Back Page Editorial: Le Grand Tour
By Ross W Berman IV
“The Maestro says it’s Mozart
But it sounds like bubble gum
When you’re waiting
For the miracle, for the miracle to come”-Leonard Cohen, Waiting For The Miracle
The Road To Wrestling Dontaku Tour will finally wrap up on 5/3 and 5/4. The past month has been a marathon of tag team matches, title matches, and press conferences. Smartly, New Japan scattered huge matches across the tour, as opposed to saving them for the two-night Dontaku extravaganza. While it means viewers are more than a little fatigued, they also feel rewarded for the great main events the tour has had.
Weekly programming can easily rob a match of stakes. Many matches occur simply because “it’s Monday,” or “it’s Tuesday.” New Japan has always been able to avoid this problem by having a weekly show that’s highlights from up to two years ago. This has helped NJPW events feel more important than an average weekly show. This aura was in jeopardy during April.
April saw a total of 6 live events on the Road To Wrestling Dontaku Tour including Wrestling Hi No Kuni on the 29th. All of the shows featured some kind of weighty main event, while managing to throw gas on the Dontaku rivalries. These shows have already ushered Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Jay White and many others into the bona fide main event scene, and now they’ll culminate with a Bullet Club Civil War and the reigniting of a multi-time Wrestle Kingdom headlining feud.
The only issue has been a lack of English commentary. Many of the Road To shows were deemed important enough for title matches, but not important enough to provide English commentary, with Kevin kelly recording after-the-fact in a sound studio. This has turned-off a lot of western fans, and undercut a stellar run of shows.
With their current momentum, Wrestling Dontaku couldn’t come at a better time. After the 5/3 and 5/4 events, New Japan will take a lengthy break until the Best Of Super Juniors Tournament on 5/18. This will give fans time to sit, digest, and then hunger for more New Japan action. If they finally bring on Kevin Kelly for every tour show, they’ll be unstoppable. They’ll have a schedule that allows for properly-paced marathon tours across the calendar, while still giving fans time to live their lives.
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