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***Official Pro Wrestling Thread*** (3 Viewers)

About 4 times a year I say, "Now is when I am going to seriously start watching New Japan". Sounds like another amazing PPV.

I have started watching "Being The Elite" from the beginning. So, I guess that's a start.

 
Watched the show and fell asleep straight into doing a project outside all day in the heat, had no time to give a review of Dominion.

I think Dominion 2018 ranks very closely to Wrestle Kingdom 11, if not surpassing. It blows 12 out of the water. The whole card was above average, even the special tags. The last four matches are all 4+ stars: Young Bucks with their first heavyweight tag challenge; Hiromu and Ospreay killing each other over the Jr Heavyweight title; a shocking Jericho-Naito match for the Intercontinental title; and if I had to guess a "6+" star Best-of-3 between Okada and Omega for the Heavyweight title.

Jericho-Naito felt to me like "what if the WWE were good." It had WWE style and story all over it, but with two unrestricted performers.

And I can't say enough about Okada-Omega IV. 66 minutes + two 2-minute breaks between falls. Kenny's chops were wicked, his V-Triggers were insane, and Okada collapsing is such a good call back to the Time Limit Draw one year prior. Watch this match.
7* for Omega-Okada. Can't really disagree, this felt like the greatest match of all-time. So many callbacks to their previous matches. So many amazing moments. Don Callis arguably being the greatest color commentator ever for 1 night. The storytelling was amazing. My favorite moment of the match(so many to choose from) was when Omega jumped off the apron to stomp a table through Okada, and Okada is just getting up around 7 or so, and Gedo(who has said maybe 20 English words in the 3 years I've been watching NJPW) starts yelling, "come on Rainmaker" over and over, then Okada takes a step towards the ring, Gedo gets louder and begins clapping, Okada takes another step and falls to his knees, and Gedo perfectly yells, #####! That was so awesome, like it signified the first time that Gedo was legit worried that Okada could lose. The entire match kicked up to another level at that point, because it truly felt like Omega could win, even though I was still surprised he did, especially with all the other title changes. 

Mostly agree on Jericho-Naito. I liked Jericho's Clockwork Orange theme he had going. Or at least that is what I thought it was. This Jericho would have been a top-2 guy for the entirety of the 2000s if he'd been allowed to be. I actually thought Naito was a little off his game, maybe their was some translations issues, but once Jericho stopped being in control, the match cooled off a ton. It wasn't as good as his match with Omega.

Will Ospreay had a rep as a no-seller, but he might be the best seller in wrestling right now. I feel personally invested in his health in every match. 

The LIJ-Young Bucks match, might have stolen the show with any other main event. I'm just gonna throw it out there, I think the Young Bucks are the greatest Tag Team in Wrestling history, possibly by a wide margin. To be fair, most teams when they are at an elite level got broken up for whatever reasons, and that will likely never happen with the Bucks, but still they deliver ever single time and have for several years, and are still getting better.

I really liked the undercard tag of Suzuki/Sabre-Ishii/Yano. Yano is a very fun character, and nobody hates fun as much as Suzuki. Suzuki/Sabre against the Bucks would be a match I'd love to see. 

All in all, I think this card was better the WK11, and maybe any card I've ever seen. Truly great stuff.

 
About 4 times a year I say, "Now is when I am going to seriously start watching New Japan". Sounds like another amazing PPV.

I have started watching "Being The Elite" from the beginning. So, I guess that's a start.
Watching Being the Elite from the start, will likely also give you a stronger opinion of Adam Cole as well.

 
All in all, I think this card was better the WK11, and maybe any card I've ever seen. Truly great stuff.
NJPW booked the last 2 years of their heavyweight title so well that I was able to immerse myself in what felt like an organically developed sports story.

And it's possible that's how they do business. They have a predetermined winner for a match, give x% input into the actual match and let the competitors work it out too, and then take that match into account for the next one. It seems so simple and yet a stark contrast to WWE's complicated creative factory that appears to have the next several months laid out at a time in needlessly complex and overextended arcs.

