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New Japan's biggest show of the year is late tonight US Time. Like last year they're fortunately back to a single dome card and it doesn't even look like they're doing the NJPW X NOAH Yokohama Arena show this year which were branded Wrestle Kingdoms even tho they were kinda it's own distinct card. Its an earlier than normal show this year which is nice for people in the western hemisphere. Time info Main card - 2:30 EST/7:30 GMT/16:30 JST Preshow with the annual Ranbo an hour earlier at 1:30 EDT/6:30 BST Official Preview: Press Conference Writeup Part 1 Press Conference Writeup Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l5l4hUhkFk Preshow - KOPW Ranbo- Royal Rumble style staggered elimination battle royal. Final Four advance to a deciding match on NeW Year's Dash to decide the first 2024 provisional KOPW holder. Expect a mixture of vets not on the main card, young lions, and a special appearance or two from legends or outsiders Prediction - Taichi, Yano, Suzuki, and an outsider guest IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Championship: BC War Dogs(c) (Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney) vs. Catch 2/2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxD9154LBQw As has often been the case the main Dome card opens with a match for the Jr. Heavy tag belts. Catch 2/2 has been imo the most consistently great team in the company since they formed and the Jr War Dogs have fantastic presence and been good heel champs. Should be a solid to very good opener as usual. Prediction - Catch 2/2 New Japan World TV Championship: Zack Sabre Jr.(c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-kc3yNmudE Many were understandably skeptical when New Japan debuted yet another new championship at WK17 1 year ago. Fortunately they picked the perfect guy to establish it as ZSJ can have a good 15 minute match with just about anyone on the planet and it was a consistent highlight throughout 2023. One year and 16 defenses later, who better to challenge him than his signature rival over the past few years? Tanahashi as you probably know is now the legitimate President of the company and has made it clear that he plans on taking on his new role while maintaining active as a wrestler just as Inoki and many other famous wrestlers in multiple companies in the country have don. Prediction: go shacho! Special Single Match:: Yuya Uemura vs. Yota Tsuji https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zue_NffWVe0 Two former young lion classmates who both returned from excursions face off in a battle of unit mates of the IWGP Title contenders. These are both talented guys who need to be established and it's good to see them get a singles match on the biggest show of the year. Tsuji especially really jumps out with his charisma if you're unfamiliar with him and is clearly a guy to me who should be a major champion in the near future Prediction- Uemura. rooting for Tsuji and I could see them making it a L.I.J night, but otoh Uemura could be a good first opponent for Naito..... Special Tag Match: Shota Umino and Kaito Kiyomiya vs. House of Torture (Ren Narita and EVIL) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oVKqdqtFXQ A second consecutive battle of young lion classmates who have made recent returns, plus Kiyomiya continues his tour of other major promotions after appearing in Final Battle and winning the Twin Gate. The storyline of Narita's betrayal after their long history together and teaming up for the WTL is a good standard pro wrestling angle but sadly the main heel unit for native Japanese wrestlers is the House of Torture. You know the shtick we're going to get, hopefully the match is solid and serves a purpose outside of the inevitable. Prediction - Umino + Kiyomiya NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi(c) vs. Tama Tonga https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTendqBZ-2Y Shingo fits the classic NEVER champion mold better than anyone else in the company rn and most western internet fans were thrilled when he beat Tama in Las Vegas. That ws a bit of a shocker as it was Tama's first defense after regaining the title from Finlay. Many have been underwhelmed by the rematch here but Tama is a reasonably pushed guy and i hope and believe they can have a more compelling match in a bigger setting Prediction- neither would shock, but eh, Shingo? IWGP + STRONG Tag Championship::Bishamon (IWGP C) vs. Guerrilas of Destiny (STRONG C) [El Phantasmo and Hikuleo) Bishamon have been the mainstays of the heavyweight tag division for years now. They not only won an unprecedented 3rd straight WTL but they accomplished the rare feat of winning the league tournament as reigning tag champs. They selected the reigning STRONG champs to be their challengers at the dome to give them a second chance after their 35 minute tournament final. Prediction- G.o.D IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship Hiromu Takahashi(c) vs. El Desperado https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh_kvALs-Vw Hiromu won the belt at last year's dome show and fortunately has so far finally been able to have a signature reign uninterrupted by injuries. This is a battle between the two clearly most popular and most pushed juniors in the company and ordinarily this would seem like a logicial endpoint for a title run. Hiromu has been on record on wanting to surpass Minoru Tanaka's V11 record for most defenses and is currently at 7 tho so there's certainly a storyline for his reign to continue. Whichever way they go should be a grea match between two of the most popular wrestlers in the company. Prediction- Hiromu Inagural IWGP Global Championship 3 Way: Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWwnLYwfs3s For anyone unaware this is the replacement for the US/UK Heayweight Championship after Ospreay first rebranded it after his own home country and Finlay destroyed both belts at Power Struggle last November. It's a nice looking belt but starting it off in a match between two guys who are going to be AEW-contracted wrestlers in a month plus a guy who sometimes feels like the weakest link of his own unit did not initially be the most auspicious way of debuting it. Things have looked up a bit in recent weeks tho. While Ospreay may be leaving, he not only has been announced for the next NJPW US show in San Jose but has challenged Okada. The result is no longer nearly as obious as it initially seemed..... Prediction- Ospreay Special Single Match- Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpzcuBz69g8 A legit dream match between two of the very best wrestlers in the world in recent years. I was at their first match in Toronto and was mildly underwhelmed given what those two are capable of, but ofc it's unfair to judge based on a match that had to be improvised due to Danielson breaking his