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honestlychiefbanana · 2 months

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#wrestling #highlights #njpw #wrestling highlights #new japan pro wrestling #puroresu #njpw anniversary #tetsuya naito #sho

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thistledropkick · 4 months

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"Until just recently, we were laughing easily together and spending time together,

But nowadays, we don't meet together regularly or talk regularly any more.

The bonds between people are fleeting.

No matter how deep or how many months and years you spend together It ends in an instant

Be it with friends, lovers, or anyone else, Don't take your time together for granted. Cherish it.

Merry Christmas 🎄"

#taichi #njpw #my translation #wow taichi just tear my heart out why don't you #this is a hell of a thing to tweet on (almost) the anniversary of Suzuki Gun disbanding

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dreamsandflowers · 2 years

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#say cheese!#okada and his cute mini camera #what better way to record some memory of anniversary day #dad Hirooki Goto #YOSHI HASHI #toru yano #kazuchika okada #CHAOS family #njpw #random stuff

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doggyjjm · 1 year

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10 years of being 2 sweet 🤘

#my art #bullet club #njpw #new japan pro wrestling #njpw fanart #aew #aew fanart #all elite wrestling #bullet club anniversary #special interest #wrasslin #bullet club day

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djvillain · 1 year

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NJPW NJ Cup and 51st Anniversary Show Review: Bullet Club Problems

#youtube #njpw #njcup #nj51st #el phantasmo #bullet club #david finaly #anniversary #japanese wrestling #kazuchika okada #tetsuya naito

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mpwma · 1 year

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Today is/was NJPW 51st Anniversary Show! Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, Shingo Takagi, and Tetsuya Naito) vs. United Empire (Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan, and Jeff Cobb)! Should we cover the show?

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wrestlingisfake · 2 months

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NJPW 52nd Anniversary preview

Tetsuya Naito vs. SHO - Naito is the IWGP world heavyweight champion, and Sho is the IWGP junior heavyweight champion. Neither title is at stake in this match--it's just a tradition to have the top heavyweight face the top junior on the anniversary show.

Naito's next title defense will be in Tokyo on April 6 in Tokyo, against the winner of the New Japan Cup tournament. Whether he keeps the title or not, his next scheduled match will be April 12--in a real city, Chicago, Illinois--against Jon Moxley. I'm excited.

I think everybody was expecting El Desperado to bring the junior title to this match. Instead Sho defeated him on February 23, when Ren Narita crawled out from under the ring to hold Despy down until he was counted out. I'm actually okay with the idea that titles can change hands via count-out, but obviously the point of such a rule should be "the champion can't run away" not "we can do more flavors of fuck finishes." I know it's supposed to put heat on Sho, but it just cheapens the title win, the title itself, and this match.

Look, I appreciate that House of Torture's shenanigans are aimed at the Japanese ticketholders. If they boo and chant "go home" at the heels, that's enough to call it a success, apparently. New Japan really doesn't care if I, an American streaming these shows overseas, am bored with this crap. I'm not their priority, that's their prerogative.

But I can't believe anybody, in Japan or elsewhere, wants to pay to see Naito pretend to be in danger of taking the biggest bullshit upset loss of his career. We know Naito will win, we know none of the run-ins are going to lead to the finish, we know if they tease a count-out Naito will get back in the ring at nineteen. I could deal with all that if it was entertaining, like when Toru Yano does it. But Sho's actively trying not to be entertaining.

This is going to suck. Listening to Chris Charlton act like he's "pulling back the curtain" to explain why it sucks, for the whole match, will make it even worse.

I think I've talked myself into skipping this. Anyway, Naito has to win. Stay healthy for Mox, champ.

Shota Umino vs. Jack Perry - This is a part of the first round in the New Japan Cup tournament. Perry debuted with New Japan on January 13, when he appeared in the crowd disguised as a fan and attacked Umino out of nowhere.

