#IWGP League

[droptoeholdyourhorses]

The Best Friends Deserve Bester

Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta have been teaming together as The Best Friends since August 2013. In January 2014, they won PWG's Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament, becoming number one contenders to the PWG World Tag Team Championship. They lost their subsequent challenge against The Young Bucks at Mystery Vortex II. The only other time Chuck and Trent have competed for those titles was at 2019's Hand of Doom where they lost to The Rascalz. What that means is that out of seven teams who won the PWG DDT4 between 2007 and 2015, The Best Friends are the only ones to have never held the PWG World Tag Team Championship.

Alright, well maybe they had better luck in NJPW. Trent's a four-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion with Rocky Romero. If Roppongi Vice can succeed, then I'm sure The Best Friends can... come fourth in the B Block in the 2017 World Tag League and finish eighth overall in the 2018 League.

No, that make sense. Best Friends as a team have always been predominantly American based. What about their ROH run in 2017? I know they had a few title matches there.

Loss vs. The Young Bucks in ROH World Tag Team Championship tornado three way match at Best in the World 2017 (also featured War Machine)

Loss vs. Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks in ROH Six Man Tag Team Championship match at Global Wars 2017 Day 3 (teamed with Flip Gordon)

Loss vs. Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks in ROH Six Man Tag Team Championship match on ROH Wrestling Episode #326 (teamed with Rocky Romero)

Loss vs. Motor City Machine Guns in ROH World Tag Team Championship match at Final Battle 2017

Ok, enough messing around. Let's get into the AEW run. Orange Cassidy has done a great job as International Champion. Kris Statlander is enjoying a good reign as TBS Champion. How have Chuck and Trent done?

Win vs. SCU and Private Party at Fyter Fest 2019 to advance to All Out for an opportunity at a first round bye in the AEW World Tag Team Championship tournament (good start)

Loss vs. Dark Order at All Out 2019 (who needs a first round bye anyway?)

Loss vs. SCU in first round of AEW World Tag Team Championship tournament (ah, that bye would have been handy)

Loss vs. Kenny Omega & Adam Page in a Number One Contender's Fatal Four Way (also featured The Young Bucks and Proud & Powerful) (got four-and-a-half stars from Dave Meltzer)

Loss to The Young Bucks in a Number One Contender's Battle Royal (not gonna list all the other teams)

Win vs. Private Party in a Number One Contender's match at Double Or Nothing 2020 (that's more like it)

Win vs. Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara to remain number one contenders (yes, go on lads!)

Loss vs. Kenny Omega & Adam Page in AEW World Tag Team Championship match on Dynamite: Fyter Fest 2020 Day 1 (ah, damn it)

Loss to FTR in Number One Contender's Gauntlet match (again, not gonna list all the other teams)

Win vs. Proud & Powerful in a Parking Lot Fight (FIVE STARS BAYBEE!)

Loss to reDRagon in a Number One Contender's Battle Royal (AEW love them some battle royals)

Loss to The Young Bucks in a Number One Contender's Casino Tag Team Royale (this was literally the week after the previous battle royal)

Win w/Orange Cassidy vs. The Trustbusters in first round of AEW Trios Championship tournament (ooo, promising)

Loss w/Orange Cassidy vs. Adam Page & Dark Order in semi-final of AEW Trios Championship tournament (never mind, I guess)

Loss w/Orange Cassidy vs. Death Triangle for vacant AEW Trios Championship (can't tell me they shouldn't have won this one given PAC was already All-Atlantic Champion at the time)

Loss w/Orange Cassidy vs. Death Triangle in AEW Trios Championship match (one day lads, one day)

Loss w/Orange Cassidy to AR Fox & Top Flight in $300,000 Three Kings Christmas Casino Trios Battle Royal (we're really taking the piss now with these battle royals)

Loss to Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett in Revolution Tag Team Battle Royal (they were literally the runners up in this one, come on)

Loss w/Orange Cassidy vs. House of Black in AEW Trios Championship match (stop teasing me)

Loss vs. Aussie Open in IWGP Tag Team Championship match (they could have had a Japan run after all)

Loss w/Bandido vs. House of Black in AEW Trios Championship match (Bandido's cool but surely it's gotta be Orange for the eventual trios run)

Loss vs. Aussie Open in ROH World Tag Team Championship Fatal Four Way at ROH Death Before Dishonor 2023 (also featured Lucha Bros and The Kingdom) (another big win coming any day now)

Loss vs. Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli in Parking Lot Brawl (four-and-a-half stars for the Parking Lot sequel)

Win w/Orange Cassidy, Eddie Kingston & Penta vs. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, and Proud & Powerful in Stadium Stampede at All In 2023 (the biggest of big wins, another four-and-a-half stars)

Loss to Dark Order in ROH Number One Contender's Battle Royal (great way to follow up that momentum after All In)

Loss to The Righteous in ROH Number One Contender's Fatal Four Way (also featured The Hardys and The Kingdom) (again, great follow up)

Obviously there's been more matches in between the ones I highlighted. The Best Friends have had some good moments here and there but overall, it feels like there's been missed opportunities. No follow up after the initial Parking Lot Brawl. No Trios Championship run. Lost in the shuffle again following All In.

The Best Friends deserve bester.

[thistledropkick]

I have some stuff to say about this year's BOSJ and how it's different from previous years, and some related controversy going on right now about which match should be the main event for Dominion. I'm gonna ramble so I'll put it behind a cut.

For a very long time, the BOSJ got its own show for the tournament finals, with the BOSJ finals match as the main event. (The only recent exception was in 2020, when disruptions to the schedule meant that Tag League got folded into the BOSJ tour, but even then the BOSJ finals were the biggest focus and the main event.)

For fans of the juniors division, this is pretty important. The junior heavyweights don't often get to main event a big show. And the heavyweights get two singles tournaments a year, but the junior heavyweights only get this one.

This year, for whatever reason, NJPW has decided to hold the BOSJ tournament finals not at its own dedicated event, but at the Dominion show. The Dominion show already has an IWGP World title defense announced for the card. IWGP World title defenses are almost always the main event of every show by default. That title defense is Evil vs Moxley.

I think people would've been pretty upset about the heavyweights stealing the junior heavyweight's one chance per year to be guaranteed a main event spot at a big show regardless, but both Evil and Moxley have a significant number of people who are unhappy with them for various reasons, so that isn't helping the situation.

