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pol

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Everything posted by pol

  1. pol

    Current WWE

    It may be that there's an aspect of working to HHH's comments, but he's taken shots at smart fans so often for so many years both in and out of character that it's impossible not to conclude that he's also an incredibly petty, insecure person who is genuinely gotten to by people badmouthing him on the internet.
  2. I find it hard to believe they didn't already have a winner in mind prior to the New Beginning shows. Ishii already declared himself the interim champion anyway so the implication is that match is happening regardless.
  3. pol

    Current WWE

    From what I saw of Raw, it seemed to have a lot of enjoyable stuff that made no sense on a meta level. I enjoy thinking about the booking, but I don't let meta concerns influence my enjoyment of the show itself. Plenty of people are saying this was the best Raw in a while so it's not like Johnny is alone.
  4. Very happy with the booking today. The main event scene has felt very stale lately, and to their credit they're finally going to main event a Sumo Hall show without Okada or Tanahashi. Of course they can still fuck it up by throwing Goto or Makabe in there, but I'm cautiously optimistic for now.
  5. I don't think he has the offense to dominate a long match and they're clearly of the mentality that main events have to go 20 minutes.
  6. The idea that Bryan is going to be in a multi-man IC title match 6th from the top at Mania is just ridiculous. For all the shitty booking WWE has done lately, that might be the most cut and dry example of total incompetence you can point to.
  7. Bryan seems like the kind of person who probably doesn't sweat the potential loss of a few 100k a year when he's already making a ton of money anyway.
  8. pol

