There’s a somberness in the air.

These two with similar energies

“Is your belt in the room with us right now?”

SHO is so based

loooool

Where's your title you little shit!

wtf is SHO doing lmao

Two emotional farewells. Five singles matches ranging from solid to strong. One final Naito-Okada exchange which was perfect. Great stuff.

Beautiful ending. Kinda saved the show imo. That main event was... rough, to say the least.

We went from Naito vs Hiromu, to Naito vs Desperado and now Naito vs SHO Can't pretend that I'm excited about it

Naito’s not in great shape, and a SHO match is one he can take it easier in. It’s not super exciting, but I get it.

I mean I understand why they are doing it, but if Naito isn't in great shape, and will probably never get back to a great one, then maybe he shouldn't be the top champion anymore

They need Naito to be champ because Okada and Ospreay are gone and the only other big time Heavy draw they have is Tanahashi, and he’s in even worse shape. Who gets the title isn’t just about work rate. I bet they’ll ride the Naito train as long as they can, and honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if he holds the belt all the way until WK19.

I feel like he might drop it at some point this year and get it back let’s say after the G1. Get him a break from those main events and just have him ready for WK

Honestly that ending alone made it worth Naito winning for me. Chelsea Green said it best. I love SANADA, but he does need something for the fans to latch on to beyond his "gift". Just being an incredibly handsome talented man can only get you so far.

Chelsea Green said that?

[Paraphrasing, but yes](https://youtu.be/qlGjvw6npoM) Not in reference to SANADA specifically if that was confusing

Now would be a perfect time for him to go on a big character arc

That was a perfect send off

okada now off to join chase U

\*Formally join Best Friends

Formally joins the best friends...at Chase U as exchange students.

we're not flinching!

Chris cannot even pretend to be excited for Sho vs Naito

That was awesome. They probably just did that on the fly too, just to fuck around.

Them fucking around is better than 80% of wrestling

Lads I loved that between naito and okada

That's an ending !!!

Kazuchika Okada has left the building

One last time for the road

😭

ha ha

I love you so much Naito

Naito does a little trolling

YEAH FUCK HIM UP

That's the perfect end for Okada 😂

KICK HIS ASS NAITO!!

ahahahahahahahah the fucker learned from Muto's 'final' final match

Get him, Naito.

I KNEW IT

SHO shithousery at the anniversary show was safer given that if Despy targeted Naito’s legs his knees wouldve exploded in real time.

Okada in the black shirt and the shorts is how i wake up

Liked the match a lot (even though it was slower than Paul Wight racing against a torpedo). Not really convinced on that finish though. Wonder what's next for both guys. Will be weird to see this SANADA out of the IWGP world title picture.

After what feels like 7,000 years The New Beginning tour comes to an end. See y'all next time folks! And maybe some in the Elimination Chamber thread

Doing over 5k at Hokkaido is really really good

Fuck me okada is already in tears

Naito's next challenger is the winner of NJC, right? No reason for anyone to interrupt.

No....HoT? What is this.

There's the Cup next so I guess it make no sense to build a match now Edit: Forgot that Naito was facing SHO at the Anniversary show

One last dance?

These two have the weirdest chemistry. Thought WK was just a fluke but it happened again.

Takagi/Taichi still match of the night

I'm just counting the seconds till House of Torture because you know its fucking coming

Naito's poor knees are dust. He needs people to base for him a lot more these days for things like the tornado DDT and the Destino because he can't go up the way he used to, hence the late botches.

Nah, IC title smashing Naito is the best Naito

G1 Briefcase naito vs Hirmou was .... pretty great too

Those last few minutes were hilariously bad

well time for elimination chamber

The last stretch was pretty tense - I enjoyed it even though it was getting shaky

If you told me Naito legit pinged his head on that top rope sequence and was a bit loopy, I’d believe you

Naito's greatest skill is probably his ability to construct these situations where his back is against the wall, he's the ultimate underdog, and he just squeaks out of it. The G1 this year was the perfect example of that

It's why he doesn't stay at the top for very long. He's so damn good at having people latch on to his chase. See also: Sami Zayn, Johnny Gargano

Hopefully Naito and SANADA stop wrestling each other now. Their chemistry is horrid these days. And Naito is too banged up to try these complicated sequences.

Naito is cooked, put the title on Yano already

yano is cooked (drunk). Put the title on Taguchi

My dream of okada and naito bickering for 5 minutes to close out the show lives on for now

Never been this split about a Match. I kinda loved how hard they had to fight for every move and how they keeped grappling for position but i also believe that mainly happened cause they didnt know what is next. Liked the WK Match more but still a good one.

