#feud: moxley vs rush

[allelitewrestlings]

[omegawhiskers]

Dynamite 29/11/23

The Jack Perry Conspiracy

Dynamite continues the Continental Classic with Jon Moxley vs. Jay Lethal. The only thing about this tournament I don’t like is that we’re told no one can interfere, and that everything is put into place to make sure we get clean matches. If this is possible to do in story, then why not do this for every wrestling match? It doesn’t make any sense. But I digress. Lethal loses the opening bout due to rear naked choke. Moxley leads with six points. Poor Lethal has zero.  

Eddie Kingston is disappointed in his defeat last week and here he said he will be ready for Bryan Danielson. Eddie has a lot more to lose in his tournament than everyone else. Bryan is on commentary – eyepatch and all – and he delivers some strong words for his preparation on Saturday. This match is going to be awesome.

Sting will have his last match on March 3 in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Greensboro Coliseum. Both Sting and Ric Flair talked about the match they had there 35 years ago at Clash of Champions for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The match ended in a draw at 45 minutes. Take in as much Sting as you can because we only have 4 months of him left.

In the second Continental match of the night, Rush pinned Jay Briscoe to obtain his first three points. Jay – like Lethal – have zero points. Rush and Briscoe had better matches last week, although this was decent.

Toni Storm will be defending her title next week. Against whom? No body mentioned a name.

MJF comes out to the ring and praises Samoa Joe for his accomplishments. He said Joe paved the way for people like him and that Joe never got the recognition he deserved in WWE. MJF gets fired up for his match and breaks his cane in half. This is when the goons who work for the Devil make an appearance. Three masked men hold MJF as a large guy with a baseball bat threatens him. It’s worth noting when Wardlow comes out next, his hair looks quite messy; as if it could had been under a mask. Joe comes to Max’s aid just as he promised. The Devil requests a tag match with Max and Joe next week, and the challenge is accepted. I’m not sure if this is with two of the goons or with the Devil himself, who I still believe is Jack Perry. For a fun little dive in to the Jack Perry conspiracy, check out this thread on X.

Wardlow – with mask hair – came out to fight AR Fox. Fox gets some offensive early on, but Wardlow dominates most of the match and wins by stoppage. I don’t see Wardlow going into a solo feud with MJF. Wardlow is still getting his momentum back, so the feud wouldn’t really be strong, but if he is apart of this new group, then I think this would be a great way for him to get his match with Max.

Dante Martin is back from a horrific looking injury and he teams with his brother and Action Andretti to take on the Hardy Boyz and Brother Zay. Martin showcased some nice athletic moves while picking up the win. This match was built around the return and it worked for Dante. The Hardyz are floating around not doing much. It's fine to take the loss, but they gotta get them in some sort of story.

Julia Hart defended her TSB title against Emi Sakura in a decent bout. The ending was strange as Emi rolled as Hart delivered the moonsault which caused Hart land awkwardly.

Christian Cage called out Adam Copeland so that he could convince him to team up. He brings up their past and that Adam’s mother said she would have loved to see them tag again, but unfortunately, she passed away. Adam was contemplating the offer before Christian tried to hit Adam with the TNT belt, but Copeland knew his former best friend too well and deliver a kick to the balls sending Christian to the mat. Adam tells him to shine the belt up real nice for next week for their match and tells Christian to go fuck himself. This entire segment had me hooked. Christian is such a mean bastard, and I keep thinking of how low he can go each week.

Jay White and Swerve Strickland was our main event. Swerve picked up the win and continues his winning streak.

I like this episode of Dynamite. Matches were good and we have some excitement rolling into next week with this Devil storyline. Julia needs a new feud and something needs to be done with Matt and Jeff as they are not being used effectively.

[bang-bang-gang]

worlds end predictions

mjf vs samoa joe - adam cole is revealed as the devil

jon moxley vs eddie kingston - if mox wins i riot. and then dont go online for two days because the posts complaining about mox winning will annoy me into rooting for him instead

toni storm vs riho - mariah will be there and be lovely

christian cage vs adam copeland

julia hart vs abadon - skye interferes on julia's behalf and officially joins her spooky bitch league

bryan/mark/claudio/daniel vs brody/jay2/rush - mark gets the pin on jay lethal

swerve vs keith lee - swerve gets into the world title picture with joe by revolution or DoN but needs to face the demons from his past first. i will not hop off my hangmoxswerve agenda i need these men in a deathmatch threeway and i need it now. anyway while i'd love a drawn out keith lee swerve feud, keith lee has posted again today about his injury and his health issues and it's clear he's not in a place to be doing that right now so i'm just hoping he is careful in this match

andrade vs miro

zero hour:

hook vs yuta - hometown hero advantage, i say with a heavy heart

willow vs kris - i think kris is the more realistic pick for a winner here but i'm going for willow because i reaaally hope she gets more opportunities and an aew title in 2024

20 man battle royale - SURPRISE BUCKS RETURN. yes on zero hour. i am manifesting this. pleaaase.

final thoughts:

i think the devil will be revealed and dealing with that fall-out will be mjf's storyline after losing his belt. joe will be a good transitional champ for swerve to take it off mjf. if joe wins, swerve will be champ by DoN. if mjf retains, swerve will be champ by revolution.

adam cole will be involved with the devil stuff but there will be no other big surprise debuts or returns. EXCEPT FOR THE BUCKS IN THE BATTLE ROYALE.

[pepsi-maxwell]

actual dynamite thoughts:

amazing opening match with yuta and mjf! my boy even got a clean fucking win augh

but. the end. it plays into their history but... ehhh. i don't think I'm ready for face/nice guy mjf? idk i kinda hope it's all an act because i prefer him being a bastard man, but... he's just so fucking over its hard to hate him the way he wants lmao

maybe he can sell me on it, though. who knows, let's see where it goes

genuinely enjoyed lethal vs darby, it's a shame they're dicks because darby can be such a good mat wrestler when he's not actively trying to kill himself

sammy's still there? huh?!

wardlow <3 big meaty men slapping meat <3

WARDLOW HURRICANRANA!!!

ftwarjoe <3

and it's such a good match but holy fuck every week this is mentioned but they need to devote more time to the women's division and they won't unless their name is britt baker

women's trios match though, i love all of them so much <3

national scissoring day bringing my mood up at least!!!

acclaimed every wednesday <33333 god i fucking love them so much

ohhh swerve interruption, you bastard man! still, swerve vs billy gunn should be good!

hangman vs rush was very enjoyable! tiny glimpse of mjf and his emotional support poker chip too <3

this really was supposed to be hangman's championship feud, huh? hangman vs moxley. and you know what i'm here for it, we get this match now! and another mjf shot please stay the dickhead please please please

genuinely willow should be all elite at this point right? she's been featured a lot lately, she's got tees on the shop aew store... i fucking love her to bits <3

"you broke my heart. but now i'm gonna break you piece by piece until i break you" oh MY heart, darling boy

got spoiled for the result of the main event and if it doesn't lead to bryan winning in toronto... i literally do not give a fuck about the jas anymore they have fast forward heat at this point

[wrestlingisfake]

AEW Fake Rankings, 7/15/2024

Men's singles division - babyfaces

Swerve Strickland (AEW men's world champion)

Jon Moxley

Bryan Danielson

Will Ospreay (AEW international champion)

Mark Briscoe (ROH men's world champion)

Orange Cassidy

PAC

Kyle O'Reilly

Katsuyori Shibata

Tomohiro Ishii*

Men's singles division - heels

MJF

Adam Page

Kazuchika Okada (AEW continental champion)

Jack Perry (AEW TNT champion)

Chris Jericho (FTW champion)

Konosuke Takeshita

Roderick Strong

Kyle Fletcher

Big Bill

Rush

Unranked: Angelico, Anthony Henry*, AR Fox, Dalton Castle*, Jeff Jarrett, Marko Stunt*, Matt Menard, Rocky Romero*, Serpentico, The Beast Mortos*, The Butcher, Tommy Billington*

Jobbers: Ben Bishop*, GPA*, Kevin Blackwood*, London Lightning*, LSG*, Michael Allen Richard Clark*, MSG*, Rhett Titus*, Shaun Moore*

* - Not listed on the AEW's official roster

Right now the main storylines in this division appear to be: Strickland vs. Danielson; MJF vs. Garcia; Ospreay or MJF vs. PAC; Perry vs. a returning Darby Allin; and Briscoe, Cassidy, and O'Reilly against Strong, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett. I'm confident Jericho, Big Bill, and Bryan Keith will continue feuding with HOOK, Samoa Joe, and Shibata, but that seems to be on hold (possibly creating room for the teased Jericho vs. Minoru Suzuki program).

Okada and Page seem a bit lost in the shuffle for now, even though they're both in the "blood & guts" double cage match on 7/24, and Okada has a non-title match with Strickland this week. Both men could be set up as challengers for Swerve, but not right away. My guess is they'll just be squashing a lot of undercard guys over the next six weeks.

The Don Callis Family is in a bit of disarray, what with Powerhouse Hobbs and Trent Beretta getting injured, Ospreay leaving the group, and Takeshita about to tour Japan for a month. On 7/13 Callis started an issue with Billington, Cash Wheeler, and Dax Harwood, but as it stands he won't have anybody to back him up against those guys except Kyle Fletcher. So I expect some big moves from Callis, and it'll take more than simply trying to recruit Rush.

Men's tag team division - babyfaces

The Acclaimed - Max Caster & Anthony Bowens

Lucha Bros. - Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero Miedo

Wheeler Yuta (ROH pure champion) & Claudio Castagnoli

Private Party - Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen

Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo*

Komander (AAA cruiserweight champion) & Metalik*

The Outrunners - Truth Magnum* & Turbo Floyd*

Men's tag team division - heels

The Young Bucks - Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW tag team champions)

Matt Taven & Mike Bennett (ROH tag team champions)

* - Not listed on the AEW's official roster

The tag division is pretty lopsided, although that doesn't have to be a problem if you're keeping both sets of belts on the two heel teams. But if, for example, the Acclaimed actually dethrone the Young Bucks soon, they're gonna need a mess of heel teams to work with in a hurry. (In theory you could just cannibalize the trios division to fill the void, but I'm not a fan of doing that.)

Five months into AEW's alliance with CMLL, Kommander seems to be the only luchador left in AEW that hasn't severed all ties with CMLL's rival, AAA. I expect he'll either drop the title and stop working for AAA, or he'll gradually get phased out of AEW (which would be a huge mistake in my opinion).

Men's trios division - babyfaces

Juice Robinson & Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn

Malakai Black & Brody King & Buddy Matthews

Darius Martin & Dante Martin & Action Andretti

Men's trios division - heels

The Patriarchy - Christian Cage & Killswitch & Nick Wayne

Cage of Agony - Brian Cage & Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun

Shane Taylor Promotions - Shane Taylor & Anthony Ogogo & Lee Moriarty

Premier Athletes - Josh Woods & Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari

Iron Savages - Boulder* & Bronson* & Jacked Jameson*

* - Not listed on the AEW's official roster

The trios division has been kinda wild lately because a lot of the bigger acts, like Chris Jericho's Learning Tree or Mark Briscoe's Conglomeration, have been nowhere near the trios title. Instead we've had two heel teams--the Patriarchy and the House of Black--chasing a third--Jay White and the Gunns--and two of those three teams are now down a man, so now it's Patriarchy vs. Robinson and the Gunns vying for the vacant title. I'm not even sure if AEW is trying to turn House of Black or the Bang Bang Gang babyface, but it's clearly happening one way or another.

