Horangi

Buddy is great, but I think people were expecting a lot more considering his hype and, of course, Okada. The match wasn't bad, I had it equal with Narita/Ospreay as 2nd best match of the night. I do agree that Buddy probably is still adjusting, and once he does he could be a huge get for New Japan, especially with guys like Jay White, Juice and Finlay potentially on their way out. The other thing I think about the match is that Okada isn't going to be doing any Okada-style classics on this US tour with Wrestle Kingdom coming up. I'm sure with the recent injuries, the office has probably told him to do his thing, but don't overdo it or risk anything leading into the new year. I did lose my shit for Jonah though, I remember he and Suzuki had a fun match on the first Australia tour so I am really looking forward to seeing what he can do now.

Robbie 2 Belts! So happy for him, an all-round top bloke who definitely deserves it. I'm sure it means he's dropping to Despe at Power Struggle though.

I think you kind of eluded to the problem, the over saturation of the Tokyo market by New Japan with all those Korakuen shows and random near empty Dome/Stadium shows. I guess the slight positives are that the numbers were up for this Yokohama show from the previous and BoSJ Korakuen night 1 is apparently sold out. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and see how things go next year but it's going to be a struggle in Tokyo. It really does feel like 2004-06 again...NOAH spanking New Japan in Tokyo. New Japan still seems to be doing much better outside of the Tokyo area (all 3 Osaka G1 shows in Edion did better than Marufuji/Nakajima, similar story in Hiroshima). Maybe one solution for 2022 would be to hold more bigger events outside Tokyo? Part of me thinks how badly EVIL bombed is what us stopping them from pulling the trigger on someone else, atleast until crowds and their roster are back to normal (I was rooting for Zack too). Injuries haven't helped either, stretching a very thin roster even further. I'm not sure what else they could really do, even I have cut down my NJPW watching for more NOAH, AJPW and DG (and this is coming from someone who comes off as very much a NJPW-stan).

Finally caught up, my top 5 in no order would be Okada/Tanahashi, Okada/Taichi, O-Khan/ZSJ, O-Khan/Ibushi and Takagi/ZSJ

O-Khan I think gets more negativity because of the current negative feeling towards New Japan, he and Wato kind of personify the current COVID-stale period. I think he's great! His match with Naito in the New Japan Cup is one of my favourites this year and he's really shining in the G1. Outside of the Yano stuff mid-year, he's delivered in every featured singles match.

The inner mid to late-2000s K-Dojo fan in me is really happy to see Mashimo and KAZMA team again, hope they have a good run, though I can't see Twin Towers not advancing.

Naito is out of the G1 due to knee injury. No replacement, instead all competitors will receive 2 points for the forfeit and compete in a special singles match instead. The special single matches: Tanga Loa and Shingo Takagi will face Yuji Nagata in theirs, Yujiro Takahashi and Toru Yano take on BUSHI, KENTA and Tomohiro Ishii get Hiromu Takahashi, and lastly Kota Ibushi and Great O-Khan face Satoshi Kojima

Thought night 2 was better than night 1. Solid undercard and two really good matches to finish. My best 3 matches of first two nights: 1. Okada v Tanahashi 2. Takagi v Ishii 3. Taichi v Goto Pumped for the 23rd, can't wait for Shingo v Zack and Ishii v Ibushi should be a war.

Last 2 matches in all seriousness are well worth a watch. The first two tournament matches were fun but not noteworthy. The Yano match enjoyment really depends on how you feel about his antics.

They can, a lot of them (I.e. White, Juice) are just choosing not to because of the quarantine and restrictions. Cobb, Robbie, GoD have been back and forward a bit over the past year.

Short thoughts considering I'm many scotches in:

Block A looks like it'll be the more interesting and better match-wise one. I do understand this is the best they could do considering everything. Should be some good stuff, but it's getting harder and harder to get excited with 3/4 empty arenas and dead crowds. I'll still do my best to watch everything though haha I'm sure there'll still be some great stuff somewhere.

DOUKI has really upped his game in the last 12 months, he might be the most underrated guy on the New Japan roster. Really good match! I was worried DOUKi was going to land on the railing when he did the DOUKI Bomb... Robbie and Wato was good too. I remember their BoSJ match being very sloppy, so I had my reservations about this. I'm hoping Robbie gets a bit longer with the belt. As much as I love Hiromu, I want to see him chase again. Hiromu and Robbie had my favourite non-final match of the BoSJ last year so I'm really looking forward to this one. Agree with Fujita and Oiwa looking good so far. Nakashima getting frustrated on the outside will hopefully lead to some fun young lion rivalry stuff, I'm guessing he is very close to an in-ring return.

A couple of new young lions debut tomorrow - Ryohei Oiwa and Kosei Fujita. Both have amateur backgrounds, Oiwa is a little bigger (180cm/90kg vs 178cm/83kg) but Fujita is the first from the dojo to the debut born after 2000 (he's 19)...boy do I feel old haha.

There won't be any AEW or Impact I don't think, unless something changed, Japan isn't issuing new work visas at the moment so only guys who already have visas (I.e. Cobb, Owens, Eagles) can go to Japan. I guess the gaps will be filled with juniors and veterans. Kojima and Nagata would be fine, but there's no way Makabe, Tenzan or Honma could handle the schedule.

Shingo and BUSHI just both tested positive for COVID-19. They should hopeful clear in time, but still if not, that title is definitely cursed.

For the replacements of last year's competitors, Owens and O-Khan are locks. I guess for the others, possibly Kojima and some juniors (Hiromu and Desperado?).

Hell of a show! Imagine it'd be held in a higher regard with a bigger and vocal crowd. Ranbo was what it was, wish they'd make the order less predictable in these. Enjoyed the Jr. Tag match and (obviously) loved the second match! Such a huge result for Aussie wrestling and am so looking forward to Robbie/Hiromu - they killed it during the BoSJ. Need to rematch Cobb and Okada as I was cooling down from the previous match. Tag Title match went long but didn't feel as long as it was to me. Much better than the Sapporo match. I hope Dangerous Tekkees get a good run this time, but I'd also like to see both guys chasing Shingo. I don't think I need to say much about the main, it was excellent. I thought EVIL was going to challenge after no-showing the Ranbo. EVIL vs Ishii in Nagoya was shaping up to be a great match until the usual shit happened, but should be a safe defence for Shingo.

It's confirmed (unfortunately not the 5 way or Dick Togo)...Hiroshi Tanahashi will replace Kota Ibushi in the main event tonight. Go Ace!

Taichi was the real MVP of those matches, loved the callbacks to old All Japan. Purely my own opinion but I rank the 4 matches as follows - Taichi v Naito, Taichi v SANADA, Zack v SANADA, Zack v Naito. All were really enjoyable though, can't go wrong with any of them.