Not gonna lie, Naito looked rough as hell.

sanada got knocked out and it fucked the finish - this is twice they've had very good matches that have fallen apart

Wonder if someone got injured

thank god Sanada carried this, Naito is so cooked

Both of them looked cooked ngl

Damn wasn't expecting a rollup finish Hoping for SANADA to win the G1 then. Got a bit weird at the end but otherwise solid match

And now Okada is going to cash in his "i'm leaving with the title brother" contract

Good save at the end. Overall better than the WK match

nah, no way someone with eyes can say that.

Yeah, their WK match also went totally off the rails and got sloppy, but this one was even worse than that. No chance it's better than WK.

cmon new japan, let’s get Tsuji to be the new ace

I was getting a little scared after that last shining wizard

Thank god, they had me fooled for a second there at the end

the hell

They kind of lost control of the match at the end there but I'm thrilled about the result

but that was the point right. Chris charlton is selling it as that's naito's veteran advantage, he can adapt and overcome despite the botch. Not a gameplan wrestler.

Hahahah he escaped that cheeky bastard

Meh

OH THANK GOD

NAITO RETAINS!!!

Got a bit sloppy at the end, but very cool finish

omg thank goodness

Their WK match was starting to get a bit sloppy but idk about this one. These sequences are are a bit too complicated

Yeah, Naito is just not built for these complicated sequences anymore, especially ones that involve stability

Oh the Tsuji counter

this got rough

Naito seems to be a little lost.

Two really bad botches in a row there

Am I the only who’s thinking a lot of this is really off?

Their Wrestle Kingdom match also had weird botchy sequences

this is falling apart. This happened during their WK match but it felt like a real struggle between them, this just seems bad

Unfortunate botches but these guys are working around them well

sanada sucks man i don’t care

Naito with these botch recoveries showing how important the brain is here

So was SANADA supposed to land on his feet on that Destino?

Getting a little sloppy here

this is getting sloppy

wtf at that sequence

There being a botch but Naito immediately going into Valentia so they can discuss the next move is pretty smart

Sanada doing a great job as a base here for Naito.

Oof, that was rough

Enjoying this more than the kingdom one possibly

Really good sequence there

I just love how good the LiJ boys (and ex) are with eachother. They work great

It legit feels like the crowd is split 50/50 and I love it

Stupid sexy Sanada strikes again!

That was inventive. Was half expecting Naito to be gushing after that

Is this clown going to do a moonsault

The End in Skull End refers to the end of his braincells

SANADA 🤝 Master Wato Pure babyfaces that absolutely want to break your neck

That was disgusting holy shit

Fuuuuuuck that top rope thing SANADA just did

just absolutely nasty sequence

Is this going to be the naito narrative going forward. Me eye

stop stop he's already dead

Naito not being *tranquilo* at all

That looked brutal

[Look how they massacred my boy](https://www.reddit.com/r/njpw/s/yAX3a9AypT) He's a Young Lion again now lol

Mofo could probably rock a bowlcut, he's handsome enough tbf

Sanada gives me 2005 Randy Orton vibes.take that how you will

I think it's an apt comparison. Both are crisp as hell in the ring, extremely good looking and very safe. But at times they can also be seen as kind of slow/boring, and they won't really be producing 5 star matches on the daily. SANADA just lacks a super over finisher

SANADA has very nice teeth

NAITOOOO NA I TO

Goddamn, who's this lady who can't stop screaming 'Naito' all the time? My ears are bleeding

First time?

Kennyyyyyy~

Shinnnnnnss keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Machineguuuuuun~~

i refuse to believe he was ever that popular lol. ​ (i know g1 finalist i know)

It was a joke. Fuck KA

Mattttooo

It’s probably a few of them rather than 1

Paradise lock early. Good. Every match is better with it

First time I'm watching NJPW live in a minute.

Same here. East coast time. I didnt even catch most of wrestle kingdom live this year. Stacked card.

Everybody that won a championship at Wrestle Kingdom already lost it, Naito in danger time

Holy shit Naito/SANADA chants clashing Love to see it

EVIL kid is back

Gedo always likes to go full hog on his ideas so since they pointed out everyone who one at WK already lost their titles - I'm terrified for Naito here!

https://preview.redd.it/8592cmezuhkc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=56c9cfca9ff5d00d270ad5b4d8afc9dcfb44bb34 *”Its SANADA shock time”*

Screenshot for future use!

