Current New Japan

[Mini Bennett]

Striker was bordering on unbearable on color during his WWE run for sure. At least half the issue there was that he was essentially working with two other color guys at the desk and they were tripping all over each other. Lawler was faced with the impossible task of having to reign in both Striker and heel Cole. If he had a competent Play-by-Play guy to work with during that time period I don't think he'd have as many critics.

 

Anyway, I find him decidedly less irritating on Play-by-Play for Lucha Underground.

 

I agree that Nigel would be fine doing color. He is worlds better than Corino in ROH in that position.

Yeah, I'm surprised by the amount of supporters Corino has honestly. I remember thinking at the time Nigel being sent out to call the NJPW/ROH Hammerstein show main event was a God send.

[Petey]

Didn't Bill Simmons do a journal during a WrestleMania a few years ago which had overwhelming notes about Striker's awfulness?

 

I think JR and Tenay would be a good combination.

 

JR and Cornette would be too southern...

[Timbo Slice]

Could Shelton Benjamin work?

[cm funk]

Isn't there an issue with ROH guys being on the show and the American PPV broadcast due to ROH contracts and their own PPV stuff? I haven't been following it too closely, but I know it was talked about as a potential issue by Meltzer pretty recently. If that's the case it's a hangup with Nigel doing PPV, but maybe it was cleared up since last I heard about it

 

As for Tenay, it sounds like everyone in TNA is in a holding pattern right now. Tenay has been there a long time and is office as well as on-screen talent. I have no idea what his contract is like, but he's probably made a good living in the company. Meltzer said his contract is up soon. I'd hope if this was something Tenay wanted to do and he was going to get paid for it while TNA is essentially dark that they'd let him do it, but TNA has been fickle in the past when it comes to these things. I don't think Jarrett/GFW should be waiting around for Tenay with all the uncertainty/stupid politics that would be involved

[Coffey]

I feel like I have already seen Tanahashi Vs. Okada so many times, that I don't really want to see it anymore. Even if all the match have at least been good. I'm clamoring for the likes of Nakamura, Ishii & Shibata to get a chance to shine at the top. Still questioning the decisions of the G1 Climax.

[Coffey]

Nakamura Vs. Shibata from Power Struggle any good?

[KrisZ]

WON said that Ross was/is pushing for Chael Sonnen to be his color guy...........UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[jushin muta liger]

What about Bas Rutten? If you're gonna go that route with a MMA guy then get somebody who knows the Japanese culture and he would put over the Suzuki vs Sakuraba match big time.

[Blehschmidt]

So apparently New Japan is getting a TV deal in the states with the former HDNet, now AXS TV starting January 16th.

[jushin muta liger]

So apparently New Japan is getting a TV deal in the states with the former HDNet, now AXS TV starting January 16th.

And supposedly Mauro Ranallo and Josh Barnett will be calling that plus it will be mostly matches from 2014.

[BigBadMick]

Not sure if this is the best place to put this up but does anyone have match dates for the Fighting Spirit Wrestling series? Found out her http://fightnetwork.com/news/36883:fight-network-launches-fighting-spirit-wrestling-series/ that it was starting in March 2013 and seemed to run for one season. Here's the episode listings...

 

=Season 1 Episode 1=

[CMLL] 2-out-of-3-falls grudge match: Mistico vs. Volador

[NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Satoshi Kojima © vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

=Season 1 Episode 2=

[NJPW] Manabu Nakanishi, Mitsuhide Hirasawa, Riki Chosu & Wataru Inoue vs. Karl Anderson, Takashi Iizuka, Tamoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishi

[NJPW] GHC Heavyweight Championship match: Hirooki Goto vs. Takashi Sugiura ©

=Season 1 Episode 3=

[NJPW] "NJPW vs NOAH" match: Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW) vs. Go Shiozaki (NOAH)

[NJPW] Chain match: Takashi Iizuka vs. Togi Makabe

=Season 1 Episode 4=

[NJPW] Mistico, Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Averno, Gedo & Jado

[CMLL] La Sombra, Mascara Dorada & La Mascara vs. Alebrije, Olimpico & Psicosis

=Season 1 Episode 5=

[NJPW] Manabu Nakanishi, Takao Omori & Koji Kanemoto vs. Akira, Jyushin "Thunder" Lyger & Masahiro Chono

[CMLL] Olimpico vs. Hijo del Fantasma

[NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Shinsuke Nakamura ©

=Season 1 Episode 6=

[CMLL] Mascara Dorada, La Mascara & La Sombra vs. Alebrije, Psicosis & Olimpico

[NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Togi Makabe vs. Satoshi Kojima ©