A rather small twitter account held poll with a rather small sample size

"6/9 Osakajo Hall Show Which is suitable for the main event?"

The BOSJ tournament finals match has 80.2%, the IWGP World Heavyweight match (Moxley vs Evil) has 14.9%, and the remaining 4.9% is "show me the results"

It's a pretty overwhelming result, especially since the BOSJ finals aren't even remotely decided yet, but it's still a pretty small sample size. So I wouldn't mention it, except that the president of New Japan's parent company Bushiroad QRTed it, adding essentially that they must take these results very seriously.

Then a while later he tweeted this formal and customer-service-type tweet saying that they've recently gotten a lot of feedback from the fans about New Japan Pro Wrestling, apologizing, and essentially asking people for patience.

It's vague enough that I have no idea what it's even specifically about, and I absolutely don't want to try to speak for any group of fans. But I think it does reflect on a general unhappiness about how things have been recently, for many reasons.

Anyway I hope at least this means that the BOSJ finals will be the main event for this show, because the division gets pushed aside enough as it is.

[wrestlingisfake]

Wrestle Kingdom 19 preview

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino - This is for the IWGP world heavyweight championship. Sabre won the 2024 G1 Climax tournament, which would normally entitle him to challenge for the world title on this show. Instead, Zack elected to use his guaranteed title shot on October 14, whereby he won the gold from Tetsuya Naito. That left this show without an obvious world title challenger. Whether Umino suitably fills that role has become the big story of the match.

New Japan has been running it's biggest show of the year on January 4 in the Tokyo Dome since 1992. In all that time, only one such show has ended with a non-Japanese guy winning the main event: Brock Lesnar in 2006, which was so long ago they weren't even calling the show Wrestle Kingdom yet. The most basic formula for Japanese pro wrestling, going back to Thesz vs. Rikidozan, is to build up a foreigner as a big deal so a Japanese wrestler can beat him in the end. It seemed elementary to give Sabre his world title run early so he could pass the torch here, and kickstart Umino's run as the new ace of the promotion. There's just one problem--the domestic audience loves Zack, and they actively reject pushing Shota to this level.

I don't think this is a crisis. If this were Vince McMahon's WWE, Umino would be literally the only babyface left to challenge Sabre, who would be a mega-dick heel that's overdue for comeuppance, and it has to happen at Wrestlemania or it can't happen at all. In New Japan, though, they can just see which way the wind is blowing and book Sabre to win, and further endear himself to the crowd with a touching speech in fluent Japanese. That might derail Umino's career, but we've seen Tetsuya Naito rebound from a similar setback.

Nevertheless, it's at least possible that New Japan would ignore fan sentiment to force an Umino title win down the fans' throats, or that the crowd could flip-flop to embrace Shota in the eleventh hour. And those possibilities, however slim, add an element of tension to this match. Will Sabre's act all cocky and embarrass his young challenger for a big pop? Will Umino subtly heel on the crowd? Will the structure of the match take the audience on the intended ride, or lose them midway through? This is all more interesting to me than Shota handing out glowsticks to kids.

Personally, my loyalties in this one are a bit divided. It's easy for me to latch on to the NJPW wrestlers who speak English, and Zack's a cool guy, and he deserves a good run on top. At the same time, I've had a soft spot for Shota ever since Jon Moxley "adopted" him in 2019, and I've been quietly rooting for that endorsement to pay off--I want "Shooter" to grow up into a badass that can plausibly defeat his mentor. I don't want either guy to get cut off at the knees. But the bottom line is, maybe Shota needs a colossal setback, to give him a chip on his shoulder. And that's why I have to pick Sabre to retain.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiromu Takahashi - It's unusual for Wrestle Kingdom to have a match second from the top without a title at stake. That just goes to show how big a deal Naito is, and how much faith everybody has in these guys to deliver a big dream match. Hiromu has wanted this match for years. I've personally wanted it since 2020, when it was booked for the 48th anniversary show, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The backstory for this bout, such that it is, is that Naito and Hiromu teamed up to win the 2024 World Tag League tournament. That victory doesn't automatically give you an IWGP heavyweight tag title shot at this show, but traditionally the tournament winners are in a good position to issue a challenge, and usually do. But these guys dance to the beat of their own drums, so they decided to face each other at Wrestle Kingdom instead. It's still unclear if they will ever team again, let alone make a run for the tag belts.

There is really no point to this match except to see two buddies put on an excellent performance and pull out all the stops. There's no score to settle. Hiromu isn't challenging Naito for leadership of Los Ingobernables de Japon. Neither guy is going to earn a title shot here. Hiromu has very little chance of winning, and Naito has very little to prove by beating up a junior heavyweight. I don't want to say a junior can't beat a heavyweight one-on-one--it happens in the US all the time--but in New Japan it takes a pretty special junior to beat a fairly ordinary heavyweight. And Naito is hardly ordinary.

I have to predict Naito will win, but I'll be rooting for my man Hiromu.

David Finlay vs. Yota Tsuji - Tsuji is challenging for the IWGP global title. Both men have singles matches booked for tomorrow's show; whoever wins the belt here will put it on the line on January 5.

For the past few months Finlay has been beating the likes of Hirooki Goto and Taichi, so it felt like he was out of challengers, or else they were saving one really good one for this show. Hopefully Tsuji can put up more of a fight than the older guys. I wouldn't care which guy leaves with the belt, except that Tsuji is a hot rising star and New Japan has consistently failed to do anything with that. He's long overdue for a big win, and I don't buy that Finlay needs to be protected for anything. I'm picking the smiley werewolf dinosaur man to capture the gold.

DOUKI vs. El Desperado - Douki won the IWGP junior heavyweight championship from Despe on July 5, and now Despe gets his rematch. I like Douki but I was hardly expecting him to win the belt six months ago, after spending years as a job guy. Every title defense for him has felt like an unexpected gift, but now he's gotta prove he belongs at the top of the division. I like both guys best when they go to war, so I don't care who wins as long as they go to fargin war!

Shingo Takagi vs. Konosuke Takeshita - Takagi is defending the NEVER championship, and Takeshita is defending the AEW international championship; it will be champion versus champion, title for title. The winner will defend both belts on January 5 against Tomohiro Ishii.

