With New Japan being the only promotion in the history of Japanese pro wrestling to regularly run the Tokyo Dome for more than ten years, their annual January 4th show has long been referred to as the “Wrestlemania of Japanese pro wrestling.†New Japan has always embraced that notion, even from their earliest Dome shows and with such a high-profile show—in Japan at least—there goes tons and tons of outsider participation over the years for the January 4th show as well as the one or two other Dome shows that New Japan used to run regularly. This year, there was participation from CMLL, NOAH, TNA, Zero-One (Masato Tanaka), DDT (Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega), as well as freelancers Yoshihiro Takayama and Minoru Suzuki. With a loaded thirteen match card, there were plenty of storylines that emerged from this show (as would be common with a Wrestlemania-level show) and not everything had to do with the action inside the ring.
P.C.: Me
D.D.: Dave Ditch
K.W.: Kevin Wilson
1. If the 42,000 claimed attendance holds up to be even close to accurate, as far as the paid number goes, how big a victory is this for New Japan? How big a victory for pro wrestling in Japan?
K.W.: Basing my answer off of what was reported in the Wrestling Observer, obviously 18,000 paid is a very poor number. I think it was based on a number of factors. TNA wrestlers are simply not a draw in New Japan, while in the past there might have been some smaller successes with great (at the time) wrestlers like Kurt Angle, even then one could debate if it helped the attendance. Then you have Kojima on top against Tanahashi, and Kojima is no Mutoh like in 2008 in terms of popularity so it was bound to not be a match that people were going to get excited about. I am not surprised that there are murmurs about New Japan not returning to the Dome next year, they need major attractions to draw the numbers to justify being in such a large building.
D.D.: (Assuming it’s the 18,000 number) I don’t even think it’s a disappointment, considering that the current slate of headliners in Japan have struggled so badly over the last year. Nakamura vs Shiozaki didn’t draw as a semi-main for NOAH, Kojima didn’t do that well in Tokyo in recent years, Tanahashi hasn’t drawn 10,000 (other than Dome shows) in a while, etc. Nagata vs Suzuki has been done and at this point is borderline irrelevant. If you removed a couple midcard matches and ran it at Sumo Hall, it probably wouldn’t sell out. So ‘only’ doing the biggest number of the year shouldn’t be a letdown, unless it means they lost money (which is possible). Sadly, this is the new normal for Japan.
P.C.: I’ve got to go with Ditch that the 18,000 isn’t a letdown because it is in fact the new normal for Japanese pro wrestling. However, I do agree with Kevin that it can be seen as a poor number. I also don’t think the fact that it wasn’t a disappointment should keep people from feeling as if it were a disappointment. The fact that New Japan has been hovering around this number since the Wrestle Kingdom series began—with the exception of 2009—isn’t the best sign when you consider that this has been the period where New Japan has worked the hardest it has in nearly a decade at attempting to make new, lasting stars. Plus, 2009 was supposed to be the catalyst towards a new day. A new day is still miles and miles away, but that great showing at The Dome has been shown to have been accomplished mainly with having Mutoh, Misawa, Angle, and Akiyama on the card. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but the silver lining lies with the fact that the numbers at least indicate they aren’t losing people. And for these shows to continue, they can’t lose people.
2. Who gets the first shot at Tanahashi’s title?
K.W.: While we know it is between two, Togi Makabe is the obvious pick for me. First of all, Makabe vs. Tanahashi has not been done to death which is always a plus. Also Makabe was the last title holder before Kojima so it would make sense that he would get an early shot at winning it back. Finally, I don’t think that Kojima will stick around New Japan much longer so this is a chance for Makabe to get his win back over the person that took his title in the first place. Now I don’t think that Makabe will beat Tanahashi, but I do think that he will get the first chance to try.
D.D.: I’ll expand on this more in my next column, but I can see Makabe or Kojima winning the #1 contenders match with equal probability. If Makabe wins, Tanahashi beats him. If Kojima wins, I think Kojima might regain the title.
P.C.: I have to go with Makabe because I do believe that if Kojima is given another shot, he’s going to get another title reign. And it really wouldn’t make any sense for Kojima to win back the belt so quickly from the guy he lost it to at The Dome; winning it back from Tanahashi down the road (Fukouka in May?) would not only make more sense, but is a very likely scenario for how Tanahashi’s title reign could end. As for right now, it’s going to be Makabe as Kojima/Tanahashi III has Sumo Hall (or another major show) written all over it, especially if a title is up for grabs.
