#ibushi vs. okada

[mostbelovedaewwrestlertournament]

Most Beloved AEW Wrestler Tournament 2: Week 1 Statistics Dump

Howdy friends, it's Saturday and that means I get to treat you all to an assortment of statistics (before reading further, just remember these stats are in progress. They should not be considered fair to anyone until the tournament is over and all brackets have been tabulated)

Total votes thus far: 70,711 (average of 129.5 votes per matchup)

The Ties

Now I've seen a handful of ties in my tournaments, but those were happening more when there were fewer votes and fewer brackets. I didn't think there would be any here. But there were. Twice.

The Crushing, Crushing Defeats

I am very pleased to say that there were no unanimous victories this week. However, there were two instances of a wrestler only getting a single vote

The Top 20

Above are the stats for the first 7 days of the top 20 frontrunners (I know they're tiny and probably illegible, but I have so many numbers and don't want to deprive anyone of them)

Wins VS Losses

With this tournament formatted how it is, it is only possible for 1 person to have 155 victories and 1 person to have 155 losses. There are currently only 20 names that have a perfect record of wins and 29 names with a perfect record of losses.

The Stock Market

This is where I'll list everyone's rank and pretend it's a little stock market so you see if people are going up or down. In future weeks, I'll add little arrows so it's kind of fun, but since this week is the first, everyone will just have their rank listed

Kenny Omega - 1

Kris Statlander - 2

Swerve Strickland - 3

Orange Cassidy - 4

Jon Moxley - 5

Konosuke Takeshita - 6

Julia Hart - 7

Toni Storm - 8

Adam Page - 9

Eddie Kingston - 10

Willow Nightingale - 11

Jay White - 12

Wheeler Yuta - 13

Chuck Taylor - 14

MJF - 15

Samoa Joe - 16

Kyle O'Reilly - 17

Daniel Garcia - 18

Will Ospreay - 19

Jamie Hayter - 20

Mariah May - 21

Claudio Castagnoli - 22

Queen Aminata - 23

Kota Ibushi - 24

Katsuyori Shibata - 25

Evil Uno - 26

Hook - 26

Kazuchika Okada - 28

Harley Cameron - 29

Athena - 30

Danhausen - 31

Riho - 32

Brody King - 33

Kip Sabian - 34

Bryan Danielson - 35

Matthew Jackson - 36

Nyla Rose - 37

Buddy Matthews - 38

Mercedes Mone - 39

Anthony Bowens - 40

Powerhouse Hobbs - 41

Juice Robinson - 42

Hologram - 43

Kyle Fletcher - 44

Isiah Kassidy - 45

PAC - 45

Christian Cage - 47

Nicholas Jackson - 48

Komander - 49

Yuka Sakazaki - 49

Hikaru Shida - 51

John Silver - 52

Jack Perry - 53

Dustin Rhodes - 54

Deonna Purrazzo - 55

Killswitch - 56

Darby Allin - 57

Mark Briscoe - 58

Matt Menard - 58

Emi Sakura - 60

Skye Blue - 61

Thunder Rosa - 62

Trent Beretta - 63

Sting - 64

Penelope Ford - 65

Ruby Soho - 66

Lee Moriarty - 67

Bandido - 68

Ricky Starks - 69

Abadon - 70

Billy Gunn - 71

Cope - 72

Taya Valkyrie - 73

Keith Lee - 74

Nick Wayne - 75

Bryan Keith - 76

Red Velvet - 77

Colten Gunn - 78

The Beast Mortos - 79

Angelo Parker - 80

Mark Davis - 80

Adam Cole - 82

Darius Martin - 83

Serpentico - 84

Roderick Strong - 85

Dante Martin - 86

Austin Gunn - 87

AR Fox - 88

Matt Taven - 88

Anna Jay - 90

Shelton Benjamin - 91

Marina Shafir - 92

Malakai Black - 93

Johnny TV - 94

Dr Britt Baker DMD - 95

Ricochet - 96

Bobby Lashley - 97

Kiera Hogan - 98

Mr Brodie Lee - 99

Lance Archer - 100

Alex Reynolds - 101

Rey Fenix - 102

Leila Grey - 103

Cash Wheeler - 104

Leyla Hirsch - 105

Wardlow - 106

Marq Quen - 107

Max Caster - 108

Colt Cabana - 109

Mike Bennett - 110

Brian Cage - 110

Angelico - 112

Tay Melo - 113

Big Bill - 114

Jeff Jarrett - 115

Brandon Cutler - 116

The Blade - 116

Lio Rush - 118

Mercedes Martinez - 119

The Butcher - 120

Diamante - 121

Dax Harwood - 122

Chris Jericho - 123

Scorpio Sky - 124

Luther - 124

Jay Lethal - 126

Matt Sydal - 127

Sammy Guevara - 128

Peter Avalon - 129

Lee Johnson - 130

Paul Wight - 131

Rush - 132

Josh Woods - 133

Preston Vance - 134

Michael Nakazawa - 135

Saraya - 136

Ortiz - 137

Action Andretti - 138

Toa Liona - 139

Shawn Dean - 140

Bishop Kaun - 141

Satnam Singh - 142

Kamille - 143

Ariya Daivari - 143

Rebel - 145

Tony Nese - 146

Griff Garrison - 147

Madison Rayne - 148

Dralistico - 149

Miro - 150

Vincent - 151

Dutch - 152

Anthony Ogogo - 153

Serena Deeb - 154

Aaron Solo - 155

Nick Comoroto - 156

Funniest Notification Award

The notification that made me laugh the most this week was this one by @sendhook on Hook vs Orange Cassidy

I promise there will be more stats next week cause I'll have something to compare it to. If anyone wants to see a particular trend or know a stat, let me know in the tags or send an ask. Can't do anymore thinking beyond this cause I've spent 2 hours on it already and I wanna go play Supermarket Simulator

[sycamoretrees]

so over the last few months I have been putting together some curated wrestling selections for best pal @benchwarming (a Japanese-wrestling-curious AEW fan), and I thought I would share them here for anyone else who might be interested, particularly if you want to try NJPW or DDT but aren't sure where to start.

@benchwarming: i really enjoyed these matches even when i didn't know the wrestlers or have much context going in! lots of compelling in-ring dynamics, funny bits, and straightforwardly great wrestling

I've included links for everything (and bolded my particular favourite matches), please hit me up if you have any questions, or if you want any other recommendations! I would love to talk to you about Japanese wrestling!!!

