Horangi

The Despe invitacional was something...maybe one of the craziest in a super fun way I've watched in God knows how long.

Semi finals are set!

Top 2 matches from last night I think are definitely contenders for match of the tournament. On paper, Block B looked really strong but so far I don't think anything had gone beyond fun until Hiromu vs Eagles which is my match of the tournament now. Both guys just went all out, better than their title match last year which I also loved. Desperado/TJP also delivered. Despe just has a knack for making anyone he is in the ring with look like a star (Akira last year, Fujita and TJP this year). TJP more than held up his end too...don't know where his future lies as a junior or a heavyweight but I can see a Jr Heavyweight title run if he sticks around.

Two really great matches tonight - Desperado/Fujita in particular felt really special. I don't think he's even making he final 4, but I certainly would not be against New Japan deciding to hitch their wagon on Fujita now, he has a connection that, Wato or YOH for example, did not have at this stage in their career. Hiromu vs DOUKI was great too, they just naturally gel together I think. Also really enjoyed Titan/BUSHI and Eagles/Moloney in particular. Overall it was a fun show with a hot crowd.

Surely it's not a case of EVIL being over in Japan but Gedo just refusing to back down at this point, right? The Twitter/Reddit meltdown how been hilarious though

Nemeth would be a great addition to the G1 if schedule/politics allow. The only real negative has been the lack of heat to his matches but I base that more due to the crowds just not being familiar with him. Also would love to see him mix it up with more New Japan guys - was really looking forward to the tag with Tana vs SANADA & Taichi until injuries and other changes happened.

SANADA off the All Together show, replaced by Taichi. I think this will be the first time the former Dangerous Tekkers members face off.

Block B is stacked! Always keen for Robbie/Hiromu matches. Robbie and KUSHIDA had a really good match in Ballarat a few weeks ago, looking forward to the rematch. Dragon Dia is certainly a massive upgrade from Taguchi

A list I quickly drew up, I have probably missing something very major. Vaguely in order - Zack Sabre Jr vs Bryan Danielson 11/2/2024 - Kazuchika Okada vs Bryan Danielson 4/1/2024 - War Dogs vs United Empire Cage Match 11/2/2024 - Okada/Tanahashi/Ishii vs TMDK 24/1/2024 - Tetsuya Naito vs SANADA 4/1/2024 - Yota Tsuji vs Hirooki Goto 20/3/2024 - Jon Moxley vs Shingo Takagi 13/1/2024 - Gabe Kidd vs HENARE 4/2/2024 - Shota Umino vs Jack Perry 12/4/2024 - Hiromu Takahashi vs DOUKI 24/2/2024

Apparently KUSHIDA is replacing YOH

There's also a fun looking Korakuen card with a LIJ vs War Dogs series featuring Shingo vs Clark Connors, Naito vs Drilla Moloney and Hiromu vs Shingo. KOPW is on the line on one of those Road to shows with O-Khan vs Uemura. I think Cobb beats Zack so Zack can properly move on to bigger things. I'm guessing most other champions retain, could see Hiromu finally getting a Jr tag run though.

Not a lot for me to add, I did enjoy the main event even though it was a bit slow at times. Tsuji I feel is made and doesn't need the big title win as much as say Umino would (similar to say Naito or Chono). My early guess is that Mox wins in Chicago --> Umino wins G1 and goes up against his mentor at the Dome. However if that was to happen, 2/3 of their non-Jr singles titles would be on foreigners who wont be on every major show so I'm probably wrong. Gutted for YOH, hopefully he isn't out for too long. He seems unlikely for Super Juniors so I wonder who replaces him. Thought MUSASHI would have been a lock but I guess he's booked with All Japan? My only other real thought is that I really wish one of the bigger companies (does not have to be New Japan even though I think he'd be a great fit and has history with Umino) would sign Ayato Yoshida, or at least book him regularly. He's really wasted in 2AW, and I worry he's just going to end up like Kengo Mashimo as a really talented wrestler who just never goes anywhere.

Night 1 in Sapporo is hard to defend even for a big New Japan mark like me. I will say I think the Nemeth/Finlay match is getting dragged down due to the 3 shitty matched ahead of it. It's not MOTYC but was certainly enjoyable. Nemeth cut an awesome backstage promo after. Apparently Tanahashi may have been hurt in the Riddle match, he's been pulled from tonight's show.

