So in the wake of Wrestle Kingdom 9, full with GFW presented English broadcast, Japan and its NJPW promotion has received praise from not only die hards but new fans alike. We hear now of people turning down western contracts in favor of the indies and working NJPW and Dragon Gate. My question is, has Japanese wrestling reached the pinnacle of the sport and is Puro the place to be?

At this point with sponsors and such, I would much rather work New Japan over the restricted WWE contracts where you are told what you can have. Matches seem to go better, and booking is a lot better. With the english broadcast about to go on, I think they have finally put some heat on WWE.

Thoughts

I'm not yet done watching it all, just finished the Kenny Omega match, it's some good stuff, but let's not get crazy. I mean when it comes down to it Japan was always respected as a place of wrestling and all that so it's not like it got anymore immortalized in that sense, and when it comes to the average person I doubt people are going to convert to it in mass and become WWE big. Personally, I'm still going to stick with Lucha Underground as my destination for wrestling, WK 9 is going great and I'd be done by now if not for some things getting in the way so don't think I'm knocking it, but something about the atmosphere, characters and visuals aren't as epic as Lucha to me, and Lucha and it both wrestling, so for my style I go that direction and if someone like me isn't jumping onto Japan wrestling I doubt the average fan will either.

Oh don't get me wrong, from a personal stand point I've always been a Lucha guy. Since ECW/WCW days I've been a Lucha Libre fan and always will be over everything. I just think from an unbiased look, NJPW getting an english broadcast brought A LOT of new viewers in and got their attention against the stale WWE product of now.

I think NJPW got a lot of attention, but I doubt many wrestling fans will start converting. Epic show but I they're going to have to do more than that to actually keep viewers.

Lucha Underground FTW

We really need to see the PPV buys before we can evaluate how well they did, but from what I've seen on social media, they did a great job in getting viewers. The show delivered as expected, obviously.

Agree with AA about the PPV buyrates. They sought of serve as the mechanism as to how much NJPW is progressing, if they are accumulating viewers by an adequate amount. NJPW, technically, has been around the edges of immortality for many years, because if you compare some wrestlers and matches to the WWE, they play the aggressive fold, and they certainly exhibit a lot of great caliber movesets. They may not be at their maximum peak just yet, even after WK9, but they are soon going to elevate higher.

No NJPW is not immortal it could die someday. Japan has generally always been better wrestling than WWE so really nothing has changed. If they have more fans good for them. NJPW is the place to be if you appreciate that wrestling style. If you want mic skills Japan is not the place to be imo. If you want lucha, well you can watch Dragon Gate but that's a little different(in a good way imo) so pure lucha fans will want to stick to AAA, CMLL, and IWGP. Also LU for Americans but again that's a little different(again in a good way). So to answer your question if Japan is the pinnacle of wrestling and the place to be, I'd say no and sure if that's what you're into.

I don't think any company is immortal. Well, maybe the WWE but WK9 was amazing nonetheless. i fucking love Nakamura and Okada.

TLA wrote:

No NJPW is not immortal it could die someday. Japan has generally always been better wrestling than WWE so really nothing has changed. If they have more fans good for them. NJPW is the place to be if you appreciate that wrestling style. If you want mic skills Japan is not the place to be imo. If you want lucha, well you can watch Dragon Gate but that's a little different(in a good way imo) so pure lucha fans will want to stick to AAA, CMLL, and IWGP. Also LU for Americans but again that's a little different(again in a good way). So to answer your question if Japan is the pinnacle of wrestling and the place to be, I'd say no and sure if that's what you're into.

This. But you know I would like to point out that wrestling in general is starting to hit a boom period or at least getting there now for other companies that aren't WWE. Like for example ROH is becoming bigger than it was six years ago. But the one thing that I liked about NJPW is the commentary basically being in english at least . I always felt that NJPW was always one of the places to be other than the WWE.

Ryan Savage wrote:

TLA wrote:

No NJPW is not immortal it could die someday. Japan has generally always been better wrestling than WWE so really nothing has changed. If they have more fans good for them. NJPW is the place to be if you appreciate that wrestling style. If you want mic skills Japan is not the place to be imo. If you want lucha, well you can watch Dragon Gate but that's a little different(in a good way imo) so pure lucha fans will want to stick to AAA, CMLL, and IWGP. Also LU for Americans but again that's a little different(again in a good way). So to answer your question if Japan is the pinnacle of wrestling and the place to be, I'd say no and sure if that's what you're into.

