New Japan Pro-Wrestling 2021: Protect Naito and Ibushi's Necks

Otm on your night one, didn’t click night two. Also I don’t think I need to spoiler tag this, but I’ve not watched njpw in a year, why is Kevin Kelly calling Ibushi a literal God?

it comes from something that ibushi himself said -- where if he won both titles he would become god. it beccame a big part of the hype for the matches i think.

Ha ok, still wish they could get some subtitles. Hope he remembers ol fascist Vince has a 1-0 on him

a pal and i were laughing the other day about how ibushi lost to......... tj perkins in the CWC lol

Fucking hell, didn’t he win that? Of all the things to look terrible in hindsight.

he and zsj lost in the semis, probably because they knew there was no chance in hell they'd sign them and they might as well elevate guys who'd stick around. from that standpoint i see why they did it, shame they did vurtually nothing with gran metalik after that tho (even tjp had at least something resembling a run?).

anyway enough about the bad company I LOVE NJPW i gotta try harder to watch more this year

a hoy hoy: I love Shingo, but as someone from Hawai'i, I was required to cheer for Cobb, since he is, in fact, the Pride of Hawai'i. That match absolutely ruled. Also, re to Ibushi calling himself God: There was a long sort of story in early 2020 where Ibushi was tagging with Tanahashi, and talking about how much that meant to him since he considered Tanahashi to be a wrestling God (someone who he idolized, along with Nakamura). They had a relatively short run with the IWGP tag titles last year (Feb-July 2020), considering how they didn't run any shows from March-June. After they lost, their tag team sort of fell apart, with Ibushi becoming disillusioned with Tanahashi since he was the one that lost the titles for them. Tanahashi apologized for not living up to Ibushi's expectations, and told him that he needs to become the wrestling God that he thought Tanahashi was.

Will, which match are you referring to in your spoiler tag for night one?

Ibushi vs. Naito, or Ospreay vs. Okada?

I really liked both, but I found that Ospreay vs. Okada was not as popular as I thought it would be if for no other reason it was a non-title match. I don't really like Ospreay, but his shots at Okada were pretty good in the build to this match, especially with Will's history in CHAOS prior to branching off and starting The Empire/The United Empire. I found that some people were similarly disinterested in EVIL vs. SANADA, which blew my mind, because that storytelling has been SO GOOD, especially during the Road to Tokyo Dome tour when SANADA just snapped and whaled on EVIL.

Best part of Ospreay vs. Okada was that return of the RAINMAKER, BABYYYYYYYYYYYY.

Other highlights of night 1: G.O.D. becoming 7x tag champs & stealing Takashi Iizuka's iron hand, the return of the New Japan Rumble/Rambo, Mox's callout, Hiromu vs. ELP, and Yano being Yano.

And for night two, I really loved EVIL vs. SANADA, and not just because I'm a LIJ mark and I've been calling myself EVIL for years (because short+fat+Japanese+crazy hair+black circles under eyes). The story between the two has always been so interesting; they've been forced to fight each other a few times over the years, in G1 blocks, NJ Cup matches, etc, but they've always come back together as a tag team and as members of LIJ. When EVIL defected to Bullet Club, that was the match on everyone's mind. We got to see EVIL vs. Naito and EVIL vs. Hiromu, but never really got to see EVIL vs. SANADA since that, until night 2. Totally delivered.

Also, GUTTED that Cobb lost to Shingo, even though, again, I love LIJ. I really thought that Cobb would be the one from the Empire to succeed, since he's the only one that hadn't gotten pinned up to that point.

I was genuinely surprised that Ibushi retained on night 2. I really thought that they were going to swerve him again, but nope! I can sleep easily now that I know my main man, the Golden Star light of my life, will not be a one night champ.
Now the question is what does Jay White do from here? I've heard rumors that he might be off to WWE soon, (which I hope is not true).

Oh god I'm sorry I thought I did the spoiler thing correctly, but it did not work!

https://i.redd.it/89vtuxt0jl961.jpg

Next tour wave (The New Beginning shows) advertising SANADA challenging on night 2 of New Beginning in Hiroshima. Already hyped for this handsome battle.

