The Puroresu (Japanese Wrestling) thread

Machismo Fan · 07-03-2015 4:24pm

The difference between singles match Karl Anderson and tag match Karl Anderson is night and day.

Andersonisgod · 16-03-2015 11:07am

New Japan Cup semi finals and final yesterday. Not surprisingly Kota Ibushi had two excellent matches, the first with Naito and then the second with Goto in the final. Personally I slightly preferred the Goto match, probably because it got a bit more time. I'm delighted Ibushi has won though, he's going on to challenge AJ Styles for the Heavyweight title when many thought he'd choose a rematch with Nakamura for the IC title. Ibushi vs Styles is a killer matchup though.

On the undercard the highlights were Shibata and Honma's interactions with eachother which were pretty hilarious. Hopefully it leads to a match between the two.

Okada scored the pin on Bad Luck Fale, but it was an 8 man tag so this feud is going to continue with Fale wasting Okada's time. Cody Hall looked impressive in the limited time he's been in the ring, seems super athletic for such a big guy and has a presence about him. Certainly he could be a good fit in the monster gaijin role if given the chance.

cian68 · 16-03-2015 12:50pm

Ibushi Styles is going to be sweet. Also I very much enjoyed Ibushi Naito.

gnfnrhead · 20-03-2015 5:22am

No matter what he does, Cody Hall always seems to look incredibly confused. "What's he doing? What am I supposed to do? Where am I? Are those my feet?" His actual wrestling ability is decent considering his lack of experience. Would rather they kep him in eight man tags instead though to allow him to develop under less spotlight.

Andersonisgod · 21-03-2015 9:00pm

Finally caught the Marfuiji vs Suzuki match for the GHC Heavyweight title and it really was excellent. I just love Suzuki, of you break down his matches he isn't actually doing all that much but his psychology is terrific and by the final few minutes of the match the crowd are going nuts even though it's not a saturation of false finishes, just great storytelling.

Agent Coulson · 02-04-2015 7:48pm

Good news for NJPW.

Not sure what rating it is doing but it must be ok to get another season.

AXS TV EXTENDS ‘NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING’ FOR 12 MORE EPISODES RETURNING MAY 22

LOS ANGELES – April 2, 2015 – Based on the success of NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING’S (NJPW) inaugural run on AXS TV, the network today announced it has exercised its option to extend the current season by 12 episodes. The second cycle of NJPW will premiere Friday, May 22 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT with coverage of the “Best of the Super Juniors XXI” tournament.

Renowned combat sports commentator Mauro Ranallo and former UFC heavyweight champion and NJPW veteran Josh Barnett reprise their roles as critically acclaimed commentators for the series. The additional episodes feature a combined eight hours of comprehensive coverage of the 24th annual G1 Climax Tournament, including full matches and highlights, and three hours of coverage from “Dominion 6.21.”

The first cycle of NJPW episodes will wrap up April 10 featuring the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match between A.J. Styles and Kazuchika Okada from “Back to the Yokohama Arena.” New episodes air Friday nights on AXS TV leading into the network’s weekly, live AXS TV FIGHTS broadcasts.

“In the second cycle of NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING on AXS TV, we will focus a majority of the episodes on G1 Climax 24, which was hailed by many as one of the best pro wrestling tournaments in history,” said Andrew Simon, CEO of AXS TV FIGHTS. “We are thankful to New Japan Pro Wrestling and our programming partner TV Asahi in Japan for allowing us to acquire this unique series and share it with our audience.”

Andersonisgod · 03-04-2015 12:32am

More good news for NJPW, Invasion Attack at the Sumo Hall has sold out, the show is headlined by AJ Styles defending his IWGP Heavyweight championship against ultra-popular Kota Ibushi.

rovert · 07-05-2015 10:23am

They announced Best Of The Super Juniors line up this morning. Not Zack Sabre Jr sad but we got David Finlay Jr (the guy with "CK B" on his image).

2015 NJPW Best of the Super Jrs
Block A

Komatsu, Beretta, Gedo, Liger, Chase Owens, Taguchi, Cavernario, O'Reilly

Block B

Fish, Nick Jackson, KUSHIDA, Shelley, Dorada, Romero, David Finlay, Tiger Mask

Machismo Fan · 07-05-2015 10:55am

Disappointed there's no NOAH guys (SZJ, Ishimori, Kotoge or Harada would've shaken things up very nicely) but it's a great line up. I hope this is finally the chance for Komatsu to finally break out of the young lion role. It's long overdue and he more than deserve to. Block B is particularly loaded.

