19) Review

Captain Kazu had a tough main event. Credit: NJPW

New Japan’s trip to the Hammerstein Ballroom led to an interesting old night for the Japanese company. Apparently, someone had called earlier in the day, cancelling the ambulance that is required to be on hand for wrestling shows. That led to a delay that stretched over an hour and whispers online about sabotage. Whether that was the case or not, New Japan needed to deliver a show worthy of the time the fans spent sitting around waiting for it to start.

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02/10/2019 0

NJPW Super J-Cup First Round (22/8/19) Review

Does anyone still care about the Super J-Cup? It’s took ages for New Japan to get these up on World and then it’s taken even longer for me to get around to reviewing them. It makes it hard to imagine anyone is clamouring for my opinion (please don’t point out that no-one has ever clamoured for my opinion on anything). Oh well, I’m going to give it anyway. These shows took place in America last month, so let’s see what went down.

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25/09/2019 0

NJPW Destruction in Kobe (22/9/19) Review

Destruction is a long old tour that generally delivers a shitload of mediocrity elevated by the occasional great match, and that is exactly what we’ve received in 2019. The final night is in Kobe and let’s hope we finish up with more of the great than the mediocre.

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23/09/2019 0

NJPW Destruction in Beppu (15/9/19) Review

New Japan took the scenic route to their first Destruction show, but they’ve finally rocked up in Beppu with a solid card. There are a lot of tags on here, but the Young Lion Cup and a brace of title matches make sure that proceedings shouldn’t be too dragged down by the splitting of this tour into multiple dates. Any show with Tanahashi vs Sabre is alright by me.

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16/09/2019 0

NJPW Royal Quest (31/8/19) Review

If Suzuki ever asks you to hit him, maybe don’t hit him. Credit: NJPW

Having put on two successful shows with RevPro’s assistance last year, New Japan came back to the UK to do it all by themselves. Royal Quest came from the Copper Box in London, and it’s worth pointing out that I was there live. That means this review is conducted purely by the memory of what I could see from my floor seats after the visual aid of many a pint of beer and while being overwhelmed with the excitement of my first New Japan show proper. That means that it will all be getting the famous live bump, making matches that might have appeared merely fine at home, a lot more exciting to witness in person. Understood? Great, on with the show.

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03/09/2019 0

Ramblings About’s Top Ten Matches of May 2019

It’s becoming a recurring theme for this list to go up a bit late, but in my defence, there is a lot of wrestling that I want to review. I have a habit of giving that precedence and I’m not even sure why. Anyway, I need to apologise because this is a New Japan heavy list. I watched every single Super Juniors’ show and while I did catch some other bits and pieces, it was less than I would have liked. Still, it was one hell of a tournament, so I’m pretty sure that every match justified its spot on the list.

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13/06/2019 0

NJPW Best Of The Super Jr. 26 Final (5/6/19) Review

After years in Korakuen Hall, New Japan rolled the dice and moved the Best Of The Super Junior final to Ryogoku. It was a massive statement of intent, and they backed it up by giving us the debut of Jon Moxley and Tanahashi’s return from injury underneath the tournament conclusion. Now, did they justify that move?

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06/06/2019 0

NJPW Best Of The Super Jr. 26 (3/6/19) Review

With A Block all wrapped up, it’s time to see who will be losing to Shingo in the final. The important match is Taguchi vs Ospreay as the Funky Weapon battles the Aerial Assassin, but there is a couple of ways in which someone else could sneak in. Thankfully, they are incredibly improbable, so let’s not spend time worrying about them. Onto the show!

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04/06/2019 0

NJPW Best Of The Super Jr. 26 (30/5/19) Review

This was at least near the end. Credit: NJPW

While A Block’s future is simple, B’s is all over the place. Half the wrestlers involved can still win this thing, and nearly every match on this show has consequences. Will that still be the case come the end? No, the answer is no, it will not.

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31/05/2019 0

NJPW Best Of The Super Jr. 26 (26/5/19) Review

Best of the Super Juniors Night Ten – Results and Report — Ishimori looks like he’s enjoying himself. Credit: NJPW

After an electric run of shows at Korakuen Hall, it’s almost a shame that New Japan had to move on. However, it’s only fair that the rest of the country gets to appreciate some fantastic wrestling and they rocked up in Chiba for what was supposed to be a ten-match show, but thanks to an injury to Taka, was reduced to nine as Dragon Lee got an automatic victory. Now, onto the action.

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27/05/2019 0