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SatoshiMiwa posted:That's terrible timing on the injury for Wato as he felt like he was close to putting everything together after a strong 2023 Yeah, becoming El Desperado's best friend was a good next step up, shame to have it sidelined like this.
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Jan 26, 2024 23:01
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Count Thrashula posted:I'm a refugee from the bad promotion trying to get into NJPW, but it's pretty confusing... I see there's a "The Road to New Beginning" series going on, which I'm assuming is like the string of weekly shows before PPVs in the American promotions. But then there's like 3 different New Beginning shows happening? Are those ... different shows? Or... like a traveling road show? Maybe I'm overthinking this trying to wrap my head around what to watch. Hey, welcome on board, it's mostly fun! So how I'd explain it is that Japanese companies traditionally run a touring schedule rather than the weekly TV show format from US companies. Currently the first tour of the year is New Beginning, which is bookended by New Beginning In Nagoya which happened on 20/1 & then the Road To shows begin, and most of them are just house shows that never get broadcast & often have very similar cards so just don't worry about them. But usually any shows on a tour that happen in Korakuen Hall in Tokyo will be on New Japan World if you want to watch. This tour has 4, 23 & 24 Jan as well as 4 & 5 Feb. The next big show though is on the 11th Feb, New Beginning In Osaka, which has a tag team title match, Zack Sabre Jr faces Bryan Danielson, & there's also a big 5 vs 5 tag match in a steel cage, which is pretty rare in New Japan. Confusingly, after Osaka they immediately start a new tour, Fantasticamania, which is done in collaboration with the lucha libre promotion CMLL & involves bringing over a bunch of Mexican talent, & some NJPW guys who wrestled in Mexico on their excursion will go use the gimmick they used in Mexico (Hiromu Takahashi becomes Kamitachi, El Desperado often becomes Namajague, for example) & it's kind of non-canon if that makes sense? It's really about the lucha guys & everyone comes wearing masks & they have air horns like in Arena Mexico, it's really quite fun & I recommend catching at least a little of it, but it's definitely more in the "inessential" category from a New Japan story perspective. The confusing part is after that finishes they have 2 more New Beginning shows, New Beginning In Sapporo nights 1 & 2, & they have a bunch of title matches across the 2 nights. After that there's a short break, everyone gets to go home for a while before March 6th & the 52nd Anniversary Show. And that leads straight into the New Japan Cup which is a different kettle of fish & I don't want to overload you with info. When I first got New Japan World I watch everything. Every match on every show. I was very hot for the product, I am way more picky now, partly just because I watch other wrestling companies now & back then I was only watching New Japan. The English commentary really helps get you familiar with all the guys on the roster & stories & stuff, Chris Charlton in particular is a fountain of NJPW knowledge. Some people will look down at you for using the English commentary but gently caress them, when you're almost totally unaware of who everyone is it's nice to at least have someone in a familiar language. It makes it so much more approachable for newcomers, I know it did for me. And I do recommend keeping up with this thread, because Thauros does a great job of updating the OP with the card for the next show airing on New Japan World & I'd also add that we're generally a pretty welcoming & helpful thread so if you have any questions just fire away.
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Jan 26, 2024 23:20
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Yeah, Chris is great on commentary and Walker's very enthusiastic which helps a bunch. They'll usually get one of the English speaking wrestlers on commentary too, so HENARE or Rocky Romero or someone.
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Jan 26, 2024 23:26
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Thanks for the info and warm welcome!
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Jan 26, 2024 23:52
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Count Thrashula posted:Thanks for the info and warm welcome! Welcome aboard, how familiar are you with the roster?
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Jan 26, 2024 23:58
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Gaz-L posted:Honestly, the upcoming shows are gonna be a pretty good buffet of what the promotion has to offer now. You get Okada's farewell tour, the big United Empire/Bullet Club cage match sending off Ospreay, SANADA vs Naito... and Dolph Ziggler in a main event.
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Jan 27, 2024 01:21
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fez_machine posted:Welcome aboard, how familiar are you with the roster? I'm a huge Kenny Omega mark, so I'm familiar with his relationship with Kota Ibushi. And I love Minoru Suzuki. And I'm sure there are other folks that migrated to AEW that I know. But other than that, I've been looking for an NJPW primer on YouTube but can't find anything!
