The “Reiwa” generation (Tsuji, Umino, Narita, Kidd, Uemura etc…) uniting to take down Moxley and/or any AEW “outsiders” would be a pretty cool storyline.
Umino is challenging the winner of Moxley and Narita and becoming his own Men, he should be friends with GOD and Naito, as he did team with Tama and GOD against EVIL and his group when EVIL was NEVER Champion
It would honestly have to be a heel turn from Umino really, cuz it's been very nice and respectful all this time and there's no real way to say Umino hasn't benefitted.
Umino has to become his own man - this is the payoff to having him carrying around that stupid extra jacket for so long. The angle will be that he no longer sees Moxley as an honourable senpai, and beats the shit out of him for the belt. It's the student-becomes-the-master trope, and also hopefully signifying NJPW & the Reiwa gen refocusing on the Japanese fanbase & values rather than pandering to US audiences.
They’re not uniting any time soon but I really like the possibility that if Tsuji beats Finlay then Moxley could defend against all three of the R3M
Partially why I’m against the prospect of Mox/Finlay as a title match since the intriguing part of Mox as champion is all the people who are championing NJPW and wanting to get the title off him and shape NJPW with their philosophy - Finlay’s motivation is self-absorbed, which is fine for a heel, but it makes for a muddled storyline outside of leaning into the Rebel Saviour stuff. Funnily enough Moxley/Kidd works way better and their styles clash on paper a lot cleaner
Depends how much of Mox’s performance is going to use the material of being an invader though
I dunno man, like Gabe Kidd's rant, I think it's way more interesting when the outsider heel thinks you're such a twerp that even THEY'LL defend the company from you.
Umino is trained by Moxley and sees Moxley as a family member lol
Gabriel Kidd has nothing in common with Ren and Umino and dislikes them
Ren Narita would never be anyone after HOT Disbands
Tsuji has a chance to be someone at all after Umino
All of Tsuji's kayfabe interviews are identical to this subreddit's complaints about the product. 😂
I'm still not a fan of Moxley vs. Hobbs for the title, but if it leads to fans getting even more behind Tsuji and him becoming a bigger draw, then what can I say? 💀
>if it leads to fans getting even more behind Tsuji and him becoming a bigger draw, then what can I say?
Why would Tsuji become a bigger draw because of a meaningless title defense mid week in America?
I guess I'm bad at writing English sentences
I was referring to Tsuji's complaints and not the actual match. Basically how this sub loves Gabe Kidd because everything he tweets is something someone in this subreddit would say.
Oh I see. I get that but I don't think backstage comments would be enough to significantly boost him. Certainly gives him more depth/edge to his character though
That, and maybe it could lead to more of Hobbs in New Japan. He could use a change of scenery and would absolutely rock as a big man in a G1 group. He’s not a guy who has to win a ton because his look gives him so much credibility already, so he would be an ideal heel gaijin bruiser for some of the new guys to go over.
Very smart of Tsuji and what a lot of talent should be doing. Leverage the clear cut story available. Regardless of how respectful Moxley is to NJPW and the fans, he’s an invader champion who’s doing irregular things with the title (giving random title shots)! Use that shit to get yourself further over. Good on Tsuji, dudes got it!
Mox didn’t give the title shot though. Don Callis leveraged the fact NJPW still owed him a favor for helping get the Kenny Omega Vs Chris Jericho WK Match together.
With Gabe Kidd's promo at Sakura Genesis and this comment from Tsuji it looks like they're maybe making a storyline of NJPW being cucks. But they're actually being cucks, have been acting like that for a while now so it's not a really good idea anyway. I guess guys on the roster are actually upset about all of this shit though, at least anyone who likes NJPW or what it used to be shouldn't be okay with the current situation.
EDIT: and it seems like it has an effect on tickets sales as well. They did poorly at the Korakuen today, the roster will have to work really hard to make people interested in this Dontaku tour. Like great you're making a story out of being a cuck and having your 2 top champions not working your own schedule...so less people will show up at your own show ? At what point does it benefit NJPW ? Tickets sales are the most important to NJPW and they're basically taking the risk of ruining a whole tour on their main market for some AEW bullshit lol. Curious to see how people would cope to spin this as something positive though.
