-
Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.
*Official* Pro-Wrestling Thread II
- Thread starter GIMH
- Start date
Ok, live thoughts:
-- Ishii seems short and a little bit nondescript-tough-guy. Okada looks like an arrogant bastard.
-- I have no idea who is meant to be the face and who is meant to be the heel. Okada seems over but is acting like a dick.
-- Why is Okada kicking out at 2.9 within the first two minutes of the match?
-- Hulking up from chops? Really?
-- I'm not sure whether the pacing is really, really good, or absolutely awful. But hey, I'm only ~10 minutes in.
-- I understand the love of Okada dropkicks.
-- That rail-hung DDT looked nasty. Is this guy basically the NJPW Randy Orton?
-- I'm half expecting an RKO Outta Nowhere (TM), Punt, or Lesnar run-in at the moment.
-- Kk, Orton mixed with THE MACHO MAN, BROTHER #SlimJim
-- Yeah don't taunt a 40 year old short fat guy. He'll chop you in the throat and it will hurt.
-- Oww @ the release German
-- Corner lariat into powerbomb was cool.
-- And Okada uses a Modified Attitude Adjustment. He's like a strong-style mashup of Big US Stars
-- Missed front dropkick into ducked lariat was cool.
-- Oh hey 40yo short fat dude can do a dropkick too. Good on him for trying.
-- Was that a superplex or a Super BRAINBUSTAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!? A rana would have been more fun.
-- Knee to the head suplex/BRAINBUSTAHHHHHHHHHH! counters are great.
-- He just countered it why try it again immediately?
-- Ishii is selling these kicks like a champ.
-- Stomping on the foot to prevent being flicked into a tombstone. Brilliant.
-- HOLY **** THAT DROPKICK
-- "How many times can I try the Rain-Maker and not hit it?"
-- Duelling tombstones? Nope, Owen Hart. Okada dead.
-- Or not.
-- Oh ok, that's how you beat Japanese SuperCena. Try your damnedest to break his neck then BRAINBUSTAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
King Pietersen
International Captain
Sandow looking in pretty good shape ahead of his TNA debut........
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CpiUa8QXgAAxvol.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CpiUa8QXgAAxvol.jpg
Spikey
Request Your Custom Title Now!
I thought about writing something up but I didn't want to spoil it, but to explain a bit of it:
- so this is the G1 classic, just a little halfway through it. Two groups of about 7 guys have a bunch of matches with one winner from each group facing off for a spot in the main event of the forthcoming January 4 show (Wrestle Kingdom). Okada is on top of his group and Ishii needs to win to survive (Spoiler: the result was never in doubt because of an upcoming fixture...)
- Okada is also the current champion of NJPW, having won the title at Wrestle Kingdom, losing it a bit after and recently regaining it. (he needed to regain the title because of likely future booking calls). Ishii is, I guess, your Cesaro type guy, except they give him more opportunities to have the great matches we all know he can have. He's just a serious stiff mother****er
- Okada, it seems, was arrogant and brash and stuff as a younger guy, but he's basically a face now, in part because the major heel is naito and naito is amazing. See example 1 and example 2
- Okada and Ishii are in the same stable - Chaos. This is important because a lot of the match turns into the "these wrestlers know each other so well" thing ie Okada's dropkicks. There's no face/heel heat, but this is Japan and it's an athletic competition. The drama comes from the underdog aspect and two great competitors going at it. From a smark pov, knowing that the result is almost destined to go one way also helps build it.
anyway it just got 5 stars
Spikey
Request Your Custom Title Now!
I've actually barely kept up with the points table because it seemed like an obvious Tanahashi-Naito final once Naito dropped the belt to Okada
But I've looked into it and to extend it a bit:
In group B, 3 people could make the final heading into their last night of matches - Naito, Kenny Omega & Shibata. Naito and Omega are facing other. Naito wins, he's in. Kenny wins, he's in....unless Shibata wins, because Shibata has a tie-breaker over Kenny. I love Shibata but he's legit banged up at the moment, Naito is the hottest guy in the company while Kenny's lost a bit of steam. I guess they could feed Kenny to the group A winner but this was always Naito's tournament and I'd be stunned if he didn't win it (also I think Michael Elgin can actually make it too, but the calculations are insane. him vs Tanahashi would be kinda cool)
In group A, 5 people can make it - Tanahashi, Okada, Bad Luck Fale, Goto and Marufuji from Pro Wrestling Noah. But really, only two guys can make it. Tanahashi- Okada is the final match in their group (this is why Ishii had to win, otherwise Okada would have basically had one hand on the final spot. funnily enough, Ishii has just about finished last in this group). If Tana wins, he's in. If Okada wins, he needs a certain sequence of results to fall his way, including Bad Luck Fale losing to his Bullet Club stablemate, and Bullet Club ain't exactly a bunch of honourable guys. But the elaborate sequence will happen, because Okada-Tanahashi will headline and it hardly makes sense to have Okada knocked out already. (Okada lost to Fale, so if Fale wins his match beforehand, an Okada victory is useless).
