Salads

Have been playing Fire Pro Wrestling World with the NJPW DLC. It has a story mode called Fighting Road, essentially a young lion to Wrestle Kingdom journey consisting of matches interspersed with exp levelling and visual novel-y segments. I was aghast at the idea of having to adopt a CAW from scratch for this mode, then ended up enjoying the added creative control you get when you've actually memorised your character's moveset for once. I eventually dropped it because at the end of the day it's a lot of matches using the same character and the CPU difficulty wasn't offering much challenge, but the highlight for me was this inexplicable introduction when Gedo showed up:

The original Bill Burr / Great Antonio video is currently unscathed for now on dailymotion if people having trouble finding unedited versions. Inoki did an interview on the 22nd of September, now subtitled in English. Not an easy watch.

He's recreating the moment Tanahashi removed the Inoki portrait from the New Japan dojo. Hey, a tiny image of myself made it onto TV Asahi news! Thank God for HD. A fitting amount of splicing needed to get a Western fan of modern day New Japan to appear to say good things about Inoki on the end. I want to believe the Amazon story but I was reminded today that Inoki lived in Brazil for three years before he started wrestling. Portuguese is a painful language to learn but I think that's a stretch.

Posting this TV Asahi news clip of the show from the Inoki thread in case Sturm wants to have fun spotting himself like I did. https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/news_international/articles/000270398.html?display=full

