Introduction to NJPW

Hi guys,

For me, New Japan Pro Wrestling has to be one, if not, the best company in the world for giving us amazing wrestling content. With the introduction of their streaming site NJPW World, more worldwide shows and English commentary (from the AMAZING Kevin Kelly) on most of their shows, it’s becoming a massive rival for other massive companies. But, when I started watching it a while back, the whole format was really confusing because it was so different from what I was used too.

So, in the lead up to Wrestle Kingdom (which is the biggest show/s of the NJ calendar year), here’s a beginner’s guide to New Japan Pro Wrestling (Shin Nihon Puroresu) for anyone who wants to watch NJPW but has no idea where to start.

History

New Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in 1972 by wrestling legend Antonio Inoki after he left the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance promotion. Inoki put himself as the star of the company and drew on the experiences of foreign wrestlers (Gaijin’s) like the British Bulldog, Karl Gotch and Bob Backlund and their championship belts were the company’s primary source of talent.  In 1983, Inoki decided to move away from this route which led to the creation of the International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) and a yearly tournament to crown the best wrestler in the world. The list of the first champions included the Hulk Hogan, Inoki and Andre the Giant. 

In 1987, after the success of these tournaments, Inoki decided to give the winner a title and thus the IWGP Heavyweight champion was born. Since then, the company’s grown with more titles and even bigger events like the famous G1 Climax and the yearly Wrestle Kingdom at the Tokyo Dome. Fast forward to 2019 and, by drawing some of the biggest names in both Japan and America and creating their own talent in the NJPW dojo (and now the LA dojo) and putting on shows with wrestling at its core, NJPW is bigger and more successful than ever before!

Divisions and Titles

Let’s now get onto the fundamentals of NJPW because that’s probably why you’re all here! Even though the structure of NJPW looks similar to other companies in the way that it comprises of two main divisions (Heavyweight and Jr Heavyweight) which each have their own set of wrestlers and titles, that’s really where the similarities end. WWE have separate weekly shows and the superstars only co-exist on PPVs but, because NJPW’s divisions are based on weight classifications, not ‘brands’, you’ll see wrestlers from both divisions competing on the same shows and within the same matches, especially if they’re tag matches. Even though it can all get a bit complicated, here’s a brief overview of New Japan’s divisions and the different titles!

Heavyweight Division

Like any top wrestling company, NJPW has its top title for their divisions and that’s the IWGP Heavyweight Championship! Although there’s technically no weight requirements for this belt, everyone who challenges for it has to be in the heavyweight division and it’s really up to the wrestler on which division they want to be in. Some wrestlers in the heavyweight division, like Kota Ibushi and KENTA, could actually be in the Jr division if they wanted too but have chosen to be in the heavyweight division. Like I said, the whole concept of divisions can get a little bit confusing but all you need to know is that the wrestlers in the heavyweight division are normally the more stereotypically ‘bigger athletes. 

The IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt has been held by 29 wrestlers over 72 reigns including the likes of Antonio Inoki (the first champion), Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura who are known worldwide. The current champion is the Tetsuya Naito who won the title back from EVIL at Jingu Stadium.

The other top prize in the heavyweight division is the IWGP Tag Team Championships. The belt is a must-have for any heavyweight tag team and the list of former champions includes the likes of The Steiner Brothers, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura, Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer/ Davey Boy Smith Jr), Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows and War Machine (Hanson/ Rowe). The belts are currently held by Suzuki Gun's Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr and TAICHI) who beat Golden Ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi) at Dominion this year.

We also have some titles that look similar to other companies like the IWGP Intercontinental Championship which was created in 2011 and the IWGP United States Championship which was only introduced in 2017 as part of a US expansion plan! Both titles were first won in tournaments with MVP as the first Intercontinental champion and Kenny Omega beating Tomohiro Ishii to become the first United States champion. One thing to note is that, unlike the heavyweight or junior heavyweight belts, both of these titles don’t technically have a weight classification. Even though all of the champions have been heavyweights with Tetsuya Naito currently also holding the IC belt as part of the historic double gold dash that started in January. Although inactive at the moment due to the pandemic and other obligation, Jon Moxley is the current US champion. However, who’s to say that’ll always be the case?

Junior Heavyweight Division

New Japan also has the Jr. Heavyweight division which is similar to the concept of Cruiserweights in other promotions. Here, only wrestlers under a specific weight, which in NJPW’s case is 220lb (100kg), can compete for the Jr titles. Like the Heavyweight division, the Jr’s have two separate belts that they can go for. 

