I thought the video entrance theme she has is lame as heck, but good for her if she's happy and getting paid well. Her star is going to diminish stateside if she isn't working in AEW but maybe she can get herself a Sailor Moon cameo if they ever do a real life version of that show.

Mone Mercedes also doesn't sound as catchy as Sasha Banks did but I know she has no say in that.

Best guess on Mercedes’ finisher was that she was going for a Gory Special into a DDT, which is basically Tay Melo’s finisher. It looked like KAIRI instinctively tried to reverse into an arm drag and just got dropped on her face.

It was good to see Mercedes in a wrestling ring again, I'm looking forward to her vs. Kairi at Battle in the Valley next month. Ren Narita/Zack Sabre Jr. was a lot of fun, I'm happy to see ZSJ pick up the win. I also don't really follow NJPW all that much, so I had no idea that The Mighty Don't Kneel was there, but hey I'm all for it, as I liked TM-61 down in NXT.

I'm about to start Omega/Ospreay now.

Not spoiling anything but make sure you watch the main event of New Year’s Dash. The show is free on NJPW World. Don’t even need an account.

Jan 4, 2023 23:39:59 GMT Blindy said:

I thought the video entrance theme she has is lame as heck, but good for her if she's happy and getting paid well. Her star is going to diminish stateside if she isn't working in AEW but maybe she can get herself a Sailor Moon cameo if they ever do a real life version of that show.

Mone Mercedes also doesn't sound as catchy as Sasha Banks did but I know she has no say in that.

There has already been a live action Sailor Moon and like most live action animes it wasn't that great.

I still don't think Mercedes may not fully gone from WWE until after the rumble.

But glad she didn't go AEW. Women who go there lose all their hype in under month.

Did everyone stop watching after Kenny/Ospreay? Not a single word about Okada/White. Did anyone watch it or was it just that unremarkable?

It was unremarkable. It was your standard classic NJPW main event, but it didn't really do anything to set itself apart from previous Okada/White matches and previous Okada epics. If that was your first NJPW main event, I'm sure you'd have been amazed, but for me it was just kinda there. Ommega vs Ospreay was special. Okada vs White was, dare I say it, routine.

Shingo Takagi came out to politely challenge Okada. Okada crudely brushed him away and did his own shtick, not acknowledging the challenge. It will probably happen.

I watched the backstage promos too.
- Seeing Zack chum it up with the TMDK guys made me less upset about Zack joining them. It's clear they are great friends and Zack looked so happy. Good for him. And thanks Lony for sharing what TMDK means. Is it just those two TM61 guys in the group?
- Ospreay cut a boohoo sob promo after his loss. He was clearly emotional but he waffled on a lot about how he sacrificed so much and he's not willing to sacrifice anymore. I didn't really get it.
- Kenny and Don had a nice backstage interview. Both cut great promos putting Ospreay over huge and celebrating Kenny's victory.
- Jay White cut a boohoo sob promo after his loss. He didn't talk about sacrifice but he waffled on about some other stuff. Hinted at retirement, at least from NJPW. I did not feel moved because he did the same thing 3-4 years ago, which was very emotional and I thought a face turn, but he carried on being the same old Jay White afterwards...so it's hard for me to feel anything when he does it again.
- LIJ were confronted by the NOAH stable KONGO backstage. You may or may not remember the NJPW vs NOAH show one year ago that happened and went nowhere. Apparently KONGO did not forget. They hinted at a series of singles matches. This intrigues me.

Emperor I commented in the MOTY thread. Agreed on all points. Good match but meh. I stuck it at #2 for now but it will easily be beat. I’m 99% sure at least two matches from next week’s Dynamite will be better. Compared to previous years the match quality was way down and the main event just felt like going through the motions until Okada won.

Speaking of ZSJ, him calling out the PM during his entrance and demanding fair wages for nurses was epic. I love him. Him and Hangman Page being progressive voices while beating people up for fun is my favourite.

