#or bryan vs shingo

[nextstopwonderland]

Mox vs Shingo BITV part 2 (part 1)

[elitehoe]

BRYAN VS SHINGO AT FORBIDDEN DOOR DRAGON VS DRAGON AT FORBIDDEN DOOR SICKOOOS

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 18 in Tokyo Dome Review (Jan 4th, 2024)

New Japan Rambo **

IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship - Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney vs. TJP & Francesco Akira ***1/4

NJPW World TV Championship - Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi ****

Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura ***1/2

Shota Umino & Kaito Kiyomiya vs. EVIL & Ren Narita ***1/4

NEVER Openweight Championship - Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Tama Tonga ****1/2

IWGP Tag Team & STRONG Openweight Tag Championship Double Title Match - Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. El Phantasmo & Hikuleo ***3/4+

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship - Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. El Desperado ****1/4

Inaugural IWGP Global Championship Match - Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay ****1/2

Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson *****

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship - SANADA (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito ****1/4

Photos.

This show ruled. Full disclosure, I've fallen behind with NJPW in the last couple of years, and only really get to fully see the major shows, so going in this looked like a solid little card on paper, so my expectations weren't exactly sky high. However, the New Japan crew knocked it out of the park with an excellent, Show of the Year contender. Things started as they always do: The annual "cram everyone humanly possible onto the card" Rambo. We all know what to expect here, and this was better than a lot of previous offerings, but the surprise appearance of Fujita "Jr" Hayato in this years really raised it up for me, as I'm always super pleased to see him back in the ring after all he's been through. Takashi Iizuka turning up was also a nice surprise (absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all that), and it was a kick to be transported back to 2013 with him mercilessly going after poor Shimpei Nogami on commentary. The ending though was very deja vu, as I could have sworn some incredibly similar variant of this was the outcome last year. The final four of Great-O-Khan, Taiji Ishimori, YOH and Toru Yano advanced to face off for the KOPW Title tomorrow.

The main show started in style with the prerequisite Jr Tag Title Match, which featured TJP debuting his new demon gimmick, The Aswang, because he was locked in a casket when last we saw him, you see. My English feed froze at the opening bell on the Aswang mask for ages, and by the time I'd gotten back onto the Japanese feed, I'd missed like three minutes of this, there were brawls all over ringside, The Aswang was wearing a dog collar, and Moloney was bleeding. The final 5 or so minutes I did see were pretty damn good though, so that's what my rating is based on. TJP got this win for him and Akira after he blew the dreaded Dokukiri into Drilla's face, then Catch 22 hit the double knees to regain the titles at 9:38. Next up, President Tanahashi put an end to the 365 day TV Title reign of ZSJ in an excellent 8:53 sprint. These guys always have excellent matches together, and this was no exception. They worked a fast-paced thriller, which boiled down to them hitting a sequence of cradle reversals, before Tana counter a Zack Victory Roll into one of his own, and won the belt to a big pop. President Ace thanked everyone for coming in the post match, and wished us all a Happy New Year. Godly.

Career rivals Tsuji and Uemura had their first non-Young Lion outing on a major show next. This was a very good little match, I've always been high on both guys since they were rookies, and I firmly believe they have incredibly bright futures in New Japan, and are destined to be focal points in the years to come. Even though I do wish they'd do more with Yota. The guy came in super hot, with a ton of hype, and now he's kinda just floundering in the mid-card. And more mid-carders is most certainly not something this company needs! They always have really good matches, so add this one to that list, which ended at just under 11 minutes, when Uemura got the much needed win with his beautiful Deadbolt suplex. Fellow future superstar Shota Umino drove into Tokyo Dome on a motorbike to start his and partner, NOAH "Ace" Kiyomiya's tag match against HoT goons EVIL and Ren Narita next. This was going along really nicely, the three young guys all looked great, and the crowd were very much into, until the standard shenanigans started, which lead to a fairly abrupt finish, which saw Narita deck Umino with a steel plated push-up bar, then score the pin with his Double Cross finish at the 7 minute mark.

The fifth bout saw company MVP Shingo defend the NEVER Title against Tama Tonga in a hard-hitting war, which was by far the best match on the show up to this point. The near 30K in attendance were going crazy for this as they hit all their big spots, massive Lariats and Gun Stun counters. After Takagi scored a great near fall with Made in Japan, Tama went to the Bullet Club well, hitting a Gun Stun, Bloody Sunday AND a Styles Clash, before putting Shingo away with the DSD at 13:46 to claim his 4th NEVER Championship. Excellent stuff here, though seemingly Tama announced afterwards that he's finishing up with the company at the end of the month, so him winning is an... interesting decision. The double Tag Title match followed, which was a rematch of the Tag League Final between Bishamon and GoD. This was another great match, a fun sprint which saw the STRONG Champions win both sets of belts after ELP hit Goto with CRIII, and Hikuleo came off the top with a massive, but very unattractive, Big Splash to win the belts in 9:47. Just before this match, Nic Nemeth (the former Dolph Ziggler) and his brother Ryan turned up to sit at ringside. I think we all know there's some kind of angle coming here.

