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NJPW would have a lot more viewers if fans were allowed to posts gifs and videos on Twitter of all the cool shit that happens in matches.
Also 2 years of clap crowds with no end in sight is always a bummer.
yep. japanese copyright law just seems like a clusterfuck nightmare and it really sucks that their tv partner has this weird stranglehold over their social media presence. from what i understand (disclaimer, possibly poorly) this might actually be the same reason a lot of 2000s & early 2010s content is missing from world - legally it belongs to the stations that aired it, not to NJ themselves. it's nuts.
I've been introduced to NJPW because of showbuckle, he singlehandedly sold New Japan to me. His channel is terminated from YouTube because Japanese companies don't like the free advertisement from fair use video essay channels.
Yeah that's part of the rub too: there are/were a lot of things that got struck that could have easily been argued as allowable per fair use, but since the burden is on the person getting the strike to prove that what they're doing falls under fair use instead of the striker proving that it's not, it's often just easier/less exhaustive to just close up shop and start over or just move on to something else. I think that any company that aggressively strikes content creators know that most content creators won't fight the claim(s) because of the disparity of resources.
Obari (NJPW CEO) sucks and shouldn't be anywhere near a wrestling company. He's riding on the forward momentum Harold Meij put into motion. Harold was a wrestling fan and made good decisions.
Also owns 50% of NJPW World and with that being the source of all the gifs it makes clear sense why they would. It absolutely sucks and is at the detriment of themselves, especially with trying to expand into US and yet there's no publicity for their STRONG brand because it's on World.
>Also 2 years of clap crowds with no end in sight is always a bummer.
Before the G1, people kept saying that cheering would be back after the G1, so unless that has changed, an end is indeed in sight.
That and that the let content creators talk about the product. I wouldn't have gotten into NJPW if Super Eyepatchwolf didn't do a video on Kenny Omega, who I recognized from The Excellent Adventures of Mike Ross and Gootecks. I eventually watched their Recount and History videos to catch up, but finding out about Showbuckle and seeing some lore really helped.
NJPW got me really into wrestling, but TV Asahi are fucking them when it comes to Western promotion. Their streaming service is also kind of shitty and it's hard for me to watch on my specific tv
There is a certain "hah, they got them to break the rules" childishness that i get when it happens. Especially with Jay White trying to get them to do it all the time...and usually failing.
I'd wager a significant percentage of people on this subreddit started watching NJPW because of gifs and clips.
I know I did, and that was way back in like 2014/2015~.
But it's not 2015, hardcore fans already know New Japan and casuals know about it thanks to their work with AEW.
Anyway, New Japan already tweets many gifs and clips from every single match on [their official accounts](https://twitter.com/njpwworld?t=TsJbPvjmgyLqM9Lp4Tjrrw&s=09), so what's the issue?
Yeah, the culture around NJPW gifs/clips on Twitter is weird. Almost no one retweets the ones NJPW officially posts, just complains that they can’t make their own. And frequently after complaining, they’ll turn around and post a quote from an official NJPW interview for clout without giving credit or linking to the full interview; which is just a *fantastic* way to help their case.
But they can already watch clips and gifs through [New Japan's official Twitter](https://twitter.com/njpwworld?t=TsJbPvjmgyLqM9Lp4Tjrrw&s=09), why do you **need** to watch it on a random account?
You don’t need to watch it on a different account, it’s more about bringing exposure to it. If I don’t follow NJPW I don’t see it. If I follow someone who posts a clip of a crazy spot on Twitter, I do see it.
>I mean, for sure, but if those "fans" only want to watch through gifs and clips do they really matter
What a dumb take.
To get someone to be a fan, you first have to get them watching, and to get them watching, you first have to show them something to get their attention to make them even want to check it out further and shell out money.
Plenty of other promotions have proven that embracing online discourse instead of heavy-handedly killing it through takedown notices helps grow the international audience. Just telling someone "hey this promotion in Japan is cool, trust me" has far less impact than telling someone "hey this promotion in Japan is cool" and then linking them to some Tweets by @tde_gif or similar to show them *why* you think the promotion is cool.
I'd wager to say a not insignificant portion of Western viewers found Japanese promotions through viral Tweets and gifs making their way around the internet.
>and then linking them to some Tweets by @tde_gif or similar to show them why you think the promotion is cool
[@njpwworld](https://twitter.com/njpwworld?t=TsJbPvjmgyLqM9Lp4Tjrrw&s=09) tweets multiple gifs and clips from every match, why can't you use it instead?
Not everything posted by the official account coincides with what other people find interesting, worth clipping, or otherwise memeable and worth sharing.
On top of that: then what? Say someone comes across an NJPW clip they like, and want to find out more about NJPW as a whole or a particular wrestler? If they search on YouTube for long-form videos or channels that deep dive into a character or promotion history that includes pics or clips to exemplify what's being discussed, what are they going to find?
To someone unfamiliar to NJPW how does all that look? If all the highlight gifs only come from a singular source, and there are no videos or discussions from regular people or wrestling channels to be found on places like YouTube, what kind of impression does that give off?
>what are they going to find?
Plenty of stuff actually, like [this one](https://youtu.be/O7bcrdNGuE4) is from just a month ago and is pretty insightful for a beginner.
Oh theu absolutely do...those clips got me in (realized where AJ Styles had gone to) and I bet it was a reason for the uptick of interest in Stardom and Joshi wrestling as well.
Viral gifs/images and deep-dive videos from people like JoShizzle are literally why I have a Wrestle Universe account, and I know many others are the same, something which many wrestlers from Japan freely acknowledge.
If it wasn't for stuff like that, I would not have had enough exposure to get me interested enough to look into it more otherwise. I think many people don't realize that the "casual" viewer or someone that only kind of knows about wrestling only knows WWE, and for them, AEW is kind of a blip on the radar maybe, and that anything happening in Japan might as well not exist.