Thanks Natural. Just night one for me also. Not much of a merch person myself but if I ever do the size thing is a good tip. Thoughts below. Have spoilered details relating to results and such. I don't have kids but it's great watching wrestling with a hot crowd and an along-for-the-ride wife who flinches with every big bump (and hiptosses). Smaller venue meant good views all round. Would have had a far better view enjoying my £3 bottle of water from the bar area than in my cheap seat for the first Royal Quest. Was pleased that I could see the entrance vids this time and that I was positioned in line with a neutral corner, so no chance of my view being blocked by the Good Brothers on the apron later in the show. Wasn't pleased at the nearby body odour once sat. On the subject of corner pads, after one or two matches during an entrance the red and blue ones were switched around, suggesting that there is some significance regarding which goes where that I wasn't aware of. Show opened with the roster coming out for a ten bell salute for Inoki. Okada and Tanahashi stood in the ring while the rest stood around the ring and up the entrance ramp. Or as it would have appeared if you were in one of the rear floor seats, Okada and Tanahashi in the ring with Hikuleo accompanying them on the side. For any members of the roster looking forward to escaping clapping crowds they were greeted with a clapgasm from a bunch of Brits fresh from being conscripted into a month of mandatory celebrity mourning. In a misinterpretation of the term Inoki-san, my OH asked if the two standing in the ring were Inoki's sons. Gabriel Kidd vs. Dan Moloney Dan had both the most WWE physique and the most WWE entrance of any on the show, but I can't really explain what the latter means. I could imagine it being a template for someone's CAW entrance in the Smackdown games. Gideon Grey and The Great-O-Khan vs. Ricky Knight Jr. and Michael Oku My OH likes her flips and thankfully the Rev Pro guests brought some to the show. Can't say I appreciate the history with Grey that was being referenced but needless to say GOK was over. I like GOK, but I'm there watching him do this badass Muta entrance before seeing him drop some Mongolian chops and shove his ass at people for the glory of the stable of wrestlers from commonwealth countries and I have no idea what the fuck he's aiming for. Presumably in five years time he's going to be a lot better at it but I cannot guess what that would look like. Turns out the OH noticed him while we were hanging around before the show and only twigged who he was when he comes out in full Okami enemy gear on account of his dinstinctive hair. Kanji and Jazzy Gabert vs. Alex Windsor and Ava White All new names for me. From first impressions I thought Gabert and Windsor were the ones set for the singles match tonight with the others as makeweights but turns out it will be Gabert v White. Felt bad at my initial surface judgement of White as resembling a 2006 Laurinaitis hire, but looking these names up she had only recently switched to wrestling from glamour modelling with Windsor being far more experienced so I'll forgive myself. Turns out that Kanji is actually a shortened version of her shoot surname, but it's still the worst wrestling name of all time. Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, and Tetsuya Naito vs. DOUKI, El Desperado, and Zack Sabre Jr. I know some hate seeing tag matches like this on the card but I was really looking forward to this one and it delivered as long as you set expectations accordingly. OH liked Time Bomb's entrance vid as we all do. Not much individual shine for anyone (we're in t-shirt Naito territory here) but naturally Zack gets his moments. Striking thing about this match for me is how much presence Zack has now that he has bulked up. Towered over everyone else in the match and carried himself to match. A flowsion-esque move (couldn't confirm from my angle) from Naito on one of the opposing juniors got the biggest audience flinch of the night. A heckle of 'REF YOU'VE LOST CONTROL' towards the end of the match made me realise how kayfabe has eroded to the point where no one has the energy to be mad at the refs anymore. Tomohiro Ishii and Kazuchika Okada vs. Zak Knight and Bad Dude Tito Found out that Jonah couldn't make the card as I was on my way to the show. Was a bummer because in my mind he was compensation for Cobb not being there. Imagine there were many at the show who were unaware and received no explanation for Zak coming out behind Tito with Jonah's image behind him. Okada put in a big shift last time he was in the UK but this time we got a filler tag which was probably apropriate for the opposition. No tombstone or rainmaker. That said part of the appeal of these shows to me is seeing the crowd get the chance to show appreciation for these guys and Okada was loving the crowd. A lot of the match was Ishii as FIP and Okada working the apron like a man possessed. Everytime Bad Dude Tito's name became the focus of my thoughts I remembered Kanji with dismay. Hikuleo, Jado, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tama Tonga vs. Gedo, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, and Jay White Add Jay White to the list of people loving the crowd. I should have been more appreciative of the chance to see Jado and Gedo live, but all the time I was thinking about how unimpressive they would be to the OH. Today she commented that in this match she heard it announced that five minutes had passed 'but they hadn't done anything yet'. The only thing I can remember Gallows doing is his multiple elbow drop spot and making cracks from the apron. I don't hate the Good Brothers but that is ideal really. Still think it's strange for them to be flown over considering their placement in both nights, but knowing how much flights cost I don't see how most bookings make financial sense tbh. Tama had a great face response. Will Ospreay vs. Shota Umino Red Shoes was reffing this. Mentioned his relationship to Shota to the OH who drew my attention to how messed up that was. 2022 Will is not just bigger but expressive to an almost cartoonish degree. Not a big fan in isolation but helps him stand out. Odd that the three big non-Japanese in the company are among the chattiest. He was the OH's favourite from both Royal Quests including tonight so lucked out that he was in a singles here. The Oscutter is a much better move in person. Previously thought it a bit silly but here it's a giant dude flying through the air and a big superplex bang in the middle of the ring. IWGP Tag Team Championship: FTR vs. Aussie Open Confession: I'm not nuts on Aussie Open, and I also don't go quite as weak at the knees for FTR as many would on this board. But this match was mega, and this was the perfect stage for it. FTR managed to eclipse AO in popularity, with the crowd singing(!) their theme and Dax loving the chants. Cash ran the stairs next to me while I was distracted. Looked up and wondered what the crowd were reacting to and why Great O Khan was looking in my direction. Again, great work and an awesome match. Much more of an FTR fan now. They get all the little details and I like the way they prevent things looking too orchestrated. Crowd was on their feet towards the end, which is great for the wrestlers but less so if you're a non-tall spectator. If New Japan's shows here don't grow old and continue to have the combination of hot crowds and great main events then they'll always appeal. I like the way so far with Okada/Suzuki and FTR/AO we've manage to get big matches for big titles that wouldn't necessarily get the same breathing space elsewhere. That way it feels like these shows are adding to the big picture rather than only existing because we want a slice of it. Night 2 has wrapped up by this point. Going by intial reports:

Playing Goldeneye against your friends isn't going to hold up, but the main game still has countless features that haven't really been seen since. The Mario Kart tracks are wave 3 of 6 announced back in March so the only outrage should be that they showed only two of the four new tracks.

