WingedEagle

There will likely come a day when the Fashion Police segments are unbearable TV and I find them awful. But we're not there. And I LOVE it. Great comedy and timing from everyone. The Kanellis bit? Pass.

I mean, how much worse can she be then Tamina? Significantly.

Seeing Lana wrestle is the starkest reminder of just how far the women have come from Stacy/Torrie/Candice era Divas matches. The gulf between her and basically every other woman on the roster is really something.

Wow. 2/2 on absolutely horrible, crowd killing finishes to otherwise solid matches on the night.

Really a shame. It was a very solid effort until the finish with enough big spots and transitions to keep things interesting. But that finish was a total killer.

Gotta cool off the live crowd before the showstealer.

Wow. I have got to check this out. I hopped aboard the New Japan train following the first Okada/Tanahashi roughly a month after this, so its incredible to imagine how lackluster a debut this may have been. Props to Gedo for sticking to the plan if it really was that weak.

Current favorite wrestler to watch: Io Shirai Last fun match you saw: Shuji Ishikawa vs. Kento Miyahara (AJPW 5/21/2017) - its still mind boggling to think that Shuji is the Triple Crown champion. This was unsurprisingly excellent, with Shuji's impeccable timing and strikes along with a great balance between monster and vulnerable giant. A fitting end to Miyahara's stellar reign, I thought the match did a great job putting over the new champion without giving away too much and leaving intrigue as to if and how Miyahara can overcome him. The build also hinted at Shuji developing a Miyahara-killer move, which apparently was never used in the match and thus adds another layer of intrigue to the eventual rematch. Curious to see if they go in that direction for their big show in August or if its saved for later in the year. Io Shirai & Dr. Wagner Jr. & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Mayu Iwatani & Dragon Heat & Black Tiger (Stardom 5/3/2017) -- Not a great match, but one I wanted to include as an honorable mention because of how much fun it was. Shirai & Mayu bring their typically excellent fast action when paired together, while everyone nicely incorporated lucha into a Stardom ring. It doesn't hurt that it looked like all were having a terrific time. Wrestler you want to see more of: Konosuke Takeshita. Very, very impressive for his age and experience. Would like to see him work against others outside of the DDT roster. Last live show attended (if applicable/different from last time you answered): WWE's March MSG house show. Match you're most looking forward to watching: Bit of a deflection, but for now we'll say the G1 as the blocks and lineups haven't been released. This may change on Monday if they announce an interesting Summerslam match for Reigns at that time. Last fun interview/promo you saw: The first Dungeon of Doom vignette from June 1995. Not good, but what a callback to high school. Last interesting thing you read about wrestling: Pat Patterson's autobiography. Fast, fun read. Very worthwhile. Last worthwhile podcast you listened to: Brian Kendrick on Austin's show. Most fun you've had watching wrestling lately: Stardom's Cinderella Tournament. Favorite recent post on this board: Following along with folks watching the year 2000. I'll get back up to speed there soon enough. Favorite thing about the wrestling landscape in the past three months (if you live in the past, then go with your past three months of time-traveling): Io Shirai putting out a range of performances including carrying awful talent to very watchable matches, hot sprints, fun tags and excellent world title matches. Top 2 Most Outstanding on the almost half year for my money.

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I think this is very much the point. He got cute rating the Dome match and is likely running with it now after seeing how it took on a life of its own. He undoubtedly thinks this series has produced a pair of GOAT matches and stumbled upon a means of expressing is that probably increased traffic and attention for the site. It follows the same logic he's laid out for why he engages with trolls on Twitter.

Thanks!

If you're enjoying Shuji's 2017, its worth checking out his 2016. Much deeper thus far because he didn't miss any time with injuries and a wealth of great singles and tags across multiple promotions. He easily made my top 3 for Most Outstanding last year. Any particular matches you recommend? Glad you asked! Here's a few picks to start with. Happy to provide more if you like what you're seeing. It was a really terrific year. Yuji Okabayashi vs. Shuji Ishikawa (BJW 3/6/2016) Shuji Ishikawa vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani (BJW Strong Climb Finals 4/10/2016) Yuji Okabayashi vs. Shuji Ishikawa (BJW 5/5/2016) Yuji Okabayashi & Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani & Daisuke Sekimoto & Ryota Hama (BJW 6/29/2016) Shuji Ishikawa vs. Konosuke Takeshita (DDT 8/28/2016) Shuji Ishikawa vs. Kazusada Higuchi (DDT 9/25/2016) Yuji Okabayashi & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato (BJW 10/31/2016) Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato vs. Takayuki Ueki & Masaya Takahashi (Tables Match, BJW 12/30/2016)

Is this back online? I had it bookmarked but it was taken down before I got a chance to watch it.

