The Wrestling Thread

[DA Baracus]

I would say he is.

To me being a wrestler isn’t just about the moves you can do. You can be a brilliant technical wrestler who can do every move imaginable and be ripped to f**k, but if the crowd don’t care and you have no connection with them, you are not a good wrestler. You need to have personality and to show that in who you are as a wreslter. The Ringmaster had no personality and this showed in the character. Stone Cold on the other hand was all about being the anti authority figure. His personality was over huge and resonated with the audience. Rocky Maiva was an abysmal bland babyface who the fans despised. The Rock is the greatest of all time (well that’s just my opinion; I love The Rock).

Benoit was a brilliant technical wrestler, but was said to be poor on the mic, and often he was, but he had a connection with the crowd that ultimately saw him lift the title in WWE.

Cena, for all his faults, shows that when he can be arsed, he can deliver. He gets the ‘you can’t wrestle’ and ‘5 moves!’ stuff levelled at him, but his connection with the crowd pushed him to the main event. That he was going to be released before he developed his ‘Doctor Of Thuganomics’ character proves the point I’m making. Before he was just a bland babyface who wore the colours of the local sports team. No one really gave a shit. But then he became a character folk could care about and was allowed to show personality. Result; he got over huge. A lot of the stuff he does these days annoys folk (his lack of selling really annoys me; I don’t mean his actual selling, which is alright, but how quickly he recovers from things and how they seem to have no effect on him later) but he still makes people care. We were all delighted at the hiding Lesnar gave him at Summerslam.

Grado is decent enough in the ring. I think his selling is pretty good. He knows when to hit certain moves to maximise their impact. His connection with the crowd makes him an ICW main event guy.

[BradHorse]

Have we all seen Stone Cold ET?

Dunno how common it is but I really did fucking pish myself:

[Kill Jester]

I heard we landed on the moon.

ETA having watched it again it's still pretty funny.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Kill Jester

[Guest bernardblack]

He did it to make Roman Reigns look strong.

I can't stop saying this is general conversation:

You've got to make Roman look strong

[Mark Connolly]

http://www.gradowrestling.bigcartel.com/product/50-shades-of-grado-t-shirt

[KD1711]

Scotty Too Hotty and Grandmaster Sexay were in Walkabout in Glasgow last week, just saw it on Twitter there. Was free to go along and i didn't even see it advertised anywhere. Would have been a good laugh to meet them.

[Christophe]

NJPW New Beginning in Osaka

Mass grumblings abound online about the booking of this show, christ give them a break, they just gave you WK9 only a month ago, if there is one company on earth that you can cut a break to right now it's NJPW. This is my thoughts before the show...let's see how it goes down...

Sho Tanaka vs Yohei Komatsu - These two developmental guys only get about 6 minutes, been very impressed with them over the last year and they don't disappoint again here. Bottom of the card stuff has looked pretty tired in NJPW for a bit but with the likes of these guys and White, Hiromu, Watanabe and Hall it's looking pleasantly fresher again **3/4

Captain New Japan and Manabu Nakanishi vs Tiger Mask and Mascara Dorado - Dorado is about the only guy i care for here and thankfully it is he who goes over **

Chase Owens and Rob Conway vs Jushin 'Thunder' Liger and Hiroyoshi Tenzan - Yes! Some more Bruce Tharpe in NJPW is never a bad thing, he's only the best classic 80s style heel manager in the business. It's a good job he's here as there is really no other wordly reason to care for Owens and Conway and he manages to make them feel somewhat relevant. Short stuff this and the American's get the win in a match that does very little other than set up the singles matches in the Sendai show for the NWA gold. Owens vs Liger for Jr and Conway vs Tenzan for the heavyweight **1/2

