Evil Otto

SUSHI is completely acceptable in his current role. He found what works for him. As long as no one in All Japan starts to think (again) he's capable of having serious feuds or long matches of importance, I'm cool with it. Very much like YUJIRO in that regard.

I have to give Cody major props. Top shelf heel work from Wrestle Kingdom onwards. Really incredible. The main event last night was tremendous. I really think Marty made sure to wear white on purpose. Those details make the difference. Everyone involved in this storyline is nailing it, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that they realize that it will only truly work if the New Japan fans get it and fully embrace it. It was a really complicated story they were telling in the main, but they were making clear through their actions what has happening so that language barriers wouldn't matter and anyone could follow it. It's not dumbing it down, though; it's really smart, as it's more like they've figured out how to pull it off given the parameters. It's impressive. I'm enjoying watching it all unfold.

Yes, I know exactly what you're saying. I guess I've gotten used to that, because frankly, that's an issue I have with almost all two or three person podcasts. I had a similar problem with Chris Charlton and WH Park's podcast for the LAW. (Let's just say, I tend to side with both Charlton and Strigga far more often). Anyway, I still like the show because they do put in the work and it helps keep me up to date on stuff I simply don't have time to watch.

I listen to it pretty regularly. They provide quite a comprehensive overview of the current Japanese scene. Not just New Japan, but lots of All Japan, NOAH, Big Japan, joshi, and a bunch more. I'd say it's definitely worth trying out.

It's like they got overly enthusiastic and made an absolutely wicked A Block, then suddenly remembered they still had to make a B Block. Come on B Block, surprise me! I'm very much interested in what All Japan is going to do regarding the streaming service. If it's similar to New Japan World, count me in. The one thing that All Japan is lacking in is interviews, and a streaming service could really help in that regard. They have really strong, basic storylines and (usually) logical booking, so the more fans, other than the hardcore ones, can connect with the wrestlers in a more direct way, the better. By the way, tonight's card from Yokohama was really solid. The two tag champ matches were really great, and Joe vs. Kai was really fun to watch, but not an epic or anything. All three are worth your time to watch.

Yeah, that was a LIJ match that I felt I hadn't seen in a while. Complete chaos. It was if Naito was going out of his way to assure Rush that he was still a heel. Completely wishful thinking, but if Naito doesn't really need a belt, with the exception of the IWGP Heavyweight one, then him having a short run as tag team champion with Rush would be marvelous. (Sorry, Evil and Sanada.)

Strange, but matches number 5 on each night are the ones I most want to see by far. Soberano Jr.vs. Sanson? Yes, please. On a side note, it will be interesting to see if Volador Jr. is heeling it up more than usual while in Japan, as he is currently doing in CMLL. I'm fine either way, but it would be a cool twist if they went with it.

Personally, I think Kenou is great, and has pretty much always been good to great. Your question is quite relevant, as I can confirm that tonight's main event of Edwards vs. Kenoh at Korakuen was indeed, also pretty damn great. I'm not a big Edwards fan by any means, so a lot of that praise goes to Kenou, but to be fair, Edwards held up his end and I think I can finally say I might finally be able to enjoy this older, slightly more grizzled version of him. The match is pretty nasty and brutal, absolutely worth a watch, and if you like it, the matches versus Shiozaki and Nakajima won't disappoint either. Bonus points for tonight's match was the fact that Kawada was one of the announcers. Let's just say Kenou didn't go light on the kicks.

Wow, interesting. I had never heard that before until now. Surprising to think New Japan would let that happen, but then again, 2008, and the mid-2000s in general in Japan were quite a bit wacky in that regard.

What Belgian Waffle is referring to is a significant example of the All Japan/New Japan working relationship, that being Tanahashi's 2008 Champion Carnival run, which was AMAZING due to Tanahashi going full-fledged heel, essentially doing what Cena has still yet to do, if only briefly. The Suwama-Tanahashi match was an absolute blast to watch, really nasty and heated, or at least it seemed that way at the time. Worth a look.

"Big Match" Suwama is one of the best things in pro wrestling, period. At the very least, I would like to see him be invited to the Tokyo Dome before he starts breaking down, so yeah, preferably sooner than later. I have realistically low expectations of that, though.