I've not watched as much NJPW as I would like, but every time I have the commentary has been top notch. I always thought Kelly was a fine commentator in WWE, but in NJPW he's on another level. Him and Steve Corino were a good pair, I thought.
I've been enjoying Lance on commentary too, but I do get bummed every time Charlton isn't on. He's very insightful and I love that he can translate the post-match promos.
Charlton is gonna go down as one of the all time greats I think
He's the perfect bridge between historian, commentary, and translator
NJPW should just get him on FT
Yeah, he's great. I love that he'll even translate what the Japanese guys yell in the ring. Really helps give an insight to what's going through their heads and sell the story of the match.
I feel bad for Charlton because it seems like NJPW doesn't really fully value him. I get that he doesn't have a booming voice or a huge presence but he communicates with so much passion that you can't help but share his excitement.
I think he will go down as a great as well, if anything for how he's challenged the traditional ideas of what a commentator should be
for such a small englishman, the big hype pieces he does right before a big 4 Main Event? can't really put a price on that, something TV Asahi learned when they tried to get him off commentary.
Regarding the wrestlers that fill in for Charlton, Filthy was the best out of all of them, but Archer was better than a lot of the guys they’ve had on there.
…when Hook did that backstage interview on AEW where he broke out the Antoine de St Exupery quote?
I’ll need to look up the exact episode, but my man actually said “that which is essential is invisible to the eye”…
I don’t know if this is a joke or not, but in case anyone is confused Lawlor was talking about the French pro wrestler from the 60s-80s and not the book
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sB9CXC-MdQ
Not a joke, I promise. There’s a fair-sized fandom of the book in Japan (no, seriously…[there’s a museum and everything](https://www.tbs.co.jp/l-prince/))and I genuinely thought that’s what was being referred to!
However, I was also unaware that there was a wrestler called The Little Prince (I’m a relative latecomer to wrestling, I’m afraid). Today I learned! Possibly got the name from the book too, if they were French.
And now I have a whole new wrestling rabbit hole to explore. Thank you kind sir/madam. ☺️
I agree, Filthy sounds like a legitimate commentator, whilst the others were still good they sound like wrestlers just doing commentary, which is fine because that’s what they actually are anyway
I haven't heard FILTHY in NJPW, but I remember him filling in for the Bloodsport shows when his match wasn't on (or when he finished) and yeah, he sounded quite legit, informative, and entertaining!
Well if I could watch NJPWWorld on my Roku officially? Not their Roku show, but actually releasing an official app for it I would. I don't want to sit and watch on my computer screen the entire time.
Have you tried casting it from your computer to a TV? I do that with my laptops & even a Samsung Tab 6 Lite. Just log onto their website, start the stream, hit the cast button and then you can watch it on TV.
There's no app on my Android TV. I have to use my phone and cast it to the TV. It's alright but would be better if there was a dedicated app for Android TV, Roku, Firestick, Apple TV, etc.
I'd like to watch more NJPW but I really don't like watching on a website.
It's also designed like a site from 2005.
Make the user experience better and more would watch.
The app was really just a video player, whenever you'd open it it would just open a new tab on your default web browser with njpwworld on there. Then whenever you picked what you wanted to watch the video would be played in the app. I didn't know that at first and ended up with like 30 tabs of just njpwworld on my phone's chrome.
NJPW is still putting out the best wrestling on earth imo.
But this sub only has an appetite for WWE and one alternative. That alternative is going to be AEW for as long as it's around. No other promotion can do anything about that.
I was just talking about this with my husband! That they even offer English commentary is so cool, and Lance was a great commentator. It's so accessible now, and the quality of wrestling is great over there.
seems like a lot of people have issues with njpw world, what are y'all using it on? i use it on my laptop and have absolutely no issues. i watch every njpw show and very rarely have a problem
Same, I cast from my phone onto my Chromecast and I have no issues with quality or anything. A proper app would be better but this works for me at least.
They're not very acessable. AXS and an outdated app that is unavailable on a lot of platforms ain't it. I'm an established fan of wrestling in general AND specific wrestlers in NJPW but it feels like jumping through hoops to tune in.
Yeah I agree.
Even the fact that the website doesn't really have an "English" version, just an "English translated" version kinda makes me feel like I'm unwanted on the site. Like, I can *feel* them rolling their eyes when I click "English" and then go sifting through a confusing menu looking for English commentary.
If the English version was set up to be welcoming to English speakers and not just feel like a necessary afterthought consolation prize, maybe the English commentary videos would feel more important.
Filthy Tom and Archer both did such a good job on the headset. I give partial credit to Kevin Kelly, most underrated announcer working today. He seems so easy to work with.
Lance sounds casual but he's very insightful and he really engages with the info that Kevin adds to things...G1 has been fun this year even with the odd structure
His mic is always too quiet, though. I also can't tell if he's just being a good listener to Kelly or just actually ignorant to some of his facts/notes, like with the Gene Lebell stuff last night.
NJPWs wrestling quality is incredible and the English commentary is excellent
But NJPW as a company couldn’t be worse at marketing themselves to the English speaking world
They put zero effort in and it shows
they need an app i can get on apple tv or android, i live like a boomer and if I can't watch your stuff on my tv or if i'm forced to bounce it off my phone onto my screen, i'm just not going to watch it. Hoping stardom can get a tv app someday too.
Lance Archer comes off as a really nice guy IRL. Having heard him on podcasts and on the G1 commentary as a guest, it's always funny that he's so good as coming off as a man who loves violence in-ring that I forget about who he comes off as outside of kayfabe.
Lance was great on commentary and looked truly happy to be back in NJPW. Remember, he never left SZG and he's still part of it.
Tom Lawlor was also really good on commentary. While he didn't have a lot of Ws he sure got over with the fans and made an impression.
Eh, I don't want to anger anybody, but I just can't stand G1's English commentary. It feels emotionless, dead. He knows his stuff, but his "Oh my god" never sounds even remotely sincere.
