The West was never in love with NJPW in the first place. You're talking about a very minute number of people in the West who became interested in NJPW. That doesn't qualify as the West becoming dizzy with excitement over NJPW. A few new NJPW fans here and there merely gave the illusion that NJPW hit it big in the West. No, no, no: it was always a niche. You ought to ask why *Japan* has fallen out of love with NJPW. The crowds haven't returned in the last couple of years. You can't really appreciate how minor NJPW is becoming until you (a) visit Japan, and (b) talk to regular Japanese people. Japan has 128,000,000 people. I'm guessing that many people would (and do) travel from outside of Tokyo in order to attend Wrestle Kingdom. Tokyo's population alone is roughly 14,000,000. Wrestle Kingdom ought to draw 50,000 fans by accident--yet it doesn't. My extended family in Japan can't even tell you the *name* of Japan's biggest wrestling company (New Japan Pro Wrestling). They didn't even know that there was more than *one company* in Japan until I (a gaijin) told them so. Let that sink in. The fact is that the company never truly replaced Antonio Inoki. The man was, and remains, a national icon. People who know nothing about wrestling instantly recognise Inoki. People outside the NJPW echo chamber simply do not care about Tanahashi, Okada, and so on and so forth. It's difficult to get people in the West to care for NJPW. People like Tanahashi and Okada simply aren't larger than life. Okada in Absolutely Embarrassing Woefulness is just ridiculous. He cannot cut a promo in English. He swears to make himself appear edgy. He has limited facial expressions. His gimmick is that fake money rains on him when he walks to the ring. Outside of the very limited range of NJPW fandom, nobody cares. I called time on NJPW when they decided to go woke (yes, NJPW is a woke company). Yet even before that, the company was a chore. The main events are too long. Where is the drama when you *know* that the match won't end in under 40 minutes? Same wrestlers over and over again. Tanahashi should've hanged up his boots years ago. Too many factions, too many wrestlers living in 1997 with that "too...sweeeet!" garbage. So many other things to mention. NJPW really needs to go back to basics.

The Rock gave Cody the Brass ring that he has been reaching for. The same brass ring the cm punk and John Cena talked about .

I do think that WWE's improvement can't be disregarded as a big explanation for AEW's downturn in popularity. Because as you said, AEW's content has actually improved as of recent, at least Dynamite, Collision has progressively gotten more skippable. I think Dynamite is good again. WWE's popularity isn't that much of a rising tides lift all boats due to the sheer volume of content being produced from all companies. If I'm watching RAW, Smackdown and maybe even NXT, then I don't have the energy for Rampage and Collision and will only watch Dynamite at most. This would be the case even if Rampage and Collision was good. And that's the perspective of a hardcore fan who is 'obsessed' with wrestling. I even skipped the soul tour, because I want to make sure I'm not burnt out on wrestling before the G1. I think one quick fix AEW could do is book smaller venues, because its depressing seeing Ospreay cut a promo with a pitch black backdrop due to the venue not even being at 25% capacity. 3k people in a 5k venue feels so much better than 3k people in a 20k venue.

I prefered the Mariah May turn over MJF. Both are executed well on paper. I just don't care about Garcia, but I do care about Toni.

We can't get NWO levels of bloat. Tonga Loa is the first one to truly feel like a NWO B-team member. But it's fine right now since only half of the current members are even actively involved. They need to make sure that the vast majority of them have distinct and consistent personalities.

Pretty much what made the attitude era was not only just the stuff that was happening in the wwf at that time but the pop culture and all around nostalgia people get from looking back at those times

"Naito has no knees" LMAO, that was cold

Thank you, wrestling gods. Thank you.

Proper stuff 👍🏾

I have no interest in Adam Page challenging Swerve for the world title at All In, that is just awful

The AEW shows have been excellent recently. Agree that viewership probably won’t change much as long as WWE is doing well. I have a friend that is very excited about WWE currently. Interestingly, he has know idea of who the Guerrillas of Destiny are or where they came from. He’s just excited that there are additional layers of The Bloodline story. Meanwhile, AEW is producing some of its most compelling stories and he’s less interested. The brand loyalty that WWE has developed is impressive. I don’t understand it but to each their own.

The ratings, attendance and viewership is on the rise already but no one mentions it, last week attendance in Chicago is more than the last time they were there when Punk was on the show, that’s a very big thing, Britt Baker and Hangman drove that attendance, also last week’s tv rating was the number one on all of tv (not just cable) in the 18 to 38 section. It seems people want to mention numbers only when they are negative in regards to AEW but they are doing pretty well now, they just gotta keep at it, Baker and Hangman are a huge boost for them right now.

