NJPW
Jack Fenton Sep 8, 2022. 8 minute read
My Wrestling Fandom Lived and Died with Shinsuke Nakamura
On a cold January night, Shinsuke Nakamura relit a fire. I’d been a wrestling fan from childhood, growing up on the leftovers of the Attitude Era, which blossomed into Ruthless Aggression. I was captivated by the colorful characters, pure physicality and engaging storylines. Some of my fondest memories are of…
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WRESTLING
Geoffrey D. Wessel Aug 31, 2022. 6 minute read
That Kid’s Money: On Scott Hall vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
The now sadly deceased Scott Hall, fairly or unfairly, had a bit of a reputation backstage. After a certain point in his career, he was seen as lazy, unmotivated, and … a few other epithets. Whether or not that rep was justified is not the point of this story. What’s…
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WRESTLING
David Bixenspan Jun 26, 2022. 5 minute read
G1 Supercard May Outshine Forbidden Door. That Would Be Weird.
When AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door was announced for four weeks after AEW Double or Nothing, completely throwing off AEW’s quarterly pay-per-view schedule, it made a certain kind of sense. After all, if there was any show that you would do that for, it would be the first AEW vs. NJPW super…
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WRESTLING
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John Warren Jun 1, 2022. 1 minute read
CM Punk Will Face Hiroshi Tanahashi at Forbidden Door
Just moments after new AEW Champion CM Punk and ROH Tag Team Champions FTR won their trios match on AEW Dynamite, Punk took the mic and begged for his opponent at Forbidden Door to be revealed. Tony Khan and New Japan Pro Wrestling didn’t hesitate, playing Hiroshi Tanahashi out to…
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WRESTLING
Colette Arrand Apr 20, 2022. Less than a minute
Will AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door Be Any Good?
Yea, probably. More Professional Wrestling Why Do People Hate it When Tony Khan Makes a Huge Announcement? Jon Moxley and Wheeler YUTA Reveled in the Ecstasy of Combat Minoru Suzuki vs. Samoa Joe Was a Dream Match Stuck In the Real World In a Tale of Two Dream Matches, FTR…
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WRESTLING
Joseph Anthony Montecillo Mar 18, 2022. 7 minute read
To Celebrate Its 50th Anniversary, NJPW Chased Its Past
New Japan Pro Wrestling currently has a complicated relationship with its history. The company has existed for half a century now, having spent most of that tenure as the leading wrestling promotion in Japan. New Japan’s grip on the top spot in Japan has rarely wavered in any quantifiable way.…
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WRESTLING
Geoffrey D. Wessel Mar 15, 2022. 7 minute read
Crowning Underachievements: Tag Teams Collide at NJPW’s 50th Anniversary
Not everyone can be a superstar in professional wrestling. Indeed, the entire history of the business is littered with more “journeymen,” “good hands,” jobbers, midcarders, curtain jerkers, also-rans and never-weres, then your rare, bona-fide mainstream names and pop culture icons. But hey, someone has to fill the slots on the…
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WRESTLING
Geoffrey D. Wessel Jan 12, 2022. 5 minute read
In a NJPW vs. NOAH Clash, Four Generations Put On One Great Main Event
On Saturday, January 8, 2022, New Japan Pro Wrestling ran the third night of Wrestle Kingdom 16. After two fair-to-middling nights in the Tokyo Dome earlier in the week, two things made this particular show stand out. First, this was the first time a Wrestle Kingdom event happened outside of…
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WRESTLING
Colette Arrand Jan 4, 2022. 4 minute read
Obviously, Katsuyori Shibata’s Return to Pro Wrestling Ruled
In 2019, I declared Katsuyori Shibata a wrestler of the decade. The last six words of that essay were “I hope he never wrestles again.” I both do and don’t stand by that hope. I do because there’s a heightened awareness of wrestling’s inherent danger when someone like Shibata or…
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WRESTLING
Geoffrey D. Wessel Dec 30, 2021. 7 minute read
Dragon’s Fire: How Shingo Takagi Salvaged New Japan’s 2021
It may not be the most controversial statement to make, that 2021 for New Japan Pro Wrestling was a bit of a down year. I think I’m in a good position to say this, having spent an inordinate amount of time covering NJPW on my own near-daily blog. Thankfully, one…
