NeoGAF

Vince McMahon · 06:15 PM

Welcome to the Wrasslin' thread for December!

What's going on in WWE?

WWE Championship: Randy Orton
World Heavyweight Champion: John Ceeeeena
WWE Intercontinental Champion: Big E Langston
United States Champion: Dean Ambrose
Tag Team Champions: Cody Rhodes and Goldust
Divas Championship: AJ Lee

You may notice no Daniel Bryan or CM Punk as a title holder. All according to keikaku. Big E Langston is the best of that entire group.

What's the next Pay-Per-View event?

Tables, Ladders, and Chairs. A bunch of great gimmicks that are shoehorned into storylines despite there being no need for it. You can order it at http://wwe.com if you so desire.

Are the titles really being unified?

Remains to be seen. Because it's a stupid GIMMICK MATCH there's no guarantee they won't just swap champions between the two. Horrible.

What's going on in TNA?

lol

What's going on in indie wrestling?

The organization formerly known as CHIKARA is doing a scavenger hunt.
PWG is still great.
This Is PROGRESS is putting on some great stuff. Find out more at http://progresswrestling.com/

And in Japan?

Let's talk NJPW.

IWGP Heavyweight Champion: Kazuchika Okada
IWGP Tag Team Champions: Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr. You may remember them.)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion: Price "VAG DESTROYER" Devitt
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions: Ugh...Young Bucks
IWGP Intercontinental Champion: Shinsuke Nakamura
NEVER Openweight Champion: Tetsuya Naito

Q: How do I order NJPW iPPVs? It sounds awesome.

A: It is! Go to http://ustream.tv/njpw for the WORLD TAG LEAGUE! Here's the current standings.

We're headed toward WRESTLE KINGDOM BABY! More info to come once I edit it in.

What's with the title of the OT?

25 years ago, Andre and Jake had their feud. I thought it would be nice.

Watch the feud here! It eventually culminated in '89 at Wrasslemania. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux6zYXxG_R0

It's the end of the year. Is there a poll?

Yes, I will be running a poll a week or two into December for the best-of lists. You can look at last year's results here:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...26&postcount=1

Stay tuned for the poll announcement, I will link to it in the OP. Last year had WrassleGAF's Community MVP as Laserfrog. Since he's moved on to bigger and better things at Kotaku (yes, really) who will dethrone him this year?

Last year's WrassleGAF Fave Five:
#1: Daniel Bryan
#2: Antonio Cesaro
#3: Ryback
#4: Ultramantis Black
#5: Wade Barret

I bet you're all cringing. I am too.

What's WrassleGAF up to?

Strobogo is about to complete his last year of WCW suffering. You can read all of Strobogo's previous recaps at http://legitshook.com.

Legitshook.com is WrassleGAF's home for projects. We do a lot of writing here, a lot of it great, and it needs to be preserved. So please, come by and visit! GET SHOOK!

gurudyne · (12-01-2013, 05:48 PM)

Yeah, that about sums it up.

When do the X of the year polls start this month?

FallingEdge · (12-01-2013, 05:53 PM)

You marks should be ashamed of last year's poll results.

I hope the same mistake doesn't happen again this year.

Mr. Sandman · (12-01-2013, 05:53 PM)

No confidence:

That this month will deliver anything worth watching. Wait till January 4th, 2014.

Bootaaay · (12-01-2013, 06:04 PM)

The New Japan Tag Finals should be fun, but yeah...pretty dull December, all things considered. WRESTLE KINGDOM, BABY! That reminds me, I should really start working on the WK8 OT.

Great OT, Vince. I lol'd at the Dean Ambrose crack, even if it's wrong. Also, what the fuck with last year's WrassleGAF fave five? Wade Barrett? Jesus.

KenOD · (12-01-2013, 06:05 PM)

Ah, a new thread. How exciting. Though I think I'll enjoy something from the previous thread a bit longer.

