NJPW: The Story So Far This Year Part 1

Since entering the NJPW World, the streaming service that gives viewers access to the most current live events as well as a storehouse of archival footage from throughout the promotion's 43 year history, I've been meaning to find a way to catch up with recent activity, and hopefully continue to document the course that the premiere wrestling company is chartering into the future.

The January 4 Wrestle Kingdom show is a good jumping off point, as many non-World subscribers are likely to have seen that show broadcast on PPV in the US, or  in other parts of the world on an APP called Flipz. though the operation of the latter was severely hindered by an unprecedented number of customers streaming the event. Others may have watched the event by way of illegal torrenting, another avenue by which the event generated a historic volume of traffic.

When Wrestle Kingdom 9 ended, most of the company's standings remained the same as it had been going into the event. ReDRagon successfully defended their IGWP (International Wrestling Grand Prix) tag team titles in a 4-way match against The Young Bucks, Time Splitters, and Forever Hooligans (the team of Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov, which due to a need for Koslov to take time away, went inactive soon after). Shinsuke Nakamura retained the IWGP intercontinental championship against the hard driving upstart Kota Ibushi, a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion with a lot of momentum going for him, in what has been widely considered a very early contender for match of the year. Hiroshi Tanahashi successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight championship against Kazuchika Okada, a result that surprised many as a win for Okada would help cement him as the top star of the company since Tanahashi is a veteran closer to the end of his reign than the beginning.

Then there were changes. Hiroki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata, a team with a storied past of close alliances and feuds, won the IGWP Heavyweight tag team titles from Bullet Club mainstays Karl Anderson and 'Doc' Gallows after the members of the popular heel faction held onto the belts through a lengthy title run. Fellow Bullet Club member Kenny Omega, flaunting his newly minted "Cleaner" persona, snatched the IWGP Junior heavyweight championship from Ryusuke Taguchi. The Never Openweight title, a championship created by NJPW to showcase new talent unsigned to long term contracts, changed hands as Togi Makabe defeated Tomohiro Ishii, currently a member of the faction CHAOS whose successful run in the company is nearly synonymous with his possession of the Never title.

THE DAY AFTER

The action in Japan did not end there for those with access to NJPW World, as a next day followup show, NEW YEAR DASH, quickly appeared on on the site's live show menu. In a much smaller venue, the event mostly consisted of 6 and 8-man tag team matches, the company's default mode of incorporating its range of talent in in-ring activity to tease and promote major matches on the horizon.

The Junior tag team championship program split in two, with ReDRagon defeating Koslov and Romero, and the combined team of Time Splitters and Taguchi defeating the three cruiserweights of the Bullet Club, The Young Bucks and Kenny "The Cleaner Omega." Justin Thunder Liger, arguably the most recognizable icon of NJPW, defended the NWA World Junior Heavyweight title against Suzuki Gun stable member El Desperado.

In an upset victory, Bullet Club members Bad Luck Fale (Fa-leh) defeated Okada and CHAOS stablemate Toru Yano, with Okada being pinned by the physically imposing Fale in what seemed like a move to send Okada on a downward spiral since his loss in the Wrestle Kingdom main event. The main event combined several of the match-ups from the previous night in an eight man tag team contest with Bullet Club members Aj Styles, Anderson, Gallows and Yujiro Takahashi on one side, and Tanahashi, new heavyweight tag team champions Goto and Shibata, and Tetsuya Naito on the other. AJ Styles, who had won the night before in an impressive match against Naito, scored the pin setting up for him to issue a challenge to Tanahashi for the Heavyweight title. Another notable aspect of the match found the Bullet Club announcing Cody Hall, son of NWO charter member Scott Hall, as the group's new official 'young boy,' a term for the rookies who are in service to a particular group of wrestlers. At first, it would seem an amusing degradation angle might ensue, as Hall appeared in ring gear replicating that of his father in somewhat mocking fashion. But later outings would find the second generation newcomer held in high regard by his sempai peers.