(Technically, Buddy Matthews is out with a storyline injury and has yet to return. But since that was to cover for his legit honeymoon, and since WWE is heavily promoting the return of his wife Rhea Ripley for tonight, I assume Buddy doesn't have anything better to do this week than to stage his own return.)

Women's division - babyfaces

Toni Storm (AEW women's world champion)

Willow Nightingale (CMLL women's world champion)

Thunder Rosa

Hikaru Shida

Queen Aminata

Lady Frost*

Trish Adora*

Leyla Hirsch

Rachael Ellering*

Women's division - heels

Mercedes Mone (AEW TBS champion, STRONG women's champion)

Mariah May

Kris Statlander

Deonna Purrazzo

Skye Blue

Nyla Rose

Saraya

Serena Deeb

Harley Cameron

Anna Jay

Jobbers: Ava Lawless*, Kelly Madan*

* - Not listed on the AEW's official roster

It feels like the women's division is firing on all cylinders lately. We've got four key feuds--Storm vs. May, Mone vs. Britt Baker, Nightingale vs. Statlander, and Rosa vs. Purrazzo--not to mention Athena vs. Aminata and Billie Starkz vs. Red Velvet over in ROH. It also seems like Shida, Nyla, and Skye are being primed to step up when the time comes. This is really good--it feels like a division, and not just the same six women endlessly wrestling each other.

No televised AEW matches in over 30 days: Aaron Solo, Alex Reynolds, Angelo Parker, Bobby Dutch, Brandon Cutler, Diamante, Evil Uno, Griff Garrison, John Silver, Lance Archer, Lee Johnson, Marina Shafir, Taya Valkyrie, Vincent Marseglia

Everybody here is mainly working midcard matches for the ROH tapings. Right now I can't even tell that any of them are being set up for matches in the Death Before Dishonor show on 7/28, which seems like a waste. But all of them are still working regularly, even if you haven't seen them around lately.

No televised AEW or ROH matches in over 30 days: Abadon, Athena (ROH women's world champion), Billy Gunn, Britt Baker, Bryan Keith, Cash Wheeler, Colt Cabana, Danhausen, Darby Allin, Dax Harwood, Dustin Rhodes, Emi Sakura, Jay Lethal, Johnny TV, Kiera Hogan, Kip Sabian, Leila Grey, Madison Rayne, Mercedes Martinez, Nick Comoroto, Peter Avalon, Preston Vance, Red Velvet, Ricky Starks, Sammy Guevara, Satnam Singh, Scorpio Sky, Wardlow

Baker, Harwood, Wheeler, and Allin all just came back to TV. Lethal and Singh have been on-screen supporting Jeff Jarrett, but that's about it. (Singh was recently moved out of the official roster's wrestlers' section to the broadcasters' section, for whatever that's worth.) Athena is doing an angle on ROH where she says she can't wrestle but she has a title match scheduled. Velvet is also booked for the ROH PPV. The Patriarchy clobbered Sabian on TV the other day, but I'm not sure whether that means he'll be doing anything in the near future.

The last I heard about Guevara is that his suspension was lifted some time ago, so I can only assume they haven't come up with a story to bring him back, or they're holding off so he can return alongside Tay Melo. Scorpio has been doing some weird vignettes to set up his return, although I can't remember seeing one in a while. I'm starting to wonder what's up with Wardlow, Starks, and Vance, and at this point I've given up hope Danhausen will ever be back.

No televised AEW or ROH matches in 2024: Dralistico, Luther, Mark Sterling, Michael Nakazawa, Mother Wayne, Paul Wight, Penelope Ford, Prince Nana, Rebel, Sonjay Dutt, Stokely Hathaway

Dralistico and Ford are the only ones on this list that I would expect to see wrestling regularly. Wight is clearly semi-retired, if not retired altogether. Luther, Sterling, Nana, Dutt, and Stokely could wrestle, but they're firmly established as seconds. I can't even remember the last time I saw Nakazawa or Rebel. Shayna Wayne, to my knowledge, has never been a pro wrestler, but I suppose sooner or later the Patriarchy will do a comedy mixed tag match.

Inactive

Adam Cole (left leg - ankle fracture)

Adam Copeland (left leg - tibia fracture)

Angel Ortiz (right shoulder - pectoralis tear)

Bandido (left arm - wrist fracture)

Chuck Taylor (left ankle - necrosis)

Daniel Garcia (storyline - "cervical injuries")

Eddie Kingston (right leg - tibia fracture, ACL/meniscus tear)

HOOK (storyline - fireball to the face)

Jamie Hayter (right shoulder - unspecified injury)

Jay White (storyline - unspecified injury)

Julia Hart (unspecified injury)

Keith Lee (unspecified injury)

Kenny Omega (diverticulitis)

Kota Ibushi (right ankle - multiple ligament tears)

Mark Davis (left arm - wrist fracture)

Matt Sydal (right foot - reconstructive surgery)

Miro (unspecified injury)

Powerhouse Hobbs (right knee - unspecified injury)

Riho (right arm - unspecified fracture)

Ruby Soho (pregnancy)

Samoa Joe (on leave - filming Twisted Metal TV show)

Tay Melo (maternity leave)

Trent Beretta (unspecified injury)

The Blade (lower back - unspecified injury)

Yuka Sakazaki (left leg - unspecified injury)

I don't expect Hook, Jay White, or Garcia to be gone for very long--ideally all three should return to set up grudge matches at Wembley Stadium. I'd say the same for Joe, except I don't know how long it will take to wrap up his filming schedule.

I don't know when Adam Cole will be back, but the fact he took a brainbuster from MJF in May suggests he's coming along pretty well. The big question is what there is for him to return to, now that the guy he turned heel on has also turned heel, and has moved on to new business. So there may be no rush to get him back on-screen, unless they have a story in mind.

Ortiz expects to be back around August. Melo is training for her in-ring return, but I wouldn't know how long that will take. I heard recently that Bandido is getting his wrist re-evaluated, but it's been a tough recovery so I won't be surprised if he's not back soon. I never heard of Copeland tearing any ligaments, so if he just had a broken bone that may not take much longer to recover from, although at his age I think he should take his time.

Everybody else on this list is a total question mark as far as I know. And I think it's worth remembering what Britt Baker recently said about suffering a mini-stroke during her time away. There are a lot of injury reports floating around online, but we never really know everything the wrestlers are going through when they're not on-screen.

[dani-the-mark]

AEW All Out 2021 Review

AKA The PPV that turned my brain to scrambled eggs

Miro vs Eddie Kingston

We start off with “Redeem Deez Nuts”. Beautiful. This match was good, but nothing to what the rest of the card would bring. It is a little sad now that I say that, but I liked how it eased everyone in. I’m sure this is not the end of this feud.

Satoshi Kojima vs John Moxley

Jon is on his bullshit here and made it turn very brutal very quickly. Overall, this was a solid match and a good intro to Kojima for the uninitiated. At the time I thought it could have afforded to be a little longer, but with no stakes and with what’s to come I understand.

We also get our first debut of the night, Minoru Suzuki. Moxley preceded to have a “punch fest” Suzuki, which was a little silly but exciting.

Britt Baker vs Kris Statlander

I feel that this match fit in a comfortable space, it didn’t need to be anything special. That being said, it had great moments. First, Britt breaking the fourth wall was great. Then the powerbomb scissor kick combination from Kris. Orange cracking, and by extension Britt cracking. All great. They were slightly clunky going into the finish, but I can excuse that because of how much energy they were putting in

Lucha Bros vs Young Bucks

WHAT AN INTRO FOR THE LUCHA BROS. I feel that was the start of an atmosphere that would carry the rest of the night. There were “Zero Miedo” chants before it even started. Right out of the gate, the Bucks tried to escape, which began them being overly cocky throughout the rest of the match. Which isn’t a surprise but still. This is also apparent when the Bucks attempted to demask the brothers, and from there the match quickly went hardcore. A shoe covered in thumbtacks can apparently produce a lot of blood.

Overall, this was the match of the night and the Lucha Bros deserve this title run for as long as possible.

21-woman Casino Battle Royale

I can’t breathe at this point, so much has already happened. Here we got a mild rest, with good feud references, Nyla Rose on her usual demolition path, and a hint of Diamante vs Swole. Then, we got Ruby Soho. Which is awesome!

But, I don’t think she should have won. Last eliminated would have been fine, but Rosa deserved a win here. I’m also just not a big fan of people getting such high-stakes wins on a debut. I will admit, the back and forth on the ring edge was very entertaining. Basically, good ending with the wrong winner.

MJF vs Chris Jericho

Do you ever just look at the TV screen and drool? Because that’s what I did. I was white-knuckling the whole way. Jericho just seemed to be having fun, and I’m happy for him. These two were going to put on a banger, we knew this going in, but the stakes did something great here. Some standout moves: MJF’s troll intro referencing Y2J, the partition tossed into MJF’s head, Jericho’s lionsault, and the false finish. Honestly, I didn’t like the false finish, but MJF is a master heel and the look on his face when they reversed the decision was WORTH IT. As was getting to see him tap.

Darby Allen vs CM Punk

This match came prepackaged with an impeccable atmosphere. You could go back and just listen to the chants and know the importance of this match. Overall, the moves were jumpy and clever. I could tell Darby was leading sometimes, but Punk was following well and clearly, has been ready for this. Case and point, Darby getting LAUNCHED out of the ring, which was probably my favorite moment. Also, go to sleep must have felt good for Punk. I need to watch old Punk matches now

QT Marshall vs Paul Wight

Okay, it’s nap time! But, we got to watch Paul beat people up for a bit, which was nice.

Kenny Omega vs. Christian Cage

If you had told me last year this match was happening I would not believe you. But, I’m so glad it’s true. Kenny being Kenny, with his slipperiness and cotton candy douche bag right behind him at every turn. One minute here comes a table, then there goes the table. Quite frankly, there were a surprising amount of table spots and added needed energy after everything that had already happened on the show. It also felt like a touch of old school coming out from Christian’s TLC days. Speaking of Christian, he is nothing if not fearless and seemed to go feral towards the end of the match. The high-angle cloverleaf looked genuinely painful BECAUSE it was rushed and sloppy. Like he was running out of time and doing everything possible. Then, “Don’t do this”.

Gallows and Anderson. Didn’t like them being here, so we’re going to move on

A beautiful one-winged angel over the top rope, then the match is over.

There were 20 minutes. I was braced for impact. The first words out of my mouth when the bell rang was “If I hear Flight of the Valkyries, I will cry.” But no, it was the boyfriend of one of my favorite wrestlers and former half of the Big Top Tag Team Champions. Adam Cole came home. Frankly, I thought this was better. Adam Cole deserved to be here.

Then, Flight of the Valkyries actually did hit, and suddenly I was on the floor. I’m not even joking. I hit the floor, head in hands. Bryan Danielson. I’m still sitting here in a daze over this.

