Grim days for NOAH?

[thegreatdamron]

NOAH had emerged as one of Japan's top two promtions since it was established. It has admirably competed with New Japan as a true puro alternative to the Chono/Inoki product. However, recently, NOAH seems to have lost its edge and I believe is in steady decline. First off, the promotions headliners, the top wrestlers in the world just a few years ago, seem to have lost something in their performance. Kobashi, Misawa & Taue are aging stars that have endured many injuries and incredible battles, but can't seem to still pull off the 5 star bouts they were accustomed to in their All Japan days. Akiyama, the young ace, has also seemed to lose some of his motivation, and only occassionaly now shines through as the next great puro star that many expected him to become. Takayama is working less and less in NOAH, so they no longer can use him as an upper level draw b/c they can not be confident when and how often he will compete in their rings. His former No Fear partner Omori was used and pushed poorly and has left the company, he could have been a guy NOAH developed as a main eventer for the future. Yet, another missed opportunity. Vader has now signed to work TNA in the U.S. The top gaijin is gone. His work was also on the decline and he had been used poorly in his recent stints but still Vader was someone NOAH could have banked on to clash with Akiyama, Kobashi or Misawa and still had some success. WAVE has split, not that Ogawa and Misawa break wasn't long deserved to the fans, but they were an established group that's day is now gone. Hashimoto and Mutoh are combining their companies to try and compete with NJ. They could easily in the immediate future supercede NOAH as Japan's second promotion. With All Japan's history & Z-1's NJ like style, they could indeed pose a threat that they appeared to be individually years back. Choshu's new promotion is drawing away top talent and could also become a force in the puro scene. Where does this leave NOAH? In a bad way I unfortunately presume. Something has to be done. But what?

[Muiyan]

NOAH could merge with New Japan. Hey, i know it's not realistic, but you just asked what COULD be done.

Also: NOAH-WJ

[El Fiasco]

Wouldn't it be great if all these federations could just get along under one roof? Imagine attending a card that featured Kawada, Nagata, Misawa, Hashimoto and Mutoh all in the same night?

And the title unification possibilities! Combine the IWGP, GHC and NWF and you have a whole new Triple Crown right there!

Bah, if only it were so easy...

[Muiyan]

It'd be the bombest if it's all just ONE gigantic promotion. BUT, with all the combined talents, each show would be approximately 9 hours long... lotsa people would lose their jobs, and wrestlers would get grumpy because they now have a MUCH taller ladder to climb if they are to be the top.

[thegreatdamron]

competition from multiple STRONG promotions is a good thing. When one dominates then the business becomes stagnant, such as it is in the US where the WWF/E now runs the whole show. Workers are paid less. perform at a lower standard b/c there's no place out there to go or climb to, so they have no real motivation and without competition it really doesn't matter how the promotion is run b/c the fans have no where else to turn. I love the idea of interpromotional matches and feuds, it benefits everyone. NOAH joining NJ wouldn't fix the problem, in fact it would mean the end of NOAH all together. My complaint is that NOAH seems to be running themselves into the ground much like ALL JAPAN has done over the past year by not taking care of their own, straying slightly away from puro tradition and away from the guys that brought them to where they are. Bob Sapp isn't the solution. NOAH, IMO of course, needs to assert their own nitch, their own particular style, and stick to it, push it. Competiton is good, even if they are second fiddle to NJ; but if they are a distant second or third and the promotion becomes almost unwatchable as ALL JAPAN has lately, then merging would be a reasonable solution.

[Luds]

If we combined all the promotions, would Arashi get a Triple Crown title shot like he will in AJ ?

[thegreatdanabusa]

Yes.

[Jason]

I think the ideal scenario is for there to be 2 major promotions. It has been shown in the states what happens when 1 promotion dominates the market and despite the dream matches, in the long run is horrible for business and would make it nearly impossible to create new stars. Competition clearly is desireable.

On the other hand, having too many promotions, as is currently the case in Japan, is detrimental to the product as well. Talent is spread too thin and you're lucky now if you have 2 interesting matches per show. Plus you end up with situations like where WJ's debut show is on the same day as the Misawa-Kobashi GHC Title match. Both of their attendance's will suffer as a result.

I also think it's great for there to be as many smaller promotions as the market can handle. Innovation in wrestling has often started on a small level and then filtered its way up to the big promotions. Also, guys who would not otherwise be noticed by the top promotions get a chance to make a name for themselves and grow at a slower pace, some of them eventually becoming stars.

[El Fiasco]

I think the Junior Lucha style federations are in the most trouble right now. Toryumon is doing very well, but it seems like Osaka Pro and Michinoku Pro won't last much longer unless they help each other out somehow.

[jamiemorrisx]

While competition is great, it is just out of hand right now how many companies there are. While you would lose jobs if you started combining rosters, that might be good. Some of the wrestlers are getting quite old and it shows. Some of the older guys need to retire anyway. It is a bit embarresing for some of them. Really, was the WJ needed? Couldn't Choshu just go to All Japan or NOAh or something. Another group wasn't necessary.

[Peru-Yakuza]

The problem is that everyone wants to be tops but politics exclude everyone at the same time.
Why were there so many independents in the 90's? (SWS, WAR, Fujiwaragumi, UWFI, NOW, Battlarts, Kingdom, etc.)
Aside from economic problems that forced previous companies to close, everyone wanted to be champion of something: Takada and Fujiwara wanted Maeda out of the way; so did Mas Funaki and Yuki Ishikawa when they split from Fujiwara. Sasuke, Azteca, and Ultimo Dragon wanted Hamada out of the way, so they split into Michinoku, the WAR Jrs. division, and Kageki), same thing for Delfin splitting from Sasuke to form Osaka.

Everyone wants to get, but no one wants to give. That's why puroresu is so diluted and not the way it was in the days of the JWA or even in the 80's when AJ, NJ, and to some extent UWF were famous.

[TRZZXQ]

Merging everything into one massive super company is no good. I'd rather see regular cross-promotional shows. Like a yearly AJPW/NJPW show, that would be cool.

[edgehead1984]

This problem will keep on reoccuring because of the fact that everyone wants to get but not to receive, it's human nature.

I agree with TRZZXQ, a yearly All Japan and New Japan show would be cool.

[El Fiasco]

As far as NOAH goes(to get back on-topic), I think they need to get some new, unique and exciting stars. All their mid-carders wrestle in the same style, and it can get very dull to sit through an entire show. The only real stand-outs are Kobashi, Misawa, Marufuji, KENTA, Taue and maybe some of the Gaijins. I'm not saying it's not full of talented stars(Takuma Sano and Kentaro Shiga for example), but it is full of workers who wrestle far to alike. They need some variety.

[Momaster]

I hope NOAH will pull through these tough times but when you only have a few top dogs drawing in fans thats never a good thing as a few injuries can take you to the cleaners........Hayabusa carried FMW on his shoulders alone for years and after his tragic injury the company folded scant months later........ Maybe NOAH can pull of some interpromotional matches to help keep interest in their product................