Speaking of career rivals, Hiromu and Despy faced off for the Jr. Heavy Title in the next bout. We've seen many versions of this match in recent history, and they're pretty much always excellent, so this fit that mould no doubt. Things started hot as Despy hit Hiromu with a Tope con Giro as he made his entrance, and they worked 100 mph from there. The challenger worked over the champions leg to set up the Numero Dos, but it wasn't to be. The finish saw Desperado escape the Hiromu Roll, then hit a Jay Driller, kept a hold and nailed Takahashi with a second Pinche Loco to win the strap at the 14:21 mark to end another great outing. We crowned an inaugural IWGP Global champion next, as Ospreay, Moxley and Finlay had a wild Triple Threat Match. This started with Mox and Ospreay agreeing to work together for the first 5 minutes in order to take out Finlay, then turn their attention on each other, before BC War Dogs Alex Coughlin and Gabe Kidd ran in. The babyfaces rallied a comeback though, which saw Ospreay put the invaders through tables with a Swanton Bomb to the outside, and Moxley took a post bump and gigged himself. Which I'm sure will shock many. The finishing stretch was insanely hot as Mox kicked at one from a Hidden Blade, but was put down with Stormbreaker, only for Finlay to hit Ospreay with his new Overkill finish, which is essentially a Brainbuster into a Go 2 Sleep, to become the inaugural Global champion in 22:17. In the post match, Finlay got into a shoving match and pull-apart with Nic Nemeth at ringside, which culminated in Nemeth chasing him to the back. So that looks to be Finlay's first title programme. Finlay going over was 100% the right call, with Ospreay leaving as a full-timer, they need to start making some top guys, and he's a good place to start.

Semi final time, and a true dream match next as Okada faced Danielson in a match I'd spent a good decade fantasy booking. After their slightly disappointing first encounter at Forbidden Door in June, due in no small part by Dragon legit breaking his arm during it, they came out with a lot to prove. And they certainly didn't disappoint this time as they had a superb wrestling encounter based around aggression and emotion. As anyone who's been watching Danielson since the ROH days can attest, when Bryan has a grudge with someone (Morishima, Nigel), he goes all out with the intensity, and it usually produces classics. The pacing, the limb-work, the storytelling, the drama... everything about this was essentially perfect. After Okada broke Danielson's arm in their previous match, Dragon obsessively set out to do the same here. And it lead to his downfall. The American Dragon was coming into this one with a fractured orbital bone, so Okada worked over that for a while too. Okada kicked out of a Busaiku Knee, Danielson locked on the same arm submission he tapped Okada out with at Forbidden Door, but The Rainmaker made the ropes. Dragon then stomped his f'n head in and locked in the LeBell Lock, only for Okada to hit a Rainmaker, but he was in too much pain from his devastated right arm, and couldn't make the cover. Danielson hit a big head kick and another Busaiku Knee, but rather than go for the cover, he elected to do the "Yes!" gimmick in the corner, and try another knee, but Okada hit an Emerald Flowsion, a Landslide, then another Rainmaker to fall on top of Dragon, and score the surprise win at the 23:24 (which it felt half of, by the way). This was a masterpiece, and I was legitimately shocked when the three count came. I could have watched this for an hour, it left me very much wanting a rubber match, and this is easily the best match of 2024 so far. They bowed to each other and shook hands in the post match.

The Keiji Muto fan club imploded in the main event as former LIJ stablemates Naito and SANADA (who was even dressed like Muto circa 1995), battled for the World Title. This was an excellent match, one that I didn't have a massive amount of interested in going into this show, but they had a really great clash. It's worth mentioning that something happened to SANADA here, I don't know if it was the biceps injury he's been dealing with since G1, or if he seperated his shoulder or something, but he was in noticeable discomfort through this, and it let to some wonky botches near the finish. They tried multiple times to do a Destino counter, but they couldn't pull it off. SANADA hit Dead Fall for the double down, then an Asai DDT, but Naito escaped a second Dead Fall attempt, and went for Valentia, but SANADA countered into an O'Connor Roll for a super close near fall. A Shining Wizard followed, but Naito turned another Dead Fall attempt into one of his own, finally hit Valentia, then finished the champion off with Destino to win his first World title at 25:42. It's worth pointing out that they clashed heads on the way down on the Destino, and Naito got busted open pretty bad over his eye. With Naito having finally won again in the main event of Tokyo Dome, he was about to Finish His Story, when EVIL and Dick Togo, of all people, ran-in in an attempt to ruin things like KENTA did in 2020. However, they hadn't bargained on SANADA, who nailed his former tag partner with a Shining Wizard, and Naito sent Dick packing with a low dropkick. SANADA then let Naito finish the story a decade in the making, and do his "De-Ja-Pon!!!" roll call to end the show and send everyone home happy. Whilst I applaud NJPW for giving SANADA a go, or just giving ANYONE NEW a shot at the top of the card (it's been very Groundhog Day for a long time up there, and this is something I've been encouraging since NAito at WK8!), I don't think it payed off liked they'd hoped. SANADA is a very good worker, and amazing athlete, but he's just missing something that would make him that major star. Which is obviously something Naito has in abundance, so I'm very pleased he got his big win here, as it was pretty much last chance saloon.

