Found an interesting take while trying to get how japanese NJPW fags felt about last show. Any thoughts on this? >Guys like Sanada, Taichi, Fale, Taguchi, Yoshi-Hashi, Yujiro, Yoh, Togo, Wato, and Chase would have been fired long ago under the WWE system—just like Jeff Cobb was. By keeping them on the payroll, the company is draining resources that could be used to prevent star talent from leaving for better pay elsewhere. The result is a flood of lethargic 4-on-4 or 5-on-5 matches featuring unpopular wrestlers. Even at big events like Dontaku, you’ve got 22 guys jammed into the 4th, 5th, and 6th matches, and they’re basically just going through the motions. That’s exactly why the regional tours lack any real appeal. >Other promotions aren't even on the same scale as WWE; they’re just indies. New Japan is the only company that gets any real attention from the global market, but it's held back by an outdated, "Japanese-style" lifetime employment mindset that prevents the entire industry from evolving. If they don't start cutting loose the wrestlers who fail to deliver results—and using that saved money to foster competition among top-tier domestic young talent (like Ozawa, Shun, Ueno, or Anzai)—they’re going to end up a relic. If they keep stuffing the Tokyo Dome cards with unpopular, protected veterans like Yano, the promotion is finished.
>>20410337 Cobb really isn't a good example seeing how little he was actually utilized in-ring in WWE. Also >Taichi, Yoshi-Hashi, Yoh, Togo, Wato what is this nigga's problem?
>>20410450 You know how japanese are sometimes. Worse than us about not liking x guy for the stupidest reason.
But I don't agree on everything he said but I do get what he means about regional tours lacking appeal and how NJPW should foster domestic talent, mentioning guys outside NJPW
>>20410337 This guy failed to bring up the dads who are the most glaring example of this while naming some great, steady hands you always like to have around long term in any company. Imagine fresh faces tuning in and watching people sell for Honma these days, that's the real killer.
>>20410337 he is right in a way but some of the names he brings up make it a kinda retarded take SANADA, Taichi, YOH, Yoshi-Hashi and even Wato can still deliver. They absolutely should get rid of the old dads and guys like Honma who is a wifebeating piece of shit and is a useless crippled dude anyway.
If NJPW really wants to be the Japan number 1 company, the only "major league," then it needs to start aggressively poaching and going after the Japanese minor leagues the same way Inoki used to, and yeah, cut out the "forever grandpa" shit because let's be honest, Kojima and co aren't exactly drawing dimes anymore.
Would NJPW not be better off if it had Anzai, OZAWA, Ueno, etc? Of course it would. And there is less to worry about losing guys like that to AEW. Their "nice guy business strategy" serves nothing but the outdated Japanese sense of personal honor.
>>20410337 I don't disagree with the core of his complaint and I agree that guys like Sanada, Fale and Yujiro add absolutely fucking nothing to New Japan in 2026, but I have a hard time thinking of almost anybody on the roster that "going through the motions" applies to less than Taichi and Yoshi-Hashi. Those guys are always giving max effort.
>>20410282 they also had that sumo champ hold it for like a month back in the early 00s, Tadao Yasuda was the guy also Bob Sapp for some reason, a guy with 27 knockout losses in his MMA record, but he was really popular on TV o algo
>>20410733 The only flaw in the plan of getting fresh blood, even of people who are not young but are talented and high praised, is the fact minor promotions over the years build up a strong loayalty while NJPW was working on his own guys. As matter of fact the only promotion mentioned there, only DDT is on friendly terms (both officially and backstage) while NOAH has his own things going on, both outside (WWE) and inside while AJPW is isolating (or getting isolated, depend how you see things). Can't speak on the state of DG because eI don't know much but I think things are fine?
>>20411059 But just look at sports across the world -- it's not just small, lovable losers and underdogs that build loyal followings. The New York Yankees, the Lakers, Real Madrid, etc, the big dog in the yard can also create a following that is just as loyal particularly if a high level of quality is maintained.
NJPW is already the leader in its market by a wide margin. Take advantage of that shit instead of trying to do this United Japan Wrestling we're all pals stuff.
I'm afraid I don't care about New Japan enough to pretend them trying to go full monopoly on the rest of the scene is an overall good thing. Thank god they're broke and nobody likes the execs beside Tana.
>And there is less to worry about losing guys like that to AEW. In what fucking world?
>>20411182 not sure Tana is even that liked when you see some of the guys who knew him the most left the company when he was president. They probably respect him because ancient elder culture prease understand but it's not like this guy is making talents stay either. Actually might be the opposite I think more people left under Tana.
