Board 8 > All-Purpose Wrestling Topic 494: But The Stock Is Up!

(+) Yeah! (+)

I will never not hope for Goldberg squashing someone and I can think of no better way to end The Fiend than to have him get beaten like he's a poor man's Mortis.

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https://twitter.com/catherinekelley/status/1228348984923574272?s=20

Cathy Kelley out

Big loss IMO. She rose above most of the other interviewers/hosts
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WarThaNemesis2 posted...

I will never not hope for Goldberg squashing someone and I can think of no better way to end The Fiend than to have him get beaten like he's a poor man's Mortis.

He's not even a poor man's mortis.

Wrath maybe.

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Top rated matches in this weeks Observer

****3/4
Hiromu Takahashi vs Ryu Lee

****1/2
Jon Moxley vs Minoru Suzuki

****1/4
Nyla Rose vs Riho

****
Tetsuya Naito vs KENTA
Becky Lynch vs Asuka
MJF vs Jungle Boy
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I'm really surprised Hangman/Omega vs SCU isnt on there

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Last month I posted my rankings for the WWE Champions of the 2010s. Here are mine for the WHC in the same decade (yay only 4 years of champs!)

Sheamus - Longest WHC reign of the decade with successful defenses against Bryan, Ziggler, Del Rio, Orton, and Jericho. His 6 month reign ended via Big Show knockout punch.

Daniel Bryan - His sole WHC reign was a cash in on Big Show and lasted 3.5 months, but it's what he did during the reign that stands out. YES became a thing, and he had successful defenses against Big Show, Henry, and one in the Elimination Chamber. Reign ended in 18 seconds at Wrestlemania.

Edge - Two reigns as WHC in the 10s, with successful defenses against Kane, Ziggler, and Del Rio, along with winning an Elimination Chamber defense after starting from the beginning. Retired as unbeaten champion.

Kane - Ran with the title for an impressive 5 months with title defenses against Mysterio, Taker, and Edge. Even if the matches with Taker were mostly bad and a decade too late.

Alberto Del Rio - Two reigns as WHC. First was the forgettable attempt to push Del Rio as a face with defenses against Big Show and Jack Swagger. Regains title against Dolph Ziggler in a double-turn and gets a better run with defenses against Ziggler, Christian, and RVD before ultimately dropping it to Cena.

Randy Orton - 3 time WHC in the 10s; his first two were back and forth with Christian in 2012 but ultimately dropped to Mark Henry. Orton's third was the final WHC reign ever as he retired the belt at TLC 2013 against Cena.

Mark Henry - Finally got a world title run in 2011 and ran with it, getting wins over Orton and Bryan. However, he also feuded with Big Show where he went 0-2-1, including the title loss to him.

Big Show - 2 reigns, albeit the first reign ended in minutes thanks to a Mark Henry chair shot and Bryan cashing in. Got a semi decent run for 3 months in 2012, albeit with forgettable matches with Sheamus and Del Rio.

Chris Jericho - Won in the Elimination Chamber, successfully defended against Edge at Wrestlemania. Only a 1.5 month reign before Swagger cashed in.

Undertaker - Entered the decade as champion in the midst of what would eventually be a nearly 5 month (and final) reign. The 2010s gave him a title defense against Rey Mysterio before dropping it in an Elimination Chamber via Sweet Chin Music.

Jack Swagger - A forgettable 2.5 month reign, despite successful defenses against Orton, Jericho, and Edge. Also made to look like Big Show and Mysterio's whipping post.

John Cena - Only one reign in the 2010s that lasted 2 months and only consisted of reigns against Del Rio and Sandow (yep, THAT Sandow match). Loses title in final WHC match ever to Orton.

Christian - Two reigns, though WWE did all they could to make them forgettable. First run was only two days long before he dropped it to Orton. Wins the second one by DQ, only to drop it to Orton again a month later.

Dolph Ziggler - First of two reigns was awarded to Dolph by Vickie Guerrero, but a match immediately appointed by Teddy Long would end Dolph's reign in minutes. The second was a cash in, followed by a concussion that kept Dolph out of action until dropping said title back to Del Rio.

Rey Mysterio - Barely held the title for a month before being the victim of a Kane cash in; only defense was against Swagger.

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Val Venis going full transphobic.

https://twitter.com/ValVenisEnt/status/1228405555816828928?s=19

Spoilers: He doubles then triples down.

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I counter that with Goldust

https://twitter.com/dustinrhodes/status/1228409876445093888?s=20

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TheRock1525 posted...

