New Japan Pro Wrestling

The AXSTV/New Japan Pro Wrestling TV deal discussed on Sunday's Wrestling Observer Radio is for 13 shows from 2013.

The Fight Network's John Pollock reported the first show will feature the Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada match from the 2013 Tokyo Dome show. The series will include the 2013 G-1 Climax tournament -- the best pro wrestling tournament ever until the 2014 G-1 Climax.

The matches will be broadcast with English language voiceovers by boxing/MMA's Mauro Ranallo and UFC heavyweight Josh Barnett as the announcers.

i mean this in the nicest possible way, but john pollock doesn't have a life, does he? =D

but hey HELL YEAH i've been increasngly sucked into the world of LAW/FN podcasts (replacing opie and jimmy, who replaced opie ans anthony, who replaced howard stern with the occasional dash of BUBBA THE LOVE SPONE as my go-to "pass out while listening to this" radio/podcast fare)...

AHEM. yeah i've been listening to a bunch of LAW/FN stuff and they all seem to love NJPW and speak glowingly and reverentially about it, so hey if this helps bring it that much more to the forefront and thus makes it easier for a lazy-ass like me to consume then i'm all for it.

KS/TP-- i take it you guys can vouch for NJPW?

I only started really watching the last couple years, and this year was the 1st year I went out of my way to follow NJPW closely. It's not perfect by any means, and they have characters like Santino who are comedy spot guys, but it is taken seriously and not presented as "sports entertainment".

The G1 Climax tournaments from 2013 and 2014 are phenomenal.

Apparently U Verse carries this channel. I'll be watching New Japan for the first time since Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Ric Flair in 1991!

I've never liked that move. It's not spectacular enough for the risk. I thought Michelle McCool was going to kill someone.

That's the problem.  It's one of their first instincts.  

Drop In is right. It's not a crazy enough spot to make execution and potential injury worth the risk.

Styles has said that he talks to guys before his matches to see if they've taken the bump before and won't do it if they're not comfortable they can take it right.

New Japan Pro Wrestling Unveils It’s Own Streaming Service That Will Include Live Events, Wrestle Kingdom 9, Tons of Classic Content; Available NOW!
Mike Killam
December 1, 2014

Moments ago, New Japan Pro Wrestling held a live press conference to announce the unveiling of their very own streaming service, “New Japan World”.

The service is available immediately, and is very similar to the WWE Network, in that the promotion will be airing all their major events live. Unlike WWE, where they have TV contracts that keep Raw and Smackdown on major networks, the bulk of New Japan content is offered as pay-per-view in Japan, and internet pay-per-view in the United States. What that means is instead of one major PPV on the WWE Network each month, you’re going to get upwards of four or five big live shows in a given month, including the G1 Tag League finals next weekend.

New Japan World is being offered at 999 yen, which is roughly $8.42 per month, and we’ve already received emails from U.S. fans that have subscribed and are watching classic content. Their website advertises its availability on desktops, tablets and smart phones as well.

CHECK IT OUT NOW at njpwworld.com!

I can't even figure out how that occurs from the picture. Did they fall backwards?

The #NJPWNetwork TM probably won't have the JR call of the PPV. But I hope it succeeds.

He mysteriously bribed them with $1,000.


Scott Hall’s Son Joins The Bullet Club

Earlier today, Scott Hall’s son Cody Hall was announced as the newest member of The Bullet Club faction in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Cody was sporting an old Razor Ramon vest when the announcement was made.

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The following is a complete line-up for the 13 episode run of New Japan Pro Wrestling on AXS TV.

In particular, the January 30th show featuring Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada is being praised by many as one of the best shows they’ve ever seen. Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com claims that it was “the best one hour pro wrestling television show” that he has ever seen, and Mauro Ranallo’s play-by-play is being praised as some of the best English-language announcing of all time.

January 16
Tanahashi vs. Okada, Wrestle Kingdom 7

January 23
Okada vs. Hirooki Goto, 2013 New Japan Cup finals
Shinsuke Nakamura/Tomohiro Ishii/Jado vs. Minoru Suzuki/Lance Archer/Taka Michinoku

January 30
Tanahashi vs. Okada, Invasion Attack 2013

February 6
Okada vs. Togi Makabe
Tanahashi vs. Prince Devitt

February 13
Okada vs. Prince Devitt
Tanahashi/Makabe/Jushin Liger/Captain New Japan vs. Karl Anderson/El Terrible/Tama Tonga/Bad Luck Fale

February 20
Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi
Satoshi Kojima vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Karl Anderson

February 27
Tanahashi vs. Tesuya Naito, G1 Climax finals

March 6
Nakamura vs. Naomichi Marifuji
Naito vs. Yijiro Takahashi

March 13
Okada vs. Naito, Wrestle Kingdom 8

March 20
Nakamura vs. Tanahashi, Wrestle Kingdom 8

March 27
Nakamura vs. Tanahashi, Invasion Attack 2014

April 3
Okada vs. AJ Styles, Wrestling Dontaku
Ibushi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
The Forever Hooligans vs. The Young Bucks

April 10
Okada vs. AJ Styles, Yokohama Arena
Takashi Iizuka/Toru Yano vs. Suzuki/Shelton Benjamin

Watching the first episode with Tanahasi(sp)vs Okada

Mauro Ranello is great
Josh Barnett is rough but he knows his shit.

