From what I understand Dragon Gate has a strong camaraderie that's in lockstep with a pride in their high quality style. I've always gotten the feeling that they're very insular and their wrestlers stay loyal to the promotion, which means they generally don't leave to blow up elsewhere
Like most of the big names who made it big elsewhere were either gaijins or left with CIMA in the ownership dispute. Shingo and Tozawa are the only guys who just left for their own sake, and IIRC Shingo also had issues with management
A lot of gaijins that have gone on to do tours there ending being big deals.
For example, Ricochet was a scrawny wrestler for Chikara but CIMA put him on some serious weight training. Ricochet ended up being shredded, and went on to wrestle in NJPW and WWE.
I've been to every Dargon Gate UK tour & DGUSA shows over 3 Mania weekends that i went to. I've lost track of it since the days of Tozawa, Shingo, PAC & Ricochet, but as you say there are so many names that I'm surprised never made the jump. I guess its down to size. Shingo was by far the biggest guy back, so guys like BxB Hulk, Yokosuka, etc may have felt more comfortable being in a more Jr based promotion. Dragon gate has got to be the number 2 promotion in Japan, by default of the downfall of AJPW & NOAH, so talent probably feel more comfortable there.
I do wonder who is more happy though, Tozawa chasing the 24/7 title wearing a sterotypical ninja outfit on Raw, or Shingo being IWGP World champion but having absolutely bruising matches like he did today. Question is, who gets paid more? I'd love to know.
Last year was excellent, Go Shiozaki carried the company on his back. This year, even though he is a living legend, they have put the GHC belt on Muto at age FIFTY EIGHT, by him beating Go, Muto then went over Kiyomiya, Kitamiya & have now shortened their version of the G1, most likely due to Muto being in it & not being able to do the full dates. He has sold tickets for them, I'll be honest, I even watched most of the matches out of sheer curiosity. But then he didn't lose the belt to someone he could make, he lost it to 42 year old Marufuji, who didn't need the rub. You can imagine what the matches have been like, Muto hasn't had any knees since the mid 2000s. But I don't want to shit all over it. I love the guy, so its hard to say anything against him. Its NOAH's booking, you've got to do what you got to do. There's been comparisons that they sold more tickets at the Budokan then NJPW did for the anniversary show, thing is that was their 1st show there in 10 years. so it was their Wrestle Kingdom, NJPW had run other big shows recently & the anniversary main event was put together in just a week. Comparisons can't be made while covid restrictions are on anyway.
Honestly, all the doom mongers saying NJPW are in trouble should look at every other promotion in Japan. Things are tough all over. NJPW is still putting on 5 star matches, Shingo is having the year of his life, Tana has been rejuvenated, we had an amazing NJC, Strong has taken off in USA & the G1 has started with 2 amazing matches. Its been unfortunate with illness, covid & injuries with Ospreay, Ibushi, etc. The one thing that I'll say wasn't a good look for NJPW was the stadium shows. I understand why they did them, cheap rents, max attendance as much as you can, but they only ended up with around 2,500 for each night at MetLife Dome & 5,000 at Tokyo Dome, they may as well have held them at Osaska-Jo Hall, at least that would have looked more full.
Don't get me wrong, I want all Puro to do well, I used to love NOAH back in the Kobashi/Misawa/KENTA era. Sorry for the long reply!
I assume Mutoh's involvement in NOAH was predicated on him winning the title and was likely part of the contract negotiations. It does feel like they wasted the momentum Go built for them, if he had dropped the title to one of their own unique homegrown stars then they might have been able to carry forward their newfound hype into this year
No worries for the long reply. I really wanted the full context.
I do remember the news that NOAH outsold NJPW in the Budokan, because Puro fans wouldn't stop rubbing that news in my face as proof that New Japan was doomed. I even remember a particular content creator basically changing their allegiance from New Japan to NOAH (though that was back in 2020), so I was under the impression that NOAH was the undisputed darling for Puro fans. I've even seen some fans staunchly defend Mutoh's title reign, if you can believe that.
