Just when I say there’s not much interesting going on with NXT, they treat us to a Last Woman Standing championship match between Asuka and Nikki Cross. This was the best match NXT has put on in months, filled with big spot and ending with Asuka performing a superplex on Nikki Cross off the top of a ladder onto the announce table. Great spot, and Asuka of course picks up the win. It comes as no surprise for Asuka, as I’ve often said she’s one of if not the best female performer WWE has. Cross’ performance, on the other hand, was pleasantly surprising. I was less than impressed with her in ring abilities when she first arrived on NXT, but she seems to get better with every match, and while her delivery still needs some work (she dropped Asuka on her head instead of her back during a big chair powerbomb) her ability to take bumps has improved dramatically. This brings up an interesting question; can Asuka and Nikki Cross have a legitimate rivalry? WWE is obviously high on Cross, but I can’t believe they like her enough to have her be the one who ends Asuka’s winning streak. Asuka’s streak is now longer than Goldberg’s was, and I’d have a hard time seeing that streak end on NXT. When Asuka finally does lose a match, it will be a huge occurrence and give a huge push to whoever finally beats her. That seems like the sort of thing WWE would want to save for the main roster, especially considering how weak the women’s champions are on both shows, I just don’t see Asuka losing a match until it’s for a main roster title. Now if this turns out to be what WWE has planned, then there’s no way for Asuka to have a legitimate feud with anyone on NXT. It’s almost a given that she’s going to win every match she’s in at this point, so that essentially reduces the NXT women’s roster to a stable of jobbers. Asuka’s dominance has been enjoyable and certainly well deserved, but I can’t imagine watching her beat the crap out of up and comers can go on for much longer without getting old. Despite just having watched one of her most entertaining matches, WWE needs to make their move and get her in a main card title feud…
The Scribedown 6/25/17
Well the Money in the Bank ppv has come and gone, and apparently the entire event was a device to build heat for some of WWE’s up and coming heels. To begin with, the first ever women’s Money in the Bank match was won by James Ellsworth. It was simultaneously entertaining and offensive. The five women in this match battled hard and performed some great spots, and it looked like Becky Lynch was poised to win the match. That is until Ellsworth tipped her off the ladder, then scaled the ladder himself, retrieved the briefcase and gave it to Carmella. I’ll admit it was entertaining to see Ellsworth interject himself, and the way he did it was certainly unexpected. But having the weakest male wrestler on the roster achieve what five of the best female wrestlers could not does speak to WWE inherent feelings about women in the industry. Even though Carmella technically won the match, the fact that she was the only wrestler with a man in her corner and could not win without his help is a scathing example of Vinny K’s hands on the product again. It does however build up a lot of heat for Carmella, who despite winning matches and performing well has yet to catch the attention of the fans. The problem is that Ellsworth is getting the hype, not Carmella. If Carmella had retrieved the briefcase herself with just interference by Ellsworth, then the heat would have fallen squarely on Carmella, where it belongs, but instead the historic first ever women’s Money in the Bank match is all about James Ellsworth, and that’s just sad. Carmella did give great “I don’t give a fuck” promo on Smackdown, but she was stripped of the briefcase and the match will be held again on the upcoming Smackdown. It’s the right thing to do, but it still feels cheap.
In other heat building news, the recently heel-turned Usos retained their tag titles against New Day by simply walking away from the match and losing via count out, which I would like to call bullshit on. That’s a TV ending, not a ppv ending. If you want to build up the Usos then have them actually win the match, if not then just give the titles to New Day, no one seems to give a shit about the Usos anyway.
Heel heat ran rampant in the WWE Championship match as Jinder Ma”who?” defeated Randy Orton in his hometown in front of his dad on Father’s Day, after Jinder’s lackeys, the Bollywood Boys (or whatever they’re calling themselves now) roughed up Bob Orton in the stands and got some killer RKO spots for their trouble. It built up some great heat for Jinder, who desperately needs it if WWE is going to continue his title run and keep him in the main event picture. I have been really trying to get behind Jinder, he’s got the look, he gives a good promo (even if it’s completely derivative) and he’s fairly solid in the ring. The only problem is I actually watch wrestling, and I’ve watched Jinder as a jobber for years, and if WWE can’t be bothered to elevate his character naturally before slapping their most prestigious championship around his waist, then I can’t be bothered to root for him.
The Money in the Bank match was as good as expected. Corbin took out Nakamura during his entrance, which is a good way to build some quick heat. The match came down to Styles (who WWE is finally letting be a face since crowds won’t stop cheering for him) and Nakamura on the top of the ladder battling for the briefcase when Corbin pushed them down and ultimately won the match. Now I was hoping Nakamura would win, but I have no problem with Corbin getting the contract. After one episode of Smackdown, it looks like Corbin is going to be a solid heel Money in the Bank holder. Problem is that doesn’t work nearly as well when you have a heel champion also, so I’m not sure what direction they intend on going with this.
In world of New Japan Pro Wrestling, their most recent event, Dominion Osaka, was excellent. Suzuki defended his Never Openweight Championship against Goto in an entertaining lumberjack match. Recent Super Jrs. Winner KUSHIDA won the Jr. Heavyweight championship back from Hiromu Takahashi in a street fight style match, and Hiroshi Tanahashi won the IWGP Intercontinental Championship by defeating Tetsuya Naito in the most recent in their series of terrific matches. But the highlight of the night was the 60 minute time limit draw between Okada and Kenny Omega. We know just how good a match these two can put in, as they wrestled one of the greatest matches of all time back in January. It was evident that they were trying to top themselves on this night, and while this match didn’t quite live up to the magnitude of their first encounter it was nothing short of a five star match. Momentum shift followed momentum shift, big spot followed big spot, near fall followed near fall, as these two men put on a brilliant display of artistic violence. I can only assume that one day Omega will finally get over the hump and beat Okada, and when he does it will be one of the greatest moments in wrestling. I can’t wait for the next match between these two.
