#g1 climax 34 - night 8

[realgraps]

failboy moment #1584

[shotaumino]

G1 Climax 34 Night 10 - 8/4/24

[gdwessel]

G1 Climax 30 Night 14 - 10/11/2020

G1 Climax 30 continued today, with a show you can see now on NJPWWorld. This time out, B Block matches took place, and we can pretty much see where this is going from here.

- 10/11/2020, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

Gabriel Kidd d. Yota Tsuji (Double-Arm Suplex, 7:09)

G1 Climax 30 B Block: Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] d. YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] (Clarky Cat, 13:34)

G1 Climax 30 B Block: KENTA [Bullet Club] d. Toru Yano [CHAOS] (Countout, 8:56)

G1 Climax 30 B Block: SANADA [Los Ingobernables] d. Juice Robinson (Moonsault, 15:06)

G1 Climax 30 B Block: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] d. Hiroshi Tanahashi (GTR, 13:38)

G1 Climax 30 B Block: EVIL [Bullet Club] d. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] (EVIL STO, 23:57)

Yes, EVIL won through chicanery, but we expect that at this point. The real point here is, to make EVIL v. SANADA on Saturday be the B Block final, as we have multiple storylines converging. For one thing, SANADA finally getting a shot at his former pareja who betrayed all of LIJ. Second, now we have the seeds of a feud within Bullet Club between EVIL and Jay White, so EVIL v. Jay White in the G1 Final next Sunday is a real possibility. Again, we already know Naito won’t win the Block, or G1, because he’s already the Double Gold Champion. He needs a challenger. End of.

What’s really surprising, is Goto getting the win over Tanahashi, because... where do you go with that? Toru Yano’s run is at an end too at this point. Let’s look at the standings.

EVIL: 10pts (5W 0D 2L) Naito: 10pts (5W 0D 2L) SANADA: 8pts (4W 0D 3L) Sabre: 8pts (4W 0D 3L) Goto: 8pts (4W 0D 3L) Tanahashi: 6pts (3W 0D 4L) Robinson: 6pts (3W 0D 4L) KENTA: 6pts (3W 0D 4L) Yano: 6pts (3W 0D 4L) YOSHI-HASHI: 2pts (1W 0D 6L)

Technically, only YOSHI-HASHI is mathematically eliminated, but also, let’s get real here. It’s going to be EVIL v. SANADA that decides the block. There’s no other reasonable scenario for B Block.

The tour takes a day off tomorrow, but returns Tuesday, with the penultimate day of A Block matches. I may be a little late on that post as I need to sadly go into my office that day.

- 10/13/2020, Shizuoka Hamamatsu Arena

Yuya Uemura v. Gabriel Kidd

G1 Climax 30 A Block: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. Jeff Cobb [FREE]

G1 Climax 30 A Block: Kota Ibushi v. Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 30 A Block: Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Taichi [SZKG]

G1 Climax 30 A Block: Minoru Suzuki [SZKG] v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 30 A Block: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS]

[fcablog]

1st Annual FCA Year-End Awards-THE WINNERS

The 1st Annual FCA Year-End Awards voting is officially over. Thank you to all who voted. Some categories were close in voting and overs were a runaway. I was a little surprise how some categories went. Now for the part you have all been waiting for. Who won?! Well let’s not wait any further:

FCA Lucha Underground Wrestler of 2018 -- Taya Valkyrie (31.8%): This was somewhat a surprise since she was only a small centerpiece of a storyline on Season 4 of Lucha Underground, but she left a good enough impression on you guys to earn the award this year. With the future of Lucha Underground in question, she might be the one and only winnner of the Lucha Underground Wrestler of the Year Award. Marty Martinez & Pentagon Dark tied for 2nd place with 18.2% of the votes and Taya’s husband, Johnny Mundo finished 3rd with 13.6% of the votes

FCA’s Mr. ROH 2018 -- Jay Lethal (23.8%): Jay Lethal made a resurgence back to the top of the ROH throne and carried the ROH flag throughout the entire year so it only made sense that the champ would win this honor. Marty Scrull & Dalton Castle tied for 2nd place with 19% of the votes and Hangman Page finished 3rd with 14.3% of the votes

FCA Cruiserweight/Jr. Heavyweight Wrestler of 2018 -- Mustafa Ali (35.7%): Although he never quite captured the WWE Cruiserweight title, he made up for it with stellar performances throughout the year to convince the fans that he was must see. He’s officially a member of the SmackDown roster and already has shown that he can hang with the best. Will Ospreay finished 2nd with 21.4% of the votes and Buddy Murphy finished 3rd with 14.3% of the votes.

