funkdoc Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 holy crap have i learned not to open this pandora's box ever again GOTNW: i haven't actually watched anime in forever, i just know that almost any time i glance at my facebook feed it's got people blowing the fuck up over one punch man. it's the kind of hype i haven't seen for a series in ages - we're talking "this has saved anime"-type stuff. this is hundreds of people i know IRL from all over the US, and they tend to be the anti-tumblr crowd if anything. it also gets brought up in my chat when i stream on twitch, and quite a bit on my twitter timeline (which skews closer to the tumblr set)...i just got the impression it was this genuinely buzzworthy thing among a large portion of nerds. i used the examples i did because they've gotten that kind of reaction from the kind of crowd i think pro wrestling should be targeting more. i sometimes think this board could use more people from those demographics. that's basically what i was trying to get at, just in an apparently clumsy & derailing way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 anecdotally, I was looking on twitter to see if the OPM has closed the federal government yet and as opposed to last year when i did that search, OPM gets mainly One Punch Man references now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Im 42 and I have no idea what the hell you kids are talking about I'm 25 and I have no idea what the hell you kids are talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benbeeach Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 I'm 25. I know what Undertale is and Saitama is one of my favorite anime characters ever (he is One Punch Man). Those aren't things one has to seek out if their in tune with a certain demographic, almost irregardless and irrespective of age. That's a what bubble do you occupy sort of thing. But it also just might mean you're old too.Not rating AJ Styles is retarded (from only two matches, if you watch more and it doesn't click it doesn't click) and you guys are probably all a little out of touch. But I mean, being 35 plus is being 35 plus.Josh are you going to play SFV? (FGC talk, don't mind us) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted January 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 It makes me sad that this One Man Punch nonsense is more over than my 80s Catchup reviews. It would be fantastic if I could get this back to being a review thread too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 It makes me sad that this One Man Punch nonsense is more over than my 80s Catchup reviews.It would be fantastic if I could get this back to being a review thread too. Nothing will clear out the room of ne'er-do-wells than TNA reviews. (TNA clears the room of most people) Have at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliott Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButchReedMark Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 you guys are probably all a little out of touch. But I mean, being 35 plus is being 35 plus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 It makes me sad that this One Man Punch nonsense is more over than my 80s Catchup reviews. i'd argue this is a function of the whole "Pro Wrestling Only" mentality of this board. i suspect if we had a real off-topic subforum (not one where stuff is still supposed to be tangentially related to wrestling) or a working shoutbox or *something*, we wouldn't get these kinds of derails. but i'm done now so get crackin~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concrete1992 Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 One Punch Man happens when a bunch of older folk spend pages talking about how youths think. Then when you have said people often belittling most they cross paths with then the PWO One Punch Man thread is born. Would be interested in reviews of all matches from an older gent trying to view it through the lens of a youngster. Cause why not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted January 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Right enough of this One Man Punch bollocks. Go to Pro Anime Only. And for the record, I'm absolutely against an off-topic forum because I know where that will lead. We could all do without seeing political rants of any persuasion, left or right. AJ Styles vs. Abyss (4/24/05) Right come on now, self-control. Ignore Tenay. Ignore West.. Ignore the crowd. Ignore the fact it's in TNA. Ignore the six-side ring. Focus. Random fact: the attendance for this show was 775. AJ jumps through the door to start. Slides UNDER the railings. Well, that's something I've not seen before. Springboard hurricanrana. Abyss slows it down with a knee lift. Cuts momentum. AJ springboards over the railings and about five rows of fans. And then from there back on top of Abyss. Pretty spectacular. And now he goes flying over the railings again into the crowd. "Too much, too soon." - Tony Atlas. They brawl in the crowd. Abyss flings him toward the back of the arena where there is a fence. I've just realised this is a cage match in which they haven't actually entered the cage yet, huh. Certainly novel. Abyss dominates more, smashes Styles into the side of the cage and the apron, still outside. Bell possibly still hasn't rung. Styles comes back by throwing Abyss into the railing. Abyss smashes the door into Styles. Man that was a sick bump. And again. The level of bounce on those spots was pretty cool. Styles, of course, is cut open now. Abyss attacks the cut and now, finally, we enter the ring. 10 minutes gone. Abyss has a bag. It's full of tacks. Big clothesline by Abyss. Styles is very very good at bumping with impact. Wraps a chain around his neck. Big boot. Wraps the chain around the turnbuckle. Styles ends up taking a huge crash landing face first onto that chain. Abyss is throwing Styles around like Superman throwing a normal man around. The bumps into the cage are spectacular. Very red blood all over his face. Big lift again from Abyss. The height Styles is getting on this bumps in this match is something else. Gorilla press slam, but Styles somehow counters it into a DDT onto the chain. Well that was a counter. Big inzaguri. Tilt a whirl headscissors. Evades a charge. German suplex. Reverses a chokeslam into a pin attempt. Pretty cool counter, don't mind about slight slip on execution. Abyss hits his finisher but Styles kicks out. Out come the tacks. And AJ counters and pancakes Abyss into the tacks. Cover gets two only. Abyss is shivering with pain. AJ goes right to the very very top of the cage, but Abyss throws the ref into the cage to knock him off. Good tactics. Styles is hanging off the cage. Abyss tries to barge him off. Wraps the chain around his neck and hangs him from the very top of the cage with the chain. "Nothing exceeds like excess" - Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface. Sunset flip powerbomb from the top of the cage onto the tacks by Styles is enough for three. Man. Trying to process what I've just seen. Pros: 1. Styles is an incredible bumper who is up there with anyone who ever laced them up for that. 2. There are lots of spots in this match that I've never seen before and for sheer spectacle, it's pretty amazing. 