NJPW Royal Quest IV and NJPW Power Struggle 2024.

[The Natural]

Zack Sabre Jr defends the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship vs. SANADA at IWGP Royal Quest IV this Sunday. If ZSJ defends, he will next face Shingo Takagi at NJPW Power Struggle, 4th November. If SANADA wins, it's SANADA vs. Shota Umino. So my theory of Zack Sabre Jr vs. Shingo Takagi at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 is happening at NJPW Power Struggle instead. It's not going to be fun at both, you would think. ZSJ has to go into NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion but who does he face in the main event as the IWGP Heavyweight Championship/IWGP World Heavyweight Championship nearly always headlines there?

[The Natural]

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/new-japan/full-card-announced-for-njpw-royal-quest-iv/

[Salads]

I'm lucky enough to be able to go to Royal Quest once again. Weird card in a very good way. Fujita/Oku and ZSJ/Sanada can't miss, and Tanahashi's announcement on Monday makes his tag much more of an event.

Even though all the previous RQs were aired live on PPV, it being on regular NJPW World and featuring the reveal of Ishimori's 'X' partner for the upcoming Jr Tag tournament makes it seems a bit more 'canon' this time. More like an episode to tune into like any other.

Stardom and Youngblood presence are both unexpected bonuses, as are Titan and Mascara Dorada (though I suspected the last two when they were booked for RevpRo's Global Wars for the day before).

The only oddity is Finlay v Taka. Gabe Kidd isn't on the card but is in the country because he is also booked for Global Wars. Get the feeling that another member of J5G couldn't make it so a tag match had to be trimmed down. Either that or some kind of shenanigans are going to come out of it because it's the 7th match on the card.

[The Natural]

On 10/17/2024 at 10:09 PM, Salads said:

I'm lucky enough to be able to go to Royal Quest once again. Weird card in a very good way. Fujita/Oku and ZSJ/Sanada can't miss, and Tanahashi's announcement on Monday makes his tag much more of an event.

Even though all the previous RQs were aired live on PPV, it being on regular NJPW World and featuring the reveal of Ishimori's 'X' partner for the upcoming Jr Tag tournament makes it seems a bit more 'canon' this time. More like an episode to tune into like any other.

Stardom and Youngblood presence are both unexpected bonuses, as are Titan and Mascara Dorada (though I suspected the last two when they were booked for RevpRo's Global Wars for the day before).

The only oddity is Finlay v Taka. Gabe Kidd isn't on the card but is in the country because he is also booked for Global Wars. Get the feeling that another member of J5G couldn't make it so a tag match had to be trimmed down. Either that or some kind of shenanigans are going to come out of it because it's the 7th match on the card.

Enjoy. Look forward to your review.

Edited October 19 by The Natural

[Salads]

I'll be reviewing my experience rather than the show itself. Was more of a house show vibe and have since heard the show described as breaking New Japan's multi-month run of good shows so just my luck. Good thing the experience is what I'm paying the money for. There will be spoilers.

I was pleased this show was announced for the same venue as Royal Quest II, because I didn't think there was a bad seat in the building. Was proven wrong as this time round I grabbed a seat five rows back on the floor, and I discovered that floor seats aren't the best for watching wrestling. It was worse for my wife who is far shorter than I am. Lesson learned, but knowing that I won't be shelling out for front row tickets in my lifetime I tried to make the most of the closest view of live wrestling I'm ever going to get.

Feeling the bumps to the outside was an extra dimension I didn't anticipate. Was able to see a fair bit of daylight between strikes but after the first couple of matches you can feel the quality step up in terms of the facials and mannerisms that help tie everything together. A lot of wrestlers have a kind of multicoloured sparkly material on their ring gear which can be distracting. Tsuji in red and gold looks good. Red, gold and rainbow not so much. I also realised how small a lot of these guys are (not only because I couldn't see them when they were low down).