Val Venis going full transphobic.

https://twitter.com/ValVenisEnt/status/1228405555816828928?s=19

Spoilers: He doubles then triples down.

This all started with him replaying to a Kayfabe News article about how morons are spouting off about Nyla Rose being a trans woman winning a womens title

He didnt seem to realize the irony
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https://twitter.com/nylarosebeast/status/1228738456811180036?s=21
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Hello "Ladies."

*sticks kick me sign on Val's back*

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sorry this is so late it took me ages to watch everything this week
Wrestler of the Week, Week 6 - Feb 7 - 13

5. Jeff Cobb
Cobb raised his profile in a big way this week, debuting on AEW as Chris Jericho's hired gun and being immediately booked in a match with one of the hottest guys in the business for next week - alongside scoring a win in Ring of Honor over Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham

4. Hiromu Takahashi
Hiromu is seemingly out of the gates in 2020 trying to prove he's every bit Will Ospreay's equal as the centerpiece of the Junior Heavyweight division, with two straight bangers in title matches - this time with his perennial rival Ryu Lee. He then went on to make official what many had penciled in their calendar after Wrestle Kingdom - a first time ever singles match with faction leader and IWGP Champion, Tetsuya Naito at the Anniversary show on 3/3

3. Nyla Rose
Nyla not only won the AEW Women's Championship from Riho on Dynamite this week, she did so in a great match that might be the best women's match in AEW to date, and coming just as Britt Baker is starting to click combines to give a feeling of a revitalized women's division. Nyla has continued to deliver in major matches and I'm interested in the division with her as champ.

2. Yuma Aoyagi
This week All Japan finalized another part of their evolving main event scene as they continue to use Kento Miyahara and his incredible title reign to elevate all those around him, this time landing on former tag partner Aoyagi. While 2019 was the story of Jake Lee and Naoya Nomura both stepping up to be on that same level as Kento, 2020 started with Aoyagi doing the same. This match wasn't quite the MOTYC of Kento's matches with Lee and Nomura, but this wasn't the time for those matches - this was Aoyagi's coming out party and with this match as the first building block, I can't wait to see what Aoyagi delivers down the line

1. Jon Moxley
Jon Moxley was everywhere this week - he started the week with an incredible brawl with Minoru Suzuki for the IWGP US Championship, where he would retain (against all odds) and then set up a match that should be promo of the year material - Moxley vs. Sabre. (Check out the post match comments where Moxley refers to Sabre as a human udon noodle and Sabre calls him Jonathan, great stuff) He would then fly over to the states to wrestle a shockingly great main event with Santana, before setting up a hot match with Jeff Cobb next week. He'd cap the week off with being announced for OTT's Scrappermania in March, coming to Europe for the first time since leaving WWE and setting up ANOTHER hot match with David Starr. What an all star list of upcoming opponents for Moxley - and obviously, his AEW Championship match with Chris Jericho is just two weeks away.

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Jakyl25 posted...

https://twitter.com/nylarosebeast/status/1228738456811180036?s=21

stop making me like Nyla and dislike Val

also I will second Goldberg v. Fiend writein. Even if we're already getting it I probably won't see that one so it'll be new to me at Mania at least!

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That was a simple but A+ response by Nyla

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https://twitter.com/scsirens/status/1229533188298506241?s=21
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God the women's roster is weak as fuck if you need the Riott Squad to fill it out. Even in storyline...oof.

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I think the bigger problem is how glaringly obvious it is it's going to be Baszler who wins

The only other one you could remotely humor would be Asuka. At that point you might as well just do a singles match.

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https://twitter.com/wonf4w/status/1229837335619129344?s=21
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Wow what a dis

Disco Inferno is way more relevant these days than Val Venis

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Alllllrighty, it's been a minute because I've been busy and low on energy, but I'm gonna round out my top 50 over the next few days, for real.

#15 - Shingo Takagi vs Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW - G1 Climax Night 16, August 8th
Back when it was pretty much a pipe dream, this was probably the number one matchup I and a lot of other people dreamed about happening if Shingo ever jumped to New Japan. And lo and behold, it actually happened.

The "official" signal that he was going to be a legitimate force in the heavyweight division booking-wise came a few days later when he nearly decapitated and then pinned Hirooki Goto, but this was the sort of match that proved to anyone who may have had doubts that Shingo was capable of having the New Japan heavyweight-style hoss fight. And Ishii was his regular self here, playing the part only he's capable of where he's somehow the underdog and unkillable bully all at once. Fighting spirit, near falls, one-count kickouts, a hot crowd, and a healthy dose of LARIATOOOOOS - this is everything that's awesome about modern-era New Japan put on by two of the ten best wrestlers on the planet.