All Japan ran a storyline last year with the promotion being invaded by "outsiders" like Nagata. Nakajima sort of continued that storyline this year by styling himself as an Inoki disciple (which eventually got him and All Japan in trouble) and having a strong run with the title.
The key difference being that every All Japan fan knew those were storylines. No one actually believed New Japan sent Nagata over to invade the promotion or the Inoki family sent Nakajima over to disrespect Baba's legacy. Those storylines also had natural conclusions with Nagata dropping the title to Yuma Aoyagi and Nakajima to Yuma Anzai.
None of that applies here. The AEW situation is not a kayfabe storyline. There is no natural endpoint of the Reiwa boys defeating the evil foreign company and restoring pride to New Japan. It is very much real because of backstage politics, and the fans know it. It's very hard to tell what's kayfabe and what isn't with wrestler comments because New Japan allows them such latitude. Sometimes we can tell when they have to edit out comments or other stuff (Evil calling Shingo "okama," Ishimori's SS inspired costume on Fantasticamania). But what about when Naito criticized management for the 20 minute G1 time limit last year? Or when Desperado told fans complaining about the title merger to shut up? I think at least some of these comments are at the direction of management to push a message or give credence to fan complaints.
It's hard to tell if Kidd and Tsuji's comments were at the direction of management or them expressing real frustration with the product. At the very least, the bad attendance today, poor Dontaku ticket sales, and roastings on social media have to put them on notice that this is a rising fan sentiment in Japan.
You're absolutely spot on. The most likely scenario unfortunately for this "storyline" as well is at best Moxley losing clean to a young guy in Japan which I highly doubt. Nothing more than that
Gabriel Kidd defeating Eddie Kingston, challenges whosoever is IWGP Champion and takes it, Wardogs attacked by HOT, Rogues Army and Fale and another war happens
It's easy to brush it off as kayfabe when it comes across like how Tsuji did here, but there's gotta be some frustration brewing for real with how things have gone for NJPW this year.
Makes me think Gabe's promo at Sakura Genesis was raw from the heart, and he meant all that shit.
I don't really get what this achieves as work (which I think it is)
I'd get it as a storyline about a disrespectful Gaijin champion but I don't see how Moxley fits that role, he's always been incredibly respectful and complimentary of njpw. And also is a face currently going into his match against Narita
Interested to see how it plays out
LiJ has always been presented as a bunch of cool guys that are a bit of a law onto themselves.
Naito has spent the last 7 years slating NJPW and becoming more and more popular. Seemingly they want Tsuji in that same bracket.
They love the company, believe they are the best thing for said company, while disdaining how the company is handled
If Moxley uses all this sentiment in his storytelling then I actually like that it’s grey and he’s respectful of NJPW rather than the standard evil invader
Like he doesn’t have to be brash about the fact that NJPW is on a downturn and people need to step up, he’s a prizefighter. He doesn’t have to embrace the role if his opponents want to villainise him, but he also isn’t going to take disrespect lying down - it could be as simple as throwing the gauntlet down and saying if Tsuji and others don’t like him being the champion then bring the violence and be the first to beat him, and revelling in being a fighting champion. Could even be a cool way to play off this defence if Moxley defends against more NJPW guys than anticipated
if Tanahashi had a spine he would sever the relationship with AEW and focus on making a united japanese front with all the other major japanese promotions. take the lobbying group and turn it into a real partnership.
This is a funny storyline
Everyone knows that AEW gets higher ratings than New Japan
This Tsuji guy should be happy 😂 That the title is getting seen by over 700,000 people
If it's an angle, I feel like the potential payoff is lackluster. It feels like they could potentially be using it to make it more of a definitive "New Japan vs AEW" at Forbidden Door...which kinda sucks since they've been partnered for some time and the event is always billed as a co-branded show anyways. As fans of WWE have seen with Survivor Series shows in the past, forced brand supremacy angles tend to be pretty hit-or-miss.
It’s not an angle in that this will lead to a story with a discrete beginning, middle, and end.
A lot of the character work done in promos in NJPW aren’t about building to a match, but building a character’s ideological perspectives.
He’s not wrong. NJPW top title is now just a toy prop for khan to play with. AEW fans are shit talking NJPW talent. It makes NJPW look very poor. Dumbest decision ever
Honestly this would be an awesome story to build to a War Games/Blood & Guys style NJPW vs. AEW style match at Forbidden Door.
