Timbo Slice Posted February 12 Report Share Posted February 12 Yeah, seeing him celebrate with his kids was awesome. Crowd absolutely lost it for him. Felt like the old days a bit. Great start to the year for them. Hope they can keep it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dragon Posted February 13 Report Share Posted February 13 As great as the main and the Goto moment was, I feel like Tsuji/Kidd cannot be underplayed with how good it was and how hot the crowd was for it. I’m a rarity: I got into New Japan only recently, as I found the idea of a company this big losing so many top stars due to raiding and just aging out in rapid succession with no real plan for it fascinating, and I wanted to track how they adjusted, and who among their up and comers would step up, if any. Tsuji’s rise has felt “destined” but it was clear even as recent as New Japan Cup or even G1 he just wasn’t there yet, and I was begging for a heel turn by the end of the G1. But I think he really started turning a corner during tag league, the WK Finlay match was quite good, but it really felt like something clicked against Kidd. Not only did it feel like it clicked, it felt like you could see him realize it during the match, like this is the matchup that is going to take him to be one of true top guys in this company for years. That’s super fun to watch. Kidd, on the other hand, the rise feels shocking, out of nowhere, and company defining. He’s gone from a guy I didn’t particularly like, to a guy I really was starting to appreciate, to really good with lesser moments, to suddenly feeling like the clear call to be the cornerstone of the company for the next few years in about 6-8 months. He reminds me of a young Eddie Kingston in terms of just feeling very real in a wrestling world that is very fake. I genuinely am never quite sure what is character work and what is Kidd just being himself, but which is a huge quality to have. And him becoming the guy who wears the logo on the tights, saying the things the fans have been thinking and then backing it up in the ring is perfect. The Omega match was great, but so many people were wrapping that up as Omega being incredible (and he was amazing in that match, make no mistake) that Kidd’s part got downplayed. You can’t downplay the Kidd/Tsuji match though. As much shit as Gedo gets, and seemingly deserves, the decision to tell their 2 best up and comers go before the Goto title win, and just let them tear the house down and get the crowd in on them, even with no good finish is his best work in a very long time. If fans were there to see Goto get his one last big moment, they also got a pretty clear reason to want to stay for the rise of Tsuji and Kidd as well. And nobody cares about the non finish now, because Goto won, and the good will from that far out weighs it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul sosnowski Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 Does anyone know why Fantastica Mania is not being broadcast this year (except for the last two shows on Feb 27th & 28th)? I thought NJPW usually broadcast their house shows Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted March 12 Report Share Posted March 12 The Fantastica Mania show from 02/28 was so awesome. Maybe the most purely *fun* night of pro-wrestling of the year so far. Goto vs Tanahashi was a thing of beauty. I almost bought Tana winning. Goto going through Nagata will also be beautiful, most probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 And Nagata going for the title against Goto at 56 was indeed beautiful. But not as beautiful as Taichi's emotional match against his best friend ZSJ. I'm guessing David Finlay wins it all. Shota Umino doesn't feel like the right move now despite the so-called "redemption road", with him going bald and bland. Unless Finlay manages to get him over big by being a dick, which he's really good at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Rock Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 So much for Finlay leaving NJPW. Wouldn't be surprised if he wins it at Sakura Genesis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted March 25 Report Share Posted March 25 I like Finlay as a worker a lot. But Finlay IWGP World champ ? No way. Not after ZSJ and Goto's happy endings. My take : ZSJ wins the title back eventually during the year. Uemura or Tsuji win G1. (btw, Hikuleo has signed with WWE in Juy of last year. he has not worked a single match for them yet) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 22 hours ago, El-P said: (btw, Hikuleo has signed with WWE in Juy of last year. he has not worked a single match for them yet) Be patient. It takes a while to find and work the hard cam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 18 minutes ago, WingedEagle said: Be patient. It takes a while to find and work the hard cam. 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted April 5 Report Share Posted April 5 I truly hope this Goto run is being used to reign down on match length. All his title matches have been shorter than 25 minutes and I fucking love that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted Monday at 10:27 AM Report Share Posted Monday at 10:27 AM So NJ gave Jeff Cobb the tag titles in hopes he would stay. And he doesn't. Therefore, yet another guy who just vacates his title before going to WWE (that'll be the 4th one in a one year span basically). With the rumors of him leaving out there, why the hell would Gedo do this anyway while Cobb was not under contract anymore ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted Wednesday at 05:10 AM Report Share Posted Wednesday at 05:10 AM Naito and Bushi are also leaving in May. Naito's time to make a move to US wrestling long passed him imo because he is almost as busted as Tana, but I could see him just hanging out in Mexico doing random shows and once in a while pop up in AEW or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted Wednesday at 08:41 AM Report Share Posted Wednesday at 08:41 AM Holy shit ! That's the end of an era for sure. He had been my gateway to modern NJPW. It's insane to think he's gone*before* Tanahashi's retirement. And yeah, I don't see WWE or AEW showing any interest. The guy is *shot*. He's actually a lot more shot than Tana, who has showed he could still have some terrific matches on his way out. Naito being Mutoh leveled shot could end up in NOAH of course, but still. Bushi is the most never happening guy in NJPW this side of Yukihiro Takahashi. Well, he was better (yeah, hard task), but still I think I have never ever seen anything that I can actually remember from him. Apart from a bunch of cool masks. Maybe he was a cool junior worker years ago. I dunno. Anyway, maybe a blessing in disguise for Gedo, as now he just has to push the fuck out of the younger generation. He has no choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted Thursday at 04:40 AM Report Share Posted Thursday at 04:40 AM AEW announced they are doing a Grand Slam in Arena Mexico, I wouldn't be surprised to see Naito show up there for old time's sake (since his whole gimmick was based over being taunted by the fans in Mexico. I agree though, not sure where Naito goes from here. He's obviously trying to secure the bag at the end of his run, but he's way too old and busted to survive in AEW and no one past the Raw after Mania crowd will know who he is in WWE. Plus does he really want people's last image of him being whatever stereotypical Japanese gimmick he'd surely end up with? Maybe he just wants to spend his twilight years surfing with Nak, either way he deserves the big payday if he gets it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted Thursday at 11:57 PM Report Share Posted Thursday at 11:57 PM If MiSu managed to trick people get bookings then I'm sure Naito would be able to as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted Friday at 04:11 AM Report Share Posted Friday at 04:11 AM 4 hours ago, KawadaSmile said: If MiSu managed to trick people get bookings then I'm sure Naito would be able to as well. I don't doubt he can get bookings, but if he left New Japan because they wouldn't pay him what he wanted he sure as hell isn't going to get that kind of money doing random indy shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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