New Japan Pro

When the Twins start contending again, I'll start talking about them.

New Japan Pro is the WWE of Japan. Recently they've made their product more and more available in the states where U.S. fans can see them. They're hoping to expand into more of a global market like WWE.

Their biggest event of the year dwarfs Wrestlemania. They hold an event called Climax that lasts a week and a half and consists of 14 three hour shows. It's like a year's worth of WWE pay-per-views all in a 17 day span. And THIS year, they're making all of the shows available online for free in the states to try to entice the U.S. market.

Me? Let's just say I'd rather watch three hours of their shows every night than another Twins loss.

I've seen 10 so far, with just 4 more nights to go.

I like their product a lot. They have their primary stars. Guys like Okata, Kenny Omega, Sanada, and Michael Elgin who are as good as anyone the WWE has to offer, but they have a whole roster of other guys who are allowed to win on occasion. That's where they differ from the WWE. Even the guys who aren't top stars sometimes beat the top stars.

And that keeps their product and match-ups fresh. I can't emphasize enough how much that makes their product more watchable than WWE. The first few night they broadcast the event in English. The last several have been in Japanese. I probably couldn't watch them that way if I hadn't seen the U.S. versions first, but since I have, the transition really hasn't been as jarring as you may expect. I KNOW the wrestlers. I know the characters they portray. I'd enjoy the product more with English announcing, but I enjoy it just fine without it.

Best match far? Michael Elgin versus Kenny Omega. It was as good (or better) than anything the WWE has put on this year. (And I thought Cena and A.J. Styles tore it up a few times for WWE.)

I have no idea if fans who see WWE as the only wrestling league out there will ever enjoy the Japanese product.

I mean there are WWE fans who can't even appreciate the incredible ability of WWE wrestlers like A.J. Styles or Sami Zayn, so who knows?

But I like having an alternative to the RAW and Smackdown snooze-fest as of late. A stale product doesn't get any better by consuming more of it.

Kinda' like the Twins....