New Japan Announces Wrestle Kingdom 11 Card

New Japan Pro Wrestling announced the complete line-up and match order for Wrestle Kingdom 11 at a press conference on Monday. For the uninitiated, the Tokyo Dome show is New Japan’s equivalent to WrestleMania and has been traditionally held every year on January 4.

New Japan Rumble – To be honest, I usually skip this match. It’s a Royal Rumble style match without any real stakes. It’s simply a vehicle to provide some warm up entertainment before the real show begins.

Tiger Mask W vs. Tiger the Dark — This match is a promotional tool for the Tiger Mask anime show that airs on TV-Asahi. I don’t know if Koto Ibushi will be W this time around but that mask looks to be difficult to work in.

IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks (c) vs. Roppongi Vice – Thank goodness it’s not a Fatal Four Way this time around. A straight up tag match should give all four wrestlers more time to shine, which hopefully make the match mean more instead of the usual eight-person spot fest.
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ROH All-Star Extravaganza Review

The Lowell Memorial Auditorium was once again treated to an action-packed night of squared circle mayhem as Ring of Honor brought their All-Star Extravaganza pay-per-view event to the Mill City. The best way to describe the ROH product for the uninitiated is to call it pro wrestling with a side of sports entertainment.

WWE’s presentation favors the reverse ideology, but there is a die-hard fan base that ROH caters to that’s not into all the pomp, circumstance, and melodrama. The storylines are simple enough to follow, but it’s the matches that keep the ROH faithful coming back for more.

My fellow wrestling promoting partner in crime, Ryan and I attended the show with piqued interest since neither us of go to Ring of Honor shows that often. In fact, this was only my third ROH live experience and my first in twelve years. Plus, some of the biggest moments in wrestling history have occurred in Lowell, and All-Star Extravaganza could provide another. Continue reading “ROH All-Star Extravaganza Review” →

Best of the Super Juniors Final: Ospreay vs. Taguchi – Review

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Fourteen matches over two weeks in multiple cities have brought us to the final round of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Best of the Super Juniors. A Block winner Ryusuke Taguchi faces B Block winner Will Ospreay. There is a lot of hype on Ospreay as he is one of the most exciting wrestlers to watch. While Taguchi’s antics makes him easy to overlook, he knows when to buckle down and get to work. Continue reading “Best of the Super Juniors Final: Ospreay vs. Taguchi – Review” →

New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors: Block Winners Determined

The block winners have been determined for the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. The way the points were spread out gave way to some interesting possibilities. In some cases the right wrestler needed to win or lose for someone to possibly advance to the finals.

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New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors Night’s 11 & 12 Review

This round is the Best of the Super Juniors tournament will bring amount some more clarity as to who has a shot at winning the whole thing. Names like Jushin Liger and KUSIHDA need a win in order to stay alive. Let the games begin! Continue reading “New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors Night’s 11 & 12 Review” →

New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors Night’s 9 & 10

Round five of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament had a lot of fun matches and some standout performances. Bobby Fish finally arrived, Kyle O’Reilly is losing momentum, and KUSHIDA is just a Hoverboard locking machine. Continue reading “New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors Night’s 9 & 10” →

New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors Nights 7 & 8 Review

Round four kicks off in Osaka with KUSHIDA vs. Ryusuke Taguchi headlining Block A. In Block B, Ricochet looks to build upon his momentum as he faces Jushin Thunder Liger. Also, can Kyle O’Reilly keep his undefeated streak alive? Continue reading “New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors Nights 7 & 8 Review” →

New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors Night 5 & 6 Review

Sorry about the lack of updates. I’m currently in the midst of a sinus infection and today, my head does not feel like it’s going to explode.

The third round of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament kicked things into high gear. KUSHIDA finally gets on the board, the dominance of Kyle O’Reilly continues, and Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet shuts down the internet. Continue reading “New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors Night 5 & 6 Review” →

New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors Night’s 3 and 4 Review

Best of the Super Juniors is running on all cylinders as the second round of the tournament was action packed from top to bottom. Great matches and some interesting developments have already turned this into a real guessing game. Also, Will Ospreay is f&%$#@ amazing. Continue reading “New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors Night’s 3 and 4 Review” →

New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors Night 1 & 2 Report

New Japan Pro Wrestling held the opening rounds of the 23^rd annual Best of the Super Juniors Tournament over the weekend. This year, sixteen wrestlers were split into two separate round robin tournament blocks (A & B), where a wrestler scores two points for winning, one point for a draw, and zero points for losing.

The two wrestlers with the most points in their respective blocks will face each other in the finals on June 7^th where the winner, sans KUSHIDA who is the current champ, will receive an IWGP Jr Heavyweight title match.

I super excited for this year’s tournament because it’s the first time I can watch the matches live on New Japan Pro Wrestling’s streaming service www.newjapanworld.com. In the past, I would have to either wait about after the tournament to watch it on DVD or stumble upon on upload on Youtube. Continue reading “New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors Night 1 & 2 Report” →