Ring of Honor had their Best in the World ppv recently, and did not disappoint. ROH seems to know exactly how to put on a ppv from a wrestling standpoint. Unlike some WWE events, I’ve never finished a ROH ppv and felt disappointed because the matches were mediocre or the event was just used to move the story along. ROH competitors give it everything they have for every ppv match, and I don’t think I’ve witnessed an event that didn’t leave me feeling excited about what I’d just seen. WWE could certainly learn from ROH in this regard. KUSHIDA and Marty Scrull put on an exceptional match in which KUSHIDA defeated Scrull to retain his ROH Television Championship. Reigning IWGP Jr. Heavyweight and ROH Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks retained their ROH tag belts against former IWGP Heavyweight Champions War Machine. And in the Main Event, recent Bullet Club member and free agent Cody Rhodes took on The World Heavyweight Champion (of the World) Christopher Daniels for Daniels’ belt. This was the clear match of the night and I’m impressed with Christopher Daniels every time I see him in the ring. Cody Rhodes would win the championship on this night, giving him his first since leaving WWE. It’s been an impressive transition for Cody, when you consider that just over a year ago WWE had him dressed up like a human can of Rockstar energy drink. Now he’s the ROH World Champion and the only member of Bullet Club with a singles title.
I know I said I’d talk about NXT in this piece, but the fact is there’s not much going on in NXT worth mentioning. Roode still holds the title and carries it well. It looks like Roderick Strong is going to be his next opponent, but Roode seems to be deeply entrenched as champion. Asuka and the Authors of Pain seem even more comfortable in their championship positions. There are a few up an comers in each division, but no one established enough or with enough potential to take the titles off the champs any time soon. Unfortunately the biggest problem in the Women’s division is Asuka. There are a number of legit female wrestlers in the division, but none of them can hold a candle to Asuka, who is probably the best female wrestler currently under contract with WWE, maybe the best in the world. None of the women on NXT have either the talent or the pedigree to end Asuka’s one hundred seventy-something match winning streak. They need to have Asuka vacate the title and move up to one of the main rosters where she can face talent close to her level, and the other women on NXT can stop being stagnant.
In other news, we learned on the Money in the Bank pre-show that The Hardys are chomping at the bit to bring back the Broken Matt and Brother Nero gimmick, but are unable to right now due to legal reasons. Matt Hardy says it’s only a matter of time before they can start using it again, which gives us all something to look forward to.
The Scribedown 6/10/17
Damn I take a few weeks off and things really start to pile up in the world of pro wrestling. Also, in case anyone was wondering, The Scribedown is the new name for my analysis column. Feature pieces will continue to be appropriately titled. So I’ll start on the Raw side and deal with Extreme Rules and the aftermath, then move on to Smackdown and talk about Backlash and the aftermath and the buildup to Money in the Bank.
Frist off, Extreme Rules. There were really only four matches worth mentioning, so let’s get into it. Dean Ambrose faced The Miz for Ambrose’s Intercontinental Championship in a match where Ambrose would lose the title if he were disqualified. This stipulation made for one of the more tedious matches these two have put on, since Ambrose and to be very careful with five-counts and not bumping into the ref and what not. Of course The Miz’s Barbie looking (and equally intelligent) wife tried to get Ambrose DQ’ed by slapping Miz in the face. An obvious spot that obviously didn’t work. The Miz then pushed Ambrose into the ref when he had his back turned to eject Maryse from ringside. In the fracas that followed Miz was able to sneak in a finisher and win the match. Now I need to talk about The Miz for a minute. I should preface this by saying that I’ve always had a fondness for heels. They are absolutely necessary and I often find myself routing for them. But not The Miz, never The Miz. He is quite simply everything that’s wrong with heels all rolled into one. He’s decent on the mic but he just says the same shit over and over again, he dodges matches at every opportunity, and he never, ever, wins a match clean. Plus his smarmy face is on TV every single week because he never gets hurt because he has no big spots. I don’t understand why WWE has been so high on him for so long but if we’re lucky he’ll go off and make another straight to Redbox movie and we won’t have to watch him for a while. Getting back on track, Alexa Bliss defended her Women’s Championship against Bailey in a Kendo stick on a pole match. Nothing out of the ordinary here, solid match between the two and a nice clean win for Bliss. Alexa Bliss has really started to grow on me lately. She’s a solid heel, good in the ring, and her paired up with Bailey makes for a quality rivalry. The Hardys put on an entertaining cage match against Sheamus and Cesaro that quite literally came down to a battle of inches as Sheamus and Cesaro escaped the cage a split second before the Hardys to win the titles. The Hardys have stepped up their in-ring game quite a bit since rejoining WWE, and honestly I couldn’t care less. It was the Broken Matt and dysfunctional House Hardy angle the brought them back to prominence, and if WWE is so fucking short-sighted that they can’t see that then they need to give them their release a let them be entertaining again in another promotion, because watching the boring ass Hardy Boyz of 15 years ago is becoming more frustrating than anything else. Oh and btw, in another match that I wasn’t even planning on mentioning, Neville defended his Cruiserweight Championship against Austin Ares yet again. What I don’t understand is how they can call this a feud when Neville wins every single match these two compete in. At this point it’s beginning to feel as though Ares is nothing but Neville’s personal jobber. Either give Ares a title run or move on to someone else (and not Jack Gallaher, that fucking goofball). Now on to the most entertaining match of the night, Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. Bray Wyatt in an extreme rules match to earn a title shot against Brock Lesner. The match featured big spot after big spot, and when the dust settled, Samoa Joe choked Finn Balor unconscious to win the match. I’ve liked Samoa Joe ever since his days in TNA, and a Joe vs. Lesnar match has a ton of potential. I was somewhat disappointed when Balor didn’t win the match, as he’s probably my favorite wrestler after Shinsuke Nakamura. But at least Roman Reigns didn’t win, so that’s quite a relief. But they are not waiting for Summerslam for this championship match, they are having it at the next Raw exclusive ppv, Great Balls of Fire (yes, WWE actually named its new ppv after a 60+ year old Jerry Lee Lewis song). So there is still a chance the Balor will face the winner of that match at Summerslam, we can only hope…
The Raw that followed featured no significant story developments but did featured an embarrassingly bad Nia Jax match against Alexa Bliss as well as a solid contest featuring Samoa Joe vs. Seth Rollins. As the weeks go by I’m sure they’ll get some more rivalries going for the Jerry Lee Lewis ppv.