3. Told a great narrative, which at base is just your good old fashioned comeback against the odds story. 4. Some very innovative stuff in general, especially during that opening ten minutes before they even get into the ring. Points for originality. Cons: 1. Whatever the opposite of "less is more" is, this is it. Yes, the spectacle dazzles, but at the same time that circus show "what's he going to do now!" element also serves to cheapen and gimmick-ise the action in a way. It's hard to get into the idea of someone fighting a war against all odds when they are literally jumping ten feet in the air. 2. Because of 1. I was never able to buy into the idea that Abyss was going to win this match. I had no idea who won by the way, but it's up to them to get me invested in that and the way it was set up made it too obvious that Styles was never taking a pin here. 3. The business around the tacks was all a bit Wile E. Coyote. Yes, it's a pretty standard trope in wrestling for a heel to be hoist by his own petard, but when you set a precedent as Styles did in this match, you are kind of expecting them to take it to that extreme and have him land in them, which never happens, I think it's Abyss twice into the tacks unless I missed something. Which is not saying I expect anyone to take it, but rather that they set up the expectation for it. All in all, it's a very good match. These are reasons why the rating is not higher. But maybe I was wrong to write Stlyes off. ****1/2 AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe (8/14/05) After some initial exchanges, Joe takes Styles out with a big knee charge and a huge diving forearm through the apron. Back in, suplex by Styles. Cool little back somersault breaks momentum. I guess he could have just stopped running? Inverted DDT by Styles. Springboard senton. Bit too much flash here from Styles for my tastes. Rolling cradle. Styles is dazed and just tries a dropkick in the middle of nowhere. Huge lariat by Joe gets two only. Dismissive kicks by Joe. Forearm exchanges. Hundred hand slap from Joe. Shades of E. Honda. Some shenanigans now involving Daniels. Muscle buster by Joe and he locks on his submission finisher. Styles taps out. Sorry, these two just don't do it for me. I don't like this match up at all. Trying to put my finger on why. Can't get invested in it. Too much flash from Styles in general. And I want a more genuine sense of grit out of Joe. If people are high on these guys together, I have to accept that I don't get it. ** AJ Stlyes vs. Bully Ray (6/12/11) True story: when I was looking up the date for this match, my searches were frustrated by the fact there was some TV show called "Last Man Standing" that came out in 2011 and dominated the Google results. I hate Bully Ray's shorts here and his lack of proper wrestling boots. Get some proper boots! And wear knee pads! One of my pet hates. Styles jaws Bully to start and assaults him with some speed and temerity. Still think Styles's character work isn't very authentic. Seems like someone trying to play a wrestler to me. But y'know, I generally hate the character work of the 00s and 10s. Seems fake to me. Ray comes back with some stiff punches. Big back body drop. Styles gets so much height, he's possibly a bigger bumper even than Mr. Perfect. Ray dominates some now. Next few mins inside and outside the ring. Big chop. Styles screams as Ray "hit me again! Hit me again!" Find it hard to buy into it, sorry guys. The parody of character work as opposed to the real deal. Just don't believe for a second that this is who Styles is. Ray, looks perturbed though all of this. Hey, I've just noticed the ring is square again. Sit out powerbomb. Big shot with a chain outside by Styles. Ray is busted open. Styles shows some great intensity attacking the cut. Springboard 450. Ray barely gets up by eight. Styles throws Ray over the top into the upturned steps. Up on the staging area now. Huge huge dive from the stage onto Ray. The height and distance of that leap was absolutely massive. Ray up by nine. Styles gets a table. Very stiff shot with the fist. Grabs chair. Shot across the back. Lays him on the table. Goes back on the stage. No. He gets up on the lighting rig. Climbs up higher. Goes even higher. About a fifteen foot drop onto the table. Holy shit is right. Wow. As Styles is getting up, Ray kicks him into the staging and gets up to his feet as Styles is out for the win. God, I don't know what to do with these matches. I mean ... Yes, wow, holy shit, amazing, etc. But isn't this the definition of diminishing returns? What crazy shit can he possibly do next? Where can he take it? But then again, well, I've never seen someone dive fifteen feet from a lighting rig before. Styles did bring real violence and intensity in this match and, even if I didn't buy his character work, I did buy Ray's general look of shock and awe being caught up in the storm. He had that genuine rabbit in headlights "oh fuck what have I gotten into here" look to him, and I did buy the Tasmanian Devil aspect of Styles's performance. It's a good match. And a great performance from Styles. However, for me there are built in inherent limitations to the style and indeed the setting. The sour taste of inauthenticity never quite washes out for me. And I'm not sure how far I can venerate a style built on ultimate holy shit spectacle high spots. But for what it is, it's really good. **** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 