This was a tremendous card, not quite as good as last year's, I don't think, but still great, great stuff and well worth checking out. Especially the Okada/Danielson match!

NDT

[mjfass]

Shingo Takagi vs Bryan Danielson

[blueonwrestling]

FORBIDDEN DOOR STAR RATINGS.

Zero Hour Serpentico vs. Kyle Fletcher - 1.5 stars

Kyle O'Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Gabe Kidd & Roderick Strong (w/Gedo, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs. The Kings Of The Black Throne (Brody King & Malakai Black) - 2.75 stars

Tam Nakano & Willow Nightingale vs. Kris Statlander & Momo Watanabe (w/Stokely Hathaway) - 3.25 stars

Saraya (w/Harley Cameron) vs. Mariah May (w/Luther & Toni Storm) - 3 stars

Mistico & The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) (w/Alex Abrahantes) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi, Titan & Yota Tsuji) 4 stars

Main Card

Hechicero vs. MJF - 3 stars

Hiroshi Tanahashi & The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) (w/Billy Gunn) vs. The Elite (Kazuchika Okada, Matthew Jackson & Nicholas Jackson) - 3 stars

Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi - 4.5 stars

Toni Storm (w/Luther & Mariah May) (c) vs. Mina Shirakawa (w/Mariah May) - 4 stars

Orange Cassidy vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - 4.75 stars

Hook, Katsuyori Shibata & Samoa Joe vs. The Learning Tree (Big Bill & Chris Jericho) & Jeff Cobb - 3 stars

Mark Briscoe vs. El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Lio Rush vs. Jack Perry vs. Dante Martin - 3.75 stars

Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Stephanie Vaquer (c) - 4.25 stars

Jon Moxley (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito - 1 star

Swerve Strickland (w/Prince Nana) (c) vs. Will Ospreay 4.75 stars

[unlikelywrestlingfan]

Elle's Last Minute Predictions: Forbidden Door 2024

I thought about these all earlier but am just posting them now so XD

Pre-Show Match: Kris Statlander & Momo Watanabe vs. Willow Nightingale & Tam Nakano Want: I hope they all have fun, but I suppose Willow and Tam Nakano! Prediction: Willow and Tam Nakano

Pre-Show Match: Los Ingobernables de Japón (Yota Tsuji, Titán & Hiromu Takahashi) vs. The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fénix) & Místico Want: I hope they all have fun! Prediction: Lucha Bros & Misitco but only to give Rey a win going into face Jay for the Owen on Wed for momentum. Otherwise I'd guess LIJ.

Pre-Show Match: House of Black (Malakai Black and Brody King) vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Kyle O'Reilly vs. Roderick Strong and Gabriel Kidd vs. Private Party (Zay and Quen) Want: Private Party Prediction: IDK it's my freebie

Pre-Show Match: Owen Hart Cup Tournament First-Round: Mariah May vs. Saraya Want: Mariah Prediction: Mariah

Ladder Match for vacant TNT Championship: Jack Perry vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Dante Martin vs. Lio Rush vs. El Phantasmo Want: Take or Dante or Lio Prediction: Jack

Owen Hart Cup Tournament First-Round Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi Want: Shingo Prediction: Bryan

Trios Match: The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho, Big Bill & Jeff Cobb) vs. Samoa Joe, Hook & Katsuyori Shibata Want: Joe, Hook, & Shibs Prediction: Joe, Hook, & Shibs

AEW Women's World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Mina Shirakawa Want: Toni Prediction: Toni

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy Want: I just hope they both have fun! Prediction: ZSJ

MJF vs. Hechicero

The Elite (The Young Bucks & Kazuchika Okada) vs. The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) & Hiroshi Tanahashi Want: Acclaimed and Tana Prediction: Elite

TBS Championship & NJPW Strong Women's Championship Winner Take All: Mercedes Moné (c) vs. Stephanie Vaquer (c) Want: Mercedes Prediction: Mercedes

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito Want: Naito Prediction: Mox, because Naito makes more sense so it's won't happen

AEW World Championship: Swerve Strickland (c) vs. Will Ospreay Want: Swerve Prediction: Swerve

[novampiresremain]

bro idk how im gonna handle pac vs bryan or shingo. I think i might die. I might ascend to the heavens that very moment

[westofessos]

Ohhh wait Bryan vs Shingo is going to be at FD?? That’s cool. I like that a lot.

That being said, we really need some tag matches on this PPV. Give me a Stardom/CMLL vs AEW 8-10 woman tag match!

[busaikuknee]

a quick look back at january 2024

This year, I've decided to start keeping record of what matches I watch/what my reactions to them are, something that I'd done previously but had dropped for 2023. I'm trying out using a spreadsheet instead of a purely text document for this one. Beyond being much more pleasant for me to scroll through, this has the added benefit of letting me crunch numbers. While I don't think a lot of the nitty-gritty statistics will be of interest to anyone but myself, I thought it might be fun to do some kind of end-of-the-month write-up. Maybe I'll do one for each month, who's to say.

