Hunter's Torn Quad

If I put the belt on Kawada, I would only use him for occasional tag matches to build up title bouts. If we're keeping the belt on him past January, then I would have him defend against Nagata between October and January so he has at least one great title match before going into January. For January, I would go with Kawada v Nakamura, and then I'd begin building towards May, where I would have Tanahashi beat Kawada for the belt at the Dome. How long Kawada kept the belt would depend on how over he was with it, but however long he kept the belt, I'd have him drop it to Tanahashi.

I'm not a big fan of their Iron Man match. It's better than you would think a one hour match between the two would be, but it's not that hot upon second or third viewings. Some of the flaws I felt the match had included Hunter having a lot of babyface spots when he's the heel, and Rock's selling being spotty at best for most of the match. Their ladder match was good, but it doesn't match up to Razor v Michaels II, Jericho v Benoit, or even RVD v Christian. The crowd pop for Hunter winning was huge though, I'll give it that much.

Joe doesn't have to beat Kobashi to get over. He just has to be seen as being on Kobashi's level. If Joe gives Kobashi a hard fought match before losing, it would get him over more than if he beats Kobashi, because ROH fans would know that Joe was only put over Kobashi just to beat him, and would likely reject the win.

If Tanahashi had never faced Rikio, or had even won the GHC belt, I might have had him win the G1 by beating Fujita in the finals. The problem I have with that, and a reason it probably didn't happen, is that Tanahashi just lost to an outsider who a lot of people, myself included, don't see at that top level. If Tanahashi had lost to a Muto or Kobashi then it might not have mattered so much, but losing to someone like Rikio damaged him, and I think coming right back to win the G1 and beating Fujita to do so would have been too much too soon, and I think a lot of people would have 'pushed back' on the attempt to rebuild Tanahashi like that. As it is, Tanahashi did a lot better in my G1 than the real one, and I think he got something out of it by holding Nakamura and Nakankishi to draws, and lasting longer with Fujita than anyone else but Nakamura and Kawada. Nakamura would have required a rematch of their G1 Block match, and I wouldn't have done that unless I really had to. Not only that, but New Japan fans are apparently 'pushing back' against Nakamura, and I don't think a Nakamura G1 win would have gone down well. This way, Nakamura makes it far and looks strong, but not so strong as to cause more backlash from the fans. My thinking behind the Kawada win is to make him as strong as possible to set up an IWGP title match against Fujita at the Dome. Dome Shows invariably draw more of a mix of casual and hardcore fans, and I think a Fujita v Kawada match would draw the most amount of casual and hardcores, due to the outsider angle. I know Kawada coming in didn't do well last year, but that was down to him coming in as his Hustle persona rather than as himself, and I think Kawada coming in to headline against Fujita would do pretty good business. As for the finish of Kawada v Fujita, I'm not sure I would have Fujita win, as a Kawada win might give New Japan a much needed spark. I would be tempted to give Kawada the win, and if it does spark New Japan business than I'd run with him as IWGP champion for as long as it works out. However, if a Kawada win didn't spark things as well as expected, or was somehow a negative, then I would have Kawada drop the belt to Tanahashi or Nakamura at the January Dome Show, and use them to build New Japan back up. In any event, unless I really had to keep Fujita as IWGP champion, I would have him drop the belt in January to someone, most likely Tanahashi, and they could then build to another Tanahashi v Nakamura Dome match in May, where Tanahashi would finally get his major show win over Nakamura.

Fujita was built up so strong, especially with everyone he faced having to get helped out of the ring, that he could afford a loss, especially one that set up a big money rematch. A high profile title match that should draw pretty big is just what the IWGP belt needs. It's amazing the reaction that basic common sense booking gets after you've been subjected to some really nonsensical crap. I look forward to public kudos on the next TSM Radio Show.

Negotiations ending was a shoot, but Lesnar will be back at some point. Everyone comes back at some point. And Jericho is not winning the 2006 Rumble, much less winning the WWE title at WM 22. Jericho is not seen at that level. Anyone who thinks this could happen is living in fantasy land.

Which would put the result of Kobashi v Joe in most doubt? Title or non-title? I mean, it's a virtual lock Kobashi is winning, but if it's a title match then it might cause some doubt in peoples minds, because of the belief that ROH wouldn't have Joe drop the Pure title to Kobashi. On the other hand, a non-title match would seem to make it too obvious that Kobashi is winning.

It's this Sunday.

Maybe Eric Bischoff could force Jericho into a Loser Leaves Raw match against Shawn as punishment for not beating Cena. Shawn gets a big win that sees him send Jericho packing which gives him a boost off of losing to Hogan, and Jericho can come back in three months time on Smackdown, giving it a much needed boost.