>>20411182 >And there is less to worry about losing guys like that to AEW. Guys who are native to Japan and do not speak good English are much more likely to stay than gaijin talent borrowed from the indies, or even grown in the NJPW dojo. Do you dispute this or something? Surely not
>>20412253 Like the little drama about Honma putting too much ginger in his gyudon. But I'd say that like here we are our brand of retards, it's the same on 5ch On twitter there is still that NJPW dude who got called out by OZAWA in one of his video because he was a rabid hater (pretty much on anything, at that time was about Takeshita afaik)
>>20412201 Didn't Shota say that "he's not his friend" in the backstage promo?? Still, to me Takeshita joining Hontai is SO stupid like giving him that belt as excuse to book him time to time, when this kind of match format is not suited to him.
But the Hontai thing is even more nonsense when never tagged with his former stablemates in DDT and tagged with the heel faction once kek (don't think that Sakuya Konohana tag w/ Ueno counts because it exist before Sauna Kamiina)
Flip Gordon is in CMLL but he never goes to AEW and he never comes back to NJPW. Was he MeToo'd or something at one point or he had a bad falling out with everybody or what happened there?
Can someone explain to me what the FUCK is going on with Yota Tsujii? Is this Gedo booking Tsuji like Okada or is he been punished like everyone on twitter says?
>>20415839 The War Dogs were leaving and they wanted a new top foreign heel and they had to separate those two belts, given Tsuji just pinned Callum and has a rematch now I don't see this as some humiliation ritual
>>20417918 Why would that be stupid? Njpw has done this shit many times. Why does Callum and ospreay need the belt? They shouldn't have a match longer than 20 mins at wk
>>20418060 >Ospreay will be the joint AEW World Champ and IWGP Heavyweight Champ >The G1 wont involve the champ >Tsuji, Yuya, Callum or Shota win the G1 to challenge Ospreay for the title at WK >Ospreay loses the AEW title on a PPV before WK (the IWGP Heavyweight Championship isn't on the libe for some reason) I can see this happening unfortunately
>>20417918 They are retarded but absolutely not retarded enough to have a gaijin vs gaijin match main event WK, it'll be Tsuji for sure vs hopefully a G1 winner Uemura. Newman vs Ospreay works perfectly fine as the second or third last match with no titles on the line since they're building up the story behind it already.
>>20418776 I only know of Oba through brief clips and this board's irrationality but I don't see an avenue where this would be true. In ring Callum will likely be fucked up from his Ospreay style bumping way before Oba who works fewer dates and doesn't really need to do much but walk funny and hit a power move. Character work wise Oba has a much flashier presentation plus the WWE production machine behind him. Asahi shoots wrestling more to my tastes but you can't deny WWE has a way bigger and impressive production overall. I don't know Oba's promos, but since Callum has to cut promos himself he's probably stronger? Hard to say since he's never cut one that I remember.
>>20418877 They needed to elevate Callum in kayfabe to have him come anywhere close to Ospreay's power level and the easiest/laziest way is to give him a short Jay White-esque title run (assuming Tsuji gets the win back at Dominion which seems very likely)
>>20418060 i'm honestly surprised that NJPW hasn't dual contracted ospreay yet i guess he's enough of a mark to do a lot of NJPW dates without a contract so why give him one
>>20418877 How did it fuck up Tsuji? God you're all such dramatic retards. They also had to get the global belt off him after they didn't just have him vacate it
>>20420457 >Yota "I hate AEW so much and also if I lose on my 2nd defense I'd be suuuuuch a geek" Tsuji >loses hebbyq on 2nd defense like a geek, then jumped by Gabe Kidd >get destroyed by Andrade and loses the Global title >show up the next night to beg Newman to stop hurting Shingo, gets laid out >gets a title shot immediately after all this Shockingly (for you, maybe), Japanese fans dont give a fuck about this and hate the booking of all of this. Newman isnt facing a strong main eventer on the comeback. Hes facing some geek who got lucky.
>>20420715 I don't give a fuck what Japanese fans think. They're fucking retarded and can go watch pooah if they don't like njpw. Tsuji isn't a geek because he lost to a cheating heel you retard and you didn't address the fact that he had to drop the global belt
>>20420721 True. The strongest heavyweights in terms of protection might be KOB and fucking Drilla. Everyone else is some form of fucking loser, whether it's incessant cheating for jobbing out.
>>20420771 >I don't give a fuck what Japanese fans think. 3,603人 >you didn't address the fact that he had to drop the global belt If he has that to worry about don't put your dumbass in a corner and make him double champion then have him get his ass beat twice in 1 month for 2 belts.
Is Sanada just never going to be a body guy ever again? He was jacked as fuck during his world title run but I think his injuries have stopped him from working out as hard, it definitely slowed him down
Shota has been improving constantly for the last 2 years and if you can't see it and think that Wato is better in any way you're a genuine retard that needs to end their life
>>20423756 Hes a better wrestler but I still dont give 2 shits about him and there's been no effort in changingthat since he shaved his head then went back to being the exact same clueless guy. Hes Wato if Wato got a random title shot every other month.