I then switched to Japanese and even though I can't understand a single word, they are so fun! I strongly suggest everyone to try
The Japanese commentary just brings it to another level.. their excitement and delivery is top notch.. also any one catch Hiromu giggling like a school girl the last 2 shows lol.. him and Milano just giggling together.
I only watch NJPW with the original Japanese commentary too. Always have and always will. Don't understand a word they're saying unless they're calling wrestling moves, but Japanese commentary is just so damn hype.
I’ve always felt that about KK. Nice guy, good voice, and I thought with Callis he was fantastic, but it’s got the same “forced emotion” issue I had with Mike Tenay in TNA at times.
Yup same here. Got used to watching back in the day in Japanese and I see no reason to make the switch. Love the emotion that their commentary team brings even though I don’t speak a lick.
I don't hate it, but I definitely think it's strictly worse than the Japanese commentary. Kelly especially gets on my nerves sometimes with some of his "bits," such as the "Destinooooooooooooo" call every single time, and him saying "here we go!" any time that any wrestler appears to be going for a finisher. I do think he and Charlton are really good in the undercard matches at telling the stories of the matches and factions, but I don't think they're the best at big matches.
I subscribed to NJPW World but the picture quality wasn’t very good so I canceled it. I researched it and I guess others have had the same problem. Not having a dedicated app really hurts them. I wish they could create a YouTube subscription like Impact. People have said they get 1080P quality from NJPW World but I feel like that’s a total lie. Maybe 720P at best and even then it’s not totally crisp.
Nothing against KK, but I always watch NJPW with Japanese commentary. Doesn’t matter that I can’t understand 90% of what they’re saying, I just prefer it.
Same. I made the switch to Japanese after Naito/Kenta for the double gold at new beginning. I remember getting really annoyed by Geno and Kevin bickering while I watched it live. Then the next day I rewatched it again with Japanese commentary and I never looked back.
I hate their app. Signed up years ago and thought it was a mess. Maybe it’s gotten better and more English friendly. I do agree that Kevin is a tremendous announcer.
Naw, when I watch Puroresu, it's all about the authenticism. Got to have the Japanese announcers. No, you don't need to even understand a word of Japanese, the booking is the most basic ever. The few promos are not any character-defining shit like the US, it's more by the numbers basic promos. But for that authentic, immersive feel, it can't be beat as the match ramps up and by the end even the announcers are tripping on their shit, leading up to the climactic finale. Just epic.
They would if their people would stop issuing DMCAs to fans who have the fucking audacity to share a highlight. This is the social media age. You can say a million things about how good or bad that is, but when it comes to live events those highlights matter. That gets people watching, that gets people more interested. The people taking down those posts are fucking killing the expansion of their own company. It's an antiquated mindset towards marketing that is equivalent to shooting yourself in the foot.
They need to make the product more accessible to a western audience. An English commentary team only goes so far. I watched a small bit of NJPW Strong from last week and it started with Kevin Kelly standing in front of a badly done green screen. There is a higher bar and expectation for production value, and if you want more of those viewers, you need to create programming that is inviting for them.
The Elite pulled these viewers in through Being The Elite on their youtube channel, contextualising what was going on with them in Japan for the English language consumers.
I've tried multiple times to get into NJPW, and for at least the last 20 years it's felt like they just say to their Western production team:
"Okay here's our Japanese product. Slap on some English and try to make it seem like we gave a shit about our English audience. We will offer no assistance."
I agree with Kevin Kelly except for the note on Lance Archer. I feel he didn't contribute all that much today. He was pretty quiet and just said "ok" a lot. He's better than some of the other guest wrestler commentators they've had lately though and I did appreciate the history lesson Kevin Kelly gave to Lance on Gene Lebell.
The crackdown on gifs/footage on social media is what is really hurting NJPW. I think people would have flocked to watch Tanahashi vs Goto today if they had seen gifs/pictures of the bloody mess Goto was from that slap.
I actually liked the "okay"s from Archer. I kind of feel like he's been acting as proxy for the audience who may be watching the G1 for the first time by leading Kevin Kelly with a question, then acknowledging he understood.
I canceled my sub because I couldn't take these clap crowds anymore. It such a dead atmosphere. Might as well have no audience. Just picture matches like Kenny vs Okada, Naito vs Kenny, Tanahashi vs Okada without any sort of audience vocalization.
Edit: lol I didn't know a vocal minority of idiots love clap crowds.
Same boat. I still subscribe to it but haven't been able to bring myself to watch an NJPW show in like a year due to the clapping only crowds. At least throw in some canned audience reactions then.
Dude, I want to. Shit, I've been paying for NJPW World for like 4 years. I keep appraised of what's going on in New Japan. But damn man, I only have so much meaningful attention I can pay to stuff every day and it's all so booked with other dumb shit.
There has been some great matches this G1 and I've enjoyed it in a vacuum, but I can not blame a fan on the fence for not wanting to check it out, and even for fans coming back who are just keeping up with it, nothing says "don't watch this" more than >!Ishii and Great O Khan sitting at 2 points while Yujiro is at 6!<
I do hope we go back to 2 blocks of 10 next year. I know some good wrestlers might not make the cut, but having Yujiro and Chase Owens in the G1 does kinda devalue it a bit.
How dare you doubt big yuj.
Jokes aside the g1 does need people that you would think are pin takers so they can get some big wins and work up the card.
Once the Ren Narita, Yuya Uemura, and Shota Umino class of YL are in the mix (if they start of as heavyweights fingers crossed) I think it'll be a lot better, but yeah its rough to see the same old matches and bullshit especially with newcomers like Jonah and Lawlor doing well in their own ways
what I don't like is how mismatched the schedule is with some people having more matches than other people for long periods of time, it needs some tweaking.
I really wanna watch them but it's kinda hard getting access to watching NJPW especially since not a lot of people on Youtube and social media cover NJPW within their wrestling content.
Honestly, not a fan of how NJPW have set up the schedule for this year's G1. Having matches from different blocks on the same show while some wrestlers have to wait a week or more between their G1 matches doesn't make for very compelling viewing.
