Guest mach7 Report post Posted November 25, 2002 NJPW "THE SPIRAL II", 12/15/02 (PPV/WPW) Nagoya Rainbow Hall 1. Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Heat 2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Blue Wolf 3. Manabu Nakanishi vs. Kenzo Suzuki 4. Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi 5. Masahiro Chono & Joanie Laurer vs. Tadao Yasuda & Kazunari Murakami Why do they keep bringing the man-beast back?! *sits in fear as the workrate sinks to new lows* You know, when Waltman & the Man-Beast announced their engagement.. I saw a lot of people in the TNA folder were fearing that IT would come to their league.. but unfortunately, it looks like IT's sticking around in Japan. I just hope IT doesn't bring the new hubby along for the ride. *SHUDDER* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted November 25, 2002 Wasn't there some dealie about Joanie "earning NJPW's respect" when she lost the match at the Dome? I guess getting spanked by Chono is a right of passage into his promotion's good graces. Wow, what a main that is. Even if one were generous enough to give Chono and Murakami the status of "profesional wrestlers" there's still the other two Gods of Workrate to make sure it never gets within four light years of watchable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mach7 Report post Posted November 26, 2002 Yeah, "earning NJPW's respect" was pretty lame.. but the whole fact that she's clogging up cards with her generic WWE style of bullshit just makes me sick. I go to NJPW so I don't have to put up with WWE style crap.. and then this happens. GRR! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest cynicalprofit Report post Posted November 27, 2002 Im sure I could get my ass kicked by Chono for 15 minutes and earn some respect. If she had beat him, ok, but come on, what idiot cant get beaten up for 15 minutes. Standing there and get the shit kicked out of you is not that freaking hard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted November 27, 2002 Joanie's terrible, even on "WWE Style" standards. And the "earning respect" thing probably has to do with the fact that she's a woman. (insert usual jokes here) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Mighty Damaramu Report post Posted November 29, 2002 Yes I haven't been keeping up with her Japanese status. How is it? Just her getting slapped around by the men? Do they cow down to her and sell like mad for her like in the WWE? Or do they pull a Jericho "She's just a woman so I'm going to beat the shit out of her" thing? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted November 29, 2002 From what I can tell, pretty much everyone sells for her shitty offense, but they pull the "she's just a women" act every so often to garner heat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Mighty Damaramu Report post Posted November 29, 2002 Well damn. Why does she get such special treatment? I'm sure there's plenty of big man-beast women in Japan who could wrestle circles around her? Oh wait is it b/c she came from WWE? So what!? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest J*ingus Report post Posted November 29, 2002 Well, supposedly Inoki loves her, and a large part of that comes from her being a Playmate of the month. She does have more worldwide fame and recognition than pretty much any other female wrestler on the planet. And if her good matches can be counted on one hand, well, it's Inoki, go figure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Dangerous A Report post Posted December 1, 2002 Damn skippy, Jingus. If anyone were to seriously hurt Ms. Laurer while she is in the good graces of Mr. Inoki would find themselves in the doghouse, Chono included. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted December 1, 2002 Well, considering she became a world-wide joke after lossing that fight to Joey Butafuco, and that the fans can't be bothered to care about anything she does, I'd say any fame and recognition she has comes from all the wrong reasons. Whatever, it's New Japan. What can you do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Stuart Report post Posted December 2, 2002 Laurer has been cut open twice by Chono (see below, her ear). Chono is head booker, and joint #1 guy in the company with Nagata. Laurer has been giving as good as she gets, they worked loose with her at first, now they are really stiff with her and vice versa. Chyna also learned some matwork from Cyril Abidi and Bas Rutten. She has clearly been humbled by the whole experience somewhat, and has accepted she'll never be more than a part-time novelty act. You'd be surprised, she really isn't that bad anymore, at least not compared to what she used to be. I'd rather she wasn't there, but they have basically maximized what they can do with her, which is leeching remaining name value, she only has three personal wins, all in tags, all against undercarders with no role, all screwy. She's better than the current crop of WWE women, except Molly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted December 2, 2002 ^WHACK~! I love it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Mighty Damaramu Report post Posted December 2, 2002 What show can I get this paticular match off of? Where Chono beats the shit out of her? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Stuart Report post Posted December 3, 2002 What show can I get this paticular match off of? Where Chono beats the shit out of her? That match took place at "THE SPIRAL" at the Tokyo Dome on 10/14. It was an extended squash basically. There are details and results of the show in the "Results" section of my Strong Style Spirit site (link below). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted December 4, 2002 She has clearly been humbled by the whole experience somewhat, and has accepted she'll never be more than a part-time novelty act. So I take it the now infamous "Tanahashi is too GREEN to face me!" comments have been cut back on? Good to know. However, I find it hard to believe that she's turned things around when she's still trying to get her new squeeze a gig in a company she shouldn't be in to begin with. I'd rather she wasn't there, but they have basically maximized what they can do with her, which is leeching remaining name value, Great, that's wonderful, but how many times can a company "make the best of a bad situation" before their shody decisions come back to haunt them? Looking at the dwindling business, it would seem that's already happening, and something in me questions the sanity of a promotion trying to dig its way out of poor business by repeating the mistakes that got them there. She's better than the current crop of WWE women, except Molly. That's a pretty back-handed compliment, if you ask me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest PlatypusFool Report post Posted December 4, 2002 "Looking at the dwindling business..." *Bangs head against large brick wall* It isn't dwindling, it's improving. You don't even follow NJPW anymore Ricky, at least not in any serious way, so please don't try and sound knowlegable about it when you aren't. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted December 5, 2002 "Looking at the dwindling business..." *Bangs head against large brick wall* It isn't dwindling, it's improving. You don't even follow NJPW anymore Ricky, at least not in any serious way, so please don't try and sound knowlegable about it when you aren't. You don't need to be knowledgable in anything to know that business is down for NJPW. Hell, just checking into puroresupower.com every few months and seeing the attendence figuers is easy enough. I don't buy the shows, but I then again, I do that because of what I read about them. Relative to previous years, they're hardly where they would like to be, and that comes from shoddy booking and poor decisions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest PlatypusFool Report post Posted December 5, 2002 "Relative to previous years, they're hardly where they would like to be, and that comes from shoddy booking and poor decisions." Very true, relative to several years ago, they are not doing as well as they could be. However, in relation to last year, I understand that they are slowly, but surely, improving in drawing power. Of course, as a massive NJPW fan at the moment, I think they deserve to draw a lot more, but that's just me... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted December 6, 2002 That's great, I'm glad that they're slowly improving, but the stuff with Lauer really turns me off to the shows, as well as the other shooterish nonsense. Not to mention I just don't take as much interest in Nagata, Tenzan, Nishimura, ect. as others seem to. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest PlatypusFool Report post Posted December 6, 2002 Fair enough, each to their own. I too would be turned off by laurer and the shoot stuff if they weren't keeping it to a level I can stomach and using it as a draw rather than the focus of the shows, which is still the wrestling. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted December 11, 2002 "Relative to previous years, they're hardly where they would like to be, and that comes from shoddy booking and poor decisions." Very true, relative to several years ago, they are not doing as well as they could be. However, in relation to last year, I understand that they are slowly, but surely, improving in drawing power. Of course, as a massive NJPW fan at the moment, I think they deserve to draw a lot more, but that's just me... NJPW's business will improve when Ionoki gets over his fetish for shootfighters. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
