Horangi

KENTA definitely is still stateside, I believe his kids are still in school there.

Oof poor Gino haha. I only really started going regularly to MCW and other Melbourne shows towards the end of Sextons run, but he always stood out due to his size and his charisma. It was funny at this farewell match in Melbourne that I don't think many knew he was going to WWE. Everyone was super pumped for Jonah getting the shot in NXT that when Jonah tried to get the thank you Sexton chant going and clue everyone it, it went completely over the crowd's head. Funny how things end up that Jonah is rarely seen in NXT now while Sexton is getting this huge opportunity.

SXW was the TV program NJPW aired on J SPORTS/ESPN in the 2000s if I'm remembering correctly.

Hartley has been gone from WWE for months, has been doing Aus Indies since October. Glad to see ol' Jacko back on Z1

Tama has a baby due over this time, hence why he isn't there.

Ospreay v Hiromu was incredible, I was so emotionally invested in it that I was burnt out after so I'll have to re-watch the following matches again. People around me were complaining so much about the length of Jay's control segment though, maybe their complaining helped take me out of the match so a re-watch is definitely needed.

Having never watched an All Japan show in over 10 years, being at that show at Korakuen and the main event sold me and I cannot wait to get home and go down an All Japan rabbit hole. Kento is amazing, but on first impressions, Jake Lee really drew me in and I really want to see more of him.

I never appreciated Tenzan until I actually went back and watched some of his stuff when they looked like they were building him to be the ace as well as a lot of old TenKoji stuff. Maybe as I was getting into NJPW at that time, I look at him through rose-tinted glasses a little bit. Definitely preferred Kojima and Nagata to him though in terms of his direct generational rivals.

Didn't Tenzan's back just give out on him? It's a shame considering how good Tenzan was and how badly he'd eventually break down. In saying that, we did get a fun Kojima/Nakamura out of that accidental switch.

Last 3 entrants announced, and to the suprise of no one - Will Ospreay, El Phantasmo and Robbie Eagles.

Ospreay has some kind of neck injury, is off tonight's card. Currently being evaluated to see if he can continue the other shows.

I kind of agree - while Robbie is popular in MCW, I think if they had a Melbourne guy like Slex or Adam Brookes in a more featured match it would of drawn better than Robbie who is a Sydney guy and Mikey who is a Perth guy. Craven did say in some podcasts here that they want Festival Hall to be their venue if things go well, so we will see. I still think there was enough of a base to run Melbourne again, it was a one match card without half the roster. No LIJ, no Suzuki-gun, no Liger, no Ibushi...if they do come with a full roster next time, and heavily feature at least Slex, the result will be much better for them.

Southern Showdown was a lot of fun live, looked 80-85% full with some balcony section closed off (for renovations apparently). Crowd was into everything but understandably burnt out after Ospreay/Eagles (which, like all their matches, was awesome). Tanahashi looks so immobile, don't know how he's gonna survive the G1. Narita and SHO missed the show due to flight issues, local guy Nick Bury replaced Narita and the other match was changed to a straight up tag as Gedo dropped out. Happy for Bury to get a shot on the card. Not much else really must see outside of Ospreay/Eagles - ELP/Rocky was fun, as was Slex/Solow (really wish it was Slex instead of Mikey getting the New Japan run).

1. Bret Hart: When I was a kid, it was Bret who epitomised wrestling for me. From the sunglasses, personality and style, everything he did drew me in. As I got older, I was able to appreciate him even more as I started to understand more about the psychology of a match and how he could make everything count and draw great matches out just about anyone on any given day. 2. Chris Jericho: I faded out of wrestling around 96 and I came back in late 99/early 2000 and Jericho was the guy I gravitated towards. A lot of similar reasons ro Bret, but maybe with more personality/flair. His ability to adapt and repackage himself has kept me a huge fan over the years, from going back and watching old Monday Night Jericho to suit wearing 2008 Jericho to even whatever Jericho is in 2019. 3. Hiroshi Tanahashi: I had another gap period from wrestling between 2007 and 2012 and what brought me back in was the Tanahashi v Suzuki march from October 2012. I always liked young Tanahashi from 2003-4 (one of the few bright sparks from New Japan of that time) but never anticipated how good he would become. His charisma is probably what stands out most to me as he's just always able to draw me in no matter what. Great worker as with Bret and Jericho, though I do hope he slows down a bit and lets his body recover so he can have a few more years in the limelight. 4. Kazuchika Okada: The guy who keeps me into wrestling today, his original rainmaker push was the first time in god knows how long I had truely been caught off guard and legitimately excited to see what was going to happen, and to see how much he has grown since then has been fantastic. A chameleon in that he can adapt to any match or situation, the fact he is still quite young and putting on awesome matches regularly gives him my final spot over Liger and Hayabusa, the two guys who influenced me to really look into Puro and the Japanese scene.

I dunno how mych of the pop for SANADA was for him or because him and EVIL are in the same block (EVIL who traditionally gets a huge pop was right after Ibushi in annoucement so the crowd was still coming down from him). With EVIL rejecting the fist bump, I kind of wonder if he is the one that might get the G1 push as a future Okada defense. This group is so hard to pick, there's at least 6 potential group winners and if Naito is winning (my prediction), 3 of them make perfect sense (Ibushi/EVIL/SANADA). Really excited for group B too, especially the variety of matches Moxley can have. Also a lot of fresh opponents for Jay White too, Naito v White has me super interested. Surprised by the pop for Goto considering the non-pop he has has in recent announcements. Taichi in is a huge plus for me as well, hope he can pick up a few good wins. I don't think I've been this excited for a G1 in ages. Sucks there is no G1 farewell runs for Kojima, Suzuki or Makabe but there is absolutely no room for them.

He was at the block party, but nothing really ever even here in Aus. He joined at one of the MCW shows before last year's. Australia tour but then nothing after. He does touch on it a bit in the NJPW podcast though and he does have his own Bullet Club logo (just no t-shirt). He's okay on commentary, nothing special. I just find it so strange hearing him on though.

Flip Gordon and El Desperado are out, replaced by Ren Narita and DOUKI (Desperado's death Match persona I think)

Read that apparently Brody King will be working the undercards. No matches announced though

I think it's only because Hontai and Chaos have an alliance. Mikey Nicholls has been in a similar situation.

Strongly disagree about Robbie, I just don't know what's not working in Japan that does work here in Australia. I'm hoping that being in the Super Jrs and getting more time on a long tour to adapt might change things. I think Hiromu will be in. Booking Ryogoku wouldn't make sense otherwise. I'm guessing it will be a surprise Korakuen announcement to pop the crowd.

Not Aussie, he was a British expat that lived here. Moved back in 2004 or 2005 to the UK

As someone that was kinda close to him, running a site on his network...I dunno what to say! Wow, just wow .. While there is a good possibility it is probably the same guy, but I remember him being a huge Manchester United fan, not City. So yeah...I'm still speechless if it is him

Well working NJPW, he wouldn't have to relocate to Japan like he had to with WWE, so he'd work a week or two then go home for a while before the next tour (and even then it's unlikely he'd be in every tour). Seems like a fair choice

Loverboy as well??? I thought that was a work with his Uncle Paul promos. A real sleeper of a signing though, his character work is so great. Love to see who becomes his NXT Miami.

Nagata replaces Elgin in the gauntlet!