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fagcrisis · 1 year

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my friend ellis @jonny-dykeville wants to get into njpw, and i thought id write her a little summary of whats been going on lately! im posting it here in case its useful for anyone who wants to get into nooj but finds it a little too confusing (understandable) or has stopped watching in the last couple years and now wants to get back into it

this will include a list of matches at the end from 2023 that i think were good and/or are important to storylines! this is accurate to the day im writing it which is 2023/05/15

LINKS TO BE UPDATED

The landscape of New Japan Pro Wrestling has changed enormously in the past couple of months. For example if you told someone a year ago that Kazuchika Okada would hold a non singles belt, theyd laugh in your face.

So how did we get here?

google doc version

Your current champions

Sanada beat Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP heavyweight championship at Sakura Genesis, and has since defended it against Hiromu Takahashi, the current junior heavyweight champion.

Hiromu won the belt at Wrestle Kingdom in a four-way match against Master Wato, El Desperado, and former champion Taiji Ishimori.

The IWGP women’s title was created last year and won by Kairi at Historic X-over. She lost the belt to Mercedes Moné, who was champion until Mayu Iwatani dethroned her recently.

Aussie Open hold the tag titles after defeating Bishamon, and they’ve gone on to win the Strong openweight tag team championships from the Motor City Machine Guns.

David Finlay is the NEVER openweight champion, bringing the belt back in to Bullet Club after Tama Tonga defeated Karl Anderson for it at Wrestle Kingdom.

Intergalactic Jetsetters (Kushida And Kevin Knight) finally ended the reign of Catch 2/2 (Tjp And Francesco Akira) as junior heavyweight tag team champions during the road to Wrestling Dontaku tour, thank god.

Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii are the NEVER openweight six man champions winning the titles from Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki And Ren Narita). If you think that sentence is insane, don’t worry I’ll explain whats happening.

Zack Sabre Jr became the inaugural NJPW World TV champion, winning the tournament at Wrestle Kingdom by defeating Ren Narita, and he’s had some incredible defenses since (you might’ve seen him on ROH).

the KOPW trophy graduated to a belt after El Phantasmo broke it, and Taichi is the current provisional champion having defeated Shingo Takagi for it.

Kenta lost the strong openweight championship to Hikuleo in the first defense of the belt in Japan, after winning it from Fred Rosser (with Juice interference).

at the time of writing this the Strong women’s title does exist but the tournament to decide its first owner has yet to be held (Resurgence may 21st).

Karl Anderson will pay for his crimes

Those who have been following me since november last year know that Suzuki-gun, a heel faction in NJPW led by Minoru Suzuki, has come to an end. I was inconsolable. There are multiple reasons for this happening, but the main one is Karl Anderson.

While Anderson is a member of Bullet Club, and in fall of last year was still the NEVER openweight champion, he is contracted to WWE and was on a handshake deal with NJPW, essentially promising he’ll appear at shows they book him for. There was a scheduling conflict with one of WWE’s saudi shows, and Anderson essentially ghosted the company not appearing for his title defense against Hikuelo, which meant I had to watch Yujiro Takahashi wrestle. anyway this all meant that New Japan lost faith in their freelancers, and because the majority of Suzuki-gun were on handshake deals, this meant the faction had to go. Their last match was on december 23rd (njpwworld) (bilibili link) and it was very emotional and beautiful, and I was incredibly sad.

Shota came back!

Shota Umino, who you may know as the protege of Jon Moxley, returned from excursion in the fall of last year. Young lions (NJPW trainees) are sent abroad to foreign promotions by the company to train and gather experience in different environments to Japan. Shota was in Britain for a time and he returned, challenging Will Ospreay for the US title he still held at the time. He lost but with this high profile title shot he joined the ranks of the young stars NJPWhas much faith vested in.

This also includes Ren Narita, who you may not know because he was never adopted by a mean american man. he was trained by Katsuyori Shibata, earning the nickname Son of Strong Style and wearing similar gear to Shibata as well. The company seems to be trying to set him up to be Shibata’s successor, and he wrestles a similarly, clean technical style.

A recent addition to their ranks is Yota Tsuji, whose return I will explain later.

The IWGP women’s title

Women’s wrestling promotion Stardom and NJPW are both owned by Bushiroad. Because of this last year there was a crossover between the two promotions, which saw the first mixed tag matches in an NJPW ring. Great show, you should watch it. (njpwworld link) (bilibili link)

For this event, the IWGP women’s championship was created and won by Kairi. Now I have some thoughts about how Stardom is already full of accomplished talented women, and putting a women’s match on the card once in a blue moon isn’t a win for women in wrestling and you should maybe try watching Stardom instead (guide on how to do that). But I digress. Regardless of whether or not this is pandering, every match for the belt was undoubtedly incredible and I will be linking them all in the rec section.

A brief Wrestle Kingdom aside

You fucking know what happened at Wrestle Kingdom I shouldn’t have to explain this to you. Kenny Omega returned and defeated Will Ospreay for the US title, and Okada won his beloved IWGP belt back from Jay White, starting him down the path of leaving NJPW.

What you might not know is what happened at Wrestle Kingdom Night 2, which confusingly was held some weeks later. Wrestle Kingdom traditionally is a show between NOAH and NJPW, so Night 2 saw the two promotions pitch their most popular wrestlers against each other. Okada was set to fight Kaito Kiyomiya in a tag team match, but he thought this challenge beneath him and attempted to murder Kiyomiya ruling the match a no contest.

Later in february, at Keiji Muto’s retirement show, Okada did have to face off Kiyomiya in a singles bout, despite his protests that he is not some cheap whore (his words not mine). That entire show is incredibly good but not extremely relevant to NJPW storylines, as crossover events usually are not. (njpwworld) (unoffical link)

After Wrestle Kingdom, New Japan holds New Year’s Dash and the New Beginning shows where they set up new storylines that will likely last the whole year. Jay White challenges Hikuleo to a loser leaves Japan match, because he blames him and his brothers (Guerillas of Destiny) for Bullet Club weakening and his loss at Wrestle Kingdom. He promptly loses this match. Bummer.

El Desperado refuses to accept that Suzuki-gun is over and joins Minoru Suzuki in defending Ren Narita from House of Torture’s dastardly attack, leading to the formation of their trios team; Strong Style. They then go on to defeat House of Torture for the NEVER openweight six man tag team titles. Now this is crazy but we dont have time to dwell on it because the other remnants of Suzuki-gun are also making moves that are considerably more insane.

Its time for: faction madness

There are a lot of factions in New Japan Pro Wrestling. like a lot. Every storyline is heavily driven by who is in what faction and where their allegiences lie. This might be confusing to you if you only watch AEW, a promotion where factions matter less than what Tony adds to commentary.

TMDK

Naturally ex-Suzuki-gun member and best technical wrestler in the known universe Zack Sabre Jr couldn’t simply remain in Hontai, the main body of New Japan where factionless members of the roster belong. Luckily he was a free agent for all of five seconds before his old australian buddies snatched him and his fresh tv championship up. TMDK, known as an australian faction despite a solid half not being from Australia, has suffered some losses in the past year. Jonah, their strongest member, a man who defeated even Kazuchika Okada, left Japan for WWE. Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls, founding members of the faction and a tag team under the same name, have failed to succeed in winning Tag League in fall of last year. Safe to say, they needed a win. Zack has teamed with them during his time in NOAH, so it was only logical that he would return to his old friends. They even recruited a young lion, Kosei Fujita, who became the first young lion in a faction if you don’t count Hikuleo which was a slightly different situation. TMDK also includes Bad Dude Tito (or Big Teets) over in the States.

The addition of Zack really reinvigorated the faction. Shane and Mikey challenged and failed to defeat Aussie Open for the tag titles, and Robbie Eagles left Chaos for more australian pastures, joining the faction when he challenged Hiromu Takahashi for his championship. Robbie also lost but TMDK didn’t let these setbacks stop them from cutting the weirdest promos after every match and staunchly insisting Fujita (who they’ve nicknamed Big Fooj) will be the first young lion to win a championship.

United Empire

Will Ospreay is no longer the IWGP US heavyweight champion. After losing to Kenny Omega he threw a hissy fit and declared that he would give professional wrestling one more year. He also entered the New Japan Cup, a tournament for the right to challenge for the IWGP championship. Unfortunately in a match against his friend and stablemate Mark Davis (of Aussie Open and ass size fame) he injured his shoulder which put him out of action until about last week. He won the 1pw world title though, so he’s fine.

Other than that, the faction has been doing fairly well for themselves. After a titanic struggle against Bishamon, Aussie Open won the tag titles and have gone on to defend them against TMDK and somehow, Best Friends on AEW television. They also won the Strong tag titles, and Kyle Fletcher managed to botch a moonsault in both matches. You’ve definitely seen them even if you don’t watch NJPW, their schedule is insane and they have a banger of a match practically on a weekly average.

Also tag champions in the faction were Catch 2/2, who held the junior titles until fairly recently. They’ve had great defenses against YOH and his new tag partner, Lio Rush (more on that in a second) and Douki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. What you need to know about Catch 2/2 is that TJP is a PragerU weirdo and Akira is good albeit italian.

UE also includes Jeff Cobb, who you might’ve seen challenging for Kenny Omega’s US title on Dynamite. He is incredible I don’t have anything else to say. He also kind of thinks flat earthers have a point. He’s really good though.

Also in the faction are Aaron Henare, men’s rights weirdo who challenged and lost to Shingo Takagi for the KOPW belt and Great O Khan who is somehow the Revpro champion. He is notable for having a nice bow in his hair and screeching. The most recent recruit to the faction is Dan Moloney, who unfortunately is fairly unknown to me. He joined the faction as a junior heavyweight and subsequently entered the Best of Super Juniors Tournament, which I will explain later.

Chaos

I’ve previously described Chaos as Hontai 2.0, because that’s really what it is. Lead by Kazuchika Okada, Chaos was the original heel faction in NJPW, founded by Shinsuke Nakamura. Nowadays it is a loose collection of allegiances that confusingly includes the entire Best Friends faction in AEW. Yes, that includes Trent’s mum Sue. Since becoming faces, Chaos members regularly team with Hontai because it all doesn’t really matter.

