The Puroresu Thread

Infernalmiko · January 5, 2014

NJPW has that crucial momentum right now. Not just some excellent work but excellent feuds that people want to see. I was very pleased to see how many people went to the show. NJPW feels like a big deal and that's important.

There were also the required novelty events. No one sees them for the wrestling and Nagata/Saku vs. Gracies was in this vein. Rolles and Daniel are big but they are not Rickson and Royce in name value. And the time a MMA heel could get molten heat just by not releasing a hold (Remember Don Frye?) is past. The DQ ending screamed "Gracies not willing to lose cleanly". This match was Saku the Gracie Hunter vs. two Gracies. There needed to be more hate!

I'll probably write up more on this later but not today. Still too much to do.<img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

Bwahaha · January 5, 2014

The Gracies match was pretty bad, but I don't think it dragged the event down too much. I don't think any matches were up to the standard of say Ibushi vs Nakarmua from G1, Ishii vs Tana/Shibata from g1 or the Ibushi/Low-Ki/Devitt triple thread from WK7, but the last four matches were all spectacular. Time Splitters win the best entrance award <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

As far as being a viable number 2 promotion, AAA apparently has a deal in the works to get US TV time, while NJPW is holding an event in Taiwan and I think is getting English commentary, so either one could be it. I far prefer NJPW's product, but AAA is going to appeal far more to people who don't like their wrestling style (lucha) compared to NJPW.

CMLL's great as well, but their production doesn't scream "no 2 company", and neither does how far in the past they're stuck.

Kitarzu · January 6, 2014

Personal notes on Wrestle Kindgom 8:

1) MOTN tied between Goto-Shibata & Nakamura-Tanahashi. The four seems to me to hold a little, maybe not to overshadow the IWGP Heavyweight Match. A little disappointed by Okada-Naito but nothing different I was expecting. The Rainmaker seemed to be in control in every second of the match. A little scare for Naito when he hunged on the pole after Okada's dropkick, maybe that spot was unintentional.

2) Every match had a different taste: fast spotfest, solid tag match, historical title match, mma appeal, legends match with hints of comedy, big brawl, the return, the top of the juniors, the main title bout, the star power match.

3) A lot of spectacular entrances, Time Spltters, Bullet Club (similar to the Bad Intention made two years ago), Nagata & Sakuraba, Muta & Yano, Goto, Devitt, Okada (as usual), Tanahashi & Nakamura. For Wrestlemania the American guys should work a lot to beat Shin Nihon Puroresu this year.

4) The choice of Tanahashi winning the IWGP IC belt has many potential reasons. First, just like Nakamura said it's a main event belt, worth of being worn by the best wrestlers of the world. Second, Tanahashi probably will touring all over the world promoting NJPW, just like they planned from last year. Third, free Nakamura of the IC title and fighting Okada for the IWGP HW, with the potential break of Chaos in the process. Fourth, keep "The Ace Of The Universe" in the spotlight, maybe for a re-main event with Okada for WK9.

5) They just need to improve their English department. A lot of people complained for lacking of English commentary on Ustream, personally it's not a problem, I understand Spanish, and they wanted to buy the Japanese version. They probably had ready the Spanish version for the Fantasticamania tour and they will be working for the English one later I hope.

Even it was a five hours show, the all package was easy to watch.

As Tanahashi was saying at the end of Wrestle Kingdom, "It's good to see that crowd is packed to the 3rd floor. I'm so glad I believed in Pro-Wrestling. Thank you for coming to the show!" (credits to @puro_yottsume from Twitter for the English translation), it seems NJPW has found the right formula to become a driving force for puro in Japan and a potential number 2 all over the world, with TNA cutting ties with their relevant past, especially with AJ Styles & Jeff Jarrett, even if remains as a shareholder of the company.

P.S. Yujiro Takahashi was to busy to be @ Tokyo Dome, but he sent a little present to the Chaos leader, Shinsuke Nakamura. It was really happy! His expression was saying "Tanahashi! You have 1 guitarist, I have 7 dancers!"

<img alt="BdIruYGCYAA6DiE.jpg" data-src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BdIruYGCYAA6DiE.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

Teh_Showtime · January 6, 2014

I personally thought Okada/Naito was MOTN by a good margin. I found the (2nd) main event to be slightly disappointing but maybe I had expectations far too high. On the other hand I thought Naito more than rose to the occasion and he had to earn everything. The finish was beautiful, but that has become a staple of Okada matches as of late. I think Naito is still on the rise, he wasnt really favored much by the crowd heading into the build for this match but he seemed to be earning more fan support every time he showed up, at this rate I could see a rematch later in the year

Bad Luck Fale took a NASTY spill on that powerbomb where his head hit the ramp, entrances were great as always (Shinsuke's poll dancers, Time Splitters Delorean, and Zombie Devitt, of course Muta as well).

I think I liked the Gracies more than a lot of people. They started heeling it up after a while and I loved every second of it. The finish was well done, I want to see what they do next if anything. It didnt need to be a clinic but I enjoyed it for what it was

Bullet Club Struck again in the JHW title match and bogged down the match a lot to me, even much more than the Power Struggle main event between Okada and Anderson. They picked it up once they got kicked out but that didnt last long before the finish. Prior to that it was pretty much Ibushi whipping on Devitt while Bullet Club interfered. The only downside of the stable is the excessive interference, and in this instance it robbed Devitt and Ibushi of a great match. It was still good of course, but should have been so much better.

Goto/Shibata was hate filled and to me 2nd best MOTN on a really, really good show.

Tigerkinney · January 6, 2014

<div style="text-align:center;">Tigerkinney's: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 8 Review

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So here's my review of NJPW's 'Wrestlemania'. I'm not using the 5 star rating system, which personally I'm finding to be increasingly pretentious (I mean really what's the difference between a **** 1/2 and a **** 3/4 ?!) . My rating system is simple Thumbs Up for stuff I liked and think delivered in it's slot, Thumbs In The Middle for stuff that was OK or good in parts, and Thumbs Down for stuff I thought was flat out bad.

