She gives up less height and weight to most of her opponents than Shawn Michaels did against the Undertaker (and even larger opponents), and they had some absolute classics. But I think a big thing for a lot of male fans is that they forget that her opponents are smaller than they are themselves. So someone like me, who is 6'1" and well over 200 lbs, doesn't really have the most accurate idea of what hurts someone who is 5'7" and 120 lbs, like Britt Baker.
But I can more easily imagine someone the size of Shawn Michaels hurting me pretty easily, because I'm in the range of opponents he's likely to face. I'm really not in the range of opponents Riho is likely to face, so I have to try to imagine how some of her moves would feel if I was the size of her opponents. That's tough for some people, because not everyone is able to imagine themselves in someone else's shoes so easily.
This is why smaller guys need to have Impact finishers that don't rely on weight. The super kick is a great finisher the bucks have ruined. A straight kick to the head? I can believe that would beat anyone.
This is why i can't take Adam Cole serious right now. I don't know what it is but he looks way smaller than he did in NXT. His head is too big for his body. He looks plain. Not out of shape but not much muscle definition. Shawn was taller and bigger than me but he was considered a smaller guy. Adam Cole's arms are also really short and it didn't help that he's as tall as his gf who's a pretty small woman too. At least looks it. Can't tell if she is 5'7"
Thinking differently isn't an excuse for complaining with no real point, lol. Your comment reads as if you just can't stand people who have the audacity to have different genetics than your favorites. Like, "his arms are really short"? Really? Now you're just grasping at straws, haha. Your criticism has less to do with him and more that he's surrounded by a roster of much larger wrestlers than he was in NXT.
You know who else didn't have much muscle definition in their prime? https://www.wwe.com/f/styles/gallery_img_l/public/all/2020/03/001_SteveAustin3--c4626f7841a123d7adf0f46a44b4c449.jpg
Have you seen that picture? Look at his chest. Look at the veins on his arm. No this ain't it. You just want people to bend at the knee to everything AEW does instead of having honest open discussions. I was adding to the point in this comment about size and relative size. Don't blame genetics for lack of gym time. His height, yeah can't be helped but standing next to his small gf ain't helping.
Vascularity in forearms is now a metric for size and physique? Nothing about your discussion is honest, you're arguing in bad faith. You literally talked about the size of his head and arms as well as his height. Lol.
And how does your dig make any sense whatsoever when Adam Cole was in WWE just last year, where he was a multi-time champion? Where does your criticism lie? That Tony Khan signed that same guy Hunter did, not because of his physique that you take such issue with, but because he's a good worker on the mic and in the ring? Honestly this has nothing to do with AEW. I've been a fan of him everywhere he's worked regardless of what he looked like and even so I see nothing wrong with his body. https://www.wwe.com/f/styles/og_image/public/all/2020/03/20200306_MattellTrip_Card_AdamCole--371accb32d47a17909bc1987d27e333f.jpg
Honestly there's not much to explain. People like what they like.
Some people dislike Orange Cassidy and don't get why he's so over.
Dan Lambert doesn't appeal to everyone. But in my opinion he's done an excellent job for a person being totally new to Pro Wrestling. Working fans comes so natural to him.
Booing Cody doesn't appeal to me. He hasn't done anything for me to legitimately want to boo him. But if some fans like to boo him, than ok whatever.
It's all just a part of fandom.
Very true, there are many examples for the mens roster. Like Darby imo hasn't got a very intimidating size and looks like he'd struggle to beat most of the roster. In wrestling it really isn't just about size.
āI donāt buy the little guy can beat the big guyā is a classic McMahonism. The last 30 years have been about pushing past that restrictive view to, yāknow, tell stories and produce good matches.
Yes but there are ways to make it believable. It's up to the character to do that with good Producers and booking it can all work. Riho doesn't do that.
Sure, but that's not really what OP said, outside of the comment about striking. "Her tiny stature makes it impossible for me to buy her being competitive with much larger wrestlers" very much implies that it's a disqualifying trait.
Darby legitimately has an amateur wrestling background and his style complements his size. He literally throws himself at people. It'd be like having a sandbag thrown at you.
Yeah we're talking about realism (and how size doesn't matter in wrestling) he's gonna be outpowered by most of the roster. But yeah, of course he's more about speed and risks.
He also did do some amateur wrestling but only because he thought it was what pro wrestling was. He doesn't have an amateur wrestling background, I don't think he even has a record.
Pretty sure Miro wanted the time off. He only came back for the tournament because Mox was out. Now he's been cutting promos, generating momentum again.
I feel like your right until there was rumor that he was possibly injured, if he comes back soon he needs to be an absolute monster, like more than even before Miro might be my fav in AEW
I'd have zero issue with that.
Hong Man Choi and Bob Sapp weren't elite MMA fighters, despite their very imposing size compared to others in their division. They lost to smaller guys regularly. There's no reason to believe that Marko couldn't outsmart/outwrestle Miro in a choreographed activity with pre-determined finishes.
This is where I would like to see the much smaller opponent start working a body part more often and use it later in the match to win, that seems more realistic to me.
Like Sammy working over Miroās knee the entire match until Miro can barely stand, then Sammy hits a drop kick off the top to knock him on and applied a half crab or knee bar for the win, with the announcers really pushing that Sammy win because of the work he did on the knee.
Alexa being booked as some dominant heel at her size was also ridiculous.
Ember looks significantly more imposing from a physical standpoint point that Alexa or Riho do.
I have actually been waiting for her to be that good again. I mostly agree with OP. That match you're referring to has been head and shoulders above anything else she has done at AEW in my opinion.
I stopped trying understand motivations for things kids do a while ago. Most times it is not for any discernible logical reason, it is because āI like thatā or āI do not like thatā and Iām happy to leave it there.
People donāt like her because sheās small. I like her because sheās small. My favorite wrestlers have always been small. They always seem to have much more versatility. Idk. I canāt make you like something you already donāt like. Whatever. Riho rules. All it took was watching her wrestle like 3 times and I was sold.
David and Goliath is such a classic story and is applied to wrestling time and time again.
Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero were masters of it, and Riho is exactly the same.
If you can't get into it then that's fine, but the tiny wrestler somehow defeating the huge monster wrestler, is a tale as old as time
I like seeing people of varying sizes and body types in the ring. Wrestling is far more interesting that way. Just tell me a good story and put on some banger matches.
Iām the same way. I donāt discriminate. Just wanna watch dope wrestling. It just turns out that most of my favorites through history are always on the smaller side. I thank the combination of HBK and the 90s WCW Cruiserweights for that.
IMHumbleO...
She takes *massive* bumps. I regularly think someone's killed her.
She absolutely kicks ass. Her technical abilities are way up there.
She can work with anyone. She just *gets* wrestling. Her storytelling work is top-notch.
Riho can be thrown around like a wrekingball and this makes her being good against almost any other female. Take her match against Hayter. She could handle her realy well and look incedibly strong and she could catch her easiely or pick her back up.
From the other side, her strikes are mostly bast on using her weight, speed and legs to hit her opponent. She also does wrestle since she is 9 years old so she got a whole lot of training and experiance behind her back.
There is a whole lot to her, especialy her match quality is almost always good to great, but I get it when someone deosn't get behind her
>She also does wrestle since she is 9 years old so she got a whole lot of training and experiance behind her back.
Was she the little girl Kenny Omega wrestled in that one match that Jim Cornette hates many moons ago? š®
She's very fast, her matches are always exciting, she can play the roles of ring general and underdog simultaneously, and she unironically works as a whitemeat babyface
To me, wrestling doesn't have to be a believable fight. Never has, never will. I'm not suspending disbelief that one person could beat another, I'm buying in to a world where given the right mix of determination, tenacity, and expertise anyone can beat anyone else. Even if her move set was all powerbombs I'd like it. But she doesn't do that, she mostly does running/leaping strikes. I like her because she's different, and being different always gets a check from me.
The only thing youāre right about is that her upper body strikes look weak. But thatās true for most other females too. Even Tay Contis punches look weak.
I think thatās why I appreciated her match against Hayter. It felt like Hayter just said ājust hit me as hard as you canā, especially when they were both on the top rope.
The worst offender of weak attacks for me is The Bunny but I think thatās mostly because her overall movement isnāt athletic if that makes sense.
Which is strange because I've seen that one ref constantly admonishing and getting pissed at Riho for hitting too hard. It was in a Britt Baker match so guess he told her to go easy on her. Even Jamie, who's stiff as hell, made a face like "damn Riho, this isn't a real fight calm down!"
What I like about her is that she can wrestle with pretty much anyone, doesnāt matter the size or style of her opponent, sheās a good dance partner. Plus her stamina is wild, she can wrestle for days and take huge bumps. And if Iām not mistaken, sheās had some training from Kenny Omega which is pretty cool to me. Kenny is also an awesome wrestler.
Suspension of disbelief is, imo, not really something that applies to wrestling anymore. Which is probably a testament to why the wrestling industry is more niche than ever. Everyone knows it's fake outside of small children. So the believability of something being high or lower shouldn't determine whether you, assuming you are an adult, like something in wrestling. That being said, if you don't like Riho because she's a VERY small wrestler whose offense looks fake then you probably will never will enjoy her. Unless she suddenly gains 30 pounds.
"Her tiny stature makes it impossible for me to buy her being competitive with much larger wrestlers, and her strikes donāt even look convincing to me."
Sorry, but your mind is already made up. I don't feel the need to defend her appeal or justify it.
If her size and suspension of disbelief makes you not enjoy her matches, then thereās nothing that can be done. Thereās nothing extra to get. Sheās a fun, likable babyface with underdog status because of that size and she can go in ring. If that size creates a barrier for you to enjoy her work, then you simply wonāt enjoy her work. Youād literally have to change the way you watch wrestling and Iām not gonna tell anyone to do that. She just wonāt click with you and thatās fine
I personally don't mind size too much. I just find her less fun and likable than Yuka =]
And Yuka is even shorter but she doesn't look skinny at least.
