Category: NJPW
-
HOUSE OF TORTURE: It’s Not Rule-Breaking, It’s Called Being A Family.
—
“That within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good.”- Martin Luther King Jr. The tried and true in pro wrestling when it comes to villainous factions within the sport is underhand tactics, being someone you aren’t, and not caring about anyone other than yourself.…
-
Operation HEAT: A Difference In Power
—
To reclaim the SAMURAI GYM signboard, but also take Minoru’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship from his grasp, YUJIRO would be the next from the group to step-up. On May 22, 2007, he’d get what was built as a double crown match. Winner would indeed take all in this one.
-
A Midwinter Night’s Dream
—
The coin drops, much to everyone’s surprise and delight, including Kenny who is shocked at hearing the theme of his greatest rival. The same man he had those historic, boundary pushing matches against, every single one of which was incredibly taxing and probably took years off of both their careers. The matches most people laud…
-
The Growing Pains Of Kaito Kiyomiya, Aged 26 ½
—
The singles match with Okada has the potential to reveal a matured, post-Mutoh Kaito or, yet again, could define Kaito by who and what he is not.
-
Not Yet Limitless: The Night NO LIMIT was Made
—
LEGEND’s next challengers approached, but it wasn’t your usual suspects. A young wrestler struggling to breakout on his own, and his junior that had made waves in the previous Best of The Super Juniors were here to call their shot. YUJIRO and Tetsuya Naito made their first ever challenge for the IWGP Jr tag straps,…
-
The Ace, The Wrestler, and Second Chances
—
For Katsuyori Shibata, his departure and then return to New Japan Pro Wrestling in late 2012 was rooted in several years of genuine animosity. This provided the groundwork for an eventual feud with company Ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi. One centered around Shibata’s second chance. Now in a vastly different landscape, this second chance would ultimately have…
-
Clearing the Rainy Skies-II, the Endless Waltz
—
While the Wrestle Kingdom match between them was about control, not just over each other but also the company as a whole, their Dominion match is about pain, punishment, and at times the teasing denial of it.
-
Death match and chill
—
I don’t like horror. As a genre, whether movies, tv, fiction etc. I don’t like it. Or rather, I don’t get it. The awful creativity of the human mind in creating monsters or new ways of suffering, the rising suspense in waiting for the worst to happen, imagining the worst…not my thing. Or so I…
-
Switchblade Era
—
New Japan Pro Wrestling commonly presents stories told in cycles and parallels. Whether it be a hero finally overcoming the odds after repeated failure, or a battle to determine the face of the company, these stories tend to revolve around heroic figures. 2022 saw the culmination of a redemption arc, though with the focus on…
-
Clearing the Rainy Skies-I, The First Dance
—
The date is 4th of January 2017. It is Wrestle Kingdom 11 and the match between IWGP Heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada and challenger Kenny Omega is the main event of the night. The bout they have is widely praised by wrestling fans, industry veterans & wrestling journalists alike. The match was about control, not just…