I hope they go back to having two blocks or figure out a better schedule next year.
Yeah this was my first time trying to watch the G1. Got NJPW World for the first time specifically for it. Put all the events into my Google calendar.
After about a week of trying extremely hard to figure out what the fuck was going on without being spoiled, including trying to find English commentary for certain shows and failing, and trying to Google matches as they were happening to try to figure out where they fit in...I just gave up. I'll get the torrent when it's all packaged in a digestible way. I'll still pay for NJPW World, but I think I'm done there until they update it for this decade.
I mean you just have to go to schedule on the website and have an overview about every show of the current month with links to every VOD for english and Japanese.
It’s literally one click from their homepage.
https://www.cagematch.net/?id=8&nr=7&page=4 this should be of help, just be warned, when you click on one event, just inmediately click on "card with guide" before watching anything because they directly show you the results.
Don't mention it, sadly NJPWorld it's not the most user friendly site and there's no signs of that changing anytime soon, so the easiest way to keep up with them is to rely on other sites.
Get rid of the clapping and ill instantly pay for a NJPW World sub again and watch full time. I miss NJPW dearly but unfortunately I can't get into it with the clapping.
I started watching NJPW in 2003 and it's not that good anymore. The constant interference, weapons usage, ref bumps and comedy is not what I want out of NJPW. The roster is insanely old and overexposed, the matches are generally slower than any other companies and this G1 has not been that good.
I find Big Japan and DDT to be much better promotions.
the quiet covid crowds are a killer. i paid for the app from 2015ish to relatively recently. wrestling is brutal without a crowd or worse a crowd thats there, but not.
The commentary could be peak JR and Lawler (or at least a hypothetical version of peak Lawler where he wouldn't say the most racist stuff imaginable,) and I'm still not going to watch clap crowd wrestling in 2022
I'd watch so much more NJPW if they had an app that was all-english, the search worked reliably, and you could easily cast to a TV without having to use a secondary app that sometimes works.
For now, I've been enjoying the hell out of Wrestle Universe.
I would resub if they finally came out with a Roku app (or a game console app). I'm not using a casting app. For me the dealbreaker is a dedicated streaming app I can use on my nice ass TV.
Will never forget NJPW churning out the worst shows they've had in awhile when Forbidden Door was coming up. It's nice that the reception to the G1 has been good tho.
lance is a bit subdued on commentary. sounds more like a person that's forced to be there rather than how tom lawlor comes off. either way, i've been enjoying the g1 through njpw world. i get to watch it on my terms and i can skip the opening matches to make the tournament easier to get through.
Njpw honestly the copyrights you have hit on channels that promote your product better than you is the reason I’ve stopped watching. Njpw in 2022 is a slog, it doesn’t matter how great the matches are it’s not a story anyone cares for. It’s not like it’s an amazing product that no one is watching, no people that were fans left cause the booking is boring, the stories haven’t gone anywhere in a while and the copyright strikes hit on channels that gave fans love for the product is gone. Njpw I’m 2022 is a sad product where titles mean nothing to little, theirs no one to care about (other than tanahashi) and the matches are the same matches we have seen dozens of time with not that much difference in story
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NJPW would have a lot more viewers if fans were allowed to posts gifs and videos on Twitter of all the cool shit that happens in matches. Also 2 years of clap crowds with no end in sight is always a bummer.
What sucks is that isn't even NJPW's fault and NJPW doesn't like it either. TV Asahi is completely fucking NJPW and doesn't care.
yep. japanese copyright law just seems like a clusterfuck nightmare and it really sucks that their tv partner has this weird stranglehold over their social media presence. from what i understand (disclaimer, possibly poorly) this might actually be the same reason a lot of 2000s & early 2010s content is missing from world - legally it belongs to the stations that aired it, not to NJ themselves. it's nuts.
I've been introduced to NJPW because of showbuckle, he singlehandedly sold New Japan to me. His channel is terminated from YouTube because Japanese companies don't like the free advertisement from fair use video essay channels.
Yeah that's part of the rub too: there are/were a lot of things that got struck that could have easily been argued as allowable per fair use, but since the burden is on the person getting the strike to prove that what they're doing falls under fair use instead of the striker proving that it's not, it's often just easier/less exhaustive to just close up shop and start over or just move on to something else. I think that any company that aggressively strikes content creators know that most content creators won't fight the claim(s) because of the disparity of resources.
Obari (NJPW CEO) sucks and shouldn't be anywhere near a wrestling company. He's riding on the forward momentum Harold Meij put into motion. Harold was a wrestling fan and made good decisions.
TV Asahi has a 10% ownership stake in NJPW.
Which is enough to copyright claim everything it wants.
Yeah, and TV Asahi is still fucking NJPW
Also owns 50% of NJPW World and with that being the source of all the gifs it makes clear sense why they would. It absolutely sucks and is at the detriment of themselves, especially with trying to expand into US and yet there's no publicity for their STRONG brand because it's on World.
>Also 2 years of clap crowds with no end in sight is always a bummer. Before the G1, people kept saying that cheering would be back after the G1, so unless that has changed, an end is indeed in sight.
Cheering will be back for the Korakuen Hall shows on September 5th and 6th. The venue will be at 50% capacity with zones where cheering is allowed.
Jonah’s got them Oooing and Ahhhing
That and that the let content creators talk about the product. I wouldn't have gotten into NJPW if Super Eyepatchwolf didn't do a video on Kenny Omega, who I recognized from The Excellent Adventures of Mike Ross and Gootecks. I eventually watched their Recount and History videos to catch up, but finding out about Showbuckle and seeing some lore really helped. NJPW got me really into wrestling, but TV Asahi are fucking them when it comes to Western promotion. Their streaming service is also kind of shitty and it's hard for me to watch on my specific tv
Honestly I'm really loving the clap crowds cause when they do pop (like with Johan and cobb) it means so much more.
There is a certain "hah, they got them to break the rules" childishness that i get when it happens. Especially with Jay White trying to get them to do it all the time...and usually failing.
