Japanese Wrestling

[timothy26]

I'm interested in watching Japanese pro wrestling but I'm not 100 percent sure where to start

I know NJPW is the top or one of the top promotions but what else is there. can anyone give me say, the top 3 promotions?

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[BigBombB]

NJPW, AJPW, and NOAH are historically the top promotions though Wrestle-1 is starting to make a name for itself thanks to the backing of Keiji Mutoh (aka the Great Muta). If you're looking for a place to start, let me recommend a few matches to you...

Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (from February 19, 2006)
- Tanahashi is basically the John Cena of Japan, you may also know him from some of his great matches with AJ Styles, Nagata is a veteran that had a few brief appearances in WCW, this match is where Tanahashi was 'put through his paces' if you will

Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi (any)
- Devitt and Ibushi are both breathtaking, with luck we will get to see Devitt perform more great matches within WWE but he already has many great matches under his belt and few match the quality of his bouts with Ibushi

Shinksuke Nakamura vs. Shelton Benjamin (?)
- Not certain what the timeframe was but I'm sure you're familiar with Benjamin and this is him taking on one of the top stars of the modern era in Nakamura, who at one time was the greatest wrestler on the planet in my opinion

Manabu Nakanishi vs. Minoru Suzuki (October 9th, 2004)
- Two future legends going at it, a fairly basic contest that gives you a good idea of what they are both about...Nakanishi is famous for following the same workout routine that the Road Warriors did and Suzuki was an amazing MMA fighter in his time

Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa (October 31, 1998)
- If you're looking for two of the top names in Japanese wrestling history going at it then this is a must see, Misawa tragically passed away a few years ago and Kobashi was forced to retire due to nerve damage to his arm, but they will both live on forever as two of the greatest competitors in wrestling history

KENTA vs. Takeshi Morishima (March 4, 2007)
- If you're wondering what the big deal is about KENTA, watch him face one of the biggest beasts in Japan and see how insanely strong he is for his size

I think that is a good starter to give you an idea of who you want to check out and which events you may be most interested in buying

 

[timothy26]

Awesome, I'll see if I can watch some of these matches via youtube etc

I live in Australia so I'm not 100 percent sure how I would go about purchasing Japanese DVD's / PPVs - obviously I can order the DVDs online but do they make them for the english speaking market?

 

[reeta]

I got to see Extreme rules 2012, and one of the coolest things was getting to see Brock Lesnars first wwe match in 8 year. Also, watching Cm Punk's insane hometown entrance was crazy.

 

[suni40]

Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (from February 19, 2006)
- Tanahashi is basically the John Cena of Japan, you may also know him from some of his great matches with AJ Styles, Nagata is a veteran that had a few brief appearances in WCW, this match is where Tanahashi was 'put through his paces' if you will

 

[Wrestlingfan100]

Masato Yoshino- he's 5ft8 but got the build of Low Ki that makes him look smaller, he's known as the fastest wrestler on the planet and the likes of Seth Rollins( sling blade, JTG's finisher) Paige( she does a horrible version of the swinging fisherman suplex) Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns( running apron dropkick variant) have all borrowed his signature moves( front missile dropkick)

Naruki Doi- a really innovative 14 year veteran, tag teamed with both Yoshino and Genki

Genki Horiguchi- A 16 year veteran

Dragon kid- ever seen the dragonrana? he innovated it

Ryo "Jimmy" Saito- 14 year veteran

 

[Old Timer]

Are they still as crazy as they used to? Its been years I last watched but them Japanese wrestlers were absolutely crazy back then

 

[Vader]

I wish the WWE did more with Japanese and Luchadores. It was great seeing those guys on the midcard in WCW.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I wish the WWE did more with Japanese and Luchadores. It was great seeing those guys on the midcard in WCW.

At this point with the performance center and NXT being fully established now, giving the WWE 100% day in and day out control of their entire developmental and readying process for talent, you're never going to see the company enter into to any type of working agreement with any outside promotions, even ones based in Mexico or Japan.

But that doesn't mean that Puro and Lucha are going unrecognized and unutilized by the WWE.

Just check out NXT- right now their tag champs are a Lucha team, and earlier this year the WWE signed the biggest star in all of Japanese wrestling who wasn't working for New Japan.

And Hideo Itami and Kalisto will be featured prominently on the main roster before you know it(because in Itami's case there is no way he agreed to come to the WWE without some type of agreement that would insure he wouldn't be wasted in a longterm developmental stint, and in Kalisto's case its because the main roster tag division could desperately use the Lucha Dragons).

And with the growing awareness of the NJPW product and how incredible it is, as well as NJPW starting a set-up based on the WWENetwork model, don't be surprised to see WWE take them seriously as competition and perhaps sign more Japanese talent when true top guys are available.

As for more Lucha talent, it may be hard for WWE to go into Mexico and lure any top stars in the near future due to the debacle that was the Del Rio situation.