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Post by PsychoGoatee on Feb 20, 2007 3:20:06 GMT -5
Hi, I'm not seeing a lot of Puro discussion in here.
I'm sort of new to puro, and so far I've been able to see a few full NJPW and NOAH shows.
I've yet to see any AJPW. Is All Japan good right now?
Also, how are the japanese companies ranked in terms of size/popularity? Which company would be the WWE, TNA, etc?
I'm guessing Dragon Gate is a smaller, ROH-like company?
Thanks.
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Post by thwak is T.hawk on Feb 20, 2007 3:28:14 GMT -5
well in terms of puro HUSTLE is the largest japanese wrestling promotion but it's like the wwe.
NJPW is considered to be the largest, "traditional", puro company with NOAH behind then AJPW.
as for AJPW, depends on which era you watch. early 90's to basically 00's it was very similar to what NOAH is now focusing alot on the KING'S ROAD style of wrestling. BTW King's road is VERY hit or miss in terms of weather or not you will like it. Anyway AJPW now is very similar to NJPW as it's run by keji mutoh. AJPW still runs good shows, it's just more strong style now instead of king's road.
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Post by Chuckie Finster on Feb 20, 2007 3:32:01 GMT -5
AJPW is putting on great show IMO right now. Minoru Suzuki is champion right now. Enough said. They book alot of ex-WWE talent and have that underdog vibe to them. They're not concentrated with skyrockting right now as much as solidifying what they have after nearly going under five years ago.
NOAH and NJPW are the top two. NJPW in terms of merchandise and money but NOAH gets the bigger crowds. NJPW stunk the last couple years (especially with the Lesnar and Goldberg flops) but is rebounding quite well right now.
Dragon Gate is a combo of lucha and puro. It's mainly on smaller guys who can do the razzle-dazzle. They are definately like the ROH of Japan in that they don't have big crowds but are good in their own right.
Another company that's making waves is HUSTLE, Pro Wrestling Opera. It's like WWE but less serious and has good wrestling mixed in with all the silliness. It's more of a theatre than Japanese fans really like and they are doing quite well in the arenas and can be put up there with NJPW and NOAH right now.
Japan has tons of indies like the US but now they have the GPWA, which is like a Japanese NWA, but it also has NOAH and ROH in it so they can co promote and do supershows and co-exist.
Check out Wikipedia. Despite its rep it does have some good facts about puro.
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Post by carter 15 on Feb 20, 2007 4:26:45 GMT -5
I've always wondered, why did Lesnar flop in japan?
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Fundertaker
Vegeta
Hideo Kojima should direct every ending ever!
Posts: 9,236
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Post by Fundertaker on Feb 20, 2007 7:07:48 GMT -5
He didn't adapt well to Puro, just wrestled once in a full moon, and didn't want to job so, as IWGP Champion, he took the BEST LOOKING BELT IN THE WORLD with him as he quit NJPW.
Result: Hiroshi Tanahashi is IWGP Champion, and I do think he's doing a really great job.
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Post by paulonorcatto on Feb 20, 2007 12:01:28 GMT -5
if it was in order of the biggest companies it would be something like this:
1. HUSTLE
2. NOAH
3. New Japan
4. All Japan
5. Dragon Gate
6. Big Japan
7. Zero One
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bigHEADinc
El Dandy
Wanted Conway Twitty as a special title.
lest we forget...
Posts: 7,711
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Post by bigHEADinc on Feb 20, 2007 12:41:07 GMT -5
If you guys don't mind, I always read the terms "Strong Style" and "Kings Road" style but I never truly understood what either meant (although i had an idea)... So can you elaborate?..
And anybody got any crazy HUSTLE videos bookmarked somewhere? Everytime I try to look them up I find something completely different, but from what I've seen they're just genuinely insane...
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Post by Chuckie Finster on Feb 20, 2007 12:44:56 GMT -5
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bigHEADinc
El Dandy
Wanted Conway Twitty as a special title.
lest we forget...
Posts: 7,711
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Post by bigHEADinc on Feb 20, 2007 12:46:46 GMT -5
Okay, so I was right about Strong Style...
Thanks for the links!
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Post by odanobunaga on Feb 20, 2007 12:59:57 GMT -5
I will try to upload one of Arzin Z matches because she is -literaly- the female Tiger Mask.
The match in question is a intergender 8 people tag team match. She pretty much carry alone the match, together with the legendary Kintaro Kanemura.
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Post by samachine on Feb 20, 2007 19:06:35 GMT -5
Where are people getting Dragon Gate is the ROH of Japan? They draw crowds 3 times the size of ROH.
