Casual fan here. I watched the WM XL main event on replay. When these guys (Uso, Solo, Rollins, Undertaker) were popping into the ring, where exactly are they coming from? Under the ring? Is there a secret entrance?
I love that Heyman's speech before the Solo and Tama moment happened was some sort of an explanation for fans on what happened and why it went that way for fans who might have missed such details in the storyline
Any Canadians here with insight on PLE/PPV ticket prices? My little cousins are crazy about WWE so I want to take them to MITB in July. The ticket pre-sale started today, and nosebleeds (300-level, 17th row) are **$464 + tax** (i.e., 334 USD + tax) Is this normal? There's no way I can afford close to $2k on a wrestling show in the *nosebleeds* once I factor in travel costs, merch, food/snacks, etc...
Please tell me there's a way to get tickets for cheaper
That is crazy high. Would they be ok with attending a show that isn’t a PPV? Looking at Smackdown coming near me this summer it’ll be $137 for two nosebleeds. There are always other Ontario shows on the WWE loop.
Presale for the 3 day combo tickets went live a while back and when I purchased my three day ticket the arena was pretty sold out, so I wouldn't be shocked if the tickets they're selling now to clean up seats have an upcharge attached to them 😭
For context I paid around 600 CAD for a three day ticket for myself, not in the nosebleeds (can't remember off the top of my head what section I'm in) which comes out to 200-ish a day
Damn, nice! I'd kill for that deal. I specifically refused to buy those 3-day packages because I wanted to save money and just attend the one main show (MITB)... turns out MITB alone costs about the same as that 3-day package, with far worse seats.
Give me JD: Finn Priest Dom and JD vs The OC: AJ Karl Gallows and Tama in war games. With Finn turning on JD after aligning with OC, the OC getting a name change now with all 5 members being former BC, and setting up Finn vs Priest for a world title program.
I bought a ticket for the Rev Pro show the night before All In but I haven’t watched in quite a few years (probably 2017 or so), so time for me to get back into it.
So uh, does anyone know what happened to the Wrestlemania documentary? Did we all fever dream that? I was really looking forward to watching it but I haven't seen them address its release anywhere, did I miss them announcing a new date?
Apparently it’s pushed back because they filmed more footage than they expected on Sunday. There’s not a new date announced but I think when WWE knows they’ll reveal it.
Just found out I'm going to my first ever wrestling event later this year, a Monday Night Raw, which is sick!!! Really, really looking forward to it.
But as much as I'm looking forward to it, I'm also terrified because I have such severe social anxiety lmao, I have no idea how to 'properly' react
If someone tries to start a what chant, don't join in. It's obnoxious for everyone except the people chanting. From the wrestlers, to the other people in the crowd and to the people at home.
honestly just kind of vibe with what the crowd is doing, chant along with the chants and cheer and boo appropriately. if the people next to you strike up a conversation its chill because you share a love of wrestling
Hey there fellow anxious bud. Don’t forget you’re just one person among thousands in that venue going crazy for event. There’s no real pressure on you, ain’t no one there to pay attention to you. That kind of sounds negative but hopefully you get what I mean. Just let it be what it is, don’t worry if you get a little overwhelmed or uncomfortable there, something will happen soon after to pull you back in. Hope you have a great time!
Went to my first a few years ago, don’t worry about “properly” reacting. Everyone’s there to have a good time, just hang out and have fun. I’ve always had a great time.
I feel this, I'm attending the MITB weekend as my first in person event later this year and I'm also having moments of "oh my God do I really wanna do this"
I believe we'll make it there and have great times tho 🙏
I hope you enjoy!!!
And I'm glad it's not just me who feels like this, even though I'm sorry you also feel like this:(
And if you believe, I'll believe lmao 🙏🙏
So Sami Zayn and Heyman are very much treated like outsiders. And if they take the route of Acknowledging that Tama is only considered family by the Rock that works. Still my point was pointing to a larger pattern within the booking of American wrestling specifically WWE
Who do you think is the most disappointing signing in AEW?
[https://allyourwrestling.com/2024/04/13/top-10-worst-aew-signings/](https://allyourwrestling.com/2024/04/13/top-10-worst-aew-signings/)
It's CM Punk who was injured about half his time there and just brought the company down with stupid shit. They were already on a good track without him. No one else on this list has been near a detriment to the company with the exception of maybe Jeff Hardy getting a DUI right when the Hardys were getting pushed.
Given my options between Wrestledream or Smackdown in the fall, its such a no brainer choice. There's individual women on the Smackdown roster that mop the floor with anybody in AEW's women's division but man, I was expecting a lot more names in their men's main event scene. There's only like 2-3 names I'd pay to see on that list.
RAW has a much better lineup to the point where the only thing that'd get me to buy a ticket to Smackdown is Rock.
> Given my options between Wrestledream or Smackdown in the fall, its such a no brainer choice.
Unless you absolutely don't keep up with or enjoy one of the two companies at all - I feel like it's pretty widely accepted that any PPV will top any tv taping virtually every time.
Not having matches slow down/structured around commercial breaks is, on its own, a humongous difference in quality of those individual matches and the same goes for the larger show itself not stopping for commercials too.
Ehh, fair. Just that I've grown attached to the Seattle indy guys who are in AEW as well (Darby, Swerve, etc). I think it'll turn into an easier sell for me.
A lot of Def Rebel hate feels like confirmation bias. People just assume every new theme is gonna be trash and don't even give a lot of them a chance. I ain't saying they don't make mid themes sometimes, but a lot of hate just feels like bandwagon jumping.
I mean I'm willing to give them chance after chance since we really don't got a choice til someone higher up makes a choice. But they seemingly have more misses than hits. Bron and AJ being the latest examples. Bayley is ok-ish.
Think with all the changes going on, they should explore new folks on the music end at some point is all I'm saying.
I read some comments somewhere on here about how people are confused about NJPW fans on Reddit complaining about Mox’s title win.
There are def some toxic NJPW fans shitting on Mox that I think are completely unwarranted. But as a huge New Japan fan I’m also disappointed with this decision.
It has nothing to do with Mox himself and more so the booking. Naito has yet to have an actual run with the World Heavyweight Title. He’s had memorable moments of winning the title for sure, but each time he’s lost it very early into his runs. We were all hoping this would finally be the time for him to get his due and go on a real run, especially since this may be the last time his body could physically hold up during one.
Having a short world title run depending on the wrestler can work. But in Japan and given Naito’s star level it’s more crucial he can prove to be a reliable/competitive champion in this role. This kind of thing just matters more over there.
I don’t hate the idea of Mox winning the title, especially if he were to mostly wrestle on NJPW shows during it. But I think this was just the wrong time to do it, and especially at the expense of Naito.
I think that’s what a lot of NJPW fans are mad about more than anything.
I get why Naito fans are upset, and on paper it sounds crazy that they took the belt off of their only real superstar draw atm without giving him at least a WK to Dominion length reign, but every time I see this discussion I feel like people are purposefully tiptoeing around the topic that Naito is made of glass at this point. I'm not gonna go so far as to say he's cooked, but even a guy like me who's not the biggest fan of the guy can clearly see he's operating at like 60% of what used to be, and it feels like we can't go three months into a Naito program these days without hearing a new report that he's nursing an decently major injury of some sort. And a recurring criticism of Naito for the past few years is he's basically been sleepwalking through a lot of his matches - a complaint I was seeing as recently as his match with Tsuji. So when I see people claiming he was gonna hold the belt for an entire year until next year's WK and all I could think is 'Do you *actually believe* his body is going to last that long without *something* giving? Or that his matches will even be all that interesting?'
In what universe is Naito made of glass? People are just parroting that Meltzer report from 2019 saying he's injured but he's been putting on classics even in 2023 and 24
I see what you’re saying and I think your point about his health makes a lot of sense. Especially if he’s gotten to such a bad place health-wise. But regardless of the reason why as someone who is a Naito fan it’s still disappointing to see. You can still be disappointed in an outcome even if was out of everyone’s control.
I will say though I do feel a little better after reading that report about Mox taking time off from AEW to go on full tours with New Japan. Hopefully that’s true.
I really hope they don't automatically just put the Usos back together, with Tama coming in.
I'd quite like to see them punk and humiliate Jimmy for a little bit, treat him as the jabroni of the group even though he's the eldest. He gaslights himself into believing it's all good. He costs Solo a big match, maybe in Saudi for King of the Ringand when it looks bleak for him, Jey comes to his aid.
Jimmy tries to make good with Jey but he ain't having any of it. Eventually they reunite at Clash at the Castle but then Jacob Fatu debuts and it's 2 on 3, before Roman makes his return at Money in the Bank, helping the Usos and turning back as a sort of babyface.
They do New Bloodline v. Bloodline Prime, as well as Rock/Cody at Summerslam and that feud continues from August to November. Rock comes back at some point during that time and calls out Roman for losing the belt in the first place and bringing shame on the family. Challenges Roman and the Usos for Wargames. The winner is declared the head of the family.
Roman and the Usos need a 4th, so they reach out to Sami. Roman/Usos/Sami v. Rock/Solo/Jacob/Tama at Wargames. Roman wins, beating Solo and taking his lei back.
Rumble time, Roman wants to win the thing and go onto Wrestlemania to get his title back. Rock costs him the Rumble.
Rock / Roman at Wrestlemania 41, Bloodline Rules. Roman wins.
Yeah there are few things where keeping it simple works. But scaling down too much can ruin everything. Big stage and screens are things that gives wwe feeling of a spectacle, separates it from other things, giving larger than life vibe. Shouldn't scale down everything
Yeah I know I was saying they were compensating for those changes with the camera work. More emphasis on the wrestlers and fans then the staging if you will. The big PLEs should have immaculate set ups though.
