Puroresu Thread

[Tom Bombadil]

Noob question: How do touring schedules work? I set up BCG with two small weekly shows and a medium show at the end of the month, and then I guess I'll rename the weekly shows for the next month of touring?

[Infernalmiko]

Noob question: How do touring schedules work? I set up BCG with two small weekly shows and a medium show at the end of the month, and then I guess I'll rename the weekly shows for the next month of touring?

 

That sounds about right, though for BCG I thought it could do medium weekly shows.

[Tiberious]

That sounds about right, though for BCG I thought it could do medium weekly shows.

 

Yes they can do medium, and you generally should. I've noticed that you attract higher attendances for monthly shows even if they're both set to the same size, so there's no need to lower the size of weekly shows to make it more realistic.

[Lukiep8]

Welcome back Lukie! Here's hoping you do your mod again, that way I don't have to attempt to do one myself again

 

Working on it. Will take a while. I can't believe how horrendously outdated it was.

 

It saddens me.

[Unregistered]

I hear what you are saying, and perhaps for Goto, this is pretty fair treatment.

 

But outside of perhaps Okada, Machine Gun has had a monster year. Things could have went really bad for him when Bad Intentions broke up, but instead he makes it to the semi-final of the New Japan Cup beating Tenzan and Nakamura along the way, upset Tanahashi -- the IWGP Heavyweight Champion no less -- to advance to the G1 Climax finals where he lost to Okada (see above).

 

This is the point where I think NJPW dropped the ball on Machine Gun, because then he lost the opportunity for the title shot at Wrestle Kingdom to Okada, followed by the Intercontinental match to Nakamura, then the NEVER Openweight championship match to Tanaka.

 

And then it was back to the tag team ranks for Machine Gun. Sure, I'm looking forward to the match with the Killer Elite Squad, but I think with some better booking, Machine Gun could have been a legit Heavyweight contender. He had an upset win over Tanahashi, an excuse for a loss to Okada for the G1 (having to wrestle back-to-back matches), and heck, even the almost-but-not-quite-good-enough loss to Okada for the WK title shot lends itself to a good feud with Okada. Either way, he had the makings of a potential feud with Tanahashi or Okada for the title (because Tanahashi vs. Okada has already stretched on for a year... I've got to imagine they are going to shake things up soon for the top feud.)

 

So why not book him strong in singles competitions headed into post-Wrestle Kingdom 2013? Why not have him WRESTLE Goto at Wrestle Kingdom and win, instead of relegate him back to the tag ranks?

 

 

Okada is the future of New Japan. Anderson has done well, but who would he beat at WK that would matter? Not Goto, he's done poorly. Nakamura and Tanahashi are taken. Shibata is just coming back, no need to hurt him. Winning the tag team championships at a big show, then defending it until next G1, then possibly getting a really big push again is very smart. Right now there is so much at the top, that thinking ahead and making him look strong as a team again, isn't going to hurt him when he's not going to be used as "Just another defense" for Okada. Or "Just another defense" for Nakamura.

 

They are waiting on that fight because it makes perfect sense too. He's not going to beat Okada in his first defense, so it would be pointless to give him a big singles match when they can put him on the backburner AND make him look strong. Heck, he'll already possibly be seen as the stronger member of the team. Tag doesn't mean demotion if its leading ot bigger things.

[Unregistered]

Working on it. Will take a while. I can't believe how horrendously outdated it was.

 

It saddens me.

 

Yeah. I'm trying to think of the last time I was able to find one of your mods. Just the amount of wrestler's who have retired and promotions that have gone out of buisness since then is sad. If you need any help (although I'm sure you won't need mine), feel free to let me know via PM anytime.

 

Also sorry for double posting again everybody

[Luchador Canadiense]

Okada is the future of New Japan. Anderson has done well, but who would he beat at WK that would matter? Not Goto, he's done poorly. Nakamura and Tanahashi are taken. Shibata is just coming back, no need to hurt him. Winning the tag team championships at a big show, then defending it until next G1, then possibly getting a really big push again is very smart. Right now there is so much at the top, that thinking ahead and making him look strong as a team again, isn't going to hurt him when he's not going to be used as "Just another defense" for Okada. Or "Just another defense" for Nakamura.

 

They are waiting on that fight because it makes perfect sense too. He's not going to beat Okada in his first defense, so it would be pointless to give him a big singles match when they can put him on the backburner AND make him look strong. Heck, he'll already possibly be seen as the stronger member of the team. Tag doesn't mean demotion if its leading ot bigger things.

