Horangi

Have been busy with life so I've only seen the anniversary show and last night Amagasaki show. Agree on the the Jr title match. I feel this was the worst of their 3 but still really good. From Amagasaki, only one of the two matches is worth seeing and obviously that was Shota Umino vs Chase Owens.... I'm kidding! Oiwa vs Yuto was really good, well worth a look.

For the February portion of the New Beginning tour, there is definitely a match of the year contender from the Osaka show, what I will call Horangi's unapologetic guilty pleasure match and another which is probably not a match of the year but just a really fun match. They are, in order: 11/2/26: Yuto-Ice & OSKAR vs Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura (IWGP Tag) 2/2/26: Boltin Oleg vs Hartley Jackson 2/2/26: Hirooki Goto vs Ryohei Oiwa I really liked the rematch of Bishamon/Boltin & TMDK from Osaka, but the 19/1 version was the better match so it will have to miss the cut this time. Zack vs YOSHI-HASHI just missed the list as well.

Mashimo is still in pretty good shape at 47, his match with Miyahara was my match of the tournament from last year. Surprised no Davey Boy Smith Jr, I am guessing he's been replaced by Talos as the top big gaijin? I've become a Xyon fan, he's perfectly fine as a midcard/tag guy and looks incredible. HAVOC as a stable seems really over which probably helps.

Meltzer obviously has a preference and Jake Lee's oddness doesn't fit into that. The Cagematch 5.77/10 is probably more fair of a score. If you're expecting the typical New Japan title match (like Tsuji vs Takeshita) you will be very disappointed (like Dave was). Bloody hell he gave Gabe vs Andrade 4 stars? I haven't really paid much attention to Dave's ratings in a while, do people still put a lot of stock into them?

The whole thing seems to be based off a dodgy grok translation from a 2nd hand source used on Kenoh's YouTube. Based on what I can see, he may 'technically' be a free agent, he's just negotiating his deal for more money but has full intnetion to sign. How much of this is kayfabe I'm not sure but Kakutolog (the source second hand quoting Kenoh's channel which is known to be clickbaity/shit stirring) is known to be more kayfabe. EffingKENTA's X account explains it better than me EDIT: Tsuji re-signed yesterday, just the normal January/February chaos. You'd think they would learn by now

Without looking too deep into it, Goto is close but Yano is the answer to this for a full timer. Taguchi I think had his debut a couple of months before Goto too.

I am in two minds about putting this on my list of best New Japan matches of 2026 as it is not the typical New Japan epic that most would expect to be on the list, but in terms of favourite matches I think Boltin Oleg vs Hartley Jackson from last night's Korakuen Hall show will absolutely be there. There's just something special about two big lads beating the daylights out of each other all over Korakuen Hall (and 45 year old Hartley Jackson taking that bump onto the chairs...I'm hitting 40 this year and every part of me winced at that). Goto vs Oiwa and Zack vs YOSHI-HASHI are well worth a look too.

I would add the following (I am not doing a top 10 list this year as I am not sure how much I am going to really watch, so I'll just list matches I think were really good) - 4/1/2026: EVIL vs Aaron Wolf (NEVER Openweight) - 5/1/2026: Yuto-Ice & OSKAR vs Zack Sabre Jr & Ryohei Oiwa (IWGP Tag) - 19/1/2026: Zack Sabre Jr, Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson vs Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Boltin Oleg (NEVER 6 Man Tag) - 19/1/2026: Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura vs Taichi & Tomohiro Ishii January was a pretty good month all things considered, especially if you enjoy tag team wrestling.

Completely forgot to mention Nagai! I'm really looking forward to the future Fujita/Nagai rivalry in the next few years. Hell, as long as they all stay, Fujita/Nagai/Wato/Akira is a great potential big four for the junior division.

The latest rumour from VoW/J-Cast is that Hiromu is likely on his way out as well. Hiromu was my absolute favourite wrestler in the world from 2018-2022/23ish and if you asked me a year ago, I'd say this would be a HUGE loss but in 2025 he was a complete non-factor in the junior division and I think there is plenty there to cover (Fujita is ready to be the top guy, Wato/YOH/Akira/DOUKI with Ishimori stepping into Hiromu's place along with Despe as the established top juniors). Sure, it would suck to see him leave (rumoured creative differences/management frustrations similar to Okada) but I think not as much of a loss compared to that of EVIL (top heel, biggest merch mover). If Hiromu leaves, I assume he'll join Naito & co in NOAH/freelance. I saw speculation that Hiromu's issues seem to be around doing more openweight stuff (in that he doesn't want to do it) so if he goes to NOAH, it will be interesting to see if he's booked solely in the junior division or if he does slot in upper card in an openweight position (which would be great for NOAH). The other interesting thing to me is that potentially in less than 12 months all the OG LIJ guys may be gone, if someone told me that a couple of years ago I would have thought they are insane.

Really great #1 contender for the tag titles match last night. Yuya and Shota work so well as a team, the inevitable split is gonna hurt. Taichi and Ishii as the veteran gatekeepers made them look like a million dollars. Great stuff! Between KOB, Bishamon, Yuya/Shota, Taichi/Ishii, whatever TMDK combination...the 2026 tag division is looking good.