New Year's Dash summary.

---------------------------

After a match, House of Torture ganged up on Ren Narita, but then Minoru Suzuki came to fend them off, followed by El Desperado. After they dispatched House of Torture, Suzuki and Desperado bumped fists with each other, then left the ring. Without a word, Narita hesitantly followed them out.

---------------------------

TAKA Michinoku announced that he was creating his own unit from the remnants of Suzuki-gun, along with Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and DOUKI, named "Just 4 Guys." Apparently Kanemaru was given the privilege of naming the group :lol:

---------------------------

New TMDK "Frontman" Zack Sabre Jr. has apparently decided, on his own, to adopt current Young Lion Kosei Fujita full-time and has brought him into TMDK!

Fujita looked genuinely shocked and emotional about this. This appears to be the first time a Young Lion is brought into a main NJPW Faction, and Fujita is the first Japanese member of TMDK.

ZSJ walks to the back, declaring: "I've got my own young boy now! Up yours, Jon Moxley!"

---------------------------

Bullet Club attacked Hikuleo after getting themselves disqualified. Jay White said he didn't want Hikuleo to ever enjoy the spoils of Jay's work after turning his back on him. He challenged Hikuleo to a match where the loser leaves Japan.

---------------------------

2022 King of Pro Wrestling Champion Shingo Takagi won a four way match, pinning Toru Yano to become the provisional 2023 King of Pro Wrestling Champion

---------------------------

Surprise main event: Jeff Cobb and Henare stood in the ring. First they witness Kenny Omega come out to face them. A huge surprise in itself. His partner? None other than Kazuchika Okada!

The super team won the match after crushing Henare with a V-Trigger/Rainmaker combo, followed by an Okada Rainmaker. Talk about overkill.

After the match Takagi once more challenged Okada. Okada acepted.

---------------------------

Several of the multi-man matches ended with a non-champion pinning a champion.

- DOUKI pinned Francisco Akira, setting up DOUKI and Desperado vs Akira and TJP for the Junior Tag Belts.
- TMDK's Mikey Nicholls pinned YOSHI-HASHI, setting up TMDK vs Bishomon for the Heavyweight Tag Belts.
- YOH pinned Hiromu Takahashi to set up a Junior Heavyweight championship match.

For that reason I thought Cobb would pin Kenny in the main event, but I suppose that was too much to ask.

Pretty fun show. My favourite moment was Zack adopting a Young Lion to his group. Unprecedented and awesome.

I could see Cobb being Kenny’s first title defence at the San Jose show. He will probably step up to defend Ospreay’s honour or something and challenge Omega until he accepts.

Could also see Cobb + Aussie Open popping up next month and beating up The Elite to push the matter.

Maybe a trios match at that show? UE wins, Cobb gets a US title shot. Elite win, Bucks get the Strong tag titles or something.

Good news, everybody. Wrestle Kingdom isn't over!

On Saturday January 21, Wrestle Kingdom will host NJPW vs NOAH, as a continuation from last year's Jan 6 show which saw several NJPW vs NOAH tag matches. Full card below.


KONGO vs Los Ingobernables De Japón - Best of 5 singles



Last year’s Yokohama Arena confrontation between NOAH and NJPW was driven by the two companies’ respective champions at the end of that year. Shingo Takagi was carrying the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at the time, and Katshiko Nakajima was a bullish and arrogant GHC Heavyweight Champion. After verbal shots were delivered by both men, a ten man tag was made between Kongo and Los Ingobernables De Japon, a match that Takagi won, getting his 2022 back on track after a painful loss to Kazuchika Okada on January 4. 