Kazuchika Okada defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi at Battle in the Valley, and then asked him to tag together. They named themselves the Dream Team, and I only briefly pondered how well it ended the last time Tana teamed with a younger star. Anyways I’m sure this will go fine. They challenged Okada’s fellow Chaos members Bishamon for their tag titles they still held at that time, and sadly lost that match. They defeated the team of Shota Umino and Ren Narita, and then once again failed to obtain gold in a 3-way match against the Motor City Machine Guns and Aussie Open (who won). After Okada lost his belt, they recruited Tomohiro Ishii, who doesn’t like Tanahashi and doesn’t want to team with him because he isn’t in Chaos. Despite this, they managed to defeat Strong Style for the NEVER openweight six man championships.

Bishamon I’ve covered sufficiently enough I think, they are the team of Hirooki Goto who recently celebrated his 20th anniversary in professional wrestling and YOSHI-HASHI who used to be incredibly horrible and is less bad recently. They are fun and I like them.

YOH and SHO were a junior tag team in Chaos until SHO turned heel, joining Bullet Club. This left YOH in a sort of strange limbo, where he contemplated quitting wrestling and pursuing his more artistic ambitions (he is a musician and an artist). Rocky Romero, also a member of Chaos, got him and Lio Rush together to team for Junior Tag League, and they ended up winning the tournament! Although they failed to defeat catch 2/2 at Wrestle Kingdom, and Lio got injured, teaming with him seemed to bring YOH’s confidence back. He’s been wrestling slightly differently and with more self-assurence. The pair both separately challenged and lost to Hiromu Takahashi, two incredible matches that I will link below. Not even these losses brought YOH’s confidence down though, and he’s entered BOSJ alongside Lio although they are in different blocks.

Also members of Chaos are Rocky Romero, Best Friends (including Kris Statlander, Orange Cassidy, Sue, and I think quite possibly Danhausen), Toru Yano who is kind of a funny little man, and Tomohiro Ishii.

Los Ingobernables de Japon

Led by Tetsuya Naito, the tweener group is more of a loose collection of talented individuals than your regular faction. LIJ has a policy of letting their members forge their own paths and create their own success, instead of letting them fall back on the power of the group.

Maybe the only exception to this rule is Hiromu Takahashi, who owes a lot of his success to the faction as well as his mentor Tetsuya Naito. Hiromu is very talented and has a very unique style both in his wrestling and his fashion sense. Unbiased corner ahead I like him a lot. He holds junior wrestlers in very high regard and recently organized the All Star Junior festival to showcase junior heavyweights from all around japan (njpwworld ppv) (vk link). He has a plush cat named Daryl. Hiromu is kind of the ace of the junior division right now, he is on his fifth title reign and is trying to defend the belt 12 times to beat the current defense record of 11 held by Minoru Tanaka. Currently he is 4 defenses into this streak, having defeated YOH, Lio Rush, Robbie Eagles and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Despite being champion he entered BOSJ, a tournament he’s won four times, three times in a row. If he wins, he’ll get to hand pick his opponent at Dominion.

I have no clue what to say about Tetsuya Naito. To quote my friend Jay, “it’s naito. he is an indescribable force of non-functional knees and the driest hair you've ever seen. he takes ten years to remove his entrance gear. he is naito”. You fucking know who Tetsuya Naito is.

This year, the main thing he’s done is defeating his mentor Keiji Muto at his retirement show in Febuary (njpwworld link) (vk link). He has a very hands off approach towards leading his group, sort of letting everyone figure their things out, which is why he didn’t really seem worried about his match against his stablemate Sanada in the New Japan Cup. You can imagine his surprise when Sanada not only defeated him but then declared that he would be leaving the faction, but more on that later. He also recently had a singles match against DOUKI, which was incredible.

Also members of LIJ are Shingo Takagi, winner of KOPW 2022 and former KOPW 2023 provisional champion, and also living legend. He made his name in Dragon Gate, a different japanese promotion you should also watch (I’m not at all being held at gunpoint by people whose names start with J), Bushi and Titan, who are both junior heavyweight luchadors I don’t know as much about as I should. They’re really good and they are both in BOSJ this year.

Bullet Club

Do I even need to explain. Don’t worry I will.

Jay White lost his loser leaves Japan match to Hikuleo, but there was hope. He promised Gedo he would go to America and wrestle on Strong and right his wrongs. So obviously he immediately lost a loser leaves New Japan match to Eddie Kingston, barring him from ever wrestling in a New Japan ring ever again. After weeks of radio silence, he showed up on Dynamite, forming Bullet Culb Gold (2 bullet 2 club) with Juice Robinson and you all know what happened after that.

It’s spring which means it’s Bullet Club infighting season. After Jay’s loss, his long time rival David Finlay waltzed into the ring all goth and angry, cutting a promo about how the japanese fans never appreciated him and he is an outsider wherever he goes. If this didn’t make it clear to you that he was the new leader, don’t worry it wasn’t clear to me or El Phantasmo either.

ELP was friends with Jay White, and made the rest of the Club agree that they will let Jay ride off into the sunset. A peaceful transfer of power is however impossible in Bullet Club, which is kind of a Stanford prison experiment for closeted gay men. It started bothering Phantasmo, that everyone in his faction so readily accepted Finlay as the new leader, like they weren’t fully behind Jay only a week ago. And anyone who questions the leader has to go.

Then came a months long game of gay betrayal chicken. Every postmatch, Phantasmo would assure Finlay that they were doing it for the club, refuse to too sweet the new leader, and the two slapping eachother in place of a tag. Meanwhile the faces in Hontai were increasingly more accepting towards ELP, Shota Umino even gave him one of his bracelets. The tension came to a boil at Sakura Genesis, where in a tag team match against Guerillas of Destiny and Master Wato, Phantasmo refused to commit the clubs usual heel antics and was brutally kicked out in response. Despite his close friendship with Taiji Ishimori and Kenta, both men readily betrayed him for David Finlay.

Phantasmo returned as a face to beat Finlay up after he defeated Tama Tonga for the NEVER belt, and the two have a title match set at Dominion.

As I mentioned Kenta and Taiji Ishimori are both members of Bullet Club, and Finlay recently recruited Clark Connors to be the clubs newest junior. He entered BOSJ alongside Taiji. Gedo, the head booker of NJPW is also a member of BC but he mainly stands ominously in the background and in kayfabe doesn’t have a massive role in storylines.

HOUSE OF TORTURE

I have to explain what’s going on here. Bullet Club has sort of a subesction? Called House of Torture. They’re only really part of BC in name only, and merch sales. Their thing is gratuitous cheating, if one HoT member has a match, the rest of them aren’t far behind making every match a handicap. Their members are EVIL, the leader of the group and former LIJ member, Yujiro Takahashi the incredible slow motion man whose joints creak audibly with every move, Dick Togo and SHO, who joined after betraying YOH and turning heel. SHO is actually pretty good but the presence of HoT at every match really ruins. Everything. I try not thinking about them.

JUST 5 GUYS

NOW baby. The reason I’m even writing this. The worst faction name in the history of pro wrestling. This faction is made of four ex-Suzuki-gun members and Sanada. Originally called Just Four Guys when Taka Michinoku, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and DOUKI announced they would be forming a faction at New Year’s Dash. Taka made some baseless claims about how they will defeat everyone and change the landscape of New Japan. He also came up with their new catchphrase “You already die”. Commentary and everyone else immediately dismissed them as a joke that will last maybe a couple of months. Oh how wrong we were.

Initially, the group did not have much success. Douki and Uncle Nobu lost to Catch 2/2 in their title match against them, Taka kept getting pinned and they failed to deliver on their promises to destroy everyone who stood in their way.

Taichi, as their only heavyweight, entered the New Japan Cup. His first match was against Sanada, a man he’s had some history with when he was still tagging with Zack Sabre Jr as Dangerous Tekkers. Sanada was a man not really renowned for anything, he hasn’t seen any singles success since joining LIJ by helping Tetsuya Naito cheat, except for a US title run cut short with no defenses due to an injury. He had blonde hair and the best or the worst move in pro wrestling history, depending on if you ask my friend Ryan or me. He never hits a moonsault. I don’t think Naito even knew who he was.

Safe to say, absolutely no one expected Sanada to defeat Taichi, much less his superior Naito. What we expected the least is for him to announce he is leaving LIJ for Just 4 Guys, which was now to be renamed JUST 5 GUYS. With dark hair, a clean shaven face and soon, new gear as well, Sanada really found his footing among this motley crew, the way he never managed in his seven years during LIJ. He went on to blaze through the competition in the Cup, winning it and subsequently defeating Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP world heavyweight championship. Absolutely no one has expected this to happen, ever. Yet somehow, it is also one of the coolest things to happen, ever.

His former faction members in LIJ mostly seemed to just sort of accept he left, except for Hiromu. He said while he understood Sanada’s reasons for leaving, he felt betrayed. Hiromu challenged Sanada to a match for the heavyweight championship. No junior heavyweight has been able to defeat the heavyweight champion in the history of the company, although this match is not the first of its kind.

When Sanada defeated Hiromu, the returning Yota Tsuji walked out into the ring and beat him up, held up the LIJ fist and carried Hiromu out of the ring. We don’t really know if this means he’ll be joining the faction, but it’s very likely, and the two have a match set at Dominion.

Obviously other stuff has happened but this is already 4000 words long and I still have things to explain to you.

Whats happening right now

As I’m writing this, the 30th Best of the Super Juniors is just beginning. BOSJ is a round robin style tournament, just like the G1 where wrestlers are divided into two blocks and everyone fights everyone in their block. Usually, the winners of the two blocks face off against each other to win the tournament, but this year, the winner of each block faces off against the person who came second in the other block, and the winners of those matches are the finalists. The winner has the right to challenge for the IWGP junior heavyweight championship at Dominion.

This year’s participants are as follows.

I think this is absolutely the perfect time to get int New Japan. The junior division is full of incredibly talented wrestlers who focus more on fast paced high flying style matches and every one of them is easy to watch and very entertaining. The entire tour will be broadcast with full english coverage.

How do I watch all of this

New Japan conveniently has a streaming service called NJPW world, membership is 999 yen per month. Dont forget to toggle it to english in the upper left corner! Most shows have english commentary and in my opinion it is pretty good commentary. Even if you don’t want to pay for the site, it has a schedule page (upper right corner) which even displays multiple timezones, and links to the card for every upcoming show.

The site also has some free content, for example the backstage comments after every show. Backstage comments are essentially short interviews with the wrestlers directly after every match, which makes for very fun adrenaline fuelled nonsense. Search backstage comment on the site, or check the njpwworld youtube channel. The videos always have subtitles, but it takes the transcribers time, subs are usually out a day after shows air.