Both companies really satisfy my need for entertainment in different ways. In WWE, there's some air of a peek behind the curtains to a weekly television show with an average to below average output that occasionally shines with a great moment or two. For NJPW, I have no insight into the machinations of booking and am treated to a consistently above average product. WWE wouldn't hold my attention if I couldn't get the behind-the-scenes scoops; the product alone isn't enough to entertain me. NJPW is so good that I don't want to know the inner workings for fear of ruining the experience.

 
Taking my son down to Chi-town for Money in the Bank on Sunday.  Looking forward to it - it's definitely shaping up to be a better show than Fastlane last year, though not nearly as good of seats :lmao:

 
:lol:  The amusing thing of all this is Chris Amann looks 20x worse now having wasted everyone's time with this circus. The whole basis of his argument was negative tweets he got. He literally showed nothing. No damages. No emotional distress. He admitted it didn't harm his business. Complete waste of everyone's time.
He apparently violated some HIPPA VIOLations too. He had a romantic relationship with Jillian Hall and she confirmed this on Deadspin. A dr can't date a patient. Made no attempts to hide relationship. The trial could have a rippled effect on this guy. 

 
This should have been dismissed with prejudice just because he couldn't show/prove any damage.  Idiot.
They apparently had documented proof of AMann neglectance to Punk's injuries as well as other records based on people who I follow. I'm also friends with Sandman who lives in my area (We hang out at the local restaurant called Barnaby's which is popular in my County of PA as drinking buddies) and has contacts in WWE he still has have said Amann is probably F'd after this. WWE was only keeping him for the trial because getting rid of him would make them look even more guilty. Punk and Cobana also never used Chris Amann's name directly during the podcast. There's also a lot of wrestlers who Amann has screwed over from not what I've heard from Sandman but from podcasters and others who have heard news. This dude was apparently a pretty terrible DR and one of the big guns in the former WWE wrestlers who sued WWE for concussions over the yrs. He's also the DR who wouldn't clear Daniel Bryan despite every dr not associated with WWE saying he was good to go. Based on everything I've heard about this guy personally he sounds like a Jack@** with a big ego. Punk had text and email messages showing Amann's destructive nature and unwillingness to treat Punk. Giving him typical company lines of take two aspirin and call me in the morning or you are fine company talk. I'd be shocked if CA is still in the company past the summer. 

 
Taking my son down to Chi-town for Money in the Bank on Sunday.  Looking forward to it - it's definitely shaping up to be a better show than Fastlane last year, though not nearly as good of seats :lmao:
I feel bad for you. You should've taken him to Takeover tonight. Another amazing show. Ciampi/Gargano had some very cool moments and an attitude/ECW/Ruthless Aggression era feel to it. The show was amazing. Dream vs Ricochet was an awesome match. All the matches were very good. Either way based on a podcaster I listen to people seem to have more fun at the show live then watching it on TV. Have fun either way but I would've done Takeover and skipped MITB. Hope everyone hijacks the Roman/Mahal Match with CM Punk chants. 

 
I feel bad for you. You should've taken him to Takeover tonight. Another amazing show. Ciampi/Gargano had some very cool moments and an attitude/ECW/Ruthless Aggression era feel to it. The show was amazing. Dream vs Ricochet was an awesome match. All the matches were very good. Either way based on a podcaster I listen to people seem to have more fun at the show live then watching it on TV. Have fun either way but I would've done Takeover and skipped MITB. Hope everyone hijacks the Roman/Mahal Match with CM Punk chants. 
While I agree, and if it was me and friends I would have much rather gone to Takeover no doubt, but my son doesn't watch NXT and doesn't know any of the wrestlers so he would not have been as interested.

 
While I agree, and if it was me and friends I would have much rather gone to Takeover no doubt, but my son doesn't watch NXT and doesn't know any of the wrestlers so he would not have been as interested.
You need to get him interested in NXT or at least try to. Not sure how old your son is or anything but I would definitely try. Does he watch anything from older eras like 80s Hogan/Sagage, or anything from the 90s of ECW/WCW/WWF days? Ruthless Aggression era at all? If he likes ECW I would also try getting him into Lucha Underground. The way they produce it is more ECW styles with a new generation feel of the production content. 

