[TD Stinger]

 

[RainmakerV2]

I know they won't, but ELP winning it and establishing himself as the new BC leader works for me. Plus Okada vs. ELP would be fun as fuck.

 

[thorwold]

This generally looks a lot less boring than these have the last couple of years in terms of the early rounds of the bracket. Chase Owens with the first-round bye is kind of funny though. Presumably, it'll be him and ELP and some Bullet Club shenanigans shall ensue.

Pulling for Narita, Umino, and Phantasmo to be three of the final four...

 

[TD Stinger]

I know they won't, but ELP winning it and establishing himself as the new BC leader works for me. Plus Okada vs. ELP would be fun as fuck.

My guess as of right now is KENTA, though ELP can be used in that spot as well.

Honestly not really sure who they go with this year. There's no obvious guy. Shingo's not winning after just losing to Okada. Same with Tana after this Saturday. I don't see ZSJ winning again this year. I guess you could go with Naito but they ran that match like 3 times last year.

On paper Ospreay seems to be the favorite but I don't see them doing Okada vs. Ospreay right now. That's the match I think headlines the Dome next year.

This generally looks a lot less boring than these have the last couple of years in terms of the early rounds of the bracket. Chase Owens with the first-round bye is kind of funny though. Presumably, it'll be him and ELP and some Bullet Club shenanigans shall ensue.

Pulling for Narita, Umino, and Phantasmo to be three of the final four...

Part me was kind of disappointed that the field was smaller this year but when they made it bigger in the last couple of years, they really just filled it with Juniors or Young Lions. They didn't make a point to get to bring in fresh names from other companies. So with in that mind, probably better to go for a smaller field.

 

[BigCy]

Interesting field in some places with a couple of potential tag partner matches. I wish they would just go back to either 16 or 32 man field. I hate when they have byes but that's just me being picky. 24 is definitely better than 40 or 50 where you knew the outcome of the first round anyway.

I'm guessing Naito and Shingo get bumped out 1st or 2nd round. I honestly could see them pulling the trigger on Umino or Narita in this. But I want to mention El Phantasmo and KENTA as well as fair possibilities. All of those men would be a fresh opponent for Okada and I wouldn't care who would win. Jeff Cobb and EVIL I think deserve a mention as well. Cobb cleaned up 2021 G1 and I can see them revisiting that. EVIL I mentioned just because if Jay White is leaving they may want to re-establish him as the top Bullet Club guy again. Don't want to sleep on Taichi either honestly and I want them to finally give IShii a moment but I just can't see it after he's basically been cannon fodder to mid and upper mid carders for several years now.

Unpredictable tournament imo and I like that. I'll just say Cobb, Narita, and Umino as my top 3 guys to win this. Kind of lol'd at seeing Fletcher and Davis in this but hey why not, they're good wrestlers. I think Umino takes out ZSJ to set up that title match and I think Goto might take out Tama Tanga to set up that title match.

Like TD Stinger...I see Osprey winning G1 this year and headlining WK unless they have him get back the US title from Omega instead prior to that.

 

[3venflow]

Looks good but run-of-the-mill. Happy to see Aussie Open back after Mark Davis was talking about how their bookings have dried up.

Feels like New Japan could benefit from their various working relationships to freshen up the NJC and other tournaments more. Someone from IMPACT, AEW, CMLL or even RevPro (Michael Oku).

I dunno who to predict for this one. The winner will challenge at Sakura Genesis in April I assume. One long odds name I'll throw forward is Hirooki Goto, since it's his 20th anniversary year, his relationship with Okada, and the sub-plot that he's never won the big one.

 

[TD Stinger]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1627518760105164801

Other than the Fantastica Mania tour, which most here don't usually care about, NJPW is done until 3/5 when the New Japan Cup starts.

We also have the 3/6 Anniversary Show, which will be headlined by Okada & Tanahashi vs. Bishamon for the Tag Titles.

