NJPW 2022: YOSHI ARMY RISE UP

Shibata :)

Man, Night 1 was pretty fun. Some pretty good surprises in there, from top to bottom.

3 nights? 3 nights? The same week as hangman-dbry? Are they trying to make my girlfriend hate me?

I'm pretty into the build towards Master Wato challenging El Desperado for that Jr. title.

Also hoping they end up doing more crossover. Was glad to see Stardom have a main show match in WK this year, as well as the NJPW/NOAH split show. Let's get some AJPW and DDT thrown in there. I would love to see Yukio Sakaguchi throw some hands with someone like Filthy Tom if he ever gets to go to Japan.

SPOILER (I don't think tweets are hidden behind spoiler tags)

Let's goooo my boy did it, Sanada is NJPW US champion pic.twitter.com/7sJAAiPZhr

— Ben(Jalen Reeves #1 hater)🇲🇼🇲🇼🇲🇼🇲🇼🇲🇼 (@knoxben1) February 19, 2022

I'm a little behind, but the 2022 New Japan Cup has started, and the bracket going in was enormous.

Here is your official New Japan Cup 2022 bracket!

Who do you think goes the distance this year?

It all starts LIVE in English March 2!https://t.co/DwaafavinO#njpw #njcup pic.twitter.com/SIrKzFD2ys

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) February 21, 2022

are you watching then? allowing for your being slightly behind. i'm not sure i have the stomach for these NJPW-loyalist-only brackets in 2022 (CIMA excepted)

they have to be praying for fully open travel and an AEW crossover deal at this stage. creatively and business-wise they've been on their arse for more than a year. they've gone from a position of total dominance to having DDT and Stardom doing better numbers in keys markets.

I may be talking out my ass and just woefully ignorant of NJPW's Japanese market (this is actually extremely likely: they luuuuurrrrve Sanada which is baffling to me) but if they could for instance announce a G1 bracket this year with a couple of new / semi-familiar (to the local audience) faces (Danielson, Miro, Keith Lee, etc.) and maybe a few established names (Mox, Cole, Archer, (in Omega's absence - cause that is p clearly the hot ticket i.t.o of gaijin wrestling for New Japan) - i think that would do a lot to reinvigorate the whole scene

part of NJPW's problem is that everyone loves the G1 but it does mean you burn through the hot matches by running them every year or so without any real build. a talent trade would help everyone at this stage. AEW can build to massive 1v1 AEW PPV matches which Western fans are dying to see, NJPW gets access to an enormous pool of talent who have been weaned on 2010s New Japan, all of whom can go like hell in that style, and immediately freshens up their incredibly stale card

fucking hell though what an amazing time to be a wrestling fan

I'm planning on catching up this weekend, somewhere between Rampage tonight and Revolution on Sunday. I've been pleasantly surprised by some of the wrestlers coming out of NJPW retirement to show up for their 50th Anniversary. I popped huge for Fujinami, and I've been enjoying CIMA, and hope there's more crossover with NOAH on the horizon.

I'm hoping that since travel seems to be a little more relaxed, and that quarantine restrictions/COVID protocols take a little less time now, we'll see a lot of the names that we were hoping for in last year's G1, which honestly, was a little underwhelming, with a chunk of the roster being over here in the US for their IMPACT run.

Man, I'm so happy that SANADA got gold, but it's always so funny to me to see the divide on SANADA. My family and I bought into him immediately, but I've come to wonder if it is a cultural thing (since we're Japanese).

the first Sanada singles match I remember watching (I had seen many, many more, but the first one I remember watching) was one of his bouts with ZSJ (probably in a G1 or NJPW Cup one year) and I was immediately convinced that he was a very, very good wrestler. they worked holds brilliantly, they avoided high-spot near falls. they did do some near falls but it was by running a beautifully executed series of pinning combinations / roll-ups near the end of the match and it was totally thrilling. 13 mins or so of really stellar, high-paced modern wrestling

I have subsequently realised that maybe he just has that dynamite chemistry with one of the best technical wrestlers out there (and others, tbf - he has had plenty of good matches against other guys). i have seen him have so-so singles matches many more times since.

they've pushed him to very-nearly-the-top and pulled back so many times now, and idk what the hook is that keeps fans coming back and buying into this guy. i think he looked especially average compared to a guy like Shingo, who was an outsider in the same way but was just relentless in shoving in everyone's face what a stud he was.

do you think if they gave SANADA an experimental run with the belt it could work at this stage? as i say, I'm dimly aware that he is more over with the local audience than the overseas audience but i still struggle to see it

You mean the IWGP Heavyweight title? Honestly, sure. I think that if EVIL could be a champ champ, SANADA could be champ. I've always identified with EVIL more, but I've always found SANADA to be more interesting, as a wrestler, just because of his wrestling background and who he trained with. It's unfortunate, because he's in LIJ, where he's the quiet one, compared to all of the bolder personalities/flashier aesthetics/louder speakers. It's easy for him to fade, even next to EVIL, whose aesthetic was so distinct, that SANADA kind of faded next to him, aside from being handsome. I think he plays a good "straight man" in his teamings.

I'm excited to see if he gets a good run as U.S. champ, and if he comes to the United States to defend the title more. I wouldn't mind something like him versus Filthy Tom (who is the current STRONG champion) to see who really rules in the U.S.