Without cards in place hard to know if these shows will be thread-worthy, but should be notable for the novelty of nearly a full roster with no crowd / cheering restrictions. The standard set by the first Royal Quest also raises expectations. Names are being announced all the time with the to-date line up shown in the spoilered graphic below (thanks Reddit). Can't explain why the UK always gets so many names compared to their US expansion. Naito won't do Forbidden Door but he'll do Crystal Palace. Respect. FTR vs Aussie Open title defense is the first match we know set for night 1. Good for me as I'll be attending. All I need now to avoid buyers remorse is for a few more decent match ups on the night and nothing good at all to be announced for night 2. God bless the smaller venue because it means I can afford to watch this stale wrestling from a better seat than last time.

Seeing a few references to calling an audible in response to the result of the tag title match at All Out. I can think of examples of an audible being called due to injury. I can also recall Steve Austin saying he regretted not calling an audible to abandon his heel turn in the closing moments of Wrestlemania. But I'm not sure I know of any examples of it being done to change a result on account of crowd reaction or similar, particularly the result of a PPV title match which would have a knock-on effect on future plans. Has that ever been a thing in the modern age and if so, when?

Yeah I keep forgetting how much of a treat these are. Jay and SANADA cancelling each other out. Juice with big guy-on-the-end energy. Always enough people playing everything straight for the silly to shine. Couple more highlights.

This is great fun. RIP Hoss Block, long live Monster Block.

Karl spells it all out for you here:

Reaction 1: Come on that's harsh Kobashi was still incredible without his knees. Reaction 2: Okada is past his prime already? Reaction 3: Actually yeah keep black trunks Kobashi out of this. It's not a dream match when you know there's no chance of one of them doing the job. Reaction 4: Monkey paw grants your wish for Orange Trunks Kobashi versus Balloon Okada.

They're also going to be putting in work because this is the biggest exposure they could ever hope to have. They need to get eyeballs on their product. Misc thoughts: Match graphics team putting in the biggest shift of their lives to keep up to date with this event. That Bucks tag was the match I was most looking forward to. Sad face. But! Nothing is going to shake my appreciation for this show existing. Having Tony orchestrating this is like Sakurai running Smash Bros - it's a miracle to have someone who's probably a bigger dork than you are at the top calling the shots. As a result everyone coming in is going to be treated with respect and we get a huge profile event for maximum fanservice. Fanservice for US. I remember Okada in TNA, ffs. The countdown show had a lot of things people here said were missing from the main shows. Including a set of promos from Mox and Tana that I loved, a quote from which is on the last page. Hiroshi 'I created the forbidden door' Tanahashi against Jon 'I am the forbidden door' Moxley is good hype. Turns the replacement main event into the natural main event. A shame a few of the NJPW wrestlers didn't have a voice in the build up, even if only via quotes mentioned on commentary. I understand that you don't want to be having a subs or dubs debate about your primetime American wrasslin show, but that's not an issue when you've got ZSJ on the ramp. If they're hyping ZSJ v Bryan down the line as a match to determine the best technical wrestler in the world, and they're specifically promoting this match as being a technical one then Zack should be winning. Could any big name like Claudio job on their BCC/AEW debut to a departing opponent? Tana as intirim AEW champ wouldn't be without its appeal, but I don't think it's happening unless it was the plan for Punk to drop in the first place. Kevin Kelly will be on the commentary team, calming my nerves about the 'explain who all these Japanese dudes are' problem. I keep hearing that Naito doesn't care about American wrestling, though that doesn't explain his absence from this card as he has flown over before. I remember a press conference with CM Punk answering to the idea of facing NJPW wrestlers without the enthusiasm you get from some others (paraphrasing 'If Tony wants me to do it, I'll do it'). So on the basis of that alone in my head canon he is AEW's Naito equivalent. Fitted well when on the Tanahashi debut he was all 'Ok we've got a pay per view to sell, who have I got?' I'm sure Connors will do fine, and I agree that he should be Ishii's replacement but the result is that the match no longer feels like it has any real NJPW presence. Great spot on Okada's throwback to the NOAH show build. 100% deliberate. He's pumped! I'm sure the relationship between the companies will continue, but no idea if it will retain this format. The big upside to all these absentees is that even if they were only planning this as a one-off there's enough left on the table to do an encore. That injury list is your list of reasons to tune in next time. People wondering why this is cursed when we all know the door they're passing through is forbidden. Things will be better on 2024's AEW and NJPW joint 'Door' PPV.