I forget if there's a specific reason this match is happening, but I don't care as long as these two beat the fuck out of each other. Takagi is my guy but Takeshita is clearly being protected by AEW for bigger and better things. I don't know what Takeshita needs with the NEVER belt, but I expect him to win it here and then destroy Ishii tomorrow.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL - This is a lumberjack match, so the ring will be surrounded by other wrestlers; if either man exits the ring, the "lumberjacks" are expected to get him back in the ring any way they see fit. Tana is putting his career on the line in this match. I mean, he was already planning to retire anyway, one year from now, but if he loses here then Evil gets to cut short his farewell tour.

I'm pretty sure all the bad guy lumberjacks will be from Evil's House of Torture (i.e., Dick Togo, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru). So the good guy lumberjacks will probably be Tana's closest associates, like Oleg Boltin, Toru Yano, Jado, and Tomoaki Honma. Technically, Jack Perry is still a member of House of Torture, so it'd be pretty funny if he showed up for this, but I wouldn't count on it.

This is gonna be your standard House of Torture bullshit match, and even the lumberjack stip isn't all that special because I've seen House of Torture lumberjack matches already. They're gonna tease a fuck finish for 10-15 minutes and then Tana is going to eat his spinach and win in the end.

Ren Narita vs. Jeff Cobb vs. Ryohei Oiwa vs. El Phantasmo - This is a four-way match for Narita's NJPW World television title; whoever scores the first pinfall or submission, on any opponent, wins the match and the championship. This TV title is always defended with a strict 15-minute time limit, so if Narita can run out the clock he will retain.

After Narita beat Cobb and Yota Tsuji to win the title, I got to thinking they would set up Narita vs. Phantasmo one-on-one. But then ELP was sidelined at the end of October with a cancer diagnosis, and they quickly booked Narita vs. Cobb vs. Oiwa. Then a couple of weeks ago Phantasmo revealed he was medically cleared, so now he's in the match. Nice!

Cobb is trying to get his belt back, and Phantasmo has been helping Hiroshi Tanahashi in the war against House of Torture. Oiwa, however, doesn't have a clear reason to be here, except he recently came back from excursion and is trying to score some gold. I'd like to see Oiwa do well, but this feels like ELP's match to win.

Mayu Iwatani vs. AZM - This is Iwatani's ninth defense of the IWGP women's title, although it is only the third time she's defended the title on a domestic New Japan show. AZM defeated the champion during this year's 5STAR Grand Prix tournament, so I assume that's the basis of this challenge.

When New Japan introduced this title I thought it would be a cool way for me to get acquainted with the women's wrestling in Japan without going out of the way to watch joshi promotions. This has not panned out. As it is, when New Japan books a women's match, I have to spend twenty minutes looking up who the women are, because if I have seen either of them before, it was months ago in a one-and-done, so I don't retain anything. It's like trying to follow BritWres by only watching Royal Quest every year.

Anyway, I hope these two have a great match and also that I remember anything about either of them this time. I expect Iwatani to retain. Seems like this match is mainly here so they can have somebody walk out to challenge the champion, but Mercedes Mone is busy so I can't imagine who they might come up with.

KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight vs. Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita vs. TJP & Francesco Akira vs. Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney - The Intergalactic Jet Setters (Knight and Kushida) are defending the IWGP junior heavyweight tag title. This is billed as a "Tokyo terror ladder match," but as far as I can tell it's just a standard ladder match. (I suppose chairs and tables will be legal, but anything goes in a ladder match, so what's the difference?) The title belts will be hung above the ring, and the first man to climb a ladder to retrieve them will win the match and the championship for his team.

The Ichiban Sweet Boys (Eagles and Fujita) earned a title shot by winning the 2024 Super Jr. Tag League tournament. Catch 2/2 (TJP and Akira) came in second, but they won a block match over the Jet Setters, which would theoretically put them in contention someday. Connors and Moloney, the former champs, won a block match against Eagles and Fujita, so they could also have a path to a future title shot. But instead of booking two or three title matches over the next six months, they just balled it up into one clusterfuck.

I've heard that Kushida and Knight finished up with TNA recently, and Knight's New Japan deal is also up. I think if Kushida were going to work in Japan full-time, he would be on more New Japan shows. So something tells me they're going to continue as a team in AEW or WWE, which would make them even less available in Japan. A title change seems inevitable. I can't decide which of the three challenger teams has an advantage, but with New Japan it's a pretty safe bet to pick the Bullet Club team. Connors and Moloney might as well establish a dynasty with these belts.

New Japan Ranbo - This is scheduled for the pre-show. Even though all the promotional stuff says the show starts at 3am EST, this match will start at 2am, so don't be late. The "ranbo" is a gauntlet match where two wrestlers start in the ring and the other participants enter one-by-one in regularly scheduled intervals. Wrestlers can be eliminated by pinfall, submission, or by exiting the ring over the top rope to the floor. The last wrestler left after all the entrants have been eliminated will be declared the winner.

We don't know who all the participants are, because that's part of the surprise! Actually, most of the participants are just midcarders and jobbers and old-timers who aren't important enough to have a spot on the main card. The biggest names that I can think of who would make sense here are: SANADA, Tomohiro Ishii, Gabe Kidd, Great-O-Khan, Taiji Ishimori, YOH, Hirooki Goto, Taichi, KENTA, and YOSHI-HASHI. Minoru Suzuki hasn't been around lately, but I assume he doesn't have anything better to do today, so maybe he'll show up.

Lately the ranbo has been used to help determine the KOPW champion, since the title is vacated at the end of each year. This year, however, will be different, since Great-O-Khan retired the KOPW belt and declared the stakes for this match will be an IWGP world title shot. That shakes things up, since the winner has to actually be someone pretty good. My sentimental pick is for Taichi to get the shot, so he can challenge his old buddy Zack Sabre the next time they tour Hokkaido. But that's just fantasy booking; I have no idea who will win.

[bad-aew-discourse]

AEW promoting the IWGP Champion being on Dynamite when they should be focused on their own wrestlers. What a bush-league company.

[pwrestlingxpress]

AEW Has a Problem

Everything that I type here is all in my opinion and it's something I didn't want to discuss at first but feel like it's time to say it. AEW has a problem and that problem is CM Punk.

How did this problem start, you ask? Go back to the post-media event of "All Out 2022" where just minutes after regaining the AEW World Heavyweight Championship, CM Punk lashed out at the media instead of talking about his reaction to the return of MJF (aka Maxwell Jacob Friedman) from earlier that day.