To be fair, while Styles did have some great matches early in his career, he had plenty of criticism from a lot of people at the time. It's only been in recent years (really, post-TNA) that he has been more of a consensus pick as a top wrestler in the world. What I mean by that is that Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe have been pretty revered by just about everyone forever now, but AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels had their share of supporters and detractors. In the case of Daniels, he still does, while Styles has probably peaked in his 30s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 We aren't so old on this site. Most of us are in our early 30s right? The grand old men are Johnny, Pete, Good Ol' Will ... I assume Phil is older? (jdw of course) Parv I guarantee you have more tweed than Johnny, Will, and I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrainfollower Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 I'm 36 and I have no tweed at all. I would wear it if I got a tweed jacket though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luchaundead Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Parv may have the tea but I'm pretty sure Johnny has the rest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ship Canal Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 To be fair, while Styles did have some great matches early in his career, he had plenty of criticism from a lot of people at the time. It's only been in recent years (really, post-TNA) that he has been more of a consensus pick as a top wrestler in the world. What I mean by that is that Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe have been pretty revered by just about everyone forever now, but AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels had their share of supporters and detractors. In the case of Daniels, he still does, while Styles has probably peaked in his 30s. Yeah, this. Was there anyone seriously entertaining the notion of AJ as the best in the world before the New Japan stuff? Even after he'd debuted in New Japan - and people forget this - the reaction was somewhat tepid initially. Indeed, many commentators/podcasters/writers etc seemed to feel that the Japanese audience wouldn't buy into this guy from this relatively two bit promotion with very little hype in Japan. Its really been since cementing his place as the man in New Japan and the title run there, combined with him becoming quite the globe trotting touring champ (in a pleasingly traditional sense) across the states and UK etc that have had people recently touting him as the best in the world. To the point that I don't think its really possible for anyone to rank him in their GWE poll without taking this into account. The last few years have been defining ones for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laz Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 To be fair, while Styles did have some great matches early in his career, he had plenty of criticism from a lot of people at the time. It's only been in recent years (really, post-TNA) that he has been more of a consensus pick as a top wrestler in the world. What I mean by that is that Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe have been pretty revered by just about everyone forever now, but AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels had their share of supporters and detractors. In the case of Daniels, he still does, while Styles has probably peaked in his 30s.I've been a fan of Styles since I first saw him on the 4th weekly TNA PPV and this is right on the money. He's incredible and one of the pillars of his generation, but I can even agree that most of his work (which is TNA) is really spotty (which is TNA). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted January 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Was I especially harsh on him then? I reviewed three matches and gave two of them 4+ What are people expecting here, I have no clue, five stars across the board for all this stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ship Canal Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 I don't think anyone has taken exception to your reviews? I was just responding to what Loss said and concurring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 I don't think you were harsh on him. I think you may have watched the matches that people aren't really using to advocate for him for the most part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted January 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Well feel free to recommend. I think I have a good idea of what Styles in TNA circa 2005 was about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Thought this was a really sound match psychology wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laz Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Not harsh, necessarily, but I think much of the context for the Joe/Styles matches is being missed since you're watching the matches in a bubble and not as part of the story being told. Styles in '05 was very spot-focused but he still used those spots to tell a story, and in the Joe series it was "guy who conquered every monster thrown his way but can't conquer this one." He'd beaten Abyss numerous times, he'd already been World champion (twice, IIRC), and here's this hugely hyped monster that's almost as fast as he is and knows the ring even better than he does and he, as the TNA Golden Boy, has the best chance of anybody on the roster to take him out. We also weren't getting matches like that on a big level in 2005 US companies. Not outside ROH, anyway. I can maybe liken it to people who found the Matrix so profound and mind-blowingly original in 1999 so they always have that impression of it, but others having already seen that kind of movie and/or its elements done better prior don't care for it too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 I'm 36 and gay so I'm actually 70. Post of the year candidate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luchaundead Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 I'm 36 and gay so I'm actually 70. Post of the year candidate. Is that a sheety? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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