New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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Not at this level. They were getting popular again with the super-hardcore fans in 2011 because people noticed how good Tanahashi and Nakamura were. But it's hard to sell a foreign company without people who speak English. Like I've said before, Lucha Libre isn't mainstream even though Mexican-Americans make up 11% of the American population. So if CMLL and AAA can't make it a Japanese company certainly can't.

Maybe if Brock stayed and actually put effort into his matches. But then again streaming services didn't take off until about 5 years after Lesnar quit New Japan, so they would have to have found a way onto PPV and somehow have gotten a TV deal. AXS was around (called HDNet back then) but they were tiny compared to what they are now. And I have no idea who would have been interested in New Japan in 2006. MMA was huge and wrestling was seen as cold, so people were looking at getting a MMA promotion and not a non-WWE wrestling show.

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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Jericho vs Tanahashi is official for Wrestle Kingdom.

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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Documentary on this years G1

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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Moxley wasn't allowed to travel to Japan due to the typhoon, so he forfeited the US Title.

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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Jushin Thunder Liger’s first retirement match has been announced.

New Japan Pro Wrestling held a Wrestle Kingdom 14 press conference this morning and announced Liger’s first retirement match that will take place on January 4. He will team with Tatsumi Fujinami (marking his first appearance in the promotion since 2008), The Great Sasuke and Tiger Mask to take on the team of Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Ryusuke Taguchi.

El Samurai will be cornering Liger’s team, while Kuniaki Kobayashi will be cornering Sano’s team.

Liger has feuded with many of the wrestlers taking part in the match. His debut match under the Jushin Thunder Liger gimmick was a victory over Kobayashi. His match against Sano on January 31, 1990 won Match of the Year in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

NJPW also confirmed that a second retirement match will take on January 5. The retirement ceremony will take place on January 6 at New Year Dash at Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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NJs parent company Bushi Road have bought Stardom

https://www.f4wonline.com/japan/njpw-pa ... dom-295061

Interestingly the Fire Pro World game recently had the Stardom DLC and they also have the New Japan license for the game.

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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YAY!

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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I wasn't sure where to post this so forgive me if this is an error. I finished Vader's book today while waiting on a friend of mine and the last two thirds are complete garbage BUT - he makes an interesting allegation - that Misawa leaving All Japan and founding Noah and its success was in massive part due to Misawa having very strong ties to the Yakuza. Any other documentation or discussion about this?

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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They all had Yakuza money. That's just how the entertainment industry works in Japan: the mob laundered their money backing singers, movies and pro wrestling. The Yakuza/NOAH story was revealed the same time the PRIDE and Inoki stuff came out in 2006 or 2007.

In the US organized crime factions just go invest in a business to launder money, but business licensing in Japan is much more restricted, so instead they will give a musician money for a tour, a producer money for a movie or a wrestling company money for a tour as their investments. So yes, Misawa absolutely got NOAH funded partially through Yakuza and then the rest came from their television deal.

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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I think it's interesting how it's almost seen as normal or even quasi-respectable to be tied in with the Yakuza over there whereas it's not the case here in America. Odd culture shift.

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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It's different now. New Japan definitely doesn't have Yakuza "sponsors" like they did in the Inoki era. The PRIDE and sumo scandals turned public opinion against them. Now they'll shut down bank accounts of Yakuza members and confiscate their money. So they've gone further underground like the US organized crime is. But we had a period where the Italian mob was pretty blatant about their role in boxing until JFK was elected and cracked down big on them.

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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Kenny Omega, AEW and the future: NJPW president Harold Meij answers the big questions
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Foxsports.com.au was invited to meet with New Japan Pro Wrestling president Harold Meij on November 14 in Tokyo.

In a rare interview with western media, Meij discusses some of the big talking points surrounding NJPW and its relationships with western companies and wrestlers.

On the decision to turn Wrestle Kingdom into a two-night show, and why it won't be a yearly occurrence:

“Our shows, generally speaking, all sell out. Our product is very popular here in Japan.

"Because 2020 is an Olympic year, so there’ll be more global eyes on the sports and culture of Japan, we thought well, we’re part of the culture of Japan as well. Particularly for the night-life.

“It’s been said that Japan is very good for daytime tourism but not so much for night-life - there are restaurants and bars and that kind of thing, but not so much other types of entertainment. So even the government is saying let’s look at pro wrestling as a night-life alternative to just restaurants.

“Because 2020 is an Olympic year, and because the demand for our product has been so great, that’s why we decided next year not to have just one Tokyo Dome day but two.