 

I don't disagree with your assessment of Okada. That June 16th match with Tanahashi was proof of that.

 

And I don't expect Anderson to win it out of the gate. Heck, I'm not sure if he'll ever win it for certain, given the depth of talent at the top these days.

I just can't help but feel let down with where Anderson is on the card given how much they have made me care about him these last few months.

 

Regardless, it is a great card. I'm dying to see if Tanahashi-Okada can come even close to the Dominion 6.16 match, and I'll watch Nakamura wrestle anyone really... he has the best gimmick in wrestling anywhere right now. "Wanna be starting something!"

[Hashasheen]

Can someone give me an indepth explanation as how you book shows & feuds puro style?

 

I've gotten the gist of "this many small shows build up to this big show" but I don't get how, what kind of matches, what kind of shows, how it works in relation to tv, etc...

[Luchador Canadiense]

Can someone give me an in-depth explanation as how you book shows & feuds puro style?

 

I've gotten the gist of "this many small shows build up to this big show" but I don't get how, what kind of matches, what kind of shows, how it works in relation to tv, etc...

 

Again, this site (http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw/) is invaluable, because you can look at the results for an entire tour and see what matches were booked.

Generally speaking, keep your champions strong going into the big shows. Puro does not favour gimmick matches, so you'll want to book 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3 and 4 vs 4 during the tour, and maybe the occassional 1 vs 1, though those should be saved primarily for the big end of the month shows. And, or course, clean finishes. But just remember that Young Lions should not beat your regular wrestlers. They haven't earned that right yet. Just have them beat each other in the meantime, and let them take the pin when in the ring with your veterans. \

 

So the idea is to book "tours" so that build up to an "end of the month" show. In Japan, they would generally book smaller venues, saving the bigger venues for the big events, but since there is no reason to do this with TEW 2013, you should probably just stick with whatever size venue works best for you at your current size.

As for TV, there is really no "in relation" as TV shows for touring companies are highlight shows. So essentially just treat your tour events as TV shows build to the larger "end of the month" show/PPV, load your tour shows with variations of tag matches, and keep the people you want to use on your big show, particularly in your big matches, hot (ie don't let them be pinned).

 

As for booking feuds, just put two guys in a feud. Feuds happen all the time in professional sports, and its just the same for puro. Maybe one guy wants the title, maybe he wants revenge for a defeat, maybe he is returning from an injury and wants revenge on the guy who injured him, or maybe he just wants to prove that he can beat someone who has been getting the better of him. It's only limited by your imagination, though with puro feds as with most other Performance-based feds, the feuds are going to take place more in your mind than they will in game terms, since you aren't going to be using angles. Remember, in puro feds, stories are told in the ring instead of in angles.

 

And one of the best pieces of advice I can offer is to actually watch some puro to get a feel for the matches. I currently recommend NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling, which can be found in it's entirety on Youtube (all 4 and a half hours of it... but don't panic, it doesn't drag like a WWE PPV. This was a great card!).

[Infernalmiko]

Working on it. Will take a while. I can't believe how horrendously outdated it was.

 

It saddens me.

 

How time flies. I know my mod is at least four years out of date. So many changes to locations and promotions. So many DVDs to watch.

[1234]

Can anyone give me an explanation of how cross promotion workers are treated in Japan?

 

While people like Kota Ibushi compete in NJPW on a regular basis they are shown as being from their home promotion (Ibushi always showing the DDT logo for example). How big a deal is this treated as? How rare is it for workers to work for two promotions at once?

 

I'm trying to get an idea of how to handle this type of thing in game, for example playing as PGHW and signing an Exodus worker on a ppa. Should/could they be used regularly or should their appearances be limited?

[Infernalmiko]

Can anyone give me an explanation of how cross promotion workers are treated in Japan?

 

While people like Kota Ibushi compete in NJPW on a regular basis they are shown as being from their home promotion (Ibushi always showing the DDT logo for example). How big a deal is this treated as? How rare is it for workers to work for two promotions at once?

 

Workers don't really work two promotions at once, per se. Kota is part of DDT. That's his group identity. He works other places but everyone knows he's a DDT worker. Inter-promotion matches are a fairly big thing. It's always fun when someone new comes in for a time, it creates new matchups for the wrestlers, and you get the us vs. them feel. When Nagata wrestlers a NOAH guy in New Japan, he's the crowd favorite, when when he wrestles the same guy in NOAH the NOAH guy is the favorite.

