Q&A: r/NJPW’s EvanDeadlySins Talks State of New Japan

With three major Wrestling Dontaku shows happening in the next week, New Japan Pro-Wrestling is set to kick off it’s busiest time of year. Fans of the promotion won’t get a rest after the big Dontaku show on May 3 with Best of the Super Juniors, Dominion in Osaka, and the G1 Climax all just around the corner. These events are always amongst the most exciting events for NJPW fans, but this year, North American fans have something new to look forward to.

Even before Wrestle Kingdom 11 rumors were swirling that NJPW had plans for solo shows to take place in Los Angeles. Once the two G1 Special shows were officially announced, conversation started to focus on how well the tickets would sell. To the shock of everyone who follows the company — even the company itself — both shows sold out in under two hours. Credit for that success obviously goes first and foremost to the wrestlers, but the grassroots community of fans here in North America have played a tremendous part themselves.

No one has more of a sense of the mood of this community than the co-moderator of the excellent NJPW Subreddit, . So I’ve decided to ask its co-moderator, EvanDeadlySins, a few questions about the promotion and his role in growing it’s North American fanbase.

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Jesse Staab: What was your initial reaction to New Japan Pro-Wrestling selling out their first two US shows in less than two hours?

EvanDeadlySins: “I was surprised but not shocked. I figured a sellout would be easy given the size of the venue and the novelty NJPW has in the west. However, less than two hours was faster than even I had expected. The question is if they will be able to continue to grow their crowds in the future. NJPW’s first-ever standalone tour in the United States is something that can only happen once, and that’s why many of the people who will be in attendance are traveling from around the country to see it. However, will people still be willing to do so for future NJPW events in the US, especially if they increase in frequency? The more events that they have here, the more they will have to rely on a more geographically local audience, and I see that being a challenge in the future.:

JS: If you could offer New Japan brass one suggestion to help grow the company’s US audience, what would it be?

EDS: “The thing is that I know some of the improvements that are coming. A dedicated — that is, not Google Translate powered — NJPW World English interface is in the works. A headquarters and dojo in the United States are both planned. NJPW on AXS TV is going to become much more up to date within several months. So if I can suggest something that I don’t already know is planned to grow the audience, it would be to increase their English-friendly YouTube presence. They’re already going in this direction with the weekly free matches, but more is needed. WWE sets the standard as far as their YouTube presence is concerned and other companies can learn heavily from it. Uploading more English-subtitled video packages, vignettes, and wrestler backstage promos are all things that would be helpful to fully immerse the English-speaking fan in NJPW’s product. Three-to-five minute edited versions of matches from their shows would be helpful as well.”

JS: In what ways do you think what you are doing, running the NJPW subreddit, has helped contribute to the growing North American interest in NJPW?

EDS: “One of NJPW’s biggest challenges for the western audience is accessibility and convenience. Following their current product is not as simple as tuning in to a TV station at a particular time and day of the week. Yet. As such, we do our best to help introduce new fans to the product, its structure, and current news and storylines. Our NJPW World schedule in the sidebar, with dates and times (in multiple western time zones) for every televised event NJPW puts on, links to match cards, and links to watch the shows once they’re uploaded to NJPW World is designed to be user-friendly and useful for new fans who want to know what to watch and where and when to watch it. We have links to NJPW’s social media platforms, and their AXS TV schedule as well.

Many people told me that /r/NJPW’s guidance was indispensable in getting them acquainted with the promotion, and I’m very proud of what my co-moderator, ItsScubaSteve, and I have done with it. We have developed a subscriber base that’s currently nearly 6,000-strong and we have averaged over 105,000 page-views per month since Wrestle Kingdom 11. Our community is respectful, knowledgeable, helpful for newcomers, and very entertaining, surpassing my wildest expectations from when I became a moderator in December 2015. I recommend it to any Reddit-using follower of NJPW, whether you’ve been watching for three months or three decades.”

“The product takes itself more seriously than most wrestling companies do, which enables me to take it seriously as well.”

– EvanDeadlySins

JS: Over the last five years NJPW has been on an amazing run as a promotion. So far in 2017, what has been your most pleasant surprise?