Originally Posted by Bootaaay

Hey, we've got fans of women's wrestling here, right? Well, check this shit out;

SENDAI Girls, "SUPER GENERATION STRUGGLE", 2013.10.17
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,200 Fans

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAGVfRu2p1Y

VETERANS vs NEW GENERATION - 8 vs 8 ELIMINATION MATCH:

Aja Kong, Dump Matsumoto, Dynamite Kansai, Kyoko Inoue, Manami Toyota, Meiko Satomura, Command Bolshoi & Takako Inoue vs Shuri, Yoshiko, Hikaru Shida, Kagetsu, Yuhi, Sareee, Manami Katsu & Takumi Iroha

This match is a whole lot of fun, with some of the biggest names in joshi wrestling from the 90's taking on the younger generation of talent from today's world of joshi wrestling. It's an 8 vs 8 singles match format, so it does go on for quite some time as you'd expect, but seriously; if you're a fan of women's wrestling, watch this. Or don't, whatever.

A right proper way of honouring those long standing competitors while letting the newer and rising talent a chance to shine in an all around good event.

Vince McMahon · (12-01-2013, 06:06 PM)

Originally Posted by Bootaaay

The New Japan Tag Finals should be fun, but yeah...pretty dull December, all things considered. WRESTLE KINGDOM, BABY! That reminds me, I should really start working on the WK8 OT.

Great OT, Vince. I lol'd at the Dean Ambrose crack, even if it's wrong. Also, what the fuck with last year's WrassleGAF fave five? Wade Barrett? Jesus.

TBH it's a real shame how far Ultramantis Black has fallen. Not because he's been buried, but because of this huge indie dropoff lately, he feels like he never gets mentioned, despite having a title. It's been a rough year for a lot of indies.

TheWarrior · 06:12 PM

Someone needs a "push Ryback" sign for the next Raw.

First wall of shame for me

Mr. Sandman · (12-01-2013, 06:16 PM)

I'm shocked I made the Wall of Shame last month. I didn't even try.

Tanner1495 · (12-01-2013, 06:17 PM)

Going to try to keep up with this this month, does GAF does like a Top 20 MOTY list or does everyone just posts their's separately?

Vince McMahon · (12-01-2013, 06:20 PM)

Originally Posted by Tanner1495

Going to try to keep up with this this month, does GAF does like a Top 20 MOTY list or does everyone just posts their's separately?

We do a vote, then I cobble together the results. It's fun! We have a bunch of categories. I think we'll do the same ones we did last year. We did a Best of the Indies one last year also but honestly, I'm not sure we need that split. In fact, I'm in favor of removing all splits. WWE and other need to be together. Thoughts?

Last year's stuff:
Best WWE Superstar *
Best Non-WWE Wrestler *
Best Female Wrestler *
Best Tag Team *
Best on the Mic *
Comeback of the Year *
Best Gimmick *
Most Improved *
Fall From Grace *
Best Angle of the Year *
Worst Angle of the Year *
Best PPV *
Worst On-Screen Performer *
Most Underutilized Performer *
Moment That Made You Feel Ashamed to be a Wrestling Fan *
Wrestling GIF of the Year *
Hope for 2013 *
Time to Retire in 2013 *
Non-WWE Match of the Year *
WWE Match of the Year *

I'd like to do away with the splits and maybe re-title a couple of those.

Tanner1495 · (12-01-2013, 06:24 PM)

Originally Posted by Vince McMahon

We do a vote, then I cobble together the results. It's fun! We have a bunch of categories. I think we'll do the same ones we did last year. We did a Best of the Indies one last year also but honestly, I'm not sure we need that split. In fact, I'm in favor of removing all splits. WWE and other need to be together. Thoughts?

