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schedule info - putting this at the very top as the preshow always and understandably causes confusion Wrestle Kingdom is a two day show held on January 4th and 5th just like last year Both nights' main cards will start at 3:00 AM EST/8:00 GMT/17:00 JST The preshows will start an hour earlier at 2:00 AM EST/7:00 GMT/16:00 JST Night 1's (1.4/Monday) preshow will feature the New Japan Rambo which will start at the top of the hour Night 2's (1.5/Sunday) preshow has two Stardom offer matches which sadly will not be streamed. Unless you want to hear the desk (live english commentary both nights) preview the show you can sleep in an hour without missing any matches As always, this is a great month to subscribe to New Japan World if you have any interest in the company at all. In addition to the two Dome shows you'll get New Year's dash the following night on the 6th plus New Year's Dash on Wednesday and the first of the major New Beginning shows at the end of the month. Signing up seems pretty simple now but if anyone by chance has issues I or someone else in the thread can help you out. Official previews 1.4 1.5 Night 1 WRESTLE KINGDOM 15 January 4th at 3:00 AM EST/8:00 GMT/17:00 JST Preshow at 2:00 AM EST/7:00 GMT/16:00 JST TOKYO DOME Preshow - New Japan Rambo:- last four participants advance to KOPW 2021 match on night 2 The Rambo is back after a two year hiatus with a slightly different rule set. Instead of one single winner the last four participants will advance to the four way match on Night 2 to crown the first provisional holder of KOPW 2021. Expect veterans not on the main cards like Suzuki, Yano, and Ishii, young lions, and perhaps a few suprises and legends though that may be more dfficult this year due to the pandemic. Prediction:-Suzuki, Yano, Makabe, and a surprise name Special Single Match:Hiromu Takahashi (BOSJ 27 Winner) vs. El Phantasmo (Super J Cup 2020 Winner) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XCAsSJbW8Y The winners of the two December junior tournaments face each other for the right to face champion Taiji Ishimori on Night 2. This is El-P's first match in Japan during the COVID era. Hiromu's of course one of the absolute best in the world and I expect this to be a fun, fast paced junior opnener to the main card as it's been placed i the role Jr. tag team matches often have been in the recent past. Prediction:-Hiromu IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship:Dangerous Tekkers (c) vs. G.o.D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ocucxQrFYk Dangerous Tekkers have been forum favorites this year and it's safe to say they'll be the crowd favorites in this match. Gedo's handling of the IWGP heavyweight tag belts have usually and deservedly been widely derided but the Tekkers have been a bright spot during a tough year with a strong reign and a very well executed feud vs. Golden Ace. Their opponents will be the cornerstone gaijin tag team over the past four years in G.o.D who are much more accustomed to being champion slot. The champion team almost always loses on this show and we'll find out if the curse applies more to the champs in general or G.o.D specifically Prediction:Tekkers IWGP US Championship Challenge Contract:KENTA (h) vs. Satoshi Kojima https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVw5gRA7ZgU KENTA continues to defend the briefcase as a de facto interim US championship as we all wait for Mox to be able to fly over (do NOT expect him on these shows btw). Juice Robinson was originally slated for this match until he got sidelined with an orbital bone injury on a recent Road to card. While his injury is certainly unfortunate and I wish him a quick recovery the silver lining is Kojima getting rewarded with his first Tokyo Dome singles match since facing Rob Conway for the NWA title seven years ago. Prediction-KENTA Special Single Match:Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan  vs.  Tana's coming off of what's been easily his worst kayfabe year in modern New Japan history and Ospreay's new heel unit feels in line for a huge push. It may seem hopelessly one sided on paper but you still shouldn't totally write off Tana at the dome and newly turned or pushed heels often haven't fared well in this slot.... Prediction-go ace Special Single Match:Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ep6EZI6Ipo While not nearly as woeful as Tana's it's not as if Okada had a particularly great year by his standards either. He started it off by losing the belt to Naito, spent months mired in a feud with Yujiro, lost out on the KOPW to his stablemate YTR, and missed out on the G1 finals when his protege Ospreay turned on him with the help of his girlfriend Bea Priestley and newly returned from excursion muscle Great-O-Khan. Can Okada get revenge via the World Famous Money Clip? Will he finally be forced to break out the Rainmaker to a huge pop? Or does this end with Ospreay pickimg up a huge win against Okada at the Dome similar to Jay White two years ago? Prediction- Ospreay IWGP Double Gold Championship:Tetsuya Naito(c) vs. Kota Ibushi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6m8YOrf_Y0&t=1s The route to this match can be described as a bit convoluted if you're feeling charitable and it's been widely savaged online. Ibushi repeated as G1 Champion and this seemed like the clear destination but then he became the first person to lose the challenger's briefcase vs. Jay White at Power Struggle. Naito's a fighting champ and decided to reward Ibushi with a match on 1.4 anyway while White bides his time and gets to face the winner while fresh on Night 2. Whatever your opinion is of the booking the match itself should be incredible based on their 2019 feud and hampered only perhaps by a COVID restricted crowd. Prediction- Naito Night 2: WRESTLE KINGDOM 15 January 5th at 3:00 AM EST/8:00 GMT/17:00 JST Preshow at 2:00 AM EST/7:00 GMT/16:00 JST TOKYO DOME Preshow - Stardom Offer Match I: Queen's Quest (Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani, and AZM) vs.Donna del Mondo (Himeka, Maika, and Natsupoi) Preshow - Stardom Offer Match II:STARS (Mayu Iwatani and Tam Nakano) vs, Donna del Mondo (Giulia and Syuri) note: neither Stardom match will be streamed These matches are a nice opportunity for the roster members involved to work the dome and hopefully create new fans for Stardom. Unfortunately I don't think a single person reading