    Current WWE

    If it were a work I can't imagine AJ bringing up pay. TV time, yes.
  9. Shuji Ishikawa/Yuji Okabayashi was really good as far as the 'fat Japanese guys going back and forth hitting each other really hard, yelling a lot and not selling much' genre goes. Ishikawa is up there with Kohei Sato as far as wrestlers I dislike the most based on appearance alone, and his work doesn't exactly set me on fire either, but he was fine and the Rainmaker setup into a headbutt is a fun spot. I really dig Okabayashi's charisma and intensity, but I wish he would expand his offensive repertoire a little. He does what he does very well, though. The match had an exciting layout but probably got a little too my turn/your turn at the end. I enjoyed the CMLL trios title match, but not on the level of a near-MOTYC. I'm not even sure I liked it more than the Kamaitachi/Dragon Lee trios from the All Elite show. I thought each fall felt rather flat, in the sense that while there was escalation between falls, a sense of escalation within the falls was lacking. They went to the dives too early in the tercera and had nowhere else to go from there, but still had 10 more minutes to fill. That's definitely a match I would be willing to give another look, though.
  10. I keep thinking that as horribly as they book the midcard, when it comes to a guy they really want to get over they won't saddle them with the horrible shit they do everyone else. But looking at the evidence from the Reigns push thus far, I'm not so sure any more.
  11. That really seems like the best scenario to me too, if only for the fact that Wrestlemania ending with your new top babyface getting booed out of the building seems like a horrible way to kick off your future ace's first title run. With a heel turn maybe they can salvage the guy. Then you have Cena and Orton as potential challengers... not sure how those matches would be though.
  12. So they've booked themselves into a corner with Reigns where, even though it's too soon, they pretty much have to pull the trigger on him now or forever damage his potential ceiling as a top guy. That said... where the hell do they go with him after Mania? Show and Kane would be flat feuds and horrible matches. A successful Rollins cash in immediately cuts the legs out from under him. The best choices seem to be Rollins still with the briefcase or Rusev, both of which would require outcomes to their respective Mania matches that I don't see happening. I guess they could do Triple H too.
  13. I was practically falling asleep while watching it (for unrelated reasons) so maybe it's not a fair assessment, but Shiozaki/Zeus did very little for me. Shiozaki is just so, so dry. Zeus had some pretty awkward moments including a comically mistimed bump through the ropes to the outside off I think a dropkick.
  14. You're probably right, but I think if their goal is to make Reigns a sympathetic figure they're going to struggle. He shouldn't be that kind of top guy. But that's always been how WWE has booked their top babyfaces, I guess.
  15. Doesn't Reigns selling that much for a guy half his size who has always been presented as not quite at the top level make him look bad? Or does the fact that he won override that? That might have been his most impressive singles performance, but to me he didn't work like a future ace should work.
  16. The latest AJPW show from Korakuen was pretty strong. I enjoyed all of the top 3 matches. I thought Aoki/Suzuki was really good in spite of Suzuki's refusal to deviate from his signature spots to put over the limb work, which unfortunately seems to be the MO of many Japanese wrestlers these days. Thankfully he worked mostly from underneath so it wasn't as annoying as it could have been, though it certainly prevented any chance of it being a MOTYC which I think it may have approached otherwise.
  17. I didn't see Harashima/Ibushi as quite at that level, though it was very good. Really loved the opening stomach work; a lack of interesting stuff in the opening third of the match is a frequent issue I have with modern Japanese big matches, and that was certainly not a problem here. They really took me out of it with the contrived going up onto the stage stuff, but got me back by the end, though Ibushi popping up after a big move to lead into the finish was rather egregious, I thought. I would've liked the opening stomach stuff to play a role in the latter third of the match also. Not a MOTYC for me but about as good a non-MOTYC as you're going to get.
  18. This is an interesting point that totally fits with my anecdotal experience. I've seen a lot more "good Ishii match, but I've seen enough of these" and "man, can we have some big Junior tag matches that aren't 3/4-ways" type sentiments following this show. I thought the Junior tag was maybe the best NJPW Junior multi-team tag of the past year. If I were feeling like being a cynical dick, I might float the theory that when you're undiscerning enough that every NJPW big match is a ****+ affair by default it becomes easier to fall victim to burnout and fail to recognise when something truly standout is happening.
  19. I thought the chop battle was pretty dull (though the forearm battle that preceded it was one of the most spirited examples in recent memory), but I totally dug all the other stuff that I usually hate in NJPW main events - the no-selling and one-kickouts. I think it may simply come down the fact that I was, for once, genuinely emotionally invested and that stuff just works better when that's the case. If I'm right about that, it gets harder for me to fault them for going to that well so often just because it usually doesn't do it for me as a more detached, analytical viewer. I haven't rewatched the match yet, but I'd imagine it probably won't come off as well when I do. I'm not sure how I should take that into account in my evaluation of a match though. It feels unfair to penalise a match that gripped me on a visceral level more than anything since Shield vs. Wyatts last February just because, when looking at it with more detached eyes, it doesn't hold up as well. I think that first impression is the most important.
  20. Main event couldn't follow Ishii/Honma at all, neither for me nor the Sendai crowd, it seemed. In fairness I was still on such a high from the previous match that I was having a hard time paying attention, but even were I to rewatch it I don't think it would be any better than a ***1/4 - 1/2 deal
  21. oh my god Honma. I thought the first 10 minutes or so of that was actually pretty whatever and was ready to say this was nowhere near the level of their previous two, but by god did they turn it up by the end. Always hard to know where to fall on matches like that (Doering vs. Shiozaki was a similar deal), but when it comes down to it I haven't felt anywhere close to as emotionally involved in any match this year as I did in that one and that has to count for a lot. I was literally shaking by the end thinking Honma was actually going to win.
  22. WWE doesn't even want to get over a unique feel in the places they do run; every TV show must have the uniform WWE Look regardless of where they're broadcasting from. Somewhat related, whenever I watch a show from UFC or a full Arena Mexico it always strikes me how poor WWE is at shooting their big crowds to get over that "hey, there's a hell of a lot of people here."
  23. I thought the non-wrestling stuff on this show was the best stuff they've ever done. This is what WWE wishes it could be with its backstage segment stuff. Alberto's promo was fantastic. The in-ring stuff was mostly whatever to me, although I could watch Pentagón Jr. squash dudes all day. What's really jarring about the product right now is that it's very much about telling stories, but the matches are predominantly spotfests. It's especially egregious when you have Johnny Mundo working a long match while completely ignoring the knee injury that is supposed to be a huge part of the angle he's currently involved in. Another thing is how low-rent the commentary sounds when contrasted with the level of polish of the rest of the product. They really need to do something about that. I still think they need to build stuff up better. Traditionally this Texano Jr. vs. Alberto match would get a several week build with promos back and forth and a set date for the match to air, but I'm sure they're just going to throw it out there in one or two weeks.
  24. pol

    NXT Takeover Arrival

    Balor/Neville was just a very indie match with a Randy Orton tribute act inserted at the beginning, and neither of those are something I'm into. Good spots and a hot finish but a total lack of drama unless you're really moved by endless nearfalls. Women's match had a good layout and good spots, but many of the women lack in-ring poise and it's really distracting to me. The way they all hit the ropes so light (Lynch excepted), their offense that often doesn't look particularly hurty... I dunno, I want to like them more than I do. Thought Owens/Zayn was a MOTYC. There were weaknesses, most significantly I felt the build to Zayn's comebacks was a little lacking, but Owens was vicious as hell and Zayn is possibly the best bumper and seller in the world right now. I can't really see the argument that the crowd hurt it when there were shots of people literally CRYING.
  25. pol

    NXT Takeover Arrival

    Best heat segment of the year?
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