Yeah, there's a hell of a lot of intensity between those two, should make for a great feud. Also hyped for Makabe/Ibushi as well.
It's probably going to be one and done. Naito is next in line for a shot at Tanahashi's briefcase (he beat him in the G1) and he'll probably get it at KOPW. After that I'd like to see Shibata go after the NEVER title, so Naito will probably either hook up with La Sombra and go after the tag titles in the G1 Tag League, or perhaps go after the IC belt.
Right now, here's my WK10 dream card (at least, the main matches)
IWGP Title: Okada vs. Tanahashi
Semi-Main: AJ vs. Nakamura
IC title: Goto vs. Naito
NEVER title: Ibushi vs. Shibata
Nakamura is probably going to beat Goto for the IC belt so I know this is in a lot of doubt, but this is what I'd like to see based on how things are going. Right now the tag, jr, and jr tag divisions are in so much turmoil it's hard to predict where those will end up.
In absolute fairness (and partially because I hate Taguchi now) he has been ripping off the Boma Ye with his new finisher that I have affectionately (and by that I mean not) dubbed the "Butt-ma Ye". I do not blame the King of Swag at all.
Tidy little match between the young lions today, two things that really impressed me - first, Jay White's spacing in this spot, how little wasted movement there is;
And second, what an awesome pin from David Finlay;
Both these kids have a bright future, if I'm any judge. Komatsu's still king of the young lions, though. I could see him taking over for Tiger Mask in a year or two. Tanaka's very impressive as well, it's even more obvious that (in spite of his lack of height) they're positioning him as a heavyweight.
I dunno if Komatsu will take over for Tiger Mask, but it's high time he went on his learning excursion (undoubtedly to CMLL) so he can get a new character. The problem with him taking over is that I'm pretty sure Sayama (the OG TM) owns the gimmick and basically has final say on who can use it, and with his current RJPW promotion not to mention his fierce loyalty to douchebag Inoki (shit, Sayama's promotion is basically MMA too), he may not allow NJPW to use the gimmick going forward after Yamazaki (the current TM) retires. There's also the naming convention of the real name being same first and last initial but TMV (Ikuhisa Minowa) didn't have that so I guess it doesn't matter anymore.
As for Tanaka, I like that they are giving him a semblance of a character as being disrespectful to legends since Komatsu is seen as the bigger star of the two. He's definitely got the better heavyweight potential (and it helps that he's Tanahashi's protege) and I could see him heading to ROH in a year after Watanabe comes back.
As for White and Finlay, I've been saying for a while that they have the best potential of the young lions right now. White is amazing in the ring for someone so young and inexperienced, and he has a great look, if he builds up some muscle he could be a huge star, if not for NJPW but perhaps in WWE. Finlay is going to get attention based on family name alone, his look isn't great (too pretty boy to be the son of tough-ass Fit Finlay) but I could see him taking the route of fellow Irishman Finn Balor, becoming a big name in NJPW and then heading to NXT or whatever WWE developmental will look like in a few years.
And yeah, Juice Robinson looked really good. I hope he succeeds. By all accounts, CJ is a really nice dude, and if he wants to prove he can make it in this business there's no better place than NJPW