"The planning for that was more than a year before that - trying to get the venue obviously, but also deciding whether we want to do it, because it’s a risk for us as well. Can we suddenly double the number of people coming?

“We have to see how it goes, of course. Anything if you overdo it becomes stale.

"We want to keep the specialness of it, so I don’t foresee doing it every year - hopefully every so often, that would be wonderful, but we’ll have to see how the fans react the first time.”

On conducting a poll to see whether fans wanted the main event of January 5th's Wrestle Kingdom show to be a championship versus championship match featuring the winners from January 4th's matches:

“We believe our whole product is based off of what the fan would want, and we try to deliver - and at the same time surprise, of course. But we would never do something big like that without the support and the understanding from the fans. The fans are very much in support of this and that’s critical.

On whether NJPW would have scrapped the double title main event if the poll had gone the other way:

“Yes, definitely. We would never do something without the support of the fans.”

On dealing with rumours and reports about NJPW coming out in the media:

“There’s a lot of information out there, but also a lot of misinformation out there, a lot of rumours, misunderstandings, and that’s all part of wrestling as well. That’s what makes it so attractive at the same time.

"But it’s also important to make sure people do understand the history for example. Especially outside of Japan, I’ve seen that the fans thrive even more on speculation than the Japanese do.

"The Japanese are very fact-oriented; this is probably because of the education system. They’re much less prone to rumours - of course, everybody is, but I’m talking about the degree of speculation and the degree of rumours, and Japan is much less than it is overseas.

"One of the reasons is that we don’t give out enough English content yet. We do therefore get a lot of conflicting reactions from fans overseas than we do in Japan. We take both on board, but a lot of that is based on the unfortunate lack of information that we’re giving out yet.”

On the report (that came out two days before this interview) claiming NJPW tried to make it difficult for Kenny Omega to enter into Japan:

“If you read the column that I write, I say in detail, this is the one time I believe I have to say something. There’s many others out there that I wouldn’t even react to, normally I wouldn’t react to something like this.

"But this was getting more traction and because as a company, you can’t react to every misunderstanding and or rumour. When some of them get to a certain stage, you know, I have to say something.

"We couldn’t even do it if we wanted to. We would never - why?

"He was a great contributor to our company for many years. He was our top foreign wrestler, the heavyweight champion for crying out loud. He’s still growing in his own way in his new role, and we wish him all the best.

"We would never do something like that.”

Foxsports.com.au was invited to meet with New Japan Pro Wrestling president Harold Meij on November 14 in Tokyo.

In a rare interview with western media, Meij discusses some of the big talking points surrounding NJPW and its relationships with western companies and wrestlers.

See more from the interview here.

NJPW Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada poses after a match in London this year.
NJPW Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada poses after a match in London this year.Source: Supplied
On the decision to turn Wrestle Kingdom into a two-night show, and why it won't be a yearly occurrence:


“Our shows, generally speaking, all sell out. Our product is very popular here in Japan.

"Because 2020 is an Olympic year, so there’ll be more global eyes on the sports and culture of Japan, we thought well, we’re part of the culture of Japan as well. Particularly for the night-life.

“It’s been said that Japan is very good for daytime tourism but not so much for night-life - there are restaurants and bars and that kind of thing, but not so much other types of entertainment. So even the government is saying let’s look at pro wrestling as a night-life alternative to just restaurants.

“Because 2020 is an Olympic year, and because the demand for our product has been so great, that’s why we decided next year not to have just one Tokyo Dome day but two.

"The planning for that was more than a year before that - trying to get the venue obviously, but also deciding whether we want to do it, because it’s a risk for us as well. Can we suddenly double the number of people coming?

“We have to see how it goes, of course. Anything if you overdo it becomes stale.

"We want to keep the specialness of it, so I don’t foresee doing it every year - hopefully every so often, that would be wonderful, but we’ll have to see how the fans react the first time.”

On conducting a poll to see whether fans wanted the main event of January 5th's Wrestle Kingdom show to be a championship versus championship match featuring the winners from January 4th's matches:

“We believe our whole product is based off of what the fan would want, and we try to deliver - and at the same time surprise, of course. But we would never do something big like that without the support and the understanding from the fans. The fans are very much in support of this and that’s critical.

On whether NJPW would have scrapped the double title main event if the poll had gone the other way:

“Yes, definitely. We would never do something without the support of the fans.”

On dealing with rumours and reports about NJPW coming out in the media:

“There’s a lot of information out there, but also a lot of misinformation out there, a lot of rumours, misunderstandings, and that’s all part of wrestling as well. That’s what makes it so attractive at the same time.