WrestleTime OG

Hiromu Takahashi vs Will Ospreay, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 2020 (x)

Kota Ibushi vs Toru Yano, NJPW G1 Climax 2018 (x)

Stephanie Vaquer vs AZM, NJPW Windy City Riot 2024 (x)

El Desperado vs Hiromu Takahashi, NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2020 (x)

Kota Ibushi vs Shinsuke Nakamura, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 2015 (x)

(more under the cut)

2Wrestle2Time: The Squeakquel

Jay White vs Juice Robinson, NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco 2018 (x)

Jon Moxley vs Toru Yano, NJPW G1 Climax 2019 (x)

El Desperado & Jun Kasai vs Jon Moxley & Homicide, NJPW Independence Day 2023 (x)

Konosuke Takeshita vs Yuki Ueno, DDT Wrestle Peter Pan 2023 (x)

Hiromu Takashi & Jun Kasai vs Minoru Suzuki & Takayuki Ueki, NJPW Despe Invitacional 2024 (x)

Katsuyori Shibata vs Kazuchika Okada, NJPW Sakura Genesis 2017 (x)

Wr3stl3Tim3: Tokyo Drift

Jon Moxley vs Tomohiro Ishii, NJPW G1 Climax 2019 (x)

Toru Yano vs Kenny Omega, NJPW G1 Climax 2017 (x)

Miu Watanabe vs Miyu Yamashita, TJPW Grand Princess 2024 (x)

Kuroshio Tokyo Japan vs Takeshi Masada, DDT Ultimate Party 2023 (x)

Kazuki Hirata vs Mao vs Yoshihiko, DDT What Are You Doing 2023 (x)

Yuki Ueno vs Yukio Sakaguchi, DDT Kawasaki Strong 2021 (x)

[softambrollins]

okada and the bucks vs kenny/hangman/ibushi is gonna hit like CRACK though

[wrestlingisfake]

AEW Fake Rankings, 10/20/2024

Men's singles division - babyfaces

Will Ospreay

Darby Allin

Ricochet

Jay White

Mark Briscoe (ROH men's world champion)

Daniel Garcia

Orange Cassidy

Kyle O'Reilly

HOOK

Katsuyori Shibata

Men's singles division - heels

Jon Moxley (AEW men's world champion)

Kazuchika Okada (AEW continental champion)

Adam Page

Konosuke Takeshita (AEW international champion)

Christian Cage

Jack Perry (AEW TNT champion)

Chris Jericho

Kyle Fletcher

Shelton Benjamin

Roderick Strong

Unranked: Aaron Solo, Angelico, AR Fox, Atlantis Jr.*, Big Bill, Bryan Keith, Hologram, Jeff Jarrett, Johnny TV, Juice Robinson, Komander, Lio Rush*, Minoru Suzuki*, Nick Wayne, Rocky Romero*, Serpentico/Jon Cruz, The Butcher

Jobbers: Alpha Zo*, BEEF*, Chris Nastyy*, Cody Chhun*, Jack Cartwheel*, Joe Keys*, Marcus Mathers*, Matt Brannigan*, Olumide*, Ryan Clancy*, TJ Crawford

* Not listed on AEW's official roster webpage

Moxley has declared war on the AEW roster (or at least the men's locker room), and it feels like he'll spend at least the next six months clobbering wave after wave of "complacent" midcarders. Darby Allin is clearly being set up as a major destination for this saga, but I'm not certain if he'll be Moxley's first big challenger, or if he'll be saved for the end like Sting in 1997. There's also foreshadowing of Orange Cassidy and Daniel Garcia stepping up, and I think Hook and Kyle O'Reilly would fit in that role as well. But only one guy can get the rub of dethroning Mox, and we'll just have to wait and see who that will be.

Heading into Full Gear on November 23, the other top programs look to be Jay White vs. Adam Page, Ospreay vs. Fletcher, Takeshita vs. Fletcher, Jericho vs. Briscoe, Garcia vs. Perry, Swerve Strickland vs. Shelton Benjamin, and Adam Cole vs. MJF. I expect Hook vs. Christian Cage will be a thing too, but right now it's just an educated guess that Christian is the one who attacked Hook's father.

Men's tag team division - babyfaces

The Acclaimed - Max Caster & Anthony Bowens

FTR - Dax Wheeler & Cash Wheeler

Private Party - Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen

Dustin Rhodes (ROH trios champion) & Sammy Guevara (ROH tag team champions)

The Outrunners - Truth Magnum* & Turbo Floyd*

Men's tag team division - heels

The Young Bucks - Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW tag team champions)

Grizzled Young Veterans - James Drake* & Zack Gibson*

MxM Collection - Mason Madden* & Mansoor*

Matt Taven & Mike Bennett

Brian Cage (ROH men's television champion) & Lance Archer

Iron Savages - Bulk Bronson* & Beefcake Boulder*

* Not listed on AEW's official roster webpage

The state of the tag division is this: The Bucks are heel champions with no one to fight. The Acclaimed haven't ever gotten a clean two-on-two title shot all year, but they don't seem to be in a hurry to get it anymore. FTR and Private Party already lost to the Bucks. The Outrunners, MxM, and the Iron Savages are all cool as hell, but they're comedy acts that can't beat anybody. I don't think GYV have been around since they got upset by the Outrunners, which may be a sign that they aren't going to be back. Rhodes-Guevara and Taven-Bennett are big deals in ROH but off the radar in AEW. Don Callis has put Cage and Archer together to chase the tag title, but I don't see that going anywhere as long as the champions are also heels.

I'd like to see Private Party rack up a big win to get back into the title hunt, but I don't see why that should turn out any differently than the title match they just lost last week. So it feels like the division is going nowhere, marking time until the Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi) are ready to feud with the Bucks. Which, I'd be fine with doing that feud, but not if it means keeping the division in deep freeze for a couple more months.

Men's trios division - babyfaces

Malakai Black & Brody King & Buddy Matthews

Action Andretti & Dante Martin & Darius Martin

Dark Order - Evil Uno & John Silver & Alex Reynolds

Men's trios division - heels

Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta & PAC (AEW trios champions)

La Faccion Ingobernable - Rush & Dralistico & The Beast Mortos

Premier Athletes - Tony Nese & Josh Woods & Ariya Daivari

Moxley's running buddies control the trios title, which works out well since all the undercard scrubs they keep beating up can then demand a match and get clobbered in a trios match. This seems to be giving Dark Order and Action-Darius-Dante something to work with, even if it's not much and they have no hope of winning. I think Daniel Garcia and Private Party would be a stronger trio to go after the title, but they're not done yet with Jack Perry and the Young Bucks.

The House of Black is remarkably well protected for a group that never figures into any major storylines. Are they being built up to take the belts from Claudio, Pac, and Yuta? Could Julia Hart return to counter Marina Shafir? Who knows.

I stuck LFI in the trios division because I really don't know what those three guys are going to do, now that they're all in the same team with Jake Roberts. I don't think AEW knows either, so that'll probably lead to a bunch of throwaway trios matches. Hopefully they can at least win those matches, which would keep them ahead of Neese-Woods-Daivari.

Women's division - babyfaces

Britt Baker

Willow Nightingale

Jamie Hayter

Kris Statlander

Anna Jay

Queen Aminata

Nyla Rose

Yuka Sakazaki

Lady Frost*

Trish Adora*

Women's division - heels

Mariah May (AEW women's world champion)

Mercedes Mone (AEW TBS champion, STRONG women's champion)

Kamille

Serena Deeb

Taya Valkyrie

Emi Sakura

Harley Cameron

Robyn Renegade*

Jobbers: Amira*, Brooke Havok*, Zoey Lynn*

* Not listed on AEW's official roster webpage

You'd think Marina Shafir would be running rough-shod over the women's division to lock up its top title the way Moxley has with the men. The problem is that moving the world title would disrupt the Mariah May/Toni Storm/Mina Shirakawa storyline. I guess Shafir could crush Mone, but I don't know if that would do either of them any good. Sooner or later, though, it will become clear that Marina is the woman to beat, which will get awkward if there are too many champions that can't beat her.

As it is, the big programs for the women right now are Mariah vs. Anna Jay, Mone and Kamille vs. Statlander, and, uh, Jamie Hayter vs. Penelope Ford? It feels like there should be more going on right now. But I don't know where Britt and Willow are headed, Deonna Purrazzo and Taya Valkyrie keep doing pre-taped promos about nothing, and Toni Storm is still roaming the world pretending she doesn't know who Mariah May is. After five years AEW's women's roster finally has some real depth, but that only gets the division so far when it only gets 3-4 matches per week.

