Happenstance Posted December 26, 2020 Posted December 26, 2020 Coming up on my annual monthly sub to New Japan for Wrestle Kingdom. Feel like I haven’t seen much build up at all to this year’s but there’s some good matches on the card: Day One: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan KENTA vs. Juice Robinson for the IWGP US title contract briefcase Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Guerillas of Destiny for the IWGP Tag Team titles Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo King of Pro Wrestling Ranbo Day Two: Winner of Naito-Ibushi vs. Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu-ELP winner for the IWGP Jr. title SANADA vs. EVIL Shingo Takagi vs. Jeff Cobb for the NEVER Openweight title El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles 4-way match for the KOPW title Dark match featuring Stardom talent
Will Posted December 27, 2020 Posted December 27, 2020 Really unbelievable, feel for his family and friends. Bray Wyatt wrote a really nice thing for him, sounds like he was very well liked and will be missed. Crazy to be so young and in shape and have something like this just take it all away.
Happenstance Posted December 27, 2020 Posted December 27, 2020 18 minutes ago, Will said: Really unbelievable, feel for his family and friends. Bray Wyatt wrote a really nice thing for him, sounds like he was very well liked and will be missed. Crazy to be so young and in shape and have something like this just take it all away. I never really watched a lot of his stuff over the years as I had dropped away from wrestling by then but just reading all the nice things various people have had to say about it I actually found it quite moving. Obviously was one of the nice guys in wrestling.
BowserBasher Posted December 27, 2020 Posted December 27, 2020 Very shocked to see this. Never saw his stuff in AEW so didn’t realise who it was right away. It’s been a sad year in the wrestling world.
Ganepark32 Posted December 27, 2020 Posted December 27, 2020 Heard the news this morning and even now, I'm still shocked. Didn't know him from his time in WWE but his work in AEW was great, with two standout matches against Jon Moxley and Cody Rhodes in a dog collar match. What he did to elevate The Dark Order there, how he integrated himself so well with them and how everyone was just glowing in their praise for him as a person in and out of the ring regardless of what company they were part of shows what a genuinely good person he was. From what I'd heard, he was miss used in WWE so to see him get a title run and some great character work and matches really seemed to be turning his career I the right direction. Its a shame he never got to have a match in front of a full crowd, what with Covid putting a stop to his debut in his home town of Rochester, but he definitely left a mark and will be sorely missed by many. Glad to hear that the team at AEW have been helping aa much as possible with his wife and kids and looks like thats something they intend to keep doing in the long term. The out pouring of support does show one thing: that the walls that have been put up between companies in wrestling really should come down because Brodie Lee's praise has been universal and when they are so many on the same page, surely it would benefit to come together not just for this moment but generally speaking. Its unlikely with how WWE operate but it seems something that some companies are looking to do to make it a more universal collective rather than walled gardens.
Ganepark32 Posted December 28, 2020 Posted December 28, 2020 (edited) On 26/12/2020 at 4:08 PM, Happenstance said: Coming up on my annual monthly sub to New Japan for Wrestle Kingdom. Feel like I haven’t seen much build up at all to this year’s but there’s some good matches on the card: Day One: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan KENTA vs. Juice Robinson for the IWGP US title contract briefcase Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Guerillas of Destiny for the IWGP Tag Team titles Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo King of Pro Wrestling Ranbo Day Two: Winner of Naito-Ibushi vs. Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu-ELP winner for the IWGP Jr. title SANADA vs. EVIL Shingo Takagi vs. Jeff Cobb for the NEVER Openweight title El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles 4-way match for the KOPW title Dark match featuring Stardom talent Really looking forward to this. Hoping to watch both nights live this year, though the missus finishes night shift on the morning of night 1 so might not catch the whole thing then and there. Night 1 has the better card of the 2 nights. Looking forward to all of the matches on that night. Takahashi vs El Phantasmo should be good, especially to set up the title match on night 2. I'd love to see another Takahashi vs Ishimori match given their match at the Super Jr's a few years back was incredible but I have a feeling that they haven't just brought ELP over to lose. It could go either way for the US Championship contract. Kenta has defended it enough at this point to have more than earned his shot but Juice has been in good form (he looked great during G1) so yeah, it's either or really. With the new travel restrictions in place, I suspect that its more likely that we'll see the title stripped from Moxley sooner rather than later so this match may not mean as much in the long run unless AEW actually let's Moxley wrestle Kenta on NJ Strong. GoD will win the tag titles. The build they had through tag league makes me think its a sure thing. Okada isn't walking out of the Tokyo Dome with a win. Whether Ospreay gets a clean win is a different question but with the