All Japan getting out of hell

[Guest Black Tiger]

Personally, I don't think so. Mutoh has done too many stupid things. Most of the better workers already left the ship. The Zero-One cross promotion was good at first, but it wound up helping Zero-One much more than it did AJPW.

 

I'm hoping Mutoh just either folds the promotion, or at the very least changes the name so that when we think "All Japan" its not Mutoh and his WRESTLE-1, or RO&D.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

I'm thinking that the enevitable will happen as Mutoh will resign from his position and Kawada will take the company over. Hopefully though whoever takes the company finally realizes that the "sports entertainment" route is the wrong route to take.

[EL DANDY~! 0]

Well, I think Mutoh has that "HHH-syndrome" where he thinks he can draw even though numbers are down and such. It's really gonna be something if Kawada drops the straps to Hash, because then that means...yep, you guessed it, another Mutoh reign as champ. At least, that's what it means to me. And at that point...I'm not sure if AJPW will be able to pull itself out of the hole it's currently in.

 

Mutoh will probably not hand the reigns of AJPW over to Kawada unless Kawada makes enough money off his beer to get the money necessary to buy the shares.

[Nevermortal 0]

What's the big money match that AJPW still has left in them?

 

Is it Kawada/Kojima?

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

What's the big money match that AJPW still has left in them?

 

Is it Kawada/Kojima?

That's what I'd say.

[Guest Black Tiger]

Kawada vs Kojima is deffinitely the match that AJPW fans want to see happen, but I don't know if it would qualify as a "money match". AJPW fans are used to seeing Kawada get buried, and Mutoh has done a decent job of doing the same with Kojima.

 

The only real "money" match I think AJPW can produce is Kawada vs Takayama. Kawada and Takayama had a pair of matches in UWFi and AJPW in 1996 and 1997, but Takayama has impoved quite a big since that time.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

My apologies, as I didn't take the "money match" literally. Kojima/Kawada would be the "best" big match that they could offer. But as far as "drawing" goes then I would have to agree and say that Kawada/Takayama would bring in more cash for sure, as Tak is a pretty big name there.

[Guest Black Tiger]

if/when Kojima wins the Triple Crown (Mutoh will have to put it on him soon enough, as he's the only guy over enough to justify taking off Kawada right now) doing a Kojima vs Tenzan match (with both guys holidng the IWGP and Triple Crown) would probably bring in a somewhat decent house.

 

Mutoh needs to seriously re-evaluate his gaijin though, Sapp, Awesome, Jamal, and Buchanan are okay because they're big and look somewhat opposing, even though they don't work that well. Guys like Justin Credible, and D'Lo on the other hand bring nothing at all to the table except name value and I don't think AJPW fans give two shits about them.

 

What Mutoh SHOULD do is try to find guys on the US Indy scene, to bring over. I'm not too up to snuff on my Indies here, but I think guys like BJ Whitmer, Matt Stryker, and Chad Collyer could do a lot more for AJPW and benefit from the experience.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

if/when Kojima wins the Triple Crown (Mutoh will have to put it on him soon enough, as he's the only guy over enough to justify taking off Kawada right now) doing a Kojima vs Tenzan match (with both guys holidng the IWGP and Triple Crown) would probably bring in a somewhat decent house.

 

Mutoh needs to seriously re-evaluate his gaijin though, Sapp, Awesome, Jamal, and Buchanan are okay because they're big and look somewhat opposing, even though they don't work that well. Guys like Justin Credible, and D'Lo on the other hand bring nothing at all to the table except name value and I don't think AJPW fans give two shits about them.

 

What Mutoh SHOULD do is try to find guys on the US Indy scene, to bring over. I'm not too up to snuff on my Indies here, but I think guys like BJ Whitmer, Matt Stryker, and Chad Collyer could do a lot more for AJPW and benefit from the experience.

BT, I don't know how familiar you are with him but I think Homicide would be an awesome addition to the roster.

[Guest j.o.b. squad]

BT, I don't know how familiar you are with him but I think Homicide would be an awesome addition to the roster.

homicide is already a semi regular with zero one. if they want to draw with gaijin they need to find good ones not already affiliated with other puro promotions.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

BT, I don't know how familiar you are with him but I think Homicide would be an awesome addition to the roster.

homicide is already a semi regular with zero one. if they want to draw with gaijin they need to find good ones not already affiliated with other puro promotions.