I'm trying to get an idea of how to handle this type of thing in game, for example playing as PGHW and signing an Exodus worker on a ppa. Should/could they be used regularly or should their appearances be limited?

 

For TEW I'd use them for a tour, just make sure there are one of two guys he's focused on wrestling against.

[Lukiep8]

How time flies. I know my mod is at least four years out of date. So many changes to locations and promotions. So many DVDs to watch.

 

Indeed it does. Indeed it does. I don't need DVD's anymore, as I have Fighting TV! Samurai on IPTV at home in oz

 

I do have 150 BattlARTS DVD's though................

[TEWFan]

I am playing as GCG and they have a regular schedule. How do their TV Shows work? I have a 1 hour 30 minutes TV show and I have been booking it wrong I think...since the matches tend to be long I usually go with ME vs UM opener, MID vs MID middle match and ME vs UM main event. Usually mixed and matched between a Trios Match (main event usually) a young lions singles or tag team match as the middle portion and another Tag/Trios or UM vs UM singles as the opener.

 

Also how often do ME vs ME matches occur? The problem I dug myself into is that I put the belt on Kudo but he won't job to anyone else besides Hyobanashi (who he beat for the belt) and I have been trying to build up Tadayuki 2000 as the next big thing, but Kudo won't job to him. And he is sucking big time as the ME guy cause Kudo vs Hell Monkey (who made it to the ME in my game) and Kudo vs Sanetomo Shiraishi (who signed with me after BHOTWG fired him) only did D+ ratings.

 

Hyobanashi did at least a C- against anyone and Tadayuki as well.

[bookerman]

Don't forget:

 

NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM 7 ~EVOLUTION~ IN TOKYO DOME”, 1/4/13 (WPW/PPV/iPPV)

Tokyo Dome

 

0-1. Wataru Inoue, Tama Tonga & Captain New Japan vs. Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Jado

0-2. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA & BUSHI

1. Special 8 Man Tag Match: Manabu Nakanishi, MVP, Strong Man & Akebono vs. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Yujiro Takahashi & Bob Sapp

2. NEVER Openweight Title: Masato Tanaka © vs. Shelton Benjamin

3. IWGP Tag Team Title: Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. © vs. Hirooki Goto & Karl Anderson

4. Special Singles Match: Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki

5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title – 3WAY Match: Prince Devitt © vs. Low Ki vs. Kota Ibushi

6. Special Tag Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Keiji Muto & Shinjiro Otani

7. Special Singles Match: Togi Makabe vs. Katsuyori Shibata

8. Double Main Event I – IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura © vs. Kazushi Sakuraba

9. Double Main Event II – IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs. Kazuchika Okada

 

Order here:

Streaming Services

[Lukiep8]

I'll be watching live. My name on there will be pretty obvious. Expect me to ridicule you, since that is all I actually do.

[bookerman]

I won't be able to watch, but I'll certainly be checking the results.

[Infernalmiko]

I'll be watching live. My name on there will be pretty obvious. Expect me to ridicule you, since that is all I actually do.

 

I won't be live, sadly. But I'll be catching it the 5th.

Also how often do ME vs ME matches occur? The problem I dug myself into is that I put the belt on Kudo but he won't job to anyone else besides Hyobanashi (who he beat for the belt) and I have been trying to build up Tadayuki 2000 as the next big thing, but Kudo won't job to him. And he is sucking big time as the ME guy cause Kudo vs Hell Monkey (who made it to the ME in my game) and Kudo vs Sanetomo Shiraishi (who signed with me after BHOTWG fired him) only did D+ ratings.

 

ME vs ME singles matches tend to be special events, like title matches, #1 challenger matches and such. At a recent Korakuen Hall card they did a series of Heavyweights vs. Juniors singles matches, for example. Mostly you'll see tag matches. I would'n't put the belt on Kudo, he's big enough he doesn't need it (88 pop at the start). But since it's there, build up Hyobanshi for a rematch to take the title back. At that point you'll have a few more options. I'm surprised the matches are so bad, Kudo's skills are still very solid.

[Lukiep8]

Big Japan is on the 5th 9pm my time, but if you want to watch a re-run earlier then that with someone then let me know.

 

It's a big weekend of wrestling. Live Dome show, saturday Big Japan on Samurai, and Sunday DDT on Samurai.

 

Having Samurai TV! is the greatest thing ever.

