Crowley

That's an old school way of looking at the business and it isn't doing ROH a bit of good because even when someone does start to create some buzz, they just get poached. It'd be really cool if they could get CM Punk, Batista, and Sting on ROH, but once they're gone ROH is back to square one. They need to focus on making their product stand out as a whole, because right now they're just another wrestling show, but with less famous wrestlers that keep leaving. Lucha Underground is doing well because they don't rely on big names to draw. The stories and the whole presentation are the draw. Even if they lost Pentagon, Ricochet, and Cage it wouldn't mean much because there will still be wacky storylines and crazy hardcore matches every week. ECW was similar in that they never had to rely on household names or even technically sound wrestlers because they found other ways to make it interesting. I think you're more likely to get the average person to tune in if you have a hook or gimmick besides "this guy used to be in WWE".

What did you think of Sports Entertainment Xtreme? I thought some of it was alright. I love that era of TNA though because you'd see all kinds of random wrestlers show up. I think it's even more fun if you go back and watch it now. You never know what you're going to get. One day Paul Bearer shows up and the next it's Tony Schiavone or New Jack.

I don't get it. ROH has always had this problem. I said the same thing about Jon Moxley years ago. It's not like they didn't know what he was capable of. He was already one of the hottest acts out there and he was a free agent. Why weren't they bending over backwards to sign the guy? The same thing goes for Brian Cage before he was in LU. The list goes on and on. Joey Janella is another one of those guys that I'm looking around like, "um, hello!? Does nobody else see this guy!?"

I wasn't a fan of Juice Robinson's stuff before coming to Japan. When he ended up in NJPW, I thought he was just another mediocre gaijin that they picked up because of the way he looks. The crazy thing is, I love him now. The fact that he looks and carries himself like a star is a nice bonus. I hope NJPW gets really serious about this US expansion, and if they can poach some big names that would be amazing. But if all they have for now is Juice Robinson, I think that's a great start. If the goal is to push a couple of western stars, I actually think Juice is a better choice than Kenny Omega in some ways.

Lucha Underground could easily take Jack Swagger, put him in a cool looking mask, dub over his voice, and voilà! Instant star. I still think he's a great athlete and at 6'7, 275 lbs, he's capable of being very menacing. He just needs a fresh coat of paint.

Some new info Mission Mode sounds very promising! There's nothing confirmed yet, but there's also a rumor going around that we may see some new match types in the game. All of the old ones are coming back, but there's also a screen shot of a match up screen featuring something called "Las Vegas Match". There was no "Las Vegas Match" in FPR, so it may be a new gimmick match, or we may be able to name our saved match settings now. Whatever it is can be played with up to 8 wrestlers.

Here's what's been confirmed so far: Online play HD sprites Game will come with 30 original wrestlers 100s of new moves released through updates New arenas New wrestler edit features (new parts, faces and hair are now separate, color wheels, more layers) 4 attires per edit Not yet confirmed but probably true: Steam workshop support Online simming/spectator modes

Yes, you can do all of that. You can also control how quickly they move around and how long they stay down when there's a ref bump.

Oh my god!

Some things I'd like to see in addition to the things you mentioned, that would continue to set it apart from the WWE series: - Even deeper logic customization for wrestlers and referees. - Something like GM mode, or maybe even a booking sim along the lines of TEW. - Crowd customization (Japanese crowds are quiet, PWG crowds chant incessantly, ect.) - A good story mode. - A sophisticated move creation tool If there really is going to be another Fire Pro game, I could see it including some of this stuff, especially if it's going to be in the classic 2D style.

