New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)

[6.0] "The WWE of Japan. Countless great matches and moments, completely undermined by their ability to spend most of their existence coasting on their popularity. Baba was a better worker and booker than Inoki, the pillars better wrestlers than the musketeers. But they were at the forefront of junior heavyweight wrestling and when their heavyweights were on, they were really on. Probably my hotest take on them is that the Tanahashi era was better than the Okada era. Their current troubles can all be linked to trying break into the American market by pushing a lot of white guys, while AEW was an unknown factor when pushing Kenny to the top, it wasn't with Osprey. Hopefully they can find their identity again."

[7.0] "[7.4] New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2025 could be seen as a bit of a rebuilding phase after a largely horrific 2024. They've been pushing newer talent since Okada, White, Ospreay, Guerillas of Destiny, Naito and more left New Japan for other ventures. I generally thought they had a good year. In 2026, they seemed to put the petal on the gas since Tanahashi's retirement. I've been enjoying these shows even if some are weaker than others because they usually feature some good quality matches! Wrestle Kingdom was amazing and Tsuji leading NJPW is the way to go. Story wise NJPW is decent but not the best. The two shining lights right now is Lee vs. Tsuji, Unbound Co vs. United Empire. Overall, NJPW is in a good place right now and I'm excited for what's in store."

[10.0] "The greatest promotion of all-time, holy fucking shit, the matches this promotions have are some of the greatest of all-time, most of my favourite matches are NJPW matches, and they seem to be entering another great era"

[10.0] "The King of Sports. When New Japan Pro Wrestling are in form, there isn't a promotion on planet earth that can touch it. For my money they have the highest highs of any promotion in the history of professional wrestling, and whilst the past few years have seen countless notable departures and lacklustre creative in spells, the company have recaptured the magic needed to be the world's best promotion as 2026 gets underway."

[9.0] "New Japan is a company of massive peaks and valleys, second only to the WWE in that regard. And much like the WWE their peaks are so high it more than makes the valleys worth it. Like most long running brands they've been very adaptive and are almost never the same company at the end of a decade that they were at the start of it. They seem to be on the upswing again, thankfully, as the new crop of guys coming up now in the 2020s are finding themselves in plum positions. I'm excited to see what happens next."

[10.0] "My love of NJPW started strange enough, how was Prince Albert (A-Train) doing in Japan. Soon I saw Angle vs. Nagata, Giant Bernard (Prince Albert) vs. Brock Lesnar and several matches with Shinsuke Nakamura. Fast forward to the VTR for Wrestle Kingdom V and I was hooked. That WK featured Satoshi Kojima vs Hiroshi Tanahashi. That was about mid-2011 when I watched it and I never looked back. 15 years later, and I just saw the retirement of Tanahashi and now it's truly the end of the era that I started. I do not know how things will turn out from here for NJPW (the survived Inoki-ism, so I'm sure they'll be fine) but this rating is for the first 15 years I have from the company. The quality wrestling, the action, the collaborations, the discovering of new talent, even the comedy, I owe for keeping me a fan. For people saying they wanted an alternative to WWE, New Japan is and was it. At the dawn of a new era, I wish the company another 15+ years of longevity. Deep from the bottom of my heart, thank you NJPW and best wishes to you retirement Tanahashi."

[8.0] "New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2024-2025 has hit a rough patch. While the promotion historically set the standard for world-class wrestling, particularly during the mid-2015 to early-2019 era, which consistently delivered MOTY-level matches featuring Okada, Tanahashi, Naito, Omega, Ospreay, and Takahashi, recent years have been a struggle. The upper card feels stagnant, new stars are rarely elevated, and Gedo's heavy-handed heel faction booking, culminating in House of Torture, has made shows feel predictable. Crowds are quieter, and outside of major events like Wrestle Kingdom and the G1 Climax, standout matches are increasingly rare. The situation worsened in 2025. Key stars have departed to AEW or WWE (Okada, Omega, Ospreay, Cobb, White), left voluntarily (Naito), or retired (Tanahashi). Rather than using this as an opportunity to elevate the next generation, NJPW continues to bury emerging talent in favour of overexposing veterans or pushing House of Torture, as seen in the G1 Climax. The promotion's historically brilliant formula is faltering, leaving fans with competent but uninspiring wrestling. There are signs of a rebound, but for now, the product is mediocre and desperately needs a plan to rebuild its future stars."

