Jmare007

To be honest I don't see how Bryan's 3-4 year hiatus hurt his case more than any other wrestler's early to mid 00's hurting them because they weren't at a "best in the planet" level yet.

If you follow ShittyLittleBoots post on Bryan matches, he's very high on almost every single TV match he's had this year. When you add up all those matches, makes sense why he thinks D-Bry has been the best this year. Not sure how Okada could be have a better case when he also has like 3 matches so far this year Kento's resume is pretty short too, same as Sabre and Shingo. As with everything in wrestling ti comes down to tastes. But I wouldn't say anyone in 2020 has a long list of good to great matches that make him or her a lock for a top 5 or anything. Shit, even Daichi Hashimoto's inconsistent ass has a case this year.

Not a lot more to add to the case of this match being great. Just want to reiterate that the finish was fucking great. No finisher trading, not a bunch of nearfalls, just 1 dude being able to put together his two finishers in a row after an incredible back and forth match that had almost zero excess. The fact they did it in front of a bunch of NXT guys hopefully help some of them to understand that you don't need a bunch of excess to have an awesome match.

We need the uncut version of Bryan vs AJ, that shit was awesome. Absolutely LOVED the finish.

Anyone can find a match good/great even if it didn't get over, just as anyone can find a match bad/terrible even if it had the crowd going nuts. The point of a Hollywood movie is to make money and tons of people find Fast & Furious flicks horrible (even though a huge portion love them and has made it one of the most profitable franchises ever), just as a ton people find movies that bombed at the box office, "classics". I also loved the Miz/Bryan match at Summerslam and there's no question it had a dead crowd, it didn't take my enjoyment of it though. Bryan vs Gulak also had a lackluster reaction (which was funny to me, such an odd match for a 2020 WWE crowd and it showed) and that was fucking awesome. AJ vs Bryan at the Rumble was their worst match against each other I think, but it wasn't bad...and the crowd was fucking dead. Anyway, if we are throwing love for top 10 people in the last 20 years then Daisuke Sekimoto better get some damn recognition in this thread. Co-sign the Togo love too.

Yeah, Bryan takes this. It's pretty ridiculous how quickly he was awesome and then he basically never stopped. Even a guy like Tanahashi took like 6-7 years to really blossom (in 10 years it will be crazy for new fans to find out they had a match against each other) and I have too big of a blind spot with AJ's TNA work.

I haven't watched RAW in more than a year at this point (maybe I've checked a few segments, I don't even remember) so I can't really judge Heyman's tenure. But there's no question he wasn't able to do anything to give some legit spark to the product as interest on the show has been historically low for a long ass time now. "Best" case scenario he just wasn't able to convince Vince to do anything worth a damn and if that's the case it doesn't make much of a difference if he stayed in charge or not. I'd be surprised if Pritchard lasts as long as Paul this time around though.

Exactly.

Oh I disagree, leg slapping is waaaay more ridiculous than stomping. Specially because nowadays they don't even bother trying to hide it like guys like Tajiri, at least there was some semblance of subtlety there. "Some clearly over do it" is an understatement, some NXT matches are hilarious, just like the ones on the indys years ago. That don't make them an affront to wrestling, but what Orton said was fucking funny.

I've never given much of a fuck about Randy Orton but this made me pop

Even if Ripley beats her at Summerslam for the RAW belt, will it be worth it? If there's one thing WWE can't do for shit is executing long term plans, even if they make some sort of sense. Will Rhea be able to survive being booked like shit for 2 more months for her W to feel important? This company hasn't earned any benefit of the doubt when it comes to shit like this so yeah, let people be pissed *shrugs*

New Japan is back. Next week, June 15th without a live audience, no card yet. I wonder if Tana got his wish of New Japan being the last entertainment biz to return... New Japan Cup starts on June 16 Dominion in July will have a limited live audience. I guess they'll keep the G-1 Climax date considering they'll hopefully be able to run shows with larger crowds to get more revenue. And more talent will probably/hopefully be available.

Bryan vs Styles gonna be on Smackdown in 2 weeks and not Backlash, interesting. I wonder If Bryan wins, considering he's been running with a "I'll fight all challengers" gimmick, I wonder if he loses the belt at the PPV (vs Riddle? that would be dope) and then finally takes his break. Then again they could just make AJ win and that's that

Yeah, this was pretty damn cool. Loved the grittiness and struggle the mat work had. Wasn't a big fan of the last 3 minutes but considering how different this is from anything WWE does that's not Daniel Bryan related, it's certainly welcomed.

Holy shit that's as bad as I imagined. Thanks man.

Can somebody explain to me why, in kayfabe, Edge and Orton continued to feud after Mania?

Man if Sheamus wins I don't want him and Bryan facing each other again

Fixed Gulak in Bloodsport will be fucking awesome too. This leaves D-Bry all alone though I wonder who his next project is before going home to be with his family again. After yesterday I thought the plan was for Gulak to take him out during the tournament with a big injury angle so he could be off TV and have a built in feud for 2021.

Fucking loved this. Specially for the fact that no strikes were thrown in this. They just wrestled, countered and tried to find and edge strictly by what they could do on the mat. So refreshing to watch and so cool to see two awesome wrestlers just straight 'rasslin for more than 10 minutes. Some of Bryan's counter's to get the LeBell Lock applied were fantastic, same at Gulak's different ways to get DB into a pinning position. D-Bry having to hurt the leg three times to break free of a head lock, then doing a snap German and acting dizzy was perfect. Same with ending the match with a heel hook after turning Gulak's leg into a pretzel. This was on WWE TV in 2020, all hail Daniel Bryan (and Drew Gulak).

Everyone, go watch Bryan vs Gulak from Smackdown. No strikes were thrown, straight wrestling for 10+ minutes, a joy to watch.

Haven't watched Sandow vs Cena since it happened either but I remember it being a really fun "PWG Cena" match with tons of moves and John kicking out of everything (which made Sandow's next big move feel like it could finally be the one), though not on the level of the ONS II main event.

Sami Zayn has been stripped of the IC Title. Also, I read that they are getting rid of the brands again because of the low ratings. It's like the third or fourth time they are scrapping that idea and having talent show up in any show. Why in the name of fuck do they keep insisting on this format? I also wonder what stupid name they are come up with to explain it in kayfabe

LMAO, so true. They might wait for that cash in until they can do a show on his home town.

Yup, they both died and no one even noticed or cared.