As we get to the end of 2018 the countdown to Wrestle Kingdom 13 is also nearing the end. 2018 has been an interesting year for New Japan – records have been set both in and out of the ring, but rumblings of discontent have been heard from some fans this year. Laura Mauro (@LauraNMauro) joins me to discuss New Japan’s 2018 and the upcoming Wrestle Kingdom.
What’s your overall feeling about the year that New Japan have had in 2018?
TWF: I have mixed feelings about New Japan’s 2018. On the one hand, business is booming and clearly they are doing very well in their domestic market, as well as expanding abroad with the LA Dojo and links with Rev Pro. On the other hand, I’m feeling much less excited about the product now than I was twelve months ago. I think partly that’s down to 2017 being a really fantastic year for NJPW, but partly it’s due to the booking this year. I was deflated by Naito’s loss at Wrestle Kingdom 12, but this was compounded by poor decisions throughout the year. Naito lacked direction, the Golden Lover’s reunion had little payoff, the Bullet Club civil war literally died with a tweet on a boat, and Kenny’s run as champion has underwhelmed. The first half of the year had some highlights, including Zack Sabre Jr.’s rise up the card and Hiromu Takahashi’s Best of the Super Juniors win, but overall it feels like the booking has undermined those moments of excitement. I don’t want to simplify it down to a complaint about WWE style booking, but there has been a lack of cohesive storytelling for a promotion that was known for that.
LM: I’d agree that it’s been a bit of a mixed bag. The good bits have been really good: reuniting the Golden Lovers, Kenny finally overcoming his nemesis Okada (and the ensuing battle of wills with Tanahashi). Jay White’s rise to top heeldom has been exciting to watch, as has Okada’s degeneration from Rainmaker to deranged Balloonmaker, and the general ‘dissent in CHAOS’ storyline has been brilliant, even when it’s been background noise. There have been some excellent tournaments too – I think the Juniors have knocked it out of the park this year, as both Best of the Super Juniors and the Junior Tag League were mostly excellent. And of course, the G1, which gave us some absolutely must-see matches – Omega vs Ibushi is the obvious, but Ishii emerged as my MVP of the tournament. On the other hand, the Bullet Club storyline has left me cold ever since the constant, tiresome interference during the G1. Naito has been shoehorned into an ultimately meaningless feud with Chris Jericho. And while it may have been fatigue setting in, I was underwhelmed by the World Tag League – I feel like not having the Golden Lovers compete was a strange decision.
One of the biggest storylines of the year was Okada’s record setting IWGP Heavyweight title reign, and his loss to Kenny Omega at Dominion. What were your thoughts on the IWGP Heavyweight title feuds in 2018?
TWF: I haven’t been a fan of the booking of the IWGP Heavyweight title this year. I understand the desire to have Okada break the defence record, which meant that he had to beat Naito last year, but the payoff has been disappointing. I was really excited for Kenny’s victory at Dominion, but his subsequent title matches have been relentlessly average and his general attitude has turned me off his reign. The match against Ishii was decent, but the matches against Cody were really not up to the level of an IWGP title match. I can appreciate the fact that he, along with the rest of The Elite, bring some more fans to the product, but Kenny really needs to spend less time online responding to Twitter criticism and more time in the ring in New Japan. I’m sure that it must suck having people online tell you they don’t like you, but you didn’t see Okada responding to his critics when he was the champion. The fact that he didn’t show up for several tours as IWGP Champion did him no favours. In hindsight, sacrificing a white hot Naito at last year’s Wrestle Kingdom for Omega’s disappointing title reign seems like a worse and worse decision.
LM: The whole story leading up to Omega’s big win was pitch-perfect, in my view. The reunion with Ibushi segueing into his eventual victory – two metaphorical white whales for Omega – was the culmination of a narrative that had been built up over the preceding years and ultimately yielded a satisfying payoff, both emotionally and in terms of entertainment. And Omega’s transformation from The Cleaner to the Best Bout Machine was a necessary condition for his victory. The whole thing was a masterpiece of storytelling which continued into the G1, with Omega’s match against Ibushi, and persists even now: the tension between Ibushi and Omega in the match with Cody, and Ibushi positioned between Tanahashi and Omega in a weird tug of love over whose philosophy is the best and truest. So while his reign as champ could very well have been better handled in the ring, I can’t deny that I’m a complete sucker for long-term storytelling, and NJPW have been delivering this in spades.
This year saw the addition of two big-name freelancers to the NJPW roster in Taiji Ishimori and Shingo Takagi, along with big pushes for people like Jay White and Zack Sabre Jr., and a tragic injury to Hiromu Takahashi. What are your thoughts on the New Japan roster in 2018?