No televised AEW matches in over 30 days: Abadon, Athena (ROH women's world champion), Brandon Cutler, Diamante, Lee Moriarty (ROH pure champion), Marhsall Von Erich* (ROH trios champion), Preston Vance, Red Velvet (ROH women's television champion), Ross Von Erich* (ROH trios champion), Shane Taylor, Shawn Dean

* Not listed on AEW's official roster webpage

Not much new to report about the wrestlers officially signed to AEW but almost exclusively appearing on Ring of Honor. They're on the shows, they're getting work, it's just that almost nobody hears about it. The worst part is most of these names can't even get booked on an ROH pay-per-view.

No televised AEW or ROH matches in over 30 days: Anthony Ogogo, Angelo Parker, Austin Gunn, Bishop Kaun, Bobby Dutch, Colten Gunn, Deonna Purrazzo, Griff Garrison, Hikaru Shida, Jay Lethal, Kip Sabian, Leila Grey, Lee Johnson, Marina Shafir, Matt Menard, Peter Avalon, Swerve Strickland, Thunder Rosa, Toa Liona, Toni Storm, Vincent Marseglia

The bad news is that I don't know why most of these wrestlers haven't been in the ring lately, but the good news is most of them haven't been completely MIA. Some were around in late August/early September, some are on the show right now but not wrestling, and some are booked for the next couple of weeks. That's what I like to see.

No televised AEW or ROH matches in over 90 days: Colt Cabana, Danhausen, Kiera Hogan, Madison Rayne, Mercedes Martinez, Penta El Zero Miedo, Powerhouse Hobbs, Rey Fenix, Ricky Starks

These are the wrestlers I'm worried about. Colt and Madison seem to be transitioning to backstage roles and/or semi-retirement, so that's okay. But I have no idea why Tony Khan would have Danhausen, Starks, Penta, and Fenix on the payroll and not book them. I realize Penta and Fenix are reportedly planning to go to WWE, but that doesn't mean you can use them to do a few jobs on the way out. Hobbs is supposed to be medically cleared, so I don't understand why he wasn't around for the big Don Callis Family promo on October 16. Hogan and Martinez seem to have fallen off the face of the earth.

No televised AEW or ROH matches in 2024: Adam Cole, Kota Ibushi, Michael Nakazawa, Miro, Penelope Ford, Scorpio Sky, Tay Melo

Cole and Ford just got back and should be returning to the ring imminently. Ibushi has already returned to the ring in Japan and I figure he'll be back in an AEW ring soon enough. I've heard Melo is training to return from maternity leave so it's probably just a matter of time. Nakazawa seems to just be a backstage guy at this point. It was recently reported that Miro requested his release, but evidently he hasn't gotten it. AEW was running hype videos for Scorpio a few months ago but then dropped it, so I have no idea.

Part-time/semi-retired: Alex Abrahantes, Karen Jarrett, Luther, Mark Sterling, Nigel McGuinness, Paul Wight, Prince Nana, Rebel, Satnam Singh, Sonjay Dutt, Stokely Hathaway

I suppose I'll have to move Bryan Danielson into this list, once he's gotten his neck issues worked out and if he can still go on a part-time basis.

Inactive

Adam Copeland (left leg - tibia fracture)

Angel Ortiz (right shoulder - pectoralis tear)

Bandido (left arm - wrist fracture)

Bryan Danielson (storyline injuries - probably to set up legit neck surgery)

Chuck Taylor (left ankle - necrosis)

Eddie Kingston (right leg - tibia fracture, ACL/meniscus tear)

Julia Hart (shoulder - unspecified injury)

Keith Lee (undisclosed injury)

Kenny Omega (diverticulitis)

Killswitch (double pneumonia)

Leyla Hirsch (elbow - dislocation)

Mark Davis (left arm - wrist fracture)

Matt Sydal (right foot - malunion fractures)

MJF (filming Happy Gilmore 2)

Nick Comoroto (hip resurfacing)

Riho (work visa delays)

Ruby Soho (pregnant)

Samoa Joe (filming Twisted Metal season 2)

Saraya (storyline - "incapacitated")

Skye Blue (right ankle - fracture)

The Blade (lower back - herniated disc)

Trent Beretta (neck - hardware removal surgery)

Wardlow (knee - unspecified injury)

I haven't heard any significant updates on any of these wrestlers. Lately it seems like a report will come out that so-and-so is medically cleared, and then so-and-so still sits in the twilight zone for months before they come back. So even if there was news I don't think it would help us estimate when a wrestler will return to the ring.

[danwhobrowses]

I'm sorry if you think All In Wembley's card is not 'Good Enough'

I honestly am, because you must really be finding ways to make sure you're disappointed in the event.

Let me remind you that the original All In had MJF vs Matt Cross (fka Son of Havoc in Lucha Underground), Flip Gordon vs Lethal, Okada (and not Rainmaker Okada, red dye and party balloons Okada) vs Marty Scurll, Hangman vs Janela (followed by grown men in dick outfits coming out so Joey Ryan could show up), Omega vs Penta, and CD vs Stephen Amell. All this on the main card while SCU vs the Briscoes were on the pre-show. If AEW did something like that today for a PPV it'd be ripped to shreds on paper, especially since some matches were announced with little to no build, but it was the best wrestling show of that year and is still a pivotal and momentous event in wrestling history.

So I'm sorry that you didn't get Omega/Ospreay III because New Japan likely want it for Wrestle Kingdom, I'm sorry early reports of Omega being in a trios match (against two men he brought into the limelight, including a faction he once led, and teaming with his closest friend/lover and his former tag partner who he was champion with) and Ospreay/Jericho turned out to be true, I'm sorry you're getting Punk, Joe, Adam Cole, the Elite, FTR, Kota Ibushi, Jay White, Eddie Kingston, the BCC, Hikaru Shida, Toni Storm, Sting, Chris Jericho, Will Ospreay and more on a single show - which has already had to deal with injuries to Bryan Danielson, PAC and Jamie Hayter - and you still think it's not enough, but that's a you problem.

Also stop with this 'no build' nonsense; multiple storylines have been built from segments over the past few months, Eddie vs Claudio started in March for christ's sake.

[eldesperadont]

now with Jay White having left njpw ….. im mourning all the interesting development for his character that they didnt do. It makes me so tired of njpws „longterm booking“ and how it doesnt really work with their big name gaijins cause nobody stays long enough like an Okada or Naito.

since he joined Bullet Club it’s basically been the same plotpoint on repeat with some characters around him getting changed and replaced, and everytime sth happened that had me hoping for bigger development it just .. was the same again.

And i know im not alone with having wanted more out of Jays character, just look at the fan reaction to his WK loss to Ibushi, how that match and the promo afterwards got people to genuinely care for this pathetic asshole, cause of Jamies amazing performance as a broken insecure fucked up dude. Wishing for a faceturn or literally anything that wasnt the same “oh actually im great and im gonna ignore my issues”-thing again.