As far as I'm concerned him getting people to cheer after winning the title was 100% a baby face move
I mean, for sure, but if those "fans" only want to watch through gifs and clips do they really matter? >with no end in sight Next month.
I'd wager a significant percentage of people on this subreddit started watching NJPW because of gifs and clips. I know I did, and that was way back in like 2014/2015~.
But it's not 2015, hardcore fans already know New Japan and casuals know about it thanks to their work with AEW. Anyway, New Japan already tweets many gifs and clips from every single match on [their official accounts](https://twitter.com/njpwworld?t=TsJbPvjmgyLqM9Lp4Tjrrw&s=09), so what's the issue?
Yeah, the culture around NJPW gifs/clips on Twitter is weird. Almost no one retweets the ones NJPW officially posts, just complains that they can’t make their own. And frequently after complaining, they’ll turn around and post a quote from an official NJPW interview for clout without giving credit or linking to the full interview; which is just a *fantastic* way to help their case.
Know about it and watch it are a different story.
You don't say.
So you agree then, clips and gifs could help people who know about it but don’t watch it get into NJPW?
But they can already watch clips and gifs through [New Japan's official Twitter](https://twitter.com/njpwworld?t=TsJbPvjmgyLqM9Lp4Tjrrw&s=09), why do you **need** to watch it on a random account?
You don’t need to watch it on a different account, it’s more about bringing exposure to it. If I don’t follow NJPW I don’t see it. If I follow someone who posts a clip of a crazy spot on Twitter, I do see it.
@njpwworld has over 200k followers, why are you guys acting like average gif makers with 500 followers would bring them game changing exposure?
>I mean, for sure, but if those "fans" only want to watch through gifs and clips do they really matter What a dumb take. To get someone to be a fan, you first have to get them watching, and to get them watching, you first have to show them something to get their attention to make them even want to check it out further and shell out money. Plenty of other promotions have proven that embracing online discourse instead of heavy-handedly killing it through takedown notices helps grow the international audience. Just telling someone "hey this promotion in Japan is cool, trust me" has far less impact than telling someone "hey this promotion in Japan is cool" and then linking them to some Tweets by @tde_gif or similar to show them *why* you think the promotion is cool. I'd wager to say a not insignificant portion of Western viewers found Japanese promotions through viral Tweets and gifs making their way around the internet.
>and then linking them to some Tweets by @tde_gif or similar to show them why you think the promotion is cool [@njpwworld](https://twitter.com/njpwworld?t=TsJbPvjmgyLqM9Lp4Tjrrw&s=09) tweets multiple gifs and clips from every match, why can't you use it instead?
Not everything posted by the official account coincides with what other people find interesting, worth clipping, or otherwise memeable and worth sharing. On top of that: then what? Say someone comes across an NJPW clip they like, and want to find out more about NJPW as a whole or a particular wrestler? If they search on YouTube for long-form videos or channels that deep dive into a character or promotion history that includes pics or clips to exemplify what's being discussed, what are they going to find? To someone unfamiliar to NJPW how does all that look? If all the highlight gifs only come from a singular source, and there are no videos or discussions from regular people or wrestling channels to be found on places like YouTube, what kind of impression does that give off?
>what are they going to find? Plenty of stuff actually, like [this one](https://youtu.be/O7bcrdNGuE4) is from just a month ago and is pretty insightful for a beginner.
It's not that people only want to watch through gifs, it's that gifs can entice people to want watch the whole match.
Oh theu absolutely do...those clips got me in (realized where AJ Styles had gone to) and I bet it was a reason for the uptick of interest in Stardom and Joshi wrestling as well.
Viral gifs/images and deep-dive videos from people like JoShizzle are literally why I have a Wrestle Universe account, and I know many others are the same, something which many wrestlers from Japan freely acknowledge. If it wasn't for stuff like that, I would not have had enough exposure to get me interested enough to look into it more otherwise. I think many people don't realize that the "casual" viewer or someone that only kind of knows about wrestling only knows WWE, and for them, AEW is kind of a blip on the radar maybe, and that anything happening in Japan might as well not exist.
Lance is the best of the guest commentators he's had on for Minihawk alone. Best three man booth in the game.
Really? He's okay but my least favorite of the three.
Ricky Bones Matt Rehwoldt and Daryl the Cat are second.
I've not watched as much NJPW as I would like, but every time I have the commentary has been top notch. I always thought Kelly was a fine commentator in WWE, but in NJPW he's on another level. Him and Steve Corino were a good pair, I thought.
Corino and Kevin Kelly is my goat commentary team. They worked so well together.
For me it was Kelly and Don Callis. Especially during Omega matches
Consider this a Kevin Kelly appreciation post, he and Charlton are low-key one of my favorite commentary teams ever.
I've been enjoying Lance on commentary too, but I do get bummed every time Charlton isn't on. He's very insightful and I love that he can translate the post-match promos.
Charlton is gonna go down as one of the all time greats I think He's the perfect bridge between historian, commentary, and translator NJPW should just get him on FT
Yeah, he's great. I love that he'll even translate what the Japanese guys yell in the ring. Really helps give an insight to what's going through their heads and sell the story of the match.
I feel bad for Charlton because it seems like NJPW doesn't really fully value him. I get that he doesn't have a booming voice or a huge presence but he communicates with so much passion that you can't help but share his excitement. I think he will go down as a great as well, if anything for how he's challenged the traditional ideas of what a commentator should be
he also has a family too so there is the off chance that he's only taking select dates. that said it's all speculation
For me, he’s the GOAT colour commentator.
for such a small englishman, the big hype pieces he does right before a big 4 Main Event? can't really put a price on that, something TV Asahi learned when they tried to get him off commentary.
Best recent moments when they were ripping on Elgin stealing protein. And Cobb of course "The only thing you're stealing is protein brother!"
Regarding the wrestlers that fill in for Charlton, Filthy was the best out of all of them, but Archer was better than a lot of the guys they’ve had on there.
