tajiri was one of the first of the Japanese “garbagemen” that came over when the “hardcore” revolution started what made him special was at the time he could actually wrestle unlike fools like “dangerman” ect …
Supposedly theres matches of him and sabu that happened in ecw that even heyman wouldn’t put on video because of how violent they got …
nm, I forgot how to do a spoiler tag
Cruiserweight classic time
[spoiler]Metalik’s mask came off at the end and he had to pull it back on quick.
Diavari was not great. When he’s pinning Hoho (I see endorsement and commercial deals in his future) Lun, he’s grimacing and pulling, then “two” count and his face goes blank and he stops moving. A noticeable fraction of a second later, Hoho kicks out. Same with the knee at the end. It was obvious he looked back then re-positioned himself for it.[/spoiler]
I hope everyone learned their lesson from previous seasons and watched LU all the way to the very end tonight…
Dayummmmm…
Some amazing shit in the CWC. HoHo wasn’t that great, but he has that likeability factor that had the audience singing his name in Sami Zayn’s Ole theme. Avari looked a little green, but he’s got the heel look and attitude down pat. Cedrick Alexander looked awesome, and he trimmed off the baby fat he had in RoH and worked a lot faster than I’d seen him before. Mauro got in a mention of RoH, which was conspicuously absent from Ced’s promo. Ibushi and Maruta’s match blew me away.
Tomaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano will be facing each other. I wonder if a feud will result? Ciampa could easily turn heel. I’m looking forward to Tajiri’s return. His matches in ECW were scary good. He had to tone his act down for WWE and they made him more of a goofball, so hopefully he’ll be in ECW mode this time around. “The” Bryan Kendrick is also making a comeback, but the audience will probably hate on him for being Eva Marie’s trainer. He’ll probably be looking at the lights anyway.
How great was the Cruiserweight Classic? I love all the little touches they’re including that gives it an old-school, ‘80s NWA sort of feel; time limits, the tale of the tape, enforcing the weight limit, the ref checking the wrestlers’ wristbands and boots for foreign objects and giving them instructions, observing the Code of Honor, the ceremony of raising the winner’s hand, actually calling it “pro wrestling” instead of “sports entertainment”, and so on. Hell, the set itself looks kinda like Center Stage Theater where WCW Saturday Night taped back in the day. (I would’ve liked if the announcer had stated the time of the fall like WWWF did back in the '70s, but you can’t have everything you want.) I also noticed the refs using a slower cadence when counting pinfalls - not as slow as AAA, but it definitely felt more like a 4 count than a 3 count.
I also liked how they were being more subtle about the heel and face alignments; Daivari was the only one who really heeled it up WWE style - you could tell Clement Petiot was supposed to be the bad guy in his match, but he was still fighting clean.
Didn’t notice Mauro mentioning ROH, but I did hear him namedrop Chris Hero, which I’m surprised they let him get away with - Hero used to be “Kassius Ohno” in NXT, and then they released him.
I’d be surprised if we don’t see Petiot, Alexander, Ibushi, and Maluta wind up in NXT after this tournament is over. (Maluta especially, since being an Anoa’i is pretty much a golden ticket to a WWE contract).
This is gonna be a good next two months for wrestling.
Maluta is only 5’9" according to the graphics. I’m Vince will see him as being far too small.
Smap: Mauro said in the same breath as Chris Hero that Cedrick gave up a hefty contract in RoH to be in the tournament.
Chim: Kalisto is shorter and he’s doing OK. Vince isn’t as ironclad as he used to be.
Just watched Balor vs Nakamura. You could tell Balor was going to lose because he didn’t come out all painted up. Sorry to see him go, but there’s no better time than now for the callup.
I liked Cedrick, so I hope they sign him.
Guess I missed that. Mauro is really rapid-fire on commentary, though; he throws out so many namedrops and references that you don’t even catch half of them because you don’t have time to think about it before the next thing happens.
And that’s not a complaint; I love his style. He’s genuinely knowledgeable about the sport and genuinely sounds like he’s enthusiastic about every single thing that’s happening in the ring.
The announcing was phenomenal. No pushing random shit in the middle of a match, no talking about unrelated stuff to fill time, no tearing down of the participants. They were pushed and presented solidly throughout by Mauro and Bryan.
Unlike RAW and Smackdown where most of the time they don’t appear to give a crap about the match, tear down the wrestlers and diminish everything.
Ms. Cups and I watched the bracketology and half of the CWC last night, and this is my number one takeaway. They called these matches like it was a REAL SPORT instead of a shitshow. I’ve always hated the “in-character” commentary because it does nothing to further the product.
Having Mauro call the moves during the match (which I love the most) and then DB comes in with wrestler insights is not different than listening to Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth do football. I was entertained, I was informed…God, if only that’s what commentary can be all the time!
I agree the Mauro/Bryan team is gold. The main roster formula gets so tiring. I turned off SD after about 10 minutes because it paled in comparison to the quality of the tournament, despite Mauro’s presence. Jerry Lawler is at the point where he’s just phoning in the heel comments, and Saxton is completely unnecessary.
I remember how Gordon Soley handled all the technical names of holds, the wrestler factoids, and the WOW reactions all by himself. He had that gravely voice that made everything sound more serious. Mauro is certainly on Solie’s level and could handle SD purely on his own.
LU’s team of Matt Stryker and Vampiro works because Vamp is more like a huge mark who loves the profession, instead of a heel or face. He’ll provide the color, cultural backgrounds, and storyline comments while Stryker belts out the technical terms rapid-fire. They don’t engage in petty squabbles for cheap heat.
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan were classic, because Monsoon was always a good straight man for Heenan’s snarky comments. When Heenan went to WCW and called matches with Tony Schiavone, they didn’t have the same chemistry. Schiavone wouldn’t sell for Heenan like Monsoon did.
Heenan and Monsoon had great chemistry, but I always liked Jesse and Monsoon better: for one thing, the fact that they only worked together for PPV made it seem like more of a big deal when they were calling matches. For another, while Gorilla was a great straight man for Heenan, my personal preference is for the “veterans of the same war” sort of chemistry that he had with Ventura.
Brock Lesnar was flagged for a possible anti-doping violation from a June 28 test. No word on what he popped on. If found in violation he can be suspended from UFC for two years. No word on what this does to his match at Summerslam, although the match up is easy–Brock vs. Roman in a needle on a pole match!
Geez. Of all people, Brock ought to know better.
As I understand WWE’s Wellness Policy, they don’t have to suspend him unless he pops on a test that WWE itself performs. It’d be bad PR if they didn’t, though.
You win the Internet.
However, somebody pointed out that the New York State Athletic Commission (a) also controls professional wrestling in the state, and (b) will recognize any suspensions from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which Brock will almost certainly receive if the positive test is confirmed.
Then again, if he is suspended from wrestling in New York State, there are two ways around it that I can think of.
One - have the match be a boiler room (or equivalent) match that, while it looks like it’s in NYC, is actually held in a state where Brock can wrestle. (Vince wouldn’t be the first person to do something like this; how many times was American Idol’s “Hollywood Week” held in Pasadena?)
Two - have Orton walk out first for the match, then Brock runs out and attacks Orton before they get to the ring. There was no actual match, so WWE broke no regulations.
I certainly hope that this turns out to either be a false positive (probably not) or a violation of “technique” versus an actual drug that was taken.
Otherwise this puts a pall over something that was looking good…
Lesnar jumping Orton before the SummerSlam match, causing a no-contest, is just about the worst thing they could do. It’s gonna be advertised as one of the main events on the card.