FCA Viral Wrestler of 2018 -- Becky Lynch (77.8%): Becky Lynch lived up to her moniker of The Man. Her bloody face was all over social media and she was a savage on Twitter and can’t seem to stop. We don’t want her to stop. She ran away with this category. Tama Tonga & PAC tied for 2nd with 7.4% of the votes while Sami Callahan & The Young Bucks tied for 3rd with 3.7% of the votes

FCA Best Tag Team of 2018 -- The Undisputed Era (36.7%): Probably the most over tag team in the business, the Undisputed Era had a great 2018 in NXT’s tag team division winning the Dusty Rhodes Classic and becoming 2-time NXT Tag Team Champions. It makes total sense that they win this award and that, boys & girls, is UNDISPUTED. The Young Bucks finished 2nd with 16.7% of the votes and surprisingly The Revival finished 3rd with 13.3% of the votes.

FCA Best UK-Based Male Wrestler of 2018 -- Pete Dunne (68.2%): The current reigning & defending WWE United Kingdom Champion is currently the longest reigning titleholder on WWE’s roster right now and has taken on all who have challenged his throne. He’s earned the honor of being considered the UK’s best. Tyler Bate, WALTER & Zack Gibson tied for 2nd with 9.1% of the votes and Joe Coffey finished 3rd with 4.5% of the votes.

FCA Best NXT Match of 2018 -- TWO WAY TIE (20%): So I knew this category was gonna be tight, but a 2-way tie? I was coming up with this category, I struggled to pick one. That’s how good NXT was in 2018.  Johnny Gargano VS. Andrade Almas from TakeOver: Philadelphia & Johnny Gargano VS. Tommaso Ciampa in a Last Man Standing Match at TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 got the majority of the votes at 20% and both were definitely MOTY candidates. The Chicago Street Fight from TakeOver: Chicago 2 between Gargano and Ciampa finished 2nd with 16% of the votes. Tied for 3rd at 12% was Ricochet VS. Velveteen Dream from TakeOver: Chicago 2 & Aleister Black VS. Johnny Gargano from TakeOver: WarGames 2.

FCA Best NJPW Match of 2018 --  Kenny Omega VS. Chris Jericho //No DQ Match (WK12) (26.3%): When this was made official in 2017, Omega VS. Jericho was seen as a dream match and this match delivered on his hype and added on to the legend of both men. Omega’s battle with fellow Golden Lover, Kota Ibushi in the G1 Climax came in 2nd with 21.1% of the votes and coming in 3rd was the instant classic between Okada & Omega from the Dominion PPV.

FCA Best WWE Match of 2018 -- Becky Lynch VS. Charlotte Flair // Last Woman Standing (WWE Evolution) (65.5%): The Man & The Queen made history at the 1st ever all-women’s PPV in the 1st ever Last Woman Standing Match and it was an instant classic. Definitely worthy of being the best WWE Match of 2018. The Triple Threat TLC match from TLC 2018 between Asuka, Becky & Charlotte finished 2nd with 20.7% of the votes while the Triple Threat match at Wrestlemania 34 between Seth Rollins, Finn Balor & The Miz finished 3rd with 6.9% of the votes.

FCA Best UK-Based Female Wrestler of 2018 --  Rhea Ripley(45.5%): This was somewhat of a surprised to me, but in a short amount of time, Rhea Ripley made a lasting impression on fans with a great performance in the Mae Young Classic and winning a 8-woman tournament to become the 1st ever NXT UK Women’s Champion. Toni Storm finished 2nd with 40.9% of the vote and Isla Dawn, Jinny & Millie McKenzie tied for 3rd place 4.5& of the votes a piece.

FCA Best NXT Female Wrestler of 2018 -- Kairi Sane(30%): The former NXT Womens Champ had a great 2018 capturing the title for the 1st time at TakeOver: Brooklyn 4. She had an amazing rivalry with Shanya Baszler in 2018 and 2019 is looking bright for the Pirate Princess. Shayna Baszler came in 2nd with 20% of the votes and in 3rd was Nikki Cross with 16.7% of the votes.

FCA Best SD Live Female Wrestler of 2018 --  Becky Lynch(76.2%): Just like in the category for Viral Wrestler of 2018, Becky Lynch ran away with the majority of the votes which tells you the kind of 2018 Becky Lynch had. Coming 2nd with 9.2% of the votes each was Asuka & Charlotte Flair while Naomi came in 3rd with 4.8% of the votes.

