Dave Meltzer confirmed on WON this morning that AEW and NJPW have a working relationship. Harold Meij stepping down and the pandemic restricting talent from traveling are the reasons he gives for the relationship happening.

This comes after NJPW star KENTA attacked IWGP United States Champion Jon Moxley on Dynamite last night.

NJPW also announced today that they have struck a TV deal with Roku to air in The US, Canada and The UK.

Discuss.

I just realized that Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi are the champions of their respective companies.

*fangirls*

I hope White and The Tongans walk into the AEW locker-room while Jericho and MJF are doing their campy shtick and both look at each other and quickly shut up.

I want to see fear in their eyes.

Feb 5, 2021 3:08:21 GMT NATH45 said:

I hope White and The Tongans walk into the AEW locker-room while Jericho and MJF are doing their campy shtick and both look at each other and quickly shut up.

I want to see fear in their eyes.

Have them do another song and dance number and Jay White, Bad Luck Fale & the Tongans just fuck them up.

So want a Firing Squad invasion complete with Haku.

Feb 5, 2021 3:31:27 GMT c said:

So want a Firing Squad invasion complete with Haku.

I really don't want another Bullet Club civil war. I think it's inevitable given Jay White and KENTA's comments towards Omega & Co., but if it were me I would have two chapters. White continues on with Bullet Club Japan as is and KENTA and Omega decide amongst themselves who leads Bullet Club USA.

Omega has claim as a former leader and World Champion and KENTA has claim once he becomes IWGP US Champ since he holds the only NJPW belt on US soil.

Also there's the opportunity to finally do KENTA vs Shibata if he's cleared to compete since Shibata runs the LA dojo.

Well technically there's only one Bullet Club. The Elite denounced their membership when they launched AEW, or just before hand.

Not a fan of too much of this but I know I am in the minority. Feels like AEW in year 2 are relying on booking and stories from other federations like NJPW and Impact rather than create their own storylines and helping to make their own stars that don't have some ties elsewhere. Shows me that Tony Khan is unable to make for a gripping story with his promotion IMO. I think sparingly it is fine but when you have a 2 hour show and guys from Impact and NJPW are taking a lot of the time, it leaves the talent you need to grow and develop sort of left to do something on AEW Dark. Add Shaq's gimmick angle and yeah.

While talk so far is of Bullet Club, AEW should REALLY work hard to bring over LIJ for a mega-match. Inner Circle vs LIJ would be freaking awesome.

I think this is the space they'll have to play in for a while Blindy. I think I've mentioned enough times, the distinct lack of cool in AEW and to add to that, they now look to borrow some of NJPW's. Even the crossover is only a short term gimmick.

I also believe there's still some caution to AEW right now, which is evident in so many former WWE guys choosing TNA over AEW.

I would also suggest, their model was to feed off the independents, eventually showcasing and establishing top independent workers. Similarly to Darby and MJF. Except a pandemic got in the way.

Feb 5, 2021 7:54:15 GMT NATH45 said:

I think this is the space they'll have to play in for a while Blindy. I think I've mentioned enough times, the distinct lack of cool in AEW and to add to that, they now look to borrow some of NJPW's. Even the crossover is only a short term gimmick.

I also believe there's still some caution to AEW right now, which is evident in so many former WWE guys choosing TNA over AEW.

I would also suggest, their model was to feed off the independents, eventually showcasing and establishing top independent workers. Similarly to Darby and MJF. Except a pandemic got in the way.

Your anti aew bias is amusing. Why do you assume released wwe workers 'chose' tna over aew and not that aew passed over them

Lol why the fuck would anyone approached by AEW go to TNA. 😂

The NJPW thing is a great idea. Exposure in Japan and a completely new flavour that hasn't been saturated on American TV at all. The language barrier is tough but worth the risk.

The TNA idea was a waste of time from day one.

Wow. This is huge news. I don't have the exposure to New Japan like some of you but even I know some of the talent they have there and the potential matches is exciting.

I'd describe my feelings as cautiously optimistic.

I see this being Bullet Club nonsense for a while. At least KENTA saying "Fuck you" to Kenny Omega shows there is still some animosity between Japan and USA, I just hope it doesn't lead to some bullshit civil war angle. It was terrible in NJPW and it will be the same in AEW.

