Did you see Mustafa Ali dressed as Sub zero? Cool as fuck
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I missed that, thatās hella dope. Saw some of his match against against Cedric Alexander. They were both great, but wish Ali took the belt.
Yeah it would have been great to see Ali take the strap.
Off the top of my head I can think of the New Day and their Final Fantasy attire and the DBZ thing they done, and maybe Kenny Omegas WK outfit with the big gun. Oh and Glacier.
Anymore weird wrestling/videogame crossovers?
Cody had a Legend of Zelda thing going at Wrestle Kingdom. I also watched an older WM and he had the triforce on his boots.
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I havenāt gotten to listen to it yet but there is a podcast called Gear Switch (that you can find on iTunes I think) that is focused on wrestling gear and fashion. I learned it about it from another podcast that I think a lot of people here might find really interesting, which is Wrestlesplania, where a woman who has been a wrestling fan for a few years and knows some stuff explains wrestling to another woman who is a brand new wrestling fan who has only seen a handful of shows. They take a topic each week where they focus on a storyline or a few matches and react to them in a much less jaded and more humorous way than what Iām used to from the Meltzer family of podcasts for instance. I am not getting paid to advertise it, I swear, I just think its a very fresh and funny perspective on wrestling that people who like the Waypoint perspective on games would enjoy.
Anyway, I have two states of mind when it comes to enjoying wrestling, I am either really invested and loving the story and canāt wait for the next chapter, or Iām being āsports entertainedā where I focus on the immediate spectacle of the event in front of me without considering the context. The first mindset is where I see something as a saga, finding the beauty of the storytelling in the context, while the second mindset is where I see something as a spectacular moment, independent of context. I enjoyed most of Wrestlemania because WWE long ago forced me into the second mindset. I definitely prefer the first mindset of true investment, which is how I feel about the long saga of the Golden Lovers and the Bullet Club, for instance, but WWE has betrayed me too many times, with the storylines that go nowhere, the stars who are pushed then disappear, the matches that mean nothing, and so on. I just donāt trust them to get truly invested anymore.
As a collection of tremendous moments? Great Mania, except for the last match which came off like a parody of Vince trying WAY too hard to get Roman over (also the only 5+ hour shows I can stand are Wrestle Kingdom and Dominion, and those are some of the best wrestling shows in history). The Nicholas moment was great, Ronda beating up HHH and Steph was great stuff, good entrances (especially Shinsukeās) and some good matches. As a chapter in a story? A lot of it doesnāt make any sense. And unfortunately, Iāve been beaten down enough that I accept that it wonāt make sense. Itās frustrating because right next door in the same company, NXT is making these long storylines that make sense. The breakup of DIY was first teased in August of 2016! But the main roster just never follows through I find. I liked Raw and I think thereās gonna be some great stuff coming up, but once again, Iām in that mindset of take what comes. Laugh at what sucks and appreciate what is good. Fortunately, NJPW, with the Bullet Club Civil War and Okadaās legendary run, is there to be what I really want out of wrestling.
Speaking of, Okada was confirmed today for the All In show and I bought my plane tickets. Iām super excited. Anybody else going?
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In other wrestling news, I ended up with a beefy paycheck and a lack of impulse control last week and ordered both Supercard of Honor (which I said I wouldnāt because I hate Sinclair, oops) and the WWN Full Experience which has 9 whole shows from the weekend in New Orleans. So far, Iāve only seen one: Kaiju Big Battel.
That is one of the strangest things Iāve ever seen and since I searched the thread and didnāt see any references, I figure Iāll bring it up. The ring is filled with cardboard buildings and made to look like an old shitty Godzilla-type movie where the ring is the cheesy city set and the wrestlers are the monsters fighting in the city. Characters include: Unicorn Party, Dr. Cube, Burger Bear, American Beetle (does not speak English), Dusto Bunny, Silver Potato and many more. Itās something I canāt really do justice in a post, you have to see it, but I found it to be very very goofy and fun. It reminded me of a turned up version of the totally cheesy wrestling shows my summer camp would put on for the campers when I was a little kid in the mid 90s (sidebar: Bam Bam Bigelow made me weep uncontrollably one summer just by looking at me). Iāve still got 8 shows left and half of Supercard of Honor to watch and thereās a lot of names Iāve heard about but never actually seen so Iām looking forward to seeing them. I donāt think any of them will be quite like Kaiju Big Battel however.