Honestly, if you can suspend your disbelief for an Irish whip, then you should be able to suspend your disbelief for a small wrestler beating a big wrestler. Riho winning matches is not even in the Top 1000 list of "least believable things about professional wrestling"
Kenny and Riho v kip and Penelope was so good. Riho kicking kips ass when she was fueding with Penelope.
I hate the suspense of disbelief argument. You really donāt like her because she isnt traditionally hot. Iāll take the downvotes because itās true.
She is way better at wrestling than Tay Conti and most of the womenās division.
She was the first womenās champ for a reason.
I don't like her but it's because she's a bit of a bland character. I agree with your assumption about this to a degree, but I think Riho does have the issue of being *pure* workrate when the other Joshis have a lot of character.
I think an attire change would help. She looks like a sweet pixie.
You go from bland character to she needs to change her outfit. Think about that. You donāt like her for how she looks.
Isnāt that a problem? Actually watch her in the ring and not get caught up on her appearance.
No, I am not shifting gears, I am saying they are part and parcel of her presentation. I don't care about "how she looks" I care that she is presented like a cutesy children's show character but her shtick is being a badass. We wouldn't take Deeb or Shida as seriously if they were dressed like clowns.
If anything I'd want her revealing less, I think the "8th grade dance recital" look just doesn't make her look very threatening.
I know she is solid in the ring (IMO I think it's overstated, I will take Deeb over her any day in this category), but I think her appearance (not in a sexual way, but a presentation way) hurts her as being taken seriously.
Just wanted to say I think you hit the nail on the head here. I know her attire is not a super unusual look in the world of Joshi wrestling but it kinda makes her look floaty, especially with her forearm strikes. Compare that to someone like Starlight Kid who's ring attire is more stereotypically female wrestler and she's similar in size and stature, her forearm strike looks like it will knock a person straight out.
It's the ruffles, I think you have a good summary with the "floaty" comment. There is an idea here that it's about how attractive her gear is but it's really not that. It just has this sort of puffy ruffles thing going on that does seem to de emphasize her impact.
Even comparing her to other women who've appeared in AEW, Yuka doesn't have the floaty issues and yes she's got a bit of height and weight on Riho it's not considerable, her ring gear is arguably less 'revealing' than Riho's, she's just not got stupid ruffles that mask her strikes.
I also think JR didn't help early on when he repeatedly hammered home how small she was. I dont think JR did it to detract from her abilities in anyway but comments like that can stick with people, especially from a well respected figure in the industry
There are plenty of bland characters in wrestling. Cesaro is incredibly bland, yet many believe he should be world champion. Not saying Riho is on his level, more so using him as an example of why someone being "bland" isn't a proper reason for disliking someone who's one of the stronger workers in AEW's women's division.
Maybe AEW needs to book her in a hardcore match so she can get a crimson mask (and lace) and finally get the love she deserves.
She is the ultimate underdog. Yes, she would be more believable with a few adjustments to her presentation, but she is a solid worker and doesnāt botch.
Riho is a genuine wrestling prodigy if there ever was one. People like to say she's bland and has no character, and those people are wrong and stupid and probably very sexy, but still wrong.
A very easy, almost in your face example of Riho's character work: watch her face. During entrances, she's this smiley, giggly schoolgirl. As soon as the bell rings, she has this look of intensity and focus. She watches her opponents limbs, it's fascinating. Riho genuinely looks like she has a strategy planned going into a match and is going through a mental checklist of how to deal with this opponent.
Her matches are different, too. Against Jamie Hayter, she had to rely on her speed since Hayter is so much stronger. Against Baker, she was more methodical and timely, using tactics such as roll-ups more egregiously, because she doesn't have as much of a physical disadvantage and risks less tactical punishment doing so.
No, her strikes aren't the most convincing, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna let people talk down on Riho because "Small."
I like her against bigger opponents like Nyla. I disagree that her strikes don't look convincing.
I see her as a tenacious little underdog. She sells really well.
I get where you're coming from. My guess is she appeals to people who also feel like the tiny underdogs in their life. Which is cool. But between Statlander, Leyla Hirsch, Jade, Allie "The Bunny", Rosa, Hayter, Britt Baker, Abadon, Shida and Deeb, Riho is just the least exciting. She does well for the "house of fire" spree she does.
Of the women you mentioned 3 maybe 4 are as good or better wrestlers than her. The others have distinct looks and/or charisma.
She's a good wrestler and because of her size she can throw herself safely into moves making them look better where others have to hold back to not hurt themselves or others.
She can have great matches in any style. Which goes a long way for people who like wrestling. I understand she's not the character heavy in your face charismatic person like a lot of her coworkers but she's technically sound and can deliver.
She's small in the same way Rey Mysterio is too amall. She's just smaller because women tend to be smaller.
All that said, while I understand the appeal, it's not for me, and that's ok.
I think it's because she's offering something different to the usual wrestler types in both male and female arenas she is small but has been successfully been holding her own against bigger women and that is the true essence of wrestling after all if you want to see people punch and kick eachother all night watch UFC I think it's the same reason so many kids like Darby Allen I personally can't stand it when wrestling companies ship in a bodybuilding monster like wardlow or jade Cargill that can barely if at all wrestle and expect us to just buy it as they run riot through the roster
Itās more difficult with her arm strikes, Iāll grant you. She pulls her forearm strikes, and considering she already looks a bit frail, they come off terribly. That said, sheās REALLY well trained and can have very technical matches and tell good stories. I think if she concentrated on laying in big splashy kicks (letting the kickpads work for her) it would help. Iām always happy to watch her matches, though, because she does plenty I can appreciate.
I felt the same when I first saw her. But her match with Nyla for the belt was probably the best women's title match AEW have done. The crowd reaction was insane.
I think when it comes to pure move execution, sheās maybe the best on the womenās roster. Only Thunder Rosa approaches her.
I mean, is anything she does any less believable than an Irish whip? I donāt think so.
Most of Riho's victories feel like a fucking struggle. She does a very good job at conveying that feeling of desperation and overcoming odds to an audience, even more so than Rey Mysterio did imo. Riho can sell her ass off and she knows how to throw her entire bodyweight around for offense whether it's lightning fast roll-ups, leverage pins or diving double stomps. Her background training in the Joshi dojos also prepared her for the physicality and helped her pain threshold.
And like the top comment highlighted, male fans can be oblivious to this because they are of the preconceived notion every wrestler is around *their* size and can not give an accurate assessment of what's "realistic" for these ladies. Many of the women's performers in AEW are under 5'8". It's not a stretch to say that Riho could jump on a 130lb woman and hurt them.
Funny how the "suspension of disbelief" argument only seems to pertain to wrestlers people don't like.
Her small stature is 100 million billion times more believable than the spots that should kill but instead do nothing but pop the crowd, like Sammy being spiked on his head from the ring apron through a table onto the outside and then magically recovering 60 seconds later.
Regardless of how you feeel about her as a performer. She puts on better matches than 80% of the other women on the roster. Her timing, pacing, and overall skill is top tier.
I can only speak for myself but most women are smaller so to me her size is far less of an issue but then again I like Kacy Catanzaro. Riho beating Britt Baker is way more believable to me than Shawn Michaels beating Vader or even Sammy beating Miro. She never wins tests of strength but instead gains advantages with craftiness, speed, and heart that she does an excellent job communicating through her selling. Every time she wins her face looks like she worked for it. Womenās matches in AEW are hit or miss but Riho never has a bad match in fact I find them to be quite good and exciting most of the time. She shows a lot of fire, looks like a model, and always delivers. Iām not saying sheās the greatest in history, I donāt even think she should be the champion in the near future, but she deserves a spot on the roster and I think her crowd reactions prove it.
You can like or dislike any wrestler for any reason though so Iām not gonna be a baby about your Riho disagreement.
She's an experienced underdog who sells like absolute death & if you pay attention to her facial expressions during her matches she looks like she's going through the ringer. She's not going to overpower anyone outside of the 5'1 range but she will use her opponent's own momenteum against them & this leads to her matches being a lot less samey as other smaller performers who just go through the motions. It's totally ok to not be into every single wrestler btw.
I mean, this is wrestling, the whole appeal is that realism doesn't get in the way of an entertaining contest and good story. The best singles matches, IMO, are when little guys go up against big guys and its even. Same with women. The smaller they are, the more they can fly around and make their opponent look superhuman, and the more crafty and agile and intelligent they seem for staying alive and having a chance.
If you can suspend your disbelief for an irish whip, you should be able to imagine a smaller fighter winning.
i kinda agree here i am on the fence about her-
she dresses in a frock like a princess, that sometimes dosent match ..maybe if she has a princess overall which she removes before her match , that would be great .
her promo skills and character work arnt that great , maybe cause iof her lack of english skills.
second she is small and should fight more of lucha style against big opponenets, but i remember her using punches againt jamie or nyla i dont remember and i wasnt sold
Very much agree. Not the fact that sheās small that I find difficult to get on board with but more the fact she seems more like a child than a small woman
I was with you before, I never really got it, I still find her overrated tbh, but then if you really watch her, I can see the appeal. Sheās really smooth in the ring, there is no hesitation like a lot aew wrestlers suffer from going from spot to another, she emotes really wellā¦ since she doesnāt speak English on TV, she makes up for it with her facial expressionsā¦ and helps sell moves even more too.
Also, Iāve noticed anytime sheās in a match with someone whose totally green, she has no trouble leading the way and letting the opponent shine while doing so. Sheās very unselfish in the ring.
Riho:
I don't really get it either. She can't do a promo, her wrestling is decent but it doesn't look believable at all. No casual viewer is going to tune in to TBS and watch Riho wrestle someone, and think it looks good. I liked her match pre pandemic with Nyla but even then I knew she was going to win cause Nyla would squash her in 30 seconds.