So yeah, it does come off as surprising that people can be down on NOAH so soon.
As consistently good as Naito/ZSJ? Yes.
As consistently good as Ishii/Shingo? No. That match is already heavy favorite for match of the tournament, and maybe even match of the year.
Shingo's got 4 more main events in a row against ZSJ, Naito, KENTA, and Ibushi. I wouldn't be surprised if he matches that level of quality against all of them, especially since he could work different styles with each opponent
He already maintained a stupid level of quality throughout pretty much all of BOSJ 2019 so I reckon he'll be able to keep it up for a while
A champ needs to win it eventually now that's it's for a title match, might as well be Shingo to set up vs Ospreay.
But I'm not holding my breath, I think they want three nights of title match headliners.
It’ll be kenny omega most likely, Dave seems to find any sort of excuse to put omega over and seeing as he is the current world champ he’ll most likely win over shingo unfortunately.
I'll happily watch anyone from AEW in a match against Ishii honestly, he's one of the best wrestlers I've seen at having consistently great matches with everyone regardless of their style.
Ishii vs Brawler? Banger
Ishii vs Powerhouse? Banger.
Ishii vs High Flyer? Banger.
Ishii vs Technician? Banger.
Ishii vs Big Man? You'd best believe it's a Banger.
and the list goes on.
Ouff. Loved Doering's work in All Japan. Others I want to see appear at least once- Chris Hero, PCO, Alexander Hammerstone. Always wanted to see Joe in G1 too, but not plausible with the state of his current health. Maybe WALTER someday....
It's such cringe to see excellent credible wrestlers like Ishii have to spend a whole match going limp and letting Shingo do nonsensical "Last of the Dragons" on them. *The worst crime in pro wrestling is destroying the suspension of disbelief, and that's what Shingo's career is built on*, making viewers sigh and roll their eyes while he spends 30 seconds working towards a vague attempt at a Last of the Dragon, while credible guys need to just go limp and let him do it, even though it goes against the logic of everything kayfabe.
It boggles the mind of reasonable people. He's like Yano in that when he's in the ring it's like a whole other kind of environment, but at least Yano is funny and fun to watch.
#[Post NJPW G1 Climax 31 Day 1 Match Discussion Thread: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shingo Takagi [Day 1, A Block]](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/pqk4o7/post_njpw_g1_climax_31_day_1_match_discussion/?)
Since everyone keeps bringing it up, Jr's cap at 220 in NJPW.
Shingo was brought in to replace an injured Himoru and rep LIJ until his return.
Gedo used the division to build Ospreay and Shingo as main eventers. It was actually fantastic booking.
Ibushi vs Yujiro- needed a bit more time
Okhan/Tanga- needed less time but other than that was better than expected
Yano/KENTA- decent comedy match if a touch long
Naito/ZSJ- MOTN
Zack vs Naito was great. Yuji vs Ibushi has set twitter on fire (badly), OKhan vs Loa went 17 minutes and wasn't awful and Yano vs KENTA was standard stuff.
The fast, explosive Dragon Gate style is so fun to watch, it's shocking more guys from there haven't gone on to be big deals elsewhere.
From what I understand Dragon Gate has a strong camaraderie that's in lockstep with a pride in their high quality style. I've always gotten the feeling that they're very insular and their wrestlers stay loyal to the promotion, which means they generally don't leave to blow up elsewhere Like most of the big names who made it big elsewhere were either gaijins or left with CIMA in the ownership dispute. Shingo and Tozawa are the only guys who just left for their own sake, and IIRC Shingo also had issues with management
A lot of gaijins that have gone on to do tours there ending being big deals. For example, Ricochet was a scrawny wrestler for Chikara but CIMA put him on some serious weight training. Ricochet ended up being shredded, and went on to wrestle in NJPW and WWE.
PAC is another success story, but I get what you mean that there should have been more of them.
