The General Wrestling Thread

[EmpireWF]

Watched the first round of the NJPW Cup, some fun stuff with the final 3 or so matches.

Naito and Kojima had a real fun 15-minute (about that long) match in the first round.

Also, Minoru Suzuki beat Yuji Ngata (didn't realize he was still going). I love crazy Suzuki, great mannerisms and the crowd loved Ngata so it was fun.

Can't wait to check out the next round, specifically Goto/La Sambra and Tanahashi/Naito.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Watched the first round of the NJPW Cup, some fun stuff with the final 3 or so matches.

Naito and Kojima had a real fun 15-minute (about that long) match in the first round.

Also, Minoru Suzuki beat Yuji Ngata (didn't realize he was still going). I love crazy Suzuki, great mannerisms and the crowd loved Ngata so it was fun.

Can't wait to check out the next round, specifically Goto/La Sambra and Tanahashi/Naito.

Not only is he still going, he's a wrestler of the year candidate so far this year.

His feud with All Japan is fucking awesome. He goes there as a cocky heel and dances to the New Japan theme when he wins his matches.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

I just realized that Bryan Alvarez was sitting 10 rows in front of me at Mania.

http://twitter.com/#!/bryanalvarez/status/186574736279601152/photo/1

 

[JayDizzle]

Tribute to Ric Flair's "Flops" - YouTube

Dammit.

Flair, the character is unhateable.

Why does Flair, the person, make me feel disgust though?

 

[EmpireWF]

http://www.wweshop.com/item/daniel-bryan-yes-authentic-t-shirt/search/01-16384

 

[SHOGUN]

Blah Smackdown.

 

[Bigpapa42]

Blah Smackdown.

Par for the course for SD anymore. I remember a couple years back when it was damned-near can't miss with some of the quality they had. The "grandkids scholarship fund" thing was just stupid. The Danielson-AJ segment was honestly great - Danielson can work the mic pretty well, and AJ is something I didn't think existed... an attractive Diva who can act. The Jay Strongbow tribute was also nice. But one segment doesn't make a 2 hour show worthwhile...

 

[SHOGUN]

Yeah, the AJ/AmDrag bit was the only noteworthy bit aside from Ricardo Rodriguez doing what he always does. AJ made me feel really bad for her. She definitely sold it for me. A stark difference from Eve just staring blankly when she's supposed to be showing compassion for Zack Ryder back when he was getting assaulted every week.

For those that didn't catch it....

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPXTIAfWr6U"]WWE Smackdown AJ Lee & Daniel Bryan - YouTube[/ame]

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Dammit.

Flair, the character is unhateable.

Why does Flair, the person, make me feel disgust though?

Because, he's kind of a scummer?

 

[EmpireWF]

Because, he's kind of a scummer?

No, he is a full scummer.

 

[Bigpapa42]

So after putting it on the shelf for awhile for no particular reason, I've begun watching the Best of New Japan in the 80s DVD set I got a long while back. Some great action. I'm about halfway through and some of the matches from the NJPW vs UWF feud were great. There is a fair amount of Inoki through this period. And I have to say that I still just really don't get Inoki. He's not terrible, but he's not that great either. He had one really fun match with Bruiser Brody, plus he was insane in a couple of the 5v5 NJvUWF matches. Beyond that... Not so much. I always imagined it was kinda like Hogan, where the charisma played a huge role, plus I know he did a bunch of "legit" that fans dug. But i don't know if there's more to Inoki that I'm just not seeing....? W2B, Larry, anyone?

 

[st lickem]

this is my favorite time of year in WWE. They cut a lot of dead weight and we get to see big returns and young guys with potential.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

As speculated, Honma had Yakuza connections.

His major league wrestling career is very likely over.

Tomoaki Honma, 35, was released this past week. The reason was said to be non-wrestling related. It was actually that Honma had a Yakuza connection in selling house show tickets and the new ownership group after all the problems with NOAH decided to be proactive and get rid of him. Right now the Japanese corporate world across the board is being very careful about Yakuza issues as there is a strong movement in the country about eliminating them from having so much influence over society. Honma was a rare wrestler who came from an indie background who was signed by New Japan. He was never really pushed well, but had plenty of good matches and his IC title match in December against Masato Tanaka was one of the best matches in the last few months anywhere in the world. No details yet as to what the real story was here.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Bryan and A.J. came out for an interview. People were still going crazy with “Yes” chants. In an attempt to make it seem like people don’t like Bryan, Bryan told the crowd to stop mocking him. Then everyone started chanting, “No, no no.” He started yelling at the people for being sheep. He was trying to get them to chant “18 seconds” at him which I guess was the idea of what they thought would happen. Bryan talked about how down he was after losing at Mania but A.J. tried to cheer him up. Bryan got mad at her and said it was all her fault that he lost at Mania and she cost him the title. He said he would never let her ruin his life again and he dumped her. He said he was going to cash in his title rematch with Sheamus and wanted A.J. to not be at ringside. I think that means A.J. costs him the match. Crowd taunted A.J. after she was dumped, which was not the desired reaction.

This right here is a major problem with this company. I mean, let the people chant whatever they want. The guy is over, turn him and take advantage while the iron is hot. The storyline is not working, they want to cheer him, so let them, and MAKE MONEY OFF OF IT.

I mean, is this rocket science? What am I missing? Some of the best angles and some of the biggest stars were created organically and "by accident". Roll with it.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

This right here is a major problem with this company. I mean, let the people chant whatever they want. The guy is over, turn him and take advantage while the iron is hot. The storyline is not working, they want to cheer him, so let them, and MAKE MONEY OFF OF IT.

I mean, is this rocket science? What am I missing? Some of the best angles and some of the biggest stars were created organically and "by accident". Roll with it.

They already created a YES YES YES t-shirt.

I think it was bad to give Danielson one last ditch effort to staying heel by heeling out and dumping poor ol AJ...I think the pair worked and had a little bit of chemistry. What they did on Smackers was a last ditch effort and obviously failed. Hell, he even marks out and goes face when the camera is off on the last two shows.

Like I said before...there are certain guys, and certain types of guys that you can shit on, and regardless, they'll still get over. Dusty was one I referenced before. Bryan is similar. Crowd loves him and wants to cheer him and see him do well...so...give the crowd what they want. Same with Ryder. I don't care how un-talented he is...he's the #3 merch seller for the company and he did that himself.

 

[EmpireWF]

DAMN!

The Devitt/Volador CMLL match aired tonight on Galavision and won't be re-airing. Have to wait for it to be uploaded somewhere. Keep an eye out.

 

[EmpireWF]

FOUND IT!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SiMVyabCBk"]VOLADOR JR VS PRINCE DEVITT CAMPEONATO.VOB - YouTube[/ame]

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Eh @ Volador v. Devitt.

 

[BigBiss]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB4tyR9R4LM"]The Yoga Pants Party, Tag Team 4-way Dance! - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Bigpapa42]

Fun match, Biss. interesting concept - I have to imagine the ladies loved the idea. I was also disappointed when the actual wrestling broke out. Good work on commentary - your color guy was quite funny too.