I’ve still not got around the the main event. Tomorrow!

Jeff Cobb is the monster from Lucha Underground right? Such a shame that him and Ricochet went from making that show so fucking good to not really making a name under their own name.* I’ve been thinking about that match since I saw it last week, and I hope Meltzer giving it 5 stars leads to more great big hoss battles fucking each other up.

*I know they have both done some stuff, and Ricochet had that Ospreay match that meme-d all around, but I feel like they should both be bigger names

Yep, Cobb was Matanza from LU. I'm hoping that he continues to work with NJPW and at least gets to hold the NEVER Openweight a few more times, or even become a challenger for the other belts. I am always quick to rep for Cobb since he's from Hawai'i, and I have friends who have gotten to work with him when he was still in our independent scene.

I feel you, though. I'm surprised that Cobb hasn't come up more, but I think with the issues that many of the talents of Lucha Underground had to deal with, along with the unfortunate handling of ROH talent once The Elite left, it's been a hard road for him to gain as much traction as he could have. I was stoked when he was on AEW once, but I'm so happy that he gets to work more in NJPW (and also that Elgin does not hahaha). Cobb has definitely been built as the strongest member of The United Empire, and I can only hope that he eventually decides to branch off from them.

I don't know who may be caught up or who no, but MAN, the next batch of shows (The New Beginning in Nagoya/Hiroshima) looks like it'll be a lot of fun! Some exciting title defenses coming up!

Anyone been following along? I confess that I haven’t really cause tbh the lineup of this tour has looked pretty meh. The Road To.... shows are rarely essential viewing but this batch has seemed particularly uninspired.

Otoh I did check out the New Beginning in Nagoya show and largely enjoyed it.

Shingo vs Tana was as incredible as you might expect, heartiest recommendation for that.

Also I am finding myself unexpectedly into Great O’Khan, looking forward to seeing more from him. Shame he’s stabled with Ospreay, who besides being a creep is also extremely dislikeable as a wrestler. I hate being of the same mind as Jim Cornette on any subject but Ospreay’s style really does do my head in.

I always enjoy the Road to... shows because they have fun little tag matches, and I've really liked seeing Okada in tag matches, lately. He looks like he's having a blast!

Tana/Takagi was even better than I expected it to be, and I'm EXTREMELY hyped for the two-night show in Hiroshima. SHO vs. Hiromu is going to be great, G.O.D is going to retain, and the handsome battle will be on!

Yep really excited to see what Sho can do in that spot. And loving how Hiromu being such a star is elevating the junior championship.

I’m also taking advantage of / making the best of intermittent insomnia and have started a late night project of working my way through NJPW 2012. I tried this a while ago and it didn’t quite stick but I’m really enjoying it.

Interesting to see them trying to push Karl Anderson as the top gaijin when Giant Bernard left to go and be Tensai in WWE. Im on the G1 atm and I have already spoilered myself a bit so I know he makes the final. I’ve never especially rated Anderson and you can absolutely see here that he’s not on the level of Devitt, AJ, Omega, Switchblade, even when he’s put in that position.

Goto also getting a big push early in the year (intercontinental champ and NJ Cup winner) but just not quite big enough to carry him to the title. Think this might have been one of the times he came closest tho? Idk he seems v over at this point, the fans were really buying him against Okada.

Also did not realise that the big Kishin Liger angle from a year or two ago was step-for-step a retread of an angle they did at Invasion Attack 2012, the spike through the table, the whole bit (although this time Taichi and Taka were the Suzuki-gun members on the receiving end).

SHO is so great! It has been a treat to see him grow from when he first returned with YOH as Roppongi 3K. I really thought that YOH was going to be the one that was pushed to the moon, but SHO has had some great standout moments, especially over this past year (though partially because poor YOH got injured).