Over the last 5 years ive seen so many interesting ideas and speculations fans had about what we were shown on screen, but barely any of it actually led anywhere. (the amount of times they could have done an interesting betrayal with interesting fallout is driving me insane, instead they dragged this storyline forward like a corpse till Jay left)

I know that they needed Jay in that role with BC cause it makes them money, but as someone who enjoys wrestling the most cause of the stories: they are not getting me to pay for their product when i constantly have to hold back my excitement over sth cause the chance of it actually leading somewhere satisfying has been so damn low in the last 2-3 years.

from the top of my head: the last njpw storybeats that stayed with me and had me go „god this is why i watch wrestling“ were

Ibushi vs Despe cause of how perfect it was with their history (and that was on accident!! If hiromu wouldnt have been injured we wouldn’t even have gotten that)

the ELP/Robbie single matches saga

pretty much all of Jays big matches, BUT *read the above paragraphs again*

Hiromu and Desperados first BOSJ Final match cause of everything leading up to it and everything in the match - after that they kinda hit the repeating storybeat problem too

double champ Naito.

But also way too many that led nowhere/had immersion breaking ridiculous outcomes (I’ll never be over how dirty they did Kenta with that stupid US title).

Theres small stuff inbetween that i enjoyed, and theres definitely stuff i missed that i might have loved if i would have seen it, which i didnt cause all my issues with their product led me to stop watching 🙃

anyways: i have a toxic love hate relationship with NJPW and all their characters that i like are my ocs now, i took the kids in the divorce

[straightedgesavior434]

So are we gonna do an Elite Civil War for Blood & Guts this year? Matt/Nick/Okada/JB vs Kenny/Hanger/Ibushi/secret fourth guy? Or does the Golden Lovers both being injured forever mean we’re just kinda… doing whatever

[mjfass]

What's your All In card prediction?

Waaaay too early for a prediction so this is just my dream card:

Britt Baker, Shida and Riho vs Ruby, Toni and mystery tag team partner (Davina Rose).

Bryan Danielson vs ZSJ.

Wardlow vs Goldberg (loser leaves AEW).

Lucha Bros vs The Acclaimed vs Young Bucks vs FTR for the AEW Tag Team Championships.

Kota Ibushi vs PAC vs Orange Cassidy International Championship.

Adam Cole and Hangman Page vs Jay White and Juice Robinson.

Jade Cargill vs Taya Valkyrie vs Kris Statlander for the TBS Championship.

Samoa Joe vs Eddie Kingston (ROH Television Championship).

Sting and Darby (Sting last match) vs Sammy and Jericho.

Moxley, Claudio, Yuta vs House of Black for the Trios Championships (Street Fight Match)

Jamie Hayter vs Mercedes Moné for the AEW World Women’s Championship.

Okada Vs Ospreay for the IWGP title.

MJF vs Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship. (CM PUNK RETURNS)

[knifepervert]

I finally subscribed to NJPW. Which Jay White match should I watch first? And which Jay White feud/rivalry should I follow first?

Ahhh yayy nonnie!! I’m so happy to hear this! Totally worth it ☺️ Hmm, so many choices lol. But a personal favorite that I always love is Jay vs Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 15! Really can’t go wrong with any match he has with Ibushi. But I would also recommend checking out any matches with him and Tomohiro Ishii (truly underrated!) and hands down any matches with him and Kazuchika Okada!! I could watch them forever 😩 Happy watching nonnie!! Feel free to reach out if you need more recs!

[romiswired]

Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW Dominion 6.9 In Osaka-Jo Hall - 2018)

La maldicion de las secuelas ataca de nuevo.

Oh wow, no pense que tenia que hablar de esta lucha y lo que pienso de ella como fanatica de Kenny Omega, pero se cumplen 6 años de que se hizo y la verdad es que ese es suficiente tiempo como para hacer una verdadera retrospectiva a lo que es la saga Omega-Okada en tiempos modernos, y como se ha vuelto inevitablemente una de las rivalidades mas importantes de la historia por los efectos mariposa que tuvo. Al mismo tiempo, decir que los efectos mariposa que estamos viendo actualmente son 100% responsabilidad de esta saga de luchas es mentir porque cualquier persona sabe donde comenzo todo realmente. A la hora de hablar de esta rivalidad, es muy complicado *elegir* que lucha es mejor que la otra, y por supuesto, este combate en Dominion 2018 es controversial como ningun otro.

Es muy dificil hablar de esta lucha o de cualquier Okada vs. Omega que paso despues de Wrestle Kingdom 11 porque estoy consciente de que mi opinion se encuentra en un lugar diferente al de la comunidad que ha decidido de manera empirica que esta lucha es la mejor de todos los tiempos, y ha hecho su ranking de las 4 luchas poniendo esta en lo mas alto como la Okada vs. Omega definitiva, la cual sera muy dificil de superar: pero para mi, esta lucha no es la mejor, porque ninguna secuela de una lucha de Kenny sera capaz de superar a la anterior que tuvo (con la excepcion del Omega vs. Ibushi II porque ese combate es sencillamente peak Kenny)

A este punto, creo que es una maldicion de las luchas de Omega. Omega vs. Ospreay I es mejor que Omega vs. Ospreay II. Omega vs. Naito I es mejor que Omega vs. Naito II. Omega vs. Jericho I es mejor que Omega vs. Jericho II. Y si me apuran, Omega vs. Hangman I es mejor que Omega vs. Hangman II. En esta saga de combates vemos lo que pasa cuando Kenny hace mas de una secuela para sus rivalidades, lo que desencadena en que cada lucha que le sigue a la primera entre en una especie de cadena de lucha peor que la otra.

El tema con esta saga en especifico es que la calidad de los combates es astronomica, por eso decir que una lucha es peor que la otra es mal visto. Porque se ha construido una idea de Okada vs. Omega como esta "saga perfecta" que automaticamente se piensa que todas las luchas son igual de buenas, cuando hay diferencias entre cada una. Al mismo tiempo, elegir entre las 4 luchas es una tarea que pocas personas pueden concretar porque como dije, esta rivalidad ya tiene la fama de ser perfecta. Pocas rivalidades logran hacer esto, y si tuviera que contar algunas con los dedos de la mano me sobran, pero el punto que quiero dar es que este combate es la peor lucha de las 4, porque las 4 han llegado a un nivel donde es muy dificil no considerarlas las mejores luchas que vas a ver en tu vida: y siento que para hablar de estas luchas se necesita una perspectiva mucho mas abierta que entiende que hay luchas en esta saga que son de menor nivel a la de Wrestle Kingdom 11, si no todas porque esta es una constante en la carrera de Omega.

No se si es la novedad en cuanto a las luchas de Kenny que las hacen ser increibles, o es el hecho de que en esta epoca New Japan estaba haciendo un shift de todos los programas que podian seguir explorando solamente para enfocarse en vender esta rivalidad y sumarle capitulos porque era un nuevo huevo dorado que tenian, por sobre historias como la de Tetsuya Naito que no termino en Wrestle Kingdom 12 porque esta lucha estaba en los planes, pero esta lucha fuera de ser una epica no logra equiparar el sentimiento de la primer Okada vs. Omega. Es realmente una pena porque si tuviera que elegir la lucha mas emocional (no emocionante) seria esta por lejos ya que el condimento melodramatico perteneciente a luchas de Omega en este combate se ve mas que nunca, con esta idea de que estamos presenciando el "final feliz" de la historia, y el hecho de que ahora si Omega le va a ganar a Okada porque encontro el amor verdadero y la razon del porque estaba luchando.