#14 - Rocky Romero vs El Phantasmo - NJPW - Best of the Super Juniors Night 9, May 24th
Rocky does it again. Another BOSJ match, another classic pro wrestling story. The Ospreay match told an innocent one - there was no malice, no disrespect, just a simple question of veteran vs young gun.

But you throw in the smarmy, dickhead ELP energy and add in just a dash of Rocky being in a must-win situation to keep himself alive in the tournament, then top it off with one of the best wrestling crowds of the year? There's a recipe for something really special. It played off expectations perfectly. The live audience gave Rocky no chance initially against the undefeated Phantasmo, but they slowly started to believe in him as the match wore on. And then ELP eventually realized he was in trouble as he just couldn't put the guy away and he began resorting to the chicanery that had brought him so many victories already and that everyone was already tired of, and it was almost deflating - seeing Rocky get screwed would just hurt. It built to a perfect crescendo of false finishes without resorting to finisher kickouts, and the subsequent ending is absolutely impeccable.

This match may be "all the way down" at 14, but in terms of something memorable? There's not much from 2019 that will eclipse it there.

#13 - PAC vs Kzy - Dragon Gate - Truth Gate Day 5, February 10th
I've talked pretty extensively about PAC's year, so let's make this Kzy Time for a second.

One of my all-time favorite DG matches is the 2016 Unit Disbands match between VerserK, Monster Express, and Dia.Hearts. There's a lot of reasons why, but one of the big ones is the spotlight Kzy got. I wouldn't call myself a big fan of his or anything, but there's few wrestlers in the world who excel at showing pure heart like he does. His desperate attempts as the last man standing against the unbeatable asshole team of YAMATO and Naruki Doi in what was ultimately a futile attempt to save his team had me out of my seat the first time I watched even as someone who had no real attachment to the unit. It finally made me buy him as a potential top guy instead of the great midcard worker I always thought he was.

And then this title match catapulted him past whatever glass ceiling may have remained for him. PAC worked this match with a surgical viciousness that a lot of people, myself included, thought was forever lost to him. And Kzy sold like death for it. This is the defense that legitimized PAC as someone that wasn't just around for a quick stop and easy dollar before moving on to bigger and better things, and while that wasn't completely due to the guy standing across from him, it just wouldn't have worked without Kzy's never-say-die underdog spirit. I don't know if he'll ever win the Dream Gate, but he set a precedent here - if you want to keep it from him, you're gonna have to survive an absolute onslaught of elbows to the head, and you're gonna have to do something drastic, like maybe a Tombstone Piledriver off the second rope.

Nobody does emotion quite like DG, but even without that sort of investment, you could enjoy this match. It's just great stuff.

#12 - Will Ospreay vs Robbie Eagles - NJPW - Best of the Super Juniors Night 10, May 26th
A match defined by choices. For instance, Robbie had the choice to not take the easy way out in joining the Bullet Club when he first came to New Japan. But he did, and after a couple of years, some consequences crept up. But this match had more immediate choices.

The rematch in Southern Showdown that concluded the story between these two doesn't hit the highs it does without this match setting it up. The cracks in Eagles's facade start to show here - he starts as a heel, refusing to shake Ospreay's hand, but he doesn't do anything underhanded. Sure, he works over Will's hurt leg, but that's just smart.

Then ELP comes out, and we get a rare occasion where interference makes a match more interesting. Eagles may not be on speaking terms with Ospreay right now, but he doesn't want to resort to BC shenanigans to beat him. He wants to prove he didn't need Ospreay's recommendation to get into NJPW, which means he needs to win on his own.

And yet, amidst all the distractions and the hurt limb, Ospreay still gets his chance to win. But when confronted with the choice of hitting that dangerous Hidden Blade on someone he respects and still considers a friend, he can't do it. Shortly thereafter, when ELP seizes a chance and slams Ospreay's knee with a chair, Robbie has another choice. Does he take advantage of it or not? Is he satisfied with the decision afterwards? The answers to those questions have already had big repercussions that promise to only get bigger over the next year. It was a very compelling story as it was happening, and when combined with a very well-worked match with typical Ospreay/Eagles smoothness and high spots, it made something awesome.

#11 - Jordan Devlin vs David Starr - PROGRESS - Super Strong Style 16 Night 3, May 6th
The one disappointment about this match is that it didn't happen during PROGRESS's golden years. 2/3rds of the best indie wrestling feud since Steen/Generico meet in the finals of what was for a short period the most prestigious tournament in British wrestling, and it was everything you'd expect from that sort of matchup. These two blend strikes and technical work as well as anybody around right now, and they just work so well together - everything has that extra personal edge to it and it always makes for a great atmosphere.

