Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread **Spoilers Possible**

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

After the past month, I think it's easy to see Ospreay as the next ace in the Omega role.

And the other particularly notable 26 y/o on their roster right now? Jay White.

Shota Umino just turned 22.

I often think about what Meij said when he took over the company. Something to the effect of "wanted 4 new stars under 30 in the next 2-3 years".

[Mota]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

And the other particularly notable 26 y/o on their roster right now? Jay White.

Shota Umino just turned 22.

I often think about what Meij said when he took over the company. Something to the effect of "wanted 4 new stars under 30 in the next 2-3 years".

Isn't that a great line? Having a goal to create young stars in a specific timeline, and slowly building up these stars to take the reigns.

Having the right guys is a completely different issue, but WWE has plenty of people that can be the "right guy" but they can't seem to develop them beyond midcarders.

[JonInMiddleGA]

G1 Climax blocks announced this morning, certainly some surprises

A Block:
Okada, ZSJ, Tanahashi, Ibushi, Evil, Sanada, Fale, Lance Archer, Ospreay, and Kenta

B Block:
Naito, Ishii, Juice, Yano, Goto, Switchblade, Jeff Cobb, Shingo, Taichi, and Mox.

Glaring absences are Magabe and Suzuki, also Yoshi-Hashi and Tama Tonga. Missing from last year for other reasons obviously are Omega, Page, and Elgin.

A Block is stacked, B Block is seriously top heavy and bottom weak.

And why in the blue fuck anybody thought putting Lance Archer in G1 was a good idea is a mystery that may never be solved.

edit to add: In a potential angle that seems plausible, Suzuki demands (what amounts to) a play-in game. (after trying to cripple Okada in a 6-man)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Tonight (today?) Kizuna Road revealed the dates/matchups for G1.

Opening night in Dallas features Kenta vs Ibushi and Okada vs Tanahashi

A Block final night (8/10) features Tanahashi vs Ospreay and Okada v Ibushi
B Block final night (8/11) features Juice vs Moxley and Naito vs Switchblade

Most highlighted during the full annoucement (presumably the main & semi mains for each night): Okada, Tanahashi, Kenta, Moxley, Evil and Taichi.
(take that fwiw)

[RainMaker]

Is there a reason Kena didn't go back to Noah? I'm guessing money?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Is there a reason Kena didn't go back to Noah? I'm guessing money?

He said (paraphrasing) it was about exposure

He also has a very strong relationship with Shibata & I figure that played into the decision, as well as all the recent changes NOAH has been through.

As I saw someone put it after his debut, the NOAH Kenta knew is long gone. There's nothing of it left to be loyal to.

[RainMaker]

That makes sense. I know he's had injury issues, but I still can't believe WWE couldn't make something of him.

[JonInMiddleGA]

NJPW press release today noting that Moxley will not wrestle on night one in Dallas (which we knew cause block assignments) nor will he be part of the pre-match press conference.

Can we reasonably assume that this has to do with limitations imposed by his AEW contract?

[Toddzilla]

Yes - AEW didn't want Mox performing for NJPW while in the US. I don't think this goes for most other promotions, but NJPW is a big enough competitor to AEW in the states to warrant the restriction

[RainMaker]

Saw this factoid. Moxley is the 2nd WWE Champion to then enter the G1. The first, Ric Flair.

[SirFozzie]

I can see Jon's blood pressure rising already.

DDT wrestling, wacky independent Japanese promotion, had an event out at the waterpark. They didn't bring a ring. That was ok by them. Which of course, led to some ridiculous, dangerous (but quite possibly awesome) moves.

LARIATOOOO!! on Twitter: "OMG!! Waterslide piledriver!

#DDTPro

https://t.co/soFdgLYgIr… "

WATERSLIDE PILEDRIVER!


A Double footstomp from the top rope..er.. railing.

LARIATOOOO!! on Twitter: "INSANE doublestomp from @OBEYBrookes!!

#DDTPro

https://t.co/soFdgLYgIr… "



Don't run on the pool pavement, and definitely don't jump off a ladder through a (nearly) unbreakable table with someone laying on top of it on the pool pavement.

LARIATOOOO!! on Twitter: "#DDTPro

https://t.co/soFdgLYgIr… "


And finally, you should wait 30 minutes after eating to suplex someone off a ladder into the pool

LARIATOOOO!! on Twitter: "#DDTPro

https://t.co/soFdgLYgIr… "

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

I can see Jon's blood pressure rising already.

