This past weekend, New Japan wrapped up its New Beginning series of shows with events in Osaka and Niigata, ultimately crowning a new IWGP Intercontinental champion. The New Beginning series started at the end of January, with the company’s Road to New Beginning shows, stretching out over seven nights before they arrived in Osaka on Thursday.
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Following the retirement of Bryan Danielson, we continue to reflect on his career, looking at a selection of matches from throughout his time in the ring. This week, we take a closer look at some of Danielson’s work from the Philadelphia-based group CHIKARA, primarily his appearances in the 2009 King of Trios tournament, featuring some very familiar faces!
Following the announcement on Monday that Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan has been forced to retire, it’s time to reflect on the career of the former American Dragon. Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll be going through the career of the future Hall of Famer and recapping several matches that made Bryan Danielson at his peak one of, if not the, top wrestler in the world. In this first part, I’ll be taking a look at Danielson’s first matches on WWE TV, a good 13 years before his eventual retirement, plus his only televised match in WWE developmental, and…
As a wrestling fan, one of my personal goals for this year has been to broaden my horizons away from the current-day WWE product. Whilst the in-ring product isn’t bad (and with the quality on the current roster, how can it?), the creative tied to those matches can often be deflating. So, to provide some variety, I’ll be trawling the internet and reviewing random matches from around the world (as opposed to entire shows).
January 30 marked Shinsuke Nakamura’s final match (for now) in a New Japan ring, with Korakuen Hall being the venue for his swansong. In the world of NXT spoilers, we already know that Nakamura has already sent in a video for a future episode of the show, to promote his debut on WrestleMania weekend. But first, there was the small matter of a farewell show.
So, the first pay-per-view of 2016 is in the books, and WWE has a new champion. Perhaps the biggest surprise on Sunday was that the company kept their surprises limited to two: a debut, and the new champion.
Owen Hart’s passing in May 1999 stunned the wrestling world. To the wider world, the attention came as this was the first time in a long long time that a wrestler had died without it being the traditional “wrestler’s death”. It robbed fans of a talented, yet under-appreciated performer, and caused reverberations that tore a grieving family apart.
As part of my informal new year’s resolution to be more diverse with my wrestling watching, I’ve taken the plunge and have signed up for New Japan World – the NJPW version of the WWE Network, for the uninitiated. This past Monday saw New Japan’s version of WrestleMania – WrestleKingdom 10 – and with all of the buzz around WWE’s raid of New Japan, this was as good a time as any to start.