Board 8 > All-Purpose Wrestling Topic 493: New Beginnings in Los Ingobernable Era

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FFDragon
01/30/20 6:40:10 PM
#452:


Vince didn't wish them his best in their future endeavors, this is a work.

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If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?
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Jakyl25
01/30/20 6:40:36 PM
#453:


5 years at least because of TV and Saudi money

If it wasnt for those things we would already be there
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FFDragon
01/30/20 6:43:09 PM
#454:


What would happen in a theoretical universe where like all the top talent refused to go to Saudi?

Can't fire them all can they? They're independent contractors, they should have some wiggle room there.

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Jakyl25
01/30/20 6:44:41 PM
#455:


If they couldnt put together a Saudi show, they probably just wouldnt get the money, but whenever you piss off the Saudi royals there are other risks involved
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Jakyl25
01/30/20 6:46:04 PM
#456:


But also there is no hypothetical universe where Brock Lesnar turns that money down
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FFDragon
01/30/20 6:47:16 PM
#457:


This is true.

Who all refuses to go? I think Bryan does, and Sami is lol banned.

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Eddv
01/30/20 6:48:21 PM
#458:


Also worth saying this is quite a bit different than the WCW situation.

They could have theoretically gone on a while longer if Turner (the company) had believed WCW would turn the corner and become profitable again.

With WWE if they start to legit hemmorhage money they only really have as far as Vinces liquid assets can carry them.

Which I will remind you are locked up in the XFL right now

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Jakyl25
01/30/20 6:50:36 PM
#459:


FFDragon posted...
This is true.

Who all refuses to go? I think Bryan does, and Sami is lol banned.


Bryan, Owens, and Cena refuse

Sami is banned

Aleister is held back by WWE because theyre not sure how all his satanic tattoos will be perceived
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Jakyl25
01/30/20 6:53:42 PM
#460:


It should also be noted that Mustafa Ali always donates that entire paycheck to a clean drinking water charity
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FFDragon
01/30/20 6:53:50 PM
#461:


Aw of course Owens would refuse if his bestie isn't going. Adorable.

Good on Cena though. I know he doesn't need the money at this point, but still the face of the company for like 20 years refusing is a great example.

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Jakyl25
01/30/20 6:57:24 PM
#462:


Cena also is trying to build a career in Hollywood which has a much different image of the Saudis than Vince does, so its up to you to determine how cynical you want to be about WHY he refuses
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Tom Bombadil
01/30/20 7:00:57 PM
#463:


Cena also apparently refuses to work in the US so shrug

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Eddv
01/30/20 7:02:54 PM
#464:


If he is done he at least did it the right way - went out trying to put over Finn.

Its not his fault WWE sucks

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Jakyl25
01/30/20 7:03:36 PM
#465:


Remember the original plan was for him to put over Lars at WM
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Tom Bombadil
01/30/20 7:03:59 PM
#466:


but what if he's the leader of the dark order???

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Steiner
01/31/20 2:08:04 AM
#467:


Tom Bombadil posted...
Cena also apparently refuses to work in the US so shrug


the only wrestler prepared to stand up to dictators, gotta love it
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Steiner
01/31/20 8:09:13 AM
#468:


take this with an entire shaker of salt: https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/ewljgs/rumors_regarding_the_two_recent_major_wwe/

Long story short, they want to sell the company. Its something theyve teased, but apparently theyre serious. Theyll still run aspects of it because theyre still passionate about wrestling, but they want out of being the centralized power group in wrestling.
The idea is that a larger company could afford to run WWE as a consistent profit-driving subsidiary in their portfolio, keep Triple H and Kevin Dunn on as consultants, and give Vince, Stephanie, Triple H, and Kevin Dunn more time to build their interests outside of wrestling.
They put feelers out maybe 1.5 years ago about selling (it sort of shocked the world when they said theyre open for business in regards to a sale) but folks are intimidated about running a wrestling company. Theres essentially tons of people who know how to successfully make movies or TV shows, but only a handful of people whove ever made a successful wrestling company. Thats why WWE brought back Prichard, Heyman, and Bischoff, to make future buyers feel more confident that there were plenty of wrestling minds in the company.
Barrios and Wilson have been asked to leave because a buyer is hot and a power struggle isnt in anyones best interest. Q4 earnings is going to be fine, not amazing, but fine. Their departure has nothing to do with Q4 and everything to do with selling the company.