NJPW 2012 seems so weird now, when I look back on it. Karl Anderson has always been an interesting figure, pushed as on the same level of other BC leaders (and I'm also including Tama Tonga, who steps in to be the main person to support the new leaders), and I just never ever really felt that either. I acknowledge his part of Bullet Club history (as one of the founding members), but he just didn't have that same sort of...spark? I can't quite articulate what he was missing, there.

This Goto push is my favorite thing to look back on, because I love Goto now. I kinda liked Goto back then, but then one day I realized he reminded me of my dad when he was younger, so then I had to love him. He also happened to be the first Japanese wrestler that my dad ended up really liking (his match against Suzuki at WK12 is the first match I saw him really, really get into). If I remember correctly, 2012 was his history-making third New Japan Cup win? I think Goto has a better chance now than he did back then, mostly because of how the title was either on Okada or Tanahashi then, and those two have insane title runs.

OH MAN, back before most of current Suzuki-gun were in the stable! I think Taichi is the only OG left. That's interesting to note, though. I wonder if they did it again more recently because Liger wanted to revisit it before he called it a career? It was a great way to wrap things up for Liger and Suzuki.

a bullet club leader needs to have hair. it sounds like nonsense but search your heart, you know it to be true

as a prematurely balding man myself I resent that observation while recognising its fundamental rightness

tbf to Machine Gun I probably did him a disservice by listing out the BC leaders like that, cause this 2012 push of course pre-dates Bullet Club - he is in fact being pushed as a babyface and honestly I am not feeling it.

I think Goto has a better chance now than he did back then, mostly because of how the title was either on Okada or Tanahashi then, and those two have insane title runs.

I know what you mean but I don't think that was clear at the time. Okada was still basically an unknown quantity when he went up against Goto, even following the unexpectedly excellent first defence against Naito in March. Still feels like a first trial run, one-defence-and-done must have seemed totally possible to the fans. You can hear that in the Okada / Goto title match, the fans are overwhelmingly rooting for Goto and I think really believed he might do it.

I'm pretty agnostic on Goto tbh, I think he is fine without being someone I'm ever that desperate to watch. Definitely looking forward to getting to the Meiyu Tag stuff with Shibata tho, if this little watching project continues.

on Goto's title chances then and now: the field was a lot thinner in 2012 than it would be even a year or two later, let alone today. I don't think Goto's time will ever come now.

I will probably get a lot of hate for this, but Anderson has always been, like, the Trent Beretta to me, as far as his role in tag teams/teams in general. Solid dude, not totally boring, but easily overshadowed compared to his partner (similar to how Trent tended to get less attention than Rocky in Roppongi Vice and less than both Chuck Taylor AND Orange Cassidy in Best Friends). My favorite call, though, is still, I think Kevin Kelly shouting "MACHINE GUN WANTS ANSWERS" at NYD 2016 when BC kicked out Styles.

on Goto's title chances then and now: the field was a lot thinner in 2012 than it would be even a year or two later, let alone today. I don't think Goto's time will ever come now.

You're totally right about the field being much thinner back then, but hey, if EVIL (who I LOVE and identify with) can be a double champ, so can Goto! He's been getting some interesting attention lately, and I'm hopeful that it leads to some good stuff! I would love to see him or SANADA win it off of Jay after Jay eventually gets the double gold (since I think it's only a matter of time).

Any Shibata stuff is always worth holding on for, as I know you know, but MAN, it's so bittersweet to watch now.

Also, they did another Noritake Kinashi video, except this time, with RIKI CHOSHU.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaJ_zxVgfmw

hahaha wtf?! Riki Choshu the happy dancing goof

speaking of wonderful NJPW vids, Hiromu has published his own hype package for the Sho match:

【100% Voltage】
最高の意地の張り合いしようぜ！#写真ありがと#Thankyouforthepictures#njpw#njnbg#ムォラ pic.twitter.com/zxeVV0k4W4

— 高橋ヒロム / Hiromu Takahashi (@TIMEBOMB1105) February 9, 2021

God, I love both Hiromu and SHO so so much.