The main appeal of Fire Pro Returns is the insanely deep CPU logic customization. The game only has a small cult following, and I'd say the majority of the hardcore fans don't even play the game. They usually just customize wrestlers and then watch simmed matches. It's not like the 2K series where you get a handful of generic sliders that you can move back and forth, which seem to have very little actual impact on how the AI plays anyway. In FPR, you can choose from a huge list of personality traits, control the amount of times they'll go for any move by selecting a percentage, and even decide the sequence in which they perform moves. For example, you could make it so that Kazuchika Okada almost always taunts and goes for the Rainmaker after the tombstone piledriver if you wanted. Basically, well done CAWs not only have accurate movesets, but also accurate ring psychology, which makes for some epic moments. The 2K series definitely has Fire Pro beat when it comes to looks and the fact that you can easily pick it up and start playing. Fire Pro Returns has a steep learning curve. The gameplay is all about careful timing, and if you're used to arcadey button mashing fighting games, it can be frustrating at first. You have to get used to the 2D isometric view. At first you'll try to line up a dropkick that looks it should be right on someone's nose when in fact your legs are actually in the air beside them. Some of the controls may seem a bit weird too. But once you take the time to get used to how different it is, the game is amazing. And challenging in a good way. My biggest complaint with the 2K series is how unbearably easy it is. If you haven't played Fire Pro Returns in a while and set the match difficulty to 8, you're probably going to get absolutely raped. Every once in a while I still like to play a match against the computer, and it's rarely a squash match. So the gameplay takes practice, but it's very solid and consistent. I think a lot of people are still playing the game because the 2K series has a tendency to be kind of glitchy. You have so much control over the matches too. For example, I love the fact that you can control the overall speed of matches. If I'm doing a Ricochet vs. Will Osprey match, I like to bump up the speed to 125%. If it's a dream match between Katsuyori Shibata and Big Show, I might make it so that there's a higher chance of the match ending in a KO. There are some other charming bells and whistles you won't find in WWE games too. Another reason I prefer the game is because I'm simply not a big fan of the WWE product anymore, and Fire Pro will always be a better representation of the much larger, diverse world of wrestling. In WWE games, I can't have Kimber Lee vs. Hallowicked for the Chikara Grand Championship. I can't have Hayabusa dragon suplex Sabu off the apron into exploding barbed wire on the floor. I can't have 8 men in the ring at once for tag matches and battle royals. I can't book a shoot fight between Lesnar and Lashley in an octagon. In Fire Pro, you can do all of that. Sure, the graphics kind of the suck and there is a lot they could have done better, but it's a great game that still holds up really well, in my opinion. 2K does the create modes better because of the amazing graphics and the fact that the games are brand new. For anyone who may not know, it's important to keep in mind that Fire Pro Wrestling Returns was released in 2005. In 2005, the game had a ring customization, ref customization, and even a primitive logo creator in edition to custom wrestlers. Also, the CPU logic features shit all over the 2K series's AI. Imagine what they could do 12 years later! I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but if a new Fire Pro is half as innovative as FPR was back then, it's going to be an incredible game.

Fire Pro Wrestling World, coming to PS4 and Steam in the second quarter of 2017. Official Teaser site: http://www.spike-chunsoft.co.jp/fireproworld/ Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/sc_prowrestling

I'll bet it meant the *censored*ing world to him. And if Bryan's career had concluded without him being world champion in WWE, he would definitely be in a lesser category as far as where he sits on the list of greatest wrestlers. It definitely means way more than you're giving it credit for. Dude is a 3 time WWE champion and a one time WHC. It definitely puts him a whole notch above where he would be remembered otherwise. Being remembered for talent is great. Making the argument that the skilled wrestlers are remembered without winning championships is great. But it really isn't the point at all. The point is, being a great wrestler and winning championships is still better. I know what you're getting at, but I think Bryan is a terrible example. Bryan was a legend, at least to true wrestling fans before he even stepped in a WWE ring. He would have been considered one of the all time greats to wrestling fans either way. Casual WWE fans? Maybe not. But wrestling fans? Hell yeah. He had already won Wrestling Observer's most outstanding wrestler award like five years in a row. That's unprecedented. And I probably shouldn't bother bringing it up because I can't go digging for the source right now, but I've actually heard Bryan say in interviews that he wasn't a huge fan of the WWE product and the main reason he went there to begin with was money. Supposedly he did love it but still didn't have quite the same passion for it. I also know that when discussing WrestleMania 28, he speaks highly of that moment but puts little to no emphasis on the title. It was special because of the reaction from the audience. The fans being fed up with the way he was booked and the title not being seen as important played a big role in propelling him to the next level. Being a great wrestler and having a great career is more important than championships. There are guys who have had a lot of titles reigns but in the big scheme of things it doesn't mean much if you're abused by the business, have personal problems, or end up being forgotten by the fans. If you have a good career, then you aren't facing those issues. That's actually a good way to put it. Would you rather get an employee of the month award or be the highest paid guy in your company? Titles are neat but they mean very little.