The main title is the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship which was first held by Shiro Koshinaka in 1986. Former champions include some of the most famous wrestlers in the world like Jushin Thunder Liger, Prince Devitt, Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega. Whichever wrestler holds the belt is the best the division has to offer and the benchmark for people to reach. The title is currently held by Bullet Club's Taiji Ishimori who beat Hiromu Takahashi at Jingu for the title. Sometimes overlooked for the Heavyweights, it is a belt that's had to fight for the prestige its got and the place it's getting too on the cards of some of the biggest shows of the year, especially this year!

The other title is the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship and, apart from the weight limit of 220 lb, it’s pretty much the same as the heavyweight titles. The current holders are Suzuki Gun's El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. They join the list of former champions like Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley/ Chris Sabin), Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega/ Kota Ibushi) and The Young Bucks (Matt/ Nick Jackson). Even though the Jr Tag division is much smaller and uses talent from other promotions in the Jr Tag League, it is still strong. However, with the pandemic and injuries, it may be seen as a lot weaker than it once was.

I think NJPW has the best Jr division in the world utilising their talent amazingly as well as those from CMLL, ROH and many more!

NEVER Openweight

One big difference in terms of the titles in NJPW is the NEVER Openweight and 6-Man Tag Championship. Created in 2010, the NEVER Openweight title was meant to be for up and coming talent but ended up being held by bigger names in the company. 

The title is now known more for its openweight classification which means that both Heavyweights and Jr Heavyweights can challenge for them. After always being held by heavyweights, Will Ospreay beating Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom makes him the first Jr to hold the belt. Although the title has been known for changing hands a lot, former champions like Minoru Suzuki, Shibata and Tetsuya Naito have all added prestige to the belt. However, after more changes than any title, the current champion is Shingo Takagi. After his first reign was cut short by Suzuki, he has it back and will hopefully hold it for a long time. 

The other NEVER belt is the Openweight 6-Man Tag Team titles which are similar to the Ring of Honor World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. The belts are won in matches where each team has 3 wrestlers challenging and, because of its openweight classification, both Jr and Heavyweights can be in the teams and challenge for the titles. It was first held by Toru Yano and the Briscoe Brothers who beat the Bullet Club at Wrestle Kingdom 10. The current champs are the CHAOS team of YOSHI HASHI, Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii. The trio won the vacant titles after Los Ingobernables de Japon relinquished them. 

Other

New Japan's newest and most unpredictable title has to be the King of Pro Wrestling trophy. Introduced earlier this year by Okada, the title is won by a match with a stipulation chosen by the wrestlers. For most of the year, the winner will only be provisional. If you hold it at the end of the year, you will be that year's official winner. It has already had some chaotic matches and, being held by Toru Yano, I don't expect that to change anytime soon.

New Japan also has links with Revolution Pro Wrestling in the UK and is very much in the picture in regards to the Rev Pro Heavyweight title (which is currently held by Will Ospreay) and the Rev Pro Cruiserweight title (which is currently held by Michael Oku). Both titles are regularly defended at New Japan shows and a number of title changes have also happened during NJ shows. 

Schedule and Streaming

Unlike companies, such as WWE and ROH, who have weekly shows and then big PPVs at certain times of the year, NJPW is very different. It works on tours, big shows at the end of certain tours and then a few big, solo shows throughout the year. The tours work pretty much the same every year which makes it easy to plan your time around the NJPW tours which have a set number of shows over a block of dates. 

Wrestle Kingdom always happens in January and the only change this year is that it's over two dates rather than one. It is always followed by New Year’s Dash (where big stuff normally happens) and then the calendar starts. We’ve got a ton of tours throughout the year that ranges from The New Beginning in February, New Japan Cup in March and then tours like Sakura Genesis, Dontaku, Best of Super Jr, G1 Climax, Destruction, Power Struggle and World Tag League. 

These will either just be normal tours or a lot of the times tournaments for a specific trophy. Some of these are preceded by ‘Road to’ shows which are build-ups for the more important tours/ shows such as Power Struggle, Dontaku and Sakura Genesis. We then have one-off shows which are stand-alone shows which include the NJPW Anniversary show, Dominion and King of Pro Wrestling. Even though it feels really full-on, compared to other promotions, it’s a lot more spread out and comes in chunks of events rather than a specific schedule. 

Obviously, this year has been a little bit different. However, after Wrestle Kingdom 15, things will hopefully start to return to normal.

Like most wrestling promotions, NJPW has their streaming site NJPWWorld which not only streams the shows live but has matches dating back to the start of the company. The streaming site is amazing in the fact that the shows are put on demand straight after the show ends. Just a note, not all of the shows are broadcasted, especially in terms of some of the smaller house shows and a few of the tournaments function on a video on demand (VOD) basis. This means that they are put up a few days later. NJPW doesn’t overload you with shows, but they make sure that you always get to watch the most important ones. 