I know not technically NJPW, but sort of related since he used to be part of NJPW:

GHCのベルトを獲った！！
体中痛いけど、自宅で勝利の美酒を味わう。@noah_ghc pic.twitter.com/dZQmhbyUFk

— 武藤　敬司 (@muto_keiji) February 12, 2021

transitional move only, presumably? i keep being half tempted to check out some of the big matches from the other Japanese promotions but idk if it's really the right time with COVID restrictions.

gotta say I've not been hugely impressed with the final New Beginning shows. Hiromu / Sho was the one I was most excited for and it ended up being far, far longer than it needed to be. I think if you boil down the top matches from all 3 of the main New Beginning shows into a single event then you've got a show worth seeing.

Castle Attack is also going to be two nights. the card for the first night is....yikes:

Hiroshi Tanahashi and TenCozy vs. United Empire (Great O-Khan, Will Ospreay, and Jeff Cobb)
YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tanga Loa
Hirooki Goto vs. Tama Tonga
Provisional KOPW 2021:Toru Yano(h) vs. Chase Owens
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jay White
Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL

Ishii vs Switchblade will rock of course but there is a whole lot of nothing on that show.

bit of a slow run for them atm. part of that is unavoidable given wider circs, but it's been feeling a little uninspired

with that said I like that Naito has decided that he loves the IC title after all and is trying to fuck up Kota's plan to unify the belts

Might be. I am so far behind on NOAH, honestly. I love Shiozaki and was sad to see him lose, but he had a pretty good reign.

I really liked the New Beginning tour as well, though I didn't keep up with it as much as I would have liked. I agree that Hiromu vs SHO was SUPER long, but I also love both of them so much, so I enjoyed the match a lot.

I'm a big, big fan of Guerrillas of Destiny, so I am actually really excited to see the two of them in singles matches. EVIL vs. Okada will probably be fun, but full of Bullet Club interference, which in Okada matches, I actually really like. Also, am hyped to see Jeff Cobb throw some people around.

Can't wait for Naito to win that IC title back and then immediately treat the belt like garbage again.

Man, we should have added a subtitle to protect Hiromu.

BREAKING: After medical assessment, Hiromu Takahashi's left pectoral injury will leave him out of action for an estimated six months. More information will follow.

LIVE: https://t.co/jRz0TtYVmE#njpw #njcattack

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) February 22, 2021

Hiromu Takahashi has officially vacated the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title.

At today’s Road to Castle Attack event, Hiromu came out to start the show. He said that for the sake of the junior heavyweight division, he would relinquish the title. He then asked BUSHI to wrestle in his place at Castle Attack on February 28 against El Phantasmo.

:(

https://www.f4wonline.com/new-japan-news/hiromu-takahashi-vacates-iwgp-junior-heavyweight-title-334201

This is the SECOND TIME he's had to relinquish the Jr. Heavyweight title. I'm glad the injury isn't as serious as his last one, but I am devastated. It's been a while since BUSHI has held the strap. I do appreciate that he's wearing his combo regular/Kamaitachi mask. It would be kind of cool for him to use the mashup music that he has with Hiromu (which I just realized last week or earlier this week is an updated one from their old tag music, and says "B-U-S-H-I-R-O-M-U"), as long as it means that he wins, but I somehow feel they're really high on ELP now that he's returned to Japan.

I hope it manifests into a triple threat between ELP, BUSHI, and El Desperado, who had a KILLER BOSJ match with Hiromu. Really thought that it was going to be his tournament last year.

Castle Attack is coming up:
*Naito and Ibushi messing with each other's knees. It makes me nervous because, as you know, Naito's knees are pretty much held together by DESTINOS shouted by Kevin Kelly, at this point.
*Goto and YOSHI-HASHI having singles matches against Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa, respectively. Tama has gone on record saying that he's pretty excited for his first singles match in a while. Night 2 of Castle Attack has G.o.D. defending the titles against them.
*United Empire going against TenCozy (in which I hope Will Ospreay gets pinned and Jeff Cobb realizes he's better than the faction).
*Hope Yano retains the KOPW trophy. I can't imagine him losing it to someone like Chase Owens (the least loved member of Bullet Club).
*EVIL vs. Okada finally happening. Feels like it's long overdue, but at the same time, I've been enjoying Okada in goofy tag matches, so I'm not really as interested in watching him beat up EVIL, then get beat up by Bullet Club (even though we BC for life).