PIRACY

In case you’d like to sail the high seas, you have a couple of options.

Watching show’s live I would recommend watchprowrestling.org for. They upload the shows and you can watch them live as well with a bit of delay.

If you’re looking for older stuff, you should try searching on bilibili (dont be intimidated by the language barrier, its quite easy to use) or this specific user on vk.com.

MATCHES TO WATCH

Title changes and defenses:

Kazuchika Okada vs Jay White (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Kenny Omega vs Will Ospreay (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Master Wato vs El Desperado vs Taiji Ishimori (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Zack Sabre Jr vs Ren Narita FREE MATCH

Zack Sabre Jr vs Tomohiro Ishii FREE MATCH

Zack Sabre Jr vs Shota Umino FREE MATCH

Zack Sabre Jr vs Tom Lawlor FREE MATCH

Zack Sabre Jr vs Jeff Cobb FREE MATCH

Catch 2/2 vs YOH and Lio Rush (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Catch 2/2 vs Intergalactic Jetsetters (njpwworld) (unofficial link 2:35:08)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Lio Rush (njpwworld)

Hiromu Takahashi vs YOH (njpwworld) (unofficial link2:48:13)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Robbie Eagles (njpwworld)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Kazuchika Okada vs Shingo Takagi (njpwworld)

Kazuchika Okada vs Sanada (njpwworld)

Sanada vs Hiromu Takahashi (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Aussie Open vs Bishamon (njpwworld)

Aussie Open vs TMDK (njpwworld)

Aussie Open vs Motor City Machine Guns vs the Dream Team (Okada & Tanahashi) (njpwworld ppv)

Kairi vs Mayu Iwatani (njpwworld)

Kairi vs Tam Nakano (njpwworld)

Kairi vs Mercedes Moné (unofficial link)

Mercedes Moné vs Kairi vs Hazuki (njpwworld)

Mercedes Moné vs Mayu Iwatani (njpwworld)

Tama Tonga vs El Phantasmo (njpwworld)

Tama Tonga vs David Finlay (unofficial link)

Taichi vs Shingo Takagi (njpwworld) (unofficial link 1:44:00)

Strong Style vs Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Hikuelo vs Kenta (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Story matches

Tetsuya Naito vs Sanada (njpwworld)

Jay White vs Hikuleo (njpwworld)

Jay White vs Eddie Kingston (njpwworld) (unofficial link 1:04:00)

Bullet Club (David Finlay, Kenta, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) vs Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga, Hikuleo & Jado) & Master Wato (njpwworld link)

just fun

Mark Davis vs Will Ospreay (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Mark Davis vs EVIL (njpwworld)

Tetsuya Naito vs DOUKI (njpwworld) (unofficial link 2:11:32)

El Desperado vs Tomohiro Ishii (njpwworld ppv)

Shota Umino vs Tetsuya Naito (njpwworld)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Speedball Mike Bailey FREE SHOW

Taichi vs Will Ospreay (njpwworld)

#njpw #wrassle #yall this is nearly 5000 words please read it and watch njpw i worked so hard. for you to watch njpw. its so extensive #i explain literally everything

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ace-aro-taku · 2 years

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JPN Voice Actors Characters As Figures!

As you know, I’m an anime figure collector, but I also love Japanese voice acting. I find it so much more passionate and emotional than some English voice acting, in anime and outside of anime. So I thought I’d showcase some of the figures I’ve got that share the same Japanese voice actors!

(I apologize if the photos are fuzzy!)

Hiroshi Kamiya

~Mephisto Pheles Blue Exorcist

~Levi Ackerman Attack on Titan

Daisuke Ono

~Sebastian Michaelis Black Butler

~Erwin Smith Attack on Titan

Jun Fukuyama

~Yukio Okumura Blue Exorcist

~Draluc The Vampire Dies in No Time

Jun’ichi Suwabe

~Shota Aizawa My Hero Academia

~Viktor Nikiforov Yuri on Ice

Yuma Uchida

~Ash Lynx Banana Fish

~Kyo Souma Fruits Basket (2019)

Kaito Ishikawa

~Tenya Iida My Hero Academia

~Naofumi Iwatani The Rising of The Shield Hero

Hiro Shimono

~Dabi My Hero Academia

~Zenitsu Agatsuma Demon Slayer

Yuichi Nakamura

~Satoru Gojo Jujutsu Kaisen

~Hawks My Hero Academia

There you have it! My little showcase! I’ll be uploading these one by one over on my IG. I wanted to put these on my main blog because there is more activity here than my collection side blog. I hope you had fun looking at my pics and learning something about these characters!!

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wrestlingisfake · 1 year

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Destruction tour

I thought I'd list all the key matches announced so far, since I was having trouble keeping track.

September 8 (Korakuen Hall)

NJPW World television championship: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Boltin Oleg

September 9 (Korakuen Hall)

NEVER trios championship: Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tiger Mask

September 24 (Kobe)

IWGP US (UK?) championship: Will Ospreay vs. Yota Tsuji

Tetsuya Naito vs. Jeff Cobb (is Naito's world title shot on the line?)

Shingo Takagi vs. Great-O-Khan

IWGP hwt. tag team championship: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls

KOPW championship: Taichi vs. SHO

October 9 (Ryogoku)

IWGP world championship: SANADA vs. EVIL

NEVER championship: David Finlay vs. Tama Tonga

STRONG tag team championship: Gabe Kidd & Alex Coughlin vs. El Phantasmo & Hikuleo

Unaccounted for:

IWGP jr. hwt. champion Hiromu Takahashi (last defense: June 4)

IWGP jr. hwt. tag team champions Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors (last defense: July 5)

IWGP women's champion Mayu Iwatani (last defense: Aug. 13)

STRONG women's champion Giulia (next defense: Aug. 20)

STRONG men's champion Eddie Kingston

New Japan is headed to London on October 14 and Las Vegas on October 28. Those may be the last spots for title bouts before the end of the year.

#njpw #entirely too many championships

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dynamitekansai · 2 years

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#joshi puroresu #stardom #njpw #starlight kid #hiroshi tanahashi #mayu iwatani #oedo tai #stars #bushiroad #wrestling

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leaveharmony · 2 years

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#Hiroshi Tanahashi #Mayu Iwatani #Tanariffic #Rasslin'#The Dimple™

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mengs-mullet · 7 years

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gdwessel · 5 years

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STARDOM Dark Match Added To WK14 But Won’t Be Aired Live; Anthem Cancels NJPW on AXS, Fight Network; Jericho Open To Tanahashi Match for AEW Title As Elite Slag Off NJPW

Strong Style Story Podcast Episode 60: Side A - Wrestle Kingdom 14 and Side B- 4th Anniversary Show on the Pro Wrestling Only Podcast Network

So, hey, after a couple of days rest over a Christmas period, and with no NJPW show going on, surely NOTHING could be happen--

Oh.

OH.

Several news items from the NJPW realm have caused Wrestling Twitter to go into meltdown over the last few days of the holiday period. The first was the announcement of a STARDOM dark match at the Tokyo Dome during Wrestle Kingdom 14, announced during STARDOM’s 2019 finale at Tokyo Korakuen Hall on 12/24/2019, which was also the retirement show for wrestler Hazuki (allegedly for political reasons, but anway...). The match itself sees World of Stardom champion Mayu Iwatani & Wonder of Stardom champion Arisa Hoshiki take on the team of Hana Kimura & Giulia.

What sent Twitter into meltdown was twofold - the very idea the match was happening, and the fact it will not be shown live on NJPWWorld like the other pre-show matches. The second part is easy to explain - as noted by this blog, and many, many others when Bushiroad purchased STARDOM, the promotion has different pre-existing TV contracts than NJPW, who primarily deal with TV Asahi, a minority stake owner in NJPWWorld, therefore they do not want to, and legally cannot, put another network’s property on their network or services. So while it stinks, it’s the world of TV contracts prohibiting the STARDOM women from appearing on NJPWWorld. If nothing else, STARDOM gets a Tokyo Dome match, and presumably a real shot in the arm for exposure to an audience who may not necessarily know STARDOM. I’m pretty sure Bushiroad wants STARDOM to succeed under their watch, and apparently, the show on Christmas Eve was their highest ever attendance in Korakuen Hall, so that’s a good sign.

The first is just Twitter-dick-swinging, as certain members of Wrestling Twitter wanted to turn the event into I Told You So Olympics, who was “Right,” etc. Which, who gives a shit? Congratulations, you predicted a company who owns one wrestling promotion decided to give their latest acquisition a spot on one of their biggest events. You mental giants, you.

Yesterday brought on several meltdown-worthy items. The first was a tweet from @NJPWglobal, in which they more or less came out and said “There are currently no plans for TV broadcast of NJPW events in 2020 (WK14 included) in the US. “ Later in the day, it was also revealed Fight Network in Canada will also be dropping the English NJPW show.

Both AXS TV and Fight Network are now owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, the owners of Impact Wrestling. Clearly, Anthem has more investment in Impact being a bigger show on their networks. NJPW worked with Impact in the past, when they were still known as TNA, and just as clearly, don’t wish to work with them again, no matter who is in charge. There have been no new episodes of NJPW on AXS for the whole month of December, despite there being plenty of content from the World Tag League and Road to Tokyo Dome tours, and the show has been in a repeat cycle since then.

This is a real shame. Honestly, it was the debut of NJPW on AXS on 1/13/2015 which brought me back completely into the New Japan, and wrestling folds, after being away for many years. This show got my partner into wrestling. It was a show that broke out boxing/MMA announcer Mauro Ranallo as a pro wrestling commentator, so much so that WWE snagged him up when they could. For better or for worse, it also was one of the shows that resurrected the wrestling announcing career of current AEW announcer/executive Jim Ross, as well as put Josh Barnett back in the public eye. Through NJPW on AXS, we got live NJPW events from the USA, on cable TV, something that was inconceivable even at the beginning of NJPW on AXS’s run. We even managed to get same-day/week coverage of several Wrestle Kingdoms, something else that was inconceivable before it actually happened. Not to mention many of the moments that happened live on AXS, good (Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP Heavyweight title on US soil v. Cody Rhodes), bad (the shoot incident between Josh Barnett & Jay White), and ugly (Hiromu Takahashi’s horrific neck injury).

