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Thanks for answering my question ditch, here's some follow up though.Ditch posted:For the longest time it was NJ followed by AJ. Then the NOAH split happened, and once Kobashi went out in early '01 there was a period where it was hard to say who between AJ, Zero-One and NOAH was #2. Once Kobashi returned NOAH was solidly #2, and now there's a big gap between NOAH and AJ (Z-1 is an also-ran). NJ is the only fed that can reliably draw 4000+ in several cities. Ditch posted:I don't know about 'terrible', although I have only liked a handful of matches from AJ, NJ, DG and Z1 over the last year. I mean, WAR has some fond memories and it wasn't worse from a match standpoint than any of the top feds today. Ditch posted:A couple weeks on, a couple weeks off is the norm for AJ/NJ/NOAH. Z1 is sporadic, DG has its own weird schedule, most other serious feds don't run that many shows. Ditch posted:NJ, Z1 and AJ cooperate with talent exchanges and agree on outcomes. That's very different from, say, in 2002 when Mutoh and Kojima left NJ for AJ. As far as 'betrayal', it depends on the circumstance. When the NOAH wrestlers left AJ, that was a deeply personal thing. Mutoh and Kojima leaving was done after their annual contracts were up and was accepted as just business. Ditch posted:A lot less crazy than the Big Japan guys. Between all of them only a tiny number of injuries came from stiffness, and none of that will be as damaging to their health as joint wear & tear. Oh, and is the sasaki vs morishima match as awesome as it should have been? I mean in kurt angle type crazy. Like, any of them bullies backstage, thinking they should make room for the new generation, that the new generation need to be elbowed in the face more, all that craziness.
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Sep 7, 2008 13:25
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There seems to be a sudden burst of NOAH interpromotional activity. Nothing huge, but some junior talent work with NJ and AJ. It could signal NOAH opening up, which they badly need to do if Kobashi can't make a full comeback soon.Wazzu posted:I've heard that New Japan is having finacial troubles at the moment, anything likely to come from that (apart from tomko been gone) quote:I mean in crazy bad booking, cards dropping in quality, old guys staying too long and trying to main event, nepotism, all those fun things  quote:Actually I meant pysically touring, I should have specified. It just seems like if you're provincial, you stay there, and if you're in tokyo, you stay there. Been a city of 24 million, you can do that, but is that accurate? quote:I actually heard that mutoh and kojima moving was because they didn't like the direction new japan was taking, largely due to trying to mix legit fighters with wrestlers, and making bob sapp champion (and how lucky were they that when he finally lost in mma, it was to somebody who was a professional wrestler with a long history with them) quote:Oh, and is the sasaki vs morishima match as awesome as it should have been? quote:I mean in kurt angle type crazy. Like, any of them bullies backstage, thinking they should make room for the new generation, that the new generation need to be elbowed in the face more, all that craziness.
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Sep 7, 2008 19:30
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Ditch posted:He's seen as credible, not a fearsome monster or anything, but he's just not a big draw. Doesn't have the kind of charisma to lead a company. They said this about Marufuji and now Morishima. Who do they expect to lead the next generation of NOAH main eventers? Misawa and Kobashi don't have that much left in them.
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Sep 7, 2008 20:24
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Marufuji has charisma but is too much of a junior. Ditto KENTA. I think Shiozaki is their only hope. Pretty soon they're going to be forced to push him. edit: Sasaki's first challenger is Yone. Ditch fucked around with this message at 21:03 on Sep 7, 2008 |
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Sep 7, 2008 20:51
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OH HELL YEAH YONE IS GONNA EMBARRASS OL' SASAKI 
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Sep 7, 2008 22:08
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Ditch posted:Marufuji has charisma but is too much of a junior. Ditto KENTA. I really think the days of Juniors and Heavys being in separate divisions is going to be coming to an end. An overall NOAH title might be the way to go.
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Sep 7, 2008 22:09
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Ditch posted:edit: Sasaki's first challenger is Yone. It's...as if they don't want their champions to draw.
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Sep 7, 2008 22:26
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Ditch posted:edit: Sasaki's first challenger is Yone. what
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Sep 8, 2008 01:04
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Jimchuck Spanner posted:what weekly font posted:I really think the days of Juniors and Heavys being in separate divisions is going to be coming to an end. An overall NOAH title might be the way to go.
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Sep 8, 2008 05:03
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Ditch posted:That was my reaction. Plus, if Marufuji couldn't get over in the heavy scene as a crafty Junior (although one Budokan and out didn't really give him a chance to show anything since the show bombed, even though in retrospect some Misawa defenses bombed worse) there's no way KENTA is going to be able to as an rear end kicking striker. Because an asskicking 190 lb striker is going to look ridiculous against NOAH heavies who... hit really hard yet are bigger!