Hangman and Britt Baker returns have made AEW very hot, so much to look forward to All In Wembley.

I might be in the wrong but I'm a Wrestling fan not a WWE fan not a New Japan fan not an AEW fan I'm a fan of pro wrestling as a whole in all its shapes and sizes, as long as I'm entertained it's doing it's job. That being said I think I fully agree with the take of consistency being the current issue with AEW's product. I feel like never knowing what kind of show you're going to watch on Wednesdays or Saturdays is why I think the ratings are in decline however I definitely feel it's going to change especially with AEW starting to get their stars back the ones that will bring back the casual audience.

They are giving All In pretty good build

Mjf has fallen off, dude cut another garbage worked shoot promo on collision, talking about osprey just wants to have "good" matches and meltzer and tv ratings, first of all where in kayfabe is osprey talking about putting on good matches for meltzer? Did he not just have a heated rivalry with swerve? Did he not sell the loss as a huge loss in his career, what regular fan would know what he's talking about? And who cares about tv ratings? I always hear about them needing to not cater to a niche audience, and you know what I agree, because WWE Twitter TV ratings smarks are the most niche audience of all, stop all this oh wrestling is fake but now I'm being real garbage, it's getting old, I don't need to be reminded it's fake every 5 minutes, and then the wrestling business wonders why most fans have moved on to the UFC

I’m sorry but putting Garcia in the main event is ridiculous. Dudes not a star, he has no charisma, no personality. Tony has guys like Starks and Wardlow and he picks Garcia

This is a right direction by AEW

The hangman promo that was on Twitter was great. I hope it gets shown on dynamite this week

If they keep the momentum going, then the ratings will come. I kinda glad I have both the MITB and Collision on because there were some parts of MITB that I did not enjoy, and Collision filled up those voids. I am still sticking with Nigel being one to cost Danielson the Finals, which would lead to them having a match at All In.

I been watching AEW TV religiously for a month. Storyline wise, Dynamite has been more miss than hit, Rampage has been fun, Collision has been memorable. 1- This road to MJF’s return has been rough. So many start and stop on his storylines before this random heel turn. They dropped the Cole storyline. They dropped the his Elite storyline with the Blood and Guts storyline. I am not feeling it. His booking had been horrible. So this random big show turn doesn’t feel natural. I know the match will be a MOTY contender. But to what cost if they built MJF so bad. Will Osprey has begun book great but your only as good as your opponent. 2- Swerve v Page looks great. Cowboy shit Hangman is back and Emo Cowboy Hangman Page is gone. Page focused, aggressive, and angry. 3- the women has been getting better storylines than the men. It was reverse a year ago that the women were getting scraps storyline wise and the men were getting gold. 4- it sad Tony doesn’t do anything with Claudio. The aftermath to his lose to the tournament felt real. I felt he was contemplating on moving g on the BCC but nothing has happened after that. I want to see Claudio in a real fued where he shines on his own but they just left a red herring and forgot about it. I’m back watching AEW without bringing up anything on WWE does. It’s rough on the men and I’m enjoying the women. I hope that feeling is back because I don’t 100% feel it.

The feelings back.

Claudio and Eddie??? Claudio can do more but tsk tsk Rantin. Loved the vid

Thanks for the review

All In

Rarely do I disagree with Rantin. I really enjoyed this show. The main event alone was worth the cost of the ppv. Glad to see ZSJ get the win over Orange Cassidy. Danielson-Shingo was excellent. Although Mercedes-Vaquer wasn’t great, Vaquer was impressive and I like the setup between Britt and Mercedes with Mercedes as a heel. The only disappointment was Moxley-Naito.

Naito is in the G1...

I honestly figured with the G1 around the corner AEW & NJPW wanted to play it safe as far as having some of the wrestlers wrestle at forbidden door

Imagine you are given Moxley for 4 months and not book him to put over any young guy, at least Umino, Gedo sucks man.

Hangman is coming Wednesday to join the Owen Hart tournament. MJF probably interfering with the Osprey Garcia match Wednesday. They can't have every surprise happen on the PPV lol.

Really disagree on Mone vs Vaquoer i thought it was a really good much just wish Valquoer won she came across like a huge star

Really hoping that Armando Estrada returns to be Solo’s wiseman. As someone who grew up watching Umaga, that deep cut would be really cool.