Saw someone in the toilets wearing a UWF Snake Pit Japan jacket that I was envious of in that moment. I picked my seat to avoid the gaze of the hard cam and realised quickly that this time round the hard cam was moved to face my area, though thankfully most of the time I was out of shot. Perhaps notable that the pre-show hype video focused on the booing at Sumo Hall for Shota's match so that is definitely his story now.

 

 

I've always been interested in what kind of wrestler Oscar turns into, but here he was still primarily doing those young lion screams before / after moves so a way to go yet. Very gratifying to say that I was in the building when the X was finally Robbie X. I wasn't buying it this time because one of the preview articles let slip that the unannounced partner would be joining Bullet Club, and I didn't think Robbie would be a good fit there but no he's too sweeting and everything.

At some point during the opening two matches the guy sat next to me was ignoring what was happening in the ring in favour of watching a compilation on his phone of Tanga Loa botches.

Mina Shirakawa was mega over. The difference in costume budgets between the Japanese and local talent is glaring by this point. Also most of the British wrestlers had Oiwa-level unflattering profile pics for the match graphics, looking way better in person. Fujita over Oku surprised me. Felt like Rev Pro should have been thrown a bone on that one but Fujita has a title match coming up.

My wife says Yota Tsuji doesn't know how to wrestle. You heard it here first. At least he looked like he was having a good time. The chant of 'Yota Tsuji baby, Yota Tsuji woah-oah' to the tune of Don't You Want Me Baby by the Human League seems to be popular online now. Drilla had some good interactions with the crowd and looks at home as a heavy. Drilla threw a chair into the ring after the match, which is scary shit when you can't see that it came from a wrestler.

Disappointed how little booing there was for Shota! Towards the end of the match people remembered, and I feel like fans can't criticise him for not knowing what kind of wrestler he's meant to be if fans can't remember what kind of wrestler they think he is. I still think Shota's look and moveset sucks but he's otherwise decetn. Oh yeah there was a shout from the crowd of 'leave the girls alone, Shota' which reassured me there were One Of Us hardcores in the building.

David Finlay gets on the mic and makes a reference to English/Irish history for heat, which gets a well-earned 'you're not even Irish' chant later on. Finlay points out that Taka doesn't deserve to be in a one on one match with him, which is fair, leading to Taka against Gedo as a bonus match to prove his worth. Perfect really as Taka wasn't on any of the previous UK shows so this was the way to give him some shine, eye-poking his way to glory. He makes kind of a low pitched cry (like a 'boom' or probably more of a 'doof') when he does the pokes. I haven't made it sound cool but it is.

This was Oiwa's first time leaving Japan I think but he got a good reaction. The British guy from the Super J Cast took credit for starting the 'T-Shirt Naito' chant, which boiled over into half the trios participants doing a t-shirt bit sucking up about five minutes. Robbie Robbie Robbie, Oi Oi Oi chants as you would expect. Annoyed me at the time because Ryohei's TMDK name is Roy the Mullet and this was really the only place we were going to get a Robbie Robbie Robbie, Roy Roy Roy chant going. I later heard Robbie Eagles talk about this show and TMDK had the same hopes (they were also hoping for Robbie Robbie Robbie, Oi Oi Oiwa). Always a bit weird seeing Tana and Ishii featured so prominently on the AEW crossover shows and it's the same here with them in the semi main event taking more bumps than many others.

If you don't like crowds trying to get themselves over, don't watch the main event. I was there for the atmosphere so all good by me. Sanada leant into the boos, and at one point was visibly distracted by a shout in the middle of an exchange which kinda bridged the gap from playing up to the crowd and not taking the match seriously. Internet tells me the line responsible was 'SANADA's favourite anime is Sword Art Online'. Can't say the crowd were sabotaging the match when the champ is feeding the political chants by telling his opponent 'get up you Tory' and I personally was a fan of 'Sanada doesn't recycle', which may itself be recycled in some form but it was new to me. Saw it pointed out that this year is set to have a crazy high number of IWGP title defences, and felt like this didn't need to be one one week apart from the last and not up to this pairings high standards. Zack gathered TMDK into the ring at the end (already spoilered by them choosing to fly them all out here tbh) and provided the scoop that when Robbie Eagles has a few drinks his name becomes Bob the c**t.

