El-P

Funny thing is that when you look at the direction the company is taking for the future aka huge young muscular guys with good looks, I don't see where a guy like Kevin Owens fits in. Of course he's an upper echelon guy and will stay at that level I guess, but his biggest role lately was basically cannon fodder for Roman Reigns (ok, everybody is, I know), and he's not from that generation where even as a second fiddle to Cena you'd be considered as a star (like Edge, although he really hasn't moved the needle one bit) so he's not gonna get that "people from way back when were big stars" treatment when he's 40.

Kevin Owens re-signed. He's 37, he's made in WWE (whether he could be much more than what he is is debatable). I guess it would have been fun to see him work elsewhere. There goes that one.

The question with Hangman is this : was the chase better than the reign ? Of course it's ridiculous to call it a failure when it has barely even began. I do agree that thus far, Hangman has not been the main focus of the promotion, CM Punk vs MJF has (and quite frankly, it has all the right to me). But again, although Danielson is the big TV match, this is gonna lead to a bigger match (I know, that's sounds kinda odd but it is the reality), whether against MJF or Punk. Omega's reign has been a great success, both as a drawing card (2021 has been a legit period of growth with the Elite on top, and of course Punk boosted the whole thing even more) and of course in-ring. But the landscape is not exactly the same anymore and it seems there's kind of a pro-wrestling crush happening in term of viewing audience, with too much pro-wrestling on TV and a market getting dangerously close to saturation. The switch to TBS should help. Anyway, the match should be awesome. Last really big show for AEW this year. Let's go.

So Marina Shafir was on Dark this week, and here's one woman I hope they sign and get serious pushing. She's got something unique.

Blood Runs Cold 2.0. The shitty CGI and the screams made it as hilariously cheesy as the 1995 movie. And the 2021, probably. But I'm pretty sure the template is 1995...

Well, this year will definitely the year of Stardom in term of awareness, thanks to the well deserved bype from Syuri vs Hayashishita. Been watching the big shows since that time, and it's easily one of the easiest promotion to watch in this format. What struck me is the average level of the work, everybody is really good (there are no dull-ass matches like you see on NJPW undercards, and sometime higher). Hayashishita ia a legit top 5 worker of the year, Syuri and Tam Nakano are terrific too. Shirakawa should be a star eventually for many reasons beyond the obvious one, seems crazy to me she has only worked for 3 years now (while starting so late to boot). Great depths in talent with Maika, Iwatani, Kamitani, Starlight Kid, AZM and a few whose names I don't recall too (still getting familiar with everybody). They are having the last big show of the year on 12/29 and the biggest joshi show in decades probably, and Hayashishita vs Syuri on paper is MOTYC level (Nakano vs Kamitani should be excellent too). If Kairi Hojo goes back it could be quite a 2022 too.

Awesome read. Thanks for sharing. The last part is pretty damn hard though, with some really striking parts.

Sadly I don't keep a list of great matches I've watched (I tried until about April, then got lazy). But basically go for Shingo Takagi and Hiroshi Tanahashi's big matches over the year and you'll pretty much get the best out of NJPW apart from the G1, which as always had its share of Ishii and Okada greatness too, and had a *killer* Zach Sabre Jr. string of matches too. Oh, and speaking about Okada, his series vs Jeff Cobb series was pretty much one of the best of the year too. Never go close to an EVIL match, ever. If someone with more detail in term of dates can chime in. But out of the top of my head that's what I remember really enjoying this year, Takagi being crazy awesome and saving the day and Tanahashi just cementing the fact he's a GOAT contender, making the most out of his broken body and having killer matches on the fly (like when he was thrown into that Dome show main event from nowhere this Spring).

Well, you asked the question. I give you my answer. He's got a shot at GOAT for me and this year was a pretty big one for consolidating his case.

You haven't watched any AEW nor NJPW then. But yeah, both these two are great and contenders, Utami especially. And if she keeps at the same pace and level for the next 4 years, there's no way Utami is not rated quite high on the GWE 2026. My answer to 2021 was in the dedicated thread, and it's Omega. Takagi and Utami absolutely belong at worst in the top 5 though. Syuri not that far behind, but there has been a *ton* of awesome pro-wrestling this year.

And so the final of the tag-league is... Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi. This translate into : hard pass. No wonder why the tag-league is considered as a total waste of time. I'm sure Hiromu vs YOH will be very good, but honestly this show is a total afterthought. See ya at WK.

Legit cracked me up, I admit.

The only period I'm really comfortable giving an answer I'm satisfied with right now is basically the last 5 or so years, since I've been catching up with the current scene (and styles) since about late 2014. So : from 2016-2021, it's Kenny Omega and it's not even close. Okada had that awesome title reign in 2016 but he also had some gaps of not doing much. Omega during that time also had three matches which at the time they happened, I thought they were the best matches I've ever seen (G1 against Naito in 96 I believe, so at a time I did not get Omega yet, third match against Okada and tag match with Page vs Young Bucks in AEW), which gives him a serious contendership for #1 spot. 2011-2015 : Either Tanahashi or Okada. Pick your poison. Most probably Tanahashi. (if you go for 2014-2016, it's Okada though) The rest is too much scattered and/or going from memories (that I may eventually revisit, like some Japanese stuff, or won't like 90's US that I've watched way too much already. Plus there's that lucha libre thingy...). But let's say this : Thus far the 00's would be AJ Styles. Danielson I guess is the other one (I'd need to dive into ROH, which I really have never done properly). Kobashi had that awesome title reign though, but not sustained for a 5 years period. Ditto Eddie in term of not sustaining. 95-99 : I'll go on a limb and say Kiyoshi Tamura. His RING stuff was next level compared to any shoot-style ever and by that point AJPW had already peaked and gone into head-droping excess I believe to have any of them at that spot (although that would need a serious re-dive). I guess Rey would have a shot though. 90-94 : Either Hokuto, Bull, Aja or Misawa, I guess. The 80's are all about either Flair or Fujinami. Or Hansen ? (then again, Chiggy and Windham may have some to say about this for a 5 year period). Before that point, honestly, it's too vague at this point. Terry Funk in the 70's probably though.

