Jmare007

I only watched SD because of Bryan, now that he's gone I ain't watching. I'm happy Big E is finally getting a chance in singles competition though

My thing with RAW Underground is that it works much better as a youtube clip show. That's how I saw it and laughed my ass off at the fuckery. I'll continue to do that because there's no fucking way I'll be tuning in weekly just to watch like 10 minutes of funny wrestlecrap.

I don't think they are arguing Vince promoting skills (I hope that's never in question tbh), they are putting into scrutiny his creativity and that even when business was booming, it was never something he actually came up with (I guess the biggest argument here would be him pushing the Austin vs authority angle that was incredibly successful, to the point Vince was never able to move past that). And as he has gotten older, he hasn't been able to adapt like he used to. Even in the case of Kofi and Becky, while he did change course and went with the hot hand(s), he wasn't able to capitalize. Specially with Becky.

Vince might start streaming "house shows" from the PC via Zoom and charging $5 to see them.

Holy shit at that profit. They've had like a 6 year run were they product is atrocious (for the most part), they've lost a significant % of their core audience (let's not even bother talking about casuals lol) and most of the traditional metrics for a wrestling business are either way down or at the very least not very good....and they keep making a fuck ton of money. Yes, having such a bad product, alienating their fanbase every chance they get and treating most of their talent like shit can't be sustainable. But it's amazing how even though they've done everything wrong when it comes to wrestling, they keep getting away with it. At this pace they might fuck around and strike gold once again with a hot angle (by 2026 maybe? lol) that revives their product before actually having their empire crumble

I commend Gedo for trying to boost the tag division but of all the places that need a boost, a tag division that has meant very little to New Japan for most of the past 30 years is kinda frustrating when other holes feel way more important. I'd be all in for a crazy heel Ibushi run though, that sounds fucking awesome. Shota has prodigy written all over him, imo. I'd be really surprised if he isn't Okada's replacement (as Okada was Tana's). Hiromu will most likely be Naito/Nakamura status: a major player with IWGP (other) title runs under his belt but not THE focus. Both are in completely different stages of their careers though, Hiromu is getting close to doing everything as a Jr. and probably make the jump to heavy -specially nowadays when that jump isn't that big of a deal-, probably taking a next step in his career at 31. I'd be the first to admit that Shota is not as sure a thing as Okada was, I think anyone watching him as early as 08'-09' knew dude was going to be the next Ace, Didn't matter what his run TNA was or how lackluster his comeback matches were, as soon as he was legit back from excursion it was obvious (at least to me) he had next. To me, Umino is by far their most promising prospect and the one New Japan sees as the next Ace, he's only 23 and has probably two more years before taking the leap.

WCW didn't have a guy like Shota ready to get take over as the next Ace though. I hope Gedo doesn't wait till 2024 to pull the trigger on him after he returns.

This whole KOPW "title" that isn't really a title/belt sounds like a whacky idea Inoki would come up with so he could main event shows defending that shit I'll never understand why Gedo is so adamant in New Japan not working big feuds with other Japanese promotions anymore. We all know NJPW would come out on top anyway, it's the easiest way to have new and refreshing matchups all over the card, you can get young people over -shit, that's how Okada showed he was a prodigy in 09'- and you can give main eventers something important to do besides chasing a title (he could've done it with Naito 2-3 years ago, he could do it right now with Okada). Specially now when there's so many companies in dire need of a boost, there's no question a lot of them would be glad to work and lose big feuds and matches against New Japan at this point. And Okada wouldn't need a fuckery King of Pro Wrestling "title" when he could just beat top guys from other companies and continue to establish that NJ is the "King of Sports".

He'll always be La Nariz to me.

