NotJayTabb

Really great thread, have enjoyed reading through these. Brock is someone I've come back around on in recent years, didn't consider him for GWE16, but feels like he'll be a lock in 2026. Only match I think I disagree on in the SS13 match with Punk, which I guess I need to rewatch. My memory of it is that I didn't buy Punk having the offence to hurt Brock, and it paled in comparison to ADR/Christian and Bryan/Cena on the same card.

I wonder if they'll have him mainly working with the Knockouts division. Chelsea Green and the debuting Gisele Shaw are both Storm trainees, so there's already a connection there.

Batista keeps talking about wanting to direct too, and how he's trying to absorb knowledge from everyone he works with. Which given he's worked with the likes of Denis Villeneuve, Sam Mendes and (upcoming) Rian Johnson gives him a pretty good group to learn from

Well that's good to hear. I think he's a good enough wrestler with a fun enough gimmick to succeed on those terms, he doesn't need to add anything egregious to his matches. He seems like a nice guy too, came across really well as a guest on Conan O'Brien's podcast, so I hope he has a good run, can see him getting over as a midcard act.

Of all the "meme wrestlers" on the indies, Danhausen is probably one of the better workers and there's definitely a creative mind at work there. It just depends how much of his indie schtick he brings across. That spot where "Tequila" plays over the tannoy whilst his opponent staggers confused on the floor, for example, is dreadful and I hope TK wont allow it.

Feels like Veer might get a big ironic pop when he finally debuts

Gutted that I fell asleep during the Bolshoi watch party on Saturday (I'd been up and about since 6am, so by the time we got to 10pm for the WP, I was shattered), but I'm going to take an active interest in this thread because Bolshoi seems great. Also Jetta rules, big fan of Coventry's Loudest.

I imagine when the eventual split comes, MJF will fire him, only for TK to come out and sign Wardlow to a contract and a match with his former employer.

I think Theory has the benefit of being young - he's only 24 - yet already pretty talented, so Vince probably feels he can mould him early into the kind of wrestler he likes. I can definitely see Vince looking at a young guy in good shape, solid in ring and the mic, and thinking he is someone that he can work with. It's just novel to see Vince do that with a wrestler under the age of 30 these days. Agree with all the points on WALTER. In isolation, WALTER isn't a great ring name either*, and if a new wrestler emerged called Gunther Stark (U-boat connection aside) I don't think anyone would say it was a bad name. But when you've let the guy wrestle on one of the big 5 PPVs as WALTER, plus him wrestling on TV throughout the year, a name change makes zero sense. * This might be a cultural thing, arguably the best known Walter in the UK is a cartoon character called Walter the Softy, who is a typical bullied nerd character.

What the selection of matches does do well is show the length of time that Mickie has had good matches over. She's definitely had a few down-periods as well (just before she got her first WWE release it felt like she wasn't as motivated as when she'd debuted, not helped by trash like the Piggie James angle), but having a career that long and being able to get her motivation back and still have good matches at this stage of her career is a positive. She's one of a very few wrestlers who went to TNA after a WWE release and rebuilt her reputation. Having good matches spread over a near 20 year career shows a level of consistency, even with the lows. As for my top 100? I like Mickie a lot, but my initial shortlists of Definites/Probables/Need To Watch Mores/Personal Favourites is already 250+, I would be surprised if she makes it

Getting anything out of the non-selling Fiend in a strap match was remarkable. It felt like they were putting the biggest possible obstacles in the way of him having a good match there

Also, I know this is technically last week's TV, but 205 Live is proving to be a very easy, fun watch at the moment. Last week had 3 matches in it's 30 minutes, all of which were enjoyable with even the greenest talent seeming to have some promise. I really enjoyed Jiro/Ru Feng, and the opener between Draco Anthony and Malik Blade was good in a "two green guys at an indy show who'll be really good in 2 years time" way. Weakest match was Nikkita Lyons vs Erica Yan. Yan is clearly very inexperienced, and repeated a flubbed spot awkwardly, but she's very likeable and sold well. Lyons has a great look and did a few bits that looked great, like a slingshot rolled through to a single-leg crab, feels like she'll be a star with some more polish. For a 30 minute rookie show, I thought it was good value.

Pleased to see Doudrop win that match. Bianca's big retribution should be at Mania, and Doudrop is both a fresh match-up and a better wrestler than Liv. Not sure how it'll work as a heel/heel match though. I suspect Becky will be the defacto face with the crowd, but you don't want to turn her before she faces Bianca again.

So I watched the Shelley/Ruby Soho match from Beyond last night, and it really made me want to do a dive into Shelley's back catalogue. It was a good match with a great Shelley performance where he seems fully aware of the size difference between the two and how to incorporate it into the match. He even uses a bearhug, which is not a move I'd associate with Alex Shelley, but totally works in this context. I don't know how long this IWTV title reign will last, but he feels perfect for the role. An elder statesman of the indy scene, going from territory to territory defending the belt against all comers certainly fits him better than it did Warhorse. Given that he's been good for 18 years now, I think he's a good contender for my 100, looking forward to revisiting his older stuff.

Would Hardy still be under a no-compete?

I think part of the issue is that Tony Khan needs to remember how much power his words hold, especially as he's a hugely popular figure with a lot of online fans. Publicly highlighting Swole's comments and saying "She wasn't any good anyway" is basically inviting his fans (who otherwise may not have read the comments) to go and swarm her with abuse, not that I think that was his attention.

My least favourite member of one of my least favourite factions in recent history. The Gargano matches pretty much killed my interest in NXT, I went from staying up late to watch each Takeover (UK time) to barely being aware they were on. None of the Undisputed Era members were big, but whereas Roddy and O'Reilly had good looking offence and could wrestle convincingly against larger opposition, Cole was never believable against a Keith Lee or an Aleister Black. When your NXT run wasn't as enjoyable to me as Lars Sullivan's, you aren't making my list.

You've got to admire the balls on Coach Tony K to conquer NXT, then go out and hire 3/4 of the act most associated with the worst era of NXT. He'll be booking hour long Gargano vs Ciampa matches next...

In fairness, he'd basically played the same character in TNA before then, so I think this is something he's happy with. It feels like a rare case of them just letting him do his previous gimmick, rather than repackaging him.

It feels risk free for KO though. If WWE fire him in April, for example, do you think AEW would pass on him? He's able to take this new contract that he's happy with in WWE, safe in the knowledge that AEW provides a safety net in case he does get cut.

He's a former 205 Live guy, who was never one of the 5 most interesting guys in the cruiserweight division at any time. He's perfectly ok.

I don't think he'll be on my list, but Kushida has a really good live presence too. I went to one of those WCPW shows where they brought in a lot of NJPW juniors, just to see Liger live, and Kushida is the only other guy who felt like a big deal. I think there's some good stuff in his NXT run that gets forgotten, that Walter match was great.

Togo is a cert for me, and I had Sasuke and Delphin in my 60s last time, so they've got a good shot. I've a few names I really want to dig into (CIMA, Dragon Kid, Mochizuki) in the next few years too.

It's kinda mindblowing that people's reaction to an indy wrestler getting a $1200 speeding fine wasn't "How dangerously were you driving to get a fine this big, you lunatic?", but rather "Oh LOL, how can I contribute you pay your fine so you learn nothing?"

I think Roddy re-signed in the past year, so I don't think he's going anywhere unless cut.