Es jodido decir que esta lucha es la peor, porque considero que es la lucha en donde esta idea del proposito de Kenny se entiende mucho mas y vemos a un Omega desesperado por ganar y poder compensar el daño que se hizo tanto a si mismo como a Ibushi durante todo este tiempo donde vivia pensando en el. Al mismo tiempo, esta lucha cae en una epoca de transicion para New Japan, donde el estilo mas metodico y enfocado en contar una historia en el ring se combino con uno bombastico donde pasa todo al mismo tiempo y se pierden muchas cosas entre un ritmo tanto acelerado como despreocupado. Si tuviera que dar un ejemplo de que lucha comenzo esta formula de "Main Event" que New Japan exploto hasta el hartazgo en pos de llamar la atencion de Occidente, tendria que ser este combate. Porque aun si en papel suena muy bien la idea de un "2 out of 3 falls" tener una lucha de 1 hora y 40 minutos es algo que puede ahuyentar gente muy facilmente. Reconozco tambien que este combate no golpea de la misma manera sin tener en cuenta toda la historia detras y sin haber conectado con ella a un nivel personal.

No voy a exagerar como otras personas y decir que esta lucha es la lucha mas "sobrevalorada" de todos los tiempos (si siquiera saben que significa esa palabra) pero si voy a decir, como persona que dedico 2 años de su vida a recopilar informacion de la carrera de Omega y a estudiarla de manera intensiva que esta lucha no se acerca al nivel de las que considero las mejores luchas de Kenny porque tambien siento que insiste mucho con esta idea de ser la mejor lucha de todos los tiempos. Como si tanto Omega y Okada te estuvieran diciendo con sus movimientos que tenes que decir que es la mejor lucha que viste en tu vida porque si no no se va a sentir realizada, cuando puede ser UNA de las mejores luchas que viste en tu vida tranquilamente y seguir siendo un final feliz como ningun otro. Porque lo que si le voy a dar a este combate es que el finishing stretch es una cosa impresionante porque pone a prueba las barreras de la lucha libre para contar una historia. Y aun si Don Callis me caiga muy mal, ese "HOOK THE LEG, HOOK THE LEG!" nunca va a salir de mi cabeza como un recuerdo de la mayor satisfaccion que senti como fanatica de este deporte.

De todos modos, no puedo no desearle un feliz aniversario a este combate aun si lo trate como el peor de los 4: porque este mas que ninguno logro cumplir lo mas importante. Cambiar el mundo.

[wrestlingwiththoughts]

Will Ospreay (c) vs. Shota Umino, NJPW Power Struggle 2023, November 4, 2023

Will Ospreay is the best wrestler in the world in 2023. One could make good faith arguments in favor for luchadores like Titan, Rocky Romero, or Atlantis Jr. One could make bad faith arguments in favor for Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins. One could lean on old favorites like Bryan Danielson, Kazuchika Okada, and Zack Sabre Jr. After the words have been spilled and breaths spent, I am justifiably confident that the conclusion will still be that Will Ospreay is the best wrestler in the world in 2023.

NJPW hopes that Shota Umino will be a part of the best wrestler in the world conversation at some point, and they are really hoping that he’ll be a leading participant really soon. Ospreay is leaving NJPW for AEW in 2024 to join a former vessel of NJPW’s hopes, Kota Ibushi. Okada is entering the master veteran stage, a little slower than he used to be but still able to find the fire within himself. EVIL and Sanada didn’t work out. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito can turn it on if they really, really have to, but they’re not able to carry the everyday burden of carrying the Lion’s Mark masthead. Umino, cast as the combination of Tanahashi, Naito, and Moxley, is the first among equals of NJPW’s Reiwa Three Musketeers alongside Ren Narita, and Yota Tsuji and the first option for the Reiwa generation.

NJPW had serious doubts that Umino could even be a part of the best wrestler in the world conversation when he last faced Will Ospreay in Revolution Pro’s Uprising 2021. Quarantined during his learning excursion in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 Umino seemed listless, unsure of himself, and unable to keep up with Ospreay. The match was highly regarded, but the praise was for Ospreay guiding Umino through it rather than Umino stepping up for deliver something memorable with one of the best wrestlers in the world.

Umino stepped up here to deliver something memorable with the best wrestler in the world in 2023. The story was that he showed resilience and courage to fight back despite a broken nose suffered at Ospreay’s hands. Umino showed an intensity that earned my sympathy. That intensity inspired me to root for him not because he was the adorable man-child adopted by Jon Moxley as his little Shooter but because he would not allow himself to be victimized by Ospreay’s greatness. When Moxley emerged to cheer Umino on, the attention wasn’t on Moxley, a bigger name, for coming to the ring. The attention was on Umino, as Moxley embodied the crowd’s hopes that he could summon that extra little bit to beat the best wrestler in the world.

And of course Ospreay beat Umino. He’s the best wrestler in the world, and Umino wasn’t ready for that upset win yet. Nevertheless, Umino proved that he was able to project the fire within that made Tanahashi, Okada, Naito, and other greats truly great.

Umino isn’t the best wrestler in the world, and he’s nowhere near that conversation. However, it’s not as ridiculous now to think that Umino might be in that conversation within the next five years.

[mostbelovedaewwrestlertournament]

Most Beloved AEW Wrestler Tournament 2: Week 2 Statistics Dump

Another Saturday is upon us and with it, another occasion for statistics!

Total votes thus far: 123,914 (average of 113.5 votes per bracket, down from 129.5 last week))

Times I learned about a wrestler's potentially cancelable offense in the tags of a bracket: 2

The Ties

Only one tie this week, between Colt Cabana and Vincent

The Crushing, Crushing Defeats

While we did have an occasion of only one vote, it paled in comparison to the unanimous victory of Kazuchika Okada over Miro and Athena over Ariya Daivari

(Also this is how I found out that Miro is no longer listed on the official roster page, so he's apparently been released since January 11th)

The Top 20

Above are the stats for days 8-14 of the top 20 frontrunners

Wins VS Losses

Last week, we had 20 undefeated wrestlers and 29 unvictorious. This week, we are down to only 12 undefeated and 14 unvictorious

The Stock Market

Kenny Omega - 1 - 1 (=)

Orange Cassidy - 2 - 4 (+2)

Kris Statlander - 3 - 2 (-1)

Swerve Strickland - 4 - 3 (-1)

Jon Moxley - 5 - 5 (=)

Eddie Kingston - 6 - 10 (+4)

Konosuke Takeshita - 7 - 6 (-1)

Wheeler Yuta - 8 - 13 (+5)

Jay White - 9 - 12 (+3)

Adam Page - 10 - 9 (-1)

Toni Storm - 11 - 8 (-3)

Willow Nightingale - 12 - 11 (-1)

Julia Hart - 13 - 7 (-6)

Chuck Taylor - 14 - 14 (=)

Mariah May - 15 - 21 (+6)

Samoa Joe - 16 - 16 (=)

Will Ospreay - 17 - 19 (+2)

Kyle O'Reilly - 18 - 17 (-1)

Jamie Hayter - 19 - 20 (+1)

MJF - 20 - 15 (-5)

Daniel Garcia - 21 - 18 (-3)

Kazuchika Okada - 22 - 28 (+6)

Kota Ibushi - 23 - 24 (+1)

Harley Cameron - 24 - 29 (+5)

Athena - 25 - 30 (+5)

Queen Aminata - 26 - 23 (-3)

Kip Sabian - 27 - 34 (+7)

Evil Uno - 28 - 26 (-2)

Hook - 29 - 26 (-3)

Nyla Rose - 30 - 37 (+7)

Kyle Fletcher - 31 - 44 (+13)

Katsuyori Shibata - 32 - 25 (-7)

Bryan Danielson - 33 - 35 (+2)

PAC - 34 - 45 (+11)