On the Smackdown side of things, Jinder Mahal is the new WWE Champion, a sentence I never thought anyone would write ever. Jinder Mahal is WWE Champion. Let that sink in for a moment… Now some of you might be wondering, “who the hell is Jinder Mahal?” Well he sold the most magazine subscriptions so he gets a title run. No but in all seriousness he was a jobber who won one match to get a title shot and now he’s champion, defeating Randy Orton at Backlash. Now the next thing some of you might be wondering is “why the hell did they make him champion?” I honestly have no idea, but here’s what I do know: WWE brass has been high on Mahal for some time, not necessarily for his talent, but for his work ethic. It has been said of Mahal that he has the best diet and exercise program of anyone in the back. So apparently if you eat enough kale and do enough crunches they’ll put a belt around your waist. This is one of the more confusing moves I’ve ever seen WWE make. I wish I had some nugget of insider information to explain this rise from nothing to top guy in the business, but I don’t. Randy Orton gets his rematch at Money in the Bank so hopefully this will put things back to normal. I never thought I’d be rooting for the past his prime has-been instead of the up and comer, but I just can’t get behind the whole jobber to champion gimmick with no build up or accomplishment along the way. However, given the magnitude of the upcoming Money in the Bank match, featuring AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Ziggler, and Shinsuke Nakamura, it is most likely that the winner will capture the title sooner rather than later. I would imagine that either Styles, Corbin, or Nakamura will win the match, as Owens has the U.S. Championship to defend and Zayn and Ziggler aren’t over enough for that kind of push. Then again, Mahal wasn’t even over enough to beat Mojo Rowley in his first match on Smackdown and a month later he’s champion so predictions are pretty much going out the window at this point. So far Nakamura has the most momentum going into the match, not having lost since he’s been on Smackdown and pinning Kevin Owens clean in three straight weeks. But in the land of obscurity, I mean opportunity, that is Smackdown, momentum doesn’t count for much. Heath “He’s got kids” Slater and Rhyno were flying high as tag team champions, now they’re jobbers on Raw and WWE is trying to convince us that Breezango are both an interesting and legitimate tag team. I’m reminder of the throwing shit against the wall metaphor.
In other wrestling news, Kushida defeated Will Ospreay in the finals of the NJPW Best of Super Junior Tournament in an epic five star match. I admit I only watched the finals, as the tournament goes on for 14 days and I just don’t have the stamina for that much wrestling. Despite how it may look on my blog, I don’t actually watch every single bit of wrestling on TV and the internet, just most of it J. And on a final note, the most recent Ring of Honor ppv, War or the Worlds, was as excellent and underrated as every ROH ppv. Adam Cole got kicked out of the Bullet Club, so his path is a little unclear right now, and the main event featuring Christopher Daniels defending his ROH Championship against Jay Lethal and Cody Rhodes was exceptional. The 47 year old Daniels fought like a much younger man and retained the title, it’s just a shame hardly anyone saw it.
If you’re a regular reader, be sure to check back in a couple weeks for my Money in the Bank breakdown. I’ll also be writing about NJPW Dominion, which has another Okada vs. Kenny Omega title match scheduled, sure to be a classic, and we’ll talk a little NXT, which despite the Takeover Chicago ppv has been a bit stagnant lately, so until next time…
Payback and Others as Well
Payback was another mediocre ppv that did very little to progress current storylines and failed to produce any quality matches of note. We saw the Hardys defend their titles against Sheamus and Cesaro, with the latter group turning heel at the end of the match. We learned that WWE is extremely high on Alexa Bliss, having her defeat Bailey for the Raw women’s championship and become the first woman to hold women’s titles on both Raw and Smackdown. I’m becoming more of a fan of Little Miss Bliss the more I watch her. She has a solid personality, she is fundamentally sound in the ring, and she can work a good match with any decent female competitor. The problem is she is the smallest superstar on the roster and has no big spots that she can hit and no finisher other than the DDT. If WWE wants to give her this tremendous push, then they ought to work out those issues before moving forward. Austin Ares challenged Neville for the Cruiserweight title, and won via DQ, leaving Neville as champion and continuing that rivalry. Chris Jericho defeated Kevin Owens for the U.S. Championship, which was surprising to me since I know that Fozzy’s summer tour begins this week, and that usually indicates Jericho’s temporary absence from WWE. However, Jericho lost the title back to Owens two days later on Smackdown, with Owens “injuring” Jericho in the process, which will likely keep him off TV long enough for Fozzy’s tour. Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton’s haunted house match took place in two parts, the first half in an old “scary” house, the second half it the ring. Wyatt won the match with an assist from Jinder Mahal, which is surprising in itself because Bray Wyatt rarely comes out on top in his feuds. But at some point WWE decided to make this a non-title match, which means Wyatt could win and still walk out sans-gold. In the main event of Payback we saw Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns put on their best match, still only about three stars, in which both superstars were “injured,” meaning they can both be put on the shelf for a while and resume their feud whenever WWE is ready.
We had a few questions answered on Raw, mainly what the next group of feuds is going to be. As Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are still completely absent from Raw, Dean Ambrose’s Intercontinental Championship has been elevated to the top prize on Raw, and we were treated to an exceptionally good no. 1 contender’s match featuring Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, and The Miz. Samoa Joe took Rollins out of the match, continuing their feud, and Bray Wyatt took out Finn Balor, setting up another feud there. So The Miz won the match, rekindling the Dean Ambrose vs. Miz feud from Smackdown. It worked well on Smackdown, so there’s no reason to believe it won’t work on Raw. The fact that this match even happened also lends credence to my belief that we won’t see Brock Lesnar defend the title until SummerSlam, probably against Reigns, Rollins, or Balor, as all three will likely come out on top of their current feuds.
Smackdown this week established the AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens feud for the U.S. title, which will be contested at the Smackdown ppv Backlash on May 21. This has all the makings of an excellent long term feud, it’s just a shame that it’s for the U.S. title and not the world title. That feud is currently being filled by “we’re all getting sick of” Randy Orton and “how the hell did this guy elevated to main event status” Jinder Mahal. But the ppv is being hyped with clips of Shinsuke Nakamura, who will wrestle his first WWE match outside of NXT against Dolph Ziggler at the event. I’d be surprised if this is anything but a squash for Nakamura, who will likely be the one to ultimately take the one to take the title off Orton.
NXT has yet to name the number 1 contender for Bobby Roode’s, but it does appear as though Hideo Itami will get the first shot at it, although I don’t see NXT’s “Era of Roode” ending anytime soon. Asuka interfered at the end of a battle royal for the number one contendership for the NXT women’s title, setting up a fatal 4-way match with Asuka facing Ember Moon, Nikki Cross, and Ruby Rox. If WWE is ready to move Asuka up to the main roster, look for Ember Moon to win the match, if not, look for Asuka to retain.