The raw emotion tonight, the environment AEW has cultivated, has lead to this.

Bravo, AEW. Now keep cultivating it. We have even higher expectations now.

Thank you, goodnight.

[andymull]

AEW Full Gear 2019 – Preview & Predictions

Cody vs Chris Jericho (c) – AEW World Championship Match

This match also now has the added stipulation that if Cody loses he can never go for the world title again………..smells like a screwy finish to me, more later.

Such a well built and enjoyable feud between these guys, Cody played a clever stroke when AEW started putting on shows by letting Omega go for the title first then Hangman Page. Knowing that Jericho was going to be a dominant champion for awhile he instead wrestled just out of sight of the title knocking up win after win, and when this company is trying to be known as one that runs with its records it made a lot of sense for him to do so. Not being cynical or having a crazy theory but both Omega and Page have had to take backwards steps slightly because of that whereas Cody has been able to stride forward once the tv deal began and now finds his-self in the spot of spots.

Jericho has again been able to re-invent his-self again in his career as le champion and the leader of the Inner Circle (still not sure about that tbh), he’s worked well to get over a new finisher with the Judas Elbow too.

With the added stipulation I see this coming down to Cody having the match won after the Inner Circle and The Elite try to interfere and end up causing a big riot at ringside, this results in Cody having Jericho ready to hit his finisher when Hangman Page turns on Cody letting Jericho retain. They have been playing it up on Being The Elite for awhile now with Page feeling left adrift slightly from the rest of the group, with Cody and others trying to bring him back into the fold but I see this being his hook to turn holding it over all of the Elite. The popular option of who to turn would be MJF, but truthfully ITS TOO OBVIOUS!!!! They have to see that already and realise they need to hold it off for as long as possible, then twist it and either have Cody catch him mid turn OR even have Cody turn on him first…..but that’s for later – CODY

Jon Moxley vs Kenny Omega – Lights Out Match

Another lights out match? Ok

Still not sure if I like these guys together, they’ve had some fun angles but clicking in-ring for me is still to be seen. They’ve tried to hold off with Mox as much as possible so as to not burn out certain matches which is clever, but at the same time it feels like there should have been more to this feud before the big match.

They’ve ran the story of Kenny losing the title match but now has finally started to get his mojo back, but I don’t feel he’s winning tonight sadly and its going to hurt again as people were/are expecting him to be the main guy in the company from the get go having the best matches weekly. Its just not plausible though is it? You cant run everything from the beginning of your tv deal, some ideas have to be held back and paced out, and the main one is Kenny being the best in the world. The time will come, no doubts about that, and it will be great but it will be a bumpy road ahead for alittle while yet…………….then we’ll be talking about is it possible to reach the heights of the last few years in New Japan against Okada with the talent they have in AEW? Definite thing to write about in the future.

Im going to be going with Mox taking the win tonight and setting his-self up for the next title feud against Jericho, hopefully they book it well so that the crowd don’t turn too much on Omega not winning – MOXLEY

Riho (c) vs Emi Sakura – AEW Women’s World Championship

The teacher vs the student, just a shame the company haven’t been drilling this match and story the past few weeks and instead it felt like a rushed match for the PPV.

Should be a fun match with two women who know each other inside out and should have a PPV caliber match in mind for this perfectly – RIHO

Proud -N- Powerful vs The Young Bucks

This should be an excellent match between two great teams, I don’t think this will be the last of their bouts while the two groups feud but hopefully the Bucks allow themselves to take the victory tonight – YOUNG BUCKS

Hangman Page vs Pac

The rubber match between the two finally takes place, just a shame that the feud has died slightly from where it was before the Pac situation of not coming in previously to lose while champion in Dragon Gate. Currently Pac has gone from strength to strength on tv with his win record while Page has stumbled in his attempt to be the young rising star that AEW will create from the go.

As I mentioned previously I see Page turning in the main event and to add another added level to his turning will be him losing here, it then allows him to say that no-one came to help him in this match whereas The Elite will end up ringside in the title match to help Cody.

Pac will take the victory, not sure where he goes next, potentially Omega? – PAC

The Lucha Bros vs SCU (c) vs Private Party

Three fun teams should make for a really fun match, probably EXTREMELY spotty but who cares.

No chance the titles change hands already so SCU retain, ill take them to pin one of Private Party to win and hopefully not the Lucha Bros as they’ve lost enough – SCU

Shawn Spears vs Joey Janela

Really not looking forward to this, Spears has looked very average since coming in having competitive matches recently with guys he should have run through to build him up. While Janela’s record isn’t that good and is more of a hardcore guy not a guy able to go higher than 3 stars in a solid wrestling match (though is trying very hard to improve, see the Omega 2nd match).

Have to imagine that Spears goes over and most likely sets up a series with MJF once he’s fully fit for action, but man he’s dropped since debuting against his friend Cody and clocked him with that chair, they said it wasn’t his fault it was the chair but the lack of a push didn’t seem that way….who knows – SPEARS

Britt Baker vs Bea Priestley – Buy In Match

Poor Britt has really taken a beating on social media with how much she’s been pushed since debuting (did you know she’s a Dentist?) and Bea hasn’t been around weekly I don’t think to be able to really push this feud. After Bea had alittle brawl with Sadie Gibbs backstage then followed that up with being super stiff and awkward in her match after im still to be convinced they really want to push her fully yet. And truthfully this being put on the Buy In show kinda shows their ideas for both girls sadly/currently. Britt needs alittle time off of Dynamite to have afew wins on AEW Dark then return back up later (Did I mention she’s a qualified Dentist?) - BAKER

Have to imagine they have another big match or two on the Buy In show as well to get guys a pay day.

Should be a real fun show, hopefully it doesn't go on too long on PPV but as long as the big names get time then great

Bye for now

Andy

[hazyheel]

NJPW Dominion 2019 Review

Ah, after three days of watching terrible Super Showdown, I finally get something good from New Japan. Couldn’t be happier right now.

First match was the new IWGP United States Champion, Jon Moxley against the young lion Shota Umino. Moxley once again entered through the crowd. Umino started with a huge dive right out of the ring and into Moxley. This match was not for the title, but more so for Moxley to prove himself as a deserving champion. Moxley quickly did just that, drilled Umino with a killer clothesline. Moxley quickly got the win with death rider, and poor Shota Umino really had the crap kicked out of him.

After the match, Moxley cut a promo saying that he wanted to enter the G1 climax. AAAAAAAAH that is awesome. Moxley also quite roughly pulled Umino to the back. 

Grade: B. As bummed as I was to see this match be so short, it definitely couldn’t have been longer. This was exactly how much effort it should have taken for a champion to beat a young boy. Still fun stuff though. Love to see Moxley in New Japan, and it’ll be even better to see him in the G1.

Then we had Shingo Takagi vs. Satoshi Kojima. This was also Takagi’s heavyweight debut. The two locked up a bit, but it quickly became a body block contest, where Takagi actually won. There were a lot of strikes right out of the gate, and nearly got both counted out while beating the crap out of each other on the outside. The two traded both strikes and chops in the corner, which was fun to see given how celebrated Kojima’s chops are. At one point, Takagi drilled Kojima with a death valley driver on the apron. At one point, Shingo went for a pumping bomber, only for it to be blocked by Kojima, who then hit one of his own. Another time, even three pumping bombers wouldn’t put Kojima down, but only one was needed to put Shingo down. Shingo fought back into the match, hitting made in japan, a pumping bomber, and last of the dragons for the win.

After the match, Shingo also said that he wanted to enter the G1. This year is shaping up to be a great field of wrestlers. 

Grade: B+. Wow, although this wasn’t the hardest hitting match Shingo had ever been in, at times he seemed like he was outclassed by his heavier opponent. I think that Shingo’s transition into the heavyweight division will have some bumps along the road. I think that it will be a fun story. This was a good match as well, showing that these matches may be a bit tougher, but Shingo can fight through them and get some big wins. I liked the story it told, and I thought that Kojima was a good first opponent. 

Next up was a tag match in a violent feud. Jushin Thunder Liger and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr. The heels attacked before the bell and they all brawled on the outside. The heels worked together very well, just tearing at any limb that they could get ahold of. At one point, Jushin Thunder Liger ran in to hit Hashi for not tagging him in. Finally he was able to, and he want Suzuki and liger facing off and savagely beating one another. Neither of the heels really took Hashi seriously, mostly just toying with him, which created an interesting underdog dynamic to accompany his recent challenge to the British Heavyweight Championship. And that upset was exactly what happened, with Hashi rolling up Sabre for the win, while Liger held Suzuki on the outside.

The two brawled a bit after the match, but Hashi was able to put the champion down. Suzuki was herded away by several young lions, and he shockingly did not murder any of them.

Grade: B-. Good match, suffered a bit from Liger and Hashi not being an established team, so it wasn’t like a classic tag match or anything. But the finish makes sense, probably sets up a match at the next big New Japan show, or possibly a RevPro show. It also did not resolve the feud between Liger an Suzuki, so that will continue to build. Decent match though, always love Suzuki and Sabre as a team. 

Into a 6 man tag match, Chase Owens, Taiji Ishimori & Chase Owens vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson. Juice and Owens locked up first, nice little callback to their feud in March. Owens tried to bring up the intensity against Juice, but he just beat the living crap out of Owens after that. Ishimori and Taguchi squaring up. Jay white soon tagged himself in, and beat the crap out of Taguchi, not even waiting for Tanahashi to tag in. At one point, Tanahashi and White were both down and looking for a tag, so Ishimori distracted the ref, and Owens just ran in to pull him into their corner. The finish was a bit abrupt, with White hitting Tana as he ran the ropes, so Juice pulled him off the apron for a huge left hand to god. Tana then gave owens a chokehold into a reverse ddt for the win. 

Grade: C+. Fun match, but not much in terms of story or high spots. I though that the abrupt finish kinda hurt the match, but it makes sense for Tana to get this win. I like the darker version of Juice Robinson after he lost his United States Championship, it is really cool and a much needed new direction for his character.

Then we started the title matches of the evening, with Taichi vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER Openweight Championship. Taichi tried to play mind games with Ishii, but Ishii played them right back, such as lying on his back when Taichi tried to goad him to fight on the outside. Ishii also threw Taichi’s weapons away, saying that he doesn’t need them. The two traded blows in the middle of the ring, where Taichi compromised Ishii’s footing with low kicks, eventually knocking him to the mat. Taichi was actually fighting this match straight up in the beginning, bringing down Ishii several times with powerful strikes, and even a saito suplex. That changed when Taichi shoved the ref into Ishii and went for a low blow, but Ishii blocked two of them and nailed a headbutt. There was a long submission sequence where Ishii nearly passed out in a modified dragon sleeper, but he eventually let him go and hit a huge buzzsaw kick in the head. At one point, Ishii actually countered black mephisto into a powerbomb, and followed it up with a sliding lariat, and then a vertical drop brainbuster for the win. 

