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NJPW THE NEW BEGINNING 2019


Archibald

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Taichi/Naito was big and dumb and I, being small and dumb, really had fun. I liked the tags also, but mostly I find myself wondering what’s next for the LIJ heavies. There just aren’t many compelling/credible tag challengers, unless... I mean, if Tanahashi loses to White, they wouldn’t put the tag titles on him and Okada, would they? Do I dare hope for a Golden Lovers run? And I’m beginning to wonder if Naito’s story will be learning to love the IC title, making it his own, and headlining one of the dome shows on his own terms. I’m not sure how satisfying that would be, especially to his die-hards.

It also seems like the US shows are going over a little better than expected. Everyone tried hard to make up for the missing talent and the reports are the crowd responded generously. I guess that’s nice, and hopefully New Japan finds a couple guys who took advantage of the opportunity.

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Rematch with GoD and Goto/Ishii sounds like easy challengers to set up. They might bring back KES again since in WTL they got rolled up. Outside of Goto/Ishii nothing too exciting since we saw matches with other teams few times already.

But I have weird theory about heavyweight belt that partially answers the question for whats next:

Tanahashi beats White, calls out Ishimori for Anniversary match.
Tanahashi beats Ishimori, gets attacked by Jericho and it is our MSG main event.
Therefore NJ Cup winner will challenge for the title during Dontaku tour (new Aichi show is part of it as I understand).
And the winner of NJ Cup is... Evil.
Tanahashi ends up beating Evil, but it directly leads to Tanahashi/Naito at Dominion with Naito either having lost the title to someone earlier (White?) or actually becoming double champion.

So I think that their tag titles reign might not be long since usually they free up challenger from his other belts and after Dontaku there isn't that much time till G1 so Evil/Sanada would probably just beat up some lower card guys to regain momentum for G1. Or they might not lose those titles at all, but since Evil would be locked into preliminary matches with Tanahahsi then they naturally wouldn't do title defences outside of maybe one Tanahashi/X match.

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I really feel like Naito's arc with the IC championship needs to conclude with how Beech and others have mentioned here and elsewhere: he comes full circle to appreciate the title and his past failures it represents. The IC title becomes elevated by a Naito year-long reign with him slowly but surely learning to love the title and learn from his past fuckups rather than resent them (and in turn learn nothing from them). He should really beat Okada at the Dome next year for the IC title in the main event hitting two Destinos to win (or does he quickly go up top to finish him with a no nonsense Stardust Press?! Was his mistake going back to his move from his time as a failed idol and in the process rejecting his growth? Or was it his arrogance and pandering to the audience thinking the job was done?). No idea what you do with Tanahashi/the G1/main title for the rest of the year if Omega and potentially Ibushi are gone. Ibushi winning the G1 and beating Tanahashi next year in the dome is the logical move if Ibushi is around. If he's splitting time between Japan and AEW (yeah, I know he hates traveling. Now that it looks like Omega is mostly if not entirely gone, Ibushi's contract situation becomes the next biggest domino), then I really don't know. You probably have Jay beat him earlier and maybe finally elevate another native to beat Jay.

I haven't gotten to Suzuki/SANADA yet but I'm of the mind that this should probably be Suzuki's last year as a feature singles performer and he either needs to go to a reduced schedule, bully the tag team division with Zack, or be phased out entirely so he can go to another promotion. He's done pretty much everything he needs to do except the Zack long-term team and potential Zack insurrection. He doesn't really bump much because he can't and for a guy of his stature, he shouldn't be losing too much or his aura will disappear. But should you be sacrificing future or established stars for Suzuki at this stage? Heels like Suzuki need to come and go to remain fresh and over.