 

[Outlaw91]

Other than the Fantastica Mania tour, which most here don't usually care about, NJPW is done until 3/5 when the New Japan Cup starts.

This year's tour looks pretty interesting. There is no old guy except for Ultimo Guerrero and Okamura and they are mostly involved in tag team matches.
Mistico vs Atlantis Jr, Soberano Jr vs Hechicero, Volador Jr vs Templario and Soberano Jr vs Titan should be very good matches.
I'm surprised that Rocky Romero isn't involved, he recently ended Volador's reign of over 4 years with the World Historic Welterweight title and he wants to avenge the loss by taking Rocky's hair.
Also I'm disappointed that they don't mix Los Ingobernables de Japon with Los Nuevos Ingobernables.

 

[BigCy]

Yeah I never watch Fantasticamania and I'm mostly a NJPW diehard.

Please don't put the belts on Okada and Tanahashi. Although it would be kind of cool I hate seeing someone with 2 belts and Okada needs to focus on the world heavyweight strap. I don't really see them losing on paper though. The only way they could make it work without making Okada lose is to put Goto over Tanahashi. Yoshi-Hashi ain't pinning one of the big top guys. Should be a good match though. Hiromu vs Lio Rush should be good too.

 

[Bland]

Goto winning isn’t a bad shout especially if Okada & Tana defeat Bishamon for tag belts at Anniversary show.

Naito, Shingo, Tanahashi, ZSJ and even Ospreay don’t need to win as we’ve already had them vs Okada.

Kenta just won Strong Openweight title weekend so him winning to only lose to Okada wouldn’t really benefit either.

Shota is an excellent wildcard and the title match can then go either way. Does NJPW go full shock and have Shota win before dropping back at either Dominion or in Oct, as new NJPW WHC reigns don’t normally go long like Okada’s and Jays first reigns.

 

[3venflow]

Dunno the best place to put this, but Okada vs. Kiyomiya from the Muto retirement show... watch it.

Everyone goes in expecting the 35 minute Japanese epic, and they work it NJPW TV Title pace (16:32 match time) with Okada big leaguing NOAH's young ace. Even though this match (and the show in general with NJPW more or less clean sweeping) isn't great for NOAH, it was an incredible watch. Okada truly is the perfect guy to lead a company even if comes with that lolOkadawins feeling. New Japan really struck gold with him a decade back.

New Japan came out on top but NOAH got a 30,096 attendance at the Dome out of it. The company seems revitalized because even if they've been big leagued by New Japan, they've been able to show off their cast of younger stars to a larger audience, and among them are some fantastic talents.

 

[TD Stinger]

Yeah I never watch Fantasticamania and I'm mostly a NJPW diehard.

Please don't put the belts on Okada and Tanahashi. Although it would be kind of cool I hate seeing someone with 2 belts and Okada needs to focus on the world heavyweight strap. I don't really see them losing on paper though. The only way they could make it work without making Okada lose is to put Goto over Tanahashi. Yoshi-Hashi ain't pinning one of the big top guys. Should be a good match though. Hiromu vs Lio Rush should be good too.

I feel like Tanahashi loses often enough nowadays that it seems plausible that he eats the pin here

Goto winning isn’t a bad shout especially if Okada & Tana defeat Bishamon for tag belts at Anniversary show.

Naito, Shingo, Tanahashi, ZSJ and even Ospreay don’t need to win as we’ve already had them vs Okada.

Kenta just won Strong Openweight title weekend so him winning to only lose to Okada wouldn’t really benefit either.

Shota is an excellent wildcard and the title match can then go either way. Does NJPW go full shock and have Shota win before dropping back at either Dominion or in Oct, as new NJPW WHC reigns don’t normally go long like Okada’s and Jays first reigns.

Goto does have a 20th anniversary show for himself coming up in April I think. So maybe he gets a decent run in the Cup, though I just can't see him winning. And while I think Shota has potential, I don't think he's anywhere near ready to be champion, even for the "shock win/drop it right after" kind of run. Just feels like it would do more to damage to the IWGP Title than anything else.