Anyway!

BROAD NUMBERS I ended up watching 64 matches this month, 50 of which took place this month. A large portion of those were from ittenyon week. I was kind of worn out after that and had other things I wanted to focus on, so I haven't been keeping up with anything consistently other than DDT, which made up a third of what I viewed this month. This will probably continue into the future; I have some backwatching plans. Tied for second place are NOAH and Dragongate, which also tracks. I really need to catch up on NOAH, I've barely seen anything from it since The New Year. I've also been pretty hit-or-miss with Dragongate, but I've really been enjoying getting more into it. It's fun! There are plots going on that I'm kind of invested in! Shun Skywalker is there, being the most normal man who's ever lived! Good times.

MOST APPEARANCES THROUGHOUT THE MONTH In terms of "matches that I watched this month," Danshoku Dieno and HARASHIMA tied for first place with five appearances each; for "matches that took place this month," Dieno and Hideki Okatani tied with four. As he made it to first place in both categories, that makes Danshoku Dieno the inaugural Spreadsheet Champ!

I think this is going to be one of the more interesting things to keep track of throughout the year- based on the metrics for this month, I'm going to guess that it's going to bias heavily towards people who appear often in undercard multi-mans.

MATCHES THIS MONTH I don't consider myself much of a writer nor someone with taste, so this isn't a "best of the month" list or a collection of thought-out analysis. I'm just going back through the month's viewing and picking a few things to chat about.

ULKA SASAKI VS TAKASHI SUGIURA (NOAH, JAN 1st) Spent the entire match being wildly jealous of Ulka Sasaki's hair. I have actual thoughts about the match itself—I thought it was a pretty solid showing considering it was Sasaki's first singles match and I'm definitely interested in seeing how he grows from here—but my most substantial takeaway was "Maybe I should dip-dye my hair."

KENOH VS MANABU SOYA (NOAH, JAN 1st) I've tried typing something up about this multiple times, but I feel I can't articulate my feelings properly. I'm just going to leave it at "go watch Kenoh vs Soya." Amazing performance from them both.

KAZUCHIKA OKADA VS BRYAN DANIELSON (NJPW, JAN 4th) Worked for me in all of the ways their first singles encounter didn't.

SHINGO TAKAGI VS MASAAKI MOCHIZUKI (DRAGONGATE, JAN 10th)

LUIS MANTE VS JACKY"FUNKY"KAMEI (DRAGONGATE, JAN 11th) Mante apologizing to the audience for the violence he's inflicting on Kamei and not to Kamei himself…fascinating.

HARASHIMA VS TORU OWASHI VS KAZUKI HIRATA (DDT, JAN 14th)

MAO VS BRYAN KEITH (DDT, JAN 21st)

I'm sure that Okatani vs Sakaguchi will also make this list, but I missed seeing it live and have been saving it for when I can really sit down with it. Maybe I'll watch it tonight. Additionally, while I've limited the formal list to matches that took place this January, I'd also like to recommend Tanahashi's two appearances in DDT. Very fun, very interesting to see how strongly the audience reacts to asshole heel Tanahashi.

That's it from me for now. If there are any matches you particularly enjoyed this January, let me know! I love hearing about what stuck with people. See you next month!

[yoshihashismattebum]

I dont know if this is a weird question but how did you get into wrestling also who’s your favorite wrestler? (Mine is Kenny Omega)

Hi! Not a weird question at all!

So I'm one of those odd people who actually got into wrestling through video games! (But so did Shinsuke Nakamura, so I'm in good company!) I love a good character creator (can literally spend hours in them) and a YouTuber I watched at the time (thanks NerdCubed) was covering the WWE 2k games. Needless to say, my mind was blown. I decided I *needed* to buy it, even though I had no interest in wrestling at the time... And I loved it!

Then at about the same time (2015) some uni friends and I had started playing the old Smackdown vs. RAW games on an old PS2, and we were having so much fun that we decided we should watch some actual wrestling! Our first PPV was WWE Hell in a Cell 2015. We had such a blast that we ended up staying up until 5am for every PPV after that (oh to be 20 again – it would literally kill me if I tried to do that now). I fell *deep* into the wrestling rabbit hole after that (thanks, suspected neurodivergence) and 8 years later... here we are!

As for NJPW specifically, I started watching in 2019 because I'd quit WWE cold turkey and I needed something to fill the gap. (I'd always promised that I'd stop watching if they brought back noted racist Hulk Hogan... and then they did. So I had to follow through.) But I'd already realised through watching NXT that I preferred other styles of wrestling to the main roster WWE style, so it was the best thing that's happened to me as a wrestling fan really!

As for my favourite wrestler... it depends on when you ask me tbh! There are so many great wrestlers out there and I find it really hard to narrow it down to just one. Kenny is up there for me too, definitely. He's so damn good. But if you forced me to choose right now, I'd probably (after much complaining and indecision) have to say Zack Sabre Jr! He's on such a tear right now, and I adore his technical style. Plus his promos crack me up and I like his politics and taste in music. 