Grade: A-. A great match, and a really interesting feud. I love that Taichi almost leveled up for this match, going strike for strike with Ishii, and having the advantage for most of the match. I love that the feud is based on Taichi wanting Ishii’s respect, and Ishii being willing to give it if Taichi was an honest competitor. But Taichi doesn’t want it that way, so he tries to take it. It was a really good match, better than their New Japan cup bout, and it shows the  evolution of Taichi as he tries harder and harder to hang with the heavyweights. Ishii is an interesting choice for this, I definitely pictured him higher up on the card, but it should give us at least one more great match for the belt. I’m kinda done assuming that the NEVER champions will have a nice long reign, but I am okay with Ishii having a belt. 

Next up was EVIL and SANADA vs. the Guerrillas of Destiny for the IWGP Tag Team Championships. Sanada soaked in the love from the crowd, while Tama Tonga was giving a mix of cheers and jeers. As they started, Tama was outwrestled quickly by Sanada, so he retreated to his corner. Stronger members of the team had a test of strength by slamming into each other, with Evil winning after a couple hits. Jado got involved by nailing Evil in the back with the kendo stick while the ref was distracted. Evil had the crap kicked out of him by GOD, who weren’t targetting anything but just hitting him super hard and super fast. Sanada eventually got tagged in, putting Loa in the paradise lock so he could hit Tama with a dropkick and Jado with a splash over the top. There was a cool combination from the faces, with a superplex from Evil to Tama, followed by a standing moonsault from Sanada, and then a scorpion deathlock from Evil for a submission sequence. The faces later locked in dueling submissions, with a scorpion deathlock on Tama, and skull end on Loa. Tama was about to tap out when Jado pulled the ref out of the ring, and then started attacking the faces with the kendo stick. Jado was about to really attack Evil when BUSHI ran down, snatching the stick and misting Jado, hitting him with the stick and a suicide dive before rushing to the back. Los Ingobernables de Japon went for magic killer on Tama, only for him to flip out of it and roll up Evil with a handful of tights for the win. 

Grade: B-. A very WWE style match, with a lot of heel work on the babyfaces, some exciting comebacks and ultimately a dirty win. Still, the closing stretch was really exciting, and it was a fun match overall. Good heel work, but there wasn’t enough back and forth here to have a great match. I have no clue who challenges the champions next, there is a huge hole in the division for face teams. 

After that, Katsuyori Shibata came out, much to everyone’s surprise, and he brought out KENTA, and I got chills. KENTA is in goddamn new japan. I thought for sure that he would go back to NOAH, but he is in New Japan. For those of you that do not know who KENTA is, this is Hideo Itami from WWE. He left after the Royal Rumble earlier in the year, and has been gone since. He has never been in New Japan show before, and I am so excited to see him. THEN HE ALSO SAID THAT HE WANTED IN THE G1, OH MY GOD. I can’t wait for the G1 this year.

We went right into the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match: Dragon Lee vs. Will Ospreay. We started with a handshake, always nice to see. Classic babyface battle, I’m happy to see it. They started out with a quick series of counters, going back and forth countering finishers. At one point, Dragon Lee perched Ospreay on the guardrail, and fucking destroyed both of them, and Milano on Japanese commentary with a suicide dive. The crowd chanted for Milano, and I really hope that he is okay. Ospreay went for the stormbreaker at one point, but Lee countered it into a huge DDT. The two had an awesome sequence where Ospreay flipped out of a german suplex, and then kicked off of Lee’s chest, only to be met with a high knee and a reverse rana, and he then fought Lee with a Spanish fly coming off the ropes. Another time, Lee want for a hurricarana off the apron, but Ospreay flipped out of it and hit a powerbomb on the apron and then a shooting star press for a near fall. Lee then countered the os cutter with a knee the to head as he flew through the air. There was almost a double countout after a double stomp on the apron, but they made it back in. Ospreay went for a powerbomb, and Lee reversed it into a destroyer, and then a running knee for a near fall. Ospreay destroyed lee with a spin kick, ripcord hook kick, hidden blade, an os cutter and the stormbreaker. 

After the match, Lee put the belt on Ospreay. Ospreay also went to the english commentary desk to announce that the first defense would be at Southern Showdown against Robby Eagles. Love it. 

Grade: A. So I guess I was wrong about Ospreay moving to the heavyweight division, and the Lee vs. Takahashi match. But this match was absolutely awesome. They worked at such a fast pace throughout, the strikes were absolutely devastating, and the high spots soared above anything before it on the card. They worked super well together, and we got to see a lot more of the old Ospreay in this match, lots of flips, and I had missed it. I still think that Ospreay will move to the heavyweight division eventually, but they need to repopulate the juniors first. As for Lee vs. Takahashi, I can’t imagine a better comeback match, even if it isn’t for a title. Match of the night.

Then we had Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The two started with quick exchanges on the mat and quickly progressed to strikes. Naito was super over as a heel here, with the crowd extremely vocal about how much they hate him. He certainly played into that, holding onto a leg full nelson for much longer than the ref let him, and spitting at Ibushi quite a bit. As per their usual type of match, they absolutely wrecked each other’s necks. At one point, the two battle on the apron, each trying to plant the other on the tops of their heads, Naito won out, giving Ibushi a nasty german suplex off the apron, and Ibushi’s head clipped the apron, giving me flashbacks to Ospreay last year at Sakura genesis. Naito followed up with a reverse rana off the top, but still only a near fall. Naito then went for destino, but Ibushi countered into a tombstone. Ibushi then went for the bomoye, but Naito dodged it and hit a dragon suplex and destino, but Ibushi kicked out. Naito kept attacking the neck, using a huge spike DDT, a spinning reverse DDT. He went for Destino, but Ibushi countered it, so Naito hit a reverse rana, and then a fireman’s carry piledriver for a near fall. Finally, Naito hit one more destino for the win.

After the match, Naito held posed with his boot on Ibushi’s face, with the title above his head. 

Grade: A. Another great match from these guys. The german suplex spot was just terrifying an awful and I hope Ibushi is okay, but the rest of this match was exciting, hard hitting, told an awesome story. This was supposed to be their last match ever, so they left it all in the ring. They always murder each other in these matches, and Naito had to if he wanted to win. While I think this is the worst of their matches this year, that does not mean for a minute that this was bad. It was so good, and I hope this isn’t the last time that they clash. The next time they fight may be in the G1, or it could be later than that. I just want it again. 

And in the main event, we had Chris Jericho vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Jericho tried to play games here, but Okada just chased him down and put him on the ground. Jericho was a great heel here, throwing Okada into the commentators desk, and giving him a DDT on top of one. Jericho continuously attacked the ref and was giving Okada stiff shots whenever he could. At one point, Okada booted Jericho over the rail, and went for the spash, but Jericho countered the splash with a codebreaker. The two jockeyed for position, both trying for a tombstone, but Jericho eventually put Okada on the mat and locked in the walls of jericho for a submission sequence. The crowd was very much behind Okada during this match, and desperately cheered for any of his moves that he could hit. Jericho always seemed to be a step ahead of Okada, always able to connect a high impact strike to counter one of Okada’s big moves. He frustrated Okada to the point that Okada started playing a bit fast and loose with the rules. Jericho was able to hit another codebreaker, hesitating just a bit before going for the pin so only a near fall. Jericho exposed the turnbuckle in the corner, and came back out to try for a rainmaker of his own, which Okada countered with a codebreaker for a near fall. Once again, Okada had to fight out of a walls of jericho, while the commentators talked about the significance of Jericho submitting the champion with a move that young lions use. Jericho then went for the Judas effect, which Okada dodged and went for a rainmaker. Jericho dodged and went for the codebreaker again and Okada was able to catch him and sit down on Jericho for the win out of nowhere.

Jericho was furious about that finish, so he beat down Okada, giving him a Judas effect, beating him with a chair and even wrapping it around his neck and throwing him into the post. He was about to put Okada through a table at ringside, when Tanahashi jumped the rail from commentary and fought him off. Jericho then seemed to challenge Tanahashi for a future match. I don’t know when, but that would be exciting. 

Grade: B+. Very good match. It was very different from a normal Okada match. This was a brawl, nothing more and nothing less. Jericho brought out a new side from Okada, and while Okada didn’t really seem like he would have lost, it felt like he was out of his element. Jericho still looked good here and seemed like he can still go. He is a great foil for some of the squeaky clean babyfaces in New Japan. I would love to see a rematch from these guys for a better finish, although I’m sure that Tanahashi and Jericho is the next match we will see.

Overall Grade: B+.

Predictions: 4/9.

Pros: umino vs. Moxley; kojima vs. shingo; NEVER openweight match; junior heayvweight championship match; intercontinental championship match; main event; all the stuff about the g1

Cons: a lot of people don’t seem to have much of a story going forward; tag division booking is pretty bad

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (137): Thu 28th Jul 2022

Spent the day with Luna as my sister had a training seminar to go to. It's been a while since Luna and I had a playdate just the two of us. I should volunteer to look after her more often because there will come a day when she becomes too cool to play games with her stupid uncle. First off we went to the park which was a god damn nightmare because I decided to take Lucy with us as well and this meant having to keep an eye on both of them. On the way up the hill to the park Lucy stopped to take a shit (For new readers Lucy is my dog, she's not one of my other nieces in case you think I let my young relatives shit in the street. After I picked up Lucy's turd in a bag a hearse drove past with a coffin in it which freaked me the fuck out and as usual I thought of something dark to try and relieve the tension and thought if the family would be alright with me just chucking Lucy's turd in the coffin to save me a trip to the doggy turd bin since it's going in the ground anyway. If I ever get round to actually writing a sitcom I need to write in a scene where a recently bereaved person decides to chuck a bag of trash into their dead relative's coffin after missing the bin collection day. After spending a bit of time at the park we came home and played golf in the back garden which Luna won (Obviously) and I pretended to be livid at losing the game and pretended to go to whack her with the little plastic club, giving her plenty of time to move, go behind me and whack me with her club. The thing she seems to find most hilarious is me being in pain, usually pain that has been caused by her. Checked out last night's AEW Dynamite and it was one of the best episodes I've seen in a while. It started off with a really good brawl between Rush and Jon Moxley. There was a sick moment where Rush licked Moxley's blood off his fingers. I know Mox is a family man now but in the past he has put it about a bit. If I were Rush I'd get myself checked. I thought Rush looked great in his match with Mox. He is much better as a heel which is why he bombed in ROH in my opinion as he was portrayed as a face which didn't match his in-ring antics. He also looked strong in defeat as they had him kick out of Death Rider but what counts now is how they follow up this loss because if he disappears from TV for three weeks then that will really hurt him. It was also announced that we'll be getting Moxley vs Jericho for the interim title which I'm looking forward to. Next up we had Ricky Starks (Complete with an awesome video intro) defending the FTW title against Danhausen then issuing an open challenge which he lost soundly to Hook. Afterwards Starks cut a promo where he said "People said that the FTW was a noose around my neck and I turned it into a tie" Nice sentiment but totally untrue. It's a shame too because if he'd been booked regularly on TV defending the belt then it could have done him the world of good. Afterwards Powerhouse Hobbs turned his back on Ricky Starks and it looks like we're getting a face run for Starks which I'm excited for because he has so much damn potential. If pushed right he could be the next AJ Styles. I was also really happy for Hook too. I'm not sure where the FTW title goes from here but if I had the pen I would add a rule to the FTW title so that matches can only end in submission or knockout to end the perception that it's just another title. Next we got a great high flying match between Sammy and Dante. Guessing it will lead to Sammy / Tay vs Eddie / Ruby. I would have Eddie and Ruby hold Sammy & Tay hostage after the match and threaten to harm them unless Jericho gives him one last match to end the feud. Next was the highlight of the night where Jungle Boy cut a promo on Christian Cage. JB Speculated that Christian was angry due to his recent divorce which I can totally imagine Christian giving JB that line to add some heat to the feud. Even though this is an undercard feud it has the best writing of any feud in the company right now so it feels like the main one and I know that these two will knock it out of the fucking park and hopefully Christian puts JB over. The main event was a great brawl between Daniel Garcia and a returning Bryan Danielson. Garcia dominated the match due to Danielson playing up his concussion issues. Garcia had a bit of help from Jake Hagar but ended up getting the technical knockout win over Danielson in a massive upset. It was only last week I was complaining that with AEW you can predict the results of the matches 90% of the time and before this match started I was thinking how beneficial it would be to Garcia if he went over. When Garcia had the Sharpshooter locked in at the end I actually leaned forward in my seat and tried to will Danielson to tap out. I think the last time I did this was the finish to the AJ Styles / John Cena match a couple of years ago. I'm so happy that they booked Garcia to go over. This will do wonders for his career if they follow up strongly. This was a really great episode of Dynamite as they did so much to put the younger guys over. In my opinion this is what the show should be like every week with emphasis on the younger guys being put over by the veterans.