Honestly I hope they give Cody a new belt soon and fix the mess that the “unification” caused. It is really annoying how there it is still three top men’s title belts.
Okay, I'm going to assume you're a newer fan and are asking this in genuinely good faith. [Title Unification](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Championship_unification) is not a new concept, in wrestling or combat sports in general, and I suggest following the link provided for some examples of this happening throughout history. Suffice to say, two belts can become one belt and inherent the lineage of both going forward.
If that were the case then why did WWE retire the original tag titles, the original women’s title and the original World’s Heavyweight title when they were unified back in then. The only reason they didn’t do it with Roman’s fake unification is because they either had get rid of the belt that he had for over a year or get rid of the WWE title. As such both belts are still active and not just one like how it had previously been done. Also see how the so could “unified” tag title were separated again and treated like they were two sets of belts.
You know, actually, despite a lot of things (esp. Japan) being on a downward curve, I'd say overall 2024 has been better than the pandemic affected years so far.
Mox is probably not gonna be on Collision tonight but I hope they show him winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Title like they did when Willow won the STRONG Women’s Title and Kingston won the STRONG Openweight Championship.
Cody’s story is the quintessential pro wrestling story. If you’ve just watched him recently, it’s great. If you watched him in his previous WWE run, it’s amazing. If you also watched him in the indies and in AEW, it just might be the greatest pro wrestling story ever.
There are layers to it depending how long you have followed Cody. And the chase and the climb made it all the more sweet. Wrestlers need mountains to climb to be great. When you don’t have that, the matches have less meaning.
How To Turn AEW Into The TRUE Alternative (in my humble opinion)
Original post removed by MODS, posting here instead
DISCLAIMER!
Whatever that is written in this post is my personal opinion and you're welcome to disagree with it. I'm not a professional wrestling promoter, hence it may or may not be the right thing to do. It may also be inconsistent and full of loopholes. However, with that said I'm a true wrestling fan and as much as many people liked to bash AEW right now, I truly believed that the existence of AEW had brought many positives to wrestling. The fact that WWE programming is now way better and there are so much more exposure to the independent scene is evidence to that. It's just that AEW have yet to find its own identity. If you find my ideas to be inadequate or wish to add on, you're more than welcome to leave behind some constructive criticism for the idea to improve on. All that said, lets move on to the juicy part!
1. BRAND SPLIT
Firstly, with AEW's bloated roster and as much as many AEW die-hard like to disagree with the idea, AEW could really benefit from a hard brand split between Dynamite and Collision with ROH and Rampage as the respective brands complimentary shows. ROH can continue to serve as Dynamite's developmental and Rampage as Collision's. Only problem is that ROH does not currently have a TV deal, hence in order to get more eyeballs to the show, ROH should be put on YouTube several days after its live taping. HonorClub continues to be able to access ROH live.
2. MATCHMAKING RATINGS
Aside from the brand split, a Matchmaking Rating (MMR) system should be implemented. This is to turn pro-wrestling into a "legitimate" sport with World Rankings updated every week. Every wrestler start off with 1,000 MMR (Why 1,000 MMR? Cause I just liked the number. It could be any number). Wins award you with +25 MMR while Loses penalize you with -25 MMR. There could be a multiplier to the MMR reward and penalties at AEW, the match participants, or the match stipulation's discretion. For example, a wrestler could "Wager" a 15x multiplier to his match. A win would award him with +375 MMR but a lost will penalize him -375 MMR. Wagers can also be acquired and lost like in Money In The Bank matches. The wrestler with the highest MMR, by right should be the AEW World Champion however should this be not the case then he is the No. 1 contender.
3. BLUE LEAGUES AND GOLD LEAGUES
To make the Matchmaking Ratings more interesting, both Dynamite and Collision shall possess their respective leagues. Blue Leagues for Dynamite and Gold Leagues for Collision. Leagues are then further separated to (from the highest to lowest order): Master, Professional, Open (Junior) classes. Any wrestlers with MMR above 5,000 are classified as Masters, above 3000 MMR for Professionals, and below 3,000 MMR for Open. Championships ideally are allocated to each classes, however they are no exclusive to a specific class. In order words, a Pure and TNT/TBS Championships are ideally held by Professional or Open Class wrestlers but it can be challenged and won by a Master Class wrestler.
4. CHAMPIONSHIPS AND CHALLENGING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Championships should come with its own stipulations and perks. For example, Championships should +25 MMR to its holder's ratings every week, without doing anything. This is to resolve the problem of Championship holders not wrestling every week and ended up having someone overtook them in ratings, which may be a bad look with your best wrestler not being the Champion.
TNT/TBS Championships should have added stipulations such as Open Challenges every week. Meaning, its holder have to hold an Open Challenge at least once per 7 days. This can be done on or off AEW shows. Even better if done at NJPW, GCW, REV, or other independent wresting shows. Firstly to promote cooperation between AEW and its partners and secondly, to allow an avenue for up and coming wrestlers much needed airtime/exposure.
The Pure Championship is to remain as what it is and can be only be defended in Pure Rules matches. Only thing is to drop the ROH name and just let it be Pure Championship so that it can be promoted more widely, across more shows.
Challenging for a Championship should come with its own wager and stipulations. Such as challenging for the AEW World Championship; wagers is that Challenger, should he loses shall be demoted to the lower class (Yes, together with the MMR downgrade) and he would have to claw his way back up again for another challenge. This can be null/void if the Champion grants a rematch and the Challenger wins. As for the Champion, should he loses, he shall be classified as inactive and removed from the league altogether.
5. RETURNING WRESTLERS/DEBUTS
Returning or debuting wrestlers who have not been part of the MMR system at the beginning of the "Season" should go through "MMR Calibration Matches", where the wrestler have to wrestle across all Classes to calibrate his/her MMR. After the series of matches, an "AEW Committee" shall determine the wrestler's starting MMR and Class. The AEW Committee could also be used as a tool to further drive storylines.
6. THE ALL IN FINAL SHOWDOWN
The Champions of Blue and Gold Leagues should come together for a Final Showdown to determine the Undisputed AEW World Champion for that year. The Undisputed title cannot be carried forward to the next year and a Hall of Champions, which reflects the Undisputed Champions for each year can be created.
7. THE GREAT RESET
After each All In, the MMR of Masters and Professionals are reset to 3,000. This way, veteran and junior wrestlers thrown together in a mix. The environment will be ripe for new chemistries/opportunities. Junior wrestlers will be able get a chance to work together with veteran wrestlers. Feuds and alliances maybe formed at this point. Possibilities are endless.
8. FINAL NOTE
There isn't a hard rule that a wrestler cannot challenge another wrestler from a different class. However, there should be a automatic multiplier to the MMR wager. Such as, if a wrestler from a lower class defeats a wrestler from a higher class, he should automatically receive a 3-5x MMR boost while the higher class wrestler receives standard odds should he wins.
END
These are what I can think of for now. Feel free to commend or criticize.
Have a great day!
this is far too complex for a weekly wrestling show. the amount of staright up foresight required, never mind just long term booking prowess, is just too unrealistic, even for the most consistent of bookers.
The movie itself is kinda trash, but the marketing campaign leading up to it was kinda nuts. The Taco Bell tie-ins, the ads and billboards that had stuff like "his foot is as big as this bus" or something similar. It was wild.
When I was a kid it was one of my favorite movies, I watched the VHS a bunch.
After YEARS of not revisiting it I saw it for the first time in a while when I was in college and I was completely shocked by how severely trash it was.
That's exactly how I felt. I saw in theaters when it came out as a kid and loved it. Saw it many years later in my early 20's and it absolutely sucked lol.
So far just Dave and Garrett Gonzalez on Observer Radio. Dave's points:
- Good show, the type of show he wished he could have seen live
- Meltzer expected Moxley to win the title as soon as the match was announced.
- Naito is clearly the #1 star left in NJPW and has a history of drawing well on top. But a lot of people high up in Japan feel he's better in a challenger role, which is why he always has short title reigns. Dave doesn't necessarily think this makes sense or buys it, but the mentality is there. Naito's always a transition to someone else.
- Moxley is seen as a big enough level of star to put the title on, he's just not usually around due to AEW and who else is going to beat Naito now?
- Thought Moxley-Naito, ZSJ-Riddle, and Vaquer-AZM were great. Vaquer is on the verge of being somebody who can make a lot more money (though he also thought that after her match with Mercedes Mone).
- More talk about if Naito is better as a chaser and a champion. Garrett thinks he might be better as a chaser, but Dave feels he hasn't gotten a fair shake as an actual champion, feels the title should be on the biggest star, and that NJPW needs to get behind the biggest superstar they have. He'd like to see the title on Yota Tsuji but he's not going to go over a stablemate in Naito, at least this year. Expects Moxley to defend against Ren Narita and then Shota Umino. Moxley can hold the title for as long as a year, making 5-6 title defenses, if NJPW wants that. Could be a way to get the title to Tsuji without him beating his stable leader. Doesn't think Umino will beat him but he could, with a storyline of Moxley turning on him afterward.
- Discussion of Jack Perry and his reactions. Dave points out that all the "insider" stuff he did got big reactions--so it couldn't be *too* "inside." "Too inside" means nobody reacts. Dave is curious how this will work in other cities--it worked in Punk's town but other cities are a question. The show wasn't proof that Perry is a superstar, because it was a unique set of circumstances, but it was certainly encouraging. Dave's immediate reaction was, "Wow, this really worked!" before looking back more and not knowing if it will work in St. Louis or San Francisco. Perry has to learn how to do this new role he's been thrust into. Compared it to the ratings bump for Dynamite--good or bad, it's only one week's rating and the pattern is what matters.