Claudio Castagnoli - 35 - 22 (-13)

Juice Robinson - 36 - 42 (+6)

Hikaru Shida - 37 - 51 (+14)

Matthew Jackson - 38 - 36 (-2)

Komander - 39 - 49 (+10)

Riho - 40 - 32 (-8)

Isiah Kassidy - 41 - 45 (+4)

Danhausen - 42 - 31 (-11)

Anthony Bowens - 43 - 40 (-3)

Powerhouse Hobbs - 44 - 41 (-3)

Christian Cage - 45 - 47 (+2)

Nicholas Jackson - 46 - 48 (+2)

Buddy Matthews - 47 - 38 (-9)

Mark Briscoe - 47 - 58 (+11)

Hologram - 49 - 43 (-6)

Brody King - 50 - 33 (-17)

Killswitch - 51 - 56 (+5)

Emi Sakura - 52 - 60 (+8)

Yuka Sakazaki - 53 - 49 (-4)

John Silver - 54 - 52 (-2)

Darby Allin - 55 - 57 (+2)

Abadon - 56 - 70 (-14)

Mercedes Mone - 57 - 39 (-18) MOST SPOTS DOWN

Sting - 58 - 64 (+6)

Skye Blue - 59 - 61 (+2)

Jack Perry - 60 - 53 (-7)

Adam Cole - 61 - 82 (+21) MOST SPOTS UP

Ruby Soho - 62 - 66 (+4)

Dustin Rhodes - 63 - 54 (-9)

Deonna Purrazzo - 64 - 55 (-9)

Thunder Rosa - 65 - 62 (-3)

Penelope Ford - 66 - 65 (-1)

Matt Menard - 67 - 58 (-9)

Lee Moriarty - 67 - 67 (=)

The Beast Mortos - 69 - 79 (+10)

Trent Beretta - 70 - 63 (-7)

Bandido - 71 - 68 (-3)

Marina Shafir - 72 - 92 (+20)

Cope - 73 - 72 (-1)

Ricky Starks - 74 - 69 (-5)

Angelo Parker - 75 - 80 (+5)

Mark Davis - 76 - 80 (+4)

Red Velvet - 77 - 77 (=)

Malakai Black - 78 - 93 (+15)

Nick Wayne - 79 - 75 (-4)

Billy Gunn - 80 - 71 (-9)

Darius Martin - 81 - 83 (+2)

Anna Jay - 82 - 90 (+8)

Serpentico - 83 - 84 (+1)

Keith Lee - 84 - 74 (-10)

Taya Valkyrie - 85 - 73 (-12)

Dante Martin - 85 - 86 (+1)

Austin Gunn - 87 - 87 (=)

Shelton Benjamin - 88 - 91 (+3)

Colten Gunn - 89 - 78 (-11)

AR Fox - 90 - 88 (-2)

Bryan Keith - 91 - 76 (-15)

Lance Archer - 92 - 100 (+8)

Roderick Strong - 93 - 85 (-8)

Marq Quen - 94 - 107 (+13)

Leyla Hirsch - 95 - 105 (+10)

Leila Grey - 96 - 103 (+7)

Alex Reynolds - 97 - 101 (+4)

Mr Brodie Lee - 98 - 99 (+1)

Matt Taven - 99 - 88 (-11)

Kiera Hogan - 100 - 98 (-2)

Bobby Lashley - 101 - 97 (-4)

Dr Britt Baker DMD - 102 - 95 (-7)

Diamante - 103 - 121 (+18)

Brian Cage - 104 - 110 (+6)

Wardlow - 105 - 106 (+1)

Johnny TV - 106 - 94 (-12)

Colt Cabana - 107 - 109 (+2)

Lio Rush - 107 - 118 (+11)

Ricochet - 109 - 96 (-13)

Cash Wheeler - 110 - 104 (-6)

Big Bill - 111 - 114 (+3)

Rey Fenix - 112 - 102 (-10)

Max Caster - 113 - 108 (-5)

Angelico - 114 - 112 (-2)

Luther - 115 - 124 (+9)

Tay Melo - 116 - 113 (-3)

The Butcher - 117 - 120 (+3)

Scorpio Sky - 117 - 124 (+7)

Dax Harwood - 119 - 122 (+3)

Brandon Cutler - 120 - 116 (-4)

Mercedes Martinez - 121 - 119 (-3)

Lee Johnson - 122 - 130 (+8)

The Blade - 123 - 116 (-7)

Mike Bennett - 124 - 110 (-14)

Matt Sydal - 125 - 127 (+2)

Jeff Jarrett - 126 - 115 (-11)

Sammy Guevara - 127 - 128 (+1)

Peter Avalon - 128 - 129 (+1)

Chris Jericho - 129 - 123 (-6)

Jay Lethal - 130 - 126 (-4)

Dralistico - 131 - 149 (+18)

Rush - 132 - 132 (=)

Toa Liona - 133 - 139 (+6)

Griff Garrison - 134 - 147 (+13)

Paul Wight - 135 - 131 (-4)

Ortiz - 135 - 137 (+2)

Saraya - 137 - 136 (-1)

Dutch - 138 - 152 (+14)

Action Andretti - 139 - 138 (-1)

Kamille - 140 - 143 (+3)

Shawn Dean - 141 - 140 (-1)

Tony Nese - 142 - 146 (+4)

Bishop Kaun - 143 - 141 (-2)

Satnam Singh - 144 - 142 (-2)

Vincent - 144 - 151 (+7)

Preston Vance - 146 - 134 (-12)

Josh Woods - 147 - 133 (-14)

Michael Nakazawa - 148 - 135 (-13)

Madison Rayne - 149 - 148 (-1)

Miro - 150 - 150 (=)

Ariya Daivari - 151 - 143 (-8)

Rebel - 152 - 145 (-7)

Serena Deeb - 153 - 154 (+1)

Anthony Ogogo - 154 - 153 (-1)

Nick Comoroto - 155 - 156 (+1)

Aaron Solo - 156 - 155 (-1)

and finally

My Favourite Tags This Week (how could I pick just one?)

@magratputifoot for being honest about her feelings on Kenny Omega

@sendhook for remembering where Matt's eyes are

@old-no7 for coming up with a new match type

@himbos-hotline for imagining a beautiful world

@powderflower for making the world's greatest argument

and @handsome-robot for perfectly summing up Cash Wheeler vs The Blade

[buttdawg]

G1 Climax Blues

The pattern I see with these G1 tournaments is that I enjoy the round robin blocks and then feel let down by the finals. I'll try to explain what I mean.

This year had a pretty good setup, with 32 wrestlers in four blocks. They managed to keep me guessing for most of the month, and even though SANADA and Okada dominated their respective blocks, there was still a spirited competition for runner-up. So I was looking forward to the playoff portion, since it could have some fresh faces threaten to upset the whole thing. Even if the Cinderella stories didn't pan out, they could keep it interesting.

But in the end, the only Cinderella story was Hikuleo, who lost in the quarterfinals. Arguably, Zack Sabre making it was kind of a milestone, but he's been an established NJPW guy for years, and he's the leader of his own stable now. Doesn't matter, because he still lost in the quarterfinals.

So the semifinals were Okada vs. EVIL and Naito vs. Will Ospreay. Then the finals turned out to be Okada vs. Naito, and Naito won. I can't exactly fault New Japan for booking their top babyfaces in the finals of their premier tournament. It just makes sense, but the problem is that it makes a little too much sense, because they've done it a lot.