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NBIceman
01/31/20 2:11:22 PM
#469:


We continue.

#45 - Ben-K vs Masato Yoshino - Dragon Gate - Gate of Destiny, November 4th
It's gonna be tough watching Yoshino retire this year, but the fact that he managed to claw three or four more years out of his career after what, by all accounts, should've been an immediately career-ending injury is a luxury we've gotta feel grateful for. And what an important few years it was. Dragon Gate, the most consistent company in Japan in terms of both quality and business since its inception, was in a bad way in 2017 into 2018. Some of their most reliable stars in CIMA and Shingo were leaving the promotion. The younger guys couldn't get over to the level they wanted or needed. Business wasn't at emergency levels yet, but for the first time in a long time, DG felt directionless and stale. They put the top title back on the older stalwarts like Masaaki Mochizuki and then Yoshino, which felt like a panic move. It ended up being brilliant.

These reigns, Yoshino's especially, bought the company time. They weren't making progress at the gates (no pun intended), but they weren't falling either. Then, they finally found a little good luck when the artist formerly known as PAC got out of his WWE contract and returned to the promotion that had made him, winning the belt and kickstarting one of the best title reigns of 2019. Then, at long last, one of the new stars got hot at the right time. Ben-K won the belt from PAC and the promotion had new life at last.

Which brings us to this match, a rematch from Gate of Destiny 2018 when Yoshino successfully defended the Dream Gate belt against then-heel Ben-K. Though it's "only" #45 on the list, this will probably go down as one of the most important matches of the year. This was Ben-K's coming out party, where he proved that he had the right stuff to put on an incredible match in-ring in addition to his overflowing charisma. Yoshino, one of my all-time favorites, was at his best here too with the high-speed precision offense that's served him so well over his many years. Callbacks to the match a year prior, memorable spots, and one of the absolute best finishing sequences of the year - this was everything a big-time title match should be.

#44 - Shingo Takagi vs SHO - NJPW - Best of the Super Juniors Night 1, May 13th
I remember when I first started watching New Japan and, having no idea what the Young Lion system entailed, was nonetheless always impressed by the in-ring acumen of a couple of unassuming, fresh-faced guys on the cards named Yohei Komatsu and Sho Tanaka.

I always preferred Komatsu, but ever since the two returned from their excursion as Roppongi 3K, SHO's been trying to make me look stupid.

This match here was the culmination of what I suppose could be called a mini-feud. Shingo and SHO were frequently paired off in the numerous tag title matches that involved them both, but nobody, SHO included, had been able to put Shingo down yet. The theme here, from the opening lockup on, was "aggression." SHO was out to prove that he was every bit on Shingo's level, and he tries everything to do it. Targeting the arm to take away Shingo's deadly lariats, throwing some big-time bombs himself, but Shingo, as he would for the entirety of the tournament, just keeps coming.

But what this match also was was a signal that SHO is in store for big things down the road. He had new gear, new music, and a star aura. He's a surefire future Jr. Heavyweight champion, and when that comes to pass, this is one of the matches people will talk about as the heralding of a new junior ace.

#43 - Tetsuya Naito vs Kota Ibushi - NJPW - NJPW/ROH G1 Supercard, April 6th
These two had a series of matches in 2019 and, appropriately, based on who they are as wrestlers, they all had a very palpable feeling of danger. You couldn't check your phone or look up the score of some sports game that was on at the same time - if you looked away for half a second, you were risking missing an outrageous spot or two. Or, in the worst case scenario, you could be distracted from the last match one of them would ever wrestle. Ibushi, to a certain extent, always has that sort of feeling in his matches, but it seems to be amplified when it's Naito standing across from him where they try to upstage each other's neck bumps and pull off increasingly insane spots that no one's ever seen before.

I don't feel like I have to sell this one too hard. It's two of the best in the world at doing crazy stuff in the ring - you know what you're getting.

#42 - Dragon Lee vs SHO - NJPW - Best of the Super Juniors Night 3, May 15th
A lot of what I said about SHO in the writeup of Shingo's match could just apply here as well, but there was also sort of a role reversal in this one where it was SHO throwing the vicious strikes and Lee trying desperately not to get overwhelmed by them.

