The Wrestling Topic

[Demitri_C]

Where the hell can we watch this ppv? Its not on youtube just has some clips but not full ppv

[hogso]

Spoiler

Chills when Shibata's theme started. 

Really good event. I think some people were hoping for Omega, but I think ending it with build for Blood and Guts was the right way to end it. 

 

[Zatman]

2 hours ago, Designer1 said:

He got some great payback for that though courtesy of Stevie Richards and a chair iirc.

Bradshaw is a loathsome piece of shit and always has been.

Yep was posting earlier about Cafe De Rene podcast and Bradshaw and few others were toxic to younger guys on Smackdown that a lot of them are still pissed off to this day

Joey Styles knocked him out so he was all talk as well 

[GarethRDR]

Woke up this morning, vomited hard and had to take a day.  The upshot; during those few hours today that I wasn't curled up in bed feeling sorry for myself, I've been mainlining Forbidden Door.  What a PPV that was!  Think the only downer was:

Spoiler

The ending to the White/Cole/Page/Okada four-way, looks like Cole got a head injury and they had to take an audible (smart money would probably have been on White pinning Cole as the outcome anyway at least) so kudos for White for quick-thinking (watching it back it looked like White had to keep his full weight on Cole to stop him kicking out) but a heck of a shame as it looked like the match was about to go up a gear for it's final third (no successfully executed Rainmakers either).

My oh my though, the rest of the show was almost wall-to-wall bangers. 

• Great to see Claudio Castagnoli, the pop for him was fantastic. ZSJ is something else, I'd probably have that as edging my match of the night.
• Pac finally getting some long-deserved gold, and the prospect of a feud between Miro and House Of Black has me salivating.
• Ospreay and OC delivered big time.

[DCJonah]

3 hours ago, hogso said:

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Chills when Shibata's theme started. 

Really good event. I think some people were hoping for Omega, but I think ending it with build for Blood and Guts was the right way to end it. 

 

Spoiler

I read that this was a big deal but no idea why? I don't know loads about new Japan but had heard of, or seens clips of most of the performers before tonight. Not this guy though  

 

[hogso]

9 hours ago, DCJonah said:

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I read that this was a big deal but no idea why? I don't know loads about new Japan but had heard of, or seens clips of most of the performers before tonight. Not this guy though  

 

I realise now I didn't even post that my spoiler was about forbidden door, so hopefully you all assumed! Anyway, re the surprise appearance after the Ospreay / Orange match:

Spoiler

Well...Katsuyori Shibata debuted at a time when NJPW was pretty awful, but along with Tanahashi and Nakamura, he presented a future for the promotion away from the dross which had been served up at the end of the 90s and early 00s. It's often referred to as Inoki'ism, as he tried to blend Pro Wrestling with MMA, but paired with terrible booking, it was a mess. 

The successes of Tanahashi and Nakamura showed those expectations to be true...but Shibata actually left NJPW in 05, so wasn't really part of dragging NJPW put of those 'dark days' as they're referred to (Tanahashi and Nakamura did, part of the reason why Tana is still the Ace). 

Shibata then comes back years later, having been with Noah and a few other Japanese companies, and dedicated a few years to MMA. The fans don't really like him, for what they see as a betrayal, leaving the company at a time when they needed him most. Worse, he comes back with Sakuraba, a legit MMA star, but it's almost like he's rubbing the fans faces in the Inoki'ism of the past. 

Over a period of about 5 years, the fans turn and he becomes a crowd favourite. This is quite a normal process in NJPW, it's not really like someone will suddenly have a heel or face turn (although that can happen of course), it's more like if someone shows their 'fighting spirit' you'll win them over eventually. And Shibata was the epitome of fighting spirit. Never gave up, was hard hitting, wore the attire of a young lion (nothing flashy), spoke very little, and was always po faced. There was strong style, and then there was Shibata, on a whole different level. 

