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Post by Mayonnaise on May 10, 2022 15:28:37 GMT -5
Isn't Ibushi liked kinda nuts? Not saying there can't be truth to what he's saying but maybe it's not as crazy at it seems given his past statements.
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Post by This Player Hating Mothman on May 10, 2022 15:29:22 GMT -5
It's probably more likely Kikuchi is talent relations, to come at this logically, but it would still be kind of weird to have a complete mystery talent relations guy seemingly responsible for disciplining NJPW talent and asking them to come into work, right? Like - we know who does this for companies much smaller than NJPW, and it's not seeming like domestic fans have any more info than we do. Until then I'm going to imagine Kikuchi as the octopus from the f***ing SPECTRE logo. Unless he is very new, yeah, this would be weird. You would've at least had someone out of the company complain about them. You'd have something.
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Convoy
El Dandy
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Post by Convoy on May 10, 2022 15:37:01 GMT -5
Someone put together a recap of the events that goes further back to when Ibushi was first injured.
It's a long thread but worth a read for additional context.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on May 10, 2022 15:45:04 GMT -5
I do wonder if "Kikuchi" is a pseudonym if Ibushi isn't going fully scorched earth, if he's voicing his complaints without explicitly naming names.
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Post by Cyno on May 10, 2022 15:48:35 GMT -5
Kikuchi could be a pseudonym, but this whole shadow booker thing is pretty nuts.
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Post by TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out on May 10, 2022 16:15:17 GMT -5
Isn't Ibushi liked kinda nuts? Not saying there can't be truth to what he's saying but maybe it's not as crazy at it seems given his past statements. Yeah, I don't doubt possible misconduct/hypocrisy out of the NJPW office but he's got guys from both DDT and NJPW sending shots at him for this. Ibushi's a weird cat, and he's (allegedly) financially secure enough to willingly burn bridges if he feels like he's not getting everything he wants.
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Post by Natural Born Farmer on May 10, 2022 16:24:58 GMT -5
Isn't Ibushi liked kinda nuts? Not saying there can't be truth to what he's saying but maybe it's not as crazy at it seems given his past statements. Think Omega commented that he'll do things like refuse to read books because they "lie to him". Not malicious nuts, but he seems to be constantly putting out "what's this guy's deal?" vibes. Anyways, isn't the point of a shadow booker that people don't know they're actually booking the promotion? Like, why would someone have disclosed that to Kota in the first place?
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on May 10, 2022 16:37:47 GMT -5
Isn't Ibushi liked kinda nuts? Not saying there can't be truth to what he's saying but maybe it's not as crazy at it seems given his past statements. Think Omega commented that he'll do things like refuse to read books because they "lie to him". Not malicious nuts, but he seems to be constantly putting out "what's this guy's deal?" vibes. Anyways, isn't the point of a shadow booker that people don't know they're actually booking the promotion? Like, why would someone have disclosed that to Kota in the first place? Kota's one of NJPW's top guys, so I can buy that he'd be privy to information others didn't have, but I do still wonder if he's changing the name to put stuff out there without singling out whoever it is, specifically, sort of like the XYZ Affair that was part of a breakdown in relations between the US and France where X, Y, and Z represented particular French diplomats in the documents put out by the Adams administration lambasting the French government.
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Post by Killah Ray on May 10, 2022 16:40:02 GMT -5
This is now the most interested I’ve been in NJPW in almost 4 years….
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Bo Rida
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Post by Bo Rida on May 10, 2022 16:54:35 GMT -5
Isn't Ibushi liked kinda nuts? Not saying there can't be truth to what he's saying but maybe it's not as crazy at it seems given his past statements. Any excuse to post this
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on May 10, 2022 18:21:42 GMT -5
There's a lot to take in here but I'm definitely not surprised there was eventually an issue with a talent wanting to take their time coming back from an injury versus what the company wants. It's heavily embedded in New Japan/Japanese wrestling culture to just keep working through it and eventually someone was going to just say no and protect themselves. It happens in sports all the time (see Kawhi and the Spurs).
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lucas_lee
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Post by lucas_lee on May 10, 2022 18:23:06 GMT -5
One that even long time fans and the closest insiders seem to know nothing about. I’ve been following New Japan for years. I’ve never heard of this Kikuchi person. Yeah, for a while I was hardcore following New Japan as my main promotion and the name has never come up. Maybe he's new leadership from the post-Meij days but if not then that'd make them one of the most illusive figures in the wrestling industry. That's the kind of shadowy background figure you find out years later was pulling the strings and was a major Yakuza figure. PRIDE. I'm referring to the likes of the people behind PRIDE. New Japan having someone like that who isn't even criminally tied would be crazy. I think I mentioned on the NOAH thread that the Yakuza didn't leave sports and wrestling, they were just better at hiding and masking themselves. Ibushi is playing with fire doing this
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on May 10, 2022 18:26:52 GMT -5
There's a lot to take in here but I'm definitely not surprised there was eventually an issue with a talent wanting to take their time coming back from an injury versus what the company wants. It's heavily embedded in New Japan/Japanese wrestling culture to just keep working through it and eventually someone was going to just say no and protect themselves. It happens in sports all the time (see Kawhi and the Spurs). It also kind of makes sense that the TAKA thing would happen, given Ibushi was a freelancer for years. He was definitely going to bristle at what he felt were unreasonable demands from him. I can see where NJPW wouldn't be keen on one of their top stars appearing on a show for someone that they still might be timid about being associated with, and without telling them, whereas Ibushi would see it as, "I didn't wrestle or anything, I'm just in the guy's corner, get bent."
