It's strange because I think New Japan thinks to appeal to the US they have to become more like an American wrestling promotion. The funny thing is I don't think anyone wants this. I think fans in the US like New Japan for how different and unique it is compared to American promotions. I don't think their Japanese fan base wants this at all. You already have Jay White and Gedo then they straight up clone that dynamic with evil and togo and there in the same faction.
Yeah they obviously have room to grow internationally and they should 100% try to squeeze what money they can out of expanding the market, but adapting to western "sports entertainment" crap would be the death of the company. Westerners don't want that from NJPW and the Japanese fans certainly wouldn't go for it either.
Fortunately, if interviews are to be believed, they have big voices within the company like Naito and Tanahashi pushing back on this.
Don't forget about KENTA vs Kojima - both guys obviously wanted the match, or NJPW would have gone with Finlay or somebody as a replacement for Juice imo. About a decade ago they were both on top of their respective promotions around the same time and they never had a chance to wrestle each other. And it's definitely Kojima's last singles match in the Dome, he's going to go all out. I think it's going to be stiff as fuck. This match is being slept on.
You're right I feel like quite a few matches that aren't certified bangers on paper could be show- stealers:
Kojima/Kenta for all the reasons you listed.
Evil/Sanada has a ton of potential if Togo gets tossed early.
Tanahashi/Okhan because Tanahashi is still one of the best workers in the company and Okhan needs the boost after a pretty shitty first few months.
high five, I'm invested on some level in every single match besides the JR HW tag match but even with that I hope they just let Despy run riot after his Star making
Match with Hiromu. He deserves so much more than where he currently is I hope this WK is the start of a push even if he'll always being second fiddle so long as Hiromu stays a Jr HW
And yea the Jado, Dick Togo stuff is awful. It's absolutely terrible. Gedo less so as everyone knows he's the booker top man so he should be aligned with the promotions top heel. That said, can't wait till Jay drops all that BC nonsense , he can fully stand on his own he doesn't need it at all
Despy should be the yin to Hiromu's yang. Those two should rule the division together and keep building that rivalry.
I've heard Jay was a great face during his excursion, but didn't see it for myself, so here's hoping he's as good face as he is heel.
I feel like "Fans are sick of the BC interference" has been a thing for almost as long as I've been watching NJPW (6 years wow), can't imagine it stopping now lol
There's definitely a sweet spot with it. Heels should run interference occasionally, but even a huge NJPW slappy like myself can admit they took it wayyyy too far this year with Gedo, Jado, and especially Togo.