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Jan 27, 2024 01:35
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In addition to those you mentioned, here are the members of the current AEW roster that spent significant time in NJPW:quote:Adam Page And probably some more I'm forgetting! As far as a primer goes, this series of videos does a pretty good job of illustrating the modern history of NJPW - the only issue is that the last entry is three years old, so it really doesn't have much to say about the company's current scene. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8GWdQ90lNZffTLl4pLGsg-0yx9ybteOh
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Jan 27, 2024 01:49
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There is a pretty good podcast called we work stiff (Chris Charlton listens )that focuses on njpw storytelling. However the thing with this promotion and often japan in general is guys are just let to cook stuff and occasionally the bookers will act. Taichi and Sanada had that angle simmering for what felt like 25 years before the booking moved with it. So often we are like Charlie Kelly in the mail room with our conspiracy theories. Of course that's part of the fun This is probably as good a time as any to jump on. Okada going is going to create a massive power vacuum. They have a good young roster they have to start pushing soon. They have a young lion on a weird excursion who could be back at any time in Oiwa who I think has a high ceiling. The next show on world on the 4th is legit a really good card. It's going to be matches building to United empire (will ospreays stable) v bullet club war dogs (David finlay stable) Henare v Gabe Kidd should be awesome. I'm rather hyped for finlay v callum Newman which is likely to be a fancy squash but I'm keen on that.
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Jan 27, 2024 02:09
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Well, much like AEW (and a lot of Japanese promotions, honestly) the big thing in NJPW is factions, the key ones currently being: Los Ingobernables de Japon : The Japanese spin-off of the CMLL based Ingobernables faction which has pretty well outstripped the original in relevance (despite said original being founded by Rush and Andrade) Lead by the current world champion Tetsuya Naito, they started off as a bunch of misfits who were rebelling against the office, full on heels who would cheat and disrespect tradition. Except Naito in particular, and eventually the group as a whole, got over as faces because a lot of Japanese fans related to that feeling of 'gently caress the boss, I tried following the rules and didn't get poo poo'. Current members: Naito, Hiromu Takahashi (junior heavyweight/cruiserweight nutcase who managed to get a cat stuffy over), BUSHI (wears a mask, exists), Titan (actual luchador, is rad), Shingo Takagi (former world champ, built like a brick shithouse, just did a death match with Mox), Yota Tsuji (giant werewolf man who does a rad spear) United Empire: Mainly foreigners, this is Will Ospreay's group. They have a loose 'organised crime family' gimmick, again started as heels (notable for a very poorly received and thought out angle where Ospreay hit his then-girlfriend and current NXT wrestler Bea Priestly with a cutter to show how bad he was) but have sort of gotten over as face-leaning tweeners due to Ospreay being respected. Current members: Ospreay, Aussie Open (both technicalities), Jeff Cobb, TJ Perkins (you might know these two), Great O-Khan (does a quasi Mongol emperor gimmick), HENARE (Maori tough guy), Francisco Akira (Italian pretty boy who developed an edge as part of the group), Callum Newman (low man on the pole currently) and occasional manager Gideon Gray (absolutely obnoxious Callis style heel in the west, but weirdly over as a lil birthday boy comedy heel in Japan) Bullet Club/War Dogs: You probably know Bullet Club. Once Juice and Jay left Japan, the faction was taken over by David Finlay (son of yes, that Finlay) who's had... mixed success with the rebranding of the stable as a group of young, vicious killers. Current members: Finlay (current global champion, think the Intercontinental or International title), Gabe Kidd (loudmouth English hooligan), Clark Connors (weird cowboy guy, looks like Wish.com Adam Page), Drilla Moloney, Alex Coughlin (insanely strong boi with a moustache), and manager Gedo House of Torture: ....look... they're seemingly really over domestically and sell a lot of merch. Basically HEAAAAT the stable. A splinter group of Bullet Club featuring mostly the original group's Japanese membership, led by former LIJ member, ex-world champ and current NEVER champion (kind of the tertiary singles title) EVIL. Current members: EVIL, SHO (former Rocky Romero protege turned wrench wielding gremlin), Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo (assistant booker and part time wrestler), Yoshinobu Kanemaru (lowkey excellent cruiser with a 'guy swilling whiskey on the front stoop' kind of gimmick), Ren Narita (former protege of Katsuyori Shibata who recently turned heel) Just 5 Guys: The newest group, led by former