Nah. DDT gonna DDT. They aren't really meant to be taken seriously.
I've never griefed anyone for working CHIKARA here either.

Of all the clips from today's show (and there's a whole bunch more on Twitter for the curious) I think I liked the figure four waterslide reversal attempt and the suplex en masse (en splash?) the best

[SirFozzie]

The octopus hold was pretty topical

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

The octopus hold was pretty topical

I noticed that - though I figured it was more about a shot at NJPW than about aquatic creatures.

(Lots of shots being fired these days, one more just kinda fits at this point)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Heyman to run Raw, Bischoff to run Smackdown (and liase with Fox ) per SI report

*I linked Cultaholic's report of the SI report because I think SI stuff is one of the ones that breaks threads around here.

[RainMaker]

Heyman seems alright but isn't Bischoff one of the guys running TNA back in the day?

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Heyman to run Raw, Bischoff to run Smackdown (and liase with Fox ) per SI report

*I linked Cultaholic's report of the SI report because I think SI stuff is one of the ones that breaks threads around here.

I feel like this headline was torn from 2005.

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Heyman to run Raw, Bischoff to run Smackdown (and liase with Fox ) per SI report

*I linked Cultaholic's report of the SI report because I think SI stuff is one of the ones that breaks threads around here.

This is a counter to the AEW threat. The blood on the Double or Nothing show lit a fire under WWE's ass. The buy rate as well.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

This is a counter to the AEW threat.

If Vince thinks giving EB the reigns of something is a "counter", damn, he's more out of it than any of us realized.

What was the line I heard/saw earlier today? What's next? The ghost of Paul Bosch?

[JonInMiddleGA]

I think it was Alvarez talking to Meltzer about this who got into how you'd be hard pressed to pick someone worse than EB (if we're to believe this is even partially motivated by AEW et al).

I mean, this is a guy who is pretty adamant about how he doesn't watch / follow pretty much ANY wrestling (presumably outside the E). Ignorance is about the very last trait you'd want in this scenario.

[molson]

FOX probably wants a single contact they can push content "suggestions" on and apparently Bischoff still has a good reputation in that world from his days dealing with Turner and some of his projects since.

Edit: They may have actually requested him for that role, kind of like how the Saudi Prince wanted Yokozuna and the Ultimate Warrior for the Greatest Royal Rumble.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by molson

FOX probably wants a single contact they can push content "suggestions" on and apparently Bischoff still has a good reputation in that world from his days dealing with Turner and some of his projects since.

Edit: They may have actually requested him for that role, kind of like how the Saudi Prince wanted Yokozuna and the Ultimate Warrior for the Greatest Royal Rumble.

This was my personal working theory yesterday, yet I didn't run across a single reference to that by any of the IWC news types.

[molson]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

This was my personal working theory yesterday, yet I didn't run across a single reference to that by any of the IWC news types.

Meltzer said on a podcast yesterday that Bischoff's experience working with network executives was a factor in getting the job, and that he would be working with FOX. The rest is just me speculating.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

If Vince thinks giving EB the reigns of something is a "counter", damn, he's more out of it than any of us realized.

What was the line I heard/saw earlier today? What's next? The ghost of Paul Bosch?

I think what is interesting is Thompson's role is all of it.

Aside from being the SIL of Flair...Pritchett's new contract, allegdly, prevented him from continuing the Something to Wrestle with podcast. Will be interesting to see if 83 weeks ends as soon as EB takes the new role (have to assume it does)

Thompson maintains he is not involved with AEW...but he always shows up, on stage, at all the right times. And his Flair connection certainly helps connect lots of dots.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by molson

Meltzer said on a podcast yesterday that Bischoff's experience working with network executives was a factor in getting the job, and that he would be working with FOX. The rest is just me speculating.

I think the "working with Fox" aspect was somewhere in the official release (or in the "sources inside the WWE confirm" portion). The Meltzer chat I heard didn't mention that being a motivator unless I just missed it.

(obviously Meltzer did no telling how many takes on this yesterday, I just didn't hear that particular one apparently)

[RainMaker]

Just noticed the unique way Cody gets around to using the Rhodes name during intro. Cody with Brandi Rhodes.

