The Puroresu (Japanese Wrestling) thread

gnfnrhead

Forgot about Lesnar as Champion! Think he dropped it to Angle in an unofficial defence or something, didnt he?

Back to Wrestle Kingdom, two matches in now. The eight man tag didnt need eight people and just made it a clusterfcuk. Bono and Sapp were the attraction so dump two others and make it a six man like originally planned.

The Open Weight title match was going well until the interference. Benjamin is starting to remind me a lot of RVD in how he always gets his spots in somewhere. The intereference killed it.

Good news is thats two of the matches I expected the least from out of the way. Pick it up from the tag title match next time which will hopefully be the start of the greatness

rovert

Amazing show. Pretty overwhelmed in terms what match was my favourite and in what order. Not spoiling any matches for now at least too.

Joe Lanza:

That’s right, FIVE four-star plus matches on one show, and not a single bad match. This is without a doubt a must see show, and perhaps the greatest show in wrestling history. We are in the midst of seeing something truly special in New Japan. Like the Three Muskateers era almost two decades earlier, or early 90′s All Japan, or the Attitude Era/Monday Night Wars, there is no question we are witnessing a defining era in wrestling history right now. Enjoy it while it lasts.

http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2013/01/04/wrestle-kingdom-7-an-absolute-classic/

Another interesting review here too:
http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw/2013/01/04/results-new-japan-1413/

rovert

One last thing. Just posted this is essentially a WrestleKingdom non-spoiler viewing guide for most of the roster:

http://cewshreviews.blogspot.ie/2013/01/cewsh-scouts-new-japan.html

Dead handy.

BohsJohnny

Just finished watching now WOW what a show loved the Suzuki/Nagata match so intense,the three way is great Nakamura/Sakuraba is so stiff so many hard knees to the face,and although not as good as their other matches Tanahashi/Okada was still a really good match will be hard to top this as show of the year.

DM_7

I think I liked the ending of the previous Tanahashi Okada match Rovert posted before but it was still excellant. Watching both videos was a great way to spend an hour.

I didn't get a chance to watch the full show posted after the main event vid yet but I am looking forward to it.

Mr.Nice Guy

I have watched up to the final two matches (hope to see them later as I'm tired now). Really liked it so far. Who is the girl in blue on commentary? Some pop star? She goes in the ring at various points.

GRMA

I wish some superfans would dub commentary over these or something it would an amazing product perfect.

Machismo Fan

GRMA wrote: »

I wish some superfans would dub commentary over these or something it would an amazing product perfect.

That would ruin it for me, New Japan's main commentator is my favourite in wrestling these days (which says something about the standard of US commentators). Tanahashi's matches wouldn't be the same without him screaming High Fly Flow at the top of his lungs.

rovert

GRMA wrote: »

I wish some superfans would dub commentary over these or something it would an amazing product perfect.

Trust me it wouldn't at all.

DM_7

When they shour Dangerous, Dangerous, Dangerous is actually makes it appear more dangerous.

GRMA

rovert wrote: »

Trust me it wouldn't at all.

Maybe you are right, its mainly because I have no idea who some of these guys are... I have a lot of Misawa and Kobashi stuff on dvd and "TIGERRR DRIIVVAAA!!" is pretty epic

Although I see that article you linked earlier which should do me

rovert

GRMA wrote: »

Maybe you are right, its mainly because I have no idea who some of these guys are... I have a lot of Misawa and Kobashi stuff on dvd and "TIGERRR DRIIVVAAA!!" is pretty epic

Although I see that article you linked earlier which should do me

Not going to argue that English screen graphics would definitely help.

Mr.Saturn

rovert wrote: »

Trust me it wouldn't at all.