I could watch Yuji Okabayashi scream and run into Ryota Hama all day long. Little things like this make pro wrestling great.

I thought I heard this was posted online but that no longer seems to be the case. Is it currently on Youtube or DM?

If you're enjoying Shuji's 2017, its worth checking out his 2016. Much deeper thus far because he didn't miss any time with injuries and a wealth of great singles and tags across multiple promotions. He easily made my top 3 for Most Outstanding last year.

Ha I ordered mine earlier this week!

Quotes like that make me hate myself for my primary hobby. Thanks god I've got a lot of Japan to catch up on.

BOSJ was very disappointing this year. I'd like to say especially so given the lineup, but perhaps its due to that as they have so many great flyers but all they do is fly and put together choreographed sequences. I'm also firmly a believer that Hiromu Takahashi is overrated. Some fun stuff with Dragon Lee during that feud, but his work since returning to New Japan has been mindlessly spotty. The Liger booking was undoubtedly a downer as every live crowd wanted a reason to get behind him and never got one. Even the wrestlers were relishing their matches wit him despite finishes that didn't build any mini storylines for purposes of the tourney. That being said, there were some legit highlights. Kushida vs. Taguchi was an awesome match with real psychology rather than the prototypical my turn/your turn antics. Ricochet/Ospreay 2, on the other hand, was exactly that. Some people seem to think this surpassed last year's outing. It was certainly longer but I didn't find it any more compelling. Given their objectives and approach, it was pretty damn impressive. Its just not something I think is well served going nearly half an hour. But if you enjoy that kind of showcase you will like this. The tourney final of Kushida vs. Ospreay was absolutely spectacular. This was a legit MOTYC that told a story, featured selling and did a great job incorporating some truly outrageous spots for maximum impact rather than simply crossing them off some sort of to-do list as the match progressed. Highly recommend that everyone check this out. ****1/2 stars at a minimum, and my initial reaction was to go slightly higher, something I rarely do for all but truly classic matches.

Hoping to catch the main event live, but that depends entirely on the basketball game. Will otherwise need to work this in during the week. Finals definitely wins out against a PPV.

Love Liger! Really excited to see this develop and am glad that you're going back to Yamada rather than starting with him under the mask. Tons of great work in that period as well.

Riddle needs to drop the Pele kick. Looks terrible almost every time. Actually, he's developed a lot of bad habits. I agree about the match though. O'Reilly's return to EVOLVE has clicked for me in a way I didn't expect, given how hit and miss (more miss) he was in ROH and New Japan. Agree about the Pele kick and many of Riddle's strikes. As shoe noted he's become very formulaic and his matches will really turn on the type of opponent. I haven't been impressed against the KOR or Cobb types that can grind a match down. As I'm admittedly down on the style, I thought a whole lot less of this match than most and disappointed by the apparent need to prove they could go long. Very much prefer him working near sprints with wrestlers who can cut a pace, but think he really shines when pushed by someone big like Elgin or Walter. They've been responsible for my favorite Riddle matches to date and do a great job taking him out of his apparent comfort zone, forcing him to sell and work from underneath while presenting a real challenge.

This was my favorite BOSJ match thus far. it was a great showcase for Kushida on the mat while Taguchi hung with him the entire way. Taguchi is quick to rely on comedy spots these days, but they were all business here with fast, crisp action that highlighted the juniors division as a contrast to the rest due to the speed and precision, while also incorporating a number of seamless transitions that worked within the context of the match and the overall strategies of both performers. They also put together an unpredictable, well executed finish that didn't run too long at all. I liked night 1, but between teasing and then killing a prominent final run for Liger, as well as other promising pairings opting for mindless spotfests, the tourney has progressed without too many highlights. This was very much a worthy standout. ****

Pretty much every other major promoter got a shot at national TV in some form in the 80s. I just don't see any of them being successful in 1988 (you can create other counterfactuals for periods earlier in the 80s). Verne, Fritz, Jerry Jarrett... they're all going to be disasters. The idea of Watts coming in is sort of interesting, but I just don't think his philosophy works nationally, or in the Turner corporate structure, based on how badly things went in 1992. Many had an opportunity in the 80s, but who hadn't flamed out by this point? I believe the AWA was still on ESPN, but that wasn't going to list. Not sure who else has the product, presentation and relationships to turn up a fresh opportunity.