Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread **Spoilers Possible**

[molson]

Darren Drozdov died.

He lived 30 years before the injury, 24 years after it as a quadriplegic.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by molson

Darren Drozdov died.

He lived 30 years before the injury, 24 years after it as a quadriplegic.

Really sad story. Seen him in some recent documentaries and it's tough to watch. He had a positive attitude about everything but that has to really suck. I know D'Lo Brown has had a tough time dealing with it too even though they don't know who's fault it was.

Anyway, RIP.

[PilotMan]

Totally RIP. What an awful injury and life adjustment. I'm sure it was brutal, but he always took it way better than anyone could have ever expected.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm a day behind but I get to say this so rarely that I'm gonna do so anyway: Money In The Bank was a solid PPV.

That's not a phrase I get to use about the WWE very often but this show managed to avoid what has become a trademark for them: there were no real duds.

Combine that with a fantastic crowd and you can get what a cornerstone PPV should be: a spectacle

[JonInMiddleGA]

25 years ago today was Hogan over Goldberg on Nitro.

Loudest noise I ever heard, and 41,412 in the Georgia Dome made that big ol' building shake from the floor up, a sensation I doubt I'll ever forget.

[SirFozzie]

Other way around, Jon. Goldberg over Hogan

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Other way around, Jon. Goldberg over Hogan

LOL, I really gotta start getting more sleep

[SirFozzie]

Trust me, I know. I've been trying to get used to the CPAP machine again, and with my anxiety (and the fact that it's trying to make me literally change the way I BREATHE that I've been doing for near 49 years), it's just awful sleep/tired all the time.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Combine that with a fantastic crowd and you can get what a cornerstone PPV should be: a spectacle

Crowd makes everything so much more fun to watch. I don't know if it's true that they avoid London because the crowd doesn't go along with what they want, but I find it to be a ton of fun. Same goes for their recent PPV in Puerto Rico.

PPV events should be a big deal. I'd love to see them bring back the custom stages and more fun destinations. For too long they had just felt like another episode of Raw with a different backdrop.

[RainMaker]

Moxley is an interesting dude.

Moxley says he's actually for "less blood but more often" pic.twitter.com/eZmKS95t97

— Wrestling Observer (@WONF4W) July 6, 2023

[SirFozzie]

considering he spent the holiday with skewers in his head, I'm not sure we should be talking about Moxley being responsible.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Kid was out of town over the weekend so we've just now caught up on night 1 & 2 of G1 Climax.

Night 1: storytelling
Night 2: people beating the everlovin shit out of each other

From that perspective it delivered the two things I watch NJPW for.

I'm still in the Naito (storyline) camp, that 32 is too many to retain the Grade One label for the event but the first couple of nights have properly featured the two most important elements of NJPW

[JonInMiddleGA]

G1 Climax Night 3 was, err, "one of those shows"

Every G1 has a few of these, where the whole just doesn't add up to the parts.
It's a tale of 2 halves with the first half being some of the most skippable AJPW / midcard shit. Maybe watch Kiyomiya/Chase but otherwise eh.

Back half of the show was a full star better across the board and at least salvaged the card overall.

Also not helping matters? The ring lighting rig failed to work during setup so the whole show was held under house lights, and this is one of those airplane hanger / volleyball arenas so it was briiiiiight.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Oh, and once again this year Kenta backstage promos are an absolute highlight of the whole freakin tournament.

[SirFozzie]

Calling it now, Roderick Strong's the masked cameraman.

edit: Guess not (I saw a masked-cameraman behind in one of the shots, and thought they were going to pull the MJF backstab)

[SirFozzie]

Ibushi's been the weak link in this, he desperately needs reps to get back to his old stuff.

[SirFozzie]

Ok, I think I've found my point where I just say "That's too much". It turned into a torture porn at some point in there. Ibushi did NOT make a great impression his first time out, he looked slow, sloppy and I think he legit potatoed his strikes that he wasn't whiffing. (or maybe I just had too high expectations, but he did not look good to me)

edit: They needed several things.

1) Ibushi to get more reps before this. Someone elsewhere said this was his third match of 2023. It looked like it.
2) I get you want a super-violent match, but sometimes, less is more. We had 8 or so spots involving the bed of nails any one of which BY ITSELF would be a holy shit moment, and it was wasted because they never let the impact of "HOLY SHIT, A BED OF NAIILS!" breathe for more thne 3 seconds., and we missed out on the classic deathmatch spot over fighting just above the bed of nails while one tries to rake the other's forehead on them.
3) We had glass, nine billion thumbtacks and the bed of nails. It was just too much. It's supposed to be a FIGHT, not a prop war.
4) Big one here. Whoever was the tv producer for this one needs to be told if they ever fuck up a match like this again, they're fired. There was at LEAST a half dozen spots where a holy shit moment started, but they cut away from the spot, only to comeback afterwards. PAC deserved more for that double footstomp from the cage stanchions. They missed the tacks-shoe for about 20-30 seconds, etcetera
5) They needed a few more seconds to breathe on the Takeshita leaving, something like Callis saying "This is not happening. THIS IS NOT HAPPENING, I gotta get him out of there..."