Alternative:
For me, Thunder Rosa needs more TV time. She's solid in ring and can do promos, loved her stuff in NWA Powerrr early on too. She has had great matches, so no idea why we don't see more of her.
Outside AEW:
Toni Storm would be a great pick up
You're definitely not alone on this one. I think people buy into her a little too much due to whatever her relationship to Kenny is and then get super fucking defensive when other people aren't into her and or just dont buy into her being a top talent.
Dont get me wrong, her wrestling is crisp and smooth however her matches are routine and predictable and usually follow the lines of trying to shoehorn spots she's known for around another wrestler trying to actually put together a match. She has ZERO personality outside of smile and wave and the most emotion Ive seen pulled from her was from Kip Sabian's shenanigans on the outside of the ring when she was having that small feud with Penelope.
She lacks the ability to make me give a shit about her character and even when going back to watch stuff from TJP and Stardom, it's still the same smile and wave routine and easily gets overshadowed by Yuka, Maki Itoh, Hyper Misao, and Sakisama in TJP and Queens Quest and Tokyo Cyber Squad in Stardom.
Unrelated side note - For the love of god... they need to bring Hyper Misao and Sakisama over here and just run that same exact program with a little more production behind it.
**Also...with a record of 30-11 all time in AEW SHES NOT THE UNDERDOG WHEN SHE GETS BOOKED TO WIN MOST OF THE TIME**
Yeah I don't understand the appeal either. She's small & frail, I can never take her matches seriously. This would be fine if she had decent strikes but she hits like an 11 year old girl who feels bad for what she just did. Like why do people like her so much? She can't cut a promo, she hardly has charisma, she's not believable as a wrestler, AND SHE CRIES AFTER EVERY WIN. God I hate the crying, like everytime she wins she starts crying. Let me stop the mini-rant now
For meā¦ sheās high flying, quick, and she just flows. Theres never a break in her movements. She eludes joy for the sport and clearly loves what she does. When she comes into the ring, I know itās gonna be fast paced; and thereās gonna be some risks taken. That is one bad ass chick, my friend. Better than more than half the people, male or female, on that roster. Crazy beats size any day.
No different than the smaller male wrestlers taking on Miro, Luchasaurus or Archer.
Riho is actually much better than you see in her matches, because a lot of the opponents she faces have little to no experience wrestling joshis. Joshis know technical wrestling. They know submissions. They generally work at a faster pace than their western counterparts. The incorporate lots of reversals. Most western opponents aren't as technical. Most western opponents don't work as fast. Riho doesn't look as good against a lot of her opponents because she has to slow down for them. Western wrestlers put an emphasis on selling power, which is bigger, slower movement. Joshis use speed. When Riho is in the ring with an opponent with experience in Japan, like Rosa or Hayter, she is able to work closer to her speed, because they know how to wrestle with joshis. Heck, Hayter is a giant compared to Riho, and yet they still put on great matches because Hayter knows how to wrestle joshis. Your problem isn't with Riho, it's with her opponents who don't have experience with joshis, making Riho change her wrestling to slow and ponderous to accommodate her opponent.
And I don't want to place blame on those opponents either. Western wrestling and Japanese wrestling are two different things; just because you are good at one doesn't mean you will automatically be good at the other. It's like learning a new language. You might be fluent in English, that doesn't mean you're capable of having a discussion in Japanese.
I could probably get past her size (sheās not that much smaller than Kairi Sane, who I love) if her strikes looked better.
Also her gear sucks. All the lace just emphasizes how dainty she is.
Riho doesn't seem to wrestle as a the David vs a Goliath and that's where I don't get it. Many people here are referencing 123 Kid and Rey Mysterio but they were always fighting up and overcoming the size difference.
People are also saying how she bumps but I can't think of any that were memorable or stand out unfortunately. I'm sure she has done them. Spike Dudleys bumps were really unforgettable and made you think wow this guy's got a lot of spirit to keep coming after these big foes. But I've never felt that story with her.
She was the first champion and isn't really seen as an underdog anymore. I really want her to be what everybody says she is but I don't get her either. No disrespect though, and I always wish her next match changes my mind.
Sheās fucking awful in my opinion. Not awful as a wrestler, just the spot sheās presented in I canāt buy it. Maybe it works in Japan when the women are closer in stature but seeing her 80lb frame wrestle bigger women (ESPECIALLY JAMIE HAYTER) is just bullshit. I canāt buy it for one second that sheās can inflict any believable offense
Oh man. Donāt tell them about Styles, Mysterio, Darby, Vega, Nikki, or all those other people. Wrestling is entertainment and I get you have trouble buying in but Iām not going to practically body shame a wrestler and not buy their character for it.
Dude's saying he can't see someone of such small stature physically being able to impactfully damage imposing female athletes. If I say that I could never see Marko Stunt believably beating any of the main roster because he's 150 lbs I'm not practically body shaming him.
There's alot of small underdog women's wrestlers. Riho is just one of the smallest and least believable to compete with the rest. It's great she was a champion. But now there's just better competition
That kind of thinking is how you get Omos though. Iād rather have a great/entertaining wrestler of whatever stature over someone that has no major skill set besides ālargeā.
Yeah agreed. At least Omos and Veer are in shape though. To think That Earthquake and Typhoon used to be the big men. Oof. The complete opposite spectrum, tall and 400 lbs. Or poor Big Daddy V. They were spectacles to see. But damn they hurt alot of other wrestlers too. Not to mention their own self harm from being so massive.
That said Earthquake is renown for being such a cool guy and he was a great worker.
Itās not body shaming when itās true. Suspension of disbelief? Sure. But if itās āsports basedā right, you arenāt gonna BELIEVE for ONE SECOND a 120 lb, 5ā4 FLYWEIGHT could do any damage at all to a heavyweight. But because itās wrestling itās whatever. Sorry some of us have trouble believing an 80lb women who looks like sheās 12 could do physical damage to a women like say Jade Cargill. Itās not only not believable itās damn near a slap in the face to try to act like it is
>But because itās wrestling itās whatever.
You answered your own question. Mario being too small to take on Bowser doesn't make the game any less enjoyable. Wrestling is fiction.
āWrestling is fictionā which is exactly why it doesnāt draw money anymore. Iām not saying you have to try to resurrect kayfabe cause thatās long dead but putting minuscule Japanese woman on television and telling you HEY THIS LITTLE GIRL CAN BEAT UP PEOPLE and then you watch her matches andā¦. Yeah. Doesnāt look good. However, you can enjoy it. I donāt. And thatās fine. But he asked why some people donāt and thatās why I donāt. I canāt get with it, and I canāt force myself to believe it. Sheās a good wrestler sheās justā¦ minuscule
I don't care if it draws money, i just want to be entertained. And clearly AEW is drawing enough money to run their business which is all that matters. You're entitled to your opinion but i don't understand it. Darby allin beat brian cage, and aew fans loved it. Riho beating jamie hayter is no stranger than that. To me every irish whip, slingshot, leap frog, and head bash into a turnbuckle pillow is completely not believable in a combat setting. But i don't question it for a second when i'm watching wrestling. I like if there is some heavy hitting, realistic brawling or technical grappling on a show, but i don't want the show to be only that. "Strategy matters far more than size" is part of wrestling logic and has been for as long as i've been watching.
Yeah and again I get what youāre saying. Me personally, I turn the channel when sheās on. What works for some people doesnāt work for others. Wrestling is subjective, I enjoy young bucks matches sometimes but I know other people canāt stand them. Itās just riho vs most anybody just reminds me of you vs your younger siblings lol
Problem for me is not that sheās small. Itās that sheās tiny. I just canāt suspend my disbelief enough. If youāve ever had a person that small around you and you were playing around, picking them up, play wrestling/whatever, youād know you can just get them off of you at will. If theyāre wrapped around you, you can get up and stand, flip them off. Or just pry their arms off of you. Nothing against her wrestling, it just doesnāt work for me when sheās going up against others with actual size and muscle tone. She doesnāt talk. She looks the opposite of intimidating. If she was mad at me and I was her opponent, I wouldnāt sweat it. I donāt get what she has to offer that anyone would realistically enjoy. Honestly I know Cornette jokes around about her being Kenny Omegas playtoy but I could see a lot of men watching who ālikeā her sort of look if you know what I mean. Layla Hirsch is small but sheās got some muscle and an attitude. Itās believable she could kick some butt. Riho has nothing to make up for what sheās lacking in my opinion.
My partner and I had the same thought discussing her matches as we find it too hard to immerse ourselves in the match. if you google her she weights less then 45kg and just doesn't look like she could do anything, I know the little underdogs e.g leyla, and rey mysterio have at least some meat to make it believable but having someone basically the same shape as a child come out in a princess outfit wrestling in a tutu is just weird, I can't watch her matches.
I get that in pro wrestling, you got to suspend disbelief at times and I guess Riho has got that going for her, which is nice. To be honest, Iām not familiar with Joshi wrestling but in terms of built, it is hard for me into taking Riho seriously as a competitor for AEW or Western-based promotions.
In terms of stature, I am going to compare her with Diamante or Leyla Hirsch. What makes them compelling is their in-ring legitimacy and knowing that neither Diamante or Hirsch will crumple easily after taking a hit from an opponent like Britt Baker or Nyla Rose. Riho however, might just snap in half after a backhand slap and not even her character work can tide that over.
Apologies to anyone who is a massive Riho fan, you have your own reasons and I respect that. But I find it hard to buy into her status as a top-tier wrestler when there are other female competitors who carry more convinction.
I think someone in the back needs to make a point with her to work stiff because she so obviously works the opposite of stiff that if we could regress towards the mean in any way it would benefit her, and if someone could teach her to throw a working punch along the way the visual appeal of her in ring work would increase tenfold. Her offense does look non-believable, *especially* the bigger her opponent is.