FCA Best RAW Female Wrestler of 2018 -- Natayla (32.1%): This was a surprise winner here. While she didn’t have the most successful 2018 as far as achievements, she was a consistent performer in the ring and put on great matches. Ruby Riott came in 2nd with 21.4% of the votes and Sasha Banks finished in 3rd with 14.3% of the votes.

FCA Best WWE Female Wrestler of 2018 --  Becky Lynch(86.7%): Becky Lynch completes the clean sweep by winning this award capping off an amazing 2018 for The Man. Not one member of RAW was in the running for this award which shows how good SmackDown was. Charlotte & Asuka got the rest of the votes garnering 6.7% of the votes a piece.

FCA Best Impact Wrestling Female Wrestler of 2018 --  Taya Valkyrie(44.4%): Despite not competing on Impact Wrestling for a good portion of the year, you guys felt that she was the best of the Knockouts roster. Impact Knockouts Champ Tessa Blanchard came in 2nd with 33.3% of the votes and former champ Su Yung came in 3rd with 16.7% of the votes.

FCA Best NJPW Wrestler of 2018 -- Kenny Omega (16.7%): The reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion had a great 2018 highlighted by finally defeating Kazuchika Okada for the heavyweight crown at Dominion. He also had a classic encounter with Chris Jericho at Wrestle Kingdom 12. His tag partner, Kota Ibushi came in 2nd with 13.9% of the votes and coming in 3rd place was Jay White with 11.1% of the votes.

FCA Best Impact Wrestling Wrestler of 2018 --  Pentagon Jr.(32%): CERO MIEDO! Pentagon Jr. made an impact (no pun intended) everywhere he went in 2018, but made a huge splash when he became the Impact World Heavyweight Champion back in April defeating Austin Aries and brother Fenix in an amazing triple threat match. Sami Callahan came in 2nd with 28% of the vote while Fenix & Johnny Impact finished 3rd receiving 12% of the votes each.

FCA Best RAW Male Wrestler of 2018 -- Seth Rollins(27.3%): As he stated himself, Seth Rollins carried RAW on his back throughout 2018 capturing the Intercontinental Championship and putting on the best performances just about every night. Finn Balor finished 2nd with 21.2% of the votes and Dean Ambrose finished 3rd with 15.2% of the votes.

FCA Best SD Live Male Wrestler of 2018 --  AJ Styles(31.4%): SmackDown Live was definitely the “House That AJ Styles Built” in 2018 dominating the year as WWE Champion putting on stellar performances. Daniel Bryan got 20% of the votes finishing 2nd and Andrade “Cien” Almas finished 3rd with 14.3% of the votes.

FCA Best NXT Male Wrestler of 2018 --  Tommaso Ciampa(25.6%): The self-proclaimed “Greatest Sports Entertainer of All Time” had probably the best (if not one of the best) 2018 of any wrestler in the business. He made his return from injury at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia by attacking Johnny Gargano with a crutch which led to the best feud of 2018. Not only did he had an epic series of matches with his former DIY partner, but manage to capture the NXT Championship along the way. Former NXT Champ, Aleister Black finished 2nd with 23.1% of the votes while rising star Velveteen Dream finish 3rd with 15.4% of the votes.

FCA Best WWE Male Wrestler of 2018 -- Seth Rollins (43.9%): Not only did the majority of you feel like The Kingslayer was the best of RAW, but the best wrestler in WWE and it’s hard to argue. AJ Styles & The Miz tied for 2nd with 14.6% of the votes and coming in at 3rd with 9.8% of the votes was Dean Ambrose.

[pwrestlingxpress]

Golden☆Lovers Reunite & Ronda Rousey’s in WWE 

On January 28, 2018; fans in both New Japan and WWE were witnesses to a reunion and a shocking signing to which fans in Sapporo, Philadelphia, and worldwide went nuts as Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi reunited and almost 20 hours later, Ronda Rousey arrives in the WWE.  How these two moments got media talking was something that still as of right now I can’t believe.