This is Perry's first match since he lost the FTW belt to HOOK in Wembley Stadium. About five minutes after that, he had a backstage face-off with CM Punk, which led to Punk being fired and Perry being suspended. I guess they weren't sure how to bring Perry back without making it about Punk, so he's doing this New Japan run where he can talk about being a "scapegoat" without getting into who is assigning blame to him, or for what, or why it's not really his fault.

I figured they'd set up a singles match for this feud, but I didn't expect it to be in the opening round of this tournament. I'm curious to see if Perry is just flying in for a one-and-done, or if he'll stick around for the whole tour. I don't see him booked for any undercard tag matches, which suggests he'll just lose here and head home. But I suppose there's a chance he'll stick around.

If Jack wins, I'd say he's the favorite to reach the quarterfinals, probably in a Forbidden Door rematch against SANADA. That could be pretty damn interesting...but we're getting ahead of ourselves here. It's just too early to try to guess where things are going with Perry's scapegoat gimmick. He needs a win, but I'm not confident he's going to get one tonight.

KENTA vs. YOSHI-HASHI - Another first-round match in the New Japan Cup. The winner of this match will face Sanada on March 11 in the second round, since (as a former New Japan Cup winner) he qualified for a first-round bye. Kenta is 4-0 in singles matches against Yoshi.

Yoshi's career highlight is being a 3-time IWGP heavyweight tag champion, but he and Hirooki Goto lost that title in January. Kenta and Chase Owens are the current tag champs. So this is really less about who advances in the tournament (neither of them are going to get far) and whether Yoshi can pin Kenta to get back into contention for the tag title. If Kenta wins, though, I'd say that puts Yoshi and Goto in the back of the line...which could be interesting, because there aren't a ton of other teams to put ahead of them.

I get the feeling Kenta will win to make sure Sanada has an expendable heel to beat in the second round. But it's not a lock--I'd go maybe 60/40 Kenta wins here.

Toru Yano vs. Yujiro Takahashi - Yet another New Japan Cup match. The winner here will meet the winner of Umino vs. Perry in the second round, on March 11.

When it's one-on-one, Yano is 6-1 against Yuj. But I'm guessing most of those matches were before Yujiro went super-duper mega-cheap heel with the House of Torture. Yano will have his hands full trying to stay ahead of all the House of Torture guys running in, I'm pulling for Yano, but he's definitely beatable here.

SANADA & Taichi & Yuya Uemura & DOUKI vs. EVIL & Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Dick Togo - This is basically a preview of Taichi vs. Narita on March 10. Sanada, Evil, and Uemura are also in the New Japan Cup. We already saw Just 5 Guys and House of Torture feud back in the fall, and I'm over it. The only new wrinkle here is that I think this is the first time we'll see Uemura since he had to cut his hair after losing to Yota Tsuji a couple of weeks ago. Kanemaru or Togo should probably lose the fall, so maybe Uemura can get back on the winning track.

David Finlay & Gabe Kidd & Gedo vs. TJP & Francesco Akira & Callum Newman - Finlay vs. TJP is scheduled for March 7; Kidd vs. Newman is set for March 8. Finlay's War Dogs pretty much destroyed the United Empire in the big cage match last month, and now they're just facing the three weakest guys in the United Empire. I think TJP is angling to be a bigger wheel in the faction now that Will Ospreay's gone, but I don't really think that's going to work. Finlay's team is gonna murder these poor guys.

Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji & BUSHI vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto & El Desperado & Boltin Oleg - The heavyweights in this match--Shingo, Tsuji, Ishii, Goto, and Oleg--are all in the New Japan Cup, but this match doesn't really preview their first-round bouts. We could get Goto vs. Ishii on March 12, but only if Ishii beats Chase Owens on March 7. Oleg is still a Young Lion, so you know he has to lose the fall.

Hikuleo & El Phantasmo vs. Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. - ELP and Hiku are the STRONG tag team champions, but the title isn't at stake here. This match is mainly about previewing Phantasmo vs. Nicholls on March 10. Hikuleo and Sabre are also in the tournament, but in different parts of the bracket. Feels like the best move here is for Nicholls to get a pin to set up a STRONG title shot for him and his regular tag partner, Shane Haste. Actually, I'm kinda surprised Haste isn't on this show.

Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan vs. Tanga Loa & Tomoaki Honma - Khan vs. Loa will be on March 7. Cobb is also in the tournament. Honma didn't make the cut, which kind of tells you who's losing the fall in this match.

#njpw #njpw anniversary event #tetsuya naito #sho #shota umino #jack perry

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fang-revives · 1 year

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Russumuck on Twitter

#katusuyori shibata #njpw #new japan pro wrestling #hiroki goto anniversary show

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blizzardsuplex · 2 months

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YOSHI-HASHI's crucifix driver ("Itadakikari") from NJPW's 52nd Anniversary Event & New Japan Cup 2024, 03/06/2024

[for @fang-revives. I thought this match was pretty sweet, especially when YH got his fiery comeback in the latter half of the match + crucifix anythings are my fave.]

#njpw #new japan pro wrestling #yoshi hashi #kenta

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lionmarkspodcast · 8 months

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Watch along List - Week of 8/28/23

This week on the podcast we will be reviewing the following matches while we follow along with Naito's journey to Tokyo Dome!

NJPW - NJPW CIRCUIT 2008 - w/Yujiro Takahashi vs Jado & Gedo

NJPW - Chaos of Christmas 2008 - w/Yujiro Takahashi vs Togi Makabe & Toru Yano

NJPW - Wrestle Kingdom V - vs Jeff Hardy

NJPW - DESTRUCTION 2011 - vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

NJPW - 40th Anniversary Show - vs Kazuchika Okada

If you wish to follow along, we will discuss these! Send in asks or a mailbag about your reactions to them as well!

#podcast announcements #watch along list

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kopw · 7 months

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top watches for september

from this month:

will ospreay vs naomichi marufuji, noah naomichi marufuji debut 25th anniversary show 09/17 — not only my favorite match of the month but my most anticipated one as well! i think it's always interesting to see ospreay be taken out of his usual pace and perform with more breathing room between spots (even if his snappier sequences are what drew me in initially). there are a lot of quiet moments in this match, mixed with that devoted eagerness that ospreay had while he was a junior. it's also a match that is able to tap into something very special thanks to the emotional padding behind it that i think ospreay's other big match from this month (vs yota tsuji) is unable to match

syuri vs mayu iwatani, stardom 5star grand prix day 14 09/03 — syuri is my favorite joshi to watch currently! she wrestles such a loud, hard-hitting style that still feels fresh in the technical scene and she has great in-ring chemistry with mayu here. mayu's reversal of the syu-sekai though... gah! a relatively short match and one of my favorites from the entire gp

bryan danielson vs ricky starks, no disqualification strap match, aew all out 09/03 — the singular non-puro match on this list, which should already give you an idea of how truly great it is. ricky has been a highlight on collision pretty much since it began airing, and the natural charisma that shined through there is ever-present in his recent matches. bloody, brutal, and better than the follow-up texas death rematch in terms of cohesion

zack sabre jr. vs ryohei oiwa, njpw road to destruction 09/08 — i was ecstatic to have boltin oleg in a high-profile match! ...and then it didn't happen. but worry not! oiwa stole the show. it definitely didn't feel as one-sided as it would've if it was oiwa pre-excursion pitted against zack. excited to see more from him

takayuki ueki vs baliyan akki, baka gaijin + friends vol. 8 09/20 — the mad doctor takes on akki, returning superstar of the show, after mecha mummy fails to drill a hole through harashima and is subsequently defeated. it's as silly as it sounds

back catalogue:

shinsuke nakamura vs the great muta, noah the new year 2023 — positively overwhelming presentation in terms of the entrances. misting as a metaphor for relatedness rather than corruption. unstoppable force meets immovable object, up until the object embraces the force. a sentimental finish that stuck with me

katsuyori shibata vs kazuchika okada, njpw sakura genesis 2017 — a holistically tactile bout full of sweaty contact and undying resolve. okada finds himself in the rare predicament of not being the fan favorite! practically impossible to look away during this one

pheromones (danshoku dieno & yuki iino) & shunma katsumata vs akito, kazuki hirata & yuya koroku, ddt sweet dreams! 2023 tour in shinjuku ~ fire! ~ — a typical pheromones match in that it contains loads of their trademark spots (synchronized striptease routines, dramatic jockstrap reveals, "accidental" ass to mouth action) however! this time shunma is there to act as their pup (which he is very much into). a must-watch for fans of public kink in wrestling

atsushi onita vs hayabusa, no ropes barbed wire current mine explosion time bomb deathmatch, fmw 6th anniversary show 1995 — hayabusa comes off as a trapped animal within onita’s environment, only delaying the inevitable with each move. feels and looks like a horror movie, with the counter droning on in the first half and the smoke wafting through the cage of barbed wire in the second. explosions galore!

shotaro ashino vs koji doi, wrestle-1 grand prix 2018 finals — this was my first exposure to ashino and let me tell you... he's so good. his entrance is fuel by metallica, he's cocky, he goes hard in the ring. i'm genuinely shocked he's not a bigger name internationally. nothing too extravagant aside from a few high-impact spots but worth a watch

#at first i wanted to make this into a substack series but it doesn't really warrant that. i tried to keep my thoughts short #monthly match recs

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blueonwrestling · 4 months

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1) FTR vs Jay White & Juice Robinson 2 out of 3 falls AEW Collision 15/07/23 (5 Stars) 2) Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland Texas Death Match AEW Full Gear 18/11/23 (5 Stars) 3) Sareee vs Arisa Nakajima SEAdLINNNG 8th Anniversary 25/08/2023 (5 Stars) 4) Bryan Danielson vs Zack Sabre Jr AEW Wrestledream 01/10/23 (5 Stars) 5) Takuya Nomura vs Fuminori Abe Kakuto Tanteidan - We are the Fighting Detectives 12/10/23 (5 Stars) 6) MJF vs Bryan Danielson Ironman Match AEW Revolution 05/03/23 (5 Stars) 7) Ricky Starks vs Bryan Danielson Strap Match AEW All Out 03/09/23 (5 Stars) 8) Athena vs Willow Nightingale Death Before Dishonor 21/07/23 (4.75 stars) 9) Bryan Danielson vs RUSH AEW Dynamite 08/02/23 (4.75 Stars) 10) Christian Cage vs Darby Allin 2 out of 3 falls AEW Wrestledream 01/10/23 (4.75 stars) 11) Adam Page vs Swerve Strickland AEW Wrestledream 01/10/23 (4.75 stars) 12) Kenny Omega vs Will Ospreay AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 25/06/23 (4.75 stars) 13) Titan vs Mascara Dorado 2.0 CMLL Noche De Campeones 29/09/2023 (4.75 stars) 14) Yuma Aoyagi vs Katsuhiko Nakajima AJPW Giant Series 05/11/2023 (4.75 stars) 15) Rocky Romero vs Mascara Dorada 2.0 CMLL Super Viernes 15/12/2023 (4.75 stars)

Those are my top 15 matches of the year.

#aew #njpw #cmll #roh #ajpw #best of for blue 2023

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danwhobrowses · 7 months

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My Highlights for AEW Wrestledream 2023

There was a dream, a dream of wrestling

And Antonio Inoki sought that dream when he founded NJPW

But now AEW has invited the dangling from its hinges Forbidden Door open again to celebrate Inoki on the anniversary of his death.

Let's see what was good about this show

Spoilers for the PPV

Zero Hour

"She's so sweet, but so dumb, god bless her" Richard of House Starks speaking of Lexy Nair, fiancée of one large William

Props for the Julia vignette, it aired on Collision and apparently someone on twitter helped film it so good for them

Stokely 'Urban Dictionary dot com' Hathaway

TK donning the Inoki scarf with Inoki's grandkids, Shibata and Rocky

Christian Cage Noooooo

Athena doing Billie's jump and Keith's Limitless pose, and then almost blindsided by Kojima XD

Meat chants always a win

Athena saved her minion!

