>>14905688First of all, thank you for making one of the only consistently good threads on here. Just getting that out there must be a choir.
Second, agree with you on AEW needing to fuck off from Japan. Their parasitic nature was revealed early on when DDT was tossed aside for shiny New Japan, and everything since then has only reinforced that idea. ...but NJPW is also doing a damn good job booking itself into oblivion on its own. The over-reliance on established talent wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world had they built up the younger talent on the side, had the older guys stayed around (and stayed healthy) so that they could pass on the rub. As it stands, Nak and Okada abandoned ship, Tanahashi is over the hill, and Naito is sawdusting himself to keep things afloat.
NOAH... well... I love them when they try, but they just don't try often. The sudden influx of dimeless gaijin just as they were differentiating themselves from NJPW and their foolhardy quest for USD really killed momentum. The exodus of Nakajima, the humiliation of Kiyomiya, the squandering of Kenoh, the disinterest in doing anything of note with Kitamiya and Soya... all the while the old guard are fading out. Marufuji, Sugiura, Shiozaki all on the downswing and the solution? Jake Lee? Now WWE looming... but I'm not going to worry, WWE has proven themselves to be only mildly interested in the far east. I predict a few crossover shows to prove they can work with other companies and then maybe a limited talent swap for a show or two.
AJPW finally emerging from years of safe, careful booking with a crop of healthy young talent is seemingly poised for growth. Shame they have such a daunting hill to climb as they fell so far. If they can just avoid following in the footsteps of NOAH and NJPW we might have something.
Don't care about joshi shit, so you've lost me with the Ogawa/Marigold stuff. Never cared for it, hasn't looked good since the 90's. Only care about Shirakawa's assets.