 
Court Records: WWE Dr. Chris Amann slept with Jillian Hall and Indy wrestler trying out for WWE!

I don’t know what’s more  :lmao:  worthy; the fact that he did it, or the fact that this item wasn’t placed under seal and is a matter of public record. 

 
Takeover Chicago II reactions:

Tag match was very impressive technically. Lorcan & Burch have been climbing through the weekly show and finally won the crowd about three-quarters through this match. Hilarious moment when the crowd shouted BS over Adam Cole being sent to the back. TUE is going to be hot for a long time.

Velveteen Dream vs Ricochet was a good singles debut for Ricochet. It's tough to shine against the run Dream is having, which makes it weird for him to be a gatekeeper. Half-ring Shooting Star Press was stupid athletic.

Women's match was solid, not a barnburner. Shayna Baszler is a true testament to the developmental nature of NXT; she is a bit rough but continues to improve. She is already a good heel, so I'm looking forward to the feud that really makes her as a champion. Women's Title scene is being built back slowly in spite of a depleted roster. I suspect after the MYC and an influx of talent we may see a revival of the NXT Women's division. Nikki Cross is a treasure and needs to be brought up with SAnitY now please and thanks.

Felt similarly to the Men's Title match: solid, solid match. I am sold on Aleister Black as a combatant, but now I need to be sold on him as champion. Looking for the right feud to make him. Lars Sullivan has come a long way already and he seems to be a heat-seeking monster, all good notes for him. Might shy away from the diving headbutt though.

Ciampa-Gargano part two was an ugly, brutal match. Lots of wincing and cringing from me. Doesn't quite live up to their New Orleans battle imo, but still extremely good. Looking forward to the finale.

 
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Overall, I rate Chicago a step lower than New Orleans, but almost undeniably better than anything we'll see at Money in the Bank. Ladder matches and the Last Man Standing do have the opportunity to shine very brightly tonight, but there is going to be a ton of filler.

Must Watch: tag title match, Ciampa-Gargano

 
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Takeover Chicago II reactions:

Tag match was very impressive technically. Lorcan & Burch have been climbing through the weekly show and finally won the crowd about three-quarters through this match. Hilarious moment when the crowd shouted BS over Adam Cole being sent to the back. TUE is going to be hot for a long time.

Velveteen Dream vs Ricochet was a good singles debut for Ricochet. It's qtough to shine against the run Dream is havin, which makes it weird for him to be a gatekeeper. Half-ring Shooting Star Press was stupid athletic.

Women's match was solid, not a barnburner. Shayna Baszler is a true testament to the developmental nature of NXT; she is a bit rough but continues to improve. She is already a good heel, so I'm looking forward to the feud that really makes her as a champion. Women's Title scene is being built back slowly in spite of a depleted roster. I suspect after the MYC and an influx of talent we may see a revival of the NXT Women's division. Nikki Cross is a treasure and needs to be brought up with SAnitY now please and thanks.

Felt similarly to the Men's Title match: solid, solid match. I am sold on Aleister Black as a combatant, but now I need to be sold on him as champion. Looking for the right feud to make him. Lars Sullivan has come a long way already and he seems to be a heat-seeking monster, all good notes for him. Might shy away from the diving headbutt though.

Ciampa-Gargano part two was an ugly, brutal match. Lots of wincing and cringing from me. Doesn't quite live up to their New Orleans battle I'm, but still extremely good. Looking forward to the finale.
Mostly agree.

Kyle O'Reilly might secretly be the best in-ring guy in WWE(short of Bryan) his strikes look great, and he sells so well. He's the Arn Anderson to Cole's Flair so to speak. Joining TUE was just the shot in the arm Roderick Strong needed too. Burch, and especially Lorcan didn't look out of place at all, even if they had about a 1% shot of winning. 

