The stars of NJPW have been spread around the globe over the last few days. The bulk of the roster was on the East Coast last weekend for Fighting Spirit Unleashed, while the third generation held the fort at home, and Ren Narita and Shota Umino were getting set to find new homes on excursion.
Let’s start our trek around the world in the States. Hiroshi Tanahashi teamed with the legendary Rock ‘n’ Roll Express on the tour, and as they brought down the house in Philadelphia with a mini air guitar concert, it seemed as if these three had been teaming forever, such was their camaraderie. Camaraderie that seemed to be missing in Roppongi 3K, as Tanahashi pointed out:
【棚橋は見た】ホテルの朝食🥣 #roppongi3k #距離感 笑 pic.twitter.com/oPrtCEsieE
— Hiroshi Tanahashi feat.iron will (@tanahashi1_100) September 28, 2019
‘Hotel Breakfast #emotionallydistant lol’.
(If you want to know whether Tanahashi did anything with his seating decision to ease the apparent tensions, he sat at the counter.)
YOH felt the need to explain.
#距離感 について説明すると、前に相方と共通の友達とで食事しようってなった時、友達急に来れなくなってさ。もう店で待ってたから、
折角だし食事して帰ろうとなったんだけど、二人きりになると何喋っていいか分かんないのよ。なんか恥ずかしくて気持ち悪くてね。結論。俺達はもうその領域にいます☆— YOH (@njpwyohei_k) September 28, 2019
‘I was going to eat with a mutual friend of ours, but then that friend cancelled at short notice. If it was just the two of us together, I don’t know what we’d talk about and it’d just feel awkward. So we just decided to eat and leave. That’s where we’re at.’
Hopefully Roppongi 3K’s loss to Guerrillas of Destiny in Lowell the day before Tanahashi’s sneaky picture didn’t contribute to this apparent trouble in paradise, and all is well in Roppongi.
New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom on September 29 saw darkness fall upon the main event, and not just because of the late start to proceedings making for a late finish. EVIL managed to score a direct pinfall on Kota Ibushi in the Hammerstein Ballroom, and then scored a further win over Ibushi and TJP in Philadelphia Sunday. Ibushi wasn’t about to give up:
権利証、ほんとうに守り抜けるか。逃げないし、負けないつもり。もちろん気持ちは諦めないが…
今までと何か違う。イービル！何か隠していないか？彼は取る資格がある、さらに最初に名乗り出た。そこは認めますよ。
ただ、これは守り抜くから！！逃げない、負けない、諦めない！
— 飯伏 幸太 (@ibushi_kota) September 28, 2019
‘Can I hold onto this contract until the bitter end? I’m not going to run, and I don’t plan on losing. Obviously I don’t feel like giving up either, but something’s different to before.
EVIL! Are you hiding something? He’s definitely qualified to take it, and he’s the one that stepped forward. I know that. But I’m going to keep hold of this!! I won’t run, I won’t lose, I won’t quit!’
Satoshi Kojima was back at home in Japan. Topping the headlines this week has been a consumption tax hike going into effect on October 1 (no need to worry though; your NJPW World subscription is still only 999 Yen). Kojima had to get his spending priorities in check.
おはようございます。
９月も今日を入れて、あと三日間です。
増税前の買い物はお済みですか？
生活必需品は買った方が良さそうですね。
なので、ポテチ買っとくか！！！
（冗談です、半分😀）
皆様、良い週末をお過ごし下さい👋。
— 小島 聡【SATOSHI KOJIMA】 (@cozy_lariat) September 27, 2019
‘Good morning. It’s nearly the end of September. Planning on doing any shopping before the tax hike? It’s probably smart to stock up on necessities. So I’m off to get potato chips! Just kidding. Well, half kidding.’
(Kojima later tweeted a picture of his snack purchase).
Finally, Shota Umino is on his way to the UK to begin his excursion. After his departure was announced last week, Umino put out the following.
無期限イギリス武者修行が発表されました。
『海外に行かず新日本でやる』と言っていたけど、ヤングライオン杯を通して思わされました。今のままの自分ではLA道場には到底適わない。
海外という環境で本当に1から泥水啜って一生懸命頑張って強くなって帰ってくるので、どうか皆様待っててください。
— 海野 翔太〈Shota Umino〉 (@njpw_shota) September 24, 2019
‘The news about my excursion has been announced. I talked before about not going on excursion and staying with NJPW all the way. But after the Young Lion Cup, I realised that as I currently stand, I’m no match for the LA Dojo. I plan on starting from square one in a new environment and giving it all I have to come back stronger, so please wait for me.’