Nah, being a main event guy, being famous, being richer, that's what matters. Like I said, in most companies, being "world champion" is a good indicator that you're on the right track but it's not a necessity. Daniel Bryan was "world champion" at WrestleMania 28 and it didn't mean jack shit. It was just a mcguffin for him and Sheamus to fight over. Roddy Piper was never WWF heavyweight champion but he's considered one of the all time greats for a reason. It's not like wrestlers don't care about the titles in real life. They're fans just like we are. It's just that being champion isn't a real life accomplishment. Having a successful career is. And of course they're going to talk about how special the belts are. Like I said, they're fans, and it's important for them to protect their company's image. That's a big part of their job, even in "real interviews". Acting like a title win isn't special would be disrespectful to your coworkers and would turn fans off to the product.

When Eddie beat Brock? I don't think he cried. If I remember correctly, he was actually laughing. Of course that made more sense for his character, who had just lied, cheated, and stolen his way to the title. God, I miss Eddie Guerrero. His stuff was never too cliche. Anyway, it doesn't matter. He did cry when he got in the ring to celebrate with Benoit at the end of WMXX. The point is that he wasn't crying because they won some pretend wrestling belts. They cried because the two of them had traveled the world together for years honing their skills, and at that point the reality was setting in that they made it to the highest level in the business (at that time, there were no John Cenas and Brock was on his way out). Lets say everything was the same, but there were no titles involved. You think it wouldn't have been emotional?

It's not worthless in kayfabe. In real life it's a good indicator that your career is going well, but it still doesn't mean a whole lot. For example, I don't think that Great Khali necessarily had a better career than Jamie Noble just because he was WHC once while most of Noble's matches were in the undercard. Noble was more talented and more experienced. If I was a promoter, Jamie Noble's resume would look more impressive to me. Besides, Jamie Noble was ROH World Champion, which brings me to my next point; who decides what "the big one" is? Most wrestlers dream of winning the WWE championship because there's a good chance that means they've reached the top level and are making more money. It doesn't matter what the title is called, who held it, or what it looks like. And the money/success isn't even a guarantee. Because wrestling is totally scripted and wacky, their booking philosophies could change and they might decide to put the strap on a guy who gets paid peanuts while someone in a random midcard match is making millions. Titles don't always mean success. John Cena gets paid a lot more than Kevin Owens. Kevin Owens wouldn't hesitate to throw that ugly belt right in the trash if it meant he could be on The Rock's level. You can't really compare the value of fake wrestling belts. The WWE Universal Championship is not more coveted than the Inter Species Championship. WWE may not even exist in ISW's fictional universe. Being a top player in WWE obviously means you're more successful, but simply being a champion there doesn't.

Wrestling for promotions like DGUSA, WWC, PCW, and WXW is "doing jack shit all"? I know he wasn't on pay-per-view or anything, but it's not like he wasn't keeping busy between WWE and LU. He frequently wrestled for little east coast indies and even a few larger companies around the world. He had some decent matches too. Are we talking about real careers or fictional wrestling careers? I don't understand how Miz being booked to win fake wrestling belts and working with actual big stars means that Morrison has "the lesser career". Morrison is working with legends like Rey Mysterio and Dr. Wagner Jr but that has little to do with his real life success. I don't even know if I'd agree that Miz is the bigger "star". He's more recognizable, but if fans had the choice of paying to see Miz or Morrison, would he really draw more? I don't think so. I don't think fans are lining up to see Miz, or Morrison for that matter. Miz is just fortunate to be in the premier promotion while LU is more of a niche product. That doesn't necessarily mean that he's getting paid less or has fewer perks. I wouldn't say that The Usos are bigger stars than the Young Bucks by virtue of where they work, and we don't really know what these guys' lives are like behind the scenes. I don't think it's fair to say that Morrison has a worse career unless you can show me how much money these guys make and how happy they are. There's nothing that we fans can look at to judge something like that. Based on what I can see, Miz only has a better career in WWE kayfabe. I also think Johnny Mundo's resumé has more quality matches.

