New Japan Pro-Wrestling General Discussion Thread

[Bort]

I loved Tenzan/Conway, thought it was very good, Conway wasn't even carried, he did good. Tenzan winning the strap is the biggest feelgood moment of the year so far.

 

[Leo C]

I thought this was great. Brother, Ishii/Honma, man, that freaking match. Damn. Wow. Best match easily. I have to say, I'm aware the NEVER title started as lower card stuff but since I've started watching all I've seen are Ishii MOTNs for it, have to say I'm starting to give more prestige to that belt myself lol
Tenzan/Conway I really liked. Thought it told a really nice story, the finish stretch was nice. Tharpe costing Tenzan the Anaconda Vice victory for Tenzan to kick out of everything, and in the end headbutt the life out of Bruce to hit the Moonsault and win the belt was good stuff. Very nice storytelling.
Again, Ishii vs Honma, damn it, man. That match. That freaking match. Damn

 

[Bort]

 

[Prince Bálor]

- UFC fighter and NJPW on AXS color commentator Josh Barnett appeared on The MMA Hourthis week, and had some optimistic news for fans of New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Barnett said that AXS TV will likely be announcing a renewal of the New Japan Pro Wrestling program, which is in it's first season on the network. The company has been airing matches from 2013 and 2014 to warm their fans up for more current matches.

It was also said that AXS is looking to bring at least two more seasons of the program. The current season, met with almost universal acclaim, runs through April 10.

- In addition to NJPW's excellent outlook on AXS, Barnett also mentioned that the company may be bringing pay-per-view back in July. NJPW is scheduled to run their "Dominion" show that month.

As of now, it's unclear which announce team NJPW would opt to go with. Mauro Ranallo and Josh Barnett have been handling the taped NJPW on AXS program, while Jim Ross and Matt Striker worked the Wrestle Kingdom 9 show last month.

- The numbers for Wrestle Kingdom 9 on U.S. PPV are still really vague, with Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter stating that is could be anywhere between 5,000 and 25,000. The show crashed the Flipps app in which it was broadcast on.

It's worth noting that several Japanese websites had NJPW World's subscriber count between 10,000 and 20,000 at the time of the show.

Source: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0218/589596/njpw-axs-tv-contract-update/

 

[Leo C]

Great news.

 

[Bort]

NJPW on AXS TV is so damn fun, great way to revisit all those matches with English commentary now. Obviously they're doing (relatively) great and I'm so happy for this news.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter stating that is could be anywhere between 5,000 and 25,000

We gotta Nostradamus over here! He must've been on top of his class. Here's my prediction: somewhere between 1,000 and 111,000.

 

[Bort]

 

[Prince Bálor]

Just... Too sweet. :

 

[Bort]

 

[Prince Bálor]

New Japan continues to roll on as the company prepares for next week's New Japan Cup. The promotion held a show this weekend that aired on their New Japan World streaming service, drawing 2,200 in Okinawa.

Full results are below:

Sho Tanaka defeated Yohei Komatsu via submission

KUSHIDA & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Gedo & Jado via pinfall

Satoshi Kojima & Tiger Mask IV defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jushin "Thunder" Liger via pinfall

Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata defeated Captain New Japan & Yuji Nagata via pinfall

Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Ryusuke Taguchi & Tetsuya Naito via pinfall

Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma

Source: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0228/589887/new-japan-road-results/

NEW JAPAN CUP 2015 starts on 3/5 (Thu) at Ohta-ku Gymnasium.

The 1st round matches on 3/5 are ;

http://www.njpw.co.jp/english/match/card.php?e=937
http://www.njpw.co.jp/english/match/card.php?e=937
And, 2nd round matches on 3/8 at Korakuen Hall,
then SEmi-Finals and Final on 3/15 in Hirosihma !

http://www.njpw.co.jp/english/news/detail.php?nid=13393

 

[Roi]

Just watched the last show on World. It wasnt a good show by any means (It was just a house show) but it was refreshing not having BC around. Last two matches were good.

 

[Prince Bálor]

8-MAN TAG TEAM MATCH
Sho Tanaka, Mascara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask vs. Jay White, Yohei Komatsu, KUSHIDA, Jushin Thunder Liger

Liger starts things off with a surfboard stretch on Tanaka. Team Liger takes turns working him over, including some impressive offense from KUSHIDA. Taguchi makes the hot tag and does the butt bump to all four of them. Dorada does a springboard crossbody and KUSHIDA turns his headscissors into a snap DDT. He sells clotheslines from everyone until Taguchi saves the match. Dorada hits a triangle dropkick and his corkscrew senton bomb to pin Jay White.