This. But you know I would like to point out that wrestling in general is starting to hit a boom period or at least getting there now for other companies that aren't WWE. Like for example ROH is becoming bigger than it was six years ago. But the one thing that I liked about NJPW is the commentary basically being in english at least . I always felt that NJPW was always one of the places to be other than the WWE.

That's not exactly a "boom period." WWE ratings have hit record lows this year. TNA is on a lesser network. There are growths for some companies in North America, but at the end of the day, there was no growth for WWE and 2014 was one of the worst years in the company's history. The same can be said for TNA. The only difference between the two companies is that TNA has been putting on a very solid product, so if they continue to do so, the sky is the limit. However, I do think we can be aiming towards that. I see something brewing with the birth of Global Force Wrestling and bringing foreign products to the North American market. I'd like to point out that wrestling outside of America has been going through a boom (England and Japan). There exists potential for wrestling to grow, but WWE needs to do something fresh or another company has to reach a status where their revolutionary product will be brought to the public eye. Why? Because they're the only company that can do something different and actually catch the eye of the public Lucha Underground is great, but it does not have the platform. WWE has the platform, but they need to get their heads right.

Nothing will change IMO.

From a talent side of things, the WWE was only I suppose the "promised" land for a short while, namely during the Attitude Era where basically anyone of any build had a chance to be successful. There's a reason why someone like Kenny Omega isn't a megastar in the 'E and that's simply because it's not for him. I'm sure there's western talent from the 90's and early 00's who went to Japan because WCW and the WWE/F weren't for them. Talent turning down the WWE nowadays is only made so public due to the access of information we have. 

From the fan side of things, GFW bringing in foreign content is great, exposing more content is excellent but you're talking about one or two shows per promotion with commentary. Basically what I'm saying is that while WK9 is the talk of the town, how many fans watched New Years Dash? Of those fans, how many are going to watch New Beginning? Osaka and Sendai? Fact is without English commentators those new fans who were introduced to the product through GFW won't stick around. It's the polar opposite to why disgruntled fans who do nothing but bitch and moan regardless still watch the WWE and to a lesser extent TNA. I predict come Wrestlemania when the wrestling world shifts to the WWE despite it's poor quality, NJPW will be once again forgotten until the next time GFW decides to get involved. Same goes for CMLL, same goes for AAA.

Just my take on it.

Jamie O'Hara wrote:

Nothing will change IMO.

From a talent side of things, the WWE was only I suppose the "promised" land for a short while, namely during the Attitude Era where basically anyone of any build had a chance to be successful. There's a reason why someone like Kenny Omega isn't a megastar in the 'E and that's simply because it's not for him. I'm sure there's western talent from the 90's and early 00's who went to Japan because WCW and the WWE/F weren't for them. Talent turning down the WWE nowadays is only made so public due to the access of information we have. 

From the fan side of things, GFW bringing in foreign content is great, exposing more content is excellent but you're talking about one or two shows per promotion with commentary. Basically what I'm saying is that while WK9 is the talk of the town, how many fans watched New Years Dash? Of those fans, how many are going to watch New Beginning? Osaka and Sendai? Fact is without English commentators those new fans who were introduced to the product through GFW won't stick around. It's the polar opposite to why disgruntled fans who do nothing but bitch and moan regardless still watch the WWE and to a lesser extent TNA. I predict come Wrestlemania when the wrestling world shifts to the WWE despite it's poor quality, NJPW will be once again forgotten until the next time GFW decides to get involved. Same goes for CMLL, same goes for AAA.

Just my take on it.

Agreed 100%. The only way for a boom to occur in America is for a company to come up with all the necessities (money) that a big company needs. In the 90s, it was WCW. You also need national television, and I'm not sure how much of a demand there is for wrestling on television nowadays. Oh, and I'm talking major networks, too. El Rey isn't that, so if you can't reach that big of an audience, you can't start a boom.