No way lol He's had a lesser career. Lesser, WWE career? Definitely. Lesser career in general? That's debatable. Marty Janetty certainly never did as well as Morrison is doing beyond WWE. I'm pretty sure Morrison makes just as good money as he was and he's involved in the best wrestling project going right now. Miz is still doing great stuff as a heel, and to be honest, Johnny Mundo is not one of my favorite characters. But the fact he's a part of LU at all is proof he's doing great things. He's getting booked all over the place and he has been doing some small, indie films. They seem equally successful.

These "inside jokes" and "symbolism"... Man, I really don't think you can find it witty at all or really that "creative". Or I guess your standards for it are really low. And no, I'm not talking about "subjective", I'm talking about standards. Ridicolous in a creative way is great, ridiciolous in cheesy way not so much. And I think all these things are actually substitues conciously or subconciously for what they match itself or story is lacking. Emotion. I know there are different understandings of what we are talking baout, especially if you are gonna talk about art or creativity. But if you are gonna talk about matches of the year, then you are talking about some standards. You were taking Zayn vs Nakamura for example. Well for me, Nakamura vs Samoa Joe is one hell of an under appriciated match, meaning I know it is appriciated but I think it should be even more. Just as well the whole Brooklyn II Takeover. Why? I knew what was going on and what the whole event and matches were about even tough I don't think if I watched a whole episode of NXT leading to that Takeover. But that was a simple storytelling that was told in a much more meaningfull and emotion provoking way...way more than The Great War or whatever. And hell, yes even Zayn vs Nakamura. I watched Nakamura before, but I can't say I was a fan really since I didn't watch NJPW that much. I saw some shows and Wrestling Kingdoms but I never got inveseted that much. But seeing Nakamura made his entrance in NXT...boom. I legit got goosebumbs like thousands of more people did at that moment. Seeing him moveand look and everything I tought, THIS is an artist in wrestling (not the only one of course). And seeing Samis face and emotion just while he was looking at Skinsuke coming down... everything about it made it feel human. Now these are only glimpses...yet, none of that is/was present in the matches discussed. I would or could go much much more longer in trying to explain but I think you are a very smart guy so I don't need to go on. It was well tough out, so kudos to that. But that's actually it. Some people are enjoying it, well...ok. But there is really no reason to make it more than it is. I agree that a good old fashioned wrestling match is capable of eliciting strong emotional responses from people. And I want to make it clear that I don't get the same feeling watching Great War as I did watching Kenta Kobashi's retirement for example. To be honest, I had more fun watching it. I don't have low standards. I must just have different criteria than you. That's interesting that you mention Nakamura's entrance at TakeOver as an example of what you feel is true, serious artistry in wrestling. I thought it felt too corporate, homogenized, and a bit played out at this point. He didn't break any new ground in the entrance or the match. It was the same entrance he always did but even more exaggerated and cartoonish because WWE can't seem to grasp the concept of subtlety. Unlike with Great War's entrances, there's no self awareness there either. For all of it's wacky angles and characters, WWE often takes itself TOO seriously these days. I think a lot of their fans, particularly the Full Sail crowd, are a great example of people who really do have low standards for wrestling. Maybe some of them are fanboys, but I think a lot of them just haven't broadened their horizons yet. There's no doubt that Shinsuke Nakamura is cool as hell. He is undoubtedly one of the best wrestlers on the planet. But take the character out of the context of wrestling, and he's just as corny as anything from Great War. Sometimes the fans go a bit overboard with their praise. Like you said yourself, "there's really no reason to make it more than it is". Great War is good avant garde wrestling, but it's not good avant garde art in general. Apparently for some people, Shinsuke Nakamura walking to the ring like Captain Jack Sparrow or something is the pinnacle of artistry by wrestling standards. That just proves wrestling has some growing to do. Like I said, it's not about the content or the subject matter so much as it is the way they went about presenting it. The inside jokes and stuff weren't necessarily great writing, but it was the fact that they attempted them at all that impressed me. My hope is that these matches will inspire other wrestlers to try the same techniques, perfect them, and use them to garner totally different types of reactions from the audience. I wasn't laughing my head off while watching Great War, but I was definitely smiling through the whole thing. Am I arguing for the sake of arguing? Well I did say that part of the fun of these matches is playing along by acting like they're something that they're not. I think the way fans talk about them adds to their legend and makes them more than just ordinary matches. That's the beauty of them. Maybe it's not so much the match itself that I think deserves recognition for being great as it is the Broken Matt saga in general. He has put more effort and thought into this thing than any wrestler I've seen in years. It's totally larger than life. I really do believe it's one of the best things going in wrestling because it's fun and it's different.