In the most dynamic match and the one with the most interesting fallout, Makabe, Ibushi, and winner of a gauntlet style match that kicked off the NJPW World broadcast of Wrestle Kingdown, Yuji Nagata, faced CHAOS members Ishii, Nakamura, and YOSHI-HASHI. During the match, Ibushi and Nakamura rekindled a generous amount of the heat between them in their title match the night before, and included an unforgettable double jumping stomp by Ibushi onto Nakamura's forehead. The match ended with veteran Nagata defeating the youngest participant in the match and CHAOS' weakest link, YOSHI-HASHI. He would then step up and challenge 'The King of Strongstyle' to a match for his Intercontinental title.

ARRIBA FANTASTICA!

The next event to be streamed on World was an interesting detour that teamed NJPW up with well established Mexican wrestling organization CMLL. In its annual hosting of a series of dates called FANTASTICA MANIA that highlight its lucha libre counterpart, the events featured both inter-promotion matches and bouts that advanced programs between some of the Mexican pro wrestlers. Upon singing up for World, I was enthusiastic about the prospect of catching up on Japanese pro wrestling and not thinking beyond that, yet along comes this great opportunity to get a glimpse into the world of Mexican lucha libre, one that I've rarely looked in upon. Consisting of a tour spanning several days, the offering on World included two dates, January 18 and 19.

The first Fantastic Mania card was of the more modest variety, and among the more interesting matches, the tag team of Kushida of Time Splitters and CMLL luchador Triton faced CMLL heels Okumura and Barbaro Cavernario (rocking a full on stone age neanderthal gimmick). The aftermath of the match found Cavernario antagonizing a CMLL wrestler at ringside, Rey Cometa, setting up for a singles match to occur between the two on night 2.

The Bullet Club took a breather for the most part, but Yujiro Takahashi came out to introduce Mephisto and name him an honorary member. It seemed to be a counterintuitive move, as Mephisto in his full body Batman-esque bodysuit did not come off as cool, or a heel for that matter, considering  how over he was with the crowd. No matter, it didn't seem to have much bearing long term. He would take the victory in a match with fellow CMLL star Stuka, Jr.

Taguchi and Naito would play defacto heels, teaming with CMLL villain La Sombra to defeat Captain New Japan, Mascara Don, and Mascara Dorada (who would appear against La Sombra in a far more impressive singles match outing the next day). Taguchi would play up his goofier comedic side, donning a clunky sphinx mask/headpiece through a good portion of the match and striking a mystifying zen-like pose, forming a circle between thumb and 1 finger on each hand. It was also entertaining to see top stars Tanahashi and CHAOS representatives Okada and Nakamura mix it up on either side of trios teams along with the latest incarnation of Mistico (the former going on to be the former Sin Cara of WWE, before heading back to Mexico to work for AAA as Myzteziz), Stigma, and Polvora. Tanahashi and his masked partners won the match. This night was headlined by a bout between CMLL mainstays Ultimo Guerrero and Atlantis, which Guerrero with much support from the Japanese crowd, won.

Day 2 contained a few highlights for me. First was the singles match between Barbaro Cavernaria and Rey Cometa. Barbara won after a hard-hitting match in which a grudge between the two competitors was convincingly carried out, both in and out of the ring. Another large eight-man tag team match found Tanahashi and Ibushi defeating Nakamura, Okada along with Gran and Ultimo Guerrero. The Guerrero's had a lot of support from the fans here, a true attraction for the lucha fans in attendance.

Last of all, a match that combined the best of the high flying lucha style and compelling storytelling was a bout between La Sombra and Mascara Dorada. La Sombra got the victory after both competitors put on an amazing display of technical skill and unthinkable feats of agility. It's a match well worth seeking out clocking in at just under 20 minutes and it is worth noting that Mascara Dorada has since been signed to NJPW, and is already gunning for a title match against Junior heavyweight champion Kenny Omega.

End part 1. Part 2 will continue with a look at New Japan Road and the beginning of the New Japan Cup.