Notice also I said delivered in it's slot, I don't expect classic work rate fests in the middle of the card, I just want to be entertained in some form of the other, of course when it comes to the main events if someone gives me a sub ten minute 'comedy/entertainment' based match in that slot, I'm going to be disappointed.

*** Do not read on, if you've not seen the show, intend to see the show and do not want to know who won****

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Dark: Bushi, Captain New Japan, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoaki Honma vs Jushin 'Thunder' Liger, Manabu Nakanishi, Super Strong Machine & Yohei Komatsu

Komatsu subbed in for an injured Tiger Mask, which in all honestly doesn't hurt the match as TM has been phoning it in for a while now. The young lion got to show plenty of fire, but as expected was the one to take the fall, tapping out to a Crab hold from Hiroyoshi Tenzan.

This wasn't bad for what it was, no one's ever going to expect anything amazing out of a dark match. (Thumbs in the middle)

We get an excellent video package, strongly putting over the star wrestlers, before a live band plays traditional Japanese music...very unique and it added to the atmosphere of the event. The guy on the Shamisen looked as though he wanted to be rocking out on a electric guitar but had to make do with a Shamisen instead.

Match 1: IWGP Junior Tag: Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA) vs Forever Hooligans (Alex Kozlov & Rocky Romero) vs Suzukigun (TAKA Michinoku & Taichi)

Time Splitters get the ball rolling for the elaborate entrances competition by turning up in a Delorean, with KUSHIDA sporting a Marty McFly vest. TAKA & Taichi made their way to the ring with a bevy of girls (could well have been/part of some J-Pop ensemble).

Despite being the Young Bucks first defence, I felt all the other challengers had a chance of winning the titles- as the Junior Tag belts have always tended to have 'hot potato' booking. Anyway Young Bucks retained,after Matt pinned Taichi after a More Bang For Your Buck. Time Splitters had the match won at one point, but the ref was distracted, I'd expect them to be built up for a straight 2vs2 match with the Young Bucks at one of the New Beginning shows (more on that later).

This was what this kind of match is supposed to be, a non stop spotfest with rapid nearfalls- anyone expecting anything more than that from this, would be hoping for too much. Entertaining for what it was and ideal opening match fare (Thumbs Up).

Match 2: IWGP Heavyweight Tag: Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr) vs The Bullet Club (Karl Anderson & DOC Gallows).

'Bad Intentions version 2.0' came out in military fatigues and Karl Anderson holding a machine gun and DOC with a Bazooka. They 'fired' the weapons on their way to the ring, complete with impeccably timed Titantron explosions.KES did the same schtick from last year, by arriving on motorcycles.

Tama Tonga who accompanied 'Bad Intentions version 2.0' to the ring, inevitably intefered in the match, and though he ended up on the end of a Killer Bomb, his inteference kept his fellow Bullet Club members in it, and in the end they were able to become the new champions, after Archer fell victim to the Magic Killer.

This was a solid brawl, with some decent near falls at the end, but I just couldn't fully get into this, as I didn't really care who won. Both teams are gaijin 'bully' heels, and though you could say KES were the de-facto faces here, it wasn't like they really had the crowds support. (Thumbs in the middle)

Match 3: NWA Heavyweight Title: Rob Conway vs Satoshi Kojima

Harley Race, who looks to be in far from great physical shape, barely able to walk to the ring with the aid of cane came to oversee this match. Conway was accompanied by Jax Dane and NWA president Bruce Tharpe, whilst Kojima was accompanied by BFF Tenzan. Before the match Tharpe got in Harley Race's face, and got punched for his obnoxiousness, selling it like death.

Tenzan was able to counter inteference from Jax Dane, and Kojima was finally able to put the arrogant NWA in his place, defeating Conway after a Lariat.

Post match Tharpe threw the temper tantrums of all temper tantrums, that 'his man' had lost the title, whilst Kojima posed for a photo with Harley Race.

No one was expecting MOTN material here, as Conway has shown himself to be a very generic American style worker during his run of guest appearances defending the NWA title. Anyway this was solid enough for what it was, with the crowds support of Kojima lifting the match. Tharpe has also been very entertaining in his role, as the corrupt official (by far the best thing about this angle) but I don't think anyone will be too disappointed if this feud quietly fades away now that the invaders have finally been put in their place. (Thumbs In The Middle).

Match 4: Special Tag: Yuji Nagata & Kazushi Sakuraba vs Rolles Gracie & Daniel Gracie

Sakuraba & Nagata came out wearing near identical masks, with a bunch of kids wearing the same kind of mask. Meanwhile the Gracies were accompanied by some more Gracies and a student from their Dojo.

Anyway turns out the Gracies don't know the rules of pro-wrestling, with 'Naga-Saku' winning after Daniel was DQ'd for choking Nagata with his Gi. Post match the Gracies celebrated as though they had won the match (feigning ignorance to the DQ verdict), they then appeared to arrange a rematch....no one in the audience appeared to give a shit.

This wasn't quite as much of a trainwreck as I expected it to be, with the Gracies beginning to get a grasp on their role as the MMA heels during the match, but then the crappy DQ happened, turning this time-waster from passable crap to annoying crap. I understand why this match was here on a Tokyo Dome card, it's one of those mid-card gimmick fillers, but do we really need more of this faux MMA nonsense to be played out further. At least NJPW are wise enough these days not to put this crap, in the main event slot. (Thumbs Down)

Match 5: Special Tag: Minoru Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin vs Toru Yano & The Great Muta.

Sadly no live rendition of Suzuki's awesome entrance theme this year (money for extravagant entrances went elsewhere), such as The Great Muta having his entrance theme perfomed by the 'house band' whilst he comes out in full warrior garb, whilst Dragon's dance around him. He then takes his mask off to reveal another mask underneath, before spitting out some of his trademark mist.

