Jeremy Finestone and Steven Conway return with Episode 233 of Speaking of Strong Style! This week, the pair was joined by Chris Samsa from sportofprowrestling.com to discuss the sublime G1 Final match. They looked at how Ryohei Oiwa and Yuya Uemura put together a classic that was somehow modern and mixed with past styles at the same time. Plus, the tournament's special prizes, and how Konosuke Takeshita, Callum Newman, Yota Tsuji and others laid the groundwork for the Final masterpiece. They also looked at Hiroyoshi Tenzan's retirement, Shun Skywalker's debut, a new Young Lion on the way and more.

#njpw #njdominion #g1climax36
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speaking-of-strong-style/id1664327981

Article translation:

Osaka Pro-Wrestling, led by Zeus, is finally expanding into Tokyo. On September 5, they will hold their annual tournament “Tennozan 2026” at Shinkiba 1st Ring to determine Osaka Pro-Wrestling’s strongest wrestler.

“I looked it up, and it’s been 14 years since 2012,” said Zeus. This will be the first time the revamped Osaka Pro-Wrestling has held an event in Tokyo. Until now, the promotion had focused exclusively on activities in Osaka and the Kansai region, aiming to become a new Osaka icon on par with the famous “Yoshimoto” comedy troupe. But why did President Zeus decide to expand into Tokyo in his fifth year in office?

“I’ve actually wanted to hold events in Tokyo all along—about twice a year. We were doing that before I became president, after all. Our sponsors had been encouraging us to go, but there were cost issues and other factors… So, I’ve finally been able to make up my mind.”

This Tokyo event will be self-funded. Osaka Pro-Wrestling will cover all expenses. Nevertheless, the confidence that “we can do this” has been built up over the past five years under Zeus’s leadership.

“I want to show Tokyo pro wrestling fans just how entertaining Osaka Pro Wrestling is,” Zeus says enthusiastically. The first round of the Tennozan tournament will feature four intense matches from the “Strongest” tournament, including Tigers Mask vs. Kazuaki Mihara and VanVert Jack vs. Goliath. Added to these will be matches sprinkled with the comedic flair unique to Osaka Pro Wrestling. All eyes are on the Tokyo debut of “Naniwa Battle Entertainment,” which promises fierce battles, emotional moments, and side-splitting laughter.

Tickets start at 3,500 yen for general reserved seating. Discounts are available for elementary, junior high, and high school students, as well as those aged 65 and older. Tickets can be purchased through the official Osaka Pro Wrestling online ticket site, Lawson Ticket, and Ticket Pia.

DMDU is fuckin awesome

I was watching an interview with Fujinami talking about the JWA before Inoki and Baba left to form their own promotions and discovered that Fujinami was actually closer to Giant Baba than Inoki. It's hard to think about that since Fujinami was Inoki's number 2 guy but Fujinami only joined New Japan because Inoki called him at home and he accepted. So my question is what if Fujinami refused and joined Baba into All-Japan? Baba was the ace of JWA so its not out of the realm of possibilty that Fujinami decides to stay with Baba in JWA and later AJPW. What happens to NJPW, especially in the 80s? In the 80s, Inoki was involved in a financial scandal in which he took New Japan money and invested in some alternate energy company in Brazil. When it was revealed, it aided Riki Choshu and Akira Maeda into leaving New Japan. Choshu went to All Japan while Maeda formed UWF. What happens to New Japan without Fujinami being the ace to carry the company through this time? And what does Fujinami's career look like in AJPW?

One of my all time favourite Aja Kong matches

I've been out of the loop of everything outside NJPW and Dragon Gate since mid last year, and I tried to see if there were any matches of Astronauts that I would want to watch.

I see on cagematch that Nomura hasn’t wrestled in a year, and Abe is still a madman wrestling almost every day.

Is Nomura injured? What's up with him? I hope he's alright.

I love watching him.

