New Japan is going on the offensive in 2009 and part of that includes reviving the Golden Week tradition of big wrestling shows. In the past, New Japan ran a Dome in May but in recent times has run Korakuen Hall more often than not. But New Japan officials have told Kami Pro that on May 3rd, the company will run a show at the 10,000 seat Fukuoka International Center. Not exactly a hotspot for pro wrestling in recent years, Fukuoka hasn’t hosted a major New Japan event for quite some time, so the return to the place where Keiji Muto (as Muta) won his first IWGP Heavyweight Title in 1992 will be significant. New Japan plans to make it a “Sumo Hall” level event with similar effort into production and promotion. The last time New Japan ran there was a few years ago when Brock Lesnar defended the IWGP Heavyweight Title against Giant Bernard, and it drew a very poor crowd, but the company has revived itself a lot since then and has put together a project team to organize this event.

Many people are wondering about the progress of contract talks right now, and well, it is a much quieter month than in the past. Wrestlers are signing, holding secondary talks, and all as usual, but the company will only talk about it when negotiations are over or if someone leaves — as Minoru is. Tanahashi did suspend talks as his demands are complex: he apparently wants exclusive nude photos of women as part of his deal, and New Japan officials are a bit perplexed.