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2021 Puroresu General Discussion


Jiji

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37 minutes ago, Control said:

The traditional thing is for someone to pin the TC champ in the tag league and then challenge in January. Which means, based on these brackets, that the next Triple Crown contender is Abdullah Kobayashi!

Now you've said it you've made me think about Yoshitatsu having the New Year Wars title shot & I don't like this thought at all.

 

2 hours ago, Sublime said:
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They don't.

 

Frustrating to hear but I suppose I shouldn't be shocked. Really seemed they were heating Zack up, & shit, why not? With a limit to crowds that can attend at the Budokan why not run with a less fancied name?

Is it a guaranteed draw? No, definitely not, but is anything when New Japan is getting outdrawn by NOAH & Stardom at the Yokohama Budokan (& for that matter doing just 150 fewer than Ice Ribbon did in August)?

I really struggle to wrap my head around New Japan. I really like the in-ring wrestling on the whole, I've given them twice the amount of 4.25* matches or above of the next promotion (NOAH) this year. But god is the promotion cold as ice despite that. It's easy to point to the crowds being crap but I don't feel this way about any other Japanese promotion I've watched. There's an obvious roster depth problem because they use a higher proportion of fly-ins from abroad & with the quarantine procedures in place that's not happening as much, so we've seen a lot of matches run into the ground (I swear to all that is Holy, if there's another Guerillas vs Tekkers series I will weep). Everything just feels like it's in a holding pattern, they do endless Korakuen shows where they have almost identical cards for 3 consecutive nights with just 1 name swapped out of each utterly meaningless 6 man. 

New Japan just seems like an object lesson in how not to run a wrestling promotion during a global pandemic.

On the positive side, watched the NOAH N-1 Victory finals show today & that was great. Both semi-finals were very good, the match between Sugiuragun & M's Alliance was good & the tournament finals? Well, they were exactly what I wanted as 2 guys kicked & slapped the shit out of each other in a way that you could only do to someone you get along with. The sound of the the thudding kicks echoing through Korakuen Hall was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Edited by Kropotkin's Beard
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4 hours ago, Kropotkin's Beard said:

Is it a guaranteed draw? No, definitely not, but is anything when New Japan is getting outdrawn by NOAH & Stardom at the Yokohama Budokan (& for that matter doing just 150 fewer than Ice Ribbon did in August)?

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).

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Oh, I'm exactly the same. I dabbled with other promotions but only really the big shows. Then when the pandemic shutdown happened I had lots of free time & very little wrestling to watch so really got into the weekly shows that AJPW & DDT ran (Yoshihiko vs DISASTER BOX leading up to the parody of the WWE cinematic Match with Takeshita against the doll was an incredible feud) plus 2AW and Go Shiozaki having his career year.

And now I'm 8 shows behind on the G1 when in past years I'd watch every event live. Hell, I'd watch meaningless Korakuen Road To shows live as often as not.

If I have to choose one wrestling service to drop NJPW World goes before DG Network or Wrestle Universe or AJPW.tv or even SEAdLINNNG iPPVs & that'd be impossible to imagine 2 years ago.

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20 hours ago, Kropotkin's Beard said:

There's an obvious roster depth problem because they use a higher proportion of fly-ins from abroad & with the quarantine procedures in place that's not happening as much, so we've seen a lot of matches run into the ground (I swear to all that is Holy, if there's another Guerillas vs Tekkers series I will weep).

Another Tekkers/GoD tag titles match is likely precisely the reason why ZSJ's early rush went nowhere.

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NJPW  

House of Torture wants the 6 man tags.

Shibata aims to get back in the ring with his costume.

Okada wants the 4th IWGP HW belt revived and to be used instead of the briefcase, and he would like to face Kota Ibushi later on. He won the G1 and won the certificate rights to face Shingo at WK. 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, D.Z said:

If the IWGP HW 4th Gen title is revived, the lineage is also revived but seems Okada would be the first champion. And the IWGP World will be above that belt and still the top title of NJPW.

 

Not in my head canon ?.

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Okada is expected to lead NJPW and the Puroresu business again. As the ace of NJPW, and also as the face of the sports world in the future for Japan. He aims to make professional wrestling a major sport again like pre yukes era and the 90's.

Shingo was replused by Okada's demands to revive the 4th gen IWGP HW title. Both will face each other at WK, Shingo as IWGP World HW Champ vs Okada as IWGP HW Champ.


 

Edited by D.Z
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7 hours ago, D.Z said:

He aims to make professional wrestling a major sport again like pre yukes era and the 90's.

If he didn't do that when the promotion was on fire and he was at his peak physically, what are the chances that happens now?

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30 minutes ago, Jiji said:

If he didn't do that when the promotion was on fire and he was at his peak physically, what are the chances that happens now?

Less. Be impressive if Okada pulls it off for those reasons.

Edited by The Natural
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Really I just think its exaggerated hyperbole hype, Kidani wants to at least possible primetime WKs in the future. 

If NJPW revives the 4th Gen IWGP HW, Okada is the first champion as in history and records start over again, still the lineage carry on.

 

 

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Jake Lee vows to revive the Royal Road next year along with Kento as both the protagonists and aces. Usually there is only 1 ace or 1 top ace above 4 or 3 or any other small number of pillars. However both are now the primary ace.

In NJPW,  both Kota and Okada in NJPW are the primary Aces now.

 

 

Edited by D.Z
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57 minutes ago, Jiji said:

Japan has always had the best team names. 

Finishers as well: Burning Hammer, Emerald Frosion, Anaconda Vice, High Fly Flow, Falcon Arrow and Phoenix Splash are my favourites.

Edited by The Natural
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7 minutes ago, Control said:

Who is in Bulk Orchestra?

That would be Ryuichi Kawakami, Hayato Tamura, and Nobuhiro Shimatami.  BULK ORCHESTRA!

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