NNew Japan Pro Wrestling

Watching old NJPW again and realizing one of the things this current generation of NJPW misses is the guys who feel genuinely dangerous

  • July 4, 2025

Wether its in the early 2010s with suzuki shibata and saku or Murakami Maeda Ogawa Takada in years past theres always been that dangerous competitor (often more shoot style leanings) who brings the very best out of the current ace. I hope aaron wolf will add to that

by Tali-EvL1235

5 comments

  1. Hopefully Aaron Wolf brings out the “I’m just gonna fuckin beat the shit out of you gl” energy

  2. Yap. Watched Ibushi vs Okada WK20 after their sports entertainment match on AEW to remember how they used to do it. And man, is Ibushi a psycho at times… and that was already 2020.

  3. I would like to see Bolten Oleg just utterly murder someone. We all know he’s big and strong but he is missing that killer vibe. Maybe post-G1 he could snap on a beloved dad or something.

    A year or two ago Gabe Kidd had an amazing unpredictability about him. Not necessarily that he was an amazing shoot fighter or anything but his matches felt really exciting and must-watch to me because you never knew if you were going to get 15 competitive minutes, a high-fuckery BC cheat-fest or a before-the-bell brawl that gets the match thrown out. He’s killing it now, but by transitioning into an honourable strong-style guy he’s lost something of his edge.

  4. War Dogs feel like the type of frat boys you’d see a block or two from the bars throwing things and breaking windows. True about most of the natives tho.

  5. You can definitely tell we’re watching a generation of guys in the Reiwas that got into wrestling during the Tanahashi years more than 90s NJPW, etc. It was bound to happen due to the ages involved. And as much as I love the Ace, being the hard hitting badass was never his thing. He could do it (his matches with Nagata are brutal) but in those situations he is rising to the occasion of his opponent rather than it being his signature. Tanahashi was always more of a showmanship guy. You can tell Shawn Michaels is his favorite wrestler.

    Gabe Kidd has more classic puro influences. You can tell with the Dr. Death Steve Williams tribute gear and all of the nods to 90s AJPW in his style which is why I think he stands out among the current generation. I think the NOAH influence has helped Oiwa a bit but otherwise, I think the younger guys need to put some pepper on their stuff.

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