At the same time, it’s been clear since JR and Barnett ended their tenures, and the episodes were merely edits of the English NJPWWorld feeds, that the show was not really a priority. In the beginning, the show were overdubs of World Pro Wrestling episodes from TV Asahi, but we got great introductions by the wrestlers, always ending with some variation of “World Pro Wrestling RETURNS!”, in addition to interviews with the featured wrestlers on that episode, many of which were very enlightening, in-character and otherwise. When they transitioned to edited NJPWWorld feeds, a lot of the character of the show was lost, and at that point, why not just subscribe to NJPWWorld.

Even so, it’s the end of an era, and I don’t think it can be overstated how much of an effect NJPW on AXS had on New Japan’s ability to establish a foothold in the USA. Personally, I’ll miss writing about it, and am grateful to AXS for the nearly five years (the contract allegedly runs til 2021) on the air on Amerian cable television. Pour one out.

Lastly, the scheduled match at Night 2 of WK14 between Hiroshi Tanahashi v. current AEW World Champion Chris Jericho has taken a very interesting turn. Earlier this week, Tanahashi gave an interview in Tokyo Sports, where he said “He’s a champion right? All I’m saying is if I beat him and he comes back asking for a rematch then I think it’s reasonable to tell him to put the belt up. If that happened it would break down a door.”

This has now prompted a response from Le Champion on Instagram, and, well, he agrees:

What you don't know is I speak and read perfect Japanese and I read what you said about the Tokyo Dome. You said if you can beat me that you would enter the forbidding portal and request a title shot for the AEW Championship. I thought it's a great idea. So, 'Le Champion' asked the Chairman of the Board, the owner of AEW, Tony Khan, if it was okay to grant your request, and he said 'yes.' So, if you can beat me in the Tokyo Dome, I will give you a championship match for the AEW Title.

So if nothing else, Chris Jericho and Tony Khan are open to the idea of NJPW talents coming to AEW.

This might not sit well with the Executive Vice Presidents of All Elite Wrestling, aka The Elite, aka Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, and Matt & Nick Jackson. Released a couple of days ago, the latest episode of the Bucks’ Wrestlers On The Road Ordering Room Service YouTube show has both Omega and the Jacksons griping about feeling betrayed about their exits from both NJPW and ROH. Watch it and decide for yourselves. Or don’t. Personally, it seems to me the Elite are bitter that they weren’t nearly as over as they thought they were, while also not understanding why companies they were under contract to might not feel very warm & fuzzy about wrestlers who were trying to form another company on their clock. Kenny Omega in particular has tried to say in other interviews that NJPW are trying to prevent him from visas to enter Japan. (NJPW president Harold Meij has denied this accusation previously.) Indeed, on the Halloween edition of AEW Dynamite, Kenny’s entrance video for a match was an Undertale re-do saying NJPW tried to ruin him.

We all watched NJPW in the latter half of 2018, and trust me, nothing could be further from the truth than the notion that NJPW were trying to bury the Elite, when in fact, the promotion was very centered on the Elite during that period, and made the company nearly unwatchable in the main event scene.

Considering how far backwards NJPW bent over for The Elite, and particularly for Omega, from making him the only gaijin to ever win G1 Climax; creating an entire title belt for him in the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship; holding gimmick matches that traditionally NJPW would never do (i.e. the 2016 ladder match for the IWGP Intercontinental title that was first supposed to be v. Hiroshi Tanahashi but changed to Michael Elgin due to Tanahashi being injured); allowing Cody Rhodes two IWGP Heavyweight title shots in the span of three months, including turning a match everybody wanted (Omega v. Kota Ibushi at King Of Pro Wrestling 2018) into a match absolutely nobody asked for (Omega v. Ibushi v. Cody); how much tag team title programs focused on the Young Bucks when they were not very over at all outside of Tokyo...

Honestly, I could go on. And if that’s how they feel, so be it. But only one side in this is taking shots at the other, and it’s not NJPW. Considering AEW has been under the microscope the last few weeks, for everything to falling ratings, to both of the Young Bucks leaving Twitter in the face of dire criticism of the main event angle on the 12/18/2019 year-ending episode of AEW Dynamite, to how AEW is pushing (or NOT pushing) certain talents, one would think that the Executive Vice Presidents might want to get their own house in order before slagging off NJPW, ROH, WWE, or anyone else. They are already getting mocked on Twitter for failing to deliver a promised match on their New Year’s Day opening show in Jacksonville, FL, this coming week. And with one side talking about “betrayal” from NJPW while another part of the company, including the actual owner and money man of the promotion, is opening the door with a stipulation, something tells me AEW may not be as cohesive as a functioning unit as they may think.

Strong Style Story Podcast Episode 60: Side A - Wrestle Kingdom 14 and Side B- 4th Anniversary Show on the Pro Wrestling Only Podcast Network