My Tanahashi top 10 with a few options that may be seen as unusual: 1. 11/11/2007 - vs. Hirooki Goto (Destruction 2007) 2. 16/8/2015 - vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (G1 Climax 2015 Final) 3. 4/1/2016 - vs. Kazuchika Okada (Wrestle Kingdom 10) 4. 8/10/2012 - vs. Minoru Suzuki (King of Pro Wrestling 2012) 5. 12/8/2018 - vs. Kota Ibushi (G1 Climax 2018 Final) 6. 14/10/2013 - vs. Kazuchika Okada (King of Pro Wrestling 2013) 7. 18/9/2011 - vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (G1 Special 2011) 8. 3/4/2011 - vs. Yuji Nagata (New Dimension 2011) 9. 11/8/2017 - vs. Tetsuya Naito (G1 Climax 2017) 10. 4/1/2026 - vs. Kazuchika Okada (Wrestle Kingdom 20) I love most of the Okada matches, Invasion Attack 2013, Dominion 2012 and Destruction 2018 all deserve to be in the conversation. The retirement match just edged 2013 G1 vs Ishii out of the top 10. The pandemic matches in 2021 against Shingo Takagi are very underrated due to when they happened (I wish these were in front of a proper loud crowd). 2011 Tanahashi really doesn't get talked about enough, with the Nakamura & Nagata matches aforementioned, but also vs. Goto at Dominion, Naito at Destruction and Satoshi Kojima at New Beginning all being really good too. The other match that just missed out was the Champions Carnival final vs Suwama, one of the few glimpses of heel Tanahashi.

I agree with most of this, besides two: Takeshita i think is still a possibility if he stays contracted on some level as TV Asahi are very high on him. Ospreay is the kind of guy I could see later in his career deciding he would want to do a year or two back in New Japan as its where he built his name. In that case, why not give him a run?

In some good news, they've confirmed the IWGP Heavyweight title is back, the World Title reigns will be added into the history so while Takagi, Zack and Goto didn't get to hold the V4 (yet), they're certainly in the lineage.

Main event was great, the two main events last night and the one tonight have me cautiously optimistic. Oiwa and Yuto should be guys New Japan gets behind. Tanahashi vs Okada has a 9.7 rating on cagematch at the moment. Rewatched on NJPW World. What a journey! I'm glad Tana had the send off he rightly deserved

Not sure if a spoiler or not

Just got back from the Dome! It was an absolute privilege to be at the last match of the wrestler i consider the greatest of all time. Not sure how it all came off on NJPW World but thoughts from the stands

Definitely second to avoid all online discourse on Reddit and X. Have tried and given up every time. There are some good podcasts - I'd avoid Super J Cast, but We Work Stiff is pretty decent (if you dont mind the Australian accents)

Wouldn't be surprised to see a Yuya/Shota/ELP team. Jacko probably gets Zack/Oiwa as partners OR Haste/Nichols (unlikely as they haven't been around all year). In a way I'm happy with less matches as it'll give matches like the women's one more time, but on the other hand they should be using this to showcase people like Yuya and Narita.

I guess SJTL discussion can go here as the finals are on Tanahashi's homecoming show. About half way through the tournament, I'd say there has been a lot of fun stuff, especially the Hiromu/Gedo team (Korakuen and Saitama going mental for Gedo, and Gedo doing the Superfly Splash for the first time in god knows how long) which makes me sad for the inevitable turn by Gedo/War Dogs on Hiromu/Unaffiliated. Also liking Funky Carats again, the team even makes Taguchi bearable for me. Also I wish Templario was around more. Tournament has been very predictable, as soon as I saw the blocks I thought the finals will probably be Wato/YOH vs Ichiban Sweet Boys and it looks like it is heading that way (though HoT could play spoiler in Block A and I think Ishimori/X could cause some kind of tiebreak if they go over ISB). Robbie's transformation into Australian Bogan is escalating with the addition of a moustache, he's just missing the mullet and footy shorts. As I said, most of the matches have been fun but mostly skippable. Best matches so far are the two Ichiban Sweet Boys main events - vs. Desperado & KUUKAI on night 1, and vs. KUSHIDA and Yoshioka last night.

I dont think they go Okada vs Takeshita - crowd was booing Takeshita again (he did win some of the crowd back to the point it felt 60/40) so it would be insane for Gedo to book that. Depending on what you think of Gedo, that may make the prospect more likely. They don't need a huge draw for Wrestle Kingdom, what they need is to put over a new star in front of their biggest audience since 2020. Whether its Tsuji in a double gold match or Uemura as the new version of Tanahashi, the domestic crowds are obviously tired of outsider champions who are barely around. Goto's match will probably take place in Gifu at the show replacing Power Struggle this year. KOPW was a great show though. All IWGP matches delivered (Yuya vs Yuto is the future), dont know how long the Unaffiliated/War Dogs alliance lasts (Chris Charlton already did his foreshadowing thing) but I do like how they're consolidating units - TMDK/United Empire next?

This was great! Early stages of post excursion Yuto are very positive. This was his first test and he absolutely delivered! I didn't mind Shota vs OSKAR as well, it was fun but not must see. Hyped for the KOPW tag title match now.

Hey come on, Yujiro didnt always suck! When he was the Young Lion doing Karelin lifts he was a blast! I actually enjoyed his IWGP title match with Tanahashi back in 2012...thought there was hope for him back then. Don't know if him or Yoshitatsu are my biggest 'boy was i wrong' guy.

Over 20k tickets sold so far apparently. They've just opened more 1F Stand (which is what i went with). I thought my estimate of 28-30k was a little ambitious but maybe not.