>>20423789 If you think Shota hasn't changed you aren't actually watching his matches. Just say that you dumb cunt. And fuck off. Fucking waste of space.
Everyone had theories about how much influence TV Asahi had over the WK card and how they loved Takeshita so much but with what they have planned for Dominion it doesn't seem that way
I'd be fine with Takeashit if he were a midcarder who maybe got an upset win or two in the G1 like pre-hebbyq SANADA was. I don't care how many stars he gets or how many moves he can do, he makes me feel nothing. Dude belongs nowhere near the world title scene, especially at the expense of actual NJPW talent. >le triple contracterino! If he's not making Road To shows, he's not an NJPW guy.
>>20412248 Same. I was so excited because I thought Shota would win the cup, turn heel, and then win the title but as always they have to ruin it by putting the title on somebody nobody gives a fuck about
Dominion is airing on terrestrial TV Asahi at 10:15pm
Card so far >Uemura & Taichi vs Oiwa & ZSJ >NJPW World TV: Takeshita vs SANADA >IWGP Global: Andrade vs Shota vs Drilla >NEVER Openweight: Narita vs Wolf >IWGP Tag: KoB vs O-Khan & HENARE >IWGP Heavy: Callum vs Tsuji
>'You lost to me and think you can fight for my title again! You weak little worm! You have your own belt right, that judo black belt of yours. Put that on the line- I'll make you choke on it. That's what you deserve!'
>>20425350 Yeah he's having "bangers" by removing moves like ignition or other stupid ospreay-like moves from his repertoire, you really are a fucking subhuman, kill yourself
>>20429017 >Uemura & Taichi vs Oiwa & ZSJ Watch >NJPW World TV: Takeshita vs SANADA What the fuck are they thinking? >IWGP Global: Andrade vs Shota vs Drilla Skip. I hate triple threats. >NEVER Openweight: Narita vs Wolf Skip, comically downgraded rehash of WK20 >IWGP Tag: KoB vs O-Khan & HENARE Watch just cuz of KOB >IWGP Heavy: Callum vs Tsuji Will probably be good but I have no reason to care, cheap rehash for WK20 Idk what could save this card
Is Jake Lee one of the most legitimately scary heels in wrestling? His acting has honestly been brilliant in this current. run He's quickly becoming one of the best villains ever.
>>20438740 >>20438748 New Japan still having TV Asahi in general is a godsend to them and it helps keep their top promotion status. If they lost it during the dark ages or when Harold Meji wanted to dump it for some other network they would've either been fucked like AJW (dead) or AJPW (top promotion status eroded). Having prime time TV slots again is basically like UFC getting their Fox or ESPN deals.
>>20438748 That's cuz they fumbled it both before and after the show, the same way they fumbled the 2nd half of 2025 after New Beginning in Osaka brought SOVL back to the promotion.
>>20438790 Why the hell would I need to be Japanese to say that stupid dumbfuck? Just look at the attendance numbers >>20438829 How much money does njpw make from that?
>>20438870 The attendance number of single shows speaks about how much the public is interested about the book, not the overall popularity of the promotion. NJPW is still well known.
What's the WWE of Japan? Might sound retarded but I've tried to get into NJPW some years ago and I missed those cheesy storylines, the acting and also the hype generating. The matches were incredible it just lacked of interesting backgrounds. Or do they offer this and I just didn't watch long enough?
Also why no females? Why are they all in those weird stardom thing where it's more fanservice for dirty ojisan?
>>20439205 Dragon Gate is luchastyle wrestling with more overt storytelling. They have English commentary on the big shows about once a month. DDT was explicitly designed to be more WWE-like than most Japanese wrestling, but its culturally very Japanese and they rarely have English commentary, maybe like once a quarter. Obviously DDT is known as the comedy promotion but there's less comedy than I initially thought. It's probably like 70% serious wrestling, 30% comedy.
Promotions in Japan have long been separated into men's and women's. If you're turned off by the idol aspect of Stardom maybe you should check out Sareee-ISM, Sendai Girls, or Marvelous.
>“Tenzan Hiroyoshi,” the powerhouse, has announced his retirement from active competition at the Ryogoku Kokugikan event on August 15 (Sat). >https://x.com/njpw1972/status/2053732791171592483
>>20444188 >Even my sister-in-law, who has absolutely no interest in pro wrestling, knew that Tenzan was a pro wrestler, so he was an easy character to understand, both in terms of his appearance and recognition. Good job, Tenzan. >Someone has to carry on that hairstyle. >Oiwa respects Tenzan and is doing something similar to his hairstyle. >Oiwa's hairstyle should be exactly like Tenzan's. (jesu i hope not) >I suppose it's because Tenzan is strongly associated with the Ryogoku G1, but I think it would have been better if he had a solo retirement show instead of one during the G1. >The days of being a pro wrestler until you die are long gone. We're now in an era where we all see off those who cleanly switch gears and move on to the next stage of their lives, rather than suffering the tragic prognosis like Takayama or Ohtani. >It was sad for me that Tenzan could never escape being Chono's No. 2, even in his prime. For me, Chono, Tenzan, and Kojima are the ones who strongly evoke images of nWo and T-2000.