On the other side of the world, NJPW just had its Dontaku event, which is a Japanese holiday celebrating the signing of their constitution in 1947. In significant matches at this event, Bullet Club’s newest member Cody Rhodes defeated David Finaly, continuing his meteoric rise since leaving WWE. Cody logs a lot of flight hours these days, wrestling all over the world. But at least now he can wrestle as himself instead of a human can of Rockstar energy drink. KUSHIDA and the up and coming Juice Robinson were defeated by the Los Ingobernables de Japon team of Japanese puck rocker Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito, with Takahashi getting the pin fall over KUSHIDA and further emphasizing his dominance as Jr. Heavyweight Champion. The Middle of the road Ring of Honor tag team War Machine continues to dominate the Japanese tag team scene, defending their IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships in a triple threat match featuring the Guerillas of Destiny, proving once again that Japanese wrestling fans love big hairy Americans for some reason… SANADA, EVIL, and BUSHI of Los Igobernables de Japon regained the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Championships from Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Ricochet. Ricochet (aka Trevor Mann), one of my favorite indy wrestlers, is an early favorite to win the upcoming Super Jr.’s tournament and will likely feud with Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP JR. Heavyweight Championship, so it makes sense to get him out of the tag picture and into singles competition. Kenny Omega carried the “moves like” Stone Pitbull Tomohiro Ishii through a better match than it had any right to be which turned out to be one of the highlights of the card. And in a fairly pointless main event, Kazuchika Okada defeated Bad Luck Fale in a predictable squash match. It was Okada’s weakest match so far this year, but it came against his weakest opponent. More on New Japan when the Super Jr.’s tournament finishes in early June.
This Week in WWE 4/27/17
We didn’t learn much this week on Raw, the show before a ppv is usually just a preview for that event and rarely moves the story forward much. We did learn that Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose doesn’t have a match at Payback and, like Brock Lesnar, appears to be feuding with no one. We learned that WWE is really serious about maintaining the Hardys at their attitude era level, just as boring as they were when they were fired over a decade ago. Only time will tell if WWE decides to let them be interesting again.
On Smackdown, we learned that WWE is actually going to go through with a Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal title feud, as Mahal appears to now be leading a faction with the Bollywood Boys and this week stole the belt from Orton. Now I’ve always been a big fan of belt stealing, and I like seeing mid card guys get elevated, but this whole thing seemed to come out of nowhere. It’s only been a few weeks since Mahal was a mid-card jobber on Raw, and the Bollywood Boys were a jobber tag team on NXT. Now we’re supposed to view Mahal as a legitimate title contender? Sorry guys, not buying it. If you wanted Orton to feud with someone who can’t work on the mic, then why not have him feud with Nakamura, at least he has an excuse for being bad on the mic, as he barely speaks English. Mahal is just plain bad. In tag team news Fandango and Tyler Breeze became the number one contenders for the Usos’ Smackdown Tag Team Championship. Why take the weakest team in the division and thrust them into the no. 1 contender’s spot? No idea. Smackdown has been a little confusing lately.
In NXT news, the number one contender’s picture appears to be sorting itself out, with Hideo Itami (known in Japan as Kenta Kobayashi) appears to be next in line for a shot at Bobby Roode’s title, with Drew McIntyre (formerly Galloway) and Roderick Strong both positioning themselves for a shot down the road. The oft injured Itami might have made the 10 spot on my list of top Japanese wrestlers had I known he was healthy, but it’s hard to accomplish anything when you’re injured more often than not.
In non-WWE news, Impact is beginning to before slightly more watchable. They’ve teamed up with Global Force Wrestling, which has increased their talent pool. They re-signed Low-Ki and put the X Division title on him, and they brought back LAX and put the tag team titles on them. This week’s match of the week goes to LAX defending their titles against Decay in a excellent hadcore mach, complete with barbed wire boards and thumbtacks. They’ve also got Shane Helms and Konan both leading factions, which is kind of cool. Unfortunately, their world title picture is still dominated by Bobby Lashley and EC3, which essentially makes the entire thing unwatchable.
In Ring of Honor, Christopher Daniels remains champion, with a match against Matt Taven coming up, and there’s a fatal four way number one contender’s match coming up next week to determine his challenger at the War of the Worlds ppv.
This Week in WWE – 4/20/17
Every week the WWE treats us to a little bit more of their soap operatic storylines, and while I decided when I began this blog that I did not want to do recap pieces, But I think a weekly storyline update, a sort of “What did we learn in WWE this week” could be fun, so let’s start with Raw. We learn from Finn Balor’s jobber squash that the WWE is still very high on him, with a three announcers praising him throughout the match and even going so far as to say that it’s only a matter of time before he’s carrying gold again. Good news for all. In other good news, it appears that we will not have to suffer through a Nia Jax title match at Payback, instead Alexa Bliss won the right to take on Bailey at the ppv. The WWE seems to be very high on Bliss, though I’m not sure what they see in her, I think she’s good, not great, but a match involving her is sure to be better than anything Nia Jax is a part of. We learned that Roman Reigns is taking on Braun Strowman again at Payback, so it appears that Brock Lesner’s Universal Championship will go undefended at the event, as there has not even been a mention of Lesner since the day after WrestleMania. Unfortunately, we’ve also learned that the Hardy Boyz are being hyped as the old team extreme Hardys, instead of the Broken Matt character that many of us have come to know and love. Now so far I’ve heard two schools of thought on WWE’s plan for the Hardys. The first is that they are not fans of the new gimmick and plan to continue to use the old team extreme gimmick for as long as the Hardys are still viable. The second is that if they brought in the Hardys as the wacky Broken Matt and Brother Nero, the diehard fans would get it and cheer “delete” along with Matt and have a grand old time. The casual WWE fans however, would likely be confused by the new gimmick, so the plan is to introduce it slowly, to start with team extreme then break them down to Broken Matt and Brother Nero. This actually sounds like an awesome plan and I’m hoping it’s the direction WWE decides to go in.
Smackdown live gave us very little this week. Charlotte defeated Naomi to earn a title match next week. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte gets the belt anyway so all this is basically irrelevant. To my disappointment Shinsuke Nakamura did not make an appearance this week, but they had a segment talking about how great he is. In a surprise twist, Jihnder Mahal won a six man match consisting of nothing but mid-carders to win a title shot at “Randy Orton’s WWE Championship”. Okay, so we all know that Randy Orton is going to win the haunted house match against Bray Wyatt at Payback, but c’mon guys, do you have to make it that obvious? As for Mahal’s win, it kind of makes sense. He’s said to be one of the hardest working guys backstage, and is generally liked and respected. So might as well throw him into the spotlight and watch him flounder.
205 Live didn’t have any real story progression, but that’s not really what it does. There is very little drama other than what takes place in the ring, and as a fan of quality cruiserweight wrestling, I definitely recommend it, but if you’re primarily interested in the Raw style twists and turns, then it might not be for you. TJ Perkins is a heel now, that’s about it.