No offense, but it sounds like you may not have been their target audience. You thought the whole show was built around some huge announcement or something. You didn't take my comment about The Great War being a MOTY candidate seriously. You aren't a Lashley fan, you thought BFG was not great overall, and most importantly you said that you hope the company gets bought by WWE. I don't think it was aimed at people who feel the way you do, but I could be wrong. If they ARE going out of business, I think it makes more sense to do a straight forward TNA style show and cater to your diehard fans by giving them a nice send-off. I'm sure they understood that a lot of WWE fans would tune in hoping to see Triple H or something. There were a few little easter eggs and homages to WWE on the show, mainly in the Hardys match. I don't know if you caught those, but they were really cool. What is their target audience? People who watch nothing but TNA? The Great war was NOT MotY candidate...not even close. It was hilarious...but it was a goddamn cluster*censored*. Anyone who was being serious about that being match of the year is a goddamn loon. It was HIGHLY entertaining, but, I've seen way too many amazing matches this year from NXT, the CWC, NJPW, Lucha Underground, etc...to seriously consider for a quarter of a second that the *censored*ing ridiculous Great War match came close to being a match of the year candidate. That's funny to say as a joke. But it ends there. And, hell...I would say confidently, that the Great War was not even as good as the Final Deletion. Lashley? He's nothing special. Why the *Censored* do I have to like him? I went into great detail to explain how he's literally no different than Roman Reigns. And it's true. He just has the benefit of working in a company where people let that slide. And they definitely did hype the show by saying they had "BIG NEWS" and told us all that BFG would be a show that nobody would want to miss. That was all bullshit. There was nothing even slightly resembling big news on that show. You want to accuse me of shitting on TNA for no reason? I'm just giving my honest opinion. They oversold the show as something that would give us all answers and establish TNA as a force going forward...but it might as well have just been an episode of Impact...because nothing too crazy happened...at all. And no...I was seriously not watching and expecting to see HHH. I've said that as a joke. I didn't expect that at all. And if I was expecting it, then it certainly wouldn't have kept me from appreciating the show itself anyway. I give TNA props for some of the things they do. I've been watching again on a regular basis, for months before they started talking about selling to WWE. I've been watching Impact and enjoying it on a weekly basis. It's not like I wouldn't have watched this if the rumors about the company selling never happened. I would have watched it either way, and I would have had the same complaints. This PPV was nothing special. It just wasn't. Your overselling of everything that happened on it isn't going to convince me otherwise. It felt like it should have been more important, because of he weight of the announcement that we all expected...but it didn't deliver on that weight. It was a very average show. Anyway... Most of the TNA stars I'm seeing on twitter are saying that they love the TNA roster, or saying that BFG is "in the books"...or "thank you for supporting our roster"...all of which still sounds very suspect to me. I'm about 92% sure this company is gone by the end of the week. Well to be fair, no one said you have to like Bobby Lashley. Obviously when you bitch about him, people are going to explain why they disagree. If they really did hype BFG having some huge announcement, I know I didn't give a *Censored*. TNA has been in a constant state of financial turmoil for so long now that I guess I'm just used to it. The fact that someone helped finance BFG gave me hope. At this point, it seems like as long as Hunter doesn't get them, they'll still be around. And I want you to know that I actually agree that BFG wasn't some incredible show. I did enjoy it. I didn't think it was on par with the average episode of Impact like you said earlier. Now that I got that out of the way, please let me explain why you're totally wrong about The Great War. The way you describe it makes me think you must have a very old fashioned outlook on wrestling, not unlike Jim Cornette. If you think saying that it's a MOTY contender makes me a "goddamn loon" as you put it, I think you'd be surprised to see how many loons there are saying the same thing right now. And no, they're not all saying it ironically. You're right that it's fun to say as a joke. These characters are eccentric egomaniacs, and fans playing along by championing their works as masterpieces has always been part of the appeal. But you have to understand why there's also a lot of truth to it. The Great War wasn't just