NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 Discussion
 

Not sure how many New Japan fans there are on the board, but we're doing a podcast on WK11 this week, and there simply has to be a place to discuss the show on the forum (unless I'm missing it). For those who haven't seen, the final four matches are fantastic, and the main event of Kazuchika Okada Vs. Kenny Omega is just sensational.

So - if you've seen it, thoughts on the show, favourite match, standout performances, are you a regular New Japan viewer, and what would you like to see coming out of it?

As always, if you've seen the event and leave some thoughts, we'll read them on the show and you'll be credited accordingly...

EDIT - The show taking your thoughts and discussing WrestleKingdom 11 is now online, and aailable at the following link: https://squaredcirclegazette.podbean..._11_Review.mp3

I still need to watch the show, I've heard the main-event was incredible.

I already got what I wanted out of it

I have gathered Dave Meltzer liked it


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON">@davemeltzerWON</a> What is your favourite period in wrestling?</p>&mdash; Blake Ward (@flash2518) <a href="https://twitter.com/flash2518/status/816924815390949376">January 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">4-5 a.m. last night <a href="https://t.co/h7DB6bA9Yp">https://t.co/h7DB6bA9Yp</a></p>&mdash; Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) <a href="https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/status/816925179397799936">January 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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How can we watch it respectfully? With honor as well.

Are all NJPW shows good/how is it different from WWE usually?

Looks like the match will air in the U.S. on the tv channel AXS on January 13th


http://www.axs.tv/schedules/daily-schedules/?ads=8

That was New Years Dash, which is FREE on NJPW world.

That fucking main event though, jesus. Meltzer ended up giving it 6 stars. I think it is the best I've ever witnessed.

A bunch of Japs no selling everything and dropping each other on their heads 3/10

Japs do not no sell very often. The indie kids who mimic it fail to understand that as well.

NJPW catering to US audiences has hurt the product for me a bit but the product is still stellar.

Main event was fantasmic.

They kick out of each other's finishers 55 times during a match. How would you explain that? Not trying to be argumentative, just asking. "Fighting spirit" is not an acceptable answer lol

Depends on your taste Gerts.

I'd rather watch an NJPW match than RAW.

But I'd rather watch American wrestling from the 80s-2000 over anything from NJPW and after 2001 pretty much

Nothing to do with taste. Just responding to Destor's comment about them not no selling when the vast majority of these matches are Shibata hitting the PK 75 times during a match, or Okada hitting the Rainmaker 5000 times and not getting a pin. Isn't that no selling?

I hate the idea of finishing moves, so I prefer it. No-one kicked out of a rainmaker in about 2 years though? No-ones kicked out of the One Winged Angel either.

the psycology is more akin to a fight, so their signature move is not a finishing move.

Because finishers arent magic in Puro. They can go over with a lariat as easily as their "finisher."


For us finishers are this cartoony thing that once hit you die for 3 seconds. In japan it's like a boxer having a good right hook. He get a lot of knock outs with it but every right hook doesnt win the fight.

Omega's V-Trigger Running Knee is the best damn thing in this business.

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From what I've gathered, the finishers aren't finishers but the guys best move. They do sometimes finish the match but not always.

It's no different than WWE having the Rock kick out of 2 or 3 stunners in a match or Lesnar hitting multiple F5s or Taker hitting multiple tombstones.

It's structured a different way so I don't really mind it. I don't think they no sell any less than WWE

Oh its very different. One makes sense and the other absolutely doesnt.

Yeah to me Japanese matches seem like realistic struggles, whereas WWE matches look blatantly choreographed... just do things so they can get to the next spot.

I mean I don't watch like any NJPW but just from what I've seen.

Even the "great" wwe matches lose me because it all seems so ho hum.

I certainly have a preference but im not saying the western take is inherently bad its just is really laughable psychology

there's definitely stuff I like, but for a product that's supposed to be about "telling stories" in the ring, a lot of those stories seem to revolve around overly choreographed moves.

I stayed up late and bought New Japan World for this show. It was a great choice, totally fun, amazing show. Last four matches were insane and the main was just the perfect culmination of such an event.

So it's professional wrestling then.

Haven't watched yet other than a few clips here and there. Will watch next week on AXS TV.