Yeah but the rule is to always inverse gedo and if I expect gedo to screw naito, does that mean, the inverse is he...wont?

it's very fitting that both of these guys are Muta stans because they both walk like their knees are made of chalk

I love SANADA but guy isn't the best at hiding his emotions That said I can't tell if he looks like he's about to cry because he's about to win or because he's about to lose so either way

If SANADA wins I'm not sure what he does next. Tsuji again? House of Pancakes again? With Naito I feel like there's more. House of Pancakes at first probably, Moxley in Chicago would be more exciting with the belt I feel, ZSJ, Tsuji openly stating he wants the belt while apart of Naito's faction

Idk Sanada I think ZSJ soon surely, or someone strong like Cobb.

If Naito wins, I see Narita winning NJC If SANADA wins, I see Tsuji winning NJC In either scenario, I also see Zack or Finlay winning NJC. If they really want to push SANADA as a babyface, they should probably avoid Zack and Tsuji. No way he gets booed against Finlay.

This is SANADA's best look but It'd do him well to look like he cares at all, walking out like he's knackered lmao

The man of 1 facial expression

I miss weird dyed beard Sanada. Current Sanada just looks so sad all the time :c

That's just SANADA, his favorite artist is Morrissey after all

That's how he looked back then too, the beard just hid it better

Ngl, I wouldn't be surprised (or against it) if SANADA wins. Dude even brought out a remixed version of his theme song.

I got scared with that intro, glad they didn't change his awesome theme

I thought SANADA's theme sounded a bit different. LOL.

Okay fuck me that's a really good remix to his theme Now I'm leaning towards SANADA winning lol

Hoooooooold up, heavier SANADA theme?

New SANADA intro? Oh boy I hope Naito isn't in danger here...

Remix? Honestly kinda cool. Or at least the beginning was

:'( ​ I'm kind of sad with either outcome here. I want Naito to have a long reign, but i want Sanada to also win. fuck.

I know most are expecting Naito to win but this match is legitimately 50/50 for me The immediate rematch is pretty suspect for me - it feels like they just wanted to give Naito his moment and then continue pushing SANADA to the top of the card to replace Okada. SANADA has one huge thing going for him - he is immensely handsome. Regardless of your thoughts on him, they clearly want SANADA to succeed (as do I). They could have easily have SANADA face Ospreay or Finlay but they chose to put him against Naito again. Naito's career is winding down and the R3M are rising up; if they want an Okada-esque character at the top moving forward as the R3M + Uemura push forward, SANADA seems to be the only option currently. That said, it's Naito lol and he could retain based on that alone. Then again, he's Naito and he could lose the title based on that alone.

I'm in the minority but I like SANADA and have no issue with him being pushed. However, I think Naito losing so soon would be a bad move. Gedo's gonna Gedo though so...?

SANADA is popular, though I do agree English speaking audiences don't tend to be very fond of him. And he's not at Okada/Tana/Naito popularity even in Japan, though I think he's capable of getting there. I'm not sure about Naito dropping the title immediately either, but hey I'm fine with it being to SANADA.

Yeah, he just isn't flashy enough in-ring or a big enough personality for westerners I think. I've never really been into flashy types so he works well for me.

I’m a Naito fan, but I’d be happy with either guy as champ.

Yes but like you forget Gedo's number one rule: ​ Naito must suffer.

That’s number 2, number 1 is that Goto must Suffer

No he just doesn't think about goto at all. He actively punishes naito.

"The best I can do is beat you up under 5 minutes, give or take" Okada to Tsuji, probably

https://preview.redd.it/b1cbnrvkthkc1.png?width=1153&format=png&auto=webp&s=ee367ade81b4f8f491c719850d5dd23a7bdc27b2 Maybe the emperor can comfort Yuya in these times of despair with his own harrowing experience all those years ago.

Yuya is already wearing the red & yellow dude, now he'll have the haircut to match, brother

That's what happens for leaving Joe Hendry.

He was forced out by the Feast or Fired contract. It wasn't his fault!

Okada's genes have been marked for blasting

Just catapult Tsuji to the main event scene already, he is the complete package

Tsuji with that true Ace shit

Okada is gonna tuck that away and pay that receipt to Yota when he gets back

That rainmaker Gonna have some sauce on it

He’s gonna let that one marinate for a few years and it will taste awesome

Live Rainmaker Reaction :

TELL HIM TSUJI

yeah, Okada is not done at all with NJPW.


Yota now has a career long rivalry. This is only the beginning...a NEW beginning 

What did Tsuji say?

he told Okada he's disappointed in the way he's leaviing the company.

"Are you happy? Are you satisfied with leaving the company the way you're doing? I'm disappointed in you."