[Mota]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Calling it now, Roderick Strong's the masked cameraman.

edit: Guess not (I saw a masked-cameraman behind in one of the shots, and thought they were going to pull the MJF backstab)

I noticed they have some production people fully in black, I guess they want them to be completely in the background and not noticed.

[RainMaker]

The Adam Cole - MJF stuff is fine if MJF wasn't the champ. It'd be a nice 6-12 month storyline they could use. But I think it sucks to have your champion not only in a tag team feud, but doing a comedy gimmick week in and week out.

Again, it's fine normally, but I think it diminishes the title and eliminates a title feud that should always be part of your show.

[RainMaker]

One of the problems with AEW is they are obsessed with showing the fans. They miss a ton of stuff. The same can be said about WWE but they at least don't miss the big spots.

I just hate the incessant cuts to the crowd. I'm watching your product, you don't need to convince me that other people like it too.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Getting through night four of G1 Climax and I have to be honest, thus far the anointed young ones (plus Kiyomiya) are holding up their end of the deal and both the booking and the agenting are delivering for them as well.

It's a long tournament, one or more could still go to shit but it feels like that's becoming less and less likely.

I'm more mixed about some of the other debutants but the brightest prospects are looking good on the one of the biggest stages available to them.

edit to add: Night four definitely night of the tournament so far
edit to correct myself: that was night five, not night four. It's a looooong tournament

[RainMaker]

Did they expand the field again this year for G1?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Did they expand the field again this year for G1?

Now up to 32 (4 blocks of 8). It's too many afaic but honestly the weak links so far have been the injury limited Tanahashi (who thankfully looked better in his 2nd outing, I haven't seen last night's yet) and Tanga Loa who really doesn't have in business being in the event in his current limited condition. He's less useful than Evil right now.

They can do 24 easily with no talent dropoff, 28 might be doable with some luck, but 32 is pushing it at this point afaic.

[JonInMiddleGA]

G1 Climax sidenote: the new 20 min time limit rules have been a plus afaic.

It increases pace, and the use of draws as results had always been underutilized afaic.

[JonInMiddleGA]

G1 Climax night six had one of those things that happen, a match shortened by about 15 minutes due to a legit injury (nothing serious thankful). That meant that adjustments were needed in the rest of the card in order to give fans a little more of their money's worth.

Luckily for all concerned, the Naito vs Yano match was still to come. Filling that extra time was nooooo problem lol.

#HilarityEnsues

[SirFozzie]

"Hey Yano, can you stretch your match by about 10 minutes? Oh, and because of the twenty minute rule, you'll have to do it outside the match"

[JonInMiddleGA]

Better still, it was Naito who did most of the stretching. Yano played the foil.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Exotic Adrian Street passes at age 82 after a string of health problems

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-66361848

[BYU 14]

Loved him, legit tough guy too. The man made the most of his gimmick

[Carman Bulldog]

I loved Grunt! The Wrestling Movie as a young kid. Exotic Adrian Street was central, among others, to giving the movie some legitimacy in my young eyes.

[SirFozzie]

Turns out the (Sensational, Intelligent) Masked Destroyer (I recently read his book) was in it (with Dick Murdoch). They did two takes. The first one was good, he thought, but the director made them do it again.

So they decided to make sure there wasn't a third take, by incorporating the destruction of the set into their take.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Almost caught up to real time on G1 Climax, watched Naito vs ZSJ and thought the show was over.

Had completely forgotten that Shingo Takagi vs David Finlay was actually the main event.

And that speaks volumes about how badly the Finlay-leads-Bullet Club story is going, at least in our house.

There's mild interest in seeing how the youngsters collectively known as War Dogs fare but as far as Finlay goes, meh. Simply don't care, and he (I think) leads the block going into this match.

Not Son-of-Fit's fault really, he's doing what he can but he seems miscast. He's a natural face, playing a heel and doing alllll the heel things .. but it simply isn't interesting_.

[Toddzilla]

Big E has been (again) told by his doctors he should never wrestle again. If that's the case, it was a hell of a run.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Made it through (last night's) the A Block final night

Damn, any doubts I had about Tsuji are gone. But if that headbutt ever misses, somebody is gonna be looking at a year on the shelf and some serious reconstructive surgery.

The elevated guy in the block to me is probably Gabe Kidd, who looked better than I expected. I'd be fine with him beating Finlay down & taking over BC at this point.

Tsuji & Shooter are the real thing, Narita feels like he probably needs another year or two in the oven.

[RainMaker]

Logan Paul is way better than he deserves to be. Props to him for taking this seriously and for embracing the heel role.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Logan Paul is way better than he deserves to be. Props to him for taking this seriously and for embracing the heel role.