But honourable mentions to Eddie Kingston, Bryan Danielson, Tomohiro Ishii, Shingo Takagi, Willow Nightingale and Jamie Hayter (pls come back soon), and Sami Zayn who was my first favourite. Plus many more who I'm sure I've forgotten!

Sorry for the long-winded answer – I didn't have time to write a shorter one! Hope that answers your questions though!

[danwhobrowses]

Quick Wrestle Kingdom 18 Thoughts

Spoilers for the PPV just in case

It was a good show, I know I haven't done many highlights as of recent but sometimes the mood doesn't hit, and it doesn't get many views.

The first half was quite meh, I don't like the Ranbo still it remains a 'look at all this talent we don't have anything for' rumble to me, last WK I had hoped Master Wato, SHO and YOH would break out but they have kinda regressed, same with Great O-Khan. Not a single women's match too, you had Mayu Iwatani in the building but you couldn't fit a match for her? TJP's rechristening as the Aswang was kinda cool, the mask is devious looking but not too high on the dog collar, match was fair enough. Tana beating ZSJ felt like the wrong call though, the moment a wrestler comes into backstage power they should absolutely avoid putting a title on themselves it just sets a bad vibe, match ended very abruptly too, thought Tsuji should've gone over Uemera and Kiyomiya/Shota over House of Torture too. Ngl what are we doing with Kiyomiya? He looked like he was gonna get a big Okada feud but then got discarded at the G1, it feels like NJPW going 'we're very superior to NOAH' with his booking, Shota had a cool motorcycle entrance but he is another who could use a push.

Tama vs Shingo was a great match though, really threw out all the old Bullet Club finishers to put Shingo down, great final third. Glad that Hikuleo and ELP got the tag belts too, Bishamon do feel like the tag equivalent of ol' reliable. Speaking of ol' reliables, Hiromu on another Junior Heavyweight title match, love both guys but Despy was the right man to go over, need fresher challengers.

Loved Mox donning some Red Hood gear, but then Ospreay went Assassin's Creed and Smackdown Six Rey Mysterio with his entrance. Finlay winning was rather obvious though, not only because he was the only non-AEW wrestler but the whole agreement to gang up on him was narratively designed try and to put him over. The match was quite good, infamous BC interference marred it a little but can't lie Coughlin sat in the broken table was amusing, and the title looks pretty, I'll miss the US/UK red strap but returning to some IC-esque roots isn't the worst thing. Nic Nemeth getting a little scrap with Finlay looks promising too.

Okada's coat was pretty awesome, good to see them do a match unmarred by injuries but of course Okada went over, I think the next Forbidden Door or Wrestledream could be the Rubber Match. Ironic that much like Revolution last year, Bryan embracing the YES! chants led to his downfall - I don't think that was accidental - but of course it was a really good match. And finally, I loved me some SANADA when he was his Cold Skull, but 'Regular Looking Guy' SANADA, that ain't it, that ain't the gimmick. It was high time he was felled and Naito is a fitting guy to do it. Match was still good, but EVIL challenging is the wrong guy though stop trying to make EVIL happen again.

[nextstopwonderland]

Masterlist of Bryan Danielson content I’ve posted Part 3

(Because yes, i have hit the link limit twice now.)

Part 1 | Part 2

(Original post)

Photo posts

Hair down and bleeding

Looking cozy

On bereal

Aesthetics with an American dragon

Character growth

Bryan and Eddie caps

Bryan and Kyle (links to video)

Adorable dragon

More Bryan/Eddie (includes gif)

Happy dragon

Dynamite photos by me

In vegas

Post-double or nothing (links to video)

Favorite shots from double or nothing

Bryan and Okada at double or nothing

Bryan in SF

Bryan and Artem

My photos of Bryan from Nikki and Brie live (1 | 2 | 3 )

Two dragons

Ponytail dragon vs bun dragon

Bryan at Forbidden door

Bryan vs Shingo at Forbidden Door

Bryan and Shingo: 2010 vs 2024

Hair in a bun

Bryan on commentary

Bryan bleeding and crying on the floor

Coffee in hand, thighs out

Bryan and Renee

A UK Dragon

Gifs

Random assortment of gifs (includes mox and zsj and a Nigel related moment)

Bryan & Brie

The epicness of that bsb karaoke (includes video link)

Bryan doing the Yes chants in Arena Mexico vs Blue Panther

Windy City mox package

Bryan taking his shirt off for Eddie

How it started / how it’s going (Bryan and Eddie)

Me and Bryan 😭

Text posts/screenshots

Bryan’s karaoke history

Happy dragon in Mexico

Bryan and Eddie and chops (links to video)

Bryan being on point with Mariah (and Mina)

Photo/quote compilations

“It’s the only time me and this individual have ever touched. To revisit it is a huge dream match of mine.” - Kyle O’Reilly on Bryan

A collection of quotes on Bryan’s 43rd bday

Bryan + BSB karaoke

Video clips

Bryan is yelling in promos again 🥰

Bryan the excited dork

Bryan doing Vancouver media

Bryan talking hockey

“A skate??”

