Paid Members tiger_rick Posted October 4, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 4, 2020 I'll happily admit to being a dinosaur but I've never given a shit about women's wrestling outside of a few spectacularly good ladies and I've rarely given a shit about Japanese wrestlers. It's not that I don't think both groups that I've just massively and clumsily generalised are brilliant at what they do but in the context of the big time "American wrestling" that is my bag, I don't think either are necessary because if we're honest, they're always just there. If every woman was Becky Lynch and every Japanese wrestler was Tajiri then it'd be different. I think AEW would do a more faithful job akin to what Chris B has described above of integrating them and using them like the stars they are in Japan but it does absolutely nothing for me as a concept. As said, I accept I'm maybe an Island alone on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cutting Edge Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 I mentioned a few pages back about an AEW/NJPW deal would help both sides. I feel NJ rosters is pretty stale, I like most guys on there but if you look at things like the G1 it's nearly same guys for years at a time without few new names mixed in. AEW Teams could work the tag tournaments in NJ (Jurassic Express would do well over there) When it's the Juniors tournie in May have Naito or whoever come over for a few shows leading to Double or Nothing, guys like Kip, Allen go do the tournie I know it's been done by nwo and not too original but a huge BULLET CLUB over 2 companies could be interesting for a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted October 4, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 4, 2020 1 hour ago, tiger_rick said: I'll happily admit to being a dinosaur but I've never given a shit about women's wrestling outside of a few spectacularly good ladies and I've rarely given a shit about Japanese wrestlers. It's not that I don't think both groups that I've just massively and clumsily generalised are brilliant at what they do but in the context of the big time "American wrestling" that is my bag, I don't think either are necessary because if we're honest, they're always just there. If every woman was Becky Lynch and every Japanese wrestler was Tajiri then it'd be different. I think AEW would do a more faithful job akin to what Chris B has described above of integrating them and using them like the stars they are in Japan but it does absolutely nothing for me as a concept. As said, I accept I'm maybe an Island alone on this. I feel exactly the same. I don't really care that AEWs womens division is shite because I'd rather see more of the mens stuff than an improvement in the womens matches. There's plenty of Japanese wrestling matches I've enjoyed but they are all from years ago. I've tried plenty of times to get into modern Japanese wrestling, watched loads of the acclaimed matches but I don't like any of it at all. Bores me senseless. Every guy in NJPW that people rave about has massively disappointed me. AEW is really good at the moment because it's more like traditional US wrestling TV which to me is the best form of wrestling. There's nothing New Japan can offer that interests me and I think the vast majority of viewers are probably in the same boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sukhy Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 Would love to hear of a NJPW/AEW agreement, getting more Omega vs Okada matches can never be a bad thing. Get Okada and Ibushi in AEW for a few months, and you can build to a Hangman & Okada vs Golden Lovers tag match, where Hangman & Okada both rip off their long tights at the same time. Imagine the pop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 The only thing short term that would have made sense would have been when the new Japan guys who where stuck in the states during Covid had shown up and challenged mox for his US belt, and had say MJF cost him the match as part of the build for the aew belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingofSports Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 I'll get off the fence. I was never really on it in the first place. At this point, I see no need for any interaction between the two companies. I had no problem at all when Moxley came in to NJPW. He knew the score, came with his MMA shorts, looked and wrestled the part of a G-1 competitor and then pissed off again. Jericho was fine too + he had prior with New Japan anyway. New Japan will have talent coming through the dojo. AEW needs to establish the roster it has, if and when everybody can fully return. Covid ain't going anywhere in the near future & non-essential international travel should be a no-no (for people who actually give a fuck). In the same way some don't want to see puro-style matches, I don't want to see pro-wrestling entertainment bullshit...or at least not in the same ring. Whilst an apparent block to a potential relationship has been removed, it doesn't necessarily make it any more likely. End of the day, it probably excites Tony Khan more than NJPW hierarchy. Never say never, but no necessity for either company at present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboDangerous Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 I don’t want to see a full on NJPW/AEW relationship, but I’d happily go for an “All In” sequel. Get AEW/NJPW together, even stick ROH/Impact/NWA in there. Little things like a one night Golden Lovers and a massive Bullet Club reunion, Cody/Aldis 3 and a couple of dream matches would be miles better than seeing the talent pools blended together on a semi-permanent basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 4 minutes ago, JimboDangerous said: I don’t want to see a full on NJPW/AEW relationship, but I’d happily go for an “All In” sequel. Get AEW/NJPW together, even stick