Any Pro-Wrestling Fans Around?

[TheRockARooster 47,334]

24 minutes ago, Denim&Venöm said:

There goes that dream match with Lance Archer.                                           

This one hits a bit harder. He was just starting to make a comeback. He was finally in his prime. Finally showing his range in the ring, in a faction, as the character. Now we're all wondering what could've been. But at least we got to see a little bit it. 

Rest in Power, Exhalted One. May your legacy live on. 

RIP Mr Brodie Lee.

He was one of the grestest big men that I’ve ever seen in all of my years of watching wrestling.

 

Rest easy, exalted one.

[Denim&Venöm 16,523]

On top of all that, we also lost the legendary Danny Hodge. 

https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2020/12/26/legendary-danny-hodge-dies-at-88/

The first amateur wrestler to grace the cover of sports illustrated. A former Olympic silver medalist.The first man to become collegiate all american and a golden gloves boxer, and the first pro-wrestler to hold a heavyweight and jr. heavyweight championship simultaneously. This guy was Kurt Angle before there was a Kurt Angle. And the namesake of the Hodge Trophy, collegiate wrestling's equivalent to college football's Heisman trophy. He lived to be 88 years old. 

Rest In Power, Danny. May your legacy live on. 

[Sparklefan1234 161,894]

4 hours ago, Denim&Venöm said:

This one hits a bit harder. He was just starting to make a comeback. He was finally in his prime. Finally showing his range in the ring, in a faction, as the character. Now we're all wondering what could've been. But at least we got to see a little bit it. 

Rest in Power, Exhalted One. May your legacy live on. 

 

The fact that EVERYONE no matter which company is talking about how great Brodie/Luke is shows you just how special he is as a person as

 

well as a wrestler. 

 

Brodie/Luke became one of my "chosen ones" in my WWE games over the last few years & I hope AEW adds him as a "legend" in their

 

game if they decide to do so. 

Edited December 27, 2020 by Sparklefan1234

[Denim&Venöm 16,523]

3 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

The fact that EVERYONE no matter which company is talking about how great Brodie/Luke is shows you just how special he is as a person as well as a wrestler. 

An amazing person by the sound of things. A honest and humble guy who played it forward and was someone you could count on as a friend. The only thing he loved more than wrestling was his family and he apparently he did an amazing job balancing them both. What a way to loose someone amazing, and what a time of year for it to happen. 

[Wingnut 6,733]

My local news channel posted a story about Jon Huber too.  
 

https://6abc.com/sports/wrestler-jon-huber-known-as-luke-harper-dies-at-41/9108847/?fbclid=IwAR3_GtiO33O-KoSlsqkrtjovIyG19RfdZYX4f_vBSVXOn5eFQ7BzmckojIg

Sad to hear about Danny Hodge as well.  

[Denim&Venöm 16,523]

In hindsight, BTE played a huge part in getting Brodie Lee, and by extension the dark order, as over as they were. 

 

 

[Sparklefan1234 161,894]

@Denim&Venöm Brodie is hilarious! It's a shame he barely got to talk in the WWE. 

[Denim&Venöm 16,523]

2020 is thankfully over (for now). But despite the planet grinding to a halt, wrestling persevered. It was in 2020 where the medium was challenged to improvise, adapt and overcome. And thankfully we still got some great matches.

So what is everypony's top 10

For example, in no particular order:

1. Omega/ Paige vs. Young Bucks
2. Suzuki vs. Ibushi 
3. Stadium Stampede
4. Bucks/ FTR vs. B&B/Lucha Bros
5. Naito vs. Tanahashi 
6. KENTA vs. Tanahashi 
7. Bucks vs. FTR
8. Okada vs. Ibushi (WK14)
9. Kyle Fletcher vs. Connor Mills 
10. PAC vs. Omega 

Now there will be other matches I'll need to catch up on. Lots of stuff from ROH and NOAH that'll need watching, but this is a good sampling from what I've seen so far.

Your turn. 

 

[Sparklefan1234 161,894]

1 hour ago, Denim&Venöm said:

Your turn. 

 

I don't have ten but I just watched a "Best of WWE Matches 2020" compilation and the HIAC between Bayley and Sasha Banks was

 

better than I expected considering how much the wrestling fan community hyped it after it happened.

[Denim&Venöm 16,523]

 WrestleKingdom stars tomorrow. Attendance has been capped at 5K, but the event is still okayed to proceed for both nights. Still, this will be the largest show of the post pandemic era and a vote of confidence for a step towards normalcy, at least in Japan. Njpw have done a great job of minimizing Covid risks. Not a single outbreak under their watch. 

So with all that out of the way, here's night one:

1. Double champ Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi
2. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Osprey 
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. the Great O-khan 
4. Mr. US title shot in the bank: KENTA vs. Satoshi Kojima
5. IWGP heavyweight tag champs Dangerous Tekkers vs. WTL winners G.o.D. 
6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight champ. Hiromu Tanahashi vs. Super J cup winner El Phantasmo
7. New Japan "ranbo" battle royal. Final four participants will meet in fatal four way next night to determine the King of pro wrestling 2021. 