Dragon Lee is someone who I feel works to the level of his opponent. He had some dreadfully boring matches in this tournament with lower-tier guys, but his output against the top workers is never less than great, and that held true here as well. This was violent and exciting, and it never felt slow despite being fairly long. The elevation of SHO was off to a hell of a start on those first couple nights.

#41 - Masaaki Mochizuki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - NOAH - N-1 Victory Night 1, 8/18
Masaaki Mochizuki is fifty (that's five-zero) years old and still legitimately one of the ten or fifteen best wrestlers in the world. Nakajima is 31 years old and thus, having 16 years of experience, has officially been wrestling for more than half his life.

NOAH feels like it's been in a constant state of upheaval and rebranding for about five years now, but one thing that's remained pretty consistent is that their matches, particularly in the heavyweight division, are always gritty, full of stiff strikes and disrespect and well-placed no-selling. Mochi fits into that style like a glove, especially when he's matched up with a similarly athletic striker like Nakajima, who by this point has pretty much perfected the grimy, dickish, Naito-esque heel character he's been playing recently. If you're familiar with either or both of these guys, you probably have a pretty solid idea of what this match looks like, and it doesn't disappoint. Also has a pretty cool finish that I won't spoil in case anyone's interested enough to watch it.

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NBIceman
01/31/20 2:12:42 PM
#470:


Alright, there's two days down. Have some plans for tomorrow, so I'm gonna try to do the writeups for 40-36 ahead of time so I can just copy and paste when I get a few free moments tomorrow afternoon sometime.

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scarletspeed7
01/31/20 2:34:20 PM
#471:


3/5 for me, and I would likely rank Shingo/SHO higher, personally, but I'll have to check out the NOAH for sure.

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ZeroSignal620
01/31/20 6:38:47 PM
#472:


While I'm not changing anything and keeping Bayley "The Man", I'll also be paying attention to the other three superstars who never lost The Man title, only to see if out of curiosity, any of them run into each other in a one on one match. Considering who those three are, it could happen. They are...

Edge (retired as The Man in 2011, reactive in 2020)

Batista (left WWE as The Man in 2014, returned in 2019), lost to Triple H, who then lost to Orton, who then lost to Kofi, who then lost in 8 seconds to Brock Lesnar

Roman Reigns (went on hiatus as The Man in 2018 due to leukemia, returned in 2019), lost to Shane McMahon, who then lost at SummerSlam to Kevin Owens, who then lost on SmackDown to Samoa Joe

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Fastbreak
01/31/20 7:18:34 PM
#473:




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*Fastbreak Intensifies*
*ScareChan Intensifies*
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Steiner
01/31/20 8:47:23 PM
#474:


Wrestler of the Week, Week 4 - Jan 24-30
5. Bianca Belair
I really enjoyed the woman's Rumble this year, and I think Belair was a big part of why. She looked like a real star in this match, and she's someone I've never been that high on before. Shayna was impressive too but I think Belair's stock rose the most from that match.

4. Nick Aldis
In two segments on Powerrr this week, Aldis solidified himself as one of the best talkers in modern wrestling. Plenty has been said about how refreshing he is in the champion in studio role, but the sit down backstage interview with Marty is as much of a money promo as you'll ever see.

3. Daisuke Harada
One of this week's biggest stories was NOAH being bought by CyberAgent and one direct consequence of that was NOAH's Global Junior League Finals popping up for free on DDT Universe. Harada would win the League on this show that should have more than the usual amount of eyes on it, but more importantly he did it in two great matches where his performance really stood out, with his selling especially fantastic in the final with Dick Togo, but it's the Semi-Final with Hajime Ohara that you should seek out if you only have time for one

2. Brock Lesnar
For the first half hour of the Men's Royal Rumble, Brock did everything that Brock always does well. Looked like a beast, was wildly entertaining, and then when the time came to sell, he sold as well as anybody in wrestling. Brock had a performance this week that will go down as one of the all time single performances, and then it was used perfectly to get over our obvious winner this week.

1. Drew McIntyre
People who don't pay attention to WWE were saying this Rumble win came from nowhere - and I don't completely disagree, but keen readers of this feature will remember me featuring Drew just a few weeks ago, as someone who was clearly coming across as one of the bigger deals on Raw, and the fans had started taking to without a face turn necessarily being executed yet. That all manifested on Sunday when Drew not only won the Royal Rumble, but eliminated Brock Lesnar on the way there to make a direct path to a Wrestlemania main event. Drew is the recipient of a mega badass push the likes we've not seen in WWE since Roman's initial push, and if he can connect with the WWE audience the way he did on the indies and in Impact a few years ago, he could potentially make much better use of that push and be a top babyface WWE fans may accept, for a while at least.


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scarletspeed7
01/31/20 8:49:37 PM
#475:


I think I would replace Bianca with Daniel Bryan for somehow getting more attention in a loss to the Fiend than the Fiend got in a win.

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_PandaMaster_
01/31/20 9:49:13 PM
#476:


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ZeroSignal620
01/31/20 9:58:40 PM
#477:


A new first-time IC champ emerges for 2020 to keep the streak going!

2020 - Braun Strowman
2019 - Lashley, Balor, Nakamura
2018 - Rollins
2017 - Reigns
2016 - Ryder
2015 - Bryan, Ryback, Owens, Ambrose
2014 - Harper
2013 - Axel, Big E
2012 - Big Show, Miz
2011 - Barrett, Ezekiel, Cody
2010 - Ziggler
2009 - Punk, JBL, Mysterio, McIntyre
2008 - Kofi
2007 - Umaga, Santino
2006 - Morrison
2005 - Carlito, Flair
2004 - Shelton
2003 - Booker T, Orton
2002 - Regal, RVD
2001 - Jeff Hardy, Kane, Albert, Lance Storm, Christian, Test
2000 - Angle, Benoit, Rikishi, Eddie, Billy Gunn
1999 - Val Venis, Road Dogg, Godfather, Edge, D'Lo, Chyna, Jericho
1998 - Shamrock
1997 - Rock, Owen, Austin
1996 - Goldust, Ahmed, Mero, HHH
1995 - Jarrett, Douglas
1994 - Diesel
1993 - Jannetty, Razor
1992 - Mountie, Piper, Bulldog, HBK
1991 - Bret
1990 - Perfect, Texas Tornado
1989 - Rude
1988 - Warrior
1987 - Steamboat, Honky Tonk
1986 - Savage
No first-time champs in 1985. The streak is now at 35 years and counting

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Tom Bombadil
01/31/20 10:34:42 PM
#478:


Steiner posted...
take this with an entire shaker of salt:

no I already have five months of fantasy booking from the time Cody shows up on NXT

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PrivateBiscuit1
02/01/20 1:03:21 AM
#479:


http://i.imgur.com/guo1dFp.gifv

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NBIceman
02/01/20 10:52:51 AM
#480:


Got some obscure stuff showing up today.

#40 - Tomohiro Ishii vs Jay White - NJPW - G1 Climax Night 4, July 15th
This was simply two very smart wrestlers working a very smart match. They get the obligatory Gedo stuff out of the way early, which makes it a lot less annoying (especially because Ishii is just having none of it), and from there we essentially get a role reversal. White, both in kayfabe and out, tends to make his competitors wrestle his style of match. Ishii turns that around on him and baits him into a slugfest, up to and including a rarely seen prolonged Jay White forearm exchange.

Ishii, for the most part, is what makes this match great. He does everything that he normally does in his important matches to get the crowd very much on his side, not that they need much of a push when Jay White's the other guy. It's easy to forget that this is personal for him - it's the first time he's gotten his hands on White since he and Gedo turned on CHAOS, and all his strikes seem to have a little extra venom behind them. White's great in his role too, though. In multiple instances he'll pull off a move and grin at the crowd, extremely proud of himself, only to turn right around into an Ishii elbow. We also get a fantastic finishing sequence; Jay doesn't get to show it off very often because of the nature of his character, but he's great at those. Just a very enjoyable match all the way through that played to the strengths of two excellent wrestlers.

#39 - Arisa Nakajima vs Nanae Takahashi - SEAdLINNNG - Dynamic Show Case! ~ Kawasaki Monogatari, November 2nd
I get the impression that people who aren't super familiar with Joshi might think that all women's wrestling companies in Japan work the same (or at least a similar) style, and that said style is more or less using the blueprint from the big Joshi companies in the 90s like AJW, with a lot of ultra-stiff strikes, submissions that look like they're meant to rip off limbs, and screaming like banshees.