I see what you mean, but personally I think that Homicide would be more of All Japan's style compared to Z-1.

[Guest DeathBecomesYou]

I don't really know if All Japan can be saved anymore, to me it just seems that Muto has alienated most of the old fans and hasn't drawn any new ones. But, hopefully they'll at least struggle on.

As for money matches for the promotion, Kojima/Kawada would probably be good, and i'm not sure if it's already happened, but Kojima/Hashimoto would probably generate some interest too.

One question though, when mentioning possibilities for new gaijin talent, Dynamite 1980 suggested Homicide (who's a pretty good choice), but his size (or lack thereof, Homicide is barely a heavyweight, if AJPW had a serious junior division however..) and the fact he works for Zero One probably rules him out, but what about AJPW possibly bringing in one of Homicide's trainees, Dan Maff? I don't think he's affiliated with any other Japanese promotion (with the exception of his stint with Big Japan), he basically works the mid 90's All Japan style anyway, and his size would give him credibility as a proper heavyweight.

So, what do you guys think, Dan Maff to All Japan, good idea or bad?

[Guest NANIWA*]

All-Japan was dead as soon as Misawa & Co. left the promotion. The company would be in the same kind of trouble it's in now even if Muto didn't jump ship from NJ and take control, actually it would probably be in even worse shape...

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

All-Japan was dead as soon as Misawa & Co. left the promotion. The company would be in the same kind of trouble it's in now even if Muto didn't jump ship from NJ and take control, actually it would probably be in even worse shape...

It's debatable, but it may be a lot different if Muto never showed up. His questionable booking, and the fact that he let so much talent go has to put the blame on his own shoulders. I don't know if they would have had as many problems if AJ wasn't totally based around him. But then again, who really knows........

[Guest Black Tiger]

The NJPW cross promotion helped AJPW quite a lot, and had Mutoh not jumped to AJPW, it might still be going on.

 

What I've noticed in the last year or so about AJPW, is that Mutoh has this uncanny ability to build up hopes and make future shows/matches sound really good, but he always fails to deliver.

 

I can recall being very excited at the possibility of Ohtani vs Kawada, but after I saw the match I couldn't believe it. Not only was the match disappointing, but most of the blame shifted to Kawada, for his lack of selling.

 

Now once again, the Champions Carnival is upon us and Mutoh has announced his intention of Kensuke Sasaki and Takao Omori as participants, add them to Kawada, Mutoh, Kojima, Arashi, and Taiyo Kea, and so far you have what will probably be the best Carnival since the split.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

The NJPW cross promotion helped AJPW quite a lot, and had Mutoh not jumped to AJPW, it might still be going on.

 

What I've noticed in the last year or so about AJPW, is that Mutoh has this uncanny ability to build up hopes and make future shows/matches sound really good, but he always fails to deliver.

 

I can recall being very excited at the possibility of Ohtani vs Kawada, but after I saw the match I couldn't believe it. Not only was the match disappointing, but most of the blame shifted to Kawada, for his lack of selling.

 

Now once again, the Champions Carnival is upon us and Mutoh has announced his intention of Kensuke Sasaki and Takao Omori as participants, add them to Kawada, Mutoh, Kojima, Arashi, and Taiyo Kea, and so far you have what will probably be thebest Carnival since the split.

Unless, (of course) Mutoh busts out his uncanny ablility to dissappoint again.......but I admit, it looks good on paper.

[Guest Black Tiger]

Unless, (of course) Mutoh busts out his uncanny ablility to dissappoint again

 

Mutoh's very good at that, I was in shock when Ohtani vs Kawada was a disappointment, even moreso when it was due to Kawada NOT selling, this was the same guy who was praised as the best seller in the world ten years ago. I've heard some great things about Kawada vs Tenryu from January, as well as the last Budokan PPV, so I'll probably check both of them out.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

Unless, (of course) Mutoh busts out his uncanny ablility to dissappoint again

 

Mutoh's very good at that, I was in shock when Ohtani vs Kawada was a disappointment, even moreso when it was due to Kawada NOT selling, this was the same guy who was praised as the best seller in the world ten years ago. I've heard some great things about Kawada vs Tenryu from January, as well as the last Budokan PPV, so I'll probably check both of them out.

I haven't seen those matches either. Let me know how they turn out.