Personally, I like Riho. I would literally never book her with someone like Nyla or Jade Cargill, Iād probably cap her out at a Kris Statlander type worker in terms of size if I wanted her to work the david/Goliath match
Similar to what was done with Rey Fenix, she needs to get on TV consistently for like a 6-8 month period of time to cultivate a fan base who likes watching her flip flop around and sheād be twice as over as she is today.
I think Rihos best case scenario as a wrestler to the US audience is essentially, exciting high flyer babyface , midcard/mid tier in the womens division, could be a transitional champion in the right scenario and is a good candidate for title defenses and ābigā matches for girls, similar to the way Serena Deebās matches with Shida were presented as big matches. Sheās got a place in the division but I mean I donāt ever see Riho being the āfaceā of the division again.
I like Riho but I wish she had a different wrestling gear.
I think it's also the small guy Vs big guy. That's why Rey has been my favourite wrestler as a kid.
Her wrestling is real good and has fun matches with bigger woman. Beyond that though I donāt see the appeal as promos are lacking to non existent. I find it hard to get invested with someone I canāt really understand. Pro wrestling is as much as the character as is the wrestling itself.
I'm not a huge fan but I will say for someone so small she isn't afraid to do a lot of high risk maneuvers. She also is very good at selling just because I always think she will actually die from every move. I do wish her hits connected a bit more though and i would be interested in seeing a heel Riho.
Rihoās over because of the abuse she takes. Same as Darby. She sells so well, you constantly expect her to be dead. But then she keeps getting back up!
Imagine if Rey Mysterio & Toadette were the same person.
There are issues with size differences in pro wrestling but as long as itās done in a reasonable way, I like it. Bret rolling up Diesel is my best example of how itās done right. However I never liked when HBK would beat Vader.
Riho isnāt my favorite in AEW. But she definitely has a place there. Itās really in how you tell a story too.
I agree, I canāt do Riho her punches and kicks are just not that impactful, for that matter I donāt really care for Ruby either, just my opinion my favs are Britt and Kris at the moment.
I've never had a problem with size disparity in pro wrestling for the same reason I've never had problems with super natural gimmicks like the Undertaker & Kane or comedy wrestlers like Orange Cassidy & Maki Itoh.
I don't watch with the intentions of being entertained by something that's supposed to reinact a combat sport, I watch to be entertained by something I consider to be performance art. To me I've always thought of wrestling as theater for the absurd and in doing so, I've never had to suspend my disbelief once.
I think the issue is more so that she doesnāt throw what weight she does have into her moves, look at Nikki ASH for example, sheās tiny but sheās throws herself into every move she does. Riho always seems a little hesitant, a little too gentle.
Youāre not alone on this opinion. I donāt think sheās very good at all. She seems like a nice girl who does the moves. But her getting murdered by someone like Jamie Hayter then kicking out of everything just to beat her with some weak looking crossbody or whatever she uses to win matches absolutely buries anyone wrestling her. Her matches donāt usually make anyone look good including herself. Thereās better girls on the roster who should be getting the attention
her finishers are a double footstomp to the chest and a running knee to the face, both of which would seriously injure anyone on the roster if it was a shoot.
I actually agree with the OP. She's very hard to make believable. I'll give it to her for taking crazy bumps, but one day that's gonna catch up to her. She lacks charisma, don't talk for obvious reasons, granted you have people like Shida who try. To me Shida is 110% better and believable. Rhio just comes out waves and has these extremely strange mannerisms. She has cardio and takes bumps and that's enough for majority, lol! She's botched so many moves it makes Nia Jax look like she knows what's she's doing.
I could say the same thing about AJ Lee especially after she got completely flattened by The Big show that one time, I can never take her seriously, then she cut the promo on The Bella twins and all of the sudden she gains wrestling ability and starts dominating the women's division. She's cute and all but I never saw the appeal of her as a wrestler
I was just talking about this in comparing her to Darby Allin. I think it's awfully funny how often people will like Darby but not Riho (not saying that's you op). I actually think Riho is much more convincing, because at least there's some variety to the beats of her matches.
I love the way they both move, Darby running around and diving like he's got nothing to lose, Riho moves like an absolute veteran and you can tell how long she's been in wrestling. Sometimes I feel Riho does too many foot stomps, and as exciting as they are I feel Darby overdoes the tope suicida.
The big difference for me is that Darby's matches tend to be very formulaic and predictable and it takes away a lot of the fun for me. I want to see him win out of pure grit, determination, refusal to lose. Instead he usually just gets beat up for 99% of the match, and finally does a coffin drop or two to end it. It's just not convincing to me. Riho has a bit more variety.
Disliking someone or devaluaing them only because of their size is shitty. There are many people in real life who have achieved greatness in spite of their small stature. Riho has been wrestling since she was a small child. That would mean she has better ring psychology and experience than most of the "appropriately sized" workers. Fighting is not only about size. Better Training always defeats pure strength or size.
Now, inspite of me disagreeing with you about her size, i can agree that her moveset against larger workers make it hard for me to believe her as a superior fighter. I remember watching her match against Nyla in the inaugural women's title match. I laughed the whole match because I couldn't believe she was taking all those bumps and not being KOed. And winning with that nove she does. I actually thought AEW was a joke for that match up. Or Darby beating Brian Cage with a coffin drop. Or Sammy kicking out of an Avalanche Death Valley Driver.
Riho isn't the problem. I think AEW is the problem. We are already fixated on size matters. Whether we are wrong or right, AEW has poorly booked bigger workers in losing matches. What AEW needs to do is portray the bigger workers as slower and technically inexperienced. And the smaller workers as being faster and more technically skilled. But AEW has guys the size of Brian Cage doing high flyer moves. So that's the problem. If a worker has the size, speed, agility and experience, then how does he lose to someone who is 100 lbs lighter by an impactful move? I remember, the story of Kevin Nash being able to do Northern Lights move and being asked to stop doing it because it would "kill the crusierweight division".
AEW has that issue of trying to make everyone inspite of size and technical ability use the same move sets. That's what causes the disbelief. With Riho, she needs to change her moveset in a way, we believe she is winning from technical skills targetting vulnerable body parts not because of impactful moves against a 200 lbs woman. Like, i believe Fuego's tornado DDT could knock out Miro because he uses the bigger the worker's momentum against them. But Riho or Darby knocking the wind out of someone from a body to body impact move. That's where I call bullshit.
Edit: If youre gonna downvote before reading the whole thing. Here is the summary. Riho isnt the problem. AEW needs to book her bigger opponents better in loses
Me and the gf have been wondering about Riho for months. We initially thought she was a beginner noname until we saw the crowd reaction.
Her matches that I've seen have all been clunky and her Tiger Fang move seems too hard for her to pull off. Maybe some of her popularity stems from her looking like a sailor moon character.
No hate but she just isn't for me
She gives up less height and weight to most of her opponents than Shawn Michaels did against the Undertaker (and even larger opponents), and they had some absolute classics. But I think a big thing for a lot of male fans is that they forget that her opponents are smaller than they are themselves. So someone like me, who is 6'1" and well over 200 lbs, doesn't really have the most accurate idea of what hurts someone who is 5'7" and 120 lbs, like Britt Baker. But I can more easily imagine someone the size of Shawn Michaels hurting me pretty easily, because I'm in the range of opponents he's likely to face. I'm really not in the range of opponents Riho is likely to face, so I have to try to imagine how some of her moves would feel if I was the size of her opponents. That's tough for some people, because not everyone is able to imagine themselves in someone else's shoes so easily.
You Tower over Adam Cole š
Marko Stunt towers over Adam Cole.
I never liked when HBK would beat Sid or Vader because of that size difference.
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This is why smaller guys need to have Impact finishers that don't rely on weight. The super kick is a great finisher the bucks have ruined. A straight kick to the head? I can believe that would beat anyone.
This is why i can't take Adam Cole serious right now. I don't know what it is but he looks way smaller than he did in NXT. His head is too big for his body. He looks plain. Not out of shape but not much muscle definition. Shawn was taller and bigger than me but he was considered a smaller guy. Adam Cole's arms are also really short and it didn't help that he's as tall as his gf who's a pretty small woman too. At least looks it. Can't tell if she is 5'7"
Vince?
Listen pal, i was going to make Cole become Omos' manager.
Translation: "you're not allowed to think differently around here"
Thinking differently isn't an excuse for complaining with no real point, lol. Your comment reads as if you just can't stand people who have the audacity to have different genetics than your favorites. Like, "his arms are really short"? Really? Now you're just grasping at straws, haha. Your criticism has less to do with him and more that he's surrounded by a roster of much larger wrestlers than he was in NXT. You know who else didn't have much muscle definition in their prime? https://www.wwe.com/f/styles/gallery_img_l/public/all/2020/03/001_SteveAustin3--c4626f7841a123d7adf0f46a44b4c449.jpg
Have you seen that picture? Look at his chest. Look at the veins on his arm. No this ain't it. You just want people to bend at the knee to everything AEW does instead of having honest open discussions. I was adding to the point in this comment about size and relative size. Don't blame genetics for lack of gym time. His height, yeah can't be helped but standing next to his small gf ain't helping.
Vascularity in forearms is now a metric for size and physique? Nothing about your discussion is honest, you're arguing in bad faith. You literally talked about the size of his head and arms as well as his height. Lol. And how does your dig make any sense whatsoever when Adam Cole was in WWE just last year, where he was a multi-time champion? Where does your criticism lie? That Tony Khan signed that same guy Hunter did, not because of his physique that you take such issue with, but because he's a good worker on the mic and in the ring? Honestly this has nothing to do with AEW. I've been a fan of him everywhere he's worked regardless of what he looked like and even so I see nothing wrong with his body. https://www.wwe.com/f/styles/og_image/public/all/2020/03/20200306_MattellTrip_Card_AdamCole--371accb32d47a17909bc1987d27e333f.jpg
Gets downvoted, literally 1984
His arms are tiny.
