The Wrestling Topic

[Daweii]

I managed suppress my condishun, but my condishun could not be contained and it has woken!! YEEEEEEEEEESSSSS AHAHAHHA YEEEEEES!!

DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!

Matt Hardy's gimmick in TNA grew on me and now I am so glad to see it in WWE. I hope that he is given as close to full creative control over this character, just let him go nuts with it. That said his opening feud with Bray Wyatt.. I wish it was with someone else. 

[Demitri_C]

9 hours ago, Daweii said:

I managed suppress my condishun, but my condishun could not be contained and it has woken!! YEEEEEEEEEESSSSS AHAHAHHA YEEEEEES!!

DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!

Matt Hardy's gimmick in TNA grew on me and now I am so glad to see it in WWE. I hope that he is given as close to full creative control over this character, just let him go nuts with it. That said his opening feud with Bray Wyatt.. I wish it was with someone else. 

That was the best thing about raw. Awoken Matt hardy love it. Be a good feud with wyatt . Brother Nero ?!!

[Wainy316]

11 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Brother Nero ?!!

I knew you'd come.

[hogso]

Jericho ambushed Omega at the World Tag League finals (rare use of colour for NJPW too!), and Omega did likewise earlier today at the WK12 press conference - amusingly, it included Jericho calling one of the pressers 'f*** face', worth a look just for that.

[hogso]

As an aside - New Japan is well known for it's strong booking. They build stars, fueds, and titles better than most current promotions. 

But! Look at the tournament winners this year;

New Japan Cup - Shibata 

G1 Climax - Naito 

BOSJ - KUSHIDA 

Super J Tag Tournament - Roppongi 3k

World Tag League - Evil and Sanada 

If Kitamura wins the Young Lion Cup literally all of the favourites will have won. And with WK looking pretty predictable too (Goto over Suzuki, Omega over Jericho, Naito over Okada, White over Tanahashi) the lack of surprise is a bit of a downer. 

[supermon]

I just saw the omega attack on jericho at his press conference, my gosh now that's what you call a promo! I've never watched New Japan but this match has got me hooked

[Daweii]

Agreed @supermon I'm normally pretty on the fence with NJPW and other promotions just because I lack the time to watch them all, but Jericho vs Omega is a match I will be watching without fail. 

[hogso]

It's been confirmed as the co-main event now too. I'd suggest in the strongest possible terms that you watch the whole of Wrestle Kingdom, rather than just the Omega / Jericho match. The four way Super Juniors match, Okada / Naito and Tanahashi / White all have potential to steal the show, plus there's chance to see The Young Bucks, Kota Ibushi and Evil & Sanada, if you're unfamiliar with them.

[Daweii]

5 hours ago, hogso said:

It's been confirmed as the co-main event now too. I'd suggest in the strongest possible terms that you watch the whole of Wrestle Kingdom, rather than just the Omega / Jericho match. The four way Super Juniors match, Okada / Naito and Tanahashi / White all have potential to steal the show, plus there's chance to see The Young Bucks, Kota Ibushi and Evil & Sanada, if you're unfamiliar with them.

I'll be watching the whole event for sure. I just looked at the card and I think every match has at least one wrestler in it that I know of so I'm excited for the event.

[hogso]

Good man! The card isn't quite complete yet - at the World Tag League Finals Goto challenged Suzuki (again) for the NEVER Openweight title in some sort of Title vs. Hair match, or something. Not official yet though, but they are on the Road to WK shows so they'll probably do an angle there. There's not space for the 6-man title to be defended on the WK card, as Sanada and Evil hold that with Bushi, so it's being defended instead on the first Road to WK show on 17/12 at Korakuen. Apart from that there will definitely be the 'New Japan Rumble' which will feature legends, returning stars, wrestlers from other promotions, and the guys that haven't got a match. This always starts the WK show and will act as something of a 'pre-show'. And if you really enjoy WK you should definitely watch New Year Dash the day after! This is when they kick new storylines in to gear, last year it revolved around the incredible re-debut of Suzuki-Gun.

[Daweii]

@hogso Looking forward to it! I have been keeping an eye on the events of the road to WK to see how things unfold.

I was meaning to ask. I'm assuming WK12 will be aired on NJPW World? That's the main thing I've been unsure of given that there are a plethora of legal and illegal ways to watch everything these days.  

[hogso]

Yep, it'll be on there live with Japanese or English commentary. Some events aren't live, and some smaller shows don't get any commentary at all, let alone Japanese only, but they show up on NJPW world later on the day of the event. 

[Daweii]

So Omega vs Jericho is now a No DQ match. Now looking into NJPW a bit it seems stipulations are still somewhat rare so this is quite the treat. Other reading gave me an impression that the Japanese fans don't really care for stipulations/gimmick matches so this really does feel like a special occasion, but also like a match that is there to get all eyes on NJPW from Western audiences. 

All in all, I'm down for a No DQ match. I am sure there will be another rare use of colour, but I don't know if more weapons will be used. I re-watched Okada vs Omega at WK11 the other day and remembered the brutal table spot which should have been a DQ? At least by WWE rules, so I don't know what a No DQ match will add, but I'm hyped either way. 

