Just a thread to get others interested in what's going down in NJPW. I'm telling you, this stuff is amazing right now.

Here's the finishing sequence to the recent AJ Styles v. Okada match for the IWGP Heavyweight Title.




And here's one of my all time favorites from Japan, Tomohiro Ishi, "The Stone Pit Bull" vs. Togi Makabe, "The Unchained Gorilla" at Wrestle Kingdom 9 with Jim Ross on commentary. These two just beat the hell out of each other the entire match. We're talking Vader/Stan Hansen territory here. The match starts at the 3:20 mark.

A couple of Shinsuke gifs for ya!






Youtube this guy. He's one of the best going today or any day for that matter.

Long live the "King of Strong Style."

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Now we're talkin'!

As opposed to... ___ [ heel ] ____ going out for several minutes with ___ [ stooges ] ____ in business suits, railing on
___ [ whoever ] ____ soap opera shit. That, y'know, always brings out ___ [ whoever ] ___, and [heel] and [stooges] get to do a beat
down. OMG, that's soooo imaginative! I gotta see that!!!

Except, well, I don't have to see that. And the damned skit took a whole segment. So whatever wrestling match they *could have* run instead, they didn't. And last week, heel and stooges were played by Seth Rollins and Kane, but next week, I dunno... Dean Ambrose and Triple-H. And it doesn't matter.... because.... its So. Damned. Boring!!!!!

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Middle Aged Crazy, like Uncle Terry

Here is the AJ Styles vs. Okada match in full. (Starts @ the 6:50 mark) It's Meltzer approved at 4.75 stars and provided us with that finishing sequence from the original post.

And for all the historians out there, here is a legendary bout between The Dynamite Kid & Tiger Mask from 1982 NJPW.

The Dynamite Kid was my second favorite wrestler back when I was a kid, the Macho Man being number 1 of course. I can still remember watching Wrestlemania II on video months after if happened and jumping up and down when the Bulldogs beat Beefcake & Valentine for the tag titles. And then of course there was Matilda. She's the reason I own a Bulldog today.

It was shame to learn later on in life just how much of a prick Dynamite was. I highly recommend his book "Pure Dynamite" for any fan of wrestling history. If the book isn't your thing, just youtube or google Dynamite / Rougeau Bros. to learn about one of the all time backstage altercations.

Wrestle kingdom 9 was the best ppv I've seen in years. JR and Striker were great.

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The Styles Okada match is pretty good.

But can't their little group come up with a better hand thing that the NWO too sweet thing

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Nice little write up from Vice sports on NJPW.

THE GHASTLY GLORY OF NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING

And here's some of the recent G1 Climax....

They just keep bringing the goods.