I'm still on a Naito-Tana final with Naito winning it and Okada-Naito on January 4. I just don't see anything else happening on Jan 4, los ingobernables vs chaos, naito vs okada has been the story since Naka left. It has to be the headline. It does feel weird for Naito to be chasing the belt like this though, he doesn't respect it at all. (see: gif of him throwing the belt away so he can put his hat down), so they could do something different to get there. He should probably hold the title, with Okada chasing the opportunity but whatever. I don't think they wanted Okada winning the G1 again
This was just a really long of saying, Naito now, Naito tomorrow, Naito forever!
But I've looked into it and to extend it a bit:
In group B, 3 people could make the final heading into their last night of matches - Naito, Kenny Omega & Shibata. Naito and Omega are facing other. Naito wins, he's in. Kenny wins, he's in....unless Shibata wins, because Shibata has a tie-breaker over Kenny. I love Shibata but he's legit banged up at the moment, Naito is the hottest guy in the company while Kenny's lost a bit of steam. I guess they could feed Kenny to the group A winner but this was always Naito's tournament and I'd be stunned if he didn't win it (also I think Michael Elgin can actually make it too, but the calculations are insane. him vs Tanahashi would be kinda cool)
In group A, 5 people can make it - Tanahashi, Okada, Bad Luck Fale, Goto and Marufuji from Pro Wrestling Noah. But really, only two guys can make it. Tanahashi- Okada is the final match in their group (this is why Ishii had to win, otherwise Okada would have basically had one hand on the final spot. funnily enough, Ishii has just about finished last in this group). If Tana wins, he's in. If Okada wins, he needs a certain sequence of results to fall his way, including Bad Luck Fale losing to his Bullet Club stablemate, and Bullet Club ain't exactly a bunch of honourable guys. But the elaborate sequence will happen, because Okada-Tanahashi will headline and it hardly makes sense to have Okada knocked out already. (Okada lost to Fale, so if Fale wins his match beforehand, an Okada victory is useless).
I'm still on a Naito-Tana final with Naito winning it and Okada-Naito on January 4. I just don't see anything else happening on Jan 4, los ingobernables vs chaos, naito vs okada has been the story since Naka left. It has to be the headline. It does feel weird for Naito to be chasing the belt like this though, he doesn't respect it at all. (see: gif of him throwing the belt away so he can put his hat down), so they could do something different to get there. He should probably hold the title, with Okada chasing the opportunity but whatever. I don't think they wanted Okada winning the G1 again
This was just a really long of saying, Naito now, Naito tomorrow, Naito forever!
Spikey
Request Your Custom Title Now!