LIJ member SANADA and the remnants of Minoru Suzuki's Suzuki-gun. Despite being formed from the heelish Suzuki-gun and a vague betrayal of Naito, they're up there with LIJ as pretty much pure faces. Current members: SANADA, Taichi (has kind of a J-pop idol gimmick), TAKA Michinoku (you probably know him), DOUKI (forum fave, little goblin of a Japanese lucha guy who carries a pipe), Yuya Uemura (young guy who spent the last few years in TNA) TMDK : The Mighty Don't Kneel. Punk themed group led by Zack Sabre Jr, made of foreign guys that initially shared history in NOAH Current members: ZSJ, Mikey Nichols and Shane Haste (sometimes referred to as TMDK on their own, long time Aussie tag team), Bad Dude Tito (US indie guy, good hoss), Robbie Eagles (fantastic Aussie flyer), Kosei Fujita (young guy Zack took under his wing initially to gently caress with another wrestler on the roster during an angle, has developed into him graduating to the 'main roster' as a legit member of the group) CHAOS: Dunno what this is, sounds fake. Gaz-L fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Jan 27, 2024 |
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Jan 27, 2024 02:10
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CHAOS getting folded back into GBH would be the funniest ending for their saga
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Jan 27, 2024 02:19
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The recent trios title match made me really want to see Fujita vs. Danielson. Shame BD isn't around for some warm up tags before his ZSJ match as I'd love to see them mix it up.
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Jan 27, 2024 02:26
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Togi Makabe, sucking on a Toblerone: What do you mean Great Bash Heel isn’t just me and Honma again. Also, guys, I’m like 80% retired! Gedo slides a Halloween basket filled with candy across the table. Makabe’s eye twitches.
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Jan 27, 2024 02:27
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A delight to see somebody trying out New Japan, there's a good reason it is the biggest promotion in Japan and among the biggest in the world, they have great shows, a fantastic roster, and just to reinforce the English commentary really is exceptionally strong with Chris Charlton providing on-the-fly translation of all the promos (even when he's at home with Covid like he is now!) and has also become an excellent play-by-play AND color commentator in his own right. Nothing quite beats when he gets absolutely fired up and starts going off.
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Jan 27, 2024 03:19
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One other point of difference I didn't see posted about is the relative lack of in ring promos, unless it's something big it's usually only the winner of the main event that gets mic time in front of the audience. Instead, there are backstage interviews for pretty much every wrestler in every match, which are all posted the next day on the NJPW World Yotube page with subtitles. These have always been great for character quirks that can't be coveyed as easily during matches, the most relevant recent thing is that Gabe Kidd's constant chirping is starting to wear on David Finlay which ads another little wrinkle into the upcoming 5 vs 5 cage match
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Jan 27, 2024 03:53
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“When Alexander The Great of Macedon was 33, he cried salt tears because he had no worlds left to conquer. Jay White is 28 and is very close to feeling that blissful sadness, and to do that, he will send a deity crashing down to earth, and snuff out the Golden Star.” ~ Charlton, 1.5.2021 Or, my personal favorite: “He’s getTING UP!!” ~ Charlton, 8.12.2018
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Jan 27, 2024 03:56
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SG Bamboo posted:These have always been great for character quirks that can't be coveyed as easily during matches, the most relevant recent thing is that Gabe Kidd's constant chirping is starting to wear on David Finlay which ads another little wrinkle into the upcoming 5 vs 5 cage match Finlay should show a little more respect (and fear!) towards the current leader of Bullet Club 
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Jan 27, 2024 03:57
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I really do wonder how in the gently caress a company that has run like two cage matches in its history is going to pull off a literal 5-on-5 cage match, that is a poo poo ton of bodies in a confined space. Like, AEW folks are excited about Will starting on Dynamite real soon and I kind of want to go “let’s not count our chickens before the chicken throws himself off the top of the cage in a Sky Twister Press or a Leap of Faith onto eight guys and somehow manages to hurt himself and two other people in the landing” Will and at least three other people are going to do so much incredibly stupid poo poo and it’s probably going to be among the most memorable cage matches of all time, but I have no expectations that everyone is going to make it out of that match, particularly Will, without loving up some body part somehow
