Wrestling Thread 5: FKA The Viking Experience • Page 659

That match ruled

 

They did an awesome job with that feud overall.

 

Garza proposed after winning the title. Awesome

 

Garza is the biggest babyface in all of wrestling

 

When was the last time Riho was on AEW? I don’t watch all the show all the time but I feel like I haven’t seen her since she won

 

Early November I think

 

I kind of like this Sabina spears tag team?

 

Very cool of Brandi to mention how Riho hasn't been on dynamite in over a month

 

What does Ace Enders have to do with any of this?

 

ok, that was cool; rolling from the promo straight into Ciampa's entrance

 

They love themselves some Chicago shows; 3 times in 6 months.

 

Finn’s gonna die in this match

 

So funny how NXT uses the plant fans for barricade spots

 

Holy crap, Ciampa getting him up for the air raid crash

 

that finish was cool as shit

 

That was very silly haha

 

What’s the deal with both companies putting on “bigger” shows next week

 

Both off Xmas day and then I believe NXT is off New Years day as well so I guess they wanna end on a high note before coming back

 

I love the Beth Phoenix/breezango schtick every time.

 

What was up with the “drank a bottle of whiskey alone last Wednesday night” on Adam Page’s graphic...

Hottest of hot takes: I just can’t get into Kenny Omega.

Edit: at this point, is JR more of a creepy old man than King? And Page is turning on Omega next week to no reaction in Corpus

 

To take that flame level to 11; I think Kenny and Seth Rollins are super similar. Both have promo styles that work really well as heels, but come off too try-hard as faces. When faced with a truly gargantuan opponent (Brock/Okada), they can turn the arrogance/cockiness into a face character, but, once its back to normal people (Cody/Corbin/etc)...its boring. And yet both are credible as heels that eventually reach that point where they dont need to cheat to win.

In the same way Rollins character is hopefully about to get interesting...Kenny might be about to get interesting. Especially if next time Mox/Omega happens, Mox is the clear face while Kenny has turned on the Elite

 

Was 2014 the best year of pro wrestling this past decade?

 

I only came back in in 2015, so I cant speak to before that, but there's no question 2016 is the best year I saw (if we technically include the WK that starts early 2017 as the endpoint). Its especially weird, since it had, without a doubt, the worst Wrestlemania of the decade as part of it.

In WWE, AJ Styles debuts, has the most impactful first year in a long, long time...its maybe the last time that the period from WM->Summerslam wasnt absolute garbage. We got the Shield Triple Threat, the IC title story arc (Miz/Sami/KO/Cesaro)...then into the brand split and Smackdowns glory time; hell, even the stuff WWE backed into (Rumble for the title....Shane returns...Jeri-KO) all kind of worked. And its where Sasha/Charlotte break out to create womens 1sts, and DIY/Revival revives the NXT tag division.

Outside WWE, its Kenny Omega winning G1. Okada's reign really becoming a big deal. The Ospreay/Ricochet series. Lucha Underground, in a rare case of working, airs like 45 episodes (all of S2 and half of S3). Tangentially, its also when Cody got released as the afterthought out of that WM32 ladder match and by the end of the year is doing all his ROH/NJPW work. Kind of feels like 2016 sets the stage for basically every fun wrestling thing that's happened in the 3 years since.