Jay White will surely show up at some point. White vs Omega and White vs Moxley are both awesome matches. You could do Tanahashi vs Jericho in America which was teased in the past.

I'm sure this is going to lead to a big angle with Omega and Ibushi. When they are separate, Omega goes to the dark side. Ibushi can bring him back to being a superstar babyface.

Feb 5, 2021 7:54:15 GMT NATH45 said:

I think this is the space they'll have to play in for a while Blindy . I think I've mentioned enough times, the distinct lack of cool in AEW and to add to that, they now look to borrow some of NJPW's. Even the crossover is only a short term gimmick.

I also believe there's still some caution to AEW right now, which is evident in so many former WWE guys choosing TNA over AEW.

I would also suggest, their model was to feed off the independents, eventually showcasing and establishing top independent workers. Similarly to Darby and MJF. Except a pandemic got in the way.

I get why they're trying to do this. But AEW doesn't really have an identity of it's own, a lot of what has built it comes off the heels of The Elite, which was made in the Indies or borrowing from NJPW's Bullet Club. I see AEW as a blend of every other promotion but what is so big in their promotion that stands out from the rest? If AEW was a 10+ year promotion with an identity and people know what they've brought to the table, this is fine to tagalong with other promotions.............and again I like to see NJPW guys get some shine here but this feels like a band aid to the wound more than a cure for Tony Khan. I still have not a clue how Khan is as a booker or guy who can develop his own talent. Bringing in Sting, and having numerous older valets take over the mic time for said wrestlers isn't it. 

Being the "Alternative to the WWE" just doesn't cut it, so many have been there, done that. So what they have middle fingers and blood.

What is the legacy or mark AEW will have when it is all said and done? Do what TNA did in 2009 and being the home to either failed or disgruntled WWE workers? 

Some of this is quite disparaging toward AEW, and this is coming from somebody with a lot of issues with AEW. But this is a company that gets 100k PPV buys every time they're on PPV. Extremely competitive television program on Wednesday nights. They were getting 4000 people in buildings just before the pandemic, averaging around 6000 since the promotion's inception. They are closer to WWE than TNA are to them.

A couple of bad ratings isn't the end of AEW. To be honest I'm surprised they're doing as well as they are.

Hope it's nothing like the ROH "deal" where the New Japan guys just beat their whole roster and that was it.

I hope it's nothing like the TNA deal, and the AEW mid-carders just beat the NJPW guys.

Feb 5, 2021 19:45:13 GMT Blindy said:

Feb 5, 2021 7:54:15 GMT NATH45 said:

I think this is the space they'll have to play in for a while Blindy . I think I've mentioned enough times, the distinct lack of cool in AEW and to add to that, they now look to borrow some of NJPW's. Even the crossover is only a short term gimmick.

I also believe there's still some caution to AEW right now, which is evident in so many former WWE guys choosing TNA over AEW.

I would also suggest, their model was to feed off the independents, eventually showcasing and establishing top independent workers. Similarly to Darby and MJF. Except a pandemic got in the way.

I get why they're trying to do this. But AEW doesn't really have an identity of it's own, a lot of what has built it comes off the heels of The Elite, which was made in the Indies or borrowing from NJPW's Bullet Club. I see AEW as a blend of every other promotion but what is so big in their promotion that stands out from the rest? If AEW was a 10+ year promotion with an identity and people know what they've brought to the table, this is fine to tagalong with other promotions.............and again I like to see NJPW guys get some shine here but this feels like a band aid to the wound more than a cure for Tony Khan. I still have not a clue how Khan is as a booker or guy who can develop his own talent. Bringing in Sting, and having numerous older valets take over the mic time for said wrestlers isn't it. 

Being the "Alternative to the WWE" just doesn't cut it, so many have been there, done that. So what they have middle fingers and blood.

What is the legacy or mark AEW will have when it is all said and done? Do what TNA did in 2009 and being the home to either failed or disgruntled WWE workers? 

