NJPW General

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

Damn, outright cancelled?  No postponement or anything?

 

The anniversary show is one thing, but having a year without the New Japan Cup just doesn't feel right.

[Vic Boss 612]

Their building dates are already set.

 

Also because of the Olympics, the G1 was also pushed into the fall.

[Vic Boss 612]

Oh acks it sounds like the first 8 NJPW Cup shows were cancelled, so they're probably gonna have to jam-pack the tournament into the remaining 5 shows.

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

I hope that's true.  I just saw the bracket after you mentioned that, too, and damn that looked stacked.  I'd be down for an old-school style tournament of a bunch of quick matches for the first 3/4 of balls to the wall action, then give us some epic semi's and final.

[Vic Boss 612]

Okay, NOW they've cancelled the rest of the NJPW Cup tour

[Vic Boss 612]

Not that it's a surprise, but Sakura Genesis (Mar 31) and Road to Dontaku (Apr 11) have been cancelled

[MT 915]

New Japan put up what I think is their full Miami show on Youtube for free

 

 

[MT 915]

 

[Vic Boss 612]

I finally have my Good Brothers back ;_;

 

I listened to the new episodes of Talk'N'Shop and cried laughing because they found out Tiger King was buddies with a promoter they know, Gallows has been having an awesome time in the quarantine because he's rich now, and then they brought on Alex Koslov to talk about how his mom whipped him with a belt when he was a kid a few times.

[Garlic Junior 136]

GB v Revival everywhere

[MT 915]

 

 

[Vic Boss 612]

 

We back, baby!

[Vic Boss 612]

5 match cards ain't bad

Sho had a really good backstage promo after the opening non-Cup show of the tour. He's been notoriously shy and nervous when speaking, but it looks like he spent the pandemic trying to get better at it.

Tana was fighting back tears because he missed the fans and it reminded him how valuable they are. God damn, this fucking babyface

Hiromu was of course screaming like a maniac and it was great

NJPW Cup Night 1

I worry about the New Japan dads coming off a multi-month layoff. Wrestlers in interviews say that the body callous wears off and the damage starts hurting like a mother fucker while they heal up, and then they come back in less ring shape and more prone to injuries.

I want Tsuji to graduate already, I think he's gonna be a solid heavyweight tag wrestler

Poor Jado looks like he shouldn't be wrestling. Yano matches are tough without a crowd

I think Uemura's put on some bulk, dude's fucking jacked

Zack you fucking prick

Taichi held Tana back and then Zack gave him a pair of Dragon Screws

 

The Broken Neck Bowl between Hiromu and Honma was better than I thought it would be. First time in a long time Honma's looked really good

 

God DAMMIT why is Honma taking Death Valley Drivers on the ring apron :sick:

 

Good to see Desperado back too, IIRC the reason Douki's part of Suzuki-gun was because Despy got hurt. I always look forward to his rare single matches because he delivers but they happen so infrequently that everyone forgets he's a good wrestler.

 

Think Ishii got hurt during the match, but Ishii so can't tell. He dropped Despy in an unsafe-looking way but Despy still landed flat, and it's only unsafe if Despy doesn't know it's coming. And then sometimes he sold it and then sometimes he completely ignored it.

 

Badass match either way though

[Vic Boss 612]

BTW if you like violence, Suzuki and Nagata beat the shit out of each other in their New Japan Cup match

[Vic Boss 612]

The fucking ending of Yano vs Hiromu

 

Yano taped Hiromu and young-boy Tsuji's ankles together and cut Hiromu's hair with a pair of scissors (Tsuji covered his own head just in case). Hiromu took Yano down, taped around his eyes to blind him, stuffed him in the elevator and pressed a button for a lower flower, and then him with Tsuji still in tow hobbled into the ring for the countout win

[Garlic Junior 136]

@Vic Boss since Wrestle Kingdom, what singles matches has Naito competed in?

 

And uh, if you have any links that'd be appreciated. I wanna binge but I feel like there's been maybe 2? lol

[Vic Boss 612]

@Garlic Junior

 

The New Beginning vs Kenta (Double Title)

 

We were on the cusp of a Hiromu vs Naito non title challenge between the Heavy and Jr Heavy Champions but that's when covid cancelled the universe. The currently ongoing New Japan Cup is to set up a double title match at Dominion on July 12th

[Vic Boss 612]

Guys ;_;

 

GUYS ;_;

 

Everything is EVIL

[Garlic Junior 136]

I hate him. So much!!