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Sep 8, 2008 05:18
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Oh, and ROH just reminded me that sasaki is now a former IGWP champion, triple crown champion and Global honoured crown champion (what's wrong with normal names, dangit). He's a former champion's carnival winner and 2 time G-1 Climax winner. Just by those, he's one of the best in history. Good for him. Otherwise, misawa's only 110kgs (243 pounds), so I can't really see it been too hard to see the junior heavweights fighting. It's not like when you have a 450 pound man beating everyone up. And is mr afro a bad wrestler or a bad draw?
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Sep 8, 2008 13:39
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Wazzu posted:Otherwise, misawa's only 110kgs (243 pounds), so I can't really see it been too hard to see the junior heavweights fighting. It's not like when you have a 450 pound man beating everyone up. quote:And is mr afro a bad wrestler or a bad draw?
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Sep 8, 2008 17:38
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Just you wait until Yone wins the title 
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Sep 8, 2008 18:12
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Yone isn't even ironically entertaining. Stop.
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Sep 8, 2008 18:13
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Captain Charisma posted:Yone isn't even ironically entertaining. Stop. OK but I like Yone
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Sep 8, 2008 18:17
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Yone's okay at first but once you've watched a lot of his matches and he does the same 5 or 6 things every time as the entirety of his moveset... and 2 of those being restholds... it gets ooooooooold.
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Sep 8, 2008 18:26
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I like Yone in six mans since what he does can be really entertaining when there's other guys to do the majority of the work. And when he's comparing hair with Daniels. Otherwise... eh.
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Sep 8, 2008 19:00
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Ditch posted:Yone's okay at first but once you've watched a lot of his matches and he does the same 5 or 6 things every time as the entirety of his moveset... and 2 of those being restholds... it gets ooooooooold. B-b-b-but his 'fro and his music make up for it! Ok, not really.  Still, his music. 
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Sep 8, 2008 19:20
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Kobashi had emergency surgery on his right arm to fix nerve damage, he's out 2-6 months. Apparently it's been lingering.
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Sep 9, 2008 13:20
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Ditch posted:Kobashi had emergency surgery on his right arm to fix nerve damage, he's out 2-6 months. Apparently it's been lingering. This blows
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Sep 9, 2008 14:09
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Ditch posted:Kobashi had emergency surgery on his right arm to fix nerve damage, he's out 2-6 months. Apparently it's been lingering. I just read this somewhere else. That is very sad.
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Sep 10, 2008 10:10
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http://pulsewrestling.com/2008/09/11/puroresu-pulse-issue-133-rocking-the-ark This week: Sasaki! Kobashi! Interpromotional activity! It's all NOAH all the time!
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Sep 12, 2008 15:44
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Hey Ditch, thanks for the recommendations. I caught the Big Japan show last night at Korakuen and saw lots of barbwire lightbulb goodness (I'll have to post some pix and more details when I get home). I wanted to see ROH and Hustle, but wasn't able to get tickets. But fuckin-a, I got see a deathmatch in Tokyo; my vacation is complete! I got a couple days left here in Tokyo. Does anyone have any idea if there are stores which specialize in puroresu merchandise? (DVDs, T-shirts, etc.) I've heard of one in Itabashi, but that's a bit out of the way for me (in Roppongi).
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Sep 15, 2008 13:10
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There's a ton of them around the Dome/Korakuen area, south across the bridge. They're marked on Google Earth. Meanwhile, Jado and Gedo are booking New Japan. And doing great. 
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Sep 15, 2008 13:32
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Ditch posted:Meanwhile, Jado and Gedo are booking New Japan. And doing great. Wait, just the juniors, or the whole promotion?
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Sep 15, 2008 14:44
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M.Kishiwada posted:Wait, just the juniors, or the whole promotion?
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Sep 15, 2008 15:50
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Wait what happened to Choshu?
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Sep 15, 2008 16:21
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He slowly left power over the last year or two (or was forced out). It goes along with NJ pulling much of its backing from "Lock Up", Choshu's promotion. With those two, you have guys that have worked almost everywhere and thus have plenty of friendships, they clearly haven't been selfish as bookers and are no threat to push themselves, and they probably would get booted from power if they stopped doing good work; they don't have any special stroke with bigwigs. It's really an ideal setup, and I can guarantee it wouldn't have come about if they hadn't earned it.
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Sep 15, 2008 18:24
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Have they been part of booking the New Japan vs. ZERO-ONE feud? Because that feud rules and it's really the only Japanese pro wrestling thing I've seen any amount of lately.
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Sep 16, 2008 02:28
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Boco_T posted:Have they been part of booking the New Japan vs. ZERO-ONE feud? Because that feud rules and it's really the only Japanese pro wrestling thing I've seen any amount of lately.
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Sep 16, 2008 05:10
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Out of interest, who decides who gets legacy gimmicks, like tiger mask and black tiger? Does it go to sayama, or does new japan just give it to some guy they have faith in. And what was the deal with the gimmick being swapped about by all japan and new japan?