TWF: The New Japan roster right now certainly has strength in depth, as seen by the fact that when Hiromu got injured they were able to quite seamlessly move KUSHIDA up to champion. The additions of Ishimori and Takagi were good moves, particularly as Shingo brought added buzz to the company and helped draw fans to the Super Junior Tag League. Jay White has developed strongly throughout the year, to the point where there’s a strong argument to make that he’s been the breakout performer of the year. ZSJ has also been a great asset to the roster, with strong runs in the New Japan Cup and the G1 this summer, and an upcoming title match against Tomohiro Ishii at Wrestle Kingdom. On the other hand, the roster feels rather bloated right now, and there have been definite times during the year when people went overlooked. Best of the Super Juniors was a strong tournament and, before his injury, Hiromu had an excellent year, but the junior division as a whole has had mixed booking. Both tag leagues ending with a three way match at Wrestle Kingdom meant that the tournaments ended up feeling quite pointless. With the rumours of All Elite Wrestling, and the seeming increase in US shows, hopefully there will be more time for some members of the roster to shine. No Taichi on the Wrestle Kingdom card really is a travesty after the year that he’s had.
LM: The roster is stacked right now. I’ve badly missed Hiromu in the last few months – he’s really impossible to replace in terms of what he offers. But Shingo has been a very interesting addition to LIJ, though I suspect his tag career will be short lived as he’s got singles star written all over him. Jay White is my pick for breakout performer of the year. It’s incredible to see how far he’s come in such a short space of time: how comfortable he is in his role as utter bastard, and how much more polish there is on his ring work. But I do have reservations, probably based on my own biases. I’m a little unhappy with the decision to make both Tag Championship matches three-ways, and in both cases disregarding the outcome of the Tag League tournaments to shoehorn in teams who, quite honestly, have no business vying for the titles. It kind of undermines the entire tournament when the losing team – or worse still, a team that wasn’t even involved – get a title shot for completely arbitrary reasons.
Any bold predictions for January 4th?
TWF: I think that Hiroshi Tanahashi will walk out as the new IWGP Champion. When he won the G1 this summer I assumed that he had no chance of winning, but with the rumours swirling around Kenny’s contract and future with the company give me the feeling that they might just give the win to Tanahashi. I’m not sure it’s a bold prediction anymore, but I think this will be the last Wrestle Kingdom for The Young Bucks, whether they end up in AEW or WWE. Ospreay will win the NEVER Title, solidifying his move up to heavyweight, and they’ll use it to bridge the gap between juniors and heavyweights (potentially for KUSHIDA if he stays with New Japan). Jay White will have a much better match than Wrestle Kingdom 12, and he’ll beat Okada to solidify his place as the top heel of 2019.
LM: As your resident Roppongi 3K mark I badly want them to capture the Jr Heavyweight Tag Championships. I feel like R3K are eventually headed for singles careers and they deserve a solid run as tag champs before then. I concur that Tanahashi will walk away with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship – his match with Omega is far more than just a championship match. It’s also about pitting Tanahashi’s wrestling philosophy against Omega’s. Old versus new. For Omega to win would be a tacit admission that NJPW is ready to move on from the Ace and embrace new ideas and new philosophies, and I don’t think New Japan is quite ready for that yet. Add AEW to the mix and there’s really no reason for Omega to keep the belt – unless it’s to set up an eventual feud with Ibushi, who, let’s be real, is a dead cert for future champ. Jay White is almost certainly in for a win, and Ibushi vs Ospreay will be match of the night. Also? I see a cameo appearance from Hiromu in the works.
What are your hopes for New Japan in 2019?
TWF: The main thing that I’d like to see in 2019 is a return to the booking style that brought such a successful 2018 and more consistent stories being told outside the ring. That doesn’t have to mean getting rid of The Elite or all of the Western influence, but doing things like ending the Bullet Club civil war on Twitter was a ridiculous end to a played out story. Stories that have a solid payoff would be nice for 2019. I’d like to see Omega take a break from Twitter (he won’t) and focus on being a wrestler, whether he is champion or not. Most importantly, capitalise on the popularity of Los Ingobernables de Japon by giving Naito something better to do next year. If their plan was to put him on the back burner and hope that he stays popular then it seems to have worked – the recent Weekly Pro Wrestling fan vote had Naito second in their wrestler of the year and first in favourite wrestler – but it’s a bizarre decision to keep squandering Naito’s best years outside of the main event scene.
LM: Roppongi 3K for Jr Heavyweight Tag Champs please. I hope to see Hiromu reclaim Belt-San and get the run he deserves – a return match with Dragon Lee would be fantastic. I’m not a fan of the current Bullet Club story, but with Jay at the helm hopefully there’ll be a clearer and more coherent direction for the faction in 2019. And I agree that Naito deserves a starring role – he’s popular, he’s hardworking, and he’s long overdue a reward. I daresay the same is true for Kota Ibushi.
Year End Awards
TWF:
Favourite wrestler of 2018 – Tetsuya Naito
Favourite show – Dominion
Favourite feud/storyline – Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
Favourite faction – LIJ
Favourite tag team – Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi
Favourite match – Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (G1 Climax Final)
LM:
Favourite wrestler of 2018 – Tomohiro Ishii
Favourite show – Dominion
Favourite feud/storyline – Jay White & the chaos in CHAOS
Favourite faction – LIJ
Favourite tag team – Roppongi 3K
Favourite match – Kenny Omega vs Kota Ibushi (G1 Climax B-Block Final)
