Wrestling Thread!

[burningdoom]

GOLDBERG! GOLDBERG! GOLDBERG!

This is one happy WCW fan, right now.

[doafan]

A little late but we have a new Intercontinental Champion 

[kamikazekeeg]

Gonna get a subscription to NJPW and watch Wrestle Kingdom this weekend.  I'm pretty stoked for it.  I have more excitement for this show, with a lot of people I don't really follow or know much of (Outside of a few I know of like Kenny Omega, Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes is debuting in the Bullet Club), than I do Wrestlemania with all the wrestlers I do know and follow lol

*EDIT*
Watched the pre-show Rumble and the starting special match which is two real representations from the anime Tiger Mask W, with Tiger Mask W vs Tiger The Dark.  You don't get this in WWE and treated with respect.  Guest appearances from fictional characters were so cheesy and dumb.  It's what I like best about seeing wrestling in Japan, is the greater respect  for the theatrics along with good wrestling.  American audiences are too quick to shit on stuff, get loud, dumb, chants going.  While the Japanese can be a bit too reserved, I do love that they compliment moves when they hit lol

Production is vastly different too.  Wrestlemania is a visual spectacle that is almost bigger than the wrestlers themselves.  Wrestle Kingdom is practically quiet and plain in comparison, with media surrounding the wring and the audience barely being seen from so far away from the ring.  I dig it though, it's such a different and unique vibe and I'm someone that doesn't particularly like wrestling outside of WWE, because I require good production.

Oh geez, the Young Bucks lol They have three belts, the IGPW, PWG, ROH, and they made their own "Super Kick Champion" belts, real legit ones too, and came out covered in belts lol I guess they are pushing for some Hardy Brother action perhaps, so maybe they'll be making a TNA appearance.  Genuinely impressive wrestlers, you can see why so much praise is heaped up on them.

Will Osprey who did a short stint in a multi-team, 3 on 3, match was insane.  Crazy flips like you'd see from a Kalisto or Neville, but so damn fast.

Cody Rhodes is looking great.  I never got to see him before Stardust, but he's real good here.  You can see some of that similar heelness, but with less of the crazy supervillain shtick.  Definitely want to see more of him like this.

[kamikazekeeg]

Finally finished Wrestle Kingdom 11 and god damn was it good lol Okada vs Omega was insane.  45 minute match and they both went at it with some crazy intense spots.  This is what I watch Wrestle Kingdom for and why I should probably watch NJPW more as WWE wishes it could have matches this intense most of the time lol Omega was nuts as he sells the crap out of everything.

[doafan]

It seems that Jericho is doing a good job cause at his 46 years he has captured the United States belt in a handicap match between KO & Y2J vs Roman Reigns 

[doafan]

Have been kinda busy these past days that haven't seen the latest shows from this past two weeks and almost forgot that this Sunday is the event damn I even had to search for this post the list of the official matches and the participants of the Royal Rumble match, for RAW we have at this moment Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Chris Jericho, Braun Strowman, Cesaro, Sheamus, Big Show, Sami Zayn, Big Cass and Rusev, for SmackDown they will be Baron Corbin, Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, Luke Harper and Mojo Rawley, The Undertaker has been confirmed but is brand has not be assigned, as far as I remember he always has been part of the blue team and hope that this remains the same, there are still eight unknown wrestlers to be announced, hope to see if not Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Shelton Benjamin, Kenny Omega or Kurt Angle there, can't expect all of them but I'll be very happy if at least one of the five appears at the show for the rest of the matches we are going to have:

* Cesaro and Sheamus vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson for the Tag team match for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
*Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax in a Singles match
* Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella, and Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, and Natalya in a Six-woman tag team match
*Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns in a No Disqualification match for the WWE Universal Championship where Chris Jericho will be suspended in a shark cage above the ring
* AJ Styles vs. John Cena in a Singles match for the WWE Championship
* Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley in a Singles match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship
* Rich Swann vs. Neville in a Singles match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

[kamikazekeeg]

Could be a good event so I'll be watching.  I haven't watched the live shows in a while, mostly just read my wrestling site for updates and I haven't watched a WWE event since the last one in December.  Really curious who the surprise will be as I'm expecting at least one or two big ones and I'm not counting NXT guys.  I kinda assume we'll at least get one or two there, but the rumors of Omega and Angle are pretty cool.  This is the one time where I know for sure that this rumble will be better than the rumble at Wrestle Kingdom.  That one was pretty bad lol Still kinda entertaining, but not very good.

[burningdoom]

I'm definitely watching! Luckily, my WWE Network subscription expires the next day, so I have just enough time to watch.

This year's Rumble Match is STACKED! Undertaker, Goldberg, Lesnar, Jericho, Ambrose, Orton, Wyatt. Just look at that list of main-eventers, all in one match! As huge WCW fanatic, I'm very excited to see Goldberg in the Rumble!

I hope to see Owens and Styles both retain their championships. Same goes for Charolette. It would be awesome to see Jericho win the Rumble, and go up against Owens at WrestleMania. But I've heard rumors that he's getting ready to tour with Fozzy again, so I don't see that in the cards.

I'm hoping at the kickoff show, we see HBK call out Samoa Joe. WrestleTalk News was reporting that Michaels was talking about wanting a match with him. But that is something that I'm not giving my hopes up for, either.