Kota Ibushi vs Tomoaki Honma - Not sure what the story is here for these guys facing off? Feels like a bit of a step back for Ibushi after his Nakamura feud but he's still pretty green in HW terms so fair fucks. Couple of good spots get the crowd going for the first time in the night...namely Honma nailing a running Kokeshi and a diving Mascaras headbutt. Ibushi doesn't do outdone on big spots though and wins through after some of his very own. Great match, and proved to be the best of the night ****

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: reDRagon © vs The Young Bucks vs Time Splitters - I'm really trying to be enthusiastic writing about this match but it's pretty much the same match they've been having both here and in ROH for forever! This three-way feud must be approaching it's year anniversary together, would love to see something fresh in this division. It's exactly what you know it'll be from these guys, amazing to watch, spotty, low on the actual selling as everyone is straight back up to nail their own spots. LOVE O'Reilly's flying triangle choke on KUSHIDA mid-moonsault. But it's just a bit overkill and i'm dying to see a traditional 1-on-1 Jr Tag match in NJPW. The Young Bucks take the titles here with the More Bang For Your Buck and start the Bullet Club Osaka gold snatching juggernaut express in motion...***1/2

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega © vs Ryusuke Taguchi - I must say i'm still not entirely sold on the NJPW Kenny Omega, or that is to say the persona that NJPW has given Kenny Omega, as i can't truly ever not love this man with every fibre of my being. 'The Cleaner' gimmick could have worked fine if they'd slow-burned it in but it just all got thrown together at once and suddenly our Golden Lover was this maniacal 80s b movie villain gimmick absorbed up by Bullet Club. I'm utterly convinced that Omega will run with it and make it work but it does highlight the lack of subtlety at work in NJPW sometimes....sometimes, sometimes...only sometimes. Not a dig per se. This match climaxes in Kenny Omega attempting to insert a flag pole in Taguchi's arse, and...well it's just weird. Omega wins and we get a Mascara Dorada staredown so there's yer next title defence **1/4

Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba vs Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi - Seems to be building towards an Okada vs Fale bout down the line. Worryingly Fale, following the event the day after WK9, now has clean wins over Okada, Tanahashi, Nakamura and Shibata and appears to be getting another push, this is worrying because he's just not very good. Not much going on from the supporting cast. Sakuraba doesn't get involved much and Yano just does his thing. Okada takes the brunt of the Bullet Club beating here and then powers back to beat them more or less single-handed **1/2

Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI vs Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima and Tetsuya Naito - Kojima replaces an absent Togi Makabe here and i can handle that. Ishii/Kojima and Nakamura/Nagata pair off to rip each others heads off leaving Naito to dispose of YOSHI-HASHI for the win. Naito is gong on to tag with Ibushi against Yano and Sakuraba in the Sendai show but i have no idea where they put him next long term, bit of a conundrum that one ***1/2

IWGP Tag Team Championship: Meiyu Tag © vs Bullet Club (Anderson and Gallows) - One of the best told stories in wrestling last year was the tale of former school classmates Goto and Shibata finally teaming and winning the tag gold at WK9. It was superbly booked, they stalled in the beginning then even abandoned the idea following the G1 Climax before giving it another shot and winning the 2014 Tag League. I've boiled it down to the very basic bullet points but it was masterful stuff....and then they book the match for New Beginning in Osaka...the match from the Tag League final...the match from WK9. Are you thinking what i'm thinking? This doesn't look good, right? Bullet Club probably aren't going to loose this match three times on the bounce are they? And so it comes to pass. This is the one that done it, that criticism i talked about earlier, this is the booking that people couldn't quite stomach. Imagine you buy into a story curve so pure that you felt you were on the journey with the guys as the finally lifted the belts and then the promotion pulls the rug from under your feet and gives all that momentum, all of that push, a years work to someone else (you see where i'm going here, not exactly a stretch for your average WWE fan to picture). This is as big a letdown as i've had watching wrestling. I personally, and i'm sure i said it in my WK9 review, prefer Goto and Shibata solo, they are too big to tie down in tag and could easily both work the top of the card giving you two strong guys up there to bolster your roster, but if they are going to form them into tag, i'll go with it, then, then just do this?? Why? Booking aside, the match itself gets a good amount of time and is solid enough without doing anything special ***1/4

