A beginner's guide to follow New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2018
New Japan Pro Wrestling has as much momentum now as it's had in years. The company hosted one the most successful events in New Japan history, Wrestle Kingdom 12 two weeks ago. The event was headlined by Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito. The co-main event and one of the main reasons for the recent momentum gained internationally was one of companies biggest stars in Kenny Omega vs one of the biggest names in the professional wrestling, Chris Jericho.
Wrestle Kingdom 12 attracted 34,995 people in attendance, being the biggest crowd for the company in over 15 years. In the 24 hours prior to the event, the New Japan streaming service skyrocketed over 35%, climbing a huge 25,000 subscribers.
Jericho's influence was undeniable for part of the international success, hence the reason why New Japan is riding such momentum all over the world. Being a fan, and following New Japan Pro Wrestling has never been more accessible, and here is a simple guide to going about it.
NJPW runs reasonably differently to traditional methods internationally. It does not operate on a weekly episodic basis, in contrast to a Monday Night RAW of WWE. The company runs many independent house shows domestically, that are not televised.
NJPW have two types of main shows. These include "Road To... [PPV Name]" shows and main "PPV" style shows, in contrast to WWE. This would be similar to the WWE broadcasting an event named "WWE Road the Survivor Series" and then potentially four weeks later broadcasting the actual "WWE Survivor Series" event.
Different to usual house shows, matchups and limited story progression can occur on the "Road To..." shows. Many international NJPW fans, would only see the main PPV events, and with the use of social media, press conferences and advertisements are more in tune with current storylines.
NJPW also have relationships with exterior wrestling companies such as ROH, and their storylines and events often intertwine at different stages of the year. This may explain why you have seen titles such as the ROH World Championship defended at an event like Wrestle Kingdom.
Due to the fact that New Japan events can span over the course of up to three days (eg; The New Beginning), there are a large number of titles within the promotion. A current list of NJPW champions is listed below:
(List current as of January 19, 2018)
IWGP* Heavyweight Champion - Kazuchika Okada
IWGP Intercontinental Champion - Hiroshi Tanahashi
IWGP United States Champion - Kenny Omega
NEVER** Openweight Champion - Hirooki Goto
IWGP Tag Team Champions - Los Ingobernables de Japon (Evil and Sanada)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight*** Champion - Will Ospreay
IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions - The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)
NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship -Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa)
* IWGP are the initials of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The title was introduced on June 12, 1987, in the finals of an IWGP Tournament
** NEVER is an acronym of the terms "New Blood", "Evolution", "Valiantly", "Eternal", and "Radical." This was an NJPW advertised series of events, which featured young up-and-coming talent as well as outside wrestlers not signed to the company.
*** The IWGP Junior Heavyweight and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team division involves a weight-limit of 100 kg (220 lb)
As previously mentioned, NJPW has never been more accessible and easier to follow. On December 1, 2014 'NJPW World' was launched, a subscription-based video streaming service owned by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. NJPW World is similar to the 'WWE Network' showing the schedule of primary events live, including 'PPVs' and 'Road to...' events as well as a library of historical NJPW television events.
NJPW World is extremely accessible for international fans, and since its launch in 2014 has progressed by leaps and bounds, breaking down language barriers and becoming a more user-friendly service. The fee for NJPW World is an extremely reasonable ¥999 ($9 USD.) The service also provides major live events with their own English commentary.
NJPW World is a simple service to sign up to and can be found at njpwworld.com
NJPW have released a schedule of their predominant televised shows up until August. This schedule includes live TV specials and also their iPPV's that will be featured in New Japan World. The next NJPW PPV event is 'The New Beginning' which will air over 3 dates. These dates include January 27 & 28, as well as February 10.
The three new shows will be headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) versus Minoru Suzuki for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, Kenny Omega (c) versus Jay White for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship and Kazuchika Okada (c) versus Sanada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
The following iPPV event will be 'Honor Rising: Japan' in Tokyo, featuring talent from Ring of Honor.
On March 25, NJPW will host the 'Strong Style Evolved' Live TV special, that takes place in Long Beach, California. Whilst nothing has been confirmed, this event is touted for Chris Jericho to return against Naito.
It is not difficult to see why New Japan has gained a large amount of momentum over the last six months. The promotion constantly prides itself on the quality of in-ring action, an element of credibility and storytelling that would never insult your intelligence. The way NJPW goes about the art of wrestling can be often viewed as simplistic, but it just so seems that might be how professional wrestling should be.
If you have not yet experienced what New Japan is all about, there has never been a better time to start.
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