A lot of people have tried to put a price on my head”

Me & Bryan 😭

“Sir I’m sorry! I’m gonna steal your drink!”

Bryan gets emotional after double or nothing

Video compilation of Bryan from Nikki and Brie’s live show

“I’m tired of your disrespect”

Bryan and Shingo: first match climax

"I want to be the type of parent Martha Hart is"

"Whenever Tony or talent asks me a question i have to preface it with: you gotta understand, i don't know what the HELL is going on"

[thirdworldrockout]

Fantasy Wrestling Booking

FWE: Hollowed Be Thy Name

LA Knight vs Daniel Bryan. LA powered out of a Yes Lock and hit BFT for the pin 10:11

2. Christopher Daniels vs Al Snow. Christopher pinned Snow. 7:20

3. Jeff Jarrett and Sid Vicious vs Rob Van Dam and Sabu. Sid scored a pin on Sabu after a powerbomb. 11:01

4. Kenta and Jushin Liger vs Evan Bourne and Ricochet. Liger cut short Bourne's attempt to dive outside the ring and pinned him. 7:34

5. Strong Style 10 minute time limit Match: Ryback vs Shingo Takagi. Time limit draw.

6. Demolition vs Fit Finlay and Kane. Kane pinned Ax after chokeslam. 9:49

7. Bobby Lashley vs Tetsuya Naito. Lashley got the pin. 7:55

8. Ken Shamrock vs Miz. Shamrock won by submission. 6:24

9. Jeff Hardy vs Hollywood Hogan. Hardy won by countout. Hardy was going for a top rope move, The Disciple pulled Hogan out of the ring and the two walked to the entrance ramp, Hogan was counted out. 12:11

10. Usos vs Young Bucks. Usos wins after a double splash move from the top. 11:39

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW THE NEW BEGINNING in Osaka Review (Feb 11th, Osaka EDION Arena)

Toru Yano & YOH vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Boltin Oleg **

Bishamon vs. Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman ***1/4

Shota Umino, El Desperado, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask vs. EVIL, Ren Narita, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi **1/4

Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. SANADA, Yuya Uemura, Taichi, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku ***

Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi ****1/2

IWGP Tag Team Championship - El Phantasmo & Hikuleo (c) vs. KENTA & Chase Owens **

Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. *****

10 Man Dog Pound Cage Death Match - United Empire vs. Bullet Club War Dogs *****

Photos.

Wow, what a show this turned out to be. It started pretty ordinary, but ultimately had three exceptional bouts, one of which is the best match of 2024 so far. The show opened with CHAOS teammates Yano and YOH taking on Taguchi and Young Lion Shooter, Oleg. This was perfectly fine, but only went 3:45, so there really wasn't much to mention. YOH scored the win over Taguchi with a roll up. Next, UE Young Boy Callum Newman got a chance to shine in his tag match with O-Khan against Bishamon. This was a good little sprint, with the spirited Newman looking especially good. It wasn't to be his night, however, as he was put away by the veterans at 7:37 with Shoto.

The NJPW Babyfaces took on House of Torture next. This was your typical HoT match, beginning with a brawl, before the babyfaces got their shine, only to succumb to heelish shenanigans. After Dick Togo distracted the ref, Narita hit Tiger Mask with the Metal Plated Push Up Bar Of Doom, before SHO pinned him with a Shock Arrow in 8:43. Post match saw SHO steal Despe's IWGP Jr. Belt and proclaim himself the new champion, so we've got yet another HoT stolen belt deal, and Desperado seems destined to feud with these dorks for his entire reign. This was followed by pretty much the same LIJ vs. J5G match we've seen all tour now. It was a good outing, but I can't say that I'm interested in any of this, aside from Tsuji and Uemura's Hair Match in Sapporo at the end of the match. The two youngsters carried the action in this one, which culminated in SANADA tapping out BUSHI at 11:05 with Skull End to go strong into his Title Match with Naito on the 24th.

Perhaps the final ever Okada vs. Tanahashi match followed, twelve years to the day that the Rainmaker Shock happened in this very same building that made Okada a Superstar. This was excellent, emotional stuff that was by no means the best match these two have ever had, but it was a great send-off for what is perhaps the greatest, most consistent feud ever. I've potentially gone a tad high with the rating, but I don't care, I'm sticking with it, as this one had me invested from the minute the entrances happened. The Osaka faithful were super into this, loudly chanting for Okada at the start, going crazy throughout. Tana, who's definitely in "office shape" at the moment, even turned back the clocks and hit the High Fly Body Attack to the floor, which was awesome. After getting the knees up on a HFF attempt, Okada nailed the Tombstone, but Tana turned the Rainmaker into a small package for a great near fall. After some back and forth which the crowd were totally into, Okada hit a beautiful dropkick, a Landslide, and a Rainmaker to put the President away at 16:50 with one final Rainmaker. The pair embraced in the post match, and a teary bowed to the Lion Mark and Okada bid farewell to Osaka. He only has two matches left in his NJPW career in Sapporo, which should be similarly emotional occasions, and hey, who knows, maybe he could even put someone over on his way out (nudge nudge, wink wink).

