WingedEagle

It was. Also, let there never be any doubt that it is irrelevant who eventually beats Asuka in a match, because her constant dancing will have long since overcome the streak.

This recap of the recent Usos/New Day promo has been the highlight of the show.

I believe she's actually Kyoko Kimura's daughter. Hope that doesn't spoil the day though.

NJ posted a fun video with clips of all prior NJ Cup finals. They've also finally uploaded the entire Australia tour. Looking forward to watching that.

Thanks, looking forward to it. Check this one out when you can -- Lex Luger & Tully Blanchard vs. Bob & Brad Armstrong (Crockett Cup 4/11/1987)

I watched the anniversary show today and thought it was very solid but perhaps sub-par for a New Japan big show. Taichi & Makabe absolutely exceeded expectations (or Naito & Suzuki really did), and Okada reigned in Ospreay more than I expected. Sanada/Yoshi-Hashi was a major disappointment. The Jr. Tag Title match was fine but nothing special. In a vacuum its probably a good show but they've set the bar high enough that I wanted a bit more.

Today is a glorious, good old fashioned work-from-home snow day. Work permitting, after catching up on a pair of recent matches from Japan that I've missed, do I want to dive into the recent Coliseum Video or All Star Wrestling on the Network?

I love these lists. Looking forward to eventually tracking down those not on the proper Yearbooks and checking them out. Always more lists!

Both fare much better against Walter than each other. Then again, most wrestlers look great against Walter.

The same thought crossed my mind.

Oh, let's not forget booking Cesaro/Sheamus and The Revival in a heatless heel vs. heel match. They connected for a brief moment with the Power & Glory spot, but then put the champs over out of nowhere with a very run of the mill finish. Really a night of uninspired work and booking, especially given how strong the show has been lately and how it usually fares during the build to Mania.

I agree the opening was well done and exceeded expectations. Bayley/Mandy was arguably the best match and I didn't mind how they furthered that angle. I was not exactly a fan of The Mizzies or Braun/Elias, and couldn't believe how long either ran on for. They even managed to give Cena material that couldn't keep the crowd engaged, and he didn't exactly gel well with Goldust. But hey, different strokes and such.

This is not a good episode of Raw.

I probably wouldn't have been pleased if I was in the building and this closed out the show, but I also can't imagine any circumstances where I'd want to watch Kane go for more than a couple minutes, much less expect anything passable out of a Kane singles match. We'll see if my tune changes when I'm at MSG for Brock/Kane/Braun in a couple weeks, but that's still very different from Brock/Kane in a straight singles.

I'm not sure what's ideal, but think it'd make for a very different process. Various show lengths certainly have their pluses and minuses.

They'd also likely be hard capped at 2 hours due to local news commitments on Fox. In which case you're talking about going from an approximately 190 minutes show to one that's 120. Quite the readjustment for creative.

Usos with one of the best promos of the year. Then Big E fires back with some choice words on the mic. Finally the Bludgeon Brothers are out in a great appearance. Great stuff here, and between this, Roman last night and Alexa's post-Chamber promo we've seen some of the best stick work in some time over the last 48 hours.

Any thoughts about the limo shot last night? Did they opt not to show Hunter & Steph exiting the car or a subtle tease to be paid off next week or the following week?

Reigns cutting a money promo on Brock. Props to those in the back for taking things this direction.

Perhaps that would've been the case for the introduction of a fresh character. Her presentation and promo has seemed entirely inconsistent with Ronda Rousey, ass kicking MMA machine, which is the character and personality that presumably motivated the company to make such an investment in and commitment to Ronda. Why try to reinvent a character when that character is exactly what you're supposedly buying?

She might, or she might not. I just don't think its prudent to put her in the position of cutting promos as a deer in the headlights if the goal is to make her a regular, long-term part of the company rather than a one shot.

I don't understand why they don't slot Braun into the Ronda tag. If they're high enough on him to lay out the title challenger after he wins the Chamber, give him the rub of working with Rousey and the McMahons. Much more interesting than any non-Rock option.

And have Rollins frog splash off the pod a couple hours after Sasha did. Odd.