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Post by ANuclearError on Jan 24, 2024 7:16:55 GMT -5
Holy shit, that table spot was tremendous.
Table positioned atop the stairs to the stand, and Shota just powerbombs Ren through it. Looked tremendous and done safely.
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Post by ANuclearError on Jan 24, 2024 7:35:13 GMT -5
Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa will face Hikuleo & ELP in Tama's last match in Sapporo.
Tama has also told Shota to take the NEVER belt from EVIL.
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Jan 24, 2024 9:50:03 GMT -5
Umino vowed he would become the new Ace
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Jan 24, 2024 11:19:23 GMT -5
They are vacating them. That's stupid, why not let TMDK win it just now? I suspect its a combo of 3 things:
1) The next champions are already decided upon 2) They're already busy with another programme, so Gedo doesn't wanna change this tour 3) He's just gonna bludgeon his way into giving whoever is getting the belts when he originally planned
Well I don't like, it makes TMDK look bad and vacating the belt drops all of its value like when Samoa Joe did in November |
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Post by ANuclearError on Jan 24, 2024 11:24:06 GMT -5
I suspect its a combo of 3 things:
1) The next champions are already decided upon 2) They're already busy with another programme, so Gedo doesn't wanna change this tour 3) He's just gonna bludgeon his way into giving whoever is getting the belts when he originally planned
Well I don't like, it makes TMDK look bad and vacating the belt drops all of its value like when Samoa Joe did in November Me neither, nothing stopping you from having them be transitional champions and then drop it to whoever was originally planned at the opportune time. It has to be something really anal like "We don't want Fujita to have this be his first reign" or something daft like that. Either that or Okada be like "that doesn't work for me brother". |
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Jan 24, 2024 11:37:59 GMT -5
Well I don't like, it makes TMDK look bad and vacating the belt drops all of its value like when Samoa Joe did in November Me neither, nothing stopping you from having them be transitional champions and then drop it to whoever was originally planned at the opportune time. It has to be something really anal like "We don't want Fujita to have this be his first reign" or something daft like that. Either that or Okada be like "that doesn't work for me brother". I've noticed nowadays that if a talent is leaving a promotion, he often wins his last match. Edge won his final WWE match and so did Kairi when she left Stardom for example. Nakamura himself also won his last New Japan match and vacated The IC Title
Use to if you were leaving, you went out on your shield and put over somebody on your way out
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Post by callmekc on Jan 24, 2024 11:48:06 GMT -5
Me neither, nothing stopping you from having them be transitional champions and then drop it to whoever was originally planned at the opportune time. It has to be something really anal like "We don't want Fujita to have this be his first reign" or something daft like that. Either that or Okada be like "that doesn't work for me brother". I've noticed nowadays that if a talent is leaving a promotion, he often wins his last match. Edge won his final WWE match and so did Kairi when she left Stardom for example. Nakamura himself also won his last New Japan match and vacated The IC Title
Use to if you were leaving, you went out on your shield and put over somebody on your way out
I guess the logic has shifted. It used to be that when someone was leaving you weren't expecting them to return, therefore you get them to put over a replacement. Nowadays there's a very real chance they will return, therefore you want to treat them well in their way out so they'd feel like you're a good option that does right by them when their contract is up for renewal/expiry. |
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Jan 24, 2024 12:05:56 GMT -5
Eddie Kingston is talking about wanting to go to Japan to defend all three titles that he has.
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Post by ace on Jan 24, 2024 12:16:40 GMT -5
They are vacating them. That's stupid, why not let TMDK win it just now? I suspect its a combo of 3 things:
1) The next champions are already decided upon 2) They're already busy with another programme, so Gedo doesn't wanna change this tour 3) He's just gonna bludgeon his way into giving whoever is getting the belts when he originally planned
4. Okada wasn’t feeling it, brother. you think he agree to stay those extra three dates without ensuring it would be a victory tour? |
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Convoy
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Post by Convoy on Jan 24, 2024 13:49:26 GMT -5
Not surprised TMDK didn't win. If they had more time to figure out what to do with Okada's final tour, they would have probably pivoted away from this mini-feud and title match to do something else, but Okada told them he was staying then bailed, and tradition is to keep programs going rather than throw them away for larger reasons. Plus, as previously mentioned, you tend to give cornerstones a pleasant send off in Japan rather than laying down on their way out (see Nakamura).
I did want to point out funny items from the War Dogs/UE post-match comments that no one is talking about yet:
Firstly, it's "screw Gabe Kidd's mental health" fun time in this thing. At 1:20 HENARE pokes fun at Gabe almost committing suicide by noting that if he's so mad, he must first defeat the walls of his hotel room before picking a fight with him. Then Gabe goes off-the-cuff while Finlay is speaking at 8:58 and gets told to shut up, leading to him marching off before the segment is over. Some think this is the beginning of a shift with Gabe and his relationship with the War Dogs, but it's still a bit awkward with Gedo and Coughlin looking off screen to check on him.