On NXT, we learned just how bad of shape the women’s division is watching a slow, plodding tag team match involving four top contenders. The week’s Match of the Week took place on NXT, as Tye Dillinger defeated Eric Young in a steel cage match. Now Dillinger is free to return to Smackdown and become a mid-card jobber.
Top 10: Japanese Wrestlers
Since I write about and reference Japanese wrestling quite a bit, I felt like I should create a list of the top 10 search-worthy Japanese wrestlers, the guys who are worth following. Also, I can only rate their mic skill based as the way they speak, not what they say, as I don’t understand Japanese…
10. Hirooki Goto
Goto is a face with the Chaos faction of NJPW currently in his first run as Never Openweight Champion He’s been a solid competitor for decades, has held the NJPW Intercontinental Championship, multiple tag championships, and has fared well in multiple tournaments and G1 Climax events, but has never quite gotten to the upper echelon. He sort of the Kane of NJPW, a solid talent whose good for whatever you need him for at the time. Not one of my personal favorites, but good enough to deserve a spot on this list.
9. Kota Ibushi
This is a name that some of you are more likely to know, as I’ve mentioned him before, and he’s wrestled for WWE on NXT and in the Cruiserweight Classic. He was originally slated to win the classic, but the inability of the two side to get a long term deal done resulted in Ibushi losing to eventual champ TJ Perkins. He is a three time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion despite being a freelancer for most of his career. Currently he is quietly raising his stock as Tiger Mask W in NJPW. Unfortunately for his American fans, Ibushi’s history indicated that he does not like to make long term commitments to promotions, not even in Japan, so it is unlikely that he’ll be seen in WWE for any length of time. He’s an in-ring performer of such high caliber that he made Cedric Alexander look so good in defeat that he got a WWE contract. And Alexander hasn’t had an entertaining match since the one with Ibushi…
8. “EVIL” Takaaki Watanabe
The defacto second in command of Tetsuya Naito’s Los Ingobernables de Japon, Watanabe debuted in 2011, but emerged as EVIL in 2015. He’s got a cool look, an impressive grim reaper style entrance with lasers and most importantly, he is an excellent in-ring performer. He’s held gold only briefly, but he just turned 30, which in Japan tends to mean you’re entering your prime, and EVIL certainly is. He recently held is his singles title as the Never Openweight Champion and seems poised for an impressive run to come. The only thing holding him back now is being in the shadow of Tetsuya Naito, who’s larger than life personality seems to hold back all the members of his faction. But I have a feeling it won’t be long before we see what EVIL can really do.
7. Minoru Suzuki
Suzuki is the elder statesman on this list at 48 years old, making his pro wrestling debut in 1988. He took a 10 year hiatus from pro wrestling between 1993 and 2003, during which time he co-founded Pancrase, the Japanese MMA organization, finishing with a 29-20 record in MMA during those 10 years. Since his return to pro wrestling in 2003, he has continued to go back and forth between Pro Wrestling NOAH and NJPW, and recently made waves when his Suzuki Gun faction invaded NJPW, repeatedly attacking the Chaos faction, of which champion Kazuchika Okada is a member. They gave him a title shot against Okada earlier this year, which is what makes him relevant enough to make this list. You’d never guess his age from is in-ring performance, he is still a solid wrestler.
6. KUSHIDA
If Marty McFly were a modern day Japanese wrestler, he would be KUSHIDA. He has embraced the Time-Splitter gimmick, and now comes to the ring dressed like Marty McFly with his signature orange vest. He even call his finishing move the Hoverboard Lock. As cheesy as all of this might sound, it actually works out very well. KUSHIDA is tremendously over, and I’m excited every time he comes to the ring, as I’ve never seen him in a match that wasn’t entertaining. He won the most recent Super J Cup, has held and feuded for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship, and is one of the top rising stars in New Japan today. He’s wrestled all over the world, including Ring of Honor, and is one of if not the top Jr. heavyweight on the Japanese scene today.
5. Hiromu Takahashi
I would have like to put KUSHIDA ahead of Takahashi, but since Takahashi defeated KUSHIDA for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight in January then defended against him in April, it seemed only fitting to put Takahashi ahead. I first encountered him in Ring of Honor wrestling under the name Kamaitachi. He spent several years wrestling in CMLL and ROH under that name as part of his Young Lion’s excursion, a process by which many young NJPW talent wrestles abroad for several years to continue their training. Upon his return in 2016, he promptly switched back to his real name and challenged KUSHIDA for the title. Takahashi is the punk rockers of Japanese wrestling, with his dyed red hair an jackets with patches like Misfits, Bad Brains, Black Flag, etc. Makes me wonder if he’s actually into that kind of stuff or if someone’s just dressing him that was. Would be a lot cooler if he was…
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi
It is almost hard to justify putting Tanahashi at number 4. He is probably the best known wrestler in all of Japan, sort of like the Japanese John Cena. He’s been ridiculously popular and justifiably so, he has the personality of, and carries himself like a superhero, and he’s treated as such. The Japanese crowds, notorious for their polite clapping, actually let out a few cheers when Tanahashi comes to the ring. About two years ago, you could have had this list every month going back a decade and Tanahashi would have been number one, but recent losses and a slide from the main event picture down to the upper-card have reduced his status slightly, and given room for some others to emerge ahead of him. Three others to be precise…
3. Tetsuya Naito
Naito is one of the most interesting figures in pro wrestling today. His character is second to none, his actual backstory is as interesting as anything made up, and the crowd reaction to him is classic. Oh, and he can wrestle 😉 Naito came up the ranks like most other NJPW performers, after his graduation from the Lion’s Den, he was paired with Yujiro Takahashi (now the Tokyo Pimp of Bullet Club) and they had success as a tag team, went on a developmental tour with TNA and CMLL in 2009, and had some singles success from 2011-2015 as a multiple time Never Openweight Champion, but could never really get over. Then in 2015, NJPW did a North American tour, and upon its completion, Naito elected to stay behind and continue to wrestle for CMLL. He work there for the length of a tour an joined the Los Ingobernables faction during that time. He then returned to Japan, announced the formation of Los Ingobernables de Japon, and became a total heel, disrespecting championships, fans, others wrestlers. And the crowds love this guy. They sit there and listen to him say inflammatory and disrespectful things to them and they wait politely and applaud when he’s not. It’s seriously one of the oddest crowd responses I’ve every seen. This guys is truly a character, and the fans see that and respect it, and since his heel turn, he’s defeated Okada to become world champion and currently holds the IWGP Intercontinental championship which he recently defended against Hiroshi Tanahashi. that puts him at number 3, just behind…
2. Shinsuke Nakamura