Last year's stuff:
Best WWE Superstar *
Best Non-WWE Wrestler *
Best Female Wrestler *
Best Tag Team *
Best on the Mic *
Comeback of the Year *
Best Gimmick *
Most Improved *
Fall From Grace *
Best Angle of the Year *
Worst Angle of the Year *
Best PPV *
Worst On-Screen Performer *
Most Underutilized Performer *
Moment That Made You Feel Ashamed to be a Wrestling Fan *
Wrestling GIF of the Year *
Hope for 2013 *
Time to Retire in 2013 *
Non-WWE Match of the Year *
WWE Match of the Year *

I'd like to do away with the splits and maybe re-title a couple of those.

Sounds good, I'm still trudging through my Top 1500 list, I haven't watched much outside of WWE since September, so I'll be able to do this no problem!

TheWarrior · (12-01-2013, 06:28 PM)

Has Sting won the time to retire for the past 5 years?

gurudyne · 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by Vince McMahon

We do a vote, then I cobble together the results. It's fun! We have a bunch of categories. I think we'll do the same ones we did last year. We did a Best of the Indies one last year also but honestly, I'm not sure we need that split. In fact, I'm in favor of removing all splits. WWE and other need to be together. Thoughts?

I'd like to do away with the splits and maybe re-title a couple of those.

If you do away with the splits, WWE's going to dominate each category as that's what most of the posters watch. I'd say keep them in if you want any NJPW/indie results to show.

I'm in favor of doing a top five list for some of these. Each voter gives their top 5 WWE performers, top 5 matches, etc. When it comes time to calculate, each spot is awarded a certain number of points like

1st: 10 points
2nd: 7 points
3rd: 5 points
4th: 3 points
5th: 1 point

Top five overall results display.

I'd also like to suggest a Best Moment of the Year and Worst Moment of the Year for things that don't meet the other categories' criteria, like Mark Henry's retirement swerve (which was about the only notable thing about that angle), killer spots in otherwise dull matches, both MitB cash ins (respectively), etc.

Mr. Sandman · (12-01-2013, 06:35 PM)

There is a new Bruno shoot interview....very interested in this since my knowledge of wrestling only really goes back to the 80's. Anything prior to then is really a dark era for me outside of the basics. I love the timeline series.

Bootaaay · (12-01-2013, 06:40 PM)

Originally Posted by Vince McMahon

I'd like to do away with the splits and maybe re-title a couple of those.

There's more New Japan watching fans here this year, so it should be a more varied set of votes this time around. But you know the no.1's still going to be a WWE guy, regardless of how awful he's been booked this year.

Originally Posted by Vince McMahon

TBH it's a real shame how far Ultramantis Black has fallen. Not because he's been buried, but because of this huge indie dropoff lately, he feels like he never gets mentioned, despite having a title. It's been a rough year for a lot of indies.

Yeah, it's been a pretty lacklustre year for indies - PWG are still plugging away, putting out great stuff, and while AIW & AAW had a good start to the year they've gone off the boil somewhat in recent months. The CHIKARA shit left many fans feeling sour about the promotion, while ROH has improved since the end of the SCUM angle, but it's still a painfully dull show. Meh. I'll stick to European indies for the time being.

Speaking of international indies, people should check out the wXw/CZW/BJW World Triangle League 2013, which wXw have made available for VOD and download over at;

http://vimeo.com/ondemand/wxwondemand - Night 1
http://vimeo.com/ondemand/wxwwtl2013 - Night 2

The other two nights will be available soon. You can rent a night for $7.99 or buy it to download for $9.99.

HT UK · (12-01-2013, 06:41 PM)

This is the front page image of WWE.com:

This clearly means HHH is going do to the same at TLC!

bjork · (12-01-2013, 06:43 PM)

I'm glad I didn't make the wall of shame, I like being a cameo character instead of being Triple H.

Mr. Luchador · 06:48 PM

Originally Posted by Tanner1495

Going to try to keep up with this this month, does GAF does like a Top 20 MOTY list or does everyone just posts their's separately?

Welcome New Blood!

...

Also Sunny, I'll port over my 'DigitalAgeOfWrestling' blog posts to Legitshook.

