Another Crazy Noid Hypothesis:

Wouldn't be surprised if Harold Meij reached out to Conor McGregor either. If he wants to get New Japan a worldwide presence as "The King of Sports," then there is no bigger star he could bring in than Conor -- in the same vein that Mike Tyson was important to giving the WWF that spark in 1998.

Conor loves money and is currently having some legal issues and his relationship with Dana White and UFC seems "odd." Money talks in Dana's relationships, so I doubt he is done fighting, but I'm sure New Japan and UFC can open channels. There have been Conor/WWE rumors in the past despite Conor calling the entire roster, essentially, pussies, to the point where Vince has had to address them in the past. If Conor is worried about the perception of him entering the scripted promo world of WWE, where they try to talk him into selling for The Miz, then maybe an offer from New Japan would be more appealing?

Can you just imagine one of those New Japan press conference things they do with Conor talking about how he heard everyone in Japan is a pussy and where he calls Shibata a vegetable to get some heat with Goto? Fucking tremendous.

Osprey is so god damn incredible. I know he's very spotty, but it honestly doesn't matter to me. Once in a generation, you get a guy that's so good, and can do things that are so incredible, that he can get away with it, as long as there is some semblance of a story in the match.

And it's not just what he does, but how he executes it, that is incredible. The only other person in the history of this business that hits moves with such effortless speed and precision was the original Tiger Mask.

Think he's utter garbage

Might be the worst worker to get pushed by a major promotion in the history of the business.

Destor, you are TPWW's Cornette.

He's gotta add a "motherfucker" for good measure.

lol I'll try not to take that as an insult. :lol:

Tiger Mask was so flawless but his matches looked like a struggle. A contest of wills. Osprey looks like a work. Two guys playing wrestling.

That's true enough. To be fair though, osprey's recent bouts have come off more like fights than some of his over coreograpghed past work. The match with Ishimori being a great example. He's been inserting the wild acrobatics where they make sense more consistently.

He's been improving, I'll give you that much.

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that promo is amazing

Thought it was impressively bad. Like one of those kids that flips the camera off cause they think thats cool and edgy

I didn't think it was bad but I think that is kind of what he's going for. Naito is the real cool one and Jericho's coming in trying to the bad cool kid so to speak.

my name is destor and i'm a big gay boy

According to the Observer, NJPW has only managed to sell around 5k so far for the next US show.

Wonder what the G1 field will look like this year. There are only two definite openings in Yuji Nagata and Satoshi Kojima.

One of the open spots has to go to Jay White, surely? So that leaves one more. They probably can't get Cody for an entire month, so I'll assume he's not an option. So give me Taichi in the G1!

Oh, and bumping out shitbag Elgin for literally anyone would be appreciated. But we all know it won't happen.

I'd be all for KUSHIDA moving up in the G1. He has nothing left to do in the Juniors

That would be tight

Hope Elgin stays in he's a good talent.

Next US show is officially called "G1 Special in San Francisco" and NJPW confirmed rumors of it airing live on AXS TV instead of NJPW World due to its start time being set to cater to the East Coast. Also a lot easier and cheaper to just use AXS TV crew than fly their own guys in for the event.

In terms of commentary, JR and Josh Barnett got the nod for this show.

watching tonight's show on AXS...this is the description


New Japan Pro Wrestling: Wrestling Hi No Kuni 2018
Minoru Suzuki defends the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Tetsuya Naito. EVIL and SANADA challenge Killer Elite Squad for the IWGP Tag Team titles.

From what I've seen I think Sanada and Zack Sabre Jr. are my favorites (so far) in NJPW

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This woman in the front row is scared of Suzuki and clutching a stuffed...penguin...cat...catguin? �� <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njpw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njpw</a> <a href="https://t.co/uUpEkSTKUr">pic.twitter.com/uUpEkSTKUr</a></p>&mdash; Kenton (@TheKentonLane) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheKentonLane/status/1000173248842272768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Naito/Suzuki was good

Its a cat

How do you not know a Daryl when you see one?