ERG89 · 07-05-2015 11:02am

I'm ignorant to this as I haven't watched the product so much lately but but why isn't Ricochet back or why are Matt Jackson and Zack Sabre Jr. not in it???

rovert · 07-05-2015 11:27am

ERG89 wrote: »

I'm ignorant to this as I haven't watched the product so much lately but but why isn't Ricochet back or why are Matt Jackson and Zack Sabre Jr. not in it???

Ricochet is seemingly tied up with Lucha Underground.

Matt Jackson's wife is due to give birth during the tour so he is taking it off.

ZSJ They're still trying to keep the brands separate or at least keep the illusion up as they try to rebuild NOAH. In addition NOAH has a couple of shows during the BOSJ as well.

Pingi · 07-05-2015 12:06pm

I'm calling a Kyle O'Reilly V KUSHIDA Final. Can't pick a winner though

gerrybbadd · 07-05-2015 1:06pm

Is there any place decent online where I can stream the NJPW on AXS shows? I know some are on Dailymotion, but it can be a serious pain to root them out!

Pingi · 07-05-2015 2:14pm

gerrybbadd wrote: »

Is there any place decent online where I can stream the NJPW on AXS shows? I know some are on Dailymotion, but it can be a serious pain to root them out!

watchwrestling.ch should have most of the shows, its a really good site.

gerrybbadd · 07-05-2015 2:27pm

Pingi wrote: »

watchwrestling.ch should have most of the shows, its a really good site.

Nice one!

Stereomaniac · 08-05-2015 2:39am

This looks cool. Does it take place over a period of time or is there some sort of pay per view?!

Andersonisgod · 22-05-2015 5:37pm

Anyone following best of the super juniors?
Night 1 was a lot of fun in front of a hot crowd. Loved Komatsu's continued development from young lion to rising star, he's an excellent talent and his match with Liger was my joint favorite on the show. The other was Mascara Dorada vs Kushida which was a pretty excellent spotfest but had more potential had they been given a bit more time. Also enjoyed Gedo winning and getting the love of the Korakuen hall crowd.

All in all an enjoyable first night of, what should be, an excellent tournament.

Griever931 · 07-06-2015 5:03pm

I hear Elgin is going to be a part of G1 Climax, he must be delighted.

Palo Alto · 07-06-2015 7:02pm

He's going to climb Thunder Mountain.

gerrybbadd · 07-06-2015 7:28pm

Pingi wrote: »

I'm calling a Kyle O'Reilly V KUSHIDA Final. Can't pick a winner though

Great call!

Stereomaniac · 09-06-2015 4:17am

I saw on Twitter that David Finlay has done pretty well in this. Is there anywhere to watch it?

Andersonisgod · 09-06-2015 9:38am

Stereomaniac wrote: »

I saw on Twitter that David Finlay has done pretty well in this. Is there anywhere to watch it?

New Japan World.

He's had a really solid tournament, he throws a lovely European uppercut and his selling is pretty on point. Definitely a worthwhile addition to the junior division.

Stereomaniac · 09-06-2015 12:34pm

Do you think he's going to make it to New York at any point, or does he have anything that Vince would be interested in? I know that sometimes being the son of a veteran can be enough to get your foot in the door, but can be pointless if no one will get behind you afterwards.

Andersonisgod · 09-06-2015 12:59pm

Stereomaniac wrote: »

Do you think he's going to make it to New York at any point, or does he have anything that Vince would be interested in? I know that sometimes being the son of a veteran can be enough to get your foot in the door, but can be pointless if no one will get behind you afterwards.

Its possible though I would say that his style and look aren't typically what WWE go for. He works similar to his father and tweaked that European style slightly for the Japanese audience he was working in front of. Look wise he definitely hasn't got that bodybuilder physique and seems rather pale, that's not something that will outright stop him having a run in WWE but also wouldn't play to his favour.
On the plus side, he's very smooth in the ring, his father will be behind him and working on Japan, working his way up from being a young lion can only work in his favour both in Japan and potentially later in America.

