7 Biggest Non-WWE Stories In Wrestling This Week
6. Fighting Spirit Unattended
New Japan Pro Wrestling made their return to Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California on Saturday for a show that was - by some margin - their best ever on the the United States side of the Pacific since they began touring there regularly.
The loaded card (more on that later) offered several dynamic displays, with the four featured bouts at the tail end of the show all over-delivering on measured expectations. It was perhaps these expectations that put off many of the locals from even attending. Though the show over-performed creatively, it was less than successful at the box office.
Following his main event victory alongside Kota Ibushi over Tomohiro Ishii and Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega even acknowledged the swathes of yellow chairs that created a rather uncomfortable background visual during some of the evening's most-heated contests.
As IWGP Champion and man entrusted with the task of leading the company's global expansion, it was something he clearly took personally - but had the segment that followed been used to build up this show, perhaps he wouldn't have had to worry about any empty seats anyway...