Jenalysis

At this point I think I'd like to see Taichi over there so he could get some decent respect. His fight against bad netplay in Fire Pro World is inspirational.

Couldn't it have made more sense to just hotshot it to Ibushi then have Ospreay ask for his shot?

Goto really seemed like a nobody with the NEVER belt. The only issue is Taichi looks like a poor man's Naito doing what he's doing to the belt.

They teased a Goto rematch, but Taichi said no to it and then cut off Goto's mic before he could respond. Today's matches were very good- especially the last 2. Ishimori was extremely good, and last one was LIJ vs Suzuki so I don't have to say how good it was.

Yano's over, and he's a great guy to have- as you can have him beat almost anyone without hurting them, and he can lose to anyone without ruining his crediblity. That's one really good thing NJPW does in general- their midcarders are credible enough to steal wins yet aren't hurt by losses to lowcarders. (See Ishii, EVIL, SANADA and Goto as well, though I wouldn't be surprised if Goto starts getting phased down the card into dad status soon)

From the sounds of it, he's injured, but no idea how bad. He did respond on Twitter. Hopefully he's able to be close to 100% against Taichi.

Who's going to be big Japanese star to step up- the only person who I can see doing it is Hiromu if he steps up to heavyweight and recovers fully (and he prob should step up to save him from himself at this point) They still got a few more years in Naito , though I think he's break glass in case in emergency at this point. I can see Ibushi having a small run, but I don't think it's going to happen. He's going to be one of the biggest what if stories of all time.

Bucks and Marty versus whoever holds the 6-man belts? (Guessing BCOG loses them at some point to somebody random)

The Japanese crowd really loves to chant for Marty. I don't know if he's over, or just the chant. KUSHIDA seems like junior Okada where he's respected but not loved. Hiromu is loved, and I think when he comes back it will be the moment of 2019 for NJPW. The question is when do they bring Hiromu up to HW? My guess is it will be part of an LIJ split.

Young Lion Cup?

has NJPW ever had someone step from heavy to junior? I could see Yujiro going down to junior again.

Will Ospreay seems to be getting it a lot more now. Starting to like him now.

Gary's booking also is a factor. He's one of the best bookers ever. I also think Gary had a good bit to do with Muta in a way never seen before, even if it's been argued Gary sabotaged Muta by convicing him he couldn't turn face.

I had a hard time buying ACH as a junior during BOSJ this year- he looked so much bigger than all the other juniors, and might even be bigger than some of the heavies.

even with one leg being worked over, and Okada's leg wasn't as worked over as Tana's, you still got one good leg to dropkick on. The selling was fine here.

His Naito match earlier this year was so much better. His NJC match with I think Tana was very good as well. If you want heel shtick done to perfection- on NJPW check out his match against Taka. They manage to go about 10 minutes without hurting each other. Larry Zybisco would be proud. Also, if Tana comes into WK with the briefcase, I fully expect him to win as his last hurrah.

Tana and Kenny are only 5-6 years apart in age. Would be more interesting if they were having a tug of war over someone younger like Hangman Page.

my guess is a junior beats Taichi for the NEVER belt- maybe KUSHIDA? Maybe Taichi knocks off a couple of juniors first. Maybe NJPW is going to try and elevate juniors by having Ospreay beat Ibushi and another junior beat Taichi?

PC version doesn't have NJPW stuff yet . but finding guys is a lot easier on PC

Do you think there's a chance Hiromu returns as a heavy? I've wanted heavyweight Hiromu ever since the CEO tag match.

I'm wondering , at least among the 35+ set, if the folks watching now were the folks who had those parties back in the day, who turned out/turned away from modern WWE at some point, and NJPW in some days recaptures what they liked about WCW when it was hot in the 90s. The attachment was always there, but it wasn't to WWE.

Why are folks not talking about the G1 Zack vs Ibushi match- that was one of my favorite matches of the year, and I'd have it in my top 5- just for how smart it was. If it counts: Lovers vs Naito/Hiromu match at CEO would be in my top 10.

It's an old Southern spot Chase Owens has brought into New Japan for the tag matches- remember seeing the rowboat done plenty of times in Crockett.

I do think there were a decent number of folks who were hitting both CEO and the G1 US Special from what I saw on twitter.

ZSJ gave a finger in his interview last night- so still thinking this isn't all that serious. Toning it down isn't a bad thing, but getting rid of it entirely is.