Right now in NJPW, two young lions are being heavily tested. Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji have been in their current role for far too long, entirely due to the difficulty in travel that came with the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally they would have already been sent off on excursion to broaden their skill sets in a company like CMLL, Ring of Honor, or RevPro. However, as the global situation begins to improve, NJPW has now brought up that it’s time for Tsuji & Uemura to finish school.
But First, They Faced Two Of NJPW’s Best
On the July 2nd NJPW show in Korakuen Hall, Tsuji & Uemura faced their biggest tests yet in their recent run of big time singles matches. It is typical for NJPW to put their Young Lions in a series of tough matches against veterans ahead of excursion, and that has been what Tsuji & Uemura have been dealing with lately.
In the past month, Yota Tsuji already faced the likes of Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., and Great O-Khan in singles matches, and generally lasted over ten minutes in each. Uemura on the other hand had to face Minoru Suzuki, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi and Kota Ibushi. Again, he lasted over ten minutes in each, impressive especially against Suzuki.
Now, to end their singles trials they were set up against the two men who are about to main event Tokyo Dome. Tsuji got a chance to wrestle Kota Ibushi, while Uemura stepped into the ring with the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Shingo Takagi. Both put up good fights, but neither came out with a win. Had Uemura won, it would have reshaped his entire career.
Do Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemera Need To Go On Excursion?
In the NJPW1972.com article regarding these matches, they closed out with “Could the next chapter in Tsuji and Uemura’s careers finally be approaching?” which only means one thing. It’s finally time to get them out of Japan, or even just out of the dojo system. International travel is still a bit touchy, and sending someone to a different country for a year right now might not be the wisest choice, but following their intense matches over the last tour and how bright they’ve shone in the last year? Tsuji & Uemura might be ready without an excursion.
We’ve seen the NJPW roster become a bit stale lately due to a lack of outside names or movement up the card internally, and some nights the show would be stolen by matches including Tsuji & Uemura. This might be a situation similar to that of Shinsuke Nakamura, where an excursion was not needed to make a star. Obviously once they can, both men want to compete else, with Tsuji having mentioned many times how much he wants to wrestle in CMLL, but right now, NJPW might just need to start having them grab big wins in some new gear.
Do you think an excursion will be needed with Uemura & Tsuji? Would they be fine just starting to rise up the card in NJPW? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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