Some of you youngbloods might not be able to relate to this just yet, but one of the really nice things about getting older is the realization that the opinions of others just don’t really matter all that much. You’ll know you’ve finally reached that point in your life when the ability to put your heart out there for the world to see overrides your need to come off as ‘cool’ to a bunch of complete strangers. This article may well end up being a whole lot of exactly that, because there’s a very real possibility the love I’m about to profess for Professional Wrestling will come off as completely corny to a segment of you still more interested in snark than content. That’s perfectly fine; I thank you for reading all the same.

When I was a kid growing up in Northeast Texas, I had the inestimable privilege of having access to a multitude of weekly Professional Wrestling television options. Not only did I get the WWF and NWA shows that many people saw thanks to the TBS and USA super stations, but also World Class Championship Wrestling out of Dallas and Mid-South Wrestling out of Oklahoma. I grew up a country boy, worked and lived on a farm for a fair piece of my youth, so the bright lights and glitzy nature of the WWF, while aesthetically pleasing, never really connected with me the same way World Class, Mid-South and the NWA did. Don’t get me wrong, I thought Hulk Hogan was as cool as the next kid, I just happened to think Kerry Von Erich, Dusty Rhodes, and “Dr. Death” Steve Williams were cooler.

The Southern Territories always felt more tangible to me; like they were something you could actually hold in your hands. Maybe that had to do with knowing I lived so close to where so many of my heroes plied their craft. Maybe it was fact that these companies still went that extra step to make a fan suspend disbelief. Good Lord, I remember being 8 years old and sitting in my school gym, 20 feet from the Kerry Von Erich getting beaten bloody with a chain by One Man Gang. Kerry Von Erich got color to sell the product to a bunch of 8 year olds! 29 years later and there’s a small part of me that’s still yelling at Gang to leave Kerry alone. To me, the WWF seemed like this faraway place of make believe, where Hulk Hogan always wrote wrongs, always retained his championship, and always still had enough energy to pose for the fans afterwards. History has proven that was certainly a winning formula; it just wasn’t for me.

As WWF grew, absorbing various Promotions in the process, my interest in Pro Wrestling dipped. Without weekly shows from Mid-South and WCCW, and with Jim Crockett selling out to Ted Turner, there just wasn’t much for me to get emotionally invested in seeing. WWF had gone full-blown cartoon, with entirely too many silly gimmick wrestlers in the mix for me to be able to take seriously the other great wrestlers they had on their roster. As such, I simply stopped watching. If you look at the current WWE roster, one populated with a bunny, a bull, a couple of Puerto Rican Matadors (huh?), a Flamenco dancer, and a dude who thinks he’s from outer space, there are moments when I think the company is teetering on the brink of just going all-in on a return of trash collectors, hog farmers, and hockey players for in-ring performers. Once again, I am feeling a complete disconnect with the product.

There is an entire generation of wrestling fans feeling that same weekly disconnect to what they’re watching; fans that watch out of habit and fellowship than for actual enjoyment. That’s why, when I heard Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling was bringing New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 9 show to a worldwide viewing audience, I became instantly excited for what it could mean for the U.S. fanbase as a whole. Knowing the show would be in English meant even the casual fan would at least be able to understand what was going on. Learning the legendary Jim Ross would be teaming with wrestling historian Matt Striker to call the action put the entire venture over the top for me. NJPW has an amazing roster; the very best and most complete in the business today, so I knew bringing it to the United States in the manner in which Global Force Wrestling was doing, would be a complete success. There are millions of people out there who love the WWE product. Fair play to each and every single one of them, but there are also plenty of us out there still in love with something a little bit grittier than the saccharine, washed clean look of the WWE. Perhaps no one does smoke and mirrors production like WWE, but for straight up, in-ring action, no one touches New Japan Pro Wrestling.

I’m not entirely sure words will be able to do justice to what I felt while watching Wrestle Kingdom 9, but I’m gonna try all the same. I suppose the easiest way to describe it would be to say it felt like going home again. The ‘old school’ physicality and bare bones “strong style” that has long been a staple of Japanese Wrestling, coupled with all the glitz of the massive light show, dome venue, and huge crowd, it honestly felt like I was getting to see a WCCW or Mid-South WrestleMania. For one night, it was as if WWF/E hadn’t taken over the wrestling world, as if those Southern Territories of my youth had not only survived, but thrived, and that this was their coming out party; their introduction to the world.