Yet while Tetsuya Naito and crew were happy to move on, the result stuck in the craw of Kenoh. The brash and ever opinionated Kenoh was determined to get even with the members of LIJ one day, all the more so with Naito, who couldn’t help but poke the bear as the group made their exit from Yokohama on January 8 2022. Nearly one year later, Kenoh picked his spot, and arrived backstage at the Tokyo Dome to challenge Naito and LIJ en masse. Kenoh recently had his GHC Heavyweight Championship match with Kaito Kiyomiya placed in the double main event 1 spot on New Year’s Day in the Nippon Budokan, while Great Muta wrestled Shinsuke Nakamura in the top billed bout. As Nakamura was victorious in the main event, Kenoh came up short in his challenge for GHC gold, a position with which Naito is well familiar. Indeed this battle of two wrestlers who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, or to speak their mind in the face of company directives and conventions, is one of two men who have more similarities than differences. But which is the better wrestler?










GHC Heavyweight Champion vs IWGP World Heavyweight Champion



Last year’s Yokohama Arena card saw IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada tie up with Kaito Kiyomiya in the main event, Kiyomiya leaving in frustration along with Keiji Muto as they fell to Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Tonight, Okada will have a different partner in Togi Makabe, but still brings the IWGP World Heavyweight title. Meanwhile Kiyomiya takes with him the GHC Heavyweight Championship that he retained against Kenoh on New Year’s Day, and the powerhouse Yoshiki Inamura. Inamura has his own defeat in 2022’s Yokohama card to avenge, and will be bringing heavy duty backup for Kiyomiya in a champion versus champion tag battle.







YO-HEY is a fantastic name. You just want to say it all the time. YO-HEY!!





This match is freakin' awesome because KENTA and Marufuji are back together again! For one night only!!!!

Emperor you have to not only have NJPW World but also pay PPV rates for this??

Ridiculous if so, especially considering night 1 was “free”

Jan 21, 2023 13:29:05 GMT System said:

Emperor you have to not only have NJPW World but also pay PPV rates for this??

Ridiculous if so, especially considering night 1 was “free”

That does appear to be the case. It seems to be the lesser PPVs only that require the additional purchase too. So far, since I subscribed, there were only payments needed for this and shitty American show Rumble On 44th Street that only had 1 good match and looked like ass since they have garbage camera/production crews handle their American shows.

I have no idea why they think people are going to pay more for only the worst shows. I also have no idea why they think charging PPV fees on top of a subscription fee makes sense. Complete insanity.

I'm just pirating it.

Lionheart

Wow, even WWE don’t pull this for Wrestlemania so not forking out extra for this.

New Japan be like it's a business dude it ain't unicef! Maybe one day they'll get into the faked fighting sports entertainment genre, but until then we're the guys you come to.

GIMME MONEY!!!

Emperor


Is Okada shooting on that guy from this event?

vt.tiktok.com/ZS8SnE5nK/

Jan 22, 2023 3:41:32 GMT System said:

Emperor


Is Okada shooting on that guy from this event?

vt.tiktok.com/ZS8SnE5nK/

Take Emperor's word over mine, but considering Okada is set to face Kiyomiya down the line I'm going to say work.

Tagged three times in this thread but also don't want to read spoilers for Wrestle Kingdom Part 2.

I'll get to your posts...soon.

We'll have to PM them directly!

Also I refuse to believe Yo-Hey is a real ring name. I'm guessing he was a young boy who they didn't know the name of so they kept calling to him until he answer.

YO!

...

HEY!

... he answered, that must be his name. Which one? Best go with both.

Today I learnt what you already know...despite having a NJPW World subscription, apparently I have to pay for this show. I'm assuming it's because it's a joint show with NOAH?

I've not seen any other NJPW shows that have to be paid for on top of the subscription. To be fair the monthly fee for NJPW World is pretty cheap so it doesn't offend me greatly, but I still acquired the show through other means.

YO HEY is a fantastic wrestling name. I say it out loud all the time. Instant catchy.

His match with El Desperado on this show was fantastic, by the way. YO-HEY all the way!

