Well NJPW 
does have agreements with ROH 
; CMLL 
; & RevPro 
.
With the amount of talent that keeps working on MCW 
(Ospreay, Fale, Okada, Naito) hopefully one-day WE may get a partnership to NJPW. (Okadaās match from āNovember Rainā in on NJPW World).
Bad ass. Canāt wait to see this match sometime.
NJPWās G1 USA Special is tonight / tomorrow, for those watching live will it be with English of Japanese commentary?
For myself it the English team is once again the duo of Ross & Barnett Iāll be listening to the Japanese commentary.
Iāll probably catch the English commentary, Iām hoping Cody has a good showing against Kenny in the main event.
"For the record, the ābumpā I took at ringside at #G1SanFrancisco was not storyline driven matter nor was it discussed.
I think I broke a rib.
Couldnāt put my roller bag in the overhead today after a sleepless Sat night."
@JRsBBQ
Wait, does this mean that Barnett went into business for himself?
I was shocked anyone claimed this was a work - it made no sense as a work. Barnett dropped multiple F-bombs on AXS tv who was not prepared to sensor him. JR came back to the desk and was audibly disgusted and basically went into business for himself trashing the setup of the ringside area and mocking the ref and rules of countouts, etc. They closed the show by complaining about a go-home angle taking too long despite it being a year+ in the making.
It cannot be said enough how JR needs to be done with New Japan Pro Wrestilng, but Iāll go one furtherā¦if he doesnāt walk away on his own it becomes nothing more than a money-grab in which he is cashing checks from AXS despite audibly not liking the product he is calling.
This was unprofessional to me. I was really feeling the angle but ross kept burying it complaining the post match was too long.
Barnett went on this rant about how this njpw isnt strong style but he did strong style in his njpw (when business was way down from now) then tried to spin it positively but sounded like a bitter old wrestler. The commentary actively hurts the product. Dominion had the finest english commentary of Japanese wrestking i ever heardā¦ these AXS shows not so much.
I respect both men truly but their work is just not strong. Maybe they shoukd do retro reviews for axs. Let kelly tackle the new stuff.
I understand why AXS want Ross on TV, since heās still big name especially for older fans ā but at this point it doesnāt seem worth it given how much he detracts from the product. From mispronunciations to lack of knowledge about angles and storylines it smacks of a complete lack of research and interest. Worse, he doesnāt seem to care and either lashes out or cracks jokes when heās called out.
What happened with his injury is unfortunate and I could understand why that would affect him on this show, but he was terrible on the previous live shows.
Donāt you think the same can be said for Kevin Kelly? For the older fans they remember him from WWE, and some ROH. Iāve always had positive memories with Kevin Kellyās commentary back in the early days of Raw.
Hearing him when I started watching NJPW during WK11 it felt great. He knows the brand, he knows the talent and even plays well off of the heels.
Iāve thought recently, has anyone at AXS watched a NJPW broadcast and compared it to a previous AXS broadcast? If they did theyād see the difference someone like Kevin Kelly can make.
I just tuned JR and Barnett out during the Okada match. JR referred to Bushi as Sanada. Then didnāt call it out when Okada tried a Rainmaker on I think Naito - just got Barnett saying āOh, he ducked a lariatā. They didnāt acknowledge the Stormbreaker which is such a unique looking move it couldnāt have been mistaken for anything standard.
A change is neededā¦I think AXS should check with @johnpollock see if he would be interested in taking over. Even on 3 hours sleep half drunk with a open knife wound, Mr. Pollock could muster more enthusiasm than JR.
Kevin Kellyās call of ZSJ win over Okada was nothing short of epic!
āHeās got em heās got em 1 2 threeeeeeeeeee
Zack Sabre Jr has just defeated Kazuchika Okadaā
āWe both simultaneously kept out of our chairs when Chris Roberts hand hit the mat for the third timeā
Talking about Okada as fan cheer himā
āHeās got 14 days to get his house in order. Before he climbs the Mount Everest of professional wrestling. The greatest test of professional wrestling endurance and skill there is - the G1 Climax
JESUS WHAT AN UPSET!ā
Please all go back and watch this. Insane!!!
From this morningās G1 press conference, a beautiful soul at peace with himself:
Makes any NJPW card even better.
To answer this question briefly : no. They want a recognizable face and voice and thats not Kevin Kelly. Don Callis doesnt even kook like the Jackal anymore. For years, the draw of AXS wasnt just the wrestling but the celebrity of the announcing from Mauro now to Ross. With wwe showing zero interest and (zero respect ) for JR I donāt see a change at AXS imminently.
G1 Climax 28 is now LIVE on NJPW World, a few opening non tournament matches.
caught up through the tag matches of 7/22 show. with a few days until the next show figured better to watch the tournament matches with fresh eyes. This has been the most fun wrestling has been in forever. Really like the Kelly/Romero combo. It seems that every match has purpose.
Been watching NJPW shows since the first Jericho match, and slowly catch on to previous feuds and crowd favorites. Appreciated Kelly bringing up the Naito/Takahasi history, as well as other past feuds that help catch me up to speed. The only confusing part of NJPW is Ref discretion and what constitutes a DQ. Other than that, NJPW is 5 star viewing.
NJPW shines in categories I hated about WWE: No Authority angles, The head booker jobs and puts others over strong, guys can wrestle in opening tags and main events, nobody is unbeatable, history matters, intelligence isnāt insulted.
Thereās something that comes up almost every show that I donāt understand and would appreciate a little insight: how come the usually calm and chill Naito has ongoing issues with NJPW announce team? It makes sense for the heels (and my favorite, Suzuki) but isnāt Naito a top tier face?
Finally, just to share the interest, my 13 year old is pulling for Ibushi to win, my 11 year old (who just walked into NJPW during this tournament) pulling for Yano.
another question for the brothers: how come some guys arenāt part of a stable? Elgin and Tanahashi come to mind. Seems like each stable would benefit from having either of them (and the others who tag with the Lions)
Elgin is either in Taguchi Japan I think or has a rough association.
As for Naito, heās kinda like an anti-hero at this point where the crowd will cheer for him but still does a lot of dick-ish things, like with the announcers.
Great post @Crash thatās awesome your kids are into the tournament as well!
Iām not an authority on NJPW but Iāll try to help out here:
Tanahashi is the ACE of the company - their John Cena if you will, so no stable affiliation. Heās been used in so many different ways that an affiliation almost limits the use of a top tier guy who can make anyone. They use Liger similarly.
There is the group Taguchi Japan where non affiliated guys get slotted into for multi man tags that are common.
The history aspect of story telling is what really hooked me early. While itās difficult at times to understand promos (the translator on the English version is fairly new) it is so easy to follow a guys track record vs another and how that adds importance or backstory to a match. Even just this tournament hearing records of guys facing off against each other in the G1 makes it clear who an underdog or favorite is.
Naito has been very anti English / US expansion in his promos. Heās positioned as opposite Kenny in the sense he doesnāt think the likes of American wrestlers are needed. It was those strong promos he cut about Jericho coming in for WK that led (and made) their feud later on so great. So to me him heeling on English commentary makes sense.
thanks man. The cow palace show made a couple of lifers.
Donāt suppose anyoneās heard any ticket news/rumours for the Long Beach show at the end of September?