I'll still guess Kenta. I know he just won the Strong Title but considering Strong as a weekly show is over I can't really say how much that belt even means. And he seems like the one guy who's big enough to win and give Okada a new opponent.

Dunno the best place to put this, but Okada vs. Kiyomiya from the Muto retirement show... watch it.

Everyone goes in expecting the 35 minute Japanese epic, and they work it NJPW TV Title pace (16:32 match time) with Okada big leaguing NOAH's young ace. Even though this match (and the show in general with NJPW more or less clean sweeping) isn't great for NOAH, it was an incredible watch. Okada truly is the perfect guy to lead a company even if comes with that lolOkadawins feeling. New Japan really struck gold with him a decade back.

New Japan came out on top but NOAH got a 30,096 attendance at the Dome out of it. The company seems revitalized because even if they've been big leagued by New Japan, they've been able to show off their cast of younger stars to a larger audience, and among them are some fantastic talents.

I mean if we're blunt, Okada basically made Kaito his bitch by the end of the match, lol. I liked the match and they made Kaito look good attacking Okada's arm near the end. But that ending, oof. Doesn't really do much for NOAH considering they can't milk the Mutoh retirement run anymore and their champion got big leagued that badly.

 

[Outlaw91]

Do you guys see some follow up on Okada vs Kiyomiya or just one and done? Honestly I don't remember Okada ending a match with a top guy like that. They told a good story but I do feel very sorry for Kiyomiya.

Muto and NJPW certainly helped Noah a lot, they were able to showcase their product in front of a much bigger audience. I think not even WK drew so many people in the Dome. Now it is up to Noah to keep some of those people interested. This year's Cyberfight Festival could be a checkpoint.

 

[BigCy]

I wanted to check out the Okada vs Kiyomiya Dome show but decided to get the Battle in the Valley PPV instead and that was good and well worth the $20. I do kind of hate how NOAH gets "big leagued" by NJPW so badly but it does indeed help their business. I'm considering getting their streaming service because of it. They do have some great talent. Kiyomiya, Kenoh, Soya, Nakajima, Marifuji, YO-HEY, and several others.

I think Okada and Kiyomiya are done but I've been wrong before. If it got a lot of buzz pre and post match I can see them revisiting it later, if not a singles match, then maybe a big tag match.

KENTA and Goto are worth mentioning for NJ Cup so good shout on that fellas. I'm going to stick with either Cobb, Shota, or Narita winning though with honorable mentions to EVIL and KENTA.

 

[Outlaw91]

KENTA and Goto are worth mentioning for NJ Cup so good shout on that fellas. I'm going to stick with either Cobb, Shota, or Narita winning though with honorable mentions to EVIL and KENTA.

I think KENTA winning would be the right choice and it will give us a fresh new opponent for Okada. Even though the title match result is predictable, the match itself should be great.
I'm looking at the brackets and I see a potential way to win the Cup for KENTA which involves beating Sanada, Naito, Ospreay and Shingo. Anyone who can defeat these guys in a row is more than qualified to challenge Okada for the World title.
If this is going to happened I can see KENTA making his legendary full time return to NOAH and reclaim the GHC Heavyweight title at the Cyberfight Festival.
He could easily have the greatest GHC Heavyweight title reign in over 10 years. He can face old friends/rivals like Marufuji, Sugiura, Shiozaki, Nakajima and also fresh new faces like Kiyomiya, Kenoh, Thatcher, Hideki Suzuki, Jake Lee, Jack Morris etc.
If Kojima was able to have a GHC title reign in 2022, imagine what a 10 years younger guy and absolute NOAH legend like KENTA can do in 2023.

decided to get the Battle in the Valley PPV instead and that was good and well worth the $20

I absolutely agree, by comparison I've just checked CMLL's site only to find out that they charge $99 for some random episode of Viernes Espectacular...

