but Japan pro-wrestling never really worked that way. Guys used to spend their entire career in their own promotion. Maybe switched to another one for a while, but mostly it was a captive roster. And frankly, I'm speaking from a selfish point of view. I enjoy KUSHIDA a lot. KUSHIDA in WWE is gonna get GranMetalliked the fuck out. At best he's gonna be Tajiri. So there. KUSHIDA working iMPACT would be more interesting to me, him against Johnny, Cage, the lucha bros, Callihan, yeah, I can get behind that. The "WWE effect" to me is ridiculous, there's no way KUSHIDA simply working WWE should make him a bigger star than he was before to the eyes of the japanese audience. Oh, good for him I guess for trying his hand at something else. I just won't be able to enjoy his work, since I also don't want to watch WWE for many reasons. (if Omega shows up at the Rumble, it will be a super disappointing news to me)

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Omega hates WWE and would hate working there. Hates the ring style and how artless of an operation it can be. Him going would shock me more than anything in Pro Wrestling. Also:

Will eat humble pie if he goes to WWE but in the meantime, I suggest not to get taken in.

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2 hours ago, El-P said:

Understood, but Japan pro-wrestling never really worked that way. Guys used to spend their entire career in their own promotion. Maybe switched to another one for a while, but mostly it was a captive roster. And frankly, I'm speaking from a selfish point of view. I enjoy KUSHIDA a lot. KUSHIDA in WWE is gonna get GranMetalliked the fuck out. At best he's gonna be Tajiri. So there. KUSHIDA working iMPACT would be more interesting to me, him against Johnny, Cage, the lucha bros, Callihan, yeah, I can get behind that. The "WWE effect" to me is ridiculous, there's no way KUSHIDA simply working WWE should make him a bigger star than he was before to the eyes of the japanese audience. Oh, good for him I guess for trying his hand at something else. I just won't be able to enjoy his work, since I also don't want to watch WWE for many reasons. (if Omega shows up at the Rumble, it will be a super disappointing news to me)

I get your POV as a fan. But re: the bolded, I'm not sure working WWE = bigger star to the japanese audiences, but it does = more opportunities given by japanese promotions. There's countless examples of that, even for completes flops it has meant a boost in status or more leeway to do whatever the hell they want (like going freelance and/or getting financial backing to start their own little promotions).

I understand your disappointment as a fan though. 

 

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5 hours ago, El-P said:

Watch Kushida be wasted as all hell in WWE.

Yeah I'm pretty sure he'll not have weekly BANGERS with Buddy Murphy, Tozawa, Gulak or Nese.

He's surely making good money and he sure as hell loves being in professional wrestling, as his most recent interview indicates. Him having fresh matchups should be a positive thing. If he mixes up with some NXT guys, it's even better.

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1 hour ago, Jmare007 said:

I get your POV as a fan. But re: the bolded, I'm not sure working WWE = bigger star to the japanese audiences, but it does = more opportunities given by japanese promotions. There's countless examples of that, even for completes flops it has meant a boost in status or more leeway to do whatever the hell they want

Agreed. There has always been the notion of leaving abroad and coming back = bigger star in Japan, either WWE or any other company.

16 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said:

Yeah I'm pretty sure he'll not have weekly BANGERS with Buddy Murphy, Tozawa, Gulak or Nese.

On 205 live, where it means jackshit. KUSHIDA is a legit star in NJ, the biggest junior name of his generation. Yeah, he'll maybe have good matches in a context where nothing matters and no one care about this stuff. As far as making good money, hopefully for him because I doubt the 205 Live guys are making as much as he does in NJ now (well, maybe they do and WWE is just throwing all that Saudi money through the windows). More power to him like I said. I just won't see him work again and if I do, it would be in a context I can't stand, so… 

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I think 205 matches are the ones you would be enjoying the most.

Sure, it's WWE and you are vocal about not really enjoying the product, but I guess there is a consensus around here that most of the stuff is really enjoyable and really damn good. I would recommend giving it some time, it's more focused than the main shows.

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48 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said:

I think 205 matches are the ones you would be enjoying the most.

Sure, it's WWE and you are vocal about not really enjoying the product, but I guess there is a consensus around here that most of the stuff is really enjoyable and really damn good. I would recommend giving it some time, it's more focused than the main shows.

Two words : Saudi deal. The bad taste just won't go away yet. I guess I'd like to check out the Rumble "live" if only because it's always fun interacting on the board, and I'm interested in watching the top women matches, whatever they are (as long as Nia Jaxx ain't involved). And NXT has got some names I'm interested in because I used to follow them elsewhere. Anyway, that's not the right topic for this. ;)

As far as NJ goes, yes, Naito vs Taichi really appeals to me. I wouldn't be surprised these would be really fucking good and that their styles wouldn't clash (see what I did there) like with Suzuki last year.

