New Japan Pro Wrestling may not have the footprint in the United States that it should, but it is incrementally changing as the days and weeks go by. (Current pandemic notwithstanding.) The one main item that it seems that NJWP does better than most, if not all, then the other professional wrestling promotions is producing exciting tournaments.
One of the most exciting has been the NEVER Openweight 6-man Tag Team Tournament (Summer Struggle 2020). Considering that NJPW utilizes factions (think MMA teams but in pro wrestling) it allows fans to cheer for a favorite faction (team) just like in other team sports. Now that’s a very general statement and the reasons for using factions is a little more nuanced than what I can explain in this article. (Might be a topic for a future article.)
This tournament began on the 6th and will take place over 4 nights at the venerable Korakuen Hall. The teams are set up as follows:
L.I.J. (Los Ingobernables de Japon):
- Shingo Takagi
- BUSHI
- SANADA
Suzuki-gun:
- Minoru Suzuki
- El Desperado
- DOUKI
- Zack Sabre Jr.
- Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- Taichi
CHAOS:
- YOSHI-HASHI
- Tomohiro Ishii
- Hirooki Goto
- Toru Yano
- Kazuchika Okada
- SHO
Bullet Club:
- Yojiro Takahashi
- JADO
- GEDO
As we can see not all the factions are fully fleshed out. Part of this is because some of the factions are missing their gaijin (foreign) members and/or they are participating in other programs. Other faction members are involved in other feuds within the company. Overall, though there is enough depth in this company that booking is still very solid.
If you don’t have a subscription to New Japan World now is the time to jump on board with the best wrestling promotion on the PLANET! Go to http://www.njpw1972.com/ and subscribe. This is wrestling as it is supposed to be.
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