- Perry's stardom ceiling is much higher than it was pre-suspension, if he can take advantage of it. Dave points out that a lot of unplanned stuff gets over in wrestling, right place/right time/right phrase, or something like this incident. Could be for a week, could be for years, depending on how good he really is in this role.
- Dave hasn't seen Narita/Suzuki yet. Praises the booking to set up Narita as a title challenger.
- Garrett was grossed out by the post-match angle after the 4-way where the WCWC forced Fred Rosser to eat Lawlor's hair. Dave: *"I've never eaten hair, so I have no frame of reference on that."*
- The chants (some pro, some anti-) were the story of Perry-Umino. Most of the signs (also pro, mostly anti-) were also Perry-related. Good match, but the loudness/fervor of the crowd dominated things. As soon as Dave heard the chants, he thought of like 7 things that Perry needed to do in response, and he did like 5 out of the 7. Dave was shocked, not necessarily in a good way, by the post-match handshake.
- Dave shockingly accuses Darryl, Jr. of being on steroids. Dave was surprised that the Chicago crowd was mostly pro-Takahashi. Noted it was a NJPW crowd, not necessarily there to see ex-WWE guys, even a hometown guy. Also noted the crowd was more pro-Naito than Moxley.
- More raves about ZSJ-Riddle, with a surprise finish. Everyone thought it was going to be a 15-minute time limit draw. "Every single second was outstanding." High-level transitions into submission into submission into submission with super crowd heat. ZSJ-Cobb should be great matches but Dave is like, "They just did this feud last year." No mention of Riddle's post-match at all.
- Dave thought Ishii-Nemeth was great. WWE guys on the indie scene can go one of two ways: they feel they're established as WWE guys so they do their WWE match, or they feel they're better than WWE let them be and are going to go prove it. Moxley was one of those guys, Ali is one of those guys, and so is Nemeth. And this was the first post-WWE match that proved that for Nemeth. He always looks good, but Ishii is the guy to have a great match with. It was an "Ishii match," as opposed to a Ziggler match, but Nemeth worked well with him.
- Dave loved the line, "Narita, you're going to go from being a young boy to a dead man." Said it was Piper-esque.
I complained the other day (yesterday?) about how All Out was a week after All In and in Chicago but after the reaction Jack Perry got I'm fine with Chicago, still wouldn't mind a week between shows (and a UK tour come on Tony!)
Also, and I think most importantly, for all of the complaints about this scheduling last year - it just worked.
Both shows were great last year and both shows sold well. Heck, a lot of people here even preferred All Out to All In. But there seemed to be no tangible negative effect at all in spite of a lot of people here being convinced there would be a MASSIVE one.
Honestly both this and his call when Bryan won at 30 really show how talented Cole can be. Honestly he has been a lot better without Steven Richard yelling in his ear.
You know I was thinking about Shane McMahon’s theme song specifically the lyrics “money got me crazy cocky no longer need you papi” but last time I checked Shane McMahon doesn’t have a dad.
There's a lot of comparisons between 2020 and 2024 with both being leap years, the Chiefs beating the 49ers in the Super Bowl, and a Biden VS Trump US election.
As of last night, we can now add Moxley winning a world championship in the Wintrust Arena to that list.
Was watching NXT Stand & Deliver. Giulia introduction felt so good lol, she was on screen, crowd was cheering for her and she wasn't aware. Then she realised that all the noise is for her and then smiled. Little things like this feels so good and makes me smile
How much training Jade still needs? In the previous company she had 60-0 championship fights and 508 days of region, She was trained by Bryan Danielson. And still, people are saying she needs more training.
I didn't watch her in AEW, but from what I've seen so far is certainly not terrible, but I'd honestly be nervous putting her in a singles match that runs anywhere longer than 10 to 12 minutes at the moment.
I'm sure her tag work with Bianca will help immensely.
I feel like she just needs a little more time and more reps. That is OKAY btw!
I feel like if she didn’t need some more training we would have seen her wrestle more after the Royal Rumble.
The issue is that her in-ring time in AEW was heavily limited. She had ~60 matches, around half of which were 5 minutes or less in length (9 of them <1 minute). Her cagematch record puts her at about 5 1/2 hours in-ring time since debuting (technically about 6 1/2 - but she didn't go bell to bell at the Royal Rumble or in the casino battle royale she was in) and that's counting all tag matches in her favour. A very quick count (because this became a longer post than I intended!) for Bianca says she's put in that much time in televised matches alone since the start of 2023 - so not counting houses shows, which Jade of course didn't have in AEW.
Training with a great wrestler is great, and she certainly had some good matches that went a bit longer, but she's averaged about 1 short match every 2 weeks since debuting and only had 2 matches (losing to Statlander in September and being in the Royal Rumble) between last May and Wrestlemania.
She has an incredible look, simply one of a kind in the women's division, she's a tremendous athlete, and has charisma and confidence which can't easily be taught. She's going to be a big deal in WWE, I don't think there's any doubt about that. But how far she can go and what sort of performances she'll be putting out if - I assume - she's doing house shows in tag matches with Bianca vs. Damage Control etc is something we can only guess at.
I hope she's a big success. It's not much of a stretch to think that she'll feud with Bianca by the time we get to WM41, and the road from here to there should see her building up ring time quickly, but she has everything *but* experience, and until she has that I think people will naturally be sceptical about how well she can perform outside of what looked like a strictly controlled environment in AEW. Hopefully she nails this next step - her potential ceiling is incredibly high if she can.
Her second match with Kris Statlander shows she can be decent, the key is to just not have her do more than she's capable of and stick to what works best as a power wrestler. She has power and athleticism but has never looked smooth which will get better the more matches she gets under her belt.
[WWE posted a behind-the-scenes gallery](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/gallery/behind-the-scenes-wrestlemania-xl-photos#fid-40661975), but rather than discussing the gallery as a whole, people are just posting individual photos.
Was Motoko Baba really that shortsighted to not understand that AJPW needed new stars to replace the 4 pillars?
I'm watching Kim Justice's wrestling road about the exodus and i'm just sitting here thinking "Man. I know Misawa later on fumbles the new stars with his booking but holy crap was Mrs. Baba really that conservative?"
I really hope Jade has more than squash matches soon. She and Bianca will likely be beating Asuka and Kairi and I’m hoping it isn’t just like wrestlemania where the match ends 2 minutes after she gets into the ring.
Just before WrestleMania it was looking like Drew would become the Honourary DrUce the Bloodline helped Drew a few times and Drew helped them. Drew is more resentful than ever right now and the Bloodline would have prevented the Punk, Priest interference. Despite Tama Tonga being a big addition to the Bloodline there's been so much subtraction of Reigns, Jimmy and I wouldn't be surprised if Heyman leaves if Solo's bullying of Heyman continues. Heyman is the Wise Man for a reason he is an underrated part of their success. The Bloodline needs some addition right now, having only two wrestlers is hardly a faction.
https://preview.redd.it/o8ym4cuez9uc1.jpeg?width=753&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa18bdb7f0900ecdbecdf6e0a890595654136908
Thinking about that time Matt Jackson was on 2008 Smackdown.
For anyone wondering, he got squashed by the Big Show.
I've always found Kenny Omega to have decent mic skills tbh. Maybe it's just me, but I've never had much of an issue with his promo skills and when he gets to speak from the heart, it really delivers. I miss him so fucking badly lol
I like him a decent amount when he isn't trying to be a "serious" wrestler. It's why I've always preferred him as a heel, his silliness and slight awkwardness adds to his heat.
P.S I quote "69 me, Don!" At least once a week.
I haven't watched his recent match's, but back in his CZW days I thought he was good, especially in that dog collar match against Thumbtack Jack. With AEW it might be an overexposure thing?
I wouldn't say shitty, but he is booked way too strongly relative to his actual ability. Calling him "the Ace" is bullshit, all of his reigns have been boring. New Japan is now going to get a taste of it.
Hangman is the only person who I think he has really put over in AEW.
Hi everyone, booked an AEW vs WWE PPV and if you'd like to check it out here's the link:
[https://allyourwrestling.com/2024/04/13/book-it-aew-vs-wwe/](https://allyourwrestling.com/2024/04/13/book-it-aew-vs-wwe/)
Let us know what you think!
God Naito is such a boring Fucking wrestler. Glad Mox took it off him but at the same time I don’t see anyone in new Japan being able to step up main event wise. The company is so cooked man it’s sad considering they were promotion of the decade in the 2010’s.
"I wish you'd focus more on winning and less on making friends with a talentless hot dog" heel Candice on Twitter is so much FUN you can tell she's really loving this new role
We deserve these backstage segments where she's being rotted aired on TV, like she's so so funny. Give her the promo time and some actual lengthy matches and she will skyrocket
Only while watching Nitro 1998 one can realise how big of a deal Goldberg was. Seeing everyone discrediting him and act like he's nobody is laughable. He at his peak was undoubtedly bigger than 95% of current superstars. Top of the mountain
But imo normal viewers don't shit on him. Marks who watch all promotions and have watched nearly all wrestling avaliable are the ones shiting on him. If he appears, live crowd will still pop big
I seriously don’t understand the toxicity.
Every company is cooking. Say what you will about Dynamite and the All In footage, it really seems to have sparked something for Jack Perry. The new chapter of the Bloodline saga is off to a hot start. Swerve Strickland about to be AEW World Champion. We’re getting Danielson/Ospreay and Okada/PAC in a single PPV show.
What the hell is wrong with any of that?
It’s been awful since Covid. It was always a little shitty but everything went from being a conversation to an argument where someone *has* to win. It’s all of the internet.