YeaOh! Shinsuke Nakamura, the King of Strong Style himself, is undeniably my favorite active wrestler, so the decision not to put him at number one on this list was almost painful, but despite my personal biases, I’d have to say that objectively this is the order they should go in. In fact, it occurred to me that if I were to make a list of the top ten active wrestlers in the world today, number one and two would still be the same. Jeff Hardy used to refer to himself as the charismatic enigma. Well that term more aptly describes Nakamura than it ever did Jeff Hardy. Nakamura is charisma personified. He is so amped up upon his entrance I’m surprised he has any energy left to wrestle a match. His inability to speak good English also adds to his character. He doesn’t say much, so when he does talk, I’ve actually seen members of the crowd shush each other to hear what he has to say. Thousands of fans, myself included, hang on his every word. Inside the ring, he’s the best technician I’ve seen since Eddie Guerrero, my favorite wrestler of all time. His unusually long legs allow him to perform holds and spots that other wrestlers are physically unable to hit. All of his work in NXT has been epic, most notably his feud with Samoa Joe. He has a long and distinguished career in NJPW, being one of the top two guys for over a decade along with Tanahashi, and their feuds for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship are the stuff of legend. He even wrestled Brock Lesnar for the title back in 2006. And right now his future is wide open. His recent arrival on Smackdown has been a huge success before he’s even wrestled a match. He is poised right now to be the first real crossover Japanese superstar, and he’s in a position where he could carry the entire Smackdown brand if they wanted him to. But all my Nakamura fandom still can’t put him ahead of the number one wrestler in the world today…
1. Kazuchika Okada
“The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada is, simply put, the greatest in-ring technician in the world today. He is a multiple time IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and the current title holder. He may not be the biggest personality on the roster, but his in-ring talent more that makes up for it. He turns every match into an epic battle, and his match with Kenny Omega at this years Wrestle Kingdom was a 45 minute work of art. It’s the best wrestling match I’ve ever seen, and according to many, including wrestling guru Dave Meltzer, could quite possibly be the greatest professional wrestling match of all time. Okada has an incredible knack for making his opponent look awesome for most of the match, but then he manages to win clean, and both superstars are elevated. His Rainmaker persona is supposed to make him a heel, but his talent was destined to make him a face in Japan, as the crowds there would never boo anyone that good. And at only 29 years old, Okada should have a long a epic career ahead of him. And who knows, if things work out well with Nakamura then we may see Okada battling it out in WWE in a few years. WE can only hope…
On The Dotted Line…
I often complain about the WWE for not signing certain wrestlers. I often contend that the WWE prefers quantity to quality, that they lean towards signing a bunch of nobodies in the hopes that one of them will pan out rather than signing established stars. Now there are several recent noteworthy exceptions to this practice. AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bobby Roode, Eric Young, Samoa Joe, and Austin Ares have all held gold in other promotions and/or overseas. But still, for every Eric Young in Orlando, you’ve got a dozen guys in their early 20s who’ve never wrestled before and have glaring in-ring weaknesses. I assume this is ultimately good for business otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it. And I know competition is good for business and all that, but watching so many talented stars in other promotions does make me wish that more of these guys were under the same umbrella. I understand that certain superstars would be nearly impossible for WWE to sign. Now I’m not claiming to be any sort of expert when it comes to the business side of pro wrestling, but I’ve learned quite a bit recently.
My interest was piqued when I read the list of competitors in the tournament to crown the new WWE British Champion. If you watch or follow British wrestling at all, then you know there is a clear and established top five when it comes to British wrestlers not signed to WWE. Zack Sabre Jr is clearly the top dog, followed a close second by Will Osprey, the Villain Marty Scurll in 3rd, then Trent Seven and Pete Dunne in 4th and 5th, whichever you like. As I’ve probably said before, how can you have a tournament to determine the best British wrestler without the three best British wrestlers? Makes no sense. I certainly understand why WWE signed Tyler Bate to an extended contract and had him win the tournament, he’s only 19 and his in-ring talent is remarkable. The sky’s the limit for this kid so it makes sense that WWE would want to lock him up. But what about the big three? WWE had signed Zack Sabre Jr long enough to have him compete in the cruiserweight classic, same with Kota Ibushi. Both went in as heavy favorites to win, but fell short not due to in-ring performance or seemingly idiotic booking, but due to contract disputes. I can’t have been the only one who was confused as hell when a relative unknown like TJ Perkins somehow managed to win a tournament filled with bigger names and better wrestlers. Then I understood, TJ Perkins was willing to sign a long term exclusive contract to be part of the cruiserweight division. Sabre and Ibushi were not, each for their own reason. Sabre and the WWE were far apart on almost every aspect of their deal that it’s surprising the Sabre competed in WWE at all. Zack Sabre Jr. is an international superstar, holding multiple titles in multiple promotions in multiple countries. He has been wrestling against all weight classes for most of his career and was not willing to be relegated to the cruiserweight division in WWE, nor accept the salary he was offered. With Kota Ibushi, the problem had more to do with the workload. Ibushi continues to work on and off for WWE on NXT, but does not want to work a WWE schedule, instead preferring to freelance, as I’ve come to learn is becoming more and more common in wrestling these days.
A friend mentioned to me that Ryback preferred the freelance lifestyle to the no days off grind of the WWE. Wrestling one-off events or for smaller promotions may make you less money that a WWE contract, but it comes with a lot more perks, such as having control over your character, when you wrestle, who you wrestle, and most importantly to many star, how often you wrestle. The WWE is known for is brutal schedule, and there are always going to be those wrestlers out there who feel like they can keep their careers going stronger and longer if the stay out of the chew you up and spit you out schedule of the WWE. And the WWE has never had a history of treating its injured talent very well. And if you were building up any momentum when you got hurt, that all pretty much goes away and you have to start over again. Just look at Finn Balor, he gets injured winning the inaugural Universal Championship match, and instead of coming back and getting his rematch for the title he never lost, he’s doing squash matches against Jinder Mahal. Hell, one of the WWE’s main storylines headed into WrestleMania was how WWE hates injuries. The whole concept of the Seth Rollins vs. Triple H match was that Triple H was mad at Seth for getting injured too much, how he handpicked Rollins to be the future if the company, and Rollins let him down by getting hurt. If that storyline seems ridiculous that’s because it is. In professional sports, management doesn’t get angry at the talent for getting injured, it’s just the nature of athletics. The problem with this story is I think it hits a bit too close to home for wrestlers who have faced injury only to find upon their recovery that they’ve been passed by wrestlers who aren’t as good as they are. So from that perspective too, I can see why some wrestlers would prefer to freelance, or prefer to wrestle in Japan.