BoboBrazil · (12-01-2013, 06:48 PM)

Lol, I played some matches last night with Bruno Sammartino, Virgil, Dusty Rhodes, and Rick Rude in WWE 2k14. Why did they give Rude the tights with Ultimate Warrior's face on the ass?

bjork · (12-01-2013, 06:50 PM)

Originally Posted by BoboBrazil

Lol, I played some matches last night with Bruno Sammartino, Virgil, Dusty Rhodes, and Rick Rude in WWE 2k14. Why did they give Rude the tights with Ultimate Warrior's face on the ass?

Because those were bad as hell. If I could've had pajamas that were Rick Rude's pants, I would've worn them. To school.

BoboBrazil · (12-01-2013, 06:54 PM)

Originally Posted by bjork

Because those were bad as hell. If I could've had pajamas that were Rick Rude's pants, I would've worn them. To school.

Lol they also have the title belt on the crotch.

bjork · (12-01-2013, 07:02 PM)

Originally Posted by BoboBrazil

Lol they also have the title belt on the crotch.

That's how shit was done back when men were men. They didn't just turn the company logo upside down and call it a day.

Snowman Prophet of Doom · (12-01-2013, 07:03 PM)

I laughed at the Dean Ambrose line, but Ambrose is definitely the best singles champion right now, though he's not actually done dick in terms of memorable title defenses. It's like he got the title when The Shield started to have heat backstage, which got them de-pushed for a time, and then there was never time for him to deal with title defenses when the whole Authority storyline required them to be security guards all the time. Too bad, as he could've been a really memorable champion and given the title some prestige.

Also, is there any possible choice for Comeback of the Year other than Goldust? Granted, I'm not an Indies or Japan guy, but I can't imagine there are many 20+ year veterans who returned as a part of a major storyline and proceeded to do some of the best wrestling of their career?

slightconfuse · (12-01-2013, 07:04 PM)

Link to the chikara scavenger hunt

http://imgur.com/a/NyVZp

Mr. Sandman · (12-01-2013, 07:04 PM)

BoboBrazil · (12-01-2013, 07:04 PM)

They also seemingly added a new omg move. I did a irish whip to the corner of my opponent and then it let me do a superplex off the top rope to the floor.

Mr. Luchador · (12-01-2013, 07:05 PM)

Goldust is a great shout.

Looks in good shape (considering how he looked in his prime anyway), has decent matches, and crowd seem interested in him.

Bootaaay · (12-01-2013, 07:12 PM)

It's got to be Goldust - Tenryu & Sasaki have made comebacks this year, but neither return was as high profile as Goldust's, plus he's been better than anyone could have expected. Real kudos to him.

The only other people in with a shout are Naito & Daichi Hashimoto - Naito returned and won the G1, Daichi's not made the same impact, but I'm more excited to see what he does next year.

Originally Posted by slightconfuse

Link to the chikara scavenger hunt

http://imgur.com/a/NyVZp

I'm not a fan of this at all, but man, for those who are and for the CHIKARA nerds involved, this has to be the best storyline ever.

Still think the whole thing's pretty ridiculous, though.

Entropia · (12-01-2013, 07:13 PM)

Originally Posted by Mr. Luchador

Goldust is a great shout.

Looks in good shape (considering how he looked in his prime anyway), has decent matches, and crowd seem interested in him.

It's nice to have a 'character' in the WWE nowadays. But the problem is WWE has this weird reality line crossing.

You would think it'd NEVER be brought up that he's Cody's brother.

Nebula · (12-01-2013, 07:19 PM)

I went into Survivor Series not having watched WWE for months. Came out disappointed with the setting up of Randy/Cena.

Ehhhh.

Tanner1495 · (12-01-2013, 07:22 PM)

Originally Posted by Bootaaay

It's got to be Goldust - Tenryu & Sasaki have made comebacks this year, but neither return was as high profile as Goldust's, plus he's been better than anyone could have expected. Real kudos to him.

