The official wrestling sim topic

[M-A-G]

Originally Posted by Evil Vito Second night of C and D blocks coming in hot. D Block: Claudio Castagnoli vs. "The Spanish God" Sammy Guevara Blackpool Combat Club vs. Jericho Appreciation Society action to kick us off as the crowd is red hot for Claudio. They have themselves a fine opener to start off the evening, I'm laughing imagining Sammy's facial expressions when the time comes to sell the giant swing. Sammy eventually starts to take control and attempts to springboard off the ropes but it results in a stiff uppercut. Neutralizer finishes it off, Claudio continues his early AEW winning streak as the JAS falls to 0-6 in the tournament. Winner: Claudio Castagnoli Time: 10:51 Rating: 83% ---

Jericho could've called his crew the Jericho's Appreciative People Society. Then the acronym could be...um...

And don't tell me Cesaro is another victim of the WWE exodus/purging?

C Block: Frankie Kazarian vs. "The Redeemer" Miro Perhaps he was up until the wee hours of the morning having riotous sex with Lana, but Miro just looked completely off his game here and never got out of the box against an opponent he would've been viewed as a considerable favorite over. Kazarian controls the pace throughout as Miro struggles to really do anything, winning with a Northern Lights Suplex in the worst match of the tournament thus far. Miro will need to live up to his nickname and redeem himself soon. Winner: Frankie Kazarian Time: 7:56 Rating: 58% ---

Yeah, short of post-coitus exhaustion or congenital heart failure, no way some scrub like Kazarian could take a dude like Miro in a fight.

D Block: Adam Cole vs. "Limitless" Keith Lee OK, these two have chemistry together from their time in NXT so it should serve as a nice palate cleanser after that stinker of a match that preceded it. Tough draw for Cole having to face the two largest competitors in the block back-to-back, but he had a better strategy in this one as he attempted to use a ground game to work on one of Lee's knees. Later in the match, Lee picks Cole up for the Spirit Bomb but his knee gives out! Down to one knee in pain, Lee has no way to see Cole bounce off the ropes behind him and lay down The Boom! The knee to the back of the head puts Lee down for the count and gets Cole on the board. Winner: Adam Cole Time: 12:17 Rating: 84% ---

The Limitless moniker has potential. I'm going through my head to pin down somebody from history that could have carried it but I'm drawing a blank right now.

C Block: Brody King vs. "Absolute" Ricky Starks What a tough act to follow that match was, thankfully in Fire Pro we don't have to worry about matches being downgraded solely because they came after a banger! King and Starks were up to the task though, continuing the night's theme of large man vs. smaller opponent. Starks wrangles his way out of a gorilla press, impressively gets the big Brody up for a flash Fisherman's Suplex to grab 2 more points. Starks is off to a great start in his tournament. Winner: Ricky Starks Time: 12:37 Rating: 87% ---

Yeah, that EWR tendency to fuck you for putting less over guys after a fire of a match can suck but logically you're supposed to be progressively building up the show to the most over people you've got for your main event.

D Block: Buddy Matthews vs. Kenny Omega Matthews just watched his House of Black teammate get off to an 0-2 start and doesn't want to do the same, meanwhile Omega comes off of a surprise loss in his return match. Plenty of matches in this tournament are ones I'd actually want to see in real life, but this one might be near the very top of the list based on stylistic similarities. Both men were working at a breakneck pace throughout, sometimes quite literally with the number of suplex variants being handed out. They also both need to be checked for concussions from how often they kneed each other in the face. Omega gets Buddy up in a Fireman's Carry, slams him down and then connects with a Moonsault to win. Winner: Kenny Omega Time: 12:20 Rating: 87% ---

Buddy Matthews sounds like a character from some '50s TV show.