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Jan 27, 2024 04:03
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The Cameo posted:“When Alexander The Great of Macedon was 33, he cried salt tears because he had no worlds left to conquer. Jay White is 28 and is very close to feeling that blissful sadness, and to do that, he will send a deity crashing down to earth, and snuff out the Golden Star.” ~ Charlton, 1.5.2021 The Bristow in question was a darts player. Same commentator also once said "there's only one word to describe this: magic darts"
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Jan 27, 2024 04:19
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The Cameo posted:I really do wonder how in the gently caress a company that has run like two cage matches in its history is going to pull off a literal 5-on-5 cage match, that is a poo poo ton of bodies in a confined space. I have to imagine there'll be maybe three big spots starring everybody before 2 or 3 guys on each side escape the cage and we get lets say 10 minutes of 2 on 2 before the finish
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Jan 27, 2024 04:39
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forkboy84 posted:For anyone unaware this a reference to one of the most tremendously hyperbolic lines of sports commentary ever. "When Alexander The Great of Macedon was 33, he cried salt tears because he had no worlds left to conquer. Bristow is only 27." That is... loving amazing 
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Jan 27, 2024 04:47
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forkboy84 posted:For anyone unaware this a reference to one of the most tremendously hyperbolic lines of sports commentary ever. "When Alexander The Great of Macedon was 33, he cried salt tears because he had no worlds left to conquer. Bristow is only 27." didn't know Alan Partridge was a darts commentator
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Jan 27, 2024 06:25
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The Cameo posted:I really do wonder how in the gently caress a company that has run like two cage matches in its history is going to pull off a literal 5-on-5 cage match, that is a poo poo ton of bodies in a confined space. My second favourite match in 2023 and a match I'd argue was literally perfectly booked was a 6 on 6 cagematch in stardom (queens quest v oedo tai at stardom sunshine) But that match was elimination so it was first team to completely escape the cage. So they could open up the match as they had wrestlers escape. It led to an awesome little story between the leaders of the two stables at the end as the wrestlers got out the cage If this is 5 on 5 for the whole match I'm interested in how the match actually ends
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Jan 27, 2024 06:39
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Venomous posted:didn't know Alan Partridge was a darts commentator Trying to think if On The Hour did a darts segment for Alan. They did do one where he lost his poo poo over a golfer successfully hitting the golf ball
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Jan 27, 2024 07:42
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I am very much considering spending over $250 , (for tickets, transportation and accomm), and taking a 2 1/2 hour train trip to go in to Sapporo to see Naito defend against SANADA at the end of Feb. It also won't take much convincing for me to show up a day earlier on the Friday public holiday to watch Dolph Ziggler vs Fit Finlay's son. Yeah Matt Riddle will be there too, but I can just go hang a piss during his match. What's stopping me is that I also want to make the trek into Sapporo to watch the first AFL game of the season in March, and I dunno if I can justify heading in to the big smoke twice is such a short period of time.
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Jan 27, 2024 13:29
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Hey there, I was going to have a Royal Rumble party but have decided to run alternate programming for the bunch of wrestling newbies coming over to my house for pizza and or wings. I've picked Wrestle Kingdom, is there a good primer on stuff leading up to the event I can share with the new folks to get them up to speed?
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Jan 27, 2024 18:40
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LionYeti posted:Hey there, I was going to have a Royal Rumble party but have decided to run alternate programming for the bunch of wrestling newbies coming over to my house for pizza and or wings. I've picked Wrestle Kingdom, is there a good primer on stuff leading up to the event I can share with the new folks to get them up to speed? There are video packages before most/all the matches that explain the basics. Here's a preview video featuring one of the English announcers but it's over an hour long so you may want to skip some parts.