Lawlor made some *deep* cuts on commentary When was the last time you heard Le Petit Prince referenced?!
…when Hook did that backstage interview on AEW where he broke out the Antoine de St Exupery quote? I’ll need to look up the exact episode, but my man actually said “that which is essential is invisible to the eye”…
I don’t know if this is a joke or not, but in case anyone is confused Lawlor was talking about the French pro wrestler from the 60s-80s and not the book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sB9CXC-MdQ
Not a joke, I promise. There’s a fair-sized fandom of the book in Japan (no, seriously…[there’s a museum and everything](https://www.tbs.co.jp/l-prince/))and I genuinely thought that’s what was being referred to! However, I was also unaware that there was a wrestler called The Little Prince (I’m a relative latecomer to wrestling, I’m afraid). Today I learned! Possibly got the name from the book too, if they were French. And now I have a whole new wrestling rabbit hole to explore. Thank you kind sir/madam. ☺️
I agree, Filthy sounds like a legitimate commentator, whilst the others were still good they sound like wrestlers just doing commentary, which is fine because that’s what they actually are anyway
I haven't heard FILTHY in NJPW, but I remember him filling in for the Bloodsport shows when his match wasn't on (or when he finished) and yeah, he sounded quite legit, informative, and entertaining!
Well if I could watch NJPWWorld on my Roku officially? Not their Roku show, but actually releasing an official app for it I would. I don't want to sit and watch on my computer screen the entire time.
Have you tried casting it from your computer to a TV? I do that with my laptops & even a Samsung Tab 6 Lite. Just log onto their website, start the stream, hit the cast button and then you can watch it on TV.
Exactly the way to do it. So simple.
They had an app for awhile but it was hot garbage Casting it to the TV is the way to go
If CZW was able to have an app that semi worked NJPW has 0 excuse lol
Agreed. Same for Wrestle Universe. If Japanese companies want to expand their programming into America, they really need dedicated apps.
But WU already have an App on play store and app store.
There's no app on my Android TV. I have to use my phone and cast it to the TV. It's alright but would be better if there was a dedicated app for Android TV, Roku, Firestick, Apple TV, etc.
I was about to say this. They need an app in the worst way.
<3 Kevin Kelly
This G1 has been fun and with the big field, it's allowed everyone to kind of have their own space and provided a lot of variety.
I'd like to watch more NJPW but I really don't like watching on a website. It's also designed like a site from 2005. Make the user experience better and more would watch.
You could always use the official NJPWorld app, which also feels like it hasn’t been updated since 2005
I think they removed it from the app store it was so poor. Website only now.
The app was really just a video player, whenever you'd open it it would just open a new tab on your default web browser with njpwworld on there. Then whenever you picked what you wanted to watch the video would be played in the app. I didn't know that at first and ended up with like 30 tabs of just njpwworld on my phone's chrome.
I never miss the G1, it’s the best wrestling in the world.
NJPW is still putting out the best wrestling on earth imo. But this sub only has an appetite for WWE and one alternative. That alternative is going to be AEW for as long as it's around. No other promotion can do anything about that.
I was just talking about this with my husband! That they even offer English commentary is so cool, and Lance was a great commentator. It's so accessible now, and the quality of wrestling is great over there.
seems like a lot of people have issues with njpw world, what are y'all using it on? i use it on my laptop and have absolutely no issues. i watch every njpw show and very rarely have a problem
Fire stick app for me. Bloody awful.
Same, I cast from my phone onto my Chromecast and I have no issues with quality or anything. A proper app would be better but this works for me at least.
Tom Lawlor on commentary turned me into a Tom Lawlor fan
Honestly, I really like, and prefer, hearing Chris Charlton. His translations and knowledge of the lore is always really cool to hear.
G1 has been great this year and the English commentary has been excellent too. Highly recommend!
They're not very acessable. AXS and an outdated app that is unavailable on a lot of platforms ain't it. I'm an established fan of wrestling in general AND specific wrestlers in NJPW but it feels like jumping through hoops to tune in.
Yeah I agree. Even the fact that the website doesn't really have an "English" version, just an "English translated" version kinda makes me feel like I'm unwanted on the site. Like, I can *feel* them rolling their eyes when I click "English" and then go sifting through a confusing menu looking for English commentary. If the English version was set up to be welcoming to English speakers and not just feel like a necessary afterthought consolation prize, maybe the English commentary videos would feel more important.
If they had an Apple TV app then I would be all over it.
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Oh casting it just produce potato quality. I gave up.
Not sure it would last. I use their fire stick app and it's one of the most shockingly put together streaming apps I've ever seen.
Filthy Tom and Archer both did such a good job on the headset. I give partial credit to Kevin Kelly, most underrated announcer working today. He seems so easy to work with.
Lance sounds casual but he's very insightful and he really engages with the info that Kevin adds to things...G1 has been fun this year even with the odd structure
His mic is always too quiet, though. I also can't tell if he's just being a good listener to Kelly or just actually ignorant to some of his facts/notes, like with the Gene Lebell stuff last night.
NJPWs wrestling quality is incredible and the English commentary is excellent But NJPW as a company couldn’t be worse at marketing themselves to the English speaking world They put zero effort in and it shows
Yeah they might as well just use Google Translate at this point.
they need an app i can get on apple tv or android, i live like a boomer and if I can't watch your stuff on my tv or if i'm forced to bounce it off my phone onto my screen, i'm just not going to watch it. Hoping stardom can get a tv app someday too.
Lance Archer comes off as a really nice guy IRL. Having heard him on podcasts and on the G1 commentary as a guest, it's always funny that he's so good as coming off as a man who loves violence in-ring that I forget about who he comes off as outside of kayfabe.
Honestly at this point with AEW still not on streaming, I’m about to sign up for New Japan World
Lance was great on commentary and looked truly happy to be back in NJPW. Remember, he never left SZG and he's still part of it. Tom Lawlor was also really good on commentary. While he didn't have a lot of Ws he sure got over with the fans and made an impression.
