As summer approaches it always seems that wrestling in general begins to heat up in the same way. The end of April and beginning of May are a very busy couple of weeks in Japan as every major promotion has a major show while virtually every major Indy promotion in the country runs Korakuen Hall during this two-week stretch. In the U.S., there always seems to be more of an emphasis on attempting (we hope) to put on a more stimulating product during this time because of those three months when school is out and even more kids and teens are likely to be watching wrestling or going to the shows or buying the PPV’s. Along with that comes the countdown period to The E’s second biggest PPV of the year, Summerslam. This month’s roundtable tends to focus on the “who is going where?†question that has come up recently in the world of wrestling with Christopher Daniels reappearing in TNA despite being ROH T.V. champ at the moment, C.M. Punk refusing a contract extension, the largest amount of participants in New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament, and the bigger schedule for the promotion’s G-1 Climax tourney later this summer. All this leads to people wondering who they’re going to see or not see in these promotions in the coming months.
D.D.: Dave Ditch
M.C.: Mike Campbell
P.C.: Me
1. Does the fact that New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament have a record 18 participants this year tell us anything about what the scope of their G-1 tournament in August could be? If not, what do you see for this year’s G-1, as far as participation.
D.D.: I wouldn’t have thought anything about BOSJ implying something about the G-1 Climax, since juniors are much cheaper than heavyweights. However, New Japan just announced a record ten dates for the G-1 tour, so you’re clearly onto something. That means they could go as far as two blocks of ten wrestlers, or more likely they’ll do two blocks of 9, since the BOSJ sets that precedent and is also a ten show tour. 18 wrestlers would clearly imply wrestlers from all the major promotions, and a strong signal along those lines was sent by having Minoru Suzuki appear at the recent Fukuoka show.
M.C.: The G1 Climax gets huge hype every year as being the biggest and/or best one yet. Why should this year be any different. With NJPW being on good terms with pretty much every major fed out there (All Japan, NOAH, Zero-One, Dragon Gate, CMLL). I expect some heavy outsider participation. As we saw last year with Kojima winning, as well as Yuji Nagata taking the Champions Carnival, there’s no guarantee that a NJPW wrestler will take the tournament.
P.C.: With New Japan being the linchpin of the whole industry in Japan, it’s not a surprise that they would be on good terms with all the other major promotions, as well as many of the Indy’s. What would be surprising would be if the participants in this year’s G-1 tourney weren’t split down the middle: half from New Japan, half from everywhere else.
Here’s my listing (as of now) of people on the rosters of the major Japanese promotions, the Indy’s, and New Japan that could be selected to be participants in this year’s G-1 Climax tournament:
New Japan: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Togi Makabe, Minoru Suzuki (he’s heading a stable in New Japan so I’ll associate him with New Japan for the sake of this answer), Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito, Yujiro Takahashi, Giant Bernard, Toru Yano, Karl Anderson, Prince Devitt
All Japan: KONO, KENSO (he debuted as a pro in New Japan), Taiyo Kea, Masakatsu Funaki (he debuted as a pro in New Japan), Seiya Sanada
NOAH: Go Shiozaki, Takeshi Morishima, Naomichi Marufuji (he was supposed to be in it last year before injury), Jun Akiyama, KENTA, Yoshihiro Takayama, Kensuke Sasaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima
Dragon Gate: Shingo Takagi, CIMA, YAMATO
Indy’s/Outsiders: Kota Ibushi, Masato Tanaka, Shinjiro Ohtani, Daisuke Sekimoto, Tajiri
I’m not saying that all of these guys will get in. In fact most of them won’t and maybe New Japan will end up having an all-New Japan tourney this year (I doubt that), but what I am pointing out here is that if they did want to go outside and bring in a big crop of outside talent (specifically NOAH talent), they have plenty to choose from.
2. Naomichi Marufuji went down with another injury. What does this say about the future of the man who will likely be running NOAH when his wrestling days are done?
D.D.: This injury doesn’t seem to be the sort of ‘damaged vertebrae’ injury that shortens/ends careers, but that said it’s still serious and could take a while to resolve. Yet neither scenario would seem to derail Marufuji as the boss of the company. He’s still Misawa’s heir apparent, he paid his dues, and I can’t imagine he would leave the promotion if the worst case scenario transpired and he had to retire. Perhaps a better question is whether NOAH would be better off without him running things? The booking post-Misawa has been dismal and directionless.
M.C.: After doing a little research on his injury, it appears it’s nothing too serious at this point. It’s a nerve issue caused by compression in the neck. No doubt due to the high impact style that’s so often found in NOAH’s bigger matches. Treatment at this point usually consists of medication and physical therapy, and the injury can be greatly reduced in as little as six weeks. So I don’t think this is the end of Marufuji’s career. I *DO* think that he’ll be hanging up the tights pretty soon though. Between the fact that he’s accomplished all that he can at this point, as well as the fact that he’ll likely be the man to run NOAH after his wrestling days are over. One only needs to look at the tragic way we lost Misawa to see what can happen from working that style of match too often for too long.