That's not what most Joshi is nowadays, but it's absolutely what SEAdLINNNG is.

This match in particular is beautifully brutal from the word "go." There's a lot of history in this matchup and I won't pretend to be an expert on all of it - despite watching more Joshi than the majority of the people on the planet, relatively speaking, my knowledge has its limits - but you can infer a lot of it by how hard these two hit each other. And, in addition to being for Nakajima's Beyond the Sea Championship, it's a Hair vs Hair match, so there's extra layers there as well.

I don't have much more to say about the match itself, but I do about one of the competitors. You know how there's that one movie or song or food that you don't watch or listen to or eat very often, but on the rare occasion you do, you're like, "Wow, I forgot how great this is, it's one of my favorites! I need to seek it out more often." That's Arisa Nakajima as a wrestler. She doesn't get a lot of buzz or visibility, (in no small part because Joshi is a niche of a niche of a niche, but also because there just always seems to be a younger and hotter act on the upswing somewhere), but she's one of the best wrestlers in the world, man or woman, and has been for a very long time. Not only can she bring violence with the best of them, I've seen her in technical sequences that would make Zack Sabre Jr.'s head spin. If you're ever in the mood to watch some wrestling but there's nothing current striking your interest, go to Cagematch, peruse her top rated matches, and look them up; they're easy to find. I doubt they'll disappoint.

#38 - Will Ospreay vs Rocky Romero - NJPW - Best of the Super Juniors Night 4, May 16th
One of the things that makes Ospreay so enjoyable to watch is that he always gives his all in making his opponents look good, even when he really doesn't have to. This guy beat Ibushi at WK13 for the NEVER title and is on the very cusp of moving up to heavyweight, whereas Rocky is in the twilight of his career as a wrestler, spending more time behind the commentary desk or as R3K's manager than in the ring these days. For that reason, incidentally, the fact he was included in this tournament to begin with was a head scratcher for some folks.

Not me. Rocky rules. I knew we would get a match or two like this out of him. He showed the younger CHAOS member that he still had a lot to learn, and the crowds that he himself had a little left in the tank if he needed it. Realistically, he was never winning this match, but he had me biting on near falls by the end anyway, and Ospreay was scrambling like mad to stay out of his armbar. This was the classic pro wrestling story of the wise veteran using everything he'd picked up in his long career to stand toe to toe with who, besides being quicker and harder-hitting, was one of the tournament favorites. And it was executed wonderfully.

#37 - Kento Miyahara vs Shuji Ishikawa - AJPW - Super Power Series Night 2, May 20th
These two had a banger in the Champion Carnival, and then they went out a month later and just did it again.

There's a very interesting dynamic in this match. Ishikawa (another very underappreciated wrestler in terms of consistent greatness), often plays the bully who beats the hell out of the smaller babyface in a match, even when he's not exactly a heel himself. Miyahara, though, presents himself as such an utter asshole early in the match, continuing with the sort of tendencies he's been building over the last couple years, and it puts the audience firmly on Ishikawa's side. They love watching him ragdoll Kento around the ring.

And then, because Kento's so good, he starts throwing in the big fighting spirit spots that have defined him as a worker, and the crowd slowly starts to cheer for him again. It's a fairly typical AJPW finishing sequence from there, but it's a formula that works for Miyahara and it never quite gets to the point of feeling like overkill. Plus, there are few things more dramatic in modern wrestling than him struggling to lock the arms and then lift his opponent for the Straitjacket German, especially when it's a giant like Shuji. There's a reason he's the ace of that company, and it's on full display in this match.

#36 - T-Hawk vs Jiro Kuroshio - Wrestle-1 - Wrestle Wars, March 21st
Miracle worker and uncrowned Hall of Famer CIMA does it again. Dragon Gate spent multiple years trying to get T-Hawk over as the next big star of the company, and it never worked. Then CIMA takes him along in his split from the company and he instantly becomes awesome, up to including this excellent title reign. I just don't know how he does it.

