So, I consider myself fairly well versed for someone who's never followed Japanese wrestling on a consistent basis. I probably know enough to pass a course on Puro History 101 based on stuff I watched with a friend who was a tape trader before the YouTube days.
Nevertheless I found myself in a discussion the other day with a guy who thought IWGP and NJPW were different companies. I likened it to the days from before WCW left the NWA for good. Even though that's not 100 percent accurate, it's about the closest thing we've had in the US to a wrestling promotion having a sanctioning body that wasn't just the company itself.
Anyway, this brings me to my main question… how does NEVER fit into this equation? In kayfabe and in real life.
My understanding is that NEVER started as a tournament designed to bring guys from outside of New Japan on to NJPW cards. Which isn't unlike how the IWGP got started in the 80s. But now, like IWGP, NEVER is its own sanctioning body from within New Japan?
Also, how does STRONG fit into this equation? I know that's the name of a NJPW TV show, so I always assumed anything branded with STRONG was essentially a TV title. But then I see that there's also a NJPW World Television Championship that also appears active.
So is there any real difference between IWGP, NEVER, STRONG, and NJPW… in kayfabe or in real life? Is there a hierarchy of prestige between any of the branding?
Because while I understand that the IWGP World title is generally seen as the top prize in New Japan, what about the secondary titles. Is, say, the NEVER Openweight title more prestigious than the IWGP Global tilte since the later is the top singles prize with its brand and the Global title is clearly secondary to the IWGP World?
Can anyone here help me make heads or tails of all the different title brands?
by urine-monkey