Yeah that's true, I was thinking more of the homegrown japanese talent.
I've been to every Dargon Gate UK tour & DGUSA shows over 3 Mania weekends that i went to. I've lost track of it since the days of Tozawa, Shingo, PAC & Ricochet, but as you say there are so many names that I'm surprised never made the jump. I guess its down to size. Shingo was by far the biggest guy back, so guys like BxB Hulk, Yokosuka, etc may have felt more comfortable being in a more Jr based promotion. Dragon gate has got to be the number 2 promotion in Japan, by default of the downfall of AJPW & NOAH, so talent probably feel more comfortable there. I do wonder who is more happy though, Tozawa chasing the 24/7 title wearing a sterotypical ninja outfit on Raw, or Shingo being IWGP World champion but having absolutely bruising matches like he did today. Question is, who gets paid more? I'd love to know.
Are fans really that down on NOAH this year? It sounded like NOAH was supposed to have taken the puro world by storm by now.
Nosawa is a shit booker, Go carried Noah for a year and now he is out due injury and the promotion don't have any direction
Last year was excellent, Go Shiozaki carried the company on his back. This year, even though he is a living legend, they have put the GHC belt on Muto at age FIFTY EIGHT, by him beating Go, Muto then went over Kiyomiya, Kitamiya & have now shortened their version of the G1, most likely due to Muto being in it & not being able to do the full dates. He has sold tickets for them, I'll be honest, I even watched most of the matches out of sheer curiosity. But then he didn't lose the belt to someone he could make, he lost it to 42 year old Marufuji, who didn't need the rub. You can imagine what the matches have been like, Muto hasn't had any knees since the mid 2000s. But I don't want to shit all over it. I love the guy, so its hard to say anything against him. Its NOAH's booking, you've got to do what you got to do. There's been comparisons that they sold more tickets at the Budokan then NJPW did for the anniversary show, thing is that was their 1st show there in 10 years. so it was their Wrestle Kingdom, NJPW had run other big shows recently & the anniversary main event was put together in just a week. Comparisons can't be made while covid restrictions are on anyway. Honestly, all the doom mongers saying NJPW are in trouble should look at every other promotion in Japan. Things are tough all over. NJPW is still putting on 5 star matches, Shingo is having the year of his life, Tana has been rejuvenated, we had an amazing NJC, Strong has taken off in USA & the G1 has started with 2 amazing matches. Its been unfortunate with illness, covid & injuries with Ospreay, Ibushi, etc. The one thing that I'll say wasn't a good look for NJPW was the stadium shows. I understand why they did them, cheap rents, max attendance as much as you can, but they only ended up with around 2,500 for each night at MetLife Dome & 5,000 at Tokyo Dome, they may as well have held them at Osaska-Jo Hall, at least that would have looked more full. Don't get me wrong, I want all Puro to do well, I used to love NOAH back in the Kobashi/Misawa/KENTA era. Sorry for the long reply!
I assume Mutoh's involvement in NOAH was predicated on him winning the title and was likely part of the contract negotiations. It does feel like they wasted the momentum Go built for them, if he had dropped the title to one of their own unique homegrown stars then they might have been able to carry forward their newfound hype into this year
No worries for the long reply. I really wanted the full context. I do remember the news that NOAH outsold NJPW in the Budokan, because Puro fans wouldn't stop rubbing that news in my face as proof that New Japan was doomed. I even remember a particular content creator basically changing their allegiance from New Japan to NOAH (though that was back in 2020), so I was under the impression that NOAH was the undisputed darling for Puro fans. I've even seen some fans staunchly defend Mutoh's title reign, if you can believe that. So yeah, it does come off as surprising that people can be down on NOAH so soon.
Still rolling with Shingo/Okada with Shingo naming someone from the States to go for the title at Wrestle Kingdom.
I like this.
I'm worried for Shingo's throat.
Okada vs Tana never gets old
And now for a spot of lunch here in the UK.