Forgive me if I'm misremembering, but didn't The Wrestling Channel used to have this for when they were airing Puroresu tapes? I definitely recall they had that chap from Power Slam doing the VO intros, but I seem to recollect that there'd be this interspersed commentary that was put over the original announcers, instead of replacing the track. So you'd go from the the native audio going hyper, selling a suplex or whatnot, and then it'd clash with this stoic English voice that'd calmly butt-in over to call the move, and then revert to the as-live booth.

rovert

The show wasn't without turmoil Meltzer wrote this last week:

....there are political issues that have largely been kept from the public. Kidani was a big wrestling fan, but those in Japan have noted he really doesn’t know anything about wrestling. They point in particular that his wrestling idol is Eric Bischoff, and that alone, as someone owning a company, should tell you how much he knows about the business of pro wrestling. The biggest issue internally is Kidani wanting to be like Bischoff and Vince McMahon and make himself a character as the heel owner, something most in the company are against. On the Dome show, he’s kicking off that role as the second for Kazushi Sakuraba, as the MMA legend has his first singles match in New Japan since his pro wrestling comeback, facing Nakamura for the Intercontinental title (which in Japan is valued at the level of the Intercontinental belt of the late 70s and 80s as opposed to the modern version). Even at press time there were people trying to talk him out of it.

Kidani signed Sakuraba and Katsuyori Shibata (who faces Togi Makabe) over the summer without letting anyone in the company know, including bookers Gedo and Jado. Tanahashi and Nakamura, who are the leaders essentially of the wrestlers because they are the two singles veteran stars that have now been on top for years, did not want Shibata back. Having said that, Shibata’s unique work style, because he’s no different, doing the uncooperative shooter gimmick, has gotten a lot of heat and added excitement to the shows. Sakuraba is more limited, and it’s not like his popularity is anything close to what it was a decade ago when he was a genuine national sports hero. But he still has a name and is fresh, and has been effective in the tag situations he’s been put in.

Kidani who was credited with many good decisions in 2012 - doing iPPVs and signing Sakuraba and Shibata who did get over resigned before the show and Sakuraba and Shibata

did the job at the Dome blowing off the invaders thing seemingly.

Low Ki doesn't seem long for the company for a number undisclosed reasons. What Meltzer did say New Japan didn't like his costume. Personally I believe it is one of his characteristic every 6 months or so wobblers that occurs when he isn't the centre of the universe and it is his time to lose that leads him to pack his bags.

New Japan are assuming Shelton and MVP are going to WWE. Nothing new there.

Meltzer said the show did 100,000 buys on iPPV in Japan. Japan is kinda like Ireland in that it has no tradition of traditional Pay Per View so that's very impressive especially for a show they always did anyway and the fact that New Japan went in and out of the red over the past 10 years.

GTR63

What are the cost comparisons of doing a PPV & iPPV`s cause i`m starting to think TNA should take the plunge. Obviously not a halfarsed attempt either.
That is a Fantastic buyrate for them.
Low-Ki should of dressed up as Snake btw would of went down a treat.

Machismo Fan

GTR63 wrote: »

What are the cost comparisons of doing a PPV & iPPV`s cause i`m starting to think TNA should take the plunge. Obviously not a halfarsed attempt either.

TNA's PPV's are available at http://tnaondemand.com. Not over here though.

DM_7

I don't blame Low Ki for wearing a suit, Devitt is beyond ripped and he probably didn't want to be compared to him.

GTR63

This hurts me just looking at it!

gimmick

rovert wrote: »

Trust me it wouldn't at all.

NOAH tried it on soem DVD releases and it was painful. It is far, far more fun to listen to an over excited Japanese man speaking foreign commentate on the matches even if it means not understanding more than a word or 2.

Ando's Saggy Bottom

Mo Chatra sucks.

Andersonisgod

Just finished off the whole show, not a weak match on the card. Even the opener which looked a bit weak on paper served a purpose and it was short and entertaining.

The hard hitting of Nagata vs Suzuki was wince inducing.

The three way was a cracker.

Nakamura oozes charisma, awesome match with a really slick Sakuraba. A couple of spots in that match looked like potentially real knock outs and the submission hold transitions were perfection.

Super main event, there is no finer seller in wrestling than Tanahashi, the main star in Japanese wrestling today has it all. Okada deserves a lot of credit too, very charismatic.

Probably the best wrestling show I've ever seen. A treat from start to finish.

gnfnrhead

The New Beginning on February 10th looks like being the next iPPV for NJPW.

So far:
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match
Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA) (c) vs. Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero)

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match
Prince Devitt (c) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi

IWGP Tag Team Title Match
Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) (c) vs. TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima)

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match
Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Karl Anderson

Meanwhile, this morning Nakamura beat La Sombra to make another successful defence. Devitt won his singles match against Dragon Rojo Jr. yesterday (lost the tag today), but it wasnt a title match as far as I can tell.