So while I understand why many wrestlers will probably never wrestle for WWE, I still have complaints about those who could be, and should be, under the WWE banner, but aren’t because of contract snags. Let’s start with Kenny Omega, tremendous wrestler, great personality, literally one of the best in the world. Now, he is more absorbed into the Japanese culture than most American (actually he’s Canadian) wrestlers who work in Japan. But like most North Americans wrestling overseas in NJPW, they’re just waiting for the WWE to offer them enough money so they can come home. Omega has publically stated in Japan that he has no intention of leaving and that Japan is his home now. Usually when you hear someone in professional sports say something like this, it’s because they’re considering leaving, haven’t been offered the deal they’re looking for, so they add a few more bargaining chips to the table by saying they’re not going anywhere. So rest assured, Omega and the WWE have sat down at the negotiating table, but clearly they were unable to reach an agreement. Sure, the WWE would have to back up the Brink’s truck and probably include a guaranteed title run, but it would be worth it to get a heel better than any on your roster today. Sure, they try to make Styles a heel, but he’s too well liked and not good enough on the mic to keep people disliking him. The WWE could really use Omega, and they could get him if they tried hard enough.
Going back to the three Brits, Sabre I understand, the sides were too far apart. Scurll, I have no information about any talks he may have had with WWE. As for Will Ospreay, I understand the gap that is keeping him and WWE apart. Ospreay is a star right now in Ring of Honor, New Japan, and in his home country. His recent contract with Ring of Honor was reportedly very lucrative. Ospreay is a name WWE would have to pay for, and given the rumblings from certain WWE talent scouts that Ospreay is all flash and no substance, it seems unlikely that WWE will pony up the cash any time soon. Now Ospreay fans and Ospreay himself would have you believe that the criticism of his acrobatic in-ring style comes from the same WWE scouts who don’t like high flyers to begin with and can’t wait to put the Universal Championship on Braun Strowman, and they may be right, but that doesn’t mean the critics are wrong. I’ve watched a number of Will Ospreay matches, and he is much more of an acrobat in the ring that he is a wrestler. He jumps around a lot but performer low and sometimes no impact moves. This is a trend that I’ve noticed quite a bit lately and I don’t blame WWE for being weary of it. Young wrestlers are taking short cuts, learning the big, high-flying spots when they’re not yet fundamentally sound. Granted, this is probably a safer shortcut than steroids, we’ve all seen what happens when a smallish guy tries to become huge, R.I.P. Christ Benoit. Oh, and on a side note, I have no intention of following the WWE’s lead and pretending Benoit never existed, in fact I have a piece on him coming up. I blame steroids and concussions for what he did, so in a way, I blame wrestling in general, but more on that later. Back to the high flying shortcut. I am of the opinion that wrestling is a craft that takes a decade or more of constant practice to reach the prime of your craft, so in your early 20s, you should be spending most of your time perfecting the simple stuff, then slowly building off of that as you go. But these days guys are in the gym working on their 450s and springboards rather than falling on their backs over and over, and why not? Who wants to see a guy perform technically superior basic wrestling move when you can watch another guy fly around. The problem is it’s dangerous, for the young high-flyers and whoever they may be in the ring with. When you don’t have the necessary technical acumen, you put all participants at risk. So long story short, I don’t fault the WWE for not taking chances on these young high flyers, especially Ospreay, that guys would take months in the performance center before he’s even ready for NXT.
So next time instead of wasting your money hiring 16 British nobodies, just shell out the cash for the Briscoes and quit wasting our time.
Cuz I Don’t Like ‘Em
I think it’s important for all of us to vent every once in a while. In that spirit, I thought I’d write about some guys in wrestling who just aggravate the hell out of me. It may be because of their characters, because of an undeserved push, or any number of reasons. This way we can all share a moment of catharsis.
First of all, The Young Bucks, can’t stand them. The novelty of the whole super kick party thing wears off quickly when you realize that it’s just these two guys using the same move over and over again because they’re really limited in the amount of moves in their arsenal. Their personality gimmick is that they’re super cocky, nothing new there, and their mic skills are below average at best. Combine that with the fact that they have huge, undeserved contracts with Ring of Honor and New Japan, and they’re rumored to be the two highest paid wrestlers in ROH, that and the super cocky vibe they put off apparently carries over into real life. This makes them two over-rated, over-hyped, undeserving prima donnas who are taking money and airtime that other wrestlers deserve much more.
Now, unfortunately, it’s time to move on to TNA, or Impact, whatever they’re calling themselves these days. I don’t write much about TNA because I don’t watch much TNA. I get tired of fast forwarding through their whole crappy show for the 15 minutes of decent X Division content. Everything else is completely unwatchable now that the Hardys are gone. So I’d like to talk about the two guys who contribute the most to making TNA unwatchable, their two biggest “stars,” Ethan Carter III and Bobby Lashley. These two lumbering meatheads couldn’t put on a decent match if Eddie Guerrero came back from the dead and had a baby with Ric Flair in his prime. No one I’ve seen so far in wrestling can make either of these guys look good, certainly not the borderline nobodies who inhabit the TNA roster. And oh my god, when they have to wrestler against each other, which for some inexplicable reason they’re made to do a lot, it is a crapfest for the ages every time. If you want to push two guys whose only attribute is muscle, then give up on the whole wrestling thing and see if Vinny K will let you resurrect the WBF. We all remember what a success that was…
So let’s move on to the big dog’s, the WWE, and specifically the big dog himself, the guy whose yard it is or something, Roman Reigns. I actually still kind of like Roman Reigns, because I see his potential. He’s decent both in-ring and on mic, but every direction his career has been pushed in since the breakup of the Shield has been a complete failure. The fans where beside themselves to see him win the Royal Rumble the year he set the record for eliminations, but of course Bautista came out on top. By the next year, the fans were done with Reigns, and wanted to see Daniel Bryan win the Rumble, but of course WWE logic kicked in and said “well if they wanted him to win last year, surely they’ll want him to win this year too.” They didn’t, but he did, and this was the first time Roman Reigns, who had been a total face up until that point, began to get booed. And ever since he’s remained the face in every main event feud he’s been in, and he’s still gotten his share of boos. It looked like the WWE finally wised up when they had him win the U.S. Title from Rusev, and played out that feud on the mid-card. The booing stopped during that feud. Then they went back to having him main event as a face, and the booing resumed. You would think the WWE would have figured out by now what fans have known for years, that Roman Reigns doesn’t work as a main event face. He can be a mid-card face, but where he really should be is a main event heel. That should be evident by the massive chorus of boos he received on the Raw after WrestleMania. WWE has pushed Reigns so far down people’s throats that they hate him now. Perfect timing for a heel turn, especially with Kevin Owens, Raw’s top heel, moving to Smackdown, Reigns is perfectly poised to fill that spot, and this time it might actually work. So let’s wait and see if WWE gets something right in Reigns’ career for a change.
