Top 10 Best Things About New Japan Pro-Wrestling (Part 2)
Description: NJPW lost some of it's luster with the departure of a few of their more popular Gaijins and with the pandemic limiting their roster and what talent they could bring in and use for their tournaments and bigger events, the pandemic has been somewhat rocky. There are still a lot of positives to enjoy though and I think 2022 and especially now with the working relationship with AEW should be a much better year for New Japan. Here are some of the best attributes that you can look forward to.....
10. Exciting Tournaments-According to many western fans, the G1 Climax fell flat last year, and even according to some people in the company like Tama Tonga, the concept of the G1 and how it's put together has kind of become stale. I think Western fans believe this tournament should be sort of a launching pad for the talent, kind of like WWE's Royal Rumble or Money in the Bank but that's not really how it functions. It's more like the "Playoffs" in other professional sports. They are choosing an opponent for the ace or the current champion here. They have too much respect for the prestige of their titles to just boost someone up via the G1 that isn't ready for that honor. I saw a lot of people saying that Jeff Cobb should have won which doesn't make a whole lot of sense considering he's not really one of the more popular Gaijins and he's under Will Ospreay as a member of United Empire who himself just reached that World Heavyweight Champion level. While Jeff Cobb is an exceptional performer especially for a guy that size, I think this is what makes the tournament exciting and also validates the winner...it's the guys who CAN'T win that make winning mean something. Aside from that they have tournaments like "The Best of the Super Jr's." which is kind of like the G1 except for Jr. Heavyweights or what would be Lightweights or Cruiserweights in the West and they also have the New Japan Cup, the Super J-Cup, World Tag League and now the Super J-Tag Tournaments every year. Some of them, most notably the Jr. Heavyweight Tournaments, use talent from around the world which allows them to keep the match-ups fresh and add some variety to the participation.
9. The Young Lion System-Japanese Pro Wrestling companies have a dojo system, kind of like how WWE has a developmental system with the Performance Center and NXT. This system has produced some of the greatest Pro Wrestlers that Japan and the world has ever seen.
8. Transforming Talent-NJPW's ability to help wrestlers find themselves and mold their own identities is uncanny. If you think about where some of the biggest stars, they've produced were in the early stages of their careers especially when they've worked other places and then look at how they developed with New Japan, it's a massive leap forward for some of them. I mean Kazuchika Okada was a joke in Impact, they gave him a stereotypical Karate/Green Hornet gimmick. He came home and became the ace. He is one of the most talked about and respected Japanese talents of this generation, whose reach extends well beyond his country limits today. Remember Kenny Omega before he was in Bullet Club or even in Bullet Club during the AJ Styles run? He went from just being the Jr. Heavyweight guy, to the leader during maybe the most lucrative and memorable years of the stable's existence. Bullet Club was so popular that The Elite were able to partner with someone to start their own major company. Look at a guy like C.J. Parker, look at his debut as Juice Robinson and even his first Wrestle Kingdom match against Cody Rhodes...he evolved into a completely different person from there; winning championships, starting a stable and bringing his own unique style to the company.
7. Dedicated Veterans-Without weekly television, NJPW's talent doesn't burn out as quickly as they maybe would if they worked for a mainstream company in the States. That means that guys like Minoru Suzuki, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tomohiro Ishii, Yuji Nagata, Hirooki Goto etc. can work well into their late 40's to mid-50's and still be productive and an asset to the company. That's a great thing to have because when you're building a future, you need guys like these to put your young guys over and sort of be gatekeepers for the company. While Kenny Omega as his rival did a lot to push Okada, his rise to the top wouldn't have been possible without guys like Katsuyori Shibata, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito. One day Okada is going to have to play that position for the Young Lions under him and the cycle just continues that way.
6. Strong Main Event Scene-In the late 90's/Early 2000's, NJPW entered a "Dark Ages". Antonio Inoki saw that the business was shifting, and MMA was rising in popularity. After humiliating his Aces and former stars by feeding them to legit martial artists in shoot fights, guys like Shinsuke Nakamura, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuyori Shibata were able to pull them out of the slump. Building off of those talents, they were able to reach the heights they are at today. Though they lose some talent each year, they have still found a way to mold guys who can help carry the company. Former Jr. Heavyweights, Kota Ibushi & Will Ospreay really stepped up for the company in 2020, Shingo Takagi came into his own, KENTA returned to Japan from WWE, and guys like Hiromu Takahashi, EVIL, Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. are starting to play bigger roles. The pandemic effected their business the way it has everyone else’s but NJPW is still top heavy, they can still put together rivalries at the top that people want to see.