Also, with a lot of the shows having English commentary, it’s even easier to watch your favourite wrestlers. With Kevin Kelly at the head of the table, every show is made even better because he combines experience, charisma and knowledge. Kelly knows everything about every wrestler and just makes it so much easier to follow, especially as a new fan - I don't know what I would've done without him. 

Alongside Kevin, you never really know what line up you’re going to have with commentary. Normally, you'll have the amazing Rocky Romero (with some Chaos bias) or Gino Gambino (with Bullet Club bias) joining him. We’ve also had the likes of Chase Owens, Tiger Hattori and so many others. I also can’t forget to mention everyone’s favourite wrestling historian Chris Charlton. Alongside in-depth wrestling commentary, Chris has some really interesting bits of history and, for a historian like me, I love nothing more than hearing about the company’s past and how it links to certain matches. 

Credit: @azucarRoc on Twitter (Rocky Romero)

Like I said, not all shows have English commentary, but I don’t even mind watching the Japanese commentary because it’s a great way to learn the language and they’re so passionate - so watch them if you can and there’s no English. Whether it’s Shinji Yoshino, Shinpei Nogami or my favourite Milano Collection A.T, there will normally be a familiar face wrestling face on commentary with them and, unlike English commentary, it really could be anyone from Okada, Tanahashi, Yoh or even Kanemaru.

It’s also very reasonably priced at 999 Yen which is about £6/7 or $9 which is not a lot considering the show quality and the amount of content you get! We’ve then also got the NJPW YouTube channel which posts all the post-match comments with English subtitles the day after the show. This is so important because NJPW is a wrestling company that focuses very little time on promo’s, so they’re all left to these clips and some of them are pure gold! 

Factions

So, now that we’ve got the basics of NJPW done, it’s time to look at one of the most important aspects of NJPW: Factions! Even though other companies have had their famous factions, I think that the one thing that makes NJPW what so different is the importance of these factions because pretty much every full-time contracted NJPW star is part of one in some way. It’s like the company epitomises the saying, ‘Faction over blood’ and it’s at the core of the company because the matches are all booked around the factions, rivalries are created around the factions and friendships are tested around factions. 

Bullet Club 

Probably one of the most famous factions in the world, Bullet Club is a worldwide phenomenon and it all began in NJPW with a little someone called Prince Devitt (or maybe you know him as Finn Balor). The faction that was in the midst of a Civil War started as a cohesive bunch of gaijin’s hell-bent on causing trouble in the company and former members include the likes of AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. In the midst of 2018, a Civil War started in the faction between the OG’s and the Elite. The OG’s ‘debuted’ after a vicious attack in July on the Elite. The 3 Tongans (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) made it clear that they hated the route the Bullet Club was going down and wanted to get back to the roots that Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga started all those years ago with Devitt. 

After a crazy few months with Civil War’s, it feels like the Bullet Club OG are back on the right path after adding Jado, Gedo, Chase Owens, KENTA and Yujiro Takahashi. With Jay White as the leader, Tama Tonga’s need to make Bullet Club as dominant as is happening before our eyes with gold galore. However, this unity didn't last long and with the newest additions of EVIL and DIck Togo, the future of the faction seems as uncertain as a few years ago... which worries me!

Taguchi Japan

Suzuki Gun’s Taichi pretty much summed up people’s views of this faction, “Why don’t you join Taguchi Japan?” People see Taguchi Japan as the joke faction with the Funky Weapon Ryusuke Taguchi, but I don’t know why because they’re one underrated and dominant faction. Along with veteran Taguchi at the top, this faction has some of the best wrestlers in the entire company from the Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi Juice Robinson and former C Block Champion David Finlay (it was also Kushida’s faction before he decided not to renew his contract)! 

I see this faction as the Hufflepuff of NJPW in the fact that they’re about having fun, taking all newcomers and fighting with good ol’ honour– and they do win a lot of championships while doing this. It is also a faction that prides itself on working with the up and coming talent in the company, the Young Lions and teaching them all the knowledge. These Young Lions are learning the fundamentals of the company and earning their dues to make it to the main roster. They get their arses kicked a lot but, in the end, they come out on the other side after an excursion to another company much stronger. These skills are mainly taught by members of this faction who take these new wrestlers under their wings! 

Other people might not get Taguchi Japan and think that they hide behind butt jokes, bright colours and charisma but they’re my favourites because they’re so pure, funny to watch and kick some ass when they have to all led by Taguchi! 

