Apr 14, 2022 17:28:22 GMT c said:

Likely out of Khan's control. Japan not going to send anyone over right now with the COVID outbreak.

You've been saying this for 18 months but they keep sending people over for Strong, Impact, etc.

You're telling me AEW can't run a Bullet Club angle with the people already state side? Jay White already showed up twice and had a match. He can't bring Chris Bey and Hikuleo in and join The Undisputed Elite to fuck people up and try to steal all the titles? (or whatever I'm just spitting out an example).

Tony's being a massive cock tease with NJPW. People forget it exists then someone pops up for a match or appearance and everyone goes "oh maybe this time they'll do something interesting," but nope. NJPW guy has a one-off and leaves again.

Again, I'm not complaining. We got a dream match out of it last night and I'm happy about that. But they need to either make it obvious that all we're getting is the odd appearance and dream match, or actually commit to the bit. This will they/won't they nonsense is going to turn off a large chunk of their fan base.

Get Will Ospreay in The Owen. Have Jay White swoop in and steal the TNT title for himself. Have Bullet Club back up Adam Cole to get the AEW Championship on him then fuck him over again. There's endless possibilities sitting right there and it doesn't make sense that they're not pursuing any of them.

EDIT: It also goes the other way too. Bryan Danielson has been very vocal about his desire to work in Japan. Tony wouldn't even let him go to the west coast until AEW returned there. Was Danielson wanting to join BOLA this year and not allowed? Did he want to go to the LA Dojo for some STRONG appearances? Is Tony pissing off arguably the greatest free agent signing in wrestling history and trying to appease him by letting him bring in Regal and do the BCC angle?

I think another issue is booking wins and losses. It’s all well and good for a legend like Suzuki to lose, he could lose 100 matches in a row and still be over and NJPW know that. It’s alright for Ishii to lose as he’s a mid level guy. What happens when Ospreay or White go into the Owen? I can’t imagine NJPW want to see their top guys losing to AEW guys. And quite rightly too.

Not to mention, it was such a strange set of circumstances leading into that match. It's Joe in his second AEW match against a guy who has never won in AEW for a mid-card championship for a recently acquired company. On top of that, the take-home from the segment was the debut Satnam Singh for an angle that's going to take place in that company...

Again, I think the fans enjoy having cross-overs but I don't think AEW has quite nailed it yet. I don't think any major company has to be fair but ECW and WCW did better jobs of showcasing their imports.

Apr 14, 2022 18:16:01 GMT Todd said:

I think another issue is booking wins and losses. It’s all well and good for a legend like Suzuki to lose, he could lose 100 matches in a row and still be over and NJPW know that. It’s alright for Ishii to lose as he’s a mid level guy. What happens when Ospreay or White go into the Owen? I can’t imagine NJPW want to see their top guys losing to AEW guys. And quite rightly too.

I thought about this too. You'd have to just pick one guy from NJPW and give him a deep run. Put them up against a couple guys who aren't quite ready yet but can look good in a loss. They just proved they can do that with Wheeler Yuta, now do it with some names like Lee Moriarty and Dante Martin and Powerhouse Hobbs and one of the Dark Order goofs that never gets to wrestle a singles match for some reason. Then have them lose to an eventual finalist in an absolute war.

I'm excited for The Owen but I'm also worried it's just going to end up with CM Punk or someone running over the entire roster. The tournament should give someone in the mid-card a massive rub, like when Owen beat Bret at Wrestlemania. Hopefully that's what ends up happening and I'm wrong but I also worry Tony can't help himself and he's going to hand it to an established name because the bots might get mad at him if he doesn't.

Five weeks ago Japan restarted the Visa block on America and people REALLY do not want to come to America due to our utter lack of a COVID strategy. Nor does NJPW likely want to risk a star coming to America and getting COVID and getting sidelined. Plus there is always the chance they shut the border completely to people in America that seek to return.

Know people are sick of hearing about COVID but Japan wants to control COVID and the US wants it to last until late 2024. This makes working between the two countries very, very awkward and involve a lot of red tape.

Apr 14, 2022 18:29:06 GMT c said:

Five weeks ago Japan restarted the Visa block on America and people REALLY do not want to come to America due to our utter lack of a COVID strategy. Nor does NJPW likely want to risk a star coming to America and getting COVID and getting sidelined. Plus there is always the chance they shut the border completely to people in America that seek to return.

Know people are sick of hearing about COVID but Japan wants to control COVID and the US wants it to last until late 2024. This makes working between the two countries very, very awkward and involve a lot of red tape.

Oh my god I'm not saying Kazuchika Okada has to show up and win the AEW Championship next week. They can make due with what they have already like I outlined in my last post. It's the fact that these guys pop up on Dynamite every few months then vanish. Last night was okay for the reasons I already stated. All I'm saying is I hope they're aware of how the fans are reacting when Jay White is working next door on Impact every week and its been months since they teased a Bullet Club reunion on Dynamite.

7 pages of chatter is a strong indication that the show was tons of fun. I can't wait to catch up.

Apr 14, 2022 5:07:08 GMT Big Pete said:

FYI, my interest in your thoughts shouldn't be confused as a recommendation. I think you'll largely hate the show but I'm curious to hear whether you'd actually enjoy it more than RAW. AEW is more like a grab bag and there's some acts you might actually like.

Got it. I better like it more than Raw!  That's a pretty low bar to pass (though I did enjoy Wrestlemania for the most part regardless of how 🤯 may have interpreted it). I'll also check out NXT 2.0 since that's the modern show you said I'd probably enjoy the most in that post of yours I accidentally edited.

Apr 15, 2022 0:22:19 GMT Baker said:

Apr 14, 2022 5:07:08 GMT Big Pete said:

FYI, my interest in your thoughts shouldn't be confused as a recommendation. I think you'll largely hate the show but I'm curious to hear whether you'd actually enjoy it more than RAW. AEW is more like a grab bag and there's some acts you might actually like.

Got it. I better like it more than Raw!  That's a pretty low bar to pass (though I did enjoy Wrestlemania for the most part regardless of how 🤯 may have interpreted it). I'll also check out NXT 2.0 since that's the modern show you said I'd probably enjoy the most in that post of yours I accidentally edited.

I just want to know if there's any potential Baker guys (or girls) out there. I have a theory you'll be cool with a few ex-NWA alumns but I'm struggling, especially since obvious candidates like MJF would get a pass but wouldn't quite live up to the wildly expectations put forward.

It's Friday

You know what that means...

TK dropping fools on Twitter.

Is Kng0fTheN0rth KITN?

Tony Khan taking absolute names out there. Not sure that a 40 something year old co-owner/owner of different brands should be replying over on Twitter but hey.

Nice to see Tony win one

Apr 14, 2022 3:51:58 GMT RT said:

Apr 14, 2022 2:55:16 GMT Baker said:

So Hook started life as this guy...



Got it.
=====
c Hook's look is the major reason I didn't get it! Here's this fresh faced youngster who might just barely crack 200 pounds and he's out there no selling and being booked as a badass. 

For the record I'm not anti-meme wrestler. My brand of old school is a different flavor than Jim Cornette's. I mean half my schtick in HoW is turning old time faves into meme wrestlers (Hardcore Holly, King Kong Bundy, etc.) 

First thing I thought of when reading Michinokudriver ’s post

…

So on my trending for you page on twitter the #1 trend is The Great Khali.

That’s…not ideal…

tbh with the 'won't be saying anything or doing anything' i was going for

I'm loving Team Taz's feud. I have a feeling Swrve might join them or have his own motivation if he turns on Lee.