I think it's unfair to suggest AEW doesn't have an identity as of yet. It's been well documented (at least by me) how campy the product is.. on purpose. They have had every opportunity in the last 2 years to establish a purpose beyond being camp, but have chosen not to. Other companies have had complete culture shifts and changes in programming in less than 2 years. AEW's content and creative direction is questionable at best and when criticized they've almost doubled-down on the awfulness. These guys are almost working themselves at this point. 

Agreed. This is a gimmick to keep programming alive, and band aid during a pandemic. 

I disagree with an Elite civil war. I think AEW is positioned for this to happen. A tonne of VPs running around, with differing agendas. A couple of former World Champions in Rhodes & Omega. Kenny with some questionable friends with questionable agendas in G&A & Don. Rhodes with delusions of grandeur, believing he's royalty. TK, the mark with the cheque book. Wild cards in Mox, Darby, etc This should be all sorts of games of thrones. 

I want the story lines and angles to be good, but I also wouldn't be disappointed if they just kept this as a talent sharing thing and just kept putting on the best possible product they could with what they have at their disposal.

They have working relationships with NWA and Impact still. NJPW enters the fold and now you have 4 rosters of talent at your disposal.

We don't need a "who is better?" all out war. Maybe do that if Kenny Omega's plan is to win all the titles and become Wrestling Thanos, and a team of AEW/NJPW/Impact/NWA Avengers try to stop him. But really I'm happy if all they do is use all the talent at their disposal to put on some fucking awesome matches over the next few years.

It's great news for the business.

The rise of NJPW was one of the major factors behind the indie boom and when they announced they were sticking with ROH, it was a bitter blow to the industry. Thankfully Meiji's departure has allowed the brass at NJPW to mend some fences and the NJPW talent can work infront of a much larger audience than they otherwise would have.

I'm not getting too far ahead of myself with this, but the idea of KENTA working in AEW is great on it's own and Omega/KENTA vs. Moxley/Archer No Holds Barred sounds like a wild match and a great advertisement for KENTA/Moxley. If this goes off, it just creates more potential cross-overs where the stars of AEW can appear in other promotions and help establish themselves more as characters which is what the show needs.

It's funny you bring up the point @ness because it worked both ways. Guys like AJ Styles, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada were booked on a whole other level compared to the ROH talent (which is why Styles putting over Lethal at Final Battle 2015 was meant to be a huge deal). However, ROH did nothing but job the young guys out and really did nothing to help make them more marketable, they were really just another body to put on a card. So guys like Jay White, EVIL, SHO and YOH just never came across as like they should have. I found it especially amazing with White who was clearly a cut above a lot of ROH talent and yet they were actively booking him to be crap, just like TNA with Okato. It's why I was so harsh on White/Tanahashi because it seemed like NJPW was going out of it's way to expose White and give him this gimmick that doesn't work for him. Thankfully he found his own way and he is so good at telling stories in the ring now. I really want to go back and watch that Tanahashi match again, I'd imagine the contrast would be insane.

Big Pete raises good points. How quickly we forget that everyone who was a fan of NJPW and wanted them to succeed in the US were disappointed to see them continue on with ROH for so long. They were always a dead end and the super show at MSG proved it. That should have been the straw that broke the camel's back, but for whatever reason Harold wanted to continue on.

I would bet that as time goes on we will find out more details about The Elite leaving NJPW. With every passing day it looks like Omega and Co. made the right decision. Who knows what was going on behind the scenes? Rhodes and the Bucks tried everything they could to make ROH better and nothing worked. Omega clearly wanted nothing to do with it either. Then they all walked and started their own thing when they were at the top of NJPW and a year later here we are.

Feb 6, 2021 3:52:26 GMT RT said:

I want the story lines and angles to be good, but I also wouldn't be disappointed if they just kept this as a talent sharing thing and just kept putting on the best possible product they could with what they have at their disposal.

They have working relationships with NWA and Impact still. NJPW enters the fold and now you have 4 rosters of talent at your disposal.

We don't need a "who is better?" all out war. Maybe do that if Kenny Omega's plan is to win all the titles and become Wrestling Thanos, and a team of AEW/NJPW/Impact/NWA Avengers try to stop him. But really I'm happy if all they do is use all the talent at their disposal to put on some fucking awesome matches over the next few years.