good, it was *censored*ing outstanding. Yes, it was silly and corny. Of course it wasn't meant to be taken seriously. But that doesn't mean that it can't also be great. All of those things I just said are true of wrestling in general. For years now TNA has been the laughing stock of wrestling, but after a while that just made them more self aware, and they realized they had nothing left to lose. The original Final Deletion match was a Hail Mary, and it paid off. It proved that there's still a lot of new directions for wrestling to go in. When's the last time you watched a match with so much witty dialogue between so many characters? When's the last time you watched a match where *censored*ing editing played such a vital role? How many matches begin with musical numbers? The inside jokes and symbolism in this match were incredible. Smashed pumpkins backstage, focusing on the "Universal" logo, and incorporating Matt's old WWF theme into the piano melody were little details that made a huge difference. There were fresh ideas throughout the whole thing. I liked the CWC too, but none of those matches had anywhere near as much thought put into them as these guys' matches have. None of them will be as memorable or have the same influence over future matches either. I thought The Great War did a good job of continuing a simple, cheesy, well booked wrestling angle. But it wasn't so much the subject matter of the story that made it good, as it was the way they went about telling the story. Personally, I can see where you're coming from saying that you preferred the Final Deletion. I think there's an argument to be made for that. If nothing else, Final Deletion was more innovative because it was the first one. But personally I think the Great War was better over all. All of these matches definitely deserve credit. So why doesn't it deserve to be considered a MOTY candidate? Because it's not "serious" enough? Because it isn't thirty minutes of flipping around, near falls, and no selling? I don't see how calling this a MOTY is a joke anymore than calling Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn would be. Are you really that much more impressed by two skinny fat nerds in spandex having a generic, choreographed fight? In the big scheme of things, how is that any more special? They certainly didn't break new ground. This is coming from someone who loves them both. I just don't understand that mentality at all. If you really appreciate wrestling as an art form than you'd see there are just as many impressive things about Great War and you'd understand that there is no one right way to have a match. Part of what makes these matches so great is that they are challenging the fans and making them ask questions like this. What really makes a match good? The Great War is true avant garde wrestling. It's awesome stuff. I know a lot of people will read this and say I'm "overanalyzing it", "taking it too seriously", ect. But ten bucks those same people will rage just because I had the audacity to compare Great War to Nakamura vs. Zayn. I'm not trolling and it's not blasphemous. If you really watch this match and think it's sooooo different from the most critically acclaimed matches, you're the one who takes wrestling too seriously. At the end of the day, all wrestling is goofy shit. Great War is every bit as much of a MOTY candidate. TLDR; Great War was a MOTY candidate because once again these guys told a unique story by experimenting with everything under the sun. They did a good job of weaving the real life controversies over these matches and TNA into the kayfabe. It was silly, mindless fun yet infinitely more ground breaking than the usual suspects that get mentioned when MOTY is brought up. The production was as good as most matches in Lucha Underground. It also elicited every bit as much of a strong reaction, if not stronger reaction from everyone who saw it as other MOTY candidates.

I'm really curious to hear what the hell is going on with El Patron.

No offense, but it sounds like you may not have been their target audience. You thought the whole show was built around some huge announcement or something. You didn't take my comment about The Great War being a MOTY candidate seriously. You aren't a Lashley fan, you thought BFG was not great overall, and most importantly you said that you hope the company gets bought by WWE. I don't think it was aimed at people who feel the way you do, but I could be wrong. If they ARE going out of business, I think it makes more sense to do a straight forward TNA style show and cater to your diehard fans by giving them a nice send-off. I'm sure they understood that a lot of WWE fans would tune in hoping to see Triple H or something. There were a few little easter eggs and homages to WWE on the show, mainly in the Hardys match. I don't know if you caught those, but they were really cool.

Aw man, you could have been watching your DVRed episodes of Total Divas that whole time!