Jmare007

Actually I also remember someone saying Road Dogg doing a good job on Smackdown was because he was an Amstrong.

Cesaro ain't better than Sekimoto as a tag wrestler.

I can buy him having big title matches in his mind in advanced, but the "plan" thing falls apart when you go through what happened in between those big matches. For example, after WK 12, Naito was in limbo for 80% of the time with random IC title reigns and big matches that didn't really build to him "finishing his journey" this year. Like, I can see Gedo going "he won't win at 12 but I'll give him an even bigger win (kayfabe wise) over Okada" with not much else thought out. This has happened to almost the whole roster. Hell, Jay White was able to find his groove after his big title win, not before nor during. Going back to positive stuff, can we get a Togo vs Shingo singles match? pleeaaase?

HA! touche

I'll never stop being surprised when people start talking about Gedo and his "plans". Every time it's proved there was none, it's like fans forget about it because they love the matches and ring quality so much (and because he doesn't spit in the face of fans like Vince does).

The fact they actually are doing a champ vs champ but it's not Takahashi vs Naito (and again, they chose EVIL??) is even more puzzling. Feels like Gedo went "if we can only get 1/3 capacity in every building, I'll just book to get those numbers. When we are at full capacity I'll got back to the big guys"...or something.

Oh, and I hope they let Togo show the world and a new generation how fucking awesome he is.

If this was 3 years ago I would've been fuming, not gonna lie. But at this point I don't care like that anymore, I enjoy New Japan for what it is: some matchups that look dope on paper and normally deliver. EVIL winning screams Nakanishi winning in 09'. Just like a decade ago, Gedo threw a monkey wrench to what was supposed to be a big title run for the most popular guy in the company after he won a huge match at WK (Tanahashi beating Mutoh for the belt after his invader run) and gave the strap to a midcard dude as a big swerve because New Japan had to cancel Fantastica Mania. Now with the pandemic, he does this big swerve angle with EVIL. We'll see if this shit has legs or if he'll give Naito an immediate rematch so he can get it back, just like Tana did in 09'. What's funny though is that after Tana got the belt back, he got injured and had to forfeit the belt and because of that, he had to wait till 2011 to get his legit big Ace run with the title. Naito wont have that kind of wait, as he already had it after WK 12 And of course, it's hilarious that the wrestler chosen for this spoiler role was EVIL and not Ishii (who would be perfect for a "thank you" title reign like Nakanishi had). And if Gedo just wanted to force a BC/LIJ swerve, then fucking use Shingo, or even Sanada. Also tragic how they went 38 fucking minutes. Fucking hell. If this EVIL run has more than 1 defense, I at least hope he brings back 20 minute title matches. But It's hard picturing Naito not getting it back or Okada coming to the rescue (LMAO if that's the case) ASAP.

I expect that kid of fuckery from WWE, not New Japan If he's are lucky he'll get a nice character arc/change once the first wave of bad reactions calms down.

Depends on the city, their match at TLC showed it can get a big reaction. They had them with a half crab that time.

AJ and the New Day seem pretty close in all those UpUpDownDown videos so I doubt AJ is very upset about it and I'm sure the SD locker room would be more receptive to him.

To be honest I don't see how Bryan's 3-4 year hiatus hurt his case more than any other wrestler's early to mid 00's hurting them because they weren't at a "best in the planet" level yet.

If you follow ShittyLittleBoots post on Bryan matches, he's very high on almost every single TV match he's had this year. When you add up all those matches, makes sense why he thinks D-Bry has been the best this year. Not sure how Okada could be have a better case when he also has like 3 matches so far this year Kento's resume is pretty short too, same as Sabre and Shingo. As with everything in wrestling ti comes down to tastes. But I wouldn't say anyone in 2020 has a long list of good to great matches that make him or her a lock for a top 5 or anything. Shit, even Daichi Hashimoto's inconsistent ass has a case this year.

Not a lot more to add to the case of this match being great. Just want to reiterate that the finish was fucking great. No finisher trading, not a bunch of nearfalls, just 1 dude being able to put together his two finishers in a row after an incredible back and forth match that had almost zero excess. The fact they did it in front of a bunch of NXT guys hopefully help some of them to understand that you don't need a bunch of excess to have an awesome match.

We need the uncut version of Bryan vs AJ, that shit was awesome. Absolutely LOVED the finish.

Anyone can find a match good/great even if it didn't get over, just as anyone can find a match bad/terrible even if it had the crowd going nuts. The point of a Hollywood movie is to make money and tons of people find Fast & Furious flicks horrible (even though a huge portion love them and has made it one of the most profitable franchises ever), just as a ton people find movies that bombed at the box office, "classics". I also loved the Miz/Bryan match at Summerslam and there's no question it had a dead crowd, it didn't take my enjoyment of it though. Bryan vs Gulak also had a lackluster reaction (which was funny to me, such an odd match for a 2020 WWE crowd and it showed) and that was fucking awesome. AJ vs Bryan at the Rumble was their worst match against each other I think, but it wasn't bad...and the crowd was fucking dead. Anyway, if we are throwing love for top 10 people in the last 20 years then Daisuke Sekimoto better get some damn recognition in this thread. Co-sign the Togo love too.

Yeah, Bryan takes this. It's pretty ridiculous how quickly he was awesome and then he basically never stopped. Even a guy like Tanahashi took like 6-7 years to really blossom (in 10 years it will be crazy for new fans to find out they had a match against each other) and I have too big of a blind spot with AJ's TNA work.

I haven't watched RAW in more than a year at this point (maybe I've checked a few segments, I don't even remember) so I can't really judge Heyman's tenure. But there's no question he wasn't able to do anything to give some legit spark to the product as interest on the show has been historically low for a long ass time now. "Best" case scenario he just wasn't able to convince Vince to do anything worth a damn and if that's the case it doesn't make much of a difference if he stayed in charge or not. I'd be surprised if Pritchard lasts as long as Paul this time around though.

Exactly.

Oh I disagree, leg slapping is waaaay more ridiculous than stomping. Specially because nowadays they don't even bother trying to hide it like guys like Tajiri, at least there was some semblance of subtlety there. "Some clearly over do it" is an understatement, some NXT matches are hilarious, just like the ones on the indys years ago. That don't make them an affront to wrestling, but what Orton said was fucking funny.

I've never given much of a fuck about Randy Orton but this made me pop

Even if Ripley beats her at Summerslam for the RAW belt, will it be worth it? If there's one thing WWE can't do for shit is executing long term plans, even if they make some sort of sense. Will Rhea be able to survive being booked like shit for 2 more months for her W to feel important? This company hasn't earned any benefit of the doubt when it comes to shit like this so yeah, let people be pissed *shrugs*

New Japan is back. Next week, June 15th without a live audience, no card yet. I wonder if Tana got his wish of New Japan being the last entertainment biz to return... New Japan Cup starts on June 16 Dominion in July will have a limited live audience. I guess they'll keep the G-1 Climax date considering they'll hopefully be able to run shows with larger crowds to get more revenue. And more talent will probably/hopefully be available.

Bryan vs Styles gonna be on Smackdown in 2 weeks and not Backlash, interesting. I wonder If Bryan wins, considering he's been running with a "I'll fight all challengers" gimmick, I wonder if he loses the belt at the PPV (vs Riddle? that would be dope) and then finally takes his break. Then again they could just make AJ win and that's that