Horangi

I've been watching BoSJ, most of it has been fun but nothing worth going out of your way for. Night 4 (Aichi) and Night 6 Korakuen probably stand out as they had two really good semi-mains and mains (Hiromu/Desperado & Eagles/ELP for Aichi, Hiromu/Ishimori & Desperado/Eagles for Korakuen night 6). Night 5 in Korakuen was fun too for all the inter-faction matches. Stay away from all the SHO matches if you don't enjoy EVIL's shtick, because SHO is now just effectively junior EVIL. WTL on the other hand has not been great, only stand outs being Taichi murdering TAKA like he owed him money and the Dangerous Tekkers vs United Empire match from Night 4.

Buddy is great, but I think people were expecting a lot more considering his hype and, of course, Okada. The match wasn't bad, I had it equal with Narita/Ospreay as 2nd best match of the night. I do agree that Buddy probably is still adjusting, and once he does he could be a huge get for New Japan, especially with guys like Jay White, Juice and Finlay potentially on their way out. The other thing I think about the match is that Okada isn't going to be doing any Okada-style classics on this US tour with Wrestle Kingdom coming up. I'm sure with the recent injuries, the office has probably told him to do his thing, but don't overdo it or risk anything leading into the new year. I did lose my shit for Jonah though, I remember he and Suzuki had a fun match on the first Australia tour so I am really looking forward to seeing what he can do now.

Robbie 2 Belts! So happy for him, an all-round top bloke who definitely deserves it. I'm sure it means he's dropping to Despe at Power Struggle though.

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).

Finally caught up, my top 5 in no order would be Okada/Tanahashi, Okada/Taichi, O-Khan/ZSJ, O-Khan/Ibushi and Takagi/ZSJ

O-Khan I think gets more negativity because of the current negative feeling towards New Japan, he and Wato kind of personify the current COVID-stale period. I think he's great! His match with Naito in the New Japan Cup is one of my favourites this year and he's really shining in the G1. Outside of the Yano stuff mid-year, he's delivered in every featured singles match.

The inner mid to late-2000s K-Dojo fan in me is really happy to see Mashimo and KAZMA team again, hope they have a good run, though I can't see Twin Towers not advancing.

Naito is out of the G1 due to knee injury. No replacement, instead all competitors will receive 2 points for the forfeit and compete in a special singles match instead. The special single matches: Tanga Loa and Shingo Takagi will face Yuji Nagata in theirs, Yujiro Takahashi and Toru Yano take on BUSHI, KENTA and Tomohiro Ishii get Hiromu Takahashi, and lastly Kota Ibushi and Great O-Khan face Satoshi Kojima

Thought night 2 was better than night 1. Solid undercard and two really good matches to finish. My best 3 matches of first two nights: 1. Okada v Tanahashi 2. Takagi v Ishii 3. Taichi v Goto Pumped for the 23rd, can't wait for Shingo v Zack and Ishii v Ibushi should be a war.

Last 2 matches in all seriousness are well worth a watch. The first two tournament matches were fun but not noteworthy. The Yano match enjoyment really depends on how you feel about his antics.

They can, a lot of them (I.e. White, Juice) are just choosing not to because of the quarantine and restrictions. Cobb, Robbie, GoD have been back and forward a bit over the past year.

Short thoughts considering I'm many scotches in: