Crowley

....wait....what? Are you serious? What the hell made you think he's a prima donna reading that? He's not whining and bitching about pointless shit, he simply stated that he's tried over and over to show that he can be bigger than he is, but see's that he's hit the glass ceiling and can't break through. This honestly sounded like a genuine explanation from someone who really loves the business and made a very tough decision to leave what was, without a doubt, a dream job. I....I really don't know where you're getting any of the stuff in your second paragraph from either. I actually posted that at the same time his twitter statement was posted. I hadn't even read it yet, but I stand by what I said. As much as I like Cody Rhodes, he has a history of saying stupid, uncalled for shit. As you can see, after I read it, I edited it to say, "based on his history", because I knew people were going to assume I was talking about his statement about being released and they would be excited to jump down my throat. By his history, I mean the trollish anti-smark comments he has been known to make on twitter. I'm talking about him overreacting to the use of any insider terminology and referring to the indie circuit as "the minor leagues" just to get a rise out of people. He gets way too much enjoyment out of talking about how dirtsheets get things wrong, to the point where it's just sad. He even does it when the information they post is totally factual. For example, even the seediest, least reliable sheets have been saying for months that Cody Rhodes doesn't want to be Stardust anymore, and he denied it. My favorite was him randomly taking an uncalled for shot at Colt Cabana, accusing him of "having never made it" or something along those lines. Of course he quickly backpedaled and said it wasn't directed at Colt even though it obviously was. I'm not going to scroll through 1,000s of pictures of his dog and his wife to dig this shit out just so people can pretend he was never an asshole and tell me I'm just "cherry picking" examples. The only reason I even know about these comments is because I remember them being discussed quite a bit when he posted them. The point is, Cody Rhodes is a little annoying and I just think it's kind of ironic that he spent all of that time going out of his way to shit on the indies and shill for WWE, and now he's going to have to make a living outside of WWE. That's all I was saying. What are you talking about? I never said anything like that. I know you all want to rag on Crowley, but at least try to stay on topic. Politely defending your views with valid points and examples isn't good enough for these people. This section of the forum has had a raging hate boner for me ever since since Fastlane 2015 because I refused to accept that Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan was a +5 star match. lol Then I made a post about how I thought that Sasha Banks was a bit overrated, in the "Unpopular Opinions" thread mind you, and it's been downhill since. I respect people's passion for mediocre Roman Reigns matches, I just can't help but get mad when people resort to name calling, accuse me of saying things I never said, and blame the length of my posts for their poor reading comprehension. Here are a few classic examples. All great points, bro. *Censored* Crowley. You sure showed him with this post! If you don't want to read like two paragraphs, maybe you should stick to image boards or something? These kinds of posts are what these types of forums are designed for. TLDR for those of you who don't like to/can't read. My post wasn't in response to the things Cody Rhodes said in his statement on being released by WWE. It never was. Also, he's kind of a dick. I still like him though. He's a cool wrestler.

I feel for Tana not being able to rest more like he was supposed to, but also, I always wanted to see him in a ladder match. Him being a fan of Shawn Michaels, I'm pretty sure he also likes the concept, too. And yeah, because NJPW does this so sparingly, the novelty of the match itself should help sell out Dominion on the Osaka-Jo Hall, a pretty big and important venue for them. PS.: And now for something completely different... I was never the biggest Cody Rhodes fan, but I think he could do well in NJPW if he ever wants to go there. And I'm not a fan of bringing too many WWE rejects into the fray, either. But Cody is an adaptable wrestler if there ever was one, and a crisp worker. I would love for him to challenge for the NEVER belt. Agreed. I know Tanahashi is banged up, but I still think it's a smart move and I'm really excited for the match. To be honest, if someone had asked me to choose any two New Japan wrestlers for a ladder match, these are probably the two guys I would go with. I think Cody Rhodes would do very well in Japan. If it were up to me, that's where he'd go.

I still can't believe there's going to be another ladder match in NJPW. You don't see that every day. It has the potential to be the best ladder match we've seen in years. I think with all the damage that's been done to their roster lately, now is the perfect time to bust out some gimmick matches to keep people's interest.

Cody Rhodes seems like such a prima donna. There are a lot of wrestlers in WWE that kind of fly under the radar and you don’t see or hear much of them out of character. Then there are guys that have an online presence and interact with fans out of character, but seem really laid back and cool. Cody Rhodes is not one of those guys. He’s an entertaining wrestler, so I guess I don’t have a problem with him. I just think it’s a shame that the only time I hear anything about him, it’s because he said something negative. Based on his history, I still think there's a chance this is a work. For a guy who claims to be living his dream, he sure complains about the fans a lot. And for a guy who is like the ultimate WWE fanboy/shill, it’s too weird to see him go. Based on what he’s said, he thinks he’s too good to wrestle anywhere else, yet here he is making it sound like he'll still wrestle. Two Codys in Bullet Club could be cool. But there’s also that chance that this is all a pointless work and it will just end with him tweeting about how clever he is for fooling those dumb marks on the internet. Maybe he’ll even cut an edgy shoot promo about how the dirtsheets were wrong or something. That’ll put some butts in the seats. If it was anybody other than Cody Rhodes, I probably wouldn't think this.

