Board 8 > All-Purpose Wrestling Topic 412: New Japan's Answer to the Mae Young Classic?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Gallows and Anderson! TJ Perkins! Eric Young! Curt Hawkins!

Talent you can see nowhere else!
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NBIceman posted...

JetJaguar posted...

Seems weird to me that Okada/Omega 3 is happening in the G1

They had to give away at least one big money match out of Okada/Omega, Omega/Naito, Omega/Ibushi, and Okada/Naito because of how the G1 works. The latter two are most likely Dome matches, so they were the priority, and Omega/Naito is a bonus.

Plus, the G1 lets them get around having a definitive winner again if they so choose since there's just a 30-minute time limit. I've also seen it kicked around that they could run a potential story of Okada being so broken down by the last day of the tournament that Omega just takes advantage and pins him in less than a minute or something.

Either way, it was the smart choice. It seemed weird to me at first, too, though.

I guess that makes sense. It could be interesting to have Omega go over in a non-title match I suppose, to even the score and set up a real rubber match.
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Based on typical booking though, that would give him a title shot before the Dome (unless he wins the whole G1 again but I don't think that's happening).

Don't they usually give title shots in that period between G1 and WK to guys who beat Champions in G1 matches?
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Not always

Ishii beat okada and didn't get a title shot against him

His title shot came against naito.

Fale won and got a match but it wasn't for the title.

Fale got a title shot this year for a different match.

Also remember they could have omega retain the g1 trophy which would make a title shot in between now and wk uneeded
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One of WWE's best celebrity guests (IMO), Maria Menounos, has a brain tumor. Best wishes to her for a full recovery.

I'll always be impressed that she was literally the only person at WM 32 who even made a passing reference to the Shane vs Undertaker match having wider implications beyond its own bubble.

And then those implications meant nothing, but hey.
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Tumor was already removed successfully actually. I love Menounos; she's probably my second favorite celebrity in WWE behind Amell.
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I know everyone is talking about the Strowman kick to Crews, but can we share some love for Heath Slater tonight? That match with Miz was FIRE. #HITSLATERSMUSIC!!! I rewound that powerslam like ten times, and it just got better with his former Social Outcasts on the outside.


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In addition to what voltch said, it would also kind of make sense for Omega's character to turn down a shot in that situation since he didn't win the tournament/only beat Okada in a weakened state.
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Jakyl25 posted...

One of WWE's best celebrity guests (IMO), Maria Menounos, has a brain tumor. Best wishes to her for a full recovery.

I'll always be impressed that she was literally the only person at WM 32 who even made a passing reference to the Shane vs Undertaker match having wider implications beyond its own bubble.

And then those implications meant nothing, but hey.

She was also one of the most decent-in-ring celebrity performers they've ever had at WM!
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Omega could also get tied up with the Cody Rhodes angle.

Okada could lose 3 matches to say Omega, Sanada and say Elgin. This could easily give him a title defense against Elgin on a B-show like Destruction and Sanada at KOPW.

Omega could lose to Juice Robinson and maybe Yano Toru, if Omega wins the G1, then Juice gets the briefcase shot at the other Destruction show.


This leaves Power Struggle free for a main event between Tanahashi and someone like Sabre Jr or Ishii from his block for the IC belt.

Under these circumstsances, the Tokyo Dome then becomes Okada vs. Omega, Naito vs. Tanahashi, Suzuki vs. Goto oh god plz no. I hope Gedo has a plan to break this endless loop.

With Omega vs Okada monopolising the big show title matches, it leaves Naito and Tanahashi as the only alternatives for the IC belt. This probably also means KUSHIDA vs. Hiromu will be the Jr title match. I kinda hope they break some of that stuff up and try to raise Sanada and Juice's stock.

Gimme Ibushi vs. Naito IC title match, Tanahashi vs. Suzuki NEVER and Omega vs. Okada and I'd be a little bit happier, even if these are all rehashes. Shibata's injury ruined everything.
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I'll be very, very surprised if Omega wins the G1 over Naito this year.
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didn't watch raw last night but that's a really nice power slam by slater.
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If Naito wins the G1.

The chain I have leads to Omega and the Bullet Club turning face and having a faceoff vs Naito.

If this was WWE, we'd have Omega vs. Naito vs. Okada.

NJPW doesn't do triple threats in Japanese HW main events ever since Brock fucked everything up ever.

But would a triple threat be a solution in this case?
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No, you do Omega/Ibushi and save the Bullet Club/LIJ clash for later on.

I don't know, Okada/Naito and Omega/Ibushi seem like locks for the Dome to me. I don't have a good feel for what Tana and Suzuki will be doing, though. If Shibata were healthy, he'd seem like the easy pick for Tana's match, but unfortunately that's not the case.
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Omega vs. Ibushi needs a title to me.

Suzuki and Tanahashi in 2012 put on one of the greatest matches of all time that nobody remembers, cos NJPW's big western breakout was 2 years later.

It would be a nice match to have but I don't see how they do NEVER vs. IC.

When you had AJ Styles and Nakamura around, you could do 4 big singles matches and put the Jr match early. Omega as Jr Champ never really worked cos he was facing guys like Taguchi who was in a shitty period pre-Taguchi Japan.

Now the big 4 singles matches are 3 HW and 1 Jr, since War Machine will likely get a good placement for their Tag match. But I dunno if Ibushi drops the Tiger Mask W gimmick so quickly, or if Ibushi win the IC belt. Omega's in the wrong block for that belt.
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voltch posted...

Omega vs. Ibushi needs a title to me.

You mean like that title Kenny Omega won two days ago? Or do you Omega will lose it before then/they will keep it to foreign contenders only?

It also would not surprise me if Suzuki lost the NEVER title later in the year so he can face Tanahashi at WK12.
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Ibushi winning the IC wouldn't shock me, but I honestly think the match is big enough without a title, and that would give them an extra big title match to work with. Or, as mentioned, they could just use the US belt.

My outside prediction for Suzuki is defending against Jay White. Company seems super high on him. He could pull a Hiromu and make a surprise return at Power Struggle to issue the challenge.
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I'm also operating under an assumption that Ishii and Goto will be involved in the tag title match since that seemed like the direction they were headed last year until the NOAH deal fell apart and they had to audible Goto into the NEVER match.

But if that doesn't happen, it opens things up a little. Suzuki/Ishii would be a hell of a NEVER matchup.
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NBIceman posted...

I'll be very, very surprised if Omega wins the G1 over Naito this year.

Handicap Juice Robinson winning for me.
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I think the US title will initially only be defended in America. That's just a gut feeling.

Suzuki/Ishii is weird, they've had many matches together, but their best one is probably the Kizuna road match from a while back with the super delayed Gotch Piledriver.

and in my mind Juice Robinson is higher up the totem pole than Jay White.

I see Jay as an addition to the Junior division, now yes NEVER is openweight, but in the past few year they've been using it as hoss title.

It doesn't have the versatility of the DDT Extreme Title, but yeah I think Juice is more likely to challenge for the Briefcase if the winner is from his block. He will get some major victories in the G1 with no titles on the line.
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Jay is going to be a heavyweight for sure, and I'm basing my guess to his place on the totem pole on the fact that ROH has featured him pretty heavily and he got the pin in both of his matches this weekend.
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I don't know how much stock I'd put into ROH performances and how they correlate with NJPW rankings.

With homegrown talent we've seen a very wide range of treatment for the ROH guys, but with the NJPW Young Lions, it's even harder to predict.

Watanabe and Kamaitachi had very different paths and EVIL and Hiromu are booked very differently too. Will be interesting to see what they do with the Tempura Boyz, because those guys seem like just placeholders, until the big two are ready to make the jump.
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DD6-owvUAAA0kcB?format=jpg&name=large

GFW really broke the bank on this new logo
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https://twitter.com/fightowensfight/status/882360185473204224

This is cool
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So apparently "Titus Brand" is this year's "John Cena" of Summer Games Done Quick.
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Too bad Goldust went heel in his team, you could have some fun with Goldust and Enzo teaming up. Brings a new meaning to Certified G.
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oh snap at the xavier line
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kofi's was terrible

but beside that uso 1 > xavier > uso 2 > big e
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Kofi loses hardest cause he called a stop sign a hexagon and then made a crack about the Usos not knowing what a hexagon is
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"Don't get all R rated like your boy Xavier Woods"

gg rap battle to the Uso's
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It's kind of sad that I saw the final two become Styles and Zayn and I just felt like switching the channel
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Honestly, I think I'm done with Raw and Smackdown for awhile if Joe doesn't win

They're just not doing anything interesting whatsoever
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...But I'll keep watching 205 because Titus WORLDWIIIIIIDE is the best thing
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Enzo beating Cass would be the most interesting thing but has zero chance of happening.
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Shad > JTG
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Oh god, that Kendrick segment getting a "USA" chant is amazing

Kendrick is the weaselly heel done right
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I didn't watch Smackdown or RAW because I had plans, but did they actually have Mojo turn heel instead of Ryder?

That is not the one I would have chosen to go heel.
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But people like Ryder by default. It would probably be a THANK YOU ZIGGLER situation all over again.
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Mojo seems way more obnoxious so it could work
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I didn't watch Smackdown, but I had to check out that rap battle after reading a summary.

Did not disappoint.
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I can't believe Bryan suspended the Big Hog.
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Also the return of Handsome Rusev!
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didn't look like a heel turn, just mojo taking an opportunity and no hard feelings bro
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4 machetes what now?
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Just started Smackdown. Before anything is even HAPPENING I have to comment.

That music during the narrator's independence day talk, before New Day stuff interrupted... did anyone else get Star Trek vibes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwNFUgYWGG4&t=0m36s
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GTM posted...

didn't look like a heel turn, just mojo taking an opportunity and no hard feelings bro

This. Though I still think Mojo turns heel within the next couple months.

Also kinda bummed they're wasting Rusev on Cena. He was supposed to main event MITB before Mahal's megapush changed things.

So confirmed for Battleground...

Mahal vs Orton in Punjabi Prison
Owens vs Styles
Usos vs New Day
Cena vs Rusev

Corbin vs Nakamura and Zayn vs Kannelis will probably make the card, and Naomi will probably defend her title as well.
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https://www.instagram.com/p/BWKpM52j0dD/
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I am looking forward to many matches at GBoF
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but Seth vs. Wyatt is not one of them
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*DELETEs topic*
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