Banjo wrote:Minty14 wrote:Banjo wrote:I'm gutted I missed out on the G1 last year, was in town but couldn't for the life of me work out the Lawson Station machines.
Can always go another year. I may look into the next Wrestle Kingdom if I'm in Japan (am looking for work and might end up there, who knows), and it's definitely better priced than Wrestlemania with the show almost certainly going to be better. I know Wrestlemania is a complete weekend package thing though which adds to the experience, but I'd still rather WK. Maybe a Wrestlemania one day when the roster and booking is a on a strong run, let's see if Bischoff and Heyman turn things around.
Yeah, I booked my G1 tickets in advance because I didn't have a great record of trying to buy them in Japan
Wrestle Kingdom has now basically become a Wrestlemania weekend type affair in Tokyo now tbh. Loads of companies put on shows around the same time. I'm hoping to get in DDT, Stardom and All Japan as well as anything else that catches my eye. Fight Club Pro were there this year too and I can see more international promotions going over this time with it being such a boom time.
Maaaaan I completely blanked on the other promotions. Christ, how mad a week would you have seeing DDT, NJPW and Stardom shows, plus whatever else ends up happening!
You mentioning this has shot my interest in it through the roof! Maybe not next year though, can aim for the year after which gives me time to catch up with the Japanese scene (barely know anything of the current situation outside of recaps and highlights with NJPW). Out of interest, how has Ospreay developed? I know he's rated highly, and what I saw a few years back showed undeniable athletic capability, but I was far from impressed with his promo and character work. Has he developed that any more? I know NJPW have got big things planned for him, but I'm a total mark who needs killer mic work to sell me on a dude.
I'd say Ospreay is the best in-ring worker in the world right now, and he's pretty much nailed-on for wrestler of the year with most fans at the moment and could easily seal that with a good G1. He's grown far past the pure athleticism of his in-ring style of a few years ago, and he was in my match of the year so far against Shingo Takagi in the Best of the Super Juniors final. He's a pretty stereo-typical essex boy, so a lot of his promo work is pretty... dumb. However, I will say that most of what he says comes across very real; he talks openly about his issues with mental health and his love and gratitude for New Japan (he's recently moved to Tokyo to dedicate himself to them full time). Ultimately, Japanese wrestling generally values in-ring work and characterisation over western-style "promos", so he's thriving in New Japan. If you want a top-tier promo, check out fellow Englishman Zack Sabre Jrs work in the same company, his post match interviews are great every time;
Or, if you want more traditional fiery promos, in my opinion Juice Robinson is the best babyface promo in the world right now.
If you want any pointers when it comes to the japanese wrestling scene, give me a shout, I'll always be glad to catch you up. Now is a seriously good time to be watching!