arm. Danielson has fortunately made it despite suffering another serious injury to his orbital bone along the way, and I have no doubt he'll want to kill it at the Dome at the start of what he claims is his last full time year as a professional wrester. Prediction- Okada IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: SANADA(c) vs Tetsuya Naito https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqmTDL4NQVQ This has been a very logically and consistently built match that neverless has left many western internet fans cold. SANADA has never been the most over guy to foreign fans and Naito is a love or hate guy (I happen to be the former but i know many in the latter group post here). SANADA's reign started off really strongly as he split from L.I.J, became the 5th Guy to give them a necessary identity beyond "Suzuki-gun leftovers" before pinning Okada in a great match in Ryogoku. The storyline of him beating his former L.I.J unitmates as well a his old turncoat tag partner EVIL before having to face the biggest of them all in G1 Climax Winner Naito made a lot of sense. Unfortunately, he did feel like he lost some steam in the G1 and his Tokyo Sports MVP results show that it's not just westerners who aren't sold on him. This feels like the natural ending point of his reign and whether they book another shocker or not I feel this will get over very well with the live audience. Prediction- Naito Thauros fucked around with this message at 23:57 on Jan 3, 2024 |
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Jan 3, 2024 13:36
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| # ? May 6, 2024 22:00 |
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 anyway NYD is tomorrow early morning US time its a mystery vortex card aside from the KOPW 4 way. Last year saw a welcome return to big angles and hopefulyl that continutes NEW YEAR'S DASH 4:00 EST/9:00 GMT/18:00 JST Sumida City Gymnasium KOPW 2024 4 Way:Toru Yano vs. YOH vs. Great-O-Khan vs. Taiji Ishimori rest of card TBA Thauros fucked around with this message at 01:21 on Jan 5, 2024 |
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Jan 3, 2024 13:36
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Hell yes, best way to start the year, every year  Hope Uemura and Tsuji have a blowaway match, Tsuji in particular came back from excursion red-hot but has kind of just been filling up space since then. I do like that a lot of this WK build and much of New Japan for the last 2-3 months has been Naito making sure SANADA can see how much he loves playing with his lemon tree.
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Jan 3, 2024 13:50
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It is time to end the SANADA experiment.
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Jan 3, 2024 14:06
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Looking forward to try and watch this in the background tomorrow night.
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Jan 3, 2024 14:07
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Guess I'm getting up at 4am due to the early start. I'll miss the first bit of the show, but any earlier seems unreasonable.
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Jan 3, 2024 14:15
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I might stay awake for a more exciting card, but I'll happily catch up with this one over next morning's coffee instead
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Jan 3, 2024 14:24
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hmm
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Jan 3, 2024 14:35
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card kinda sucks, but main event will pwn
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Jan 3, 2024 14:36
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I usually take the 4th off but I wasn't able to this year. Guess I'll just have to watch the show at work! Lots of rematches on this show which makes it less exciting, but they should mostly be good.
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Jan 3, 2024 14:51
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you mean 7:30 GMT, right? It's not British Summer Time for another few months.
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Jan 3, 2024 15:11
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It's weird how uninteresting this show is considering I'm getting to see probably my all-time favourite wrestler Danielson wrestle for the first time in almost a year (I never made it past January last year in my attempt to check out the recommended AEW stuff). I hate when they stick a westerner into a title match to make it a 3 way (see Cody. My entire annoyance with him probably stems from him being put into the Omega Ibushi title match. 3 ways are just not something NJPW needs to do, & no match is going to be improved by adding in David Finlay, no matter how much I am told I need a rebel). Why aren't Coughlin & Kidd on this show (OK, I get that they'll be in the Rambo but c'mon, you can find a match for Finlay but not either of his more interesting partners)? The junior title feels like it's been on ice since Dominion basically, which I understand isn't unusual but surely it's not so bad most years that the champ has wrestled as many singles matches in DDT as he has in NJPW. I hope it exceeds expectations, I have faith that despite the buildup not being much that SANADA vs Naito will be very good
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Jan 3, 2024 15:40
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forkboy84 posted:I hate when they stick a westerner into a title match to make it a 3 way (see Cody. My entire annoyance with him probably stems from him being put into the Omega Ibushi title match. 3 ways are just not something NJPW needs to do, & no match is going to be improved by adding in David Finlay, no matter how much I am told I need a rebel). I get what you're saying but it's still really funny to me that you identify Finlay as the westerner out of him, Mox and Ospreay
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Jan 3, 2024 15:48
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I'll repost this here, just because I'd hate to see them go to waste. I have two tickets for the Stardom show on Saturday that I can't use. Girlfriend got called back to work early so we're flying out on Friday and won't be here to use them. Stardom doesn't do refunds apparently, so I'm stuck with them. If someone who is going to be at the NJPW show tomorrow wants them; they're yours. Free of charge, if that was unclear. We wanted to go to the Stardom show before WK but those tickets went super fast and it seems like they don't reserve some for walk-ups. But we're in the area and will just be wandering around the gardens and such before the show. Drop me a PM and we'll figure out where to meet.