 

 

YOTA TSUJI FASHION WATCH

So it's kind of a running joke by this point that I will be oblivious to wrestlers nearby at shows while my wife who does not watch wrestling always picks up on it, whether it's FTR brawling through the aisle beside, O'Khan chatting to people before the show, Umino making his entrance behind me, whatever. This time round while walking down the steps to my seat I notice one of the refs (I recognise the face, but don't know the name) running up past me, then almost accompanying me on his way back down again.

Anyway she does it again during the trios match by getting permission for us to sit in the cheap seats in one of the sections they didn't sell tickets for, so we go up there and the rest of the show I'm distracted from the last two matches as she continually points out wrestlers from earlier in the card sitting in the far corner behind us watching the final part of the show. I was going to write a list but it might be more interesting sharing some photos and letting you spot the names yourselves. Felt a bit disrespectful sneaking photos of them so don't know if I should be putting them online but this is the puro subforum on DVDVR post AEW launch so this is going to be seen by like 7 people max it's like printing them out and putting them on my fireplace.

Linked rather than embedded as not resized:

View from my original seat

2nd seat 1

2nd seat 2

2nd seat 3

[Firebreaker Chip]

Yeah, the tiered seats had very good views. I Iearnt from the first Copper Box Royal Quest that I will never voluntarily sit in a floor seat at a wrestling show again

Haven't kept up with New Japan at all post pandemic, colour me surprised at how insanely different 2024 Dan Moloney looks and that Dave Finlay III is hilariously American as fuck despite his risible protestations (no pun intended). (I have no idea why I'd expect the children of British wrestlers who spent the last 30 years working in Germany and the states to have their dad's accents)

This one was a 15 min walk home for me so easy thumbs up despite the basic lesser-RevPro show nature of the card

[Evil Otto]

Okay, since it fits in the current timeline, I guess I'll throw some Super Junior Tag League comments here.  Year after year, I tend not to watch every match on these shows, but when they have the cards at Korakuen (like tonight and tomorrow), I usually take a closer look, as some lunacy almost always ensues.  

I strongly recommend Velocities vs. The DKC/Ninja Mack, some unreal stuff going down in this one. So, Milano Collection AT is a cheerleader for any wrestler who truly brings it, as it's his job, as it were, to "act impressed".  That being said, I've listened to his commentary so much as the years have gone by that I can tell when he's legitimately impressed and in awe of a performer.  It doesn't happen so often, actually. It's just a slight shift in the tone of his voice, but it's there.  Jude London notably got that reaction from him this time around.   Super fun match.  

Holy fuck, I even more strongly recommend TMDK (Eagles/Fujita) vs. War Dogs (Connors/Moloney).  I had high hopes going in and they were certainly met and then some.  Robbie and Fujita are just the absolute best possible babyfaces for Connors and Drilla to try to destroy.  The War Dogs actually bring an element of fear to their matches, which is rather hard to pull off in 2024.  For me, they are certainly on the short list for best tag team in the world right now, junior or heavyweight.  I could see them being contenders for both sooner than later.  Brilliant match, and obviously a rivalry that needs to continue.  

[Horangi]

Will second the love for War Dogs vs TMDK - these 4 just gel really well. I'm very much looking forward to the next Gen Jr feud of Wato and Fujita. My gut feel is Connors/Drilla will move up to heavyweight eventually (though Drilla is at Shingo status in terms of being a "junior"

It's funny re: Velocities, my interpretation in Aus is that Paris was the one that a lot saw big things for, but I always felt Jude was the one overall with the most potential. Both are great though and I think they're a perfect fit for New Japan.