Stardom talent there for night 2 and Ben Priestley being around, I suspect there'll be some interference for Ospreay to get the win to keep that feud going long term. Likewise, I see Tanahashi losing to Great O-Khan. They've tried to build him as this monster of a wrestler and given the rough ride Tana had during tag league (too many blows to the knees in G1), I sadly don't see him taking the win. Possibly end up leading to an Okada/Tana tag match with Ospreay and O-Khan down the line. Ibushi has to walk out of night 1 with the titles. He's been so close so many times, it just makes sense. My only hope is that with night 2, Gedo hasn't booked it as single night run for him. I know he's high on Jay White and there's a big push behind him but this is easily a long running feud is Gedo let's it so have Ibushi finally over come the odds to win on night 1 and then finally pick up his long sought after win against White on night 2 and let the feud unravel from there, maybe with Evil costing White the win for the Bullet Club drama. Evil vs SANADA should be good. Have Evil win against White losing and you set up a longer rift of who's in charge of Bullet Club. And Takagi vs Cobb will largely depend on what Cobb turns up. If its the one that turned up towards the end of G1 then it should be a good match (with the title most likely changing hands to labour the Empire/Ospreay faction take over). So yeah, looking forward to it. Edit: looks like Juice Robinson is out on injury so it'll be Kenta vs Kojima. So a Kenta win there. There must be a video package to fall after the match from Moxley otherwise they need to strip the title as a match isn't happening any time soon. Edited December 28, 2020 by Ganepark32 1
WackerJr Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 The Brodie Lee news was shocking, and I was so impressed with the outpouring of support and stories from his peers. He was so well-liked and respected by those that worked with him, it is so tragic. The AEW tribute was so well done, and the emotion shown by those involved was heartbreaking, and many of those only got to know him over the past year. Seeing Erik Rowan / Redbeard make an appearance with that sign & then embracing others in tears in the ring broke me 😢.
martinist Posted February 2, 2021 Posted February 2, 2021 So I finally gave in and got a WWE Network account since I wanted to watch the Royal Rumble. It's kinda wierd having the arena so quiet that you can hear what they're saying in the ring. I've only watched half so far since hell if i'm sitting on my ass for four hours. Finished watching the women's rumble atleast, i'll watch the rest later. I have no idea of what storylines they're pushing or even who anyone is since the last time I watched wrestling was in 2004 Once I watch a few episodes of Raw and Smackdown then I might get into the swing of things and start making sence of what they're trying to do and who everyone is. Is Vince still running things or has he retired? 1
Dog-amoto Posted February 2, 2021 Posted February 2, 2021 (edited) Not sure if it’s been mentioned on here, but the 83 Weeks podcast with Conrad Thompson (Ric Flair’s son in law) interviewing Eric Bischoff is absolutely superb. Bischoff responds to all criticism in a mostly measured and articulate manner. He completely shits on that Death of WCW book that I know has been mentioned on here and I’m more inclined to believe his take on what happened - you can dissect the “Fingerpoke of Doom” as much as you want, but what truly seemed to kill WCW was simply that Time Warner didn’t want wrestling on their network after the merger. Most of the dirt sheets of the time were mostly based on rumour and conjecture, with few sources actually named, and that is mentioned plenty of times by Bischoff, but he also does not shirk away from the mistakes he made. Well worth a listen. Especially the episode where he makes RD Reynolds (Death of WCW author) backpedal like crazy. The podcast goes into detail on many subjects, including the formation of the nWo and the Monday Night Wars, the failed purchase of WCW before Vince got it, Bret Hart, Sting, Bischoff in WWE and loads more. Edited February 2, 2021 by Dog-amoto
BowserBasher Posted February 6, 2021 Posted February 6, 2021 On 02/02/2021 at 5:00 PM, martinist said: So I finally gave in and got a WWE Network account since I wanted to watch the Royal Rumble. It's kinda wierd having the arena so quiet that you can hear what they're saying in the ring. I've only watched half so far since hell if i'm sitting on my ass for four hours. Finished watching the women's rumble atleast, i'll watch the rest later. I have no idea of what storylines they're pushing or even who anyone is since the last time I watched wrestling was in 2004 Once I watch a few episodes of Raw and Smackdown then I might get into the swing of things and start making sence of what they're trying to do and who everyone is. Is Vince still running things or has he retired? Vince is still the top guy in charge, yes. This is usually a good time to watch though. WrestleMania season is usually the better time. Currently Smackdown is regarded as the better show of the main two. And there does seem to be some potentially good storylines for Wrestlemania in the works. The network has plenty of stuff to watch NXT and NXTUK are two must sees, they are usually better than Raw and Smackdown each week. If you’re into the documentaries there’s some really great ones on there too. The 24 and 365 are good shows to watch. 1
martinist Posted February 6, 2021 Posted February 6, 2021 Seems they don't show Smackdown or Raw live on the network. So I had to sign up for BT Sports and i'll use the network account for the pay per views.