The main event was also quite good, especially, if true, Drilla Moloney was effectively working with one arm due to a bicep tear

Pushing Hiromu up would him losing the Jr Title without breaking the record make sense. I was so sure he'd break Tanaka's record. He'd surely be in their top 5 draw options at the moment. Problem is that it over-stacks LiJ again... This kind of speculation on who benefits and what will happen is really pumping me up haha! I might be the odd one out in that I'm really excited about the prospect of what could happen and the implications

This! Part of my argument that Okada leaving is not necessarily a total negative was that it opens a spot for the apparent "undervalued" such as Shingo Takagi or Hirooki Goto. And unlike the mid 00s they have so much more younger talent with a world of potential just waiting to break through. Zack benefits most from Ospreay leaving as, if he stays, would clearly positioned as the top gaijin. Based on their twitter reactions it looks like War Dogs are sticking around which is a huge bonus if correct.

I have a lot of thoughts about Okada leaving, might try get them together properly before posting them though... but damn... it won't kill New Japan and I think they went through worse in the mid 00s but yeah it'll be interesting to see what a post Okada New Japan looks like. The 6 man between TMDK and Okada's crew has been shifted to Korakuen on the 24th and in Osaka on the 11th he'll face Tanahashi in singles instead.

Not fussed about ELP or the GoD guys leaving, I just hope they've been able to keep hold of Zack and War Dogs. I do worry about the possibility of ZSJ leaving though with his recent relocation to LA from Tokyo. I'm not reading too much into none of them being on any cards beyond Osaka as the majority of the shows between Osaka and Sapporo are Fantasticamania ones. Between the poor Japanese economy at the moment and the company nearly going broke through the pandemic it's not a surprise that they'll probably lose a fair number of their foreigners (especially the higher paid ones like Cobb). Part of me does hope that a number of them do go as it'll either make New Japan focus on their younger guys or look at some other options for potential foreigner talent (the Velocities would kill it in the junior tag division). I could be completely wrong and the majority will re-sign, it will be an interesting few months.

New Beginning cards announced, unfortunately it looks like Riddle is getting a Japan run (at least one match) and not just STRONG. But in much bigger more positive news...Zack vs Danielson rematch in Osaka on the 11th of Feb! Also Shota vs Narita on one of the Korakuen shows as well as Nemeth/Finlay and a J5G/LiJ singles series to end the tour in Sapporo

RE VileOne's post: Thank you for that write up, only thing I kind of want to comment is that Uemura needed that win, Tsuji didn't. I still think Shota is the Ace of the group with Tsuji filling that Chono/Naito role as the uber charismatic anti-establishment guy who doesn't necessarily need the belt to be the guy. As for Dash...soooo much anger over Riddle. I have never seen a Riddle match so no idea what to expect, I only vaguely know about the speaking out stuff. Maybe it's just a one and done thing...(I hope based on the outrage) One other thing I noticed between J5G and LiJ was Taichi staring at the belt and squaring up with Naito before SANADA asked for a rematch. Taichi won their last singles match in 2021, maybe he finally gets a shot at the big one this year. As a TMDK guy, so stoked with how the main event went. Be a huge statement for Fujita if he can win gold before anyone else from his generation

A lot of negativity about the NOAH show last night due to the main event and some of the midcard was fairly average, but I hope people don't skip over Kenoh vs Soya and Ishii vs Kitamiya which I thoroughly enjoyed. The House of Torture 12 man was surprisingly fun too. Also watched All Japan today, had very low expectations for Dempsey's TC match but was pleasantly surprised. Don't know if he should have been challenging really, but he more than held up his end. Maybe not a great match but really fun.

I'll bite How much of 2023 SANADA have you watched? I'm not saying he's been amazing and a wrestler of the year candidate by a long shot, but there was a period between winning the New Japan Cup up until Dominion where he was really good and finally showing that spark and potential everyone has been calling out for from him. While not 5 star classics, the matches with Okada, Hiromu and Tsuji were great and well worth a watch. Being an afterthought in the second half of the year, starting at Forbidden Door and a very average G1 (Tsuji and Kiyomiya matches were good but he was definitely an afterthought to the Reiwa 3 musketeers story), as well as being lumped with EVIL afterwards really sucked the wind out of his sails and he has seemingly reverted back to old SANADA. And I don't blame him, the booking of him has been really shit. I'm actually quite interested in the match with Naito, from the perspective of seeing if SANADA can rise up to the occasion. I'm significantly more invested in Naito/SANADA than I was Okada/Jay last year. As for the new additions, couldn't give a shit about HoT but like the Kaito/Shota young ace team, but also very pumped for Tsuji/Uemura