3. Will there be a storyline this year with a New Japan wrestler or wrestlers invading NOAH? If so, then who?
K.W.: “Invade” is probably too strong of the word but I don’t see any evidence that the feud is completely over. They seem to trade fighters for a few matches every so often, although at the moment neither one have any titles from the other promotion so no other matches are required. The only thing I’d find particularly interesting is if Prince Devitt invaded NOAH to win the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship to return the favor of Marufuji taking his promotion’s title.
D.D.: Another point I’ll expand on, but I’m increasingly anticipating a Nakamura invasion and title win over Sugiura. That would provide a lot more spark than the “dream match” booking that was tried last year and failed. However, even in that scenario I don’t think it will be anything like the constant back-and-forth of things like New Japan vs WAR, and the initial phase of New Japan vs All Japan. I’m hoping for all the interpromotional warfare I can get because it’s much more consistent than anything else in Japan. It isn’t really expensive for the companies, either, so I don’t see much reason to hold back at this point. Especially NOAH, which can’t seem to understand how to do compelling booking for their internal feuds and thus has nothing better to do.
P.C.: To respond to Kevin’s opening point: if a New Japan wrestler or wrestlers were to come into NOAH for another seemingly competitive match against a NOAH team and suddenly went heel during and after the match and started calling out all the big names in NOAH, it starts to become an invasion. Anyway, Sugiura/Nakamura does seem to be the obvious choice and as far as a New Japan wrestler winning the GHC title, Nakamura is the only choice that makes any sense now that Tanahashi has the IWGP belt. Kojima would be a definite possibility and having him lead a New Japan faction would make just as much sense as Nakamura, but this type of storyline at this point in time is more suited towards a less established wrestler as Kojima is certainly more established than Nakamura.
4. How much TNA participation in New Japan is acceptable without the risk of things getting weird (like the IWGP tag title situation in 2009)?
K.W.: Is any acceptable? From the viewpoint of someone that doesn’t pay for anything I personally like it as it gives me some unique matchups, sometimes with disastrously amusing results. But I fail to see any upside for New Japan. The TNA wrestlers generally are not as good of wrestlers so they bring the matches down. They crowd doesn’t really care much so the heat is lukewarm at best. They don’t add to the draw any, so they are not worth the cost of flying over there and paying whatever it is they pay to use the TNA wrestlers. So any future participation would be weird, I am assuming they are pretty much done at this point. I wouldn’t mind Shelley and Sabin coming back but anything beyond that isn’t really necessary.
D.D.: Most of the TNA roster is humble and willing to do business, so an expansion of ties between NJ and TNA would be unlikely to cause political problems. However, I think the issue is the fact that nobody in Japan cares about the TNA brand or the vast majority of the roster. I doubt TNA carries significantly more value in Japan than does ROH. Is it worth flying in people other than Angle, RVD, and maybe MCMG? I have my doubts.
P.C.: I guess I posed this question just to see if one of you saw TNA deserving another chance. I’ve already made my opinions pretty clear in this column over the last couple of years (the little I’ve done on the column, but I’ve still gotten the point across) for New Japan severing all ties with TNA. I understand using them for the Tokyo Dome show, and that’s not an indicator in any way of them doing any future business, but I am afraid that they may see TNA as some part of their future plans—remember, Okada seems to be heading back for a longer excursion. I doubt that means anything, but if it does, sleep on it New Japan, and you’ll think better of it in the morning.
5. What does the future in New Japan hold for Satoshi Kojima? Is there time for one more long TenKoji reunion?
K.W.: That would be more up to Tenzan, who last I checked is still pretty broken. I think that Kojima’s time in New Japan is coming to a close. He invaded, won a belt, and lost the belt, that is pretty much what Freelancers do. Now if he gets a year contract in a few weeks then that would be completely different, but as long as he is a Freelancer I think his time is winding down. TenKoji might have a match or two here and there but I don’t see them returning as anything close to resembling a normal tag team.