The IWGP Tag Title bout that followed was something of a dampener, to say the least. This was the opposite of the last match, the crowd were dead for the most part, and it moved at the speed of smell. It was hovering around one star territory, but things picked up once Hikuleo got the hot tag and ran wild, but it was short lived as the ref got bumped, Taiji Ishimori ran in, hit his old pal ELP with a belt, then Hikuleo, which allowed KENTA to steal the win and the titles. Look, I know New Japan likes and rewards loyalty, and Chase Owens was there for them when they needed people badly, but the notion of him holding a major title in NJPW in 2024 is all kinds of bemusing. And to say the new GoD's Tag Title reign was a bit of a disappointment would be an understatement. These guys deserve better, and I honestly don't have the strength to watch another match between these teams after the two we've already seen so far this year.

Thankfully, things turned around in fantastic fashion with an absolutely perfect display of pro-wrestling between ZSJ and Bryan Danielson. This was a rematch of their 5 star classic in AEW last October, and it managed to surpass that match and is the best bout of 2024 so far. Outstanding grappling and counter sequences throughout this, Dragon used an arm wringer to send Sabre's legs into the ropes, which he then proceeded to work over the whole match with intense kicks and leglocks. Zack fought back, working over Danielson's neck. Lots of Romero Specials, Manjigatame's and Cobra Twists, before it broke down into a stiff strike exchange. Danielson hit a big Back Suplex off the top for a near fall, then tried Cattle Mutilation, which Sabre escaped and hit a Zack Driver for a near fall of his own. Dragon hit the stomps, then locked in the crazy arm submission he submitted Okada with, but Zack fought to the ropes. Another strike battle culminated in Danielson hitting the Busaiku Knee out of a backslide, but Sabre turned a second into a European Clutch, they exchanged great cradles, before ZSJ got the pin with a crucifix at 32:46 of fabulous action. The two shook hands afterwards, and now being 1-1, Danielson challenged Zack to a 2 out of 3 falls tiebreaker backstage, which I'm 100% down for. In the ring, ZSJ signalled he wanted a belt, then called out the winner of Naito/SANADA (despite what Chris Charlton might have claimed he said). I'm all for Zack winning the belt to be fair. I've lots to say about Naito being the champion again, which I'll refrain from, but all I will say is that the guy who holds the top belt in this company sure has felt like an after thought since winning.

Then the Dog Pound Cage main event that was also Will Ospreay's New Japan swan song. Look, theres way too much to even attempt to recap, and I went back and forth about going the full 5 stars on this one, as it did feature some stuff I really wasn't keen on. BUT, at the end of the day, these 10 guys put on an absolute spectacle of bloody drama and craziness, and it's definitely not a match I'll forgot any time soon, and a tremendous post match. They had an impossible task in following the previous match, but they had an equally blow-away outing, that was the complete wrestling polar opposite. This was set up like that classic ROH vs. CZW Cage of Death from 2006, in that the cage encircled ringside as opposed to the ring itself, and was fought under War Games rules, with guys coming out every two minutes.

Ospreay and Finaly started, with Ospreay convincing Finlay to let them fight for 5 minutes. Lots and lots of crazy stuff followed, which included the heels bringing out a ton of plunder, Akira hitting an incredible dive off the cage onto the War Dogs before Connors gave him a big spear through an upright table in the corner, Gabe Kidd potatoing HENARE with table shot, that split him open bad on the top of his head, which the doctors at ringside spent a lot of time trying to patch up. HENARE got a receipt of sorts later when he hit Kidd with a super stiff slap that looked like it knocked Gabe silly. Connors hit a big spear on Ospreay through the ropes, off the apron and through a table at ringside, Jeff Cobb ran wild on everyone with his incredible power moves, TJP emerged from under the ring as the Aswang, running wild and misting all the heels, Maloney broke up a pin attempt by Drilla Killa'ing Ospreay into the pile of bodies, Coughlin took a serious wilful beating with kendo sticks, who then took a big senton through a table off HENARE from the top of the cage. Connors introduced thumbtacks, but ended up bumping into the pins. Gedo came out with a barbed wire wrapped table, but O-Khan put an end to his interference, and it was Finlay who went through the barbed wire table, thanks to an Ospreay powerbomb. Gabe Kidd responded by hitting Ospreay with a piledriver off the apron, through a ladder bridge to the floor. Moloney forked Akira in the head, who juiced heavily, but then overcame his fear of the fork, no-sold it, and stabbed Drilla in the head with the cutlery, drawing his blood of his own, then hanged Connors over the top with a dog collar.

