That’s outstanding.

When I tried to give NJPW Strong a chance a year or so ago (maybe longer, I dunno), Kevin Kelly was the best part of the show. Fantastic commentator who completely understands his job. No problem with him as a hire at all. I hope the team has got some good content to call. JR is getting older, but the biggest problem with him is that he had bullshit to call and he’s not going to bury himself or insult the audience.

Even if they just use JR for sit-downs and main events, that would be cool.

The main event for the first show looks like a good one. My fantasy booking was Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal & Samoa Joe vs. Mark Briscoe & FTR announced. Punk does an opening promo. Mark Briscoe is taken out backstage with guitar shards around him. Jarrett denies it was him. Scorpio Sky offers to replace Mark, FTR say they already have a partner. Punk teams with FTR, Mark runs out and foils a guitar shot on Punk allowing the GTS to win the faces the match.

From that you can move onto Punk vs. Joe and Scorpio Sky can have issues with being brushed over (with both Punk and FTR). That can lead to stuff with The Firm, SCU or a new team/group with Sky. Eventually Punk can reveal he took Mark Briscoe out with the guitar.

This is kind of like that without the story, but the match is probably a better choice because it doesn’t have the potential Jarrett stink. But it’s not a bad start.

Wish it was just Wardlow vs. Christian Cage though. Luchasaurus sucks. Have Brock Anderson & Brian Pillman cancel out Luchasaurus and do the Arn spinebuster spot and have Wardlow retain before being challenged by God’s Chosen TNT Champion, Miro.

Was also hoping for Willow Nightingale & Skye Blue vs. Mercedes Martinez & Serena Deeb in Chicago. And Andrade vs. Christopher Daniels with Andrade coming out in a Sammy Guevara shirt.

Sir Elton John is All Elite

Video Proof of the best thing Hair Buck ever did in his career.

Why would you do that in a wrestling match? Fuck those guys.

zomg...who coul ddo such a thing in a wrestling match :eek:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ouch... that seems like such an odd oversight. I'm used to this back from Showdown LOW, No Mercy but the lack of actual useful attire parts will kill the mode. <br>No one is going to use 100 caw slots if we can't even make 1 real world person. <a href="https://t.co/Zc0kBguekD">pic.twitter.com/Zc0kBguekD</a></p>&mdash; KRadiation (@KRadiation) <a href="https://twitter.com/KRadiation/status/1670823483821944832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That's going to make it dead on arrival for a lot of people.

Not surprised about the face paint options being limited since other than Sting and Danhausen, nobody else can afford to paint their whole face :rofl:

It’s all about fun, right? Are we having fun yet?

For me at least it's not a big deal. Being able to add really good looking CAWs in 2k23 via Community Creations is nice but there's always little things that will still remind me that I'm using a CAW. Plus the way that game tracks parts means you will have a nightmare of a time if you ever want to delete people.

I had no interest in returning to the days of having to follow a complicated formula to get a good CAW. At one point during those games I just said fuck it and made half-assed CAWs and just accepted that they were only gonna bear a passing resemblance to the wrestler I was trying to portray, but I was OK with it. Remember in HCTP making most of the TNA X-Division and giving them the most batshit movesets and having a blast.

But the CAW creation community is a big one, so I can see how this is gonna piss a lot of people off and lead to a lot of people in that circle not bothering.

For me personally the more alarming part of that AMA is about the Road to the Elite mode. The guy said the mode lasts one calendar year in-game which is fine, but he found it to get repetitive and boring within 2-3 months.

He used MJF in the mode and claimed that winning a title meant nothing in terms of the stories he was presented. His title win wasn't ever acknowledged again. At one point he was in an angle with Dark Order (even though Brodie Lee and John Silver are the only members in the game) and he was asked if he wanted to join. He said no and yet the next week the story continued as if he said yes.

To me, this signals that the branching elements are bunk, and that the game might just force you into a linear path no matter what. This guy hasn't done a second playthrough as someone else, so maybe you're given other choices or things change if you lose certain matches.

But if it really is the same shit every time you play the mode then that kills replayability dead.

Yeah limited create a player options sucks. It’s not a killer for me as far as getting the game but it does lower my interest in it.

The AMA was also very complimentary of the actual gameplay itself, which of course is the most important part of it all. But the early sense I'm getting is if you're not gonna be playing with friends or online then you're gonna get bored quickly.

I'm not writing the game off yet by any stretch, but there's no chance I'm buying this day one. It would probably be a late summer/early fall buy at earliest. I need more reviews, more first-hand accounts and seeing if people get bored after a month or two. If the online play is fun and the servers don't blow ass I'd probably get it eventually.

hahahahaha Fight Forever exploding barbwire death match looks so deadly

Wait....so Ace Steel is back and they put him in creative? Ahahahahahaha

"The Taste Of Counterfeit Bucks: A Cannibal's Rise To The Top Of AEW Creative."