Yeah, I mean, we all know AEW kind of sucks with storytelling but if they can continue to put on some great matches then it will cover the weakness.  RoH made this a sport nearly as they only had a few storyline I remotely cared about while they watched them but they did enough great matches were it did not matter.  I mean if we get ZSJ vs PAC who cares if it is in a good angle or not, the match will tear the house down.

And yeah, now with four groups I expect to see more intermixing and stables war instead of federation wars.  Lots of weird teams that can be revived across feds.

I also really hope that we see Omega vs the world, with the best talent of all feds taking him on.  Every PPV should be Omega taking on the best of another fed ideally leading to Omega vs Ibushi non-title match at Wrestle Kingdom.  To a lesser extent this should be the case for all AEW titles too.  Turn them into real world championships by doing matches with TNA, AAA and NJPW.  


Also, it is really time for AEW to hire writers as well to plan out storylines and shows.  Plenty of former bookers out there that can run shows.  But this is a weakness that should be addressed.

RT are you talking about Big Cass and that piece of shit nZo showing up on the NJPW/ROH and pissing all over GODs win?

Feb 6, 2021 22:23:51 GMT NATH45 said:

RT are you talking about Big Cass and that piece of shit nZo showing up on the NJPW/ROH and pissing all over GODs win?

What did I miss, why is Enzo a piece of shit?

Feb 7, 2021 0:39:57 GMT 🤯 said:

Feb 6, 2021 22:23:51 GMT NATH45 said:

RT are you talking about Big Cass and that piece of shit nZo showing up on the NJPW/ROH and pissing all over GODs win?

What did I miss, why is Enzo a piece of shit?

And I got made fun of for living under a rock. LOL.

Like a lot got revealed. He was a rapist and made a shitty rap song about his accuser and rising like a Phoenix. Like WTF is you doing Enzo?

Feb 7, 2021 0:48:34 GMT @ness said:

Feb 7, 2021 0:39:57 GMT 🤯 said:

What did I miss, why is Enzo a piece of shit?

And I got made fun of for living under a rock. LOL.

Like a lot got revealed. He was a rapist and made a shitty rap song about his accuser and rising like a Phoenix. Like WTF is you doing Enzo?

He's your standard douchebag also.

From what I remember, GOD won a fatal four way or something on a big NJPW/ROH show coming out holding the IWGP and ROH titles. Then ROH sent nZo and Cass through the crowd to attack someone, maybe Dem Boys, unannounced to the NJPW boys mind you. It pissed everyone off.

Feb 7, 2021 0:53:33 GMT NATH45 said:

Feb 7, 2021 0:48:34 GMT @ness said:

And I got made fun of for living under a rock. LOL.

Like a lot got revealed. He was a rapist and made a shitty rap song about his accuser and rising like a Phoenix. Like WTF is you doing Enzo?

He's your standard douchebag also.

From what I remember, GOD won a fatal four way or something on a big NJPW/ROH show coming out holding the IWGP and ROH titles. Then ROH sent nZo and Cass through the crowd to attack someone, maybe Dem Boys, unannounced to the NJPW boys mind you. It pissed everyone off.

Yeah this.

ROH planned it and didn't tell NJPW or GOD. Then when everyone got mad at the dumb shitty angle, ROH played stupid like they didn't just do that, and immediately released Enzo and Cass and threw them under the bus like it was their fault.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Delirious is a fucking idiot.

Feb 7, 2021 0:48:34 GMT @ness said:

Feb 7, 2021 0:39:57 GMT 🤯 said:

What did I miss, why is Enzo a piece of shit?

And I got made fun of for living under a rock. LOL.

Like a lot got revealed. He was a rapist and made a shitty rap song about his accuser and rising like a Phoenix. Like WTF is you doing Enzo?

wut?

Feb 7, 2021 2:57:40 GMT 🤯 said:

Feb 7, 2021 0:48:34 GMT @ness said:

And I got made fun of for living under a rock. LOL.

Like a lot got revealed. He was a rapist and made a shitty rap song about his accuser and rising like a Phoenix. Like WTF is you doing Enzo?

wut?

Dedsrs