I mean, look at the storylines both finalists were involved in. Okada wanted to win the G1 because he... already won it four times... but if he won this time he would have been the first person to ever win three in a row, and his fifth win would tie the record held by Masahiro Chono. On the other side, Naito really needed to win the G1 so he could secure his dream of winning the world title in the main event of WrestleKingdom... again, because he already did that in 2020. But that time didn't count because KENTA ambushed him in the middle of his post-show address to the Tokyo Dome. So he has to do it all over again and get it right! Tetsuya Naito cannot be happy until he does the LIJ roll call in the Tokyo Dome. Who can't relate to that?

NJPW has written itself into a corner where Okada or Naito is always involved in the biggest, most important tippy-top storylines, to the point where the biggest possible match you can do is Okada vs. Naito, except they've already done it several times. And it seems to work, I guess. The fans are invested, and they seem to make money this way, and both guys are healthy enough for it. But creatively, the whole thing stinks. This is why you have storylines like "Okada might as well threepeat, because who can stop him?" and "Naito must return to the Tokyo Dome because the last several times he went there the vibe was off."

This was the same nonsense I saw when Kota Ibushi was in the mix, and he won back-to-back G1's, and might have three-peated himself if it weren't for that shoulder injury in the finals. The thing is, what does it achieve to have Ibushi or Okada or Naito win multiple G1 tournaments? The first time, Ibushi sweet-talked the match-makers into letting him challenge for the IC title too. The second time he was on this weird crusade to "become God". Then he got the shoulder injury and left the company. Fans wanted him to jump to AEW for three years, but instead he spent all that time doing victory laps in New Japan. And now that he's gone, Okada and Naito are doing the victory laps Ibushi would have run, on top of the victory laps they were already doing.

What frustrates me about the promotion is that they have this murderer's row of great talent, but they keep pushing the same guys every year, long after they stopped needing it. Okada's won how many world titles? At some point you would think he would just stop participating in G1 tournaments, since he's won so many that there's really nothing left to prove. Or have an up-and-comer sneak past him to come after his spot. They've been teasing Will Ospreay for that role since 2021, but he's still cutting promos about how he's the future of the company. Dude, you were supposed to be the future four years ago. It's the present, and you're still trying to prove you can hang with Okada.

It's just as well, because I'm sick of Ospreay's act anyway, but New Japan is going to keep shoving him down my throat no matter what. He's the greatest wrestler of all time, even though he's never won a G1 tournament, and he can barely beat Okada, and so on. He's New Japan's Lex Luger.

What frustrates me is how little things have changed since I got into New Japan in 2019. I expected a lot of twists and turns and big shakeups, but by 2021 it became clear that the company's booking philosophy is "malaise forever". They'll be talking about "The New Three Musketeers" well into 2026. One of them will upset Okada to win the world title, and then have an uninspiring reign while Okada sweeps another G1 to win back his belt at the Tokyo Dome. Rinse and repeat.

So I guess I'll cancel my subscription again, since things change so slowly over there that I won't miss much. I might check in on them for G1 34 next year, assuming the lineup catches my interest. But I kind of want something big to happen, and it doesn't feel like it will.

[breadclubrising]

i hope ibushi is finally going to Return To The Sea after he heals bc there is just no recovery from this level of under-bus-throwing

[wrestlingisfake]

G1 Climax semifinals preview

The field of 32 wrestlers is now down to four. This show will feature two semifinal matches, with the winners advancing to the final on August 13. Both semifinals are one fall to a finish, with no time limit--there must be a winner.

Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito - Ospreay's IWGP United States title is not at stake during the tournament. The winner of this match advances to the final against either Kazuchika Okada or EVIL.

This is only the third time these two have met in singles action. The first encounter was last year in the G1 semifinals; Ospreay won that match, then beat Naito again in November 2022. That has me thinking Naito will get some payback here. On the other hand, Ospreay seems to have a fire lit under him ever since his big win over Kenny Omega back in June.

I'm still convinced the obvious direction is for Naito to win the G1 and challenge SANADA for the IWGP world title at Wrestle Kingdom. Of course, the whole storyline is that Naito has been trying to achieve his dream scenario at the Tokyo Dome for ten years, so he could easily fail here to defer the dream another year. But this time around I don't see any reason to hold off. We had an Ospreay vs. Okada G1 final last year, and I doubt we'll get a repeat. Naito wins.

Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL - The winner goes on to face Ospreay or Okada on the 13th. The premise here is that we're supposed to be emotionally invested in the threat of New Japan making us watch a shitty Evil match, and threatening to give us even more shitty Evil matches. I've been watching pro wrestling for nearly 35 years and I am very tired of "let's do bad matches on purpose to draw heel heat" as a general concept.

Look, I get it. Evil isn't really going to beat Okada or ruin the tournament final or headline the Tokyo Dome. They're just going to make you think it could happen for 20 minutes while Chris Charlton explains why that's terrible booking, so that you'll be excited when Okada manages to win. It's just that I don't care--they did all this four years ago, with Jay White and Kota Ibushi in the G1 final, and I was bored with it then too. I could barely be arsed to pay attention to Evil beating Sanada in the quarterfinals. Those two are bound to headline a big show this fall, and I'll probably forget to watch it. This isn't how heel heat is supposed to work.

Of course, I also get that this isn't for me. New Japan booking is designed to put Japanese butts in Japanese seats. And judging from the crowd response to Evil's shenanigans, they go along with the cheap heat and they're not burned out on it yet. That's good for them, I guess, but I'll probably spend this match balancing my checkbook or something, while I wait for the inevitable Okada win.

SANADA & Taichi & DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku vs. Hikuleo & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & El Phantasmo & Jado - Sanada and Hikuleo were both eliminated in the quarterfinals two nights ago. Sanada is teaming with the other four guys in Just 5 Guys. Hikuleo, Tama, and Tanga are the sons of Haku; Jado is their mentor, and Phantasmo is their new buddy. I assume Jado gets pinned here, but I suppose Taka could lose instead.

Zack Sabre Jr. & Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls & Kosei Fujita vs. Eddie Kingston & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii & Ryusuke Taguchi - Sabre was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Haste, Nicholls, Eddie, Tana, and Ishii didn't make it out of the blocks. Fujita was never in the tournament. Taguchi hasn't even been on the tour until just now; I kind of forgot he was there. I'd like to see something happen to set up Sabre's next challenger for the television title, but we'll probably get that on the 13th. As for this match, Fujita should lose the fall.

Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan & HENARE vs. Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji & BUSHI - This is Will Ospreay's buddies from the United Empire againt Tetsuya Naito's buddies in Los ingobernables de Japon. Everybody in this match was in the tournament except Bushi, so you know he's losing the match.

David Finlay & KENTA & Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd & Chase Owens vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano & Togi Makabe & YOH - Finlay just got eliminated from the quarterfinals, so there's nothing left for him or Bullet Club to do on this tour but hurt people. Before the tournament, Coughlin and Kidd were feuding with Goto and Yoshi over their respective tag team championships; I'm not sure if we're going back to that. Actually, I think I'd rather see Yano and Makabe challenge Kidd and Coughlin. I figure either Chase or Yoh loses this match.

Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki vs. Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma - They keep booking Narita and Umino against one another in tag matches like "look, look, it's like they're going to be Shibata and Tanahashi someday!" but someday isn't now so give it a rest, man. Honma will lose.