I actually really enjoyed LiJ/Taguchi & Dia - crowd was super into it and they balanced the silliness of Taguchi with Dia's athleticism. Main event was fun too, it didn't have the emotional story of the TMDK match but Catch 22 are so good.

[The Natural]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F1mmjiRtwZc&pp=ygUEbmpwdw%3D%3D

Zack Sabre Jr NSFW promo.

[The Natural]

Kenny Omega to make an appearance at NJPW Power Struggle!

[Horangi]

Spoiler

TMDK vs Catch 22 is the tag league final and I can't think of a better combination for it. I think this will be Fujita's first big career moment

 

[The Natural]

1 hour ago, Horangi said:

  Hide contents

TMDK vs Catch 22 is the tag league final and I can't think of a better combination for it. I think this will be Fujita's first big career moment

 

On that:

Spoiler

Can't wait. I think TMDK takes it.

 

[The Natural]

Looking forward to see who wins Zack Sabre Jr vs. Shingo Takagi for ZSJ IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at NJPW Power Struggle but especially who challenges the winner at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19. At past NJPW Power Struggle events we've had video packages as Kenny Omega challenged for Will Ospreay's IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 and Chris Jericho for Kenny Omega's IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12.

Edited November 2 by The Natural

[The Natural]

Here's the updated NJPW Power Struggle 2024 card, c&p from f4wonline.com:

Spoiler

• IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defends against Shingo Takagi
• Super Junior Tag League 2024 finals: Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita vs. TJP & Francesco Akira
• SANADA vs. Shota Umino
• IWGP Global Champion David Finlay defends against Taichi
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI defends against Master Wato
• IWGP Tag Team Champions TMDK (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste) defend against Great-O-Khan & Henare
• Hiroshi Tanahashi & Oleg Boltin vs. EVIL & Ren Narita
• Kenny Omega will make a special guest appearance

Good looking card. Best NJPW Power Struggle in a while.

Edited November 2 by The Natural

[Salads]

Fun to see the Velocities after what feels like decades of them being hyped up. Rumour is the intention is for them to do a few more tours. The more the rest of the LA Dojo boys shine the more I keep on looking back at the Donkey Kong Country to see if he has some hidden inner potential.

Seconding the love for Connors/Maloney. As someone who dislikes the O face when someone doesn't get the three count they're expecting I love how Connors sells them. A bad ass War Dog with an FML face like he's stuck in traffic. My shallow take on Francisco Akira is that people would rate him more if he didn't have such a regular dude haircut.

 

Such a bonus that I re-subbed for KOPW and within the month I get Royal Quest, the entire Jr tag tour (always forget how short those are) and Power Struggle thrown in. Def feels like a busier end of the year than usual, and we don't really know that much about the plans for Historic X-Over or the two dome shows yet.

 

Got to admit, Shota going for the 'thinks he's a face' thing is getting a bit of a reaction out of me when before there was none.

[lostinube]

 

Edited November 4 by lostinube

[lostinube]

Huh.

Spoiler

 

 

[lostinube]

The main event is starting now but so far..

Spoiler

• Oiwa came out after the HOT/Hontai tag to challenge Narita for the TV title but Jeff Cobb also came out. Perhaps a three-way at WK.
• Umino beat SANADA. SANADA refused a post-match handshake.
• O-Khan and HENARE beat TMDK for the tag titles.
• Kenny Omega came out and said he'd like to return at Wrestle Dynasty. Didn't say against who. Something backstage happened with him and Gabe Kidd though.
• TMDK beat Catch-22 to take the Junior tag league. Jet Setters challenged both teams for WK but the War Dogs came out and attacked everyone with chairs so perhaps a four-way at WK for the junior tag titles.
• DOUKI beat Master Pasty..I mean Master Wato. Despy came out and challenged him. They are set for WK.
• The crowd got REALLY excited for a TAICHI win over Finlay and then the above happened and freakin' SANADA joined the freakin' War Dogs. TAICHI hit Black Mephisto, SANADA pulled out the ref, eventually unzipped his tracksuit jacket to reveal the Bullet Club shirt and the rest was all Finlay. Finlay named his own challenger so it's Finlay and Tsuji for the Global title at WK.