His words caused a backstage brawl that resulted into suspensions of himself and all around him including Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Kenny Omega, Brandon Cutler, Michael Nakazawa, etc. Also, due to that brawl, both the AEW World Heavyweight Championship and the AEW Trios Championship were vacated.

The Trios title ended up being help by PAC, Rey Fenix, and Pentagon until January 2023 while the AEW World Heavyweight Championship would be returned to Jon Moxley who regained the title and held onto it until November where he lost in what many can considered controversial fashion to Max Friedman.

Many people including myself were under the impression that a deal was reached where CM Punk would be let go by the company for his actions. Not the case as we learned that this Saturday (June 17, 2023) a new AEW show will premiere called "AEW Collision" and the show will heavily involve CM Punk.

Now...how did people react to his imminent return. Not very good. From everything I heard and read, the reaction was very negative with boos almost all over arenas and on social media. AEW tried to cover it up by finding those who'll cheer his return. It didn't work. Worse than that...the announcement of his return caused slow ticket sales so what happens next...let's announce his return match.

CM Punk, Dax Harwood, and Cash Wheeler vs. Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Samoa Joe. If you're a Jay White fan, you'd be like "yay, Jay's on AEW Collision" in an exciting way but when you read he has to face Punk in 6-man tag action you like "yay, Jay's on AEW Collision" but your excitement meter goes down.

To make matter worse for AEW, they aired a VTR of Punk last night on AEW Dynamite that got the crowd booing even more. And from the people I follow on social media, all were furious that AEW keeps on showing Punk. Some even ask "why has he not been punished yet for his actions" "why is he getting awarded when everyone got punished"

These questions I cannot answer but I can say that AEW has a problem (CM Punk). They've tried almost everything to cover up the problem and instead have made it worse. And now...I read something in which this problem AEW has with Punk is so bad, I don't know how they're going to solve it at this point. That something...an interview that apparently and/or reportedly went out of control. Read some details on it and...it's not good.

The last time I watched AEW was the week before "All Out 2022" in which I was starting to question Punk's booking at the time but was somewhat proud to see Kenny Omega back in the ring. Haven't watched AEW since then and until they release CM Punk, have no intention to watch AEW again though there'll be times I'll watch certain highlights but not a full show.

One more thing I've been reading since they've been announcing his return was a proposed match against KENTA at "Forbidden Door 2023" taking place June 25th in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From what I read, many are thrilled about the proposed match because this could solve the one issue many have, who really owns the "GTS'. Instead, I read that Punk was "not interested". Reading that really boils me up because how in the world can you not be interested in facing a former GHC Heavyweight Champion, a 3-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion, a 3-time GHC Junior Tag Team Champion, a former GHC Tag Team Champion, a former Global League winner, a former IWGP United States Champion, a former NEVER Openweight Champion, and a 2-time (and reigning) Strong Openweight Champion. Why in the world do you say "not interested" to someone is regarded by many to be the best the world has to offer. Read KENTA's response to the proposed match and...it's a interesting one because he'll only do it if it requires the money provided but if Punk is saying "not interested" then why bother.

Again, AEW has a problem that they've yet to solve and based on all I've read, based on all I've heard, and based on almost everything I've said here...are not even going to attempt to solve the problem and it's a shame that this is happening. None of this would have happened if they had just fired Punk. Instead, look where we're at right now. This (AEW Collision with Punk) is going to blow up in their face.

With that...done talking about Punk here. Again, everything I just typed right here on my Pro Wrestling Express is all in my opinion. Feel free to comment on your opinion in this ongoing problem that AEW has no attempt to solve at this time.

[ss-trashboat]

hey boat fren :) for the asks, what has been your favourite/most rewarding artwork so far?

hiya slej!! oh oof, i have so many i could answer this to for various reasons so i'll do a couple

forever shoutout to the titty sweater, as being on ethan's vlog with this was a huge peak moment for me, and his reaction is still one of the best i've ever gotten with any artwork. yes i do still plan on making "love is stored in the titties" stickers at some point lol

the tattoo design for @embracethechange is still like. the biggest honor i will probably ever have. tattooing is something i really wanted to do but can't (rip shaky hands) so designing tattoos helps me live that passion, and this is the first one i ever designed that someone actually got inked on them. and to know how much it means to night, to have kip see it in person AND still talk about it is just. fucking incredible

and the finished redraw of kyle's birthday art. just cause this one, and the process of how it came to be, really sums up what he means to me, and him putting up with my nonsense. cause for the og one, it was from his q&a after going home after tag league, and i jokingly asked him for a ref for my next drawing of him. and he answered with the photo for this piece. which i ended up doing for his birthday, which didn't end up getting finished for it, so i just yeeted it on insta stories with "lol i tried happ borf" and he loved it. sat on the sides for a bit, then capital collision got announced and they had a match scheduled so i was like "SHIT I GOTTA FINISH". which then led to me fucking up the og one with trying to be creative, which led to me making this one, and look at this fucker it's gorgeous fuck that cape. and i ended up posting it to socials after sakura genesis when they one the iwgp tag belts with the "i'm sorry i fucked up the og i hope you like this one". AND I'M PRETTY SURE HE REMEMBERED THE OG ONE CAUSE HE RESPONDED WITH LITTLE HEARTS AND JUST. AH. it's all on twitter i'll get screenshots for an addition or something lol, but i'm determined to get this one to him if it's the last thing i do ~

[kopw]

It makes me think about Kenny’s IWGP US title reign after he beat Ospreay…

i considered dedicating an entire section in that post to how aew handled the ospreay-omega feud (and the fan reactions that followed) so as you can probably guess i'm incredibly happy to be prompted to talk about it separately. as it is something i'm very passionate about