This is set up from the entrances as a match of contrasts. Jiro is one of the most showy wrestlers in Japan, well-known for having an
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scarletspeed7
02/01/20 10:55:42 AM
#481:


Definitely agree with Ospreay/Romero, but I actually didn't enjoy the White/Ishii match, and that's coming from ME. I will go out of my way to find the Kento match since I watched their Champion Carnival match and greatly enjoyed that one; T-Hawk is pretty cool also, so sticking that onto my list as well.

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NBIceman
02/01/20 11:04:09 AM
#482:


I've seen a pretty broad range of opinions on Ishii/White. I think if you're like me and really enjoy White's act once you strip away the bullshit interference and so forth, the match really connected, and if you don't, it really didn't.

I'd say it was another instance of me just somehow being the high man in the world on some individual match like with the Kitamiya/Sugiura match from last month, but looking around at Cagematch and GRAPPL I see several other 4 1/2 ratings so I'm at least not completely out to lunch on this one!

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scarletspeed7
02/01/20 11:10:19 AM
#483:


I definitely fall into the category of being put off by significant amounts of interference, so that makes sense.

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NBIceman
02/01/20 12:35:14 PM
#484:


Oh, me too, that's why I was glad they kept it to a minimum and did it early in that one. I just know there's plenty of people that don't like White even in that sort of scenario, and I think you've said in the past you're among them.

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Jakyl25
02/01/20 12:37:26 PM
#485:


Interference to me is just part of the psychology of the match

It can either enhance or detract based on how much sense it makes and how it affects crowd reaction, just like any other spot
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Steiner
02/01/20 1:21:28 PM
#486:


Jakyl25 posted...
It can either enhance or detract based on how much sense it makes and how it affects crowd reaction, just like any other spot

an example I point to would be gargano vs. almas, where the interference spots really made that match

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ZeroSignal620
02/01/20 9:02:42 PM
#487:


It took a moment, but I tiered the 2010s WWE champions from most prominent to least prominent...

AJ Styles
A tough choice for the top spot, but Styles had two damn good runs with the belt. First a 5 month run in 2016-17 that gave us good matches with Ambrose and Cena. Second, a year-long run that had Styles defending regularly against the likes of Jinder, Owens, Zayn, Ziggler, Corbin, Cena, Nakamura, Rusev, Joe, and Bryan. Also became longest reigning champion in SmackDown history, passing JBL's record.

John Cena
Eight reigns in the 10s, but half of them were under a month (one was less than 5 minutes). Most notable reigns were his long runs in 2011 and 2013.

CM Punk
Two reigns, including the longest run since Hogan in the 80s. His first reign was severely watered down thanks to Kevin Nash and Del Rio, while his over-a-year run with the belt was still playing second fiddle to Cena, despite having good matches with Jericho and Bryan.

Brock Lesnar
Two reigns, ended the decade as champ. First reign was clearly the more memorable, even if he only defended the belt three times in said reign. Second reign was Kofi in 8 seconds, squashing Cain, and shenanigans with Rey.

Randy Orton
4 reigns, including his five month run in late 2013. Notable for winning the first six pack challenge in 11 years, retiring the World Heavyweight Championship, and successful defenses against Cena.

Bryan
4 reigns, though only two of them memorable; his huge win at WrestleMania XXX, and his run as The New Daniel Bryan in 2018-19. His first two reigns lasted a combined day.

Rollins
The most memorable things here are his cash-in and the ladder match with Ambrose. Otherwise, we watched Rollins win nearly every title match the same way, the inadvertent end of Sting's career, a title match with Kane in 2015, and escaping Lesnar because Undertaker decided 16 months later to exact revenge. Sweet, nut-kicking revenge. Also held the title a second time for 2 minutes.

Kofi
After beating Bryan, WWE did everything they could to make sure Kofi played second fiddle to nearly everything else. His ppv matches with Owens, Ziggler, Joe, and Orton weren't the most memorable, but they were there. As was a few title defenses on TV against Bryan, Styles, and Sami. Will mostly be remembered for his 8 second match with Lesnar.

Reigns
1st run was 5 minutes. Second run was a Sheamus defense and the Royal Rumble. Third run was at least something with back-to-back defenses against Styles.

Sheamus
Entered the decade as champ and added two more reigns to it. On the downside, he only had a handful of successful defenses against Cena, Reigns, and Zack Ryder. One of those is not like the others.

Ambrose
Cashed in on Rollins. After his triple threat with the other Shield members, Ambrose's lone title reign was unmemorable.