Watched the last two matches of the 10/9 All Japan show, and man, all I can say is really great stuff! I know the booking of the last six months hasn't been perfect, but if they are making a concerted effort to show the fans that Ishikawa, Doering, Suwama, and of course Miyahara are the four top-shelf guys going forward, I say good for them. It's not so usual for me to comment on looks, but all four guys looked in tip-top shape, and I think it made a big difference. Again, it feels like All Japan knows they have momentum, more eyes on their promotion, that sort of thing, and the performers are reacting accordingly. Anyway, the last 10 minutes of Miyahara and Suwama is bonkers. I'm looking forward to watching Kotaro Suzuki vs. Koji Iwamoto next. Kotaro has been more of a heel since returning, which I find refreshing. Iwamoto is already quite impressive, and a guy who I think can greatly benefit from working with Suzuki.

While I certainly agree that the skull mask was the best look, it appears to me that they may be trying out different skulls for SANADA to wear, as odd as that may sound. In that sense, I'm interested to see where it goes, as it's a pretty clever idea. Stegosaurus skull? I'm in. With the reign he's had so far, it would make perfect sense for Okada to act more and more like a heel, and I think we've seen glimpses of it. Why wouldn't he? I like how they're not rushing it, though.

Milano Collection AT is definitely in my top 10, maybe top 5, in terms of "what if...?" performers who had to call it quits due to a career-ending injury. Potential main event level talent for sure. The first two generations of Toryumon trainees and the matches from those early years were brilliant. I haven't personally watched anything recently, but it was so innovative and the crowd atmosphere was so positive at that time, I'm sure it still holds up.

Yes, he absolutely does. The best word to describe it is that Milano acts aghast at the audacity of that man who cannot be governed, SANADA. How dare he?! It's great. The peak of it was a while back when SANADA did it directly in front of the commentators table in every match for about six months straight. Milano took it as such a personal insult, and it gave a more distinct, heelish character to Sanada.

Yes, history has been very kind to Marufuji. A lot of people really crapped on him at the time. But to be fair, Marufuji's style has gotten better with age. He was always a "tricky" worker, but now it's perceived as wise and clever. My apologies for simply summarizing what the posters above have stated so well and at length, but to me, what always bothered me about NOAH during that ten-year or so period is that there never seemed to be a legitimate passing of the torch. That's it, in a nutshell. Even with Morishima, I can recall them waiting too long and the fans giving him a lukewarm response. I can't really recall all the minute details, but how a company had so much talent yet still managed to not progress forward was extremely frustrating to watch. Of course, all wrestling promoters like to throw out that we as fans don't understand the backstage squabbles and injuries, and there is some truth to that, but one thing we do know is bad booking. The slow and painful decline in ticket sales backs that up.

I imagine the only way Kojima is winning that match is if they're furthering a storyline. I also thought the issue the last time was more directly related to friction between Suwama and Kojima, but it's been so long now, I'm really not sure. If Kojima puts in the effort like he did in the most recent G1, that match could be quite good. I've always been a Suwama guy too, so I'd really like to see him look strong with a convincing win here. While I understand why some people like him and why he keeps getting booked, with the heat he garners and whatnot, Taichi is slowly replacing Kanemaru as the wrestler who feels most like he's wasting my time. Even worse, they're both in the same faction. Jeez, I just remembered Iizuka's in Suzuki-gun as well. Holy crap, what a black hole of suck. Desperado looks like a million bucks in comparison.

If we end up with Naito and Omega in the finals, then add to all you've mentioned the fact that it was Omega who beat Naito in their final block match last year to advance and beat Goto. But the subtext to that makes it even better, as that was, to me, one of the best New Japan matches in the past few years, and way more than the final with Goto, Naito absolutely made Omega in the match. It was undeniably clear after that match that Kenny was a star, and Naito, the hottest star in the promotion at that moment, pretty much allowed that to happen. It's also worth noting that NJPW hasn't given away that match since then, either. Protecting marquee match-ups and long-term booking, what a concept. I guess I would be fine with Naito vs. Okada, but I'm not sure what purpose it would serve if Naito defeats him, as we already know Naito can beat Okada. The one remaining, and kind of intriguing, option would be for Okada to beat Naito and be the supreme ruler of all, perhaps even nudging towards more overt heeling during the encounter and in the post-match promo. That would be fascinating to watch. However, in that scenario, who would the next challenger(s) be?

Punq, and anyone else who's interested, since you seemed to truly enjoy AJPW's 2017, when time permits, I certainly can recommend going back one more year for Miyahara's entire title run. One of the best title runs in any promotion in recent memory.