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahasi © vs AJ Styles - So here's the thing...similarly to the Bullet Club tag, AJ Styles has lost this bout the last two times (G1 Climax and King of Pro Wrestling) so i kind of feel we know what's about to go down here. And so it comes to pass, and AJ Styles takes back his belt and i'm kind of feeling a little shat on here and wondering if they just hot potatoed the title over to Tanahashi to sell WK9, which would be extremely fucking cynical! I've seen these guys go at it a couple of times before Styles joined NJPW full time. Once in TNA and once in NJPW and both those matches were golden. I haven't seen that since he came over proper, both of those matches last year were very good, 4+ star matches even, but there was just something missing for me. They've been shooting below what they both can do and i don't know why that is. So this match is kind of a big deal, essentially it's a rubber match on the feud and it's a chance for them to blow us away, it's a shame then that it wasn't held out for a bigger event, it should have been made a much bigger deal out of. It didn't seem important so immediately something is taken away from the match, this isn't going to be the blockbuster these two have in them. Add that to knowing 99.9% surely that Styles would win and there's not much left going for it unfortunately. Bit of a mini-story going on in the stretch with Tanahashi having pinched the Styles Clash, ending up on the receiving end of one to drop the title to Styles. Bullet Club converge in the ring with all the gold and suddenly they are super strong again having been effectively buried at WK9 ***1/4

Not sure if the bad-booking tonight was just accentuated by the pretty poor wrestling on display tonight (Ibushi and Honma aside), not many good never mind great matches on display here. I can buy all the Bullet Club guys as legit champions but some of the 'getting there' part of the stories was a bit off. So yeah, some of that online criticism was fair enough truth be told. I just hope they can start mending some fences with the Sendai show which i'm about to stick on next...

[Ira Gaines]

I'd say Tanahashi/Styles is just a case of two guys who don't work as well together.

[Christophe]

I'd say Tanahashi/Styles is just a case of two guys who don't work as well together.

Pretty sure we've had this same discussion before. I've seen them do it right... unfortunately you might be right and their current run suggests those occasions are exceptions rather than the norm. Which is all sorts of disappointment given the talents we are talking about.

Edited February 16, 2015 by Christophe

[Christophe]

Meet and greet tickets booked for the Tomohiro Ishii RevPro show in June. FUCKING YASSSSSS!

Edited February 17, 2015 by Christophe

[Booker_d]

Samoa Joe gone from TNAwful. Mixed reports at this point about him wanted to take up MMA and others about them simply choosing not to renew his contract.

Mind not that long ago when they hired Hogan and Bischoff and Hardy and the likes. And wanted to do their show live and on the road. Man, I'd love to know how much money they blew on that.

[Christophe]

NJPW New Beginning in Sendai

Looking for a bit of redemption after a flat Osaka show...

Captain New Japan and Manabu Nakanishi vs Yohei Komatsu and Satoshi Kojima - Good opener, nice to see dojo stud Komatsu team with a legend in Kojima. They do the job for CNJ and Nakanishi but not before looking impressive and indeed Komatsu comes close to his first big upset fall **3/4

reDRagon vs Tiger Mask and Jay White - 'Kaile' O'Reily is in action here according to the NJPW banner. First proper look at Jay White for me, impressed, he's energetic enough. Good spot when White has a reDRagon in a crab and the other keeps smacking him to break it, only White wont release until the crabbed reDRagon manages to reach the ropes. reDRagon rally to win **3/4

Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks vs Time Splitters and Mascara Dorada - Omega's first Taguchi-less bout since his move from DDT, hoping for better from him in finer company. The point of this match is to put Dorada over for his upcoming feud with Omega, and he does that winning with a roll-up on Omega himself ***1/4

NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship: Jushin 'Thunder' Liger © vs Chase Owens - Bruce Tharpe double bill up next! Do not like Owens at all, it's one thing just not having the talent but when you're being outworked by a 50 year old Liger it's time to up the game. Tharpe is animated on the sides and i jut love this guys heel manager work. Liger defends ***

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Rob Conway © vs Hioyoshi Tenzan - Not sure even Rob Conway himself knows what his gimmick is meant to be, it's sort of a sleazy confederate ironman on his way to the local nightclub mish-mash. I've been harsh on Conway before but he impressed me slightly more in the Tag League and here he hangs with Tenzan better than some NWA Heavyweight luminaries could. Some Tharpe cheating on the outside again, which never seems to draw the same howling from the stands in Japan as the Bullet Club cheating does, dunno why. Tenzan looks really good here and i'd like to see him have a solid mid-card run again, he's got something different. Tenzan surprisingly takes the title and i'm wondering if he's off to the States for a bit. Highly recommend this match if you're just dipping in for the biggies, surprsingly better than it should have been ***3/4

Golden Stardust vs Kazushi Sakuraba and Toru Yano - Naito and Yano work the crux of the match, Yano does his thing and we get a chair shot and a turnbuckle stripping, all good Yano entertainment. It goes longer than i'd have thought, pushing 15 minutes. The finish comes when Yano low-blows Naito and attempts a Urakusumi roll-up but Naito rolls through and scores the fall while still clutching his baws ***

Bullet Club (Takahashi and Fale) vs CHAOS (Okada and YOSHI-HASHI) - Nothing to see here, was really bored during this match. Just another Okada vs Fale set-up **

Bullet Club (Gallows, Anderson and Tonga) vs Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi - Shibata and Tanahashi famously despise each other (see Tanahashi's book) so this is strange, but i must say i like the teaming. The face-paint bug is spreading in the Bullet Club and all three are dressed as 3/4 of Kiss. I'd hoped to analyse Tonga a bit here as i previously felt he had a bit more to offer than the other B.C. big guys...not overly impressed by him here though. Tanahashi looks a bit battered after Osaka and he gets the fall here and staggers to the back in search of a nice rest ***1/4

NEVER Openweight Championship (vacant) - Tomohiro Ishii vs Tomoaki Honma - As Togi Makabe is ill there wasn't supposed to be a NEVER match tonight but they announce he has been stripped of the belt and the winner here will take it! Superb, these two had two absolute belting bouts, Ishii going 2-0, last year so i'm all in for this. Honma gives Ishii everything he's got... devilish lariats, Kokeshi from the turnbuckle to the outside, Pillar Crash...and still can't make the big man stay down beyond two. The perennial bridesmaid's face in agony after each near-fall that was a heartbeat away from finally being THE moment. Ishii is classic Ishii, just eating up everything thrown at him and walking Honma straight back down for more, and more and more. We get about 25 minutes of this, which is perhaps a bit overlong for a 'slobber-knocker' but tbf, i can't say i'm bored at any point of it. Honma with another near-fall after stealing Ishii's Brainbuster, then Ishii not able to put it away after a quick round of thunderous lariats. Both are exhausted at the end and are landing slaps barely registering. Ishii is the one with something left in the tank though and pulls off a Brainbuster to regain the title ****1/2

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura © vs Yuji Nagata - Good video package playing out the storyline that this is perhaps Nagata's last chance at serious silverware at 46. He thought about retiring at the turn of the year bu didn't make the WK9 show and wanted another run. And thank the lord for that as a match against Nakamura is something i want to see alright. Kojima, Tenzan and Nakanishi are all in Nagata's corner to cheer him on. It's really good stuff, the star of the last generation vs the star of this one, Nakamura winning with a Boma Ye out of nowhere after Nagata had gone close with a Backdrop Hold and an Armbreaker ****

A really good show overall and as a whole piece the two-parter can be considered a success after a stilted start in Osaka.

