The news is grim. Broadcast channel NTV, which followed Misawa & Co. from All Japan to NOAH, has dropped NOAH from their network. I discuss the dramatic turn of events, the ins and outs of television in Japan, plus an update on Kobashi and ten top matches from 2008, inside!
Section 1- Results
Dragon Gate: Mochizuki, Magnitude, Doi and Fujii advanced to the King of Gate semis.
New Japan/Zero-One: Nagata retained Z-1’s title against Takaiwa. That was maybe the most obvious result of the year.
Section 2- News
All Japan: The All Asia tag titles, which haven’t been defended since 1/8/06, will have a tournament to crown new champions on 1/2 and 1/3. Takayama will be on the January tour, and his yet-to-be-official Triple Crown match with Muta will take place on the 3/14 Sumo Hall event.
Dragon Gate: A 3-way 3-man tag has been added to the 12/28 show, with Typhoon, Real Hazard and World-1. The losing team will split up. Between this, CIMA’s return and the end of Tozawa-Juku, there will be a huge reshuffle to start next year.
New Japan: Nagata vs Tanaka will be for the Zero-One title. Also they managed a profit in the latest fiscal quarter.
NOAH: Meltzer reports that Kobashi had another surgery, this time on his right elbow. It doesn’t seem to have increased the amount of time off he’ll need, and he could be back by mid-spring.
Section 3- Selfish Shilling
PutoTopia, the Japanese subforum over at DVDVR, has several threads where people have voted for the best matches of the year. “The List†has the most successful matches. A good guide if you’re wondering what to watch in addition to the ones I’m linking.
Section 4- NOAH needs a bailout
I was in remiss a few weeks back, failing to point to a somewhat vague but probably important item in the Wrestling Observer. Meltzer reported that NOAH planned to cut costs by taking fewer wrestlers on the road, meaning more singles matches and less throwaway undercard tag crap. Those not on tour would be expected to hit the gym and shape up or they would eventually be released. This wasn’t implemented on the November/December tour, and Misawa announcements aren’t always followed through on, but now it seems very likely.
It is being reported in Japan that NTV won’t renew its contract with NOAH. Considering NOAH’s struggles, this would remove it from broadcast TV; nobody else will bother with them. As with New Japan its broadcast timeslots were bad, but that’s still better than none at all. Why, you ask? Wouldn’t the shift to cable/satellite be a minor issue? Sadly it’s a huge issue. In order to explain why, here’s some background on TV in Japan.
Six major networks have been in place for several decades, unlike the US where there were only three until the mid-80s and four until the mid-90s. As a result there wasn’t quite the need for alternatives, something that was vital to making pay cable and satellite ubiquitous here. On top of that, there are now a handful of free satellite channels in Japan. As a result less than 25% of households bother with anything more than the free channels. One of the primary pay-TV sources is SKY PerfecTV, which comes with a few channels but mostly gives access to channels bought individually. For example, Gaora airs All Japan and Dragon Gate, and costs 945 yen per month (~$10 US). NTV’s G+ sports channel shows complete NOAH events, and is also 945 yen. Samurai TV, where most promotions have their sole airtime, is a whopping 2625 yen per month! Needless to say, those channels have far lower viewership than broadcast stations. USA Network and Spike TV are available in most US households; the same can’t be said for G+ and Samurai.
NOAH falling from NTV reduces its visibility quite a lot. If NTV also cuts them completely from G+ it could mean they go to Samurai TV, and that’s nice enough for indies but horrible for a company running shows at Nippon Budokan. That’s just the first part of the bad news. NTV also pays for wrestler contracts and venues used for tapings. If NOAH is obviated completely from NTV, they get none of that. There’s no way NOAH can afford to use big venues, and maybe even some mid-sized ones, on a Samurai TV budget. In one fell swoop they could fall well behind All Japan unless they can scramble and find some airtime on a bigger pay-TV channel than Samurai. There are only a few months left for them to do so.
Meltzer reports that the cause of the cancellation wasn’t ratings, but the amount of ad revenue the ratings could bring in. The cost for NTV to fund wrestling shows that air after midnight is now much more than the amount they can get from sponsors. He also notes that NTV had aired wrestling not only from All Japan and NOAH, but even going back to the mid-50s and Rikidozan. They have a huge wrestling library covering JWA, All Japan (up to the NOAH split), and of course NOAH. It’s much more economical to air “classics†than to produce new events, so that’s what they’ll probably do.
NOAH’s roster will have to shrink. They will almost certainly expand the amount of interpromotional work in order to maximize visibility. If anyone in the company has half a brain they’ll scrape together enough funds to bring in Kawada several times a tour. Let’s hope that this is enough of a kick in the pants to finally force a change in the lackadaisical booking style. NOAH doesn’t have a big debt load like New Japan in 2004-2005, so they aren’t in danger of closing up shop, but it will take a miracle for them to get back to the strength they had during Kobashi’s title reign.
