WingedEagle

So I happened to read the comments on this one before I watched it, and thus didn't go in blindly but rather expecting a MOTDC. Despite that this was still awesome. Just top 10-15 awesome rather than surefire #1 candidate. Misawa brings the heat right away with an early diving elbow, flying dropkick and establishing his elbow from the outset as the ultimate counter. Things change when Akiyama goes after the neck with a calf branding into the railing and then a piledriver and exploder that just kills him. Would not have expected Akiyama the axe murderer here. His attack on the neck is just relentless. For some reason the heat doesn't yet seem to match the level of intensity in the ring (and on the floor). Maybe the crowd wasn't yet buying an Akiyama upset? After a brief Misawa control segment, Akiyama regains the edge by dropkicking him to the floor and *again* going to the jumping knee and a calf branding into the railing to try and snap that neck once and for all. Tombstone, flying elbow to the back of the neck and an Exploder only gets a near fall, but now the building has been sold and is all for it. Akiyama even blocks a tiger driver but the German Misawa follows with isn't about to get him out of this jam. Misawa eventually hits the tiger driver and Akiyama gets to kick out -- shit's about to get real. A series of great counters results in a released German by Misawa and Akiyama gets to kick out of ANOTHER tiger driver in what was probably the spot I popped the most for. Misawa hits his rolling elbow but Akiyama hulks up with 2 exploders that leave both dead. That was a little much for me and one reason I can't go the full monty here. Another run of finishers culminating with a wrist-clutch exploder lands Akiyama the biggest win of his career. So maybe this is a top 10 candidate. Its definitely on the short list of those I will rewatch before finalizing my list. But that neck work and the escalation building to Akiyama's win were dynamite. ****1/2, my 2000 MOTY and plenty of room for an upgrade.

Yeah, we'll see what this looks like on a rewatch later in the year but watching live this felt as tremendous as anything from the Dome.

Watched the promos this morning. Heyman really is a miracle worker. Had me interested in Reigns/Brock there.

No Raw tonight, and many are probably snowed in for the next 36 hours. What wrestling are you watching in the meantime? On tap for this guy: 1994 Yearbook (up to the beginning of June) Best of Japan 2000s list -- up to Kanemura vs. KENTA (NOAH 5/26/2002) Jun Akiyama vs. Takao Omori (AJPW 6/15/2014) Go Shiozaki & Kento Miyahara vs. Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori (AJPW 12/6/2014) Rush vs. Negro Casas (CMLL 8/1/2014) Titan vs. Barbaro Cavernario (CMLL 7/29/2014) Maybe some '89 NWA as well. What you got?

I think a Royal Rumble crowd in that city (and the same would hold for certain other cities) exacerbated the situation. But the way that Rumble was booked wasn't working anywhere. You could argue that the only people booked to look strong at any point, for any amount of time were Bubba, Wyatt (briefly, before he settled into doing nothing and waiting around so that he was there late), maybe Kane/Show, and Rock. And arguably all of them looked like shit along the way. Forgetting for a moment the decision to bounce Bryan when they did and the decision to give Reigns the win. Nobody looked impressive.

So they bring in Rock to try and get Reigns a babyface pop. That wasn't going to work on this night.

Goddamn this has been awful. Has anything this bad ever followed a match as good as the triple threat?

Nobody is standing out here. Really strange how this is put together for so late in the match.

Truly mind boggling. Rock comes out at 30, gives his spot to Bryan, who wins and which also sets up Rock-Reigns? This is the kind of madness they have me imagining now.

Not even long enough to piss.

Having the announcers acknowledge the chants for Bryan is even stranger. They going to have him steal someone else's entry? Just really odd decisions here.

Really perplexed. If Bryan's not winning, the crowd is likely shitting all over the finish unless its Rock. Why not at least let him hang till the end so they don't crap all over things on the way there?

Fuck man. That was not cool.

Pretty cool they gave that big a plug for DDP Yoga. Surprisingly flat given Bryan has been in for a good stretch here. Looks like Rusev will make things a bit more interesting.

This push makes it pretty clear Taker is coming back for him. Really fun and fast so far.

So, so jealous. Was that as amazing from where you were sitting as it was on TV?

FUCK. That is right there with anything from Wrestle Kingdom. On my feet from almost the word go. Incredible action the entire way, brilliantly laid out. They even teased the tired get up off of the stretcher spot but didn't quite go there. Unreal spectacle.

Enjoyed the tag title match quite a bit. Usos almost always deliver and this was no exception.

That second dive nearly killed an Uso. Kudos to the ref for immediately checking with him.

Preshow match was fun, and the crowd seems stoked to do their part in making it a memorable night as well. More excited for this than any show since Mania other than Summerslam and with no clue how they book the title match, Rumble and Rock there's a ton of room for some big happenings.

Maybe I'm in the minority but I'm stoked for Rock's appearance. Could go in any number of directions and frankly all of them seem interesting and should add a much needed spark to the Mania lineup.

Cannot wait to dive into this at the gym tomorrow.

What's wrong with fans having an issue with Reigns on that level? They're probably paying customers which is a damn good thing, and are involved with the product. Not how I'd go about voicing anything, but I don't see what's problematic about it.

Saw that earlier as well and while it may be coincidental as a better time to push an internal project, you'd think it'd be good to have all promotional cylinders aligned.

Frankly, this is true. Death of WCW is a solid book, and was a great read at the time. But it reads like a blog, not a book. Were there any significant additions to the new edition that somehow it anything more than just a reprint?