Boss Rock

Wouldn't say he was the most unselfish, but I wonder if Hashimoto warrants consideration. It took him years to win a G1, he was the last pushed of the musketeers, and he put Ogawa over twice even after the Wrestling World fiasco. Interestingly enough, he reportedly didn't fight back even after the match went off the rails because he wanted to keep some semblance of professionalism, which he sure as hell didn't have to do.

The way they took the title off Taker was such bullshit. Vickie stripped him off the championship saying that the Hell's Gate submission was "banned". They had a count-out finish at the following ppv before Edge won it again in a TLC match leading to Taker being "fired". Why waste two months instead of going right to the TLC match?

I should rewatch this one.

I think that was the first time they ever did that in a Taker feud. Another aside, I recall that at Mania 20 Taker had a bit of a hard time rolling his eyes back into his head.

Grave Consequences is also the casket match done right.

Somewhat of a side note, the build for Taker-Diesel had the awesome wax replica in a casket bit. He figures Taker's inside and wisely grabs a hammer, only to find the replica. Diesel's reaction is perfect. Doesn't comically overreact in fear, he just slams the lid shut and walks away. Not trembling in fear but seriously disturbed in a "Nuh-uh, I'm outta here!" way.

Terrible news.

His "no mask" rule at this meet-and-greet is dumb as shit. Anti-vaxxer and anti-mask, he is truly the worst.

Moxley was on WOL.

I think he's just been pulled from two shows so far.

I am super stoked for an exploding barbed wire match. Certainly not a gimmick I would have expected at all, but I love it.

Haven't watched any of the matches save the Okada-EVIL stuff from this week, but it seems like these were fairly lackluster cards. Not to mention the disqualification finishes looking a little too much like WWE.

My guess is that O-Khan does indeed win the NEVER title (bleh) and drops it to Shingo later in the year.

Yeah during the match they said he was 8-0 at Mania.

KENTA-Mox finally taking place on February 26th on NJPW Strong.

Shingo-Tanahashi was indeed great. Tana's longevity is insane and Shingo could be the best wrestler in the world today. O-Khan-Tenzan was a lot better than I expected. Nice to see the Dads pull out a solid performance every once in a while. Still, I don't get the hype surrounding O-Khan or why I should be excited about him getting a title shot.

Same.

Main event of All In.

MOTY: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito: Wrestle Kingdom 14 night 2 Adam Page & Kenny Omega vs. Young Bucks: AEW Revolution Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi: Wrestle Kingdom 14 night 1 Promotion of the Year: AEW Best Angles/Promos/Skits: Jon Moxley-Eddie Kingston face-to-face Taz attacking Cody AEW/Impact cross-overs Best Weekly TV Show: Dynamite Wrestler of the Year (Thesz/Flair): Sasha Banks Jon Moxley Tetsuya Naito Wrestler of the Year (Most Outstanding): Tomohiro Ishii Shingo Takagi Hiromu Takahashi I feel somewhat confident in that order, but's still razor thin. Show of the Year: G1 Climax night 13 10/10 Wrestle Kingdom night 2 Wrestle Kingdom night 1

I think Okada makes around or at least close to top WWE star money.

Oh yeah I forgot about Jericho-Naito.

No major angles from NYD it would seem. Shame but it really hasn't done that since SZKG came back in 2017 anyway. But Shingo-Tanahashi and SHO-Hiromu should be hoots.

Finished night 2. The first two matches were skippable, but everything else (mostly) ruled. SANADA-EVIL was solid and gave SANADA the big win he needed. Shingo-Cobb was, well..."bombfest" gets thrown around a lot but this was an absolute bombfest. Hiromu-Taiji was a bit longer than it needed to be but was still great and a bit more physical than their previous matches. As for the main event, the first 10 minutes of padding weren't needed and the amount of kick-outs certainly got excessive, but it was phenomenal. Pro wrestling storytelling at its finest. Wrestle Kingdom certainly wasn't perfect and doesn't really need to be a 2 night event anymore (I suspect they did it this year to make up for a limited capacity Dome and to ensure everyone got to be on the card). But considering how rocky 2020 NJPW was to the point where it actually made me a bit jaded, they stepped up and delivered in a big way. I'm once again optimistic regarding their creative direction and ability to put on satisfying shows.

I haven't seen the Jay promo yet (waiting to finish the Ibushi match first) but I'm guessing he's going to take time off and come back as a babyface.

It is.