Mad Dog

Fujita is one of those shoot fighters who can't really wrestle but Inoki loves and pushes them.

I think NOAH's worse off than NJPW to be honest. They're drawing big shows right now but they still don't have a next generation to take over for Kobashi, Misawa, etc. They really need to start building stars or they're screwed in the long run. NJPW could easily fix itself by treating the IWGP belt like it means something again, exile all the shoot fighters like Fujita and pull the trigger on Nakamura and Tanahashi as the real main eventers of the promotion. Guys like Tenzan, Chono and Saski should just be side attractions now. Not contending for major titles. I think getting power away from Inoki is also another thing that needs to happen for New Japan to right itself.

Does he wrestle with the horns on?

Yeah Fujita is on title reign number three for some unknown reason. This is also the third title change this year. I guess they have no intention of booking a long term IWGP Champion anymore. Tenzan also seems destined to never get a good run with the belt.

I think RoH needs to exile Punk and Hardy by the end of the month. This has a really good chance of completely blowing up in their faces. The people that watch RoH hate the WWF and you'll chase them away by working with the WWF too much. Also the 1000 number is probably a work on RoH's part. Most of the live reports I read had it more in the 500-600 range.

Here's the results for those wondering:

Kawada can still be good from time to time. I think he's just lazy and realizes he can still get pops by kicking for 90% of the match. Kobashi, IMO, is the single most overrated wrestler in the world right now. If he was 10 years younger people would be shitting all over him and given his matches nowhere near the praise they get. I don't understand this force that blinds people when it comes to him.

My personal favorite string of shows every year. Guys always seem to bring their A games for it. Here's the competitors: Osamu Nishimura Minoru Suzuki Tatsumi Fujinami Kendo Kashin Hiroyoshi Tenzan Josh Barnett Masahiro Chono Yuji Nagata Yutaka Yoshie Togi Makabe Hiroshi Tanahashi Toru Yano Blue Wolf Shinsuke Nakamura Manabu Nakanishi This looks really bad on paper with so much deadweight involved. Though I thought the last 2 years were going to be awful and they managed to pull off good shows. How old is Fujinami these days? He's got to be pushing 60. I'm guessing the final will be Tanahashi vs. Nakamura but it's hard to tell with New Japan anymore. I think Tanahashi winning this and then beating Tenzan for the IWGP Title at the 1/4 Dome show would be a great way for New Japan to go. EDIT: Opps, forgot to mention that there's still a to be announced left for the tournament.

Huge show coming up for NOAH: I have to admit that Misawa/Kawada and Kobashi/Sasaki don't interest me greatly. I've never cared for Sasaki outside of tag matches here and there and I don't think Kobashi has been as good as a lot claim during his GHC run. Misawa/Kawada, I don't think Misawa has the physical goods at this point to make it a great match. It might be ok but I think people are expecting way too much. Rikio/Tanahashi interests me greatly though. I still think Tanahashi is still the future for New Japan.

::Spoilers:: You forgot to mention that MNM will be defending the tag titles against Heidenreich and Road Warrior Animal at the PPV.

I would never vote Sabu in. He was never in a national promotion for more than a few months here and there and when he was it was as a lower card guy.

I have no faith in them doing this right. If the angle starts doing too well HHH will come back and interject himself right into it.

1. Samoa Joe 2. Bryan Danielson 3. AJ Styles 4. Christopher Daniels 5. Homicide

No matter what you do to repair the WWF will turn some fans off. But remember during the last days of WCW? Focus groups constantly said they wanted more wrestling than talking and I think the WWF would find the same thing. There are roughly 5 million viewers from the Monday Night Wars that have disappeared since 2001. The WWF should figure out how to get them back.

They should still have storylines but nothing like what they currently have. Every angle that's currently going has no place in wrestling. Guerrero/Mysterio was a good storyline up until the recent Eddie knows a secret crap. Faces and heels would still stay. It just needs to be much more down to earth.

Treat it 100% like a sport. I said this in the other thread but that's I think the big answer to their problems. UFC and MMA will be a growing competitor for them and the wrestling fans, I think, will ultimately go with the MMA if the WWF doesn't drop the cartoon bullshit. Have rankings, keep W-L records, have shorter interviews and keep the shows 95% in the ring. Anything to look like a sport not sports entertainment.

Yeah, he was always a lottery as far as matches go. I think his best match was probably the finals of the 95 G-1 Climax.

Yeah, it's a surprising death.

True but those beatdowns also didn't completely betray a character's purpose. Remember Hassan is supposed to be complaining about people treating him like a terrorist even though he's just a normal American. Not acting like a terrorist. I think the beatdown could've been achieved without the stupidity tagged onto it. Hassan could've just paid off some other heels to help him beatdown Taker. I'll say my other big issue with Smackdown was the Guerrero/Mysterio stuff. We get it.... Eddie knows a secret. Did we need three drawn out segments of talking to establish that?

I'm not offended by any of the angles per say. I'm more offended by the fact that no one working for the company had the sense to say any of that stuff might be a bad idea and the fact that it has no place in wrestling.

Ah, forgot that one. I should've put that in honorable mentions.

This is my top 10 list of most offensive things the WWF has done. Here's my top 10: 1. Lita rape angle. You NEVER TURN A RAPIST FACE 2. Katie Vick 3. The whole thing from last night 4. Saba Simba. It's just a perfect example of how the WWF handles black wrestlers. 5. Austin/Pillman gun 6. Austin stunning Kiebler 7. crucifying Austin 8. HHH's "your people" line and then winning the match. 9. Trish's dog stuff around X-7 10. The incest undertones with Vince/Steph over the years. Honorable mentions: Chavo's recent denouncing his heritage, the Mexicools, the Satanic ritual on Mideon, McMahon drugging Linda, Michaels picking his nose with the Canadian flag, passing Chyna off as a woman

It'll be interesting to see what the bottom line looks like when they're pulling in no ad revenue.

Because you can't pay for entertainment like this. This is going to turn into a huge battle as the WWF doesn't want to hear anything other than their vision.

It makes me really happy to know that she'll be sticking her nose in everything and constantly interfering with the WWF.