 

Spent today catching up as best I could, a lot of the last few events have been taken offline already. 

 

I'm now supersad Hiromu v Naito hasn't happened and hyped to see [X] get their ass kicked tonight.

 

Is there much of a schedule going forward?

[Vic Boss 612]

Atm it's New Japan Road on the 20th (I assume it Naito makes it out, this will be the Naito v Hiromu match), Sengoku Lord on the 25th, and then a late July/August tour where the G1 used to be because the Japanese Olympics were supposed to be going on then and major building dates and attention in major Japanese cities would've been hard to come by.

 

New Japan Cup results

 

People been assuming this was KENTA's or Jay White's win but because they aren't in the country and allowing foreigners/Americans especially might not happen for another year to 18 months, they had to do something to strengthen Bullet Club on the heavyweight side, because right now it's just Yujiro.

[Garlic Junior 136]

Did they ever confirm if Naito v Hiromu would be for anything? I know Hiromu wanted the G1 briefcase if he won.

[Vic Boss 612]

It was just going to be the traditional "IWGP Heavy vs IWGP Jr Heavy" match at the Anniversary show

[Vic Boss 612]

Mannnn

 

Spoiler for a Dominion undercard match/not one of the title matches

 

Yujiro with interference pinned Goto in a tag match. They're probably gonna have to turn another heavyweight at some point because while he does have some pop, Yujiro is not a strong #2 faction heavyweight at all and even with interference shouldn't be beating guys like Goto on the regular and you do kind of need someone like that to back up EVIL (who kind of already IS that guy but has enough upside that they can probably run with him as a top Heavy until Jay White can get back in the country)

[Vic Boss 612]

Main event

 

[Garlic Junior 136]

6 hours ago, Vic Boss said:

It was just going to be the traditional "IWGP Heavy vs IWGP Jr Heavy" match at the Anniversary show

Ye but the commentary were bigging up that there were now three titles and Hiromu gatecrashed that press conference so I thought maybe something could happen?

 

Rewatched the 15 minute hype interview. So hyped.

5 hours ago, Vic Boss said:

Mannnn

 

Spoiler for a Dominion undercard match/not one of the title matches

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Yujiro with interference pinned Goto in a tag match. They're probably gonna have to turn another heavyweight at some point because while he does have some pop, Yujiro is not a strong #2 faction heavyweight at all and even with interference shouldn't be beating guys like Goto on the regular and you do kind of need someone like that to back up EVIL (who kind of already IS that guy but has enough upside that they can probably run with him as a top Heavy until Jay White can get back in the country)
 

 

 

Have I missed something? Wasn't Tama Tonga getting pushed during the whole "Bullet Club is fine" era?

 

It might derail tag aspirations but surely that's an option. Or.... is he also travel barred? I tried to catch up properly but a lot of shows have been taken offline already.

[Vic Boss 612]

Covid shut down the borders. Any non-Japanese you see on the roster were in Japan when that happened and have been living there ever since. Jay White, KENTA, GoD, Fale and Phantasmo are all at home and won't be able to get into the country for probably awhile. The guys living in America in particular might not be let into the country for another year to 18 months, and that group includes both Jay White and KENTA. That left the BC consisting entirely of Gedo, Jado, Yujiro and Ishimori before the New Japan Cup started.

[Garlic Junior 136]

Ooooh I see, I had assumed GoD stayed in Japan.

 

Fooking gaijins.