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Jan 27, 2024 18:45
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They put out videos on YouTube in the lead up to the event, lemme see if I can list them out roughly in the match order: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l5l4hUhkFk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxD9154LBQw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-kc3yNmudE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zue_NffWVe0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oVKqdqtFXQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTendqBZ-2Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRQup81UJyw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh_kvALs-Vw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWwnLYwfs3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpzcuBz69g8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqmTDL4NQVQ There is also an 18 minute primer on the main event that explains the long road both men took to be standing across each other inside the Tokyo Dome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKZaH-H_fio There are also interviews that were done with several of the upper card participants, but putting this many videos in one post makes my Awful app scream so I will leave that up to you. But these videos are nice quick short primers on the immediate events leading up to the match, along with plugging in pieces of the history of guys to help explain where this sits in the grand story of each guy.
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Jan 27, 2024 18:49
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Count Thrashula posted:I'm a huge Kenny Omega mark, so I'm familiar with his relationship with Kota Ibushi. And I love Minoru Suzuki. And I'm sure there are other folks that migrated to AEW that I know. Voices of Wrestling put up a very comprehensive 2023 guide to the promotion https://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2023/07/14/the-2023-njpw-primer-everything-you-need-to-know-about-new-japan-pro-wrestling/
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Jan 27, 2024 23:00
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Oh hell yeah, thanks for that! I'm also watching WK18 instead of Royal Rumble tonight  I already watched the Rambo preshow match and it ruled. I'm instantly a fan of like half a dozen of those guys now, especially Great O Khan. And House of Torture.Hell yeah
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Jan 28, 2024 00:31
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Wrestle Kingdom 18 was a fun show live and if I want going to the Canucks game I'd rewatch it tonight!
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Jan 28, 2024 00:36
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Count Thrashula posted:And House of Torture. oh no we lost another one 
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Jan 28, 2024 00:38
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Barry Bluejeans posted:oh no we lost another one Oh no did I do a faux pas
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Jan 28, 2024 00:43
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Count Thrashula posted:Oh no did I do a faux pas House of Torture was a real drag in covid-era New Japan (where the crowd either didn't exist or couldn't yell at them) and a lot of people just never want to see them again after that, but if that well was not poisoned for you then no
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Jan 28, 2024 00:49
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Count Thrashula posted:Oh no did I do a faux pas If you watched NJPW during its 2010s Golden Age it was more conservatively booked. House of Torture, the King of Pro-Wrestling matches and other things about the product now represent a shift in tone and loosening of the tie. Which for some fans (myself included) reduces what makes NJPW so special. Additionally, western fans burnt particularly hard by large American promotions leaning hard on interference do not like the sharp rise of interference based match layouts. It's fine to like HoT, many many people do. especially after they became more of a comedy group.
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Jan 28, 2024 00:59
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Count Thrashula posted:Oh no did I do a faux pas no, like who you like, there is no shame.
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Jan 28, 2024 01:07
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Also, like, with SHO, Nobu and Narita, the House actually has more good wrestlers than bad now.
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Jan 28, 2024 01:10
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Count Thrashula posted:Oh no did I do a faux pas House of torture are cheating wrestling heels to comical extremes. I quite like them too. They are camp and silly fun most of the time. There is a decent chunk of the fanbase especially in English speaking spaces that don't want cheating at all in njpw. Which is fair enough. We all have different tastes. I almost put SHO in my top 10 favourite wrestlers That said and I've been their biggest supporter here. At their worst they have a floor that is through the centre of the earth. The evil v sanada feud last year did genuine damage to sanadas reign. As Draxion said evil turned heel during the pandemic when crowds weren't allowed to cheer or boo. So there would be these long and often clumsy heat sections played in absolute silence. Even today some crowds give them nothing. I think they've been entertaining enough since SHOs first bosj in the stable. They just had two good korakuen hall mainevents in a row. They must move an insane amount of merch. It's just they can be very over the top with the act Burn Down Canberra fucked around with this message at 01:22 on Jan 28, 2024 |
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Jan 28, 2024 01:19
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I didn't get the House till I saw them live in Japan and then I got them and I don't know how to deal with that now
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Jan 28, 2024 01:20
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Evil... TURNED heel? I'm gonna have to read up on the history of that guy if he wasn't always a heel with his schtick
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Jan 28, 2024 01:25
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