The only other people in with a shout are Naito & Daichi Hashimoto - Naito returned and won the G1, Daichi's not made the same impact, but I'm more excited to see what he does next year.

Tenryu is a good shout, excited to see what he does in the Taue retirement match, which is this week I believe? Still so many touted matches I've yet to watch this year (Kobashi Retirement, Ibushi/Nakamura, Tana/Okada, Ibushi/Okada) that I'll catch up on this week that I've lost count of everything I still need to see, 2005 Tenryu is my favorite grumpy man of all time.

Snowman Prophet of Doom · (12-01-2013, 07:23 PM)

Originally Posted by Entropia

It's nice to have a 'character' in the WWE nowadays. But the problem is WWE has this weird reality line crossing.

You would think it'd NEVER be brought up that he's Cody's brother.

They sold it well, though - Goldust being "the disappointment", the guy who needs to redeem himself and his family.

Also, they hinted at weird Goldust returning this past week. Here's hoping they stick with it and give him some room to breathe!

bean breath · (12-01-2013, 07:28 PM)

Oh shit. So I signed up for an Amazon Prime trial and ordered some stuff on Black Friday. I chose to have it delivered to an Amazon Locker in a 7-eleven because I've been dealing with either dumb delivery drivers or thieving neighbors lately. It was scheduled to arrive Tuesday but I just got a delivery confirmation and locker code... on effing Sunday! I thought they were only testing Sunday delivery in shitty L.A. (Hey Harrydeamoner, how ya doin?)

Oh yeah, wrestling.

slightconfuse · (12-01-2013, 07:30 PM)

the Taue retiremnt card is pretty sweet. wish it was an ippv

Singles Match
Pesadilla vs. Super Crazy

Tag Team Match
BRAVE (Atsushi Kotoge & Mohammed Yone) vs. Daisuke Harada & Hitoshi Kumano

Tag Team Match
Diamond Ring (Kensuke Sasaki & Mitsuhiro Kitamiya) vs. No Mercy (Hajime Ohara & Yoshihiro Takayama)

Singles Match
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Maybach Taniguchi

Eight Man Tag Team Match
Akira Taue, No Mercy (Genba Hirayanagi & Takashi Sugiura) & Takeshi Morishima vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Kentaro Shiga, Masao Inoue & Tatsumi Fujinami

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match
Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask (c) vs. Yoshinari Ogawa & Zack Sabre Jr.

GHC Junior Heavyweight Title Match
Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa

GHC Tag Team Title Match
TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste) (c) vs. BRAVE (Katsuhiko Nakajima & Naomichi Marufuji)

GHC Heavyweight Title Match
KENTA (c) vs. Yuji Nagata

Mr. Luchador · (12-01-2013, 07:31 PM)

I'm tempted to bring Bo Dallas up to the main roster in this TEW2013 save. Keep him with the obnoxious 'face' character.

TheWarrior · (12-01-2013, 07:33 PM)

Originally Posted by HT UK

This is the front page image of WWE.com:

This clearly means HHH is going do to the same at TLC!

I hope this guy debuts soon. Seems like they plan on pushing this young up and comer

somedevil · (12-01-2013, 07:34 PM)

The reason Davey Richards is not being used for Final Battle:

The decision not to use Richards came from ROH management, likely due to an interview he did with Total Wrestling, a U.K. publication.

Richards & Eddie Edwards were schedled to face Roderick Strong on the 12/14 Final Battle show at the Manhattan Center. Management was not happy with an interview Richards did in Total Wrestling, a U.K. publication, and two weeks ago it appeared he was done before Final Battle. He apologized to the locker room at the 11/15 show in Dearborn, MI, during a team meeting saying his comments were taken out of context.