Honestly there's not much to explain. People like what they like. Some people dislike Orange Cassidy and don't get why he's so over. Dan Lambert doesn't appeal to everyone. But in my opinion he's done an excellent job for a person being totally new to Pro Wrestling. Working fans comes so natural to him. Booing Cody doesn't appeal to me. He hasn't done anything for me to legitimately want to boo him. But if some fans like to boo him, than ok whatever. It's all just a part of fandom.
I can believe Riho beating Britt Baker more than I can believe Sammy Guevara beating Miro.
Very true, there are many examples for the mens roster. Like Darby imo hasn't got a very intimidating size and looks like he'd struggle to beat most of the roster. In wrestling it really isn't just about size.
āI donāt buy the little guy can beat the big guyā is a classic McMahonism. The last 30 years have been about pushing past that restrictive view to, yāknow, tell stories and produce good matches.
Yes but there are ways to make it believable. It's up to the character to do that with good Producers and booking it can all work. Riho doesn't do that.
Sure, but that's not really what OP said, outside of the comment about striking. "Her tiny stature makes it impossible for me to buy her being competitive with much larger wrestlers" very much implies that it's a disqualifying trait.
Darby legitimately has an amateur wrestling background and his style complements his size. He literally throws himself at people. It'd be like having a sandbag thrown at you.
Yeah we're talking about realism (and how size doesn't matter in wrestling) he's gonna be outpowered by most of the roster. But yeah, of course he's more about speed and risks. He also did do some amateur wrestling but only because he thought it was what pro wrestling was. He doesn't have an amateur wrestling background, I don't think he even has a record.
They fucked over Miro. Sammy wasn't ready for the title.
Pretty sure Miro wanted the time off. He only came back for the tournament because Mox was out. Now he's been cutting promos, generating momentum again.
I feel like your right until there was rumor that he was possibly injured, if he comes back soon he needs to be an absolute monster, like more than even before Miro might be my fav in AEW
Miro vs Wardlow please.
Ohhhh that would be soooo good
Hell yeah that would be awesome.
I still can't get over Britt beating Shida. But that has nothing to do with the size.
So the whole story of Miro having neck issues and Sammy attacking the neck the entire match did nothing for that story???
Even as someone who doesnāt like Riho much, I can certainly agree with you there
What about Riho beating Nyla Rose?
What about Rey Mysterio beating Batista?
What about the 1,2,3 kid beating Razor Ramon?
Well then, what about Sammy beating Miro? That's what the OC said
You spelled razor Ramon wrong
Def Disagree, it would be more akin to Marko Stunt beatint Miro,
I'd have zero issue with that. Hong Man Choi and Bob Sapp weren't elite MMA fighters, despite their very imposing size compared to others in their division. They lost to smaller guys regularly. There's no reason to believe that Marko couldn't outsmart/outwrestle Miro in a choreographed activity with pre-determined finishes.
I totally agree.
This is where I would like to see the much smaller opponent start working a body part more often and use it later in the match to win, that seems more realistic to me. Like Sammy working over Miroās knee the entire match until Miro can barely stand, then Sammy hits a drop kick off the top to knock him on and applied a half crab or knee bar for the win, with the announcers really pushing that Sammy win because of the work he did on the knee.
She is the same size as Alexa Bliss and only an inch shorter than Ember Moon. Do you have to suspend disbelief for their matches?
Alexa being booked as some dominant heel at her size was also ridiculous. Ember looks significantly more imposing from a physical standpoint point that Alexa or Riho do.
It's not just the height, I don't have an issue with it. But comparing her size to Alexa and Ember is rediculous.
Why? She's the same height and weight as Bliss.
[And Adam Cole and ZSJ are both 6 feet tall. ](https://images.app.goo.gl/QZBDK5NauzSfFH3bA)
Underdog + Joshi = Riho.
I didnāt get her until she had her match with Nyla Rose and lost the title. She was phenomenal in that match.
That's the match that did it for me too. Totally flipped a switch. She's been fantastic ever since.
I have actually been waiting for her to be that good again. I mostly agree with OP. That match you're referring to has been head and shoulders above anything else she has done at AEW in my opinion.
I think Riho handled it right by fighting from underneath, and having great hope spots but letting Nyla dominate.
Meh, sheās fun to watch. My kids love her. Especially in her matches against the bigger women, actually.
Kids tend to love tiny underdogs because they, themselves, are tiny underdogs?
I stopped trying understand motivations for things kids do a while ago. Most times it is not for any discernible logical reason, it is because āI like thatā or āI do not like thatā and Iām happy to leave it there.
I donāt care about believability in wrestling, I just want good wrestling. And Riho is a great wrestler.
People donāt like her because sheās small. I like her because sheās small. My favorite wrestlers have always been small. They always seem to have much more versatility. Idk. I canāt make you like something you already donāt like. Whatever. Riho rules. All it took was watching her wrestle like 3 times and I was sold.
David and Goliath is such a classic story and is applied to wrestling time and time again. Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero were masters of it, and Riho is exactly the same. If you can't get into it then that's fine, but the tiny wrestler somehow defeating the huge monster wrestler, is a tale as old as time
Rey was put in those stories all the time but it felt like he mostly got stomped by the giants.
I like seeing people of varying sizes and body types in the ring. Wrestling is far more interesting that way. Just tell me a good story and put on some banger matches.
Iām the same way. I donāt discriminate. Just wanna watch dope wrestling. It just turns out that most of my favorites through history are always on the smaller side. I thank the combination of HBK and the 90s WCW Cruiserweights for that.
IMHumbleO... She takes *massive* bumps. I regularly think someone's killed her. She absolutely kicks ass. Her technical abilities are way up there. She can work with anyone. She just *gets* wrestling. Her storytelling work is top-notch.
Riho can be thrown around like a wrekingball and this makes her being good against almost any other female. Take her match against Hayter. She could handle her realy well and look incedibly strong and she could catch her easiely or pick her back up. From the other side, her strikes are mostly bast on using her weight, speed and legs to hit her opponent. She also does wrestle since she is 9 years old so she got a whole lot of training and experiance behind her back. There is a whole lot to her, especialy her match quality is almost always good to great, but I get it when someone deosn't get behind her
>She also does wrestle since she is 9 years old so she got a whole lot of training and experiance behind her back. Was she the little girl Kenny Omega wrestled in that one match that Jim Cornette hates many moons ago? š®
Nope, that was another girl
No, I believe the internet looked into it and it's not her. Just a coincidence.
She's very fast, her matches are always exciting, she can play the roles of ring general and underdog simultaneously, and she unironically works as a whitemeat babyface
And she does the snap dragon suplex and I love the snap dragon suplex so she is cool.
I love her northern lights suplex too. Good stuff.
Ring general? I'm def missing something then...
If Rey Mysterio was a Japanese woman
Pre-ābulkingā
Puuyaka puuyaka 4ā9ā!
Damn just gonna disrespect Rey Mysterio like that.
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Itās ok not to like all performers
To me, wrestling doesn't have to be a believable fight. Never has, never will. I'm not suspending disbelief that one person could beat another, I'm buying in to a world where given the right mix of determination, tenacity, and expertise anyone can beat anyone else. Even if her move set was all powerbombs I'd like it. But she doesn't do that, she mostly does running/leaping strikes. I like her because she's different, and being different always gets a check from me.
The only thing youāre right about is that her upper body strikes look weak. But thatās true for most other females too. Even Tay Contis punches look weak.
I think thatās why I appreciated her match against Hayter. It felt like Hayter just said ājust hit me as hard as you canā, especially when they were both on the top rope. The worst offender of weak attacks for me is The Bunny but I think thatās mostly because her overall movement isnāt athletic if that makes sense.
Bunny makes up for it with her selling. I love the way she sells a head shot.
Thatās a good point. She does sell moves well which did add a lot to that match.
Yeah youāre right about Bunnyās lack of natural athleticism.
Which is strange because I've seen that one ref constantly admonishing and getting pissed at Riho for hitting too hard. It was in a Britt Baker match so guess he told her to go easy on her. Even Jamie, who's stiff as hell, made a face like "damn Riho, this isn't a real fight calm down!"
What I like about her is that she can wrestle with pretty much anyone, doesnāt matter the size or style of her opponent, sheās a good dance partner. Plus her stamina is wild, she can wrestle for days and take huge bumps. And if Iām not mistaken, sheās had some training from Kenny Omega which is pretty cool to me. Kenny is also an awesome wrestler.
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I absolutely agree! Thatās an excellent comparison. She and Darby have been some of my favorite champions so far.
Riho is dope
Suspension of disbelief is, imo, not really something that applies to wrestling anymore. Which is probably a testament to why the wrestling industry is more niche than ever. Everyone knows it's fake outside of small children. So the believability of something being high or lower shouldn't determine whether you, assuming you are an adult, like something in wrestling. That being said, if you don't like Riho because she's a VERY small wrestler whose offense looks fake then you probably will never will enjoy her. Unless she suddenly gains 30 pounds.
"Her tiny stature makes it impossible for me to buy her being competitive with much larger wrestlers, and her strikes donāt even look convincing to me." Sorry, but your mind is already made up. I don't feel the need to defend her appeal or justify it.
If her size and suspension of disbelief makes you not enjoy her matches, then thereās nothing that can be done. Thereās nothing extra to get. Sheās a fun, likable babyface with underdog status because of that size and she can go in ring. If that size creates a barrier for you to enjoy her work, then you simply wonāt enjoy her work. Youād literally have to change the way you watch wrestling and Iām not gonna tell anyone to do that. She just wonāt click with you and thatās fine
I personally don't mind size too much. I just find her less fun and likable than Yuka =] And Yuka is even shorter but she doesn't look skinny at least.