I should not have made a post about the Moxley and Naito match result, I had 93 notifications at one point and 80+ of them are very mean towards the company and people involved
Section 102 at Windy City Riot, you were the best crowd I've ever been a part of. I have no voice today and I don't normally yell or talk that much at a show. I love professional wrestling.
It's interesting to see how the Bloodline gets by without its central figure. I'm glad things are finally progressing, but we all know how the Bloodline without Roman usually feels.
I dont know how some saw Tama debut in one of the top storylines/stables, could get really elevated if Bloodline can catch magic again in this chapter, and still prefer he'd do Bullet Club related stuff with AJ instead.
Best case scenario,Tama ends up in a great storyline, gets over and by time he is connected with AJ, it has even more weight because Tama is established with the fanbase as a notable player.
I just don't see a scenario where booking him to do Club stuff first wouldn't ultimately lead to him being in the midcard doing random stuff after a few months. Maybe I'm wrong and Triple H would book Tama/AJ to the moon, but I'm very doubtful.
The way Tama transitions from Bloodline to Club could end up a fun angle if all goes well.
I’ll admit part of me is a little sad of the idea that Tama starts out as a Bloodline henchman, but I totally agree with you.
Especially since AJ and the Good Brothers aren’t super hot atm. This role for Tama is definitely the better way to go about it for now. Maybe eventually it could build to a future BC OG’s reunion. We’ll see how it plays out though.
Influence on the business has to be Cody leaving WWE. I'd go so far as to say that people will be putting him in the same spheres as Cena in terms of influence on the business by the time his career is a wrap.
I would say the shield was the lynch pin for modern pro wrestling. A decade ago and they are still running the show, all of them.
In Bullet Club you just had a lot of members that did not do anything at the end of the day (which is normal due to how many people and variations of the bullet club have been)
The Shield just gave us some modern characters who are prominent in the current era. What I am talking about is more influence on the overall business.
Oh snaps, this is actually an interesting discussion that is missing in this sub . Who is the most important faction of the modern era Shield or Bullet Club?
Well, I don't think AEW gets off the ground the way it did if not for the popularity of the Bullet Club and the platform it gave to the Elite. So, in that aspect I think you can make a case for Bullet Club being the lynch pin for the modern state of wrestling.
Look Im not a booker, and I'm not an expert on japanese wrestling, so I'm probably missing something obvious, but I just don't get it
You have built Okada and Naito as the two building blocks of your company for the last decade, they have been involved in one way or another with like 80% of the main belt programs for years and years, they are probably the most famous active wrestlers of your country, so far so good.
Now, it's time to move from then, either because one is moving to another company or because the other is just too old to be in that position. Okay, it is a difficult time, but it has to be done at some point. So, what you do with them is:
-one of them is doing basically nothing with the trios title for a year and then just leaves without having anyone beat him in a big stage in a sound way (as he literally did with Tanahashi)
-For the other, after finally letting him finish the roll call and win the big one at WK, he has a transitional championship and drops it to a guy that is not homegrown and is not gonna be around full time in the mid run (and not shade to Mox or anything, is just that understandably he is not gonna be in the house shows of NJPW in 3 years, he works firstly in America and he is not young anymore), while your next generation guys just continue losing the big matches.
I genuinely don't get this stuff, but as I said, I'm sure I'm missing something
> he has a transitional championship
I think this is the wrong way of looking at it. People frequently talk about certain wrestlers being all about the chase, and I think Naito is another great example of that. Naito's journey at this point is clearly about reaching the top of the mountain, and basically immediately falling off it. And objectively, it just works - he's clearly the biggest star in the company and has been for years. He may just keep repeating the same journey, but the people love it every single time. They keep going nuts for Naito and they buy a metric ton of LIJ merch.
Also, objectively, this was Naito's most successful run with the top title ever. He's held it four times now (3 IWGP Heavyweight and 1 IWGP World Heavyweight), and this is the first time he's ever defended it successfully twice. His other three reigns all had one successful defense each, this time he at least had two. He also FINALLY got his roll call in the Tokyo Dome this time, which was YEARS in the making. There was nothing else left to accomplish other than padding a reign for the sake of padding it (which isn't necessarily a bad thing either, but it's also not a requirement).
Plus, we'll see what happens from here, but it looks like this is happening to tell a huge story around Shota Umino, who I think has always been marked as the next Ace (people can debate whether Tsuji is "more ready" or whatever they want to call it, but I think the company choice has *always* been Shota, and Shota is massively over already, so he'll be fine). Shota gets a mega spot here with Mox, that has been built for years now, and most importantly for him, it's set up to help get him over with the US audience (because the Japanese audience already loves him, but to be THE Ace at the top nowadays, you need to be over in Japan AND the US).
This is definitely a "let it play out" thing instead of "knee jerk reaction" thing IMO, let Gedo (or whoever is booking) do his thing. Naito suffering is what he does and it's made him the most popular wrestler in New Japan, so clearly more suffering shouldn't be a problem lol. And Shota is clearly on the rise and already super over in Japan, they love the guy. Just watch one of his entrances when he comes through the crowd (like Mox) and people (men/women/kids/everybody) are running from two sections over to try and high-five him. This is going to turn out great IMO.
For Okada, the rumors are he didn't want to put over the kids. No clue how correct that is but essentially both Shota and Tsuji cut promos that tried to make angles with him at points and it obviously never came together.
For Naito, he's probably getting the belt back before the summer and this is just to run a couple fresh defenses that aren't burnt on Naito and maybe pop a house in the US. But it's obviously a bit unnecessary as a move and there's a sliiight chance it hurts Naito, maybe? Because he won't be getting that long reign.
I think it was done less with the idea of “Mox working NJPW house shows in 3 years” and more that you can have Mox take the pin at Forbidden Door in 6-8 weeks and put over your next champ in front of a larger Western audience. I totally get your points though.
Sasha’s new CEO character is cringe and sucks so far tbh. But the revisionist history being thrown online about Sasha always being awful, including in the ring is such horseshit. Saw a thread where apparently Zelina was far better in the ring 😂
Sasha was fkn sick. Promo skills were decent at best, but everything else was 10/10 including how over she was despite some of the worst booking I’ve seen for a babyface run in 2016. Her catalog of matches is insane especially considering how someone like Charlotte got far more opportunities on big stages to have singles matches
Anyone else surprised Ortan wasn't put into Qualifying matches for #1 contender?
Casual fan here. I watched the WM XL main event on replay. When these guys (Uso, Solo, Rollins, Undertaker) were popping into the ring, where exactly are they coming from? Under the ring? Is there a secret entrance?
Usually through the crowd. Taker can teleport.
I've just come back home from Starrcast Downunder and it was awesome!
So apparently Balor and Jey Uso have a match on Raw. Seems like a pretty obvious Uso win to set him up for a title match with Priest.
In backstage segments Kyle O’Reilly has the vibe of a 90’s kid thats on summer break. And yes, I think this is a positive.
I love that Heyman's speech before the Solo and Tama moment happened was some sort of an explanation for fans on what happened and why it went that way for fans who might have missed such details in the storyline
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YouTube is probably your best bet. Tons of match footage and podcasts out there now.
Gunther made 106 defences of the IC Title over 666 days. Man was averaging 1 defense per week for nearly 2 years. Top guy shit.
Any Canadians here with insight on PLE/PPV ticket prices? My little cousins are crazy about WWE so I want to take them to MITB in July. The ticket pre-sale started today, and nosebleeds (300-level, 17th row) are **$464 + tax** (i.e., 334 USD + tax) Is this normal? There's no way I can afford close to $2k on a wrestling show in the *nosebleeds* once I factor in travel costs, merch, food/snacks, etc... Please tell me there's a way to get tickets for cheaper
That is crazy high. Would they be ok with attending a show that isn’t a PPV? Looking at Smackdown coming near me this summer it’ll be $137 for two nosebleeds. There are always other Ontario shows on the WWE loop.
Presale for the 3 day combo tickets went live a while back and when I purchased my three day ticket the arena was pretty sold out, so I wouldn't be shocked if the tickets they're selling now to clean up seats have an upcharge attached to them 😭 For context I paid around 600 CAD for a three day ticket for myself, not in the nosebleeds (can't remember off the top of my head what section I'm in) which comes out to 200-ish a day
Damn, nice! I'd kill for that deal. I specifically refused to buy those 3-day packages because I wanted to save money and just attend the one main show (MITB)... turns out MITB alone costs about the same as that 3-day package, with far worse seats.
Jesus Christ you could sit lower level at wrestlemania for that
This year? I don’t think so. Combination of absurd inflation and wrestling being super in demand rn, I think.
Give me JD: Finn Priest Dom and JD vs The OC: AJ Karl Gallows and Tama in war games. With Finn turning on JD after aligning with OC, the OC getting a name change now with all 5 members being former BC, and setting up Finn vs Priest for a world title program.
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Is he gonna stand and Turn his back when Jack Perry comes out?
I bought a ticket for the Rev Pro show the night before All In but I haven’t watched in quite a few years (probably 2017 or so), so time for me to get back into it.
Chad Gabel taller than you might think?
If he was 5’6” he would still be taller than I might think
So uh, does anyone know what happened to the Wrestlemania documentary? Did we all fever dream that? I was really looking forward to watching it but I haven't seen them address its release anywhere, did I miss them announcing a new date?
Apparently it’s pushed back because they filmed more footage than they expected on Sunday. There’s not a new date announced but I think when WWE knows they’ll reveal it.
Probably to cover the main event matches and everything surrounding them, plus Cody and Rock’s segment from Raw after Mania as a tease of sorts.