(it's also what i alluded to when talking about a "story-heavy match" at forbidden door, so... you know)

i think a few things go into why kenny only had one defense with the belt, but the most important thing that stands out to me is that he wasn't supposed to have a second "reign" with the belt, per se. all he needed to do was take the belt from ospreay, and then drop the belt back to ospreay, because these were necessary story beats in their feud. what happened in between was... largely inconsequential in the grand scheme of things—and, upon passing the belt over to aew, they continued to treat it as such

as this was all happening, i remember thinking that maybe there was an underlying reason that had to do with... something shoot-related, i guess. maybe something like kenny wanting to be in the best possible shape for forbidden door, having less matches until then. but then the cage match with mox happened and that whole idea flew out the window

so, what remains is... the idea that aew didn't care about the us title belt. even if this wasn't the case, it definitely felt like it. but, then again, i also sometimes think about the possibility of kenny having a slew of dead-end squash matches (akin to the proving ground matches they keep putting athena in over on roh) and how... that would've been leagues worse than one memorable match with jeff cobb. but, at the end of the day, they definitely sidelined the belt itself while it was in kenny's hands

it's a bit ridiculous, actually, because over on the new japan side of things, the absence of the belt had a bigger impact than the presence of it did in aew. the mini tournament, ospreay's chase for the top contender spot... that's where all the action was. this, of course, was only ever brought up in passing, and in the video package they featured on the actual ppv

speaking of forbidden door, i think going into that match you were pretty much required to have known what was going on in new japan, otherwise the result left you either confused or even outright dissatisfied (ignoring the portion of the outrage that was simply just people disliking ospreay himself). without wrestle kingdom, without resurgence, without dominion, without ospreay's promos... the whole thing falls flat on its face. and it's because it's a new japan storyline that just happened to have its conclusion at a crossover event. it's an ospreay-centric story that kenny inserted himself into at historic x-over, and if you look at it from any other angle, it doesn't make a lick of sense

[andymull]

NJPW G1 Climax 33 Preview

Its that special time of the year....no not the return of The Hot Tag, but this years NJPW G1 Climax 33 is nearly upon us. This years tournament is the biggest ever with 4 groups in action showcasing 32 competitors from not only NJPW but also other companies talent too thankfully.

Lets dive into the groups separately and give a quick over view of what to expect and lay some predictions out there

A BLOCK

SANADA

Chase Owens

Hikuleo

Ren Narita

Shota Umino

Yota Tsuji

Gabe Kidd

Kaito Kiyomiya

What's being look at as the young boy group with Sanada and Owens, with Sanada being the obvious favourite as reigning IWGP World Heavyweight champion. Its rare the world champion goes undefeated throughout the tournament and usually drops a match or two to setup future title matches before the January 4th Dome show. Id expect the key names looking to get that role will be the likes of Kiyomiya, Tsuji and maybe even Narita.

Kiyomiya should be one of the breakouts of this years G1, the current Pro Wrestling NOAH star has had some exposure in NJPW after feuding with Okada and will hope to follow in the footsteps of fellow NOAH star Katsuhiko Nakajima in the 2016 G1 Climax, who had some superb matches that year.

Also in this group is the newly announced group of the Reiwa Three Musketeers, in Umino, Tsuji and Narita. The Three Musketeers stable name has been used previously in the company with the last trio being that of Shinsuke Nakamura, Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi, its a very valuable name for the promotion to hand out and is a sign of how talented they see the current trio both the current scene as well as the future of NJPW. Will be VERY interesting in seeing their bouts against each other which I imagine will start out harmless and competitive, but will quickly descend into something heated when they realise the pecking order could be set here for how each guy is seen by the NJPW audiences for a long time. Alot of depth story wise here as well as potential for great matches, will be a big talking point for the Japanese media during and after the tournament as well.

Have to go for a Sanada win, with im guessing Tsuji coming in second place only slight infront of Kiyomiya.

B BLOCK

Kazuchika Okada

YOSHI-HASHI

Taichi

KENTA

Great-O-Khan

Will Ospreay

Tanga Loa

El Phantasmo

I really hope this group turns into a sprint between Okada and Ospreay, pretty sure they have 2 matches each following their one on one match on July 27th. Imagine they go the time limit versus each other and the raised importance of those final matches will be immense. Tanga Loa and El Phantasmo for Ospreay and KENTA then Tanga Loa for Okada, not the hardest bouts but the atmosphere for near falls will be superb.

I like O-Khan but he isnt in the league of the main two guys and their booking is vital for NJPW's future shows. Okada over Ospreay in the standings.

C BLOCK

David Finlay

Tomohiro Ishii

EVIL

Tama Tonga

Shingo Takagi

Aaron Henare

Eddie Kingston

Mikey Nicholls

Even though this group features one of my all-time favourites in Shingo, I really cant get into the feel of it overall. It feels nasty to say its alot of nearly but not quite guys if that makes sense, hopefully they can change that in the future but so far its been alot of promise and the start of something then it all slowed down (Tonga, EVIL) .

Its really nice to see Eddie getting his chance in his dream environment, he must be so happy every morning he opens his eyes in Japan then at the same time falls asleep wondering 'what if' the likes of Tenzan/Kojima/Honma/Nagata were still in the running so he could bang with them nightly.

Has to be between Finlay and Shingo for the leadership, with the need for the Bullet Club leader to look strong winning out, Ishii, EVIL and Tama all running close.

D BLOCK

Hiroshi Tanahashi

Tetsuya Naito

Hirooki Goto

Zack Sabre Jr.

Toru Yano

Jeff Cobb

Shane Haste

Alex Coughlin

Another strange feeling group and ive no idea why, well I do alittle but more on that latter.

The Ace continues on and wont be stopped by age or his knees looking like they explode most nights lol Every year I feel its a year too far for him he goes deep in the running to prove me wrong, and I love him for it even more than normal. I see him getting the wins this year but dropping the key matches to who I think will be the key three in this group.

Those three being Naito, ZSJ and Cobb, Jeff may surprise people with the pick but I see them building him up for the United Empire so that Ospreay can be in the position to go back for the world title and Cobb can be the next era for the US belt. Naito and ZSJ are the constants over the past few years, be it in the G1 or the New Japan cup, consistency and the big scalps and I dont see that altering anytime soon.

In terms of a winner Id lean on ZSJ for the upset over Naito, who also really needs the win after the Sanada turn. Some big booking needed by NJPW in making guys as well as not cooling the others down too far, it really is the toughest booking gig of the year.

Quarter Finals - August 10th

Sanada vs Shingo

Okada vs Naito

Finlay vs Ospreay

ZSJ vs Tsuji

Semi Finals - August 12th

Sanada vs Okada

Ospreay vs Tsuji

Finals - August 13th

Okada vs Ospreay

Winner of the G1 Climax 33 - Will Ospreay

What better way to build the tournament than by having the two guys sprinting through their group, who go to a draw on the way, have to finally settle that score in the final with the guy who finished second taking the crown overall.

