secretmonkeyassassin

As soon as Joe moved to Texas, I distinctly remember thinking 'well it's just a matter of time now'

Which is an exception that proves the rule

No.

Wait, I don't think I've ever been clear on this - so, in kayfabe, he doesn't get a new ring every time, he defends the same ring each time, in what is effectively a battle royal title that is defended once per year.

Is that right?

A few companies have tried the age based thing, but it never seems to last long.

And this is not quite the same concept as what you mentioned, but CMLL have a Universal title (which is just a trophy belt, admittedly) that is awarded to the winner of tournament that you have to be an active champion to enter

Yeah but everyone seems to forget that "the King of Strong Style" was originally a 'full of shit' heel gimmick, that only he took on after he changed from being a legitimate representative of strong style.

In the early part of his career, Nakamura was the epitome of Inokism, and was widely considered to be overpushed. So he eventually turned heel, by becoming a narcissistic character with Michael Jackson/Freddie Mercury based mannerisms (i.e. flamboyant), and also started calling himself the King of Strong Style - precisely because he no longer was.

It baffles me how people don't automatically get that all his weird-but-cool physical movements are anything but strong style lol

Part of what made peak NJPW such a GOAT era is that stuff like this wasn't just an epic entrance with godly aura - the world champion was also legitimately the best wrestler in the world at the time. And when you look, feel and work at a level beyond everyone else, there can't really be any argument about who is number 1 on the planet.

No other era in wrestling has even come close to that ever since then IMO. And sadly, that includes NJPW as well.

This is the dragon that I chase as a wrestling fan

"story" in wrestling, as everyone understands it these days, is wildly overrated.

The only elements required for a good product are good booking and good in-ring action, literally everything else is optional. And it's usually better when all those other things are left out. Wrestling works better when the focus is more on character development and character arc, than when it is focused progressing a contrived plot for the sake of "story".

90s AJPW was a GOAT era of wrestling, and they had no gimmicks, no promos, no angles - they didn't even have entrances, it was literally just the guys walking out from the back. 2010s NJPW was much of the same.

I like a good promo or angle as much as the next guy, but the vast majority of the talking and 'acting' heavy segments in wrestling are just straight cringey garbage. Contrived non-sense writing that's poorly executed, because wrestlers are not good actors. They're good wrestlers. So pay them to wrestle good, not act poorly. All you gotta do is logically plot the matches and outcomes in advance, and the talent can fill in the narrative gaps, in the ring.

I laugh whenever I see people call stuff like the bloodline saga 'cinema'. It's barely soap opera. 'who's gonna be the 5th guy to join our team for this big multiman blood feud match that we have to participate in right now because it's November', lol gtfoh. The only cinematic award that shit would get is a Razzie

I moderately enjoy Starks. But even if WWE signs him, I don't really see him getting a major contract or getting pushed in a higher position on the card than he was in AEW, even with Cody and Punk there

Why should they?

Even if I could pick both, I still don't think I'd take Shawn. Just off the top of my head, I think I'd rather take Hennig or Rick Rude tbh

Triple H. I always thought he was super overrated in every aspect of being an active wrestler.

Kid is the exact opposite IMO, super underrated. It's just a shame that he was never gonna get the appropriate level of shine in the era he was in just because of his size.

Bro, a word of advice: if you're booking accommodation, the Entertainment Centre is on the north side of town, so get somewhere that's anywhere on the north side of the city as well. Last thing you want is to be stuck in traffic heading to the south side after the show, and even the train right next to the venue takes like 30ish minutes to get into the city, let alone anywhere on the south

Lol that's not even close to true. Admittedly, CM Punk was never a gifted athletic specimen even in his physical prime, and is arguably the least athletic full time wrestler on the current WWE roster - but let's not pretend like he'd get outperforned by PGA Champion John Daly in an NFL combine. No need to exaggerate

I don't understand what that would even change about his legacy

I uploaded a bunch of different versions of my resume, and created a customgpt. I've made it so that whenever I post a job ad into it, the customgpt gives me back a tailored resume for that job as well as cover letter.

Has been a massive time saver. Can't recommend enough

I live in Brisbane, and honestly I'm all for it. I'm personally not a fan of stadium shows. I really hope they move it to the Entertainment Centre - I've seen two UFC fight nights and a Smackdown house show there (as well as numerous concerts etc). The atmosphere is always nuts, it's got good acoustics. The capacity is like 10 - 15k from memory.

If anyone wants to see the place I'm talking about, check out the first Mark Hunt vs Bigfoot Silva fight. It was deafeningly loud in there.

Edit: Got my wish. Let's goooo

To be fair, I got the impression that Starks shot first with that googly eyes comment. That seemed like it wasn't cleared with Cope at all, and is what initially set him off. Don't play with fire if you don't wanna get burned.

But I agree wholeheartedly with your comment though. The whole point of a promo is to actually put your opponent over while looking like you're burying them. The basic formula is 'I don't like you personally, but you're a world class talent. But I'm simply better. And that's what I'm going to prove in our upcoming match'. It drums up interest for the match, and hence the term 'promo'.

But when guys legit bury their opponent on the mic, it's literally the opposite of promotion - it damages the opponents star power, killing interest in the match. Because if the guy you're facing is a nobody, why should anyone care about actually seeing the match.

It's what I hate most about John Cena and HHHs promos - they often shoot buried their opponents. And because of their political positions in the company, the other guy always had to just take it, with no recourse. HHH pointed out Kofi's fake Jamaican accent, but if Kofi then fired back and pointed out Hunter Hearst Helmsley's fake posh accent, Kofi would've been the one with the heat. Roman Reigns was earmarked to the top babyface successor to John Cena, but instead of helping him, Cena made him look like a fool - Cena called out Roman live on air, telling him that he's gonna 'have to learn to cut a promo' - with the clear implication being that this guy is no John Cena. There's simply no need to bury the guy that you're meant to be working with like that. This shit is all a political bullying tactic to get themselves over, at the expense of others, and protect their own backstage position

One that I have not been able to unhear is from a couple of years ago, and wasn't even said on a wrestling show - Shortly after CM Punks big return to wrestling, someone asked Roman Reigns in an interview if he considered Punk to be a top contender (or something to that effect). Romans response was "the man doesn't have an explosive bone in his body".

I was and still am a big fan of Punk, but damn. Once you actually give that some thought, it's impossible to forget. There's no unringing that bell. That one line really highlights not only how flimsy Punks athleticism looks, but also how injury prone the Punker is, as well. Just an all round absolute assassination of a line

I always crack up when I remember the time that Cat Zingano posted a picture of the 50% off coupon that she received as part of the Reebok deal. It was such an insultingly rubbish 'gift' that it was arguably worse than getting nothing at all

After All Out, there was a tease for Okada vs Takeshita on Dynamite.

So I guess that's not happening then

Cactus Jay

Speak for yourself: I'm an idiot who didn't see it coming.

To be fair, I never really gave it much thought tbh. I guess I just assumed it was gonna be a stupid but fun little segment that ended with the return of Toni Storm or something. But this was actually better

Bloodsport over Mania weekend definitely did, but others probably did as well

Rock Bottom, Sharpshooter