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bongaboi · 3 years

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ISML 2021: Nominations List

Female Division

Rank Name Series Ballots

- Misaka Mikoto Toaru Series Auto

- Emilia Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Auto

- Iwanaga Kotoko Kyokō Suiri Auto

- Ichinose Chizuru (Mizuhara Chizuru) Kanojo, Okarishimasu Auto

- Shirogane Kei Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai Auto

- Elaina Majo no Tabitabi Auto

- Sakurajima Mai AoButa Auto

- Yuigahama Yui OreGairu Auto

- Tōsaka Rin Fate Series Auto

- Shiro No Game No Life Auto

- Isshiki Iroha OreGairu Auto

- Shokuhō Misaki Toaru Series Auto

- Fujiwara Chika Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai Auto

- Tokisaki Kurumi Date A Live Auto

- Hayasaka Ai Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai Auto

- Yūki Asuna Sword Art Online Auto

- Takanashi Rikka Chūnibyō demo Koi ga Shitai! Auto

- Shiina Mashiro Sakura-sō no Pet na Kanojo Auto

- Shinomiya Kaguya Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai Auto

1 Zero Two Darling in the FranXX 383

2 Tomori Nao Charlotte 148

3 Izumi Sagiri Eromanga Sensei 135

4 Isla Plastic Memories 123

5 Tachibana Kanade Angel Beats! 121

6 Nishimiya Shōko Koe no Katachi 120

7 Ichigo Darling in the FranXX 120

8 Miyamizu Mitsuha Kimi no Na wa 115

9 Saber Fate Series 111

10 Yuzaki Tsukasa Tonikaku Kawaii 109

11 Kochō Shinobu Kimetsu no Yaiba 102

12 Kasumigaoka Utaha Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata 98

13 Kasugano Sora Yosuga no Sora 95

14 Miyazono Kaori Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso 91

15 Kanna Kamui Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon 90

16 Index L. Prohibitorum Toaru Series 89

17 Makise Kurisu Steins;Gate 85

18 Akiyama Mio K-ON! 84

19 Shirai Kuroko Toaru Series 83

20 Hirasawa Yui K-ON! 79

21 Kitashirakawa Tamako Tamako Market 78

22 Amano Hina Tenki no Ko 72

23 Sawamura Spencer Eriri Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata 71

24 Kuriyama Mirai Kyōkai no Kanata 69

25 Schwi Dola No Game No Life 68

26 Furukawa Nagisa CLANNAD 68

27 Akame Akame ga Kill! 67

28 Aisaka Taiga Toradora! 66

29 Yoshino Date A Live 66

30 Aoyama Nanami Sakura-sō no Pet na Kanojo 66

31 Kaname Madoka Puella Magi Madoka ☆ Magica 65

32 Akemi Homura Puella Magi Madoka ☆ Magica 64

33 Horikita Suzune Yōkoso Jitsuryoku Shijō Shugi no Kyōshitsu e 63

34 Ōmae Kumiko Hibike! Euphonium 61

35 Tōru Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon 61

36 Kafū Chino Gochūmon wa Usagi Desu ka? 60

37 Sora Ginko Ryuō no Oshigoto! 59

38 Yatogami Tōka Date A Live 59

39 Nakano Azusa K-ON! 59

40 Ichigyō Ruri Hello World 58

41 Saten Ruiko Toaru Series 57

42 Doma Umaru Himōto! Umaru-chan 57

43 Megumin KonoSuba 54

44 Yuzuriha Inori Guilty Crown 54

45 Azusagawa Kaede AoButa 48

46 Makinohara Shōko AoButa 45

47 Yamauchi Sakura Kimi no Suizo wo Tabetai 44

48 Chtholly Nota Seniorious SukaSuka 44

49 Kirisaki Chitoge Nisekoi 44

50 Hyūga Hinata NARUTO 44

51 Kōsaka Reina Hibike! Euphonium 44

52 Honma Meiko AnoHana 43

53 Illyasviel von Einzbern Fate Series 43

54 Hiiragi Shinoa Owari no Seraph 41

55 Kinomoto Sakura Cardcaptor Sakura 41

56 Takagi Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san 39

57 Matō Sakura Fate Series 38

58 Sakurasawa Sumi Kanojo, Okarishimasu 37

59 Sento Isuzu Amagi Brilliant Park 37

60 Sakura Chiyo Gekkan Shōjo Nozaki-kun 36

61 Suzumiya Haruhi Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu 36

62 Tobiichi Origami Date A Live 36

63 Nibutani Shinka Chūnibyō demo Koi ga Shitai! 34

64 Rachel Gardner Satsuriku no Tenshi 33

65 Saya Majo no Tabitabi 33

66 Hoto Kokoa Gochūmon wa Usagi Desu ka? 33

67 Sarashina Ruka Kanojo, Okarishimasu 32

68 Futaba Rio AoButa 32

69 Nakamura Yuri Angel Beats! 31

70 Karuizawa Kei Yōkoso Jitsuryoku Shijō Shugi no Kyōshitsu e 30

71 Kotobuki Tsumugi K-ON! 30

72 Kyaru Princess Connect! Re:Dive 29

73 Aqua KonoSuba 28

74 Nakano Yotsuba 5-tōbun no Hanayome 27

75 Misaki Mei Another 27

76 Dekomori Sanae Chūnibyō demo Koi ga Shitai! 27

77 Sōryū Asuka Langley Neon Genesis Evangelion 26

78 Krul Tepes Owari no Seraph 26

79 Nagato Yuki Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu 25

80 Honjō Kaede(Maple) BOFURI 24

81 Oshino Shinobu Monogatari Series 24

82 Alice Zuberg Sword Art Online 24

83 Beatrice Umineko no Naku Koro ni 24

84 Gasai Yuno Mirai Nikki 23

85 Uiharu Kazari Toaru Series 23

86 Jabami Yumeko Kakegurui 22

87 Gray Fate Series 22

88 Yue Arifureta Shokugyō de Sekai Saikyō 21

89 Shiba Miyuki Mahōka Kōkō no Rettōsei 21

90 Rias Gremory Highschool D×D 21

91 Ayanami Rei Neon Genesis Evangelion 21

92 Asada Shino Sword Art Online 21

93 Shichimiya Satone Chūnibyō demo Koi ga Shitai! 21

94 Furuhashi Fumino Bokutachi wa Benkyō ga Dekinai 20

95 Tenma Gabriel White Gabriel Dropout 20

96 Iki Hiyori Noragami 20

97 Natsukawa Masuzu OreShura 20

98 Victorique de Blois GOSICK 20

99 C.C. Code Geass 19

100 Aragaki Ayase Ore no Imōto 19

101 Kokkoro Princess Connect! Re:Dive 19

102 Yūki Setsuna Love Live! NijiGaku 19

103 Holo Spice and Wolf 19

104 Sonozaki Noriko Kiznaiver 19

105 Raphtalia Tate no Yūsha no Nariagari 19

106 Kōsaka Kirino Ore no Imōto 19

Male Division

Rank Name Series Ballots

- Tachibana Taki Kimi no Na wa Auto

- Kanda Sorata Sakura-sō no Pet na Kanojo Auto

- Okazaki Tomoya CLANNAD Auto

- Satō Kazuma KonoSuba Auto

- Okabe Rintarō Steins;Gate Auto

- Saitama One-Punch Man Auto

- Totsuka Saika OreGairu Auto

- Archer Fate Series Auto

- Natsuki Subaru Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Auto

- Ayanokōji Kiyotaka Yōkoso Jitsuryoku Shijō Shugi no Kyōshitsu e Auto

- Riku Dola No Game No Life Auto

- Togashi Yūta Chūnibyō demo Koi ga Shitai! Auto

- Ishigami Yū Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai Auto

- Kamijō Tōma Toaru Series Auto

- Azusagawa Sakuta AoButa Auto

- Gilgamesh Fate Series Auto

1 Hiro Darling in the FranXX 248

2 Kirigaya Kazuto Sword Art Online 86

3 Otosaka Yū Charlotte 76

4 Levi Shingeki no Kyojin 70

5 Yuzaki Nasa Tonikaku Kawaii 67

6 Kaneki Ken Tokyo Ghoul 67

7 Uchiha Itachi NARUTO 59

8 Otonashi Yuzuru Angel Beats! 51

9 Itadori Yūji Jujutsu Kaisen 50

10 Emiya Shirō Fate Series 50

11 Eren Yeager Shingeki no Kyojin 48

12 Ishigami Senkū Dr.STONE 44

13 Yato Noragami 43

14 Arima Kōsei Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso 38

15 Takasu Ryūji Toradora! 38

16 Lelouch Lamperouge Code Geass 38

17 Hyakuya Mikaela Owari no Seraph 36

18 Itsuka Shidō Date A Live 36

19 Saiki Kusuo Saiki Kusuo no Ψ Nan 33

20 Ōma Shū Guilty Crown 33

21 Hyakuya Yūichirō Owari no Seraph 33

22 Morishima Hodaka Tenki no Ko 32

23 Ishida Shōya Koe no Katachi 32

24 Kūjō Jōtarō JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 32

25 Goro Darling in the FranXX 30

26 Isaac Foster Satsuriku no Tenshi 30

27 Kasugano Haruka Yosuga no Sora 30

28 Kuroba Kaito Detective Conan 30

29 Dazai Osamu Bungō Stray Dogs 28

30 Araragi Koyomi Monogatari Series 27

31 Katagaki Naomi Hello World 26

32 Sakata Gintoki Gintama 26

33 Uesugi Fūtarō 5-tōbun no Hanayome 25

34 Rengoku Kyōjurō Kimetsu no Yaiba 24

35 Ōji Mochizō Tamako Market 24

36 Fushiguro Megumi Jujutsu Kaisen 24

37 Shiota Nagisa Ansatsu Kyōshitsu 23

38 Uchiha Sasuke NARUTO 22

39 Tomioka Giyū Kimetsu no Yaiba 21

40 Fukube Satoshi Hyōka 21

41 Izumi Masamune Eromanga Sensei 20

42 Mizugaki Tsukasa Plastic Memories 20

43 Kanbara Akihito Kyōkai no Kanata 20

44 Waver Velvet Fate Series 20

45 Dio Brando JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 19

46 Ainz Ooal Gown Overlord 19

47 Kyon Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu 19

48 Iwatani Naofumi Tate no Yūsha no Nariagari 19

49 Kuzuryū Yaichi Ryuō no Oshigoto! 19

50 Yagami Light Death Note 18

51 Yugi Amane(Hanako-kun) Jibaku Shōnen Hanako-kun 18

52 Kurogane Ikki Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry 17

53 Kanie Seiya Amagi Brilliant Park 17

54 Son Goku Dragon Ball 17

55 Akasaka Ryūnosuke Sakura-sō no Pet na Kanojo 17

56 Ryūgūin Seiya Shinchō Yūsha: Kono Yūsha ga Ore TUEEE Kuse ni Shinchō Sugiru 16

57 Gilbert Bougainvillea Violet Evergarden 16

58 Sakamaki Izayoi Mondaiji 16

59 Uchiha Madara NARUTO 16

60 Narihisago Akihito Id:Invaded 15

61 Rudeus Greyrat Mushoku Tensei 15

62 Kinoshita Kazuya Kanojo, Okarishimasu 14

63 Aki Tomoya Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata 14

64 Shinei Nouzen 86 -Eighty Six- 14

65 Inumaki Toge Jujutsu Kaisen 14

66 Emiya Kiritsugu Fate Series 14

67 Joseph Joestar JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 13

68 L Lawliet Death Note 13

69 Kurosaki Ichigo BLEACH 13

70 Shiba Tatsuya Mahōka Kōkō no Rettōsei 13

71 Bell Cranel DanMachi 13

72 Kageyama Shigeo Mob Psycho 100 13

73 Willem Kmetsch SukaSuka 13

74 Ryo Fu Hōsen Shūmatsu no Valkyrie 13

75 Akabane Karma Ansatsu Kyōshitsu 12

76 Hashibira Inosuke Kimetsu no Yaiba 12

77 Mochizuki Tōya Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni. 12

78 Kaizaki Arata ReLIFE 12

79 Tatsumi Akame ga Kill! 12

80 Sakakibara Kōichi Another 12

81 Uchiha Obito NARUTO 12

82 Keyaru Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi 12

83 Hyōdō Issei Highschool D×D 11

84 Reigen Arataka Mob Psycho 100 11

85 Eugeo Sword Art Online 11

86 Ciel Phantomhive Kuroshitsuji 11

87 Edward Elric Fullmetal Alchemist 11

88 Glenn Radars Rokudenashi Majutsu Kōshi to Akashic Record 11

89 Ōsaka Sōgō Idolish7 11

90 Nishikata Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san 11

91 Anos Voldigoad Maō Gakuin no Futekigōsha 11

92 Asanaka Yomogi SSSS.DYNAZENON 11

93 Sano Manjirō Tokyo Revengers 10

94 Nagumo Hajime Arifureta Shokugyō de Sekai Saikyō 10

95 Tatsumi Kōtarō Zombieland Saga 10

96 Tomoe Kamisama Hajimemashita 10

97 Inuyasha InuYasha 10

98 Satoshi Pokémon 10

99 Nohara Shinnosuke Crayon Shin-chan 10

100 Sesshōmaru InuYasha 10

101 Erwin Smith Shingeki no Kyojin 10

102 Odokawa Hiroshi Odd Taxi 9

103 Yukihira Sōma Shokugeki no Sōma 9

104 Hinata Shōyō Haikyū!! 9

105 Yadomi Jinta AnoHana 9

106 Ikari Shinji Neon Genesis Evangelion 9

107 Nakahara Chūya Bungō Stray Dogs 9

108 Usui Takumi Kaichō wa Maid-sama! 9

#2021 #isml #international saimoe league

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questintheskies · 1 year

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implexaanima-a · 4 years

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New Muse List Pending || Edits Still Possible

Main Muse

Nejire Hadou

Primary Muses

Yo Shindo ( HC Based)

Kugo Sakamata (Gang Orca)

Ochako Uraraka

Tenko Shimura | Hero Verse (Blog Pending)

Dabi ( Blog Pending)

Atsushi Nakajima ( BSD Canon / Beast Verse / BNHA Verse)

Ryunosuke Akutagawa ( BSD Canon / BNHA Verse )

Naomi Tanizaki ( BSD Canon / BNHA Verse)

Secondary Muses

Tamaki Amajiki

Hitoshi Shinsou

Shihai Kuroiro

Toru Hagakure ( HC Based)

Ryūrō Hirotsu ( BSD Canon )

Gin Akutagawa ( BSD Canon )

Request Only Muses

Izuku Midoriya | Nomu Verse | Villain Verse

Shouto Todoroki | Canon Div. | Canon

Katsuki Bakugou | Canon Div. | Canon

Hiroshi Shinsou | Hitoshi’s Father

Kai Chisaki (Overhaul)

Hari Kurono

H. P. Lovecraft ( BSD Canon )

Oda Sakunosuke ( BSD Canon / Canon Div )

Kyouka Izumi ( BSD Canon )

Kyo Sohma ( Fruit Baskets Canon)

Haruka Tenou / Sailor Uranus ( Sailor Moon Canon)

Crossover Muses | BNHA Verses Or Canon

Naofumi Iwatani ( Rising of The Shield Hero)

Crowley Eusford ( Owari No Seraph)

Mikaela Hyakuya ( Owari No Seraph)

Jason Dean (Heathers)

Hades (Mythology)

Original Characters ( Various Verses)

Kazimir Tenmei ( The Angel )

Akushitsu Hoshino ( The Basilisk )

Ren Miyazaki ( The King Of Hearts )

Noelani Ward ( The Queen of Hearts )

Haruka Ryoshi ( The Jack of Hearts )

Ichika Shizuhiko ( The Ace Of Hearts )

Kageru Hansei ( The Mirror Walker)

Megumi Tsukitori ( The Song Bird )

#✦ [ OOC ] : I’m Out Of My Head Of My Heart And My Mind ✦#of course #this is pending #whether or not i delete #and/or remake #but #here is an idea #no idea if it makes sense #but oh well #pending more muses from other fandoms prolly

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closetofanxiety · 5 years

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Wrestlequest: Tokyo

Hey everyone! I’m back from Japan. What a trip! I will post a bunch of stuff about it in a bit (still unpacking, jet lagged, etc), but as a baseline, here are the shows I attended while I was there, courtesy of Cagematch. I thought 10 shows was a lot, but I met a bunch of fans from overseas who were going to 20+. If it wasn’t clear before, it should be now: I am a fake wrestling fan. I might as well wear be wearing a Dolph Ziggler t-shirt and have a Twitter screen name like “WokenCloset316.”