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WRESTLING
Emily Pratt Nov 18, 2021. Less than a minute
Tomohiro Ishii Entering to “Where Is My Mind?” on AEW Dynamite: A Review
It’s been a good week for NJPW‘s Tomohiro Ishii. Since arriving in the U.S. with Okada, the Stone Pitbull has gotten In-N-Out, won the NEVER Openweight Championship, and debuted on AEW Dynamite as the tag partner of his new stablemate, Orange Cassidy. Ishii and Orange vs. The Butcher and The…
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WRESTLING
Emily Pratt Oct 23, 2021. 15 minute read
NJPW G1 Climax 31 Night 18 and Final Review: Everything’s Cursed but at Least Shibata Is Here
Previously on NJPW’s G1 Climax 31: 85 tournament matches happened and Ibushi won A Block to make his fourth G1 final in four years. New Japan Pro Wrestling’s 2021 G1 Climax tournament came to a close earlier this week with a block-deciding Cobb vs. Okada rubber match, a quality tournament…
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WRESTLING
Emily Pratt Oct 19, 2021. 8 minute read
NJPW G1 Climax 31 Night 17 Review: The Block Final Countdown
Previously on NJPW‘s G1 Climax 31: there was so much of the G1 Climax 31. There were 70 matches of the G1 Climax 31! After nearly a month of competition, the 2021 tournament comes to a close this week with its final three shows: the A Block final, B Block…
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WRESTLING
Emily Pratt Sep 30, 2021. 6 minute read
NJPW G1 Climax 31 Night 6 Review: Chaos Rains
Previously on NJPW’s G1 Climax 31: Ishii brought out the best of Kenta and ZSJ continued his tentacle monster hot streak. New Japan Pro Wrestling‘s September 29 show at Korakuen Hall closes out the first third of the 2021 G1 Climax with what’s probably the tournament’s least appealing card so…
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WRESTLING
Emily Pratt Sep 28, 2021. 8 minute read
NJPW G1 Climax 31 Night 5 Review: Like a Squid Out of Hell
Previously on NJPW‘s G1 Climax 31: In A Block, Zack vs. Shingo! It happened! It was amazing! In B Block, Okada is still wrestling like he’s in his stem cell era, and it’s also very exciting. It sounds like a bad thing when I say that Night 5 is the…
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WRESTLING
Emily Pratt Sep 26, 2021. 12 minute read
NJPW G1 Climax 31 Nights 3-4 Review: Wrestling Brains
Previously on NJPW‘s G1 Climax 31: The tournament started strong! Its first two shows were very entertaining overall, with some standout matches and surprise results. Unfortunately, this was followed by the bad kind of surprise: Naito getting injured for real and forfeiting the rest of his matches. Nights 3-4 of…
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WRESTLING
Emily Pratt Sep 21, 2021. 15 minute read
NJPW G1 Climax 31 Nights 1-2 Review: That Rainy Day Feeling Again
New Japan Pro Wrestling‘s 31st annual G1 Climax tournament is officially underway, and it got off to a strong start. The first nights of A and B Block competition both delivered some really good matches and a few surprises. Sho’s evil gamer ways have evolved, Yujiro is now fueled by…
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WRESTLING
Emily Pratt Sep 16, 2021. 12 minute read
Everything You Need To Know About NJPW’s G1 Climax 31
After a series of stadium shows and a revamp of activity in America, it’s tournament season for New Japan Pro Wrestling. The G1 Climax 31 starts this weekend, kicking off on September 18 in Osaka and ending on October 21 at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan. Between those dates, twenty wrestlers will…
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WRESTLING
Emily Pratt Sep 9, 2021. 19 minute read
NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome Review: Torture? In My House?
Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome (not to be confused with the one in the Tokyo Dome) is New Japan Pro Wrestling‘s last big show of the summer and last show, period, before the 2021 G1 Climax. The two-night event included defenses of every available championship, a grudge match between…
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WRESTLING
Colette Arrand Sep 8, 2021. 2 minute read
Screaming KAZE NI NARE at the Top of My Lungs: A Review
I never thought I’d get to see Minoru Suzuki live. This is what happens when your favorite wrestlers are older and not from around here. You accept it, you appreciate them from afar, and you wonder how cool it would have been to actually watch them perform. Well, I’ve seen…
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WRESTLING