strobogo Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 Sucks that the Sasha thing fell pretty flat in all aspects. The name is very TNA meme, promo style did not translate at all, and the move was botched. Personally, the thing that was the biggest disappointment to me was that the match with Kairi is going to be in the US. I have absolutely zero interest in any of the US based NJ shows and did have interest in seeing Sasha go full joshi in Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 9, 2023 Report Share Posted January 9, 2023 Omega vs Ospreay : ∞ stars at the Tokyo Dome. You shall end pro-wrestling now. It has peaked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted January 11, 2023 Report Share Posted January 11, 2023 Say what you want about her promo, she is definitely a draw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 11, 2023 Report Share Posted January 11, 2023 (that's Mercedes doggo, for those who wonder. I can't imagine what the pro-wrestling nerd in her was feeling... "Jushin fucking Liger is playing with my dog !") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dav'oh Posted January 12, 2023 Report Share Posted January 12, 2023 NJPW running this pub in Melbourne in Feb. It's NJPW Tamashii, NJPW talents, New Zealand dojo workers and the "best of Australasia". Not expecting Okada as the Meet and Greet is US$16.30. Maybe Douki and Honma at those prices. US$55 for ringside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted January 21, 2023 Report Share Posted January 21, 2023 The Okada/Kiyomiya brawl sheeeeesh, if that match isn't stiffer than Okada/Shibata, water we dune Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted January 22, 2023 Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 I love Okada going really old school with a similar outfit of his 09' matches against NOAH guys. Now he's beating the fuck out of someone else other than Sugi but that Kitoyima stuff took me back to when Okada showed everyone he had next. It also had that "wait, what is going on" vibe KENTA and Nagara had in that early 10's tag match. Soooo happy to see interpromotional fuckery back in our lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted January 22, 2023 Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 On 1/21/2023 at 1:32 PM, strobogo said: The Okada/Kiyomiya brawl sheeeeesh, if that match isn't stiffer than Okada/Shibata, water we dune I hope it isn't hehehe But Kiyomiya looked great there. Give me fed-up, grumpy Okada as much as possible please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 23, 2023 Report Share Posted January 23, 2023 23 hours ago, Jmare007 said: I love Okada going really old school with a similar outfit of his 09' matches against NOAH guys. Actually, he debuted the "all black" outfit at the Tokyo Dome as a tribute to Inoki. But yeah, what an awesome angle, terrific execution, totally Maeda/Choshu inspired. There's nothing like puroresu interpromotional cards. I guess then waited for the cheering crowd to be back to have that actual legit interesting card after the so-so proposition las year. It's gonna be HUGE for Kiyomiya, facing Okada at the Dome under Mutoh's retirement match. That's a make or break it night in term of star making performance. You know Okada is gonna be the all-time great big match wrestler he is, so here goes everything for NOAH's great hope. It will probably be quite intense too. And speaking of intense, Takagi vs Nakashima was ridiculous. Nakashima is such a hard hitting mofo, and kind of a douche too (that horizontal choke spot), so there's nothing more satisfying that seeing him get hit really hard. Crazy that guy is only in his early 30's. Debuting at 16 and being really good early will do that to you. Kenoh vs Naito was very good too. Kenoh is certainly a mood. Not overly familiar ('ve seen a bunch of his big matches over the last few years), but he doesn't disappoint. Naito was his brillant self and gave a lot to Kenoh. He's really the perfect opponent for Mutoh's retirement, in more ways than one. This is gonna be big. The last of the Musketeers, the biggest star of all, the last of the mainstream generation and really, when I think of it, a guy I became a fan of as soon as I saw him on Eurosport in the mid-90's (I'm guessing around 93/94). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted January 23, 2023 Report Share Posted January 23, 2023 Honestly I thought Kenoh vs Kiyomiya was better than Okada vs White and was really digging the NOAH the reborn born again born reborn turbo production a lot more than NJ's. Muta show looks dope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 23, 2023 Report Share Posted January 23, 2023 Although this is not NJ, I'm gonna post this here. The Great Muta retirement match was everything you possibly wanted from a Great Muta retirement match in 2023. SO much improbably great elements, like Sting being a part of it (they played his old theme too, with stills of his matches with Muta), the fact Hakushi came to the 1995 WWF Hakushi music theme, Darby Allin getting over in Japan because of course he can, AKIRA doing an amazing 56 years old superfly splash, Hakushi being a ghost (he's been killled by Taker in 97 in a match announced by Sunny at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, gotta love pro-wrestling facts) and looking *exactly* like he did 25 years ago, Hakushi trying to one-up Darby in term of taking a death bump, Hakushi drinking his own blood, an exchange between Marufuji and Darby (a match between those two would be so awesome), the fact they brought Great Kabuki who did the nunchakus trick (despite really looking like a legit zombie now, aging sucks), Muta doing calligraphy with Hakushi's blood... In term of maximizing what everyone could do, and that's including in term of character presentation, you can't ask for more in a match were the second youngest guy was a frisky 42 years old youngster, as Gorilla Monsoon would say. Yeah, there was one blown spot toward the end, but after all it humanized the one character that did it, and he did pay for it quickly enough. I'm still stocked to having seen the Great Muta retire against Hakushi, another of my all-time favorites, teaming with Darby Allin, a current absolute favorite of mine. I am so lucky. Also, and it was very apparent already at the January 1st show, NOAH's production values are ridiculously great. The undercard also has a terrific Timothy Thatcher vs Mochizuki match, and also a women tag team match that was the very first on a NOAH card. Considering they'll do that again at the Tokyo Dome (Maki Itoh at the Tokyo Dome !), it's quite interesting to see if that will end up being a more regular feature on NOAH shows. They also had way more time to showcase their stuff than KAIRI and Tam Nakano had at WK. Well, bye bye to the Great Muta, legit one of the greatest character in pro-wrestling history. The career of this guy is absolutely fascinating when you stop and think about it. Now, one last stop and Naito's plate is something else, considering in what shape Muto is right now (he really looked banged up as hell after this match, despite doing really not that much at all). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 Absolutely no one is winning at life more than the Great O-Khan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted January 31, 2023 Report Share Posted January 31, 2023 Seems Ibushi is officially out of New Japan. His contract was supposedly up today and GCW immediately announced two bookings of him (he's gonna be in Bloodsport!) for Mania weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 31, 2023 Report Share Posted January 31, 2023 15 minutes ago, Jmare007 said: (he's gonna be in Bloodsport!) I'm there. I wonder if AEW would pick him up. Nobody knows what shape he's in. Obviously if he's even at 80% of what he was before, he's a no brainer. Plus the Omega connection is obvious. If he goes to WWE, I can see him becoming a Nakamura pretty quickly. Having one great introduction, then cruising along for the rest of his career. That is, if he even gets the Nak star treatment to begin with, which is not a given. Of course he could stay in Japan too, but then again, would he end up in NOAH ? They sure need a shot in the arm after Mutoh's retirement, so that could be another nice catch for them. Especially if he's not physically able to do all the acrobatics he used to, the style there would allow him to just work hard hitting matches without having to rely on spectacular spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted January 31, 2023 Report Share Posted January 31, 2023 If they can book him immediately I can totally see Tony Khan making Danielson's final opponent on Feb 8th be Kota, man that would be incredible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 31, 2023 Report Share Posted January 31, 2023 3 minutes ago, Jmare007 said: If they can book him immediately I can totally see Tony Khan making Danielson's final opponent on Feb 8th be Kota, man that would be incredible. Did not even think about that ! And now I'm gonna be disappointed if that doesn't happen. What have you done ? (that being said, he better SIGN the guy before having him on TV. They screwed themselves already with Dragon Lee, there's no need to do the same mistake twice, especially not with Ibushi, who's on another level altogether) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted January 31, 2023 Report Share Posted January 31, 2023 I just don't think Kota is signing with anyone anytime soon. My guess is that he's gonna be a freelancer for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 1, 2023 Report Share Posted February 1, 2023 Ok. Against Mike Bailey (who's meeting Vikingo at Janella's Spring Break BTW). My Mania week-end is already done. Won't get better than this. Meanwhile, and although it was not a given Ibushi would even be back form his injury, NJPW still loses him and Jay White in a matter of weeks. That's two main eventers (not to mention Bronson Reed in whom they saw great potential obviously). Hopefully that triggers some interesting pushes to refresh the top of the cards, they will badly need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 5, 2023 Report Share Posted February 5, 2023 Taichi is an interesting case of late blooming. Not that he wasn't good before, but his gimmick wasn't conducive to have good matches. And in the last few years, he became El Hijo del Kawada. That Will Ospreay match was almost entirely focused on that aspect too. Terrific match, of course (Ospreay vs a quality opponent is at worst very good), but it's not like it was an Ospreay carry job either. Some of the selling by Taichi toward the end was beautiful. Shota Umino's matches being reffed by his own father is quite the X factor in what it could mean for future storylines (and I mean intra-matches storylines). He's clearly not there yet, but overall he surely did good for a huge match, main eventing against his idol Naito. I'd be mean if I said that right now he's looking more like Akira Nogami than Keiji Mutoh, but he's got a way to go and plenty of time. Speaking of Mutoh, he basically has no legs left after he injured both in his last Muta match. Naito is in for a tough ride to make it enjoyable, probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ma Stump Puller Posted February 5, 2023 Report Share Posted February 5, 2023 Apparently NOAH tried to make Rock a offer to be Muto's final opponent, which while that would've been awesome purely for the crazy visual of such a matchup, It would've probably ended with both of them shattering into a million pieces in the first minute lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 5, 2023 Report Share Posted February 5, 2023 That would have been insane ! And really now, The Rock owes quite a bit to Mutoh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted February 6, 2023 Report Share Posted February 6, 2023 Kota Ibushi is fighting Manny Pacquiao, bubbas. He might as well be challenging Jake Paul on a post-fight promo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 12, 2023 Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 Tanahashi vs Okada in San Jose. That's a nice fan service match for sure. Without his front teeth, Tanahashi now has the Kawada smile. That ages him about ten years. Okada vs Takagi was one of those "we've seen it before, yet it was a wonderful display of pro-wrestling" match. Tama Tonga sure has become an interesting late bloomer, excellent match against a serious El Phantasmo. Jay White made Hikuleo look better than he ever had, and probably will in a long time. Bittersweet great performance, as his goodbye to NJPW. Him checking Tanahashi on commentary was pretty significant. Whoever gets him gets a prodigious pro-wrestling mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted February 12, 2023 Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 I am all about this. Dickhead Okada is the best Okada. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted February 13, 2023 Report Share Posted February 13, 2023 Was Kevin Dunn operating the cameras? Holy shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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