NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 2019

[sevendaughters]

Historically one of my favourite shows and in my favourite Japanese arena, New Japan returns to Sumo Hall on October 14th. Card as of 26 Sept.

IWGP Heavyweight Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. SANADA
G1 Briefcase Kota Ibushi (holder) vs. EVIL
IWGP US Jon Moxley (c) vs. Juice Robinson
IWGP Jr Will Ospreay (c) vs. El Phantasmo
Special singles match Jushin 'Thunder' Liger vs. Minoru Suzuki
Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, and YOSHIHASHI (CHAOS) vs. Jay White, KENTA, and Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club)
Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, and BUSHI (LIJ) vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer, and Taichi (Suzuki-gun)
Hiroshi Tanahashi 20th Anniversary match series Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomoaki Honma vs. Toru Yano and Togi Makabe
El Desperado comeback YOH, SHO, and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and DOUKI (Suzuki-gun)

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by sevendaughters

[The Natural]

I have fondness for the event especially Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki in 2012 and Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi from 2013.

[Jiji]

SANADA loses to Okada again? I understand that brother picked up the big win in the tournament and therefore... But the timing doesn't seem right and there have been times before when champions don't defend against those that have beaten them (admittedly usually it's Yano). I'm sure it will be excellent as all their matches are but I wouldn't have booked this match right now. Sanada needs more steam before coming off as credible. One of these years, either the briefcase or the title needs to change hands because these post G1 defences are just things. 

[Eivion]

14 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

SANADA loses to Okada again? I understand that brother picked up the big win in the tournament and therefore... But the timing doesn't seem right and there have been times before when champions don't defend against those that have beaten them (admittedly usually it's Yano). I'm sure it will be excellent as all their matches are but I wouldn't have booked this match right now. Sanada needs more steam before coming off as credible. One of these years, either the briefcase or the title needs to change hands because these post G1 defences are just things. 

I'm fully behind Ibushi vs. SANADA at the dome.

[Jiji]

So am I, brother. SANADA has a handful of opponents with whom he gels incredibly well. Okada and Ibushi are both on that list. Can the Dome handle that much sexiness in one match though? 

[sevendaughters]

just feels like a routine Okada win for me. KOPW is always good but of late they have been what you expect. Short of Kenny coming out, kneeing Okada in the head to set up round V, and SANADA winning AND not coming off like a lucky winner, I don't a creative path with an upswing. Poor Seiya.

[Ryan]

Maybe they'll wrestle to a draw. That would somewhat elevate him.

[Doragon]

Sanada is the new Gotoh.

[John E. Dynamite]

Insane theory: SANADA wins. The two-nights-in-Tokyo thing makes the Dome Show booking a lot more flexible. Also, I can't imagine why they'd run this match again if he doesn't win or draw.

[Elsalvajeloco]

3 minutes ago, John E. Dynamite said:

Insane theory: SANADA wins. The two-nights-in-Tokyo thing makes the Dome Show booking a lot more flexible. Also, I can't imagine why they'd run this match again if he doesn't win or draw.

I don't think that's too insane. 

[Archibald]

There is still that story with Tanahashi/Jericho/Okada that was set up at Dominion. In theory they could do Tanahashi/Jericho for PS with Jericho winning, Okada running in to stop post-match beat down and then Okada/Jericho for WK? Jericho could likely lose AEW title before that and Okada being without title as well would make it an unpredictable match. Kinda like those Kobashi matches against outsiders that NOAH ran after he wrapped up his title run.

Draw also sounds plausible, but I'm not sure if I want to see 60min Okada/Sanada match with 30 of them being about sleeper->tombstone->sleeper reversals. And loss would be rather meaningless and make me question Sanada's overall booking.

[Ryan]

Sanada is the new Goto! If he has about 6 or 7 more failed title chances. He's only 31, give him a break. He was left for dead when he was in TNA just a few years ago.

[Archibald]

Full card was released: https://www.njpw1972.com/tornament/55003?showCards=1

Show looks stacked, I think the best it looked in a while?

Also, US tour and New Japan Road shows are happening before this, I feel like there is no point in creating separate threads for those since they feel like a Road To KoPW shows to me:

Lowell: https://www.njpw1972.com/tornament/56063?showCards=1
NY: https://www.njpw1972.com/tornament/56140?showCards=1
Pennsylvania: https://www.njpw1972.com/tornament/56177?showCards=1
Korakuen: https://www.njpw1972.com/tornament/54747?showCards=1

[Ace]

The entire card looks tasty as hell.

 

[Super Ape]

No Liger in Philly AND TJP in the semi-main. Fuuuuuuuuck me.

[sevendaughters]

top post updated. I am expecting Liger v Suzuki to be an angle of some kind, don't think they'll give that away mid-card beneath potential MOTY contenders.

[Raziel]

Yeah, Liger/MiSu has No Contest written all over it to set up a No DQ match down the line.

[Ryan]

On 9/24/2019 at 12:44 PM, Super Ape said:

No Liger in Philly AND TJP in the semi-main. Fuuuuuuuuck me.

TJP will satisfy all fans.

[Kyuubi]

On 9/2/2019 at 11:44 AM, Eivion said:

I'm fully behind Ibushi vs. SANADA at the dome.

As long as it’s not Naito vs Ibushi. I don’t know how you all feel about these two pairing up, but to me they are like a notch below old school CZW matches. I’m not a fan of the amount of near deaths that the two seem to put each other through every time they match up. 

[Raziel]

So, anyone want to give opening odds on who sabotaged the NYC show tonight?

[Archibald]

Bully sounds like an obvious pick. But seriously, probably some random edgy fan of some other promotion.

[Infinit]

Did the tickets sales for the New York show bomb? Why did were the lights so low? Part of the charm of shows in the Ballroom is the look of the room. Its weird....in Japan they have no problem broadcasting shows from well lit and bright convention rooms.

[Jiji]

Looking on twitter it looked like a sellout or close to it from pictures I found. There are exceptions but usually NJPW lights the ring and dims the house lights quite a bit. 

[Ace]

It looked like production was something local and not their usual. They relied heavily on two ringside cameramen, one of whom absolutely sucked and couldn't stay still.

[sabremike]

8 hours ago, Oyaji said:

Looking on twitter it looked like a sellout or close to it from pictures I found. There are exceptions but usually NJPW lights the ring and dims the house lights quite a bit. 

It literally sold out minutes after tickets went on sale.