Dream/Ricochet was a great introduction for people who hadn't seen Ricochet before. Ricochet is the most athletic guy in wrestling short of Ospreay. I thought this match was a slight upset, just because Dream feels like a ready made contender for the NXT title. 

I was underwhelmed by the women's match, and that's typically my favorite part. Th match felt very short, like not much really happened. I'm still not sure of Baszler. She has a great aura, but I've yet to really like any of her matches so far. I was hoping for a title change here, because Nikki Cross is awesome, and because I really don't want to see her bogged down with Sanity on the main roster. 

The men's match greatly impressed me. I actually thought Black was the lesser of the 2 guys, and by a good margin. Sullivan looked great, and was the most impressive guy on the show in my eyes. To be completely honest, I thought he looked better than Corbin, or Braun or any recent big man has. Great job selling, while still being the monster. He reminds me a bit of Sid Vicious, where he's surprisingly agile in addition to being huge. Would have loved to see a title change there too.

If it weren't for Okada/Omega, I think Gargano/Ciampa would be my favorite feud in wrestling. Another great match. I 100% bought the ending, with Ciampa being hurt, especially since that table basically exploded, and it looked like Ciampa broke his fall with his head. Until Gargano chased after him, I thought for sure he was really seriously hurt. Great finish too. Also looking forward to the next chapter. 

Best of luck MITB on topping that show. has a main roster show ever been better than a Takeover, since they started doing them together?

 
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Bullet Club wrestled LIJ this week on RoH TV. It was hard to tell who was more over. When Naito did his slide into his apathetic pose, the roof about blew off the place.  :thumbup:

At one point when Takahashi was hitting people with Daryl, Dalton Castle (on commentary) low key said, Some people will pay money for a cat to the face.”  :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

 
Tom Servo said:
Court Records: WWE Dr. Chris Amann slept with Jillian Hall and Indy wrestler trying out for WWE!

I don’t know what’s more  :lmao:  worthy; the fact that he did it, or the fact that this item wasn’t placed under seal and is a matter of public record. 
It was put court documents by Amann's team of stuff that they didn't believe should be used in the case with Punk. They thought bringing this up or Punk's legal team using it would hurt Amann's chances. 

 
travdogg said:
Mostly agree.

Kyle O'Reilly might secretly be the best in-ring guy in WWE(short of Bryan) his strikes look great, and he sells so well. He's the Arn Anderson to Cole's Flair so to speak. Joining TUE was just the shot in the arm Roderick Strong needed too. Burch, and especially Lorcan didn't look out of place at all, even if they had about a 1% shot of winning. 

Dream/Ricochet was a great introduction for people who hadn't seen Ricochet before. Ricochet is the most athletic guy in wrestling short of Ospreay. I thought this match was a slight upset, just because Dream feels like a ready made contender for the NXT title. 

I was underwhelmed by the women's match, and that's typically my favorite part. Th match felt very short, like not much really happened. I'm still not sure of Baszler. She has a great aura, but I've yet to really like any of her matches so far. I was hoping for a title change here, because Nikki Cross is awesome, and because I really don't want to see her bogged down with Sanity on the main roster. 

The men's match greatly impressed me. I actually thought Black was the lesser of the 2 guys, and by a good margin. Sullivan looked great, and was the most impressive guy on the show in my eyes. To be completely honest, I thought he looked better than Corbin, or Braun or any recent big man has. Great job selling, while still being the monster. He reminds me a bit of Sid Vicious, where he's surprisingly agile in addition to being huge. Would have loved to see a title change there too.

If it weren't for Okada/Omega, I think Gargano/Ciampa would be my favorite feud in wrestling. Another great match. I 100% bought the ending, with Ciampa being hurt, especially since that table basically exploded, and it looked like Ciampa broke his fall with his head. Until Gargano chased after him, I thought for sure he was really seriously hurt. Great finish too. Also looking forward to the next chapter. 

Best of luck MITB on topping that show. has a main roster show ever been better than a Takeover, since they started doing them together?
No where close. The Takeovers on Mania weekend have shattered what Mania has done entertainment wise. Her most of the takeover's before they started doing them with the main roster were better then most of the PPVs on the main roster besides a select few and 1 or 2 surprise PPV I thought would be terrible and ended up being in the top 3 of that year. 

