New Japan Pro-Wrestling General Discussion Thread

[Chris]

Oh they finally uploaded English commentary nice lol

 

[Chris]

NJPW Strong to tape in front of fans for the first time

NJPW has announced that a taping of Strong will be open to fans for the first time. The company issued a release today stating that tickets will be sold for the Fighting Spirit Unleashed NJPW Strong…

www.f4wonline.com

Fuck yeah, wild that this shows has literally NEVER had fans

 

[Chris]

Some notes on the G1 this year:

New Japan Pro Wrestling has finalized plans for this year’s G1 Climax 31 tournament.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the tournament will be held in September and October. He reported that he did not know the names involved, and mentioned the big questions are whether or not unhappy talent are staying, if Will Ospreay will return, and what the quarantine situation in Japan will be like.

Last year’s tournament took place in September and October, a departure from their usual July and August schedule due to the 2020 Olympics taking place in Tokyo. However, with the Olympics being delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament will once again be held in the fall.

The 2020 G1 Climax tournament ran from September 19 through October 18. Kota Ibushi defeated SANADA in the finals of the tournament to win for the second year in a row

 

[Chris]

Bro I'll have to watch the match after Smackdown but the pre-match antics before this LIJ/Suzuki-gun match have me fucking dying

 

[Chris]

Someone remimd me to put Naito/Sanada vs ZSJ/Taichi on my feud of the year list

 

[Hidden Blaze]

Here's the Strong lineup for this week, X-DIVISION CHAMPION JOSH ALEXANDER DEBUTS

When Satoshi Kojima made his STRONG debut two weeks ago, he did so alongside Karl Fredericks against team Filthy’s JR Kratos and Danny Limelight. Hard hitting super heavyweight Kratos instantly had his ire drawn by Kojima, and refused to yield an inch to the living legend. That led to some violent in-ring collisions during the match, and an intense pull apart brawl after it. Now Kojima and Kratos meet one on one in a match that will be crucial to Kratos’ claim of being the Most Feared, and toughest big man on Friday nights.

Two weeks ago on NJPW STRONG, former partners collided when Barrett Brown and Adrian Quest squared off one one one. Brown had an intriguing new ally for the bout, as Bateman lent words of advice to Brown before getting involved in the finish; just as Quest was about to finish Brown off the top rope, Bateman hopped on the apron and caused enough of a distraction for Brown to pick up the roll-up victory.

To Fred Rosser, Bateman was a ‘bully’ intervening in Brown and Quest’s issues. The Suntan Superman volunteered his own services to Quest, which Young Fuego accepted; now he teams with Quest to take on Brown and Bateman in this tag team clash.

Last week on STRONG, Alex Coughlin fell short in a hard fought battle with BULLET CLUB’s gargantuan Young Gun Hikuleo. Far from letting the loss get the better of him however, Coughlin instead said he had the time of his life, and demanded that he face all comers going forward. This week then, the first match in Coughlin’s open challenge match series will put him opposite IMPACT Wrestling’s X Division Champion, Josh Alexander. With both Coughlin and Alexander extremely proficient amateur grapplers, this is an excellent matchup on paper. Alexander has beaten El Phantasmo on IMPACT programming recently, but could Coughlin upset the Walking Weapon?

Watched my first epsiode of this today, and this was the one I watched. So good I watched the most recent one I think, at least until tonight.

 

[Chris]

Watched my first epsiode of this today, and this was the one I watched. So good I watched the most recent one I think, at least until tonight.

It was honestly one of the better episodes I've seen of the show

 

[Apoho Creed]

Bro I'll have to watch the match after Smackdown but the pre-match antics before this LIJ/Suzuki-gun match have me fucking dying

Man it always happens between these two groups especially. Naito and Taichi man are fire starters for real all the time.

 

[Chris]

Man it always happens between these two groups especially. Naito and Taichi man are fire starters for real all the time.

Last week with the autograph/contract stuff had me rolling an then the birthday stuff this week It's fucking gold bro

Also Hiromu took a helluva bump for a joke segment so he gotta be coming back too, Taichi kicked him off the apron and he flew to the rail

 

[Necro]

Fans come to STRONG for Fighting Spirit Unleashed! 【NJoA】

Friday night show to welcome fans to tapings for first time Monday August 16.

After announcing the return of US fans to matches for the ‘Resurgence’ event, New Japan Pro-Wrestling today announced the ‘Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2021’ series. The series will see fans welcomed to Thunder Studio in Long Beach for the ‘NJPW STRONG’ brand’s first matches ever in front of a live audience on Monday, August 16.

Premiering in August 2020 on NJPW World and FITE, NJPW STRONG began without a live crowd, but has quickly become critically acclaimed and a favorite of fans around the world. The Friday broadcast has seen the introduction to NJPW fans of STRONG Openweight Champion ‘Filthy’ Tom Lawlor, ‘Mr. No Days Off’ Fred Rosser and ‘The Man of the Hour’ Lio Rush, as well as the appearance of popular stars active in Japan like ‘The Flamboyant’ Juice Robinson and NEVER Openweight Champion ‘Switchblade’ Jay White, all of whom will be in action at Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2021.