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Maybe it seems too obvious, but I really do expect White to win, and then lose the title to some conquering babyface at the dome--New Japan protects 1/4 main event wins more heavily than any belt, so I expect he'll have to lose once or twice on that stage before really, really cementing himself on top. Naito can of course sympathize with that, and he'd actually be a really strong candidate to oppose White--when the heroes and saviors of New Japan won't suffice, you call the rehabbed reject to save the day. As demonstrated by Omega/Tanahashi, sometimes the easiest way to see where booking is headed is to look at who has been kept apart--White has already wrestled every top star except Naito... I don't think that's an accident. Of course, White could just lose to Tana, and end up challenging Naito for the IC belt. (But then we're back to Tana/Okada for the heavyweight title? I don't think so.)

I'd like to agree with @Oyaji that Ibushi's future status matters in the big title calculus, but my faith in that matter is wavering. The highest I'm willing to set my expectations is a tag title run with Omega, where they probably skip the league anyway. It does feel like a big win over Tanahashi should happen, though...

The only other thing I'll note for now is that Okada's never challenged for the IC title, so I think New Japan will save that for something big.

6 hours ago, Archibald said:

Tanahashi beats White, calls out Ishimori for Anniversary match.

Tanahashi beats Ishimori, gets attacked by Jericho and it is our MSG main event.
Therefore NJ Cup winner will challenge for the title during Dontaku tour (new Aichi show is part of it as I understand).
And the winner of NJ Cup is... Evil.
Tanahashi ends up beating Evil, but it directly leads to Tanahashi/Naito at Dominion with Naito either having lost the title to someone earlier (White?) or actually becoming double champion.

This all seems likely enough too; although... well, Tanahashi main eventing MSG would be deserved and fitting, but I can't totally shake the notion that Gedo would want to use the stage to assert White as the new foreign star. A lot of people speculated Kenny would retain in (small) part because of an ability to do more english language press, and that same (possibly slightly cynical) justification would work for White. 

On a less weightier matter: With Iizuka retiring, does Suzuki-gun get a new member? Maybe Oka comes back, drops the excursion gimmick, and just works as some combo of the amateur champ he was and ugly (in a good way) brawler?

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I got the impression that Bushi and Desperado were pulling masks every time they faced. If they wanted they probably could do mask vs mask for BotSJ finals show since both guys obviously ain't making finals. And that could open up Desperado for gimmick change.

53 minutes ago, Beech27 said:

A lot of people speculated Kenny would retain in (small) part because of an ability to do more english language press, and that same (possibly slightly cynical) justification would work for White.

If Jericho is the challenger then you don't really need another English speaking guy. They could easily build that match as "GOAT vs GOAT". No, neither guy is GOAT, but lots of people think that they are or might be.

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The takeaway I got from the IC match is that the english commentary mentioned specifically that Naito is looking to become the first Double Champ, so the arc could just be him holding on to the IC belt until he gets a shot at the Heavy, which could last the year and end at the Dome.  The only issue I see is with the Dome being 2 nights, you'd almost certinally have the Heavy main one night and the IC the other, but if it's Naito the IC challenging whoever has the Heavy, then you'd need  either a BIG time singles match or a Okada/Tanahashi vs another super team for the Tag Belts situation.

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Man, were the VOW guys wrong on that one. :(

I hope he can wrestle elsewhere and become a star and this isn't him retiring.

EDIT. I think VOW was either fed the same info Dave was or they got it from Dave because this is from the January 21st Observer:
Quote

Katsuya Kitamura’s contract was renewed for 2019 even though nobody knows whether he’ll be able to wrestle again after crushing one of his legs in an accident on a scooter. NJPW pays guys their full salaries if they are off while injured. Guys are naturally going to come back early from injuries because they are wrestlers and that’s the way wrestlers think. But there’s not an economic incentive with the idea that you have to come back early because you’ll either make far less or make nothing if you don’t

 

Edited by Oyaji
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So Are NJPW lying about him getting injured during the training or is Meltzer full of shit with his scooter story? I don't really understand why NJPW would take a fall here since I think that "injured during training" sounds worse than "injured during his free time" for wrestling dojo.