Let’s start off with the reunion of the Golden☆Lovers.  The seeds for this reunion were planted back in late June of last year when New Japan announced Kota Ibushi as a surprise entrant at their annual G1 Climax Round-Robin tournament in which he would participate in the A-Block while Kenny Omega competed in the B-Block.  On August 13th, 2017 after Kenny Omega lost to Los Ingobernables de Japon leader Tetsuya Naito in the G1 Finals, he was confronted by Ibushi in which Kenny simply just walked away with Kota only looking on.  Months passed after that in which nothing was being developed until November 5, 2017 when Kota was approached by Cody Rhodes after having been beat by Hiroshi Tanahashi in the main event.  Cody proposed to Kota a match at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome where Kota would end up winning over Cody who was by then on a losing streak of sorts. But the true seeds for the reunion where planted on January 5th, 2018 at New Japan’s New Year Dash in which Cody lead an attack on Kota and proceeded to hit Kota with a steel chair to the head until Kenny Omega arrived to make the save.  What no one knew at the time was that Kota was apparently crying when Kenny made the save and as a added bonus, didn’t know why Kenny made the save for him whereas Kenny’s reasons for saving Kota had to do with Cody going into business for himself and not Bullet Club. 

Fast forward 23 days later at Night Two of New Beginning in Sapporo where after Kenny lost the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship to Jay White (who Kenny showed respect to after the match), Cody stabs Kenny in the back and proceeded to do the same thing that he attempted to do to Kota until like Omega did back on January 5th, Kota made the save for Kenny Omega.  After that, we became witnesses as Kota extended his hand to Kenny which he would not accept but in the end as Omega was about to leave the ring, was turned around by Ibushi and after that both hugged it out thus reuniting the Golden☆Lovers.  Down below is the full reunion courtesy of an random user on YouTube with Japanese commentary. Click here to watch the reunion with English commentary.  I take no credit in these videos. 

UPDATE (2.6.2018 at 8:37 AM Eastern):  Down below is an updated video of the same reunion except this one is courtesy of NJPW’s English YouTube channel as the original one I put up has been deleted apparently for copyright purposes including the one that had English commentary.  Anyway, here’s the full reunion with English commentary, again courtesy of NJPW’s English YouTube channel.  If you want to watch the reunion with Japanese commentary, go to NJPW World to get that one. 

Now onto Ronda Rousey.  Back in 2015, she made an appearance that was at the time a 1-off appearance at Wrestlemania 31 and with The Rock proceeded to one-up Triple H and Stephanie McMahon who were gloating over Triple H’s win against Sting earlier in the night.  Fast forward to January where rumors start spreading that Ronda would be coming to WWE and compete at the first-ever Woman’s Royal Rumble.  However, she continued to diffuse the rumors stating that she’ll be somewhere else on the day of the Royal Rumble even to the point she would post pictures of her being somewhere else.  But after Asuka won the first-ever Woman’s Royal Rumble in which she would decide who she would face at Wrestlemania 34, new music suddenly play in which Ronda Rousey arrives in the Wells Fargo Center.  After entering the ring, Ronda would point at the Wrestlemania logo which was her way of saying “I want a match at Wrestlemania”.  At this time, it is unknown what match she’ll have but after sending the message, ESPN broke the news that Ronda Rousey has signed with the WWE on a multi-year deal. Down below is her surprise appearance that occurred at the end of that night. 

There are many questions surrounding Golden☆Lovers reunion and the signing of Ronda Rousey.  How long will the reunion last? What is Ronda’s motive by joining WWE?  Unfortunately, I can’t answer these questions now but all I can say is that January 28, 2018 will go down as one of the best nights in professional wrestling history. 

[lostinyourears]

G1 Night 17 Finishes

Phew! Block A closes with a stellar night of matches where talents seemed perfectly matched. You have the oddballs who no one thought would win pairing, Middle to high ground talents in match’s 3 and 4 and lastly the two seasoned main eventers, the ACE IC champion and the man he dethroned for that belt.

Yuji Nagata vs Bad Luck Fale, This is pretty standard fare for a Bad Luck Fale match. I found myself growing accustom to seeing Yuji Nagata these last two weeks. It’s sad to see such a great talent nearing retirement, but I ease that feeling knowing he has plenty of classics I can go back to watch... this wasn’t one of them.

Togi Makabe vs Yoshi-Hashi, I’d be hard pressed to name talents I liked less this tournament then these two. I like Makabe’s finish in general and the one in this match was good. Yoshi-Hashi did okay this tournament, but performed about on par for what I was expecting from him. 

Tomohiro Ishii vs Zack Sabre Jr., a rematch from just over a month ago in the IWGP US Title tournament. I think this was as good, if not better than that match. I’m surprised Ishii and Sabre match up so well, but they do. Seeing Zack Sabre Jr. tie up Ishii in a knot was fantastic and feels like an evolution of the match they had at the US Title Tournament. This and the next two matches are arguably all in the top ten for Block A for me. 

