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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on May 5, 2019 9:55:52 GMT -5
As for Okada, I would rather see him take the title into WK14 as I’m afraid the belt has been bouncing around a little too often this year. (Rant incoming)
I feel longer reigns, especially if the champion has interesting opponents lined up, are better for business because it’s easier for casual and newer fans to get behind winners.
Say what you will about Meltzer, but he made a point recently when talking about WWE’s 50/50 booking and ratings slide- the marquee teams in baseball are the ones that draw the most money. I think some fans and bookers look at things like Cena’s mixed responses, Roman’s booing and Bryan’s underdog push, and think “the super-champion doesn’t work anymore, you have to have the hero struggle!”
That’s not true with a lot of casual fans, IMO. They’ll cheer for faces and heels if the wrestler and their characters are entertaining, yes. But they want to see people they like win. And during the period when Roman was struggling to beat Brock while also being hailed as the next guy, his boos got worse. I believe fans were annoyed even more with the Roman hype because he was choking, not so much because WWE is high on him. When he’s not cutting whiny promos and just kicking ass, fans love Roman.
I think NJPW gets it right with guys like Okada and Tanahashi not just because they’re talented, but also because they’re the heroes that fans can rely on to beat the nasty bad guys. And that’s great for business, as opposed to the heat-fests Raw can be these days.
So when Okada does lose, it means more to the winner because they’ve toppled such a deadly champion.
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Post by IgnahtaSempria on May 5, 2019 20:09:57 GMT -5
Lame nickname aside (Painmaker? Come on Jericho, you're better than that) I'm okay with it, just because Jericho shamelessly ripping off his opponent's nickname/gimmick is becoming a recurring thing in his matches (The Alpha against Kenny Omega, being "f***ing crazy" instead of "tranquilo" and creating the "Listo Ingobernable de Jericho" when he feuded with Naito, and now this).
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Post by Mozenrath on May 5, 2019 20:10:57 GMT -5
I guess, but after the loooooooooong Okada reign, and the decently long Omega reign he spent a lot of injured, I think a couple of short reigns were fine, especially since it's not like Tanahashi has to worry about his credibility at this point, and Jay White definitely needed a dose of it to move upwards.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on May 5, 2019 20:13:26 GMT -5
Lame nickname aside (Painmaker? Come on Jericho, you're better than that) I'm okay with it, just because Jericho shamelessly ripping off his opponent's nickname/gimmick is becoming a recurring thing in his matches (The Alpha against Kenny Omega, being "f***ing crazy" instead of "tranquilo" and creating the "Listo Ingobernable de Jericho" when he feuded with Naito, and now this). That is true, he does have a long history of trying to one-up his opponents in feuds, like the 1004 holds with Malenko, liberally stealing his opponent's finishers sometimes like against HBK, etc. This is just an evolution of that.
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Post by corndog on May 6, 2019 10:49:22 GMT -5
I'm okay with Jericho as a challenger, it gives Okada a fresh match. The painmaker is pretty cheesy, but it works for him.
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Post by Hypnosis on May 17, 2019 19:18:41 GMT -5
Taichi looks like he could be a Final Fantasy villain.
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