The Unknown Poster

Firing MOS always seems like a crazy idea. But he has now effectively tied himself to Hall. If the D sucks this year, MOS maybe has the chance to fire him early (but then not doing it in the off-season, actually two off-seasons, looks even worse) or he sort of has to wear it as a failure of his leadership.

Yeah Im not sold on Jay White from what I've seen of him. And the crowd at WK didnt buy him as a threat to Tanahashi (they went too long). But he was essentially a New Japan youngboy so he'll get every opportunity. Working with Kenny will help him a lot too. 25 years old so lots of upside. He's another guy that doesnt have WWE aspirations. New Japan can take their time with him. I wouldn't rule out a hotshot title change though it would be odd. I believe Kenny's contract expires in 24 days so you never know (I expect him to re-up if he hasn't already).

Not at all. But just like they went two or three seasons without Mulder who is arguably more critical to the premise of the show than Scully, they could potentially do okay without Anderson. And it just so happens that they created two younger versions of Mulder & Scully in the last season (and they show up briefly in the new season debut also). DD isnt interchangeable but they replaced him with Doggett and Reyes.

Jericho attacked Naito at New Japan's "New Years Dash" (basically like RAW after Wrestlemania) so he looks to be sticking around for at least one more match, which would explain why Okada retained the World title at Wrestle Kingdom when most expected Naito to win it. Bullet Club angle had Omega preventing Cody from hitting Kota Ibushi (Kenny's former tag team partner) with a chair, they argued over who was the real leader of the group. Kenny offered Jay White a spot in the Bullet Club, but White declined and brawled with Omega. So looks like the next feud over the United States Championship is between a guy from Canada and a guy from New Zealand!

Different dynamic. Mulder was the big star. And the series was actually really good with Agents Dogget and Reyes. Anderson works regularly so its not a matter of not wanting a "regular series" especially since X-Files is now of the limited series variety. But it does create buzz for the season. They could do a third season with her on a limited appearance. Plus they do have Agent Einstein now... The premiere was really good, full Mythology. Im glad I recently re-watched the entire series but I thought they did a pretty good job of bringing the viewer up to speed.

It would be great if he'd actually sue someone. The discovery would be tremendous. Which is why he never does.

That spot jumps out at me as a great one. Tremendous timing on Jericho's part and right on target. You could tell Jericho is starting to finally work his age, but he had moments of astounding athleticism. That was one of them. I was not a fan of Callis when he first returned but he was very good last night. Kelly was too.

@Atomic - I agree, Lesnar/Goldberg was awesome. I think Dave is jaded to a degree with WWE because WWE is very frustrating in how they book and produce and whatnot. They dont get the best out of their talent for that reason and they dont seem to care because they make boat loads of money. But he also was intimately observing the industry through sex scandals, steroids/drug scandals, murders etc so him being somewhat jaded, I can see. There was a time my promotion ran three shows per week regularly and then occasional spot shows. And I thought that was "living & breathing" wrestling. Now, when guys message me immediately after a show I say I dont even want to think about wrestling for at least a week. Dave literally is 24/7 wrestling. Makes a lot of money so cant feel bad for him. But still. I get what you're saying.

Supposedly Justice League is on pace to end up being a $50 million loss for Warner. So they have shaken things up and promoted Walter Hamada to oversee the DC film franchise. He was involved in IT and The Conjuring. Not sure a guy without intimate knowledge of the source material is the best way to go but Geoff Johns is still there as an advisor. I think they hamstrung themselves with the "old Batman" thing and its going to be tough to regroup. But good film is good film so hopefully they get their **** together. I was also a DC guy rather than a Marvel guy.

Wouldnt that be a coaching issue though? If Wheeler is effective over shorter shifts, his time should be better managed. One point might be age and wear. As good as he is. Jets have some young players. Armia and Ehlers in OT...why not. Guess they need a center.

Something non-New Japan related, Smackdown's ratings are up 5.3% since AJ won the title. Imagine that.

I like Dave. I am not anti-WWE and its the promotion I watch the most by far. I am not an indy mark at all and rarely watch indy wrestling. Reality is, you have an oddly bruised ego about people knowing something you dont whether its wrestling, hockey, football or anything else as evidenced by your attitude displayed all over this board over the years. You have had twisted knickers several times in the wrestling thread because you speak like an expert and get things wrong. Which is cool. I generally appreciate when someone in other threads corrects me or offers a more expert opinion especially because most people are very respectful and chill. You're just not one of them. I dont take it personally because thats just how message boards are though I do lol from time to time. Oh well. Maybe one day Kenny will be in WWE and you can then pretend you always knew he was great.

LOL! If you can't back up a statement, dont make it. I know you have a weird thing about wrestling but just chill, man. Also, what does the Kenny remark even mean? Like is he roaming the country side doing wrong and Im an apologist? hahahahaha Sorry pal. I know a big star wrestler. If you want, I can introduce you next time he's in town. Get you an autograph and everything ;-)

Dave Meltzer?? Hmmm. When was he a **** to you?