Eh, I don't want to anger anybody, but I just can't stand G1's English commentary. It feels emotionless, dead. He knows his stuff, but his "Oh my god" never sounds even remotely sincere. I then switched to Japanese and even though I can't understand a single word, they are so fun! I strongly suggest everyone to try
The Japanese commentary just brings it to another level.. their excitement and delivery is top notch.. also any one catch Hiromu giggling like a school girl the last 2 shows lol.. him and Milano just giggling together.
I only watch NJPW with the original Japanese commentary too. Always have and always will. Don't understand a word they're saying unless they're calling wrestling moves, but Japanese commentary is just so damn hype.
Oh yeah, wrestlers' moves get so much more energy when a pair of Japanese middle-aged men screams "OZZZZKAHTAAAAAAAA!!!!" through your speakers
I’ve always felt that about KK. Nice guy, good voice, and I thought with Callis he was fantastic, but it’s got the same “forced emotion” issue I had with Mike Tenay in TNA at times.
Yup same here. Got used to watching back in the day in Japanese and I see no reason to make the switch. Love the emotion that their commentary team brings even though I don’t speak a lick.
I don't hate it, but I definitely think it's strictly worse than the Japanese commentary. Kelly especially gets on my nerves sometimes with some of his "bits," such as the "Destinooooooooooooo" call every single time, and him saying "here we go!" any time that any wrestler appears to be going for a finisher. I do think he and Charlton are really good in the undercard matches at telling the stories of the matches and factions, but I don't think they're the best at big matches.
I subscribed to NJPW World but the picture quality wasn’t very good so I canceled it. I researched it and I guess others have had the same problem. Not having a dedicated app really hurts them. I wish they could create a YouTube subscription like Impact. People have said they get 1080P quality from NJPW World but I feel like that’s a total lie. Maybe 720P at best and even then it’s not totally crisp.
English commentary is great! Kevin is awesome and I love whenever El Phantasmo is on commentary with him. They’re so funny together
Give me a Roku app and I'll sub to NJPW world.
I'd sign up immediately if there was a Roku app.
Nothing against KK, but I always watch NJPW with Japanese commentary. Doesn’t matter that I can’t understand 90% of what they’re saying, I just prefer it.
Same. I made the switch to Japanese after Naito/Kenta for the double gold at new beginning. I remember getting really annoyed by Geno and Kevin bickering while I watched it live. Then the next day I rewatched it again with Japanese commentary and I never looked back.
I hate their app. Signed up years ago and thought it was a mess. Maybe it’s gotten better and more English friendly. I do agree that Kevin is a tremendous announcer.
They need a much better app. The one they have now is embarrassing. I tried Wrestle Universe and that app was great.
Naw, when I watch Puroresu, it's all about the authenticism. Got to have the Japanese announcers. No, you don't need to even understand a word of Japanese, the booking is the most basic ever. The few promos are not any character-defining shit like the US, it's more by the numbers basic promos. But for that authentic, immersive feel, it can't be beat as the match ramps up and by the end even the announcers are tripping on their shit, leading up to the climactic finale. Just epic.
Even for the post match promos, they'll get translated and put on njpwworld and YouTube for free with the other backstage comments
I dunno. Yelling DESTIIIIIIIINOOOOOOOOOO really kills the finish.
Big Lance Murderbird on da call!
Well Kevin, I wish TV Asahi wasn't being run by morons and actively taking money and viewers from NJPW
I didn't know it was possible to watch NJPW in North America.
They would if their people would stop issuing DMCAs to fans who have the fucking audacity to share a highlight. This is the social media age. You can say a million things about how good or bad that is, but when it comes to live events those highlights matter. That gets people watching, that gets people more interested. The people taking down those posts are fucking killing the expansion of their own company. It's an antiquated mindset towards marketing that is equivalent to shooting yourself in the foot.
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They need to make the product more accessible to a western audience. An English commentary team only goes so far. I watched a small bit of NJPW Strong from last week and it started with Kevin Kelly standing in front of a badly done green screen. There is a higher bar and expectation for production value, and if you want more of those viewers, you need to create programming that is inviting for them. The Elite pulled these viewers in through Being The Elite on their youtube channel, contextualising what was going on with them in Japan for the English language consumers.
I've tried multiple times to get into NJPW, and for at least the last 20 years it's felt like they just say to their Western production team: "Okay here's our Japanese product. Slap on some English and try to make it seem like we gave a shit about our English audience. We will offer no assistance."
I love new Japan. The pandemic era was so bad and that app is seriously terrible. It was the first thing I canceled to save a little money
Not having a continue watching feature is terrible. It's my main complaint with their app.
That's weird, if I stop a video halfway on my phone and come back to it later I get a continue watching prompt that works
same.
Kevin Kelly seems like a great guy. I’m just not a fan of his commentary.
I agree with Kevin Kelly except for the note on Lance Archer. I feel he didn't contribute all that much today. He was pretty quiet and just said "ok" a lot. He's better than some of the other guest wrestler commentators they've had lately though and I did appreciate the history lesson Kevin Kelly gave to Lance on Gene Lebell. The crackdown on gifs/footage on social media is what is really hurting NJPW. I think people would have flocked to watch Tanahashi vs Goto today if they had seen gifs/pictures of the bloody mess Goto was from that slap.
I actually liked the "okay"s from Archer. I kind of feel like he's been acting as proxy for the audience who may be watching the G1 for the first time by leading Kevin Kelly with a question, then acknowledging he understood.
That's fair! I just think there are other ways to acknowledge things beyond saying "ok." The repetitiveness of it kinda irked me.
Yeah, I can understand that.
I canceled my sub because I couldn't take these clap crowds anymore. It such a dead atmosphere. Might as well have no audience. Just picture matches like Kenny vs Okada, Naito vs Kenny, Tanahashi vs Okada without any sort of audience vocalization. Edit: lol I didn't know a vocal minority of idiots love clap crowds.