Section 5: The Best of 2008 (that doesn’t have Kobashi)
When I first assembled this batch of match-age, I didn’t really register what promotion dominated it: Big Japan. I’ve been let down by the New Japan vs Zero-One feud and all things Makabe. Add on my continuing hatred of the quality in All Japan and overkill galore in Dragon Gate, and every other match here comes from the land of death. Oddly enough only two of them are actual deathmatches. Your mileage may vary, and you should balance these with other recommendations at the DVDVR link!
Sasaki & Miyamoto were a fixture in deathmatch main events throughout 2007, with Miyamoto quickly advancing from quasi-backyarder to budding star. Here they test their skill in a straight match, and the result is quite fun. It’s unfortunate that Sasaki and Miyamoto weren’t part of the contingent that went to Chikara because they’re a heck of a lot better sans weapons than the likes of Numazawa and Ryuji Ito.
Hero & Castagnoli vs Taue & Izumida, NOAH March 2nd.
The Kings of Wrestling, as a unit, aren’t usually my cup of tea. That they manage an entertaining outing with unfamiliar opponents on a big show is a testament to their ability. I might be an off-and-on mark for Izumida, but I’m not the only one who digs this.
Shingo Takagi & BB Hulk vs KENTA & Taiji Ishimori, GHC junior tag titles, Dragon Gate March 20th.
Two-on-two junior tags in Japan got a big boost from KENTA & Marufuji. Since that team broke up things have been sporadic, with too-long matches in NOAH and finisher-crazy matches in Dragon Gate. This manages to return to the strengths of the KENTA/Marufuji tags, with steady action, a reasonable amount of impact and a hot, satisfying finish. KENTA kicking the not out of prettyboy Hulk is good times.
Akiyama & Rikio vs Sasaki & Nakajima, NOAH April 27th.
At the April ’07 Budokan, Akiyama & Rikio vs Takayama & Sugiura tore the house down. This does the same, and I would say Rikio deserves the most credit. He’s very effective as the big tree that Sasaki and Nakajima try to chop down, and that dynamic produces some great exchanges and moments. This is one of the more universally enjoyable matches of the year.
Kyoko Kimura vs Yuko Miyamoto, Big Japan May 4th.
And now for something completely different: a bloody intergender deathmatch that manages to avoid being uncomfortable despite man-on-woman violence. That’s because there’s just as much woman-on-man violence, and because Kyoko Kimura is a competitor rather than a victim. The match isn’t good because of the intergender aspect, but because it overcomes such concerns. It doesn’t hurt that Miyamoto is on the small side himself, allowing Kimura to be credible while trading light tube shots. Not for everyone of course, but then that can be said of any deathmatch.
Mashimo & Madoka vs Teioh & Shinobu, BJPW tag titles, Big Japan May 23rd.
A pleasant surprise that manages to get a hell of a lot right. Mashimo and Madoka of Kaientai Dojo won the tag straps, and they defend against Big Japan mainstay Men’s Teioh and his scrawny understudy Shinobu. Korakuen Hall brings the noise, Mashimo and Teioh bring the painful submissions, aw yeah, this is a great match that will pass under most radars.
Jun Kasai & Jaki Numazawa vs Takashi Sasaki & Yuko Miyamoto, Big Japan June 23rd.
A big, crazy deathmatch like only Big Japan can do.
Battlarts is now what I would call a boutique promotion. They run in tiny venues and don’t even have a Samurai TV timeslot, but instead sell DVDs. Despite the smallness of the shows their roster brings a big-time fight, with shoot-style grappling and brutally hard strikes. This match strikes just the right balance between juniors highspots and plain-ol’ nasty hitting, and I have yet to find someone who didn’t enjoy the heck out of it.
Briscoe Brothers vs Nakajima & Ibushi, NOAH September 6th.
I’ve tended not to like the Briscoes in NOAH, since they tend to be in 25+ minute matches when they’re better suited for an action-packed 15. Well, this is a lot closer to 15 minutes and it’s a hell of a sprint. If you’re a fan of these four be sure to give this a look.
Teioh, Shinobu, Onryo & KUDO vs Oishi, Oosugi, Senga & Yuki Sato, Big Japan October 27th.
Ah, Men’s Club. How do I even begin to describe Men’s Club. You know what? I don’t think I can. The opening minutes of this are somewhat confusing and work off of past matches, but eventually they get into the sweet sweet lucharesu goodness. Most of the wrestlers here were trained in the Toryumon/Michinoku Pro system. This is as good a pure sprint as Japan produced all year, and it’s a style Dragon Gate has sadly moved away from.
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More good stuff might air in the coming weeks, and I’ll point those out as they appear. Now, get to watching!
Next Time: Big in ’08! Big in ’09 predictions!