Will it begin with this one? Bryan was saying he wanted Metalik to get more chances when he appeared on Backstage like a month ago. ()

Well I call them gringos and I'm not Mexican (most of south american call people from the U.S gringos) but that's whatever. I call them gaijin because it's way easier to write and at this point it's become a wrestling term *shrugs*

A 30 minute draw is a hard match to get into, specially when you already know the result, much of the enjoyment depends on how compelling the action is and how both wrestlers are able to keep any sort of drama near the end. Well, I wouldn't say this was very dramatic - not in a "who will win?" way at least - but holy fuck was it compelling to watch. The first 10 minutes is basically these two working like mad men just trying to lock and get out of head scissors, then Abe tries to get slick with some striking but it quickly goes back to good ol' mat wrestling. There's some bursts of energy exchanges but everytime one of them did it, he ended up A LOT more tired than before they went it, really liked that kind of selling. By the 20-22 minute mark both guys are exhausted and you can feel it. Some of the counters are dope as fuck and Abe continues to show how amazing he is at such a young age, him going for a desperation dragon screw was beautiful. Isami still rules everytime I see him work a regular match (and 2020 has been a great for him in that regard). If you liked stuff like Bryan vs Gulak and want to see different performers excel at that style for a extended period time (no doubt this is better suited for 15-20 minutes tops though), for sure check this out.

Anything that 's remotely good will be attributed to Bryan, no doubt about it

Let's see if Bryan is able to convince Bruce and Vince into any of his ideas. Considering he has a baby on the way and that he shouldn't risk getting Covid at the PC, it seems like a good alternative to have him in the writing team.

Actually I also remember someone saying Road Dogg doing a good job on Smackdown was because he was an Amstrong.

Cesaro ain't better than Sekimoto as a tag wrestler.

I can buy him having big title matches in his mind in advanced, but the "plan" thing falls apart when you go through what happened in between those big matches. For example, after WK 12, Naito was in limbo for 80% of the time with random IC title reigns and big matches that didn't really build to him "finishing his journey" this year. Like, I can see Gedo going "he won't win at 12 but I'll give him an even bigger win (kayfabe wise) over Okada" with not much else thought out. This has happened to almost the whole roster. Hell, Jay White was able to find his groove after his big title win, not before nor during. Going back to positive stuff, can we get a Togo vs Shingo singles match? pleeaaase?

HA! touche

I'll never stop being surprised when people start talking about Gedo and his "plans". Every time it's proved there was none, it's like fans forget about it because they love the matches and ring quality so much (and because he doesn't spit in the face of fans like Vince does).

The fact they actually are doing a champ vs champ but it's not Takahashi vs Naito (and again, they chose EVIL??) is even more puzzling. Feels like Gedo went "if we can only get 1/3 capacity in every building, I'll just book to get those numbers. When we are at full capacity I'll got back to the big guys"...or something.

Oh, and I hope they let Togo show the world and a new generation how fucking awesome he is.

If this was 3 years ago I would've been fuming, not gonna lie. But at this point I don't care like that anymore, I enjoy New Japan for what it is: some matchups that look dope on paper and normally deliver. EVIL winning screams Nakanishi winning in 09'. Just like a decade ago, Gedo threw a monkey wrench to what was supposed to be a big title run for the most popular guy in the company after he won a huge match at WK (Tanahashi beating Mutoh for the belt after his invader run) and gave the strap to a midcard dude as a big swerve because New Japan had to cancel Fantastica Mania. Now with the pandemic, he does this big swerve angle with EVIL. We'll see if this shit has legs or if he'll give Naito an immediate rematch so he can get it back, just like Tana did in 09'. What's funny though is that after Tana got the belt back, he got injured and had to forfeit the belt and because of that, he had to wait till 2011 to get his legit big Ace run with the title. Naito wont have that kind of wait, as he already had it after WK 12 And of course, it's hilarious that the wrestler chosen for this spoiler role was EVIL and not Ishii (who would be perfect for a "thank you" title reign like Nakanishi had). And if Gedo just wanted to force a BC/LIJ swerve, then fucking use Shingo, or even Sanada. Also tragic how they went 38 fucking minutes. Fucking hell. If this EVIL run has more than 1 defense, I at least hope he brings back 20 minute title matches. But It's hard picturing Naito not getting it back or Okada coming to the rescue (LMAO if that's the case) ASAP.

I expect that kid of fuckery from WWE, not New Japan If he's are lucky he'll get a nice character arc/change once the first wave of bad reactions calms down.

Depends on the city, their match at TLC showed it can get a big reaction. They had them with a half crab that time.

AJ and the New Day seem pretty close in all those UpUpDownDown videos so I doubt AJ is very upset about it and I'm sure the SD locker room would be more receptive to him.