EDS: “Hiromu Takahashi has blown me away, but that’s partly due to my own ignorance. I had watched several of his matches from the highly-touted series with Dragon Lee, and I thought that he was very good, even great. But since he’s come back, he’s been at an even higher level with his charisma and commitment to outstanding performances. I fully believe that he has what it takes to be NJPW’s most popular junior heavyweight since the 1990s. He very well might already be, and his rivalry with KUSHIDA is likely to be the cornerstone of the Junior Heavyweight Division for the foreseeable future.”

JS: On the flip side of that coin, what so far this year has left you disappointed?

EDS: “Probably the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship scene is the most disappointing, mostly because it’s recently been revolving around the likes of Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taichi, whom I consider to be respectively the third and fourth most talented of Suzuki Gun’s four junior heavyweights. I would absolutely take Three-Way Tag Team matches with reDRagon and The Young Bucks over them. However, once they lose the titles and find themselves taking falls in undercard Tag Team matches again, I feel that that title scene will improve significantly, even moreso when blue chippers Yohei Komatsu and Sho Tanaka return from excursion.”

JS: What wrestler that has flown under the radar thus far in 2017 that you think will have a big year from here on out?

EDS: “It might be strange to say this, but Hiroshi Tanahashi. Ever since his amazing match with Naito at Wrestle Kingdom, he has been preserving his body in seemingly endless Tag Team match variations against Los Ingobernables de Japon, with only one singles match since then. However, he did more or less the same thing last year and the year before, with various opponents, and if those two years are anything to go by, his excellence in major matches will make itself known once more as we get into the summer months with Dominion and the G1 Climax”.

JS: Of the current Young Lions and former Young Lions currently on excursion, who do you think has the highest ceiling?

EDS: “As far as overall potential goes, I think Katsuya Kitamura is the current standout of the young lions. It’s been less than two months since his debut, but his size and charisma have enabled him to get over with crowds using only big man taunts and power moves. I don’t know that he will ever be an elite in-ring performer, but I don’t know that he needs to be. With the rest of them, it’s too soon to tell, but Jay White looks good in every match that I see him in and I think that once he refines his persona, he will be over both in Japan and in the US. I have high hopes for him.”

JS: What wrestler would you most like to see make a debut in NJPW at some point this year?

EDS: “Well, it depends on how realistic we’re being. I could tell you that I want Cesaro to leave WWE and join NJPW, or Kento Miyahara to be a surprise entrant in the G1 Climax. Both of those things would thrill me, to be sure. However, as far as realism goes, I think Jeff Cobb, Keith Lee, or Matt Riddle would all be men who I think would be great fits for NJPW, the former two due to their power and athleticism in the same vein as Michael Elgin and War Machine, and the latter with his unique style that I think would translate well to the Japanese audience just like Kyle O’Reilly’s did.”

JS: Fantasy booking time: who wins the G1 and what is our main event a Wrestle Kingdom XII on January 4, 2018?

EDS: “Well, I definitely think that Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship should main event Wrestle Kingdom 12. That’s the biggest match NJPW has, and Naito is demonstrably worthy of main-eventing the Tokyo Dome. Naito could win the G1 outright, there would be nothing wrong with that, but the nature of Naito is such that it would fit his character very well to be the first man who wins the G1 title shot from the person who won the tournament.

With that in mind, my current fantasy booking would be SANADA winning the G1 Climax. However, he would drop a pinfall to Tetsuya Naito during the tournament, which Naito would parlay into challenging for SANADA’s Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight title shot, and winning. This would lead to Naito winning the title at Wrestle Kingdom and SANADA defecting from Los Ingobernables de Japon in 2018 and becoming a babyface, maybe even being the man who would defeat Naito for the title. I think that would be very interesting and the opportunity to make a new top guy in SANADA, who has the skills necessary to be a successful mainstay for NJPW in the years to come.”

JS: Lastly, for someone on the fence about committing their time and money on the New Japan product, why is it worthwhile investment?

EDS: “NJPW has a highly-talented roster which consistently puts on events that range from fun to excellent. Although there is room for comedy and colorful characters, the product takes itself more seriously than most wrestling companies do, which enables me to take it seriously as well. Stories are mostly simplistic but well-told in the ring and they have produced some of the best matches that I have ever seen. I think many western fans can find something to enjoy in NJPW and would encourage them all to give it a shot. And if it does not work for them, it’s an effective gateway drug for the Japanese wrestling scene as a whole, which is brimming with talent, has an incredible variety of product styles, and is easier to follow as a fan outside Japan than ever before, with streaming services such as DDT Universe, STARDOM World, and the essential RealHero Archive.”