Harbinger Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Just looks like NJPW reached out to his widow for a photo op. did any NJ guys work Momota's show? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 No, and the only person in that photo that has anything to do with New Japan at this point is Sakaguchi and barely in his case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harbinger Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Damn, Sakaguchi got pushed out when the trading card dude took over? It was the only reason I figured it was a NJ photo op. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I have no clue if he's still in the power structure or not. I think he's just a consultant or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 How far could have Kikuchi gone if he had been pushed with Misawa, Kobashi and crew? He always seems to be the most over when he was paired with them in the early 90's, had the most fire and honestly looked like the better wrestler at times. I really think AJPW could have done something with him as an underdog main eventer. Also, why were there no real significant Baba matches against the Big 4, Tenryu or Jumbo(minus the '75 match)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattdangerously Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 What's the general consensus on Killer Elite Squad? I've seen them work a couple of matches for NWA Houston, and I thought Smith and Archer were both really impressive. The match in April when they won the NWA tag titles was especially great. Haven't seen as much of their work in Japan, but I plan on getting caught up soon. I don't see a lot of talk about them, though. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 They are a solid to good big man team. Not great but they do fine in their role. I'd rather watch them than TenKoji. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Campbell Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 How far could have Kikuchi gone if he had been pushed with Misawa, Kobashi and crew? He always seems to be the most over when he was paired with them in the early 90's, had the most fire and honestly looked like the better wrestler at times. I really think AJPW could have done something with him as an underdog main eventer. Also, why were there no real significant Baba matches against the Big 4, Tenryu or Jumbo(minus the '75 match)? RE: Kikuchi, that would have required All Japan to have a junior division that they actually gave a flying crap about. Kikuchi eventually got his big win over Fuchi for the junior strap, but it was three years past the point of anyone caring. I suppose if AJPW pulled the trigger on him in '93, had he had a better crop of guys to work with, he'd have done OK for himself. RE: Baba, during his heyday the big drawing concept was Native vs. Gaijin, so the idea of Baba vs. Jumbo really wasn't a big money idea. It wasn't until Chosyu jumped that Native vs. Native came into play, and by that point, Baba was already phasing himself out of the big picture. By the time Tenryu left and Jumbo was passing the torch to Misawa and co. Baba was pretty much out of the picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 How far could have Kikuchi gone if he had been pushed with Misawa, Kobashi and crew? He always seems to be the most over when he was paired with them in the early 90's, had the most fire and honestly looked like the better wrestler at times. I really think AJPW could have done something with him as an underdog main eventer. Also, why were there no real significant Baba matches against the Big 4, Tenryu or Jumbo(minus the '75 match)? RE: Kikuchi, that would have required All Japan to have a junior division that they actually gave a flying crap about. Kikuchi eventually got his big win over Fuchi for the junior strap, but it was three years past the point of anyone caring. I suppose if AJPW pulled the trigger on him in '93, had he had a better crop of guys to work with, he'd have done OK for himself. RE: Baba, during his heyday the big drawing concept was Native vs. Gaijin, so the idea of Baba vs. Jumbo really wasn't a big money idea. It wasn't until Chosyu jumped that Native vs. Native came into play, and by that point, Baba was already phasing himself out of the big picture. By the time Tenryu left and Jumbo was passing the torch to Misawa and co. Baba was pretty much out of the picture. Oh no, I mean non-juniors stuff. I think he would have made a great piece of the Big 4 puzzle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 Was anyone else bothered by the lack of Misawa continuining to focus on Kawada's knee in the 6/3/94 match? That's really the only big hole it has. I also just watched Misawa/Kobashi from 97 and hated it. It was too long and I hated how all of the arm work on Misawa ended up meaning jack. Also hated the TD91 being kicked out of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecchirebirth Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 So what was the story of the original Battlarts roster basically abandoning Fujiwara? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Images don't work, never mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Morishima beat KENTA to win the GHC Title earlier today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 So looks like New Japan's new Jr. Heavyweight, El Desperado, is Kyosuke Mikami. Haven't heard his name in a long time, which makes sense since he has been in CMLL for the last two years. Anyone seen his work there? Sometimes excursions work wonders for wrestlers, other times they come back and go right back to opening cards as if they never left. Will be interesting to see how he does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 No one seems to be sure whether it's him or Sugi. Meltzer seems to think it's Sugi and people are saying the guy is too small for Minami. He was good in CMLL as a rudo. He got over and fans didn't want him to go back. He definitely grew as a worker and had a really cool mask. He mostly just did brawling but he was good at being aggressive about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I can't imagine it is Sugi, New Japan didn't seem to have interest in him when he was "hot" (which was years ago), and after his drug thing he has virtually disappeared (has he wrestled since his brief run as "Dual Force" in NOAH last summer?). Plus Mikami just left CMLL so it matches up. But once a match of his makes TV we will know for sure since you're right, their sizes are quite different. Glad that Mikami had success in Mexico if it is him, always enjoy having a little shake-up in my pro wres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 We gonna switch to 2014 Catch-All anytime? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Good point, problem solved! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultimoDANK Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Shingo in AJPW is mildly interesting. I wouldn't mind seeing Dragon Gate guys wrestling more in other promotions this year. Anything to create some fresh matchups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan4L Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Shingo in AJPW is mildly interesting. I wouldn't mind seeing Dragon Gate guys wrestling more in other promotions this year. Anything to create some fresh matchups. God damn that is interesting! didn't know about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I can't imagine it is Sugi, New Japan didn't seem to have interest in him when he was "hot" (which was years ago), and after his drug thing he has virtually disappeared (has he wrestled since his brief run as "Dual Force" in NOAH last summer?). Plus Mikami just left CMLL so it matches up. But once a match of his makes TV we will know for sure since you're right, their sizes are quite different. Glad that Mikami had success in Mexico if it is him, always enjoy having a little shake-up in my pro wres. I am not sure if they did it in purpose or not, but at the Tokyo Dome when the two met, the only camera on Desperado and Kota was from the floor. Still though from the brief moment they were actually standing fully upright facing each other, unless they switch wrestlers ala Black Scorpion no way this is Sugi. Kota is billed at 5'11", Mikami 5'9", and Sugi 5'4". From the picture, Desperado only looks a few inches shorter than Ibushi and definitely not 7 inches shorter. So either they are pulling a switcheroo or Dave is just being silly again (spoilered for size): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Meltz said it was Mikami today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 It's definitely Mikami. A guy over on Stu's board saw the show and it's obviously him by how he moves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Desssssperaaaaadooooooooo..... *gun shot* 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Shingo in AJPW is mildly interesting. I wouldn't mind seeing Dragon Gate guys wrestling more in other promotions this year. Anything to create some fresh matchups. God damn that is interesting! didn't know about it It was just one match on a show that likely wasn't taped. It was in Shingo's hometown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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