It's not politically correct PG bullshit like most things WWE. Wrestling is a lot more intense as well. Finishers are taken serious unlike in WWE where the Styles Clash is pretty much just another move now. For me it's just closer to the wrestling that I grew up watching as opposed to what WWE is today.

It's hard to put it in words, but the transitions seem almost like they're waiting for something to happen, going from spot to spot versus telling a natural story.

Whereas what I see of Japan, each spot transitions naturally.

Thought it was great overall.

Main event was amazing but so was the IC match between Naito and Tanahashi.

Puro comes off as a more of a struggle. There are structural reasons for this. I definitely understanding what youre saying.

A lot more picking guys up to do a move rather than standing and waiting for them to get up, little things.

A good example is that suplex Owens hits off the second rope. How the fuck is that not enough to kill a guy but a poppa powerbomb is?

Or Cena's top rope leg drop.

The matches in NJPW just make morev sense. They also flow and build to their crescendo much better. And the action is much more back and forth.

Here's the other thing I really like; there's a seemingly set hierarchy in terms of talent. Ishii is good, but he's not as good as Shibata, but Shibata isn't as good as Okada (yet). Shibata also jobbed to Yugi Nagata, who's a legend and last I saw just a tick above Shibata at the time if their title exchange.

Same with Hirooki Goto. He's a stud, but not quite as good as the upper echelon guys.

Naito and Tanahashi are fucking great, but maybe not quite as great as Okada.

There's a clear pecking order. Outside of what, 6 guys, can you really say that for WWE?

My favorite thing about puro vs the states is that here i sell a move so that audoence sees it. That way i can overcome my pain later for a triumph. There the psychology is the wrestler is trying not to show pain even though he is in pain. The default assumption is everything hurts. So the sells are the subtle registers. Just giving a flinch after a strike for example and being down long enough to be covered but npt even giving a one count. and then you can get a big pay off by simply selling to a knee and quickly recovering and pay off huge with a double down and even more so by just giving something away with a full blown sell. There are so many more facets to the work that its just much more rewarding as a worker and a fan.

I can't remember if it was you guys I have heard talking about the faces Kenny Omega pulls. They do the Terminator stuff with him, which was goofy, but in the way that you can imagine a wrestler having a goofy entrance for a big match. But then he comes out pulling these weird faces. I've only seen the entrance, but it still makes me think that Kenny Omega is a bit ridiculous.

Anyway, it's a bit off-topic, but feel free to answer it if you want a break from the New Japan stuff: Who in wrestling do you think pulls the best facial expressions? And who has the worst?

P.S. Fuck The Young Bucks. Does anyone else find them flippin' boring? Pun intended. There's no meat with the potatoes...or is it potatoes with the meat? It can't be the latter, because there is certainly nothing meaty about The Young Bucks--except the giant metaphorical dick they collectively have in the mouths of we, the modern internet fan. I'm not sure if they personally have done this, but I'm getting sick of independent wrestlers who do a whole bunch of meaningless, vapid shit an "evolution of the art form" when they have stripped their matches of all psychology. A cinematic equivalent (and I ususally hate these about wrestling, because they're more than a little different) is removing all plot, character and structure from your film. These guys aren't producing "art," they are producing your latest Michael Bay blockbuster where you can barely tell the fighting robots apart. The Young Bucks might be genuinely aware they are doing that to draw attention to themselves, but they are at least enablers of that vapid style.

Sorry if you have any fans of that style around The Big Oaken Table, but their attention span has probably lapsed by now and they stopped listening by the time I got to "pun intended." I quite like Trent Baretta though. I hope he's improving leaps and bounds over there.

Oh, and Happy fucking New Year.

Theyre the worst thing in boots today

Not all New Japan is like that, of course. I haven't seen much of Tanahashi, but he strikes me as one of the best babyfaces ever. I've heard him described as New Japan's John Cena, and while there are certainly similarities, and being compared to John Cena isn't exactly a terrible thing these days, Tanahashi reminds me more of a Shawn Michaels or Eddie Guerrero. He's just so damn good.

New Japan is obviously still in a state of rebuilding after losing AJ Styles, Nakamura, Anderson & Gallows. They've obviously moving forward with talent like Omega and Elgin, but I'd like to know who you would choose, if you have an opinion, to be built up as the future of New Japan.