Hirooki Goto vs Kota Ibushi, two guys that had to be favorites going into block A. Goto having made it to the final last year and Kota Ibushi/Kenny Omega having an obvious story to tell in a match. Both came up slightly short though and so here are just fighting for 2 more points and pride. While I’m not huge on Goto I have to hand it to him here. It was a great match between these two and it takes 2 to tango. The ending alone, might be one of the best finishes of the whole tournament and a great moment. If Ibushi works more for NJPW after the G1 Climax this seems like a feud that could steal a show. 

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito, watch out Omega/Okada after this match they might have quite the show to beat. I honestly think Block B will have to work their asses off tomorrow to beat todays show. A big reason for that is this fantastic main event that took the Naito/Tanahashi feud, made it less then 30 minutes and made it a non-blinking affair for me.  I think the two switching up their offenses and finding ways to counter the other was great throughout. Definitely in contention for match of the block with the other best being Naito Ibushi. Making it feel more than fitting that Naito may win G1 2017, since he more than proved he is one of the best talents the company has. 

Not a night to miss! If you are more than a few night behind, just skip to the last three matches of this night before the finals come. The Tanahashi/Naito match will be a match people remember 5-10-15 years from now. 

My personal rankings for Block A :

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito

2. Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito

3. Tomohiro Ishii vs Kota Ibushi

4. Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

5. Tomohiro Ishii vs Zack Sabre Jr.

6. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tomohiro Ishii

7.Yuji Nagata vs Tomohiro Ishii

8. Hirooki Goto vs Kota Ibushi

9.Yuji Nagata vs Kota Ibushi

10.Zack Sabre Jr vs Yuji Nagata

11.Tetsuya Naito vs Hirooki Goto

12. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kota Ibushi

13. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Yuji Nagata

14. Tetsuya Naito vs Togi Makabe

15.Tomohiro Ishii vs Bad Luck Fale

16. Tomohiro Ishii vs Tetsuya Naito

17. Yuji Nagata vs. YOSHI-HASHI

18. YOSHI-HASHI vs Togi Makabe

19. Bad Luck Fale vs Hirooki Goto

20. Kota Ibushi vs Bad Luck Fale

21. Zack Sabre Jr vs Tetsuya Naito

22.Kota Ibushi vs Yoshi-Hashi

23. Bad Luck Fale vs Tetsuya Naito

24. Tetsuya Naito vs. YOSHI-HASHI

25. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

26.Zack Sabre Jr. vs Hirooki Goto

27.Zack Sabre Jr. vs Bad Luck Fale

28.Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii

29. Zack Sabre Jr. vs Togi Makabe

30. Kota Ibushi vs Togi Makabe

31. Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii

32. Togi Makabe vs Yuji Nagata

33. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Hirooki Goto

34. Zack Sabre Jr. vs YOSHI-HASHI

35.  Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale

36. Togi Makabe vs. Bad Luck Fale

37. Yuji Nagata vs Tetsuya Naito

38. Tomohiro Ishii vs Yoshi-Hashi

39. Yoshi Hashi vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

40. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Togi Makabe

41.  Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto

42. Togi Makabe vs Hirooki Goto

43. Hirooki Goto vs Yoshi Hashi

44. Bad Luck Fale vs Yuji Nagata

45. Bad Luck Fale vs Yoshi Hashi

All 45 matches of Block A ranked. As always, this is just personal preference. If you disagree, I’m always down to see anyone else’s personal rankings. It’s also 45 matches to rank so some naturally just gravitate one way or the other. It’s been starting with 5 and adding 5 every day so some just floated lower.

[latestnews2018-blog]

Views From The Turnbuckle: Why Roman Reigns Isn't Over As A Top Guy

New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/views-from-the-turnbuckle-why-roman-reigns-isnt-over-as-a-top-guy/

Views From The Turnbuckle: Why Roman Reigns Isn't Over As A Top Guy

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of WrestlingInc or its staff

WARNING: This webpage WILL contain match ratings from the G1 Climax at the bottom of the article, so if you are not interested in seeing them, divert your delicate eyes to another article on WrestlingInc

Well, here we go again.

Roman Reigns will face Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam for the Universal Championship, in a rematch from WrestleMania. This will be the fourth time Reigns has challenged Lesnar in a singles match for the world title on a PPV; and so far each time Reigns was the heavy favorite to win the title, and each time he has come up short. At WrestleMania 34, Reigns was beaten cleanly by Lesnar it what was a shocking upset, and he lost a controversial match later that month at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia.