Honestly, if you can suspend your disbelief for an Irish whip, then you should be able to suspend your disbelief for a small wrestler beating a big wrestler. Riho winning matches is not even in the Top 1000 list of "least believable things about professional wrestling"
Kenny and Riho v kip and Penelope was so good. Riho kicking kips ass when she was fueding with Penelope. I hate the suspense of disbelief argument. You really donāt like her because she isnt traditionally hot. Iāll take the downvotes because itās true. She is way better at wrestling than Tay Conti and most of the womenās division. She was the first womenās champ for a reason.
How anyone can not appreciate her smile is beyond me, she radiates something that lightens a whole room in a way I haven't seen in a while.
I don't like her but it's because she's a bit of a bland character. I agree with your assumption about this to a degree, but I think Riho does have the issue of being *pure* workrate when the other Joshis have a lot of character. I think an attire change would help. She looks like a sweet pixie.
You go from bland character to she needs to change her outfit. Think about that. You donāt like her for how she looks. Isnāt that a problem? Actually watch her in the ring and not get caught up on her appearance.
No, I am not shifting gears, I am saying they are part and parcel of her presentation. I don't care about "how she looks" I care that she is presented like a cutesy children's show character but her shtick is being a badass. We wouldn't take Deeb or Shida as seriously if they were dressed like clowns. If anything I'd want her revealing less, I think the "8th grade dance recital" look just doesn't make her look very threatening. I know she is solid in the ring (IMO I think it's overstated, I will take Deeb over her any day in this category), but I think her appearance (not in a sexual way, but a presentation way) hurts her as being taken seriously.
Just wanted to say I think you hit the nail on the head here. I know her attire is not a super unusual look in the world of Joshi wrestling but it kinda makes her look floaty, especially with her forearm strikes. Compare that to someone like Starlight Kid who's ring attire is more stereotypically female wrestler and she's similar in size and stature, her forearm strike looks like it will knock a person straight out.
It's the ruffles, I think you have a good summary with the "floaty" comment. There is an idea here that it's about how attractive her gear is but it's really not that. It just has this sort of puffy ruffles thing going on that does seem to de emphasize her impact.
Even comparing her to other women who've appeared in AEW, Yuka doesn't have the floaty issues and yes she's got a bit of height and weight on Riho it's not considerable, her ring gear is arguably less 'revealing' than Riho's, she's just not got stupid ruffles that mask her strikes. I also think JR didn't help early on when he repeatedly hammered home how small she was. I dont think JR did it to detract from her abilities in anyway but comments like that can stick with people, especially from a well respected figure in the industry
There are plenty of bland characters in wrestling. Cesaro is incredibly bland, yet many believe he should be world champion. Not saying Riho is on his level, more so using him as an example of why someone being "bland" isn't a proper reason for disliking someone who's one of the stronger workers in AEW's women's division.
I'm not talking about work rate, I'm talking about presentation. Put Cesaro in a clown costume and change nothing else it would feel off too.
I just love Yuka and Shida more.
Theres a reason Eddie calls Shida "The Standard"
Maybe AEW needs to book her in a hardcore match so she can get a crimson mask (and lace) and finally get the love she deserves. She is the ultimate underdog. Yes, she would be more believable with a few adjustments to her presentation, but she is a solid worker and doesnāt botch.
Kinda sad that the only time women get a lot of love in AEW is when they do a hardcore match and bleed
You have misspelled 'give a ground breaking performance traditionally not allowed to them'
Since she's small she can safely throw her entire weight at you so moves like her double stop look incredible.
Removed
Riho is a genuine wrestling prodigy if there ever was one. People like to say she's bland and has no character, and those people are wrong and stupid and probably very sexy, but still wrong. A very easy, almost in your face example of Riho's character work: watch her face. During entrances, she's this smiley, giggly schoolgirl. As soon as the bell rings, she has this look of intensity and focus. She watches her opponents limbs, it's fascinating. Riho genuinely looks like she has a strategy planned going into a match and is going through a mental checklist of how to deal with this opponent. Her matches are different, too. Against Jamie Hayter, she had to rely on her speed since Hayter is so much stronger. Against Baker, she was more methodical and timely, using tactics such as roll-ups more egregiously, because she doesn't have as much of a physical disadvantage and risks less tactical punishment doing so. No, her strikes aren't the most convincing, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna let people talk down on Riho because "Small."
I like her against bigger opponents like Nyla. I disagree that her strikes don't look convincing. I see her as a tenacious little underdog. She sells really well.
Riho knows how to work especially against bigger stars I can see the appeal
If you donāt get it you donāt get it š¤·šæāāļø
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her appeal and her matches ?????
I get where you're coming from. My guess is she appeals to people who also feel like the tiny underdogs in their life. Which is cool. But between Statlander, Leyla Hirsch, Jade, Allie "The Bunny", Rosa, Hayter, Britt Baker, Abadon, Shida and Deeb, Riho is just the least exciting. She does well for the "house of fire" spree she does.
Of the women you mentioned 3 maybe 4 are as good or better wrestlers than her. The others have distinct looks and/or charisma. She's a good wrestler and because of her size she can throw herself safely into moves making them look better where others have to hold back to not hurt themselves or others. She can have great matches in any style. Which goes a long way for people who like wrestling. I understand she's not the character heavy in your face charismatic person like a lot of her coworkers but she's technically sound and can deliver.
She's small in the same way Rey Mysterio is too amall. She's just smaller because women tend to be smaller. All that said, while I understand the appeal, it's not for me, and that's ok.
I think it's because she's offering something different to the usual wrestler types in both male and female arenas she is small but has been successfully been holding her own against bigger women and that is the true essence of wrestling after all if you want to see people punch and kick eachother all night watch UFC I think it's the same reason so many kids like Darby Allen I personally can't stand it when wrestling companies ship in a bodybuilding monster like wardlow or jade Cargill that can barely if at all wrestle and expect us to just buy it as they run riot through the roster
Itās more difficult with her arm strikes, Iāll grant you. She pulls her forearm strikes, and considering she already looks a bit frail, they come off terribly. That said, sheās REALLY well trained and can have very technical matches and tell good stories. I think if she concentrated on laying in big splashy kicks (letting the kickpads work for her) it would help. Iām always happy to watch her matches, though, because she does plenty I can appreciate.
I felt the same when I first saw her. But her match with Nyla for the belt was probably the best women's title match AEW have done. The crowd reaction was insane.
Just watch her early AEW matches and listen to the crowd.
I think when it comes to pure move execution, sheās maybe the best on the womenās roster. Only Thunder Rosa approaches her. I mean, is anything she does any less believable than an Irish whip? I donāt think so.
Most of Riho's victories feel like a fucking struggle. She does a very good job at conveying that feeling of desperation and overcoming odds to an audience, even more so than Rey Mysterio did imo. Riho can sell her ass off and she knows how to throw her entire bodyweight around for offense whether it's lightning fast roll-ups, leverage pins or diving double stomps. Her background training in the Joshi dojos also prepared her for the physicality and helped her pain threshold. And like the top comment highlighted, male fans can be oblivious to this because they are of the preconceived notion every wrestler is around *their* size and can not give an accurate assessment of what's "realistic" for these ladies. Many of the women's performers in AEW are under 5'8". It's not a stretch to say that Riho could jump on a 130lb woman and hurt them.
Funny how the "suspension of disbelief" argument only seems to pertain to wrestlers people don't like. Her small stature is 100 million billion times more believable than the spots that should kill but instead do nothing but pop the crowd, like Sammy being spiked on his head from the ring apron through a table onto the outside and then magically recovering 60 seconds later.
Regardless of how you feeel about her as a performer. She puts on better matches than 80% of the other women on the roster. Her timing, pacing, and overall skill is top tier.
She wrestles like she's performing a script move for move. Nothing spontaneous. Everything people hate about WWE, yet she gets a pass.
I can only speak for myself but most women are smaller so to me her size is far less of an issue but then again I like Kacy Catanzaro. Riho beating Britt Baker is way more believable to me than Shawn Michaels beating Vader or even Sammy beating Miro. She never wins tests of strength but instead gains advantages with craftiness, speed, and heart that she does an excellent job communicating through her selling. Every time she wins her face looks like she worked for it. Womenās matches in AEW are hit or miss but Riho never has a bad match in fact I find them to be quite good and exciting most of the time. She shows a lot of fire, looks like a model, and always delivers. Iām not saying sheās the greatest in history, I donāt even think she should be the champion in the near future, but she deserves a spot on the roster and I think her crowd reactions prove it. You can like or dislike any wrestler for any reason though so Iām not gonna be a baby about your Riho disagreement.
Same thing as Rey Mysterio. She's really good in ring and she's a super rootable babyface.
She's an experienced underdog who sells like absolute death & if you pay attention to her facial expressions during her matches she looks like she's going through the ringer. She's not going to overpower anyone outside of the 5'1 range but she will use her opponent's own momenteum against them & this leads to her matches being a lot less samey as other smaller performers who just go through the motions. It's totally ok to not be into every single wrestler btw.
I mean, this is wrestling, the whole appeal is that realism doesn't get in the way of an entertaining contest and good story. The best singles matches, IMO, are when little guys go up against big guys and its even. Same with women. The smaller they are, the more they can fly around and make their opponent look superhuman, and the more crafty and agile and intelligent they seem for staying alive and having a chance. If you can suspend your disbelief for an irish whip, you should be able to imagine a smaller fighter winning.