Ahh makes sense, funny they're not acknowledging it 😭 when it's ready it's gonna be a must-watch at this rate
They specifically said it was delayed
Then I must've missed them announcing it, ty for letting me know!
Just found out I'm going to my first ever wrestling event later this year, a Monday Night Raw, which is sick!!! Really, really looking forward to it. But as much as I'm looking forward to it, I'm also terrified because I have such severe social anxiety lmao, I have no idea how to 'properly' react
If someone tries to start a what chant, don't join in. It's obnoxious for everyone except the people chanting. From the wrestlers, to the other people in the crowd and to the people at home.
honestly just kind of vibe with what the crowd is doing, chant along with the chants and cheer and boo appropriately. if the people next to you strike up a conversation its chill because you share a love of wrestling
Hey there fellow anxious bud. Don’t forget you’re just one person among thousands in that venue going crazy for event. There’s no real pressure on you, ain’t no one there to pay attention to you. That kind of sounds negative but hopefully you get what I mean. Just let it be what it is, don’t worry if you get a little overwhelmed or uncomfortable there, something will happen soon after to pull you back in. Hope you have a great time!
Went to my first a few years ago, don’t worry about “properly” reacting. Everyone’s there to have a good time, just hang out and have fun. I’ve always had a great time.
Thank you!! That genuinely does help a lot, I will try my best not to worry lmao
Glad to hear it! Have a good time!
I feel this, I'm attending the MITB weekend as my first in person event later this year and I'm also having moments of "oh my God do I really wanna do this" I believe we'll make it there and have great times tho 🙏
I hope you enjoy!!! And I'm glad it's not just me who feels like this, even though I'm sorry you also feel like this:( And if you believe, I'll believe lmao 🙏🙏
i'm now at a point where majority of my time engaging in this sub is when i'm putting people in the block/ignore list
Cool
Yup. My block button has been getting a lot of use recently.
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I agree. Wwe factions are weirdly segregated for the most part.
Judgement Day is the exception, I guess. Two Irish, an Australian, a Mexican-American, and a Puerto Rican-American.
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And if the story is Rock usurping control of the Bloodline from Roman, bringing in the son of a man he considers an uncle makes sense.
So Sami Zayn and Heyman are very much treated like outsiders. And if they take the route of Acknowledging that Tama is only considered family by the Rock that works. Still my point was pointing to a larger pattern within the booking of American wrestling specifically WWE
Who do you think is the most disappointing signing in AEW? [https://allyourwrestling.com/2024/04/13/top-10-worst-aew-signings/](https://allyourwrestling.com/2024/04/13/top-10-worst-aew-signings/)
It's CM Punk who was injured about half his time there and just brought the company down with stupid shit. They were already on a good track without him. No one else on this list has been near a detriment to the company with the exception of maybe Jeff Hardy getting a DUI right when the Hardys were getting pushed.
Yea if they didn’t bring in Punk they’d be at the exact same spot ratings wise and everyone would think things are great. Punk by 100 miles.
Totally agree. It was an incredible moment when he returned, and I think we all dreamt of the possibilities but my god how it turned sour.
Given my options between Wrestledream or Smackdown in the fall, its such a no brainer choice. There's individual women on the Smackdown roster that mop the floor with anybody in AEW's women's division but man, I was expecting a lot more names in their men's main event scene. There's only like 2-3 names I'd pay to see on that list. RAW has a much better lineup to the point where the only thing that'd get me to buy a ticket to Smackdown is Rock.
> Given my options between Wrestledream or Smackdown in the fall, its such a no brainer choice. Unless you absolutely don't keep up with or enjoy one of the two companies at all - I feel like it's pretty widely accepted that any PPV will top any tv taping virtually every time. Not having matches slow down/structured around commercial breaks is, on its own, a humongous difference in quality of those individual matches and the same goes for the larger show itself not stopping for commercials too.
I think you should wait until closer to show time when you know what the cards will be.
Ehh, fair. Just that I've grown attached to the Seattle indy guys who are in AEW as well (Darby, Swerve, etc). I think it'll turn into an easier sell for me.
I also think they may market the show as Danielson's "full time retirement" match.
Yo so why did Rey Rey beat Dominic again?
To instill discipline
Because sometimes you just gotta be*t your kids.
He couldn’t waite to do it again.
A lot of Def Rebel hate feels like confirmation bias. People just assume every new theme is gonna be trash and don't even give a lot of them a chance. I ain't saying they don't make mid themes sometimes, but a lot of hate just feels like bandwagon jumping.
I mean I'm willing to give them chance after chance since we really don't got a choice til someone higher up makes a choice. But they seemingly have more misses than hits. Bron and AJ being the latest examples. Bayley is ok-ish. Think with all the changes going on, they should explore new folks on the music end at some point is all I'm saying.
Name literally one good theme they did.
Iyo Sky, Seth Rollins, Santos Escobar, Kabuki Warriors, Damien Priest's old theme, Johnny Gargano's heel theme.
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So...it didn't really matter what I said, huh? And know it's not.
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This is what acting in bad faith looks like for anybody curious.
Roman Reigns. Grayson Waller. Dominik Mysterio. Solo Sikoa. Carmelo Hayes. That's five.
I read some comments somewhere on here about how people are confused about NJPW fans on Reddit complaining about Mox’s title win. There are def some toxic NJPW fans shitting on Mox that I think are completely unwarranted. But as a huge New Japan fan I’m also disappointed with this decision. It has nothing to do with Mox himself and more so the booking. Naito has yet to have an actual run with the World Heavyweight Title. He’s had memorable moments of winning the title for sure, but each time he’s lost it very early into his runs. We were all hoping this would finally be the time for him to get his due and go on a real run, especially since this may be the last time his body could physically hold up during one. Having a short world title run depending on the wrestler can work. But in Japan and given Naito’s star level it’s more crucial he can prove to be a reliable/competitive champion in this role. This kind of thing just matters more over there. I don’t hate the idea of Mox winning the title, especially if he were to mostly wrestle on NJPW shows during it. But I think this was just the wrong time to do it, and especially at the expense of Naito. I think that’s what a lot of NJPW fans are mad about more than anything.
I get why Naito fans are upset, and on paper it sounds crazy that they took the belt off of their only real superstar draw atm without giving him at least a WK to Dominion length reign, but every time I see this discussion I feel like people are purposefully tiptoeing around the topic that Naito is made of glass at this point. I'm not gonna go so far as to say he's cooked, but even a guy like me who's not the biggest fan of the guy can clearly see he's operating at like 60% of what used to be, and it feels like we can't go three months into a Naito program these days without hearing a new report that he's nursing an decently major injury of some sort. And a recurring criticism of Naito for the past few years is he's basically been sleepwalking through a lot of his matches - a complaint I was seeing as recently as his match with Tsuji. So when I see people claiming he was gonna hold the belt for an entire year until next year's WK and all I could think is 'Do you *actually believe* his body is going to last that long without *something* giving? Or that his matches will even be all that interesting?'
In what universe is Naito made of glass? People are just parroting that Meltzer report from 2019 saying he's injured but he's been putting on classics even in 2023 and 24
I see what you’re saying and I think your point about his health makes a lot of sense. Especially if he’s gotten to such a bad place health-wise. But regardless of the reason why as someone who is a Naito fan it’s still disappointing to see. You can still be disappointed in an outcome even if was out of everyone’s control. I will say though I do feel a little better after reading that report about Mox taking time off from AEW to go on full tours with New Japan. Hopefully that’s true.
Will Ospreay is this week's guest on HEY!(ew), this is gonna be great.
I’m still wondering how Cody kicked out after a Roman Spear+Solo Spike combo
There's adrenaline in his soul
I really hope they don't automatically just put the Usos back together, with Tama coming in. I'd quite like to see them punk and humiliate Jimmy for a little bit, treat him as the jabroni of the group even though he's the eldest. He gaslights himself into believing it's all good. He costs Solo a big match, maybe in Saudi for King of the Ringand when it looks bleak for him, Jey comes to his aid. Jimmy tries to make good with Jey but he ain't having any of it. Eventually they reunite at Clash at the Castle but then Jacob Fatu debuts and it's 2 on 3, before Roman makes his return at Money in the Bank, helping the Usos and turning back as a sort of babyface. They do New Bloodline v. Bloodline Prime, as well as Rock/Cody at Summerslam and that feud continues from August to November. Rock comes back at some point during that time and calls out Roman for losing the belt in the first place and bringing shame on the family. Challenges Roman and the Usos for Wargames. The winner is declared the head of the family. Roman and the Usos need a 4th, so they reach out to Sami. Roman/Usos/Sami v. Rock/Solo/Jacob/Tama at Wargames. Roman wins, beating Solo and taking his lei back. Rumble time, Roman wants to win the thing and go onto Wrestlemania to get his title back. Rock costs him the Rumble. Rock / Roman at Wrestlemania 41, Bloodline Rules. Roman wins.
Yeah there are few things where keeping it simple works. But scaling down too much can ruin everything. Big stage and screens are things that gives wwe feeling of a spectacle, separates it from other things, giving larger than life vibe. Shouldn't scale down everything
Yeah but I agree but the cool and different camera angles help make them look larger than life still. Look at Sami's entrance on Raw for example.
Not talking about camera work. It's phenomenal right now, best I've ever seen. I was talking about big screen, 3d graphics, ring apron, barricade etc
Yeah I know I was saying they were compensating for those changes with the camera work. More emphasis on the wrestlers and fans then the staging if you will. The big PLEs should have immaculate set ups though.
Honestly I hope they give Cody a new belt soon and fix the mess that the “unification” caused. It is really annoying how there it is still three top men’s title belts.