 
It was put court documents by Amann's team of stuff that they didn't believe should be used in the case with Punk. They thought bringing this up or Punk's legal team using it would hurt Amann's chances. 
True, but they could’ve sealed it to keep it private...but they didn’t. 

 
I can suspend my disbelief that a tombstone is unrecoverable, but a Superplex is an easy kickout, but I can't believe Styles isn't wearing a cup yet.

 
Overalll it was one of the better Main roster PPV's however we could've gotten 45 mins back if we didn't have the Zayn/Lashely and Juicer Mahal and Vince's Boyfriend Roman matches. 

 
Man, you guys all seemed to enjoy this show a lot more than I did. I thought Styles-Nakamura was probably the best match, followed by the men's MITB match. Rousey carried Nia to a solid match, Rousey really has been above and beyond any reasonable expectation. She's arguably the best woman in the company already. Rollins/Elias was fine. 

Other than those 4 matches, I thought everything else stunk. The Women's MITB match was awful, there was nothing happening beyond 1 person climbs ladder, and another person knocks them off. All 8 women could have been replaced by other women on the roster, and had almost the exact same match. Still, it was better than last year at least. At least a man didn't win it.

Reigns/Mahal was hilarious. The crowd was the best part of that match, which felt like it went on for 45 minutes. Jinder is a legit bad wrestler, and Reigns is not good enough to carry bad wrestlers, even without his awful character/booking. In-ring this was bad. Also, I can't believe Roman speared a crippled guy, who had overcome all odds and gotten out if his wheelchair, and was just using Reigns body to brace himself. What a jerk!

Watching Bobby Lashley is like if you took the fun out of watching paint dry. Poor Sami. Was Lashley ever good? His 1st run was pretty bad, but he seemed to have some good buzz in TNA, was that like a tallest midget kind of deal?

Carmella is the worst women on the roster, she is bad at everything. Bad in-ring, bad promo, horrible voice, afraid to bump, and bad at moonwalking. I'll forever defend Lesnar as champion, because he's great at what he does, and I'd rather the champ be absent, then bad. 

 
Overalll it was one of the better Main roster PPV's however we could've gotten 45 mins back if we didn't have the Zayn/Lashely and Juicer Mahal and Vince's Boyfriend Roman matches. 
You don't say...

Roman Reigns def. Jinder Mahal via pinfall: It didn't take three minutes for the match to start before the Chicago crowd drowned the action in a series of disapproving chants, which included everything from "this is aw-ful" and "C-M-Punk" to "end this match," "boring" and "N-X-T." For as obnoxious as the constant chants were -- they lasted until just before the finish -- it's hard to blame the paying customers for speaking out against what they don't want. In this case, that's Reigns stubbornly presented as a babyface in a meaningless feud against Mahal, one everyone knows Reigns will win. While Mahal and Reigns certainly tried to salvage the mess, the match featured too many rest holds and predictable turns. Sunil Singh, who was wearing a neck brace and sitting in a wheelchair, leaped out to throw Reigns into the post outside the ring from behind. He tried the same move late in the match and ate a spear for his troubles. After Reigns kicked out of a cradle attempt from Mahal as he entered the ring, the "Big Dog" rebounded to hit another spear to end the match. Hopefully this marks the end of the program as there's nothing here to see. Grade: D

 
Carmella is the worst women on the roster, she is bad at everything. Bad in-ring, bad promo, horrible voice, afraid to bump, and bad at moonwalking. I'll forever defend Lesnar as champion, because he's great at what he does, and I'd rather the champ be absent, then bad. 
Subjective artform and all that. I think Carmella is doing great work.

 
Subjective artform and all that. I think Carmella is doing great work.
She's in the wrong place at the wrong time for me. She'd have been at home in the Kelly Kelly Divas title days. Right now the talent in the division is better than its ever been, so she stands out as particularly annoying to me. 