C Block: Penta Oscuro vs. Jon Moxley As JR would say, this match was bowling shoe ugly. Both men brought out the hardcore brawler in each other as this match went out to the floor numerous times with a chair being introduced into the mix. It's more of a shock that somebody didn't draw blood. Penta reverses out of the Paradigm Shift on two separate occasions, forcing Mox to dig further into his bag of tricks to pull out another move. The Hook and Ladder, a move he rarely uses to finish matches anymore, ends up putting Penta down for the count. Winner: Jon Moxley Time: 9;14 Rating: 68% ---

I'm awaiting the day when Jim Ross going completely off the deep end and mixes up all of his trademarks and calls a match like this by screaming "BOWLING SHOE!!! BOWLING SHOE!!! IT'S BOWLING SHOE UGLY, BAH GAWD!!!"

D Block: Christian Cage vs. "Freshly Squeezed" Orange Cassidy Much like the last contest, the D Block main event featured two men who got off to winning starts in the tournament, and you can't really find two polar opposites in terms of crowd reaction. The crowd hates Christian's guts, and he made sure to soak in every ounce of heat as he tried a ground and pound approach on Cassidy. Cassidy wouldn't yield though, and Christian's unrepentant dickery eventually caused the normally aloof Cassidy to come alive and start mounting a big comeback. Cassidy goes for the Stun Dog Millionaire, Christian blocks. Christian goes for the Killswitch, Cassidy blocks. Cassidy connects with an Orange Punch and gets the dub to a huge pop. Winner: Orange Cassidy Time: 12:58 Rating: 82% ---

I honestly don't know how to feel about Christian still rocking the tights. He's most certainly not as banged up as Edge but I still question his choice.

[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by M-A-G And don't tell me Cesaro is another victim of the WWE exodus/purging?

Yes indeed he is. In his case, his contract quietly expired in February and apparently they just couldn't agree to terms. The longer he was gone, the more people thought they'd agree to something to return, but instead he signed with AEW in late June.

Yeah, short of post-coitus exhaustion or congenital heart failure, no way some scrub like Kazarian could take a dude like Miro in a fight.

In fairness, I'd happily go 0-9 in the tourney if the only reason was sex exhaustion.

Yeah, that EWR tendency to fuck you for putting less over guys after a fire of a match can suck but logically you're supposed to be progressively building up the show to the most over people you've got for your main event.

So here's where booking a tourney like this differs in Fire Pro than an EWR or even real life. You'd pick your tourney winner, the finalist, and kinda work backwards from there.

In the real life G1, it's treated like an actual sport and in a real sport you'd see your schedule in advance. So when they announce the G1 schedules, you know which night each match is. The one drawback though is you could quite easily look at the final night of the blocks and pretty much figure out where the tourney is going, because obviously they want it to work out so that the block is decided on the final night of the tourney.

In this case, I'm not in control of the outcomes so I just decide the matches on the fly and if two guys position themselves as favorites and haven't fought yet, I'm gonna try to push their match to the end. If I can get to the point where there is a clear cut "this guy wins the block if he wins this match" scenario then that's a win, but it's out of my control.

I honestly don't know how to feel about Christian still rocking the tights. He's most certainly not as banged up as Edge but I still question his choice.

It was one of those things where WWE benched him in 2014 out of extreme caution, and it felt like one of those things where once Bryan managed to get himself cleared after a 2-year retirement, the door would've been open for Christian to do the same but he just never seemed to press the issue.

I do think Edge returning though got him into the mindset where he actually wanted to give it a go.

Funny enough, he returned as a total surprise in the 2021 Royal Rumble (which Edge won). There was a fairly clear path to do some Edge and Christian vs. The Usos stuff on Edge's road to face Roman. Instead, Christian almost immediately bailed and signed with AEW within a month of his return.

[Evil Vito]

Night 5!

"Judas" by Fozzy blares as a very flustered Chris Jericho makes his way out to the ring. He's heard enough shit from people about his 0-2 start to the tournament, and his Jericho Appreciation Society being 0-6 total. He's not going to wait for his match, he's demanding his next opponent get out here RIGHT NOW!

"Everybody Dies" hits and Jericho shits his britches. As and you shall receive as the 6'8" Lance Archer charges his way out to be Jericho's next opponent!


A Block: Chris Jericho vs. "The Murderhawk Monster" Lance Archer

Jericho has seen the blocks and knew who he has yet to face in the block, but arguably Archer was the man he was least hoping for to come down that aisle. Not only is he a big and tough bruiser but he's 0-2 and desperate for a win just like Jericho is.