The knockouts should be awesome setting up multiple future bouts such as Okada getting a title match after beating Sanada in the semis, can he win the title before the actual winner gets his shot against Sanada his-self setting up another match between Okada/Ospreay at the Dome on January 4th?

To conclude I think as normal this tournament will be great and will have tons of superb matches and moments, the bigger issue for me is that bigger numbers dont always mean better tournaments. Some of the groups feel like they have too much filler with ALOT of younger guys getting the nod and entrance. Its great for them to gain the experience this provides but for me im a sucker for the 2 group concept 20 guys maximum. This needs to be treated as the most superior tournament wrestling has to offer, the younger wrestlers need to prove theirselves more before gaining access.

Why not develop a young lions tournament for guys under a certain age with the winner taking a spot in the tournament wit the others missing out, letting them stew and develop to be better for next year where they could win the thing or even become so much better they are offered a spot on merit instead?

That aside im pumped as normal for this and will always be ready to see who Yano can tie up in duct tape up the aisle and beat :) Always a gut punch knowing we arent getting Yano/Omega again

Enjoy folks

Bye for now

Andy

(Credit to NJPW for the graphics)

[naritaren]

Lance is on the Philly card for the NJPW show! Full release:

We are just over one month away from our return to Washington DC for Capital Collision, and Collision in Philadelphia the very next night. Appropriately for the seat of US government in DC, Los Ingobernables De Japon will be making their presence felt at Capital Collision, and in Philadelphia too!

Current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito and SANADA will be a part of both DC and Philadelphia events. For Naito and SANADA, this makes their first trips to the United States since 2019, and all three LIJ members are sure to make a mark.

Also at both events will be El Desperado. Having been a force in 2022 at STRONG’s High Alert, Music City Mayhem and Forbidden Door, El Desperado is now back in the US and representing Strong Style. What does one third of the current NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag team Champions have up his sleeve?

In Philadelphia is El Desperado’s former Suzuki-Gun brother in Lance Archer. Making his first appearance in an NJPW ring since World Tag League, the Murderhawk Monster will be showing that even in the home of immortal hardcore legends in Philly, ‘everybody dies’.

With plenty more huge stars set for both events, you have to be a part of the action this April!

Capital Collision/ Collision in Philadelphia confirmed lineup to date:

IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada (April 15 Capital Collision only)

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi

STRONG Openweight Champion KENTA

Tetsuya Naito

SANADA

Will Ospreay

Tomohiro Ishii

Hiroshi Tanahashi

El Desperado

Lance Archer (April 16 Collision in Philadelphia only)

Fred Rosser

[the-blackbird-roleplays]

"That would... Go a long way to my breaking into the pro leagues..." Tenshi mumbled softly, biting his lip as he leaned forward slightly.

"What would I have to do to guarantee such an endorsement from the current number one contender to the IWGP Women's World Championship?"

@the-blackbird-roleplays

Ember smiled as she walked into gates of the duel academy, the former obelisk blue student grinning. Two short years ago she had graduated from here, and now she was returning to give a guest lecture.

The pro duelist couldn’t help but grin. Her lecture wouldn’t be until tomorrow, so with permission from the principal she took the time to roam the campus and simply observe a few duels between students. Then she noticed a relatively cute boy in an Osiris Red jacket.

[thistledropkick]

For some reason, Wato decided to quote Hiromu's backstage comments to Douki and Fujita, which don't mention or address Wato at all anywhere, with this:

Wato:

Hiromu-san, I'm always prepared and ready! I am the next in line. I will absolutely take your IWGP Jr. Heavyweight belt!

Desperado saw this and had to comment.

Despe:

That is not it.

That's not it at all, but

even if I give you the most possible leeway here,

the next person in line is me.

But somehow I can just imagine him with a smug grin on his face like "I nailed that one" after posting this

I'll probably never team up with him again anyway so whatever

So of course the next day they announced the upcoming tour schedule and Desperado is teaming with Wato. (The mysterious "Masked Horse" is also teaming with a much less mysterious "Masked Boltin")

Despe:

Masked Horse hides his identity but Masked Boltin is just Boltin in a mask right?!

And why am I with Wato again!

Despe:

The final two matches of the year, in Korakuen Hall

Personally, it didn't feel like I was absent for that long (since it was during the heavyweight tag league) but I'm back.

But,

I'll be teaming up for two days in a row with a certain person who I have poor communication with, so I may get angry with my ally due to stress.

[wrestlingisfake]

Power Struggle preview

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shingo Takagi - Sabre is defending the IWGP world heavyweight title. Shingo is the NEVER champion, but his title is not at stake. This is presumably the final world title bout of the year, so whoever leaves with the belt tonight will likely go on to defend it in the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom 19 on January 4.

Right after Sabre won the title on October 14, Takagi, SANADA, and Shota Umino all challenged him for the gold. Sanada got the first title shot on October 20. New Japan also booked this match and Sanada vs. Umino for this show, with the idea that we wouldn't know which would be a title bout and which would be a consolation match until after the 20th.

In singles matches, the champion is 3-2 against the challenger. Takagi's most recent win over Sabre was in their block match in this year's G1 Climax, but Zack got his win back in the block final. Shingo's argument is that we need a rubber match, and I'm not complaining. But I find it interesting that Sabre's only unavenged loss in the G1 was against Shota Umino, and they've gone out of their way to avoid running it back.

I like Shingo and I think he didn't get enough out of his world title run. But let's face it, this match is a formality. Sabre is clearly headed to the Tokyo Dome, and it's just a question of who will be waiting for him when he gets there. I'm hoping that question is answered tonight. If it's a big surprise from out of left field, that'll be super cool and fun. If Umino steps up to challenge Zack, well...uh...

David Finlay vs. Taichi - Finlay's IWGP global title is at stake.

Coming out of the G1, Finlay was challenged by YOSHI-HASHI (age 42), and I figured that was okay as a placeholder until a more substantial contender emerged. Then they immediately went to Finlay vs. Hirooki Goto (45) and made the whole story about how he's an aging never-was. As soon as the match ended I was like "okay, let's get someone under 40 out here, please." So naturally Finlay calls out Yuya Uemura (29, sidelined with a torn triceps) to troll us, and then here comes Taichi (44) to remind me that New Japan has an endless supply of middle-aged men who don't stand a chance against Finlay. I mean, who's next, Tomoaki Honma?