[Luchador Canadiense]

Won't be able to watch WrestleKingdom live due to family obligations, but I am hoping someone will post the whole thing to Youtube like has been done with many shows this year.

[Tigerkinney]

Like Miko won't be able to catch this live, but I will be ordering this to watch at the weekend. Think it's available as video on demand until January 11th.

 

Anyway here's my predicitions for the show.....

 

0-1. Wataru Inoue, Tama Tonga & Captain New Japan vs. Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Jado

 

When I attended a tour show in Osaka earlier this year (Yes I am bragging!) Captain New Japan was very popular with the little ones. I also notice he jobs alot, but I think as this is like New Japan's Wrestlemania , they'll give the low-card babyfaces a win over the dregs of CHAOS.

 

0-2. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA & BUSHI

When a match featuring Junior Division stalwarts Liger and Tiger Mask can't even get on the main card- that says to me either that the main card is stacked, or those booking the promotion have lost the plot- thankfully with NJPW right now it's the former. That being said the trio of rising Junior stars (though Taguchi's been relatively established for a while now) should win here- though Takahashi will probably take the fall and not one of the masked men.

 

 

1. Special 8 Man Tag Match: Manabu Nakanishi, MVP, Strong Man & Akebono vs. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Yujiro Takahashi & Bob Sapp

 

This is the lets try and squeeze as many people onto the main card match, it'll get less than ten minutes and it'll feel a bit rushed. To be honest the prescence of 'guest stars' Akebono and Sapp does nothing for me and potentially takes away from the match. Maybe I'm ignorant of his popularity, but does anyone actually gives two shits anymore about Sapp- maybe people not actually giving two shits, is why he's on the CHAOS team. Couldn't give a rat's-ass coin toss for this one.

 

2. NEVER Openweight Title: Masato Tanaka © vs. Shelton Benjamin

 

Tanaka's the inaugral champ for this belt and he's not that long into his reign- I don't expect him to drop it here to someone who's not a full time member of the NJPW roster.

 

3. IWGP Tag Team Title: Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. © vs. Hirooki Goto & Karl Anderson

 

 

The Goto/Anderson pairing seems to have come out of nowhere, as both were enjoying relatively strong singles pushes (though Goto's been booked as New Japan's nearly man for how long now?). That being said they do have momentum on their side, after winning the Tag League.

 

Killer Elite Squad's tag reign is still pretty young, but I just have the feeling the belts will change hands here.

 

4. Special Singles Match: Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki

 

Two grumpy veterans, looking to inflict a whole world of 'strong style' pain on each other- what's not to like? My heart what's Nagata to win, but my head says Suzuki as he's looked 'stronger' over the past year- and on this occasion my head rules over my heart.

 

5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title – 3WAY Match: Prince Devitt © vs. Low Ki vs. Kota Ibushi

 

This and the main event are the matches I'm most looking forward to on the card. This could very easily go any of the three ways, but I'm going to stick with the champion- Devitt is the New Japan guy- he's the one there looking to establish as their Junior Division ace- and by overcoming his two biggest rivals over the past couple of years in one match....this will truly cement him as New Japan's current Junior Division icon.

 

6. Special Tag Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Keiji Muto & Shinjiro Otani

 

This match is very well placed on the card, after (what should be)the high octane action of the Junior Division title match- the fan's are probably ready for something a little more slower paced- and this slice of star studded nostalgia will do just fine. It wouldn't surprise me if it went the other way, but Tenzan and Kojima are the full time NJPW guys and still have alot left to offer.

 

7. Special Singles Match: Togi Makabe vs. Katsuyori Shibata

 

Talking of over with the crowd- when I attended that New Japan show in Osaka earlier this year- Makabe probably got the biggest pop of any wrestler on the roster...and this is in despite of the fact that from a booking standpoint he's been a bit de-pushed since his reign as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. From what I can make of this feud thus far, Shibata's been getting the better of Makabe, but I think on the biggest stage, Makabe will make the crowd happy and get the win here.

 

8. Double Main Event I – IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura © vs. Kazushi Sakuraba

 

The IWGP Intercontinental title was originally conceived as a midcard belt, but with each person that has held it- it has managed to rise in status. I get the feeling that was purely by accident and not by design (which goes a long way to explaining why the NEVER Openweight title has now turned up). Nakamura has held this belt for a while now and he may well drop it here to Sakuraba, but I just get the feeling that Nakamura is going to hold this belt for a little longer.