That rating sounds about right. Why is it absurd? Because you really really enjoyed the story and drama of the match? Thats two aspects to a great match. If you think it was a better match than Omega/Okada, that is entirely your right to feel that way. But it wasnt a better match. I loved the match, but I wouldnt give it five stars. It would be really really hard for a match that short to ever be in "perfect match" territory. By the way, the RAW Tag ladder match got higher star rating and was rated higher by fans on the observer website as well. 3.5 stars is really good when you consider that 4 stars has traditionally been the top rating. I mean, he basically said it was as close to a "great" match as you can get. But as you said, its subjective. Betting sites actually give odds on Dave's star ratings now. But no one is obligated to agree with him. Im just saying my perspective is that Dave and I are often aligned on our opinions of matches. EDIT: For what its worth, having seen Omega/Jericho once (and very tired), I'd probably give it 4 stars (if I have star ratings, which I dont because I agree, it IS subjective...its much easier to simply classify a match bad, good, great whatever). They had one minor...dont want to say screw up, but looked like an issue getting blood at the right moment but Im not sure most fans would notice. And Jericho was great but he's not 35 anymore and it showed to a degree. Definitely worth seeing though! And I'd love to hear your opinion of it.

Thats not true. Of course opinions are always subjective. We've seen plenty of professional film critics gave some reviews we dont agree with. I think some fans see a 3 star match and feel personally offended and yet Dave would say "yeah it was good. Perfectly fine". But to rise to the level of 5 star+ for him requires more. It has nothing to do with talent because WWE has talent that can have 5 star matches, but WWE is not an environment where most guys get to have that level of match. Wrestle Kingdom last night was better than anything WWE has produced in ages. And Im not biased. Im not a big New Japan fan. It takes time to get into a new product as well, you have to get to know the talent to really be interested. So Im getting to know more but I rarely watch New Japan, its mainly to see Kenny. But last night was tremendous. And a really good entry point for North American fans who might only watch for Jericho and/or Omega because there were several North Americans on the show and several Japanese guys that, if you'd never seen them before, they are easy to get into. But I've disagreed with Dave on some thing. We're not friends. Im not biased. But he's the premier "observer" (wink) of wrestling and generally bang on in his assessment. If you take a 4 star WWE match and compare it to a 5 or 6 star New Japan match, you can see the difference. Also, AJ Styles is a WWE guy now. Virtually all WWE guys were indie guys at some point. And Dave has been down on Nak to a degree. He's a defender of Roman too, which might surprise people who accuse him of an anti-WWE bias.

Billed as a double main. I had to run after Kenny’s match. Okada retained. EDIT to add, I havent seen it yet but the reviews Ive seen are off the charts for it. I wasnt a big Okada fan, personally (I like Tanahashi more) but he's really good. And Naito is really good too. The whole show is worth checking out. It was really good. English commentary was very strong also.

Cornette is a work. He said the same stuff about the bucks and then privately asked them to do an angle with him. He’s just being a contrarian to what’s hot now meltzer is generally bang on with his ratings. It’s funny when WWE fans go nuts on him online about a Japanese bias. It’s hilrious.

Can’t seem to spoiler tag from mobile. So SPOILERS.... Wrestle Kingdom Results (minus the world title which is on now) Masahito Kakihara won the NEW JAPAN RUMBLE The Young Bucks defeated Roppongi 3K to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag TitlesBeretta, Tomohiro Ishii, and Toru Yano defeated Bullet Club, Suzuki-gun, Elgin & War Machine in a Gauntlet Match to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships Kota Ibushi defeated Cody in a Handsome Battle EVIL and SANADA defeated Killer Elite Squad to win the IWGP Tag Team Championships Hirooki Goto beat Minoru Suzuki in a Hair & No Seconds Deathmatch to win the NEVER Openweight Championship Will Ospreay defeated Marty Scurll, KUSHIDA, and Hiromu Takahashi to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Switchblade Jay White to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship Kenny Omega defeated Chris Jericho to retain the IWGP United States Championship Great show. Really really good. Omega/Jericho was tremendous. Could be Jericho’s last truly great match.

Lol

I don’t disagree. I think they either go wirh careful choice or balls out. Laine, Ehlers, Wheeler. Win or lose it on the first 45 seconds. Lol

i doubt it will be six stars. But you never know. Kenny having “best match” matches is becoming pretty regular. As a wrestling fan, the prospect of a match of that quality (never mind the historic nature and the local connection) would never be a meh. Winnipeg has lousy media . the clash of local boys on the second biggest stage in the world is getting far more press everywhere else but when Kenny comes home they all want interviews. That’s the real meh! Unless wwe has something big up their sleeve the biggest match in the world happens tonight, not at WM...