FMKK

This is amazing. Thanks so much. I love a lot of modern New Japan so I'm excited to see the stuff you think is far superior!

Thanks so much. Can't wait to properly get stuck in.

I don't really think this is a fair reflection of what he says so much as it's a bit of a stereotype of what other people say about him. He's clearly all in on the modern New Japan style, no pun intended. So I don't see what's so wrong with him saying that he thinks Tanahashi and Okada are in the same pantheon as the AJPW Four Pillars. It's not like he's burying those guys. Sometimes I think he over eggs the pudding with that stuff a bit but I don't think he isn't being genuine. I happened to be reading an old newsletter recently and he was heaping similar praise on an Manami Toyota match in 1992. Now, if I can admit to a sacrilege, I actually haven't watched a load of the 90s All Japan stuff. I know people who have been around longer than I have will have watched it all to death. I know I can just jump in and start watching on YouTube whenever but I'd rather watch in proper sequence or pick out the essentials in order. Is there anywhere where I could get a good list of that nature?

Well yes, the real ideal would be if Vince wasn't completely brain dead and remembered how to book wrestling. Ain't happening of course.

Well best of both worlds would be to sell 4-6 to ESPN or whoever as big time PPVs and then do 4-6 Network specials that are more like Clash Of The Champions level shows on in between months.

Michelle is all over Twitter acting astounded that people think it might have been her on the account. What a sad pair.

Sonny even tried to carny GCW into paying for him to stay at the Disney resort with 4-day passes to the theme parks. Overplayed his hand big time.

Surely a sign that Paul is all in on Drew as well. I hope they give him a shot with the belt. I'd be concerned that they aren't really building up any compelling heels for him to feud with post-Mania. Unless they actually put Orton over Edge. I still enjoy Brock but it would freshen him up to be away from the title for a good while.

I haven't seen the show yet but I would have thought that the long term way to go was to have Jericho hold the belt until All Out and Page be the one to take it on the one year anniversary of his big loss. But I can also see why they would go all in with Moxley considering that he has established himself as a ratings draw and clearly showed in WWE that he could've been a franchise player if they got behind him. Hopefully they have the Page/Omega/Bucks feud well planned out and realise that the end goal should be to establish Hangman as the top babyface for 2021 or so. They're doing really well but for the company to get to the next level, they need a breakout star and he's probably the closest they have who is a fresh face to audiences.

Imagine squandering the heat of Bryan's return from retirement AND Reigns' return from cancer within a year or two. If WCW did that it would be talked about forever as a sign of their dysfunctionality. With modern WWE, it's just an accepted fact of life.

Archer as a monster heel in a feud with Cody would be awesome imo. Could be somewhere to go after the MJF programme.

I know he probably doesn't give a shit but if I was Cena, I wouldn't be coming back to job for this dork. I can see them doing Roman and Sheamus but that just seems stale af.

They're intertwined. WWE won't push stars and instead emphasises the brand. So they super stans worship the brand like a God. And then lose the plot when the inevitable failure of that strategy rears its head once again every Mania season.

It's like a weird cultish mentality. You have to show how dedicated you are by sacrificing your body at the altar of "This. Business." to prove you're worthy. Instead of you know, drawing money.

I'm not sure what's more entertaining, Goldberg squashing this shit gimmick on two minutes or all the boiled piss from the Reddit marks. Absolutely the right booking choice. The only problem was having Wyatt in this position in the first place. He sucks. I would be concerned about what the state of Smackdown is going to be when Roman wins the belt though. They've build absolutely nobody else. Are they just going to go back to Corbin again? Raw isn't necessarily the most interesting show but at least Heyman is starting to establish new stars.

Is she just pissed that Becky has surpassed her as the top women's star, which she thought she was always going to be? Or maybe she's just been dissatisfied with her (admittedly weak) booking over the last while and has sought be more assertive. She may have been promised a lot of things that ended up going Becky's way etc. Or maybe someone has been getting in her ear (HHH, Heyman, Ric?) All speculation of course but interesting to thing about. I'm sure Dave won't be going out of his way to talk about it.

I was literally coming here to ask if that was real haha

I feel like 31 was the last Mania that I can comfortably call a good show. It was also the last one before they became eternal.

Roman vs Goldberg is a huge improvement but making Cena put up with Fiend bullshit is a huge waste of him.

The post-show Cody promo was incredible. He's just knocking it out of the park right now. Booking wise, I'm not sure if they'll wrap up the MJF feud at the PPV or try to get another cycle out of it. I feel like there's definitely enough juice to keep it going a few more months.

I saw Keith Lee Vs Timothy Thatcher at an OTT show once and Lee actually did the Hogan comeback routine in the match. It was incredible.

The Fiend is absolute dogshit though. Even though it's obviously a bigger programme.

I don't even know why Cena would agree to take that match unless he just wants a ten second squash to give him some low effort face time.

WWE doing fuck all with people and treating them like nothing is pretty much standard treatment for 80% of the roster.

Knowing MJF's limitations in the ring, I'd assume Cody has already started laying out what's going happen in the PPV match. He has to beat his ass with a belt for sure anyway.