Archer dominated the early going of the match like a house of fire, but Jericho had a few tricks up his sleeve. A well-placed low block with the ref down brings the big guy down to size, Jericho connects with a Codebreaker to land his first points of the tournament. At 0-3, Archer is an incredibly difficult mathematical spot, and he might be left playing spoiler the rest of the way.

Winner: Chris Jericho
Time: 9:45
Rating: 79%
---

B Block: Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal is trying to ride some momentum from his win over the All-Atlantic Champion last time out, while Hobbs is in the same spot as Archer. He ended up meeting the same fate. Picks Lethal up for a Powerslam, Lethal slides off and sends Hobb into the ropes. Leg sweep, diving elbow, done. Both A and B blocks have to contend with big, mean dudes getting off to 0-3 starts.

Winner: Jay Lethal
Time: 11:41
Rating: 75%
---

A Block: Andrade El Idolo vs. Wheeler Yuta

Two opposite trajectories in this man with one man undefeated in the tournament and the other winless. Poor Yuta gave this one his best showing of the tournament, nearly tapping out Andrade on multiple occasions but never quite finishing the job. El Idolo for the win to move 3-0 as Yuta becomes the third straight man tonight to fall to 0-3, as the line to compete for his ROH Pure Championship grows ever larger.

Winner: Andrade El Idolo
Time: 14:28
Rating: 83%
---

B Block: Malakai Black vs. Scorpio Sky

Quite the reversal of fortunes for both men in this one. Black is coming off a knockout loss to CM Punk, while Sky is coming off of a win against Samoa Joe in one of the best matches of the tournament. But let this be an example of how a Round Robin tournament has its ebbs and flows. This match was all Malakai as he just throttles Sky for 9 tortuous minutes and puts him down for a German Suplex for the win.

Winner: Malakai Black
Time: 9:19
Rating: 59%
---

A Block: Kyle O'Reilly vs. Swerve Strickland

Same deal - ebbs and flows. KOR arguably looked like the most dominant man in the tournament with how swiftly he put down his first two opponents, yet tonight Swerve Strickland took him to the absolute limit.

A back and forth encounter which the crowd got really into as it went deeper into the match. Swerve proved himself to be a tough bastard, muscling his way out of several KOR suplex attempts and wrangling his way to the ropes during submissions. Swerve connects with a big lariat and jumps up to the top for a Swerve Stomp for the win!

Winner: Swerve Strickland
Time: 17:15
Rating: 885
---

B Block: "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes vs. PAC

The cagey Rhodes has been one of the surprise performers of this tournament so far, while PAC's still finding himself scrapping for a win. Tough not to start thinking about Rhodes as an ageless wonder with the performance he churned out here. As the speedier PAC tried to quicken the pace, Dustin was able to hold his own and meet him with his strength advantage.

Fans were in for a treat as this was another one they got really into and they bought on all of the drama and near-falls. That sound Fire Pro makes when the crowd starts to get really electric during a tight match is a great noise indeed. PAC locks in a Brutalizer and Dustin refuses to yield, PAC takes a different course, goes up top and hits the Black Arrow for the win to finally get on the board. What a match!

Winner: PAC
Time: 14:11
Rating: 97%
---

A Block: MJF vs. Rey Fenix

Coming off of a surprise loss last time out, MJF looked to regain his composure against the speedster Fenix. MJF had no time for Fenix's lucha shit as he was able to cut Fenix down to size every time he looked to be getting the momentum. Fenix attempts a dive to the outside that MJF sidesteps, causing him to land awkwardly on his arm. MJF slides Fenix back in and immediately cranks back on the Salt of the Earth, bending Fenix's arm in a way it shouldn't. The referee calls for the bell!

Winner: MJF
Time: 7;19
Rating: 84%
---

B Block: Daniel Garcia vs. CM Punk

Jericho finally got the JAS on the board earlier in the evening, could this propel his stablemate to do the same? These two put on a clinic in there, with Garcia very smartly placing an emphasis over working on Punk's knees with an eye towards many of his signature moves, the least of which being the GTS.