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You can't really compare KUSHIDA's situation to KENSO and Yoshitatsu's. They were both young lions when they came over. KUSHIDA has been around forever and is pretty well established at his current level to fans and the promotion. It's obviously a different story if he becomes a star in WWE, but spending his entire run in the 205 Live dungeon isn't really going to do anything for his career prospects if/when he returns to Japan.

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5 hours ago, El-P said:

Understood, but Japan pro-wrestling never really worked that way. Guys used to spend their entire career in their own promotion. Maybe switched to another one for a while, but mostly it was a captive roster.

Times are changing in that regards, KUSHIDA's professional history is the best example (started in MMA training in Takada dojo, wrestled as free agent in Hustle, AJ and Osaka Pro, after wrestling in North America for a year somehow ended up in NJ). The New Japan roster is full of guys that somehow ended up there. Japanese guys on the WK13 main card, that did not train in the NJ dojo:

Ibushi (DDT -> NJ)

Bushi (AJ -> NJ)

Shingo Takagi (DG -> NJ)

Kanemaru (AJ -> NOAH -> AJ -> NOAH -> NJ)

Ishii (WAR -> freelance -> World Japan -> freelance -> NJ)

Sanada (AJ -> Wrestle-1 -> NJ)

Ishimori (Toryumon -> freelance -> NOAJ -> NJ)

Okada (Toryumon Mexico trainee -> freelance -> NJ).

That's much more than 50% (there were only 6 New Japan dojo trainees on the main show).

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2 hours ago, El-P said:

Right, things have definitely changed with the collapse of every big company save for NJPW. Which is why I used past tense. Ishii is clearly the most fascinating one of the bunch though, I remember him in WAR shows way back then. Who would have thought ?

I would put the point of change to 2000/01 when due the NOAH exodus, the WAR death, Inoki-ism at it's maximum and the ZERO-1 start the talent wheel started to turn quite quickly and weird jumps started to happen. New Japan nowadays almost is a WWE-light promotion where the start grabbing interesting talent from the Japanese talent pool (completely contrary to the indy-stench that used to dominate treatement of non-major-promotion talent until the mid 00s).

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9 hours ago, Captain Redneck said:

Is it true that the WWE has sent out feelers about Sanada's interest in leaving?

I'm sure someone's asked, they've probably kicked the tires on everyone in the world that has any name recognition. 

KUSHIDA will probably be a star on NXT, but that is most likely his ceiling in WWE. If he's lucky he could go to Smackdown and have a Nakamura like run, or he could end up on Raw and be Japanese Mojo Rawley.

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4 hours ago, SirEdger said:

From what I read, SANADA isn't really interested in a WWE run. So I guess NJPW won't have too much to worry about. Realistically, KUSHIDA might be the only NJPW guy jumping ship to WWE this time around.

Where exactly have you read that? Stories of Sanada wanting to go to WWE have been around for years, long before he went to NJ.

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  • 2 weeks later...

First night of Fantastica Mania at Korakuen was just a smooth two hours of fun pro-wrestling capped off by two terrific matches, Cavernario vs Soberano Jr. and the Family Tag Team Tournament Final (cool idea), Mistico & Dragon Lee vs La Sangre Dinamita (Sanson & Cuatrero). Gotta love the horns at the Korakuen Hall too. 

(on a side note, damn, Mima Shimoda on my screen in 2019. She's 48 and looks awesome btw. Is she still living and working in Mexico ?)

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On ‎1‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 12:28 PM, Robert S said:

Times are changing in that regards, KUSHIDA's professional history is the best example (started in MMA training in Takada dojo, wrestled as free agent in Hustle, AJ and Osaka Pro, after wrestling in North America for a year somehow ended up in NJ). The New Japan roster is full of guys that somehow ended up there. Japanese guys on the WK13 main card, that did not train in the NJ dojo:

Ibushi (DDT -> NJ)

Bushi (AJ -> NJ)

Shingo Takagi (DG -> NJ)

Kanemaru (AJ -> NOAH -> AJ -> NOAH -> NJ)

Ishii (WAR -> freelance -> World Japan -> freelance -> NJ)

Sanada (AJ -> Wrestle-1 -> NJ)

Ishimori (Toryumon -> freelance -> NOAJ -> NJ)

Okada (Toryumon Mexico trainee -> freelance -> NJ).

That's much more than 50% (there were only 6 New Japan dojo trainees on the main show).

I never knew that KUSHIDA wrestled in OVW.

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