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Post by TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out on May 10, 2022 18:36:21 GMT -5
Think Omega commented that he'll do things like refuse to read books because they "lie to him". Not malicious nuts, but he seems to be constantly putting out "what's this guy's deal?" vibes. Anyways, isn't the point of a shadow booker that people don't know they're actually booking the promotion? Like, why would someone have disclosed that to Kota in the first place? Kota's one of NJPW's top guys, so I can buy that he'd be privy to information others didn't have, but I do still wonder if he's changing the name to put stuff out there without singling out whoever it is, specifically, sort of like the XYZ Affair that was part of a breakdown in relations between the US and France where X, Y, and Z represented particular French diplomats in the documents put out by the Adams administration lambasting the French government. Gedo is gonna put out some Alien and Sedition Act type stuff if Kota keeps talking
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Mochi Lone Wolf
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Post by Mochi Lone Wolf on May 10, 2022 19:05:21 GMT -5
There's a lot to take in here but I'm definitely not surprised there was eventually an issue with a talent wanting to take their time coming back from an injury versus what the company wants. It's heavily embedded in New Japan/Japanese wrestling culture to just keep working through it and eventually someone was going to just say no and protect themselves. It happens in sports all the time (see Kawhi and the Spurs). Japanese MMA aces are bad about that as well. Masakatsu Funaki fought a fair bit of his career in Pancrase injured. That’s why he fell off so quickly after being arguably the best fighter in the world. It just caught up to him.
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Post by thegatewaydrug on May 10, 2022 20:25:49 GMT -5
Could it be...
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tenshi
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Post by tenshi on May 10, 2022 22:26:31 GMT -5
There's a lot to take in here but I'm definitely not surprised there was eventually an issue with a talent wanting to take their time coming back from an injury versus what the company wants. It's heavily embedded in New Japan/Japanese wrestling culture to just keep working through it and eventually someone was going to just say no and protect themselves. It happens in sports all the time (see Kawhi and the Spurs). Well... The thing with Kawhi and the Spurs is that, for all intents and purposes, Kawhi was cleared to play but didn't show up, telling the team that he wasn't ready... Then he hid away from the team because he wanted to go to Los Angeles, even leaving Toronto after winning the title with them but that's besides the point. If these allegations are true, how does this affects New Japan's relationships with other promotions.
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Post by oxbaker on May 10, 2022 22:39:38 GMT -5
For background, the “cheaters-gun” seems like a friendly banter comment from Ibushi about TAKA Michinoku and Taichi, who both have massive cheating scandals that made their names mud in Japanese Pro Wrestling. It’s the reason Taichi was so lazy for so many years. He knew he wasn’t going to get any sustained push for shit. TAKA, on the other hand, does have harassment allegations to go with his cheating scandal. Both guys took a ton of flack for what they did. Unlike Shibata who seemed to dodge a lot of that same scrutiny. What is meant by cheating in this context? Like grabbing the tights for a pin? Or cheating on their spouses? Or their taxes? What?
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Post by oxbaker on May 10, 2022 22:47:46 GMT -5
Kikuchi is going to be revealed as an alias for Great O’Khan.
He will then reveal he is the lost brother of Nick and Tony Khan, and they will band WWE, AEW and NJPW into the great Khan World Dynasty of professional wrestling under the banner AENJPWWE.
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Rave
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Post by Rave on May 10, 2022 22:52:11 GMT -5
For background, the “cheaters-gun” seems like a friendly banter comment from Ibushi about TAKA Michinoku and Taichi, who both have massive cheating scandals that made their names mud in Japanese Pro Wrestling. It’s the reason Taichi was so lazy for so many years. He knew he wasn’t going to get any sustained push for shit. TAKA, on the other hand, does have harassment allegations to go with his cheating scandal. Both guys took a ton of flack for what they did. Unlike Shibata who seemed to dodge a lot of that same scrutiny. What is meant by cheating in this context? Like grabbing the tights for a pin? Or cheating on their spouses? Or their taxes? What? Spouses. IIRC, Taichi served a suspension in addition to knowing he wasn't going to get any kind of push for a good long while afterward, and it's why TAKA disappeared from Suzuki-gun 'til recently.
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