I heard about that Ospreay/Ricochet match and turned it off when they did that spot where they both backflip and pose next to each other. Fucking gross.

Yeah and i love Richichet but that match was offensive enough that it needed a trigger warning before it

Might honestly be the worst match ive ever seen

https://i.imgur.com/02dsKuY.gif

Was watching some block matches I missed and once I saw that happen, had the epiphany of this being too good to not be a gif somewhere. Turns out nobody else did it after a bunch of searching so I had to do it myself.

lol I absolutely loved the fuck out of that match... in a vacuum. Not as anything I'd want to see beyond that one match in that one building.

I felt like I was watching streetfighter or something.

Yeah, I had heard about it beforehand, so I knew what I was getting going in. I just enjoyed it for what it was and didn't take it seriously.

It was a Yano match to me.

I was thinking Mortal Kombat :lol:.

Holy shit balls, Dragon Lee vs SHO was good. Early favorite for match of the tournament, in fact.

Makes me really happy because I'm a big supporter of SHO, and not only do I think he'll be Jr. champ one day, but I think he could eventually move to heavyweight and be a big star for the company.

I was really looking forward to how he would perform in the tourney, and he has already exceeded my high expectations.

lol Desperado with one of the more creative chair shots I've seen.

Taguchi's sell of it is great.

Kevin Kelly just called a Blue Thunder Bomb a Falcon Arrow.

I can't even

Those two moves are barely similar.

I've been struggling to get through BOSJ. Kevin Kelly on his own is just putting me to sleep.

Switch to the Japanese commentators. You might not understand what they're saying, but they're building excitement will keep you more invested in the match than Kelly's droning.


That's what I'm doing. Gave Kelly a chance the first two nights, but Jap coms were so much better on the next one.

Apparently Naito and the rest of LIJ pranked Tokyo Sports again. Held another interview with reporters at a restaurant and just like every other time, found a way to foot the bill on Tokyo Sports' dime.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This was a special LIJ anniversary lunch. Naito told his boys to order what they wanted, but at the end went to hail a cab for everyone and mysteriously vanished. BUSHI and Hiromu left to check on him leaving Tokyo Sports with the tab... again.</p>&mdash; chris charlton (@reasonjp) <a href="https://twitter.com/reasonjp/status/1001010781469663232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
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I haven't seen much of Ricochet, but when he's serious he actually seems really great. I wouldn't call myself a fan just because I haven't seen enough, but he seems to get that it's supposed to be a fight, and his charisma seems to come from him being this tough-as-nails smaller guy in that fight.

But yeah, I didn't even realize I was so "Cornette" as I was until I saw that match and almost gagged and had to turn it off. I would have paid to have been let out of the building. So disgusting. Such wank.

I can deal with us having different political views, but this is just downright disgusting, Dale, and you should be ashamed. Easily the worst post you have ever made.

(I'm kidding, ya cunt)

I really want to like Kevin Kelly, but I just can't. Maybe I needed to watch more Metal back in the day? I actually like him in shoot interviews. I can't remember why, but he tore the fuck out of Triple H -- like viciously -- and I was like "Haha, you are never going to work there again," but the balls on him.

I think he would make a great writer of articles or a podcast host for a promotion. He seems smart and like he's got a lot of knowledge and passion. As a play-by-play guy, I think he comes off as too "nerdy." Like he was the prototype for the nerd announcer before they worked out they wanted them to be good looking too. He tries hard, but I think that has become a problem in later years, because you can feel the effort -- like he's trying to be the best play-by-play in the business, instead of just being the best play-by-play guy in the business.

I'd definitely prefer Japanese or JR over him, to be honest. I also thought that Don Callis was funny for a few weeks on Lance Storm's podcast, but think he is a pretty trash announcer, really.

Um when did New Japan start airing Friday nights? It's on this AXS channel I never even heard of . I just randomly happened to be flipping through

And JR is announcing what!!!!!