I like it. I think the goal is to finally turn Bullet Club heel. I know they're already the bad guys in NJPW, but outside of Japan it's never been that way. In ROH they're the most popular characters by far and they actually encourage the audience to cheer them on. But I think that's going to change soon. Lately, I've seen more and more negativity about BC from fans online. A lot of people seem to feel that the group's current lineup lacks the star power that previous incarnations did. Some people just feel like the whole idea is a little played out and want to see something new. There's good reasons people are losing interest. But I think it's very interesting that they suddenly added Adam Page to ROH's chapter of BC, because that seems like something they should have known wouldn't go over well. Very few people have anything good to say about Page joining BC, and you'd think they would have seen that coming. They've given Adam Page so many big feuds in hopes of making him a main event star but all have been to no avail. They keep trying but it just isn't clicking with this guy. So your first thought might be that they still haven't learned their lesson and they're obviously sticking him with the mega popular stable to finally get him over, right? That's possible, but I don't think so. I think he's there to help get them over. As heels. I'm not saying that Adam Page alone is going to turn them heel over night because he's so hated by the fans. I understand that the problem with Adam Page is more that fans don't have strong feelings about him one way or the other. I'm just saying that I think ROH listens to the fans, and adding Adam Page to BC is the first step towards making ROH's BC more like it's Japanese counterpart. They want you to feel like they jumped the shark and they want you to roll your eyes at how lame Adam Page looks standing next to the Young Bucks and Adam Cole BAY BAY. Expect more and more disappointing things from BC. This is just the beginning. The way the BC has evolved over the years is awesome, and them becoming hated by the fans is the next logical progression of their story. They started as a kind of generic, heel gaijin faction. After a while, they need a little more oomph, so they looked to the heroes from their childhood for inspiration. They always wanted to be like DX and the nWo, so they started emulating The Kliq. They made a cool logo and started acting like a bunch of wild 90's wrestlers. The only problem was, they were actually nothing like The Kliq. Devitt was a somewhat shy, vanilla midget from Ireland. Anderson was the best choice for the leader because he was bigger and louder, but he was still an insecure coward with only an ounce of the talent of the guys he looked up to (kayfabe, of course). The group's personnel changed, but the concept stayed the same when they added The Young Bucks and AJ Styles. Young Bucks are clean cut, boyish looking guys that haven't partied as hard in their entire lives as Kevin Nash did in five minutes. AJ Styles is literally a devout Christian who plays Pokemon games. These guys could talk the talk but none of them could walk the walk. But despite them being a bunch of posers and wannabes, a funny thing happened. They just became more and more popular over time. They became exactly what the writers intended to make them a parody of. Now they really are the new nWo in the sense that they're the hottest act in the business. This is nothing new. They've completely dominated the wrestling world for a few years now. They're still in Japan, they're in ROH, and they're even in WWE. But what usually happens when counterculture crosses over into the mainstream? Suddenly, it's not cool anymore. Once every kid on the block has 50+ different Bullet Club shirts, they're going to start thinking about moving onto the next thing. This is the part of the story where BC becomes pathetic and desperate. They're going to beat a dead horse and eventually add every jobber imaginable to the faction in hopes of restoring it to its former glory. Sound familiar?

I agree with The Elite that the new one is going to suck ass. It's crappy, soulless, and corporate now.

"Glorious" it is fun news to read I would cry tears of joy. If KENTA ended up in NJPW instead of NXT, he probably would have been a midcard, Jr. Heavyweight guy. But now? I guarantee you they'd repackage all 5'9, 182 lbs of him as a heavyweight main eventer.

Sandow and Riley will both probably end up in GFW They do seem like the type of guys that Jarrett is looking for, but I don't think anyone in GFW has exclusive contracts. I'm pretty sure if you work for GFW, you're free to show up wherever else you want. I could be wrong though. Wherever Sandow ends up, I think he's going to be a huge deal. He's always been talented but he got even better in WWE. I actually think Sandow would be a good candidate to breath new life into the Bullet Club.