I don't mean to be hard on Taichi. OK, I was pretty hard on Taichi for a long time, but I warmed up to him over the past few years. In 2022 I might have said he's a step up from fighting Yoshi and Goto. In 2024, though, he's hardly been around, except to fail to qualify for the G1. He's ice cold, and the idea that he's making a big challenge to prove he can hang with the top guys would work better if they hadn't just done the exact same thing with Yoshi and Goto. That might work if he could win the title, but that's just not gonna happen. Finlay retains, and I suppose he'll pick a fight with Tiger Mask.

DOUKI vs. Master Wato - Wato returned from a knee injury on October 14 and challenged Douki for the IWGP junior heavyweight title. When Wato returned from excursion in 2020, Douki was positioned as a major rival for him, mainly because at the time Douki was a total jobber and Wato struggled to get a win over anyone else. Now Douki is on top of the division, and Wato has a 3-1 singles record over the champion.

In the US a guy returning from injury almost always wins his first big singles match, but in New Japan they often do a loss, to make ring rust feel like a serious factor. I don't expect a title change, but I'll be happy if Wato doesn't look like an undercard geek.

Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita vs. TJP & Francesco Akira - This is the final match of the Super Jr. Tag League tournament. The team that wins the tournament typically issues a challenge to the IWGP junior tag team champions for Wrestle Kingdom.

Eagles and Fujita, the Ichiban Sweet Boys, won A Block with four wins and one loss. Catch 2/2 (TJP & Akira) finished 3-3 in B Block, breaking a three-way tie for first place with wins over Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X and the junior tag champions, Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA.

I could see either team going to the Tokyo Dome, so this is tough to pick. But I guess I'll give the nod to Eagles and Fujita, since they haven't spent near as much time in the junior tag title picture, and I'd like to see a fresh team chase the gold.

Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls vs. Great-O-Khan & HENARE - Haste & Nicholls are defending the IWGP heavyweight tag team title. The STRONG tag title is not at stake, since Haste and Nicholls are defending that on November 8. Henare is coming off of losing the NEVER singles title. The big story with O-Khan is that he'll be defending the KOPW belt in an intergender match against Suzu Suzuki on November 17.

Whoever wins this match will probably hold the IWGP tag belts going into the World Tag League tournament (Nov. 19-Dec. 8), which will decide the next challengers. My preference would be for Haste and Nicholls to hold the gold all the way to January 4, at least. But Khan and Henare aren't really going anywhere as singles, so giving them a run as a strong tag team wouldn't be a bad thing. Of course, I don't expect it to happen, so I pick the champs to retain.

SANADA vs. Shota Umino - If Sanada had won the world title on October 20, this match would have been his first defense. As it is, though, it's a consolation match between the two guys on the short end of last month's four-way situation. Of those four, Umino has singles wins over both Zack Sabre and Shingo Takagi, but he's 0-2 against Sanada, so you can argue he needs this win before he can challenge the winner of tonight's main event.

The big story of this match will be Umino's relationship with the crowd. He's always been booked as a white-meat babyface, and I hadn't noticed any problems with that until 10/14, when he asked for a title shot and Ryogoku mercilessly booed him. Things weren't much better on 10/20, although beating Callum Newman in London was naturally going to draw a heel reaction. But now Shota is heading into Osaka, a notorious heel town, and there's already momentum for rejecting a big push for him. This could be a tough night for the kid.

Honestly, if the domestic audience turns on Umino, a heel turn wouldn't be the worst thing for his character development, and New Japan should probably embrace the opportunity. The problem is that New Japan likes to plan things out far in advance, so if they've committed to "Shota Umino headlines the Tokyo Dome and is the top babyface throughout 2025," then it won't be easy for the crowd to change their minds. One way or another, I expect Shota to pick up the win here, and to call out the champion at the end of the show.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Oleg Boltin vs. EVIL & Ren Narita - Tana was originally supposed to team with El Phantasmo, but he's been pulled out due to cancer treatment. That sounds pretty scary, but ELP seems pretty upbeat about it, so I'm hoping he knows some good news that I don't. Tana vs. Evil has already been signed for January 4, so this is a preview of that. I assumed this match would also set up Phantasmo to challenge Narita for the television title, but I guess that's off the table. Maybe Boltin can get a title shot instead? Maybe someone else will? Who knows. I'm kinda thinking Evil and Narita will win to get heel heat.

Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji & Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Toru Yano & Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi & Dragon Dia - This is just a filler match, mostly to get Naito's team on the card. Hiromu, Bushi, Taguchi, and Dia were all participants in Super Jr. Tag League. Yano and Honma are little more than enhancement talent these days. Naito was world champion up until three weeks ago, and Tsuji will probably be in that spot before too long. So this is kind of the "atom bomb vs. coughing baby" of New Japan filler tag matches. Honma will probably lose the fall.

Gabe Kidd & Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney & Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight & Paris de Silva & Jude London & Katsuya Murashima - More aftermath from Super Jr. Tag League, where Connors-Moloney, Ishimori-X, Kushida-Knigh, and de Silva-London saw action. The odd men out are Kidd, who is a heavyweight and the STRONG men's champion, and Mursahima, who is a Young Lion. So yeah, Murashima is definitely doing the job in this match.

YOH & Ninja Mack & The DKC vs. Tiger Mask & Capitan Suicida & Shoma Kato - This is a pre-show match and I never seem to find out of it will actually air on the live stream until it's already over. Tiger & Suicida were a team in Super Jr. Tag League, as was Mack & DKC. Yoh teamed with Rocky Romero, who I suppose is headed back to AEW. Kato is a Young Lion which means he's here to lose the match.

[gdwessel]

Shingo v. Okada at WK16 Made Official; BOSJ28 Participants, Cards Announced, but No World Tag League Yet; Tetsuya Naito Returns for WTL, Way Before Anyone Expected; Cobb, Yuta, Brody in Beyond 11/7/2021

New Japan Pro Wrestling today held a press conference in the wake of last Saturday's Power Struggle show. At this, the main event of Night One of Wrestle Kingdom 16, the traditional January 4 date, was made official, as Shingo Takagi will defend the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against G1 Climax 31 winner and birthday boy Kazuchika Okada. (He’s 34 now believe it or not.) The two of them talked some smack at one another. You can read it on the NJPW English site. We all know what the deal is. Personally, this was the best WK16 match they could make, and hopefully it will be enough to get fans into the Tokyo Dome.