They should pay El Phantasmo whatever price he wants to work with Logan Paul. I'm thoroughly impressed by Logan but repeatedly tonight in particular moves didn't quite hit right because his feet hit the floor/ring before he could complete the move. I think he's literally too tall to be trained by any of the (perfectly capable) flyers in the developmental center, they can tell him but they can't quite show him.

Phantasmo can do everything Logan would want to do but he's unusually equipped to teach him how to do those things while being taller than a normal flyer.

He's damned good ... I'd just like to see him learn to be even better.

[JonInMiddleGA]

We just thought bringing back Omos would be the worst idea of the night. Rhonda & Shayna turn that into hold my beer.

[RainMaker]

I genuinely don't understand the logic of that main event. Why would Jimmy return and side with the people who put him out of action for months? Why would you make Roman look so weak?

[JonInMiddleGA]

G1 Climax B Block is done, and we're halfway to the elite eight being set.

If there's a better match in the tournament than Ospreay vs El Phantasmo tonight, it'll be one hell of a match indeed because that was a show. Ospreay is the best in the world right now (and I'm not sure it's all that close) and ElP matched him for 18+ minutes, it was a fantastic display of what professional wrestling can be.

[dubb93]

I feel like the women's triple threat needs a mention here. As I was watching it I was amazed with how they managed to mess up almost every spot and make nearly everything they did look phony. From my perspective they made Rhonda and Shayna look like a real wrestling clinic. None of them walking out with the belt was 100% the right call after that match.

It's crazy because two of the three in the match have been in a couple of matches that I would say were worthy of 4+ stars (Charlotte with Rhea at WM and Bianca with Bayley in the Last Woman Standing match). Whatever the cause, literally nothing clicked.

I found myself trying to distract my kids so they wouldn't start asking questions such as why did that moonsault miss but hurt everyone or why did Bianca go flying off the apron and into the announce table when all Charlotte did was step between the ropes in front of her.

[JonInMiddleGA]

NJPW G1 Climax C Block is completed, three down and one to go.

And after 3.5 hours of this one, I'm in a #FireGedo mood

[JonInMiddleGA]

Ospreay v Naito semi final is legit MOTY contender afaic ... in part because Ospreay basically had to carry them both to the finish for the last 2-3 minutes after Naito appeared to get legit (all but) KO'ed.

Helluva match.

[Mota]

I saw the ending. Ospreay basically gave himself a few Destinos at the end. Very impressive, but at the same time, you probably shouldn't have someone who can barely stand do anything other than go straight to the finish or to call it off completely. When Naito stumbled and fell over, they should immediately have had the ref/medical team check him.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Eddie Kingston stuck in the corner taking machinegun chops from Kojima is just about the most joyous thing I've seen in forever.

We should all get to be as happy as Eddie was in that moment.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'll avoid saying anything spoilery quite so soon after but certainly a solid G1 Climax 33, with some spectacular moments.

7/10 from me for the whole shebang, might seem low until you consider how many nights & how many matches have to be taken into consideration.

I'd give Ospreay the MVP and rate Gabe Kidd as the person who elevated himself the most (considering some of the other standouts were already highly regarded).

Lord knows, it wasn't without issues and things that I'd want to be better/different but overall satisfying.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Now it can be told (I guess) ... according to a social media post today, Sanada worked most of the G1 Climax with a torn distal bicep tendon.

[Mota]

I currently have a torn rotator cuff, and I couldn't possibly imagine wrestling with it. Even something like sneezing, or moving my arm more then 1 degree beyond what it wants to move causes one of the sharpest pains I have ever felt. It makes me stop everything I'm doing and just hold my arm in place like a sling for a few minutes until the pain stops radiating. So Sanada must have a different pain tolerance level than I have!

[Suicane75]

HOW THE FUCK DOES NJPW STILL NOT HAVE A ROKU APP!

I have such severe WWE PTSD, even shit I know I like I can't enjoy because of match structure, atmosphere, horrible commentary. The entire vibe of the company puts me in a malaise when I try to watch it.

Hearing Jim Cornette compare Vince Russos booking to Tony Khans made me laugh out loud. He obviously knows better and that statement just strained credulity to the extreme.

[RainMaker]

RIP to a legend. I saw him wrestle as a kid at an independent promotion of some sort in Chicago (my friend's Mom was the ring announcer!). The whole place was nuts for him and he signed autographs for everyone after covered in blood and sweat. Was maybe the coolest thing a 10 year old could see.

Terry Funk is gone. I just talked to Terry’s daughter, Brandee, who gave me the awful news. He was my mentor, my idol, one of the closest friends. He was the greatest wrestler I ever saw.

If you get the chance, look up a Terry Funk match or a Terry Funk promo, and give thanks… pic.twitter.com/WwdFLwXqZ0

— Mick Foley (@foleyispod) August 23, 2023

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

He obviously knows better and that statement just strained credulity to the extreme.

That hack hasn't been credible in at least 4 decades