About 2-3 years ago. Think they made a deal with NJPW for a weekly show around the same time NJPW announced Wrestle Kingdom 10 was going to air live in the US.

Solid match between Omega and Page.

Good episode of NJPW on AXS TV once again, just finished it.

If you were Samantha Bee, you'd be(e) in some serious trouble.

I've heard the buzz.

I hope Meij's plan to increase the television profile of New Japan means that they reach a deal in Australia. I want to hear JR call wrestling again.

I don't like Kevin Kelly's whole production either. His voice, his energy, his passion... he's above a guy like Mark Madden for sure, but he's a total nerd.

makes him relatable for the audience

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JR fucking sucks in New Japan. Abysmal commentary from the AXS guys.

Watching Dominion live

Yoh and Sho/Desperado and Kanemaru

Juice and Finlay/White and Yoshi-Hashi

Is it OK to scream Kaze Ni Nare at the top of my lungs at 3:39AM?

AJ Styles should study this Ishii/Yano vs Sabre/Suzuki match on how to block a low bow.

lollllllll that was fucking amazing

Ishii and Suzuki are such crazy bastards

Taichi's entrance is the only thing I care about this match.

Goto is kinda meh to me, and fuck Elgin

:lol: at Taichi's comedic villain laugh.

Taichi was only there to avoid Goto having to take the fall :(

the fucking Elgin push continues. ridiculous.

LIJ/Bucks should be excellent

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Taichi went into a state of shock that his &quot;Please do something, Miho&quot; master plan actually worked. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njdominion?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njdominion</a><br><br>➡️ <a href="https://t.co/8n90d75Nfk">https://t.co/8n90d75Nfk</a> <a href="https://t.co/963ifBsxEO">pic.twitter.com/963ifBsxEO</a></p>&mdash; TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) <a href="https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/1005363576897499136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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When you actually think about it, the Tower of Doom is a pretty terrible thing to do during a tag match.

Instead of saving your partner, you end up helping to hurt him during the match. Sure you also hurt your opponents but the powerbomb guy almost never takes advantage of the moment.

What a great tag match

I do feel like that match kind of underscored that it's pretty ridiculous to imply a direct Juniors < Heavyweights hierarchy

Guess All In is going to be streamed online or air on PPV since the Bucks just gave an invitation to Don Callis.

Don Callis hired for All In

Well that confirms the show is being broadcast somewhere, which I always assumed it would be

GO ACE

"Ray Mysterio Jr"

Mysterio's gear makes it look like he's wearing a diaper over his pants.

Give me Rey in G1

Future look to Meltzer after the main event:

http://media.giphy.com/media/l41JU7z...vUaY/giphy.gif

:lol: NJPW didn't bother to fix Takahashi's broken Super Jrs trophy.

Either Ospreay raided Taichi's locker for a sweet looking jacket or found Nakamura's long lost locker backstage.

Feels like these singles tourney winners very rarely win the title shot they earned. Will be interesting to see what happens.

Holy shit at Takahashi being spiked head first onto the mat from a powerbomb counter

wooooooooooooo!!!

Jr Heavyweight match was really great

Whelp Jericho wasn't lying when he said he wanted to go for a crazy look for his match against Naito.

glad Jericho's going with this gear. he looked pretty terrible at Greatest Royal Rumble

:lol: crowd cheering Jericho for the beating he's inflicting on Naito.

Last time Naito got booed he formed LIJ

Ouch at Naito's busted eye. That would explain where the blood on his suit came from.

Waiting for Kevin Kelly and Don Callis to explain that this is a non-traditional crowd and sometimes they boo who they normally cheer

Even the Japanese tables don't like Naito in this match.

Table breaks when Jericho does a move out of respect but refuses to give the same treatment for Naito's move.

WHOA

:eek:



IC match was great.

:lol: at Jericho's "Who the hell are you?" after seeing EVIL.

So far

My body is ready

Supposedly everyone from NXT at UK's Download Festival is currently watching this match based on tweets from people at the UK event.

Omega is going to be pissing blood after that bump onto the railings.