Josh Barnett looks like a leaner Brock Lesnar don't he?

Moxley joining on commentary, showing he's well after the concussion too

I think that's an open invitation to Bloodsport for Claudio

Well, you can tell that Nick Wayne has trained with Darby, mans is bumping

Caster already going for the tentacle porn diss

Sounds like JR is open to scissoring

Main Card

MJF wearing as many belts as he has initials

Picking the right person to massage his shoulders

Alas no tag partner in the corner for Max

Dutch always has a great Bossman Slam

Some Guerrero tactics there, with some added pantomime by the audience

And he hits the bodyslam! The Seattle Stampede

MJF has put over a bodyslam, a double clothesline and a dropkick (Kangaroo Kick) which is proof that with enough charisma any move can be put over

Props to the dude in full Jeff Hardy cosplay

Shibata starting low like Inoki did vs Ali

Thesz drop early just like Inoki took it early vs him for his second ever NJPW match (first was vs Simon Gotch)

Uraken kicked out at 1!

Eddie again winning with the Powerbomb, he meant what he said to Kawada

Dang that crack as Statlander socked Julia

And Julia does have one hell of a moonsault

Brody having to carry his goth daughter back down the ramp

Reminder Julia Hart is 22 in November; younger than Hayes, Stratton, Dragunov, Dominik, Jade, Statlander, Anna, HOOK and more, she is a talent

Starting the 4 way with an International Title preview

and then OC tagging in??

Gunns doing the New Day 'both legal men' attempt

HOOK sold that superkick really well too

"It's always in their hometown huh?"

Nana gets his dance in

Serve remains that guy, so clean

Ooof, taking a trick out of Penta's book eh, Killshot?

Vicious discus lariat there from Hanger

The JML Driver is great too

Mox back on Commentary, he's one flirtation with Excalibur away from being Regal

Ricky's rope walk is just effortless

Ah poor Mox, he can't help but curse it's native to his vocabulary

Seahawks colours for Bryan

Moxley's passion for wrestling is shining through a lot in commentary, if he could control the cussing he could easily be an all timer play by play commentator

It also juxtaposes Nigel McGuinness' anti-Bryan vendetta

Bryan practically walked out of that Romero Special

Hitting the Itoh special with the rollover half crab

GOODNESS that Dragon Screw

I think his head was already fucking kicked in sheesh

That certainly was a technical masterclass, and it doesn't feel like we're done

I'm gonna say it too, give Bryan the IWGP World title. I mean it, he's beaten Okada and ZSJ, he could beat SANADA at like Sakura Genesis or New Year's Dash, have a little run with it, do the G1 and then drop it at Forbidden Door and then he's completed all his career goals

Mox's genuine surprise as he thought Demetrius Johnson was gonna wrestle Kenny Omega XD

I mean that Last Supper artwork is...definitely something

Geez starting with Omega/Ospreay?

People want Takeshita/Ibushi, that tells you how elevated Takeshita has been

Callis trying to contribute to increating the stretch

Ibushi now joining Suzuki in 'he does what he wants', joining the Sex Gods pose

'You still suck' chants because Sammy still pulled off a picture perfect Shooting Star Press

Jericho invoking Omega in the Not Even One kickout

Murder Ibushi activated!

That is the best Ibushi has looked in AEW so far, hopefully he gets 100% for Takeshita

Dang just let Dax and Davis slap each other for 10 minutes, Davis has wrestled WALTER I know he has it in him

I've seen enough, I don't just need 10 minutes I need a full tournament of big beefy men slapping man meat; Dax, Davis, Keith Lee, Shane Taylor, Wardlow, Luchasaurus, Butcher, Brody King, Joe, Hobbs, Miro, Brian Cage, Big Bill, etc. let them all fight, give us the whole Buffet

Darby and Christian have done so much work that'll go understated in restoring the TNT title, it's main eventing a PPV!

