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Puroresu Love & Resources V4

I'm pretty sure that thread title is completely made up and that's some wrestler's kid.
 
Go Shiozaki is leaving Pro Wrestling NOAH. After Misawa's death, I associated the promotion most with him and Marufuji, so this is kind of a surprise. Lol, I guess on his bio on the NOAH website, it says I AM NOAH as his nickname.

I haven't watched a match of his in probably a decade or more, but from comments, I guess he's pretty washed up. I don't know where he goes from here. I don't think he's that big of a name that AEW would hire him or something. Maybe for a one shot, but he's not as big of a name as Akiyama or Kojima. He did have an ROH run, so maybe Tony hires him based on that. NJPW is in a weird spot and idk where he would fit. Maybe he signs with AJPW again or just goes as a freelancer.
 
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Go had the best run of his career in 2020-1 when he set the record for longest GHC title run, he finally lived up to the potential everyone saw in him and carried the company through a period that could have killed them. After that he's struggled through a laundry list of injuries. If he were to ever get healthy he'd fit in perfectly in NJPW in the same kind of spot that the NJPW Dads had before they all started to break down/retire of being guys the younger talent could tag with or have singles with to gain experience and the fans thought were credible.
 
Brocklock said:
Go Shiozaki is leaving Pro Wrestling NOAH. After Misawa's death, I associated the promotion most with him and Marufuji, so this is kind of a surprise. Lol, I guess on his bio on the NOAH website, it says I AM NOAH as his nickname.

I haven't watched a match of his in probably a decade or more, but from comments, I guess he's pretty washed up. I don't know where he goes from here. I don't think he's that big of a name that AEW would hire him or something. Maybe for a one shot, but he's not as big of a name as Akiyama or Kojima. He did have an ROH run, so maybe Tony hires him based on that. NJPW is in a weird spot and idk where he would fit. Maybe he signs with AJPW again or just goes as a freelancer.
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Does he like to surf? There’s a guy who would love to show him the best spots for that.
 
I wish WWE was cool and did a co promotional double retirement Tana vs Cena match or sent Nakamura. I can't see it being Okada. I'm gonna guess Goto for some reason. I really have no idea.
 
Takeshita Vs Sabre is at King of Pro Wrestling in October so if it's like last year the winner might pick his shot for WK and I can see either guy wanting Tanahashi and the story of Tanahashi going for Gold in his final match is the kind of thing people would love.

He's already put over Kidd pretty recently in a title match so I don't think it would be him. He's facing Kiyomiya at Wrestle Odyssey on CHARLIE KIRK DAY https://www.cagematch.net//?id=1&nr=435628 as well as a bunch of other interpromotional matches.

Balor also has said he wants to be Tanahashi's last opponent in an interview and there's always Shibata and Nakamura.
 
Takeshita wins the title and it'll be him Vs Goto at WK. Fans booed Takeshita after the win. Wolf will face EVIL which people loved.

The booking on the show made a lot more sense than it has lately but Takeshita continues to not click with the NJPW fanbase fully. In better news they've really found something special in the Shota/Uemera pairing and the Knockout Brothers Tag Team. The crop of younger talent is continuing to be a bright spot and as much as I love Takeshita I really think Tsuji or Uemura should have won the G1 this year.
 
Do they not like him because he's not a home grown NJPW talent or at this point, despite being Japanese, they see him as "American" and are tired of seeing them at the top?
 
I would say it's because he's not home-grown and because he was pushed so hard so fast. The foreign talent are all still over. Takeshita also had a backlash in DDT earlier in his career when they pushed him hard which he eventually overcame so this isn't something new to him. They seem to be course-correcting a bit by having him lean into a heel turn instead of playing face like he was so that might help.
 
I guess we got new tag champs at Wrestledream. No way they're jobbing out Okada or the new IWGP champion. Sucks for Brodito but AEW is overdue for some shorter title reigns
 
Well as far as Okada/Takeshita Vs Brodito, I think it's more likely that their infighting will cost them the match than they do the feuding tag champs story. I don't know if AEW is planning to run Japan again anytime soon or do a co-promotion show with NJPW but doing Takeshita vs Okada in Japan would be huge. I really don't know what the plan is right now though. If I was NJPW I'd be begging Tony to let Shibata come over and put the belt on him for the run he never got until I can give it to Uemura or Tsuji.
 
www.f4wonline.com

Matches announced for NJPW Hiroshi Tanahashi Final Homecoming

Three matches have been confirmed for Hiroshi Tanahashi’s final show in his hometown.
www.f4wonline.com www.f4wonline.com

NJPW Hiroshi Tanahashi Homecoming lineup for November 2​

  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Hirooki Goto
  • IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • Finals of the 2025 Super Junior Tag League
Ok there's clearly some kind of plan here if they're doing Goto/Takeshita ahead of the Dome. I don't think they'll put the belt back on Goto because that's way too many title changes too fast and Takeshita needs some credibility. The Dome is already built on Tanahashi's retirement and Aaron Wolfe's debut so they could take a risk on something. I'm actually a bit intrigued.

www.f4wonline.com

NJPW reveals teams for Super Junior Tag League

New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced the teams for the upcoming Super Junior Tag League.
www.f4wonline.com www.f4wonline.com

I like the DG involvement but the HoT teams (and Gedo) really bring down the quality.
 
