by Rob Goodwin @REALRobGoodwinTo say that 2017 was a stellar year for the Japanese promotion would be a complete understatement. Though New Japan Pro Wrestling have been putting on exceptional matches and events on for a while now and have been for sometime, the pivotal moment for their company came at the Tokyo Dome at WrestleKingdom 11, where Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada put on a wrestling clinic the likes of which I certainly had never seen before! It was a match, and indeed an event, that brought a huge amount of casual fans over to the product, a great deal being western fans like myself who knew nothing at all about the promotion. It turned out however that the company had been garnering more attention for months beforehand and had actually announced their intention to hold the first two nights of the storied G1 Climax in America in December 2016. However, this changed as, rather than the aforementioned days of the G1 Climax, they would instead would be hosting a 2 day event in Long Beach, that acted as a precursor to the actual G1 Climax. This was huge indeed as it was the first time NJPW would have independently hosted it’s own shows in America. Tickets sold out obscenely fast without New Japan having announced any matches for the two days. What had been announced though was an American Expansion, which would include a dojo (run by Rocky Romero) and America’s own subsidiary of the company! This was almost overshadowed however when the announcement came on May 12th, that these would be no ordinary shows, with it instead being an 8 Man Tournament to crown the inaugural IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion alongside the reveal of a brand new belt. Defences of the Intercontinental Championship and the Heavyweight Championships were also announced. Though Billy Gunn’s shot at Tanahashi’s Intercontinental Championship was met with derision, Okada’s Heavyweight Championship defence against Cody at least had storyline implications that fans could get behind, though Cody’s immediate insertion into the main event scene was met with negativity by the fans. On the back of this, the full card was announced with NJPW pulling out all the stops to get their biggest stars on the show, as well as announcing that both lots of tag straps would be on the line, as well as announcing names like Omega, Ishii and Naito for the tournament. by Rob Goodwin @REALRobGoodwin& Garth Jackson @DrummerJaxsonA stellar card, a stellar main event and a stellar match including a WWE legend and the best worker in the world today? Why on earth would you not want to watch this event? As a part of a New Years resolution, we said to ourselves that we would make the effort to check out more New Japan Pro Wrestling, the promotion that shook the world last year by churning out event after event of quality content. From Omega and Okada’s trilogy for the ages, to the unbelievable feats of aerial precision from Ospreay and KUSHIDA, to the sheer brutality of Suzuki, to the utter coolness of LIJ, 2017 was a year to remember for the promotion. Of course this comes with pressures. After what can only be described as a wonder event in WrestleKingdom 11, and with the eyes of a much larger Western audience trained on the Tokyo Dome come January 4th 2018, you would forgive them for caving under the pressure and delivering a drastically underwhelming show... Did that happen? Listen to the podcast to find out our views on our first experience of New Japan Pro Wrestling! PS: of course this wasn’t underwhelming, it was incredible, but please still listen to the podcast! by Rob Goodwin @REALRobGoodwinAfter what can only be described as a phenomenal wrestling event - WrestleKingdom 12 - fans of New Japan Pro Wrestling we’re left with very little time to recover their breath as the very next night, we had New Years Dash 2018, a special event that takes place every year after WrestleKingdom. Emanating from Korakuen Hall, this event often throws up delicious little story line advances and surprises - last year, villainous stable Suzuki-Gun returned for the first time since their exile to Pro Wrestling Noah two years before, and laid waste to Champion Kazuchika Okada - and we hoped that this year would be just as intriguing! Hours after the live stream, Rob recorded a Podcast review of the event, check it out below! |
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