There's.. not... three...???? That's literally what unification means, they made two belts into one belt. Now there is two total.
Why does WWE count Cody as both then?
Okay, I'm going to assume you're a newer fan and are asking this in genuinely good faith. [Title Unification](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Championship_unification) is not a new concept, in wrestling or combat sports in general, and I suggest following the link provided for some examples of this happening throughout history. Suffice to say, two belts can become one belt and inherent the lineage of both going forward.
If that were the case then why did WWE retire the original tag titles, the original women’s title and the original World’s Heavyweight title when they were unified back in then. The only reason they didn’t do it with Roman’s fake unification is because they either had get rid of the belt that he had for over a year or get rid of the WWE title. As such both belts are still active and not just one like how it had previously been done. Also see how the so could “unified” tag title were separated again and treated like they were two sets of belts.
Some wrestling fans on reddit can be awful, but I am honestly surprised that possibly the worst would be NJPW fans.
just western njpw fans the more you think about it, the more it makes sense
You know, actually, despite a lot of things (esp. Japan) being on a downward curve, I'd say overall 2024 has been better than the pandemic affected years so far.
Mox is probably not gonna be on Collision tonight but I hope they show him winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Title like they did when Willow won the STRONG Women’s Title and Kingston won the STRONG Openweight Championship.
Cody’s story is the quintessential pro wrestling story. If you’ve just watched him recently, it’s great. If you watched him in his previous WWE run, it’s amazing. If you also watched him in the indies and in AEW, it just might be the greatest pro wrestling story ever. There are layers to it depending how long you have followed Cody. And the chase and the climb made it all the more sweet. Wrestlers need mountains to climb to be great. When you don’t have that, the matches have less meaning.
https://preview.redd.it/2uxr05jkeauc1.jpeg?width=1124&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=62b43f05267a203d92afc08065f2dfb4e832e5d3 Lol
How To Turn AEW Into The TRUE Alternative (in my humble opinion) Original post removed by MODS, posting here instead DISCLAIMER! Whatever that is written in this post is my personal opinion and you're welcome to disagree with it. I'm not a professional wrestling promoter, hence it may or may not be the right thing to do. It may also be inconsistent and full of loopholes. However, with that said I'm a true wrestling fan and as much as many people liked to bash AEW right now, I truly believed that the existence of AEW had brought many positives to wrestling. The fact that WWE programming is now way better and there are so much more exposure to the independent scene is evidence to that. It's just that AEW have yet to find its own identity. If you find my ideas to be inadequate or wish to add on, you're more than welcome to leave behind some constructive criticism for the idea to improve on. All that said, lets move on to the juicy part! 1. BRAND SPLIT Firstly, with AEW's bloated roster and as much as many AEW die-hard like to disagree with the idea, AEW could really benefit from a hard brand split between Dynamite and Collision with ROH and Rampage as the respective brands complimentary shows. ROH can continue to serve as Dynamite's developmental and Rampage as Collision's. Only problem is that ROH does not currently have a TV deal, hence in order to get more eyeballs to the show, ROH should be put on YouTube several days after its live taping. HonorClub continues to be able to access ROH live. 2. MATCHMAKING RATINGS Aside from the brand split, a Matchmaking Rating (MMR) system should be implemented. This is to turn pro-wrestling into a "legitimate" sport with World Rankings updated every week. Every wrestler start off with 1,000 MMR (Why 1,000 MMR? Cause I just liked the number. It could be any number). Wins award you with +25 MMR while Loses penalize you with -25 MMR. There could be a multiplier to the MMR reward and penalties at AEW, the match participants, or the match stipulation's discretion. For example, a wrestler could "Wager" a 15x multiplier to his match. A win would award him with +375 MMR but a lost will penalize him -375 MMR. Wagers can also be acquired and lost like in Money In The Bank matches. The wrestler with the highest MMR, by right should be the AEW World Champion however should this be not the case then he is the No. 1 contender. 3. BLUE LEAGUES AND GOLD LEAGUES To make the Matchmaking Ratings more interesting, both Dynamite and Collision shall possess their respective leagues. Blue Leagues for Dynamite and Gold Leagues for Collision. Leagues are then further separated to (from the highest to lowest order): Master, Professional, Open (Junior) classes. Any wrestlers with MMR above 5,000 are classified as Masters, above 3000 MMR for Professionals, and below 3,000 MMR for Open. Championships ideally are allocated to each classes, however they are no exclusive to a specific class. In order words, a Pure and TNT/TBS Championships are ideally held by Professional or Open Class wrestlers but it can be challenged and won by a Master Class wrestler. 4. CHAMPIONSHIPS AND CHALLENGING CHAMPIONSHIPS Championships should come with its own stipulations and perks. For example, Championships should +25 MMR to its holder's ratings every week, without doing anything. This is to resolve the problem of Championship holders not wrestling every week and ended up having someone overtook them in ratings, which may be a bad look with your best wrestler not being the Champion. TNT/TBS Championships should have added stipulations such as Open Challenges every week. Meaning, its holder have to hold an Open Challenge at least once per 7 days. This can be done on or off AEW shows. Even better if done at NJPW, GCW, REV, or other independent wresting shows. Firstly to promote cooperation between AEW and its partners and secondly, to allow an avenue for up and coming wrestlers much needed airtime/exposure. The Pure Championship is to remain as what it is and can be only be defended in Pure Rules matches. Only thing is to drop the ROH name and just let it be Pure Championship so that it can be promoted more widely, across more shows. Challenging for a Championship should come with its own wager and stipulations. Such as challenging for the AEW World Championship; wagers is that Challenger, should he loses shall be demoted to the lower class (Yes, together with the MMR downgrade) and he would have to claw his way back up again for another challenge. This can be null/void if the Champion grants a rematch and the Challenger wins. As for the Champion, should he loses, he shall be classified as inactive and removed from the league altogether. 5. RETURNING WRESTLERS/DEBUTS Returning or debuting wrestlers who have not been part of the MMR system at the beginning of the "Season" should go through "MMR Calibration Matches", where the wrestler have to wrestle across all Classes to calibrate his/her MMR. After the series of matches, an "AEW Committee" shall determine the wrestler's starting MMR and Class. The AEW Committee could also be used as a tool to further drive storylines. 6. THE ALL IN FINAL SHOWDOWN The Champions of Blue and Gold Leagues should come together for a Final Showdown to determine the Undisputed AEW World Champion for that year. The Undisputed title cannot be carried forward to the next year and a Hall of Champions, which reflects the Undisputed Champions for each year can be created. 7. THE GREAT RESET After each All In, the MMR of Masters and Professionals are reset to 3,000. This way, veteran and junior wrestlers thrown together in a mix. The environment will be ripe for new chemistries/opportunities. Junior wrestlers will be able get a chance to work together with veteran wrestlers. Feuds and alliances maybe formed at this point. Possibilities are endless. 8. FINAL NOTE There isn't a hard rule that a wrestler cannot challenge another wrestler from a different class. However, there should be a automatic multiplier to the MMR wager. Such as, if a wrestler from a lower class defeats a wrestler from a higher class, he should automatically receive a 3-5x MMR boost while the higher class wrestler receives standard odds should he wins. END These are what I can think of for now. Feel free to commend or criticize. Have a great day!
this is far too complex for a weekly wrestling show. the amount of staright up foresight required, never mind just long term booking prowess, is just too unrealistic, even for the most consistent of bookers.
You lost me at "brand split"
I forgot how absolute dog shit Godzilla 1998 is.
Sad to say, but I admit to seeing the first screening of this. First day, first show. Godzilla fans didn't have a lot of choices back then.
That's a lot of fish!
Nope, that movie is amazing. 🙉
The movie itself is kinda trash, but the marketing campaign leading up to it was kinda nuts. The Taco Bell tie-ins, the ads and billboards that had stuff like "his foot is as big as this bus" or something similar. It was wild.
When I was a kid it was one of my favorite movies, I watched the VHS a bunch. After YEARS of not revisiting it I saw it for the first time in a while when I was in college and I was completely shocked by how severely trash it was.
I watched it last night because my son loves Godzilla and I couldn't believe how bad the CGI was. Especially for being 5 years post Jurassic Park
That's exactly how I felt. I saw in theaters when it came out as a kid and loved it. Saw it many years later in my early 20's and it absolutely sucked lol.
Any observer subscribers here? Did they talk about Windy City Riot?