This time Yano gets one over on Suzuki, in their seemingly never ending feud, with a roll-up variation following Suzuki taking a face full of mist from The Great Muta.

Despite The Great Muta/Keiji Mutoh being a sad shell of his former self these days, this was entertaining enough as that midcard match, that is more about the starpower/story, than the work-rate. I've also found the Suzuki-Yano feud to be very entertaining throughout, even if ther matches had never been all that 'good' from an in-ring perspective- though saying that it probably has been dragged out a little too long now. (Thumbs In The Middle).

Intermission time-

We get a run down of NJPW's up coming major events:

2 New Beginning shows in Feb (Hiroshima & Osaka), 2 shows in Taiwan in April (called Wrestle World), venue for G1 Climax finals are being upscaled this year to the Seibu Dome.

Though for me I was personally most excited to see Dontaku in Fukuoka again on 3rd May- because I'm in Fukuoka on that day! So my plan to go to that show, looks to have paid off. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> Here's hoping my tour company can secure the tickets- they've not let me down yet, during previous excursions to Japan.

Lots of adverts shelling Bushiroad's latest trading card game Buddfight, which will come with accompanying shitty tie-in anime. It's no secret I love anime, but I don't really care much for crappy trading card related anime. There was also an advert where someone drank some unappealingly green liquid.

The house band, then got the second half under way, by rocking some more traditional Japanese music.

Match 6: King of Destroyer Match: Togi Makabe vs Bad Luck Fale

This was pretty much just a Last Man Standing match, with victory having to come by way of knockout rather than a pin or submission. Makabe was able to overcome the Bullet Club's enforcer, when Fale couldn't answer a ten count following a King Kong Knee Drop.

A big-man brawl, that was actually decent in parts, though it dragged on a little too long and was admittedly better when Makabe was on offence, rather than Fale (who still looks like he should be primarily 'hidden' in multi-man tags or just standing at ringside as someone's enforcer). Fale also took an awkward bump, after Makabe botched a powerbomb off the apron through a ringside table. (Thumbs In The Middle)

Match 7: Special Singles: Hirooki Goto vs Katsuyori Shibata

They play a video hyping Goto's return from injury and his rivalry with college friend Shibata. This has been a really well built feud and based simply on competitive fire and spirit between two old friends, who just want to prove themselves each others equal in fighting spirit.

In three previous encounters Shibata had a win, whilst two other matches ended up draws, so Goto really needed to get the win here to show that he was Shibata's equal- After yet another hard hitting contest between these two, Goto finally got the win after downing Shibata with the Shouten Kai.

Post match they sell the gruelling effects of the match, and then help one another to the back- respect earned, feud settled- best of buds again.

Great contest, not the very best in their series, but a satisying conclusion to their feud, which admittedly probably would have been blown off during the G1 climax had Goto not got injured prior to their scheduled match in the tournament.

If you didn't like the previous Goto-Shibata contests (Ultra stiff, fighting spirit one counts), this match isn't going to change your mind. There are some people who love this formula and there are some who hate it. However for me, what has helped put the Goto-Shibata feud over other stiff-fests is the way their real life personal bond has been weaved into the story being played out in the ring, something which helped to make their matches all that more compelling. (Thumbs Up)

Match 8: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt vs Kota Ibushi

Devitt was carried onto the entrance ramp in a coffin by some 'druids' in black cloaks and white masks, then the casket pops open and Devitt is painted up like a zombie (complete with airbrushed muscles), before lurching to the ring like one of the undead. The entrances are really something this year.

Lots of Bullet Club interference before the officials had enough and sent them to the back, with no back up to help him, Prince Devitt was unable to fend off a fired up Kota Ibushi, who put away the despicable heel with a Phoenix Splash.

Post match a mysterious masked man (El Desperado) came to the ring carrying a guitar case, before giving the new champ a bouquet of Black Flowers- Which was a bit of a bizarre way to set up Ibushi's next challenger.

This was good in parts, both Ibushi and Devitt are exciting Junior Division workers, but whilst the Bullet Club heel turn did freshen up Devitt character wise this year (and showed off hidden depths of charisma) it has taken away from his matches with the constant interference. Match did get better from a 'work-rate' point once Devitt's lackeys were sent packing but made the result somewhat predictable, as Ibushi (in the role of heroic saviour of the Junior Division) would have looked weak, once Devitt's help had been removed. Despite my criticisms, I did really enjoy this, it's just that I know these two have it in them to do even better (Thumbs Uppish).

Match 9: IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito

Naito's entrance seemed a bit understated in comparison to many others, Okada did his usual Rainmaker entrance, but it's one of the greatest entrances in wrestling anyway and has only added to star power charisma.

The fact that this ended up in the semi main spot, as opposed to the IC Title match in the fan vote, points to the fact that the fans aren't buying into Naito's main event push. So it came to no one's surprise that Okada successfully defended the belt here, overcoming Naito with the Rainmaker.

The match itself was rather good, started somewhat slowly but got better as it went along, and the finishing stretch was incredibly good, in a way that Okada made someone who the crowd and viewers at home believed had zero chance of winning (like the Makabe and Kojima title defences from last year), actually might have a chance of pulling off the upset.

Both Okada and Naito worked hard here to put on a great match, but the fact is the NJPW fans just aren't into Naito's push, and are giving him the Rocky Maivia treatment. They really should think about using the negative heat that has been building for Naito and turning him heel. (Thumbs Up)

Match 10: IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

Ex Megadeth guitarist Marty Friidman, comes out on the entrance ramp and plays Tanahashi's wanky guitar solo entrance theme live, before Tanahashi joins in with some lame air guitar to his own theme.

'Swagsuke' Nakamura, isn't going to be outdone though-as he makes his way to the ring, in the middle of a pole-dancing show. Now I know whose entrance I'd rather have. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/wink.png.686f06e511ee1fbf6bdc7d82f6831e53.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

The match itself was a closely fought back and forth contest, however Tanahashi got the better of his generational rival yet again....defeating Nakamura with a High Fly Flow to become the IC champ for the first time.