Also if anyone can will it into existence we need Christian to start calling himself the Turtle Neck Titan, you know because Turtlenecks but also TNT

Hoisted by his own petard, blinded by the turtle neck

I mean Nick Wayne's mom is hot you gotta shoot your shot

Well that is for sure a Darby Allin bump, right on the steps twice over

Frog Splash onto a stretcher!

And a Killswitch on the canvas boards!

Scorpion Death Drop and Coffin Drop on the boards only for two

Nick Wayne heel turn

You think you know him? Adam Copeland is All Elite! And he brought Metalingus with him

He was so excited he glided through the smoke!

Edge, Christian and Sting all in the same ring what year is it? what timeline is it? WHAT IS IT???

Conclusion

Well that was a lot of fun.

Compared to No Mercy it was perhaps marginally better for me, again this could be due to being more in the loop with the storylines but stuff like the trios match, the main event, Swerve vs Hangman, the ultimate tekkers match it just clicked. Not a bad match on the card too, though I was rooting for Aussie Open to win, but Bucks/FTR IV will still be great. Plus I still wanted to see Statlander body slam Brody.

I do hope Fénix is okay, he disappeared from the 4-Way and he's the International champion, don't want back to back injury-induced title changes after all. But it was good to see Moxley just out there enjoying himself on the side, probably won't ever get to do it again mind you given all the cussing but still, did elevate the matches.

We've got intriguing directions too; Swerve needs to get somewhere with that W over Hangman (world title? I mean I kinda like Jay White for it, International Title? Maybe too soon), Claudio and Bryan have extended rematch invitations and you know Ricky ain't done with the BCC (still though I wouldn't put him in the BCC, Garcia should have that spot), even the Zero Hour did some development with Billie and Athena's dynamic.

So yeah, probably not better than All In and All Out but still pretty damn good, Inoki would be proud.

Match of the Night: I mean it's the Ultimate Battle of Epic Tekkers right? Hard to really say any match was better than that wrestling-wise. The Main Event is a close second with the drama. Best Entrance: Julia Hart gets this one just ahead of Adam Copeland's worst kept secret, not many flashy entrances in this show, in fact I think OC/Hook and Jericho didn't even get entrances. Best Attire: Again, not many here, most of them were kinda subtle so I'm gonna give it to Swerve so I can give him props somewhere. Best Performance: Tie for Bryan and Zack, masters of their craft, not much else you can say. Spot of the Night: Because Christian dropping Darby on the steps was messy and scrappy, it's Bryan's Dragon Screw that just looked so vicious like I'm sure I saw his foot facing another direction.

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questintheskies · 8 months

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Tony Khan has announced they will do AEW/NJPW WrestleDream on the anniversary of Antonio Inoki’s passing on Sunday, October 1st!

#aew #all elite wrestling #puroresu #wrestling #njpw #new japan pro wrestling

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mpwma · 1 year

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Today is/was NJPW 51st Anniversary Show! TMDK (Kosei Fujita and Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Bullet Club (El Phantasmo and KENTA)! Should we cover the show?

#Pro wrestling #pro wrestling podcast #professional wrestling #professional wrestling podcast #wrestling #wrestling podcast #make pro wrestling majestic again #mpwma #njpw #new japan pro wrestling #njpw 51st anniversary show #njpw51st #tmdk #kosei fujita #bullet club #el phantasmo #kenta

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wrestlingisfake · 1 year

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NJPW 51st Anniversary preview

Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi - Bishamon (Goto and Yoshi) are the IWGP heavyweight tag team champions. Okada proposed this match almost immediatly after defending the world title against Tanahashi on February 18.

On paper, the "dream team" of Okada and Tanahashi, with over a dozen singles championships between them, should be unstoppable. Either Okada or Tana would be heavy favorites one-on-one against Goto or Yoshi. But the dream team's record in two-on-two bouts is 4-4, whereas Goto and Yoshi are hotter now together than they ever were separately. The big question of this match, then, is whether Bishamon's cohesion as a team is enough of an advantage to overcome the challengers' individual strengths.