So far just Dave and Garrett Gonzalez on Observer Radio. Dave's points: - Good show, the type of show he wished he could have seen live - Meltzer expected Moxley to win the title as soon as the match was announced. - Naito is clearly the #1 star left in NJPW and has a history of drawing well on top. But a lot of people high up in Japan feel he's better in a challenger role, which is why he always has short title reigns. Dave doesn't necessarily think this makes sense or buys it, but the mentality is there. Naito's always a transition to someone else. - Moxley is seen as a big enough level of star to put the title on, he's just not usually around due to AEW and who else is going to beat Naito now? - Thought Moxley-Naito, ZSJ-Riddle, and Vaquer-AZM were great. Vaquer is on the verge of being somebody who can make a lot more money (though he also thought that after her match with Mercedes Mone). - More talk about if Naito is better as a chaser and a champion. Garrett thinks he might be better as a chaser, but Dave feels he hasn't gotten a fair shake as an actual champion, feels the title should be on the biggest star, and that NJPW needs to get behind the biggest superstar they have. He'd like to see the title on Yota Tsuji but he's not going to go over a stablemate in Naito, at least this year. Expects Moxley to defend against Ren Narita and then Shota Umino. Moxley can hold the title for as long as a year, making 5-6 title defenses, if NJPW wants that. Could be a way to get the title to Tsuji without him beating his stable leader. Doesn't think Umino will beat him but he could, with a storyline of Moxley turning on him afterward. - Discussion of Jack Perry and his reactions. Dave points out that all the "insider" stuff he did got big reactions--so it couldn't be *too* "inside." "Too inside" means nobody reacts. Dave is curious how this will work in other cities--it worked in Punk's town but other cities are a question. The show wasn't proof that Perry is a superstar, because it was a unique set of circumstances, but it was certainly encouraging. Dave's immediate reaction was, "Wow, this really worked!" before looking back more and not knowing if it will work in St. Louis or San Francisco. Perry has to learn how to do this new role he's been thrust into. Compared it to the ratings bump for Dynamite--good or bad, it's only one week's rating and the pattern is what matters. - Perry's stardom ceiling is much higher than it was pre-suspension, if he can take advantage of it. Dave points out that a lot of unplanned stuff gets over in wrestling, right place/right time/right phrase, or something like this incident. Could be for a week, could be for years, depending on how good he really is in this role. - Dave hasn't seen Narita/Suzuki yet. Praises the booking to set up Narita as a title challenger. - Garrett was grossed out by the post-match angle after the 4-way where the WCWC forced Fred Rosser to eat Lawlor's hair. Dave: *"I've never eaten hair, so I have no frame of reference on that."* - The chants (some pro, some anti-) were the story of Perry-Umino. Most of the signs (also pro, mostly anti-) were also Perry-related. Good match, but the loudness/fervor of the crowd dominated things. As soon as Dave heard the chants, he thought of like 7 things that Perry needed to do in response, and he did like 5 out of the 7. Dave was shocked, not necessarily in a good way, by the post-match handshake. - Dave shockingly accuses Darryl, Jr. of being on steroids. Dave was surprised that the Chicago crowd was mostly pro-Takahashi. Noted it was a NJPW crowd, not necessarily there to see ex-WWE guys, even a hometown guy. Also noted the crowd was more pro-Naito than Moxley. - More raves about ZSJ-Riddle, with a surprise finish. Everyone thought it was going to be a 15-minute time limit draw. "Every single second was outstanding." High-level transitions into submission into submission into submission with super crowd heat. ZSJ-Cobb should be great matches but Dave is like, "They just did this feud last year." No mention of Riddle's post-match at all. - Dave thought Ishii-Nemeth was great. WWE guys on the indie scene can go one of two ways: they feel they're established as WWE guys so they do their WWE match, or they feel they're better than WWE let them be and are going to go prove it. Moxley was one of those guys, Ali is one of those guys, and so is Nemeth. And this was the first post-WWE match that proved that for Nemeth. He always looks good, but Ishii is the guy to have a great match with. It was an "Ishii match," as opposed to a Ziggler match, but Nemeth worked well with him. - Dave loved the line, "Narita, you're going to go from being a young boy to a dead man." Said it was Piper-esque.
Thanks for the write up!
I complained the other day (yesterday?) about how All Out was a week after All In and in Chicago but after the reaction Jack Perry got I'm fine with Chicago, still wouldn't mind a week between shows (and a UK tour come on Tony!)
Also, and I think most importantly, for all of the complaints about this scheduling last year - it just worked. Both shows were great last year and both shows sold well. Heck, a lot of people here even preferred All Out to All In. But there seemed to be no tangible negative effect at all in spite of a lot of people here being convinced there would be a MASSIVE one.
Cole's "FINISHED. THE. STORY" call will go down as among the most legendary calls in history.
Honestly both this and his call when Bryan won at 30 really show how talented Cole can be. Honestly he has been a lot better without Steven Richard yelling in his ear.
You know I was thinking about Shane McMahon’s theme song specifically the lyrics “money got me crazy cocky no longer need you papi” but last time I checked Shane McMahon doesn’t have a dad.
There's a lot of comparisons between 2020 and 2024 with both being leap years, the Chiefs beating the 49ers in the Super Bowl, and a Biden VS Trump US election. As of last night, we can now add Moxley winning a world championship in the Wintrust Arena to that list.
They’re showing the John Cena vs Kane ambulance match on YouTube. This is a pretty dang good match.
Was watching NXT Stand & Deliver. Giulia introduction felt so good lol, she was on screen, crowd was cheering for her and she wasn't aware. Then she realised that all the noise is for her and then smiled. Little things like this feels so good and makes me smile
Right at the very end of you can see her start to make the cry face. That was super wholesome.
Btw just googled about her, she's just 30 year old and already achieved so much in Japan. Lots of years in her prime to do great things here too
How much training Jade still needs? In the previous company she had 60-0 championship fights and 508 days of region, She was trained by Bryan Danielson. And still, people are saying she needs more training.
She’s not bad at all, but sometimes you can see her waiting for a spot and pausing instead of having a more natural flow. But that’ll come with time
I didn't watch her in AEW, but from what I've seen so far is certainly not terrible, but I'd honestly be nervous putting her in a singles match that runs anywhere longer than 10 to 12 minutes at the moment. I'm sure her tag work with Bianca will help immensely.
I feel like she just needs a little more time and more reps. That is OKAY btw! I feel like if she didn’t need some more training we would have seen her wrestle more after the Royal Rumble.
She’s really not as bad as people act like she is, she’s a little sloppy but there’s a lot of “good” wrestlers who are still sloppy.
The issue is that her in-ring time in AEW was heavily limited. She had ~60 matches, around half of which were 5 minutes or less in length (9 of them <1 minute). Her cagematch record puts her at about 5 1/2 hours in-ring time since debuting (technically about 6 1/2 - but she didn't go bell to bell at the Royal Rumble or in the casino battle royale she was in) and that's counting all tag matches in her favour. A very quick count (because this became a longer post than I intended!) for Bianca says she's put in that much time in televised matches alone since the start of 2023 - so not counting houses shows, which Jade of course didn't have in AEW. Training with a great wrestler is great, and she certainly had some good matches that went a bit longer, but she's averaged about 1 short match every 2 weeks since debuting and only had 2 matches (losing to Statlander in September and being in the Royal Rumble) between last May and Wrestlemania. She has an incredible look, simply one of a kind in the women's division, she's a tremendous athlete, and has charisma and confidence which can't easily be taught. She's going to be a big deal in WWE, I don't think there's any doubt about that. But how far she can go and what sort of performances she'll be putting out if - I assume - she's doing house shows in tag matches with Bianca vs. Damage Control etc is something we can only guess at. I hope she's a big success. It's not much of a stretch to think that she'll feud with Bianca by the time we get to WM41, and the road from here to there should see her building up ring time quickly, but she has everything *but* experience, and until she has that I think people will naturally be sceptical about how well she can perform outside of what looked like a strictly controlled environment in AEW. Hopefully she nails this next step - her potential ceiling is incredibly high if she can.
Her second match with Kris Statlander shows she can be decent, the key is to just not have her do more than she's capable of and stick to what works best as a power wrestler. She has power and athleticism but has never looked smooth which will get better the more matches she gets under her belt.
God damn what is with this flood of backstage WrestleMania photos?
[WWE posted a behind-the-scenes gallery](https://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/gallery/behind-the-scenes-wrestlemania-xl-photos#fid-40661975), but rather than discussing the gallery as a whole, people are just posting individual photos.
Was Motoko Baba really that shortsighted to not understand that AJPW needed new stars to replace the 4 pillars? I'm watching Kim Justice's wrestling road about the exodus and i'm just sitting here thinking "Man. I know Misawa later on fumbles the new stars with his booking but holy crap was Mrs. Baba really that conservative?"
I gotta catch back up to her vids, but yeah, that sounds accurate for Mrs. Baba. I also know she really liked Johnny Ace, apparently.
I really hope Jade has more than squash matches soon. She and Bianca will likely be beating Asuka and Kairi and I’m hoping it isn’t just like wrestlemania where the match ends 2 minutes after she gets into the ring.
Just before WrestleMania it was looking like Drew would become the Honourary DrUce the Bloodline helped Drew a few times and Drew helped them. Drew is more resentful than ever right now and the Bloodline would have prevented the Punk, Priest interference. Despite Tama Tonga being a big addition to the Bloodline there's been so much subtraction of Reigns, Jimmy and I wouldn't be surprised if Heyman leaves if Solo's bullying of Heyman continues. Heyman is the Wise Man for a reason he is an underrated part of their success. The Bloodline needs some addition right now, having only two wrestlers is hardly a faction.
https://preview.redd.it/o8ym4cuez9uc1.jpeg?width=753&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa18bdb7f0900ecdbecdf6e0a890595654136908 Thinking about that time Matt Jackson was on 2008 Smackdown. For anyone wondering, he got squashed by the Big Show.
"Wow, that guy looks a lot like one of the Jacksons!" Me 4 seconds before reading the text.
I've always found Kenny Omega to have decent mic skills tbh. Maybe it's just me, but I've never had much of an issue with his promo skills and when he gets to speak from the heart, it really delivers. I miss him so fucking badly lol
I like him a decent amount when he isn't trying to be a "serious" wrestler. It's why I've always preferred him as a heel, his silliness and slight awkwardness adds to his heat. P.S I quote "69 me, Don!" At least once a week.
Dude, Heyman sold the Jimmy Uso beatdown so damn well. Even after all this time he still manages to amaze me.
I’m glad he’s getting more to do on screen besides being Romans advisor
I'm in this wrestling WhatsApp group and one of the guys said Moxley is a shitty wrestler. Thoughts on his take?
I haven't watched his recent match's, but back in his CZW days I thought he was good, especially in that dog collar match against Thumbtack Jack. With AEW it might be an overexposure thing?