So once more, Reigns will face Lesnar for the world title. Since Reigns and Lesnar had their first singles match at WrestleMania 31 (which later ended up being a triple threat won by Seth Rollins) WWE has been teasing putting Reigns over Lesnar, but each time has backed out on actually doing it. There is a debate on exactly why WWE hasn’t just put Reigns over Lesnar already, with the prevailing thought being that each time WWE did not feel comfortable giving Reigns that signature victory, expressing a fear that Reigns was not popular enough to justify giving him a title victory over Lesnar.

I suppose if that is the case, then WWE’s strategy has been to delay that marquee victory until Reigns is over enough with the audience. Over the last several years, WWE has tried different strategies to get Reigns over, ranging from having popular wrestlers endorse him, to re-forming The Shield, to their current strategy of attempting to sell fans that Lesnar is a lazy, absentee champion who doesn’t care about the fans, so that when Reigns beats him for the title, they will cheer for him for saving the world title from Lesnar.

The problem with those various strategies is that for starters, none of them have worked. In hindsight they have probably actually done Reigns a disservice. His constant failures against Lesnar have made him look like a jobber to the stars, and someone that doesn’t deserve multiple title shots because he never seems to win them.

Additionally, the years of delaying the inevitable has been agonizing for fans. Most fans know that WWE is committed to pushing Reigns as the top guy in the company, so just enduring this process of him failing against Lesnar has become very frustrating. Just get it over with already. It’s like sitting in a dentist chair waiting for a root canal; and the dentist keeps fiddling around with all of his tools and putting around the office. You know you are getting the root canal eventually; why does it have to be dragged out like this? And that is exactly what Roman Reigns’ push has been like for a lot of fans, a f–king root canal.

The weird thing is that since WWE has chosen to keep the world title on Lesnar and also chosen to keep Lesnar off of television, Reigns winning the world title doesn’t mean a whole lot. What would the difference be? He’s the most featured star on television and constantly in the main event of PPVs? That has already been happening for years. The world title in general has been devalued over the years anyway; hell Reigns has already held the WWE Championship three times; a world title win for him wouldn’t be breaking new ground. WWE keeps acting like Reigns winning the world title would be this massive change for the company, but the reality is that change came a couple of years ago when they decided to push Reigns in the first place.

This brings us to the ultimate issue in WWE right now, which is the question of why Reigns isn’t over with a lot of the fans. Despite those numerous strategies and all of the big wins and showcasing WWE has done, Reigns is still loudly booed by WWE fans, or worse, met with disinterest. The Impact that he has had on television ratings, live attendance and network subscriptions has been non-existent. Why hasn’t it worked out for him?

People debate this question back and forth like it is rocket science; but I’m going to offer a very simple answer: Roman Reigns isn’t talented enough.

Okay, I’ll explain a bit more. Roman Reigns has been positioned in the premier spot in professional wrestling. WWE has selected to build their billion dollar company around him as their biggest star; the same position that has been held by John Cena, Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino and a few select others. In an industry with so many incredibly talented performers, to occupy that spot you have to be a generational talent, and Reigns just isn’t.

Let’s go back to the Royal Rumble in 2015, where it all began. Reigns won the Royal Rumble to win a championship shot at WrestleMania, at the expense of Daniel Bryan. Bryan was widely beloved by WWE fans, and Reigns was just beginning to get a smattering of boos from the audience. Many of the Daniel Bryan fans HATED that Reigns was given the opportunity instead of Bryan, so whenever they saw Reigns, they booed him and refused to get behind him. This then became the “cool” thing to do at live events, and suddenly Reigns was getting booed everywhere by fans across the country.

Well why did they hate Reigns so much? I don’t think it was simply because he was pushed ahead of Bryan, but that is part of it. The real issue was that the fans didn’t respect Reigns as a talent to be put in that position. Reigns wasn’t as good in the ring as Bryan, nor was he as charismatic or as good of a talker as Bryan. At WrestleMania 31, it was Rollins who left with the WWE Championship, and despite the fact that Rollins and not Bryan was the WWE Champion, the fans never turned on Rollins the way they turned on Reigns. Why? Because even if they liked Bryan more; they at least respected Rollins’ talent level to be pushed as a top star.