Anyway, here’s the list:

December 28, 2019

DDT

“D-Ou Grand Prix 2020: The Final!”

Korakuen Hall

Taped for Abema TV

Attendance: 2,019

Chihiro Hashimoto and Yuki Ino defeat Keigo Nakamura and Keisuke Ishii

One Count Rule Gauntlet Match: Antonio Honda, Danshoku Dino, Hiroshi Yamato, Kazuki Hirata, Mad Paulie, Masahiro Takanashi, Mizuki Watase, Toru Owashi, Yoshihiko, vs. Makoto Oishi (Makoto Oishi wins)

Saki Akai defeats Sakura Hirota

Three-Way Tag Match: Nautilus (Naomi Yoshimura and Yuki Ueno) defeat ALL OUT (Akito and Shunma Katsumata) and DAMNATION (Nobuhiro Shimatani and Soma Takao)

Shinya Aoki defeats Super Sasadango Machine

Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi and Yukio Sakaguchi defeat Bull James and Yukio Naya

Four Way Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeats Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sasaki, and HARASHIMA

D-Ou Grand Prix Final Match: Masato Tanaka defeats Tetsuya Endo

December 30, 2019

Gatoh Move

“GTMV #26″

Ichigaya Chocolate Square

Attendance: 77

Hagane Shinnou defeats Lulu Pencil

Chris Brookes defeats Mitsuru Konno

Six Man Tag Match: Antonio Honda, Baliyan Akki, and Mei Suruga defeat Masahiro Takanashi, Rin Rin, and TAMURA

December 30, 2019

Big Japan Wrestling: The World Is Not Enough Round 2

Korakuen Hall

Taped for Samurai TV

Attendance: 1,150

Six Man Tag Match: Kazuki Hashimoto, Shinobu, and Yuya Aoki defeat Koju Takeda, Kota Sekifuda, and Tatsuhiko Yoshino

Tag Team Match: Kazumi Kikuta and Ryuichi Kawakami defeat Kankuro Hoshino and Masaya Takahashi

Daisuke Sekimoto defeats Kosuke Sato

Six Man Tag Match: Daichi Hashimoto, Hideyoshi Kamitani, and Takuya Nomura defeat Freddie Krueger, Leatherface, and Raijin Yaguchi

Six Man Tag Match: Masashi Takeda, Takumi Tsukamoto, and Toshiyuki Sakuda defeat Koji Kanemoto, Shinjiro Otani, and Tatsuhito Takaiwa

Six Man Tag Match: Akira Hyodo, Yuji Hino, and Yuji Okabayashi defeat Hideki Suzuki, Takuho Kato, and Yasufumi Nakanoue

Six Man Tag Match: Strong Hearts (El Lindaman, Shigehiro Irie, and T-Hawk) defeat Abdullah Kobayashi, Yuko Miyamoto, and Masato Tanaka

January 1, 2020

YMZ Pro Wrestling

“The 7th Sunrise”

Basement Mon Star

Attendance: 120

Tag Team Match: Manami Katsu and Mari Manji defeat Eito and Kaji Tomato

Tag Team Match: ASUKA and Hagane Shinnou vs. Daiki Shimomura and Tsubasa Kuragaki (Time Limit Draw)

No English Allowed Match: Cherry defeats Kakeru Sekiguchi

Six Man Tag Match: Kuishinbo Kamen, Syuri, and Yuko Miyamoto defeat Daiki Shimomura, Hikaru Sato, and Kaori Yoneyama (w/Matsuzawa-san)

January 2, 2020

All Japan Pro Wrestling

“New Year Wars 2020, Day 1″

Korakuen Hall

Streamed live on AJPW.tv

Attendance: 1,445

Six Man Tag Match: Akira Francesco, Danny Jones, and Rising HAYATO defeat Atsuki Aoyagi, Dan Tamura, and Yusuke Okada

Six Man Tag Match: Fuminori Abe, Jake Lee, and Naoya Namura defeat Black Menso-re, Jun Akiyama, and Takao Omori

Six Man Tag Match: Masanobu Fuchi, TAJIRI, and The Great Sasuke defeat Abdullah Kobayashi, Frank Atsushi, and the Great Kojika

New Year Battle Royal: Danny Jones defeats Akira Francesco, Atsuki Aoyagi, Black Menso-re, Chikara, Dan Tamura, Fuminori Abe, Jake Lee, Naoya Nomura, Osamu Nishimura, Rising HAYATO, Takao Omori, and Yusuke Okada

Eight Man Tag Match: Izanagi, Lucas Steel, Shigehiro Irie, and UTAMARO defeat Hokuto Omori, Kento Miyahara, Yoshitatsu, and Yuma Aoyagi

AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal Match: Hikaru Sato defeats Kagetora

AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal Match: Susumu Yokosuka defeats Koji Iwamoto

AJPW World Tag Team Title Match: Violent Giants (Shuji Ishikawa and Suwama) defeat Ryouji Sai and Zeus by KO - Title Change!

January 2, 2020

World Wonder Ring Stardom

“New Year’s Stars, Night 1″

Shin-kiba 1st Ring

Attendance: 408

Tag Team Match: Queen’s Quest (Hina and Leo Onozaki) defeat Rina and Ruaka

Three Way Match: Leyla Hirsch (debut) defeats Itsuki Hoshino and Saya Iida

Six Man Tag Match: Queen’s Quest (Bea Priestly, Momo Watanabe, and Utami Hayashishita) defeat Oedo Tai (Natsuko Tora and Natsu Sumire) and Zoey Skye

Tag Team Match: Andras Miyagi and Giulia defeat Oedo Tai (Jamie Hayter and Martina)

Tag Team Match: Kagetsu and AZM defeat STARS (Starlight Kid and Mayu Iwatani)

Eight Man Tag Match: Tokyo Cyber Squad (Death Yama-san, Konami, Jungle Kyona, and Hana Kimura) defeat Saya Kamiani and STARS (Arisa Hoshiki, Saki Kashima, and Tam Nakano)

January 3, 2020

Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS

“Happy New Freedom 2020″

Shin-kiba 1st Ring

Attendance: 215

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Match: Kenji Fukimoto defeats Masashi Takeda

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Match: Takashi Sasaki defeats Rina Yamashita

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Match: Yuko Miyamoto defeats Kamui

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Match: Chikara defeats Takumi Tsukamoto

Two On One Handicap Elimination Match: Naoki Kamata and Tomoya Hirata defeat GENTARO

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Semifinal Match: Takashi Sasaki defeats Kenji Fukimoto

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Semifinal Match: Yuko Miyamoto defeats Chikara

Tag Team Match: Mammoth Sasaki and Violento Jack defeat Toru Sugiura and Yuya Susumu

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Final Match: Yuko Miyamoto defeats Takashi Sasaki

January 3, 2020

World Wonder Ring Stardom

“New Year’s Stars, Night 2″

Shin-kiba 1st Ring

Attendance: 453

Three Way Match: Starlight Kid defeats Natsu Sumire and Ruaka

Three Way Tag Match: Itsuki Hoshino and Saya Kamitani defeat Leyla Hirsch and Rina and Queen’s Quest (Hina and Leo Onozaki)

Tag Team Match: Andras Miyagi and Giulia defeat Natsuko Tora and Zoey Skye

Six Man Tag Match: Tokyo Cyber Squad (Death Yama-san, Konami, and Jungle Kyona) defeat Bea Priestley and Oedo Tai (Jamie Hayter and Martina)

Six Man Tag Match: Queen’s Quest (AZM, Momo Watanabe, and Utami Hayashishita) defeat STARS (Arisa Hoshiki, Saya Iida, and Tam Nakano)

Oedo Tai Reunion (Hana Kimura and Kagetsu) defeat STARS (Mayu Iwatani and Saki Kashima) - Saki Kashima betrays Mayu and joins Oedo Tai

January 5, 2020

Tokyo Joshi Pro

“New Year Dish”

Itabashi Green Hall

Streamed live on DDT Universe

Attendance: 223

Tag Team Match: BAKURETSU Sisters (Nodoka Tenma and Yuki Aino) defeat Mizuki and Sena Shori

Akemi Daredasore defeats Pom Harajuku

Three Way Match: Shoko Nakajima defeats Mahiro Kiryu and Yuki Kamifuku

Six Man Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Raku, and Suzume defeat Haruna Neko, Hikari Noa, and Natsumi Maki

Six Man Tag Match: Miu Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi, and Yuka Sakazaki defeat Mina Shirakawa, Mirai Miumi, and Yuna Manase

International Princess Title Match: Thunder Rosa defeats Maki Itoh - Title Change!

January 5, 2020

New Japan Pro Wrestling:

“Wrestle Kingdom 14, Night 2″

Tokyo Dome

Streamed live on NJPW World

Attendance: 30,063

Dark Match: NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title Gauntlet Match: Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL, and Singo Takagi) defeat Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, and Yujiro Takahashi), CHAOS (Robbie Eagles, Tomohiro Ishii, and YOSHI-HASHI), Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Taichi, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) and Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, and Toru Yano - Title Change!

Tag Team Match: Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee defeat Jushin Thunder Liger and Naoki Sano (w/Yoshiaki Fujiwara) - Liger’s final match

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match - Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) w/Rocky Romero defeat Bullet Club (El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori) - Title Change!

RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Title Match - Zack Sabre Jr. defeats SANADA

IWGP US Heavyweight Title Match: Jon Moxley defeats Juice Robinson (w/David Finlay)

NEVER Openweight Title Match: Hirooki Goto defeats KENTA - Title Change!

Jay White (w/Gedo) defeats Kota Ibushi

Chris Jericho defeats Hiroshi Tanahashi

IWGP Heavyweight/IWGP Intercontinental Title Match: Tetsuya Naito defeats Kazuchika Okada - Title Change! (also Title Retention!)