I'm loving broken-down Tanahashi putting over all the young guys this last year. He's facing Yuto-Ice on the 5th which should be really fun.
 
World Tag League teams are out:
2025 World Tag League A Block:
Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) (tournament winners in 2021, 2022, & 2023)
Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano (2nd consecutive entry)
Yota Tsuji & Gabe Kidd (debut)
EVIL & Don Fale (debut)
Taichi & Satoshi Kojima (debut)
El Desperado & Shuji Ishikawa (debut)
Shingo Takagi & Drilla Moloney (debut)
Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens (debut)

2025 World Tag League B Block:
Knockout Brothers (OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) (debut) (IWGP Tag Team Champions)
Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa (2nd consecutive entry)
Monster Sauce (Lance Archer & Alex Zayne) (2nd entry, 1st in two years)
Hiroshi Tanahashi & El Phantasmo (debut)
Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura (debut)
David Finlay & Hiromu Takahashi (debut)
Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman (debut)
Ren Narita & SANADA (debut)

This is more interesting to me than it has been in years. Shuji is past his prime but is always fun. The mis and match teams of Shingo/Drilla, Finlay/Hiromu and Gabe/Tsuji. Taichi/Kojima! Knockout Bros and Umino/Uemura. It feels much more important than it has in a while and not just like a forgone conclusion that Bishamon will dominate.
 
https://www.socialsuplex.com/frontpage-11/

Fantastic article about how they got to Okada being Tana's final opponent. With some really interesting details like Nakamura asking for his release in the Summer, but getting turned down by WWE which I never knew. Nak ended up getting fucked out of being the retirement opponent of two absolute legends because of WWE, and they'll probably release him after the Rumble or Mania just to stick it to him further.

Here's some cliff notes I stole from Reddit in case you don't want to read the long article:





So, to summarize, this is what I could tell:

  • NJPW considered 4 options: Naito, Nakamura, Okada, Omega (who was seen as the biggest pipe dream)
  • NJPW and WWE opened talks in January
  • Jeff Cobb being pulled from his remaining dates was a concession by NJPW to try and gain favor with WWE
  • Tanahashi started talking with AEW around Double Or Nothing in May
  • Shinsuke asked for his release in the summer, and WWE originally planned to grant it, but then changed their mind
  • NJPW realized that the optics of having a WWE wrestler main event the largest Dome show in 20 years would be bad
  • Tony was said to be unhappy about Shinsuke being considered once it became clear WWE weren't releasing him (would've been fine if he was a free agent) and that allowing him could've hurt the AEW-NJPW relationship
  • WWE are deliberately trying to fuck with Tony
  • Tanahashi feels that Okada can give him the best match possible in his physical condition
  • Naito was open to it as his return to NJPW, but got ghosted when it was clear that Okada was available
And some tidbits not related to Tanahashi's retirement that were interesting:

  • Mox was originally booked for Wrestle Dynasty, but was pulled after plans changed for the AEW World Championship
  • 2 former NJPW talents in AEW declined Wrestle Dynasty because they didn't want to go back and beat NJPW talent (one of these is definitely Ospreay)
  • Okada only wanted to return to Japan for something very special
  • Mutoh wanted Nakamura as his retirement match, but WWE waited too long to clear it, so he got Naito instead and did the Nakamura match earlier
  • There were supposed to be 2 more AEW wrestlers in this year's G1, but it fell apart due to poor communication and money issues
 
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I think it worked out for the best. It's too bad Nakamura isn't able to come back but Okada is in far better shape and he'll make sure that the crowd isn't split either. He's going to go all in on playing the heel and it should be a lot of fun. They sold all the seats they had out and had to open up more so this should be the biggest crowd they've ever had for a WK.
 
It's the best choice for match quality, as Okada will easily have a better match with him than 2025 Nakamura. But, looking at Cagematch, Okada vs Tana has already happened three times this decade, so the first Nak/Tana match in like 12 or 13 years would've been a bigger deal for a NJPW casual like me. That said, I'm still going to watch this final Okada/Tana match.
 
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