The news that is better for us around these parts is that only half of the tour that starts Saturday, World Tag League 2021 + Best Of The Super Juniors 28, have had their participants announced, and luckily for us, it's the half we care about in BOSJ28. This will kick off in earnest on Saturday 11/13/2021, with 12 participants in a single block, for 11 matches per participant. The BOSJ28 matches will switch with World Tag League ones on alternating tour days. This does make for a much longer tour, but at least with BOSJ28 we'll have something to care about as we wait for WK16 to come around. This year's entrants: Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato, YOH [CHAOS], Robbie Eagles [CHAOS], Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables], BUSHI [Los Ingobernables], El Desperado [SZKG], Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG], DOUKI [SZKG], Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club], El Phantasmo [Bullet Club], SHO [Bullet Club] There are no debutants this year. Before Saturday I'd have said El Desperado and Hiromu Takahashi were the clear favorites; with Despy winning the IWGP Juniorheavyweight title at Power Struggle, I'd say Hiromu is the top pick, despite winning it just last year, because he showed he can semi-main the Tokyo Dome and work wonders doing it. That said, SHO is going to get a push here, as part of the House Of Torture sub-unit, as well as the fact he has done pretty well the last few years. This would also be a good time to start pushing Master Wato, if they ever actually plan to do anything with Hirai Kawato that is. YOH also needs to build himself as a singles guy now that he and SHO have split (and that will be one of the running storyline here, don't you worry), so I expect him to do well too. The final for this, and World Tag League, will be at Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan on 12/15/2021. I'll post the cards once we know the WTL lineups (hopefully tomorrow?) in an Upcoming NJPW Events post. One team we DO know that will be competing in the World Tag League is an LIJ tandem of Tetsuya Naito & SANADA. Naito confirmed this today at the presser, saying his knee injury was not as bad as originally feared, and that he is able to return to active wrestling with this tournament. Naito has been down on this tournament in the past, but as he noted, he has nothing booked for WK16 so far this year, so he & SANADA have entered. The pair were briefly IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions earlier this year, in what was a pretty entertaining feud with Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr., the current champions.

Last night, several NJoA regulars took part in Beyond Wrestling's joint show with Women's Wrestling Revolution, Reverse The Curse, live from the Armory in Somerville, MA. It started off on a wild note, as VLNCE UNLTD's Brody King took on Ryan Galeone, and ended up breaking the ring during the match. WHOOPS. King would go on to win that match. Then two other NJPW Strong notables squared off, as the United Empire's Jeff Cobb beat recently dethroned IWTV Independent champion Wheeler Yuta. Between this and Matt Cardona bringing his Heel Of The Year worthy shtick from GCW over to Beyond, this is a show worth checking out on IWTV. Podcast recording later. Hopefully that will be up later tonight. Stay tuned.

[pwrestlingxpress]

Why N-1 Victory 2023 is Go's to Win

I have to be quick on this due to timing issues. So here goes.

Despite being in this business for nearly 20 years, Go Shiozaki has never won a round-robin pro wrestling tournament.

G1 Climax...only entered once. Didn't make it pass the block stage. Champion Carnival...think he entered twice and 1 of the 2 time or both, only made it to the semi-finals.

Global League (now N-1 Victory)....manages to win his block in 2017 only to lose to Kenoh who had arrived in NOAH around the same time Go Shiozaki returned back in late 2015/2016.

Every year after losing out in the final that year, would barely pass the block stage. In 2020, had the chance to win his block but lost to Kaito Kiyomiya. Same chance in 2022 but lost in the end.

So...why do I believe this one will be different? Mostly because of the one thing none of us can beat...time. Go Shiozaki is 41 years old. He's been GHC Champion, Triple Crown Champion. He's won singles titles almost all over but for some reason, can never win a round robin tournament. Despite being NOAH's Ace for so long, he's never won a round-robin tournament. NJPW's Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi won his first G1 in 2007 at the age of 31. Don't know much about the AJPW history of the Champion but know that Kento Miyahara and Suwama both have won that tournament before. So, this time will be different because if Go doesn't win, I don't think there will be another chance for him to win it all.

Another reason is because of Katsuhiko Nakajima. Not many know this but 1 of the reasons why Go Shiozaki's fourth reign as GHC Heavyweight Champion lasted so long was because of Katsuhiko Nakajima. Nakajima was not only that voice but was that one person that encourage Go to pull through despite the pain. Even after betraying him in August of 2020, Nakajima would still encourage Go to pull through. Katsuhiko Nakajima is that key to where Go can gain full confidence in his ability to win. Without Nakajima there though, things get cut short like his fifth GHC Title reign. No defenses and loses it 1 hour after Jay White defeated Kazuchika Okada to become IWGP World Heavyweight Champion on the same day.

So...reasons why I think this N-1 is Go's to win. One...time. It waits for none of us. And two, Nakajima. He was the key to making Go Shiozaki's fourth reign one of the best in his career.

N-1 Victory 2023 Grand FINAL in Osaka airs at 3 AM Eastern/2 AM Central on ABEMA with Japanese commentary and Wrestle Universe with English commentary.

[enbywrestlingfan]

I'm just so excited for what is coming in professional wrestling.

WarGames this weekend with WWE. I've been down on WWE lately, but Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Pete Dunne, Sheamus & Ridge Holland vs. The Bloodline is going to be incredible Good chance of Reigns getting his first five star match there.

AEW is about to go full tilt into The Elite vs. Death Triangle. MJF & Jamie Hayter are top champions, and Ethan Page & Ricky Starks are about to take that next step to the main event of the company.

NJPW has just been on fire. Both World Tag League & Super Junior Tag League have gotten off to a great start, and the IWGP Women's Championship gives an easy route to more crossover with Stardom going forward. NJPW is also working with both WWE & AEW, and Kenny Omega is set to wrestle Will Ospreay in the goddamn Tokyo Dome.

Hell, even Pro Wrestling NOAH has my interest with Nakamura vs. Muta and now KENTA teaming with Marufuji on that same show.

I just really fucking love wrestling, and now is an INCREDIBLE time to be a fan.