The first several matches of Wrestle Kingdom 9 got things started the right way, particularly the big 4-way match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles, a match that was non-stop action from start to finish, but it during the Kazushi Sakuraba/Minoru Suzuki match that found myself overcome with emotion. It seemed to take that first hour for Jim Ross and Matt Striker to find their collective groove, but with this match, everything fell into place perfectly, and I was instantly transplanted back to 1984, sitting in front of my television, watching Bruiser Brody and Terry Gordy throw stiff haymakers at one another before a raucous Dallas Sportatorium audience. My suspension of disbelief was only heightened by the match that followed, a stiff, grinder of a match between Togi Makabe (one of my favorite Japanese wrestlers) and Tomohiro Ishii. Good ol’ JR called the action brilliantly, weaving in a story of how Ishii had postponed shoulder surgery for 5 months(!), just so he could defend his NEVER Openweight Championship at the PPV. Ross’ ability to pull you closer to the action, to make you care about the wrestlers, sold you on the importance of this match, these wrestlers, and the championship they were fighting over. No app talk, no one pushing merch down your throat, no one managing Ross’ words via headset; just good, old-fashioned, blood and guts wrestling, and it worked perfectly.

A string of matches including members of the much talked about Bullet Club followed, and they didn't disappoint. Kenny Omega is an absolute animal in the ring, and I thought Matt Striker shined in calling his match against Ryusuke Taguchi. Arguably the best Tag Team in the world today, Karl "Machine Gun" Anderson and Luke "Doc" Gallows followed, and though the end result didn't go the Bullet Club's way, they stood out as a collective force in the industry. Gallows and Anderson are throwbacks to an era when big, bad ass tag teams ruled the wrestling world, with Gallows, in particular, looking more comfortable in his role with Bullet Club than he did during either of his stints with WWE and TNA. He and Anderson are everything WWE is currently attempting to manufacture with The Ascension, and will almost certainly come up short in accomplishing. AJ Styles closed out the string of Bullet Club matches, delivering a typically great AJ Styles match, picking up a hard earned victory over Tetsuya Naito, a huge player in NJPW and the 2013 G1 Climax winner. For my money, Bullet Club are the very best faction in Pro Wrestling since the heyday of the NWO, and their collective performance at Wrestle Kingdom 9 did nothing but back up this belief.

By the time Shinsuke Nakamura made his appearance, I was completely beside myself. I was 8 years old again, completely invested in what I was seeing, and unable to recall a time over the last 10 years when I’d enjoyed a wrestling show more than I was at that moment. Nakamura is quite possibly the most charismatic pro wrestler walking the face of the earth today. Everything he does looks bigger than life, from his ring entrance to his Boma Ye knee strike finisher, and though a picture is worth a thousand words, especially where Nakamura is concerned, both JR and Striker did a perfect job of putting him over as the massive superstar he truly is. The match he had with Kota Ibushi only backed up the hype, as both men performed amazingly well, further elevating the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to arguably the 2nd or 3rd most important title in Professional Wrestling today. Nakamura retained, but Ibushi left the match a star, untarnished by a loss to such a brilliant competitor. Halfway through the match, it dawned on me that I had left the comfort of my easy chair and was standing, staring at the screen. From 6,500 miles away, Nakamura and Ibushi had brought me to my feet.

Had Wrestle Kingdom 9 ended after the Intercontinental Championship match, I would have called it the best PPV I’d seen in years, but with the Heavyweight Championship yet to be contested, NJPW most definitely saved the very best for last. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada were nothing short of brilliant. The build for their Main Event match was perfect, Ross again weaving a simple, effective story of the young lion (Okada) trying to take down the leader of the pack (Tanahashi). This was more than just another NJPW title match, this was being viewed around the world, and both men delivered in a very big way. For a little over 30 minutes, arguably the two biggest names in Japanese Pro Wrestling today went toe to toe, working holds, taking to the air, grounding their opponent, working outside of the ring, giving everything they had to the match. Ross and Striker did their part, calling the action as they saw it, a slow burn of a build, with plenty of ups and downs along the way, that crescendoed with Tanahashi hitting his High Fly Flow top rope finisher to retain the championship. Okada wept as he left the ring, further cementing the importance of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. It was everything a Pro Wrestling Main Event should be and much, much more.

I’m ending this article in a somewhat unconventional way, and that is with a series of ‘thank yous’. Thank you to each and every single wrestler involved with Wrestle Kingdom 9, as well as everyone involved behind the scenes. Thank you to Jim Ross and Matt Striker for lending their voices to such an important moment in wrestling history. Thank you to Jeff Jarrett and Global Force Wrestling for your tireless efforts in bringing the show worldwide. Finally, thank you to all the fans that “voted with their dollar” and purchased the PPV. The high I felt watching Wrestle Kingdom 9 stayed with me for days. I re-watched the entire show 3 days later, again feeling many of those same emotions I felt the first time around. I know this is lost on many, and maybe as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten overly sentimental for things that hit my heart in just the right way, but I’m unabashedly happy to wear it as a badge of honor. I love Professional Wrestling, and somewhere along the way, thanks in no small part to WWE’s desire to brainwash me into thinking it’s dead and gone, I’d forgotten that love. NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 9 reminded me that, not only is Professional Wrestling alive and well, but so too is my love for what Ric Flair once called, "the greatest sport in the world today".

www.illegalforeignobject.com/2015/01/njpws-wrestle-kingdom-9-reminds-fans-worldwide-that-pro-wrestling-can-still-thrive-in-a

Agreed. I may keep the Network til Mania but probably not after that.

New Japan World is great. Highly recommended.