#making towns #Wrestlequest Tokyo

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puroresu-musings · 5 years

Photo

NJPW / ROH G1 SUPERCARD Review (April 6th 2019, New York, Madison Square Garden)

Honor Rumble **

NEVER Openweight/ROH TV Title vs. Title Match: Will Ospreay vs. Jeff Cobb ****

Rush vs Dalton Castle DUD

WOH Title Match: Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Kelly Klein **

New York City Street Fight: Flip Gordon, Juice Robinson & Mark Haskins vs. Bully Ray, Silas Young & Shane Taylor **1/2 (I guess)

IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title Match: Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Dragon Lee vs. Bandido ****1/4

IWGP Tag/ROH Tag Title vs. Title Match: Guerillas Of Destiny vs. Brody King & PCO vs. The Briscoes vs. EVIL & SANADA ***3/4

RPW British Heavyweight Title Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi ****

IWGP Intercontinental Title Match: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kota Ibushi ****3/4

ROH World Title Ladder Match: Jay Lethal (c) vs. Marty Scurll vs. Matt Taven ****

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Jay White (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada ****3/4

Photos.

Well this was a historic and interesting show, as at times it was like watching two completely different wrestling shows at the same time. First things first, the lion’s share of ROH stuff on here was... not good. ROH is a company that once had such a unique identity, that watching it now is so weird. Lets face it, without this relationship with New Japan, what identity would Ring Of Honor even have? Also the booking on here from the ROH standpoint, was a tremendous example of not knowing what your audience wants. Nobody in the sold out MSG wanted to see guys like Minoru Suzuki, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto and others, wasted in the pre-show batle royal, and have nearly half an hour dedicated to a disinteresting Bubba Ray Dudley street fight, or a TNA nostalgia act, not to mention a Ladder Match, that whilst great, was horrendously over-long at 29:35. Also Matt Taven winning the belt seemed like a total anti-climax.

However, the NJPW stuff on this show was excellent. The pre-show Rumble was what you’d expect, it was mostly disinteresting, and it went on forever (42:21). The ROH guys got zero reation coming out, whereas the New Japan guys all got respectable to enormous pops, depending on who they were. The biggest responses were for Minoru Suzuki, Tomohiro Ishii and Jushin Thunder Liger, the latter of whom got the legend treatment. However, the biggest reaction was saved for the surprise appearance of The Great Muta! It was tremendous to see him, even though he moved like a glacier, he was in really good shape, and his exchanges with Liger got over huge. Kenny King won to no reaction, when he eliminated both legends. The first bout of the main show saw NEVER Openweight champion, Will Ospreay, take on ROH TV champion, Jeff Cobb, in a title for title match. This was great stuff, as you’d expect, but probably wasn’t as good as expected. They worked a great big guy/little guy style, with the added wrinkle of the big guy being able to fly too. The crowd was hot, the action great, and the stuff creative. The finish saw Cobb hit a top rope Tour Of The Islands, followed by a regular version, to win both straps in 12:52. This means Cobb defends the NEVER title against Taichi at the next NJPW show, which is quite the styles clash. Next, Rush squashed Dalton Castle in 15 seconds in what was an effective way to get the Mexican star over, but felt somewhat superfluous on this show, and Kelly Klein won the WOH title from Maiyu Iwatani in a profoundly uninteresting contest, with a horrendous post-match.

The never-ending Bully Ray stuff was next. I must admit, I was so disinterested, I went and did something else for a bit in the hope I’d miss this, and came back only to find it still going! What I did see was OK, at best. The show really wasn’t doing well at this point, with a single match worth a damn thus far, but it picked up considerably from here. The 3 way Jr Title match was excellent. Yes, it only went 8:54, and with even 5 more minutes, could have been outstanding, but it was still the best thing on the show up to this point, by far. The spots these guys did were mind-blowing, culminating in Bandido hitting a DOUBLE top rope Fall Away Slam into a Moonsault on both Lee and Ishimori, which blew the roof off the Garden. In the end, Dragon Lee won the title in an all-action sprint, when he pinned Bandido (not the defending champion) with Desnucadora. This was so good. Next up was the insane 4 way tag title vs. title match, with IWGP tag champs, GOD, taking on ROH tag title holders, PCO and Brody King, with the Briscoes and EVIL and SANADA thrown in for good measure. This was another wild bout, which saw PCO take the craziest bump of the weekend, that I saw anyway, when GOD gave him a double powerbomb out of the ring, and he landed hard on the concrete. This was insane, and I feared he may have been dead. Tama hit King with Gun Stun, then the Tongans won both sets of belts when they pinned him with a Super Bomb. I really liked this, it was an unhinged four-way brawl. The ROH guys, and even GOD, looked really good here, however EVIL and SANADA were literally just bodies going through motions here and if they weren’t in it, I’m not sure it even would have mattered. Toru Yano stole the IWGP tag belts in the post match, whilst the Enzo and Cass bullshit kicked off around ringside.

ZSJ successfully defended the Rev Pro British title against Tanahashi next. This was another excellent bout in their series, but coming after three crazy matches in a row, two of which were great, and with them working a considerably more methodical style, the crowd were slightly more subdued here. Despite the slow start, they finally won the crowd over, and Sabre retained after submitting the Ace with his new stretch he’s calling Yes! I am A Long Way From Home (which I believe is Mogwai reference) after 15 minutes of action. Tana was apparently injured in this somewhere though, which puts a bit of a dampner on things. Naito defended the I.C. Title against Ibushi next. What more can be said of matches between these two? Every time they get in there against each other, I’m fearful one, or both, might die. Which is never a great feeling to have when watching a wrestling match. Of course, the fact their matches are always out of this world good makes up for it slightly. But only slighty. This had loads of crazy stuff in it; Ibushi hit a snap rana on Naito off the apron to the floor, as well as that deadlift German off the second rope, which when Naito landed, his head snapped like he’d been thrown out of a car. They had a stiff strike exchange, before Naito hit a reverse rana and Destino for a great near fall. Ibushi battles back with a headkick, two Boma Ye’s, a Last Ride, and Kamigoye to win the Intercontinental title in decisive fashion at the 20:53. This was the right move to me, as with Kota part of the company full time, New Japan really should be positioning him at the top of the card, and Naito is already an established star (even if that star has fallen somewhat over the last year), so he isn’t hurt by the loss. Ibushi’s first defense is against Sabre Jr at the Sengoku Lord show in Nagoya on April 20th, which should be great. The ROH World Title Ladder Match followed. It too was excellent, and featured some incredible bumps, but it went on much too long, and Taven winning hardly invokes enthusiasm, it must be said.

Which brought us to the main event of the evening. This was an exceptional piece of drama, which took its time to get to where it was going. I’ve heard people complain about how the first half of the match wasn’t exactly scintilating, but it was all part of telling the story it set out to tell. It built to an incredibly dramatic climax, which saw, amongst other things, Jay White joining an incredible elite club of guys who have ever kicked out of a full on Rainmaker, probably the most protected finisher in the business. In fact, it took Okada four dropkicks and four variations of the Rainmaker to finally put Switch Blade away. After hitting a Blade Runner (which noticeably wasn’t kicked out of here), Jay went for another, but Okada turned it into a German Suplex. As the sold out MSG went crazy, and after a series of blocks and counters, Okada hit the spinning Tombstone and another Rainmaker to win his 5th IWGP Title at the 32:33 mark, and send everyone home happy. Honestly, Okada looked like the best worker on the planet (I mean, because he is. Even better than Kenny) and he put in a superstar performance here, doing everything to make White look like a star. To his credit, Jay carried his load well here too, and looked great throughout. At only 26 years old, the future is very bright for him too, but the title change was the right call I believe. Okada is still your franchise player, and whilst he doesn’t have a whole load in the way of fresh challengers, his main events are unequelled. Next up for him is a title defense against SANADA in Fukuoka on May 3rd, as he promised to Cold Skull after beating him to win the NJC. Their last match was a classic, so I see no reason for that not to be too.

NDT

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hazyheel · 5 years

Text

G1 Supercard Review

First match of the night was the Honor Rumble, starting with Kenny King and Minoru Suzuki. Just gonna run through some of the fun spots, such as the tag teams teaming up. Taguchi had a moment where he directed Rocky Romero’s corner clotheslines, eventually leading almost all members of the match to hit BUSHI in the corner. Jushin Thunder Liger got a huge pop, entering and eliminating Brawler Milonas with Shoteis. Colt Cabana took Yano’s spot in the match, in a heartwarming moment. King Haku made a big return, got a decent pop. Haku was beating down Cabana, so Yano ran into the match to help him out. And at #30, the Great Muta made a huge return. Yano accidentally nailed Cabana with the corner pad, leading to them both being eliminated. Ishii and Suzuki renewed their rivalry, leading to Suzuki’s elimination. The two finalists were Jushin Thunder Liger and The Great Muta. They had a nice little match, before Kenny King, who had not been eliminated, threw them both out and won the match. King got misted for his deceit, but still won the match.

Grade D+. Just a weirdly rushed Royal Rumble rip off. Really not into this. It wasn’t very smooth, there wasn’t much story to it, and even though it was for a world title shot, I just couldn’t care. Still, nice to see Muta wrestle again. He kinda still had it.

And in the first actual match of the night, Will Ospreay took on Jeff Cobb, in a winner take all match for the NEVER Openweight Championship and the ROH World Television. They started out fast and furious, with Cobb hitting a huge European uppercut to start the match. Cobb even hit an awesome delayed superplex for a near fall, showing incredible core strength and balance from Ospreay. Ospreay went for his flip off the chest, but Cobb countered with a huge lariat. Ospreay went for the os cutter, but Cobb caught him and threw him into the corner, only for Ospreay to land on the middle rope and hit the os cutter anyway, for an awesome near fall. Ospreay tried to hit the stormbreaker off the top, but Cobb countered with a super tour of the islands, then hitting a normal tour of the islands for the win.

Grade: A-. Great match. They had awesome chemistry, and hit some awesome moves on each other. I don’t know why I thought that Ospreay would end Cobb’s undeafeated streak, but I was happy to be wrong. Really great match, and I am looking forward to seeing how long Cobb is a double champion. Definitely a match worth watching as their counters were actually awesome.