[8.0] "They've fallen since their recent peak in the 2010's due to a variety of issues, but the core of NJPW and it's rich history will keep me watching for years to come. They need to focus on building up their young talent due to exits and retirements, but that next crop is ready to break out - hopefully 2026 will see more upward movement where it's needed."

[7.0] "Wouldn't necessarily say it's my favorite style of wrestling but I still think it's cool as hell and I still have great memories of staying up and watching a lot of NJPW events in the early and mid 2010s. Also really like their style of interviews."

"The biggest promotion in Japan and has a storied history. Modern day NJPW is lacking solid star power however. It just feels shallow. NJPW Strong and Tamashii are all but afterthoughts now. I hope NJPW can revive itself and return to it's standard quality but modern NJPW is lacking."

[10.0] "One of the best. Fuck nah it is THE best. Look at the highest rated matches, that lion will be there for a looooong time. (This sounds like glaze...maybe it is lol)"

"Another western fan who thinks his ideas supersede ticket paying locals. Most NJPW Japanese fans don't watch nor have interest in other leagues, including STARDOM. And guess what? Most STARDOM fans don't watch NJPW either. In fact, the biggest crossovers detractors are women fans of NJPW. Stop trying to force your moral purity on us uncultured people. Learn the history of Japanese wrestling and it's fanbase before making ignorant comments."

[0.0] "Like what is their excuse to not have so many talented women that are in Japan in a more regular basis? How many years did they took to create IWGP Women's Championship and then NJPW Strong Women's Championship? And what do they do? Nothing with it, Stardom is eating as always trying to book another 2 titles because they dont know what women's wrestling is, even tho is superior to them any day. Like the popular promotion before this was All Japan WOMEN. W O M E N. The audacity of not having any of them here? They had a few like managers, even tho when the STARDOM partnership started they had the girls in DARK MATCHES? Nah."

[10.0] "One of my favorite promotions ever, their roster and match catalog is untouchable, especially the late 2010s, no promotion will ever have an greater prime."

[10.0] "My favorite Japanese promotion! I didn't start watching any Japanese wrestling until Wrestle Kingdom 9 in 2015. It was the first show made available in North America and you couldn't ask for a better introduction. The only Japanese wrestler I knew was Tanahashi and Okada because they worked with TNA. I learned who Nakamura, Minoru Suzuki, Kota Ibushi, and Kenny Omega. I've been subscribed to NJPW World since February 2015 and have watched as much history as I could. I love this company."

[10.0] "The best wrestling promotion of all time. Whether it was the 90s, 00s, or current, they have put on some of the greatest wrestling on the globe."

[7.0] "[6.9 on 4/6/2024] NJPW in 2024 has hit a bit of a lull. A stagnant upper card, struggle to build new stars, and dreaded clap crowd wrestling took away a lot of their steam, but they do seem to be beginning to bounce back. However, even just in the recent history of New Japan, there's a lot to like. There was a stretch from mid-2015 to early 2019 where New Japan was *the* place to go to see the best wrestlers in the world doing the best wrestling in the world. You had Okada, Tanahashi, Naito, Omega, Ospreay, Takahashi, all wrestling like their lives depended on it on a shockingly regular basis. The quality (and average ratings of those years) speaks for itself. Had I rated in those years, this would have been a much easier 10. The wrestling of New Japan is still for the most part excellent. Events like the January 4th Wrestlekingdom and the G1 Climax are still guaranteed to produce at least one Match-Of-The-Year contender, but outside of there, those matches are much fewer and far between now. As I said, they seem to be bouncing back now, but Gedo's obsession with western heel faction booking leading culminating in the House of Torture, a stagnant upper card, a struggle to build new stars, all of them have dimmed the shine New Japan had just 5 short years ago. This is historically an absolutely amazing promotion, but for right now, it's just okay, with a light at the end of the tunnel coming up. [EDIT ON 9/4/25: 6.6] Specifically in 2025, New Japan is still in a rough spot. All of the issues I brought up in the back half of my original post have either persisted or grown worse. The House of Torture continues to be unbearable, the upper card is still stagnant, they've lost a good chunk of their stars, whether it's losing them to AEW or WWE as was the case with Okada, Omega, Ospreay, Cobb, and White, or them just leaving, like Naito has, or to retirement in the case of someone like Tanahashi. In the wake of this, they should be elevating their next generation of talent, but they don't, best exemplified by this year's G1, where most of the new guard were made to look like chumps in favor of either putting over the old guard or more House of Torture. The absurdly high highs of 2018 were never going to last, but they've done nothing to future-proof, and they're now just seriously reaping. Something has to change."