=Season 1 Episode 7=

[NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

[NJPW] Tama Tonga, Tiger Mask IV, Tomoaki Honma & Wataru Inoue vs. Gedo, Jado, Tomohiro Ishii & Yujiro Takahashi

=Season 1 Episode 8=

[NJPW] Koji Kanemoto & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kenny Omega & Taichi

[NJPW] IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi) © vs. Averno & Ultimo Guerrero

[NJPW] Mistico & Tiger Mask IV vs. Okumura & Tomohiro Ishii

=Season 1 Episode 9=

[CMLL] Angel Azteca, Angel de Plata & Angel de Oro vs. Cancerbero, Raziel & Virus

[NJPW] "NJPW vs NOAH" match: Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW) vs. Go Shiozaki (NOAH)

=Season 1 Episode 10=

[NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Keiji Muto ©

=Season 1 Episode 11=

[NJPW] TAJIRI vs. Toru Yano

[CMLL] Tiffany, Estrellita & Marcela vs. Princesa Sugehit, Princesa Blanca & Amapola

[NJPW] IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match: Tiger Mask IV vs. Mistico ©

=Season 1 Episode 12=

[NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs. Hirooki Goto

=Season 1 Episode 13=

[NJPW] Jyushin "Thunder" Lyger, Kushida, Mascara Dorada & Tiger Mask IV vs. Atlantis, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Valiente

[NJPW] 3-way hardcore tag team match: NO LIMIT (Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro) vs. Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson) vs. Team 3D (Brother Devon & Brother Ray)

=Season 1 Episode 14=

[CMLL] La Mascara, Maximo & Sangre Azteca vs. Dragon Rojo Jr., Misterioso Jr. & Texano Jr.

[NJPW] Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Giant Bernard

=Season 1 Episode 15=

[NJPW] TNA World Heavyweight Championship match: Tetsuya Naito vs. Jeff Hardy ©

[CMLL] 10-minute time-limit "lightning" match: Polvora vs. Rush

[NJPW] IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) vs. Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi) ©

=Season 1 Episode 16=

[CMLL] Magnus, Guerrero Maya Jr. & Fuego vs. Tiger, Doctor X & Loco Max

[NJPW] Takashi Sugiura & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada

=Season 1 Episode 17=

[NJPW] "AJPW vs NJPW" tag team match: Masayuki Kono & Masakatsu Funaki (AJPW) vs. Blue Justice Army (Wataru Inoue & Yuji Nagata) (NJPW)

[CMLL] Rush, Strong Man & La Sombra vs. Misterioso Jr., Texano Jr. & Psicosis

=Season 1 Episode 18=

[NJPW] Manabu Nakanishi, Masahiro Chono, Riki Choshu & Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano

[NJPW] IWGP Tag Team Championship 3-way match: Muscle Orchestra (Manabu Nakanishi & Strong Man) vs. Beer Money (Robert Roode & James Storm) vs. Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson) ©

=Season 1 Episode 19=

[NJPW] "NJPW vs NOAH" tag team match: Koji Kanemoto & Yuji Nagata (NJPW) vs. Atsushi Aoki & Go Shiozaki (NOAH)

[NJPW] IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match: Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) © vs. Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi)

=Season 1 Episode 20=

[CMLL] Mascara Dorada, La Sombra & Mistico vs. Dragon Rojo Jr., Ultimo Guerrero & Atlantis

[NJPW] "NJPW vs NOAH" tag team match: Hirooki Goto & Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW) vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Takashi Sugiura (NOAH)

=Season 1 Episode 21=

[NJPW] IWGP Intercontinental Championship match: Toru Yano vs. MVP ©

[CMLL] 10-minute time-limit "lightning" match: Polvora vs. Rush

[NJPW] IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match: Low-Ki vs. Tiger Mask IV ©

=Season 1 Episode 22=

[NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada ©

[NJPW] "NJPW vs TNA" tag team match: Akira & Masahiro Chono (NJPW) vs. Beer Money (James Storm & Robert Roode) (TNA)

=Season 1 Episode 23=

[NJPW] CMLL World Welterweight Championship match: Mistico © vs. Mephisto

[NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Takashi Sugiura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi ©

=Season 1 Episode 24=

[CMLL] Blue Panther, Brazo de Plata & La Sombra vs. Averno, Taichi & Mephisto

[NJPW] IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match: Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi) vs. No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards & Rocky Romero)

=Season 1 Episode 25=

[CMLL] Hijo del Fantasma, Toscano & Brazo de Plata vs. Atlantis, Dragon Rojo Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero

[NJPW] Captain New Japan & Tama Tonga vs Kyosuke Mikami & Tomoaki Honma

[NJPW] Hirooki Goto vs. Masato Tanaka

=Season 1 Episode 26=

[NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Minoru Suzuki vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi ©