[allelitewrestlings]

[wrestlezon]

liveblog containment zone for aew dynamite 7/27/22

you know im raring to see that ricky starks vs danhausen match

rush vs moxley! i havent seen the ROH ppv but i might catch up on it soon, sounded interesting. at least daniel garcia vs yuta it wouldnt be a match with regal on commentary if he wasnt complimenting excalibur gasp! he didnt even let moxley finish his entrance. rude HE JUST... SITS ON THE SECURITY GUY'S LAP.... HE HAD TO CRAWL AWAY................. EW DONT LICK HIS FOREHEAD BLOOD cable!!! choking!!!!!!!!!!! rush is powering up by getting damp. damper lmao his little fakeout into a soft little headkick slap trade oh that rope counter suplex manuever was cool! softest stomps ive ever seen oh man rush is doing some reaaaaal close-to-the-turnbuckles move on that one forehead bite moves ahh ref distraction tactics into andrade appearance... ok the lucha bros are chasing him off. thats still a thing going on (i do not like that feud because there was too much unmasking going on) moxley wins! ravioli ravioli sign

NO NOT JERICHO.................. anna jay why are you hanging out with these chumps. theyre being heels by annoying me with their work boooo... boo ok anna jay.a.s. is pretty good tho im weary of jericho. eddie got that big ppv win but the rest of this feud... so weary moxley is my champion. i agree with him. he speaks the truth

trios belts!!!!!!!!!!!! OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED THIS ALL BUT CONFIRMS THAT KENNY IS COMING BACK AT ALL OUT... RIGHT...

DANHAUSEN VS RICKY STARKS ricky starks' video here is so fucking good LMAO omfg he is so much LMAO DANHAUSEN stealing ricky's pose!!! POSE OFF dive!!! AUHGHGHGHH HSQUASH MATTHCHCHHH ok if they actually do a double match this time i wont be mad

HOOK............................ ok i am not mad that was a squash match now what the!! punch moves!!! is that allowed WHOA sick flip from hook DIVE MOVES counter into chokeouts!! HE TAPS OUT............!!!!!! hook... :)c danhausen helped indirectly OC GET ADBLOCK sign lol

ricky ring promo.... ;_; ricky starks i think youre super cool and stylish!! WHAT THE HELL?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

POWERHOUSE HOBBS BUT FOR WHY

i saw the acclaimed say something but im still reeling from hobbs betrayal

sammy guevara vs dante martin oh dante kiss skye blue? lots of dating going on in aew it seems sorry im still thinking about the ricky starks thing between that one interview where he was like "damn mjf has some points with all these ex-wwe people picking up the spotlight >:/" and this promo where he was like "people keep telling me to wait for my time but hell!!! im tired of waiting my time is now!!!" really got me thinking about how cool a ricky starks mjf team up would be. ricky and mjf vs the world. theyre going to fight back against all the ex-wwe... oh the match ended. wait who won? sammy??

the best friends rule. i want them to be on tv all the time, i am thoroughly entertained by their antics them carrying off orange cassidy like a plank of goddamn wood. SO GOOD

hey its jungle boy oh my god jungle boy getting SPICY LMAO WOW hes taking tough guy cues from christian cage in the process of feuding with christian cage :)c thats cool omg cage interrupting him when hes trying to get to the most personal part of his speech feud feud feud feud

hey its the bucks oh! trios belt. whos gonna be your third bucks? cutler is angling for the position OH... HANGMAN ENCOUNTER...................... THE BUCKS........ OMG THE DARK ORDER APPEAR the drama.....

swerve strickland vs tony nese and mark sterling i think the concept for this match is good :D haha. its goofy. i love lopsided matches like these-- i mean, i know swerve is still gonna win but still. im here for the antics and mark sterling tagging with tony nese is all antics by design

LMAO WHAT THE KEITH LEE LYING DEAD BACKSTAGE SLAIN BY JOSH WOODS ASSAILANT

malakai black: we live in a society

travelling belt match updates: pac fighting! thunder rosa fighting! waow also lol at excalibur having to pause because of weird mic things going on-- was that tony schiavone doing a simultaneous readout in the background? or an echo

miyu vs thunder rosa ok i think ive had enough time to calm from earlier matches to focus on this one heck of a dropkick HECK OF A CHOP!!!!!!! HELL OF A HOP OFF THE APRON INTO A COUNTERHIT my connection lagged at thunder rosa's suplex pin. held in super suspense ohhhh shit miyu's german suplex there???? WOW and that was a cool swing kick too!! i only noticed thunder rosa doing this mouthguard thing in this match and the previous miyu match. is this a new powerup move or have i just not been paying attention aww shaking hands and nuzzling. good terms

so many match announcements. adam cole and redragon are coming back!!! im SOOOOO excited about the best friends trios match on friday :DDDDDDDD the best friends! and orange!! yay

daniel garcia vs bryan danielson daniel vs danielson. holy SHIT that running jumpkick dropkick thing on garcia's head hes straddling him. hello slapping him. hellooooo bryan danielson im glad youre back and im glad youre back just in time as daniel garcia is at full horny or whatever jericho: IM HOT RIGHT NOW JIM wow bryan danielson rebounding off the fence into garcia lmao omg this poor security guard has been bothered all day. they keep stealing his seat whoa scary. dont spook me about concussions, announcers whoa!! what a backflip!!! what the... ok its in character theyre working it. okayyyy... i know danielson does this... im rearranging my mental furniture bumpin into the camera guy concrete!! vicious!!!!!!!!! oh BRYCE is SOOOO MAD man this match super slowed down. are they trying to buy time because this is a bit dragged out for just dramatic effect ok its picking up again bro these cornercam angles. all my friends are concerned... danielson............ r u ok @_@ LMAO WTF WHO WAS THAT... MYSTERY ARM FROM UNDER THE RING DRAMA OHH MY GOD DANIEL GARCIA WON... SUBMISSION HOLDED

oh the mystery arm was hager. ok....... :/ i was hoping it'd be 2point0 or something. you know. one of daniel garcia's wrestledads. what ever happened to that i like that dynamic between two barking mobster henchmen and their aloof moody wrestleson but no its....... *SIGH* jericho and hager................... daniel garcia you couldnt beat bryan danielson on your own... what kind of tough guy are you man they really drew that out to the last minute though dedication to the time slot. but at what cost :/

[henshin1shot]

2020 Year in Review

Wrestler of The Year

Tetsuya Naito

Tag Team of the Year

Street Profits

Woman Wrestler of the Year.

Sasha Banks

Feud of the Year

Cody vs Brody Lee

Popular Wrestler of the Year

Orange Cassidy

Most Dominant Faction of the Year

The Hurt Business

Most Hated Faction of the Year

Retribution

Most Improved Wrestler of the Year

Moose

Comeback of the Year

Edge

Rookie of the Year

Dominic Mysterio

High Flyer of the Year

Kota Ibushi

Underrated of the Year

Isiah Swerve Scott

Overrated of the Year

Charlotte Flair

Best Maneuver

Austin Theory (Ataxia)

Best Technician

Johnathan Gresham

Best in ring performer

Roman Reigns

Commentator of the year

Samoa Joe

Special Mention: Shingo Takagi, Minoru Suzuki Kazuchika Okada, Jey Uso, KENTA, Will Osprey, Jay White, Cesaro, Matt Riddle, Jay Lethal, Jeff Cobb, Roderick Strong, Adam Cole, Dominik Dijakovic Roman Reigns, The North, LAX, The Rascalz, Shotzi Blackheart, Moose, RVD, Jon Moxley, Ricochet, RUSH, Dragon Lee, Drew McIntrye, Keith Lee, Evil, Sanada, Pete Dune, Danny Burch, Oney Lorcan, Tyler Bate, Walter, Imperium, Austin Theroy, Velveteen Dream, Tomassco Ciampa, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Andrande, Cody, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Katsuyori Shibata, Matt Taven, PCO, Lucha Bros, (Matt Travis RIP) (Brodie Lee RIP)

[wrestlingisfake]

AEW Fake Rankings, 12/17/2022

Men's singles division - babyfaces

Jon Moxley

Bryan Danielson

Claudio Castagnoli (ROH men's world champion)

Orange Cassidy (AEW all-Atlantic champion)

Wardlow

Ricky Starks

Jack Perry

Keith Lee

Wheeler YUTA (ROH pure champion)

HOOK (FTW champion)

Men's singles division - heels

MJF (AEW men's world champion)

Chris Jericho

Samoa Joe (AEW TNT champion, ROH television champion)

Sammy Guevara (AAA mixed tag team champion)

Daniel Garcia

Ethan Page

Swerve Strickland

Luchasaurus

Powerhouse Hobbs

Lance Archer

Unranked: Aaron Solo, Action Andretti*, Anthony Henry*, Ari Daivari, Clayton Bloodstone*, Cole Karter, Danhausen, Dralistico*, Dustin Rhodes, Exodus Prime*, Izzy James*, Jake Hager, Jeff Cobb*, JD Griffey*, Juice Robinson*, Jun Akiyama*, Kip Sabian, Konosuke Takeshita, Lee Johnson, Mascara Dorada*, Nick Comoroto, Preston Vance, QT Marshall, Rocky Romero*, Rush, Shane Taylor*, Shawn Dean, Trent Seven*, Tomohiro Ishii*

*Not listed on AEW's official roster webpage

The top programs right now look to be Moxley vs. Adam Page, MJF vs. Danielson, Wardlow vs. Joe, and Lee vs. Strickland. I don't know if Jericho will keep targetting Andretti after that shocking upset, but obviously Jericho will get something big to do. Hobbs seems to be getting a push but doesn't have a clear opponent for a feud yet. Cassidy is clearly headed for a title match with Sabian, but I don't expect that story to take up much time.

