by Daniel Johnson Tetsuya Naito vs. KUSHIDA Tetsuya Naito and KUSHIDA start this match off in a very scientific manner by trading a lot of holds and not much else. When the action starts to build Naito and KUSHIDA then… Read More ›
Toru Yano
Puro Flashback: A NEVER Bout Showcasing King Fale and Taishi Takizawa
by Daniel Johnson King Fale vs. Taishi Takizawa This match from NJPW’s NEVER features King Fale wrestling another hard hitter in Taishi Takizawa. Takizawa gets the first shot in as while during a referee pull apart he double chops Fale… Read More ›
Puro Flashback: A NEVER Battle Between Mikami and Hiromu Takahashi
by Daniel Johnson Mikami vs. Hiromu Takahashi During ring introductions for this bout from NJPW’s NEVER endeavor, Hiromu Takahashi shouts out to the crowd while Mikami is stone faced. This hints just a tad that Takahashi is going to get… Read More ›
Puro Flashback: Toru Yano Brutalizes Hiromu Takahashi at NEVER 7
by Daniel Johnson Toru Yano vs. Hiromu Takahashi This match happened at NJPW NEVER 7, a fairly early contribution to NJPW’s NEVER series focusing on emerging and outside talent. Although more recently Hiromu Takahashi has been picking up a win… Read More ›
Indie Flashback: Pearce and Yano at New Japan USA
by Daniel Johnson Adam Pearce vs. Toru Yano This match from 2004 comes courtesy of the old NWA Hollywood YouTube channel. Astute wrestling fans may recall that NWA Hollywood wasn’t launched until long after 2004 so how could this be?… Read More ›
Nagata and In-ring Psychology
by Daniel Johnson Yuji Nagata vs. Toru Yano This match is brief, but Nagata manages to pack a feud’s worth of psychology into it. While there have been rumors as of late that the WWE is interested in signing Kazuchika… Read More ›
Rhino’s Rampage
A lot of matches in the NJPW New Japan Cup tend to be solid strong style bouts, but few of them are nearly hardcore matches like this one from the 2008 edition. With all this brawling all over the arena… Read More ›
MVP Goes for IWGP Gold
Montel Vontavious Porter is one of those stars who could greatly benefit from NJPW. His mic skills have never been lacking, but his in-ring showings have been inconsistent at times. If he returns to the WWE or goes to TNA,… Read More ›
The Johnson Transcript 