Los Ingobernables de Japon

Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) is probably one of the most, if not, the most popular faction in NJPW and is led by the charismatic (and Tranquilo) Tetsuya Naito. The faction is a side branch of the CMLL faction Los Ingobernables and was created in NJPW by Naito in 2015 after coming back to the company after leaving Japan and going to CMLL. This came after the Stardust Genius wasn’t connecting with New Japan crowds and made the odd choice to go back on an excursion in Mexico. After a stint in CMLL, Naito came back with a new personality as the Ungovernable one. As well as being the most loved, it’s the smallest faction in the entire company with only 5 members but it’s probably one of the things that make the faction so special and loyal. It was made even tighter after EVIL, one of the original members, betrayed Naito during this year's New Japan Cup to join Bullet Club.

Some wrestlers have said that LIJ like to keep themselves to themselves and that’s what makes them so strong as a unit even though they’re the most unlikely bunch of people you’d ever see together. You’ve got Naito who’s as chilled as ice cream, silent and deadly Sanada, crazy ticking time bomb Hiromu who is back, the man of many masks Bushi and Shingo who can do everything- it shouldn’t work but it does in the best way possible! No matter what the set up of teams within this faction, they all work like clockwork and they are no doubt the most popular faction by far in the company. 

Chaos 

Chaos can be seen as the OG Heel Group and was formed in 2009 by the one and only Shinsuke Nakamura after members of the faction G.B.H (Great Bash Heel) all turned on Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma. These members included Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Jado and most of the current members of Chaos. After Nakamura’s popularity rose, the faction became less heel-like and more of what we recognise now from the faction: babyfaces who have the idea of winning at the core of their aims. After Nakamura’s final match in NJPW, leadership was handed to Okada and the longest-reigning IWGP Champion in history kept Chaos as, if not more, successful than ever before. 

Chaos under Okada has definitely not been smooth with a small moment of insanity for the Rainmaker after losing his title to Kenny Omega and when Jay White was challenging for leadership. But, with Jay now in Bullet Club OG, their coalition with Taguchi Japan and Okada with the title has breathed new life into the faction. Looking at the wrestlers, they have some of the best wrestlers in the promotion like Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto and it’s time for Chaos to get the credit they deserve. (The video series below will give you a lot more detail)

Suzuki Gun

If Chaos were the first heel group, Suzuki Gun is THE heel group. Led by the sadistic leader Minoru Suzuki, it seems like the only requirements to be part of the faction is that you’re just downright mean and evil! The faction actually started out as Kojima-Gun (after their founder Satoshi Kojima) but, after they all turned on Kojima unsurprisingly, Suzuki took the lead and added the new and equally as mean members Davey Boy Smith Jr, Lance Archer, Taichi and WWF Legend Taka Michinoku. 

After causing chaos in the company, Suzuki Gun was banished from NJPW in 2015 and appeared at Pro Wrestling NOAH which started the Suzuki Gun invasion. The faction dominated the company and this lasted until the end of 2016 when they lost all their belts. After this, the new and improved Suzuki Gun returned to NJPW the following January as dominant as ever with new members like El Desperado, Kanemaru and the technical wizard Zack Sabre Jr. 

The faction is now as powerful (and scary) as ever! There are guys vying after every single belt and with the Rev Pro Heavyweight title and the US championship in the hands of ZSJ and Lance Archer, I can’t see them losing it any time soon. Also, Suzuki Gun ICHIBAN!

The Empire

New Japan's newest faction was only created a few months ago (if that) and was definitely not something anyone expected. After being CHAOS through and through, during the G1, Will Ospreay turned on Kazuchika Okada with the help of his girlfriend and Stardom wrestler Bea Priestly and the returning Great O-Khan. With this huge betrayal, a new force was brought into New Japan and they're still quite unknown. Even after adding Jeff Cobb before World Tag League, nobody really knows what to expect from this quartet and only the future will tell!

So, hopefully, this has helped introduce you to NJPW and has made things slightly clearer and I really hope it encourages you to subscribe, buy NJPWWorld and watch NJPW because it’s my favourite promotion at the moment. It’s only going to get bigger and better. With Wrestle Kingdom only a few months away, there’s no better time to buy a subscription and catch up with everything.

If you need any more help getting to grip with anything NJPW or have any more questions, talk to me on my social media: @Wrestling_Chat on Twitter and Wrestling Chatter on FB and WrestlingChatter96 on IG! I also have a Youtube Channel SonalsLife which is basically this blog but in video form!

Until next time,

Bye