[Flasch186]

Pretty darn good Raw tonight

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

Pretty darn good Raw tonight

I was just popping in to ask that someone PLEASE tell me that the Mr & Mrs Kanellis segment was better in real time than the recaps sound.

If not, maybe it's time to just put RAW out of its misery.

[Flasch186]

I must be behind, I havnt gotten there yet

I'm there now... The thing I've noticed is they're not keeping them to a script. Seems like they're letting the workers run it and I gotta tell ya. It's really refreshing.

It's def. edgier.

[CU Tiger]

...different stokes and such ...feels almost more russo than heyman

[CU Tiger]

And we have a Dusty restart

[Flasch186]

We also have the Bullet Club

I'm not sure it's different strokes but finally, they may have taken the handcuffs off of the performers. Can't be worse than it has been the last few years.

[JonInMiddleGA]

G1 Climax predictions are a real bear, thank God for the widely distributed spreadsheet to help (check VoicesOfWrestling dot com for options)

I'll go on record here, just for laughs

A Block Winner: Kota Ibushi
A Block Runner Up: Kazuchika Okada

B Block Winner: Tetsuya Naito
B Block Runner Up: Jay White

G1 Climax Winner: Ibushi over Naito in 32:01

Full block predictions in spoiler tag just for neatness

Spoiler

My full A Block predictions:
Ibushi - 14 points
Okada - 14
Ospreay - 12
ZSJ - 12
Tanahashi - 10
KENTA - 8
Fale - 6
Archer - 6
Evil - 4
Sanada - 4

final A block matches included Tanahashi over Ospreay (keeping him out of the final) and Ibushi over Okada to claim the block

My full B Block predictions
Naito - 14
White - 12
Moxley - 12
Robinson - 8
Takagi - 8
Ishii - 8
Goto - 8
Taichi - 8
Cobb - 6
Yano - 6

final B block matches included Robinson over Mox to deny him the final, and Naito over White to claim the block

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Just noticed the unique way Cody gets around to using the Rhodes name during intro. Cody with Brandi Rhodes.

Is there a back story there?
Just wondering if I missed something.

[SirFozzie]

He can't use the name "Cody Rhodes" because it's trademarked by WWE.

So he's just Cody. But since Brandi Rhodes is NOT trademarked..

[JonInMiddleGA]

Watching G1 from Dallas on AXS ...

-- the crowd is disappointing in size, though enthusiastic
-- the camera work still is too ROH / not enough NJPW, though they haven't been AS bad as usual
-- and commercials feel VERY weird for me when watching NJPW, and they take away from some of the normal vibe.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Damn me if Ospreay v Archer wasn't at least 4* or better.

It's gonna be a wiiiild G1 season if we got that for an opener.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'll just repurpose from my FB Page

A perfectly solid G1 Climax 29 opening, contested for the first time on U.S. soil.

A few thoughts ... if you'd told me that Archer would be involved in match of the night I'd have probably considered having you committed, yet here we are ... Fale vs Evil was, umm, what pretty much what any regular viewer knew it would be ... I'm seeing mixed reviews for Sanada vs ZSJ, I'm perfectly fine with it myself. Good ring chemistry between those two, Sanada makes a damned good foil for ZSJ ... KENTA and Ibushi didn't disappoint but most importantly it served its main purpose, it proved to the world that there's plenty of KENTA left. A fair number of time machine moments where he looked like himself at his peak ... Okada vs Tanahashi was a crowd pleaser, though I think it peaks at about 4* maximum because it felt a little too U.S. styled, spot to spot with less psychology than we'd normally see with these two. Nothing wrong with that per se, I just felt like it was designed with the location in mind is all.

And my predictions going 2/5 doesn't surprise me a bit. That opener though, that gives me the feeling that we're going to be surprised by not just outcomes but performances frequently over the next month.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Rest in peace.

CMLL Owner Paco Alonso Passes Away At 67

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Damn me if Ospreay v Archer wasn't at least 4* or better.

It's gonna be a wiiiild G1 season if we got that for an opener.

That was terrific.

[Flasch186]

Pretty good seats


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[Flasch186]

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[Flasch186]

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[Flasch186]

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[Flasch186]

MJF


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[Flasch186]

Brandi Rhodes


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[Flasch186]

Dark order


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[Flasch186]

Cima Omega match has been pretty crazy


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[Flasch186]

Jericho about to ask for his thank you


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[Flasch186]

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