The Natural 36,839 Posted April 4 Author Share Posted April 4 Carrying on the above: Spoiler 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Spontaneous 1,472 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 (edited) My thoughts Spoiler Hey guys, AJPW's Champion Carnival is starting soon. Let's just watch that. Screw this! New Empire member: Spoiler Toa Henare is now Aaron Henare and looked like a bad Kenny Omega bullet club cosplay. Thank God it wasn't Shota like some corners of the web pushed. Edited April 4 by Spontaneous 1 Link to post Share on other sites
The Natural 36,839 Posted April 4 Author Share Posted April 4 (edited) @Spontaneous: Just posted the NJPW thread I was talking about in the Hot Takes thread. Cheers. Edited April 4 by The Natural 1 Link to post Share on other sites
The Natural 36,839 Posted April 4 Author Share Posted April 4 Spoiler I didn't like Will Ospreay even before Speaking Out. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
D.Z 11,715 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Check this out Spoiler 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
hammerva 5,130 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Spoiler If you thought he was drunk with imaginary power before 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Tuna Boss 22 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 I'd imagine they've been pressured into making a change as a result of bad numbers (which is surely not even remotely Ibushi's fault...). That said, it's still a shocking change and probably a much needed one in a promotion that's been devastated by the pandemic and poor booking decisions. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
The Natural 36,839 Posted April 4 Author Share Posted April 4 (edited) Spoiler I'd have gone with Minoru Suzuki, Tomohiro Ishii, Hiromu Takahashi if he wasn't injured or Shingo Takagi over Will Fuckin' Ospreay. Edited April 4 by The Natural Forgot Zack Sabre Jr. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Spontaneous 1,472 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 (edited) Spoiler Storyline-wise, at least he won. If he beat up his girlfriend and lost, then he'd be King of the Edgelords. I can't see Ospreay holding it long. I doubt he is holding it longer than the first stadium show. Could see Okada win it from Ospreay but then what? Edited April 4 by Spontaneous 2 Link to post Share on other sites
The Natural 36,839 Posted April 4 Author Share Posted April 4 Spoiler Even sadder, if Shingo Takagi won the New Japan Cup beating Will Ospreay in the Final as he fucking should, this could be Takagi as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion instead of fucking Ospreay. Link to post Share on other sites
The Natural 36,839 Posted April 4 Author Share Posted April 4 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Spontaneous said: Hide contents Storyline-wise, at least he won. If he beat up his girlfriend, and lost then he'd be King of the Edgelords. I can't see Ospreay holding it long. I doubt he is holding it longer than the first stadium show. Could see Okada win it from Ospreay but then what? Spoiler It's something running an extra Tokyo Dome show when NJPW isn't hot and trying to get some funds in the current coronavirus climate. Thinking Okada or Naito beat Ospreay there as first time IWGP Heavyweight Championship reigns tend to not last long: Kazuchika Okada (3 months), Tetsuya Naito (2 months) and Jay White (2 months). Hoping so. Jay White wins the G1 Climax to challenge the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Confident in that prediction. Edited April 4 by The Natural 1 Link to post Share on other sites
The Natural 36,839 Posted April 4 Author Share Posted April 4 Spoiler Most pissed I've been at someone going over in a while. The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship still looks shit. Link to post Share on other sites
alstein 797 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 (edited) Is the 5k hard cap for any venue still in effect in Japan? No point in running the Dome until you can put at least 15-20k in there. But yeah, NJPW's golden run is over in my eyes. They did kinda have to elevate Finlay and Henare this year, if only to keep them (Finlay especially would have had options) Edited April 4 by alstein 1 Link to post Share on other sites
The Natural 36,839 Posted April 4 Author Share Posted April 4 1 minute ago, alstein said: Is the 5k hard cap for any venue still in effect in Japan? No point in running the Dome until you can put at least 15-20k in there. Not sure. Quick look at Wikipedia, Wrestle Kingdom Night One drew 12,689 and 7,801 the night after for a total of 20,490. Can't see NJPW coming close to that even if the cap is lifted because least those have the 4th of January and Wrestle Kingdom names in their favour. Link to post Share on other sites
Jiji 12,602 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 30 minutes ago, Spontaneous said: Hide contents Storyline-wise, at least he won. If he beat up his girlfriend and lost, then he'd be King of the Edgelords. I can't see Ospreay holding it long. I doubt he is holding it longer than the first stadium show. Could see Okada win it from Ospreay but then what? Spoiler Hasn't "but then what?" been New Japan's big problem for three years now? Link to post Share on other sites
alstein 797 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 (edited) 1 hour ago, The Natural said: Not sure. Quick look at Wikipedia, Wrestle Kingdom Night One drew 12,689 and 7,801 the night after for a total of 20,490. Can't see NJPW coming close to that even if the cap is lifted because least those have the 4th of January and Wrestle Kingdom names in their favour. Those shows were allowed to go over the cap because they sold the tickets, the cap went into effect afterwards. NJPW made that clear on I believe 1/3. Edited April 4 by alstein 1 Link to post Share on other sites
killsteve 53 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 3 hours ago, Tuna Boss said: I'd imagine they've been pressured into making a change as a result of bad numbers (which is surely not even remotely Ibushi's fault...). That said, it's still a shocking change and probably a much needed one in a promotion that's been devastated by the pandemic and poor booking decisions. Didn't they do the same shocking heel title win and run with EVIL last year and it totally bombed? 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Casey 8,713 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Gross. Someone close the Forbidden Door, quick. 3 7 Link to post Share on other sites
lostinube 205 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 The audience cap was raised to 10,000 last month. On the 18th of this month the government will decide whether to stay with that or go to half-capacity. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
The Natural 36,839 Posted April 5 Author Share Posted April 5 Now this I like. Link to post Share on other sites
Craig H 14,643 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Opening up a can of worms, but I feel like the negative Osprey shit is a little dumb considering that the promoter was revealed to be the person causing the problems and not Will. Not only that, but Will reached out to her to talk and cleared the air. Look, I'm not super cool with Osprey as champion, but booking wise, it makes sense. Osprey beat Ibushi two years ago before everything went to shit. Ibushi recently beat Osprey and Osprey vowed to win the title. Osprey once again showed he was the better competitor and stuck to his word. This is better than EVIL winning, but I still think Empire is a shit faction and Henare joining it doesn't mean shit. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
matwarz 75 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Will Ospreay is as good of a worker as there is, has been for the past three years. He has achieved that position through hard work and commitment and absolutely deserves his current standing. 1 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Archibald 625 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 While everyone is complaining about Ospreay winning my biggest disappointment was Henare being X. At least they are not treating it very seriously since he picked up a win only after Cobb already did his finisher on Sanada. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
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