[dunfermlinetillidie]

Was in my bed ill last week l so managed to watch raws from nov 98 - April 99.

The crowds were fantastic in those days. the Undertaker kidnapping Steph McMahon storyline is a decent watch.

O and Shane was brilliants aswell. Wish he would come back

[Christophe]

DDT - Saitama Super 2015

Got round to the final part of last week's three massive Japanese shows, so thoughts... 7,000 in the gate apparently, not sure how much longer we can call them an 'indy' with crowds like this, massive credit to DDT for how far they've come. Absolutely stellar main event and excellent tag team championship bout tonight has sold this card for me, but in truth i can't really miss DDT at the moment, their shows have been superb this past year from the top to the bottom of the card. Apparently in the dark match they crowned the inaugural 'King of Dark Champion'. A title for the loser of dark matches , Gota Ihashi is the first unlucky recipient, neat idea,...onto the main card...

YOSHIHIKO ARMY (YOSHIHIKO, Antonio Honda and The Great Kojika) vs AKEBONO ARMY (Akebono, Toru Owashi and Kazuki Hirata) - YOSHIHIKO is a sex doll who everyone in the company refers to as real. Here 'she' teams up with an OAP in Kojika and a comedy act in Honda so not the most illustrious team going up against the monster, and former sumo, Akebono and co. Hirata is a young guy who has gotten himself massively over with the crowds and it's he who shines most here. He does the 'stopping to dance' gimmick that's been done a million times before but he kind of makes it work. Akebono gets the fall after a body press on Honda and has a dance off with Hirata afterwards **

IRON MAN HEAVY METAL 12-PERSON BATTLE ROYAL - Yumakoto posing as a cameraman jumps Kong on her way down the aisle for the first fall, then continues to fight the match while holding the camera. Lots of title changes, the best one being when Sato enters and begins fighting while holding a trophy (he's won from a previous event i assume), he gets a fall and then carries on fighting with the trophy and the belt in hands. So obviously his reign is short lived! The nonsense ends with Kong eventually coming around and entering the match to win back her belt then eliminate the final competitor to finish the match as champ and we come full circle **1/2

DDT EXTREME TITLE MATCH: RULES RUMBLE MATCH - Akito © vs X - Shiori Asahi's gimmick as 'X' is that he's billed as a mystery opponent but everyone knows who he is. The Rules Rumble stipulation starts of as a regular match then at intervals evolves into various different stips. Tonight we get spells of: No grappling, 2-count fall wins, Submission only and No rope breaks. Asahi takes the title during this final stipulation after a facebuster of sorts by pinning Akito under the ropes while holding onto them for leverage.

KO-D SIX MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Brahman Brothers and Gorgeous Matsuno © vs Shuten-doji - This match is an arena wide, chair smashing bout that wouldn't have looked out of place on an old ECW show. Comedy in there as Matsuno (a frail middle aged man) is left to pair against the absolute beast that is Sakaguchi (a former shoot-wrestler) and neither knows how to handle the other. Matsuno, the champions weak spot, is exposed as he is choked out and we have new 3-man champs **3/4

4-WAY T.L.C TAG TEAM MATCH: Golden Storm Riders vs Crazy & President vs MIKAMI & Shuji Ishikawa vs Team Dream Futures - A million cool/violent spots going on here. The highlight being Kasai going through a chair-castle constructed in a corner. DDT President Takagi grabs the bag to win for his team. There is a mystery prize inside...which appears to be a spot in a match at a future event ***1/4

Danshoku Dino vs Michael Nakazawa - Bit of a convoluted story to this one. The short of it is that Nakazawa is leaving DDT so this is a farewell match, he wanted his wife to be in his corner for it but she refused, he wrote her a letter with lyrics to a Japanese pop song hoping to change her mind and the singer was impressed and agreed to be in his corner instead . Dino is in no mood for farewell shenanigans though and hits the ring through the crowd in full-on party spoiling mode. Not for fans of comedy-offense as there are weird body parts used to attack other weird body parts and even a Hadouken thrown in for good measure ***1/2