I've never really gotten into a flow of watching New Japan, so this might be a completely inappropriate suggestion, but I feel Shibata has a bad-ass charisma that could lend itself well to the main event scene. Is there anyone not currently in Japan that you'd like to see them bring over and build around?

Shibatas great and it looks like he might feud with Osprey which would be interesting. Suzuki Gun have just come back as a faction and they're looking to get Okada it seems.

Just don't sleep on Omega because of "faces" or whatever dumb reason though. AJ Styles has lots of stupid faces all the time and Omega and Okada probably had a match that AJ's NJPW body of work may not have beaten. Going to take some re-watches.

Hell, Omega's G1 and his finals match with Naito were outstanding to. The booker has called him the best forigener in NJPW so thankfully we should see Omega up top for a while yet. I know he doesn't want to go to WWE, but I wonder what will happen when they come knocking and they offer him an AJ deal.

I'll go and re-watch that match. I just struggle to find I get into Omega. I do like that he walked away from WWE to get better though. I admire CJ Parker for the same reason. Honestly think that dude is going to end up back in the WWE and be a relatively big deal for them. He fits that "WWE mold" thing, even though he looks a bit like a giant Peter Dinklage.

This might be a Japanese thing that I don't get, but I really wish Ibushi was just Ibushi. It sounds like his match was over really quick too. The Tiger the Black gimmick will probably help ACH gain some notoriety, but why is Ibushi doing this Tiger Mask W thing?

Yeah, CJ looked good too. Still hasn't found a character which would be the only thing holding him back in WWE. Think if Wade feels like wrestling again, he'll likely end up over there.

Because Ibushi wanted to. He just gets to do whatever stupid thing makes him happy, like he wrestles occasionally at a tiny US Indie that has people dressed up as Godzilla and scale model cities in the ring because he finds it fun.

It's not even a Japanese thing. It's an Ibushi thing.

Like Hasney said, its because he really wanted to do it when it got announced the Tiger vs Tiger match was happening. Probably is a big fan of the anime as well which made it easier for him to make the decision.

He's made it clear several times recently he really loves being a freelancer and doing a wide variety of things than having to be stuck in a certain company or style of wrestling. NJPW tried as much as the WWE in recent times to get him to stay but he kept refusing.

I actually LOVED the Tiger Mask W vs Tigre Dark match.... so cool, simple, great big show opener. I'm a big fan of Kota and how he works his career his way.

This show meant a lot to me, staying up so late to see it. Made me feel like a kid. I was literally on the WON board and reading the thread just about three hours before and I was like "man just do it for your 14 year old Best of Super Junior Cup tape trading ass".

And Noid I don't think NJPW is in a rebuilding phase. They have four huge stars, Tana, Okada, Kenny, and Shibata. A strong crew of undercards, and Juniors that can draw. Maybe Cody gets hot, then boom, back on top with the best roster in the world.

I'd put Naito up there as well as a big star. Insanely over and easily a top performer.

Naito has had a tremendous year or so. I just cannot accept Omega as a top star. I don't know what it is, but he reminds me of Seth Rollins as WWE Champion. There's something...well, yeah, he's technically there about it. This is just my perception. AJ Styles had this big time feel about him, and Devitt carved out this niche in the Junior Heavyweight Division. They feel like gaijin "stars" tome. Omega feels like a dude you plug into their spot. I dunno, maybe I am being cynical. I know they gave him the G1 and that tournament is pretty prestigious.

Do you think NJPW has too many championships? It's a bit of a gag how many belts there are. If you were to condense the number of accolades in New Japan, which titles do you cull?

I'd keep:

* The IWGP Heavyweight Title. Obviously.

* The IC Title. I think it has successfully been established as an A2 championship. The IC Title is more meaningful to New Japan than the Universal Title is to the WWE, for example. Tanahashi and Nakamura deserve a lot of praise for that, and now Naito makes it look like a big deal.

* The Junior Heavyweight Title. Building around KUSHIDA seems like a smart idea. Maybe Will Ospreay will become something more "dense" and be able to hang in the division. I'm sure there are other guys coming through that can add to this division too. I feel this is where Kenny Omega's niche should be, but many would probably disagree.

* A set of Tag Titles. Probably not the Junior Tag Team Titles, because I feel that they are kind of thrown on two guys and just used in spotfests that people are getting way too used to. Probably just keep the IWGP Tag Titles and move them away from teams that are, well, shit.