D.D.: Last summer it seemed as if Kojima was going to be a promotion-hopping freelancer. Now it looks like he’s NJ-only. Since that’s the case, I see him being in the regular IWGP title shot rotation and generally being a top 5 guy in the company. As for TenKoji, that has far more to do with if Tenzan can get into decent in-ring form. A reunion would go nowhere if it became clear that Tenzan was nothing more than luggage. There is a certain amount of ‘unfinished business’ from their last tag run, but that was long enough ago that fans won’t go nuts for a return of the tandem.
P.C.: As far as a TenKoji reunion goes, I do agree that it is up to Tenzan as Kojima seems to have many years more ahead of him in comparison to his longtime partner. Of course injuries can be quite the bitch when they pile up, but that was my thinking on why a reunion could happen: strike when you still have the ability to strike. Who knows how long Tenzan is going to be able to go at this point after missing the better part of the last two years. I would like to see one last reunion ending with a final singles match between the two at one of New Japan’s Sumo Hall cards. I think that would be fitting, and would be the most effective route I can see for using Hiroyoshi Tenzan at this point. I don’t like that fact, but hard truths seem to have been a hidden theme this time around.
PLUGS
The radio show
This week: Matt Hardy arrives in TNA, there’s a new champ in the same promotion, and HBK is going to the E’s hall of fame.
CMLL’s official page (in Spanish)
SEVEN MATCHES UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN
Triple Crown: Mitsuharu Misawa (c.) Vs. Toshiaki Kawada, AJPW, 5/1/1998
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
The main-event for All-Japan’s first Tokyo Dome show, and what other main-event could they have had? Kawada’s only wins over Misawa came in possibly the greatest tag-team match in wrestling history (6/9/1995 with Akira Taue over Misawa & Kenta Kobashi) and in a gauntlet-style finale to All-Japan’s Champions Carnival tournament the year before. Does he finally win the big one?
Toshiaki Kawada Vs. Hiroshi Hase, AJPW, 5/2/1999
Part 2
Kawada is sporting a cast as his broken arm—injured during a triple crown title match with Misawa earlier in the year—hasn’t fully healed yet, but he’s still out there. A bit of a dream match that turns out to be Hase’s best match in All Japan and a return to form for Dangerous K.
Genichiro Tenryu Vs. Tatsumi Fujinami, NJPW, 4/29/1996
Two surly old men duking it out, that pretty much describes this match. It is quick, but there’s action throughout including the best counter to a tope suicida, a legit broken nose (blood included), and quite the visual involving a dragon sleeper. Fujinami has no problem throwing all of his technical prowess out once he gets in the ring, and the match doesn’t suffer because of it.
IWGP Title: Yuji Nagata (c.) Vs. Yoshihiro Takayama, NJPW, 5/2/2002
Part 2
At the time, it was not a guarantee that these two would be able to put on a Dome-level title match. But it was during Takayama’s career redefining phase and Nagata handled his first title reign brilliantly. This match is an example.
“IWGP†Title: Kurt Angle (c.) Vs. Yuji Nagata, NJPW, 1/4/2008
Part 2
Part 3
Most people may have already seen this one from the Global Impact special that came from this show. This was of course the IWGP title belt that Brock Lesnar never gave back to New Japan and would lose to Angle at the first show of Inoki’s promotion in the summer preceding this. I remember wanting to see Tanahashi/Angle at this show thinking it would be a better way to get the belt back to New Japan. I would be proven right about that point, but not about this match not deserving to be on this Dome card. What a fool I was, and I’m so glad.
Kensuke Sasaki Vs. Yuji Nagata, NJPW, 1/4/2004
Part 2
This stemmed from Sasaki’s shocking departure from New Japan in ’02 and they simply ran the blood feud angle between these two for Sasaki’s return. And when I say blood feud, I mean it. Didn’t like the finish 100%, but the match was satisfactory for what it was trying to accomplish.
GHC Title: Kenta Kobashi (c.) Vs. Masahiro Chono, NJPW, 5/2/2003
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
This was Chono showing he still had it in him to turn in a big performance in a big match. This was at the beginning of Kobashi’s title reign and at a time when he had more than chops left in him. What came of it all was another Kobashi title defense that defied the odds in terms of quality and a match that overshadow the Nagata/Takayama rematch main-event on the same show.
