![]() ![]() Kenny Omega sometimes closes a show with a promo and he speaks Japanese and English. Recently, however, the English commentary team has been provided with a translator to help with this. Yeah, their bigger, pay per view calibre shows often end with a promo. In fact, we only really get them from one or two guys at the end of bigger shows. Thankfully there are precious few promos on NJPW shows anyway. In terms of promos then yes, the language barrier can be a disadvantage. Granted I do prefer having the English commentary, but not understanding the Japanese guys is not as big a turn-off as I initially thought it would be. The wrestlers communicate using their body language so it’s easy to follow the story of the matches. Thankfully, most of the matches are of a good enough quality to hold my attention despite not being able to understand the commentators. While I don’t understand what the Japanese announcers are saying I can still pick up the cadence of their speech so can, at least, understand the emotion they are trying to convey. For some of the smaller shows there is no English commentary, so this does take a bit of getting used to. So, with these shows there is no language barrier, in fact the English commentary is really rather good. Kelly is usually joined by a colour commentator, usually Don ‘The Jackyl/Cyrus’ Callis. On the odd occasion we get Jim Ross, but that’s only happened once while I’ve been watching. However, NJPW’s more frequent surroundings are often more modestįor the big shows (and some smaller ones too) we get English commentary provided by former WWE announcer Kevin Kelly. Wrestle Kingdom certainly looks familiar to WWE fans… Speaking of hearing things, it makes sense to address the language barrier here. In my six-ish months of watching I have yet to see a single backstage segment and could count on my fingers the number of in-ring promos I’ve heard. This carries through into every other NJPW show too. There seemed to be no time for musical performances, fireworks, celebrity guests, in-ring promos or backstage skits. Wrestle Kingdom was wall to wall wrestling matches, with every New Japan Title being defended. The fat also appears to have been trimmed compared to Wrestlemania too. There’s no duelling chants or fans trying to draw attention to themselves in NJPW. they sit quietly and enjoy the action but make a bit of noise for the big spots or when the match reaches a climax. In reality, Japanese crowds act exactly like me when I’m at a show i.e. One of the immediate differences for me, however, was the first thing that strikes many a western fan the quietness of the fans. It very much reminds me a slightly nicer version of the ECW Arena. Korakuen Hall appears to be NJPW’s home arena and it doesn’t even have a proper entrance for the wrestlers. Pretty much every other show is held in a fairly modest, by WWE standards, venue. This type of grandeur is not the norm though. There’s even a pre-show battle royal for the guys not booked on the main show. The elaborate entrances, giant set, massive crowd and sheer length of the show are all comparative. Wrestle Kingdom is often referred to as the Japanese version of Wrestlemania, and rightly so. Like many new fans, the first show of my NJPW World subscription was a Tokyo Dome show and what a show it was. So, rather than obtain an illegal download of the show – which I would never do, obviously – I signed up for New Japan’s version of the WWE Network, NJPW World, with the expectation that I’d watch Wrestle Kingdom and probably cancel my subscription before my second month began. I’d heard of Shinsuke Nakamura before he arrived in NXT, check me out! However, other than the previous years’ Wrestle Kingdom, I had never actually watched an entire NJPW show before January 4 th 2018. Having all but turned off from WWE completely, in January I decided that I’d give NJPW a shot to see what it was like.Īs a reformed ‘smark’ – I hope I’m reformed anyway – I already had a basic understanding of Japanese wrestling. Over the last two or three years I have gradually turned away from WWE, for reasons that could probably fill another post. I did also partake in a healthy dose of WCW while dabbling with ECW and ROH. Like most people my age, if you like wrestling then WWE is probably what you grew up on. To apply some context, I am 33 years old and have been a fan of wrestling ever since I was a kid. Today I share my first impressions of NJPW, what I like, what I don’t like, what is different and what is the same when compared to WWE. ![]() Having exclusively watched American professional wrestling for most of my life I have held a NJPW World subscription for almost six months now. It is said that more and more wrestling fans from outside Japan are gravitating towards New Japan Pro Wrestling, and I am one of them. ![]()
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