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This is the only english tweet he sent, but he also posted a blog a few hours ago--maybe someone will translate it?

6 hours ago, Archibald said:

So Are NJPW lying about him getting injured during the training or is Meltzer full of shit with his scooter story? I don't really understand why NJPW would take a fall here since I think that "injured during training" sounds worse than "injured during his free time" for wrestling dojo.

It's dangerous for me to speculate, but I could see a company wanting to cover for a prospect's reckless behavior and choose to describe an injury being the result of hard work rather than frivolity. But you're right, given the history of the New Japan dojo, I don't think that seems very likely or very smart. And it has to be said that Dave doesn't seem to get much right regarding New Japan unless the Elite are involved.

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Guest The Magnificent 7

Thumbs down on Desperado losing the mask. It’s the best mask in the bidness. 

At this point I don’t believe losing it is going to magically vault him up the card / hierarchy.

Bushi’s Russian doll mask deal is awesome too where he wears masks over his mask.  Someone said he is the least interesting/ charismatic dude in LIJ but imo he’s much better than Evil.

 

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I am shocked and offended by your last statement. BUSHI's personality is his mask(s) and spinaroonie. EVIL's angsty teenage goth persona beats that any day, man. Guy lives the gimmick.

Agree about Desperador's mask. It's both great and losing it will likely only hurt him. He also works like a junior version of Mephisto kind of, and I would miss that sort of connection I've made in my head. This is obviously what NJPW should be basing their booking decisions on. 

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Aspiring to be Mephisto is good damned thing to do.

The real question Kyosuke's gotta ask himself is "Do I Want to be Heel El Samurai Forever?"

Couldn't be further from rhetorical, as I pose it. That's a hard question. I think his ceiling might be higher than that.

BTW run Bushi vs. Despy Mascara Contra Mascara BoSJ Final and see if that doesn't take. See if you can't get Korakuen Hall to literally melt.

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really think the Kitamura leg story is full of shit, he's been posting full body shots on insta. I can understand why they'd do it, btw. that he disappeared during his Best of 7 series makes me think it was something that happened in-ring, probably cumulatively, that he struggled to deal with.

 

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38 minutes ago, Archibald said:

Watched last road to show and best part clearly was Taichi randomly kicking Yoshi who was doing guest commentary thing.

Edit: oh and return of Bad Boy was fun as well.

Yoshi-Hashi didn't even register it because he's Yoshi-Hashi. Jabroni for life.

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Hmm, I think it's mostly that my two favourite guys and also the two guys I was emotionally invested in within the promotion are gone (for now, I could see Ibushi coming back soon), but NJPW feels really cold for me. Wrestle Kingdom was a little bit of a disappointment despite having three great matches and this tour has been kind of the shits across the board outside of The Good Guy routine and Taichi being made to look a threat for a week before equilibrium was re-established. I understand this is going to be Jay White's year and I think he's both talented and has a lot of potential but I'm not feeling it. His whole direction seems forced into a template we've already seen by a superior wrestler who was far more experienced at that stage in his career. Why should I care?

Suzuki beating SANADA when the latter should be rising up the card as a serious singles threat is another thing. They need to pull the trigger on that guy soon if they're ever going to. He's not quite where you'd want him to be but neither was Jay White before receiving his big push. The crowd is ready for it too. When he showed flashes of defiance/resilience, the crowd ate it up. While he's obviously still great, Suzuki looks fucking old and if the young guys want to do shit like the standing shiranui into a skull end, he needs to say no.

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1 hour ago, Archibald said:

Watched last road to show and best part clearly was Taichi randomly kicking Yoshi who was doing guest commentary thing.

Edit: oh and return of Bad Boy was fun as well.

I hope Tama snapping leads to the rest of BC not being able to control him. Maybe it ends up going whereever Chuckie T. snapping and getting DQ'ed was going to lead.

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