This disappointment Emperor must feel being tagged in this thread 3 times expecting something major might have happened

And it’s just us complaining about the paywall :lol:

OK this show is tremendously exciting and I haven't even reached the final matches.

YO-HEY!!! is a great name to say and he has an interesting look but he wasn't particularly special in the ring. Reasonable match against Desperado.

The next match, Kazuchika Okada & Togi Makabe vs Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura brings me to this...

Jan 22, 2023 3:41:32 GMT System said:

Emperor


Is Okada shooting on that guy from this event?

vt.tiktok.com/ZS8SnE5nK/

To put all of this into context, they ran a NJPW vs NOAH show around this time last year which was extremely safe. Bunch of tag matches, jobbers from both companies taking the pins. This NJPW vs NOAH show has higher stakes, mainly because LIJ are facing NOAH stable KONGO in a series of five singles matches. Nobody's playing it safe anymore.

Rewinding to last year's main event, Okada pinned Kiyomiya in a tag match. Kiyomiya cried after his defeat, in shame. Kiyomiya was at that time a rising star in NOAH. Fast forward a year later and he is the GHC Heavyweight Champion, so this year's tag match pitted the top guys of both companies against each other. Kiyomiya is hungry and wants revenge. Okada doesn't give a flying fuck (see below).

Considering its placement on the card, I think everyone expected this tag to be a routine match where Kiyomiya pins Makabe and blows a raspberry at Okada. What actually happened set the tone for the rest of the show, and perhaps the near future.

Okada is a cocky shit at the best of times, but he literally has zero respect for NOAH. The proof is in the interview he did last year before the first NJPW vs NOAH show. Okada being a brutal dickhead is when he's at his most interesting as a character. "I don't really care", he says, "Do Olympics athletes keep tabs on what the local amateur athletic club is doing?" :lol: :lol:



Okada stayed true to his beliefs, refusing to start the match against a hungry Kiyomiya and instead let Makabe do his bidding. Okada tagged in two minutes later and stared beating on Inamura, before applying a chinlock. That's the starting point of System 's clip.

In fact, the match doesn't last much longer. Okada and Kiyomiya "shoot" on each other in very exciting fashion for a few more minutes. Their partners and the official tries to keep them separated without fail. The referee eventually throws out the match to a chorus of boos. Kiyomiya grabs a mic and challenges Okada to a singles match, calling him scared. Okada's like "no fuck off kid lol"

To answer your question, it was a worked shoot to make this NJPW vs NOAH contest into an exciting war. Commentators referenced an almost identical moment from the 80s where Maeda shoot kicked Riki Choshu during a match, which started the interpromotional UWF vs NJPW war. It probably wasn't planned for Kiyomiya to kick Okada so hard he bled, and Okada may have been legit pissed at that, but to me the intention was clear.

It worked. The crowd were super into it, booing the shit out of Kiyomiya, and booing when the match was thrown out. There's interest for this. The biggest obstacle is how they book this war, because neither company wants to lose face, but NJPW is clearly the far bigger fish and so will be able to call more of the shots.

In kayfabe, Okada vs Kiyomiya is set for February 21, but Okada says he won't do it and he doesn't care what the company says. This is pretty fascinating stuff.

That huge moment was followed by the first of the LIJ vs KONGO singles matches.

BUSHI vs Tadasuke.

Although these guys are clearly working, there's also a professional rivalry. BUSHI was laying in his strikes more than I've ever see him do before. The finish was interesting. BUSHI mists Tadasuke and goes for a rollup, but Tadasuke counter rolls up BUSHI for the three count. I say three count. BUSHI clearly kicked out at 2.8 on his own volition, but the ref counted to 3 as it was the planned finish, and BUSHI started arguing with the referee to save face. BUSHI attacks Tadasuke post match, which is very uncharacteristic of him, they brawl briefly before being separated.

This is good shit.

Go into business for himself. Ain't about to let a NOAH scrub get over.