* NEVER Openweight Title. You can't always see what they are planning to do with this belt, but that does somewhat make it interesting. At the very least, this can be the mid-card title that the IC belt really isn't.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I will be stepping away from Japan to reassess my future. The path of my journey may change, but my goals will not. <a href="https://t.co/E4vDiGgAwe">pic.twitter.com/E4vDiGgAwe</a></p>&mdash; Kenny Omega (@KennyOmegamanX) <a href="https://twitter.com/KennyOmegamanX/status/817323227886125056">January 6, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Well... Fuck.

Could WWE really get NJPWs top gaijin two years in a row and shove him in the Rumble?

Tescos hot take:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/PuroPodcast">@PuroPodcast</a> Hi Puro, personally I'd say it looked painful but made for a great match. Glad you like our sausage rolls. :) TY - Paul</p>&mdash; Tesco (@Tesco) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tesco/status/817216361151819776">January 6, 2017</a></blockquote>
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I mean, Omega just days ago was quoted as saying that the WWE Title means absolutely nothing because they hot potato it. And like a week ago he expressed annoyance at them trying to monopolize wrestling.

SEEMS tough to imagine that he'd say all of these things if he were actually going to WWE, but then again who knows.

Well either his tweet is a work, or his WWE talk is a work... Or he's going to wrestle around with Ibushi and have fun again. These fucking carnies, man.

Kenny just knows how to build his own hype. It makes sense for him to chill out for a bit and let everyone come down from the orgasm that was that match.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/djstarion">@djstarion</a> It got 6 stars, so that's pretty good</p>&mdash; Wendy's (@Wendys) <a href="https://twitter.com/Wendys/status/817071136190111746">January 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Wendy's and Denny's are constantly keeping their ears to the streets on Twitter

Omega is right there as an emerging star. He's had one of the greatest progressions I've seen over the last year. I think if you watched his matches and character work, Noid, you'd come around.

The difference I see between Omega and Rollins is that Rollins is limited in what he can say and do, and comes off scripted and not at all genuine. Omega, on the other hand, comes off as a natural and its as if he's just being his annoying ridiculous self.

Granted that's likely the environment they're in as Rollins is handed scripts and Omega probably isn't. But it's nonetheless a big difference.

And I agree with the choice of what belts to keep. I don't mind the Jr heavyweight tag belts, but the 6 man belts need to go. Don't care for them at all.

I think they do a great job of booking their titles and don't want to see them drop any. Their divisions are a lot more defined than in WWE as well. They use their lower teir titles to progress a talent up the card. I think the number of titles they are at is perfect.

If they were to drop a title I'd say it would be the NEVER Openweight title as Shibata has mentioned the possibility of retiring it recently. They don't need anymore titles though I'll say that.

is the pay in japan even remotely comparable to that in wwe?

I'd say not but it's a lighter schedule. A lot of American talents can book themselves in the Indus in USA and work ROH as well. I'd say they could probably make close to what WWE offered them but WWE could afford to offer way more than any other company if they really wanted a talent.

I think it's reported that even Okada is only on $500k a year, but he is able to supplement his income working other dates for other companies.

The pay is good until you get taxed bringing it back into the states

well, then maybe they should just stick around in japan for a while. didn't watch a whole lut of this stuff, but it looks like they're having fun. especially that kenny omega guy.

can't even imagine what retarded gimmick and name he'd get in wwe.

Great match. Final sequence dragged but it was still awesome.

Think some might even have sponsorship deals like Finn Balor before he went to the WWE.

His was worth a few hundred of thousands of dollars and WWE had to buy out the deal in order to get him to sign.

I'm gonna try and watch this Sunday after signing up last night. Hoping to be able to contribute for the show.

I don't believe Omega will be going to the WWE just yet. A few years, maybe, but he's still increasing his value on that scene. I imagine his tweet is just him selling his loss, which I actually really like. I wish more people would do that, and it's a major thing lacking from the WWE. The New Day losing the belts one week and then playing with umbrellas the next is the sort of thing that WWE is in a bad habit of doing, and will be hard to re-train if a proper alternative pops up.