All that has somewhat overshadowed another issue: Goto and Yoshi are loyal memebrs of CHAOS, the faction led by Okada. Intra-faction clashes like this are somewhat unusual in New Japan. In Chaos in particular, it seems to be understood that you don't challenge the boss for his title unless he's okay with it. So it just feels awkward for Okada to presumptuously issue this challenge, with no indication he's cleared it with the champs. Not that I expect any hard feelings to come out of this match, but it makes me wonder if something is brewing for later...

It could work for Okada and Tana to hold the tag belts for a while, but I think it's far more likely the champs will retain to maintain the status quo. I suppose Goto will pin Tana, although if Yoshi gets the pin that would feel like a pretty big deal, so that's something to watch for.

David Finlay vs. Tomohiro Ishii - This is one of eight first-round matches in the New Japan Cup tournament. The winners of those eight matches advance to the second round to face eight men who all got byes. In this case, the winner will go on to face Great-O-Khan on March 15. The loser is eliminated; unlike the G1 Climax, this tournament is "win or go home."

This seemed like just another tournament match when it was first announced, but it's taken on greater importance after Finlay's shocking heel turn on February 18. It's still wild to me that Finlay managed to get major heel heat by disrupting the final farewell of mega-dick-heel Jay White. The idea seems to be that Finlay is taking White's spot by any means necessary, which seems like a tall order. So this match is a big test of whether anyone can buy Finlay as a replacement for Jay. He pretty much has to beat Ishii, because if he can't he's already dead in the water.

Shota Umino vs. Yujiro Takahashi - Another match in the first round of the New Japan Cup. The winner will advance to meet Zack Sabre Jr. on March 15.

Ever since Shota returned from excursion late last year, I get the feeling he's in line for a big push. And yet, he lost in big singles matches against Will Ospreay and Tetsuya Naito. So there's really no good reason for him to lose to Yujiro as well. Thing is, even if he does win, I'm not confident he can beat Sabre in the second round; even if he does, that will set up a title bout where I'm sure he'd lose. I don't really get the way New Japan books this stuff. So yeah, I actually can't say for sure Umino will win here.

Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Lio Rush & YOH - Takahashi defended the IWGP junior title against Yoh on February 5, so Yoh's partner Lio Rush stepped up to take the next title shot on March 21. Bushi is basically here to lose the fall, I think.

Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & SANADA vs. Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb & Aaron Henare - This is a preview of Takagi vs. Henare in their first-round New Japan Cup match on March 10. Naito and Sanada already had their first-round matches; Khan and Cobb both got byes to skip the first round altogether. I've seen Tumblr sexyman polls that had better seeding than this tournament. I think Henare loses this match.

Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado vs. EVIL & SHO & Dick Togo - Narita's team (Strong Style) holds the NEVER trios title, but those belts aren't on the line here. This is a preview of Narita vs. Evil in a first-round New Japan Cup match on March 8. Nobody else in this match is even in the tournament, which seems a bit odd. If Evil's team wins, then they almost have to continue their feud with Strong Style, and I'd rather not see that. Hopefully Dick gets pinned here.

Will Ospreay & Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis vs. Tama Tonga & Toru Yano & Satoshi Kojima - Davis vs. Yano is scheduled for the first round of the New Japan Cup on March 8. The winner will meet Ospreay on March 13, which makes things awkward for the United Empire if Ospreay vs. Davis happens. Fletcher's first-round match is on March 10, while Tama has a bye. Kojima isn't in the tournament at all, so logically he's the one to do the job.

Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita vs. KENTA & El Phantasmo - Sabre and Kenta both have byes, while Phantasmo already lost his first-round match. Fujita is a Young Lion, which would normally make him unaffiliated with any faction, but Sabre "adopted" him into TMDK. But a Young Lion is a Young Lion, and his presence in this match is a handicap for his team. Kenta and ELP ought to be able to win this one way or another.

#njpw #njpw 51st anniversary #kazuchika okada #hiroshi tanahashi #hirooki goto #yoshi-hashi #new japan cup

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