Most shocking event of this show was Regal calling Tanahashi a young man. It must be the hair.

I've seen parts of the internet where people are convinced of the opposite. Schedule is out. In hindsight I'm not sure why I put the groups in spoilers but this is a lot of text. This is predominantly because I never really get excited for G1 group announcements ('yup, that's a list of good wrestlers' is usually how it goes), but I think hoss block A may be the most intriguing G1 block ever for me. 1) I'm amazed they managed to get a whole schedule of fresh matches for Okada despite him working through the pandemic. 2) Fale is going to have to bump more than ever before. 3) Where has big man wrestling been these last few years, huh? Probably some of the many places I haven't been paying attention to, but it feels novel to me.

tHe BiRtH oF oKaDa'S fIrSt ChIlD iS iMpOrTaNt To HiM. Buncha marks! That Bullet Club v Dudes with Attitudes match is one of the best 'get everyone on the card' tags they could have done. Bucks v Hiromu / Shingo is going to be peak and looking forward to El Phantasmo against Sting. EP has the perfect combination of 'can go' and 'can stooge' for that slot.

We have our blocks:

As you say, it requires some credibility, and some faith. Faith that the titles the viewer has never heard of mean something (sometimes they do, sometimes they don't) and faith that these guys are as good as we hear they are. The latter is kind of redundant when we see them in the ring beforehand - if the guy doesn't impress then the words ring hollow, and if they do then we didn't need to be told. In my opinion the 'this guy is great, here is a list of championships he has won' approach, while a no-brainer wore thin after it was used on both Nagata and Kojima and can't be relied on alone. In the case of Tanahashi / Ospreay / Okada when JR describes them as one of the best / top five / whatever in the world it means something, but outside of that they have to differentiate. We need the crib note caricatures on how to tell them apart and what the story is. Eg: Nagata - Why does Moxley want to face him? Because he's a wrestler's wrestler with the likes of Danielson among his admirers. Why isn't this old man afraid of Moxley? Is he an idiot? No he's a vet that has seen it all - he's faced Goldberg in WCW, Kobashi in NOAH, Lesnar in NJPW and Fedor in MMA land (shhhhhh don't mention ANYTHING about the content of those matches). Something like that because we can see he is past his prime and Moxley isn't going to be dropping any titles to him. 'Japanese megastar Yuji Nagata' is crying wolf. Suzuki - He's an old school sadistic SOB who rightfully strikes fear into people. He's teaming up with fellow bully Jericho to participate in one of his favourite hobbies torturing young men as they face Mox's kids. Guevara and Kingston are there to avoid it being too much of a one-sided match-up but that's the story. I'd better buy that show because I want to see those kids not get destroyed hopefully! Ishii - Stone pitbull. Call him the stone pitbull a lot the name is English and perfect. Ospreay - The OC match has a decent build from a story perspective, but I saw more comments picking up on Will's current character from this board than from the commentary team. Why has he got that jacket and that face? Is he an idiot? Yes. We all want to see him lose but unfortunately he's a world class wrestler. He gets to be in charge of United Empire in spite of his lack of leadership skills or judgement because he is really good at wrestling. Imagine Starscream in charge of the Decepticons. O-Khan - Here's your chance JR. The guy is oriental as hell so you know how to sell this. It's a proper gimmick and it never went out of fashion. Tanahashi - 'They call you the Ace' is good but letting us know why he's the Ace would be better. We've been told Moxley has been chasing him for years but again, why? What is the distinction going to be between Tanahashi and this Okada guy who is also great when he shows up? Tanahashi is the Cena - he never gives up or turns turns heel. Hero to women and kids everywhere (because the posing, flowing locks and air guitar might seem a bit odd otherwise). He's been the face of NJPW for what seems like forever which is both why Mox wants him and why he's had to wait so long to get to him. You know what, all those like-for-like matches we saw on booking wishlists leading up to Forbidden Door (Danhausen/Yano, Kenny/Okada, UE/BC, Zack/Bryan, FTR/Aussie Open, Hiromu/Darby etc) may look like they're using EWR stat logic to decide what would get the best match quality percentage, but they have these little simple hooks that don't need a lot of explanation and make people want to see them. If you have time to build you can do better but when you don't that's really useful.