Next up, a special singles match between Rush and Dalton Castle. This match was over in seconds, as Rush nailed three huge corner dropkicks and got the win. After the match, Castle was so pissed about his loss, and pissed at the boys for trying to cheer him up, he attacked them with a gutwrench suplex and a bangarang, turning heel. I am not going to grade this match, but it was pretty awesome to see.

Then we had a woman of honor championship match, pitting Mayu Iwatani against Kelly Klein. Before the match, Klein sent away camp klein, opting to fight the match fairly. The two had technical exchanges, with Klein coming away with the advantage during mat wrestling. But as Klein got too comfortable, Iwantani locked in a sleeper hold, nearly able to get the win off of that. Kelly Klein got the win after two K powers. At the end of the match, Velvet sky and Angelina Love came down to the ring. As the women distracted her, Mandy Leon attacked, laying out Klein and several other women of honor. They drew the anarchy symbol on her head, and walked out. New stable in the women of honor division.

Grade: D. Just a bad match. I liked the story of Klein showing that she has become a better person, but other than that this was a boring match that was kinda awkward. I didn’t really care for the post match antics either, just becuase it wasn’t particularly good. But they did hit some cool moves, it just wasn’t awesome.

Mega Ran did a rap. Yay, but thankfully Bully Ray came out to interrupt. He was given a big babyface reaction because they all hated Mega Ran. He drove Mega Ran out of the ring, and confessed attacking Juice Robinson. He said that the challenge was still open, and Flip Gordon answered the call. Back from injury, he got a huge reaction. He quickly started out with a superkick, and a springboard spear. It didn’t take long for Bully to get the table, and for Shane Taylor and Silas Young, but LifeBlood’s Juice Robinson and Mark Haskins came out to save Flip Gordon. They offered to change this to a 3 on 3 match, and came to beat down Bully. Gordan had to take huge kendo stick shots from all of the heels, no selling all of them until his Lifeblood allies came, for a kendo stick fight among all six. The heels fought back, and powerbombed Gordon through a table. In the finish, Bully was hit with a superkick, powerslam, stinkface and a 450 for the win

Grade: C. Perfectly fun soap opera bullshit. It was a lot of hard core stuff, but nothing too crazy. Awesome to see Flip Gordon back, and doing his thang, happy to see Silas Young and Lifeblood, just fun. Not the best hardcore match ever, but it was fine for what it was.

Into the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match, Taiji Ishimori took on both Dragon Lee and Bandido. Lee quickly picked up the pace with a slingshot hurricanrana to Bandido, only for Ishimori to hit a huge moonsault. Lee was really beating the shit out both of his opponents, with shots that were as stiff as they come. They just kept hitting crazy flying moves, mexican destroyers, hurricanranas and ddts. Ishimori hit Lee with the Bloody Cross for a near fall. Bandido hit both men with a moonsault powerslam, which the commentators accurately said wasn’t a real move. Lee was able to get the win after hitting a knee lift to Ishimori and some sort of vertical powerslam to Bandido.

Grade: B+. Flippy flippy flippy match. These guys flew all over the place, with awesome and dangerous moves. It was surprisingly short, but still quite fun. Dragon Lee winning the belt makes me think that Hiromu Takahashi will be back for the Best of the Super Juniors. Happy to see Lee have the belt, he really deserves it. And although I think Ishimori’s reign ended a bit short, I think that it ended at the perfect time for the story of Takahashi vs. Lee to continue. Hope to see that soon.

Into the tag team championships match, the Guerillas of Destiny vs. Villain Enterprises vs. The Briscoes vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon. PCO had to be revived in his entrance, but it looked pretty cool. They started out with a wild brawl, and there didn’t even seem to be rules in this match. The Briscoes seemed to be working together super well, destroying their opponents with chairs. Sanada and Evil hit awesome tag team offense, with huge kicks and such. PCO hit a huge moonsault for a big near fall. Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa gave PCO a huge powerbomb out of the ring, to the floor, with no protection, it looked horrendous, but he sat up afterwards, so I think he is okay. In the finish, Jado got involved, smacking Brody King with a Kendo Stick, allowing Tama Tonga to hit a gunstun, and then a superpowerbomb from Tonga Loa for the win. However, as they went to grab the belts, Toru Yano had stolen them, and looked to run away with them.

Grade: A-. Wild match right from the start. There were crazy bumps, crazy spots, non stop action, and I couldn’t look away. It was a lot crazier that I had thought it would be, but it was still awesome. Briscoes had some awesome hardcore spots, Brody King and PCO did some crazy stuff, Evil and Sanada kept ahold of their classic wrestling style, while Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa kept their heads down, interfered when they needed to, and came away with the win. Fun, car wreck of a match.

Next up was a singles match between Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the British Heavyweight Championship. The two exchanged technical holds, with Sabre not commiting too hard in the beginning of the match. Sabre continued to play mind games throughout the match, working over Tanahashi’s arm. When tanahashi couldn’t skin the cat, Sabre realized that he needs to target that limb and began to destroy it. Sabre did his best to counter Tanahashi’s submissions, but Tanahashi was able to keep outwrestling Sabre. However, when Tanahashi went up for the high fly flow, Sabre quickly ran to the top rope to stop it. Sabre seemed to have the advantage during striking contests, but not in technical wrestling, oddly enough. Tanahashi began to psych himself up, hitting several twist and shouts and slingblades. However, Sabre was able to outlast Tanahashi, locking in his submission that has a super long name and getting the verbal submission.

Grade: B. A bit slower than the matches that these two normally, but still quite good. I liked the story of Tanahashi actually being able to best Sabre, but sabre just outlasted him. He was younger, had better conditioning, and knew that he could outlast the Ace. Good stuff, but far from their best match.

And then we had the Intercontinental Championship match, Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito. They started with the quick strikes right off the bat, targetting each other’s necks as these two so often do. It didn’t take long before they started busting out the big moves, with ibushi hitting a hurricanrana off the apron, and then hitting a springboard double stomp for a near fall. Ibushi hit his second rope german, Naito hit a spike hurricanrana off the top rope. The two battled for the opportunity to hit a package piledriver on each other, with Naito eventually getting the honors. The two began to exchange forearms, kicks and palm strikes. Naito then hit a huge reverserana into a destino, but Ibushi actually kicked out. Ibushi then nailed a bomboye to the back of the head, and then to the face for a near fall. He then hit a last ride for a near fall, before picking him up for a Kamegoye and the win.

Grade: A. As awesome as ever, these guys can do no wrong. They hit each other as hard as they could, they threw each other onto their necks, and the whole thing was just so so scary. Awesome to see Ibushi finally getting a long term title reign, unlike his run with the Openweight Belt. He will probably hold it for a couple months, hopefully into the G1 Classic, but I am just happy that he won here.

Now into the ROH main event, Jay Lethal vs. Marty Scurll vs. Matt Taven, for the ROH World Championship, in a ladder match. The men didn’t take long to start throwing ladders at each other. At one point, Scurll trapped Lethal’s head in a ladder, before hitting the latter with a chair. Scurll even attempted to grab the belt by climbing a shorter ladder and grabbing it with his umbrella. Throughout the match, Scurll injured his knee after being stuck in a figure four in a ladder. Taven hit a huge powerbomb to lethal through a ladder suspended between two chairs. Taven and Scurll faced off in the middle of the ring, with Scurll attempting to hit all his offense, but Taven kept playing spoiler to that, drawing chants of fuck you taven. Scurll hit a huge superplex to take out Taven. Lethal was about to win the match, but Scurll locked in the chicken wing and threw him off the top. Taven and Scurll then battled at the top, only for Scurll to break Taven’s fingers, before getting punched off. Taven had it won, but his fingers hurt too much and he fell off. Lethal was able to land a lethal injection on Scurll, but did not have a ladder to capitalize. Scurll took a lot of punishment, as Taven delivered a huge spear through the ropes and through a table. At one point, Lethal went up to the top of a huge ladder to hit the biggest elbow drop ever on Taven, through a table. At one point, Taven introduced a huge, purple ladder, with ladders suspended between lower rungs and the ropes of both sides. Scurll got taken out after Taven swept his leg, and he tumbled out of the ring. Lethal and Taven battled atop the ladder, and Taven smacked lethal with the belt, sending him down through the ladder. Taven then grabbed the title, the new ROH World Champion.

Grade: A. This was a great match. They destroyed themselves with ladder shots, and falling from huge heights. These guys will be sore tomorrow, and they put on a hell of a match. Scurll probably took the most sickening bumps, but everyone did some terrifying stuff. I didn’t expect this match to be as good as it was, but I was pleasantly surprised. Bummed that Scurll didn’t win, but Taven really does deserve it. Congratulations Taven, you deserved it. Surprisingly enough, this was probably the match of the night for me.

And the main event for New Japan, Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. White started playing mindgames immediately, but Okada played them right back. Every time Okada seemed to be gaining the advantage, Gedo got involved to keep White in the lead. It got to the point where, after booting Jay White over the barricade, Okada threw Gedo in after him, before hitting a huge splash to the both of them. White desperately tried to counter Okada’s signature moves, but even when he did, Okada would manage to hit them anyway. Okada was hitting his dropkicks as hard as he ever has, nailing one in the face and one in the chest. At one point, White hit a huge Saito suplex out of the ring, onto the apron. Jay did everything he could to make sure that he doesn’t get hit by the Rainmaker, at one point just sitting down to avoid it, and another time reversing into a sleeper suplex. Okada nailed a spinning rainmaker, into another Rainmaker for a great near fall. Jay hit the blade runner, but did not make the pin due to his exhaustion. As Okada was about to get the win again, but Gedo distracted the ref and White hit a low blow. They had a series of counters, before Okada hit two rainmakers, a jumping tombstone, and then one more rainmaker for the win.

Grade: A-. Really great match. They played on all the apsects of their rivalry over the past few months, like Gedo’s betrayal, the reversal of the rainmaker into Bladerunner, and Okada’s need to go super overkill to put down white. The action was fast and intense, and although I thought it would be better if White retained, it does feel good to see the belt back on Okada.

Overall Grade: B+

Pros: Cobb vs. Ospreay; junior heavyweight championship; tag championship; british championship; intercontinental championship; ladder match; main event

Cons: honor rumble; Dalton Castle heel turn :( ;women of honor match; mega ran

#hazyheel #roh #roh review #njpw review #njpw #new japan #new japan review #new japan pro wrestling review #new japan pro wrestling #ring of honor #ring of honor review #njpw world #g1 supercard #g1 supercard review

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