yeah. it got weird. It's almost more of a America thing now, except ROH is having a bad year, in a couple of ways, so they're not doing much with it either. But anyway, so when AJ left, his spot in the heavyweight division was taken by Kenny, in that awesome angle, but no-one replaced Kenny in the junior division. And then Bad Luck Fale was in a tag team with Tama Tonga, which was kinda just there, and I thought Tama Tonga might get a singles push, because he's kinda interesting, got a good look, he can be very fast in the ring/on the mat which can look awesome, but he can't seem to take that next step for whatever reason. Instead, they hired his brother (they're Haku's kids) and they've formed a tag team...which isn't doing much while Bad Luck Fale has had a good G1. He's just a solid big guy though. Nothing special. They've added Adam Cole (good!) and Adam Page (meh) so it might build steam up again in the coming months. But they're ROH guys and probably won't do the tag matches on the lower cards during the G1 and Super Junior's and stuff like that
Now Kenny Omega was on fire, but he kinda got screwed over by misfortune. after he booted AJ out, he was having great matches everywhere, and he was in an angle with Tanahashi which was gonna lead to the first ever ladder match in NJPW, for the IC belt, but Tanahashi's shoulder was messed up, and he wouldn't take time off because of AJ/Naka leaving, but eventually it got to the point where he couldn't do the G1 if he didn't rest, so Michael Elgin took his place (they're best buds, for some weird reason), won the belt in an awesome match, but it wasn't the same, and then Kenny got put in the weaker G1 group, but the one with the inevitable winner, so he hasn't really had a good G1. He had a good match with, guess what, Michael Elgin, which I think might have been his only main event match
Now Kenny Omega was on fire, but he kinda got screwed over by misfortune. after he booted AJ out, he was having great matches everywhere, and he was in an angle with Tanahashi which was gonna lead to the first ever ladder match in NJPW, for the IC belt, but Tanahashi's shoulder was messed up, and he wouldn't take time off because of AJ/Naka leaving, but eventually it got to the point where he couldn't do the G1 if he didn't rest, so Michael Elgin took his place (they're best buds, for some weird reason), won the belt in an awesome match, but it wasn't the same, and then Kenny got put in the weaker G1 group, but the one with the inevitable winner, so he hasn't really had a good G1. He had a good match with, guess what, Michael Elgin, which I think might have been his only main event match
Last edited:
Thoughts, Spikey? Seems like they worked out one hell of a way to avoid it being obvious, while still making complete sense.
Just watched this; absolutely brilliant match. Like, Savage/Steamboat levels of GOAT. Now I get why the Rainmaker is so good.
Spikey
Request Your Custom Title Now!
The rainmaker is really something, it shouldn't work as much as it does, but man. And Tana's repeated high fly flows are even better imo.
It's funny, I removed a couple of things in my post that may end up being how it goes because I didn't want it to get too long and confusing. I didn't mention the draw because I didn't want to confuse the matter, and I really didn't think Goto would get the shot anyway, and I didn't expand on the way "they could do something different to get there", but I still refuse to believe, as much as I love Kenny, that anything other than Naito-Okada will happen, so I guess they'll do that something different. The winner of the g1 has to defend their 'title opportunity' until Jan 4th, and Okada was the guy who 'created' that rule, so I guess Naito doing it kinda works.
also kenny-naito was amazing. it was already amazing when they did https://twitter.com/DeathToAllMarks/status/764048671109373952 in their tag match last night but https://twitter.com/SenorLARIATO/status/764436469536657409 helped it
It's funny, I removed a couple of things in my post that may end up being how it goes because I didn't want it to get too long and confusing. I didn't mention the draw because I didn't want to confuse the matter, and I really didn't think Goto would get the shot anyway, and I didn't expand on the way "they could do something different to get there", but I still refuse to believe, as much as I love Kenny, that anything other than Naito-Okada will happen, so I guess they'll do that something different. The winner of the g1 has to defend their 'title opportunity' until Jan 4th, and Okada was the guy who 'created' that rule, so I guess Naito doing it kinda works.
also kenny-naito was amazing. it was already amazing when they did https://twitter.com/DeathToAllMarks/status/764048671109373952 in their tag match last night but https://twitter.com/SenorLARIATO/status/764436469536657409 helped it
Spikey
Request Your Custom Title Now!
I'll laugh about del rio and paige in a second but here's some more Japan/G1 stuff for the two people that care
Last match of Group A, Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (Current IWGP champion)
Scenario: Tanahashi and Okada are each on 10 points, Goto leads the group on 12 points, but Okada and Tanahashi each have the tiebreak on him, winner of this match goes into the final.
Context: Tanahashi and Okada are the two biggest names in NJPW. They have the greatest rivalry in modern wrestling. Tanahashi is something of the Cena of NJPW ('The Ace of NJPW'), except better and almost single handily reviving the company while Okada is the Rainmaker, a younger more arrogant wrestler determined to become the new Ace, although he's stopped being a flat out heel. Okada defeated Tanahashi on January 4th this year for the belt and this is their first match since.
note: this one is in Japanese only so if you're unfamiliar you can probably skip this
Last match of Group B, Kenny Omega vs Naito
scenario: Naito is on 12 points, Omega is on 10. An Omega victory wins him the group while Naito could play defence and take a 30 minute time limit draw, or a double count-out, although such a defensive style would put him at a disadvantage in the final, as his oppentent will have an extra day's rest.
context: Naito and Omega are the two biggest heels in NJPW, leaders of los ingobernables and bullet club respectively, with Kenny taking over from AJ Styles in what is still the best angle of the year for me. Naito is a glorious dick who doesn't actually care about the title while Kenny's a weirdo.