While we’re on the subject of Reigns I should bring up Braun Strowman. First of all, who the hell came up with the name Braun Strowman? Every time I hear it I think Strom Thurman, not a figure generally associated with pro wrestling. If you read my piece on women’s wrestling, you can pretty much take everything I said about Nia Jax and apply it here. Strowman has nothing but his size to work with, he can’t take a bump or put on a decent match, all he does is literally take up space.
Speaking of big, shitty wrestling goons, there’s a pair of them carrying around the NXT Tag Titles right now. The Authors of Pain (a name which I hate btw, as I find it insulting to authors) have bested both D.I.Y. and the Revival, both far superior teams, for no reason other than the fact that they are large men. I won’t talk about this too much more because it’s almost a truism in WWE, bigger guys get pushed ahead of smaller, better guys every time going back to pro wrestling’s inception. OK maybe not every time, but often enough for it to be frustrating.
Next is a guy who’s not big, yet still seems to always be involved in some kind of mid-card feud. I’m referring the oft concussed Dolph Ziggler. First, terrible name, this is WWE not Boogie Nights. Second, men should not wear hot pink. You can go salmon, but unless you’re flamboyantly gay, can’t we just take hot pink off the table? It’s one step away from transvestite. Now, to the ring. Ziggler is a very solid in ring performer, despite being embarrassingly bad on the mic, and as such has been able to develop a loyal fan base. But Ziggler is injury prone, so he’ll never get a push beyond a brief run as a mid-card champion. So what do you do with a guy like that? Apparently you just keep throwing him on TV until even his own fan base gets sick of him, then turn him heel and make him a mid-card jobber for up and coming faces, which seems to be what they’re doing.
And last but not least, the three black versions of Doink the Clown, the New Day. In retrospect, it seems ridiculous that a group of lovable clowns would break the Tag Title streak of a legendary team like Demolition. But Bill Eadie, aka Ax, keeps suing the WWE, first for rights to the Demolition name, then as a part of the class action traumatic brain injury lawsuit. The WWE is nothing if not vindictive, and does not like being sued, so the left the titles on the New Day for 400+ days more to spite Demolition that for any other reason. New Day had no memorable feuds during their title run, whereas demolition had epic battles with the Hart Foundation, the Brain Busters, even the crap ass Powers of Pain. Since losing the titles New Day has been completely removed from the title picture and hasn’t even had a feud of any kind. We all need to take a step back and look at this objectively. These are three goofuses wearing unicorn horns, playing a trombone one handed, and hyping a fake cereal named after an ass. Can we realize now that they’re three failed singles wrestlers who became a trio of clowns and feel silly for chanting “New Day Rocks” all this time? Now they’ve been sent to Smackdown in exchange for Heath Slater and Rhyno, and I’ll tell you, I don’t like this move, because to most likely means that New Day will be moved up to the title picture on Smackdown, while Heath Slater and Rhyno become tag team jobbers on Raw. And you simply cannot do that to Heath, he’s got kids, he needs this job 😉
I’ve got at least a half dozen more names floating around in my head, but this will do for now. Perhaps down the road we’ll see a Cuz I Don’t Like ‘Em 2. Just give the folks who run wrestling a few months and they’re sure to produce some more good rant-worthy crap.
Katsuyori Shibata
The first time I watched Katsuyori Shibata wrestle a singles match was in January of 2016 at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo, where he defeated Tomohiro Ishii to win the Never Openweight Championship. I knew right away that there was something special about this guy. He had a clear MMA background, and he used it to great effect in the ring, more so than most wrestlers with similar backgrounds. Unlike other MMA style pro wrestlers, Shibata blended the two styles seamlessly, unlike any wrestler I have seen before. The intensity with which he wrestles is also an appealing characteristic. He can almost make you feel as though it’s a life or death situation instead of a wrestling match with his intense stare.
Shibata character in New Japan Pro Wrestling was that of the prodigal son returning home. When he debuted in 1999 along with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura, the three were thought to be the future of NJPW, and for Tanahashi and Nakamura, this turned out to be true, with these two being likely the biggest names NJPW has produced this century. Shibata, on the other hand, took a different path, and left pro wrestling to become a mixed martial artist in 2005. It wasn’t until seven years later that he returned to pro wrestling and started to pick up where he left off. It wasn’t until nearly three and a half years after his return that he worked his way up to his first singles title when he defeated Ishii. His rise continued, despite losing the Never Openweight championship, he would go on to defeat Zach Sabre Jr for the British Heavyweight championship, and then later earn his first IWGP World Heavyweight Championship title match against Kazuchika Okada by defeating Bad Luck Fale and winning the 2017 New Japan Cup. I watched this match between Shibata and Okada with great anticipation, having seen them both put on excellent matches before. It never occurred to me that this would be the last time that I or anyone else would get to watch Shibata wrestle.
I wrote about this match in an earlier piece, but what I didn’t know at the time was that Shibata collapsed backstage after the match and had to have emergency surgery to remove a subdermal hematoma, which caused partial paralysis on one side of his body. During the match, he delivered huge headbutt to Okada, which caused blood to trickle down Shibata’s head. It was obvious during the match that this was not a staged cut, but Shibata continued, and the bleeding was minimal, so apparently no one thought anything of it at the time. We were all wrong. Following the surgery, it is now being reported that Shibata suffered Traumatic Brain Injury, and will almost certainly never be cleared to wrestle again.
Katsuyori Shibata was not the first wrestler to be taken down in his prime by injury, and he certainly won’t be the last. I doubt if I’ll do a tribute piece every time a wrestler’s career ends, but in the case of Shibata, he was a relative unknown to American wrestling fans, and his career was cut short before it he could become anything more. And since he no longer fits in my upcoming current Japanese wrestlers Top Ten list, this tribute will have to do.
Pro Wrestling Scribe 