chrom
Backup Wench
Master of the rare undecuple post
Posts: 84,848
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Post by chrom on Jul 12, 2020 7:05:43 GMT -5
I'll tell you all now though- you can say whatever you want about Gedo, but the very last thing you can call him is a cowardly booker. The jury is still very much out on whether this will work or not, but the guy had some f***ing balls to do this. He could've easily done the safe route of Okada/Naito again, which is what WWE would have done. Instead he went in a way no one would've expected a month ago
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Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,110
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Post by Mozenrath on Jul 12, 2020 7:11:42 GMT -5
lmfao Never change, Gedo. This is why I gave up on caring about wrestlers in NJPW. I picked Naito in 2015 and once he lost in 2018, I knew it was never going to change. People tried to act like his title win this year mattered but I knew this was coming. It did matter, though. Winning at Wrestle Kingdom, finally besting Okada, that was the destiny. I always saw him more as a chaser to a title than the "take on all comers" kind of champion, and if he was going to lose the title to hijinks, I'm glad it's against someone new and not just Jay White or the like.
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Post by eJm on Jul 12, 2020 7:32:06 GMT -5
I “get” the outrage but I see it as them taking a risk they likely wouldn’t have done if the pandemic didn’t happen and honestly, I want to see where it all goes.
If it goes wrong then at least you tried which is something a lot more promotions should do to be honest.
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Post by BRAINFADE on Jul 12, 2020 7:52:42 GMT -5
I “get” the outrage but I see it as them taking a risk they likely wouldn’t have done if the pandemic didn’t happen and honestly, I want to see where it all goes. If it goes wrong then at least you tried which is something a lot more promotions should do to be honest. And given that they can only run buildings with limited capacity, it's a relatively low risk at that.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jul 12, 2020 7:55:30 GMT -5
lmfao Never change, Gedo. This is why I gave up on caring about wrestlers in NJPW. I picked Naito in 2015 and once he lost in 2018, I knew it was never going to change. People tried to act like his title win this year mattered but I knew this was coming. It did matter, though. Winning at Wrestle Kingdom, finally besting Okada, that was the destiny. I always saw him more as a chaser to a title than the "take on all comers" kind of champion, and if he was going to lose the title to hijinks, I'm glad it's against someone new and not just Jay White or the like. To me, it didn't matter. He needed to beat Okada after four years in 2018. Waiting two more years until 2020 just to have him drop the title quickly again felt pretty pointless. This didn't upset me or anything like that. Gedo made it so I haven't cared about Naito in those two years. He was my favorite wrestler in NJPW from 2015 until 2018. When he won in 2020, I didn't even react. I've been over the "wait and see" approach with Gedo for years.
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Post by Hypnosis on Jul 12, 2020 7:57:12 GMT -5
Why's EVIL wearing Hikaru Shida's Tifa skirt?
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Fundertaker
El Dandy
Hideo Kojima should direct every ending ever!
Posts: 8,932
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Post by Fundertaker on Jul 12, 2020 8:28:53 GMT -5
I love EVIL, I love Dick Togo even more, but thought this was just too much lol. It’s more that (outside of the interference) I think the double titles should have been more unique than the result. But it clears up Naito’s booking problem with two belts if he were to win the heavy back Although it does give a lil more credence to the idea of Daisuke Sasaki doing bosj like Hiromu suggested. If there's a BOSJ this year at all, I'm all for it. Also, since he's now a freelancer, maybe we'll FINALLY get Ikuto Hidaka in the BOSJ? I believe he's the only bigger name of the late 90's/early 2000s to never compete in one.
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chrom
Backup Wench
Master of the rare undecuple post
Posts: 84,848
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Post by chrom on Jul 12, 2020 8:30:31 GMT -5
Evil is a Triple Crown, A Grand Slam and more now
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jul 12, 2020 8:35:01 GMT -5
I personally liked EVIL's skirt.
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Post by Malibu Albino on Jul 12, 2020 9:17:36 GMT -5
They actually did it, I am so happy. I can get why people would be mad about Naito losing “so soon” but in reality he has been champ for 6 months and likely would have been champ this long without the pandemic. I could understand wanting him to have more defenses before doing this but when you’re missing key stars you need to elevate the ones you have and this was a hell of a way to elevate EVIL. I’m interested to see what happens with the IC title now.
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Post by Some Baritone guy IS REDEEMED! on Jul 12, 2020 9:33:12 GMT -5
I think this was originally supposed to be Jay White.