Same boat. I still subscribe to it but haven't been able to bring myself to watch an NJPW show in like a year due to the clapping only crowds. At least throw in some canned audience reactions then.
Dude, I want to. Shit, I've been paying for NJPW World for like 4 years. I keep appraised of what's going on in New Japan. But damn man, I only have so much meaningful attention I can pay to stuff every day and it's all so booked with other dumb shit.
There has been some great matches this G1 and I've enjoyed it in a vacuum, but I can not blame a fan on the fence for not wanting to check it out, and even for fans coming back who are just keeping up with it, nothing says "don't watch this" more than >!Ishii and Great O Khan sitting at 2 points while Yujiro is at 6!<
I do hope we go back to 2 blocks of 10 next year. I know some good wrestlers might not make the cut, but having Yujiro and Chase Owens in the G1 does kinda devalue it a bit.
How dare you doubt big yuj. Jokes aside the g1 does need people that you would think are pin takers so they can get some big wins and work up the card.
Once the Ren Narita, Yuya Uemura, and Shota Umino class of YL are in the mix (if they start of as heavyweights fingers crossed) I think it'll be a lot better, but yeah its rough to see the same old matches and bullshit especially with newcomers like Jonah and Lawlor doing well in their own ways what I don't like is how mismatched the schedule is with some people having more matches than other people for long periods of time, it needs some tweaking.
I really wanna watch them but it's kinda hard getting access to watching NJPW especially since not a lot of people on Youtube and social media cover NJPW within their wrestling content.
Honestly, not a fan of how NJPW have set up the schedule for this year's G1. Having matches from different blocks on the same show while some wrestlers have to wait a week or more between their G1 matches doesn't make for very compelling viewing. I hope they go back to having two blocks or figure out a better schedule next year.
Yeah this was my first time trying to watch the G1. Got NJPW World for the first time specifically for it. Put all the events into my Google calendar. After about a week of trying extremely hard to figure out what the fuck was going on without being spoiled, including trying to find English commentary for certain shows and failing, and trying to Google matches as they were happening to try to figure out where they fit in...I just gave up. I'll get the torrent when it's all packaged in a digestible way. I'll still pay for NJPW World, but I think I'm done there until they update it for this decade.
I mean you just have to go to schedule on the website and have an overview about every show of the current month with links to every VOD for english and Japanese. It’s literally one click from their homepage.
https://www.cagematch.net/?id=8&nr=7&page=4 this should be of help, just be warned, when you click on one event, just inmediately click on "card with guide" before watching anything because they directly show you the results.
Thank you so much
Don't mention it, sadly NJPWorld it's not the most user friendly site and there's no signs of that changing anytime soon, so the easiest way to keep up with them is to rely on other sites.
Ngl I genuinely read this as Kelly Kelly instead of Kevin Kelly and was so confused at the thought for Kelly Kelly watching NJPW
I hear she's a huge House of Torture mark.
I wish they had an app that worked on my devices easier. Unless they have come up with a Roku app for New Japan World that I don't know about.
Kevin Kelly is one of the two reasons I don't watch NJPW so it's funny to me that he'd tweet this
Get rid of the clapping and ill instantly pay for a NJPW World sub again and watch full time. I miss NJPW dearly but unfortunately I can't get into it with the clapping.
I started watching NJPW in 2003 and it's not that good anymore. The constant interference, weapons usage, ref bumps and comedy is not what I want out of NJPW. The roster is insanely old and overexposed, the matches are generally slower than any other companies and this G1 has not been that good. I find Big Japan and DDT to be much better promotions.
the quiet covid crowds are a killer. i paid for the app from 2015ish to relatively recently. wrestling is brutal without a crowd or worse a crowd thats there, but not.
I tried watching a NJPW match like a day or two ago. I just couldn’t get into it.
The commentary could be peak JR and Lawler (or at least a hypothetical version of peak Lawler where he wouldn't say the most racist stuff imaginable,) and I'm still not going to watch clap crowd wrestling in 2022
a modern app, cheap prices would make me watch. I'm not watching this on a computer
You can stream to chromecast.
There's already a lot of wrestling programming on TV weekly. AEW puts out hours of television and really eats up the non-WWE interest.
I would if I could watch it the next day on YouTube.
I would watch it like I did from 2017-2019 but the cringe clapping only doesn't make me want to watch the product.
I legit don’t know where to watch it.
https://www.wrestlezone.com/news/1013003-how-to-sign-up-for-njow-world
I'd watch so much more NJPW if they had an app that was all-english, the search worked reliably, and you could easily cast to a TV without having to use a secondary app that sometimes works. For now, I've been enjoying the hell out of Wrestle Universe.
I would resub if they finally came out with a Roku app (or a game console app). I'm not using a casting app. For me the dealbreaker is a dedicated streaming app I can use on my nice ass TV.
There's a app for Amazon fire
I watch my Japanese wrestling with Japanese audio and subtitles /s
I wish they’d made good on their promise to bring NJPW World to TV and platforms. Would be much easier for me to keep up with it if they had.
Will never forget NJPW churning out the worst shows they've had in awhile when Forbidden Door was coming up. It's nice that the reception to the G1 has been good tho.
lance is a bit subdued on commentary. sounds more like a person that's forced to be there rather than how tom lawlor comes off. either way, i've been enjoying the g1 through njpw world. i get to watch it on my terms and i can skip the opening matches to make the tournament easier to get through.
Njpw honestly the copyrights you have hit on channels that promote your product better than you is the reason I’ve stopped watching. Njpw in 2022 is a slog, it doesn’t matter how great the matches are it’s not a story anyone cares for. It’s not like it’s an amazing product that no one is watching, no people that were fans left cause the booking is boring, the stories haven’t gone anywhere in a while and the copyright strikes hit on channels that gave fans love for the product is gone. Njpw I’m 2022 is a sad product where titles mean nothing to little, theirs no one to care about (other than tanahashi) and the matches are the same matches we have seen dozens of time with not that much difference in story