Shining Wiz

Okada over Styles was a really good main event. For all the shit NJPW takes for the Bullet Ckub run ins, the Takahashi run in got a huge response, and the first win for Okada over AJ was better for it.

Shinsuke/Shibata was not too shabby. Has me enthused for Shibata/Tanahashi tomorrow. I actually enjoyed their jiu jitsu sequence......still looked like flow rolling, but at least aggressive flow rolling

Haha I think we may be saying the same thing from different sides. I think I get where you're coming from....we're more disagreeing on what we mean by standards than anything else.

Is that because when you watch something from the 70s, you expect what you get? If you went to a show tomorrow, and a Lou Thesz match broke out, how would you react?

Standards don't change, but the standards are different for different eras?

I'd trash talk, but I'm the idiot who picked Tenzan today. Totally unintentional, but nonetheless. Also, I may have to rethink my general blahness towards Naito and Takahashi. Naito I figure is just now fully back from the knee....not sure why I liked Takahashi more than usual.

Brock Lesnar is popular with the people who hate John Cena.

You think what of them now?

The grumpy old man battle of Kojima and Nagata was pretty fun, with a really exciting end.

That's fair. What would make you say that though. Something would have changed over whatever period to change your opinion of this hypothetical match.

I think my point stands.

Question for Dylan......have you ever uttered the words, "This match didn't age well?"

I think Dallas is as likely to have a good, sustained upper card run as he is to fall by the wayside in a few months. All depends on what/if the character evolves into. As for Zayn, the only thing certain is that he is NOT coming in as a main eventer and staying there forever. Unreasonable go even hope he will. If he's given chances, I think he'll hit home runs, but he's going to be put on the bench a few times before he's hitting at the top of the line up consistently.

Is there actually debate about Cena being a massive heel at the same time as being the "face" of the company? You don't think they play up all the things that make so many people hate him? That he doesn't play up all those same things? He is the epitome of what a modern audience needs in a heel. Note that I said needs, not wants. Once a heel gives the crowd what they wants, they cease really being a heel. By being exactly what he is - the squeaky clean good guy who looks like a superhero and almost always overcomes the odds no matter what - he's such a good guy he's hated. And, he is so good at it, he doesn't even need to be insincere about it like Bo Dallas. He just is. And the second he 'turns'.....everyone who hates him will fall all over themselves babbling about how awesome he is, how fantastic he is, and how much they love him. So by 'turning', he'll end up being more of a face than he is now.

Because I'm nerdy, crazy or both, my goal for the evening is to be up to date on g1 shows by the time the show starts at 5:30 am my time tomorrow morning. I'm in a tie for fourth over at the Voices of Wrestling pick'em, so I might as well watch them. So far...I've watched the opener of night one. Fale doesn't blow me away, but he certainly doesn't suck. And Ishii.....he is on a really fun roll. And because I assume a bunch of people I don't know care about my opinion, I'm sure I'll post some comments here and there.

Subjectively, maybe not. It is still getting emotionally invested in a match in whatever way it is that excites you. Objectively though, a dropkick isn't exactly a killer high spot anymore. (Damn.....two days on the board and I'm already saying things like highspots). I swear I'm not trying to be a contrarian, but I don't even agree with that. Okada is one of the top two or three stars in Japan (at worst). Aside from his finish (which is a clothesline), I'd argue that his most effective highspot in terms of getting a reaction is his dropkick. Dolph Ziggler is one of the most over guys on the WWE roster from week-to-week. He doesn't exactly have an expansive offensive arsenal, and is a guy most known for his bumping, but he's consistently been able to get compelling nearfalls and/or dish out compelling hope spots based around a dropkick. Kyle Matthews is one of my favorite indie workers over the course of the last five years. He works primarily Southern indies, but is one of the best guys at the indie level at getting a crowd involved in his matches and building sympathy as smaller babyface. If you are someone who has watched him a lot (as many of those fans are), his comebacks are usually designed to build to his finish - a running corner dropkick to a standing opponent followed by a small package. While I have seen people criticize his finish online, it pretty much universally gets over huge live. The point isn't that a dropkick is as athletically impressive as Ricochet vaulting over the corner post with a hilo, but rather that there is absolutely no reason that much "simpler" moves can't be hugely over and massively effect highspots. Not taking that a contrarion point of view at all. Maybe I should have said as a finishing move rather than a *shudder* highspot. I also was thinking (and didn't clearly state) that when a dropkick was an uncommon move, it would have a much bigger impact. Now that everyone and their dog does it, it loses it's impact. I think you can say the same for just about any move - powerslam, ddt, moonsault, etc, etc. You get desensitized to things over time. The typical mid-show Raw match right now would have been the most mind blowing match in the history of the show if it happened in 1994. Or, conversely, it might have been seen as awful - different tastes for different times.

