Best Way to Watch New Japan Pro Wrestling? Recommended matches?

Hey all,

I listened to the latest Powerbombcast this week and was wondering if anyone knows the best way to watch New Japan Pro Wrestling on at least a semi-regular basis. I've always had a curiosity about Japanese wrestling and now that Shinsuke Nakamura is going to be in WWE, I feel like it is a good time to get acclimated with it.

Also, what are some essential matches/PPVs that I should seek out?

Thanks!

I'd have the same question too. You must be watching it on AXS? I've only been following this year and it looks like there are over 40 episodes. I would love to get my hands on all of them.

New Japan has become considerably easier to consume than in previous years.

They have a subscription service called NJPW World that is similar to the WWE Network. Just like the Network, you can watch all of their big shows live and they are archived pretty quickly. It is only a little over $8 a month. The site is in mostly in Japanese, but Chrome's auto translate does a good enough job.

Senor Lariato on Twitter put together a required match list with links. The list looks intimidating, but that is because the quality of the promotion is second to none. Unlike WWE and most US promotions, New Japan treats wrestling like a sport. Yes, it is still pre-determined, but they approach it like its an athletic competition. They have several tournaments throughout the year to decide top contenders for the many titles they have, and it is even covered by press over there like a sport.

New Japan on AXS TV is a nice place to start if you have the channel. They show some of the biggest matches in New Japan from the last few years, and are commentated in English; currently by Mauro Ranillo with play by play and Jash Bartlett on color, and soon to be Jim Ross on play by play.

If you want to see some of what makes Shinsuke Nakamura one of the best wrestlers in the world, the best place to start are his matches at Wrestle Kingdom, NJPW's biggest show, the last two years. This past January at Wrestle Kingdom 10, he fought AJ Styles in what some people are already predicting will be on the short list for a Match of the Year contender. In January 2015 at Wrestle Kingdom 9 he fought one of the best young wrestlers in the world in Kota Ibushi in one of the best matches of 2015.

As always, all are welcome to pop on in to the Wrestling Thread here at Giant Bomb. There are several people here that will more than welcome to point you towards some of the best of professional wrestling. There is no better time to be a fan.

NJPW World is their version of the WWE Newtork and costs 999 yen a month (think that translates to $8 or something like that). Many of their live shows are streamed on it and it's got the back catalog of pretty much all their shows. If you sign up, you can't go wrong with Wrestle Kingdom 8, 9 or 10 as an introduction.

There's also NJPW on AXS which shows past NJPW matches with English commentary but AXS doesn't put any of their shows online so you need cable. Mauro Rannallo was the lead announcer for that show but he now works for WWE and commentates on SmackDown. Jim Ross is set to take over for him sometime next month.

@drdarkstryfe@milkman Good stuff thanks a bunch, links were especially helpful! I did hear a little about NJPW World, will definitely check it out.