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Jan 3, 2024 15:53
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idc ab the matches w/ aew guys bryan danielson is god tier but idc close the forbidden door imo
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Jan 3, 2024 15:55
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I don't care who wins between SANADA and Naito. I do care that KENTA punks them immediately after and laughs maniacally.
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Jan 3, 2024 15:58
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I just hope everyone has a good time
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Jan 3, 2024 15:59
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Won't be able to watch live cause I didn't get fired today like I did this day last year. I don't like the belts with white straps
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Jan 3, 2024 16:06
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Gonna get in from work, quickly make dinner and go to sleep. Walking up for Dynamite, another sleep and then WK. Going to be a busy one. I know it has almost no chance of happening but I’d like to see Luke Jacobs in the Ranbo. Would love to see his rivalry with Ishii get reignited in Japan rather than just the UK.
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Jan 3, 2024 16:09
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Lid posted:I don't care who wins between SANADA and Naito. I want Naito to win, KENTA tries this again, and gets speared out of his boots by Tsuji on the way to the ring.
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Jan 3, 2024 19:11
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Gaz-L posted:I want Naito to win, KENTA tries this again, and gets speared out of his boots by Tsuji on the way to the ring. And then Tsuji fucks over Naito instead
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Jan 3, 2024 19:33
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Ziggy Tzardust posted:And then Tsuji fucks over Naito instead I'm fine either way on this.
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Jan 3, 2024 19:36
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I'm so hyped I'm going to nap after dynamite to be awake for this 
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Jan 3, 2024 19:37
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Count me in for watching Dynamite then napping crew! Going to watch WK 18 live with some friends.
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Jan 3, 2024 22:55
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Venomous posted:you mean 7:30 GMT, right? It's not British Summer Time for another few months. yes sorry, you're still five hours ahead of us as we're both on winter time and ui jsut got the abbreiation wrong. will edit. Ours is Eastern Daylight in summer and Eastern Standard in Winter and i ws typing it up at 5 am before work
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Jan 3, 2024 23:57
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https://x.com/CiaranRH93/status/1742656565696438689?s=20 speaking of danielson and new japan hopefully this is a sign he wants to do a g1 before he "retires"
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Jan 3, 2024 23:59
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Dynamite then TJPW's annual sickos match then Wrestle Kingdom baby!
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Jan 4, 2024 00:02
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Tuesday's All Japan show & then maybe a nap & WK. Don't really see me getting up in time for the Rambo though.
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Jan 4, 2024 00:07
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Just got home from work, going to sleep for 2 and a bit hours before TJPW then having people over for WK, lfg
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Jan 4, 2024 00:20
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Pumped to see this live even if it's not the best WK card. Still really good
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Jan 4, 2024 00:22
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ThePariah posted:It is time to end the Naito experiment.
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Jan 4, 2024 00:40
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Thauros posted:https://x.com/CiaranRH93/status/1742656565696438689?s=20 Just put him in a G1 block with all those dudes and watch the magic happen, as long as Ishii doesn't headbutt his face off.
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Jan 4, 2024 01:11
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How many broken bones does Danielson have after doing a G1 schedule?
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Jan 4, 2024 01:19
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none with the less dates more people set up they have now
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Jan 4, 2024 01:22
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Good news Gino is back for the New Japan Cup https://twitter.com/reasonjp/status/1742694351632060502
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Jan 4, 2024 01:34
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fez_machine posted:Good news Gino is back for the New Japan Cup Yay! He must be so tired having to time his departures and returns to Australia around when he suspects DOUKI might put on the DOUKI CHOKEY, KEVIN
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Jan 4, 2024 01:57
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Tbh I don't get the complaints about the card. Tama isn't a very sexy match for shingo but every thing else is about right. I was critical about how they booked shota/ren/tsuji but I think the company got it right and I was wrong. They will need to start actually winning big matches soon but they have elevated each other. What Shota and Tsuji have been able to do has reassured me a lot and I feel pretty good about things. I'd have liked the war dogs hw tag team on the card I suppose.
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Jan 4, 2024 02:06
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I'd love it if my dude Mox wins since he couldn't win the Triple Crown but I'm almost positive that goddamn Finlay is gonna win instead. 
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Jan 4, 2024 02:22
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SamuraiFoochs posted:I'd love it if my dude Mox wins since he couldn't win the Triple Crown but I'm almost positive that goddamn Finlay is gonna win instead. I was pretty sure ospreay was winning but the press conference was very much "oh we are going to underestimate finlay and it will cost us" from the two lads
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Jan 4, 2024 02:29
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forkboy84 posted:How many broken bones does Danielson have after doing a G1 schedule? All of them. He still manages a 5 star match on the final 3 nights.
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Jan 4, 2024 02:33
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