 

9. Double Main Event II – IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs. Kazuchika Okada

 

This match could set an early marker for MOTY honours- Okada's turnaround from irrelevant young lion to one of the best wrestlers on the planet-in the space of one year- was one of the most pleasnantly suprising wrestling stories of 2012.

 

Though he's the c0cky heel, I'm actually going to be rooting for Okada here and I'm going to have the courage to predict that he will end end Cenahashi's (I actually like Tanahashi as a wrestler, but the way he is booked is similar to Cena) latest reign with the belt and truly establish himself as one of NJPW's top stars going forward, by winning the IWGP Heavyweight title for a second time.

[Infernalmiko]

0-1. Wataru Inoue, Tama Tonga & Captain New Japan vs. Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Jado

 

When I attended a tour show in Osaka earlier this year (Yes I am bragging!) Captain New Japan was very popular with the little ones. I also notice he jobs alot, but I think as this is like New Japan's Wrestlemania , they'll give the low-card babyfaces a win over the dregs of CHAOS.

 

My feeling is that Capt New Japan gets a win at the biggest card of the year for New Japan. I remember Hirasawa going off and excursion and thinking to myself "I bet he doesn't get much of a push when he gets back." He just has a goofy body type and lacks the work to overcome that.

 

0-2. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA & BUSHI

When a match featuring Junior Division stalwarts Liger and Tiger Mask can't even get on the main card- that says to me either that the main card is stacked, or those booking the promotion have lost the plot- thankfully with NJPW right now it's the former. That being said the trio of rising Junior stars (though Taguchi's been relatively established for a while now) should win here- though Takahashi will probably take the fall and not one of the masked men.

 

I keep thinking they need to send TM III away for a bit, have him really tone his body and deveop some new moves so he can be a factor again for the juniors. He just feels antiquated compared to the current guys on top. I may be selling him short, though.

 

1. Special 8 Man Tag Match: Manabu Nakanishi, MVP, Strong Man & Akebono vs. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Yujiro Takahashi & Bob Sapp

 

This is the lets try and squeeze as many people onto the main card match, it'll get less than ten minutes and it'll feel a bit rushed. To be honest the prescence of 'guest stars' Akebono and Sapp does nothing for me and potentially takes away from the match. Maybe I'm ignorant of his popularity, but does anyone actually gives two shits anymore about Sapp- maybe people not actually giving two shits, is why he's on the CHAOS team. Couldn't give a rat's-ass coin toss for this one.

 

Novelty value. Bob Sapp was a pop culture icon, for about as long as such things usually last. Now he's moved on to 'Where are they now'. but for a while he was so big Michiko Omukai pretended she was dating him to get publicity. Takahashi has to be disappointed at his place on the card, though.

 

3. IWGP Tag Team Title: Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. © vs. Hirooki Goto & Karl Anderson

 

The Goto/Anderson pairing seems to have come out of nowhere, as both were enjoying relatively strong singles pushes (though Goto's been booked as New Japan's nearly man for how long now?). That being said they do have momentum on their side, after winning the Tag League.

 

Killer Elite Squad's tag reign is still pretty young, but I just have the feeling the belts will change hands here.

 

AndGo got the moon push and the win over the champs so they'd look strong coming into this match, but I just don't see them winning. Besides, their names don't go together. Goterson? HirAnd? KarGo?

 

4. Special Singles Match: Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki

 

Two grumpy veterans, looking to inflict a whole world of 'strong style' pain on each other- what's not to like? My heart what's Nagata to win, but my head says Suzuki as he's looked 'stronger' over the past year- and on this occasion my head rules over my heart.

 

I'm going with Nagata here. Blue Justice is at the heart of NJPW and Suzuki just recently had a title shot. Set up Nagata as one of the guys who can challenge for the World title (but not win) while taking a break from Suzuki so you can bring him back strong later.

 

5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title – 3WAY Match: Prince Devitt © vs. Low Ki vs. Kota Ibushi

 

This and the main event are the matches I'm most looking forward to on the card. This could very easily go any of the three ways, but I'm going to stick with the champion- Devitt is the New Japan guy- he's the one there looking to establish as their Junior Division ace- and by overcoming his two biggest rivals over the past couple of years in one match....this will truly cement him as New Japan's current Junior Division icon.

 

If Devitt hasn't been seen as thei NJPW junior ace yet, I'm not sure there is anything they can do now to create that impression. He held both junior titles for how long? I think Devitt wins, but I just wonder who gets a title shot after this.