Stereomaniac · 09-06-2015 1:13pm

What little I have seen of him both in the ring and in his manner outside of it, he seems to be a good guy. I was a huge mark for Finlay even back in WCW. I think initially it was because it was such a novelty to see a wrestler from Ireland, and after a while I just really enjoyed his tough style. It would be nice to see that continued. It's nice that we seem to have moved away from companies portraying Irish workers as drunken brawlers too.

Andersonisgod · 09-06-2015 1:19pm

Stereomaniac wrote: »

What little I have seen of him both in the ring and in his manner outside of it, he seems to be a good guy. I was a huge mark for Finlay even back in WCW. I think initially it was because it was such a novelty to see a wrestler from Ireland, and after a while I just really enjoyed his tough style. It would be nice to see that continued. It's nice that we seem to have moved away from companies portraying Irish workers as drunken brawlers too.

Well he certainly seems to have made a good impression with NJPW officials since he's been signed to the company. I also really do enjoy that rough, grapple-heavy European style. I'm always happy when stereotypes aren't reinforced in wrestling, anyway looking at Finlay's baby face I think you'd have a tough time convincing anyone he's a drunkard.

ERG89 · 10-06-2015 10:12am

rovert · 27-06-2015 1:21pm

PWInsider.com reports that beginning with tomorrow’s “Road to Dominion” show, New Japan Pro Wrestling will have a total of 11 live events broadcasting through the month of July.

The “Road to Dominion” shows will be broadcast live on June 28th and July 3rd at 6:30pm Japan time while “Dominion”, which takes place on July 5th will be live at 4:00pm.

On July 12th “New Japan Alive” from Fukushima will be live at 3:00pm while the G1 Climax 25 Shows (7 in total) will also be live on New Japan World.

Those shows will take place on the following dates (all times are Japan Standard Time):

-July 20th at 3:00 PM

-July 23rd at 6:30 PM

-July 24th at 6:30 PM

-July 25th at 6:00 PM

-July 26th at 6:00 PM

-July 28th at 6:30 PM

-July 29th at 6:30 PM

If you want to check out these events then New Japan World is available for 999 Yen per month which works out at around $8.

*Renews sub*

Machismo Fan · 27-06-2015 1:24pm

Dominion looks like the most stacked show since the Tokyo Dome.

Andersonisgod · 28-06-2015 2:13pm

Maybe this will come across as shilling (I can assure you I'm not being paid by New Japan) but I do think its worth mentioning that NJPW World have added the Nakamura and Okada vs The Briscoes and Bullet Club (AJ Styles and Young Bucks) vs The Kingdom and Adam Cole from the War of the World shows. They've also posted matches from Tetsuya Naito's excursion in CMLL and, as already mentioned here, are broadcasting a raft of shows in July and August (of particular excitement being the G1). A more enjoyable and comprehensive wrestling streaming service there could not be, it's worth every penny of that €8

beakerjoe · 29-06-2015 2:04pm

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Maybe this will come across as shilling (I can assure you I'm not being paid by New Japan) but I do think its worth mentioning that NJPW World have added the Nakamura and Okada vs The Briscoes and Bullet Club (AJ Styles and Young Bucks) vs The Kingdom and Adam Cole from the War of the World shows. They've also posted matches from Tetsuya Naito's excursion in CMLL and, as already mentioned here, are broadcasting a raft of shows in July and August (of particular excitement being the G1). A more enjoyable and comprehensive wrestling streaming service there could not be, it's worth every penny of that €8

Sir that is not Shilling,it is however extremly helpful.

Machismo Fan · 05-07-2015 7:10pm

G1 Blocks:

A Block:
Togi Makabe
Hiroshi Tenzan
Toru Yano
Doc Gallows
Bad Luck Fale
Tetsuya Naito
Katsuyori Shibata
Kota Ibushi
Hiroshi Tanahashi
AJ Styles

B Block:
Hirooki Goto
Satoshi Kojima
Yuji Nagata
Tomoaki Honma
Michael Elgin
Karl Anderson
Yujiro Takahashi
Tomohiro Ishii
Shinsuke Nakamura
Kazuchika Okada

The likes of Tanahashi/Ibushi, Nak/Okada, Shibata/Styles, Styles/Ibushi, Ishii/Goto and so much more to look forward to in the next month.