G1 Final - not telling.
these matches were basically all 5 star affairs, although some of it will be lost in translation for people who don't watch the product. watch them if you've got time!
articles about these guys.
Okada and Tanahashi:
Kazuchika Okada Talks Creating 'The Rainmaker' After His Failed TNA Run, Ultimo Dragon, Nakamura Signing With WWE - Wrestlezone
Okada: Wrestling's 'Rainmaker' Has Conquered Japan ? Is America Next? - Rolling Stone
New Japan Hiroshi Tanahashi on WWE, Ring of Honor world title | SI.com
Inoki-Ism: The Fall and Rebirth of New Japan Pro Wrestling - Cageside Seats (Tana is the rebirth of NJPW)
https://kayfabetoday.wordpress.com/...-and-hiroshi-tanahashi-the-dawn-of-a-new-era/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/4g4m5w/kazuchika_okada_vs_hiroshi_tanahashi/
Naito:
Tranquilo, Tranquilo: Tetsuya Naito's Fantastic Transformation - Voices of Wrestling
https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCir...etsuya_naito_is_the_best_wrestling_character/
Kenny Omega:
Kenny Omega Has Conquered Japan, Now He Wants the New Day - Rolling Stone
Kenny Omega on New Japan, WWE, and the New Day | SI.com
Last match of Group A, Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (Current IWGP champion)
Scenario: Tanahashi and Okada are each on 10 points, Goto leads the group on 12 points, but Okada and Tanahashi each have the tiebreak on him, winner of this match goes into the final.
Context: Tanahashi and Okada are the two biggest names in NJPW. They have the greatest rivalry in modern wrestling. Tanahashi is something of the Cena of NJPW ('The Ace of NJPW'), except better and almost single handily reviving the company while Okada is the Rainmaker, a younger more arrogant wrestler determined to become the new Ace, although he's stopped being a flat out heel. Okada defeated Tanahashi on January 4th this year for the belt and this is their first match since.
note: this one is in Japanese only so if you're unfamiliar you can probably skip this
Last match of Group B, Kenny Omega vs Naito
scenario: Naito is on 12 points, Omega is on 10. An Omega victory wins him the group while Naito could play defence and take a 30 minute time limit draw, or a double count-out, although such a defensive style would put him at a disadvantage in the final, as his oppentent will have an extra day's rest.
context: Naito and Omega are the two biggest heels in NJPW, leaders of los ingobernables and bullet club respectively, with Kenny taking over from AJ Styles in what is still the best angle of the year for me. Naito is a glorious dick who doesn't actually care about the title while Kenny's a weirdo.
G1 Final - not telling.
these matches were basically all 5 star affairs, although some of it will be lost in translation for people who don't watch the product. watch them if you've got time!
articles about these guys.
Okada and Tanahashi:
Kazuchika Okada Talks Creating 'The Rainmaker' After His Failed TNA Run, Ultimo Dragon, Nakamura Signing With WWE - Wrestlezone
Okada: Wrestling's 'Rainmaker' Has Conquered Japan ? Is America Next? - Rolling Stone
New Japan Hiroshi Tanahashi on WWE, Ring of Honor world title | SI.com
Inoki-Ism: The Fall and Rebirth of New Japan Pro Wrestling - Cageside Seats (Tana is the rebirth of NJPW)
https://kayfabetoday.wordpress.com/...-and-hiroshi-tanahashi-the-dawn-of-a-new-era/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/4g4m5w/kazuchika_okada_vs_hiroshi_tanahashi/
Naito:
Tranquilo, Tranquilo: Tetsuya Naito's Fantastic Transformation - Voices of Wrestling
https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCir...etsuya_naito_is_the_best_wrestling_character/
Kenny Omega:
Kenny Omega Has Conquered Japan, Now He Wants the New Day - Rolling Stone
Kenny Omega on New Japan, WWE, and the New Day | SI.com
Spikey
Request Your Custom Title Now!
boy oh boy del rio has been a flop. he was basically dead on arrival imo, gets to beat Cena, but he can't talk about doing so and then gets that awful Mexamerican gimmick. Maybe he could have been saved but Cena got injured when they were about to do the rematch. oh well
Last edited: