Fantastic

It seems that way at the moment, doesn't it? It's probably a good thing for NOAH, given the recent financial troubles, accusations of Yakuza involvement, and the departure of names like KENTA, Shiozaki, Akiyama, Aoki, etc. I wonder if Hokuto and Sasaki's promotion ("Kensuke Office", is it not?) is still affiliated with NOAH. Certainly, one of their roster - Nakajima - is wrestling for NOAH. I'd be curious to know if they are, since Sasaki left NJPW on pretty bad terms in 2002, and I can't imagine him wanting to work with them.

I seem to recall a few years back there was rumors that Johnny Ace had brokered some kind of deal with AJPW for WWE to have a talent exchange with the promotion - which was being run by Keiji Mutoh at the time. I think the story went that AJPW were interested in having Big Show (of all people) wrestle a couple of shows, and in return, Mutoh would make an appearance or two as "The Great Muta" for WWE. Also, part of the deal was that AJPW would serve as a kind of Japanese developmental territory for WWE. I believe it ended up being nothing more than Johnny Ace having dinner with some old friends... One of the biggest missed opportunities in my opinion for WWE with the Japanese market was them deciding not to go ahead with Shane McMahon's "Global Warning" idea. Global Warning was this idea that WWE would open developmental territories in major countries around the world and they would run WWE styled events with native talent.

It's clear who they see as the top guys. Not to mention, the fact that Roman is clearly positioned "ahead" of everyone else. I get the feeling Sting has taken Taker's position, maybe because it's his first Wrestlemania, or maybe because they don't know yet whether Taker is going to make an appearance. Brock's on there because he's champ, I doubt they'd put him on there if he wasn't, since there's still a lot of talk and speculation that he's leaving. I'd be willing to bet that WWE will win him over in the end, even if it means some kind of co-deal, where Brock fights for UFC without an exclusive contract per say, and continues to make 3-4 appearances for WWE when not having a fight.

Austin's big matches had amazing heat. If only the wrestling had been better (which it couldn't be, given the limitations Austin had following the injury at Summerslam 97), there might be some of his matches in the "greatness" category. Certainly, a straight up wrestling match between let's say, a 100% Austin vs. 2000/2001 Triple H could have been legendary. Instead, we simply got brawls or gimmick matches (like the three stages of hell, which was quite good admittedly).

Bolded ones for sure. I personally can't pick just one "best" though. In my opinion, no single match has yet transcended the standard of "once-in-a-generation" match for the WWE. In essence, there is no one match that really goes above and beyond the rest in all aspects of wrestling.

Makes me wonder how Kevin Dunn has that kind of influence, to where Triple H would need to play a card like that on one of his projects? Surely, Hunter could just tell Dunn how it's going to be?

Reigns turns heel, acts as Rollins muscle. Does the Batista turning on Evolution thing and beats Rollins for the title. Problem solved. That's possible too, but how will that be implemented exactly? Does Reigns interfere at the Rumble and hold off Lesnar and Cena so Rollins can get the win and the title? Or does he turn on Cena in the rumored tag team main event at the Fast Lane PPV?

What does any of this do for Reigns? Yes, Daniel Bryan winning the title at Mania, only for Rollins to commit the ultimate heinous crime and cash in to defeat him for the title is a thrilling scenario, that will benefit both Bryan and Rollins, but what about Reigns? He's still Vince's chosen. Fuck it, Sting is past the point of pointing on anything beyond *** matches. So we'll have him team up with Roman Reigns to take on Triple H and Seth Rollins. That's pretty huge right? Teaming up with the (arguably) biggest name who has never wrestled in a WWE ring up until that point. Let's make it tornado tag rules with no DQ. Sting can cover up for his diminished in-ring ability with weapon spots, etc. Reigns and Rollins provide the wrestling, and Triple H does what Triple H does. Reigns and Sting go over in this historical semi-main event. Or... We make it even bigger. Fuck it, total all out, same rules as before: Sting, Hulk Hogan (if he can wrestle), Roman Reigns and John Cena vs. Triple H, Seth Rollins, Big Show and Kane Now you have: Brock Lesnar © vs. Daniel Bryan Sting, Hogan, Reigns, Cena vs. Triple H, Rollins, Show, Kane Bray Wyatt vs. Taker

Bryan wins the title at Mania, Rollins tries to cash in, the Authority run out behind him, except everybody (including Bryan) beats the crap out of Rollins, Triple H orders the match started and Bryan casually pins Rollins. Bryan then hugs Triple H and Stephanie and they all celebrate and do the "Yes!" chant, thus Bryan is the one who turns heel. No. Agreed, but it's always a possibility, given that WWE doesn't want to book Daniel Bryan as the top babyface, despite the audience having prior accepted him in that role.

Bryan wins the title at Mania, Rollins tries to cash in, the Authority run out behind him, except everybody (including Bryan) beats the crap out of Rollins, Triple H orders the match started and Bryan casually pins Rollins. Bryan then hugs Triple H and Stephanie and they all celebrate and do the "Yes!" chant, thus Bryan is the one who turns heel.

Rat Boy is one of my favorites too, I think it's awesome that he's still wrestling in 2015.