Kazushi Sakuraba vs Super Sasadango Machine - The Gracie Hunter, proper shoot-fighter and MMA veteran Sakuraba against another of DDT's comedy turns, not the most intriguing prospect but i've seen DDT turn far worse into gold. SSM does his powerpoint shtick pre-match and gives us a rundown on how he's going to beat Sakuraba. His summary is that there is no way he can compete with Saku and offers a possible winning scenario of using a banana peel! The match itself begins and Saku takes it to the mat, where SSM actually competes admirably though it's still clear he's not going to win out this way. There is ACTUAL banana peel shenanigans before Saku takes control back with a jujigatame but SSM reaches a rope for the break...Saku with a kimura and SSM's corner grab a towel ready to throw it in...but then the lights dim and SSM in slow-motion reverses it into Lehmann...as the lights go back up Saku immediately turns it back into the kimura for the tap-out and the previous sequence is revealed to be an SSM fantasy ...it's a superbly executed spot and genuinely something i haven't seen before in wrestling! ****

KO-D TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Happy Motel © vs Strong BJ - Behind the main event this is the match i am looking forward to seeing most. The massive team of Strong BJ (Okabayashi and Sekimoto) dominate early, as they might given the monsters that they are and with the wealth of experience they have as the veterans in this one. Takeshita and Sekimoto go into a spot of german suplexing the shit out of each other for a bit and i'm gagging on a singles feud between them down the line. Genuinely two of the finest exponents of this move in the business i could watch them doing this spot for a good 20-25 minute bout and be satisfied. Strong BJ take the titles after a Okabayashi Golden Splash from the turnbuckle on Endo and although it didn't quite live up the show stealing i thought it would, there probably wont be too many headliners in future looking forward to beaing them for MOTN if they go again ****1/4

KO-D OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: HARASHIMA © vs Kota Ibushi - Excellent pre-fight video package which basically highlights these two as being the DDT golden boys and promotes this as the dream match that it certainly is. If this match wasn't already a big deal this video is an excellent mouth-waterer. The two have never been allies as such but are the long-standing babyfaces at the top of the card and have always gotten along fine. We start off with HARASHIMA fighting Ibushi's aerial offense with kicks and the style-lines are drawn. They get out of the ring early and make their way towards the stage where we get a moonsault off the screen from Ibushi. When the action gets back in the ring the wrestling is sensational...HARASHIMA taking control and Ibushi only just manages to kick a Somato out at two. Ibushi nails HARASHIMA with a Somato and as he kicks out HARASHIMA flies into a rage at the move-stealing indignity and lays forearms into the challenger then tries to finish the job with a final Somato but Ibushi cuts him off with a thunderous lariat...THIS IS FUCKING GREAT STUFF! Ibushi back in control with a sitout powerbomb but then misses the Phoenix Splash. Both men are out on their feet and go through the old fatigued haymaker exchange spot, HARASHIMA gains the advantage with this but messes about to much and Ibushi is back in with a flurry of Shoten's and an power-up lariat. Ibushi misses his finisher again and HARASHIMA hits a sort of Dominator for another near fall of his own. HARASHIMA sets up for something else but is cut short and Ibushi pulls out a rare Phoenixplex for the title in a serious MOTY contender ****1/2

[Derek Patterson]

FFS

[1800Mitch]

Take the high road Chyna...

[The Naitch]

The Bushwhackers are going into the hall of fame...

Edited February 23, 2015 by The Naitch

[Ira Gaines]

They were gash. Some serious barrel scraping.

[We Are Pars Fans!]

Bushwhackers were a joke team, much more deserving teams should be in.

[JamieStevenson]

Not fussed for the lineup this year but it's always worth a watch anyway.