Just want to also post here about Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8, with outstanding showcases from Alex Coughlin and Yuya Uemura. I am just so hyped on this show.

I don't know if anyone cares that much about spoilers for NJPW, but if so, here's one:

It never ends. Continue to the future.

I will come back to everyone someday.
See you again.#Shooter #MOX#njpw #njpwRiot pic.twitter.com/xHGHtTEFQL

— 海野 翔太 / Shota Umino (@Shooter_us) April 18, 2022

Anyone watch Wrestling Dontaku? Lots of interesting things moving forward.

I hope this doesn't count as a spoiler? They announced the BOSJ lineup for this year!

🚨『SUPER Jr.29』出場メンバーが電撃決定🚨

3年ぶりの単独開催‼️全20名がエントリー‼️
さらに６選手が初出場🔥

👀視聴＆登録⏩https://t.co/CcdQ1XrpWA#BOSJ #njpw pic.twitter.com/5Mzz1n0dPc

— njpwworld (@njpwworld) May 1, 2022

BOSJ is under way. Worth following if you like any of the Jrs. Some great matchups. The inclusion of Ace Austin, Francesco Akira, Alex Zayne, and Wheeler Yuta and the return of Titan have really refreshed this division.

／
🕊BEST OF THE SUPER Jr.29 🏆八戸大会‼️
＼

パワー全開のクラークがSHOに猛攻をあびせる💥🦏
両者は5/21青森大会で激突‼️

🆚 新日本本隊🦁+ @ClarkConnors + @AlexZayneSauce × BULLET CLUB💀
📲 #njpwworld で配信中📡

👀視聴＆登録⏩https://t.co/CcdQ1XrpWA#NJPW #BOSJ pic.twitter.com/LuOzfutdSo

— njpwworld (@njpwworld) May 19, 2022

Dominion is on right now! Already off to a pretty cool start with a surprise appearance from a legend!

🔟matches
6⃣ titles
1⃣ golden opportunity for @aew's world crown

✅LIVE English coverage on @njpwworld!

Check out the updated preview for Dominion SUNDAY JUNE 12!https://t.co/hklxilpfKt#njpw #njdominion pic.twitter.com/Dhvku6FYHl

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) June 5, 2022

It's G1 season, guys. I'm making my blocks on Friday. I got new markers and everything for this.

LIVE, FREE tomorrow!

At 3PM local time, join the official pre- #G1CLIMAX32 press conference!

Find out what all 28 entrants have to say as the tournament of tournaments draws near!

All on https://t.co/cEFFsYKcrQ!#njpw pic.twitter.com/C4B7MbKEkC

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) July 13, 2022

posted to the indies thread before i realized it prob goes here because stardom is close enough to njpw (partic with the upcoming stardom x njpw show!)

"i have finally been getting into some of the bigger joshi promotions and omg. stardom is just. so great. considering how relatively easy it would have been for me to dip my toes in over the past few years im kicking myself for waiting until 2022. mayu iwatani is like, immediately one of my fave wrestlers now, unagi sayaka's heel work is weird and funny and great, donna del mondo is an extremely cool faction, syuri is an actual murderer. i plan on diving into some tjpw shows next (so long as i keep this new adhd hyperfocus up at least), very excited for yamashita and sakisama's superheel stable and more maki itoh and yuka sakazaki"

Lots going on in NJPW, and lots of questions coming up, especially with NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPION Karl Anderson performing with the WWE again.

Hikuleo seems to be back with his brothers, though with all the changes, who knows? I'm here for World Champ Tama, but I know it won't happen. Some good stuff seems to be developing with the L.A. Dojo. Narita is a big huge success story for there; he's been looking great being back in Japan. I love Baby Shibata.

Giulia winning the 5-Star GP not surprising. I was hoping that God's Eye would perform better, but it's DDM's time now. God's Eye is still too new, though I am a pretty big mark for Syuri.

Hopeful for a return of Yuu Ishino! He's been working out and attending some shows again, as well as having a more prominent presence on social media than before. I would love to see him compete somewhere...ANYWHERE!

Historic X-Over ruled. Easily the highlight of that weekend in wrestling. Filthy Tom and Syuri tagging together filled me with almost as much joy as my dream mixed tag of Goto and Maika.

#GodsEye @syuri_wv3s and #TEAMFILTHY @FilthyTomLawlor
#NJPWxSTARDOM "Historic X-over" (Nov. 20, 2022) Backstage comments FREE on #njpwworld!

11/20(日) #NJPW × #STARDOM のBSコメントを #新日本プロレスワールド で無料公開中!

FREE
⇒https://t.co/G5Z5UF9jKR pic.twitter.com/twlAnhco5f

— njpwworld (@njpwworld) November 21, 2022

SPOILER, but:

CHAOS have won both the Super Junior Tag League and the World Tag League.

Lio Rush and Yoh and Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi are headed towards Wrestle Kingdom.#njpw #njSJTL #njWTL pic.twitter.com/5ocooVdyT0

— tophy (@punkrockwrestle) December 14, 2022

Genuinely so hyped on this. Papa Goto is one of my favorites in NJPW, and I really appreciate this revitalization of YOH. The dissolution of RPG3K seemed really hard on him, so I'm glad that this has really helped him to come back.