Great news about Sandow. He is one of those guys that is going to completely reinvent himself in another promotion. Dutch Mantel is obviously a good booker but if he's still interested in being an on air character, I'd like to see the Zeb character return on LU. I think he'd be a great fit. As for Wade Barrett, as much as I'd like to think he's going to show up in Progress or the BOLA, I have a suspicion he's done with wrestling. He said he's going to take a break from it today, but I'm afraid his heart might not be in it anymore. Same goes for Orton. If he really is gone, I don't think we're going to see La Vibora in the temple. The other releases are boring. Hopefully there are still some good ones to come. Someone like Dolph Ziggler or Hideo Itami would be glorious, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

The word on the street is that Kamaitachi is going to be a regular in ROH now. Awesome news.

I love reading a statement like that. That's basically how I've always viewed things when people start freaking out about WWE "taking all the best talent". Indy feds will always thrive. They'll do it because they must. And the talent that goes to WWE brings exposure to the fed that they came from...it's a win/win. I'm sure ROH is so flattered by the big compliment WWE gave them when they told smaller arenas not to book their shows. Seriously though, I agree. If your guys are getting poached, it is a compliment. A bit of a backhanded compliment, but still. They're acknowledging that you're doing something right. And when they sign indie guys, it's not the end of the world for those companies. For groups like PWG and Lucha Underground, it barely matters at all. They have strong pipelines for new talent and the show itself is more of a draw than the talent featured. Look at how well LU dealt with Alberto going back to WWE. Despite the fact that he was one of their bigger names and their show is so storyline oriented, you barely notice he's gone. Not only that, but they have an awesome kayfabe explanation for him being gone that they managed to convey in a half a second shot that a lot of people find more entertaining than everything he's done since returning to WWE. So I agree. It's a compliment and it doesn't hurt them, at least not that much. Having that been said, I think what a lot of WWE fans have a hard time grasping (this isn't aimed at you) is that some wrestling fans watch very little WWE, or don't watch it at all. I watched WrestleMania this year with some friends. I had a blast. I thought it was a good show, but I'm done now. I might catch Summerslam or a random TakeOver special if something piques my interest, but that's it. I don't watch Raw or NXT or anything, so why would I want my favorite wrestlers to work for a company that I don't watch? There are a lot of reasons why fans wouldn't want to see wrestlers get signed. The fact that it can be damaging (even if it's just a little damaging) to the companies they worked for is just one of them.

One difference is that Sinclair actually owns ROH and is interested in owning TNA, lock, stock, and barrel. With Destination America, it was just a contract to air the shows for a limited time. But part of the reason you didn't see them share talent was because TNA had more clout on DA. If I remember correctly, the sheets said that both parties were open to the idea of a talent exchange at first, but then Dixie pitched some crappy angle where one of the top ROH guys comes in for an invasion angle only to immediately put over Eric Young or somebody like that. Of course it rubbed ROH the wrong way and we know how stubborn Dixie is, so she probably refused to talk about any other possibilities. It might have still happened, but both shows were barely even on that channel.

If it means TNA and ROH could share talent, I'd love to see it. The roster would be so stacked, especially with their relationship with NJPW. EC3 vs. Tetsuya Naito sounds good.

I'm so glad to see Colt Cabana is off to a great start in ROH and I hope he continues to be used to his fullest potential. This guy is one of the best wrestlers in the world. I pray to the wrestling gods that he isn't back to doing the same old lower midcard comedy routine a few months from now. I know that's his claim to fame, but he's so much better than that. It's really sad to me that these days fans who are unfamiliar with ROH's early years just see him as wacky comic relief. This is a guy who once beat Eddie Guerrero and CM Punk in a triple threat match for the IWS heavyweight title. He's one of the most versatile wrestlers when it comes to playing different characters and adapting to different in-ring styles. He's still young at just 35 years old and you don't have to worry about him getting poached any minute like you do with guys like O'Reilly. He's one of the most well known indie names and an ROH legend. He's better than CM Punk. Now that he's back, he should be given the platform to show his naysayers what he's really capable of and he should become the new face of ROH. This is the new main protagonist that finally takes the title away from Jay Lethal.

I would love to see Tanahashi hold the ROH world title. It's interesting that he said the ROH style is too fast. I think New Japan's main event style is a little different, but they're still pretty similar. I'd be curious to hear him talk about the Jr. Heavyweight multiman cluster*censored*s.

http://www.ringsidenews.com/misc-news/tna-news/mr-anderson-no-longer-with-tna-wrestling/ As Dave Meltzer said..."Not that anyone cares" I know that at 40 years old he's in the twilight of his career at this point, but if he's able to recognize the fact that he's pretty much universally hated and weave that into his wrestling persona like Matt Hardy did, he might be able to do some good stuff. Especially if he doesn't have a big ego and still enjoys wrestling. His ICW appearance leads me to believe he's still got a good attitude about it. I'd like to see him reinvent himself and keep wrestling.