>>20445454 I discovered that what annoyed me wasn't the ugly cut he got early this year but the changed the ratio of blonde and black. He looks much better with black hair than blonde.
>>20445805 Over the years a lot of people left wrestling to avoid getting Misawa'd on the ring. Not always works because a lot of guys would rather live the rest of their life as cripple than no wrestling at all (like Ibushi) But not all the dudes are the same, there are example of men above 50 still wrestling quite well
>>20444188 shocking that he lasted as long as he did. i knew it was over when he couldn't even stand up without holding onto the ropes at the last blue justice show
>Main event: Best of the Super Jr. 33 A Block Kosei Fujita vs Francesco Akira >8th Match: Best of the Super Jr. 33 B Block El Desperado vs Daisuke Sasaki >7th Match: Best of the Super Jr. 33 A Block Master Wato vs Titan >6th Match: Best of the Super Jr. 33 B Block KUSHIDA vs Robbie Eagles >5th Match: Best of the Super Jr. 33 A Block Robbie X vs Nick Wayne >4th Match: Best of the Super Jr. 33 B Block YOH vs Hyo >3rd Match: Best of the Super Jr. 33 A Block Ryusuke Taguchi vs Daiki Nagai >2nd Match: Best of the Super Jr. 33 B Block SHO vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru >1st Match: Best of the Super Jr. 33 B Block Taiji Ishimori vs Jakob Austin Young
Tokyo Sports on Tenzan's retirement and caree retrospectiver:
>[New Japan] Tenzan Hiroyoshi to Retire at Ryogoku Event on August 15: The Fierce Bull of New Japan for 36 Years "If I Can Have an Exhibition Match at the End" | Tokyo Sports WEB
>>20411059 AJPW isn't as isolationist as it was. They've been working with Dragon Gate this year and have mild friendships with some of the smaller promotions like 2AW and Big Japan. Talos also seems to be mildly encouraging trying to get AJPW to try working with smaller American promotions like NWA. I think AJPW is more about picking friendships that won't bite them in the ass than anything after the weird WWE stuff from a few years ago.
>>20451521 General comments: they could had put there Andrade or Shane Haste but still decided to put a loser on the cover (also not even if the new editor-in-chief of Shupro is connected to NOAH they can't beat NJPW favoritism kek)
>>20451549 oh yes, I forgot also AJPW fans also mad because no Carnival big feature. So it's the old discourse about Shupro always playing favoritism etc more now than before because Tsuji isn't even the winner.
>>20453654 The NXT guys worked well for them its just the owner is a weird guy. Idk if there's any interviews of him talking about his mindset but maybe he just wants to go about it like TJPW does.
>>20453654 they started working with them and then dropped them for noah after only sending them regal's son. nakajima might have only joined them because simon inoki convinced him it'd lead to him being signed to nxt
https://www.njpw.co.jp/646673 >On the official New Japan Pro-Wrestling LINE, we conducted a “final prediction questionnaire” and received votes from many people. >The total number of applications is 5,488 votes! What are the results of the survey that you have expected...?
■A block expected results
>7th: Nick Wayne = 199 votes >6th place: Jun Kasai = 382 votes >5th: Titan = 418 votes >4th place: Robbie X player = 450 votes >3rd place: Francisco Akira = 799 votes >2nd place: Master Wato = 922 votes and... >1st place: Kosei Fujita = 2010 votes!
■B-block expected results
>7th place: Daisuke Sasaki = 90votes >6th place: KUSHIDA player = 124 votes >5th: Robbie Eagles player = 181 votes >4th place: SHO player = 299 votes >3rd place: Taiji Ishimori = 940 votes >2nd place: YOH player = 1781 votes and ...…… >1st: El Desperado = 1874 votes!
>>20454303 WWE and AJPW was a weird link up to begin with... the biggest promotion on the planet teaming up with maybe the fourth or fifth biggest puro promotion - it looks bad for them, it's easy to see why they upgraded to noah
>>20458193 big head, ugly, faggot face. I really don't get why jap girls find these niggas attractive. I mean I guess it's still better than the average salary man but he's still ugly as fuck.
>>20458262 I personally think YOH is not as handsome as some other guys that falls in the ikemen wrestler category. You don't need to be a faggot to tell if a man has a good look or not