BowserBasher Posted February 12, 2021 Posted February 12, 2021 On 06/02/2021 at 5:56 PM, martinist said: Seems they don't show Smackdown or Raw live on the network. So I had to sign up for BT Sports and i'll use the network account for the pay per views. It’s never been live, always on a four week delay. It’s something to do with US streaming rights with other companies I think. Network is still worth it for all the other content. 1
BowserBasher Posted February 15, 2021 Posted February 15, 2021 Not sure how many here watch NXT but even if you don’t give Takeover Vengeance Day a watch. Absolutely top notch from top to bottom and Balor vs Pete Dunne for the title was easily MotY contender already. Not a single Irish Whip into the ropes, not a single run of the ropes, they stayed inside the ring the whole match and it was 90% pure wrestling moves. I urge anyone with the network to watch it. Or find a way. 1
Dog-amoto Posted February 23, 2021 Posted February 23, 2021 Conrad Thompson now has Kurt Angle on his podcast. Very interesting listen. He talks about that moment at Wrestlemania 19 with Brock as well as his signing with the WWF after the Olympics and his appearance at the controversial ECW event with the crucifixion. WWF offered him a 10 year $5m dollar deal in 1996 but he turned it down. He ended up having to try out 2 years later but on a developmental deal worth 10 times less. https://open.spotify.com/show/5lcBcZbI1JO3BASz163jjh?si=Odh16HDjS827i27lZ7sP1A As I’ve mentioned before, the Eric Bischoff podcast is also a must listen for anyone interested in that period of history. 1
martinist Posted February 24, 2021 Posted February 24, 2021 (edited) Started watching Raw from 1998 on the network. Just finished the No Way Out '98 PPV so far and they have this Mike Tyson / Steve Austin angle gonig. Before that at the Royal Rumble '98 there was this nice casket match between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels where Kane comes out near the end and screws over Undertaker before he takes an axe to the casket and sets it on fire while Paul Bearer eggs him on and JR is screaming bloody murder like "The Undertaker is inside gawd damn it!!" After that Undertaker was gone. Haven't seen him since on Raw or the No Way Out PPV after the rumble. They'll probably bring the guy back at WrestleMania 14 or something. Should get a nice loud pop if it does happen. I still have six episodes of Raw to watch before that though. Edited February 24, 2021 by martinist
Happenstance Posted February 24, 2021 Posted February 24, 2021 That casket match was where Shawn Michaels hurt his back, forcing him to retire from in-ring a bit later until 2002. 1
Jimbob Posted February 24, 2021 Posted February 24, 2021 3 hours ago, Happenstance said: That casket match was where Shawn Michaels hurt his back, forcing him to retire from in-ring a bit later until 2002. Aye. It also caused him a lot of issues which nearly cost him all his friends and his WWF/E career until he found faith, cleaned up and got back into shape. The Summerslam 2002 match being his first back, he was strongly protected by Trips as to not re-aggravate his back issues.
martinist Posted February 27, 2021 Posted February 27, 2021 So i'm around late April '98 in my nostalgia trip. Ken Shamrock and the Rock are fighting over the IC title and Owen Heart is fighting for the Euro title with HHH. After Shawn left after Wrestle Mania 14 HHH has taken over DX and added in X-Pac. At the time I guess X-Pac was just released from his WCW contract because he was cutting a promo in the ring about how Scott Hall and Kevin Nash couldn't be there because of World Championship Wrestling and Eric Bishoff. Then HHH starts talking about how he has a big dick and the promo ends. They later recruit the new age outlaws to DX during a tag team cage match between the outlaws and Cactus Jack and chainsaw Charlie. Undertaker had alot of promo stuff but not alot of wrestling between WM14 and Unforgiven. He was appearing during some minor card matches and chokeslamming the guys in the ring and calling out Kane. There was this part where Paul Bearer was calling him out to wrestle at his parents grave site before Kane and Paul pull up in a herse with his parents coffins and set them at the top of the ramp before Paul Bear goes inot a promo where he had a dream of Kane standing in a ring of fire and they start to set up the inferno mach at Unforgiven before Paul sets one of the coffins on fire and Kane chokeslams Undertaker into the other coffin. Another minor storyline is between Sable and Luna. At this point Sable was getting sick of Marc Merro's shit and started slapping him around a bit. Guy had alot of matches with Goldust to set up the Sable / Luna stuff which resulted in Luna challenging Sable to an "evening gown" match at Unforgiven which would later become the bra and panties match a year or so later. Main storyline is about Steve Austin wining the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 14 from Shaun and Vince McMahon is pissed about how hes not the kind of champion he wants him to