Winners: Dorada, Tanaka, Taguchi, Tiger Mask

TOURNAMENT MATCH
Yujiro Takahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Yoshi takes him down with a headscissors so Takahashi bails. He follows up, but is thrown into the guardrail and the bullying begins. Takahashi heels it up, attacking in the ropes and mocking his pain. Yoshi hits a running neckbreaker out of nowhere and a big dropkick to the face. They fight to the top rope, and Takahashi wins the trade with a belly-to-belly. Yoshi blocks a superkick and hits a Codebreaker, followed by a big boot. He sets up for a powerbomb but Takahashi grabs the referee and hits a low blow. He hits the Miami Shine but Yoshi kicks out. He hits a sitout inverted powerslam and that’ll do it.

Winner: Yujiro Takahashi

TOURNAMENT MATCH
Togi Makabe vs. Tomoaki Honma

Honma misses the running headbutt early and Makabe takes over. They slow things down with Honma teasing a knee injury, which gets worked over. He builds back up, but again misses the heatbutt. They trade suplex attemps and Honma ends up dead-lifting him into a brainbuster. He misses a third attempt, but ends up connecting with the fourth. They get into a forearm throwing contest which Makabe wins; Honma tries to come back but collapses. The referee tries to check on him, but he was playing possum. Honma with two running headbutts, but he misses one from the top rope. He no-sells a lariat but gets turned inside-out by another. Makabe tries to German suplex him off the top, but settles for knocking him down and hitting a knee to the back of the head. He goes up again and connects with a diving knee for the 1-2-3.

Winner: Togi Makabe

TOURNAMENT MATCH
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Satoshi Kojima

They start trading punches as soon as the bell rings; Kojima wins the exchange and pops his pecks. They throw elbow shots on the floor as the referee counts, which rises the crowd, rolling back in at 19. The stiff exchanges continue for several minutes, until Shibata hits a missile dropkick for two. They kill each other for several minutes until Kojima hits a lariat on the apron. The referee gets to 19 and Kojima stops him from counting, rolling outside and throwing his opponent back in – lots of respect from the crowd there. Shibata comes back with lariats and both guys go down. Kojima tries for a lariat, Shibata blocks it so he turns around and hits him with the other arm. Shibata puts him in a sleeper hold, but lets him go before the referee calls for the bell. He hits a GTS and a running kick for the win.

Winner: Katsuyori Shibata

TOURNAMENT MATCH
Hirooki Goto vs. Yuji Nagata

Goto in control early with a standing armbar. Nagata with some big kicks; he tries for the cross armbar but they roll into the ropes. Nagata’s turn to take over, working the arm with rest holds and kicks. Eventually Goto comes back with chops and a spinning wheel kick, followed up by a side suplex for two. He runs into a t-bone suplex and the kitchen sink knee lift. They trade elbows until Nagata slaps the **** out of him. Goto responds with a big headbutt. Yuji locks in an armbar out of nowhere and goes into his “zone” where his eyes roll back. Goto slowly fights out of the hold but takes a German suplex and a brainbuster for two. Nagata tries everything to put him away, but Goto keeps kicking out. Goto with a lariat and a brainbuster for the win.

Winner: Hirooki Goto

6-MAN TAG TEAM MATCH
Kazushi Sakuraba, Tomohiro Ishii, Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Captain New Japan, Manabu Nakanishi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Ishii and Tenzan almost come to blows before the match even starts. Tenzan takes down Nakamura and mocks his foot shake in the corner. Shinsuke fights back with a big knee and the heels clear the apron. Ishii tags in and the big men have a chop battle. That’s too sissy, apparently, so they have a headbutt battle instead. Tenzan sells for about five minutes until he hits a spinning heel kick on Ishii and makes the hot tag to Nakanishi, who beats down everyone. He picks up Nakamura and no-sells kicks from Sakuraba, then throws them into each other. Captain tags in but misses a splash from the top rope. The heels triple team him until the babyfaces come back and save the match. Nakanishi and Tenzan beat down Ishii and Captain hits a diving headbutt for two. He tries for a chokeslam, but settles for the Rock Bottom for another nearfall. Captain takes a running knee from all three opponents, and Ishii pins him with a brainbuster.

Ishii and Tenzan brawl after the match, and it takes 10 men to separate them.

Winners: Ishii, Sakuraba, Nakamura

Source: http://www.wwe.com/news/558317-35-new-japan-cup-results

 

[Leo C]

Are we gonna be able to watch the NJ Cup show from today?

 

[Forrest OAKADA]

That one time Liger told Romero to "Fuck Off"...

 

[Stopspot]

This kliq right here. Also Honma sounds like he smoked 70 cigarettes a day through a grating iron.