Any Pro-Wrestling Fans Around?

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

And breaking news for WWE: Day 1. 

Roman Reigns has been pulled from his Universal Title match with Brock Lesnar due to testing positive for Covid. 

Lesnar has now been added to the WWe title match instead. He'll be facing Champ. Big E, Rollins, Owens, & Lashley in a Fatal 5-pack challenge. 

 

And in other news, go watch Pro Wrestling NOAH: The New year. It had Ultimo Dragon on it. It was awesome. 

 

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

Okay name this tag team 

[Sparklefan1234 170,729]

43 minutes ago, Denim&Venöm said:

Okay name this tag team 

 

Sabu and The Beast (Now, I have the Beauty and the Beast song stuck in my head! )

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

1 hour ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

Sabu and The Beast (Now, I have the Beauty and the Beast song stuck in my head! )

Somebody pointed this out in the comments but young Sabu looks like Carlton. 

[Sparklefan1234 170,729]

1 minute ago, Denim&Venöm said:

Somebody pointed this out in the comments but young Sabu looks like Carlton. 

 

I guess "Carlton" had a lot of pent up rage hanging around Will Smith so he channeled it into wrestling somehow. 

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

23 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

I guess "Carlton" had a lot of pent up rage hanging around Will Smith so he channeled it into wrestling somehow. 

He channeled his inner Steve Urkel and fought the Bush Wackers. 

[Sparklefan1234 170,729]

3 hours ago, Denim&Venöm said:

He channeled his inner Steve Urkel and fought the Bush Wackers. 

 

Those family shows sure loved wrestling episodes. Family Matters, Boy Meets World, The Jersey (Disney Channel) etc.

Edited January 3, 2022 by Sparklefan1234

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

56 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

Those family shows sure loved wrestling episodes. Family Matters, Boy Meets World, The Jersey (Disney Channel) etc.

Incredible how the perception shifted. Wrestling was more in the pop culture periphery during the new generation and prior. Attitude era kinda killed that and it hasn't come back. 

[Sparklefan1234 170,729]

2 hours ago, Denim&Venöm said:

Attitude era kinda killed that and it hasn't come back. 

 

DuckTales 2017 had a wrestling-like episode in its third season but I haven't seen many other wrestling themed episodes anywhere else. 

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

1 minute ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

DuckTales 2017 had a wrestling-like episode in its third season but I haven't seen many other wrestling themed episodes anywhere else. 

I sorta blame what was on offer at the time. Attitude era wrestlers weren't family friendly and Ruthless Aggression wrestlers weren't marketable. Batista, Orton and Lesnar weren't exactly known for their personalities. I think the last show to feature wrestlers as wrestlers without it being a WWE shill was a Kim Possible episode featuring Test and Goldberg. 

[Sparklefan1234 170,729]

2 minutes ago, Denim&Venöm said:

I sorta blame what was on offer at the time. Attitude era wrestlers weren't family friendly and Ruthless Aggression wrestlers weren't marketable. Batista, Orton and Lesnar weren't exactly known for their personalities. I think the last show to feature wrestlers as wrestlers without it being a WWE shill was a Kim Possible episode featuring Test and Goldberg. 

 

That would be like putting any wrestler besides maybe Roman Reigns in a guest star role on a TV show or cartoon in the current decade.

WWE and AEW's wrestlers don't scream "mainstream" to me like The Rock (Attitude Era) and to a lesser extent John Cena (Ruthless Aggression) 

were able to accomplish at their wrestling career peaks. 

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

30 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

That would be like putting any wrestler besides maybe Roman Reigns in a guest star role on a TV show or cartoon in the current decade.

WWE and AEW's wrestlers don't scream "mainstream" to me like The Rock (Attitude Era) and to a lesser extent John Cena (Ruthless Aggression) 

were able to accomplish at their wrestling career peaks. 

It's not just mainstream. It's about having a character. Being larger than life. It wasn't just Bret Hart and The Rock making guest appearances. The Bush Wackers, Captain Lou, King Kong Bundy and Mankind were getting screen time too. Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Sheamus, Any member of the New Day, Any member of the Elite or the Best Friends or The Inner Circle have the personality and charisma to do crossovers for sit coms and soap operas instead of doing the game show host spot or movie tie in deal. 

Edit: Just remembered. Roddy Piper was the last to get a guest star appearance on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. 

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

And Wrestle Kingdom 16 night 1 is in the books. Here's my quick run down.