Well, when Hashimoto was still alive and running things, it was the number four promotion in Japan. Now the only time I really think about it is when Masato Tanaka has a match in NJPW and he's billed as a member of the Zero-1 roster.

Hmm, I thought about Dragon Gate, they have the finances and the exposure, but the stars? Surely not?

Well, I think it's safe to say that NJPW is the WWE for the Land of the Rising Sun (and the best alternative to WWE for the rest of the World!). That being said, we still have: AJPW Pro Wrestling NOAH Wrestle-1 All actively vying for the #2 spot. At the moment, AJPW is probably the promotion that best fits that, with NOAH in third. But, Mutoh's Wrestle-1 has a real shot at breaking through provided they are able to expand their talent base. It's still early days, and Mutoh has felt the need already to put the top belt on himself (due to the fact he's the most over name there currently). So, let's use this thread to discuss these three other promotions. Let's begin by talking about Naomichi Marufuji, the reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion. My personal opinion on him is that he's a great wrestler, but not cut out to be the face of NOAH. For anybody unfamiliar, Marufuji is Misawa's protege, Misawa obviously saw something in him, but was unable to "bring it out", to that end, Marufuji 2006 GHC heavyweight title reign bombed (as did everybody following Kobashi's epic reign), and Misawa ended up choosing to postpone contemplating retirement to win the title from Marufuji to get his promotion drawing again (Kobashi was pretty much done as an "ace" by this point). That's the biggest issue with Marufuji for many. He has the talent, but none of hte star power of his mentor, and because of how clearly the fact that he's Misawa's protege has been spelled out, there's that expectation that he's supposed to be Misawa's successor. Clearly, he's considered the best draw NOAH has going for them at this moment in time, but is this really the truth? We also know that NOAH took a hit when KENTA, Shiozaki and Akiyama all left.

Nah, too hammy. I'm thinking Michaels or Triple H.

Taker next year for sure. Who the hell is going to induct him though?!

Randy Savage is the only one I can think off, and he's confirmed...

I wonder what Paul Levesque's reaction would be if we went back 20 years and told him where he'd be in 2015?

Great post! I think we're looking at something of a conflict in the McMahon, in the sense that Hunter views Rollins as the future, whilst Vince has his heart set on Reigns. To that end, the Reigns love could have been the influence in beginning Rollins' main roster singles run as a heel and not a babyface.

He's too umm, I dunno, he's just not really cut out to be a face in WWE it seems to me. He's got a natural air of confidence bordering on arrogance about him. But hey, it worked for CM Punk.

Only to a degree, in the sense that Triple H and Stephanie are assuming the focus of The Authority storyline, and Rollins is something of an afterthought. It's not about Rollins being the chosen one and reigning supreme for himself, it's about Rollins being the chosen one so Trips and Steph have the power in their camp. Rollins is merely an ingredient in the mix at the moment, and not the cake itself, which he should be. But we've seen this kind of shit many times before and it will probably work out eventually. There's a lot of potential in Rollins and WWE is desperate for heels. That's why I only agree to one degree with your sentiment.

Here's a few options off the top of my head, and I'm but a mere fan: Daniel Bryan (Royal Rumble winner) vs. Seth Rollins (Wins title/Cashes in at RR) Daniel Bryan (Royal Rumble winner) vs. Brock Lesnar Daniel Bryan (co-Royal Rumble winner) vs. Seth Rollins (Wins title/Cashes in at RR) vs. Roman Reigns (co-Royal Rumble winner) Daniel Bryan (co-Royal Rumble winner) vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins (cashes in to insert himself into the match) vs. Roman Reigns (co-Royal Rumble winner) The last one is a bit of a clusterfuck, but it's workable.

A babyface vs. babyface Mania event is always a gamble, outside of Mania VII, the crowd has seemingly favored one participant over the other, to the point where one guy is getting heel heat. Reigns vs Cena would be a massive gamble, people shit on Cena generally even when he's up against heels. And we just know that people aren't going to cheer for Reigns instead, it's quite likely the crowd will boo both participants and the point of the match will be lost. This is not like WMVII in other ways too, Cena, yes, is definitely at that Hulk Hogan level, but Reigns as popular as Warrior? Not a fucking chance. This could only conceivably work with Cena turning heel and joining The Authority, but that's not going to happen. There's a good chance they'll boo the hell out of Reigns no matter who he is against if he's given the main event over Bryan. This is why, best case scenario, if they are so intent on having Reigns in the main event, they need to make a multi person match involving Bryan. But then, if anybody other than Bryan goes over, they'll be booed out of the building too. So Cena ain't winning the title at RR unless he's losing it before Wrestlemania. What will it take for Vince and company to accept that Daniel Bryan is the most popular wrestler in their company, whether they like it or not?

Sin Cara (Mistico). Edit: To elaborate, given his body of work in Mexico and Japan, alongside the success of Rey Mysterio in WWE. I thought Sin Cara would be huge from the get go. My expectations were that "this is a wrestler that is going to blow us away with his in ring work, has a solid marketing behind him, and will effortlessly assume and probably exceed the role that Mysterio played up until that point".

Maybe they could make these terrible scripted promos part of his gimmick? Kinda like a DC hero? Really ham it up?