As expected a quality contest from these two, with some great counters and reversals throughout but it seemed to lack the intensity of previous contests, which may stem from the fact these two haven't actually faced off for a while and have been in more intense feuds with other wrestlers over the past few years- which meant that the main event was merely excellent, rather than the jaw-dropping epic these two could be capable of.

Some people will also be disappointed that Tanahashi yet again got to close out the show with his air guitar routine, but to be honest the outcome is for the best- as it should free up Nakamura to go after the IWGP Heavy Title and finally build to a clash with Okada. (Thumbs Up).

Overall Verdict: From a wrestling stand point this wasn't NJPW's best show, and last year's Wrestle Kingdom was more enjoyable when taking things from that viewpoint. But this year's edition really raised the 'spectacle' and big-time feel of the show, making it feel even more like Japan's answer to Wrestlemania.

Big Roguey · January 9, 2014

Hi, long time want to get into NJPW & eventually other puro man here with a few questions.

Just bought a few dvds from RudoReels of NJPW and was wondering if people have any opinions on the following shows.

NJPW 2013-11-06 Super Junior Tag Tournament

NJPW 2013-10-25 Super Junior Tag Tournament

NJPW 2013-08-11 G1 Climax XXII

NJPW 2013-06-09 Best of the Super Juniors XX

NJPW 2013-06-06 Best of the Super Juniors XX

Tigerkinney · January 9, 2014

G1 Climax show is the only one where I watched the full show, and that show is indeed awesome. I mostly follow NJPW via their iPPV service through U-Stream these days.

Saw bits and pieces of the other tournaments, but can't give a definitive answer on those shows as a whole. BOSJ wasn't on iPPV (NJPW were only putting up the major PPV shows at that point) and Super Jr Tag tournament was during a few months where I had other priorities.

Anyway NJPW have become very easy to follow and keep up to date with, if you're willing to cough up the money for iPPV.

I think Major shows are $20, and minor shows (usually from Korakuen Hall and like the NJPW equivalent of RAW or Impact!) are $10. This years G1 Climax came as a package deal where you could get all 9 shows at a bulk price that would work out cheaper than buying them individually, whilst the Super Jr Tag and World Tag League showed selected shows from the tournament.

Now of course each PPV by itself works out much cheaper than a WWE PPV, but if you watch everything it soon adds up and if you're flat broke I understand if people would rather seek out on other video sites or buy DVD's.

I myself just go for the major shows, as the minor one's just tend to be a bunch of 8 Man Tags or superstar vs jobber matches.

If you want to start with highlights from the past year, the best shows to seek out are the following:

Wrestle Kingdom 7 (Jan 2013)

Invasion Attack (Mar 2013)

Dominion (June 2013)

G1 Climax 23 (Aug 2013): Best shows: Night 2, Night 4, Night 8, Night 9 (Finals).

King of Pro Wrestling (Oct 2013)

Wrestle Kingdom 8 (Jan 2014)

Jaysin · January 17, 2014

Might be a weird request, but is there any chance someone could list Okada and Tanahashi's list of matches with their show names?

Someone told me they're the Flair/Steamboat of the modern era and I'd love to watch their matches from the beginning.

Shinsuke · January 17, 2014

I hope this link works for you:

<a href="http://www.cagematch.de/?id=112&view=search&sParticipant1=Hiroshi+Tanahashi&sParticipant2=Kazuchika+Okada&sParticipant3=&sParticipant4=&sEventName=&sEventType=&sDateFromDay=01&sDateFromMonth=01&sDateFromYear=2012&sDateTillDay=08&sDateTillMonth=01&sDateTillYear=2014&sPromotion=7&sLocation=&sArena=&sRegion=&sMatchType=&sConstellation=Singles&sWorkerRelationship=Opponents&sFulltextSearch=" rel="external nofollow">Tanahashi / Okada list</a>

Jaysin · January 17, 2014

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Shinsuke" data-cite="Shinsuke" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="30254" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I hope this link works for you: <a href="http://www.cagematch.de/?id=112&view=search&sParticipant1=Hiroshi+Tanahashi&sParticipant2=Kazuchika+Okada&sParticipant3=&sParticipant4=&sEventName=&sEventType=&sDateFromDay=01&sDateFromMonth=01&sDateFromYear=2012&sDateTillDay=08&sDateTillMonth=01&sDateTillYear=2014&sPromotion=7&sLocation=&sArena=&sRegion=&sMatchType=&sConstellation=Singles&sWorkerRelationship=Opponents&sFulltextSearch=" rel="external nofollow">Tanahashi / Okada list</a></div></blockquote> It does! Thank you so much!

Kitarzu · January 18, 2014

The feud started at Wrestle Kingdom VI, with Okada returning to NJPW after his TNA excursion. He won his return match against Yoshi-Hashi, also returning from his CMLL excursion.

After the main event, he challenged Tanahashi to an IWGP Heavyweight Championship title match. Tanahashi accepted addressing Okada that the IWGP Title is way over him.

The day after on the official press conference, Okada reveal to join CHAOS, adding Gedo as his manager. On that day he revealed he's the "Rainmaker", changing also his japanese ring name.

One more thing. Just before his last match at King Pro Wrestling 2013 Okada quoted the same words Tanahashi told him at Wrestle Kingdom.

P.S. Bonus Okada merchandise!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/RAIN_MAKER_dollar.JPG/800px-RAIN_MAKER_dollar.JPG

Tigerkinney · February 10, 2014

Non Spoiler Thoughts on NJPW: New Beginning in Hiroshima

El Desperado & Jushin Liger vs Kota Ibushi & Bushi

Decent junior division opener- not great but had some solid action, and they continued to do a good job of building up Desperado, who will challenge Ibushi for the Junior belt in Osaka.