[kamikazekeeg]

Some good matches at NXT Takeover.  Figured since I'm gonna watch the Rumble tomorrow, I'll get my subscription up today to watch and Takeover.  Good so far and it's interesting to see some new faces since I haven't been watching the regular shows.  Like Sanity I had seen the teases, but never the actual group, which seems to include a woman in the team as I'm cool with a new proper team like this. 

Also are the two women who aren't Nikki Cross and Asuka, lesbians? Like is that their gimmick? Holding hands like they did is a little weird lol  No matter, at least we get some Asuka! A favorite of mine.  It's an odd match where there's the two teammates holding hands, and then two crazy ladies on either side, but it's a fatal 4 way.  Seems more like 2 on 1 on 1.  I like Cross, she gives me like this Becky Lynch feel, but with a whole bunch of crazy going on.  The womens match was fairly short, but it had a couple good spots.  I'm interested in seeing Cross versus Asuka one on one.

Side note, it's great seeing Ghost getting a featured song on Takeover.  Too often I don't care about the music they got going, but they had them and they had Airbourne a while back for another event.

Bobby Roode reminds me of like a more old school wrestler feel with his gimmick.  The big shiny robe, coming out with a bunch of women, the big song lol Very Flair and such.  And then Nakamura comes out on a moving flashing platform to his awesome song lol I kinda was hoping for like a whole lot more violinists this time.  Like ever big Takeover event he just has more, so that here it's like over a dozen or more lol  Need him to get to Wrestlemania and have a big entrance like that maybe.

And Nakamura always continuing to be a favorite. Great match.

[doafan]

Am ready for tonight's event where I do expect to see Owens retaining his title, don't believe that the WWE writers are that stupid to give Roman the belt would love to see a clean match where Kevin can win without the help of nobody after all Jericho will be a the shark cage but got the feeling that this will not happen, maybe Y2J will find a way to escape and help his best friend or maybe Finn will gonna interrupt the match giving KO the won by disqualification, it's time for that kiddo to came back and reclaim what he never lost also expect to AJ to retain, would be a shame if Super Cena breaks Flair's world title record 

[kamikazekeeg]

I'm really hoping Reigns doesn't win either, but I'm open for all the other possibilities at the moment for the show.  Kinda hoping to be surprised.

[kamikazekeeg]

Uggh, I hate when they do this.  The Tag Team Championship is being put on the Kickoff Show.  That's real shitty to do with a legitimate belt match.  I know the main show is packed full with the Rumble and other championship matches, but any championship match should be on the main show, not the kickoff.

So I guess the whole Tag Team thing with Cesaro has been good for Sheamus.  Feels like people are there with him now, even if he's still a heel.

I'm glad Nia Jax is here as simply a different body type, since the womens division is almost all entirely one shape it feels like, but man she is not very good on the mic.  I wish we could see some more different women show up, thicker types, bodybuilder types, or just someone particularly tall.  I guess they had one awhile back in the running for NXT who was practically 7 foot tall, but got let go named Aloisia or was replaced or something.

Shawn Michaels still has it lol

Charlotte vs Bailey was a solid match.  Abit quick I think, but they had some good spots.

Dammit, every time I see this commercial for their WWE Champions mobile game, I keep thinking they are gonna make a new WWE All-Stars wrestling game, which was awesome lol

Roman Reigns boo level...60/40 perhaps.  It's not full blown, but he still can't get over two heels that everyone love lol Oh man, Owens pulled out a Stone Cold Stunner on Reigns lol That match didn't go how I expected, but I'm glad they are pushing Strowman as they are. I think he could easily be their next big guy for the long haul.

I'm all over Neville going heel.  Its a lot more interesting than the kinda super hero feel he tried before as he never had a particularly good hook.  He's an amazing high flyer, but character wise, he was just kinda of standard babyface.  Neville might have one of the better holds I've seen lately.  So often holds barely look like they do the damage that they seem, but this looks rough and completely ties up the arms.

Missed the start of Cena vs Styles, but good so far.  I'm kinda calling a Cena win, but I'm not bothered by either winning.  Big impact match, I'm cool with Cena taking the win as he's tied with Flair now.

Oh yeah, Strowman is being pushed as a god dang beast. Man, Ellsworth is here lol Okay, I'm good with that quick use of him.

Oh thank god, Roman didn't win lol Orton winning is "meh", but it was an entertaining match.

[doafan]

Roman Reigns boo level...60/40 perhaps.  It's not full blown, but he still can't get over two heels that everyone love lol Oh man, Owens pulled out a Stone Cold Stunner on Reigns lol That match didn't go how I expected, but I'm glad they are pushing Strowman as they are. I think he could easily be their next big guy for the long haul.

Kinda busy at work right now so am here just to say that Austin wasn't impressed with Kevin Owens’ Stone Cold Stunner ...

... will leave my comments of yesterday's event when I have some free time 

[burningdoom]

Not one single surprise entrant in the Rumble, not one. That's disappointing.

[kamikazekeeg]

Not one single surprise entrant in the Rumble, not one. That's disappointing.

Yeah I was hoping for at least one.  Not even like a big NXT appearance, just Tye Dillinger, who is a fan favorite right now, but no Joe? I feel this confirms he has awhile longer in NXT.  After Roode and Nakamura finish up their beef, I think it'll be Roode and Joe for awhile.