P.C.: I’m hoping that Marufuji’s career won’t be one that is cut short due to injuries, but it is looking that way. He has been in the business for around a decade and has had so many great matches (singles and tags) that he really doesn’t have much left to prove inside the ring. However, looking at his first title reign and the potential that lay there, it would seem almost incomplete if he did retire within, say, the next year. As of now, he WILL be the man to take over NOAH when he hangs up his boots, but this is a guy that could still be at the top of the card and really should be for at least a brief period of time before he’s done. As for his booking, I do agree that lack of direction is killing this promotion right now. KENTA’s heel group is a great idea in theory, but hasn’t been in execution; maybe if the Takayama & KENTA tag-team finally becomes a reality that might change, but as of now it hasn’t prospered. Sugiura’s title reign and the seemingly stagnant push of Go Shiozaki as the next true ace and in-ring leader of the promotion for years to come both provide the clearest examples to this promotion’s lack of direction. When Marufuji first got the book after Misawa’s death it seemed that by now Shiozaki would be the GHC champion with a string of high profile kick ass matches that would’ve sent a clear message that this is their man of the future. While Go is still the man of the future for this promotion, the message hasn’t been sent. Why didn’t Go regain the belt last September? Why has Go been in no major storylines or feuds in between his title loss and title challenge and the present day? Case in point: Go could’ve teamed with Yone to battle KENTA’s heel stable and maybe that stable could’ve grown during the course of that feud. And the fact that Sugiura is set to break the record for successful GHC title defenses in Europe shows where the booking of that title reign has gone. It’s not that the matches haven’t been good (most of them), but after Sugiura beat all the big names last year, it would’ve been a good time for him to drop the belt to someone like Go for something fresh. Of course keeping the title reign going is an option I’m not 100% against as NOAH’s heavyweight division as a whole doesn’t seem to have any direction, but that hasn’t been addressed during Sugiura’s title reign to prepare for NOAH after this title reign ends. Plus, why hasn’t Sasaki been in one of Sugiura’s successful defenses yet? So many questions with no answers for a promotion that needs stability more than anything.
3.With CM Punk potentially being done with The E when his contract ends (he refused to sign an extension recently), is it possible that we could see an ROH return for Punk? If not, will he end up in TNA?
D.D.: ROH can’t afford to pay Punk the kind of money he’s used to. I think he’d prefer ROH to TNA if all things were equal, but they aren’t. Yet that assumes TNA would give him a big money deal; rumor has it that Momma Carter is cutting Dixie off when it comes to such things. Even at only ‘decent’ money TNA would have a lot to offer Punk: fewer dates, hanging out with buddies like Samoa Joe, greater probability of being a top 3 star in the company, a new set of girls to work his way through, less pressure, etc. If Punk ends up at TNA, that wouldn’t preclude a brief return to ROH.
M.C.: I don’t think he’ll wind up in TNA. Punk’s issue with the WWE is his usage and position in the company. He’s smart enough to know that he’ll get big hype when he debuts and then he’ll slowly fade into the background. ROH or any of Gabe Sapolsky’s feds seem much more likely.
P.C.: I drool at the potential matches that could be made with Punk back in ROH (Punk/Davey, Punk/Shelton, Punk/Haas, Punk/Hero, Punk/KENTA in a battle of the GTS), but at this point in his career it would be a step backward. After over five years in the biggest promotion on Earth, it would be going in the wrong direction to head back to the Indy circuit. He would be treated as a top star in ROH and would probably be given the title fairly quickly if he did return, but it’s still being paid per appearance by a promotion that has likely reached its peak as far as growth. If he went to TNA there would still be good matches for him to be in (if they gave them time), and yes he would be booked shittily because that’s all TNA knows at this point, but it will be where he ends up if he leaves The E when his contract ends. The key reasoning why he would end up down in Orlando comes down to two things: he has friends (like Joe) in Orlando and the reduced schedule sure beats the touring schedule (one of the reasons cited as why Punk may leave) that The E’s talent goes through in a year.
4. This year’s Wrestlemania appears to have gotten 1 million buys, a big improvement over recent years. Is this an indicator that The E’s pay-per-view numbers are going to start going back up or is it an indication of the drawing power of Wrestlemania over any other wrestling pay-per-view event?
D.D.: It’s an indication of the drawing power of The Rock. We’ll know for sure when the Extreme Rules buyrate comes out, but I’d be shocked if it doesn’t come back to earth.
M.C.: To me, it’s only an indicator of the weight that The Rock’s name still carries, even after he was years removed from being with the WWE. I’d bet that a good chunk of those buys were from people who were fans during his heyday with the company and tuned in just to see him.