[NJPW] Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue vs. Jyushin "Thunder" Lyger & Takuma Sano

=Season 1 Episode 27=

[NJPW] Jun Akiyama, Manabu Nakanishi & Satoshi Kojima vs. Keiji Muto, Kenta Kobashi & Masahiro Chono

=Season 1 Episode 28=

[NJPW] Kazuchika Okada vs. TAJIRI

[CMLL] 10-minute time-limit "lightning" match: Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Valiente

[NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura ©

=Season 1 Episode 29=

[NJPW] Giant Bernard vs. Minoru Suzuki

[NJPW] TAJIRI vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

=Season 1 Episode 30=

[CMLL] La Mascara, Mascara Dorada & La Sombra vs. Ephesto, Averno & Mephisto

[NJPW] IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match: Kota Ibushi vs. Prince Devitt ©

=Season 1 Episode 31=

[NJPW] Mitsuhide Hirasawa, Super Strong Machine & Wataru Inoue vs. Jyushin "Thunder" Lyger, Kazuchika Okada & Koji Kanemoto

[CMLL] Magnus, Angel de Plata & Rey Cometa vs. Bobby Zavala, Skandalo & Loco Max

[NJPW] CMLL World Welterweight Championship match: Ryusuke Taguchi © vs. Mascara Dorada

[El McKell]

Nakamura Vs. Shibata from Power Struggle any good?

It's fine, but it's way worse than the match they had during the G-1

[stomperspc]

Josh Barnett is wrestling( or perhaps just appearing given his UFC Contract) at the IGF Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye New Year's Eve show. Seems like it would make sense for NJPW to get him to extend his stay in Japan for a few more days to do commentary on the Tokyo Dome show with Ross. Not that they necessarily care, but it would also allow for some synergy between the US PPV and ASX TV show to have Barnett on color for both. Ross gets his MMA color commentator but one that has more familiarity with both New Japan and pro wrestling. I think that could be a decent broadcast team.

[Loss]

I split off all the talk about NJPW World into its own thread. Please post any conversation about that in the new thread. Thanks.

[TRMD]

I didn't really think much about it when it was originally announced, but I think JR calling a NJPW show will actually get me to watch a full NJPW show for the first time in my life.

 

JR is a draw.

[shoe]

I got the NJPW World and think it's a tremendous service. As a fan i think I need to support things like this. I haven't watched NJPW on a consistent basis since around 2001. So with the service I started checking out the 2014 G-1. I feel this will help me get a feel for the wrestlers and the style of wrestling that is NJPW. One of the things I found real jarring was the forearm exchanges. I guess they do those instead of a punch exchange. I'm not saying it's wrong, just different. Are their other things I should be prepared for in my viewing? I really want to support NJPW.

[Coffey]

The trading stiff shots in the center of the ring trope will test your patience & be prepared to see it in pretty much every other match. The other thing that grates my nerves lately, which has been mentioned here a couple different times, is the use of one-counts late into a match. Call it "fighting spirit" or whatever you want, it's straight up no-selling to me & completely takes me out of a match. Thankfully, it's not used to the degree the trading blows is.

 

Also, the majority of the undercard, so the first half of each show or so, are just awful. There's a lot of guys that get a lot of TV time that are the drizzling shits. Captain New Japan, Sakuraba, Lance Archer, Iizuka, Yano, Takahashi, Taichi... your mileage may vary.

[soup23]

I got the NJPW World and think it's a tremendous service. As a fan i think I need to support things like this. I haven't watched NJPW on a consistent basis since around 2001. So with the service I started checking out the 2014 G-1. I feel this will help me get a feel for the wrestlers and the style of wrestling that is NJPW. One of the things I found real jarring was the forearm exchanges. I guess they do those instead of a punch exchange. I'm not saying it's wrong, just different. Are their other things I should be prepared for in my viewing? I really want to support NJPW.

A lot of guardrail irish whips. Going through the 2014 G-1, I started a counter and almost every match had at least 1.

[Grimmas]

I got the NJPW World and think it's a tremendous service. As a fan i think I need to support things like this. I haven't watched NJPW on a consistent basis since around 2001. So with the service I started checking out the 2014 G-1. I feel this will help me get a feel for the wrestlers and the style of wrestling that is NJPW. One of the things I found real jarring was the forearm exchanges. I guess they do those instead of a punch exchange. I'm not saying it's wrong, just different. Are their other things I should be prepared for in my viewing? I really want to support NJPW.

Viewing the G1 from 2014 will be about the best NJPW.