Tama Tonga vs Minoru Suzuki

Just an extended squash- Mind you Suzuki is one of the more fun guys in wrestling see pull off this type of match- so I didn't mind this. Not saying it was great, and it probably shouldn't be on a PPV card but it wasn't brutally bad and it didn't out-stay it's welcome.

Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano vs Yuji Nagata & Kazushi Sakuraba

Now here is where the show began to take a real-down turn. As expected Iizuka attacked/humiliated the announcer Shinpei Nogami before the match and then the match was a messy/tedious 'brawl' that ended up with a lame DQ finish. Nagata deserves better than having to constantly endure crap like this, but at least he can get a stronger push when he makes his excursions to NOAH.

Michael Tarver vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Ugh this match was the drizzling shits, it's down there with Nagata/Sakuraba vs The Gracies at Wrestle Kingdom. Tarver just flat out sucks (you know when someone has a punch for their finisher, they are going to be ass) and Tenzan is so broken down these days, that he should seriously consider hanging up the boots. Only thing of note is that Tarver accidentally busted open Tenzan, but it still didn't make this snore-fest anymore interesting.

NWA Heavyweight Title: Satoshi Kojima vs Big Daddy Yum Yum

The man with one of the stupidest names in wrestling, turns out to be, to no one's surprise what so ever not particularly good. I do think he showed some potential to perhaps grow into a better wrestler at some point during his career (He 's a big guy and can do a moonsault), but on this occasion he looked green and awkward against Kojima. If these are the best that the NWA can send over, then NJPW would be well advised to end this angle/relationship.

I will say that once again though Bruce Tharpe did good work as an irritating heel manager, and his ringside presence does at least add some heat to these matches.

Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma vs Tomohiro Ishii & Yujiro Takahashi

Prince Devitt, Bad Luck Fale, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley

Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi vs Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata

I'm going to lump these three tag matches together, because I thought they were all decent matches (even Yoshi-Hashi managed not to suck too much!) and would have all been highly enjoyable on a house-show card. However this was a full-priced PPV, and for a full-priced PPV match-up's like this are little bit underwhelming, and following a poor first half, these matches needed to be excellent rather than just good to get the show back on track.

IWGP Tag Team Championship: Bullet Club (Karl Anderson & DOC Gallows) vs K.E.S (Davey Boy Smith Jr & Lance Archer)

Exactly the same as their match at Wrestle Kingdom. Whilst they managed to put on a solid 'hoss' brawl, I nor the crowd for that matter seemed to care- but hey that what's happens when you book two gaijin heel teams against one another. Hopefully they will done with this now, and move on to a fresh match-up for the next PPV.

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura

In all honesty before the event, I thought the card looked to be a 'one match show' and was riding on the success of the main event. Thankfully Tanahashi and Nakumura delivered here with an effort, that was stronger than their slightly disappointing main event at Wrestle Kingdom.

Overall

This wasn't a terrible show from NJPW (actually apart from the opener, the first half was bad), it was just a 'meh' one and it showed up the weaknesses of deciding to split things up over two shows. Essentially what we got here was a house-show with a A-Grade PPV main event.

Osaka Preview

Apart from a brutal looking toilet break of a middle section- Ten-Koji vs the NWA Douchebags and the Nagata/Sakuraba vs Gracies rematch- the Osaka card does look to be a lot stronger with both of the Junior Division title's on the line, plus the NEVER belt and the IWGP Heavyweight title in the main event.

They have done a good job of building up El Desperado since Wrestle Kingdom (I think he is unbeaten and has made the deciding pin in every match he has been in), whilst if given enough time and paced well Young Bucks vs Time Splitters could be really good.

Naito vs Ishii for the NEVER belt has also been built up well and should see an enthusiastic crowd get fully behind the underdog (Ishii) , whilst I think with the fact that Okada has held the IWGP Heavyweight title for 10 months and made 7 successful defenses, Goto has a genuine chance of finally get his hands on the big one, so the crowd will fully into any near-falls by the end of the match. If Okada could get the crowd believing that Makabe/Kojima could beat him in what looked to be 'routine' title defenses, then they should be able to buy into Goto.

Jaysin · February 10, 2014

When is the Osaka show?

Tigerkinney · February 10, 2014

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Jaysin" data-cite="Jaysin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="30254" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>When is the Osaka show?</div></blockquote> Tomorrow, 6.30 PM Japanese Time

Jaysin · February 10, 2014

Thanks

Teh_Showtime · February 10, 2014

I just watched the 2/2 Road to New Beginning show and the 6 man main event was amazing. Unexpected 4 star match in my opinion. Ishii beating the hell out of Naito for most of the match was very entertaining and all of the face team caught boos at one point which was interesting.

The New Beginning shows were good stuff. Hiroshima was ok with a great main event, but the Osaka show was much better overall (which I guess it should be). Ishii/Naito, Nakamura/Tanahashi, and Okada/Goto are all great matches well worth seeing. I also liked the Young Bucks vs Time Splitters opener. The Bucks actually work and it doesn't turn into a superkick fest.

Michael Tarver and BDYY have some of the least believable offense in wrestling though, and it was a pain trying to watch their matches.

Tigerkinney · February 12, 2014

Non Spoiler Thoughts on NJPW: New Beginning in Osaka

IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship: Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs Time Splitters (KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley)

Just as I expected this was a fun opener, they worked the fast paced X-Divison/Dragon Gate style really well and everyone was on the top of their game. This style isn't for everyone (too spotty for some) but it was worked well here. Not a classic by any stretch but just a really good opener.

Katsuyori Shibata vs Yoshi-Hashi

This was basically the same match as Suzuki vs Tonga from Hiroshima, an extended squash where the underdog gets in some token offence but basically gets their ass handed to them in short order.

Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr vs Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and Tama Tonga

They worked this six man tag at a very brisk pace- on the plus side it didn't out-stay it's welcome and for me was more enjoyable than either the Suzuki vs Tonga singles match or K.E.S vs Bad Intentions Version 2.0 matches from Hiroshima, but with so little time it wasn't going to develop into anything more than decent but unremarkable undercard filler.