The heels then handcuffed Cobb to the cage, removed the ring canvas and padding, exposing the boards, and what followed was absolutely terrifying, as those boards were flying around and guys were falling through the ring left and right, to the point I thought someone might get seriously hurt. HENARE hit a massive vertical suplex on Kidd to the boards, before he too was handcuffed. Akira then took a horrendous Tombstone on the boards, which left Ospreay alone with the War Dogs. Sacrificing himself to save Akira, he tried a Hidden Blade, but collapsed from exhaustion, resulting in him taking a spear into the boards by Connors, then Finlay wrapped his knee in barbed wire and hit Ospreay with his new Overkill finish to end this insanity and win for his team in 64:05 of crazy, mind-blowing action.

The Overkill finish was quite ironic given the amounts of sheer overkill in this thing, there were times when I thought/was begging it would be over, but they just kept going and doing crazier stuff. Anyone who knows me knows I love a good crazy, unhinged blood and gimmicks match, and this was one of the best there's ever been, overkill or not. In the post match, Ospreay bid farewell to New Japan, and he got the big emotional send off with the confetti and all the UE guys surrounding him. Ospreay asked that the fans not forget him, and backstage he promised he'd be back, but when was still a mystery. Losing Ospreay is a major blow to NJPW (not to mention they're also losing Okada!), but I've no doubt he'll do great things in AEW.

NDT

[thetrashplanet]

Forbidden Door 2024 Review (so far)

Making my way through Forbidden Door right now and have been enjoying it for the most part with a few disappointments.

MJF vs Hechicero

This one was super surprising with how much I liked it. MJF's match with Tanahashi at last year's Forbidden Door was pretty abysmal but Hechicero is a much better opponent for him. He's an old school brawler / technician luchador and I felt that there was a lot of chemistry between these two. Major props to AEW for bringing in these more traditional luchadors to introduce the American audience to a different aspect of lucha libre.

2. Hiroshi Tanahashi & The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) vs. The Elite (Kazuchika Okada, Matthew Jackson & Nicholas Jackson)

This wasn't great. The allure of Okada vs. Tanahashi is well past its expiration date as Tanahashi just can't perform at a high level anymore. A trios match is exactly where I want to see him nowadays and generally I like The Acclaimed but wouldn't call them a team that you can count on to do a lot of heavy lifting. The Young Bucks do their Young Bucks thing with nothing of note. An average match that maybe would have been better further up the card.

3. Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi

A good showcase of both of these guys. This was good if not all that surprising. Takagi and Danielson work great together and their styles mesh really well. You know this match and you've seen it and you want to see it some more.

4. Toni Storm (w/Luther & Mariah May) (c) vs. Mina Shirakawa (w/Mariah May)

I was super excited for this because this storyline is so outlandish and boppo. As a fan of old school wrestling, there's nothing I like more than two dudes fighting over a woman, and so glad that we live in a time where not only do we get to see men treating women as objects, but also women treating women as objects. The match itself was a bit of a let down and unfortunately I'm going to pin this on Mina. I think her offense here just didn't look good. There were times where she struggled to lift Toni Storm (in a non kayfabe way) and many of her moves looked awkward when used against someone with a substantial height/weight difference. I wish there was more brawling in this - I wanted something that felt a bit more like a grudge match and I feel that's when Mina was really shining. I was disappointed at the outcome as well - I would have liked to see some kind of fun or interesting twist in the story to keep it moving along.

5. Orange Cassidy vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

I wasn't looking forward to this match because Orange Cassidy has been a guy that I've been over since about 1 month into his reign of terror with the Continental title, but I appreciate that they're trying to something different with this character. This is a Zack Sabre Jr ass match and goes into the good but not surprising category.

6. Hook, Katsuyori Shibata & Samoa Joe vs. The Learning Tree (Big Bill & Chris Jericho) & Jeff Cobb

A much better and faster paced trios match than the one earlier. This match was good because it had a high pace and everyone got to do a cool spot which is often times what I want out of a star studded trios match.

7. Mark Briscoe vs. El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Lio Rush vs. Jack Perry vs. Dante Martin

A solid ladder match that delivers all the things you want out of these Money in the Bank matches. Nothing too surprising or crazy in here and everyone manages to hit their spots without too much clumsiness. Takeshita's Blue Thunder Bomb through the tables was the highlight of the match and looked great.

8. Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Stephanie Vaquer (c)

The match I was looking forward to the most on this card, but also one that I was slightly disappointed in. That may just be because the amount of buzz this match has received may have set my expectations a little too high. This was pretty good but it felt like Mone was very clumsy in this. I've seen Vaquer wrestle quite a bit in Mexico and she looks much more fluid down there. Of course that's the kind of fluidity that comes from wrestling the same 8 women over and over 3-4 times a week for years. I've never been a huge fan of Mone and feel like she struggled to mesh with Vaquer's style. There was some very visible clumsy exchanges and botches and I'm more inclined to put that on the wrestler who's wrestled a WWE style for most of her career. I was delighted at how the crowd got behind Vaquer though - once again props to AEW for taking a chance on a different kind of luchadora versus looking for whoever could flip the most.

So far a really enjoyable show with no super major surprises or anything that I would call amazing, but it's been a great showcase of CMLL and STARDOM talent.

[suplexenjoyer]

Surprise Shingo vs Bryan was great. Bryan vs Pac should also be fantastic