ROH/Impact/NWA in there. Little things like a one night Golden Lovers and a massive Bullet Club reunion, Cody/Aldis 3 and a couple of dream matches would be miles better than seeing the talent pools blended together on a semi-permanent basis. As fun as that sounds, I feel like their big shows need to be about building their future. Is working with other companies really going to help that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 (edited) I have a gripe. Baby faces shouldn’t be singing along to Judas in an OTT fashion unless Jericho is about to turn. He’s meant to be a despicable person, that he had a catchy tune shouldn’t over ride that off to shout at a cloud Edited October 4, 2020 by Louch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboDangerous Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 15 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said: As fun as that sounds, I feel like their big shows need to be about building their future. Is working with other companies really going to help that? I mean, that’s what you feel is best. Which is fine, different strokes for different folks and all that. I’m not looking at what's best for any particular company to build their future, I’m just imagining a massive night of pro wrestling, free from any particular booking mistakes, long term storylines etc if it wants to be. Imagine at the end of this COVID era (if there is such a thing) a massive All In 2 event at Jacksonville’s stadium which is packed to the rafters with fans just happy to be watching a live event after x amount of time. It could be absolutely massive if done correctly and, rather than build a particular brand, it could build pro wrestling as a whole at a time where for a lot of companies things are hanging by a thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members unfitfinlay Posted October 4, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 4, 2020 I'm fine with the companies existing separately and building themselves up. I don't know if they necessarily need each other at this point anyway. Is anyone going to watch AEW for Okada or Naito that isn't already watching? Same with New Japan to an extent. They've already got access to Moxley and Jericho if they need to attract AEW fans. The other thing is that the more that companies work together, the less special it feels. Ibushi signing for AEW, for example, would be pretty great but, it wouldn't feel half as special if he'd already appeared on their shows and worked with all their top guys already. Now that I think about it, it would also hurt wrestlers in contract negotiations. Can't really play two sides off against each other if they are working together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 It's just so easy to watch NJPW if you want to these days. Back when ROH used to do exciting stuff like work with Dragon Gate etc, it was always a rare chance to see those guys because we didn't live in an era where it was overly accessible. But now companies like NJPW are actively looking to target foreign markets with English commentary etc. Beyond a few fanwank dream matches, there's not a whole lot to benefit a working relationship in my eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted October 4, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 4, 2020 While we're talking about NJPW, it's reminded me of something that occurs to me when people talk about who needs to turn face for feuds to happen. We haven't seen much in the way of face turns in AEW so far, and I'm hoping they don't treat face/heel turns in the way we're used to, and have them act totally differently. I'm not going to pretend to be a long-time NJPW expert, but one thing I've really enjoyed about it (once I got my head around it) was the way factions work and the face/heel divide. NJPW has more anti-heroes or people doing their own agenda. So you can program someone that would normally be a heel as a face without changing them significantly. And factions can have a mixture of faces and heels in them, because the history of how they all interact is important as well. So, Naito is a huge face, but he still acts in a heelish way at times, and if he's going up against another face, he can play either the face or the heel role at any time. Suzuki can slot into the face/heel role fairly easily as well - certainly in terms of what's expected from the crowd. While I don't think AEW would do well to copy this entirely, I think having elements of it to freshen up their presentation could work. Omega doesn't have to become a cheating, underhand heel - he can still mostly wrestle as he does, but the crowd hate him because of how he treats Hangman (and he can occasionally be more outright heelish). Jericho can be a little less overtly heelish, but still have his guys around as backup if he needs them, and still be more-or-less the same character. So with the Young Bucks and FTR, if the storyline has heat around it, then it doesn't need to be the straight heel/face feud. Same with Omega and Jericho. I'm not saying everyone should be a tweener, but I'd like to see what can happen long-term if the face/heel divide is a little more ambiguous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Later this month it'll be a whole year since MJF attacked Jericho and The Inner Circle with a chair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted October 7, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 7, 2020 (edited) This is quality, the first half especially. What a star they’ve made out of Luke Harper. One of the few guys who’s genuinely proven WWE wrong. This video gets me more excited for Brodie vs. Cody than any match all year. Fair play to Jericho too. He’s a good mate trying to make out like Luther is anything more than a jobber from Dark. Edited October 7, 2020 by Supremo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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