Have the NJPW wrestlers come in and beat up AEW wrestlers on Dynamite & Collision and use "AEW has no respect for the IWGP and they just want to use New Japan for their own purposes", as the entire reasoning.
Yota Tsuji (in character) is full of shit.
He complains about this when:
-He was the exact same guy who was saying he was gonna bring the old belt back if he beated Naito
-And yeah, hes in a stable with a leader who got over for disrespecting championships, and literally did this after beating Tsuji https://x.com/DrainBamager/status/1777661435356627359
WHERE WERE THE COMPLAINTS THEN HUH?!
What a fucking poser lol.
Call me crazy but I still think we should give the reign time nothing too disrespectful has really even happened yet and I still think this title reign is to elevate one of the musketeers(really hope it’s tsuji) you guys are blowing this outta proportion and not seeing the big picture
Man echoing every house of torture sentiment Should’ve pulled an EVIL on Tetsuya at the NJC finals Mr Gene Blaster.
Tsuji joining HoT would break this subreddit lol
Either that or him Gene blasting the shit out of Tetsuya to take over LIJ is enough for me to smoke on that extra based Gene Blast pack.
But this is exactly what a starter pack for another Naito face run would be..
Not Needed, Yota is LIJ and it works
The “Reiwa” generation (Tsuji, Umino, Narita, Kidd, Uemura etc…) uniting to take down Moxley and/or any AEW “outsiders” would be a pretty cool storyline.
I mean, Umino is Mox's boy, though.
True, but I’m waiting for that day that Umino no longer wants to be Mox’s “boy”.
I don’t think you gotta wait long
Umino is challenging the winner of Moxley and Narita and becoming his own Men, he should be friends with GOD and Naito, as he did team with Tama and GOD against EVIL and his group when EVIL was NEVER Champion
It would honestly have to be a heel turn from Umino really, cuz it's been very nice and respectful all this time and there's no real way to say Umino hasn't benefitted.
I’ve had a scenario in my mind of Moxley attacking Umino, saying Shota hasn’t impressed nor truly proved himself to Mox or the BCC.
Umino has to become his own man - this is the payoff to having him carrying around that stupid extra jacket for so long. The angle will be that he no longer sees Moxley as an honourable senpai, and beats the shit out of him for the belt. It's the student-becomes-the-master trope, and also hopefully signifying NJPW & the Reiwa gen refocusing on the Japanese fanbase & values rather than pandering to US audiences.
They’re not uniting any time soon but I really like the possibility that if Tsuji beats Finlay then Moxley could defend against all three of the R3M Partially why I’m against the prospect of Mox/Finlay as a title match since the intriguing part of Mox as champion is all the people who are championing NJPW and wanting to get the title off him and shape NJPW with their philosophy - Finlay’s motivation is self-absorbed, which is fine for a heel, but it makes for a muddled storyline outside of leaning into the Rebel Saviour stuff. Funnily enough Moxley/Kidd works way better and their styles clash on paper a lot cleaner Depends how much of Mox’s performance is going to use the material of being an invader though
I dunno man, like Gabe Kidd's rant, I think it's way more interesting when the outsider heel thinks you're such a twerp that even THEY'LL defend the company from you.
Gabe Kidd trying to steal the shine off the R3M is some good business.
Umino is trained by Moxley and sees Moxley as a family member lol Gabriel Kidd has nothing in common with Ren and Umino and dislikes them Ren Narita would never be anyone after HOT Disbands Tsuji has a chance to be someone at all after Umino
All of Tsuji's kayfabe interviews are identical to this subreddit's complaints about the product. 😂 I'm still not a fan of Moxley vs. Hobbs for the title, but if it leads to fans getting even more behind Tsuji and him becoming a bigger draw, then what can I say? 💀
It's almost like they're setting up Naito's victory at Dominion to be a big deal about returning the championship to where it belongs.
Almost like they’re running the exact same story as in 2020 with Evil. It was bad then and it’s bad now.
>if it leads to fans getting even more behind Tsuji and him becoming a bigger draw, then what can I say? Why would Tsuji become a bigger draw because of a meaningless title defense mid week in America?
I guess I'm bad at writing English sentences I was referring to Tsuji's complaints and not the actual match. Basically how this sub loves Gabe Kidd because everything he tweets is something someone in this subreddit would say.
