WingedEagle

If Lombardi (or anyone) has the kind of dirt they'd rather not see come to light you'd think it would be very easy to reach an agreement that bars him from speaking about his time with the company, but it doesn't seem as though that's something they've found necessary over the years.

Hoping I get the chance to catch the 2 new shows some time this week as its seems like Evolve has been on a nice run. I'm dying to go to a show when they're in the NY area but their buildings are a bit tougher sell to the wife than MSG.

That makes a bit more sense. No basis for 1M PPV buys today with the base number of Network subscribers.

I thought I read that they specifically declined to provide any PPV figures?

A few thoughts on the show which I watched on Sunday afternoon. The delegate matches were fun sprints, with Kzy vs. Mochizui and Tozawa vs. Yoshino the standouts. I really enjoy how most wrestlers on the roster has a clearly defined personality that fits into each match. There's nothing bland about the product. These 2 bouts kept a great pace with hot finishing sequences and didn't overstay their welcome nor raise the bar too high for the main event. Just a solid undercard for any show. The tag title match featured some cool spots and athleticism, but I can't say it really clicked at all. T-Hawk & Eita seem rather lifeless by comparison to others on the roster and that match was the only one on the night that really dragged. It was as if they didn't want to go full throttle with the house style but also didn't want to mix in any real selling which didn't leave them with much. I enjoyed the main event so much more than I ever thought possible. There were way too many shenanigans involving people on the outside getting mixed up in the match with various gimmicks, but the flag capturing bit was well done and produced some decent drama, but the real highlight was how the entire Shingo/YAMATO storyline was so clear throughout the match and pushed hard without distraction. No idea what the booking plans are, but presumably YAMATO now has to go through Doi before the Shingo title match? For such a long match and a show this was a real breeze to watch when you can skip from match to match. Not sure I'll ever see this style as something where I rate any of the workers as among my favorites, but between the speed, athleticism, characters and booking it certainly stands apart from other promotions and I can easily see this being a fun addition to the current wrestling I regularly keep up with, at least for the big shows.

Really, really excited for the elimination tag. Then we got a couple roll-ups followed by a nice looking finish. Which happened to be during commercial. But Reigns vs. Styles was super heated, arguably moreso than anything else they've done this year. I really love how they've booked it so simply. AJ isn't out there cutting 15 minutes promos. A couple minutes on the mic backstage, and then relying on his actual wrestling to get him over. And its worked! Add on the intrigue of waiting for Gallows & Anderson to turn and the subtle, but clear touches along the way like teasing the chair and you've got the best program going in quite some time. Really looking forward to PPV rematch. Hopefully not too many family shenanigans that night.

Why is Delirious so entrenched?

The undercard was pretty solid, with a the Liger/Cheeseburger tag almost perfect for the time allotted and characters. It wasn't a great match, but it was solid action designed for the sole purposes of bringing smiles to faces (TM Michael Hayes). Briscoes vs. War Machine really needed better production as the camera missed a few big spots and everyone seemed off at the finish. But they built a couple near falls tremendously, particularly with Hanson missing the moonsault. The booking remains a huge question mark. Other than getting the TV Title off of Ishii, the ROH roster is presented as inferior to the visiting stars. A stale world champion and flavor of the month challenger didn't even get a finish and were used to recreate a '97 Nitro, only with an ROH/PWG babyface tag team fronting their heel stable. I'm a fan of the Young Bucks but this doesn't feel like a particularly good use of anyone involved. Is Lethal a babyface now? Should anyone care about the title regardless of the answer? Is the superkicking tag team paying tribute to old gimmicks really a top of the card heel act? Perhaps there's a bigger picture here that will play out, but nostalgia night isn't a good look for the main event picture.

NO -- Prince Puma, Rey Mysterio Jr., & Dragon Azteca Jr. vs Cortez, Castro, & Joey Ryan vs Fenix, Jack Evans, & PJ Black vs Ivelisse & Son of Havoc (Lucha Underground, 1/10) Lot of potential here with the talent involved and required tags, but it felt like a stop & go production line of dives without much more holding it together. LU has successfully run a number of longer matches (notably Puma/Mundo Iron Man, Aztec Warfares) but this was went long without any purpose behind it other than providing time for everyone to tick through their spots. A truncated version would've likely been better but we don't have that.