be so Austin challenged McMahon to wrestle for the championship himself and everyone looses their shit before McMahon agrees and they get in the ring only for Dude Love to interrupt the match before the bell rings which starts this rivelry between Dude Love and Austin for the title. At Unforgiven '98 during the inferno match Kane walks out of the ring half way through before walking up the ramp and Vader comes out and starts beating on him. I think this is only a few months before Vader retired because I don't really see alot of him anymore. So Vader beats Kane back to the ring before the Undertaker jumps over the top rope and just dives into both of them, then Undertaker starts beating on Vader up the walkway again to pull the cameras away so Kane can put on his little fire sleve before he loses the match when the Undertaker sticks his arm in the flames and he runs off down the walkway with his arm on fire. Main event was Dude Love and Austin for the title and McMahon was sitting at ringside. Foley takes a few hard looking bumbs onto the concreat floor and the ringside steps. There was this stage in the back for Jeff Jerred's little country music concert which i'm surprised was left in, ususally the network edits out all the copywrighted song stuff. Austin suplexes Foley off the stage onto the concreat and JR is going nuts as usual. They fight back to the ring before the referee takes a bump so theres nobody to count, they start fighting outside the ring again and Foley tries to hit Austin with a chair before having it taken from him and hitting McMahon over the head with it. Gets back in the ring, hits the stunner. Ends up pinning Dude Love and doing the count himself before winning and retaining the title. Few minor points the Rock has taken over the nation of domination allowing Farooq to do singles stuff and have a small rivelry going. Also it's nice seeing Brian Christopher who would later go on to be part of the Too Cool tag team. Was one of my favourite tag teams as a kid. They also are trying to introduce these new Japanese guys that would run in from the crowd and interrupt Taka Michinoku's matches before jumping back inot the crowd and running away. I liked seeing how the Japanese photographers at the side of the ring would get relly excited and start snapping alot of pictures when they ran in. I think they became a team called Kai&Tai? or something? They are also starting to introduce Val Venus. I remember watching those wierd promo ads with my brother and feeling really awkward. They're putting him over as an ex-porn star turned wrestler? He would moan alot and make alot of porn jokes while surrounded by half naked girls or naked women in bath robes. Sorry if it's too long TL:DR: I like late 90's and early 2000's WWF. 3
martinist Posted March 7, 2021 Posted March 7, 2021 I'm probably gonna give it two weeks after WrestleMania then cancel my BTSports subscription. The stuff i'm seeing on RAW and Smackdown isn't as great as the stuff I used to watch as a kid. They got rid of all the wepons and chairs. I've only seen one woman go through a table since I started watching again and it wasn't really a good bump, just ran right into it. The storylines arn't really exciting me like they used to. I'm kinda excited about the resurection of the beast thing with Randy Ortan and Alexa Bliss but if it comes to nothing before WrestleMania or a few weeks after then I'm done. Can just catch up on the network if i ever wanna watch the modern stuff again.
Happenstance Posted April 15, 2021 Posted April 15, 2021 https://www.wwe.com/article/billie-kay-mickie-james-samoa-joe-superstars-released WWE just released a load of wrestlers. Samoa Joe seems like he was completely wasted there. I don’t watch a lot of WWE anymore but I also found the IIconics a lot of fun. I know people roll their eyes at AEW picking up WWE wrestlers but I hope some of these make it there.
BowserBasher Posted April 17, 2021 Posted April 17, 2021 On 15/04/2021 at 8:08 PM, Happenstance said: https://www.wwe.com/article/billie-kay-mickie-james-samoa-joe-superstars-released WWE just released a load of wrestlers. Samoa Joe seems like he was completely wasted there. I don’t watch a lot of WWE anymore but I also found the IIconics a lot of fun. I know people roll their eyes at AEW picking up WWE wrestlers but I hope some of these make it there. Never got why Joe wasn’t used more. I thought he was on commentary cause of an injury at some point but surely he was fit to go again. Worst thing they ever did was splitting the Iiconics, it seems that WWE like to split teams up and then just release them a few months later.
CrowingJoe79 Posted April 21, 2021 Posted April 21, 2021 Everyone from the Forgotten Sons stable has been let go from WWE, besides the guy who got them split up in the first place, apparently for being racist. Ah, Vince. You make me laugh. The released wrestlers are no big loss, really, besides the two Aussie chicks and Samoa Joe. When was the last time anybody seen the likes of Bo Dallas anyway?
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