 
Random thoughts:

Takeover is always going to have the advantage because of the time length. Less than 3 hours vs. infinity plus 30 min. The Men's MITB match just ended and Bryan/Cass was sometime last week.

I felt a bit uneasy with Dream doing the Hulk gimmick. It was great, but confusing. And I still don't want to see Hogan back in the WWE. That match was the match of the weekend and not even close.

Gargano/Ciampa told a great story in (and out of) the ring. I don't quite get the Ciampa win, as it felt like it needed to be a blowoff, but I trust their creative team and those two guys.

Adam Cole is the best, even when not in the match. I hope its Cole vs. Ricochet headlining a WM in the next 5 years.

I love Daniel Bryan, but I'm already tired of his "five moves of doom." Not his fault, every main eventer has them, just hate there is a "Daniel Bryan" match.

Outside of Becky Lynch being able to get the briefcase and having to fake that she couldn't, loved how the Woman's MITB match and aftermath went. I'm super partial to Bliss, but everything made sense. Her cashing in continues Jax/Bliss storyline, keeps both Rousey and Jax looking strong with neither taking a loss and sets up Rousey someone to chase for a while. And Bliss was on twice :wub:

Hate Ellsworth with a passion, and not in a good heat kind of way. But won't shame those that like what he and Carmella are doing.

Strowman carrying the briefcase will be fun for a little bit, just hope he cashes in sooner than later. Someone besides Lesnar needs the belt.

I can just picture Vince in Roman's ear after every match: "They use to #### on Rocky at one point too."

 
She's in the wrong place at the wrong time for me. She'd have been at home in the Kelly Kelly Divas title days. Right now the talent in the division is better than its ever been, so she stands out as particularly annoying to me. 
Her voice and screams are overall annoying. She's better in ring then I thought she be but in this era of women's wresting her negatives stick out like a sore thumb. 

 
Strowman carrying the briefcase will be fun for a little bit, just hope he cashes in sooner than later. Someone besides Lesnar needs the belt.
I think Strowman should just say he wants to cash in at Summerslam. Braun looking for his opponent to already be weakened doesn't really seem to fit who he is.

 
I think Braun should show up at Brock's house in the middle of nowhere Minnesota/Montana/Canada/wherever after Brock ignores Braun's demands to show up on Raw and yells "I'm not finished with you yet Brock" and beat him to a bloody pulp out of the WWE for the time being. Have Braun take the title with him whether there's a ref with him there or not to count 3. I know this wouldn't happen because they never leave the ring anymore. You could involve Heyman in the program along the way and say Brock's not showing up again as his contract has expired and isn't relinquishing the title.

Agree 100% Braun gains nothing beating Brock after another match. The match no question should have already happened at Mania IMO with Braun going over instead of that kid/tag title nonsense that accomplished zero.

 
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I tuned in to RAW for the opening segment last night. Flipping the script on the new face champion being challenged by a heel worked here. Bliss was allowed to be her #####y self, mocking the crowd and putting herself over. Along comes Rousey with an axe (briefcase?) to grind. Bliss continues to taunt Rousey while Angle holds RR back. This allows RR to be confrontational without having to speak.

Then the melee breaks out and RR goes full-on ape doo-doo. Angle and the refs get attacked and Bliss gets whipped up on. The pop when she puts Bliss through the table was loud and enthusiastic. The kayfabe suspension for RR allows her to go off-screen to work more on training in the ring while keeping her in the background as a future Bliss opponent.

I will say that segment was done pretty well. :thumbup:

 
It was a nice spot with RR and Bliss.  Rousey's Judo is pretty tight.  Anyone in close contact hold with her is liable to be flipped anywhere.  Hopefully she'll use the month to also work on her mic skills.  

What have they done to Baron Corbin?  is he the new Kane, just hanging around working for HHH and Steph?  

 
Flawless execution with Ronda Rousey.

Why can't this quality of execution be more pervasive? I understand not every segment or storyline is equal, but Ronda is embarrassing most of the roster in terms of overall performance, including the writing for her. Is she just that much better a performer than everyone else? At this point I'd believe it.

 

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