He became known simply as 'The Wrestler'. By 2017 his stock was higher than ever, he was many fans favourite, and speculation was growing that he'd win the title from Okada. 

He wins the New Japan Cup, a single elimination tournament where the winner gets to face the champ. 

It's Okada v Shibata for the IWGP Heavyweight title at Sakura Genesis. It's a barn stormer of a match, Shibata hitting hard, Okada taking the punishment and dishing out his own, it's back and force for 40 minutes...and this happens 

The headbutt was a normal part of Shibata's moveset, and although that trickle of blood looked dramatic, at the time, it was quite normal, just indicative of how far he would go to win. 

Seemed that way until the final bell, Okada wins, Shibata makes his way out of the ring...but something isn't right. Fans couldn't quite tell if he was selling or not, but in that moment it turned out his right side was becoming paralysed, and he had a bleed on the brain. He probably should have died, but fortunately got to hospital quickly enough for doctors to perform emergency surgery which saved his life. 

So, to see him in a ring, performing moves, is pretty incredible. He's only had one official match since, but it's unclear whether he's going to have a proper run again or not, although momentum is building towards a return to action. Looks like an angle with Ospreay there, and there's unfinished business with Kenta too. 

If you care to, look up some highlights from that 2015-2017 run, cos he had some absolute bangers of matches. 

 

[gwi1890]

Forbidden door best PPV I’ve watched in a while, consistent throughout and didn’t fall flat.

[Demitri_C]

6 hours ago, gwi1890 said:

Forbidden door best PPV I’ve watched in a while, consistent throughout and didn’t fall flat.

It waa great. Shame omega wasnt ready to return yet. Would love to see a omega vs white or cole feud

[gwi1890]

4 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

It waa great. Shame omega wasnt ready to return yet. Would love to see a omega vs white or cole feud

Yes shame Omega couldn’t be at the PPV in some shape or form,  genuinely can’t pick a favourite match from the ppv they were all so good, highlight in terms of moments has to be Shibata’s entrance  it was epic, If I could be picky and find a negative the post match scuffle in the main event was unnecessary,  they really should have let Tanahashi have the ovation and respect that he deserved post match. 

[Demitri_C]

Blood and guts was absolutely awesome. Of you havent seen it watch it. Definitely closest thing ive seen to ecw

[Daweii]

Blood and Guts was a great show from start to finish. It was paced well, the matches leading up to the main event were great, and the Blood and Guts match itself was chaotic in the greatest possible way.

I'll spoiler tag a few things that happened that I want to talk about;

Spoiler

Orange Cassidy getting to come out to Jane by Jefferson Starship was great. He's wanted that song as his theme since AEW started and the band finally cleared its use.

FTR being the mystery partners for Danhausen was perfect. I also love how Danhausen played it up that he had no idea if they were good or not. The storyline progression at the end between The Acclaimed and the Ass Boys was also interesting to see. 

Turning Luchasaurus heel was much needed and his new theme is incredibly good.

I hope the injury Santana picked up in the Blood and Guts match isn't too serious. It seems like he hurt his knee so hopefully its more like a knee sprain than something ACL/PCL related. 

I also hope Eddie Kingston is okay. At the end of the match he was clutching his back and said to Claudio, "I did something to my back, I can't get up, I'm okay though," so I hope he's actually okay, and not looking at a back injury that'll be a pain to heal. 

 

[Demitri_C]

15 minutes ago, Daweii said:

Blood and Guts was a great show from start to finish. It was paced well, the matches leading up to the main event were great, and the Blood and Guts match itself was chaotic in the greatest possible way.

I'll spoiler tag a few things that happened that I want to talk about;

  Hide contents

Orange Cassidy getting to come out to Jane by Jefferson Starship was great. He's wanted that song as his theme since AEW started and the band finally cleared its use.

FTR being the mystery partners for Danhausen was perfect. I also love how Danhausen played it up that he had no idea if they were good or not. The storyline progression at the end between The Acclaimed and the Ass Boys was also interesting to see. 