Jake Roberts is trying to get Tiny to let him be the Booker lol

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LMFAOOOO THE EXPLOSION IN EXPLODING BARB WIRE DEATH MATCH IS ODE <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEW</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEWFightForever?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEWFightForever</a> <br><br> <a href="https://t.co/gU1FHdRyDy">pic.twitter.com/gU1FHdRyDy</a></p>&mdash; 🅰️🅾️ (@KXNGAO) <a href="https://twitter.com/KXNGAO/status/1671361440001794049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Worth noting the explosion happens 120 seconds into the match with no way to change it

Which is another example that this is full an arcade/fighting game. Matches are not designed to be long, especially against the CPU.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">CM PUNK INSANE FINISH TO THE MATCH!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEWFightForever?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEWFightForever</a> <a href="https://t.co/qCfNA7LXW4">pic.twitter.com/qCfNA7LXW4</a></p>&mdash; eric. (@ericherreraa) <a href="https://twitter.com/ericherreraa/status/1671403785217011712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEWFightForever?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEWFightForever</a> here’s riho getting sent to the shadow realm, courtesy of <a href="https://twitter.com/HaangEmHiigh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HaangEmHiigh</a> <a href="https://t.co/2Gu8VwtCNJ">pic.twitter.com/2Gu8VwtCNJ</a></p>&mdash; Momentum (@MomentumTLCM) <a href="https://twitter.com/MomentumTLCM/status/1671376189926039554?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

:lol:

During this stream the guy was kicking the CPU's ass on Elite difficulty, even though creators a couple of weeks ago said they'd lost matches on Normal.

Chaotic fun no doubt, but this still points me to thinking that there is not going to be any replayability to this unless you like to game online.

KENTA: *spends years openly saying he doesn’t want to work with CM Punk*

IWC: “he’s working this match so hard, it’s gonna rule!”

KENTA: *refuses a plan to wrestle Punk at Forbidden Door, forcing AEW/NJPW to work out other plans*

IWC: *shocked Pikachu face*

If I get the game, it’ll simply be to play with my kids. So if it’s got replay value from that standpoint, it’ll be a win. Still, limited at best CAW features drops my interest in it greatly. That’s half the fun for me. Especially because I thought they’d at least offer the option to graph your face onto a CAW like WWE 2K does. Ah well.

Is there any reason why KENTA won’t do it? Like, that’s a huge match for him to have, on a big stage in the US.

At this point I don't think Phil is brave enough to wrestle anybody he thinks might shoot on him, and Kenta would absolutely whoop his ass.

CM Punk when he's hitting fans

https://media0.giphy.com/media/OP7Uu...giphy.gif&ct=v


CM Punk when he's in the cage with an actual fighter

https://i.redd.it/aqp3f1gkkx001.gif

I imagine the female wrestling trainee whom he and Cabana used during the infamous Gold Bond Mafia days felt vindicated.

KENTA's said repeatedly that he hates Punk for stealing the GTS. He doesn't care that other guys use it, but Punk lifted it and brought it to US television. To me it's kinda silly because most moves are lifted at one time or another. But that does always seem to be the crux of it. Maybe that and Punk openly saying he hated working in Zero-One, and really never went back to Japan again.

Anyway, KENTA's always said he'd do the match only if he was paid big money. Presumably wanting a Punk-level payday to do it. Clearly his asking price wasn't met lol

In all fairness, why would he even want to associate himself with someone as toxic as Punk :o

CM cheap shotted a guy who was pushed by the guy that smacked Phil's neck. That also happened before it was proven Phil is such an inept fighter. Today that guy would have know what a bitch Phil is, and would have decimated him on live TV, then Phil would sue the guy and probably the guy's mother too.

CM Punk is a US main eventer. KENTA is a Japan mid-carder. Why would you do that match? Who is it for?

I haven’t seen the actual numbers, but Punk is moving tickets at enough of a rate that even Dave Meltzer has to acknowledge it.

Dollar bill Phil!

There is no way Punk/Tiny would let Punk lose at Forbidden door. Why would Kenta want to do the favors for the guy that stole his move?

So Punk cleared the "counterfeit Bucks" line with AEW, and Fightful confirmed with people in the Bucks' camp that they liked the line. They even referenced it in their Twitter bio. Kenny encouraged Punk chants in his post-Dynamite speech last week. Locker room environment at both shows sounded positive. Hell, on BTE Kenny cracked a joke about the "toxic locker room" in what seemed to be a joke on Meltzer/Alvarez, with Hangman and the Bucks laughing it off.

At least from what I've seen and heard it seems to me like even if the Elite and Punk aren't/never will be friends, everyone's content to just move on.

And yet Meltzer today still insisted there's still a gigantic divide in the locker room and that Punk is driving everyone apart.

Lol, it's gone beyond an Elite bias thing. Dave just flat out has a vendetta toward Punk and is gonna keep peddling this bullshit.

Who would be the 4th or even 5th guy, say Ibushi debuts, for CMFTR? Guess you don’t need it to be even.

Takeshita? WARDLOW?

Just thinking out loud. Don’t mind me.

Controversy creates cash.

Trying to sell more subscriptions.

Not having a television deal doesn't discourage Tony Khan from commissioning a new ROH "World" Television Championship belt.

Dave Meltzer has rated more Luchasaurus and Lars Sullivan matches as 5 Stars then he has for Kurt Angle.