[9.0] "For its style of wrestling, there is no promotion better. It presents the sport of wrestling like no other ever has. A timeless in ring style, incredible high points, and consistent presentation that has allowed for countless organic stories. The way New Japan develops stories almost purely through in ring character work and psychology is why I love it so much. Its why I fell back in love with wrestling. While I think Stardom is often as good or better than New Japan, NJPW is still the best wrestling promotion in the eastern hemisphere. The modern version of New Japan with Tana as the ace has been near perfect as a wrestling company. 2014-2019 is probably the greatest 5/6 year stretch any company has ever had. Bullet Club alone would have raised the rating to an 8."

[10.0] "The epicenter of professional wrestling in the far east, NJPW has been one of the most well-known and well-run organizations in the world. In the mid 2000's, this promotion would've gotten at best a 2. But, since then, they've been probably the best Japanese wrestling promotion (along with STARDOM) in the last ten years."

[7.0] "New Japan renewed my love for pro-wrestling after an extended absence. There was a time not so long ago when this would have been an easy 10 for me. Unfortunately, it's currently going through a weak period where I have trouble bothering to even tune in for shows, not to mention get through them. This is not entirely the company's fault. It was overextended going into the pandemic shutdowns and, given its dependence on ticket sales, the financial writing was on the wall. It likely managed to survive via its collaboration with AEW, but with that collaboration came the loss of the top of its roster. Although there are promising rising stars, there is little that is "must see" at the moment - I'd frankly rather be watching AEW or Stardom."

[10.0] "The reason i fell in love with the art of professional wrestling. Truly feels like a privilege to be able to experience this company for 10+ years. A few ups and downs in the past few years but when they are needed the most, they always deliver."

[8.0] "I've seen a few matches from NJPW and I can see why may people love this company. I will say some of the matches aren't for me, but the one's I've seen are a great watch."

[7.0] "Get rid of HoT, make Evil a monster heel. Stop making Shota Umino a joke just because he ain't ready for WK main event. Stop letting Desperado and Hiromu rot in the junior heavyweight division. Start using viable talents like Shingo Takagi or Sanada."

[10.0] "Industry standard company in terms of in work rate during the best period in wrestling history for work rate."

[10.0] "It can be said that it is the only promotion that can make a good match out of two wrestlers even if it has them. A large part of the history of pro wrestling was formed in this promotion. In terms of matches, stories, events, tournaments and everything, it is one of the best and currently I think it is the fifth best promotion of 2025"

"The one company in Japan that'll always be popular with the 'States, and it's no question why. This is a legendary wrestling promotion with timeless classics, even though Meltzer pushed the agenda a little too hard at times."

[10.0] "Not much to say, it's the best wrestling company ever, even if it's not in the best shape right now."

[9.0] "On a long enough timeline, New Japan emerged from the latter 20th-Century Puroresu boom to lay claim as Japan's largest wrestling promotion (and is currently the second-most influential wrestling promotion on the planet.) They have a legacy of producing stars, but Western wrestling fans are going to be more aware of the platform New Japan served for wrestlers like Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, and Kenny Omega. Their storylines aren't always perfect, and some of the talent takes off once they feel they have nothing to prove, but the fact they can find ways to continually operate events beyond Japan shows they really are an international organization by today's standards. Given their success in Japan, and their successful tours of the United States, UK, and Australia, New Japan deserves the recognition as a international major league."

[6.0] "NJPW in 2024 is sadly lacking from the heights it reached in the late 10's. Currently, the product is not engaging and is in need of new booking and direction. Currently, they have no Megastars to build the promotion around. No issue with wrestling style - just a lack of reason on why I should watch"

[4.0] "NJPW was FANTASTIC up until late 2016, everything after this specific year went downhill slowly but surely. The constant need to book overly long-drawn-out forced epic matches for every single PPV main events even when there is no backstory and second rate challengers. Constantly shoving Okada down the fans throats instead on making legit multiple stars and oh boy it backfired badely since he now left without putting anyone over the same way everyone did for him during his ten year run at the top. Getting rid of both the IC title which was gorgeous and prestigious and the most prestigious and beautiful title in the world with such a lineage only to create an awful looking 'world' title with no lineage. Putting the belt on EVIL, Ospreay, SANADA, Moxley. Accepting a one way deal with AEW where all the NJPW wrestlers absolutely get nothing while AEW talent just run over the entire NJPW roster, take titles and don't draw a dime in Japan was the nail in the coffin. Maybe karma hit NJPW back after treating NOAH and AJPW like little brothers for the past 15 years as they are now been treated that way by AEW. It sucks because they still have amazing wrestlers in both the Heavyweight and Junior HW divisions, including the new generation but they constantly make awful choices after awful choices, unfortunately."

