{"id":1340,"date":"2017-07-05T18:26:51","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T18:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/new-japan-pro-wrestling\/"},"modified":"2017-07-05T18:26:51","modified_gmt":"2017-07-05T18:26:51","slug":"new-japan-pro-wrestling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/new-japan-pro-wrestling","title":{"rendered":"New Japan Pro Wrestling Finds Success in First U.S. Venture, Organizers Promise More"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"njpw\"<\/p>\n

Wrestling fans enjoying some combat theater during New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Special at the Long Beach Convention Center on Sunday. Photos by Steven Crighton.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Japanese professional company\u2019s offering can best be described as combat theater, as athletes elbow drop, headlock and dropkick their way through matches with predetermined outcomes. It\u2019s similar to the more mainstream WWE, though with more emphasis on in-ring performance and a harder-hitting presentation referred to internally as \u201cStrong Style.\u201d<\/p>\n

While based in Japan, New Japan boasts a global roster, with stars like \u201cThe American Nightmare\u201d Cody Rhodes, the British submission specialist Zack Sabre Jr., and Japan\u2019s own Kazuchika Okada, the company\u2019s heavyweight champion.<\/p>\n

\"njpw2\"<\/p>\n

NJPW’s heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada (and one of their biggest stars) looks out to fans Sunday night at the Long Beach Convention Center. He was on the winning side of an eight-man tag team match.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sports journalist Dave Meltzer said Sunday that the event, held at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, was the promotion\u2019s first step towards a more long-term circuit in the United States that would launch in 2018.<\/p>\n

In the spirit of a more long-term stay in the States, fans saw the crowning of the promotion\u2019s inaugural IWGP United States Champion, \u201cThe Cleaner,\u201d Kenny Omega.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou made this show,\u201d Omega announced to fans through labored breaths after coming out on top in a nearly 35-minute long battle with \u201cThe Stone Pitbull\u201d Tomohiro Ishii, the event\u2019s final match. \u201cNext year, New Japan\u2019s coming back, and it\u2019s going to be bigger and better than ever. And as long as we\u2019re piloting the ship, we will rule the wrestling world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"njpw3\"<\/p>\n

Hiroshi Tanahashi, NJPW’s intercontinental champion. He defeated former WWE star Billy Gunn to retain his title.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Canadian-born Omega, who has allegedly passed on contract offers from the WWE that could have earned him millions a year, will likely be a main attraction as the company hopes to gain a more mainstream U.S. presence.<\/p>\n

The event drew about 2,350 fans each night, ticket sales show, though tens of thousands more were able to watch the event through New Japan\u2019s personal streaming service. Meltzer said that across two separate offerings, tickets for the event sold out within 14 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"njpw4\"<\/p>\n

From left to right: Dragon Lee, Volador Jr., Juice Robinson, and Jay White preparing for a 10-man tag battle, which they won. Fans were particularly enthusiastic about Juice\u2014or, at least, enthusiastic about chanting his name.<\/em><\/p>\n

While the organization briefly paired with World Championship Wrestling in the 1990s to put on a show at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, Meltzer said it was the first distinctive U.S. event in the organization\u2019s history. Despite the newfound beachhead, Meltzer said it\u2019s unlikely the presence of New Japan will be a major thorn in the side of the larger WWE.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it should be a cause of concern for WWE, because WWE is so established and there is too much of a gap in interest in knowledge,\u201d Meltzer said.<\/p>\n

Meltzer, who\u2019s well respected in the professional wrestling world for his knowledge and coverage of the sport, was minorly featured in the event himself. The tag team The Young Bucks hit a special variant of their finishing maneuver, \u201cThe Meltzer Driver,\u201d in honor of Meltzer\u2019s father Herbert, who passed away Sunday. The high-flying outside-the-ring move was met with raucous approval by fans in attendance.<\/p>\n

New Japan owner Takaaki Kidani said in a statement that he considered the event a \u201chuge success,\u201d and would like to launch a dojo for the promotion as early as next year. Meltzer said that even if the promotion doesn\u2019t immediately return to Long Beach, fans in Southern California shouldn\u2019t have to wait too long for a repeat performance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long Beach hosted New Japan Pro Wrestling\u2019s first venture into the United States in the company\u2019s 45-year history this weekend, serving as the location of a two-night sold-out event that drew fans from all over the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":66769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[714],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-wrestling","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1340"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=1340"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}