Kaito Kiyomiya & HAYATA vs. Master Wato & Hiroyoshi Tenzan - Hayata is the GHC junior heavyweight champion in Pro Wrestling NOAH, so he's coming in for this show to team with fellow Noah guy Kiyomiya. I would have to think they can beat Tenzan and Wato, but NJPW/Noah interpromotional booking never makes sense to me.

[danwhobrowses]

My Highlights for AEW Wrestledream 2023

There was a dream, a dream of wrestling

And Antonio Inoki sought that dream when he founded NJPW

But now AEW has invited the dangling from its hinges Forbidden Door open again to celebrate Inoki on the anniversary of his death.

Let's see what was good about this show

Spoilers for the PPV

Zero Hour

"She's so sweet, but so dumb, god bless her" Richard of House Starks speaking of Lexy Nair, fiancée of one large William

Props for the Julia vignette, it aired on Collision and apparently someone on twitter helped film it so good for them

Stokely 'Urban Dictionary dot com' Hathaway

TK donning the Inoki scarf with Inoki's grandkids, Shibata and Rocky

Christian Cage Noooooo

Athena doing Billie's jump and Keith's Limitless pose, and then almost blindsided by Kojima XD

Meat chants always a win

Athena saved her minion!

Josh Barnett looks like a leaner Brock Lesnar don't he?

Moxley joining on commentary, showing he's well after the concussion too

I think that's an open invitation to Bloodsport for Claudio

Well, you can tell that Nick Wayne has trained with Darby, mans is bumping

Caster already going for the tentacle porn diss

Sounds like JR is open to scissoring

Main Card

MJF wearing as many belts as he has initials

Picking the right person to massage his shoulders

Alas no tag partner in the corner for Max

Dutch always has a great Bossman Slam

Some Guerrero tactics there, with some added pantomime by the audience

And he hits the bodyslam! The Seattle Stampede

MJF has put over a bodyslam, a double clothesline and a dropkick (Kangaroo Kick) which is proof that with enough charisma any move can be put over

Props to the dude in full Jeff Hardy cosplay

Shibata starting low like Inoki did vs Ali

Thesz drop early just like Inoki took it early vs him for his second ever NJPW match (first was vs Simon Gotch)

Uraken kicked out at 1!

Eddie again winning with the Powerbomb, he meant what he said to Kawada

Dang that crack as Statlander socked Julia

And Julia does have one hell of a moonsault

Brody having to carry his goth daughter back down the ramp

Reminder Julia Hart is 22 in November; younger than Hayes, Stratton, Dragunov, Dominik, Jade, Statlander, Anna, HOOK and more, she is a talent

Starting the 4 way with an International Title preview

and then OC tagging in??

Gunns doing the New Day 'both legal men' attempt

HOOK sold that superkick really well too

"It's always in their hometown huh?"

Nana gets his dance in

Serve remains that guy, so clean

Ooof, taking a trick out of Penta's book eh, Killshot?

Vicious discus lariat there from Hanger

The JML Driver is great too

Mox back on Commentary, he's one flirtation with Excalibur away from being Regal

Ricky's rope walk is just effortless

Ah poor Mox, he can't help but curse it's native to his vocabulary

Seahawks colours for Bryan

Moxley's passion for wrestling is shining through a lot in commentary, if he could control the cussing he could easily be an all timer play by play commentator

It also juxtaposes Nigel McGuinness' anti-Bryan vendetta

Bryan practically walked out of that Romero Special

Hitting the Itoh special with the rollover half crab

GOODNESS that Dragon Screw

I think his head was already fucking kicked in sheesh

That certainly was a technical masterclass, and it doesn't feel like we're done

I'm gonna say it too, give Bryan the IWGP World title. I mean it, he's beaten Okada and ZSJ, he could beat SANADA at like Sakura Genesis or New Year's Dash, have a little run with it, do the G1 and then drop it at Forbidden Door and then he's completed all his career goals

Mox's genuine surprise as he thought Demetrius Johnson was gonna wrestle Kenny Omega XD

I mean that Last Supper artwork is...definitely something

Geez starting with Omega/Ospreay?

People want Takeshita/Ibushi, that tells you how elevated Takeshita has been

Callis trying to contribute to increating the stretch

Ibushi now joining Suzuki in 'he does what he wants', joining the Sex Gods pose

'You still suck' chants because Sammy still pulled off a picture perfect Shooting Star Press

Jericho invoking Omega in the Not Even One kickout

Murder Ibushi activated!

That is the best Ibushi has looked in AEW so far, hopefully he gets 100% for Takeshita

Dang just let Dax and Davis slap each other for 10 minutes, Davis has wrestled WALTER I know he has it in him

I've seen enough, I don't just need 10 minutes I need a full tournament of big beefy men slapping man meat; Dax, Davis, Keith Lee, Shane Taylor, Wardlow, Luchasaurus, Butcher, Brody King, Joe, Hobbs, Miro, Brian Cage, Big Bill, etc. let them all fight, give us the whole Buffet

Darby and Christian have done so much work that'll go understated in restoring the TNT title, it's main eventing a PPV!

Also if anyone can will it into existence we need Christian to start calling himself the Turtle Neck Titan, you know because Turtlenecks but also TNT

Hoisted by his own petard, blinded by the turtle neck

I mean Nick Wayne's mom is hot you gotta shoot your shot

Well that is for sure a Darby Allin bump, right on the steps twice over

Frog Splash onto a stretcher!

And a Killswitch on the canvas boards!

Scorpion Death Drop and Coffin Drop on the boards only for two

Nick Wayne heel turn

You think you know him? Adam Copeland is All Elite! And he brought Metalingus with him

He was so excited he glided through the smoke!

Edge, Christian and Sting all in the same ring what year is it? what timeline is it? WHAT IS IT???

Conclusion

Well that was a lot of fun.

Compared to No Mercy it was perhaps marginally better for me, again this could be due to being more in the loop with the storylines but stuff like the trios match, the main event, Swerve vs Hangman, the ultimate tekkers match it just clicked. Not a bad match on the card too, though I was rooting for Aussie Open to win, but Bucks/FTR IV will still be great. Plus I still wanted to see Statlander body slam Brody.

I do hope Fénix is okay, he disappeared from the 4-Way and he's the International champion, don't want back to back injury-induced title changes after all. But it was good to see Moxley just out there enjoying himself on the side, probably won't ever get to do it again mind you given all the cussing but still, did elevate the matches.

We've got intriguing directions too; Swerve needs to get somewhere with that W over Hangman (world title? I mean I kinda like Jay White for it, International Title? Maybe too soon), Claudio and Bryan have extended rematch invitations and you know Ricky ain't done with the BCC (still though I wouldn't put him in the BCC, Garcia should have that spot), even the Zero Hour did some development with Billie and Athena's dynamic.

So yeah, probably not better than All In and All Out but still pretty damn good, Inoki would be proud.

Match of the Night: I mean it's the Ultimate Battle of Epic Tekkers right? Hard to really say any match was better than that wrestling-wise. The Main Event is a close second with the drama. Best Entrance: Julia Hart gets this one just ahead of Adam Copeland's worst kept secret, not many flashy entrances in this show, in fact I think OC/Hook and Jericho didn't even get entrances. Best Attire: Again, not many here, most of them were kinda subtle so I'm gonna give it to Swerve so I can give him props somewhere. Best Performance: Tie for Bryan and Zack, masters of their craft, not much else you can say. Spot of the Night: Because Christian dropping Darby on the steps was messy and scrappy, it's Bryan's Dragon Screw that just looked so vicious like I'm sure I saw his foot facing another direction.