 

6. Special Tag Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Keiji Muto & Shinjiro Otani

 

This match is very well placed on the card, after (what should be)the high octane action of the Junior Division title match- the fan's are probably ready for something a little more slower paced- and this slice of star studded nostalgia will do just fine. It wouldn't surprise me if it went the other way, but Tenzan and Kojima are the full time NJPW guys and still have alot left to offer.

 

No way TenKoji lose to Otani the last minute sub. Hashimoto was going to be pinned before, now it's Otani. Should be a good match, though. For pure nostalgia reasons I want to see Hashimotop in NJPW at some point.

 

7. Special Singles Match: Togi Makabe vs. Katsuyori Shibata

 

Talking of over with the crowd- when I attended that New Japan show in Osaka earlier this year- Makabe probably got the biggest pop of any wrestler on the roster...and this is in despite of the fact that from a booking standpoint he's been a bit de-pushed since his reign as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. From what I can make of this feud thus far, Shibata's been getting the better of Makabe, but I think on the biggest stage, Makabe will make the crowd happy and get the win here.

 

My head says Shibata as the invader wins, but my heart wants the Unchained Gorilla win. Either way, they are setting up someone for a future title shot.

 

8. Double Main Event I – IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura © vs. Kazushi Sakuraba

 

The IWGP Intercontinental title was originally conceived as a midcard belt, but with each person that has held it- it has managed to rise in status. I get the feeling that was purely by accident and not by design (which goes a long way to explaining why the NEVER Openweight title has now turned up). Nakamura has held this belt for a while now and he may well drop it here to Sakuraba, but I just get the feeling that Nakamura is going to hold this belt for a little longer.

 

I think a Sakuraba win here keeps Laughter7 strong and sets up Shibata wanting the other belt, even if Makabe wins. By giving Nakamura the belt it was elevated to a main event title, but maybe dialing that back a bit would be good. And if Sakuraba hooks in his Kimura and the ref jumps in to 'save' Nakamura, like they did with Sakuraba-Royler Gracie, Nakamura is protected. He didn't give up, the ref stopped it to prevent injury. The same angle was done at Dream Slam II back in 1993, so it's not unheard of.

 

9. Double Main Event II – IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs. Kazuchika Okada

 

This match could set an early marker for MOTY honours- Okada's turnaround from irrelevant young lion to one of the best wrestlers on the planet-in the space of one year- was one of the most pleasnantly suprising wrestling stories of 2012.

 

Though he's the c0cky heel, I'm actually going to be rooting for Okada here and I'm going to have the courage to predict that he will end end Cenahashi's (I actually like Tanahashi as a wrestler, but the way he is booked is similar to Cena) latest reign with the belt and truly establish himself as one of NJPW's top stars going forward, by winning the IWGP Heavyweight title for a second time.

 

Okada's rise shocked me, but he's deserved every bit of it. And he's still getting better. I love Tanahashi, of course, but do agree it's time for someone else to have an extended run on top. Okada beat Naito and Goto in his two title defenses, so matches against Makabe, Suzuki, Shibata would all be new. Even matches against Nakamura and Tanahashi, as long as Tana-chan loses. The babyface needs more adversity in his life. And good guys trying to put the villainous Okada in his place feels like a storyline they could carry through at least 4-5 title defenses.

[Luchador Canadiense]

I agree that they will put the belt back on Okada, and I think it will be a good thing for the Heavyweight title scene because of the potential for new match ups, but to make this work, Okada is really going to have to work at the top of his game if he is going to be following Tanahashi on New Japan cards regularly.

 

The one consistent thing from the majority of my picks for Match of the Year (in any promotion anywhere) is Tanahashi. If I had to pick my three favourite matches this year, they'd be (in reverse order):

 

3) Tanahasi vs. Okada at the New Beginning;

2) Tanahashi vs. Okada at Dominion 6.16; and the Match of the Year goes to...

1) Tanahashi vs. Suzuki at King of Pro-Wrestling (seriously, if someone told me going into that match that the Match of the Year would not have any near falls I would have laughed at them... but these guys didn't even need them. Amazing!)

 

The funniest thing about all three of those picks is that I'm not even a Tanahashi fan. But man, you can't argue with the quality of those matches.

[bookerman]

Results are in. I won't spoil anything, but it appears to have been a good, if uneventful card. We should be so lucky if the WWE gave us something similar.

[Big Roguey]

Low Ki's attire for this made me rethink my feelings towards him. He is now awesome.