Most of the complaints I hear are at live events. LIke tonight for example. NXT ran two shows, one in the midwest and the other in Orlando. All the big time "tv stars" were in the midwest and the only guys people in Orlando knew were the Revival, The Drifter and Nia Jax. Granted the Vaudevillans made a surprise appearance but the Florida shows aren't drawing like they use to. They need to build more stars on TV to help out with these split shows and not just bring in indie guys that only work the out of state shows. That seems more aimed at a failure to develop much internal talent that can headline the house shows rather than at the use of former TNA talent, yes?

What are we calling peak Hokuto outside of 4/2/93? I don't mean that as any kind of a dig because I'm a big Hokuto fan in many situations. But what matches are we putting in that ballpark? I need to rewatch the '94 tag because the last time I saw it I thought it was good. Just good. Way too many people praised it was being so much greater that it deserves another chance, but I'm curious what performances are held in the same regard as the Kandori match, or even the vicinity.

He's right in certain countries. Competition is kind of important.

Where are the complaints about TNA talent or Asuka/Nak? I've seen it pointed out that NXT is not exactly developing much talent but rather relying upon talent developed elsewhere. I do think they have to be careful with Nakamura. It probably is possible to run too many squashes in front of a few hundred people and water down his charisma to the point that he loses value when called up, if that is in fact the goal.

Ask and ye shall receive. http://smile.amazon.com/Accepted-How-First-Superstar-Changed/dp/177041293X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462585493&sr=1-1&keywords=pat+patterson I'll wait for reviews as some skepticism is required of a WWE book,but loads of potential here. The length is a little concerning. You'd think there's no shortage of material. Backlund's went much longer and was a breeze.

Nice to see a little love for this match. Thought they did a great job on Monday, and only wish they had a bit longer to really develop it.

You should start a DG thread and force feed it. I've tried getting into it on various occasions, usually after an Alan4L touts something as the greatest thing he's seen. While nothing's connected anywhere near that level yet, I'm determined to figure out what or why I'm missing before I tap out.

I think there's also something to be said for watching his matches in isolation for the sole purpose of considering the wrestling versus as part of a poorly booked wrestling promotion.

Big fan of this notion. Expectations play a huge part in the reaction to what is actually delivered.

Choshu may have been willing to go to the mat but far too often he'd lay there. Just don't see him ever excelling in that position, but if you enjoy the mat without much activity then it makes more sense.

Not that its impacting other organizations, but I don't think NXT TV has been anything special in quite some time. The Takeover shows are always a hit and the odd Bayley / Joe / Gable & Jordan non-squash with time its usually good, but there's been far too much skippable C show material of late.

I was so stoked for this. Things started off pretty hot with all 6 brawling on the ramp and around ringside with quick, heated action. A decent, quick first fall. Unfortunately things really fell apart from there. I had no idea Park ballooned so much and aside from a tope where he somehow managed to lose his feet, he really couldn't do anything in the ring. Which meant the match was really running on his and Rush's charisma, as the other 4 can't exactly go either. When focused on Rush doing Rush things or Park not looking ready to die this wasn't bad, but on the whole it was incredibly disappointing.

Those were pretty great.

Shoe, glad to see the love for Liger/Kushida. How amazing is it he's pulling that off in 2016?? Just an unbelievable match.

The primary thing is his character since Mania. Otherwise? Not a whole lot. I think many people here have consistently praised his performance in big matches and as champion with a solid push, he has more intriguing matches on the table than anyone else. But pandering, same 'ol babyface pre-Mania is very different from this guy who's happy to do his Make A Wish work but otherwise does not give a fuck. Inviting/accepting a heel reaction without the turn. We've got John Cena. Don't need or want another one.

I absolutely loved this. The 2016, 74 year old Liger can still bring the Thunder. He wrecked Kushida's knee with dropkicks before dropping it on the railing and posting it. If you need Kushida to sell it every step of the way you'll be disappointed, but I thought it was very solid and was even ripping at Liger's gear while trapped in a hold that I thought was a great touch. What's more, I loved that there were clear strategies on both sides here. Kushida was going after the arm from the early stages to set up the Hoverboard Lock, while Liger worked the leg like a killer and pulled out all of his traditional big spots. They did such a great job building Liger's challenge until absolutely faking out the crowd on a near fall. A title change here probably doesn't make any sense at all, and I don't know how often Liger can pull off this kind of performance (or how many other opponents could get this out of him) but they had you dying for another Liger title win. Very interested to see if we get Kushida in the G-1 this year, but think he'll be mixed in at that level eventually. An easy **** and I could probably talk myself higher.