3:14 that's all on TK's bookin philosophy. Could be soo much better. I could say this for most.

This video has left a lasting impression on me, and I'm still processing all the valuable insights you've shared. Your ability to distill complex topics into digestible nuggets of knowledge is nothing short of impressive. The flow of the video was seamless, and I appreciate the effort you put into ensuring that your audience stays engaged throughout. Your dedication to providing accurate information and supporting it with credible sources is commendable. This video is a shining example of what KZfaq content should be - educational, thought-provoking, and impactful!

MJF-Hechicero did not work as an opener for me, didn't get me excited and felt like a pre-show bout, which is sad for both guys. Elite vs Scissor Ace was the proper opener, fun match and Tana can still entertain. Danielson-Takagi delivered, good mix of technical and strong style with a very NJPW style build and pacing. Was rooting for Mina, but I can accept the outcome. Hope she sticks around, she's the best women's import AEW has had from Japan, on the level of Shida. ZSJ-Cassidy did indeed drag, maybe it was the chemistry but I was hoping for a slightly faster pace. Great finish tho. Jericho's shortcomings are thankfully hidden in multi man matches. Ladder match was passable, if predictable. Another great showing by Takeshita. I felt like Mone had go away heat instead of heel heat. Vaquer did great and Mone has not turned out to be as great as she was expected to, or should have been. Feels like people have turned on her hype and rumored control clause. At least the DMD returned at the end to save that part. Naito vs Mox was ok, if you didn't know much about either man. If you've seen what they can do, it was disappointing. The main event delivered, was exactly what it should have been. Overall, the novelty is indeed gone. The door is no longer forbidden and AEW has absorbed most of NJPW's roster, as you've said they get a better deal out of the partnership. Which was also apparent in how safe the booking was, all the NJPW guys lost, except ZSJ who'd have suffered if he lost to Cassidy, and Naito who needed to bring the belt back and win on US soil. I wish we had some more recaps and interviews before each match, because it felt like folks were fighting just because they're both great wrestlers. It's not sports entertainment as well as WWE pulls it off and it's not outright sports-like wrestling like NJPW does it (your mention of the G1 resembling playoffs and the drama emerging from the points comes to mind).

Zilla fatu is heading there to

Pretty much every match I thought would deliver, did that, outside of Mox vs Naito, which was disappointing to see. I even got a kick out of the Learning Tree vs Hook, Shibata and Joe, mainly because of Jeff Cobb and Samoa Joe interactions. I wanna see this one on one at some point, hopefully if Cobb is still champion by January 5th we can get Joe over to Japan for a title match.

Jacob fatu debuting was insane. One night in and was a huge star and impact

Seems like you're one of the few honest reviewers left. Thank you

I was talking to my brother about this. He’s pretty bored of Solo but they’re introducing his character first and then introduce more depth on the G.O.D. later. Remember WWE introduced the new Roman first and then reintroduced the new Usos and then later Sami and Rock. It’s a long story for this post Roman run. It sucks Cody is the, from his words “a step holder” for the WWE belt.

Thanks for all the content today ❤

I believe the Suzuki vs Jericho match is at the next Dynamite. I have no idea why it wasn't on here.

@The Rantin Review I went to the show last night n it was fun live! I wish more njpw guys like Sanada, Evil, narita, n Finlay were spotlighted more on the card.

I just hope that this doesn't bloat out of control and end up going on some crazy path. But Who knows with the DUB.

I like crossover promotion. The dhow was good. Just way too long

Tony khan putting ZSJ over his butt buddy and little dog pockets was the biggest surprise

I pray to God its not Swerve vs Page main even All In

Naito's barely holding himself together. I appreciate the hustle and know he's gotta put the hours in since he's the only real native draw NJPW has right now, but the man needs to take at least six months off to heal up. Some real 1999 Keiji Muto vibes from the guy lately. Watching him walk to the ring makes me wince.

I really liked the show overall-- some boring matches but the ladder match, ZSJ, amazing Bryan match and 5+ star main evento were more than worth the price alone ❤ (I only pay $20 through Fite and AEW+ because I'm "in the UK," wink wink)

Best matches 1. Swerve vs Ospreay 2. Shingo vs Danielson T3.Stephanie vs Mercedes /LIJ vs Lucha Bros and Mistico 5. Ladder match Honorable mention Toni vs Mina Oc vs ZSJ