I really don't watch or follow NJ Strong, but I did watch Brody King vs Ishii. It was as great as it sounds. That vertical brainbuster by Ishii was just crazy. How is this guy still doing it, I have no idea. Kelly mentioned that King's dream is to make the G1.

No worse than I usually am.

There isn't.

I know it's just a figure of speech, but still, there's no "winning at life". Also, I doubt Dwayne Johnson is petty enough to be bothered by whatever Triple H has accomplished by this point. Also, considering the miserable failure that NXT2.0 has been thus far, Triple H doesn't look that bad anymore on that matter.

Title match on IMPACT TV. I mean, why not, Purazzo can get the ROH title and wear it while the promotion is on (permanent ?) hiatus. I'm pretty sure she gets the IMPACT title back at Hard to Kill, so she can wear three belts for a while like Omega did. Former Braun Strowman debuting on a promotion last show is kinda puzzling to say the least. I mean, why ?

So basically : Rock beats Roman Reigns at Mania 23, Vince dies, Nick Khan fires Triple H, Shawn Michaels and RoadDog, sells WWE to Disney, who then produces Dwayne's biopic. End game.

Don't worry, none taken. Actually, they would call him Senechal Wild, have him wear a orange & black singlet and do a ton of "hidden" Taz references and never actually say he's his father.

Ok, I never said he was the next Angle though (good luck for that). I said that as far as "debut" (I put it under quotation because I don't know how many matches he has worked before) matches, it was up there with Angle and AKINO (Arsion worker, for those who don't know) in term of looking terrific. Of course there's no way to know what will happen in the future. But he sure looks like he could be someone. Considering how many people on the roster still look green as grass, I was pretty damn impressed.

Roman Reigns will now have main evented more Manias than anyone in the company but Hulk Hogan (and Triple H, yeah, I know how laughable that is). He won 3 out of 5 thus far (Taker, Triple H, Edge & Danielson) and will win next year in a rematch from 2018 AND 2015 (technically speaking) and also won his only non-main event match against Drew the year of Rousey. FTR, Rock main evented 5 Manias and won only ONE time (first match against Cena). Triple H only won 3 out of 7. Micheals only won 1 out of 5 too (against Bret). But Roman hasn't been the Man since 2015 apparently. Yeah, honestly I have no idea how anyone can be excited about this honestly, even as the most hardcore WWE fan. Lesnar is basically the only guy left that Roman hasn't beat at Mania and they have made NO ONE over these last 7 years (Brock being a product from the old OVW anyway, alongside Cena, Orton & Batista). Well, I guess 2023 is the Rock... This has seemingly gone for ever, because really, it has.

Classic Muto overshoot. The Kamala pin attempt I must admit is quite confusing. (15000 posts ? My life, what happened with my life !!!!)

IMPACT got more out of working with AEW than anyone else. Omega drew bigger key-demo audience while he was on their show and the PPV match with Rich Swann, which *was* the big money match made them their biggest PPV numbers in years. The Moose match was on IMPACT + special and really what's wrong about having it at Daily's place ? It made the match look more special and you got the cool Sami Callihan cameo at the end which was even cooler because it was in enemy territory. Which then led to the other big match at Slammiversary, Omega vs Callihan, which happened in your regular IMPACT setting on PPV. IMPACT got nothing but positives from working with AEW. Unsurprisingly though, it basically ended when Omega left. As far as AAA goes, they had their big feel-good moment at Triplemania : Vikingo winning the main title. FTR are gonna go back in AAA and play the dastardly US heels and have a blast doing it and everything is fine, really. I was so gonna do that one ! Damn ! Seriously though, WHAT THE FUCK was that ? Like I mentioned before, I did not expect anything specific out of Hook because why should I, and the guy looked great. And for some reasons (because he's the son of Taz and looks like Vegeta ?) it seems the crowd was really into him from the get-go. It's been a long time since I've seen a debut match (I guess he has worked a bit before though) that good. Seriously, it's Kurt Angle/AKINO level of "holy shit" to me. If everything goes fine, this guy could be a legit star. Yes. Bunny was so holding things together when she was in there. She's the unsung glue to these matches with green people. Soho, as usual, is more over than her actual in-ring work to me, but hey, that's cool. Nyla was really good too. Penelope did really cool shit. Anna Jay is really tentative, I dunno if she lost confidence after such a long layoff, but she surely needs more work. Ditto Tay, but she's more advanced. She does have that MMA-style gunshy thing about her where it seems she's afraid to hurt her opponent with her kicks and elbows. But yeah, overall, quite fun. The big multi-men matches between Best Friends & Superklik match incoming will be insanity and you all know it.

Considering AEW's existence basically killed ROH (well, it made it irrelevant to the point AEW and NJPW would rather work alongside IMPACT), it must be kinda bittersweet.