He wasn't intended to be a long-term president. It was a transitional thing and he has already been replaced. It's pretty meaningless. I'd be more concerned about Ibushi and his lover, Kenny Omega. Ibushi will probably continue to have occasional matches in NJPW, but now he definitely won't be getting the massive push he should have gotten. They should have pulled the trigger on him a long time ago. They really need him and should have done their best to make him feel appreciated. I know you can't push someone sidelined with a serious injury, but they had almost a year to make it happen and the best they could do was give him a couple of big wins in the G1. That's too little, too late. He probably should have beaten Nakamura to begin with. I know people will think I'm exaggerating because we're so used to NJPW building stars very slowly. But when your talent is getting poached left and right (supposedly they knew Nakamura was planning to ditch them a long time ago), it's time to shake things up. The biggest problem with NJPW is that they have too much reverence for the veterans. I know that their fans are perfectly fine with seeing Tanahashi win over and over again. I know that they still love him and the other legends, but the company has to start thinking about the future. They have to get fans used to new challengers being credible threats to those guys. They finally said "oh shit, better make a star out of Kenny Omega over night", but now that Ibushi's role in the company will be much smaller, it might not even matter. I can't imagine them booking Omega to be on the same level as Okada or Tanahashi. And now that his dream of feuding with his good friend on the big stage is probably dead, I can't imagine him having many reasons to stick around. He has said that a certain company has been trying to lure him away for a while now. NJPW better make sure that Omega feels like he's being used to his fullest potential real quick. I hope he was one of the guys that signed those new, multi-year contracts.

Looks like it already aired on January 30th. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Skb_pvOSuc That's too bad, I'm also a Masada fan and forgot all about this match.

Delirious has always sucked. Even in Chikara, he came off as a corny sideshow act. I can't think of a single Delirious match I've enjoyed. The only time I tolerated him was when he was Jimmy Jacobs' gimp in AoTF. He was basically a glorified valet and kept his mouth shut.

Okay. Well they seem cheesy, but look like a huge step up from the Menagerie. The music alone makes them more interesting. If Billy Corgan is able to get more licensed music for the wrestlers, I might have to start watching TNA religiously again. I'm a big music fan and the entrance themes are one of the little things that I think makes indie wrestling feel more special than the stuff on TV. Take Grado for example. Without Like a Prayer, he's just not the same. Guys like Jimmy Jacobs and Homicide always had great entrances that added a lot of depth to their characters. The music in ECW played a big part in making the show great. If Corgan can get more recognizable music and capture that feeling you get when Sandman comes out to Enter Sandman, I think it would improve the overall quality of the show. This is just the opinion of a music fan though. I always thought that music and wrestling go hand-in-hand.

So I've kind of been neglecting TNA for a while. I just saw a clip of The Decay. What's their deal? And how the hell can TNA afford the rights to a real Marilyn Manson song!? Seems pretty damn cool. I've also been hearing good things about Matt Hardy. Is he feuding with EC3? Ever since I first saw him as Derrick Bateman, I thought he had the potential to become a popular lead babyface character. He was an outstanding heel. Did he turn yet? Has it been a success?

I'm sure Ranallo did his research but I bet he also had a good team behind him that helped bring him up to speed on all of different characters and storylines. A lot of people seemed really disappointed in Ross's Wrestle Kingdom commentary. Considering it was the first time they ever attempted doing english commentary like that, I thought they did a pretty good job. I expect Ross to sound much better on these taped episodes though. And if he ever does do a live pay-per-view again, he won't have the issues that he had the first time because he'll be familiar with all of the wrestlers, moves, and stories. I'm not a big fan of the commentary Kevin Kelly has been doing for ROH in recent years, but I thought he and Striker did a good job in NJPW, particularly with the part where Bullet Club turned on AJ at New Year's Dash.

I feel the same way. Ross's voice is iconic but Ranallo is the best announcer out there. Is there anybody really good that is flying under the radar? There was a thread recently where we were making predictions for WWE in 2016. One of mine was that everyone was going to love Smackdown. That sums up why I can be very pessimistic when it comes to WWE these days. On the rare occasion I'm hopeful and really believe they're going to do something right, I end up being wrong. Rather than get my hopes up I have to try to enjoy it for what it is. I never thought any show with Ranallo could be boring or unwatchable, but they found a way.

Awesome! If you had to swap Ranallo for another commentator, Jim Ross is probably the only fair trade. He and Barnett will make an interesting team.

I hope his dreams of becoming a big TV star in the US go well and everything, but I wouldn't feel bad for him if they gave him a nice little going away present. He kind of deserves it.