Secondly, and I'll preface this by noting that TJP sucks as a person, but they are terrible at detailing what this Openweight Aswang idea is all about and I've lost interest in caring. TJP as a heavyweight does nothing for me, and I've seen Japanese fans talk about this as being a Kishin Liger situation where his alter ego is powerful enough to wrestle a class above, but it's just TJP in a mask spitting mist. No interest in seeing him enter the G1 or take over as leader of United Empire, but he's probably aware that unless he wants to get Brian Kendrick'd, it's probably best he stay in Japan where most don't care about his opinions.
Lastly, and this came before the comments but the follow-up can be seen there, but O-Khan upsettingly removed his UE wristband at the end of the tag match and then didn't appear in the comments alongside his English-speaking teammates. He instead had a solo backstage segment talking about rulers of empires and what the KOPW could lead to in the future. He could be aiming for a bigger piece of the leadership pie, either in UE or elsewhere.
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Jan 24, 2024 14:36:33 GMT -5
I wonder if that and with Ospreay leaving next month, is a sign that UE is disbanding.
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Post by chrom on Jan 24, 2024 15:38:44 GMT -5
Rocky will defend the MLW Openweight Title against Ichiban at Superfight
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Jan 24, 2024 21:07:23 GMT -5
Yuji Nagata faces Bryan Danielson this Saturday on Collision.
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Convoy
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Post by Convoy on Jan 25, 2024 0:00:20 GMT -5
Two matches made official for Sapporo Night 1 on 2/23:
- EVIL defends the NEVER belt against Umino.
- Desperado faces SHO in a non-title match.
Added them to the OP.
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Jan 25, 2024 7:06:00 GMT -5
If they want to build Shota into The Ace, now's the time to do it.
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Post by theresalwaysanegon on Jan 25, 2024 13:20:24 GMT -5
With Okada and Ospreay leaving Chaos and United Empire both groups don't really have a clear leader. It probably won't happen, but this could be a good time to disband those stables and do some major reshuffling of the current stables or create a new one.
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Jan 25, 2024 13:53:29 GMT -5
Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa will face Hikuleo & ELP in Tama's last match in Sapporo. Tama has also told Shota to take the NEVER belt from EVIL. This is probably Tanga's last match in NJPW as well |
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Jan 25, 2024 14:41:53 GMT -5
With Okada and Ospreay leaving Chaos and United Empire both groups don't really have a clear leader. It probably won't happen, but this could be a good time to disband those stables and do some major reshuffling of the current stables or create a new one. It's hard to say. CHAOS has lost two leaders, four if you count how it is basically just the original Great Bash Heel before that became a tag team when everyone that formed CHAOS betrayed Makabe except for loyal Honma. The fact it IS basically just GBH, though, gives an idea of how goddamn long this stable has been running, though, so yeah, it may finally be time. That does leave an issue of basically all the remaining stables but LIJ being heels, but Just Five Guys honestly comes off tweener at worst as it is, so maybe just formally make them faces. United Empire's a more difficult case. Losing Aussie Open, and now Ospreay, leaves them in a state where O-Khan (who frankly seems on the cusp of a face turn as a general rule) or maybe Jeff Cobb could formally take leadership, or the group could disband. Jeff Cobb had maintained Ospreay was not and would never be his leader, anyway, and O-Khan is someone fans seem to want to just cheer, anyway, probably owing to his heroism and just kind of being too fun to really have reason to dislike. |
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Post by Mozenrath on Jan 25, 2024 14:50:43 GMT -5
Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa will face Hikuleo & ELP in Tama's last match in Sapporo. Tama has also told Shota to take the NEVER belt from EVIL. This is probably Tanga's last match in NJPW as well If so, that's for the best. Like, if Tama's going to WWE, letting Tanga go to is fine, since realistically, what would NJPW even do with Tanga at this point? He's a terrible singles guy, and Hikuleo has a partner already. |
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Post by Fundertaker on Jan 25, 2024 18:07:40 GMT -5
With Okada and Ospreay leaving Chaos and United Empire both groups don't really have a clear leader. It probably won't happen, but this could be a good time to disband those stables and do some major reshuffling of the current stables or create a new one. It's hard to say. CHAOS has lost two leaders, four if you count how it is basically just the original Great Bash Heel before that became a tag team when everyone that formed CHAOS betrayed Makabe except for loyal Honma. The fact it IS basically just GBH, though, gives an idea of how goddamn long this stable has been running, though, so yeah, it may finally be time. That does leave an issue of basically all the remaining stables but LIJ being heels, but Just Five Guys honestly comes off tweener at worst as it is, so maybe just formally make them faces. United Empire's a more difficult case. Losing Aussie Open, and now Ospreay, leaves them in a state where O-Khan (who frankly seems on the cusp of a face turn as a general rule) or maybe Jeff Cobb could formally take leadership, or the group could disband. Jeff Cobb had maintained Ospreay was not and would never be his leader, anyway, and O-Khan is someone fans seem to want to just cheer, anyway, probably owing to his heroism and just kind of being too fun to really have reason to dislike. J5G are in the middle of the alignment scale along with TMDK. LIJ are more face than ever with only CHAOS and the home army being face-ier. United Empire are heel-ish but also becoming more face-ish as time goes on and BC has all the rest of the heels (I'd put OG BC -> War Dogs -> House of Torture in the face-to-heel scale). |
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