Tenzan is new NWA champ

I am a big fan of the NWA, but this move is awful. 

This is bad for several major reasons.

#1. This puts all the men's World Titles in Japan.  The World Junior title is still in the hands of Jushin Liger.  The World Heavyweight title now belongs to Tenzan.  The World Tag Team Champs are KES, but they have wrestled primarily in Japan for some time.  Not good.

#2 This formula has been done before . . . last year.  We sent the World Title over there for half a year last year.  There is no reason to expect it will come home prior to the Cauliflower Club match this year either and no reason to assume they will keep it past that date.  Once is nice, twice is unoriginal.  Not to mention we are already following that formula for the World Junior title.  Bad idea.

#3 It means New Japan is better than the NWA.  New Japan is not an NWA territory.  Instead, it is a different organization, which if you watch those shows, the NWA is trying to prove it is better.  Yet, now our World Champ loses all the time over there.  So has Owens, and so has our World tag champs.  How do you not come to the conclusion that New Japan is simply better.  Remember we are not even going against their top guys. 

#4 Tenzan is simply a bad champ.  Kojima, I understood.  Tenzan has had more IWGP World Titles, but Kojima was the better wrestler.  Kojima had a big run in All Japan, was the first man to win the Triple Crown and the IWGP World title.  Kojima won the G1 Climax and IWGP World Title in 2010.  Thus he had been in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom in 2011, less than four years ago.  Tenzan has not had a world title shot of any kind since 2006.  Tenzan has been out of the main event for a long time.  Yet, now he is the NWA World Champ. 


Ultimately this does not elevate the NWA, makes it look formulaic, and now Rob Conway is damaged goods.  I like Conway, but he cannot regain the title after this.  It is someone else's turn now.  If he does regain it in Las Vegas later this year, I will be disappointed. 

This does lower the excitement for big cards that had Conway on it such as the Branded Outlaw card that was headlining Claxton vs. Conway. 

If you are looking for some sort of positive, I suppose this clears the deck for a good look at Jax Dane.  He now has the National Title, and there is nothing else to book in the NWA.  The North American Title has never really been the number 2 title, so Dane gets a clear booking look to see if he can be the man to carry the World title in the future. 

Again, this is bad for Bruce Thwarp and the NWA as a whole.