Night 2:

1. Winner of Ibushi/Naito vs. Mr. G1 in the bank: Jay White 
2. Winner of ELP/Hiromu vs. Taiji Ishimori 
3. Evil vs. Sanada 
4. NEVER openweight champ. Shingo Tamari vs. Jeff Cobb
5. IWGP Jr. Tag champs Kannemaru I and El Desperado vs. Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wado 
6. Fatal four way for the King Of Pro Wrestling 2021 trophy 

So what are everypony's predictions? Despite the ongoing apocalypse, njpw have managed to bring together a decent card and a good way to act as a reset for the new year. Shame we're not getting KENTA vs. Mox, but at least he's keeping his title. 

Maybe it was KENTA who attacked Mox back in November.  That'd be kicking the forbidden door wide open. 

[Denim&Venöm 16,523]

Spoiler for Night one of WK15

Spoiler

My boy has finally done it. 

 

[Sparklefan1234 161,894]

@Denim&Venöm

Spoiler

What an AWESOME way to start the 2021 "pro wrestling season"! 

 

Edited January 6, 2021 by Sparklefan1234

[Denim&Venöm 16,523]

Wrestling in 2021 is off to a great start, as WrestleKingdom 15 was the largest event since last year's Royal Rumble to break five figure attendance, with over 12,000 attendees on night one and nearly 8000 on night two. And all of them were treated to something special. 

Spoiler

• The new Japan ranbo wasnt all that noteworthy. No shock returns or guest appearance. Final four were bad luck Fale, Chase Owens, Bushi and Toru Yano.
• The event proper got off to a great start with BotSJ winner Hiromu vs. SJC winner ELP. ELP dressed in homage to Edge and executing all sorts of past BC moves. Lots of sick moves, including a flipping wheel barrel driver off the top if you can believe it. But ELP's showboating coast him as he got ranna pinned for Hiromu to advance to the next night.
• Fantastic tag bout between tag champs ZSJ and Taichi against tag league winners G.o.D. Dangerous Tekkers were almost the face team in this. But a team of greats cannot best a great team, for the guerrillas used Taichi's own bag of tricks against him to win the gold and become record 7x IWGP heavyweight tag champs. 
• Juice Robinson was supposed to face KENTA for his US title contract brief case. But said case left Juice with a broken eye socket. In steps Juice's mentor and NJPW elder statesman Satoshi Kojima, who's looking damn good for 50. It was an okay match. Koji can still hold his own, but his best days are behind him and KENTA retained. But before the match, we got a video promo from the US champ himself, Jon Moxley. He'll be waiting on the winner. And by the look of things, it'll all go down in NJPWs US Fed. So stay tuned to new episodes of NJPW strong every Friday night. 
• Tanahashi played gate keeper to another young talent, this time being The Great O-Khan. Big, vicious, unorthodox wild man in homage to the old school Killer Khan.  Gimmick is a bit hokey but the former Tomayuki Oka can go, and he brought it to Tanahashi, targeting at the Ace's ailing knees. There are big things in the Dominator's future as he keeps putting things together, but here he wasn't able to break the aces will to win, being bested with a pair of high fly flows. 
• semi-final saw the implosion of Okada's friendship with Will Osprey, the assassin costing the Rainmaker the G1. Now with Stardom Champ Bea Priestley, O-Khan and Jeff Cobb, the Assassin is now the Commonwealth Kingpin, leading NJPW'S newest faction: the Empire. Not much high flying this time. Okada was more areal than Osprey. But each was looking to kill the other in the pair's stiffs match to date. It took Okada busting the Rainmaker lariat out for the first time since the pandemic to put down the man he thought of like a brother.
• Kota Ibushi was out to right the wrongs of last year. He lost to Okada. he lost to Jay White. 6 months prior he lost to Naito in one of the most dangerous matches NJPW green lit. He beat Okada on his way to winning the G1. Now he just had to beat double champ Naito, someone who was he'll bent on not letting the pandemic derail his long awaited reign at the top. 

Will finish posting later.

 

[raykv423 1,689]

On 12/2/2020 at 11:59 PM, TheRockARooster said:

STING IS IN ALL-ELITE WRESTLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought he retired from wrestling......

[TheRockARooster 47,334]

33 minutes ago, raykv423 said:

I thought he retired from wrestling......

He’s now in AEW and looks like he will be wrestling.

[raykv423 1,689]

8 hours ago, TheRockARooster said:

He’s now in AEW and looks like he will be wrestling.

Dude is 61...which is awesomely badass btw; age doesn't stop you from doing things you love. Sure I wasn't much a wrestling fan because I can't find a way to watch WWE and wrestling on TV (besides YouTube), I kinda enjoy wrestling now and I guess I will be taking up wrestling someday.