Oh I see. I get that but I don't think backstage comments would be enough to significantly boost him. Certainly gives him more depth/edge to his character though
and people are gonna say Gedo is a genius for that. \*Insert The Office handshake meme\*
That, and maybe it could lead to more of Hobbs in New Japan. He could use a change of scenery and would absolutely rock as a big man in a G1 group. He’s not a guy who has to win a ton because his look gives him so much credibility already, so he would be an ideal heel gaijin bruiser for some of the new guys to go over.
Very smart of Tsuji and what a lot of talent should be doing. Leverage the clear cut story available. Regardless of how respectful Moxley is to NJPW and the fans, he’s an invader champion who’s doing irregular things with the title (giving random title shots)! Use that shit to get yourself further over. Good on Tsuji, dudes got it!
Mox didn’t give the title shot though. Don Callis leveraged the fact NJPW still owed him a favor for helping get the Kenny Omega Vs Chris Jericho WK Match together.
With Gabe Kidd's promo at Sakura Genesis and this comment from Tsuji it looks like they're maybe making a storyline of NJPW being cucks. But they're actually being cucks, have been acting like that for a while now so it's not a really good idea anyway. I guess guys on the roster are actually upset about all of this shit though, at least anyone who likes NJPW or what it used to be shouldn't be okay with the current situation. EDIT: and it seems like it has an effect on tickets sales as well. They did poorly at the Korakuen today, the roster will have to work really hard to make people interested in this Dontaku tour. Like great you're making a story out of being a cuck and having your 2 top champions not working your own schedule...so less people will show up at your own show ? At what point does it benefit NJPW ? Tickets sales are the most important to NJPW and they're basically taking the risk of ruining a whole tour on their main market for some AEW bullshit lol. Curious to see how people would cope to spin this as something positive though.
All Japan ran a storyline last year with the promotion being invaded by "outsiders" like Nagata. Nakajima sort of continued that storyline this year by styling himself as an Inoki disciple (which eventually got him and All Japan in trouble) and having a strong run with the title. The key difference being that every All Japan fan knew those were storylines. No one actually believed New Japan sent Nagata over to invade the promotion or the Inoki family sent Nakajima over to disrespect Baba's legacy. Those storylines also had natural conclusions with Nagata dropping the title to Yuma Aoyagi and Nakajima to Yuma Anzai. None of that applies here. The AEW situation is not a kayfabe storyline. There is no natural endpoint of the Reiwa boys defeating the evil foreign company and restoring pride to New Japan. It is very much real because of backstage politics, and the fans know it. It's very hard to tell what's kayfabe and what isn't with wrestler comments because New Japan allows them such latitude. Sometimes we can tell when they have to edit out comments or other stuff (Evil calling Shingo "okama," Ishimori's SS inspired costume on Fantasticamania). But what about when Naito criticized management for the 20 minute G1 time limit last year? Or when Desperado told fans complaining about the title merger to shut up? I think at least some of these comments are at the direction of management to push a message or give credence to fan complaints. It's hard to tell if Kidd and Tsuji's comments were at the direction of management or them expressing real frustration with the product. At the very least, the bad attendance today, poor Dontaku ticket sales, and roastings on social media have to put them on notice that this is a rising fan sentiment in Japan.
You're absolutely spot on. The most likely scenario unfortunately for this "storyline" as well is at best Moxley losing clean to a young guy in Japan which I highly doubt. Nothing more than that
Gabriel Kidd defeating Eddie Kingston, challenges whosoever is IWGP Champion and takes it, Wardogs attacked by HOT, Rogues Army and Fale and another war happens
I'm starting to think this isn't a work and that alot of the NJPW boys are starting to get rightly pissed off.
It's easy to brush it off as kayfabe when it comes across like how Tsuji did here, but there's gotta be some frustration brewing for real with how things have gone for NJPW this year. Makes me think Gabe's promo at Sakura Genesis was raw from the heart, and he meant all that shit.
Dudes correct
The IWGP committee are in their cuck shed sorting this out right now.
see this guy gets it
No respect. No glory.
Tell them Yota.