this will be able to watch they won't be streamed via any platform and I don't believe any of the handful of expats on this sub forum are attending. Also, it sucks that Momo's not being included in the first match. Predictions-QQ and DDM respectively KOPW 2021 4 way Match:X vs. X vs. X vs. X (participants determined by opening night Rumble) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3OCnySsYRo We have no idea who will even be in the match but the first provisional KOPW of the new year will be crowned in the opening match of the main show. I'd personally be surprised if Yano and Suzuki aren't involved tho given their years of history with each other, lack of placement elsewhere on the card and Yano being the inagural winner last year. Prediction- Minoru Suzuki IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Championships:Suzuki-gun(c) (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkSPs50XPwg This match was set up on the recent Road to Tokyo Dome shows in Korakuen as was obv by booking and the challengers being literally the only established jr. tag team that's healthy and not booked in other more important matches. Not much to say tbh but the champions are a very solid veteran team and it'll be interesting to see how Wato fares in his first big Dome match. Prediction-  NEVER Openweight Championship:Shingo Takagi(c) vs. Jeff Cobb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxH0nL7BRG0 This match should own. Cobb's a former NEVER champ who's looked far more comfortable in the company in 2020 than he did previously and Shingo's arguably the best worker in the world. Expect a sterotypical NEVER title match between two guys quite capable of delivering an excellent one. Cobb's a heel but his matches have been fairly free of BC style chicancery so far. Prediction- Cobb Special Single Match:SANADA vs. EVIL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmU5t9uxxw8 Now if you're looking for BC style chicanery here's a match for you! For any new or Dome only viewers, EVIL turned heel on L.I.J and had a short and critically panned title run in the summer before dropping it back to Naito. All of his matches have featured heavily on ref bumps and copious interference from his manager Dick Togo as well as other members of the Bullet Club and this match against his former tag partner SANADA will be no exception. He's gotten better at working the normal match portions of his gimmick but your mileage on this match will hinge mostly on how you feel about gedo booked interference spots and ref bumps. Prediction- EVIL IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship:Taiji Ishimori(c) vs. winner of Hiromu vs. El-P IWGP Double Gold Championship:winner of Naito vs. Ibushi (c) vs. Jay White Both the semi main event and the main of night 2 are yet to be fully decided. I feel fairly confident Hiromu's winning on 1.4 as he's the division's biggest star and they probably don't want to do a Bullet Club vs. Bullet Club jr title match. Either Naito or Ibushi could very plausibly serve as double babyface main eventers though and the crowd would be happy to embrace either vs. Jay White. White's been absolutely fantastic this year aided by his matches being a little less shtick heavy as that's been EVIL's deal while still coming off as a scuzzball heel. This is his first Dome main event and i have faith he can deliver against a top notch veteran face opponent either way. Predictions- Hiromu and Naito Thauros fucked around with this message at 02:16 on Jan 2, 2021 |
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Jan 2, 2021 00:26
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 09:57 |
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New Year's Dash is their traditional yearly show held on the day after Wrestle Kingdom. It's being held for the first Tokyo Dome City Hall, a venue in the same area as the Dome and Korakuen that's bigger and more stage like in setup than the latter. For years no wrestling shows were booked there as it's considerably more expensive to rent than Korakuen Hall but I'm guessing deals might be available for obvious reasons as TJP ran Wrestle Princess there and now New Japan has it booked. It's always a mystery card until the show starts. In many years there's a huge angle to set up the direction of the new year like when Suzuki-gun returned from NOAH in 2017. That honestly hasn't been the case the past two years tho as both were standard Road to style cards with the admittedly huge bonus of a wonderful retirement ceremony for Liger last year. You might catch something really big happen you wouldn't want have wanted to miss out on but don't blame me if it's 6 uneventful trios matches and you would've preferred to sleep in. NEW YEAR'S DASH Tokyo Dome City Hall January 6th at 4:30 AM EDT/9:30 GMT/18:30 JST mystery card Thauros fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Jan 3, 2021 |
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Jan 2, 2021 00:27
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Predicting BUSHI makes it into the final 4 of the Rumble to get all of LIJ on night 2
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Jan 2, 2021 00:31
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Really hyped for Wrestle Kingdom now! https://twitter.com/AHROOMEE/status/1344980545814446081
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Jan 2, 2021 00:34
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Thauros posted:Prediction- hell yes
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Jan 2, 2021 00:35
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Ibushi is gonna win and celebrate by moonsaulting of the Tokyo Dome City Ferris Wheel Also it may be the pandemic getting to me but I miss Bushi's Mist spot and Kanemaru's whisky spot and I'm gonna pop so hard when they come back
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Jan 2, 2021 00:35
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Not willing to toxx on it or anything but I am feeling an Empire sweep I really quite like them. They are a heel group that has so far been allowed to remain strong. I like the way GoK shouts his promos. I like the hoss style they all use. I even like GoK being a big silly. Maybe I just really like GoK lol
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Jan 2, 2021 02:04
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Thanks Thauros. Man, I wish they were showing the Stardom matches.