Nine matches are planned to take place at ‘Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2021’ for future broadcast on STRONG, with extremely limited tickets on sale on Wednesday June 30 at 10AM PDT. New Japan Pro-Wrestling have been staging events with fans in attendance in Japan since July 11 2020, all with the safety of fans, staff and wrestlers taken as top priority. As a result and to prevent the spread of COVID-19, masks will be required during the event when not eating or drinking.

Fans not in attendance can watch NJPW STRONG every Friday night at 10e/7p on NJPW World and FITE.



NJPW STRONG: FIGHTING SPIRIT UNLEASHED 2021

Monday August 16, 2021 Doors: 6:30PM Start: 7:30PM

Thunder Studio

20434 South Santa Fe Avenue, Long Beach CA 90810

Ticket on sale: Wednesday June 30, 10am PDT

General Admission (standing): $60

Ringside C: $80

Ringside B: $100

Ringside A: $120

Tickets on sale Wednesday June 30:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fighting-spirit-unleashed-2021-in-los-angeles-tickets-160161644791

*Attendees will be asked to wear a mask during the event when not eating or drinking.

* Sales price includes tax
* Other fees such as service/processing fees will be charged
* Please be advised that event-day tickets may sell out early. Thank you for your understanding.

*Thunder Studio is a *closed studio set*. There is *no* entry to or exit from the venue after the event starts even if you hold a valid ticket. Thank you for your understanding.



Participating wrestlers

NEVER Openweight Champion: ‘Switchblade’ Jay White

STRONG Openweight Champion ‘Filthy’ Tom Lawlor

‘Flamboyant’ Juice Robinson

‘The Man of the Hour’ Lio Rush

Shota Umino

Ren Narita

‘Mr. No Days Off’ Fred Rosser

‘The Alpha Wolf’ Karl Fredericks

‘Wild Rhino’ Clark Connors

‘Young Gun’ Hikuleo

More names and match card TBA.

 

[Chris]

Lawlor/Fredericks was a banger this week Also KOJIMA they gotta do that one at their big show right?

Clark getting the win over Rocky was nice af this week too

 

[Chris]

Headlining STRONG this week, Fred Rosser goes head to head with the dark and twisted Bateman. When Adrian Quest and Barrett Brown’s tag team dissolved in May, Brown and Quest went to settle their differences one on one on the road to Ignition. All well and good, but Quest was not expecting Brown to recruit a partner and coach in Bateman. The demented ROH representative has been teaching Brown to be ever more bitter and ever more vicious in the ring, all the while getting himself involved to prevent .50 Caliber from taking any losses.

That Brown had a safety net far bigger than his opponent in Quest was an injustice Fred Rosser couldn’t allow. Rosser stepped up to team with Quest against Brown and Bateman, but when Bateman again saved his charge’s skin in the resulting Ignition tag match, the Suntan Superman was incensed. Now the two will face off in singles action, where just as the holiday weekend begins, Rosser will remind Bateman he takes no days off.

Second up, Jordan Clearwater takes on Hikuleo. Since falling to Fred Rosser in their wild no disqualification brawl in May, Hikuleo has been seeking a new narrative for himself on the road to Resurgence at L.A Coliseum later in the summer. Rampaging into battle against Alex Coughlin he scored a convincing win, and now seeks another against Clearwater.

The Golden Child has had a challenging journey on NJPW STRONG. In fact, as he approaches his first anniversary on the Friday night brand, while he’s been on winning teams, he has yet to pick up a win for himself. Still with ego undamaged, Clearwater is insistent his big break is around the corner. Indeed, it could be if he impresses against Hikuleo. Much as with Coughlin, who bounced back from his defeat to start his high profile open challenge series, could opportunity knock for Clearwater? Or could it knock even louder with an upset victory?

While Adrian Quest came up short in his matches with former partner Barrett Brown thanks to the assistance of Bateman, his performances were enough to remind the world that Young Fuego is a junior heavyweight that nobody should take their eyes away from. In this week’s opener, he’ll have a phenomenal opportunity to definitively prove just that against Lio Rush. Paired against one of the level best athletes in his class, can Quest make a huge step up tonight, or will it be the Man of the Hour with a big win on the road to Resurgence August 14?​

 

[Chris]

Enjoyed the Nagata/Ishii and Goto/Kojima matches from yesterday quite a bit pretty excited for the old guys challenging on the show from today actually lol I'll probs get to it tomorrow. Also fuckin' love the Sanada/Naito vs ZSJ/Taichi feud still

 

[Chris]

Rush/Quest from Strong tonight was fucking great. Man I really hope Lio walks back retiring (again) bc he's just too good I don't give a fuck how much shit he gets for doing it I just want him to keep wrestling Hikuleo/Clearwater was fine enough, skippable tho.

Bateman/Rosser was good IMO, I actually really liked it but I think it was SLOW as fuck and will probably not be all that well liked tbh lol I'm too much of a mark for both guys at this point tho tbh

 

[Necro]

2 Minutes of NJPW Wrestlers Trying to Do House Demoliton Without Any Equipment