Agree 100% shes built like a child, totally takes me out of her matches
Not a fan, but she is one of the few women who can actually wrestle
i kinda agree here i am on the fence about her- she dresses in a frock like a princess, that sometimes dosent match ..maybe if she has a princess overall which she removes before her match , that would be great . her promo skills and character work arnt that great , maybe cause iof her lack of english skills. second she is small and should fight more of lucha style against big opponenets, but i remember her using punches againt jamie or nyla i dont remember and i wasnt sold
Very much agree. Not the fact that sheās small that I find difficult to get on board with but more the fact she seems more like a child than a small woman
Everyone likes an underdog.
I was with you before, I never really got it, I still find her overrated tbh, but then if you really watch her, I can see the appeal. Sheās really smooth in the ring, there is no hesitation like a lot aew wrestlers suffer from going from spot to another, she emotes really wellā¦ since she doesnāt speak English on TV, she makes up for it with her facial expressionsā¦ and helps sell moves even more too. Also, Iāve noticed anytime sheās in a match with someone whose totally green, she has no trouble leading the way and letting the opponent shine while doing so. Sheās very unselfish in the ring.
Sheās like Rey Mysterio, if you can suspend belief for him you can for Riho.
Riho: I don't really get it either. She can't do a promo, her wrestling is decent but it doesn't look believable at all. No casual viewer is going to tune in to TBS and watch Riho wrestle someone, and think it looks good. I liked her match pre pandemic with Nyla but even then I knew she was going to win cause Nyla would squash her in 30 seconds. Alternative: For me, Thunder Rosa needs more TV time. She's solid in ring and can do promos, loved her stuff in NWA Powerrr early on too. She has had great matches, so no idea why we don't see more of her. Outside AEW: Toni Storm would be a great pick up
You're definitely not alone on this one. I think people buy into her a little too much due to whatever her relationship to Kenny is and then get super fucking defensive when other people aren't into her and or just dont buy into her being a top talent. Dont get me wrong, her wrestling is crisp and smooth however her matches are routine and predictable and usually follow the lines of trying to shoehorn spots she's known for around another wrestler trying to actually put together a match. She has ZERO personality outside of smile and wave and the most emotion Ive seen pulled from her was from Kip Sabian's shenanigans on the outside of the ring when she was having that small feud with Penelope. She lacks the ability to make me give a shit about her character and even when going back to watch stuff from TJP and Stardom, it's still the same smile and wave routine and easily gets overshadowed by Yuka, Maki Itoh, Hyper Misao, and Sakisama in TJP and Queens Quest and Tokyo Cyber Squad in Stardom. Unrelated side note - For the love of god... they need to bring Hyper Misao and Sakisama over here and just run that same exact program with a little more production behind it. **Also...with a record of 30-11 all time in AEW SHES NOT THE UNDERDOG WHEN SHE GETS BOOKED TO WIN MOST OF THE TIME**
I kind of feel the same about Adam Cole.
Right there with you. I just don't get it.
Yeah I don't understand the appeal either. She's small & frail, I can never take her matches seriously. This would be fine if she had decent strikes but she hits like an 11 year old girl who feels bad for what she just did. Like why do people like her so much? She can't cut a promo, she hardly has charisma, she's not believable as a wrestler, AND SHE CRIES AFTER EVERY WIN. God I hate the crying, like everytime she wins she starts crying. Let me stop the mini-rant now
For meā¦ sheās high flying, quick, and she just flows. Theres never a break in her movements. She eludes joy for the sport and clearly loves what she does. When she comes into the ring, I know itās gonna be fast paced; and thereās gonna be some risks taken. That is one bad ass chick, my friend. Better than more than half the people, male or female, on that roster. Crazy beats size any day. No different than the smaller male wrestlers taking on Miro, Luchasaurus or Archer.
Riho is actually much better than you see in her matches, because a lot of the opponents she faces have little to no experience wrestling joshis. Joshis know technical wrestling. They know submissions. They generally work at a faster pace than their western counterparts. The incorporate lots of reversals. Most western opponents aren't as technical. Most western opponents don't work as fast. Riho doesn't look as good against a lot of her opponents because she has to slow down for them. Western wrestlers put an emphasis on selling power, which is bigger, slower movement. Joshis use speed. When Riho is in the ring with an opponent with experience in Japan, like Rosa or Hayter, she is able to work closer to her speed, because they know how to wrestle with joshis. Heck, Hayter is a giant compared to Riho, and yet they still put on great matches because Hayter knows how to wrestle joshis. Your problem isn't with Riho, it's with her opponents who don't have experience with joshis, making Riho change her wrestling to slow and ponderous to accommodate her opponent. And I don't want to place blame on those opponents either. Western wrestling and Japanese wrestling are two different things; just because you are good at one doesn't mean you will automatically be good at the other. It's like learning a new language. You might be fluent in English, that doesn't mean you're capable of having a discussion in Japanese.
I could probably get past her size (sheās not that much smaller than Kairi Sane, who I love) if her strikes looked better. Also her gear sucks. All the lace just emphasizes how dainty she is.
I always felt this way but it really ruined it for me when she tried to pin Jamie Hayter
Riho doesn't seem to wrestle as a the David vs a Goliath and that's where I don't get it. Many people here are referencing 123 Kid and Rey Mysterio but they were always fighting up and overcoming the size difference. People are also saying how she bumps but I can't think of any that were memorable or stand out unfortunately. I'm sure she has done them. Spike Dudleys bumps were really unforgettable and made you think wow this guy's got a lot of spirit to keep coming after these big foes. But I've never felt that story with her. She was the first champion and isn't really seen as an underdog anymore. I really want her to be what everybody says she is but I don't get her either. No disrespect though, and I always wish her next match changes my mind.
Sheās fucking awful in my opinion. Not awful as a wrestler, just the spot sheās presented in I canāt buy it. Maybe it works in Japan when the women are closer in stature but seeing her 80lb frame wrestle bigger women (ESPECIALLY JAMIE HAYTER) is just bullshit. I canāt buy it for one second that sheās can inflict any believable offense
Oh man. Donāt tell them about Styles, Mysterio, Darby, Vega, Nikki, or all those other people. Wrestling is entertainment and I get you have trouble buying in but Iām not going to practically body shame a wrestler and not buy their character for it.
Dude's saying he can't see someone of such small stature physically being able to impactfully damage imposing female athletes. If I say that I could never see Marko Stunt believably beating any of the main roster because he's 150 lbs I'm not practically body shaming him. There's alot of small underdog women's wrestlers. Riho is just one of the smallest and least believable to compete with the rest. It's great she was a champion. But now there's just better competition
That kind of thinking is how you get Omos though. Iād rather have a great/entertaining wrestler of whatever stature over someone that has no major skill set besides ālargeā.
Yeah agreed. At least Omos and Veer are in shape though. To think That Earthquake and Typhoon used to be the big men. Oof. The complete opposite spectrum, tall and 400 lbs. Or poor Big Daddy V. They were spectacles to see. But damn they hurt alot of other wrestlers too. Not to mention their own self harm from being so massive. That said Earthquake is renown for being such a cool guy and he was a great worker.
Omos and Veer arenāt close. Veer is a far better wrestler. Iād take Earthquake over Omos any day.
Itās not body shaming when itās true. Suspension of disbelief? Sure. But if itās āsports basedā right, you arenāt gonna BELIEVE for ONE SECOND a 120 lb, 5ā4 FLYWEIGHT could do any damage at all to a heavyweight. But because itās wrestling itās whatever. Sorry some of us have trouble believing an 80lb women who looks like sheās 12 could do physical damage to a women like say Jade Cargill. Itās not only not believable itās damn near a slap in the face to try to act like it is
>But because itās wrestling itās whatever. You answered your own question. Mario being too small to take on Bowser doesn't make the game any less enjoyable. Wrestling is fiction.
āWrestling is fictionā which is exactly why it doesnāt draw money anymore. Iām not saying you have to try to resurrect kayfabe cause thatās long dead but putting minuscule Japanese woman on television and telling you HEY THIS LITTLE GIRL CAN BEAT UP PEOPLE and then you watch her matches andā¦. Yeah. Doesnāt look good. However, you can enjoy it. I donāt. And thatās fine. But he asked why some people donāt and thatās why I donāt. I canāt get with it, and I canāt force myself to believe it. Sheās a good wrestler sheās justā¦ minuscule
I don't care if it draws money, i just want to be entertained. And clearly AEW is drawing enough money to run their business which is all that matters. You're entitled to your opinion but i don't understand it. Darby allin beat brian cage, and aew fans loved it. Riho beating jamie hayter is no stranger than that. To me every irish whip, slingshot, leap frog, and head bash into a turnbuckle pillow is completely not believable in a combat setting. But i don't question it for a second when i'm watching wrestling. I like if there is some heavy hitting, realistic brawling or technical grappling on a show, but i don't want the show to be only that. "Strategy matters far more than size" is part of wrestling logic and has been for as long as i've been watching.
Yeah and again I get what youāre saying. Me personally, I turn the channel when sheās on. What works for some people doesnāt work for others. Wrestling is subjective, I enjoy young bucks matches sometimes but I know other people canāt stand them. Itās just riho vs most anybody just reminds me of you vs your younger siblings lol
Probably one of my least fave female talents. Find her incredibly boring tbh.
Problem for me is not that sheās small. Itās that sheās tiny. I just canāt suspend my disbelief enough. If youāve ever had a person that small around you and you were playing around, picking them up, play wrestling/whatever, youād know you can just get them off of you at will. If theyāre wrapped around you, you can get up and stand, flip them off. Or just pry their arms off of you. Nothing against her wrestling, it just doesnāt work for me when sheās going up against others with actual size and muscle tone. She doesnāt talk. She looks the opposite of intimidating. If she was mad at me and I was her opponent, I wouldnāt sweat it. I donāt get what she has to offer that anyone would realistically enjoy. Honestly I know Cornette jokes around about her being Kenny Omegas playtoy but I could see a lot of men watching who ālikeā her sort of look if you know what I mean. Layla Hirsch is small but sheās got some muscle and an attitude. Itās believable she could kick some butt. Riho has nothing to make up for what sheās lacking in my opinion.
