NJPW Road To Tokyo Dome 12/23 Report

The WK8 co-main events clash in a huge tag match.

Prior to every New Japan iPPV, there are a set of "lead-up" events that build the upcoming show in the sort of way that Raw & Smackdown do for the WWE. So naturally, the December 23rd edition of Road To Tokyo Dome (just under two weeks prior to Wrestle Kingdom 8) is pretty much the equivalent of a "go-home" RAW before WrestleMania. The card for this show isn't completely stacked, but we've got ourselves one hell of a main event tag match that should be a terrific final effort at garnering some last minute buys. So without further ado, here is my review of NJPW's Road To Tokyo Dome event live from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan:

Behind The Scenes At The G1 Climax & An Intro To Top NJPW Stars

I spotted this video on G9Zwrestling and thought I'd share it on PWP. Hosted by MVP its a brief look behind the scenes at the 2012 G1 Climax tournament. In it he talks to some of New Japans top stars including Shinsuke Nakamura and Kazuchika Okada.
Stay tuned for Okadas response when asked if he has anything to say to TNA (whom, when they had Okada - the guy that's just been named the best wrestling in Japan for a second straight year - decided the best use for him was as a sidekick character named Okato, based on the Green Hornet film...)
It's worth a watch. Also, there's an official New Japan produced introduction video here!

King Of Pro Wrestling Review & Playlist

Okada-Tanahashi Part VI: MOTY?

I've been a huge fan of the wrestling scene in Japan for just under a decade now, but when I first started this blog, I centred most of my writing around the WWE's product. The reason being that my knowledge for the promotion's history ran much deeper at the time. Since 2009 though, I've been consistently following along with New Japan Pro Wrestling and I've slowly been leaning more in their direction as far as my overall superfan status goes. Last year, the company made their iPPV debut with the now classic "King Of Pro Wrestling" event and it blew the wrestling landscape to bits with everyone claiming NJPW to be the best wrestling promotion on the planet Earth. So I then figured that there would be no better moment to begin reviewing their shows with their much more accessible product. In the year that followed, Kazuchika Okada replaced CM Punk as my current favorite active pro wrestler and Hiroshi Tanahashi has been the biggest magnet of praise in my writing with his consistently brilliant performances. The rivalry between Okada & Tanahashi has been nothing short of spectacular and thus far in 2013 alone, one of their matches has already earned a five star rating from me. With that kind of acclaim, you'd be a broke smark to bet against them when they clashed for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in their biggest matchup to date. Ladies & gents, it is my honor to review such an epic encounter, but to get there we'll have to drudge through what could be New Japan's weakest iPPV offering since their breakthrough began just 365 days prior. Find out how this event ranks among their other efforts after the jump!

Randy Orton: A Not So Transitional Champion

Orton has been on the roll of his career as of late.

When Randy Orton cashed in his Money In The Bank contract to become WWE Champion last month at Summerslam, I like everyone else thought that his title run would just serve the purpose of getting the title back on Daniel Bryan in the most impactful way possible. What I didn't realize is that Orton may very well turn in the most amazing mini-run in the history of the business.

A Trio Of Legendary Groups Represented In One Photo

By G9Z Wrestling

Yes the above photo is very real. WWE superstars Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns seem to have interesting taste when recruiting new Shield members. I'd have to say that both Darryl McDaniels (of Run DMC) and Jason David Frank (of Power Rangers fame) could really use the work though. Still, regardless of how peculiar it is, this just made my week!