I'm glad Emperor finally got around to watching the show because I wanted his thoughts on the worked shoot.

I 1000% believed it was a real shoot until he hit the German suplex. After that I was like "ah ok this is setting up a singles match," but even still, they fucking HAD me for a solid 5 minutes or so before I realized what was actually happening.

Best worked shoot I've ever seen. I thought we were actually watching Okada try to kill a guy and was losing my mind. I got worked, brother. Much love.

Even though the match was thrown out I'm tempted to put it on my MOTY list. :lol:

Yeah I was pretty confident it was a work, especially given what the English commentators were saying and how the other wrestlers were reacting, but that German suplex confirmed it. Although they did work it almost like a shoot German, like Kiyomiya was trying to lift Okada instead of Okada cooperating. Just a really cool sequence in general. Okada doesn't seem like a scary tough guy, but in that moment you did not want to fuck with him.

Hiromu Takahashi def. Hajime Ohara

Ohara impresses me a lot. He has more of a technical junior style but his moves are so fluid and the way he chains together different holds and grappling techniques is a joy to watch. Like a Junior Zack Sabre Junior. Fun match. Hiromu endured a lot of punishment but then came back and picked up a surprisingly effortless win. He sort of just hit Time Bomb 2 out of nowhere. Normally it takes a lot more offense for him to put guys away.


Manabu Soya def. SANADA

Soya and SANADA have a history. They used to be tag partners in AJPW a long time ago before going their separate ways. Soya is a big bruiser type with hot pink hair. Bit of a weird look but it somehow works. This was a decent enough match, above average fo SANADA standards. Soya survives all of SANADA's offense and scores a victory after two running lariats.


Shingo Takagi def. Katsuhiko Nakajima

When NOAH vs NJPW rolled around last year, Nakajima was the one guy that grabbed my attention. He has a presence, a quiet charisma. He reminds me of Brock Lesnar. Not in the sense that he has a gorilla-like ferocity, but because Nakajima is dangerous, he can fuck you up, he knows it, and he doesn't care. Basically a sadist. He also kicks really really hard.

So Takagi spent the first half of the match suffering. It started when Nakajima caught him with a nasty knee to the abdomen. Followed by a hard kick to the ribs. Takagi sold it like all his ribs were broken at the same time. Nakajima on offense is a joy to watch. The way he combines his brutal kicks with arrogant crowd-provoking moves is a joy to watch. Kicking the shit out of Takagi with a sadistic grin.

Contrast to Nakajima's methodical yet violent approach is Shingo's almost random explosiveness. It's this that allowed him to get back into the the match with a forceful lariat. From there it was exciting back and forth action. Some fantastic near falls. Nakajima hit his finisher, the vertical drop brainbuster, but Takagi kicked out. A few exciting minutes later, Takagi connected with Last of the Dragons to score a vital three count.

It's 2-2 with one match to go. Naito and KENOH have their work cut out to beat that fantastic war.


Tetsuya Naito def. KENOH

Naito and KENOH wrestled a very typical NJPW style main event. There was some nice psychology, Tetsuya playing his Tranquilo mind games, KENOH assaulting Naito's ribs, and Naito then targeting KENOH's neck as usual. An added element was the crowd. In general the crowd was very pro-NJPW, but in this match especially so. 100% support for Naito and loud boos for KENOH. Of course KENOH played this up, taunting, copying Naito's gestures and being a general dick when on top.

KENOH also proved he could hang with Naito in the workrate closing stretch, both men went move for move, but Naito came out on top on the end with the Destino.

Not quite as exciting as Takagi vs Nakajima, but still a great way to close the show.

Naito cut a promo to send the crowd home, Keiji Mutoh came out on commentary to challenge Naito at the main event of his retirement show in the Tokyo Dome. Naito, of course, accepted. I'm starting to wonder if Mutoh will ever actually retire. I thought the Shinsuke Nakamura match was his last ever singles. It goes on and on!