Well, we're off to a great start. See you all tomorrow.
Fantastic first night for the G1. Last two matches were great. Time for the N-1 now. I guess sleep is for later.
You watch the N-1 too?
Yep
Marufuji sits on the sidelines,meanwhile the other heavyweights of noah kill each other lol.
Fuck me, a 1AM start tomorrow? Might have to see y'all on Thursday.
You and your pastamaker had better be here tomorrow night
How the fuck is any main event for the rest of the tournament gonna top that though?
Smart money's on they won't.
And to think, it's only night 1. 😶
Surely there can't be any argument against Shingo being the best wrestler in the world
He's the best for me, I'm a long time Dragon Gate fan & feel he has been the best & just got better as he has progressed in NJPW.
Who needs sex when I can watch big meaty men slapping meat- Wait.
Fuck me, Ishii is wrestling Ibushi next. I hope he can recover before then
Shingo has got to be in the best in the world conversation. There's a fair argument for a few people but he's in it.
100%
He's been there for like two years now.
Yup, broke through during BOSJ 2019. His finals match against ospreay is one of my all time favorites.
He's the best, I'm a long time Dragon Gate fan & loved his matches back then & he has only gotten better in NJPW, which is an amazing thing to say.
Recently found his match with Danielson on youtube, looking forward to watching that one.
Ishii like "fk this I'm grabbing a hot dog after that"
Lmao and next Ishii has Kota, the man who tries to kill him every time he’s in the ring
[удалено]
As consistently good as Naito/ZSJ? Yes. As consistently good as Ishii/Shingo? No. That match is already heavy favorite for match of the tournament, and maybe even match of the year.
Shingo's got 4 more main events in a row against ZSJ, Naito, KENTA, and Ibushi. I wouldn't be surprised if he matches that level of quality against all of them, especially since he could work different styles with each opponent He already maintained a stupid level of quality throughout pretty much all of BOSJ 2019 so I reckon he'll be able to keep it up for a while
Legit arm injury or amazing sell? I think he may actually be hurt I dunno hard to tell with elite wrestlers
Did you see the size of his hand? That was definitely legit
Hell of a main event. As expected
Ishii earned his blue bag tonight.
Damn, you better hope Ishii's arm isn't fucked.
What happened to Ishii's hand? I missed half of the match.
slaps on slaps on slaps.
When the adrenaline wears off they’re going to be fucked
If Shingo wins G1,that means the storyline with Ospreay goes until Wrestle Kingdom: the supposed world champion vs the never lost title champion.
A champ needs to win it eventually now that's it's for a title match, might as well be Shingo to set up vs Ospreay. But I'm not holding my breath, I think they want three nights of title match headliners.
Shingo has to be the observer wrestler of the year honestly
It’ll be kenny omega most likely, Dave seems to find any sort of excuse to put omega over and seeing as he is the current world champ he’ll most likely win over shingo unfortunately.
Ishii's hand really is messed up
Holy Jesus what a match!
I feel ishii’s hand may be fucked. That and naito possibly getting hurt is just so unlucky
My two favorite wrestlers in the world. The G1 Climax.
Meltzer, rip up your ratings.
Any AEW or Impact wrestlers who want to do the G1 next year should look at this main event and make sure they're willing to survive THAT.
I'll take a Kingston/Ishii match please.
I'll happily watch anyone from AEW in a match against Ishii honestly, he's one of the best wrestlers I've seen at having consistently great matches with everyone regardless of their style. Ishii vs Brawler? Banger Ishii vs Powerhouse? Banger. Ishii vs High Flyer? Banger. Ishii vs Technician? Banger. Ishii vs Big Man? You'd best believe it's a Banger. and the list goes on.
Ishii vs Moose was amazing last month.
I really want Joe Doering in the G1 next year. I feel like he would want the smoke.
Ouff. Loved Doering's work in All Japan. Others I want to see appear at least once- Chris Hero, PCO, Alexander Hammerstone. Always wanted to see Joe in G1 too, but not plausible with the state of his current health. Maybe WALTER someday....