Turning Luchasaurus heel was much needed and his new theme is incredibly good.

I hope the injury Santana picked up in the Blood and Guts match isn't too serious. It seems like he hurt his knee so hopefully its more like a knee sprain than something ACL/PCL related. 

I also hope Eddie Kingston is okay. At the end of the match he was clutching his back and said to Claudio, "I did something to my back, I can't get up, I'm okay though," so I hope he's actually okay, and not looking at a back injury that'll be a pain to heal. 

 

Spoiler

Im hoping the jericho-kingston feud is over now its been dragging too long. Would have been good to see JAS vs hardys/sting/darby if jeff didnt go get himself in trouble again

Guessing they are goung with a kingston vs claudio feud next as its been teased. Have a feeling a kingston heel turn could be coming.

Be interesting to see who mox eill face next. A Blackpool kombat club vs house of black could be a really good feud

Also i agree about Christian.  He is so much better as a heel. I like how they have turned lucha heel. He looks bad ass now. I think they should have saved the turn for the jungle boy vs cage match as that would ahve been a big shock

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by Demitri_C

[leemond2008]

I haven't watched wrestling since the good old days of Mr Perfect, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Jake the Snake and people like that, I do however love Mick Foley.

Did you know that he has got a new podcast out called Foley is POD?

There's been a few episodes so far, I've listened to about an hour of the first one, anyways, here it is if any of you fools are interested.

 

[Demitri_C]

MITB

Spoiler

If anyone had doubts vince has lost it just look who won the mens MITB. Theory. Yes you read that right **** theory 

So many other deserving people,  riddle, seth, zayn, moss, mcintyre

Good to see liv morgan win though she deserves it

 

[Ingram85]

I really really don’t like Theory and not in a ‘durrr you’re supposed to hate the heel’ way but in a detestable creepy **** scumbag kind of way. Fairly sure there was a few “me too” stories going round about him as well but I may be wrong? 

[Demitri_C]

1 hour ago, Ingram85 said:

I really really don’t like Theory and not in a ‘durrr you’re supposed to hate the heel’ way but in a detestable creepy **** scumbag kind of way. Fairly sure there was a few “me too” stories going round about him as well but I may be wrong? 

I agree. And the selfie gimmick is just uttee shite

[Guest]

Spoiler

Theory being the one to beat Reigns?

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Ingram85 said:

I really really don’t like Theory and not in a ‘durrr you’re supposed to hate the heel’ way but in a detestable creepy **** scumbag kind of way. Fairly sure there was a few “me too” stories going round about him as well but I may be wrong? 

Yeah same here, he has a lot of potential but he’s been handled terribly. And yes the Mee Too stuff was reported. 

[Demitri_C]

34 minutes ago, Dodgyknees said:

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Theory being the one to beat Reigns?

 

Spoiler

I dont think it will be him. My theory (excuse the pun)  cody returns at RR wins it challenges reigns at WM. Wins it in a gruelling match then theory cashes in and wins it at WM.

A truly sickening thought but can see vince doing something so shite.

Hopefully he either does a corbin and flops or better they realise they made a mistake (as its been as unpopular as Donald trump as president) and get seth or riddle get it instead. Theory is literally the WORST choice they cpuld have gone for

 

[Jonesy7211]

15 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

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I dont think it will be him. My theory (excuse the pun)  cody returns at RR wins it challenges reigns at WM. Wins it in a gruelling match then theory cashes in and wins it at WM.

A truly sickening thought but can see vince doing something so shite.

Hopefully he either does a corbin and flops or better they realise they made a mistake (as its been as unpopular as Donald trump as president) and get seth or riddle get it instead. Theory is literally the WORST choice they cpuld have gone for

 

Spoiler

Theory is a WWE guy. Never came through the indies. With all the recent releases and back stage griping, I think Vince will only push new guys that he's made. The guys from the indies are the ones causing him the most bother. I think he's going to strap a rocket on Theory.