Jenalysis

JR could have a role in being a counterweight to some of the goofy ideas the Elite have. My big worry about AEW is that Kenny and the Bucks will get too cute with their ideas and it won't work well. Also not all conservatives are rotten, horrible people (and this is coming from me) . We don't even know if JR is one TBH (Even though it's likely). I mean, Cornette's from the same school and he's a huge liberal.

Taichi/Honma was the worst NJPW singles match I've ever seen. All Honma's fault, he should retire. You could see Taichi working light as a feather on purpose and Honma being unable to physically do anything. Juice/Chase was an 80s match, for good and bad. Loved the old Tommy Young spots. Should not have been right after the Taichi/Honma stinker. Ishii/Nagata was awesome.

Here's a wrestling what-if. What if Ventura had stuck around with WCW until the NWO? (assume no Heenan- Hogan liked Ventura so Ventura would have been safe). How would he have been regarding the NWO- would he have gone face announcer saying it crossed the line, or would he be doing his same schtick, or some combination of both?

Indiana scared me more than Mississippi and Alabama ever could traveling through them.

This was the best Jay White performance tonight to me. He upped his in-ring game with how he was doing things, and seems to be developing his in-ring character to where his out-of-ring character is. Ospreay was Ospreay, though he sold a little bit instead of none. Jay really is best when his opponent sells well, and well, that isn't Ospreay.

If you're near Orlando- CEO should be an option. It's not announced, but will almost certainly happen.

He's also very close to Kenny, and I saw those matches myself- one was vs a local jobber, and the other was against a video game promoter with a torn Achilles- you're not going to look great under those circumstances, and he's a 44-yr old mediocre wrestler to begin with. His main role I think will be translator and perhaps backstage.

In a move that surprises very few, Michael Nakazawa was signed by AEW. (Good friends with Kenny)

Finlay's replacement is Taguchi. The mere thought of Tenzan's ankle in Taguchi's anklelock frightens me. Expecting a Kerry Von Erich vs Col.Debeers situation.

New Beginning USA shows are up on NJPW World.

Souther is also nicknamed the Holy Emperor.

I'd be fine with O-Kharn being the next-gen Iizuka. Oka's ceiling is probably upper-midcard, so giving him a gimmick similar to EVIL does him a lot of good.

Taker would have been in before weight classes came into being. If by some freak accident he ended up a major star- there would have been a super heavyweight class.

I like Jay White a lot, but I think he's going to be more successful when he eventually turns face than he will be as a heel. I get the impression he's holding a lot of cool stuff back.

That Dominion match does have an end of en era feeling to it, alongside Hiromu's injury. NJPW is still very good, but it's not as great as it was 2016-2018. Ospreay is probably their best chance at a new breakout star- he just feels like the leap is within him if he can get his character just right the way Omega did.

I can so imagine Ric Flair as an honorary Ingobernable right now.

proper brackets.

Finlay said on Twitter his injury is dislocated shoulder and it's back in. Sounds like something he can bounce back from pretty quickly- though he might be out of NJC.

Night 2's is great up to the comedy match (Which is awesome comedy- Colt and Yano for WTL please!) Finlay got injured in the main, obvious audible/go home early- looks like shoulder injury. Wrecked what was getting pretty good.

Think TJP has enough value to be worth a shot on- he can go. That said I think his political views will keep him out of AEW (Briscoes-esque but worse)

ZSJ/Umino is a must watch from tonight. Dalton Castle looks worse off than Honma.

Also interesting who got the iron fingers in the end- won't be surprised to see those pop up again.

Yep , AML is the local indie that does a lot of partnering with Wrestlecade. Need to book him vs the Progressive Liberal in a deathmatch. The Liberal does Appalachia and Virginia, AML is more the Triad, so the distance can work. If he tried running that gimmick at the NJPW show in Charlotte he would have been booed harder than Jay White.

AEW would have an advantage in that their main talent are all owners except for Page. You're right most folks would not give up their spot. This is why I said I'd expect Okada and White to turn it down, and I wouldn't even try with Naito. I'd only be trying with Okada because he's good friends with the Elite, and White because I think he's that good and has a built in story with Kenny. You'd need to offer millions to both for them to even consider. I was looking at guys who would hit or have hit the glass ceiling in NJPW, have a skillset that would work well in what I think AEW is going to be, and might be ambitious enough to jump. I guess trying to selectively get talent who are willing to jump isn't really what folks think of as a raid, but NJPW would be a fertile place to get really good talent that wants to be something more than their slot. NJPW has glass ceilings of their own.

It needs big names to its core audience, and one top-level WWE defection, such as an Ambrose or Orton. It's going to have to grow the way ECW did as well, which will take time (they have the benefit of not having to worry about bouncing checks). I think there's a path to success for AEW, but it's not going to be easy, and even if they do everything right it's still a 50% chance of failure. If AEW really wanted to play hardball with NJPW, they could try raiding NJPW. I'm sure there are some folks in New Japan who are frustrated with their spot or could be enticed to come to the states. I'd at least make offers to Okada and White, even if I know 99% odds I'd be turned down. You could also try to ally with one of New Japan's rivals. Omega would be a massive asset to any Japanese fed. You'd torpedo any shot of working with NJPW again, but NJPW seems willing to play hardball. Realistically, I'd aim for guys like SANADA, Zack (and if you got Zack try to get Taka/Taichi to come along), Despy, Henare, Finlay, KES.