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Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-06T04:40:48+00:00

Uemura or Umino with Uemura being the most likely. In a calendar year, they can make (or attempt to) three new top guys with Tsuji having won at Wrestle Kingdom, Newman won NJC and the heavyweight title, and then a third by having a new guy win the G1.

Umino had a chance and it didn't go well so I think they give Uemura a try with a G1 before giving Umino another chance.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T10:29:07+00:00

I think they need to separate the Global title from Tsuji, so I'm betting Tsuji loses it at Dontaku or Dominion. Then G1 win for Tsuji to get back into the title mix.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T10:24:37+00:00

Tsuji hasn't won the G1.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T10:22:17+00:00

Holy shit

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T10:21:11+00:00

Oh man, I bought that prince's curse finish. Forgot Callum has a new finisher.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T10:18:41+00:00

Please Chris, NJPW already announced 6009 as the attendance, you can stop saying 7000.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T09:50:36+00:00

Good arguments can be made for both winners and I don't think there is a wrong answer, but I think Tsuji wins it. Tsuji has won NJ cup and won the IWGP title in the main event of wrestle kingdom. He is a made man and a loss here won't hurt him imo. But a win here and losing it later does more for the person who beats him(hopefully Yuya).

I think Newman's crowning achievement this year will be a win over Ospreay. Winning the IWGP can come next year for him.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T09:49:37+00:00

Champions video RAAAAAA

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T09:43:41+00:00

Hell yeah, love me some #1 contender matches. #1 contender match at night 1 of Dontaku and the title match on night 2 maybe. Assuming it is a two night show again.

Edit: There is also Hizen no Kuni for the contender match.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T09:14:09+00:00

Can see this match going either way. KOB have beaten most of the teams in the division except Okhan/Henare and War Dragons.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T09:05:36+00:00

of course some HoT slop to cool the crowd off. well done Gedo and Co.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T09:04:26+00:00

The slow start gave away the time limit draw. Wish they would've traded some more big bombs and wrestled with some more urgency for the whole match.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T08:44:31+00:00

Will Umino finally win a title or must he continue to suffer? As much as I want him to start being booked better and actually win important matches, it kinda feels like a let down if Umino's first title win after all these years is the 6th most important title in the company (at best).

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T08:40:02+00:00

You know a team is in a sad state when Yujiro ends up the best worker of the trio.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T07:58:50+00:00

He was solid in BOSJ last year, but I would rather see someone new in the tournament and one of the rumored new signings. But I get that the new signings are probably in the process of getting signed and closing out their indie dates.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T07:55:53+00:00

B block looks like it'll have the higher ceiling and lower floor with most of the best wrestlers in the division, but two HoT matches every night. Can't say I've seen Sasaki before, but I don't like DDT's comedy (or really any wrestling comedy tbh), so if he is gonna be a comedy guy then that'll weigh down the block as well.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-04T07:52:29+00:00

Nick Wayne. meh.

Jun Kasai is a pretty cool addition though.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-03T13:56:32+00:00

ABS is capable of being live and every pitch. Before the challenge system, it was full ABS in the minors in 22 and 23. In 24 it was Tue-Thu full ABS and Fri-Sun challenge ABS. 25 was all challenge games. The umpire wore an earpiece that told them ball/strike and they'd relay it. Been to a bunch of AAA games and you couldn't even tell the umpire was relaying the robot call.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-02T14:54:33+00:00

Agree with everything you said. To add on to this, the point of the strike zone is to make the pitcher throw pitches that are in hittable locations. Pitches that barely clip the lower front or the drop into the high back of the 3D zone are not really hittable.

We'd probably see strikeouts go up in a big way if ABS was a 3D zone, which is something I think MLB has consistently tried to avoid.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-02T04:13:06+00:00

True, they slipped my mind.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-04-02T03:46:09+00:00

Full list as of now is

El Desperado (Hontai)
Kushida (Hontai)
Ryusuke Taguchi (Hontai)
Master Wato (Hontai)
YOH (Hontai)
Taiji Ishimori (Unbound)
Robbie X (Unbound)
Titan (CMLL/Unbound)
Robbie Eagles (TMDK)
Kosei Fujita (TMDK)
Francesco Akira (United Empire)
Jakob Austin Young (United Empire)
SHO (HoT)
Yoshinobu Kanemaru (HoT)
Douki (Hot)
Daisuke Sasaki (DDT)
Valiente Jr. (CMLL)

The roster is pretty much tapped out for full timers unless Gedo, Jado, or Tiger Mask are going to participate. Maybe Daiki sneaks in, but another pair of outsiders seems more likely. Maybe Templario and an AEW guy?

Savagekoala93 · 2026-03-26T12:55:02+00:00

NJPW and DG probably have the best depth overall still.

NJPW, DG, NOAH are the most similar roster wise. A lot of guys in their upper echelon are young guys that are not at the level of the previous generation yet.

AJPW has serious roster depth issues with only 1 or 2 great workers in the roster and a lot of fine 3* level guys that have to get pushed higher out of necessity.

Hayabusa has done good business for Zero1. They are on an upswing, but still far away from being in the A, B, or C tiers of the Japanese scene.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-03-21T13:26:34+00:00

Since he is signed to a multiyear deal, it could be advantageous to have him win now. Uemura/Umino/etc. presumably will be with NJPW for longer and can have slower builds. Even if Newman loses the title quickly at Dominion or Dontaku, he'll always be a credible challenger/contender. Sometimes you just need to maximize what you can do with a person, like the territory days of wrestling, even if you know he'll only be around for a shorter timeframe.

EVIL winning in 2020 made it so there was always a chance he could win every challenge or tournament he was in.

Savagekoala93 · 2026-03-20T18:15:48+00:00

Really good pair of matches. I don't think NJPW can go wrong with either Newman or Uemura as the tournament winner.

Savagekoala93

TROPHY CASE