Togi Makabe & Ryusuke Taguchi vs Prince Devitt & Bad Luck Fale

No one really brought their A-Game in this tag match, which felt a bit like a 'house show' effort, it was passable but not particularly exciting. The non decisive finish should however mean that the feud/issued between Devitt and the recently returned from injury Taguchi in particular are not yet resolved- which hopefully points towards Devitt sticking around in NJPW*

* There are rumours circling around that WWE have made an offer to

Devitt, and that he is considering the offer. It's not that I don't think he is good enough to make it in the WWE, but to me he has a good thing going on right now in NJPW with a push that has established him as at the very least an Upper Midcarder and the Bullet Club angle which has not yet run it's course/ would be derailed if it suddenly lost it's leader.

NWA World Tag Team #1 Contender Match: Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Big Daddy Yum Yum & Michael Tarver

There is only decent guy in this match (Kojima), and he's not enough of a wrestling genius to be able to cover up for the turdiness of everyone else (Tenzan was good once, but is a broken down shell of his former self). This went about 12 minutes too long, which was roughly the length this tedious match ran for.

Seriously couldn't the NWA find anyone better than these two to bring over (a talentless hack who can't do much else but swing his fists and an Indy no name too green to perform on this stage). Bruce Tharpe continues to do a stellar job as an obnoxious old school heel manager but if he continues to bring over hacks like Tarver and Yum Yum, this angle is never going to move out of toilet break fare.

Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel Gracie & Rolles Gracie

Yay! it's the rematch everyone had been waiting for. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/rolleyes.png.4b097f4fbbe99ce5bcd5efbc1b773ed6.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

I'll give credit, where credit is due, this wasn't as bad as the Wrestle Kingdom Match, and Sakuraba has added a slingshot plancha to his repertoire (which is kind of shitty but is fun to watch).

It still wasn't good though, and even though it's thankfully not in the main event slot, I'd rather NJPW do away with this Inokiism/faux MMA stuff all together. Unfortunately the finish and the post match angle means that the Gracies will unfortunately be sticking around.

* That post match angle saw the CHAOS tag team of Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka challenge the Gracies to a match- Garbage Brawlers vs MMA Guys....that can't be anything else but a trainwreck. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/eek.png.0e09df00fa222c85760b9bc1700b5405.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jushin Thunder Liger vs Shinsuke Nakamura & Yujiro Takahashi

After a string of underwhelming/crap tag matches, things thankfully got back on track with what was a very enjoyable match, that was pitched just right with Tanahashi and Nakamura putting in enough of a shift to not look like they were taking the night off but not doing so much to try and take the spotlight away from the main event matches. Good fun that provided a nice lead in to the matches that matter.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Kota Ibushi vs El Desperado

A good but by no means great Junior title match. They did some cool stuff but it was a little bit spot heavy in places, sometimes lacking logical flow. Desperado has promise, but is a little rough around the edges/lacks consistency at this stage and NJPW would be wise not to overpush him too soon.

NEVER Openweight Championship: Tetsuya Naito vs Tomohiro Ishii

There's already people talking this up as a five star match and an early MOTYC. I wouldn't go that far with my enthusiasm, as I felt the first half was a little awkward in places with Naito looking a little off his game during the early going.

However as the match wore on and with a rabid crowd that was fully behind Ishii and staunchly against Naito (who to his credit went along with it and began to work subtle heel, like Tanahashi does when the crowd is for the opponent) the match grew in stature and got better and better, leading to a molten hot finish, that had the crowd going mental for everyone of Ishii's near-falls.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs Hirooki Goto

Okada/Goto had a difficult act to follow with the intense semi main, but they rose to the challenge and put on quality match that whilst it didn't outshine what went before, was a worthy main event and showed that yet again Okada, doesn't necessarily need Tanahashi across the ring from him to put on a great match.

Overall

As expected this was a considerably stronger event than the Hiroshima show, with a solid start, a dip in the middle and a very strong finish.

Infernalmiko · February 13, 2014

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Tigerkinney" data-cite="Tigerkinney" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="30254" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div> IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship: Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs Time Splitters (KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley) Just as I expected this was a fun opener, they worked the fast paced X-Divison/Dragon Gate style really well and everyone was on the top of their game. This style isn't for everyone (too spotty for some) but it was worked well here. Not a classic by any stretch but just a really good opener. </div></blockquote> NJPW at it's best has a great feel for mixing in variety. You can't do just strong style or just super junior style. As long as they keep it out of the main event, I don't even mind the Gracies too much. But they really should be going full Don Frye arrogant shooter if they want to build heat. <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="30254" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>* There are rumours circling around that WWE have made an offer to Devitt, and that he is considering the offer. It's not that I don't think he is good enough to make it in the WWE, but to me he has a good thing going on right now in NJPW with a push that has established him as at the very least an Upper Midcarder and the Bullet Club angle which has not yet run it's course/ would be derailed if it suddenly lost it's leader. </div></blockquote> NJPW has plenty of reason to worry. After that moon push and excellently booked storyline the WWE used to get Giant Bernard over as a huge star, Prince Devitt is surely going to look at that and be tempted. No ones better at pushing the little guys than the WWE.