The babyface side is noticeably stronger than the heel side. That works out, though, since MJF needs a steady supply of good guy opponents who already have credibility, so they won't look so bad when he beats them. After Danielson you can easily get months of booking out of MJF vs. Wardlow, MJF vs. Perry, MJF vs. Castagnoli, MJF vs. Keith Lee, MJF vs. Hook, etc., etc. I assume a rematch with Moxley will happen but it might take a while to get around to it.

While MJF is on top, AEW would do well to figure out what they're doing with lesser heels like Ethan Page, Luchasaurus, Daniel Garcia, and Lance Archer. I'm not worried about Strickland, who will be moving on up now that he's a singles guy again, but the others have rarely felt like they have a clear direction.

Men's tag team division - babyfaces

The Acclaimed - Max Caster & Anthony Bowens (AEW tag team champions)

FTR - Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler (IWGP tag team champions, AAA tag team champions)

Darby Allin & Sting

The Briscoes - Jay Briscoe* & Mark Briscoe* (ROH tag team champions)

Eddie Kingston & Ortiz

Top Flight - Dante Martin & Darius Martin

Best Friends - Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta

John Silver & Alex Reynolds

Blake Christian & AR Fox

Shinobi Shadow Squad - Cheeseburger* & Eli Isom*

Men's tag team division - heels

The Butcher & The Blade

Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal

The Kingdom - Matt Taven & Mike Bennett

Matt Menard & Angelo Parker

Lee Moriarty & Big Bill

*Not listed on AEW's official roster webpage

The big feuds here are the Acclaimed vs. Lethal's dumb faction, FTR vs. Austin and Colten Gunn, Moriarty/Bill vs. Jack Perry & Hook, and the Best Friends vs. Butcher and Blade. Silver and Reynolds have business with Rush and Preston Vance, but that may end up being a trios deal or something. Kingston and Ortiz have a score to settle with the House of Black but they probably need a third guy.

The heel side is awfully thin right now. It wasn't a big deal when FTR was mostly fighting other face teams, but they need to balance things out somehow. It would help to get the Gunns and the Varsity Athletes (Josh Woods & Tony Nese) back on TV.

Men's trios division - babyfaces

The Elite - Kenny Omega & Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson

Dalton Castle* & Brandon Tate* & Brent Tate*

Hardy Party - Matt Hardy & Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy

Men's trios division - heels

Death Triangle - PAC & Penta El 0M & Rey Fenix (AEW trios champions)

The Embassy - Brian Cage & Toa Liona* & Bishop Kaun* (ROH trios champions)

The House of Black - Malakai Black & Brody King & Buddy Matthews

*Not listed on AEW's official roster webpage

AEW managed to put together eight trios for the championship tournament this summer, and then by September virtually all eight teams were off the board. So it's good to see they've rebuilt the division somewhat. Personally I'd rather see 8-10 trios here, which should be doable without cannibalizing the singles and tag divisions.

The most notable absences here are QT Marshall's Factory, the Jericho Appreciation Society, and Ari Daivari's Trustbusters--all those groups could focus three of their guys on a trios run. I always assumed if AEW got a trios division going that the Dark Order would be a fixture in it; now that there's only three guys left in the group (Silver, Reynolds, and Evil Uno) it seems even more natural.

Women's singles division - babyfaces

Saraya

Toni Storm

Hikaru Shida (Regina di WAVE champion)

Ruby Soho

Mercedes Martinez

Willow Nightingale

Skye Blue*

Kiera Hogan

Madison Rayne

Women's singles division - heels

Jade Cargill (AEW TBS champion)

Britt Baker

Jamie Hayter (AEW women's world champion)

Athena (ROH women's world champion)

Nyla Rose

Tay Melo (AAA mixed tag team champion)

Anna Jay

The Bunny

Red Velvet

Leila Grey

Unranked: Dani Mo*, Queen Aminata*

*Not listed on AEW's official roster webpage

AEW has always struggled to present the women's division well, but I have to give them credit for actually getting 21 women on TV in the past 30 days. The storylines feel a little fuzzy right now, but maybe that'll clear up in a few weeks when we get closer to the next pay-per-view.

I feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football whenever I think this, but it seems like AEW is pairing the women off for a potential tag division. Of late we've seen Baker & Hayter, Cargill/Velvet/Grey, Anna & Tay, Bunny & Penelope Ford, Nyla & Marina Shafir, and a few makeshift babyface teams to oppose them. My dream scenario would be for this to build to Sasha Banks and Naomi coming in to finish what they started in WWE, but I shouldn't get ahead of myself.

No TV or PPV matches in 30 days: Angelico, Brandon Cutler, Emi Sakura, Evil Uno, Hagane Shinno*, Josh Woods, Leva Bates, Luther, Marina Shafir*, Peter Avalon, Satnam Singh, Serpentico, Sonny Kiss, Tony Nese, Zack Clayton*

*Not listed on AEW's official roster webpage

There are way too many wrestlers on Dark and Elevation for me to keep track of, so I'm only including the ones who wrestled in the last month and either a) won a match or b) are listed on the official roster. This rule is particularly tough on the Wingmen and the Trustbusters, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

No AEW/ROH matches in 30 days: Adam Page, Anthony Ogogo, AQA, Austin Gunn, Bandido, Brian Pillman Jr., Brock Anderson, Christopher Daniels, Colten Gunn, Frankie Kazarian, Fuego Del Sol, Matt Sydal, Michael Nakazawa, Miro, Parker Boudreaux, Penelope Ford, Riho, Scorpio Sky, Serena Deeb, Shawn Spears, Sonjay Dutt, Yuka Sakazaki

I'm not sure what's going on with these names. Adam Page is obviously medically cleared or they wouldn't even fly him in to do interviews about how he's not medically cleared. Miro and Scorp are reportedly ready to go and just don't have anything planned for them. Bandido literally just got signed a month ago and hasn't been seen since. Pillman is probably in limbo until they decide what to do with him while Griff Garrison is sidelined. I keep thinking Daniels, Nakazawa, and Dutt have retired or something, but as soon as I assume that they'll be in a match next week.

As for the rest, for all I know any of them could have an injury that didn't make the news, and we'll never know until they show up again. Four years ago it was WWE that always had a dozen or more wrestlers on ice, and I never expected AEW to end up being as bad (if not worse) with that same issue.

Part-time/semi-retired: Billy Gunn, Mark Henry, Mark Sterling, Paige VanZant, Paul Wight, Rebel, Stokely Hathaway

Inactive

Abadon (shoulder - collarbone fracture)

Adam Cole (unspecified injury - possible concussion)

Andrade El Idolo (right arm - pectoralis tear)

Christian Cage (right arm - triceps tear)

CM Punk (left arm - triceps tear; negotiating release)

Colt Cabana (unspecified injury)

Griff Garrison (unspecified injury)

Jeff Hardy (suspension; awaiting DUI trial)

Kris Statlander (right knee - ACL/meniscus tear)

Kyle O'Reilly (neck - fusion surgery)

Leyla Hirsch (right knee - ACL tear)

Santana (left knee - unspecified injury)

Thunder Rosa (back - unspecified injury)

Even if the backstage fight hadn't happened, Punk would be out with his triceps injury until at least March or April. It's been reported that Punk and AEW are negotiating a buyout of his contract, which suggests one or both sides don't want him to return. I suppose there's a slim possibility they could mend fences for a shocking comeback, but if it happened it would naturally be top super-duper maxi-extreme ultra secret.

[wrestlingisfake]

According to Dave Meltzer, the AEW/NJPW working relationship is now locked in, and will go beyond just co-promoting the Jon Moxley-KENTA feud.  I’m not sure if he knows that because reliable sources told him, or if he’s inferring that as the obvious conclusion about the angles on NJPW Strong and AEW Dynamite.  I’ve always found that Dave doesn’t realize there’s a need to make that distinction if he’s really sure, which is frustrating.

Dave ran down the history of AEW-NJPW relations, which was refreshingly succinct after two years of listening to him hem and haw about it.  Basically in January 2019 the Young Bucks and Chris Harrington met with New Japan officials, but the New Japan side didn’t take AEW seriously and insisted on meeting with Tony Khan rather than his lieutenants.  So they “big-leagued” they AEW side, which led to hard feelings all around.  What sped up the thaw is Jon Moxley, in that the pandemic made it difficult/impossible for New Japan to book him without asking Tony Khan to do them a favor.

To review the Moxley situation: After leaving WWE he signed separate contracts with both AEW and NJPW.  The only restriction is that his AEW deal prohibits him from working on NJPW shows in the US, unless AEW clears it.  Once the pandemic travel restrictions hit, Moxley couldn’t work even one NJPW date in Japan without taking weeks off from AEW, which was a big thing to ask from Tony Khan.  The only workaround was for Mox to do a show in NJPW’s LA Dojo, but he’d need Tony’s approval for that too.  Evidently, New Japan wanted Moxley badly enough to cut a deal, which presumably gave AEW a ton of leverage.  If it all works out, Jon Moxley’s departure from WWE may prove to be one of the most pivotal moments in modern pro wrestling history.

Meltzer isn’t expecting a lot of tippy-toppy New Japan guys to spend any substantial time in AEW this year, because of the travel issues.  (Kenta lives in Orlando, so he’s an exception.)  I’m not so sure.  Granted, you shouldn’t hold your breath for Kazuchika Okada or Hiromu Takahashi showing up on Dynamite.  But I’m not thinking it’s a huge sacrifice if, say, Tomohiro Ishii or Minoru Suzuki would skip one of the Japanese tours to work six weeks in Florida.  The AEW/Impact crossover has already shown that less is more when it comes to actually exchanging talent.

One immediate consequence is that the New Beginning USA show on February 26 could end up being a melting pot of wrestling promotions.  Aside from Moxley (AEW) vs. Kenta (NJPW), I’d expect to see Tom Lawlor (MLW), Brody King (ROH), TJP (Impact), Lio Rush (MLW), and Bateman (ROH).  I don’t even know how the promotions in Mexico and the UK will figure into all this changing landscape, but it probably won’t matter until the pandemic is over.

[wrestlingisfake]

Wrestle Kingdom 14 preview (part 1)

For 29 years, New Japan Pro Wrestling has run an annual Tokyo Dome show on January 4, right after Japan’s multi-day New Year celebrations.  This is the 14th such show called “Wrestle Kingdom,” and the first to expand to a two-day event.  Aside from WWE’s stadium shows, this is the biggest pro wrestling event of the year, so if you’re looking to get into NJPW, this is a good place to start.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi - Ibushi won the 2019 G1 Climax tournament for the right to challenge Okada for the IWGP heavyweight championship, the top title in New Japan.  This is being billed as part of a “Double Gold Dash” along with Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito, so the champions coming out of those two matches will meet on the January 5 show with both titles at stake.  The two guys who leave this show empty handed will wrestle in a consolation match on the undercard of the January 5 show.

Okada, a five-time champion, has held the title for 1,789 of the last 2,883 days.  In the past seven years, all the other titleholders put together have not held the belt as long as he has.  He’s The Man, handpicked to lead the company into the 2010s and beyond, and at just 32 years of age he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.  The storyline for Okada is pretty basic--he’s almost always on top, acting kinda cocky about it, and dismissing the competition until they give him a reason to take them seriously.  He’s the one guy in this Double Gold Dash who doesn’t care about being a double champion, and he resents the suggestion that his one championship is somehow inadequate.