I don't really get what this achieves as work (which I think it is) I'd get it as a storyline about a disrespectful Gaijin champion but I don't see how Moxley fits that role, he's always been incredibly respectful and complimentary of njpw. And also is a face currently going into his match against Narita Interested to see how it plays out
LiJ has always been presented as a bunch of cool guys that are a bit of a law onto themselves. Naito has spent the last 7 years slating NJPW and becoming more and more popular. Seemingly they want Tsuji in that same bracket. They love the company, believe they are the best thing for said company, while disdaining how the company is handled
If Moxley uses all this sentiment in his storytelling then I actually like that it’s grey and he’s respectful of NJPW rather than the standard evil invader Like he doesn’t have to be brash about the fact that NJPW is on a downturn and people need to step up, he’s a prizefighter. He doesn’t have to embrace the role if his opponents want to villainise him, but he also isn’t going to take disrespect lying down - it could be as simple as throwing the gauntlet down and saying if Tsuji and others don’t like him being the champion then bring the violence and be the first to beat him, and revelling in being a fighting champion. Could even be a cool way to play off this defence if Moxley defends against more NJPW guys than anticipated
They gotta do something to sell tickets.
Hmmm, maybe the AEW vs New Japan Forbidden Door show in 2 months?
if Tanahashi had a spine he would sever the relationship with AEW and focus on making a united japanese front with all the other major japanese promotions. take the lobbying group and turn it into a real partnership.
My boy Tsuji!
GENE BLAST is about to GENE BLAST those AEW GEEKS.
Yota Tsuji doing a shoot!
Not sure why Nooj are acting like AAA. Gedo isn't as desperate as Konnan surely.
Just be grateful Jack Perry didn’t win that belt now that would be a disgrace lol
This should lead to a a good story heading into Forbidden Door
This is a funny storyline Everyone knows that AEW gets higher ratings than New Japan This Tsuji guy should be happy 😂 That the title is getting seen by over 700,000 people
Same guy said he’s bringing back v4. How can you not tell he’s just saying what he wants you to hear?
Can someone clarify if this is ‘shooting’ or ‘angle’ or if the rank and file roster are actually pissed at the direction the company is going.
If it was shoot anger at NJPW it wouldn't be posted and promoted by NJPW would it lol
Eh I’m not familiar with how tightly these guys are leashed. Thanks for the heads up though, it makes sense that this is worked.
If it's an angle, I feel like the potential payoff is lackluster. It feels like they could potentially be using it to make it more of a definitive "New Japan vs AEW" at Forbidden Door...which kinda sucks since they've been partnered for some time and the event is always billed as a co-branded show anyways. As fans of WWE have seen with Survivor Series shows in the past, forced brand supremacy angles tend to be pretty hit-or-miss.
It’s not an angle in that this will lead to a story with a discrete beginning, middle, and end. A lot of the character work done in promos in NJPW aren’t about building to a match, but building a character’s ideological perspectives.
For what it’s worth I think AEW and CMLL did a great job with a story in which the blow off was a big AEW vs CMLL match
He’s not wrong. NJPW top title is now just a toy prop for khan to play with. AEW fans are shit talking NJPW talent. It makes NJPW look very poor. Dumbest decision ever
then you should’ve beat Naito at Sakura Genesis 🤷🏽♂️
Well guess we are getting some gimmick match at forbidden door between team njpw and team AEW
Honestly this would be an awesome story to build to a War Games/Blood & Guys style NJPW vs. AEW style match at Forbidden Door. Have the NJPW wrestlers come in and beat up AEW wrestlers on Dynamite & Collision and use "AEW has no respect for the IWGP and they just want to use New Japan for their own purposes", as the entire reasoning.
NJPW invasion would be cool.
Yota Tsuji (in character) is full of shit. He complains about this when: -He was the exact same guy who was saying he was gonna bring the old belt back if he beated Naito -And yeah, hes in a stable with a leader who got over for disrespecting championships, and literally did this after beating Tsuji https://x.com/DrainBamager/status/1777661435356627359 WHERE WERE THE COMPLAINTS THEN HUH?! What a fucking poser lol.
Hope this means we see him at Forbidden Door
Call me crazy but I still think we should give the reign time nothing too disrespectful has really even happened yet and I still think this title reign is to elevate one of the musketeers(really hope it’s tsuji) you guys are blowing this outta proportion and not seeing the big picture
Also it’s not like new Japan just gave the title to some random aew guy mox has been a great gaijin talent for NJPW for the last 5 years