Omega will be a big part of New Japan's alleged expansion into the US. If they continue to work with ROH, then it really wouldn't surprise me to see Omega win the ROH World Title as a "stepping stone" towards his ultimate goal of the IWGP Heavyweight Title.

Personally, I'd like to see New Japan start up a working relationship with Pacific Coast Wrestling. They're only like a year into operating, but they seem to take something resembling a more serious sports-based approach to wrestling. Their website has rankings for their belts, but they also have a list of most popular and most hated. Rob Van Dam is their current champion and he won the belt from Pentagon, Jr, who people seem to love from Lucha Underground.

Having a PCW Heavyweight Title match between Rob Van Dam and Kenny Omega as Okada defends the IWGP Title against Tanahashi, or something, would be a good way to segue people into the New Japan product.

GoD with the 3rd member??

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome to New Japan Pro Wrestling young lion. Show 'em where you come from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/littletallbrother?src=hash">#littletallbrother</a> . <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/theFifitaclan?src=hash">#theFifitaclan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/theChosenOne?src=hash">#theChosenOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/nBgj6n4MPP">pic.twitter.com/nBgj6n4MPP</a></p>&mdash; theBadBoy_TamaTonga (@Tama_Tonga) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tama_Tonga/status/817334630705729536">January 6, 2017</a></blockquote>
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I could easily jerk off to the last 8 minutes of Okada/Omega.

Honestly, watching the whole WK11 card brought me back. As in two men with some kind of beef and I could feel it by either their walk or their attitude towards each other without Corino or Kelly telling me 10000x times what I "need to know."

Corino and Kelly brought me up to speed in 1 minute in each scenario where I didn't know what's going on. And it was told well by both in the story of the match and the significance of the wrestler's move set, and in the commentary provided letting the audience know if there was a weak point or a reason behind said maneuver.

Could watch (and probably will) this whole card 100 times over.

Doubt they would even bother to do it mainly because PCW is likely too small for their expansion plans. The current AXS tv deal probably does a better job of seguing people into NJPW than what PCW could provide.

If they really wanted to expand more into the west coast, a deal with PWG would probably be a better option and a good supplement to their ROH partnership. They already have a couple of wrestlers who wrestle there and NJPW is probably going to be a lot more picky on partner deals considering only ROH has worked for them while others like GFW, TNA, and NWA ended up being big busts.

I think Kenny is staying. Looking at New Years Dash, the Bullet Club are a joke right now and have become yet another stable like CHAOS. Since Suzuki-Gun are back and going to be the new harasses for a while, I'd love for Adam Cole (BAY BAY. ADAM COLE BAY BAY) to take over and then have Kenny come back as a face to deal with him and then go for the world title.

The path changing could also mean he's signing one of those ROH combined deals. Would be ace if he beat Cole for that title and then went onto challenge Okada or whoever for the title again and have both.

Wait, I thought we all did.

Well i haven't watched it yet so my jerk off has yet to come

Damian we await your reaction when you do!

Prob gonna be very sticky

From what I've seen, Kenny Omega seems like a perfect WWE star. He's got a good look, tons of charisma, great in the ring. Seems long overdue for him to go to WWE.

Yeah and I heard New Japan plans on replacing Kenny Omega as Bullet Club leader with Rhett Titus taking over. Hopefully he gets over in Japan as he'll have a tough time following Omega

Please no. Rhett Titus just doesn't seem like a fit for the Bullet Club. If Omega leaves I think Cody Rhodes would be the best fit to be the new leader. That or make a strong offer to keep him away from WWE a bit konger and make Adam Cole the leader.

I wonder if Rhett Titus will bring The Cabinet to NJPW and into Bullet Club with him

Adam Cole or Cody Rhodes is the way to go. Omega himself seems like a step down merely in terms of stature in the industry. Cole has at least been ROH World Champion and Cody is Cody.

I watched the 4 tag title match from Wrestle Kingdom 10, After "More Bang For Your Buck" got the win, I was like "That's it?" As in, how was that series any different from the 7 other major sequences like that we got from them, RPG Vice, Sydal and Ricochet, reDRagon?

Which is what they mean by burying your shit by trying to get it all in.

They dropped the Cabinet gimmick and are now the Rebellion. Said ROH made them parade around like that and they were tired of it.