Miz
Cashed in on Orton, had a joke of a reign afterwards. Never beat Orton without Riley's assistance, went 50/50 with Lawler (twice), and was overshadowed in his own main event at WrestleMania.

Del Rio
Cashed in on Punk, immediately drops to Cena, then wins it back in the Cell. Gets one successful defense against Cena before dropping clean to Punk. All in less than 3 months; quite forgettable.

Wyatt
In 7 weeks, Wyatt had a solid defense against Styles and Cena, and then was reduced to his angle with Orton, which at this point had worked its way to being hilariously bad.

Mahal
An undeserving reign that lasted nearly 6 months and consisted of multiple matches with Orton and Nakamura, none of which were watchable. At the very least I put him above the bottom three for competing, but none of his wins were credible.

Rock
A reign that lasted barely 2 months with one defense against Punk, before dropping it to Cena in the most predictable WrestleMania main event in years.

Batista
Was awarded an easy match by Vince, never defended the title until he lost it back to Cena at WrestleMania XXVI

Rey Mysterio
A reign that didn't even last two hours before dropping the belt to Cena in 2011.

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scarletspeed7
02/01/20 9:11:22 PM
#488:


I have to think about this ranking.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful
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Strife2
02/01/20 9:21:45 PM
#489:


AJ #1 is good enough for me. Still kind of insane how successful how his WWE run has been. It doesn't feel that long.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass
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ZeroSignal620
02/01/20 9:28:07 PM
#490:


The only one I thought about was Jinder's placement. But nearly EVERY match of his was the same; got his ass kicked by opponent, Singhs interfered, Jinder wins with Khallas. The only match he won clean in his run as champion was against Tye Dillinger (which wasn't even a title defense). And he was not over in any way, shape, or fashion.

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Strife2
02/01/20 9:33:13 PM
#491:


The thing is I give WWE credit for trying something...out of the box.

The problem is the execution was just BAD. I think for all the bitching people like Corbin gets, they built him up for like 3-4 years. If he ever wins the title, it won't be some crazy unbelievable shock. Jinder was...just all kinds of wrong. He just plummted from World Champion to 24/7 jobber in like a year. Like holy fuck.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass
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ZeroSignal620
02/01/20 9:43:36 PM
#492:


For a moment, I seriously thought a near 6-month run as world champ would have given Jinder some decent time with the US title when he won it at WM33 (though I seriously felt Rusev should have won that particular 4-way).

Nope. He brings the belt back to Raw a week later, only to lose it minutes later to Jeff Hardy, who then takes it back to SmackDown 24 hours later.

And then as you just said, reduced to 24/7 hijinks. Hell, the Singhs have held that title more than him now.

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Strife2
02/01/20 9:50:04 PM
#493:


I think the worst part is Jinder did improve, but only AFTER he lost the damn thing. He has some charisma if you let him show it, but they stuffed him with the stupidest gimmicks: foreign main event heel and foreign goofball heel. He had some weird hijinx with Owens for a little while.

Sure, in ring he's pretty crap, but that hasn't stopped them from using Mojo Rawley or Rowan fifty million times.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass
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ZeroSignal620
02/01/20 9:53:06 PM
#494:


Apparently right now he's been out with an injured knee since June that could keep him out anywhere between 6 to 12 months, which explains his long absence from television.

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scarletspeed7
02/01/20 11:19:50 PM
#495:


Catch the third episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm this season to see Dario Cueto!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful
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ffmasterjose
02/02/20 9:15:45 AM
#496:


The dog food got more screen time on Smackdown than most of the roster
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ffmasterjose
02/04/20 8:32:49 AM
#497:


How long has Riddick Moss been on the main roster? Raw was the first time I've seen him. And how did he get out of NXT.
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Strife2
02/04/20 8:33:24 AM
#498:


2 weeks.

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"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass
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RPGlord95
02/04/20 9:57:47 AM
#499:


Goldberg

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Whiskey Nick on his cell phone
"Every man's heart one day beats its final beat." -Warrior
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RPGlord95
02/04/20 9:58:03 AM
#500:


Vs. Tatanka

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Whiskey Nick on his cell phone
"Every man's heart one day beats its final beat." -Warrior
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