Obviously NJPW has been getting poached by AEW lately, losing a lot of TOP LEVEL talent from the 2017-2020 stretch (Okada, Ospreay, White, Juice, Ibushi) and the rest of the roster really starting to age. This is a time for NJPW to start building some of its new stars but a lot of skepticism over if certain guys are ready for that spot after a very polarizing SANADA reign.
What’s been lacking heavily from NJPW since that 2017-2020 stretch that really allowed guys to do more than wrestle pointless repetitive feuds? A consistent mid card title. Ever since the IC title and IWGP titles were combined, NJPW has just completely lacked any sort of championship that would propel someone up the card. The NEVER belt served that purpose post-unification but it just has never had the credibility to be that. The US title was largely not in Japan during that time due to Moxley being the champion and having a back and fourth with Lance Archer. It wasn’t until Tanahashi won it that it was back to being the secondary title in Japan. It gave guys more to do than nothing, reigns for KENTA, Sanada, Juice, Ospreay, Omega. But unfortunately those are the only guys who won it in its final 3 years. 3 of which are now out of the company, KENTA who is aging, and SANADA who did end up climbing the card. Look at Jay White though, he won the title shortly after returning from excursion and it gave him a lot of credibility.
Now we have the Global and TV titles. They are our midcard titles moving forward and I think ZSJ did a fantastic job with the TV title and it gave him championship credibility to test the waters at the top of the card. But after a roster purge, both titles are once again on foreign talents and the titles will probably be on very limited tours and shows as a result.
Why is it so hard for NJPW to just book their championships with the talent in Japan and use them to build up the roster who is CONSISTENTLY there? Everyone wants to see what some young guys can do (Shota, Yuya, Yota, Ren) and a run with a midcard title could be huge for any of them right now. I love Nic Nemeth too but I’m sure they’ll make him look like a star just for him to want to stay in the states and sign with AEW in 2 years in a repeating pattern they can’t seem to escape.
EDIT:
I understand the IC title was largely booked for main event guys like Naito Nakamura & Tanahashi but what I’m saying is you needed guys like that to build the prestige behind the title as something meaningful. Looking beyond the “intended purpose” of the Global and TV Belts, Allowing full time NJPW roster members to hold those belts and give them an identity (Like Zack did with the TV). The time limit on the TV title is going to largely prevent any big time 25+ minute matches. A lot of people telling me the Global title was meant to be defended elsewhere and i understand that, but I’m saying they would benefit from a true secondary title IN Japan that the JAPAN audience is familiar with to continue to build guys up.
by Dspirio7