I think the plan was for Naito to beat the New Japan Cup winner at Sakura Genesis, and then the runner up at Dontaku, with Jay White then throwing out the challenge to Naito for Dominion.
Then White would have beaten Naito for the belts thanks to the betrayal of EVIL, vacated the Intercontinental title, which likely then would have ended up on EVIL anyway.
This would likely have ended up with Ibushi Vs. White at Tokyo Dome for the belt, with Ibushi's coronation finally happening.
But since Jay White is trapped in Florida for the moment, they had to change their plans considerably. Especially since it's unlikely Jay will be able to make it back by the end of the year.
So instead we get EVIL as world champion...
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chrom
Backup Wench
Master of the rare undecuple post
Posts: 84,848
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Post by chrom on Jul 12, 2020 9:50:11 GMT -5
I think this was originally supposed to be Jay White. I think the plan was for Naito to beat the New Japan Cup winner at Sakura Genesis, and then the runner up at Dontaku, with Jay White then throwing out the challenge to Naito for Dominion. Then White would have beaten Naito for the belts thanks to the betrayal of EVIL, vacated the Intercontinental title, which likely then would have ended up on EVIL anyway. This would likely have ended up with Ibushi Vs. White at Tokyo Dome for the belt, with Ibushi's coronation finally happening. But since Jay White is trapped in Florida for the moment, they had to change their plans considerably. Especially since it's unlikely Jay will be able to make it back by the end of the year. So instead we get EVIL as world champion... I think the original plan was for White to win the NJC and win at Sakura Genesis
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Post by 1 Free Moon-Down with Burger on Jul 12, 2020 10:13:27 GMT -5
I’m kinda flabbergasted by all of this.
Buuuuuut if the alternative was another Jay White title run I’ll definitely take this.
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Jul 12, 2020 11:22:11 GMT -5
It’s a risk but I’m down for it
I love Naito but the pandemic happened and he got snake bit by that. I’m intrigued tho. NJPW don’t usually do shock booking
If anything this is like when Naito won the IWGP title the first time. EVIL won’t have it long but it’s on his resume now
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
Celestial Princess in Exile.
Posts: 46,139
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Jul 12, 2020 11:26:01 GMT -5
It’s a risk but I’m down for it I love Naito but the pandemic happened and he got snake bit by that. I’m intrigued tho. NJPW don’t usually do shock booking If anything this is like when Naito won the IWGP title the first time. EVIL won’t have it long but it’s on his resume now I'd sort of like to see Hiromu go on a massive revenge campaign, but it seems like Dick Togo is there to keep him away from EVIL, so...
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Post by Some Baritone guy IS REDEEMED! on Jul 12, 2020 11:47:57 GMT -5
I honestly think EVIL is the most underwhelming Heavyweight champion New Japan's had since I've started watching.
He only does slow brawls with no intensity or heat to them. It was tolerable on the midcard, but now we have to give him 10-20 minutes more of it?
I can hardly think of anybody on the New Japan roster, I would like to see as the Heavyweight champion less than EVIL. I have seen precisely two matches from him that I thought were actually good, and those were against Sanada and Jericho.
Let's just hope they keep this short, so we can move on.
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Jul 12, 2020 12:09:40 GMT -5
Eh, I've woken up to worse Dick in my life.
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ronin705
Dennis Stamp
All Might
Posts: 4,277
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Post by ronin705 on Jul 12, 2020 12:12:58 GMT -5
....EVIL!?!?!? ....WORD!? My man Naito gets his run punked out like this!?! Wowwwwwww.
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Post by BatPunk on Jul 12, 2020 13:01:45 GMT -5
Really wasn’t expecting this.
But.
I’m intrigued as to where this is going and the possibilities within the factions. Naito/Timebomb’s relationship? What’s in store for Shingo? Bullet Club Cival War?
The more I think about this, the more I’m liking this move. It really opens everything up for some change before the crowds really start coming back.
Certainly not a safe move, but there’s no better time to do something like this.
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Mochi Lone Wolf
Fry's dog Seymour
Development through Destruction.
Posts: 24,038
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Post by Mochi Lone Wolf on Jul 12, 2020 18:06:10 GMT -5
I've always been of the unpopular opinion that Naito is not nearly as compelling as champion than when he's chasing.
I mean, even after he won at WK, I was happy for him, but my investment in him went down considerably. I was always much more intrigued by the juniors, KENTA, and the tag division than I was in whatever was next for him. Thankfully, it happened to be KENTA who I had been buzzing off since he turned heel.
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