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Ugh Kitamura. Very unfortunate circumstances. I think they were going to skip the excursion period for him given his advanced age as a Young Lion, and he was gonna be pushed as a big deal fairly quickly.
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Yeah him doing a "Best Of" Challenge series prior to his accident felt like that was meant to be his excursion phase without having to leave NJPW due to his age.
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Identity of the Grand Master character got revealed at today's New Japan Cup Semi-finals event.
SPOILER: show |
Maybe its just the arena setup or camera placements used but the ring for the first Lion's Break Collision show looks tiny.
Like training ring or lower indies running in Bingo halls tier in terms of smallness. |
Debut episode was pretty enjoyable overall.
Nothing that was really "must watch" status if you missed it but if the debut is any indication, the series is going to be a nice and enjoyable sub-hour show for some late night wrestling and getting rid of the taste of a bad Smackdown episode for weeks where that happens. |
Good new gear for Karl Fredericks
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Probably zip through the remaining Cup matches over the weekend then watch Dominion sometime next week.
SPOILER: show |
G1 gonna be a fuckin mess this year if they can’t get the foreigners back. Bullet Club would basically be a non-factor with Jay White and KENTA being stuck in Florida.
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Apparently there is a wrestler named The DKC and just like Gino Gambino mentioned when he first heard it, Donkey Kong Country was the first thing to come to my mind over those initials. Turns out that's not his name.
Also the ref during this match is sporting a pretty decent looking mustache. |
Danny Limelight vs. TJP was pretty good.
So far 2 episodes in and NJPW's Lion's Break Collision show has been enjoyable overall. Nothing really worth going out of your way to watch but for a 40 minute or so show, it has some quality action and also flows well. The post-match promos could use a ton of work though. Filthy Tom Lawlor vs. Rocky Romero on next week's show should be very good. |
Minoru Suzuki got pulled from both of NJPW's big shows this weekend due to coronavirus concerns.
According to NJPW, he developed a fever earlier today and based on recent testing results, he might not have caught the coronavirus but they are taking no chances with him. Quote:
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Think DOUKI managed to get a bigger reaction for his entrance than Master Wato did.
Not sure if Wato's theme simply just drowned out whatever reaction he got or the crowd didn't really care that much for his entrance. Crowd's been very receptive of him during this match though which is a good sign. |
Not sure Yujiro biting SANADA's hand and SANADA doing the same to Yujiro counts as following NJPW's coronavirus health safety rules.
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Either Nagata has some weird looking bruising on his back or he might have gone overboard with the hot cupping massage since his back looks like a Connect 4 board game.
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Holy shit, it doesn't get much more embarrassing than making your big return in a goofy outfit and getting beaten up by Douki of all people.
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Ouch at Okada's back crashing right through a pile of chairs.
Also ouch at his nuts moments earlier from EVIL's vicious attack in his quest for Okada to not have any kids in the future. |
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Poor Okada's nuts. Got pulverized again by EVIL.
:eek: SPOILER: show Okada vs. EVIL was amazing. New Japan Cup 2020 Finals was very good overall. Only real weak point was the DOUKI vs. Master Wato match. |
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Wow @ shocking turn!
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:lol: at Wato getting beaten up again after a match.
Sort of hope that becomes a running gag for him for a while. |
Wow at the result for the Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada vs. Taiji Ishimori & Yujiro Takahashi.
SPOILER: show |
NEVER Openweight title match was amazingly and best match since NJPW came back from their coronavirus break.
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EVIL's new entrance theme and look is pretty cool.
Went from being a spooky horror guy to now being a rock/metal band guy. |
:eek: at EVIL beating up his #1 fan Milano
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Yikes at Naito's knee after that table spot.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">GODDAMN!! Kneecrusher through a table from EVIL <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NJPW?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NJPW</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njdominion?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njdominion</a> <a href="https://t.co/KQXMsaKIPy">https://t.co/KQXMsaKIPy</a> <a href="https://t.co/0vQdHdJdhW">pic.twitter.com/0vQdHdJdhW</a></p>— SirLARIATO (@SirLARIATO) <a href="https://twitter.com/SirLARIATO/status/1282239731456249856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> |
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Considering how crazy 2020 has been so far, that IWGP Double title match might be the perfect representation of it.
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SPOILER: show |
poor Sanada
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SPOILER: show |
Wow, what the fuck. Not sure how I feel about this.
SPOILER: show |
Sanada going to win the title at Wrestle Kingdom
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Maybe. I can see them wrestling, but it doesn't even need to be for the belt.
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My main guess as to why EVIL was chosen for this ahead of SANADA or Shingo is that A) EVIL is, well, evil, so it makes sense for him to turn....but moreover, B) EVIL is the only Dojo trueborn of those three. It's not a hard and fast rule that you have to be a trueborn to get a massive push but I do think there's a longstanding sense of loyalty there.
The company rarely ever releases trueborns, usually they either leave on their own or retire to injury. Captain New Japan/original Bone Solider being the one exception because of legendary awfulness. Even guys like YOSHI-HASHI and Yujiro Takahashi have jobs for life even when they're not really doing anything, and Yujiro's now getting elevated out of necessity since Bullet Club has so many members out of the country. |
If there's any real concern I have...it's that I've enjoyed EVIL the best when he's working shorter, smashmouth NEVER title style matches. When he has to work longer matches in the G1 and stuff his style seems kinda slow and ponderous. But in this role he's gonna be expected to work 25-30 minute NJPW main event style.
Would love to see them change the pace with him and let him work a NEVER-style match with Ishii as a main event title defense. |
Yeah their loyalty to trueborns is my biggest gripe with NJPW. Like, it's understandable to a point, but they pass on too many oppurtunities imo.
Case in point: Sanada I honestly don't really buy EVIL as champ. He's always been solid, but his really good singles matches are few and far between. IWGP champion to me, is someone who consistently puts on barn burners with everyone. I don't see EVIL as that guy. |
Quote:
Depending on which side you believe, the original storyline's demise was either due to NJPW being completely off guard by the Elite leaving or they knew well beforehand but were unwilling to speed up the storyline for the big payoff and just dropped it instead. |
Holy shit I didn't realize that Evil won the double gold!
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