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Jan 2, 2021 02:13
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Pick your KOPW final four! Yano, Suzuki, Fale, and...YOSHI. YOSHI wins, of course.
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Jan 2, 2021 02:52
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yano, suzuki, umino, moxley
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Jan 2, 2021 02:57
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Yano, Suzuki, Fale, BUSHI
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Jan 2, 2021 03:08
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my man sho is gonna win it all baybeeee
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Jan 2, 2021 03:09
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Yano, Suzuki, Bushi, Shooter
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Jan 2, 2021 03:29
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i already made my prediction although others have also come to mind after names were dropped. last rambo had 20 participants, one before that had 14 so it's impossible to know how big the lineup will be. also, while i'm p sure yano's making the four way the only CHAOS member currently scheduled for the main card is okada. here's the roster members that seem likely to be in japan and aren't booked for the main show. if they go with 20 they could get there by using everyone on the list up to the young lions and one of the player/managers. main force: nagata henare makabe honma tmiv CHAOS: goto ishii yano y-h sho suzuki-gun suzuki douki L.I.J: bushi bullet club: fale chase yujiro young lions: tsuji uemura kidd veteran player/managers: tenzan gedo jado togo
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Jan 2, 2021 03:32
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I'm going with Yano, Suzuki, Henare, and dark horse Tsuji. Henare will win after Yano ties Tsuji and MiSu together on the outside leaving just the two of them. Although I would be overjoyed if Douki managed to win a trophy instead of an actual belt in the year 2021
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Jan 2, 2021 03:43
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https://twitter.com/NikkeiAsia/status/1345198375243755523 Welp, if this bans public gatherings then we can forget about New Japan for a while again
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Jan 2, 2021 03:55
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note that that's tokyo and wouldn't necessarily impact the rest of the country but yeah, obv no wrestle kingdom
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Jan 2, 2021 03:56
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Thauros posted:note that that's tokyo and wouldn't necessarily impact the rest of the country but yeah, obv no wrestle kingdom Also worth considering that their current schedule has them running 19 shows between now and the end of February in Tokyo out of 29. It'd really do a number on their schedule.
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Jan 2, 2021 04:05
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from what i've been hearing from someone who i trust to have a handle on these things and isn't even a new japan watcher it sounds like this would be a staged rollout and the dome is prob still on. can prob cross out all the january korakuens tho
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Jan 2, 2021 04:14
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There are 22 people in the Rumble
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Jan 2, 2021 05:54
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What is the rationale (if there is one) for not airing the Stardom matches? Thank goodness for WFH I guess to help manage 3 days of all night wrestlin'
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Jan 2, 2021 06:28
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Tweak posted:What is the rationale (if there is one) for not airing the Stardom matches? I believe its issues with the TV deals of the respective companies
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Jan 2, 2021 06:36
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Yeah Nippon TV owns the STARDOM rights, TV Asahi literally can't air them if they wanted to
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Jan 2, 2021 06:48
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we live in a world where Wato is on the main card but we don't know if Ishii or Minoru Suzuki or DOUKI are 2021 folks
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Jan 2, 2021 07:00
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Mostly interested in the NEVER championship match, but I also live for the drama (Ospreay/Okada, SANADA/EVIL, and even Tanahshi/O-Khan). I feel like they'll end with Hiromu and Naito as champions so they could do their dream match this year, but eh let's see. (I would be okay with any of the people in contention to win the titles, even ELP, which would stir a lot of poo poo in the junior division)
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Jan 2, 2021 07:27
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I'm so excited for WK
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Jan 2, 2021 07:29
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I'm going to win the double titles
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Jan 2, 2021 08:03
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i hope o-khan puts the claw onto tanahashi's knee also, stealth rooting for kojima. koji vs moxy would slap
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Jan 2, 2021 09:07
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Ibushi is such a mad man https://twitter.com/reasonjp/status/1345272888291516416?s=19
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Jan 2, 2021 09:41
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Suzuki/Yano/Ishii/Henare for the KOPW 4 way pleaseLid posted:we live in a world where Wato is on the main card but we don't know if Ishii or Minoru Suzuki or DOUKI are And they promised us this year would be better 
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Jan 2, 2021 09:57
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Some of the most fun I had with wrestling was posting in the WK thread last year so I'm really looking forward to this. Gonna be pulling hard for Hiromu, Tana, and Kota.
