Japanese Wrestling General Discussion

[Spens1]

So apparently before LIDET bought NOAH, WWE tried to buy it and turn it into NXT Japan. That would have been cursed as hell. Wild rumours of Big Japan and Sendai Girls potentially being the base (in which case, i hope at least Daisuke Sekimoto, Daichi Hashimoto, Jun Kasai, Yuji Okabayashi and a few other key guys leave and find homes either in NOAH, New Japan or All Japan, or in Kasai's case, start a new promotion, unless new japan starts doing deathmatches again).

Main title matches on the scene otherwise (at least that i know) we have Suigara vs Elgin for the new GHC national title in NOAH as well as Kaito Kiyomiya vs Kenoh for the GHC World heavyweight title (after Nakajima somehow lost, there has to be a title change here, i like Kaito a lot but ffs he's basically just getting out of young boy status). on the AJPW side, we have Kento Miyahara defending against Jake Lee (they damn well better change the title here since they sacrificed Nomura and Zeus). Jake Lee has kind of been mediocre but he is popular so we shall see.

It sounds like NXT Japan could be a thing and honestly i can't think of a worse thing for the entire industry than WWE going to Japan, even if they're small they'll go and raid everyone, sure, companies like New Japan and to a lesser extent, DDT and Dragon Gate will be fine, NOAH and All Japan won't be, especially if WWE raids them for key names like Miyahara, Kenoh, Lee, Nakajima, Nomura, Zeus, Suigara etc.

[Spens1]

I've watched Dragon Gate's final Gate show.

Good show overall to be honest, there wasn't a bad match on the card and both singles title bouts delivered nicely (i'd go with the main event as the MOTN with the Brave Gate very closely behind).

Massive shock though in that main event, Naruki Doi defeated Ben-K to become the Dream Gate Champ yet again (starting the decade off the same way it ended, with Doi as champ). I'm astounded that he was the one to win the belt, i was thinking for sure it would probably be someone like Shun Skywalker or Kzy to take it off his hands or if an older name won it, it would be Yoshino. Hell, i would have expected Yamato to win it before Doi to be honest given the fact that Doi has lost like his last 8 title shots.

Also for those wondering, there is a show on tonight (with doi darts, one of the highlights of the year, on).

[Spens1]

Quick recap from elsewhere in japanese wrestling.

Miyahara defended the Triple Crown succesfully against Jake Lee (who is now 0-3 just this year against Miyahara alone, Uncle Jun needs to be careful cause he looks cooked). What was interesting however is that young Yuma Aoyagi turned on Kento and went heel.

Also Noah in their infinate wisdom had Go Shiozaki go over Kaito Kiyomiya (that could arguably mean that Kiyomiya could be another one of the long list of failed faces of the company). Honestly, out of all the main eventers, why Go, they literally had Kenoh and Nakajima there (on Nakajima, they had him lose to Elgin, are you actually kidding me).

On Dragon Gate, Masato Yoshino has announced that he would retire, this comes after his big neck injury in 2017 (where many thought he was done then), he returned in 2018 to basically rescue the company from CIMA (whose now doing the stronghearts thing and OWE).

Don't see it here but BxB hulk turned heel on Tribe Vanguard, being the X and joining R.E.D, this led to factions coming out (as they do during these big turns) and all the factions besides R.E.D have disbandoned and we now have R.E.D vs Pro-Toryumon vs Pro-Dragon Gate for this year (i'm presuming whoever wins this feud, that factions return in 2021, should be a fun year though and a great way to rest, New Japan should take notes cause those factions are old as hell, though the only one who could invoke such a reaction would literally be Inoki himself coming back to manage someone).

[Spens1]

Cyberagent (the company that owns DDT) was purchased NOAH from Lidet (who apparently where struggling with the owning of a wrestling company). Lidet will remain corporate sponsors to NOAH, here are the main notes:

Spoiler:

Highlights from the CyberAgent/NOAH/DDT press conference:

