OK, lots of topics to choose from here such as your favorite wrestler is ____, your opinion that so and so (popular wrestler that most like) isn’t ‘all that’, or you dug a storyline that most didn’t, etc. etc.
Only criteria:
I’ll start:
The best forearm in all of wrestling is performed by …
NIKKI BELLA
I just fall out of my chair every time she hits it … I’m not sure what it is, but the sound, delivery, and sell are always spot on!
Shinsuke Nakamura is overrated and all his good matches, consist of his opponent carrying him.
Love it!
I can completely see that opinion though from just WWE. @johnpollock got me into NJPW (I think almost 4 years ago) with his G1 reviews. Gedo owes John quite a bit of referral fees I would think. When I first watched Shinsuke, I was fairly baffled. I was thinking ‘is his character Michael Jackson with Tourette’s syndrome?’. It did take me a bit to jump on board with him, but a few G1 and WrestleKingdom matches did the trick. I was quite a bit concerned for him when I heard he was coming to WWE (I had already seen A.J. in TNA quite a bit so I knew he’d be more than fine). I’m glad they started Nakamura in NXT and CFO$ really knocked it out of the park for him (I think those 2 dudes need like 37 times more credit). I would say his time in WWE has been ‘fine’. I wouldn’t have guessed he’d get the Rumble this early and it’s up to him and A.J. to turn some heads (although I guess you could still say A.J. carried him!!)
Awesome answer though!
Rock/Austin at Wrestlemania 17 almost ruins the show.
It’s super strange that 17 would more than likely win a vote of favorite manias and everyone and his dog agrees that the Austin heel turn wasn’t a good idea, but nobody says what you just did. I think it’s just a testament to 1) the rest of the card was amazing, and 2) people are gonna eat up any Austin/Rock interaction even if they didn’t agree with the fallout/turn.
I didn’t expect we’d be off to such a good start here, but another great one! (do you want to go one on one with the great one?!?)
Austin was a bad wrestler but great character
Okada is a great wrestler and a bad character
Cena is better than Tanahashi
To be fair, I wasn’t a weekly viewer and saw that show years later. So the heel turn ending was probably even dumber and more convoluted for me than the average fan in 2001.
Braun Strowman is a bad wrestler and a lame character. People would turn on him if he was seriously pushed in the vein of Roman.
Also Kevin Owens ring stuff is pretty dull.
CM Punk was overrated and his promos did nothing for me.
Reigns is great and Miz is the only real heel in pro wrestling.
If WWE booking (turns, title changes, etc.) was as predictable as NXT, everybody would shit on it.
Mentioning wrestler x has a “MMA Background” breaks kayfabe.
This thread is awesome and feels like a safe place. Thanks @theCobra
Wrestlemania is the worst date on the wrestling calendar - an extremely long show with matches that don’t match hype and we celebrate excess which is stupid (not even sure if people disagree with that, but feel bashing Mania is blasphamy)
For me, even his New Japan stuff is all his opponent. My favourite match of Nakamura in New Japan is against Ibushi and I think Ibushi carries him.
I still like him, but he reminds me of a kick/knee based ZSJ. I’m just more of a submission fan, than a kick/knee fan.
Austin’s heel character and feud with Angle was literally -the best- character work from anyone of that era by far. Austin’s portrayal of a descent into madness due entirely to his own hubris was masterful and the angle was awesome, and I think that people who don’t like his heel turn have some decent reasons for it (I mean, everything the Invasion touched was poison) but his heel character at that time was literally some of his best work ever.
Seconding @MJfromNJ on Wrestlemania. So bloated, so unnecessary.
As a matter of fact, any show longer than three hours is bullshit. I got shit to do man, and NXT gets all its shit in in 2 and a half. You should too and if you can’t, you’re doing too much and need to relax. (This goes double for NJPW.)
Only reason I won’t rag on NJPW shows being so long is because I can wake up at a reasonable hour on the East Coast and watch the final few matches which matter most shows.
The Rainmaker is the most overrated finisher currently being used in all of wrestling.
I think I have an opinion I never hear anyone else express. I have no problem with WWE’s rules about stopping the match for blood.
In fact, in the couple of matches a year where it happens that somebody gets busted open accidentally I normally find that the ref trying to stop the match and being shoved away after they’ve applied a bandage adds to the drama of the match.
Isn’t starting like ‘liking’ your own social media post?
They have to carry Shinsuke, because he doesn’t use his arms… badum- chuh