P.C.: Because The Rock’s birthday party show didn’t do a monumentally high rating, I’m going to say that it’s a combination of the two. Wrestlemania by itself can still do a pretty high buy number (far better than any other E pay-per-view can even get close to), but it was The Rock’s appearance that pushed it above what they had been getting in recent years.
5. With Christopher Daniels now a part of the Fortune stable in TNA while being ROH’s T.V. champion, is this a signal that the ROH/TNA work relationship from years back is back on?
D.D.: It sure seems that way to me, which is more a slight to ROH than anything. The relationship broke down because ROH was seen as a potential threat. Now they don’t have a TV deal and their presence on iPPV is just one among many, none of which have a significant impact on TNA. I still can’t get over how ROH torpedoed itself so badly in trying to expand. They had a good thing going, and the PPV and TV shows never added much to the bottom line. For that they lost the TNA talent and several top stars. Now it seems like they’re doomed to a steady decline.
M.C.: It sure does. And why not? ROH is no longer on TV, so they’re not really competition for TNA. They’re working agreement in the past was beneficial to both parties, so there’s no reason for them to not bring it back.
P.C.: I’m mixed on how I should feel on this one. There is a boatload of talent in ROH that could shine in TNA when put with the right opponents and given the opportunity to shine and ROH could definitely use some TNA, and in many cases past ROH talent, on their cards to give them that little extra something. But because TNA is what it is TNA, I really don’t know what to think of this. As far as “put with the right opponents and given the opportunity to shine†goes, does anyone really think that TNA is capable of that with outside talent when they have a history of not being able to do it with their own people? If they actually went full bore with this and possibly made it a major feud a la the ECW storyline last summer, then I could get behind it and would want to see it, but that just seems like a fantasy and not a direction that TNA would realistically go in. Because there are so many good matches that could be made and executed, and because there is so much good talent in ROH that deserves national exposure more so than a lot of the current TNA roster, I’m rooting for this to happen, but I’m not holding my breath that anything beneficial will come of it, if it even does happen.
SEVEN MATCHES UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN
Samoa Joe Vs. Shinjiro Ohtani, Zero-One, 8/4/2002
Another early Joe match from his Zero-One days has him against the other top worker of the promotion at the time. And like the Tanaka match, this one is a fun sprint, but this time with some blood and a more heelish Joe included.
Triple Crown Tournament Final: Genichiro Tenryu Vs. Toshiaki Kawada, 10/28/2000
This was from the first post-defection anniversary show and was a fitting ending point for the tournament to crown a new champ as Kobashi, now in NOAH by this time, was the final Triple Crown champ before the mass defection that left All Japan hanging on by a thread. Tenryu was brought back from exile by Baba’s widow mainly because he was still a major draw and matches like this were not only too good to pass up, but couldn’t be passed up given All Japan’s situation. It’s Kawada, it’s Tenryu when he could still go. I think you know what to expect.
Triple Crown Tournament Final: Toshiaki Kawada Vs. Shinjiro Ohtani, All Japan, 9/6/2003
Around three years later and another tournament final with Dangerous K vying for those long sought-after belts. He had won the belts in 2002, but vacated them immediately due to injury. This was during the All Japan/Zero-One feud, hence Ohtani. Ohtani was at his peak as a heavyweight worker around this time and it shows as 2003 was a really good year for him in the ring and Kawada is Kawada. As a fan of both I’m glad to be able to look back and see that these two got a Budokan Hall main-event against each other. Truly a dream match that delivers not just the big spots, but all the quality that should be underneath.
El Mesias Vs. Takeshi Morishima, AAA, 2009
Morishima’s brief trip to Mexico turned out to be good for him as far as regaining his workrate was concerned. He briefly held the tag belts there and gave wrestling fans a taste of what could have been with this match against arguably AAA’s top heavyweight worker. Would it have been better with ten more minutes and thus more time to do more? Probably. But as a taste, it’ll do.
Rey de Reyes Final: El Mesias Vs. L.A. Park Vs. Carlito Vs. Extreme Tiger, AAA, 3/18/2011
The final to AAA’s yearly singles tournament saw a healthy mix this year with a legend (Park), a junior (Tiger), an outsider with some name value to him (Carlito, due to his time in The E), and a top heavyweight (Mesias). The ongoing Mesias/Park feud begins here, but there’s plenty of fun stuff within.
2/3 Falls: Mistico & Dr. Wagner Jr. Vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero, CMLL, ???
Guerrero & Bucanero are considered by many to be the team of the decade for the past decade. Both have done fairly well for themselves as singles wrestlers (Guerrero more so). American fans may only remember them briefly from the ’08 World X Cup, but this is a sped up example of what these guys can do. And they’re in there with a singles legend and singles legend in the making (Mistico & Wagner Jr. didn’t team as far as I can tell) and this match results. A more common theme in International tag wrestling during recent years: actual tag team vs. makeshift tag team (singles wrestlers paired together).
More CMLL goodness with Sin Cara and Alberto Del Rio teaming up during their Mexico days.