Cool, I haven't seen it yet, but I'm glad to hear it will likely live up to my expectations!

Yeah, two outsiders for two years running does seem a bit odd, agreed. Although they could always turn that itself into an angle, which would then make it fine for me. Not sure if they will, of course. Honestly, while I get where you're coming from, I don't think Zeus was quite ready for that spot last time around, but I'm admittedly not so high on Zeus as others are. I am, however, a big fan of Joe, and would love to see him back near the top of the card, but I wonder if they're playing it safe a bit with him in this instance, testing the waters so to speak, given that he just recently came back from, no way to sugarcoat it, brain surgery. I'm extremely impressed with how quickly he got back into the swing of things, to be honest. I think in some ways they are simply awarding damn good workers here, Sekimoto and Ishikawa, and I have no problem with that. Now with the seed planted in my head after his victory, I think Ishikawa, of all people, could be someone who could dethrone Miyahara. Even without a belt (at least in All Japan), he has the aura of a champion. He's also semi-regular in All Japan at this point, and he completely delivers in every match I've ever seen him in. Miyahara vs. Ishikawa has the potential to be one hell of a match.

I think the most obvious difference between current All Japan and New Japan is the overall pace of the matches. All Japan matches tend to be slower and more methodical, and in a sense, more traditional. Perhaps due to budget concerns, there aren't all the extra bells and whistles that New Japan can employ to get fans hyped up for the matches, i.e. slick video packages and such, so All Japan has to rely on the in-ring performances to keep the fans' interest. You'll see more struggling, trying to gain leverage, wearing the opponent down, that sort of thing. It may look to the casual observer that it's second-rate and plodding at times, and in some ways that observation isn't wrong. Honestly, the premier athletes tend to go to New Japan, but there are plenty of great wrestlers in the other promotions in Japan (in fact, there are tons). That all being said, All Japan, again out of necessity, clearly has utilized an open-door policy for the last few years, so you'll see lots of random wrestlers show up, far more than New Japan. It's fun to see who will walk through the door next. Sometimes they can be total bush-league, but more often than not, there's something really intriguing about the random guys they give chances to. Anyway, everyone is working hard and it's clear they are collectively trying to keep the promotion moving forward, so I tend to watch it with that in mind, rather than be overly concerned with something being "next-level" or whatever, which is what I watch New Japan for. As far as whether it will ever get back to the glory days, it won't. The comparison is so far removed at this point, getting close to 20 years now, that it's irrelevant. I think if people just let that go, they can enjoy for what it is right now, a promotion which does the best with what it has.

It certainly looks to me like some recent bouts have gone well over 10-12 minutes. Maybe they're pacing themselves a bit more than usual? It would make sense, not only given what ReiseReise mentioned, but also if All Japan has observed what's happened with the G1 Climax for New Japan in recent years regarding injuries, and are actively trying to protect their workers in kind. They have a limited, but surprisingly healthy roster at this moment, so I couldn't really blame them if either or both of those points went into their booking decisions here. Honestly, I think All Japan appears to be in pretty good shape right now. They have by far the best Champion Carnival lineup I've seen in years, and sold out Korakuen to kick off the tour. Believe me, I've seen All Japan at some seriously low points over the years, but this year is not one of them.

One reason I've never been all-in on praising Minoru Suzuki over the years is precisely what you've pointed out. He's incredible when it comes to aura and dishing out sadistic punishment, no argument there. When it comes to selling, it really seems to depend on his mood. I suppose the feud is going to continue, but this match didn't really get me excited to see more. That being said, I felt Sanada and Yoshi-Hashi clearly had the second-best match that evening. They have a nice rivalry in the sense that Sanada should be able to beat Yoshi-Hashi in most cases, but Yoshi-Hashi seems determined to always be a pain in the ass about it before all is said and done. There's a small part of me that thinks that Yujiro can somehow still make the leap in improvement that Yoshi-Hashi did, but that sliver of light is getting dimmer and dimmer. Ahh, who am I kidding, I think that ship has long since sailed. He's just a lousy wrestler at this point. Juice had very little to work with. Omega-Ishii was excellent. Not much more to say. I could see Shibata taking this tournament, but giving it to Ishii would be so much more satisfying. I can't see him winning the G1, but he's certainly earned this potential accomplishment.

Oh my god, I envy you, you have a lot of wonderfully bizarre entertainment to catch up on when it comes to being up to speed with Naito. Enjoy!