Andersonisgod · 05-07-2015 7:23pm

The blocks look great, I know some people were disappointed when the participants were announced because they were similar to last years tournament but last years G1 was incredible. The announcement of the blocks has pretty much washed all bad feeling away, seeing the fresh matchups and matchups that haven't been seen in some time makes me think this is going to be an amazing tournament.

I don't know if anyone caught Dominion this morning, started at 7:40am (I got up, loved it but am paying the price now) I'd love to run through the show but I don't want to spoil.

Machismo Fan · 05-07-2015 9:30pm

The finishing stretch of both the Nakamura/Goto and particularly the Styles Okada matches were superb. The Styles/Okada finish was pure electricity.

beakerjoe · 06-07-2015 3:55pm

Machismo Fan wrote: »

The finishing stretch of both the Nakamura/Goto and particularly the Styles Okada matches were superb. The Styles/Okada finish was pure electricity.

Have avoided all spoilers of Dominion so far, looking forward to catching up later this evening.

8 months on from having a babty and I feel Im (almost) up to date now with most pro wrestling happenings. This week Ive watch Raw, NXT, Impact, ROH tv (Cole v Styles was a good main event, my first time seeing those two 1 on 1) and Beast in the East. Dominion will be a nice way to top it off.

zenarcadian · 14-07-2015 1:29pm

Anyone here watching current-day All Japan? I know NJPW is the **** and all, but AJPW have a nice little show cooking with what's left of their roster and resources.

Ageyev · 20-07-2015 3:11am

Not sure if this pic is big enough but, NJPW G1 Climax tourney begins in the morning at 7am.

ERG89 · 20-07-2015 6:48pm

Anyone watch the G1 Day One? Haven't seen it but yet Shibata vs. Styles and Tanahashi vs. Ishii must have been great

Andersonisgod · 20-07-2015 8:15pm

Really good opening night. A couple of the tag matches were a lot of fun, lazy Tetsuya Naito might be the best thing in wrestling right now, the last two matches on the show were killer. What a month this will be.

jaykhunter · 21-07-2015 10:54am

LAW/Review-a-Wai/Fight Network's John Pollock is doing his G1 post-show review podcasts again this year!

Day 1 Podcast: http://fightnetwork.com/news/58166:law-g-1-climax-day-1-podcast-with-john-pollock/

Machismo Fan · 21-07-2015 2:31pm

This is official for the G1 Finals show. Their match last year was awesome:

Agent Coulson · 23-07-2015 10:48pm

Good news for NJPW in America.

AXS TV Fights and New Japan Pro Wrestling have extended their agreement to air the promotion in the United States.

LOS ANGELES – July 23, 2015 – AXS TV FIGHTS today announced a multi-year agreement with TV Asahi to continue to air the hit series NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING (NJPW), which first premiered on the network in January. As a part of the agreement, AXS TV adds 17 additional episodes to its current season, bringing the total number aired in 2015 to 42.

Starting Aug. 14 through the end of the year, NJPW episodes feature matches from Destruction in Kobe, King of Pro-Wrestling 2014, Power Struggle 2014, World Tag League 2014, Wrestle Kingdom 9, Fantasticamania 2015, The New Beginning in Osaka 2015 and The New Beginning in Sendai. Former UFC heavyweight champion and NJPW veteran Josh Barnett and renowned combat sports commentator Mauro Ranallo, will continue to provide their critically acclaimed commentary for the series.

In the past 12 months, AXS TV expanded its Friday night combat sports and professional wrestling programming line-up, adding the hour-long NJPW series at 9 p.m. ET along with two new promotions, CES MMA and Legacy Kickboxing, to its weekly, live AXS TV FIGHTS broadcasts at 10 p.m. ET. The network is on pace to broadcast 41 live MMA, Muay Thai and Kickboxing events this year, the most in its history and more than any other U.S. television network in 2015.

Additionally, in the past year AXS TV FIGHTS has increased its global presence with agreements to broadcast its combat sports events in over 15 countries, including live broadcasts of Resurrection Fighting Alliance to the Fight Network in Canada and Legacy Fighting Championship to Esporte Interativo in Brazil.

“With this multi-year agreement, AXS TV is poised to offer a more diverse combat sports and professional wrestling programming line-up than any other TV network, offering an exciting mix of exclusive live events, New Japan Pro Wrestling and MMA news coverage,” said Andrew Simon, CEO of AXS TV FIGHTS. “We are humbled by the viewer’s and media’s response to Mauro Ranallo and Josh Barnett’s commentary and presentation of the series and are excited to continue to work with our great partners at TV Asahi and NJPW for years to come.”