Plus, I'm a sucker for callbacks, and this match had the best one of the year. D

https://twitter.com/cultaholic/status/1230173032343363585?s=21

Poor Dante
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...wow.

Kevin Dunn or Vince? It sounds like a Vince thing, but Cornette has said Dunn is very...VERY stupid when it comes to things like this. I forget offhand, but it sounds like Dunn has the memory of a goldfish.

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he's in the right line of work then

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I feel like Sheamus had a super memorable theme. That's dumb.

Next they will tell Drew that nobody remembers his old theme.

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I saw all 5 of those matches Iceman listed and all are great - that Starr-Devlin match and the Rocky-El P match are both probably in my top 10 (if i did one)

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Its funny too because theyve built an entire music streaming services franchise around albums full of obscure Jim Johnston themes

Uncaged Volume 11 is available now!
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https://twitter.com/wwesheamus/status/1230230725884071936?s=21
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Theres at least 3 limes

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Plethora of citrus

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Hey, that's where the second worst Skittles come from!

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Updated Saudimania V card

Lesnar vs Ricochet for WWE title
Fiend vs Goldberg for Universal title
New Day vs Miz and Morrison for SD Tag titles
Rollins/Murphy vs Street Profits for Raw Tag titles
Reigns vs Corbin in a cage match
Bayley vs Naomi/Carmella winner for SD Women's title
Styles vs Andrade vs Rowan vs Lashley vs R Truth vs Rusev in a Gauntlet match for the Tuwaiq Trophy

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Gonna finish out the 4.75 star matches today, so we've got 6 instead of 5.

#10 - Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay - NJPW - Wrestle Kingdom 13, January 4th
It only seems like Ospreay's insane until he gets into the ring with Kota Ibushi. These two guys really are the two best possible ambassadors for what the NEVER title was originally intended to be: a belt that crossed weight classes and incorporated the best aspects of the fast-paced and high-flying junior style and of the hard-hitting and violent heavyweight style. These two guys can do both.

They worked this match like they were offended to be in the opener. They started hot and never really slowed down afterward, but it also felt like everything had plenty of time to breathe. Even thirteen months later, without rewatching it once, I remember multiple spots from this match - Ospreay countering the Golden Triangle Moonsault by just kicking Kota out of the air, the slap fight with Ibushi in the tree of woe, and one of the most brutal Hidden Blades that Will's ever delivered.

It feels like ages ago after the year he had, but this was the first real hint that Ospreay was headed for big things, and damn did he rise to the occasion.

#9 - Kazuchika Okada vs Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW - New Japan Cup Semifinals, March 23rd
It may not be quite at the level of their G1 match from a few years ago, but then, not many matches are. It did follow a similar pattern, though, with Okada being a little overconfident with his stablemate and Ishii making him pay hard for it. I've loved his character evolution over the years, but cocky Okada is probably still the best Okada.

Look, I don't think I have to say much about this. It's two of the best wrestlers of the last decade. It speaks for itself.

#8 - WALTER vs David Starr - wXw - 16 Carat Gold Night 1, March 8th
Again, it's WALTER and David Starr - you know it's gonna be great. Starr's obsession with his lack of success against WALTER is a masterclass in how to do long-term wrestling storytelling, and all the different finishes they've come up with to keep it going are genius, with this one standing as no exception. Starr does a great job of showing his ever-increasing desperation in the urgency with which he works these matches against his white whale, but it'll never change the fact that he's just a couple of chops and lariats away from coming up short again.

Again, it wouldn't be too long before WALTER was getting pinned in two minutes in WWE, so it's always nice to look back at matches like this and remember when he was one of the best wrestlers on Earth.

#7 - Will Ospreay vs A-Kid - WWW - Total Rumble 9, March 30th
Dang, March was a hell of a month for wrestling.

A-Kid's match with Zack Sabre Jr. was the shock of 2018, and he followed it up just a few months later with this outing just to prove it wasn't a fluke. Look, it's not super tough to have a great match with Ospreay or ZSJ, but to have a couple legitimate MOTYCs with them takes a little something extra, and A-Kid has it. This was almost wall-to-wall excitement, but it wasn't just moves for moves' sake. The structure was really nice - big indie matches like this one often fall into the trap of making it 50/50 in order to make it feel more like a "dream match." Not here. Ospreay was clearly positioned as the better wrestler, but A-Kid got his shine as the guy overflowing with potential who just had to get some experienced. He capitalized on the openings Ospreay gave him and refused to go down to anything but Ospreay's absolute best shots, even as he accidentally evaded the Hidden Blade by simply collapsing from exhaustion. This was just everything you want out of a match like this.

