NJPW The New Beginning 2016

The first week of January is always traditionally a busy one for New Japan Pro Wrestling given that the annual January 4^th super show, in its various guises, has taken place, without fail, every year since 1992, and the following night the promotion also now puts on New Year Dash (sort of New Japan’s equivalent of the Raw after Wrestlemania). This year however, it became a greater undertaking than usual when AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson all informed management that they would be leaving the company upon the completion of their contracts and would be taking up new positions with WWE. Suddenly, NJPW had a bunch of guys, 3 of whom held title belts, that they had to book departures for and crown new champions in the process. Luckily, Gallows and Anderson were set to face Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma for the IWGP Tag Team Titles at the Tokyo Dome, so having the Bullet Club members drop the belts was no big issue however, things were a little more complicated with regards to Nakamura’s Intercontinental Title. At Wrestle Kingdom 10, Nakamura defended the company’s secondary singles title against AJ Styles, who was also leaving, and as such, a similar switch would make no sense.

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 10

Perhaps the biggest piece of news coming out of Wrestle Kingdom 10 wasn’t the in-ring action (which was absolutely stunning) or that Kazuchika Okada finally defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi at the Tokyo Dome and cemented himself as the top star in New Japan (which he did) but instead, it was the reports of a raft of potential departures from the company and leaving for WWE in the next few months. Just hours after the two amazing matches, which ended what had been, top to bottom, a fantastic wrestling show, reports emerged that AJ Styles, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson and perhaps most surprisingly, Shinsuke Nakamura could all be on their way out of the company and are expected to sign with WWE. Those reports were not from the kind of news sources that played fast and loose with the truth and had to be taken seriously- not only that, but as the week progressed they took on a greater level of credence after what happened on New Japan’s New Year Dash show which took place the next day. Then, in perhaps the biggest surprise of all, a WWE.com article referenced the reports and hinted that, yes indeed, the company were set to secure the services of 4 of New Japan’s biggest stars. The news was so big that it was easy to forget just how amazing a show New Japan had just put on at Wrestle Kingdom 10.

ROH Final Battle 2015

After the ratings collapse that WWE suffered during the final quarter of the year and the tumultuous time that TNA have had once again over the past 12 months, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Ring of Honor had had an uneventful 2015. However, between an expansion of their offerings on traditional pay-per-view, their network television debut on Destination America, there continuing deal with New Japan and the collective challenges all of these bring both directly and indirectly, it is fair to say that 2015 was potentially the most significant year the company has had in some time. Some of the direct issues involved have meant an increased spotlight placed on their talent- essentially putting them in the shop window for other promotions to have a look at- primarily amongst those in this position ahead of Final Battle were Michael Bennett, one half of the ROH Tag Team Champions, The Kingdom, and his wife, and The Kingdom’s valet, Maria Kanellis who are rumoured to have signed a deal with TNA. Indirectly, ROH have come under more scrutiny than ever before from WWE (never likely to take lightly any slight infringement on the money that could potentially come their way, no matter how small the threat).