Originally, I planned on writing about the New Japan Cup but
obviously that didn’t happen, and then I was going to write about Dominion and
then that didn’t really happen, so I thought fuck it, let’s write about all of
it. And so here we are, in the midst of Covid-19 ravaging the world, and I am
nice and roasted and ready to write about this shit, so let’s just fucking go.
The big story, obviously, is Evil turning on everybody and
aligning himself with Bullet Club, which is pretty wild given that he’s been a
solid LIJ dude for a while now and no one really saw him getting elevated like
this, but fuck it, I like Evil and the man’s name is Evil so maybe we should
have seen this coming.
What’s interesting is that Bullet Club seems to be taking on
a more Japanified face which is a departure for a group that has long been associated
with Gaijin assholes. Not anymore, though, as Evil joins with Gedo to make up a
Japanese Bullet Club that doesn’t need to rely on outsiders. That is where it
will be weird to see Jay White fit in when he eventually is allowed to come
back once this Covid shit passes. How is he going to fit into things now that
Evil is the Big Dick? And then there’s KENTA hovering somewhere out there. It’s
a lot of guns for Bullet Club, too many perhaps and I think a Civil War might
be the only way to figure this shit out.
Of course, we have Naito lying in defeat, shamed and
betrayed by his boy. He has had his shot and he has been broken, spiritually
and physically and I’m not sure how he comes back from this, or if he manages
to get his revenge, which is something you would think would be the next part
of the story, but Naito is spinning close to that point where he might break
down, and I’m not sure that Gedo is behind him as the hero in this story. No, I
think this is all a setup for Okada to eventually come in and save the day for
everyone, getting his revenge and stealing Naito’s at the same time.
Okada has been positioned as a dude fucked over by Gedo and
Bullet Club one too many times, and the eventual outcome of this whole deal, I
think, is Okada taking down Evil and Jay White and whoever else shows up for
Bullet Club. The big heel in this whole thing is Gedo, which is sort of a play
on the Stone Cold vs Mr. McMahon storyline really, but Gedo is wily enough to
pull it off and make it look fresh.
So where does this leave Naito? I don’t know, dudes and lady
dudes. He’s still the company’s cash cow, but he’s not Okada, who is the Chosen
One, the dude ready to rule New Japan like Tanahashi ruled New Japan. I suspect
that Naito will have his day again, but this story will always turn towards
Okada, who has been fucked over by Gedo and the boys too much now to not get
his revenge,
Outside of that main event angle and scene, I was
particularly impressed by Taichi, who has taken it upon himself to kick the
shit out of everyone in his path. Poor Tanahashi is clearly a man with no
knees, and Taichi taking him out and then taking out Ibushi signals a new level
for the Kawada and Jumbo devotee. I’m more interested in seeing where he goes
than his partner, Zack Sabre Jr., who I still feel is false, and is lucky to be
on the island during the pandemic, unlike so many of the other Gaijin and even
a few of the Japanese dudes. This tag team seems likely to hold the belts for a
while, cheating and kicking their way to victory which I approve of for sure. I
miss Miho Abe who I assume is on a plane or boat to come see me.
Elsewhere, I was happy to see Sho take down Shingo in the
New Japan Cup tourney, and even though he lost in his title shot against Shingo
at Dominion, it’s clear that Sho is the future. I was talking to Hollinger
about this, and we both feel that it’s necessary to get him away from Yoh, who
fucked up his knee so maybe that is a fortuitous turn of events, I don’t know.
I like Yoh and don’t want to see him buried in a Yoshi Hashi like situation,
but it’s clear that Sho is the Man on that team and he needs to have his own
run away from Yoh.
Ishii did good work as he always does, and he is probably
the MVP of the company, the dude who is always there to put together an epic
slugfest in the middle of the card. This is especially important with so many
dudes kept off the card due to the Covid situation. Ishii beating the shit out
of everyone will never get old.
But the big story will of course be Evil turning on LIJ and
Naito and rolling with Bullet Club. It’s an interesting choice, elevating Evil,
and I think he can handle the load even if others don’t think so. And again, I’m
interested to see what happens when Jay White comes back. There is only so much
alpha energy to go around. And then there is the specter of Karl Anderson and
Doc Gallows floating around, ready to come back and lead their club which is
growing perhaps too much and again I think a Civil War is a necessary story in
the future.
And that future will no doubt be dominated by Okada, who is
the chosen one and will eventually put all this right. Poor Tanahashi is about to
head down the Nagata/Tenzan path, although he may always be too popular to ever
be relegated to that spot. Ibushi remains an enigma who will give his life to
wrestling and should be a good number two or three babyface going forward. Poor
Naito seems to be left out of the plans, his torch taken up by Hiromu who is
all fire and wild star child energy which I love. He will take his shot at Evil
on behalf of Naito and LIJ and I am intrigued. But Naito floats in the
background, and this story seems to have been stolen from him. I am not the
world’s biggest Naito fan, but goddamn, the dude surely deserves a better run
than what he got, right? I don’t know. All I do know is that New Japan and Gedo
have a thousand stories set up, and this is how you keep pro wrestling fresh.