NOAH GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT INC has become a 100% subsidiary of CyberAgent Inc.
Takagi will be President of NOAH as well as DDT
Marufuji: EVP of NOAH
Directors of board of NOAH: Yamauchi/Kobayashi
Executive Officer of NOAH: Takeda (ex-president)
Takeda became President last June, became Representative Director of Board and President in November
Takeda and Takagi had a chat late November about NOAH's issues/strategies
Discussion escalated into working together
NOAH's business was growing in 2019 but finances were in distress
Takagi approached President Fujita of CyberAgent to save NOAH
NOAH will strive to return to Budokan and the Dome, but it realizes it will be under more severe financial scrutiny at the same time
LIDET will keep supporting NOAH as corporate sponsor
Takagi feels there is long, amicable history with NOAH
Believes that saving NOAH will benefit entire industry
Takagi to focus on corporate matters at NOAH; in-ring will be entirely delegated to Marufuji/Takeda
Ryogoku 2 Days: 11.21 (DDT) / 11.22 (NOAH)
NOAH 1.30 Korakuen tomorrow to air FREE and LIVE on DDT UNIVERSE
Pres. Fujita of CyberAgent doesn't intend to touch/change NOAH
Fujita agreed to this acquisition because he has faith in the potential of Takagi's management skills
G+ will remain, UNIVERSE will be airing 1 to 2 NOAH shows live per month, and will enhance VOD content
Q: Will there be talent exchanges? Takagi:Leaving it up to the people in charge of the in-ring. Like Marufuji is in DDT now, if there is an offer from one side and the other accepts, it will happen

Q: Will the promotions eventually be merged? Takagi:Not in plans at the moment. Each have their own fans. We will share back office functions and physical assets, just like we already do at DDT/TJPW/GanPro

Q: Roster reaction? Marufuji: We told them last minute. They were surprised naturally, but they took it positively, as a bright light of hope

Q: What media will NOAH be on? Takagi: G+, AbemaTV, DDT UNIVERSE, and Samurai. UNIVERSE is working on adding VOD content too

Q: You mentioned DDT and NOAH having a supplementary relationship? Fujita: It may not be an appropriate explanation, but DDT is fun, NOAH is cool. Variation gives breath to our content.

Q: Budokan, Tokyo Dome? Fujita: I'm completely focused on filling DDT Saitama Super Arena now, but we will all work together as a team

Q: What exactly will you reform about the management of NOAH? Takagi: We have a lot of things to learn from NOAH too, like social media operations. We can help enhance their media outlets; they currently rely predominantly on YouTube. We can work on corporate sponsors too.

Q: Why did you choose Takagi as President of NOAH? Fujita: Simply, he's a good manager and I felt he could do more with more size, so I'm basically betting on his management potential

Q: So you're aiming for the number one spot in the industry? Takagi: It wouldn't be fun if we didn't. We want to keep our goals ambitious.

I honestly hope other than the odd show and some talent going to and fro here and there (like maybe Takeshita to NOAH for a bit, seeing Yone to DDT for a bit etc).

This is so much better than WWE buying NOAH and using it for NXT Japan so there is that.

I am a bit worried however of what it could mean for NOAH going forward though, DDT and NOAH are chalk and cheese.


Also DDT have unveiled new KO-D tag team belts and they honestly may be my favourite tag team belts. They look so clean.

[Spens1]

All Japan are apparently in talks (according to Yahoo Japan) to sell to WWE.

I'd lose my mind if they do that, please for the love of god don't sell to WWE, i could deal with W-1 maybe selling, but if All Japan is sold i'd low key like to see Bushiroad tbh do it BUT keep New Japan and All Japan seperate and put them on equal status (sure, a guy like Jake Lee should go to New Japan, but in turn, a guy like Goto or Ishii should go to All Japan). I think Bushiroad could do something similar with Kento like they did for Okada, just make him look like a million bucks (in the Tanahashi role) whilst you build up Yuma as the next ace. Ideal scenario is a separate billionare buys it and goes after a big name or two (Nakajima from NOAH since NOAH ain't doing anything serious with him, Takeshita from DDT to prevent Takagi from pushing him over Endo or Sasaki )

[Spens1]

Pro Wrestling NOAH and DDT are going to merge into a new company called CyberFight.

Essentially Noah and DDT will be essentially two different brands like Raw and Smackdown within the cyberfight brand and their goal is to become the #1 company in japan.

Thanks, I hate it, a lot. Noah and DDT need to be kept far away from each other, like what on earth are they thinking, sure, pooling their resources is great but NOAH is an established brand, the brand of Misawa and Kobashi. What on earth is this actually.

I'm honestly angry cause NOAH was just about coming right as well as its own thing.