NJPW Strong things:
*Marty Scurll was apparently seen around backstage at NJPW Strong. Personally, I think he needs NJPW more than they need him and NJPW could do a mini-jr heavyweight thing with all the guys they already have in L.A. and the outreach to IMPACT (Chris Bey, MCMG, Ace Austin, Trey Miguel) and MLW (Lio Rush, Myron Reed, ACH, and Low Ki), not to mention the TONS of people from the indies. I imagine it'll be a bad look to have Marty back so soon, and honestly, for as much as I really did like Marty, there are so many new wrestlers to discover that I haven't even missed him. There are others that have easily filled that same sort of role.
*In happier, more exciting news, New Begnning in USA is Friday, and we'll finally get Mox vs. KENTA, in which I imagine that Mox drops to KENTA before he goes on paternity leave. But if not, who knows? I'm honestly not sure, as I thought that Mox would lose to DBS Jr. in Bloodsport (still counts to me as NJPW talk, since it feeds into his continuing weird relationship with Suzuki-Gun).

We're hitting the ground running in March. New Japan Cup 2021 matches start at the Anniversary show!

With first round byes for NEVER Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi and 2020 winner EVIL, this is your official New Japan Cup bracket!

Who do you have? The action kicks off LIVE and in English Thursday on @njpwworld!https://t.co/2AmxlTn0ES#njpw #njcup pic.twitter.com/2t4CXnhLTK

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) March 1, 2021

There was an earthquake during last night's New Japan Cup show.

Holy shit, an earthquake has happened in the middle of the match https://t.co/YCKTFJJeYE#njpw #njcup pic.twitter.com/RmoktTtguV

— Ciaràn (@CiaranRH) March 20, 2021

Well, I'm devastated by the end of Sakura Genesis.

really no desire to keep up with this promotion at all with ospreay at the top. not just that he's a piece of shit, i can't stand his obnoxious mannerisms and his general way of being, and i don't think he's a remotely good wrestler outside of like PWG. don't think he would have half the rep he does if he wasn't a precious meltzer source.

I think covid killed something in NJPW and it's going to take a lot to come back from it

I have to agree; I'm glad that Ibushi got the double titles, and I'm glad he was technically the first one to hold the new belt, but I'm sad that Ospreay was the first one to win the new belt. Ospreay is the one thing I don't like about United Empire, and it's his own gd stable.

They do have some cool shows coming up, and Ibushi God knows that I am 100% 3000% stoked for the RPG3K return and title win, but man, I'm genuinely so disappointed in the upcoming main title scene, because I somehow get the feeling like they're going to geek out Shingo to further build Ospreay, and I'm just at a loss. This is going to sound mean, but Ospreay's ceiling, as far as being a performer, is mid, at best. He's not someone I would build a stable around.

I kinda fell off after the results of Sakura Genesis, but my ichiban is back and we're getting really close to Wrestling Dontaku, which I'm hoping will be a Bullet Club party baybeeeeee

Monday in Fukuoka!

Day one of Wrestling Dontaku!

🗡️NEVER title: Jay White vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

🪜Iron Finger ladder match- Tama Tonga vs Taichi!

🔥Tanga Loa vs ZSJ with Dangerous Tekkers' future at stake!

LIVE on @njpwworld!https://t.co/DFW9lTZ02y#njdontakuDay1 #njpw pic.twitter.com/iHRWE6Z8m1

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) April 30, 2021

Watching this first night of Wrestling Dontaku, and I appreciate how easily I'm able to forget that Ospreay is champ since the focus is, of course, on Bullet Club.

Cursed. This belt is cursed.