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Jan 2, 2021 10:29
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Benne posted:Yeah Nippon TV owns the STARDOM rights, TV Asahi literally can't air them if they wanted to I don't think its exactly this: as far as I'm aware the Stardom TV show is a deal where BS NTV gets the rights to show it as part of a package of Bushiroad-owned content and Stardom retain ownership of it - they post it on their YouTube channel right after it happens which you'd not do if you didn't own that footage. Its also airing on some regional TV stations (including some Asahi-affiliated ones apparently) from the start of the year so its not just NTV. What I think it is is that Asahi aren't interested in promoting a rival wrestling promotion that they have no relationship with: and since Wrestle Kingdom airs on a TV Asahi station (don't know whether its BS Asahi or one of the small satellite ones this year) they own the rights to the show fully - and since they own 50% of New Japan World they have influence as to whether it could air on there as a "dark match". I suspect that if Stardom/Bushiroad came along and offered them money to air the matches somewhere else (say: Stardom World) they'd do it but clearly it doesn't make financial sense otherwise they'd do it.
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Jan 2, 2021 11:30
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Okay, so this is really imposing of me but I kinda drifted off wrestling in 2020 for a bunch of reasons, and that includes NJPW. So I kinda wanna ask, because I wanna catch this live: what are like, the three to five must-see NJPW matches before this WK?
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Jan 2, 2021 11:59
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Dias posted:Okay, so this is really imposing of me but I kinda drifted off wrestling in 2020 for a bunch of reasons, and that includes NJPW. So I kinda wanna ask, because I wanna catch this live: what are like, the three to five must-see NJPW matches before this WK? Recent-ish stuff or all of 2020? Did you watch WK last year? I’m just about to go shopping but someone will probably provide a good answer for ya. Welcome back friend!
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Jan 2, 2021 12:09
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Dias posted:Okay, so this is really imposing of me but I kinda drifted off wrestling in 2020 for a bunch of reasons, and that includes NJPW. So I kinda wanna ask, because I wanna catch this live: what are like, the three to five must-see NJPW matches before this WK? For match quality: - Minoru Suzuki vs. Shingo Takagi, Summer Struggle - Taichi vs. Kota Ibushi, G1 Climax Night 17 - Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado, Best of Super Juniors Final For storyline: - Golden Aces vs. Dangerous Tekkers, Summer Struggle - Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay, G1 Climax Night 17 - Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi, Power Struggle
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Jan 2, 2021 12:10
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a cyborg mug posted:Recent-ish stuff or all of 2020? Did you watch WK last year? Im just about to go shopping but someone will probably provide a good answer for ya. Welcome back friend! Last WK was my stopping point, yeah. I wanted to jump back in during the G1 but I got like six days behind and never caught up. Thanks anyway!
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Jan 2, 2021 12:12
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Dias posted:Okay, so this is really imposing of me but I kinda drifted off wrestling in 2020 for a bunch of reasons, and that includes NJPW. So I kinda wanna ask, because I wanna catch this live: what are like, the three to five must-see NJPW matches before this WK? just watch G1 Night 13
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Jan 2, 2021 12:52
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Dias posted:Okay, so this is really imposing of me but I kinda drifted off wrestling in 2020 for a bunch of reasons, and that includes NJPW. So I kinda wanna ask, because I wanna catch this live: what are like, the three to five must-see NJPW matches before this WK? You must watch Jado vs Toru Yano from the New Japan Cup because I suffered through it so you should have to as well.
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Jan 2, 2021 13:02
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forkboy84 posted:You must watch Jado vs Toru Yano from the New Japan Cup because I suffered through it so you should have to as well. By that logic they should watch all of Yujiro vs Okada too
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Jan 2, 2021 13:05
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a cyborg mug posted:By that logic they should watch all of Yujiro vs Okada too I'd forgotten that had happened thank you very much 
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Jan 2, 2021 13:43
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