Leave us your feedback on the NJPW Power Struggle card.
We will have a Power Struggle POST Show late tonight for Patrons.
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Bruce from Vancouver,
While enjoyable enough, this card revolved around top talents (Naito, Ospreay, and White) effectively killing time with non-credible challengers less than a month after we saw Ibushi and Okada doing the same at KoPW. I realize that all the major bouts need to be saved for Wrestle Kingdom, but matches with a bit more potential to actually shape Wrestle Kingdom would have been nice.
This was also the rare NJPW show when the angles (Jericho, Shibata, Hiromu, and the final four) seemed notably more important than any of the matches themselves…but how much apart from Jericho/Tana and Ospreay/Hiromu is actually settled? Is Shibata cleared? And what weird combo of fan vote and four man-tourney are we getting to resolve the dual championship story?
Highlights: Kenta and Ishii got to make up for their previous injury-waylaid match, it’s literally impossible for Ospreay to have a bad match in 2019, and obviously it’s great to see Hiromu (and Daryl) back.
This was a very good show, for me the crowd hurt it on some points, like in the Naito match, but other than that it was better than expected. One thing that perplexed me is how do you have a tag match with 3 of the best wrestlers today, and they end up all working to the boring, underwater-like pace of YOSHI-HASHI.
Despite all the shade thrown at him by WH on today’s Thunderstruck, Jay White might be the wrestler I enjoy watching the most. His counter style is amazing and completely different from anything else.
Also, Kanemaru and Desperado might be one of the most underrated tag-teams in the world, they’re absolutely phenomenal.
How much of the Jr Tag League did you get to watch? I really recommend anything with Uemura/Tiger Mask and TJP/Connors.
8/10 cats counting down on the big screen for Hiromu’s return.
P.S. Jericho killing Tanahashi cosplayers for fun is just too amazing for words.
I had tuned out of New Japan after the G1 but this brought me right back in. Everything you could ask for in setting up Wrestle Kingdom.
My only gripe is that I’m concerned we won’t get any physical confrontation between Tanahashi and Jericho before January 5. This was the kind of thing that hurt the build to Okada vs. Jericho for me.
Also with Hiromu’s timer set for January 4, I wonder if there is still a chance either he or Ospreay could still face Liger on January 5 like some have speculated.
And if they go ahead with a fan vote and Naito presumably wins, that will be an incredible piece of storytelling that comes full circle 6 years later.
Ken Dell from Ohio
What a great week for wrestling/combat sports. I enjoyed the show. Lots of good builds to lead to wrestle kingdom. Match of the night for me was Goto vs White. I haven’t been the biggest Goto fan but I was pulling for him to win tonight. I loved seeing KENTA attack Shitbata. Can’t wait for that match hopefully. Hiromu making a full recovery made me happy. 8.5/10 rating My question Do you guys think Suzuki will stay with New Japan after Wrestle Kingdom & who would you book him against?
Scott from Toronto
Overall, thought the show was fine. Looking forward to seeing how the rest of the WK cards will be built out at the California shows and WTL.
Just a few thoughts others haven’t already touched on:
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Feel a little anxious about the idea of Tanahashi and Jericho working together. Ace in a street fight doesn’t feel like it’d be a good fit, and Jericho’s had the benefit of working with younger talent in the past. Not interested in a sad Dome match between two 40+ legends who’ll look like they’re working underwater. Guessing this would be the last of the Jericho / NJPW collabs with battle lines being drawn stateside.
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Not sure what the future holds for Roppongi 3K. Three straight victories in the tag league is starting to feel a bit stale. Really liked the tease of moving up to heavyweight with the matches vs. GOD earlier on the Destruction tour. Feels like they’ve done all they can do in the Jr. division. No doubt they’ll have a great rematch against ELP / Ishimori in the Dome, but beyond that, what else do they have left to accomplish?
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Finally, thought BUSHI did a great job all things considered. Yes, Ospreay is having one of the best years (maybe ever?), but nobody ever expects or credits anything LIJ’s designated pin eater ever does. He’s a reliable vehicle to advance a larger storyline.
Unrelated: Any shot at you guys reviewing DDT’s Ultimate Party on the Cafe hangout this week or will this be a POST Puroresu holdover?
1 Like
Jalen from Pickering,
This was a pretty good show for a Power Struggle with everything trending towards what should be a phenomenal 2 nights in January. NJPW is lucky that they have such great wrestlers in Ishii and Ospreay to prop up B-tier shows. The Hiromu return was awesome, albeit a little weird, and the Shibata tease continues to grow.
The 4 way staredown at the end was interesting, as the fans seemed actually more into the idea of a traditional world title match for Jan 5. Realistically it doesn’t matter, as most assume it’s gonna be Naito as IC champ facing Okada and winning, so the IC belt being on the line really wouldn’t change much. Involving a fan vote is a nice piece to bring it full circle though. 7.5/10
Mj
Really enjoyed the show with a lot of quality matches and some surprises.
Now that we see Jericho announced can we speculate on Moxley and Omega?
Likely/unlikely for each being at the Dome.
I’d love Moxley vs Kenta
And with Omega - if it’s not Ibushi I really don’t know why they’d bring him in or with who.
1 Like
Matt in the 604
Nick Jackson has come out again saying that AEW will never work with NJPW, is this a work and have you heard anything different?