Will Ospreay sustains neck injury; to vacate IWGP World Heavyweight Championshiphttps://t.co/u3RAwkbyzV#njpw pic.twitter.com/UlWMVstp4z

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) May 20, 2021

Finally watching Dominion, and man, I'm really enjoying this show, and my grandpa's commentary over each match. I know I'm really late, but anyone else catch it already?

I think covid killed something in NJPW and it's going to take a lot to come back from it

Very true, their last big show before COVID was that amazing New Beginning in Osaka event that was a record breaking sellout with KENTA vs Naito, Moxley vs Suzuki, and Ryu Lee vs Hiromu. They had Hiromu vs Naito set up for the anniversary show a couple of weeks later, but that match never happened. COVID sucked all the fun out of the Naito title reign that fans had waited years for. But you can't blame it all on the pandemic, EVIL's run with the belt was horrible and the matches with Naito were big disappointments. Matchups involving the heel stables border on unwatchable with the same stupid interference and run-ins for every match. Ibushi's coronation was underwhelming due to pandemic restrictions but at least it was well deserved. I liked the decision to unify the belts and create some history. Then they gave the belt to Ospreay in another dumb booking decision. Ospreay is still great in the ring but knowing what kind of an asshole he is, I can't get excited about his matches in the least.

I did catch Dominion but it wasn't close to the quality of the last few years' shows. But I still haven't seen Tanahashi vs White or Ospreay vs Shingo from the Dentaku shows. Maybe Shingo's reign will turn the promotion around? I have hope. Shingo has been the best wrestler in the company for over a year and it's his time.

If nothing else it’s refreshing that there’s a company out there whose instinctive reaction when the chips are down is to get the title straight onto the best wrestler they have who can guarantee excellent main events. It would have been very easy to go straight back to Okada.

Not saying that Okada wouldn’t also deliver excellent main events but they’ve been there and done that. Shingo feels fresh.

Shingo was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't entirely sure that they were going to give it to him, but that was probably me being gun-shy since my SANADA fandom has seen me get my hopes up so high so many times. I'm super behind on NJPW (been working a ton lately), but I got a ticket to Resurgence in Los Angeles, and I am HYPED.

AHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ALSO SPOILER IN CASE THIS DOESN'T HIDE I AM DEVASTATED

NO-pongi 3K?!?@njpwShowT's Shock Arrow slays a nine year brotherhood with YOH!

Replay “SUMMER STRUGGLE 2021 Night13” (Aug 16th)
Watch on #njpwworld ▶︎https://t.co/z1DNREgyh5#njpw #njsst pic.twitter.com/WDjxVCsh91

— njpwworld (@njpwworld) August 16, 2021

Has anyone watched Wrestle Grand Slam? It was a pretty fun pair of shows to lead into All Out.

G1 TIME!

Really got no interest in NJPW at the moment. A combo of the bad booking and awful luck with injuries that seems to have completely derailed them, the lack of joy in the COVID clap crowds compared to stuff in the US and the ridiculous runaway momentum of AEW which is really the only wrestling I want right now

Otoh Shingo vs Ishii and Tana vs Okada pt. 127 are two fuckin huuuuuuuuge matches to be leading off with, which goes to show that Gedo can still do the simple stuff right. I’ll definitely give those a look; maybe they’ll pull me back in

Shingo vs. Ishii was great. Night 1 was honestly a thrill.

Man, we were so busy worrying about Naito's neck that we forgot to protect his knees!

Tetsuya Naito suffers left knee injury, to withdraw from G1 Climax 31 competition. https://t.co/LNkhYmEhNN#njpw #G131 pic.twitter.com/O8gSbkGhyM

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) September 21, 2021

Also forgot to bless Ibushi's shoulder. What a brutal G1.

At least my mans made it to the finals four times.

Kota Ibushi has undergone evaluation on an injury sustained during last Thursday's G1 final.

His diagnosis is a right anterior shoulder dislocation and joint lip damage. He is expected to make a recovery in around two months.

Details: https://t.co/SLAEWM1p43#njpw pic.twitter.com/TWPyyTrQDC

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) October 26, 2021