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Sep 16, 2008 14:39
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Wazzu posted:Out of interest, who decides who gets legacy gimmicks, like tiger mask and black tiger? Does it go to sayama, or does new japan just give it to some guy they have faith in. And what was the deal with the gimmick being swapped about by all japan and new japan? Black Tiger is a New Japan gimmick, I think.
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Sep 16, 2008 17:41
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Here's some pics from Sunday's Big Japan show at Korakuen. I didn't take too many, but experiencing a live Japanese deathmatch show was a lot of fun. They gave me a copy of the card, but I couldn't read it. Later, a little research translated the matches: Tag Team Match Shinya Ishikawa & Yuji Okabayashi besiegen Atsushi Ohashi & Katsumasa Inoue (11:45) Tag Team Match Daikokubo Benkei & Hiroyuki Kondo besiegen Toshihiro Sueyoshi & Yuichi Taniguchi (9:45) Eight Man Tag Team Match Speed Of Sounds (Hercules Senga & Tsutomu Oosugi), Makoto Oishi & Yuki Sato besiegen KUDO, MEN's Teioh, Onryo & Shinobu durch DQ (0:21) Eight Man Tag Team Match Speed Of Sounds (Hercules Senga & Tsutomu Oosugi), Makoto Oishi & Yuki Sato besiegen KUDO, MEN's Teioh, Onryo & Shinobu (13:55) Hardcore Tag Team Match Isami Kodaka & Ryuji Ito besiegen Kankuro Hoshino & Shuji Ishikawa (14:42) BJW Tag Team Title Match Daisuke Sekimoto & Mammoth Sasaki (c) besiegen Jaki Numazawa & Jun Kasai (21:12) Dangerous Weapon Spider Net Tag Team Death Match Takashi Sasaki & Yuko Miyamoto besiegen Abdullah Kobayashi & Shadow WX (22:52) Everything was a tag match. The first couple matches were basic, mostly scientific wrestling-type matches. Daikokubo Benkei was a larger, older guy who was really over with the fans. The 8-man tag was a high-flying spot-fest, lots of action, even some comedy (one wrestler took down the other team with a Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique). After an intermission, the hardcore matches began. Mostly chairs, bats, and ladders (one guy took a superplex on a ladder on it's side, sick sick sick).  "Crazy Monkey" Jun Kasai was also very over.  Note, there were streamers before every match. A YouTube search later shows he is indeed a crazy monkey. His (and a lots of other guys') body was covered in scars from all his previous deathmatches. Their match started with a handshake and scientific wrestling, and then later broke down into a hardcore bloodfest. Crazy Monkey's finisher is called the "Pearl Harbor Splash"; should I be offended? Final match had barbed wire nets in wooden frames setup in and around the rings.  One guy brought lots of fluorescent tubes. Sickest thing was when he put a stack of bulbs by one guys head and kicked them. The guy's ear was bleeding profusely. He ended up taking one more of these shots. Also, I got a good picture of a lightbulb moonsault:  All in all, I enjoyed the night. I paid about $30 for the ticket. Thanks again, Ditch, for giving me all the info about where to go.
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Sep 21, 2008 00:50
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One good thing about a reasonably big BJPW show is that without knowing them, the deathmatches 'work' based on sheer violence. Not for everyone of course. They're one of the most consistently entertaining promotions in Japan. $30 is a darn good price for Korakuen, and you were on the 'small' side it looks like, meaning you weren't way far back. I paid more for DG, NOAH and HUSTLE. Maybe that's how BJPW draws reasonably well.
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Sep 23, 2008 03:08
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Low Ki won the IWGP junior title over the weekend, and it is a crying shame we'll never get a match between he and Danielson both as champs. Also that's another title Tiger Mask IV drops to a northeast-scene indy guy.
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Sep 23, 2008 06:28
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http://pulsewrestling.com/2008/09/25/puroresu-pulse-issue-134-kobashi-six-the-sequel-you-waited-for This week: Kobashi's Kareer part 6 of 8.
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Sep 25, 2008 20:13
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Purolove says that Great Muta beat Suwama for the Triple Crown and Marufuji beat Hijikatai for the Jr. title today! I wonder how much it costs to buy the GHC title, because that would be all kinds of awesome!
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Sep 28, 2008 14:31
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I demand an IWGP vs Triple Crown unification match  TheDuelies posted:I wonder how much it costs to buy the GHC title, because that would be all kinds of awesome!
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Sep 28, 2008 15:09
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I know what you're saying and I wouldn't want him to keep it long. I just want him to hold all the titles if we're already this close!
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Sep 28, 2008 15:23
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edit - Oops. Wrong button. So uh, Marifuji winning the Jr. title is weird or something. Maybe HUSTLE could work out that IWGP vs Triple Crown unification match for you Ditch. TheDuelies fucked around with this message at 15:28 on Sep 28, 2008 |
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Sep 28, 2008 15:24
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