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Post by HMARK Center on Feb 20, 2007 19:26:15 GMT -5
Where are people getting Dragon Gate is the ROH of Japan? They draw crowds 3 times the size of ROH. In relation to the sizes of the other major Japanese companies, they ARE the ROH of Japan. They draw 3,000, which is great, but NOAH is capable of selling out the Tokyo Dome. |
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STMP
Hank Scorpio
Wild and Only 50
Posts: 5,569
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Post by STMP on Feb 20, 2007 19:26:38 GMT -5
Where are people getting Dragon Gate is the ROH of Japan? They draw crowds 3 times the size of ROH. Probably because it is the biggest en most popular indy fed, just like ROH is. |
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Post by Chuckie Finster on Feb 20, 2007 19:42:44 GMT -5
He didn't adapt well to Puro, just wrestled once in a full moon, and didn't want to job so, as IWGP Champion, he took the BEST LOOKING BELT IN THE WORLD with him as he quit NJPW. Result: Hiroshi Tanahashi is IWGP Champion, and I do think he's doing a really great job. This is why Lesnar flopped. $30,000 + first class return flight + five star hotel + all meals ... per appearance. They could not get him for full tours. For some reason New Japan was banking on Brock's WWE name value to draw, which it did not. He certainly didn't kill the crowds, but he did not draw anything more then they would have without him. I think they knew they were screwed when the big money match up of Akebono vs Lesnar did not draw a huge crowd. It didn't help Brock was phoneing it in during his matches. He had the potential to be one of the best gaijin champs, but it was mostly bad sports entertainment like matches. If I remember right his last defense was against Giant Bernard. |
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Post by samachine on Feb 20, 2007 19:47:17 GMT -5
Tanahashi is a sucky champ, seriously the guy's extremely boring, but he'd fit WWE perfectly. Bernard should've won it, but I can see why they wouldn't want another gaijin having it for a while after that. I want Nagata as champ though
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Post by Chuckie Finster on Feb 20, 2007 19:55:46 GMT -5
Tanahashi is a sucky champ, seriously the guy's extremely boring, but he'd fit WWE perfectly. Bernard should've won it, but I can see why they wouldn't want another gaijin having it for a while after that. I want Nagata as champ though At least he's really popular. Tanahashi is the kind of babyface you saw in WCCW in the 80's alongside the Von Erichs. Kind of like Ricky Steamboat. He isn't great and kind of overshadowed by Chono and Nagata but he'll keep it for a while longer to build up a strong domestic champion. |
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Post by amplifierWORSHIP! on Feb 20, 2007 19:59:03 GMT -5
on the topic of Giant Bernard, i'm right now checking out that Bernard/Tomko VS Nagata/Angle match, and i am amazed at how much not only Tomko has improved, but Albert. i remember him boring me in the WWE, but he's upped his game 10-fold. also, a Japanese crowd chanting "USA!" when Angle enters the match makes me smile.
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Post by samachine on Feb 20, 2007 19:59:12 GMT -5
Tanahashi is a sucky champ, seriously the guy's extremely boring, but he'd fit WWE perfectly. Bernard should've won it, but I can see why they wouldn't want another gaijin having it for a while after that. I want Nagata as champ though At least he's really popular. Tanahashi is the kind of babyface you saw in WCCW in the 80's alongside the Von Erichs. Kind of like Ricky Steamboat. He isn't great and kind of overshadowed by Chono and Nagata but he'll keep it for a while longer to build up a strong domestic champion. Eh if you ask me he's japanese Cena. Marketable, not the best in the ring, but atleast seems to love the sport. |
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STMP
Hank Scorpio
Wild and Only 50
Posts: 5,569
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Post by STMP on Feb 20, 2007 20:06:02 GMT -5
Tanahashi is a sucky champ, seriously the guy's extremely boring, but he'd fit WWE perfectly. Bernard should've won it, but I can see why they wouldn't want another gaijin having it for a while after that. I want Nagata as champ though At least he's really popular. Tanahashi is the kind of babyface you saw in WCCW in the 80's alongside the Von Erichs. Kind of like Ricky Steamboat. He isn't great and kind of overshadowed by Chono and Nagata but he'll keep it for a while longer to build up a strong domestic champion. Yeah, I felt the same way when I first saw him. He is just so damn perfect looking, he just has really weird hair. As a wrestler he is alright, but relies too much on his standard moves and doesn't seem to be able to really improvise or adapt to others. |
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Joekishi
Fry's dog Seymour
Posts: 20,490
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Post by Joekishi on Feb 20, 2007 22:02:22 GMT -5
He didn't adapt well to Puro, just wrestled once in a full moon, and didn't want to job so, as IWGP Champion, he took the BEST LOOKING BELT IN THE WORLD with him as he quit NJPW. Result: Hiroshi Tanahashi is IWGP Champion, and I do think he's doing a really great job. Seriously I like him better. I guess it's the fact that he does an awesome frog splash |
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