[Garlic Junior 136]

I'm still so fucking mad btw 

[Vic Boss 612]

It's Naito's destino to suffer ;_;

[Garlic Junior 136]

New Japan Road 20/7

 

I love how aggressive and utterly angry LiJ were, cheap shots, double and triple-teaming etc

 

Dick heelish tactics for the win

 

EVIL refusing to hit Everything Is Evil was such a cunt move

 

His music makes me so angry

[Vic Boss 612]

Wasn't hitting back on EVIL early in the match, almost pretending like he wasn't there. Maybe trying too hard to keep his Tranquilo or knowing that half of EVIL's problem is that he's just doing shit for the clout and Naito won't give it to him even though he stole the title almost the same way Naito stole his first one

[Vic Boss 612]

Ohoooo

 

Sengoku Lord

 

They announced a baseball stadium show later in the summer, so presumably that's when Naito wins back the double-titles, or one of them

[Vic Boss 612]

I'm not a big fan of this Okada concept. I don't want multi-man matches and gimmick matches becoming the norm in New Japan, though I guess at least with this, it's contained to that one title

[Vic Boss 612]

Summer Struggle Spoils

 

Don't look now but

 

Yoshi-Hashi, who debuted in 2008, is in line to win his first belt of any kind if him, Goto and Ishii can beat Okada, Yano and SHO in the Never Six-man Tournament Final tomorrow ;_;

[Vic Boss 612]

God dammit, KENTA

 

In his New Japan Cup USA backstage promo, he keeps stopping himself from saying "EBIRU-niisan" and instead says "Evil" with an American accent, fucking prick

[Vic Boss 612]

All four opening round KOPW Gimmick matches were on the Korakuen show earlier today. The winners go on to a fatal 4 way in a few days at Jingu Stadium and the winner of that becomes KOPW 2020 Champion

 

Okada vs Yujiro, Gedo and Jado in a Handicap Match (Yujiro will advance if the Biz Cliz wins)

Yano vs Bushi in a 2-count match (This one will probably be fun)

Kojima vs El Desperado in a No-Finishers match (Boooooo I love Koji's lariat)

Sanada vs SHO in a Submission Match (this one's been built really great)

 

@Garlic Junior This Sat, Naito challenges EVIL for the Double Titles

[Vic Boss 612]

Summer Struggle in Jingu Stadium

 

Yano won the KOPW what the fuck

 

Oh, and baseball fan Tetsuya Naito won the Double Titles in a baseball stadium and fireworks went off after :')

[Garlic Junior 136]

I'm so confused but happy at LiJ just running the whole company rn

[Garlic Junior 136]

Not NJPW, however @Vic Boss I am considering getting Stardom for a month to watch the roster vs Kagetsu.

 

Always wanted to get into the promotion. Do you know of any great wrestlers/matches to pay attention to at all?

[Vic Boss 612]

I know next to nothing about Stardom besides that Mayu Iwatani was/is on the Kairi Sane/Io Shirai level of "among the best women's wrestlers in the world." And the whole Hana Kimura thing.

[Garlic Junior 136]

Ah I figured that might be the case. Well, I'll go in blind and report back anything worthwhile. It's pretty cheap for a month but it goes by the typical Japan format of 1st to 30/31st so I'll wait til next month to pay.

[Vic Boss 612]

YOOOOOOO

 

The G1 blocks were announced today

 

King Switch, KENTA, Jeff Cobb, Juice and Ospreay are all back

[Garlic Junior 136]

Gonna be lit

 

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

I'm excited to learn there will be no undercard tag matches and the building has a time restriction.

 

This should be a lot more like the 2014 G1 

[Vic Boss 612]

They've added a young boy singles match to every G1 show, so we have an abbreviated, unofficial Young Lions Cup going on with the G1(It's only Uemura, Tsuji and Gabriel Kidd wrestling each other) and six matches every show

[Vic Boss 612]

This week's been rough for keeping up with the G1, shows every day

 

Apparently the BOSJ and World Tag League are going to be presented on the same tour this year too

[Garlic Junior 136]

Every time I go to catch up on New Japan, the videos are already removed from DailyM

[Vic Boss 612]

If you're pressed for time, tonight's show, Night 13, headlined by Okada vs Shingo, is easily the best top-to-bottom show of the tournament so far

[Vic Boss 612]

Bruh, Ibushi vs Taichi on the Block A Finals

 

 

 

90% of the match was Leg-Kicks, 9% of the match was kicks to other parts of the body and then the last 1% was that point when Taichi tried to DANGEROUS Ibushi but Ibushi flipped out of it and said "Quit being a pussy" and then they went back to leg kicks and also the finish.
 

I guess while we're on it, Ospreay turning heel and bringing in Bea and having Oka come back as EVIL 2.0, I dunno if I dig it

 

[Vic Boss 612]

YO, the fucking BOSJ Final