Slowly sinking in that with a couple of weeks to go the dream AEW / NJPW show everyone wanted has a non-zero chance of not featuring Bryan, CM Punk, Omega, Ibushi, Okada or a top title match from either side. Setting my expectations to zero so it can only go up from here. It's like Tony extended the olive branch across the Pacific but ended up catching whatever curse NJPW had during the pandemic that ensured nothing they had lined up went to plan.

Someone described Ospreay as vanilla last week and I was wondering how anyone could look vanilla next to Aussie Open. This week they make their run in wearing plain white t-shirts. I don't know why that stood out so much to me. Lots of logos to choose from guys. Jericho Appreciation Society and Suzuki-Gun don't seem like they should be buddies. Suzuki-Gun presence on Dynamite does ever so slightly open the door for a ZSJ appearance though. If any Bryan interaction is on the cards Zack has never been one to cater his promos to either Japanese or American audiences so I hope he goes all in on Blackpool being a ridiculous place to name an intimidating combat club after. Amazing that Shuta, a guy best known among even devoted fans for his non-speaking (/non-moving?) role in backstage segments from a 2019 Japan-only tournament gets a hearty pop when mentioned. Forbidden Door is a couple of weeks away and short on matches so great to have Switchblade and friends do a segment seemingly unannouncing one. The sensible thought is that they wouldn't be dropping Okada's name all the time if he wasn't going to show (Kazuchikhov's gun?) but in case he isn't I'm down for sowing seeds for an appearance somewhere down the line. A lot of people interested in AEW/NJPW have fantasy booked their own coin drop on Dynamite moment and you don't want to waste that money shot on a last minute tag match. Hell, keep mentioning him for years like he's Columbo's wife then eventually even people who have never seen him might care when the name turns into a dude standing on the ramp.

Don't know whether the original phrase Forbidden Portal was changed to Forbidden Door or whether it's a different choice of translation but I like to think the graphics are a reference to that. This is my take as well. Despite the subdued reaction to the match announcement (how far we've come from freaking out over KENTA on Dynamite) Tana was a great fit for post-comeback Bret-tribute Punk. Tana mentioned that the match should happen at the Tokyo Dome instead. Not sure if that's just talk but we may still get to see it.

This format combined with the BOSJ tour being a largely heavyweight-free zone says to me that they've been taking notes about overworking the roster. So in that way I can't complain but the chaff is going to stand out a lot more when the likes of Yujiro make up one sixth of someone's G1 outing this year. Not an exciting line up but the format and a sneakily good influx of returning talent should mean we avoid too many tired pairings. I love Kodge but the idea of him in this G1 highlights how crazy that result is. His last G1 was FIVE YEARS ago during which he won ONE of his NINE matches.

Dominion developments:

Two new summaries of the Ibushi drama below. Should be noted that there are contradictions between them so both can't be 100% true.