I highly doubt Ki would be allowed to beat Kobashi. Ki is way down the food chain in NOAH, and I don't see Misawa letting Ki beat Kobashi. I don't see Kobashi getting beaten in either match. If Kobashi v Joe is non-title, and their match wasn't called a Pure title match, then Kobashi is winning for sure. If it is for the Pure title, then likely something will happen to avoid a clean finish, which is happening more and more with RoH lately.

You suck

Kobashi is about an inch or two taller than Joe.

Straight from ROHwrestling.com

I would tell you to ask him about it on WC, but you would probably get banned. I can't remember where I saw it, but when Nulty 'found' a bunch of signed copies of Lou Thesz's book to sell about a year ago, someone on a board made an animated gif of Nulty dancing on Lou Thesz's grave with bags of money in his hands.

My favorite part of Summerslam was Tazz shilling OJ as the best pure athlete in the WWE, while at the same time OJ is getting almost no reaction at all from a crowd that just moments earlier was going crazy for Chris Benoit.

That was meant to be Hakushi's last match with the WWF, but he was so impressive that they kept him around.

Elaborate on this one.

He came off as kind of lame in Wrestling With Shadows. Hardly the "evil mastermind" that many people see him as. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hunter was the one who told Shawn he shouldn't do the job for Bret. When Shawn was asked to put Bret over, he called Hunter to talk about it, and Hunter told him flat out he shouldn't do the job.

I don't believe Rock has ever refused to put someone over for the reasons you stated. I know he hasn't been happy working with people he felt were not at his level, Billy Gunn is one example, but I don't think he's refused to put them over when asked to.

If Austin v Hogan happens at WM 22, then I don't think any other dream match should take place. Why waste a dream match like Rock v HBK when the only match anybody will really remember is Austin v Hogan? Save the other dream matches for PPV's that need the buy rate boost.

Michaels v Hogan really has to go on last. It will be the most heated match, and neither title match will be able to follow it. I'd prefer a title match to go one last, and if one were to go on last it should be Batista v JBL to send the crowd home happy with the hometown guy winning, but realistically, it should be Michaels v Hogan, or the title match after it will have no heat.

Shocking just to shock, especially when it would be bad for business, is Russo-level stupidity. WWE have too much invested in Cena to blow it on having him lose the belt to Jericho just to shock people.

Unless he wins it back the very next night on Raw. I find it somehow disturbing Cena has had one of the longest WWE title reigns since Deisel. While only half of JBL's, its pretty damn long compared to any other WWE champion over the last decade. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Even if he wins it back on Raw, it hurts Cena to lose to someone that nobody buys as a top guy. If they had spent time building Jericho up since WM 21, then it might work. But not how things are now.

If Jericho wins the title just to shock and surprise people, they're idiots. Long term, it would serve zero purpose, and it's a loss that would damage Cena, because Jericho has no credibility at all as a top guy.

Yeah, I'd just love to see his heel character after Hogan beats him. "I don't lay down for anyone! well.... except for Hulk Hogan" "I am the best in ring performer of all time, oh except for that Hulk Hogan guy." "I am the most real thing on TV today, but I just lost last month a 52 year old, please take pity on me" <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well if after he loses to Hogan he cracks him over the head with a chair as Jim Ross screams in agony about "why Shawn why!?!?!" then on Raw comes out and says that since he lost last night everyone he runs into is taunting him about how he couldn't get the job done against Hogan and how he must have lost it and is no longer the showstopper etc. Then takes that and says he will prove he still has it by becoming wwe champion again, and goes on a rampage against all the faces on raw, taking cheaps shots in the back, interfering in matches and beating them down with chairs and such, until he gets a shot at Cena. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If they can get Shawn to agree to turn full blown heel again, that would be a good idea. Hogan should be leaving after SS anyway; while there is talk of Hogan v Hunter at Unforgiven, Hogan knows he only works in short doses, and is usually smart enough to know when to leave. Shawn laying out Hogan would give a logical storyline reason for Hogan to be taken off Raw for a while, and it would definitely add more of an edge to Shawn as a heel, because we've never seen him go nuts like that for ages. I also think that when he finally puts Cena over, assuming he does, it will mean more if Shawn is a heel than a face. If I was going to do that, though, I would save it for Raw. More people would be watching, and I don't think a Hogan headlined PPV should end on a downer like that for the people Hogan drew in. Plus, it would give people a really strong reason to tune in the next week, moreso than the original Shawn turn on Hogan, because this one would be full blown heel, and the imagery of Shawn laying out Hogan with chair shots would be a great way to go off the air.