The key quotes in the interview were saying that the tag titles and singles titles mean less than they had in the past, and was critical of the booking of the singles title, and said that he didn't care about the iPPV issues, saying, "If they can't get their crap together, that's their problem. I just worry about shwoing up, doing my job in the ring, and they can do whatever they ant with that stuff. It's their deal."

Plywood · (12-01-2013, 07:39 PM)

via the other thread:

Originally Posted by Professor Beef

Plywood said he was making it. Have faith, friends.

Originally Posted by Vince McMahon

Ah shit, didn't see Plywood's post. Will be happy to edit in whatever you're doing Ply, just PM me if you have stuff. :(

Also, we up:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=726094

Nah it's cool I was lying. I was trying to light a fire under someone's ass and get them to pull the trigger on a new thread.

Entropia · (12-01-2013, 07:42 PM)

Originally Posted by Plywood

via the other thread:

Nah it's cool I was lying. I was trying to light a fire under someone's ass and get them to pull the trigger on a new thread.

avatar quote!

Plywood · (12-01-2013, 07:44 PM)

Originally Posted by Entropia

avatar quote!

Serpentine · (12-01-2013, 07:44 PM)

Don't forget, Rob Van Dam returned to wrestling this year

Goldust still wins

Originally Posted by Mr. Sandman

I'm shocked I made the Wall of Shame last month. I didn't even try.

Same. I don't even post in the Raw/PPV threads live, so i'm actually kinda surprised.

DMczaf · (12-01-2013, 07:48 PM)

Where is Roman Reigns in the OT?

It ain't right.

bean breath · (12-01-2013, 07:50 PM)

Originally Posted by somedevil

The reason Davey Richards is not being used for Final Battle:

Those comments make Dolph Ziggler's Twitter feed look like a Benoit murder-suicide.

Bootaaay · (12-01-2013, 08:00 PM)

Originally Posted by Tanner1495

2005 Tenryu is my favorite grumpy man of all time.

I can never quite decide if Tenryu or Fujiwara is my favourite grumpu old man, they're both amazing and both pretty damn grumpy - Tenryu did have that fucking awesome match where he just kicked the shit out of KENTA, though.

Also, there's nothing better than two grumpy old Japanese dudes beating the piss out of each other in the ring, as Tenryu & Fujiwara so perfectly demonstrated;

Originally Posted by slightconfuse

the Taue retiremnt card is pretty sweet. wish it was an ippv

Same here, I'd be all over that show if it were an iPPV - all the Japanese feds need to jump on the Ustream iPPV bandwagon.

bean breath · (12-01-2013, 08:03 PM)

Looking at Bootaaay's gifs reminded me that I wanted to ask that WrassleGaffer that went to a NJPW live event if there was any significant foreigner presence in the crowd.

FallingEdge · (12-01-2013, 08:08 PM)

Originally Posted by somedevil

The reason Davey Richards is not being used for Final Battle:

That comment wasn't even bad and he is right.

Tanner1495 · (12-01-2013, 08:09 PM)

As anyone seen any Hero matches since he was released? Seems like he's been all over the place already, and I was interested in his match vs Gargano if it was any good.

Bootaaay · (12-01-2013, 08:19 PM)

Originally Posted by FallingEdge

That comment wasn't even bad and he is right.

I can see why ROH would be annoyed at him publicly criticising their booking, but if that's the sole reason they aren't using him at Final Battle, then that's pretty dumb - just one more reason for me to not buy the show.

Originally Posted by Tanner1495

As anyone seen any Hero matches since he was released? Seems like he's been all over the place already, and I was interested in his match vs Gargano if it was any good.

Not yet, but I heard the Gargano match was great - I'm interested in seeing his match with Cedric Alexander in PWX, as Alexander's a pretty underrated guy on the indies, imo.

Hoping Hero'll be over to the UK sooner rather than later, there's a bunch of guys over here I'd love to see him face.

TheWarrior · (12-01-2013, 08:39 PM)

I know it's early but The Royal Rumble OT name should be the obvious "The Road to the Raw after Wrestlemania"