There was probably a time when Reigns could have won those fans over. If he took his great push, and began having great matches every week, cutting amazing promos and flashing a ton of charisma, he could have gotten over and people wouldn’t even remember that he was pushed ahead of Bryan. The fact is though, that he never did any of that. He has had some good matches here and there, and cut a good promo or two, but never with any consistency and today it is obvious that he just isn’t that gifted of a performer. Fans are savvy enough today to realize who is actually really talented and who has just been put into a role to look like they are.

People wonder why Reigns gets booed; with the argument being that he works hard, has decent matches that are occasionally very good, and has a good look. All of those things are true, but that doesn’t justify his push into the top role in wrestling. You can’t just be a guy with a marketable look that works hard and is capable of having a good match. You have to be great, even transcendent, in almost everything you do. You can have weaknesses, but you have to have strengths that off-set any of those weaknesses. For Cena, he wasn’t the best worker, but he had a great look, lots of charisma and could interact with the crowd on the mic better than anybody else in wrestling. Hogan had all sorts of flaws, but had a transcendent look and cut better short babyface promos than anybody else. What exactly does Roman Reigns do better than anybody else?

If Reigns is going to be in the top position in the industry, and really he has been in that spot for a number of years, he needed to show that he could be that next-level superstar, and after years of evidence, it’s obvious that he just isn’t at that level. He’s very solid, but very solid isn’t the standard for that position, utter excellence is. Roman Reigns needs to be great to justify his standing in WWE to the majority of the fanbase, and he hasn’t been. In fact, he hasn’t even been close.

Must Watch Matches

Minoru Suzuki vs Hiroshi Tanahashi: **** NJPW G1 Climax Night 1

Kazuchika Okada vs Jay White: ****1/4 NJPW G1 Climax Night 1

Kota Ibushi vs Zack Sabre Jr.: ****1/4 NJPW G1 Climax Night 2

Kenny Omega vs Tetsuya Naito: ***** NJPW G1 Climax Night 2

Michael Elgin vs Hangman Page: **** NJPW G1 Climax Night 3

Tetsuya Naito vs Tomohiro Ishii: ****1/2 NJPW G1 Climax Night 4

Kenny Omega vs Hirooki Goto: **** NJPW G1 Climax Night 4

Tomohiro Ishii vs Hirooki Goto: ****1/2 NJPW G1 Climax Night 6

YOSHI-HASHI vs Michael Elgin: ****1/4 NJPW G1 Climax Night 7

SANADA vs Kota Ibushi: ****1/4 NJPW G1 Climax Night 8

Kenny Omega vs Juice Robinson: **** NJPW G1 Climax Night 8

Tomohiro Ishii vs Zack Sabre Jr.: **** NJPW G1 Climax Night 8

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[realgraps]

[realgraps]

[shotaumino]

G1 Climax 34 Night 10 - 8/4/24

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G1 Climax 34 Night 15 - 8/12/24

[shotaumino]

G1 Climax 34 Night 15 - 8/12/24

[gdwessel]

Road to The New Beginning Night 5 - 2/4/2020; NJPW At WrestleCon, Tanahashi Meet & Greet on 4/3/2020; Okada’s Pro Wrestling All-Star Olympic Summit Idea Finds Favor with AJPW, NOAH Stars

The Road to The New Beginning tour resumed today, the first of three nights at Tokyo Korakuen Hall. You can watch this show now on NJPWWorld.

- 2/4/2020, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Ryusuke Taguchi d. Gabriel Kidd (Oh My & Garankle, 8:43)

Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] d. Yuya Uemura (Yes Lock, 7:47)

Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma d. Toa Henare & Yota Tsuji (Makabe > Tsuji, Boston Crab, 12:09)

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi d. Minoru Suzuki & DOUKI [SZKG] (Tenzan > DOUKI, Anaconda Vice, 9:01)

Shingo Takagi, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables] d. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] (Hiromu > Eagles, Neck Lock, 10:31)

KENTA, Jay White & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club] d. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] (KENTA > BUSHI, Go2Sleep, 18:34)

Elimination Match: Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] d. Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] (Ospreay > Sabre, Stormbreaker, 23:20)

With a direct win on Sabre, Ospreay demanded another match for the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight title. I admittedly have not watched the show yet, so I don’t know the order of eliminations, and NJPW didn’t list them on either website (that I can get to). KENTA provoked Naito by posing with the titles once again.

You may already be aware of NJPW holding Lion’s Break: Project 3 on 4/2/2020 during Wrestlemania Weekend in Tampa, FL. Now, NJPW has announced they will have booths set up at WrestleCon, the hosting event for LBP3, from 4/2 - 4/4/2020. Along with that, a meet & greet session with Hiroshi Tanahashi has been set for 4/3/2020 as well at the show. Details are in the link I followed, just be aware, the LBP3 tickets are... pretty expensive.