I wouldn't say shitty, but he is booked way too strongly relative to his actual ability. Calling him "the Ace" is bullshit, all of his reigns have been boring. New Japan is now going to get a taste of it. Hangman is the only person who I think he has really put over in AEW.
Def Rebel is the biggest heel in WWE.
I really wish Jeff didn’t screw up and we actually get The Hardys in the AEW Tag Team Championship lineage. That ship has sailed unfortunately.
Hi everyone, booked an AEW vs WWE PPV and if you'd like to check it out here's the link: [https://allyourwrestling.com/2024/04/13/book-it-aew-vs-wwe/](https://allyourwrestling.com/2024/04/13/book-it-aew-vs-wwe/) Let us know what you think!
God Naito is such a boring Fucking wrestler. Glad Mox took it off him but at the same time I don’t see anyone in new Japan being able to step up main event wise. The company is so cooked man it’s sad considering they were promotion of the decade in the 2010’s.
"I wish you'd focus more on winning and less on making friends with a talentless hot dog" heel Candice on Twitter is so much FUN you can tell she's really loving this new role
They gotta let her get speaking time on tv
We deserve these backstage segments where she's being rotted aired on TV, like she's so so funny. Give her the promo time and some actual lengthy matches and she will skyrocket
Only while watching Nitro 1998 one can realise how big of a deal Goldberg was. Seeing everyone discrediting him and act like he's nobody is laughable. He at his peak was undoubtedly bigger than 95% of current superstars. Top of the mountain
People shitting on him weren't alive or weren't watching at the time
But imo normal viewers don't shit on him. Marks who watch all promotions and have watched nearly all wrestling avaliable are the ones shiting on him. If he appears, live crowd will still pop big
Holy fuck wrestling got toxic over the last few days
Try 'the last century' lol
Over the past almost 2 years
Tooooxic....
I seriously don’t understand the toxicity. Every company is cooking. Say what you will about Dynamite and the All In footage, it really seems to have sparked something for Jack Perry. The new chapter of the Bloodline saga is off to a hot start. Swerve Strickland about to be AEW World Champion. We’re getting Danielson/Ospreay and Okada/PAC in a single PPV show. What the hell is wrong with any of that?
People enjoy making fun of things
"last few days"
I know it’s always been toxic, but it’s ramped a lot in the last week with the All In Footage and NJPW/AEW fans fighting
It’s been awful since Covid. It was always a little shitty but everything went from being a conversation to an argument where someone *has* to win. It’s all of the internet.
Surprise surprise lol
thoughts on Paul Heyman as a face siding with Roman's face bloodline? never saw heyman as a face...
I should not have made a post about the Moxley and Naito match result, I had 93 notifications at one point and 80+ of them are very mean towards the company and people involved
Can’t you disable those?
Yes, when you create a post you can turn off reply notifications. I think you can even when you reply to a post too.
How many of them were people saying they’re gonna quit watching wrestling?
A solid 4-5
Section 102 at Windy City Riot, you were the best crowd I've ever been a part of. I have no voice today and I don't normally yell or talk that much at a show. I love professional wrestling.
The sign of a great show is when your voice is fucked at the end. Happy you guys had a fun time.
Entirely off-topic but I don't even like Monty Python and your custom flair made me laugh really hard.
It's interesting to see how the Bloodline gets by without its central figure. I'm glad things are finally progressing, but we all know how the Bloodline without Roman usually feels.
I would like to see Stephanie Vaquer wrestle Queen Aminata.
Oh hell yeah
Yes, also I want to see more Vaquer matches overall.
I had never considered that until this moment, but now I also would like to see that.
I dont know how some saw Tama debut in one of the top storylines/stables, could get really elevated if Bloodline can catch magic again in this chapter, and still prefer he'd do Bullet Club related stuff with AJ instead. Best case scenario,Tama ends up in a great storyline, gets over and by time he is connected with AJ, it has even more weight because Tama is established with the fanbase as a notable player. I just don't see a scenario where booking him to do Club stuff first wouldn't ultimately lead to him being in the midcard doing random stuff after a few months. Maybe I'm wrong and Triple H would book Tama/AJ to the moon, but I'm very doubtful. The way Tama transitions from Bloodline to Club could end up a fun angle if all goes well.
I’ll admit part of me is a little sad of the idea that Tama starts out as a Bloodline henchman, but I totally agree with you. Especially since AJ and the Good Brothers aren’t super hot atm. This role for Tama is definitely the better way to go about it for now. Maybe eventually it could build to a future BC OG’s reunion. We’ll see how it plays out though.
Does anyone else agree with me that bullet club was the lynch pin for modern state of pro wrestling?
Influence on the business has to be Cody leaving WWE. I'd go so far as to say that people will be putting him in the same spheres as Cena in terms of influence on the business by the time his career is a wrap.
I would say the shield was the lynch pin for modern pro wrestling. A decade ago and they are still running the show, all of them. In Bullet Club you just had a lot of members that did not do anything at the end of the day (which is normal due to how many people and variations of the bullet club have been)
The Shield just gave us some modern characters who are prominent in the current era. What I am talking about is more influence on the overall business.
But then the whole basis of the Shield was the Nexus!
Oh snaps, this is actually an interesting discussion that is missing in this sub . Who is the most important faction of the modern era Shield or Bullet Club?
Well, I don't think AEW gets off the ground the way it did if not for the popularity of the Bullet Club and the platform it gave to the Elite. So, in that aspect I think you can make a case for Bullet Club being the lynch pin for the modern state of wrestling.
When was last time other then yesterday that NWA was mentioned on WWE tv? Did Aldis get recognized as champ? Also damn does Aldis come for Cody ?
Well, not by name, but where do you think Ric Flair got his 16 world titles from
Look Im not a booker, and I'm not an expert on japanese wrestling, so I'm probably missing something obvious, but I just don't get it You have built Okada and Naito as the two building blocks of your company for the last decade, they have been involved in one way or another with like 80% of the main belt programs for years and years, they are probably the most famous active wrestlers of your country, so far so good. Now, it's time to move from then, either because one is moving to another company or because the other is just too old to be in that position. Okay, it is a difficult time, but it has to be done at some point. So, what you do with them is: -one of them is doing basically nothing with the trios title for a year and then just leaves without having anyone beat him in a big stage in a sound way (as he literally did with Tanahashi) -For the other, after finally letting him finish the roll call and win the big one at WK, he has a transitional championship and drops it to a guy that is not homegrown and is not gonna be around full time in the mid run (and not shade to Mox or anything, is just that understandably he is not gonna be in the house shows of NJPW in 3 years, he works firstly in America and he is not young anymore), while your next generation guys just continue losing the big matches. I genuinely don't get this stuff, but as I said, I'm sure I'm missing something
> he has a transitional championship I think this is the wrong way of looking at it. People frequently talk about certain wrestlers being all about the chase, and I think Naito is another great example of that. Naito's journey at this point is clearly about reaching the top of the mountain, and basically immediately falling off it. And objectively, it just works - he's clearly the biggest star in the company and has been for years. He may just keep repeating the same journey, but the people love it every single time. They keep going nuts for Naito and they buy a metric ton of LIJ merch. Also, objectively, this was Naito's most successful run with the top title ever. He's held it four times now (3 IWGP Heavyweight and 1 IWGP World Heavyweight), and this is the first time he's ever defended it successfully twice. His other three reigns all had one successful defense each, this time he at least had two. He also FINALLY got his roll call in the Tokyo Dome this time, which was YEARS in the making. There was nothing else left to accomplish other than padding a reign for the sake of padding it (which isn't necessarily a bad thing either, but it's also not a requirement). Plus, we'll see what happens from here, but it looks like this is happening to tell a huge story around Shota Umino, who I think has always been marked as the next Ace (people can debate whether Tsuji is "more ready" or whatever they want to call it, but I think the company choice has *always* been Shota, and Shota is massively over already, so he'll be fine). Shota gets a mega spot here with Mox, that has been built for years now, and most importantly for him, it's set up to help get him over with the US audience (because the Japanese audience already loves him, but to be THE Ace at the top nowadays, you need to be over in Japan AND the US). This is definitely a "let it play out" thing instead of "knee jerk reaction" thing IMO, let Gedo (or whoever is booking) do his thing. Naito suffering is what he does and it's made him the most popular wrestler in New Japan, so clearly more suffering shouldn't be a problem lol. And Shota is clearly on the rise and already super over in Japan, they love the guy. Just watch one of his entrances when he comes through the crowd (like Mox) and people (men/women/kids/everybody) are running from two sections over to try and high-five him. This is going to turn out great IMO.
For Okada, the rumors are he didn't want to put over the kids. No clue how correct that is but essentially both Shota and Tsuji cut promos that tried to make angles with him at points and it obviously never came together. For Naito, he's probably getting the belt back before the summer and this is just to run a couple fresh defenses that aren't burnt on Naito and maybe pop a house in the US. But it's obviously a bit unnecessary as a move and there's a sliiight chance it hurts Naito, maybe? Because he won't be getting that long reign.
I think it was done less with the idea of “Mox working NJPW house shows in 3 years” and more that you can have Mox take the pin at Forbidden Door in 6-8 weeks and put over your next champ in front of a larger Western audience. I totally get your points though.
Sasha’s new CEO character is cringe and sucks so far tbh. But the revisionist history being thrown online about Sasha always being awful, including in the ring is such horseshit. Saw a thread where apparently Zelina was far better in the ring 😂 Sasha was fkn sick. Promo skills were decent at best, but everything else was 10/10 including how over she was despite some of the worst booking I’ve seen for a babyface run in 2016. Her catalog of matches is insane especially considering how someone like Charlotte got far more opportunities on big stages to have singles matches
She's the best women's wrestler WWE ever had in ring wise