This show = http://d3ug2uwhu7fmq8.cloudfront.net...on-620x465.jpg

Finally got around to seeing the main event. Was great and probably would have been a better overall experience live not spoiled. Was amused I still got had by a couple of Omegas near falls even though I knew he lost.
Ps I always feel the need to mention I've seen several NJPW guys in person when I went to War of the Worlds 2 years ago in Philly.

The latest Squared Circle Gazette Radio is now online, reviewing WrestleKingdom 11. Breaking down every match, we look at the finer aspects of a tremendous show, as well as dish out criticism where needed, and take your feedback on the big event. Talking six star ratings, the utter greatness of Hiroshi Tanahashi, the growth of Tetsuya Naito, underused talent, the impending rise of the Juniors, Okada Vs. Omega and much more. Check it out and let us know what you think!

https://squaredcirclegazette.podbean..._11_Review.mp3

just watched the main event more or less whole way through.

weird how that bullet club didn't try and attack okada, only helping omega get up, setting up the table, etc.

in wwe they'd be lumberjacking the shit outta him every time the ref looked the other way.

The thing I love the most about the table spot is that the trainers check on Kenny for a couple to seconds, then go and fix the table

I watched Okada/Omega. Good stuff. Omega looked "solid," in the sense that he lived up to the pressure of delivering in a Tokyo Dome main event, which I think is high enough praise (and indeed some of the highest) without being hyperbolic. I completely agree with the SCG team -- I never want to see that Dragon Superplex again. To be honest, the match didn't hold my attention completely throughout its duration. Maybe I just look for different things these days, or because I watched it in isolation and not as the crescendo to the show, but thinking back to it now, I cannot quite put it into order in my mind. But that's fine. I feel like I can say it wasn't a perfect match without being snarky.

I definitely think the right choice was to keep the belt on Okada. I'm not too familiar with the flow of things with Japanese booking, but they seem to treat their "tentpole" victories as being meaningful, and after beating Tanahashi at WrestleKingdom 10, Okada needed to prove that he can be "the guy" and run with the ball. Omega can reflect on the loss and get another title shot, lose that too, then lose to Elgin in Vancouver or something, and eventually either Cole or CODY can kick him out of The Bullet Club and he can be set up as a major babyface without being the A1 guy.

I wonder if they've realized that going balls to the wall isn't going to work with Hirooki Goto, so they've just jammed him into the NEVER Openweight Title scene as his own little niche?

I'm not a big fan of The Young Bucks, but their gimmick with all the belts would have been an easy way to get both sets of IWGP Tag Titles into one place. I agree with Karl in that I don't think you should scrap the divisions, especially with KUSHIDA and Takahashi gaining a lot from the division as singles guys, but I think you can unify the Tag Titles without drumming up too many complaints. It may have meant more to do The Young Bucks vs. Honma & Kojima or something at this show. I dunno, I'm just spitballing there, and you don't want to overcharge every show, but I'll throw it out there.

I like the objective balance of the SCG Radio review. It'll be interesting to see if this good will towards NJPW translates into more New Japan World subscriptions and how their alleged expansion into the United States goes.

why don;t you ever want to see that superplex again, noid?

i thought it looked cool.

Just no need to land on your neck like that, haha.

if he doesn't mind then i'm all for it :)

It will have diminishing returns too. It will be less and less cool every time you see it. I think it will live on better in the mind as a memory.

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GP T6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAA AElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; ██████████relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BPAs06sjWsx/" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A photo posted by John Cena (@johncena)</a> on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-01-08T16:58:52+00:00">Jan 8, 2017 at 8:58am PST</time></p></div></blockquote>
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I watched this after some guy I know was banging on about it. I didn't really care about watching a good match or not, I'm sure there's been plenty of good moments since I stopped watching wrestling but I've not been tempted to watch.

But he sent me a link to it, and I had a bit of free time so I gave it a go. And there was nothing in it that was new or overly impressive. I dunno, didn't see the big deal with it at all. Like it was fine, but I didn't see anything revolutionary.

I feel like if you stop watching wrestling long enough, it's damn near impossible to get back into it no matter what is presented.

I'm quite certain most of the lapsed fans who came back because they'd heard The Rock was back would've gone right back to not watching even if WMs 27-29 (take your pick) blew everybody's nips off. With wrestling there just seems to be a point of no return in terms of being able to regain total interest.