NOAH is almost out of business and has been terrible since mid late 2011. AJPW had teamed up with BJW and they had a good feud/relationship in 2012 but both feds have fizzled to ****. NJPW is without a doubt the best promotion in the world.
For the past three years Tanahashi (IC champ atm) and Okada (IWGP champ atm) have been #1 and #2 "Wrestler of the Year" for every publication you can get your hands on. They've had six matches since Okada showed up in Jan '12. 2 of them have been rated 5* by Meltzer and 2 others ****3/4, another one ****1/2, and the last I forget atm. Their match from 4/7/13 I would call the best match of the 2000's. NJPW had 7 of the top 10 wrestlers of 2013 in the WON.
Shibata was a legit MMA guy and came to NJPW in Jan '13. Ishii is the ultimate underdog and a guy the fans always get behind despite being a low-midcard heel and losing a ton but a damn tough guy with the nickname "The Pitbull".
There was an event on 2/2 that has a good match to get into NJPW. Tanahashi/Goto/Naito vs Okada/Ishii/Nakamura - This is the lead in to the 2/9 and 2/10 ppvs. Nakamura is challenging Tana for the IC belt. Goto is challenging Okada for the IWGP belt. Ishii is challenging Naito for the NEVER openweight belt.
match is at 2:32:00 of
this vid
As for KENTA, I only know what I read about him because I haven't seen a match of his since 09 but based off lots of opinions, he's terrible and just does moves without selling and hasn't evolved from his great 2006/07 years.
Last edited by .isolated; 02-06-2014 at 07:10 PM.
Reason: it's possible i'm a mark for NJPW...naw. i just want more people to see greatness :D