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Penta AKA Pentagon Jr. has a Sub Zero outfit while Scorpio Sky has a Scorpion one.
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Oh thatās pretty cool, was that on Lucha Underground?
Belly laughed again at Braun and Nicholas relinquishing the tag titles. āUnfortunately Nicholas has a scheduling conflict. I mean, heās in the fourth grade. But when heās done with school weāll be back to take these titlesā with Nicholas yelling āand theyāll GET! THESE! HANDS!ā. Imagine being cynical about that.
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Iāve only seen Penta post photos of his Sub Zero outfit while he was doing an Indy tour so Iām not sure if heās ever worn it at the Temple but with Season 4 taking place in āThe Ice Templeā I wouldnāt be surprised if he does.
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Of you guys are looking for any good wrestling to tide you over, I highly recommend ICW latest PPV, Jackie Polo vs Lionheart was fantastic and the main event BT Gunn vs Mikey Whiplash was brutal.
Fell asleep during NJPW Dominion and woke up in time for the Okada vs. Omega match. Reaaaaallly pleased with the ending. Also, wow that whole show was 5 hours.
Jericho/Naito was great, especially Jerichoās absurd juggalo-ass makeup, and Hiromu/Ospreay was fantastic, but Omega/Okada blew both those out of the fuckin water. Pretty definitely the best match in wrestling history.
Does that New Japan streaming service have a deep archive or is it just live events? Iāve never properly watched Japanese wrestling (just individual matches on YouTube sans context) and Iām interested in catching up on the last year or so at some point.
I saw some dude lamenting what a tragedy it was that people hadnāt picked up on the āobviousā Alex from Clockwork Orange homage, Y2J was sporting, and I couldnāt help but think that he more than anything looked like an embarrassing dad who went with his kid to a gathering of the Juggalos.
Edit: yes @Patrick_R Itās a massive archive and you can find tons of old stuff there that is from back in the old days. Searching for and finding stuff can be a bit of a hassle, but plenty of people have started cultivating links and lists to go through.
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New Japanās G1 Climax tournament kicks off tonight, granting us a month of great matches. This is always my favorite wrestling event of the year.
Iām obviously excited to see the heavyhitters like Okada, Naito, Tanahashi, Ibushi, and Omega, but this year I think the most intriguing story will be seeing how newcomers Switchblade Jay White and Hangman Page acclimate themselves in their first tournament. Iām always rooting for first time entries in tournaments like this to kill it and prove that they deserve the spot, and Iām a big fan of both guys.
I think this might be the hardest G1 to predict the winner for in several years. Maybe Iām just working myself into thinking too hard about it, but Okada winning and getting redemption for losing his title seems almost too obvious to me, though admittedly Gedo isnāt afraid to do the obvious choice if he believes it to be the right one. Iāve seen some predict that this might be the first year the G1 winner loses his Tokyo Dome title shot sometime in the Fall, and I think that would be a good way of elevating someone on the up-and-up like Jay White or Zack Sabre Jr. without actually having them main event the Dome.
The hardest thing for me is deciding my prediction for what will be main eventing Wrestle Kingdom. Thereās a lot of different options: Okada/Omega V, Naito/Omega, Naito/Okada, Ibushi/Omega, Omega/Tanahashi. I could see any of those main eventing so itās hard to think about who will win the G1.
Predictions aside though, Iām just excited that itās time for my favorite month of pro wrestling. Anyone else here planning on following the tournament?
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Solid NXT UK show, should give it a chance to see some great UK wrestling. Noam Dar vs Pete Dunne shouldnāt be missed
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Glad Dar got his wee moment to shine. Love to see a local boy doing good. PS: Dunne is a dafty.
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Dunne IS a dafty, pass it on. But seriously great match
NXT UK was pretty good, I love a lot of the folks theyāre using. The Toni Storm/Nina Samuels match was good, but too short, and the main of course was really solid. Iām glad that Noam is getting more of a chance to show off in this context.
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