#6 - Jordan Devlin vs David Starr - OTT - Fifth Year Anniversary, October 26th
I've spoken a few times in the past about how I feel very strongly that traditional heel/face dynamics in wrestling are something of an antiquated idea. And I think this match supports that position pretty well. What began as a personal issue of a friendship fractured by Starr's inability to overcome WALTER morphed into a full-scale battle of the big business vs the little guy, using as its avatars two strong personalities and fantastic wrestlers. Devlin may be a nice guy who was wronged by his pal, but he represents the WWE machine. Starr may be a stalwart pillar of a dying indie wrestling scene, but the dude's an annoying prick. That's how you build a wrestling match. Present the story and let the fans pick their side. Seriously, take five minutes and watch this incredible hype video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAFJctK0qYw

And then watch the damn match. It's free on YouTube.

The atmosphere is unique and unforgettable. Devlin is showered in boos upon his entrance despite being treated as a national hero just a few months previously and having changed nothing about himself in the interim. The swings in crowd support during the match as well, as Starr got more and more underhanded, were fascinating.

There's things about this match I don't love, but that sort of stuff falls to insignificance for something like this. I'm not gonna miss the forest for a couple trees. This may be the one match from this list I think everyone in this topic would enjoy.

#5 - Will Ospreay vs Amazing Red - NJPW - Super J Cup Night 1, August 22nd
I damn near went the full five on this match and I don't care if that makes me the high man on Earth on it. Those who chat with me about wrestling on the regular know I'm a massive Amazing Red fan. He was one of the first indie talents I ever really gravitated toward, and I'll always maintain he could've been a true pillar of TNA's X Division if they'd had any idea what they were doing. Plus, as Ospreay said in the post-match promo, if wrestling move royalties were a thing, Red would be a billionaire.

So I'll be the first to admit that this match probably resonated with me more than most, but I don't think that's because of bias so much as it's because I had extra appreciation for the story these two told. Ospreay acted the part of a wrestler that I'm sure exists in a lot of young guys on the scene right now, pretending he had no idea just how influential Red was on current wrestling. Red missing the Red Star Press and Ospreay immediately hitting it, then acting like it just suddenly clicked for him that it was Red's move was a great meta-moment and really put a bow on the subtle heel performance Ospreay gave in the match. And Red was great, as he always was. Maybe not quite as crisp as he was 18 years ago, but still, sigh, amazing. He kept up with Ospreay's pace -

Now I remember why the Sheamus thing could be Dunn. Cornette revealed once that Lawler wanted Lance Russell to induct him, for Dunn to go:

"Who is Lance Russell? I have no idea who that is. I don't think any of our fans will know who that is either, because he's not mainstream enough. I know. Get William Shatner instead."

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jesus, the reviews (besides iceman's) for that red/ospreay match were so underwhelming i never bothered to watch it. i feel obligated now, despite knowing he is the high man on earth on it.

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How did I not know about Poppy until that Takeover?

I think I've been taken over.

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So someone did a study on the Wednesday Night Wars and the biggest ratings mover is apparently... Bianca Belair?

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TheRock1525 posted...

So someone did a study on the Wednesday Night Wars and the biggEST ratings mover is apparently... Bianca Belair?

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I feel dumb but I don't know what The EST means.

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Its meant as an all around value suffix

StrongEST
FastEST
etc
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Eastern Standard Timest

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So I heard Sami Zayn hasn't wrestled since some crazy date like September 2019 or something. Is that true and why?

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I assume we're looking for an answer beyond the obvious of "because WWE has no idea what the hell they're doing."

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His last match was in a six man tag in December 2019. His last match before that was in August 2019.

What in the world.

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I thought he had a shoulder injury and that was why

Yeah, he reportedly has ongoing shoulder issues which is why he got put with Nakamura, to give him time to heal up.

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Hall of Fame class this year so far...

Batista
nWo (Hogan, Hall, Nash, X-Pac)
The Bellas

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Was the Bulldog made official?

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TheRock1525 posted...

Was the Bulldog made official?

Not yet.

What's odd is the ones inducting the inductees on HoF night. Finlay's inducting Batista and Taker/Kane are inducting the NWO.

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https://youtu.be/ncB8acT35Xk

Thank You Randy Orton

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