Andersonisgod · 23-07-2015 10:55pm

Great news, the more diverse wrestling programmes available the better, and Ranallo and Barnett are terrific plus those subtitled sit down interviews they do have with the wrestlers are pure gold.

Day 2 of the G1 occurred earlier and was broadcast live on New Japan World, it was a single camera show (so no commentary and shot entirely with the hard camera) of which there will be 4 out of the 19 G1 shows. While it does tend to detract from the action, I'd argue that the quality of the tournament matches may have been higher overall than the previous day, though I don't think any match got to the level of Tanahashi vs Ibushi or Styles vs Shibata, Okada vs Elgin and Nakamura vs Karl Anderson are well worth watching.

Roll on day 3 and Naito vs Shibata!

Andersonisgod · 24-07-2015 11:04pm

G1 Day 3 occurred earlier today. It had a full range of cameras but no commentary, likely due to Samurai TV, though the lack of commentary didn't really make all that much of a difference. The show was a big improvement on Day 2 in terms of in ring action, crowd reactions and production quality. I'd say that almost every match on the card (bar one) was above 3 stars, with AJ Styles showing his ability to work with just about any opponent (Toru Yano on this occasion) and make it great, Shibata and Naito having a cracker of a match and Tenzan giving it absolutely everything he has left in the main event of a show in his hometown against the always brilliant ace of the company, Tanahashi, make all 3 of the final matches well worth your time. The undercard was really fun too, all of the tag matches delivered, from top to bottom this was the best show of the tournament thus far.

On a side note, I'm 12/15 with my predictions, reasonably happy with that.

den87 · 28-07-2015 11:53pm

Lads can any of ye make a list of what ye would consider "must see" from the G1 so far? Please and thanks.

Machismo Fan · 29-07-2015 2:57pm

den87 wrote: »

Lads can any of ye make a list of what ye would consider "must see" from the G1 so far? Please and thanks.

The first post of this thread will be updated after every show with a spoiler free list of the best matches: http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=150

Andersonisgod · 09-08-2015 1:09am

I dunno if anyone caught the show from earlier today? The main event between Tanahashi and Shibata was the standout thing on the card, it was an incredible match, maybe the best match of the tournament so far (high praise indeed) I really can't emphasise enough just how much I like Katsuyori Shibata, I mark out for his entrance alone, everytime they give him a chance to shine he grabs it with both hands, another stunning performance here in this one.

I also really enjoyed Yano Toru mocking Naito (Los Ingobernables!) and Naito's continued excellent character work. Also AJ Styles vs Tenzan was really enjoyable, it's for his big match performances that Styles has been getting mounds of praise lately but this match was a different example of why he might be one of the best western wrestlers ever, Tenzan has been a loyal NJPW guy for over 2 decades, he's given it his all in each of his tournament matches but he's so broken down that it can be hard to watch him work at times, Styles carried this match to perfection like the world class pro that he is, the leader of the Bullet Club can do no wrong at the moment, he's in the prime of his career, he's a proven draw in Japan and on the independent circuit, anyone who hasn't seen him since he left TNA should go out of their way to watch his work, he's Ric Flair in 1989, he's Shawn Michael's mid 2000's, he's the premier western wrestler of his generation.

Though it may seem that most of my eulogizing has gone to Styles I've always got something left in the tank for Shibata.

Machismo Fan · 12-08-2015 5:41pm

The wry smile on Nagata's face when he limbo-ed beneath Okada's lariat is my favourite thing in the whole tournament so far.
https://twitter.com/SenorLARIATO/status/631430282181275649

Andersonisgod · 12-08-2015 10:04pm

Machismo Fan wrote: »

The wry smile on Nagata's face when he limbo-ed beneath Okada's lariat is my favourite thing in the whole tournament so far.
https://twitter.com/SenorLARIATO/status/631430282181275649

That pre-G1 limbo training paid dividends there.

den87 · 17-08-2015 9:46pm

Can someone point me in the direction of where to watch AJ Vs Tana and Okada Vs Naka (semi-finals), finding them hard to locate.

I watched the final itself earlier and thought it was sloppy as hell. What did everyone else think of it?

The Puroresu (Japanese Wrestling) thread

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