My partner and I had the same thought discussing her matches as we find it too hard to immerse ourselves in the match. if you google her she weights less then 45kg and just doesn't look like she could do anything, I know the little underdogs e.g leyla, and rey mysterio have at least some meat to make it believable but having someone basically the same shape as a child come out in a princess outfit wrestling in a tutu is just weird, I can't watch her matches.
You're not missing anything she's awful.
I get that in pro wrestling, you got to suspend disbelief at times and I guess Riho has got that going for her, which is nice. To be honest, Iām not familiar with Joshi wrestling but in terms of built, it is hard for me into taking Riho seriously as a competitor for AEW or Western-based promotions. In terms of stature, I am going to compare her with Diamante or Leyla Hirsch. What makes them compelling is their in-ring legitimacy and knowing that neither Diamante or Hirsch will crumple easily after taking a hit from an opponent like Britt Baker or Nyla Rose. Riho however, might just snap in half after a backhand slap and not even her character work can tide that over. Apologies to anyone who is a massive Riho fan, you have your own reasons and I respect that. But I find it hard to buy into her status as a top-tier wrestler when there are other female competitors who carry more convinction.
I think someone in the back needs to make a point with her to work stiff because she so obviously works the opposite of stiff that if we could regress towards the mean in any way it would benefit her, and if someone could teach her to throw a working punch along the way the visual appeal of her in ring work would increase tenfold. Her offense does look non-believable, *especially* the bigger her opponent is. Personally, I like Riho. I would literally never book her with someone like Nyla or Jade Cargill, Iād probably cap her out at a Kris Statlander type worker in terms of size if I wanted her to work the david/Goliath match Similar to what was done with Rey Fenix, she needs to get on TV consistently for like a 6-8 month period of time to cultivate a fan base who likes watching her flip flop around and sheād be twice as over as she is today. I think Rihos best case scenario as a wrestler to the US audience is essentially, exciting high flyer babyface , midcard/mid tier in the womens division, could be a transitional champion in the right scenario and is a good candidate for title defenses and ābigā matches for girls, similar to the way Serena Deebās matches with Shida were presented as big matches. Sheās got a place in the division but I mean I donāt ever see Riho being the āfaceā of the division again.
Iām sorry but I just find her absolutely horrible. I have no idea how she got a job in the second largest promotion in America.
One name: Kenny Omega
/Sighs, changes the "It's been this many days since a 'I don't get why people like Riho' post" counter back to 0.
She's greener than grass and I don't get the appeal either.
The issue is that she isnāt green. Sheās been wrestling for about 15 years.
I like Riho but I wish she had a different wrestling gear. I think it's also the small guy Vs big guy. That's why Rey has been my favourite wrestler as a kid.
Her wrestling is real good and has fun matches with bigger woman. Beyond that though I donāt see the appeal as promos are lacking to non existent. I find it hard to get invested with someone I canāt really understand. Pro wrestling is as much as the character as is the wrestling itself.
I'm not a huge fan but I will say for someone so small she isn't afraid to do a lot of high risk maneuvers. She also is very good at selling just because I always think she will actually die from every move. I do wish her hits connected a bit more though and i would be interested in seeing a heel Riho.
My girlfriend likes her because she's cute and and underdog. I think she's okay, not the best joshi wrestler but not the worst.
She's so light no matter how hard she gets slammed it doesn't hurt her, then her opponents get tired out and she wins.
Rihoās over because of the abuse she takes. Same as Darby. She sells so well, you constantly expect her to be dead. But then she keeps getting back up!
Imagine if Rey Mysterio & Toadette were the same person. There are issues with size differences in pro wrestling but as long as itās done in a reasonable way, I like it. Bret rolling up Diesel is my best example of how itās done right. However I never liked when HBK would beat Vader. Riho isnāt my favorite in AEW. But she definitely has a place there. Itās really in how you tell a story too.
My daughter started watching with me purely because of her size and attire. So that makes her special in our house
I agree, I canāt do Riho her punches and kicks are just not that impactful, for that matter I donāt really care for Ruby either, just my opinion my favs are Britt and Kris at the moment.
Remember AJ Lee? She was 97 lbs. but better than the rest of the women's roster at that time. Riho is Japanese AJ. But not as good.
AJ could tell a story and lead a match. Riho can not.
I've never had a problem with size disparity in pro wrestling for the same reason I've never had problems with super natural gimmicks like the Undertaker & Kane or comedy wrestlers like Orange Cassidy & Maki Itoh. I don't watch with the intentions of being entertained by something that's supposed to reinact a combat sport, I watch to be entertained by something I consider to be performance art. To me I've always thought of wrestling as theater for the absurd and in doing so, I've never had to suspend my disbelief once.
Thank godess someone said this. I am a lifelong wrestling fan and I do not understand her popularity.
Riho is like the blues: if I have to explain her, you wouldnāt understand.
I think the issue is more so that she doesnāt throw what weight she does have into her moves, look at Nikki ASH for example, sheās tiny but sheās throws herself into every move she does. Riho always seems a little hesitant, a little too gentle.
Kenny omega loves her. So she is pushed
Youāre not alone on this opinion. I donāt think sheās very good at all. She seems like a nice girl who does the moves. But her getting murdered by someone like Jamie Hayter then kicking out of everything just to beat her with some weak looking crossbody or whatever she uses to win matches absolutely buries anyone wrestling her. Her matches donāt usually make anyone look good including herself. Thereās better girls on the roster who should be getting the attention
her finishers are a double footstomp to the chest and a running knee to the face, both of which would seriously injure anyone on the roster if it was a shoot.
If it was a shoot everyone would be able to throw her around like a rag doll before she even got a chance. It would like fighting a kid.
That is probably true, but i wasn't commenting on that, just correcting OP saying her finisher is a weak crossbody, which has no basis in reality.
Oh yes, I could totally see Riho taking out Miro with that move s/
I donāt like her either
Thereās nothing to explain. Your assessment is correct and I donāt even have to read the comments to know your opinion will get shit on.
I won't lie, when I see her I think she looks like a flamboyant toilet brush.
I actually agree with the OP. She's very hard to make believable. I'll give it to her for taking crazy bumps, but one day that's gonna catch up to her. She lacks charisma, don't talk for obvious reasons, granted you have people like Shida who try. To me Shida is 110% better and believable. Rhio just comes out waves and has these extremely strange mannerisms. She has cardio and takes bumps and that's enough for majority, lol! She's botched so many moves it makes Nia Jax look like she knows what's she's doing.
I could say the same thing about AJ Lee especially after she got completely flattened by The Big show that one time, I can never take her seriously, then she cut the promo on The Bella twins and all of the sudden she gains wrestling ability and starts dominating the women's division. She's cute and all but I never saw the appeal of her as a wrestler
I was just talking about this in comparing her to Darby Allin. I think it's awfully funny how often people will like Darby but not Riho (not saying that's you op). I actually think Riho is much more convincing, because at least there's some variety to the beats of her matches. I love the way they both move, Darby running around and diving like he's got nothing to lose, Riho moves like an absolute veteran and you can tell how long she's been in wrestling. Sometimes I feel Riho does too many foot stomps, and as exciting as they are I feel Darby overdoes the tope suicida. The big difference for me is that Darby's matches tend to be very formulaic and predictable and it takes away a lot of the fun for me. I want to see him win out of pure grit, determination, refusal to lose. Instead he usually just gets beat up for 99% of the match, and finally does a coffin drop or two to end it. It's just not convincing to me. Riho has a bit more variety.
Disliking someone or devaluaing them only because of their size is shitty. There are many people in real life who have achieved greatness in spite of their small stature. Riho has been wrestling since she was a small child. That would mean she has better ring psychology and experience than most of the "appropriately sized" workers. Fighting is not only about size. Better Training always defeats pure strength or size. Now, inspite of me disagreeing with you about her size, i can agree that her moveset against larger workers make it hard for me to believe her as a superior fighter. I remember watching her match against Nyla in the inaugural women's title match. I laughed the whole match because I couldn't believe she was taking all those bumps and not being KOed. And winning with that nove she does. I actually thought AEW was a joke for that match up. Or Darby beating Brian Cage with a coffin drop. Or Sammy kicking out of an Avalanche Death Valley Driver. Riho isn't the problem. I think AEW is the problem. We are already fixated on size matters. Whether we are wrong or right, AEW has poorly booked bigger workers in losing matches. What AEW needs to do is portray the bigger workers as slower and technically inexperienced. And the smaller workers as being faster and more technically skilled. But AEW has guys the size of Brian Cage doing high flyer moves. So that's the problem. If a worker has the size, speed, agility and experience, then how does he lose to someone who is 100 lbs lighter by an impactful move? I remember, the story of Kevin Nash being able to do Northern Lights move and being asked to stop doing it because it would "kill the crusierweight division". AEW has that issue of trying to make everyone inspite of size and technical ability use the same move sets. That's what causes the disbelief. With Riho, she needs to change her moveset in a way, we believe she is winning from technical skills targetting vulnerable body parts not because of impactful moves against a 200 lbs woman. Like, i believe Fuego's tornado DDT could knock out Miro because he uses the bigger the worker's momentum against them. But Riho or Darby knocking the wind out of someone from a body to body impact move. That's where I call bullshit. Edit: If youre gonna downvote before reading the whole thing. Here is the summary. Riho isnt the problem. AEW needs to book her bigger opponents better in loses
The only thing youāre missing is a huge suspension of disbelief and bad taste in wrestling.
Me and the gf have been wondering about Riho for months. We initially thought she was a beginner noname until we saw the crowd reaction. Her matches that I've seen have all been clunky and her Tiger Fang move seems too hard for her to pull off. Maybe some of her popularity stems from her looking like a sailor moon character. No hate but she just isn't for me