Tigerkinney · February 13, 2014

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Infernalmiko" data-cite="Infernalmiko" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="30254" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>NJPW at it's best has a great feel for mixing in variety. You can't do just strong style or just super junior style. As long as they keep it out of the main event, I don't even mind the Gracies too much. But they really should be going full Don Frye arrogant shooter if they want to build heat. </div></blockquote> The mixture of styles that NJPW has going on right now, with it's performers is a large reason why they are my favourite promotion right now. Dragon Gate is my next favourite, but they are pretty much set within their super junior/lucharesu framework, which they consistently execute better than anyone else in my opinion, but it's easy to get burnt out with that after a while. <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="30254" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div> NJPW has plenty of reason to worry. After that moon push and excellently booked storyline the WWE used to get Giant Bernard over as a huge star, Prince Devitt is surely going to look at that and be tempted. No ones better at pushing the little guys than the WWE.</div></blockquote> I'll assume that reply was delivered with a hint of sarcasm. When I meant Devitt could make it in the WWE, I was under no allusions that it would be as a main eventer and get anywhere near the push he is getting in NJPW. But WWE is the one place, where performers would be tempted to collect a pay-check in the midcard. Thing is Devitt is 32, and though he probably has approximately 10 good years ahead of him, he's no youngster now either and may feel as though the time is right to not work such a demanding in-ring style and give WWE a go, plus he may think that the offer to work for them might not come around again. As stated already from my personal viewpoint, I don't want Devitt to 'sell out', as he has a direction right now with NJPW and is not just spinning his wheels in the Junior Division with no storyline/feud.

Infernalmiko · February 13, 2014

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="30254" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I'll assume that reply was delivered with a hint of sarcasm.</div></blockquote> Just a teensy bit. <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="30254" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>When I meant Devitt could make it in the WWE, I was under no allusions that it would be as a main eventer and get anywhere near the push he is getting in NJPW. But WWE is the one place, where performers would be tempted to collect a pay-check in the midcard.</div></blockquote> I'd be curious to see what the difference would be in paychecks. I'm very sure WWE's style is easier on the body most of the time. If he goes WWE I can't blame him, he's a professional and has a limited window to make his money in wrestling. But I was pretty disappointed the WWE could not figure out a way to use Bernard effectively. But he is 41, so maybe his body was finally breaking down.

evileddie10 · March 7, 2014

I will be in Japan in the summer, and I was hoping to go see NJPW (or any of the bigger companies). I was wondering what the best way to get caught up on what is happening in the companies. Any suggestions on what events to watch would be appreciated.

Tigerkinney · March 9, 2014

Non Spoiler Thoughts on NJPW: 42nd Anniversary Show

The show began with a well put together historical video package, that got over the fact that the event was taking place at the same building where the very first NJPW show in 1972 took place.

1. Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs Minoru Suzuki & Taichi

This was a fun opener with the Young Lions getting the crowd behind them with some determined and fiery underdog offence.

2. Manabu Nakanishi & KUSHIDA vs Jado & Gedo

This was another fun lower-card tag match. Though Nakanishi can barely move these days, he's perfectly fine in these sort of matches, where a more mobile tag partner can work the bulk of the match, and Nakanishi can get to work a burst of hot-tag offence, which usually involves him trying something he shouldn't really be doing (on this occasion it was a missile drop-kick!)

3. Super Strong Machine, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Captain New Japan, El Desperado & BUSHI

This match pitted a trio of masked legends against a trio of new masked creations. Despite the slightly interesting concept , the match just ended up being a run of the mill six man tag, that felt a bit short and rushed.

Post match El Desperado got into a shoving match with Jushin Thunder Liger, in an attempt to goad the veteran into a singles match. Liger then proceeded to pick up a microphone and upped the ante by challenging Desperado to a mask vs mask match.

Well that came around rather quickly for Desperado? Either Liger is going to unmask and in which case probably retire soon after that or they've already decided that this El Desperado character doesn't have any legs.

4. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Prince Devitt, Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale

These six put on another serviceable mid-card six man tag. There was nothing bad here, but since Taguchi came back, these six/eight man tags that usually pair him up with fellow Bullet Club target/rival Togi Makabe feel like they have been milked to death.

The intermission this time featured highlights from the career of the recently retired Wataru Inoue, who was on colour commentary duty for this show. We saw highlights from a match he had against Jushin Thunder Liger as a Young Lion, the 2008 Best of the Super Junior Finals against Koji Kanemoto and winning the IWGP Heavyweight Tag with Yuji Nagata against No Limit (Yujiro & Naito)

5. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Yujiro Takahashi & YOSHI-HASHI

Before the match begun Shinpei Nogami got attacked yet again by Iizuka, not even recently retired wrestler Wataru Inoue was of any use in protecting the hapless announcer. This time Nogami suffered having a bra sprayed onto him....As always post humiliation, he trooped on and called the match!

One of those matches that exceeded my low expecations for it. Only Nagata and Kojima are what you would call top quality in-ring talents. However this ended up being a relatively enjoyable midcard match, which did it's best to accentuate the positives of everyone involved. Even Sakuraba who is a terrible pro-wrestler was actually enjoyable here.

6. Non Title- Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata

This was one of the matches, that looked promising on paper, but ended up being a bit of a disappointment. What they did here was pretty good and given more time, these four could have a really good Tag match together, but they suddenly rushed from a Bullet Club control segment to an anti-climatic finish.

7. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tetsuya Naito vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii

The preceding six matches had pretty much added up to being a mildly enjoyable but forgettable house show, and hardly worth forking out ippv money on, so the last two matches which were the main selling point (along with the Bad Intentions Version 2.0 vs Goto/Shibata match) needed to deliver.

This wasn't the greatest match these four could have together, but it was still very good and they probably pitched it just right to impress enough as a semi main event, whilst not trying to take any of the spotlight away from the main event. It's safe to say now that Tomohiro Ishii is no longer being booked as CHAOS designated jobber and that he's getting that strong push, fans think he has deserved for years.

8. Non Title- Kazuchika Okada vs Kota Ibushi

in what appears to becoming an annual tradition, the anniversary show main event pitched the Heavyweight champ against the Junior Champ (last year it was Tanahashi vs Devitt).

This ended up being an excellent main event, with a hot-finishing stretch, which saw Ibushi force Okada to pull out some new offence (a Bridging German Suplex- well to be honest he's revisiting it, as it was his finisher prior to the Rainmaker repackaging).

Overall Thoughts:

The show was an enjoyable watch, but not exactly what I would call essential viewing. Unless you're a hardcore, only really the main and the semi-main are worth seeking out, the rest of the card is serviceable but skippable.

