It is obvious even to the hard core All Japan fans that the organization is in serious trouble. There is an obvious lack of talent and no plan to fill that gap. If I was Keijo Muto these are the things I would do to help put some salve on the deep wounds we are facing. Eliminate the Jr Heavyweight and Tag Team title belts. You don't have the talent to even consider trying to hold onto these titles. Next you must get at least two first class workers from other organizations at any cost. You must present a credible product full of heavyweights to distinguish your company from others. Forget the gaijens and tradition. This is about survival. Get the best talent you can for the dollar and present matches that interest your audience. Be the heavyweight alternative. Do smaller shows over and over and build your fan base. I would hate to see All Japan pack it in and become part of NOAH. At the present course that is the only conclusion. Keijo, if you need ideas please e-mail me. Don't let AJPW die. By any means neccessary AJPW must continue. Yes, I am a NOAH hater. They are sellouts and they will pay for there disloyalty to Baba. All Japaan for life.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I read at SSS (Thanks guys) that Mutoh was considering dropping the Champions Carnival if it doesn't bring in any money. I agree with you AJPW needs a facelift, a serious facelift.
"I'm not going to call an ambulance, because if I do you will have learned nothing"-Family Guy
As much as it pains me to say this, I can't see All Japan lasting all that much longer. You two are right, All Japan really needs a facelift, and IMO, a change of styles. Dropping the Champions Carnival could be a great idea on Mutoh's part, especially if it costs more to put it on than All Japan make in return.
If they drop the CC and the tradition stance, what will they be left with?
Just another fed short on talent, depth and direction, with little to distinguish it in the eyes of the fans anymore.
If Mutoh is interested in restoring financial balance, he should start by ditching the expensive third-rate gaijins before thinking of abandoning the CC. Better still, I think he should face reality and downgrade operations: AJPW should focus on salvaging what still can be, rebuilding, and maybe surviving. It would probably be too much to expect him to fire himself, which is a pity.
Today's AJPW reminds me of post-97 AJW: a fed carried mainly by the loyalty of one person and whose only comparative advantage lies in its prestigious history. Just replace Manami Toyota with Kawada, Kaoru Itoh with Kojima, Chigusa Nagayo with Shinya Hashimoto and the rapidly waning TC instead of the Red Belt
Hard to say how puro will evolve. Maybe real MMA or the Ishii & Sapp circus will completely marginalise it, maybe puro will endure and outlast it, who knows? But to my mind, unlike NJPW, with its history and in its current situation AJPW doesn't have any margin of choice when it comes to reacting to these changes: it has to stick with tradition and hope for the best.
Talented and credible HWs are a rare commodity indeed these days. Unless through some divine intervention, I can't see a fed in AJPW's situation being able to buy any significant players in that department. They need to build, and Kawada and the TC are the only building blocks they still have. And who knows how long they'll last. And then the vicious cycle low quality product/no exposure/no recruits/no future sets in. AJW couldn't beat it in the end, and they didn't get half the stuff wrong that the "enlightened" leadership of Mutoh has.
Dropping the C would be a very bad move, indeed, a move that they could do immediately is drop the All-Asia tag belts into a second Triple Crown, push Kojima and Kea as credible threats, and raise some of their native mid-carders. Then get rid of the poor-quality, expensive gaijins, except for the Gladiator, and try to get some more credible wrestler to join all-japan.
I have lot all my respect for my namesake...there I would like to be known as WilliamsFan from now on...I feel disgraced with the name of Edge on me...
I think that All Japan should cut some of their forgin (not AJ) workers and start pushing their own talent. Maybe a little drama wouldn't hurt as long as the wrestling doesn't suffer... And that RO&D stable should just be TAKA, Kea, Awesome and maybe D'Lo. If anything All Japan should be working on making some names well known. And if their going to go down, they can always go out with a bang.
If AJPW want's to make it through 2004 they need to stop giving contracts to all these no talent crapy american wrestler's and need to go back to the tradional japanese style of wrestling or start going with all kinds of style's like shoot fighting and some good american wrestler's and some lucha libre wrestler's and other stlyle's of wrestling and conbind all stlye's of fighting.and they need to start pushing up all there under-card and mid-card wrestler's.And it would be a good idea if they stop spening money this on these giant arena's.But they shoud'ent get rid of the Champion's Carnival just yet they should give it another try and if the event does'ent do any better than the last one's then the should get rid of the Champions Carnival tournament............................
SABU IS THE KING OF WRESTLING!!!!! AND I LIKE MOONPIES!!!!!!
They have secured a TV contract. ALbeit a crappy time slot. I guess whoever can answer this question will be the goose who laid the golden egg. Is anybody that is not a 2 man promotion making any headway in the market pkace?
NJPW is hurting, Z! as well. It appears that NOAH is the only to be surviving on a firm foundation.There is not an abondance of yen to be made due to the MMA world.
I think All Japan office missed the boat, they should've picked Kawada as the president. I mean this guy has huge respect and is loyal to this organization.
I don't like the fact that Mutoh has tried to bring the show business aspect to this great promotion. Too much history and prestige to messing around with the formula.
I will never understand why Mrs. Baba played power games w. Misawa, who just wanted to expand AJ from it's isolation state and add some dimensions to the company, instead eventually giving control to a goof like Mutoh who has made the promotion a joke.
If you need an example , just look at Noah, what All Japan very easily could be right now, or, All Japan as it is NOW , a shell of itself, run by an unimaginative has-been. Despite their ages, I can only think how much better AJ would be w. all of Noah's top guys, along side Kawada & Kojima plus the likes of Kenta and Marufuji anchoring a great jr. division, which AJ is greatly lacking in my opinion. Realistcally it would be great if Mutoh would just do whats best for the company and just leave the company. Kawada as Pres. makes sense. If he could somehow tie up Omori and Tenzan that would certainly breath life into the roster. Im in total agreement that the gajin indy wrestlers need to go, all of them.
Whomever would take over, they would need to mold the company back into what it was in the 90's while giving new guys, who are deserving, a chance to shine, unlike guys like Arashi. No matter what, unless AJ gets some credible big names that fit w. the company's 90's creed, they are just dying a slow death of a fatal blow placed back in 2000.
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