 

[TD Stinger]

This year does feel wide in particular but more in the sense of "there's so many guys you can't see winning" more than "there's so many guys who could win.

Like I can't see anyone on the right side of the bracket winning unless we're just going full boar with the David Finlay push. And on the left, Ospreay feels like he'll win the G1 over the NJ Cup, I don't see Naito facing Okada again right now, It feels like forever sine Sanada won something big, Taichi never wins a big match, and I don't see them elevating ELP that far right now.

So, KENTA just seems like the guy to me. Now watch him lose in the 1st round, lol. If I had a dark horse, I'll guess Jeff Cobb.

 

[BigCy]

This year does feel wide in particular but more in the sense of "there's so many guys you can't see winning" more than "there's so many guys who could win.

Like I can't see anyone on the right side of the bracket winning unless we're just going full boar with the David Finlay push. And on the left, Ospreay feels like he'll win the G1 over the NJ Cup, I don't see Naito facing Okada again right now, It feels like forever sine Sanada won something big, Taichi never wins a big match, and I don't see them elevating ELP that far right now.

So, KENTA just seems like the guy to me. Now watch him lose in the 1st round, lol. If I had a dark horse, I'll guess Jeff Cobb.

Crap, I almost totally forgot about the David Finlay thing. I can't completely dismiss him now even though a year ago him winning or going far would be unthinkable.

After that angle with White and that promo he HAS to go far or else he'll just look like a joke. Looking at brackets...I can see him beating Ishii and O'Khan but do they put him over Umino/ZSJ also? If he beats 2-3 guys and falls in the semi-final I don't think the push will be a failure but I just really hope he doesn't get the Jay White push now. He is not even close to being that replacement. Maybe in a few years and that's a big maybe. He's improved but just...no.

I think Yano takes out Osprey. If anyone loses to Yano it never hurts them for some reason. It's just...Yano...he does that shit.

 

[TD Stinger]

Night 1 delivered 2 quality matches, especially the main event.

Naito and ELP felt like they were holding back a bit but for what they did it was pretty entertaining. ELP in particular seems like he's growing more and more into being Heavyweight player in NJPW. He's connecting more with fans and hit some good moves in this match. He lost, predictably but given Jay is gone now I feel like it's only a matter of time before he gets a big moment.

Taichi vs. Sanada was the best Sanada match I've seen in a while. It was nice to see him get a little pissed and more aggressive. He & Taichi had good chemistry. Was shocking to see Taichi kick out of the Moonsault. But Sanada debuting a new finisher with that DDT was nice to see and hopefully will lead to more variety in his future matches. Because his normal formula of Skull End/Moonsault can get kind of boring at times.

 

[3venflow]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1632719224593612800

Finlay joined the Bullet Club which isn't surprising. With AEW-based Juice still technically part of the Bullet Club (he appeared at Battle in the Valley and helped KENTA), I wonder if they explain the FinJuice relationship.

Pretty clear that Bullet Club is still moving merch so Gedo wants to drag it out beyond a decade. But this lineup is the weakest yet and screams midcard. Some said that when Jay took charge, so the challenge is whether they can get Finlay to a similar level that Jay reached. ELP admitted he's not leadership material.

 

[TD Stinger]

I'm interested to see how Finlay plays out in Bullet Club now. It's the right move for him & NJPW if you want to elevate Finlay to a more meaningful spot. On the other hand, Seeing Finlay's new look, from his gear to his hair, it's hard to not look at him and not think he looks like Cosplay Jay White. I think it'll take some time for him to grow into his new role. As for the match, it was a nice start to Finlay's new run and he & Ishii worked pretty well together.

As for the Tag Title match, it takes a little bit of time to get going but once it does it's awesome. They just get to a point where they don't give a shit about the tag rules and it's just nonstop action and near falls. Would definitely recommend seeing it.