10 Things You Learn Converting From WWE To New Japan Pro Wrestling
1. Gedo's Got A Plan
A fantasy booker's dream, NJPW creative force Keiji 'Gedo' Takayama is acclaimed for his patience and planning in the booking of the organisation to such a degree that the audience has a faith in the product virtually invisible in WWE's fragile bond with its own crowd. Alongside partner Shoji 'Jedo' Akiyoshi, he's sculpted a world almost alien to any other in the game today, despite a reliance on some of the industry's oldest tricks.
Erratic character development in WWE over the past decade and a half has rendered substantial long-term investment almost entirely moot. At best, performers have a solid arc between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, but certain wrestlers have often had their motivations almost entirely shifted on a weekly basis as part of the company's dangerous and destructive production line approach.
New Japan's process couldn't be any more different, and the satisfaction and security that philosophy provides resonates throughout the entire organisation.
At January's transcendent Wrestle Kingdom 12 pay-per-view, Kazuchika Okada successfully defended the IWGP Title against Tetsuya Naito despite 'El Ingobernable's incredible momentum and the seemingly inch-perfect timing and execution of his push. Fans worldwide were disappointed, but not left hovering over New Japan World's cancellation button. Naito's time will come, of that they know - Gedo's steadfast reputation has earned him and the company that assurance.