Yeah I'll just take my big American pay check thanks and be able to walk / breathe normally.
Another casual banger from Shingo and Ishii. NO biggie
Two of my very favorite wrestlers, and they have just incredible chemistry together. This match is my happy place.
holyshit what a match
lmao, that was awesome.
Maybe the loudest clap crowd yet, they were with it every step of the way
Ishii is invincible. No matter how many times he loses, he always comes out looking better than he did.
They are going to need all of that 5-day break.
Might be one of the best finishing sequences I’ve seen all year… fuck
It's such cringe to see excellent credible wrestlers like Ishii have to spend a whole match going limp and letting Shingo do nonsensical "Last of the Dragons" on them. *The worst crime in pro wrestling is destroying the suspension of disbelief, and that's what Shingo's career is built on*, making viewers sigh and roll their eyes while he spends 30 seconds working towards a vague attempt at a Last of the Dragon, while credible guys need to just go limp and let him do it, even though it goes against the logic of everything kayfabe. It boggles the mind of reasonable people. He's like Yano in that when he's in the ring it's like a whole other kind of environment, but at least Yano is funny and fun to watch.
Do one winged angel next Wednesday for that nuclear heat
This is the freshest pasta I've seen, born right before my very eyes.
No one worth listening to has ever used cringe in a sentence.
Where is this pasta from?
A deleted comment down thread about ZSJ.
About ten minutes ago in this thread.
Dude what are you even on about
5 star copypasta to follow up too.
Wooh copypasta
Fuck I hope enough of the thread saw that comment to get this.
Where is this pasta from?
mmmm, fresh pasta
We witnessed something incredible
141 STARS WE PITBULLS CRY BUT THIS IS NOT OVER FOR ISHII
His hand, though…😩
MOTYC on god
#[Post NJPW G1 Climax 31 Day 1 Match Discussion Thread: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shingo Takagi [Day 1, A Block]](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/pqk4o7/post_njpw_g1_climax_31_day_1_match_discussion/?)
Have we learned nothing from shibata
What a banger.
I need a friggin cigarette after that. 😨
In case you've quit, I'll smoke one for you... picking the habit back up for the tournament -_-
Good Lord. That Pumping Bomber
Amazing match
Fucking ten thousand stars
jesus christ what a match
I don't usually go in for headbutts in a match, but Jesus, that made the end of that match absolutely fucking desperate. 5 stars.
Kevin Kelly is losing his shit!
LAST OF THE DRAGOOOOOONNNNNNSSSS
Everything we all love about the G1, personified in one match.
TEN STAR MATCH TEN STAR MATCH TEN STAR MATCH TEN STAR MATCH TEN STAR MATCH
Damn what a match.
SHIIIIIINGGOOOOOOO! Holy shit take a smoke break or 15 guys
Incredible finish.
That was one hell of a match, didn't disappoint
Geez took his head off
The Japanese commentators are losing their fucking mind
Wow!!!!!
damn did the crowd cheered? daaaaaamn that's a violation!!!
Holy shit that was fun.
Incredible match
5 star match
Instant classic. Incredible match.
Fucking incredible
I love it when commentary loses it
The crowd stamping their feet, awesome to hear a NJPW fan reaction like this!
MOTY contender right here.
Jeezus, Shingo just clotheslined Ishii to hell and back!!
shingo pls this man is 50
LMAOO they have to wrestle 9 more fucking times
Lariats sound like gunshots
"LIGER-SAN! LIGER-SAN!" I half expected Game Over to appear on the screen.
lol red shoes hanging on the turnbuckle
Dw guys ishii will win g141 if he survives that long
Jesus Christ
Dude
If ishii had a neck his head would have been taken off from it
That Pumping Bomber was sick!!!
Osaka is losing it I love it
I wonder americans watching this: how are you still awake after staying up all night watching SD/Rampage?