[8.0] "While I definitely think that New Japan does deserve a whole lot of the praise it gets, I will admit it has quite a few issues and downfalls. Of course there's the wretched 2000s with Inokism in full swing, but even after it reclaimed it's glory and during the crazy heights of the 2010s, there were still issues. New Japan is a company that always feels like it struggles to move on. Of course they build up great stars and always have young people to take the mantle, but they struggle to...well let them do that for years and years. Okada, Tanahashi, Naito and the like were always so pushed and Champions. Then when people finally win it like SANADA, Kota Ibushi, Will Ospreay, etc. it just feels like it's too late. They don't capitalise on popularity all that well, which sure can make for good stories but also just makes it hard to sit through ANOTHER opportunity for a mainstay. I also think that after AEW took some of their bigger stars like White, Okada, Ospreay, etc...New Japan really hasn't recovered too well. Sure having Zack Sabre Jr as champion will help in the long term, I am not totally confident that they'll have him hold onto the title for a long time or drop it to a rising star. You can never be certain with that stuff in New Japan."

[10.0] "The best promotion ever hands down. NJPW from any time period has put on spectacular matches but I want to focus on the stretch from 2010-2020. 10 years of absolute peak with no dull moments. Some of the greatest fueds and matches EVER took place during this time period and solidified NJPW as a wrestling powerhouse. Recently it has been struggling a bit but they still put on great matches and ZSJ as champion seems to be them heading in a new exciting direction."

[10.0] "The best professional wrestling company in the world. Their prime in , , 2012-2020" was the best peak in wrestling company since the attitiude era."

[5.0] "Oh how the mighty have fallen... while it wouldn't be far off to say New Japan was at the very top of the wrestling world in terms of match quality with satisfying booking... I'd say they are the complete opposite now. While you can attribute that to most of their top stars leaving and joining AEW, their booking has become incredibly repetitive and leaving much to be desired. I can only hope New Japan can refind their footing and create new great stars for the future. Until then a 5 rating is all I can offer them."

[10.0] "I started watching NJPW since WK 11 and that was my first experience in Japanese wrestling too.I was really impressed with every match and the wrestlers of New Japan.Since then i watching every event and despite all these big that left the company i still enjoy watching and NJPW stills one of my favorite promotions because there still some great talents and i have faith in new generation.Back then i watched only WWE but because of WK and NJPW i became more fan of Japanese wrestling and i find that's the style of pro wrestling i really like."

[10.0] "One of the most historic companies in history with one of the greatest belts in pro-wrestling history. It may not be good as it was but it is still one of the greatest companies of all time."

[10.0] "Although it's not the same as it used to be, NJPW has become my favorite promotion since AJPW, they have always been consistent, the only down about this company is its state right now in 2024, not saying it's terrible but from what I used to be in the 2010s, 2023 for NJPW was great, it had excellent matches and storytelling was great. As of 2024, they haven't been doing the best, the 2010s was NJPW prime, they had some of the best wrestlers in the world, and they had 5-star classics that people STILL talk about to this day, this company should be more talked about than what it is, I guess because it's across the globe from the United States, but the fans of NJPW are super loyal, and they are one of the best crowds you can hear, they are also have perfect timing when to react to things and its just awsome, its the BEST company to have ever exist."

[9.0] "As with all multi-decade promotions it is tough to rate NJPW. End of the day this promotion gave us modern Junior Heavyweight wrestling, it gave us Liger, Tanahashi and Okada, it gave us the Omega-Okada series and I love watching Zack Sabre Jr in NJPW. This promotion for over 50 years has given plenty of great matches (as in all time classics) and plenty of the best ever wrestlers. Is it perfect? no but so what? It has more than given enough good to justify a 9. I do prefer the 90s AJPW to anything NJPW has ever given us to be honest. But NJPW has given lots of great stuff."