Spoiler

• NJPW Rambo was okay. A few surprises, namely Tatsumi Fujimami wrestling in 2022. 50 goddamn years of wrestling! But we wound up with a better final four than last year. The stakes have been upped for Toru Yano. From last years Bad Luck Fale, Bushi and Chase Owens, to Minoru Suzuki, surprise entrant Cima, and Chase Owens. Four way is set for tommorow. 
• SHO vs. YOH was alright. Went by kinda quick. Didn't feel like a blowoff. YOH wins via roll up after SHO tried to hit him with a wrench.
• The United Empire beat LIJ after Ospreay wrestled for a few minutes and pinned Bushi. 
• Bullet Club def. Tanahahsi, Taguchi and Rocky by DQ after Tana beat up KENTA with a Kendo stick ahead of their street fight tommorow
• Shibata made his long awaited return against student Ren Narita, who is becoming a Shibata clone. Good match. The wrestler hasn't lost a step and Narita has a lot of potential.  
• Evil beat Ishii for the NEVER title in a match that was 661/3%  cheating and interference. It's really hard to have a bad match with Ishii but Evil and the HoT managed it. Worst match on the show. 
• Yoshi-Hashi finally won his first IWGP championship, acquiring the tag straps alongside Hirooki Goto in an excellent bout vs. Dangerous Tekkers. 
• Semi-final was Hiromu vs. EL Desperado for the IWGP Juniorheavyweight title in a great match with El Despy finally besting Hiromu and retaining the gold against the face of the division. 
• And int he main event, Okada triumphed over Shingo Takagi in the pair's best match to date, claiming the IWGP WHC and honorably retiring the V4 belt that we all know and love. He'll be facing Osprey tommorow. 

Conclusion: This was an okay show. Not as good as last years Night 1. It feels like this night was more to set up tomorrow. Go watch Shibata vs. Narita, the tag title match, the junior title match and the main event. 

 

 

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

And WK 16 night II is underway. Here is the full card, now with bonus matches! 

No.    Match    Winner(s)    Notes/stipulation
1    Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Gedo & Jado) vs. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma and Yuji Nagata    TBD    Six-man tag team match
2    Master Wato, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima vs. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, TAKA Michinoku & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)    TBD    Six-man tag team match
3    Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi) vs. Suzuki-gun (DOUKI, Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.)    TBD    Six-man tag team match
4    Bullet Club's Cutest Tag Team (El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori) vs. Flying Tiger (Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask) (c) vs. Mega Coaches (Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi)    TBD    IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
5    Mayu Iwatani and Starlight Kid vs. Saya Kamitani and Tam Nakano    TBD    STARDOM exhibition tag team match
6    Chase Owens vs. CIMA vs. Minoru Suzuki vs. Toru Yano    TBD    KOPW22 Trophy
7    CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, YOH & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. House of Torture (EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) (c)    TBD    NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
8    Great-O-Khan vs. SANADA    TBD    Special singles match
9    Jeff Cobb vs. Tetsuya Naito    TBD    Special singles match
10    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA (c)    TBD    IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship
11    Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Will Ospreay    TBD    IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
 

 

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

Alright so WK night II is in the books and Night 3 is in 24.5 hours. This was much better than Night II, so go watch it if you haven't. 

Spoiler

1. The dads def. the BC booking team. With Honma getting the win this time! What an upset. 
2. Master Wato and his Dads def. Suzuki-gun. With Wato tapping out Jr. champ, EL Despy in a new butterfly neck crank! Big things in the Grand Master's future. 
3. LIJ beat the rest of Suzuki-gun in the losers bracket. 
4. the year long story arc of what was in ELP's boot was finally solved when rival teams FLying Tigers and Mega Coaches joined forces and uncovered the chicanery. As nice of a payoff as that was, it kinda derailed what was a very dynamic tag match. Robbie Eagles and Tiger mask retain their tag gold. 
5. And we got a treat from the women of Stardom as Saya Kamitani & Tam Nakano def. Mayu Iwatani and Starlight Kid in a match that felt like watching HCTP being played with no stamina and max finishers. It was glorious. Go watch Stardom. 
6. Minoru Suzuki is your new KOPW, pinning Yano in a fun four way with Chase and Cima. Oh the stipulations he'll come up with will be fun. 
7. HoT retained the NEVER 6s in a match that was fun right until the finish. Skip it. 
8. Sanada pinned O-Khan in a decent match. Pulled out a few surprises, like a plainchant and a moonsault, but lost to another big name.
9. Naito pinned Cobb in a fun match. Cobb is a beast but he's taken a few too many Ls for my comfort.
10. Tanahashi recaptured the U.S. title from KENTA in a damn brutal hardcore match. It was clear that this was neither guys strong suit, but that added to the raw feeling of it. KENTA got wrecked after taking the highest flyest flow from Tanahashi, off a 15ft ladder, through a non-gimmicked table. After KENTA fell off said ladder and laded face first into a trash can. He was fked up by matches end. Broken nose from landing face first into the trash can. Dislocating his hip. Slicing open his back in a manner that makes Hardcore Holly's look like a paper cut. Oh and breaking his finger, but that was from the NOAH show back on New Years, which you should also go watch. Whole table was smeared with KENTA's blood, making Tana look like a killer, but more of a 'temper of a patient man' kind of way. 
11. Okada retains his newly won prize, besting Will Ospreay for the second WK in a row in their best match yet. This is the closest Okada has come to replicating the magic he had during his quadrilogy with Omega. He and Ospreay have such good chemistry and it showed. Billy Boy isn't the GOAT yet. But he's on his way there. 