When Kazuchika Okada received his Tokyo Sports MVP and Best Bout awards on 1/16/2020, he gave an interview, where he had all but dared NJPW, and every other pro wrestling company in Japan, to hold an All-Star pro wrestling show during the Olympics, in order to show off puroresu to the visiting masses come to Japan. During this interview, he’d said:

Okada: Of course, being in a place like this, it would be much cooler if I had the belt with me. But not being champion actually opens new possibilities up. I can have matches that wouldn’t be possible if I were still champion. With Tokyo 2020 coming, I’d love to have a huge pro-wrestling event, one that beats out the Olympics. Involve the best from all sorts of organizations, show that the power of pro wrestling is far greater than amateur wrestling at the Olympics. That would be pretty cool. That’s the sort of thing I might be able to turn my attentions to if I’m not champion. That would be a cool thing to do.

–You want to involve promotions other than NJPW?

Okada: Right. I think we need to light a fire in the pro wrestling world in general. NJPW still has incredible possibilities and will keep tearing it up. Now, I’m in a position where I can help grow the power of all of professional wrestling.

[...]

–If you had your pick from other promotions, who would you like to wrestle?

Okada: Hmm… I haven’t faced any of the champions from other promotions. Who is there? I wrestled Ibushi when he was in a different company, (Naomichi) Marufuji from NOAH, Suwama from All Japan, Shuji Kondo from WRESTLE-1…

I’d really like to face the younger guys from other promotions. People like Kento Miyahara from All Japan, or Kaito Kiyomiya from NOAH. That would be great if we could pull it off. It’d be great if we could create something that blows the Olympics out of the water when it comes to the fans’ reception.

Yesterday, said Kento Miyahara and Kaito Kiyomiya took part in the Setsubun (day before Spring in Japan) ceremony at Honmonji Temple; wrestlers are often invited to this ceremony, as this temple is where the father of puroresu, Rikidozan, is buried, and indeed, this year, NJPW representatives included Manabu Nakanishi and Jushin Thunder Liger, but also luminaries such as Keiji Muto, Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama, and others were there this year as well.

In an interview with Tokyo Sports (translated by the wonderful NOAH Superfan Hi5ame), both Miyahara and Kiyomiya were asked about this, and they did seem pretty open to the idea:

On the other hand, Miyahara, who is the face of a long established promotion said cautiously, "Personally I am very interested in it, but it does depend on the voices of the fans. [...] I think it would be interesting to do that in our generation now, and I want to do it. I would like to say to Okada and Kiyomiya, "lets do a fight that surpasses that".

Kiyomiya immediately answered, "I hope we can do it." [...] "We only made small talk, but I got a good impression. I want to see Kazuchika Okada fighting before me,"

Now, whether or not any of this happens is anyone’s guess, and with the Olympics taking up many buildings, to the point of having to delay G1 Climax until October this year, I doubt it can or will happen during the Olympiad. The last time all three of NJPW, AJPW & NOAH worked together for a big show, it was the 2011 and 2012 editions of All Together, charity supercards for the Tohoku disaster, and it was a much different time then -- all three companies had different ownership, and there was a greater sense of cooperation. Mind you, all of them have worked with each other in various degrees since then (notable: NJPW helping NOAH in 2015-2017, a move that nearly ran NOAH out of business; wrestlers from NOAH and NJPW working both the Giant Baba and Destroyer tribute shows that were, ostensibly, AJPW shows; NOAH and AJPW wrestlers appearing at Lion’s Gate shows for NJPW). But NOAH, particularly, has not wanted to have anything to do with NJPW (or Bushiroad, more to the point) since their acquisition in late 2017. 

One thing in favor, is that neither Okada nor Kiyomiya are their current company’s champion, so that might help sell the idea. But this still seems like a pipe dream right now, but with Okada, Miyahara and Kiyomiya on board, who knows what may happen. 

The tour continues tomorrow.

- 2/5/2020, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Yuya Uemura v. Gabriel Kidd

Ryusuke Taguchi v. Yota Tsuji

Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma v. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi

Tomohiro Ishii, Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI [SZKG]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] & Toa Henare v. Shingo Takagi & EVIL [Los Ingobernables]

Kazuchika Okada, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Taichi, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Elimination Match: Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. KENTA, Jay White, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]