It's gonna sound crazy but I wish there are some wrestlers who still wrestling in their late 60s and early 70s, that would be awesome. Imagine having a grandparent who still wrestles in their old age. 

[TheRockARooster 47,334]

15 minutes ago, raykv423 said:

Dude is 61...which is awesomely badass btw; age doesn't stop you from doing things you love. Sure I wasn't much a wrestling fan because I can't find a way to watch WWE and wrestling on TV (besides YouTube), I kinda enjoy wrestling now and I guess I will be taking up wrestling someday.

It's gonna sound crazy but I wish there are some wrestlers who still wrestling in their late 60s and early 70s, that would be awesome. Imagine having a grandparent who still wrestles in their old age. 

Sting's WWE run was so lackluster and bad, it turned me away from wrestling until I heard of AEW and watched some NJPW.

I've been a fan since 1998, loved the Attitude Era, the Rock & Wrestling Era and the Ruthless Aggression Era.

Not much gets me excited about wrestling nowadays except AEW and Impact, as well as some local shows that I go to.

I even went to an intake day at one of the companies called Suplex Pro Wrestling.

[Sparklefan1234 161,894]

 

Man. I think it's time to take a break, WWE. 

[Jon the VGNerd 842]

On 1/11/2021 at 7:56 PM, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

Man. I think it's time to take a break, WWE. 

Unfortunately, they're not going to because Vince is all about the money. WWE is basically cash cow at this point. I wish I can watch AEW, but I'm not sure which channel has broadcasting rights.

[Castle Bleck 19,167]

On 1/3/2021 at 4:29 PM, Denim&Venöm said:

If that were an actual anime, I'd so watch.

[Denim&Venöm 16,523]

speed running WK15 review because I'm lazy.

• Skip the battle royal and the trophy match it promotes the next night.
• Heavyweight tag match on night 1 is worth a watch. Jr. Tag match on night 2 is filler. 
• Catch both Jr. Title matches. 
• KENTA vs. Kojima is okay. Watch if you like seeing the old school guys and KENTA being a prick. 
• Tana/O-khan is alright. Good showing for O-Khan. Tana still got it. 
• Okada/ Osprey was as good as expected from these two. Less little Osprey proving himself to the Rainmaker and more bitter grudge match. Good example of how adaptable Okada is and good potential for Osprey's new character. 
• Watch Shingo vs. Cobb. They managed to out do WWE in the big boy hoss fight. Rocky made a good point that the NEVER belt is new Japan's equivalent to the BMF titles in MMA. Go watch it. It's amazing.
• Ibushi/Naito was good without resorting too much on the bonkers fiesta for neck trauma that was their dominion match in 2019. Jay/Ibushi may very well be match of the year. Longest match in the history of the Tokyo dome, outdoing Omega/Okada by 2 minutes. 
• Updates from New Years Dash: The Empire are pissed and Osprey is shifting from authority era Seth Rollins to year 2000 Triple H. The mob boss who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty to prove a point. Suzuki-gun might be turning face against the Bullet Club? Shingo Takagi is challenging Hiroshi Tanahashi. Sanada is challenging Ibushi. And Jay White might be leaving NJPW? 

No major surprises but a lot of interesting directions for New Japan to go. 

[Sparklefan1234 161,894]

Do you think that "getting color" is still needed in today's professional wrestling? 

 

I've watched a lot of matches since WWE toned down the usage of blood and I think that they've had quite a few matches

 

didn't need that added element to be considered "good" or "great".

Edited January 15, 2021 by Sparklefan1234

[Denim&Venöm 16,523]

7 hours ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

Do you think that "getting color" is still needed in today's professional wrestling? 

 

I've watched a lot of matches since WWE toned down the usage of blood and I think that they've had quite a few matches

 

didn't need that added element to be considered "good" or "great".

Depends on the type of match. High flying Indy spectacle or strong style bout? No.  Cage match, I quit, last man standing, or any feed that highly personal? Yes. 

Adding color changes the intent of the match, from victory, to destroying your opponent. It's a good signifier to the audience, which is why it should be used sparingly. Also if lots of weapons or a dangerous environment are involved, because it's looks unrealistic if nobody walks out unscathed.  

[Sparklefan1234 161,894]

On 1/15/2021 at 2:55 AM, Denim&Venöm said:

Also if lots of weapons or a dangerous environment are involved, because it's looks unrealistic if nobody walks out unscathed.  

 

"The wresters appear to be severely achey!" 

Solved that problem. 

[Denim&Venöm 16,523]

Breaking news!

WWE network is ending in the US! The rights were bought out by Peacock, NBC universal's streaming service and owners of the USA network. On March 18th, the content for US users all go to Peacock. No news on what will happen to the rest of the world. The deal is for 5 years and is for around a billion USD. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/wwe-network-to-fold-into-peacock-as-part-of-dollar5-monthly-premium-tier/ar-BB1d4xdy

That's it folks. The WWE is future proof. They can sell zero live tickets for like the next decade, have their ratings be on par with Lucha Underground and still be profitable.