 

Oh and while not a match, there was an invasion. By Pro-Wrestling NOAH! 

 

And now an update for WK night III: NJPW vs. NOAH. 

As a result of the injuries sustained in his hardcore match against Tanahashi, KENTA has now been pulled from his tag match alongside Tsugiura and Sakuraba vs. Suzuki-gun. Partner will be a surprise. 

And in other less fun news. Pretty much the whole HHH regime has been fired, namely Samoa Joe, Orny Lorkin, Timothy Thatcher, Road Dogg and William Regal.  Gabe Spoloski has been cut too but nopony is mourning that loss. Oh and Rey Fenix pulled a Sid Vicious on his arm from last nights Dynamite on TBS. Luckily it was only a dislocation. 

[Sparklefan1234 170,729]

Do you think Samoa Joe will go to AEW, Japan or could he retire? 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Sparklefan1234

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

3 hours ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

Do you think Samoa Joe will go to AEW, Japan or could he retire? 

I can see him guesting on AEW. But while hes' a big name, can he still go? Is there room for him in AEW's stacked roster? Tony said he'd be more discerning of who he hires. I predict a return to Impact. Maybe ROH if it survives till April. 

[Sparklefan1234 170,729]

Moments ago, Denim&Venöm said:

I can see him guesting on AEW. But while hes' a big name, can he still go? Is there room for him in AEW's stacked roster? Tony said he'd be more discerning of who he hires. I predict a return to Impact. Maybe ROH if it survives till April. 

 

Joe could act as a commentator like he was doing while he was on WWE's injured list. I thought he was great in that role. 

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

17 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

Joe could act as a commentator like he was doing while he was on WWE's injured list. I thought he was great in that role. 

Well considering Matt Striker just got the boot, he's got a home on Impact's desk. 

[Sparklefan1234 170,729]

46 minutes ago, Denim&Venöm said:

Well considering Matt Striker just got the boot, he's got a home on Impact's desk. 

 

I'm not a fan of Matt Striker's commentary. I think I was a fan of his at first but I grew tired of his voice pretty quickly. 

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

17 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

I'm not a fan of Matt Striker's commentary. I think I was a fan of his at first but I grew tired of his voice pretty quickly. 

Sounds like management felt the same among other antics.

[Sparklefan1234 170,729]

Moments ago, Denim&Venöm said:

Sounds like management felt the same among other antics.

 

Speaking of management, it seems like WWE's management are getting rid of all of Triple H's NXT people who aren't on the main roster. Wow! 

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

32 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

Speaking of management, it seems like WWE's management are getting rid of all of Triple H's NXT people who aren't on the main roster. Wow! 

Sounds like Trips may not be coming back at all considering how bad the heart attack was. I don't even know what HBK does anymore. 

[Sparklefan1234 170,729]

35 minutes ago, Denim&Venöm said:

Sounds like Trips may not be coming back at all considering how bad the heart attack was.

I don't even know what HBK does anymore. 

 

Triple H is part of the McMahon family so he could be behind the scenes or in the boardroom like Linda McMahon was. 

Edited January 8, 2022 by Sparklefan1234

[Denim&Venöm 18,958]

44 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

Triple H is part of the McMahon family so he could be behind the scenes or in the boardroom like Linda McMahon was. 

He already was, but then he got demoted. NXT was his main job, but now all sorts of changes were made without his call. What's his purpose of Vinny and Dunn are running the show? I'd say Trips is next on the chopping block, in line for a massive severance cheque, but then I remembered that WWE still have Jeremy Borash and Joeseph Parks to future endeavor.