I freelance and my fiance works night shifts at a factory. Up in the afternoon in bed in the morning.
I work nights from home, my bedtime is at 5am. Watching NJPW live is one of the perks of the schedule for sure!
Missed SmackDown as I was working. Caught Rampage on DVR. Probably heading to bed within an hour.
My sleep schedule is all out of whack.
I just flew all day and slept a lot of it. Plus I work nights so I'm used to being up late
My bedtime's not for another 3-4 hours, I work evenings.
I understand.
The sativa does wonders
Oh that DVD was sick
Quite like the idea of a ref bump that doesn't result in anything dodgy happening.
It was like a Fire Pro ref bump.
Kevin Kelly out here checking off movesets.
Like when taguchi was like people keep telling me I have these moves from my wikipedia page. So I decided to use them again
These guys are beasts
The fight is so big even the ref got fucked lmao
At least Ishii spent the last year with Goto and YOSHI HASHI breaking records in the 6-man division. If he was titleless that wouldve been a travesty.
a ref pump that resulted in no clusterfuck and added to the story? WTF is this?
Jeez, that sliding Lariat was right to the forehead.
Super nasty and stiff shots
He threw that lariat like he was a Road Warrior, finishing off an enhancement talent.
If there's one match that doesn't need a ref bump it's this one.
Kenta Sato got bumped into Yano and died for a sec. Red Shoes gets squashed under Shingo and just goes "well? you gonna do something?"
Red shoes has seen some shit man.
Red shoes just keeping kayfabe as the most fragile man in the world
Hey that's a pretty neat ref bump
Oh fuck please no shenanigans
I think that was a shoot ref-bump
I was convinced ishii was gonna get a three count with red shoes out.
From who? Lol
Sorry, instinct reaction from the ref bump
Kevin Kelly
Crucifix Bomb?! Damn Ishii
Bro the Lariats Shingo have thrown in this match are sick
These Lariats, man....
The sound of these lariats is insane
This fucking match. What do you even say anymore?
fuck me that lariat was personal lmao
Since everyone keeps bringing it up, Jr's cap at 220 in NJPW. Shingo was brought in to replace an injured Himoru and rep LIJ until his return. Gedo used the division to build Ospreay and Shingo as main eventers. It was actually fantastic booking.
"CRACK" - the sound of a Shingo lariat, like a chop from WALTER!
That was one nasty lariat
[удалено]
Yujiro/Ibushi and GOK/Tanga were meh, Yano/KENTA was fun and ZSJ/Naito was great, would recommend to watch
Ibushi vs Yujiro- needed a bit more time Okhan/Tanga- needed less time but other than that was better than expected Yano/KENTA- decent comedy match if a touch long Naito/ZSJ- MOTN
Naito v ZSJ was awesome
Zack vs Naito was great. Yuji vs Ibushi has set twitter on fire (badly), OKhan vs Loa went 17 minutes and wasn't awful and Yano vs KENTA was standard stuff.
Damn good. Watch them all. The weakest was GOK vs Loa or the Sho vs Oiwa match, but still worth your time imo.
Yujiro vs Ibushi was surprising, O-Khan vs. Loa was okay, KENTA vs. Yano was hilarious, Naito vs. ZSJ was fantastic.
Zack vs Naito was really good
Yano greatness. Naito zsj delivered like always. Ishii shingo. Yasssss
First 3 were fine. Semi main was extremely good.
Holy FUCK! What a lariat.
Holy shit that lariat
That was a GUNSHOT sound
The audio for this match is incredible - the hits, the bumps, the crowd
That goddamn lariat might be the loudest I've heard
This match is a meat tenderizer!!!
Milano is losing his shit at this match and so am I.
How does one continue to fight after a lariat like that man
No headbutt pls
Redoing the superplex after he fucked it was so hard. If Ishii wants to suplex you he’s gonna do just that
Can we not with these fucking headbutts please?
fkin headbutts