10 Words That Most Accurately Describe Wrestling Right Now
9. Dangerous
As dramatic and awesome as the New Japan Pro Wrestling product is in 2017, the parallels with the All Japan Pro Wrestling scene of the 1990s are becoming chillingly apparent.
Many forecasted a downturn in fortunes when Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Style departed for WWE in early 2016. Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito stepped up and lit up the shadow they cast with their nascent star power. That, and contesting increasingly dangerous matches to shape the company's new main event standard. Not one match ends without some ridiculous neck-first apron bumps or skulls smashing against unpadded guardrails.. This is something the Junior Heavyweights in particular are drawing dubious inspiration from. Hiromu Takahashi generates heel heat by inflicting brain damage on his opponents. He is, in a sense, the anti-Mick Foley. He uses real violence to get himself over, but unlike Mick, his opponents absorb the brunt of punishment.
Any moral concerns dissipate upon watching virtually any modern New Japan match, in which the world class roster half-kill themselves to create what, ultimately, is meant to be an illusion. The style, surely, isn't sustainable. We know that from the events of June 13, 2009, the day on which AJPW/Pro Wrestling NOAH legend Mitsuharu Misawa died having cumulatively incurred so much damage to his neck that it eroded and snapped off his cervical spinal cord.
As blinding as the product is, it's almost as scary.