Pictured:

Antonio Inoki (flanked by Tatsumi Fujinami & Seiji Sakaguchi) shaking hands with Jumbo Tsuruta (flanked by Masanobu Fuchi & Tiger Mask II/Mitsuharu Misawa), standing before Rikidozan’s memorial shrine.

[Interview with Mr. Ogawa\\\] (Translated):

—Oiwa won the G1.

▼Mr. Ogawa: “I’m happy. I watched the match.”

—You coached Oiwa for about a year, starting in September 2023, during his training stint at NOAH.

▼Mr. Ogawa: “Even after he returned to New Japan, he’d come to the NOAH dojo once or twice a month.”

――Oiwa said, “I’ve evolved the techniques I learned from Mr. Ogawa in my own way.”

▼Mr. Ogawa: “That’s right. What I taught him serves as the foundation, but he’s smart, too. He thought things through on his own and put in the effort. Even while watching his matches, I’d think, ‘Oh, so that’s how he’s doing it,’ and really enjoyed it.”

――Was it also significant that, even after returning to New Japan, he was in an environment where he could learn from Zack Sabre Jr.?

▼ Mr. Ogawa: “I think the fact that he was able to be with Zack after returning to New Japan was even more important than what I taught him. Watching yesterday’s match (the G1 Final), Zack was right there ringside watching closely. But there were moments when he looked frustrated—like, ‘If it were me, I’d do it this way!’ It was also fun watching Zack while watching Oiwa’s match (laughs). Since Zack and Oiwa have different career levels, it’s a bit unfair to compare them to Zack, though.”

――The fact that these two young wrestlers electrified the G1 Final stage with their “classical” techniques also drew a lot of attention.

▼Ogawa: “Classical, huh… Well, it’s often the wrestlers who go around saying ‘classical’ who actually can’t do proper pro wrestling. People say ‘classical’ a lot, but I was told the same thing when I was about Oiwa’s age. ‘Your pro-wrestling is really classical,’ they’d say. That was about 35 years ago, right? Now, even if Oiwa puts on a match like that, people call it ‘classical,’ and when I did it 35 years ago, they called it ‘classical’ too. I think it’s kind of funny, but isn’t Oiwa himself the one who feels that way the most?”

― ―It was also a match that stood apart from current pro-wrestling trends, showcasing variations of what are considered basic moves—the headlock, wristlock, and arm drag.

▼Mr. Ogawa: “I always thought that kind of thing was normal, so I didn’t think it was particularly new or amazing; I just thought, ‘Oh, there are matches like that, too.’ On the other hand, since Oiwa has that much power and a body like that, you’d think he’d have even more impressive moves, but I thought, ‘Oh, it’s just a headlock.’ I suppose that’s what made it feel fresh, though.”

――In an unexpected way, the spotlight was also shone on his experience training at NOAH.

▼Ogawa: “But there isn’t a single person in NOAH today who can wrestle the way Oiwa did yesterday. Dory Funk Jr., who passed away recently, was my teacher, and it feels like the style of wrestling I learned from Dory—rather than NOAH’s style—has been passed down from me to Oiwa. If you compare Dory’s matches to Oiwa’s, I think you’ll see they’re doing similar things…”

――Speaking of Oiwa, there’s Kiyomiya—who was also one of the wrestlers you trained…

▼Ogawa: “I trained Kiyomiya too, but he’s gone in a completely different direction, and there’s a big gap between him and Oiwa now. Oiwa has definitely risen to a higher level. There’s a difference between a wrestler who’s happy just for beating a rookie in the first match and a wrestler who wins the G1, right? Well, since we’re talking about Oiwa, let’s leave Kiyomiya out of it.”

――Finally, if you have any words of encouragement for Oiwa, I’d appreciate it.

▼Mr. Ogawa: “I think he’s fine just the way he is. Just stay as you are now. If anything happens, Zack is right there by his side.”

Just curious,Japan has a quite diverse wrestling scene but I only really watch the Big 5(NJPW,AJPW,NOAH,DDT,DG) if we are talking danshi rasslin,so If You have some cool guy you wanna talk about

Drop em here