"But it’s also important to make sure people do understand the history for example. Especially outside of Japan, I’ve seen that the fans thrive even more on speculation than the Japanese do.

"The Japanese are very fact-oriented; this is probably because of the education system. They’re much less prone to rumours - of course, everybody is, but I’m talking about the degree of speculation and the degree of rumours, and Japan is much less than it is overseas.

"One of the reasons is that we don’t give out enough English content yet. We do therefore get a lot of conflicting reactions from fans overseas than we do in Japan. We take both on board, but a lot of that is based on the unfortunate lack of information that we’re giving out yet.”

On the report (that came out two days before this interview) claiming NJPW tried to make it difficult for Kenny Omega to enter into Japan:

“If you read the column that I write, I say in detail, this is the one time I believe I have to say something. There’s many others out there that I wouldn’t even react to, normally I wouldn’t react to something like this.

"But this was getting more traction and because as a company, you can’t react to every misunderstanding and or rumour. When some of them get to a certain stage, you know, I have to say something.

"We couldn’t even do it if we wanted to. We would never - why?

"He was a great contributor to our company for many years. He was our top foreign wrestler, the heavyweight champion for crying out loud. He’s still growing in his own way in his new role, and we wish him all the best.

"We would never do something like that.”

NJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay (left) wrestles Sydney's Robbie Eagles at the Southern Showdown event in Melbourne this past year.
NJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay (left) wrestles Sydney's Robbie Eagles at the Southern Showdown event in Melbourne this past year.Source: Supplied
On why NJPW of America will be holding a large number of smaller shows rather than a smaller number of large shows:

“One of the biggest handicaps we have is the time difference. We can’t do a lot of live events on US prime time - if we do one at 6 or 7 o’clock at night, it’s 3 o’clock in the morning in the US, depending on where you are. You’re not going to wake up unless it’s a Wrestle Kingdom or something.

"Of course you can still do near-live or streaming, but one of the biggest things is we need to create the understanding of what New Japan stands for. The best way to do that is really like sampling.

"It’s a sampling marketing strategy. By doing smaller-scale shows in a lot of places, people can physically see what our product is like, come to love it and then join into the streaming service or watch the TV broadcast."

On NJPW's relationships with foreign promotions, and whether the company would pick an Australian partner:

“We’re always open to looking for partners, we already have several strong ones in the world. We definitely need to expand that.

"But the one thing that sets us apart is we carefully look at our partners. Once we partner with someone, it’s basically for life. It’s like a marriage.

"Japanese companies and Japanese culture in that sense is very loyal; it takes a while to get that loyalty, but once you get it, it doesn’t go away. It takes time but once we do it, we’re there for life.”

On whether NJPW of America will impact on the relationship with US promotions like Ring of Honor:

“I actually think it complements a lot of the relationships that we have, especially with ROH for example.

"As we do these shows and more fans fall in love with our product, as we do more joint matches with ROH - whether ROH comes to us or we go to them - the value of the total package increases. They would see that our wrestlers are very good and so are the ROH ones.”

On whether NJPW intends to continue sharing wrestlers with ROH:

“Oh yes. We’re here for the long run with partners that we tie up with.”

On whether NJPW would work with All Elite Wrestling:

“We’re very open to working with anyone, we don’t exclude anyone. But it does take time to create that trust between companies.

"And right now AEW is still in the exploratory phase; they’re trying to establish themselves as a brand, what is that brand? They’re about one year in, and we’re starting to see what their brand is all about. Then we’ll have to see if that brand fits our brand of course.

"At this stage, they still have different styles than we do, and that’s the only thing. We’re looking at what their brand positioning is and whether it complements ours.”

On whether the exits of AEW stars and executives such as The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and Cody have impacted the relationship between the company and NJPW:

“No. It’s a business, at the end of the day.

"The wrestlers we hire, we work with on a contractual basis for a certain period of time. Obviously we would’ve loved to have kept having them here but I can understand that if there’s in their minds a bigger and better opportunity, well then that’s just a natural way for competition to move forward. It’s a natural thing.

"I do also believe the likes of AEW is good for the industry, because it puts a lot of new money into the industry, and a lot of people might be getting more interested in pro wrestling - people who might not have been interested if AEW hadn’t been established. So it can only be good for the industry.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/more-sport ... 8b44a36dc9

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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Image

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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NJPW are doing their first bodybuilding contest

https://www.njpw1972.com/68447

Image

Fans can vote here

https://www.njpw.co.jp/232083

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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First New Japan show Vince will watch.

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Re: New Japan/Puroresu Thread

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Who's the girl with the deformed right buttcheek?

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