Up next is the first round of the New Japan cup on 15th March.

Tigerkinney · March 10, 2014

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="evileddie10" data-cite="evileddie10" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="30254" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I will be in Japan in the summer, and I was hoping to go see NJPW (or any of the bigger companies). I was wondering what the best way to get caught up on what is happening in the companies. Any suggestions on what events to watch would be appreciated.</div></blockquote> It depends on how much you are prepared to pay money out, in order to keep fully up to date with a promotion. NJPW put a good proportion of their shows on internet pay per view these days: <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/njpw." rel="external nofollow">http://www.ustream.tv/njpw.</a> If you're prepared to pay the money, it's never been easier to keep bang up to date with NJPW. Dragon Gate have also started doing ippv for some shows, the following site is also a good source for keeping reasonably up to date with DG: <a href="http://www.openthedragongate.com/" rel="external nofollow">http://www.openthedragongate.com/</a> As for the rest AJPW/NOAH/Wrestle-1/DDT etc, your best hope is the tape trading sites such as IVP Videos (<a href="http://new.ivpvideos2.com/" rel="external nofollow">http://new.ivpvideos2.com/</a>) though newest stuff tends to be about three months behind. Otherwise if you're a very tight budget, you might find shows/matches on You Tube. ____________________________________________________ When in the summer are you going out to Japan? Right now NJPW only have events up to May mentioned on their website, and tickets are only sale right now for the April events. Dragon Gate fan-site, I Heart DG has the following partial schedule for DG: March 2014 1st - Osaka, BODYMAKER COLOSSEUM - 18:00 2nd - Osaka, BODYMAKER COLOSSEUM - 15:00 3rd - Dragon Gate Arena ~NEX Sanctuary.116~ - 19:30 5th - Kanagawa, Yokohama Radiant Hall - 18:30 6th - Tokyo, Korakuen Hall - 18:30 8th - Aichi, Nagoya Congress Center - 18:00 9th - Saitama, Kawagoe Espoir Isanuma - 18:00 13th - Nagano, Nagano Sports Park Gymnasium - 18:30 14th - Dragon Gate Arena ~PRIME ZONE vol.16~ - 19:30 15th - Hiroshima, Onomichi Town Hall - 18:00 16th - Wakayama, Wakayama Prefectural Gym ~MEMORIAL GATE 2014~ - 15:00 21st - Aichi, Tokai Citizens Gym - 18:00 22nd - Toyama, Takaoka Ecouer - 18:00 23rd - Gifu, Gifu Chamber of Commerce - 17:00 29th - Hyogo, Kobe Sambo Hall - 18:00 30th - Okayama, Okayama Wholesale Center Orange Hall - 16:00 April 2014 4th - Dragon Gate Arena ~NEX Sanctuary.117~ - 19:30 5th - Shizuoka, Kira Messe Numazu - 18:30 6th - Fukui, Sun Dome Fukui - 16:00 8th - Tokyo, Korakuen Hall - 18:30 10th - Aichi, Nagoya City Chikusa Small Bunka Theatre - 18:30 11th - Dragon Gate Arena ~PRIME ZONE vol.17~ - 19:30 12th - Aichi, Okazaki Tatsumigaoka Hall - 18:00 13th - Mie, Tsu City Messe Wing Mie - 17:00 18th - Hyogo, Kobe Sambo Hall - 18:30 19th - Hiroshima, Fukuyama Big Rose - 18:00 20th - Osaka, BODYMAKER COLOSSEUM #2 - 18:00 26th - Fukuoka, Yukuhashi Citizens Gym - 18:00 27th - Fukuoka, Hakata Star Lanes - 16:00 28th - Nagasaki, ncc&Studio - 18:30 29th - Hiroshima, Hiroshima Industrial Hall - 17:00 May 2014 3rd - Kyoto, KBS Hall - 17:00 4th - Kyoto, KBS Hall - 15:00 5th - Aichi, Aichi Prefectural Gym ~DEAD or ALIVE 2014~ 8th - Tochigi, Utsunomiya City Tochigi Bunka Hall - 18:30 9th - Tokyo, Korakuen Hall - 18:30 10th - Shizuoka, Act City Hamamatsu - 18:00 11th - Yamanashi, Ai Messe Yamanashi ~Shingo Takagi 10th Anniversary Celebration~ - 15:00 17th - Hyogo, Himeji Minato Dome - 17:00 18th - Mie, Yokkaichi Green Park Gymnasium - 16:00 23rd - Fukuoka, Kokurakita Gymnasium - 18:00 25th - Saga, Morodomi Heartful - 16:00 30th - Aichi, Tsushima Bunka Hall - 18:30 31st - Hyogo, Kobe Sambo Hall - 18:00 June 2014 5th - Tokyo, Korakuen Hall - 18:30 July 2014 3rd - Tokyo, Korakuen Hall - 18:30 20th - Hyogo, Kobe World Kinen Hall ~Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival 2014~ August 2014 5th - Tokyo, Korakuen Hall - 18:30 17th - Tokyo, Ota City General Gymnasium September 2014 9th - Tokyo, Korakuen Hall - 18:30 October 2014 9th - Tokyo, Korakuen Hall - 18:30 November 2014 6th - Tokyo, Korakuen Hall - 18:30 December 2014 3rd - Tokyo, Korakuen Hall - 18:30 16th - Tokyo, Korakuen Hall - 18:30

Teh_Showtime · March 10, 2014

I enjoyed the Anniv show but I agree it wasn't much of anything outside of the main event.

The cup shows should be tons of fun though and I think it looks like Shinsuke is now the favorite over Shibata.

evileddie10 · March 10, 2014

Thanks for the help Tigerkinney. I will be in Japan end of june/early july. Second time that I will be in Japan, so I thought it would be amazing to see a Puro event. Always meant to start watching Puro anyway, now I have a good excuse. <img alt="

" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> So far by the looks of it, I might be going to see Dragon Gate. But, still waiting to see NJPW update their schedule.

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