Ibushi is something of an oddball journeyman, whose phenomenal talent has at times been at odds with his unorthodox approach to business.  He might have been champion many times over by now, but he preferred to be a free agent rather than commit to any one company, making it politically difficult to push him.  Then, just as it seemed he might jump to All Elite Wrestling with his soulmate Kenny Omega, he locked in with a long-term NJPW contract.  (If you’ve been watching AEW and wondering why Omega seems depressed and out-of-sorts, it’s because he had to leave this guy behind.)  At 37 he’s finally getting the tippy-toppy guy push he always deserved...and yet the story is that he’d kinda sorta rather have the intercontinental title, for sentimental reasons.

Expectations for this match are running high, because each man has delivered some of the best matches in the world.  Okada’s whole thing is to get in his opponent’s head by teasing him and taking him lightly until things get harder and he has to turn it up.  Ibushi’s whole thing is fighting like an anime guy--he’s all honorable at first with quick flashy moves, and then when he’s beaten down he hulks up and goes sickhouse on your ass.  Basically Ibushi is the wrong damn guy for Okada’s “you’re a good little hand, kid, but you can’t beat me” shtick, because Ibushi will kick his head off.  But Okada is the wrong damn guy for Ibushi’s “now I’m in ultimate turbo super collosal mode” shit, because Okada can weather the storm and keep going.  Whoever wins this one is going to have to damn near kill the other guy.

It’s tough to pick a winner knowing anything could happen 24 hours later.  But it feels like this is Ibushi’s time, and it’s taken a long time to get there, so he should win the big one.  But history has taught me to never doubt Okada’s ability to crush his challengers’ hopes and dreams and convince me that it’s best for business.  If anyone can roll over Ibushi’s push, it’s Okada.  But if anybody can defy conventions, it’s Ibushi.  This one’s too close to call.

Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito - White pinned Naito in the G1 Climax, and then won the IWGP intercontinental title from Naito in September, so this is the rematch.  This is also the other half of the “Double Gold Dash” along with Okada vs. Ibushi, so the champion after this match goes on to the double title match on January 5, and the other guy ends up in the consolation match.

The whole idea of everybody wanting to be double champion kicked off a year ago with Naito.  He’d always resented the intercontinental belt, dragging it on the ground and such, but after winning it at Wrestle Kingdom 13 he seemed to come to terms with it always coming back to him, and set his sights on being the first man to hold it and the heavyweight belt at the same time.  Of course, then he lost his belt to Ibushi, and had to get it back, and before you knew it Ibushi was deciding he liked the idea of being a double champion as well.  As talk of a double title match at the Tokyo Dome started heating up, White realized his best shot of regaining the heavyweight title was to take the intercontinental belt from Naito to ensure he’d be in the conversation.  But Naito, undeterred, insisted on getting a rematch with Naito, which secured his spot in this little tournament.

It’s still incredible to me that White used to be the scrawny looking young boy in the opening matches 3½ years ago.  He’s not quite at the level of the other tippy-toppy guys, but for my money he’s one of the best in the company.  Part of the reason I haven’t missed Kenny Omega in NJPW all that much is because White has taken the top gaijin role, run with it, and made it his own.  He’s so hated that, if he wins the main event on 1/5, there is a very real chance that tens of thousands of people will just rush to the exits instead of watching the end of the show.  He’s great.

The big knock on Naito is that he’s pretty banged up and can’t go like he used to.  In WWE they’d probably take him off the road, or reduce his schedule to a handful of matches each year until he could recover.  In New Japan, he seems to be on every tour, phoning it in until it’s time to pull out all the stops in a big money match.  Now he’s looking at two big money matches in a row.  If you ask me now is not the time to book Naito over two top stars and position him to defend two top belts like he’s Superman.  Then again, if you ask me, I’m not certain anyone at NJPW sees it that way.

I’m not expecting this match to be all that great.  Naito has elevated “stall to fuck with your opponent” to a whole new artform.  White, meanwhile, has perfected a strategy where he goes limp and lies on his back so opponents can’t execute their big moves (because pro wrestlers don’t know how to just stomp a guy or grab a hold, apparently).  When these two fight, it’s very much Larry Zbyszko’s “human game of chess,” and to be honest I never liked Zbyszko very much.

The outcome here really depends on what New Japan sees as the best opponent for the winner of Okada-Ibushi to headline the 1/5 show.  Of the possible combinations, Okada-Naito is the freshest match (last seen in January 2018), followed by Okada-White (April 2019), Ibushi-Naito (June 2019) and Ibushi-White (August 2019).  That sort of leads me to think Naito is the preferred winner here, in addition to the fact he’s the bigger star and the bigger draw.  The question, though, is whether his body can hold up to the demands of that star power.

Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi - Ospreay is defending the IWGP junior heavyweight championship.  Takahashi is returning from a neck injury that has sidelined him since July 7, 2018.

I was in the Cow Palace when Takahashi seemed to glide across the mat as if his face was an ice skate.  I still remember the noise the crowd made when we saw the replay.  I was relieved when Hiromu got back up and won the match to retain the junior title, because I assumed that meant everything would be all right.  By the time I learned he’d been immediately rushed to the hospital after the match, I was sightseeing in San Francisco the next day.  I followed his status updates closely, until they stopped coming.  Then I commiserated with New Japan Tumblr about the frustration of expecting him to return at every single big show.  So yeah, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.

Here’s the thing.  Both of these men do big crazy moves that elevate the art of lightweight pro wrestling.  They aim to please the crowd with high-risk spots, and accept the enormous risks of overdoing those spots.  I appreciate Will and Hiromu for their styles.  But I consider them two of my favorites because of their characters, the stuff that they could coast instead of killing themselves for style.  Ospreay didn’t elevate his game by flipping around with Ricochet, but by delivering a passionate promo about battling depression and vowing to “slay the dragon” by overcoming the (then) undefeated Shingo Takagi.  Hiromu didn’t elevate his game by feuding with Dragon Lee, but by purchasing a stuffed cat and making us treat it like a real cat. 

So as far as I’m concerned, the big angle for this match is that Ospreay has introduced his own stuffed animal mascot (Percy the Pig) to counteract Hiromu’s cats.  If they met in the center of the ring at the Tokyo Dome and made their dolls fight each other, I would declare it the match of the year.  I don’t need these guys to destroy themselves for me.  I accept that they will try to do that anyway.  But I’m into this match on a whole other level, and I hope they don’t lose sight of that.

I personally think Hiromu needs to regain the junior title (even if only for a few weeks) to close the book on his return from injury.  The only good reason not to do that here is if they think he still needs to shake off some ring rust.  But by all accounts, he’s been cleared to wrestle for months, so if the time for the title win isn’t now, I’ll be incredibly shocked.

Lance Archer vs. Jon Moxley - This is for Archer’s IWGP United States championship.  The match is being billed as a “Texas death match,” although the rules for such a contest seem to change literally every time someone books one.  In this case, the match can only end when one participant submits or fails to answer the referee’s count of ten.  Regardless of the outcome, whoever is US champion will defend against Juice Robinson on the January 5 show.

Moxley won the title from Robinson in June, but Juice pinned him in a non-title match in August.  That set up a rubber match in October 14, but Typhoon Hagiibis prevened Mox from making the show, so he was stripped of the title.  Archer defeated Juice in a match for the vacant title, and now Moxley is back to reclaim what he never lost in the ring.  For his part, Archer is fixated on validating his title run by defeating the ex-champion he’s never faced.

Archer was always terrifying in his run with Davey Boy Smith, Jr., as the Killer Elite Squad, but after Smith left he really started to show me something as a singles guy.  He was an unexpected highlight in the G1 Climax as a big bully that frightens small children, and I’m actually ashamed that I didn’t consider the potential of a feud with Moxley until he back-doored his way into the US title picture.  I like seeing Moxley with an IWGP championship, but I have to admit Archer is a stronger choice for a US champion, considering that he’s not contractually prohibited from defending the title in North America.

My gut says the Robinson match on January 5 doesn’t make a lot of sense unless the goal is to rapidly reset things back to October 14 and deliver the Moxley vs. Robinson title match.  I don’t see why they’d do it that way unless they’re determined to move the title back to Juice and have Moxley give him the rub.  While there are certainly other possibilities (Archer retains in both matches, Moxley wins both matches, Archer beats Mox but loses to Juice), none of them make quite as much sense to me.  Since I happen to like all three guys, I guess I can’t be disappointed in any event.  But as far as this match goes, I think Moxley will regain the US belt.

Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay - Robinson and Finlay won the World Tag League tournament for the right to challenge the Guerillas of Destiny for the IWGP heavyweight tag team championship.  If Juice wins this match, and goes on to win his US title match tomorrow, he will effectively have two IWGP championships at the same time before any of the Double Gold Dash guys, so that’s kinda funny.

Finlay was sidelined with a shoulder injury very early in 2019, and in the meantime Robinson ended up feuding with Moxley over the US title.  Finlay returned just in time to get involved in the subsequent Juice vs. Lance Archer mini-feud, but Archer made short work of him too.  So their run in World Tag League seemed to be a reset for both guys, giving them a new direction to prosper in while Archer moved on with the US belt.  At least, that’s what I figured before Juice was booked in that US title match on 1/5.  Now I don’t know if they’re planning to push him as a singles act or a tag team guy.  Can they do both?  I guess we’ll see.

The story here for the Guerillas of Destiny is that they dominate the tag division but never actually win at Wrestle Kingdom.  (Tama’s last Tokyo Dome win was years ago, as a curtain jerker, long before Tanga showed up.)  It’s not much of a story, though, so it’s hard for me to imagine they’re going to finally get that big win here.  Juice has been beating himself up a lot for his losses in the past few months, so I’m pulling for him to have something to celebrate tonight.

KENTA & Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano - Now that Wrestle Kingdom has expanded to two days, there’s more room for filler tag team matches to pad the show.  This one is a preview of the Kenta vs. Goto match on January 5.  Kenta was teaming with Ishii and Yoshi when he betrayed them to join Bullet Club, and the two of them have really failed to get any shred of revenge, so this may be their last big chance.  But in the end I expect the Bullet Club team to win to put heat on Kenta going into tomorrow’s title match.

Zack Sabre, Jr. & Taichi & Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado vs. SANADA & EVIL & Shingo Takagi & BUSHI - This match previews the Sabre vs. Sanada match on January 5.  Sanada suffered some sort of injury a couple of weeks ago where he had to be pulled from the card, so there was concern he might not be cleared for this weekend.  But as of this writing, this match is still scheduled.  As a fallback, New Japan booked Bushi to score a big upset on Sabre in December, so that gives Sabre two guys to target here. 

I’m curious about the 2020 directions for several guys in this match, most notably Suzuki, Evil, and Shingo.  In theory this match could preview possible storylines for them, but that tends to be something they save for New Year Dash, so I won’t hold my breath.  The Sabre/Taichi team seems to be getting some momentum, so that may also be a thing to watch heading into the new year, especially if Sabre drops his British title to focus on a tag team run.  As far as this match goes, though, I think it could go either way.

Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask & Tatsumi Fujinami & The Great Sasuke vs. Naoki Sano & Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Shinjiro Otani & Ryusuke Taguchi - Liger’s team will be cornered by El Samurai and Sano’s team will be cornered by Kuniaki Kobayashi.  Norio Honaga will be the special referee.  This is the first of two retirement matches for Liger, who will end his in-ring career on January 5 and then have a ceremony on January 6.

Liger (55) has hand-selected the participants in this match.  Tiger Mask (49) has been his long-time tag team partner.  Fujinami (65) was his idol, who inspired him to become a pro wrestler.  Sasuke (50) and Liger collaborated to create the Super J Cup and J Crown tournaments.  Kobayashi (63) was Liger’s first opponent in the Jushin Liger gimmick in 1989.  Sano (54) was Liger’s first big rival back in 1990.  Liger feuded with Takaiwa (47), Otani (47), Samurai (53), and Honaga (64) over the years.  Taguchi (40) seems to mainly be there to help carry the match and represent the current New Japan junior division.

In theory, a guy that’s retiring should lose on his way out.  Then again, in theory a guy that’s retiring doesn’t have two retirement matches in the Tokyo Dome.  Liger obviously has to go down hard on 1/5, but he could score the win here to give us one last big celebration with his cool theme music and stuff.  It is frankly not that important to give the rub to Taguchi or his team.  So, unexpectedly, we’ll have to wait and see how this one plays out.

Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi - This is one of three opening matches that will be in the pre-show.  All four guys are on the active roster but they’re all past their prime and mainly work with the young boys in the undercard.  If you’ve watched New Japan for any time at all you’ve probably seen these four a dozen times.  It’s not going to blow the roof off the dome, but it’ll be a nice nostalgia pop to see them working in the Tokyo Dome one more time.  It kinda doesn’t matter who wins.

Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji vs. Toa Henare & Karl Fredericks & Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin - Another pre-show match, which should be the first one actually broadcast for streaming services and Japanese television.  Makabe and Honma are longtime partners who are all that’s left of the defunct faction GBH.  Uemura and Tsuji are young boys training in New Japan’s dojo system.  Henare graduated from that system a while back, but he’s still little more than a curtain jerker waiting for his first real push.  Fredericks, Connors, and Coughlin are trainees at New Japan’s new Los Angeles dojo, as part of their big “New Japan of America” initiative.  On paper, there’s no way Makabe and Honma lose to a bunch of rookies, let alone gaijin rookies.  But they’ve been pushing the LA Dojo students as being a hair better than the local young boys, so I think an upset is at least possible.

Arisa Hoshiki & Mayu Iwatani vs. Giulia & Hana Kimura - This is a special exhibition match featuring women from the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion.  Although NJPW and Stardom are owned by the same parent company, their broadcasting rights are with different outlets, so this probably won’t be aired on the live stream, and I’m not certain when or where it will be made available to view.  That’s a shame since I know almost nothing about Stardom, and this could have been a good opportunity to dip my toe in that.  I’ve heard fans of both promotions aren’t wild about them intermingling like this, but booking men and women on the same show is pretty standard in the West so I’m sure I wouldn’t understand the problem.

[wrestlingisfake]

The New Beginning in Osaka preview

Tetsuya Naito vs. KENTA - Naito is defending both the IWGP heavyweight and IWGP intercontinental championships.  He became a double champion on January 5, but before he could fully celebrate his big moment at the Tokyo Dome, Kenta blindsided him to ruin everything.  That doesn’t seem so sacrilegious from my perspective as an American fan, but the Japanese fans seem to really really despise Kenta, so I guess it works.

Naito is hardly the first person to hold two major-league championships at the same time, but it feels like it’s been a long time since a double champion put both titles at stake in the same match.  (The last time I clearly remember was Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe at TNA Hard Justice 2007.)  Since New Japan has actually made both titles feel very important, the significance of winning them both at once has not been lost in the storyline.  The question of whether Kenta truly “earned” this opportunity (since he’s coming off losing the NEVER title and was basically rewarded for beating up Naito) keeps coming up.

I’ve been watching these two in the tag matches they’ve had during the current tour, and I’m noticing that the action is pretty dull.  Kenta has really stepped up the mindgames of slowing down the pace to frustrate his opponent and the audience.  The problem is that Jay White (Kenta’s frequent partner and Naito’s last big opponent) does the same general stuff, and Naito is still doing it from back when he was a total heel.  I’m hoping this doesn’t become a slog like Naito vs. White, but signs are not promising.

It wouldn’t be totally ridiculous to put one of the top titles on Kenta.  But giving him both of them, right now, at the expense of Naito’s long-awaited push, coming off of him ruining Naito’s big moment, might be insane.  I can see Naito dropping one of his championships down the line, but if he’s going to lose both of them in a single match, it needs to be a lot bigger than this.  Naito will almost certainly retain.

Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki - Moxley’s IWGP United States title is on the line.  He regained the title on January 4 and successfully defended it on January 5, but then Suzuki suddenly appeared to issue a challenge.  Suzuki went on to pin Moxley on February 1, to cement his right to go after the championship.

On January 15, AEW ran an angle where Chris Jericho “stabbed” Moxley’s right eye, to build to their AEW championship match on February 29.  Moxley has been wearing bandages and/or an eyepatch over his right eye ever since.  For some reason I was surprised he used the eyepatch in his recent New Japan appearances.  I guess that’s because I thought the idea of fighting Minoru Suzuki with only one good eye is suicidal.  I suppose it’s no different than New Japan wrestlers competing with one shoulder heavily taped up.  But Suzuki projects the feel of being a legit fighter, which forces me to think about how Moxley would never be cleared for this fight if it weren’t totally fake.  

Logically, Suzuki should target the eye, get Moxley to the ground, and just grind his knuckle into the eye socket until the referee stops the match and awards him the title.  However, we’ve already seen them face off in a couple of tag matches on this tour, and they’ve mostly just done the same spots they’d do if the eyepatch wasn’t there.  Maybe they’re saving all that psychology for this show.  But I think it’s going to be tough to maintain Suzuki’s credibility as a sadistic shootfighter if he doesn’t at least pretend to shoot on the eye, and then it’d be tough to maintain the credibility of the match if he doesn’t win.  I suppose Moxley could overcome all the odds, but I’ve convinced myself that he shouldn’t.

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryu Lee - This is Takahashi’s first defense of the IWGP junior heavyweight championship since he regained the title on January 4.  Lee, as Dragon Lee in Ring of Honor, is the current ROH television champion, but that title is not at stake.  Interestingly, Takahashi is a member of Los Ingobernables de Japon, an official spinoff of Rush’s stable in CMLL, while Lee is a member of La Faccion Ingobernable, which Rush started in ROH after CMLL fired him.  New Japan has alliances with ROH and CMLL, so I’ve been real curious if/how they acknowledge that.

Obviously the story here is that this is the first meeting between these two since July 7, 2018, when Takahashi suffered a devastating neck injury from a botched dragon driver by Lee.  Hiromu managed to finish the match and retain the junior title, but he collapsed backstage and spent over a year recovering.  As soon as Takahashi recaptured the title, he requested Lee as his first challenger.

That last encounter in the Cow Palace would have been one of the best matches I’d ever seen, if I didn’t have to deduct points for “wondered if one guy died for a minute.”  Based on their history together, you’d figure Takahashi and Lee will pull out all the stops and have another wild intense flippy match.  Based on how worried everyone has been for the past 19 months, though, you’d expect them to gear down a little, especially against each other.  But it’s pro wrestling, and I’m pretty sure they’re counting on the audience being terrified of another accident, and they’re going to work a close call or two to scare us.  (Here’s a dragon driver spot from 2017, if you want to see the move done correctly, so you’ll know when to be afraid.)

I have mixed feelings on this one, because I’m not sure I want to see these two scare me to death, but they kinda have to do this rematch and I’d like to get it over with.  Assuming all goes well, it should be very good.  It’s just, well, we already know things might not go well.  I kinda have to pick Hiromu to retain, seeing as he already beat this guy with a broken neck.

Jay White vs. SANADA - I’ve forgotten if there was any particular reason these two are fighting.  As I recall Bullet Club faces LIJ on January 6 and White targeted Sanada for some reason. 

White obviously wants back into the heavyweight title picture, but the story is that he’s graciously tabled that so Kenta can chase Naito.  On the other hand, the story with LIJ is that they’re all a bit jealous of Naito winning two titles, and he wants them to keep him on his toes.  (As it happens, Sanada is currently the only man in LIJ without a championship, and there aren’t a lot of titles he can go after without challenging his buddies.)  They haven’t said the winner of this match will be the #1 contender for the winner of Kenta-Naito, but it would not shock me if that happens.

White’s whole deal is that he’s a prick that doesn’t care about having a fun match, and Sanada’s whole deal is that he always looks like he’d rather be anywhere else in the world.  So I’m not sure this combination is going to be all that exciting.  If Sanada does all his cool moves and dismantle’s White’s array of heel shenanigans, that’ll be great.  If he just falls for all the shenanigans like every other face (“oh, Gedo is standing on the apron, so I’d better completely ignore Jay while I see what that’s about”), I’m going to get pretty bored.

A win for Sanada would be a big push that would shake up the topcard, so I’m pretty sure Jay wins.

Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. & Taichi - We already saw Okada vs. Taichi and Sabre vs. Ospreay earlier in this tour, so this is sort of a last look at those feuds.  (Although Ospreay has already secured a rematch with Sabre at a RevPro show next week.)  I’m sure the announcers will put over what a valiant effort Taichi gave in his loss to Okada, because New Japan is determiend to push him without putting him over anybody.  I’m thinking Okada will just pin Taichi again.

Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi - These guys are just back from the US tour, where the Guerillas of Destiny (Tonga and Loa) won the IWGP heavyweight tag team title from Robinson and Finlay.  Tanahashi and Ibushi seemed to be trying to get in line for a tag title shot, but things got messed up when Ibushi had to miss the whole US tour.  Ibushi has been suffering from Mallory-Weiss syndrome, and while he could be ready to return for this show, there’s no guarantee of that.  Assuming Ibushi makes it to this match, I can easily see him or Tana pinning one of the tag champs.  Otherwise, they’ll probably just punt and have the other team win.

SHO & YOH vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru - Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) won the IWGP junior heavyweight title on January 5, but then El Desperado pinned Sho the next day, so his team earned a title match.  The heels worked over Sho’s left knee on February 5 and 6, so that looks to be a major factor going into the match.  This is something like the 300th time these teams have faced one another, and I’m pretty sick of it.  I could see the champs making the heroic babyface comeback to retain, but then again if they dropped the title they’d make sense chasing the junior singles title or the NEVER openweight belt.  The only thing I’m sure of, though, is that they’ll never let this feud die.

Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi & Toa Henare - Nakanishi is set to retire on a February 22 show, so this is one of his final matches.  Everybody else in this match are guys who regularly team with and/or against Nakanishi in the undercard.  They’ve got all the oldest guys on Nakanishi’s side, so that suggests the other team will get the win.