[10.0] "(Sorry english is not my firtst language) Idk what to say its just one of the best promotion that i ever seen"

[8.0] "New Japan Pro Wrestling is in a rough spot right now. But their history, even back to the Three Musketeers era and Inokism, is so rich that I am rooting for their recovery. The spirit of Inoki deserves it."

[10.0] "[10/10] New Japan Pro Wrestling is my favorite company of all time. No federation has made me enjoy wrestling as much as this one. There have been so many classic matches and rivalries, and for me it also has the most beautiful belt in the history of wrestling: the IWGP Heavyweight Championship V4.."

[9.0] "New Japan has a really rich history full of all time great wrestlers, storylines and matches, in modern times part of those come with their partnerships with AEW, RevPro, CMLL, NOAH, etc. My only real complaint is how they will select a few wrestlers and those are those top stars for the next 5-10 years, but thats the way almost all wrestling companies are so they are not alone in that aspect at all. They have a really good way of telling stories by showing and not telling such as Omegas rise to the top as well as all of the Okada/Tanahashi matches. As of recent, however, they have been at a low point due to losing some of their top stars to AEW but are slowly but surely getting back up."

[8.0] "Historically, a 10/10. As of late, they have been steadily declining due to them losing A LOT of household names. Okada leaving really took away a lot of their clout not even Jon Moxley can really bring it back right now. They put on some of the best wrestling on the planet, but it is hard to ignore the losses they have experienced over the past few years and how that affects them really bad as a promotion."

[6.0] "Their "golden age" between 2012-2019 would easily put them somewhere in 9-10 area, however outside this period, one can see that it's not really as good as many people may think it is. Especially looking at Inoki-ism, but also their post-pandemic activity of very questionable booking or departure of valuable names from the main event scene."

[7.0] "in 2023, NJPW has been in a spiral of downfall very much not to the fault of their own. They still haven't get their momentum back from COVID and there is a lot of turbulence in regard to talents like Ibushi and Ospreay leaving. The western expansion halting, especially NJPW Strong, is a sign of the lack of growth in recent years. On the other hand, it really does push the promotion to get out of their way to collab with other promotions, even rivals. Whether it's Forbidden Door, Multiverse United, All Together Again, or the upcoming United Japan pro wrestling show in May. What also got pushed was Gedo's booking, yearning for new changes such as Sanada on top along with J5G, Reiwa musketeers along with other young talents from LA Dojo, NOAH, and All Japan. Of course, on the other hand, Finlay and Russo style match stips really isn't the best the promotion can offer. The main event is still very much stale (which is always been the case, it's just that now people have started to lose the benefit of the doubt realising the likes of ZSJ would never make it). Overall it's heading toward the right direction abeit too slow to fill the gap that is forming."

"Since 2007, New Japan Pro Wrestling has without room for argument produced the best professional wrestling in the world. While the US is dominated by glitz over performance Sports Entertainment products, NJPW provides sports fans who enjoy the competitive aspects of professional wrestling a global product to enjoy. Its long-time partnership with CMLL also provides great wrestling interactions with a heavy focus on the in-ring aspects."

[6.0] "I am rating the NJPW that I have watched, meaning the NJPW that currently exists. I can't talk about NJPW's history because I wasn't watching the company's shows at the time. However, it is clear that NJPW has lost a lot of top talent recently, and that has translated to a mediocre overall product."

[7.0] "When I started watching NJPW in early 2016, I was blown away by their matches. Some of the best matches I have ever seen are in New Japan. The Okada/Tanahashi feud, the Naito redemption and the rise of Omega are fantastic. However, everything seems to go downhill since the Covid Pandemic. The stories have been repetitive, dire and boring. The top belt holders remain the same while the rest of the roster seems to be soulless. And it got even worse since the creation of HoT - the product of Gedo's obsession with North American overbooking. If you are looking forward to a bright future after the departures of Okada and Ospreay, I am afraid I got some bad news, as of March 2024. I still like the Promotion but my interest has not been the same."

"I'm not too well-versed with NJPW but from what I've seen and heard, these folks are pretty solid. This is the company that gave us Finn Balor, AJ Styles, Will Ospreay, Okada-san, Nakamura-san and many many more."

[10.0] "When it comes to food analogies, NJPW truly is like gourmet food. One can argue about King's Road vs. Strong Style until the cows come home, but it's undeniable that both methods of wrestling are among the greatest in the world. Sure, there have been some really dud moments in NJPW's past, and outside the big events they may be somewhat pedestrian, but when it really matters, you can always count on the men in Japan to put on an amazing show."