[pol]

 

I got the NJPW World and think it's a tremendous service. As a fan i think I need to support things like this. I haven't watched NJPW on a consistent basis since around 2001. So with the service I started checking out the 2014 G-1. I feel this will help me get a feel for the wrestlers and the style of wrestling that is NJPW. One of the things I found real jarring was the forearm exchanges. I guess they do those instead of a punch exchange. I'm not saying it's wrong, just different. Are their other things I should be prepared for in my viewing? I really want to support NJPW.

A lot of guardrail irish whips. Going through the 2014 G-1, I started a counter and almost every match had at least 1.

 

 

Often followed by a double count out tease

[ohtani's jacket]

 

 

I got the NJPW World and think it's a tremendous service. As a fan i think I need to support things like this. I haven't watched NJPW on a consistent basis since around 2001. So with the service I started checking out the 2014 G-1. I feel this will help me get a feel for the wrestlers and the style of wrestling that is NJPW. One of the things I found real jarring was the forearm exchanges. I guess they do those instead of a punch exchange. I'm not saying it's wrong, just different. Are their other things I should be prepared for in my viewing? I really want to support NJPW.

A lot of guardrail irish whips. Going through the 2014 G-1, I started a counter and almost every match had at least 1.

This happens in all those 90s All Japan matches.

[Coffey]

This appears to be the card for Wrestle Kingdom:

 

Due to a combination of injuries and time constraints, this is the Tokyo Dome lineup for 1/4:

 

New Japan Rumble - No names were announced. This is likely a preshow match to get everyone on the card

 

Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish defend the IWGP jr. tag titles against Alex Shelley & Kushida, The Young Bucks and Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov

 

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Bad Luck Fale & Jeff Jarrett

 

Toru Yano & mystery partner vs. two members of Suzuki-gun

 

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Minoru Suzuki in UWF rules

 

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe for the Never Open weight title

 

Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP jr. title

 

Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata for the IWGP tag team titles

 

A.J. Styles vs. Tetsuya Naito

 

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi for the IC title

 

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP heavyweight title

 

******************

 

Jr. Tag, Ishii/Makabe, Styles/Naito, Nakamura/Ibushi & Tanahashi/Okada all look good to me. With JR on PBP. Should be fun.

 

[shoe]

A thing which I think is cool, but i'd wish they limit it to one match a show is the lariat block.

[Mini Bennett]

So, apparently tomorrow Jeff Jarrett is going to announce Matt Striker will be doing colour commentary alongside Jim Ross for Wrestle Kingdom 9. Not my first choice, but you can probably count me as one of the few who is fine with Striker calling the show.

[shoe]

I finished watching Destruction in Kobe and this was a great show. NJ really knows how to to build a card to maximize all the wrestlers, and maximizing their impact. I'm just going to do some quick notes on each match.

 

Young Bucks and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Forever Hooligans and Tomohiro Ishii 3*

 

This is a fun sprint of a match. They cram a lot in for the time they got. I thought this was a good opener.

 

Alex Shelley, Maximo and Bushi vs. Taichi, Desperado and Taka Michinoku N/R

Seemed more like an angle. It went 3 minutes.

Jushin Thunder Liger, Tomoaki Honma, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Tiger Mask and Captain New Japan 2 3/4*

This was a real blast. It was total chaos and everyone is paired off. We get hot moves and is a real crowd pleaser. We get a Honma pinfall which the crowd loves.

Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Minoru Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka 1 1/2*

This is a match that gets booked a lot. Sakuraba and Suzuki really looked here.

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Kushida © vs. Ryusuke Taguchi 4 1/4*

This was really good. It was fast paced and all the submission work was a ton of fun. The finish was real cool as well.

Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito vs. Tama Tonga and AJ Styles 3 1/2*

This was another hot match. These guys got more time so we got to see things develop and get proper payoffs. AJ is looking great in NJ so far.

IWGP Tag Team Championship: Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi vs. Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson 3 1/2*

This is another good one. This one had a real good structure to it. The Bullet Club members have good double teams move. Plus they have a bad ass aura about them. Okada of course is Okada.

Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto 4 1/4 *

What a war. These guys kicked the shit out of each other. You really got sucked into it. Plus the jaw story of Makabe was good stuff. The finish was a real battle and sucked you in. Great match.

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi 3 3/4*

This was a good match. Meltzer gave it 5 * and it's got some MOTY traction around the net. Obviously, I didn't feel it at the MOTY level. Still it was good.

WGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bad Luck Fale 4*

Nakamura has so much charisma. He's like the Jim Morrison of NJPW. This was tremendous. Nakamura got more out of Fale than anyone could. This told a story and was laid out well. Fale using his weight and working the back was done really well. Nakamura's timing on his comebacks were perfect. They had a strong body and built to a hot finish. I can't put over how huge it was to get this out of Fale.