A lot of the podcasts have been talking mixed reviews about the exclusions of certain vets from the qualifiers in the actual G1 – notably Yoshi-Hashi, Ishii, and Taichi.
Let's only talk about this in the hypothetical sense, from the perspective of "assuming they are healthy" (which several may not be) – there seems to be a lot of rumors circulating the reason Ishii (and Taichi, I now see) may have injuries which would not enable them to do a full tournament.
But on the assumption any of these guys -are- healthy, how about the idea of lending out to a guy like Yoshi-Hashi to a Pro Wrestling NOAH for a little mini-excursion where they can work since they aren't doing the G1 schedule this year? NJPW clearly is strengthening its partnerships domestically for these joint shows. NJPW clearly trusts a company like NOAH to train a young lion like Oiwa, and have put guys like Kiyomiya and Jake Lee in the G1. How about YH in the N-1 Victory, for example? Yoshi-Hashi is a workhorse now, he's a recognized name, and he'd bring good fresh matches even if he didn't get a lot of wins.
by coppersquire