 

 

[lostinube]

Spoiler

ZSJ beat Shingo. ZSJ asks who's next and Shota comes out to booing. Shota makes the challenge. ZSJ agrees but they don't say when. Shota leaves. RICOCHET's music hits and he attacks ZSJ from behind and challenges ZSJ to an IWGP match at...Wrestle Dynasty.

Before Ricochet can finish ZSJ off, Umino makes the save but then hits ZSJ with a Death Rider. Looks like he's leaning into the boos.

 

 

[The Natural]

Spoiler

Zack Sabre Jr retained the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship vs. Shingo Takagi in a MOTYC. Afterwards Shota Umino came out to loud boos to challenge ZSJ for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19. This was followed by Ricochet issuing his own for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at NJPW Wrestle Dynasty. Have to say I'm underwhelmed by both matches.

 

[lostinube]

5 minutes ago, The Natural said:

  Hide contents

Zack Sabre Jr retained the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship vs. Shingo Takagi in a MOTYC. Afterwards Shota Umino came out to loud boos to challenge ZSJ for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19. This was followed by Ricochet issuing his own for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at NJPW Wrestle Dynasty. Have to say I'm underwhelmed by both matches.

 

Spoiler

Technically, even backstage ZSJ doesn't say that he and Umino is set for Wrestle Kingdom. He just says anytime. It's up to the office.

Also, he basically says that Umino is not Tokyo Dome main event material yet. He kind of buries him but that seems to be part of what is going on angle-wise. He says Shota needs to not let the booze get to him and that he needs to get out of Moxley's shadow.

 

Edited November 4 by lostinube

[Horangi]

Spoiler

Lol my phone deleted my initial reply...gives me a chance to ramble less

I loved both featured junior matches but hate the 4 way for junior tag. Not surprised though. Wato was great in his first big match back. Super happy for Robert the Eagle getting a tourney win.

SANADA turn is probably due to Jake Lee's injury. Crowd was very hot for Taichi, but also feels like SANADA had slotted back permanently to midcaed. Heel turn was a long time coming though. 

ZSJ vs Takagi was great. Poor Shota...however I have no idea about Ricochet. I don't watch WWE or AEW but from random sentiments I saw, was Ricochet a midcard guy in WWE? How is he presented in AEW? Feel like AEW not having a top guy lose to the IWGP champ but happy to be wrong as I have no idea.

Excited for Kenny vs Gabe though. 

 

[lostinube]

Spoiler

I didn't think about the Jake injury. Still doesn't really make that much sense to have SANADA ditch the J5Gs. Does TAKA have some J4Gs shirts left or something? I was hoping SANADA would go to NOAH for a spell something. Challenge for the GHC title now that he's a made man in a sense.

Either the crowd really wanted to TAICHI to win or Finlay is a very effective champion. Could be both.

Ricochet is not a headliner in the states but he did get a good reaction from the crowd. ZSJ vs Ricochet sounds like a nice Wrestle Dynasty match up but not for the IWGP title.

 

[lostinube]

Also, not spoilery but possibly important: Hiromu and Naito decided backstage to team up and enter the Tag League.

[Evil Otto]

Spoiler

It really did seem somewhat significant that ZSJ vs. Shota was not clearly mentioned as a confirmed WK match.  I'm holding out hope that there's a bigger match still in the works, or at the very least this angle will continue to play out in a more interesting way.  There's still two months to go.  

On a side note, that Ricochet last night sure seemed like a heelish Ricochet to me.  I welcome this development. 

Kenny vs. Gabe, I'm definitely in.  

Even though Shane & Mikey lost their match, TMDK still came out of this evening looking really strong.  

 

Edited November 5 by Evil Otto