The Internet Wrestling Community has been set ablaze this week. Why? Well…
Wrestle Kingdom 9 was the greatest ppv in the history of ppv - The Good
What? According to Dave Meltzer it was. Usually this writer would take this time to talk about how Meltzer’s star rating system for matches is flawed and kind of silly, but that’s another column for another day. Hyperbole aside, Wrestle Kingdom 9 was the best ppv I have seen in probably the past 10 years. The show featured New Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah stars and it was just has hard hitting as you would expect.
This event marked the first time a Japanese wrestling promotion has aired a ppv in the United States. Jeff Jarrett somehow managed to talk NPJW into letting his new Global Force Wrestling organization co-opt the ppv. Say what you will about Jarrett, but his decision-making as of late has been impeccable. Selecting Jim Ross and Matt Stryker as the commentary team was a stroke of genius. Stryker provided much need product expertise, while JR focused on telling the story in the ring. If you want to see quality wrestling you have to look Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi for IC tilte and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada for IWGP title. That is wrestling.
Firing 2.5 of you most popular stars. Yeah that will put butts in seats- The Bad
Can anyone explain why WWE Creative though the firing of Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, and Eric Rowen was a good idea? Oh yeah, that’s right Raw was re-written around 4pm day of. Which means this was a snap decision and there is probably no end game to this angle. This is part and parcel of what has been plaguing WWE for years: no long term planning. Rumor has it that this firing angle will be wrapped up before the Rumble. Sigh… If you are going pull the trigger and kayfabe fire people, at least stick with it for more then a week. Who books this crap?
Impact Wrestling’s debut on Destination America- The Bad
Before Impact fans get upset, we think Impact Wrestling having a new TV deal is great. The problem is they didn’t use this as an opportunity to step away from its former self. Other than the arena lighting it was the same show, with the same tired angles. What is Impact Wrestling’s obsession with invading factions? Why would Lo Ki, Eric Young and Samoa Joe join MVP? Where is this going? What is the point? Seriously, Who books this crap?
Lucha Underground crowns a champion and finally looks like an actual wrestling promotion- The Good
There is much that can be said about this that hasn’t been said in our Lucha Underground recap. You can’t be considered legitimate unless you actually have a champion. The people there have to have something to fight for.
JBL and Booker T going IN on The Ascension- The Ugly
Anyone looking Raw had to have noticed as the Ascension delivered their awful and cheap heel promo, Booker T and JBL spent the next five to six minutes talking about how awful the Ascension is. Let’s face it: The Ascension is bad. Really bad. This is proof positive that everything that works in the world of NXT will not translate to Raw or Smackdown. Whoever made the decision to turn them into LOD light needs to be fired. Having Konnor and Viktor acknowledge the similarities and then try to make fun of LOD was just plain stupid and almost offensive (If you ask Road Warrior Animal it was extremely offensive). As hilarious as JBL’s rant was, it totally undermined the job he was hired to do: get talent/angles over. Its really hard to take The Ascension seriously when the announcer go out of their way to tell you they are a joke.