Isn't he already the biggest heel in WWE? The second he 'turns', everyone who 'hates' him will love him, and everyone who loves will hate him. He'll be in essentially the same boat he is now, just with the poles reversed.

Subjectively, maybe not. It is still getting emotionally invested in a match in whatever way it is that excites you. Objectively though, a dropkick isn't exactly a killer high spot anymore. (Damn.....two days on the board and I'm already saying things like highspots).

As long as it doesn't take me out of my willing suspension of disbelief, I'm ok with it. Just like i don't enjoy slapstick comedy in the middle of serious action movie, I don't like certain things in the middle of a match that is out of place. I don't mind a Santino cobra, but if that was the finish to a 35 minute Lesnar brawl, I would have issues.

Not trying to be cute, but every wrestler I ever saw live was better than I saw on tv. Cornette was more annoying, Flair was crisper, Cactus looked crazier, Hogan was more charismatic, Cabana was funnier, Necr Butcher looked more homeless, and Low Ki was.......well, whatever Low Ki is.

Attempting to use MMA submissions in wrestling drives me nuts. By using, for example, an armbar/cross arm breaker, you are acknowledging this is a legit move in MMA. However, in order to make it a move in wrestling, you have to not actually put it on, and the guy taking it can't react like someone really would in an armbar, which is to tap quickly. It just really takes me out of a match. Worst all time example of this - the Undertakers embarrassingly bad gogoplata/Hell's Gate on Triple H at one if their Mania matches.

Hey folks........Matt from the Canadian Maritimes. I'm 34 and spent the better of that glued to the tv watching wrestling or my nose in an Apter mag reading about all the wrestling I couldn't see on tv. Abbreviated life fandom story: My earliest wrestling memory is Jesse Ventura guest starring on Small Wonder. I must have been a fan before that though, because this was the night before my parents bought me the LJN ring and my first two figures - Ventura and Steamboat. Made it to my first show in early 87 to see one of the Warrior's first WWF shows as he hadn't been on Superstars yet and I think the main event was Billy graham in a cage against someone..... Grew up a WWF fan as it was the only show regularly on tv. Local promotion (Atlantic Grand Prix) when I could find it until it folded, and ICW on Sundays on a pretty inconsistent basis. Was a massive, nerd level hardcore fan until a year or two after the Invasion angle (like a lot of people, I guess) and the filtered out a bit, until I started getting my hands on ROH shows consistently in 2004 or so an met some folks from the old Gregh board. Sucked me back in enough that I've been to Chicago and Orlando for wrestlemania weekend shows. Nowadays, busy life, but watch Raw on dvr (with considerable skipping), and have developed an NJPW addiction. No time to watch G1 during the week, but looking forward to Saturday morning. If you put a gun to my head, my five favourite wrestlers right now would be Cesaro, Steamboat, Nakamura, Misawa and Danielson. This could change on what time of the day you ask me. Best match I've ever seen live is either Danielson/Storm or the first ROH Dragon Gate six man - may not always be my cup of tea, but blew me away live (and still can when I want to be, I guess). That's me in a nutshell.....I assume I'll be mostly a lurker around here, but I may add my two cents from time to time.