BUSHI is now full time for New Japan too, having previously only been on loan.

gnfnrhead

SSS wrote:

Takaaki Kidani today announced his resignation as Chairman of the Board of New Japan. Rumours had been circulating for a while about his future after his decision to bring in Laughter7 turned out to be an unpopular one within the company. Kidani said he would continue to support New Japan from his post at Bushiroad but will no longer play a direct role in things. Kidani said he believes any hint of New Japan’s “Dark Age” came to an end on January 4th when 29,000 fans paid for a ticket, the largest in many years, and is excited by the future progress of the company.

President Sugabayashi held a presentation with Nakamura in attendance to discuss to global strategy of New Japan. New Japan wants to become better known around the world and the recent iPPVs are just part of the plan. Nakamura said he plans to defend his increasingly valuable IWGP Intercontinental Title around the world if possible to give it a true international feel and continue to differentiate it from the IWGP Heavyweight Title. Shinsuke talked of going to strange places such as the Amazon of Brazil or even North Korea to defend the title!

An English language version of New Japan’s official site will launch in April, giving the same information to English speaking people as Japanese. Spanish and Chinese versions of the site are also under development.

Finally, New Japan announced some key dates for the next year including “WRESTLE KINGDOM VIII” back at the Tokyo Dome next January.

- 4/7 “INVASION ATTACK” @ Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
- 5/3 “WRESTLING DONTAKU 2013″ @ Fukuoka International Center
- 8/10 “G1 CLIMAX 23″ @ Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
- 8/11 “G1 CLIMAX 23″ @ Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
- 1/4/14 “WRESTLE KINGDOM VIII” @ Tokyo Dome

Am I alone in thinking Nakamura would be brilliant in North Korea?

DM_7

They need an English announce team and announce table at ringside, that way the americans are more likely to watch and every main event feud can see someone break the announce table. Simples.

The English website is a good idea.

gnfnrhead

DM-ICE wrote: »

They need an English announce team and announce table at ringside, that way the americans are more likely to watch and every main event feud can see someone break the announce table. Simples.

Dont see how that would work with iPPV's.

I actually prefer Japanese commentary, even though I only know one word. Hai :pac:

Actually Konnichiwa too, but I think thats from the Simpsons

DM_7

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Dont see how that would work with iPPV's.

I actually prefer Japanese commentary, even though I only know one word. Hai :pac:

Actually Konnichiwa too, but I think thats from the Simpsons

I don't mind the commentary, I only mentioned it for the announce team table to be broken as a jokey comment (after reading the english website could be produced)

For argument sake I never bought an iPPV myself, could they not stream another one with differant commentary handy enough?

gnfnrhead

Taichi has been involved in a car accident and will miss upcoming New Japan shows. Luckily the injuries aren’t too serious but he hurt his left knee and will miss around a month of action. This sidelines him from the upcoming tour and Hiro Tonai from TAKA’s K-DOJO promotion has been drafted in to replace Taichi.

gnfnrhead

This weekend!!!!!!!!!!

NJPW “THE NEW BEGINNING”, 2/10/13 (WPW/PPV/iPPV)
Hiroshima Sun Plaza

1. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Tama Tonga, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Jado
2. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley (c) vs. Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov
3. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt (c) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
4. IWGP Tag Team Title: Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. (c) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima
5. Special Singles Match: Togi Makabe vs. Yujiro Takahashi
6. Special Tag Match: Hirooki Goto & Wataru Inoue vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Katsuyori Shibata
7. Special Singles Match: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kengo Mashimo
8. Special Singles Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki
9. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Karl Anderson

The first match is the only one I'm not sure about simply because of how many guys are in it. The lack of both Ibushi and Low Ki sucks, but at least Devitt gets a fresher opponent.

BohsJohnny

Finally saw the Tanahashi vs Anderson match unbelivable match i knew the result and i still thought Anderson was going to win on some of the near falls Meltzer gave it ****3/4 i would go the whole way and give it 5 just a great match.

Mr.Nice Guy

Is it true Devitt is facing Tanahashi for the title in March?