 

[Demitri_C]

Spoiler

Bryan heel turn? Makes absolute no sense

Clash of champions 

[hogso]

@Daweii Yeah, it's a bit of an odd one from a western perspective. It's basically just a bit of a headline grabber and confirmation this will be a heck of a fight. 

In regards to DQs in New Japan, they're pretty rare - specifically so in the big matches. The whole of the G1 tournament is notorious for being a bit flexible with the rules, and with count outs - idea being the matches are just too significant for the ref to call it off. Smaller matches have them (Bushi got DQ'd recently for spitting the mist into Fale's face, but then Toru Yano's whole persona is built around avoiding a DQ, his finisher is literally a low blow w/ referee distraction ) 

As for gimmick matches, yes, they are very rare! There's only been one ladder match ever, a 'bull rope' match recently, and the odd 'death match' which isn't remotely a death match in any way whatsoever. 

What has happened in the past though is a no rope explosive barbed wire match between Onita and Chono, back in '99. You could draw some similarities between that and Omega/Jericho. Both in the Dome with an unusual (for New Japan) stipulation, both billed absolutely as a fight, and both featuring an 'outsider' with real attitude, playing the ultimate heel role. 

On the subject, Onita's entrance to that match is absolutely awesome, if you've never seen it, check this out

Not a great representation of a typo New Japan crowd though, I'd be surprised if they were the best so raucous come 04/01/18

[Daweii]

@Demitri_C Not sure he's heel yet. If anything Shane O'Mac made the major obvious heel decision of the night by stopping the count at two. Bryan fast counted to make a mends for what Shane O' Mac did.

Sure the closing shots of the PPV with Bryan standing tall with the heels doesn't look great, but I'm not sure he's a heel just yet. He was always impartial during this so I'm not sure, I think Shane is easier to turn as no one will boo Bryan.

 

@hogso I really like that stipulations in NJPW are rare as it really does make the match feel special and I hope NJPW stays that way. Sure, I love stipulations, but what I love more is not knowing when one will be used and that surprise when it's announced. 

Watching Onita's entrance was incredible. I don't know him or his work, but just watching him walk to the ring sold me on his character instantly, I get what he's all about and I love it. I guess the best analogue to Onita in WWE would be Dean Ambrose, but I feel that's likely quite insulting as Onita has more charisma in his little toe than Ambrose could ever hope to have. Amazing entrance and character by the looks of it. 

 

[Ingram85]

I know he was in the ring with an all time great but I actually thought Jinder looked really really good last night. Very strong showing. First time I’ve thought that mind but still. Bit of a meh ppv overall though. Bryan ain’t no heel yet, as said, Shane looked worse and Bryan just evened it up after Shane refused to count. 

Good to see Uso’s looking confident and doing well. Very underrated team. Glad they have finally found their groove. Rusev needs to be in the title picture imo. He is gold and always has been since wm30. They need to let him make the step up after this English/Rusev Day skit ends.

Zigglers last chance to do something meaningful now for me. He performed well last night and he really needs to grasp this last chance with both hands or he is done imo. Corbin needs a hair transplant and a character reboot imo. He is such a bore. Amazing how 6 months can change a guy. I really thought 2017 was gonna be his breakout year but he’s just meh. Roode was so over, bit early yet for a strap though, let him cook a little while longer.

Its astonishing how KO has carried SD since WM. He is exceptional.

7/10 overall I thought. Had it’s moments but a very down the line and safe show after all’s said and done.

 

[Demitri_C]

6 hours ago, Ingram85 said:

I know he was in the ring with an all time great but I actually thought Jinder looked really really good last night. Very strong showing. First time I’ve thought that mind but still. Bit of a meh ppv overall though. Bryan ain’t no heel yet, as said, Shane looked worse and Bryan just evened it up after Shane refused to count. 

Good to see Uso’s looking confident and doing well. Very underrated team. Glad they have finally found their groove. Rusev needs to be in the title picture imo. He is gold and always has been since wm30. They need to let him make the step up after this English/Rusev Day skit ends.

Zigglers last chance to do something meaningful now for me. He performed well last night and he really needs to grasp this last chance with both hands or he is done imo. Corbin needs a hair transplant and a character reboot imo. He is such a bore. Amazing how 6 months can change a guy. I really thought 2017 was gonna be his breakout year but he’s just meh. Roode was so over, bit early yet for a strap though, let him cook a little while longer.

Its astonishing how KO has carried SD since WM. He is exceptional.

7/10 overall I thought. Had it’s moments but a very down the line and safe show after all’s said and done.

 

I think styles has been carrying sd to be honest 

glad they took the title off Corbin like yo say he needs a revamp badly. Maybe make him like a bodyguard of ziggler or something like that. I thought they should have given roode the title though.

i like that combo of Ruses and English. I am hoping they win the titles

[omariqy]

Women's Royal Rumble confirmed. 

[Daweii]

2 hours ago, omariqy said:

Women's Royal Rumble confirmed. 

Has made sense for a while. Each roster thanks to the addition of the factions has 11 active female superstars now. If we add in a few surprises like Lita, Trish, Rousey and then 5 women from NXT they have 30 women there. 

Very cool and hopefully the winner gets to co-main event WM. I don't think WWE will let the women outright main event WM just yet, though we are heading there which is really quite cool.