This all comes in to play at the finish as Punk does hit the GTS but Garcia is too close to the ropes, sliding himself out of the ring and leaving Punk favoring the knee in the ring. As Garcia recovers, he gets into the ring and relentlessly assults the knee further. He locks in a Sharpshooter and then goes a step further and bridges it for extra torque. With his knee in agony and a long tourney still ahead, PUNK TAPS!!! What an upset!

Winner: Daniel Garcia
Time: 16:39
Rating: 95%
---

A Block: "All Ego" Ethan Page vs. Darby Allin

Tonight's A Block finale features two men with some previous history, as longtime AEW fans will remember Page throwing Darby down a flight of stairs while they were still in the midst of the Daily's Place COVID-era shows. The two wasted no time slugging it out and letting the bad blood flow.

Page has been one of the standout stars of the tournament thus far, putting on two masterclasses and scoring arguably two of the biggest upsets. But tonight was not his night. Darby reverses the Spinning Dwayne into an armdrag and they he quickly puts Page into the Last Supper pinning combination for the victory.

Winner: Darby Allin
Time: 15:06
Rating: 92%
---

B Block: "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe

On paper this match was a no-brainer to close out the night as the two have a storied history with one another, battling many times across multiple promotions including a more than 45-minute ROH Title match way back in the day. Although it's been quite a long time since they've faced off, I'm sure their in-ring chemistry would pick right back up again.

Instead we got a match that was solid but nowhere near what it could have been. Them's the breaks in Fire Pro. Bryan is pretty deadly in the Fire Pro realm with so many submission and pinning combinations. Such was on display here as Bryan ducked a clothesline and turned it into a quick backslide for the win just as the match was hitting its second gear.

Winner: Bryan Danielson
Time: 11:27
Rating: 80%

[M-A-G]

Originally Posted by Evil Vito Night 5! "Judas" by Fozzy blares as a very flustered Chris Jericho makes his way out to the ring. He's heard enough shit from people about his 0-2 start to the tournament, and his Jericho Appreciation Society being 0-6 total. He's not going to wait for his match, he's demanding his next opponent get out here RIGHT NOW! "Everybody Dies" hits and Jericho shits his britches. As and you shall receive as the 6'8" Lance Archer charges his way out to be Jericho's next opponent! A Block: Chris Jericho vs. "The Murderhawk Monster" Lance Archer Jericho has seen the blocks and knew who he has yet to face in the block, but arguably Archer was the man he was least hoping for to come down that aisle. Not only is he a big and tough bruiser but he's 0-2 and desperate for a win just like Jericho is. Archer dominated the early going of the match like a house of fire, but Jericho had a few tricks up his sleeve. A well-placed low block with the ref down brings the big guy down to size, Jericho connects with a Codebreaker to land his first points of the tournament. At 0-3, Archer is an incredibly difficult mathematical spot, and he might be left playing spoiler the rest of the way. Winner: Chris Jericho Time: 9:45 Rating: 79% ---

Jericho winning anything at this stage in his career will always put me in a tizzy. Archer seems like the kind of guy Vince would cream himself over...IF HE WAS STILL THE BOSS!!!

B Block: Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Jay Lethal Lethal is trying to ride some momentum from his win over the All-Atlantic Champion last time out, while Hobbs is in the same spot as Archer. He ended up meeting the same fate. Picks Lethal up for a Powerslam, Lethal slides off and sends Hobb into the ropes. Leg sweep, diving elbow, done. Both A and B blocks have to contend with big, mean dudes getting off to 0-3 starts. Winner: Jay Lethal Time: 11:41 Rating: 75% ---

I suppose the same sentiment for Archer could be applied to Hobbs. I'm sure Vince would love a guy like that to smash all of those puny cruiserweights...IF HE WERE STILL IN CHARGE!!!

A Block: Andrade El Idolo vs. Wheeler Yuta Two opposite trajectories in this man with one man undefeated in the tournament and the other winless. Poor Yuta gave this one his best showing of the tournament, nearly tapping out Andrade on multiple occasions but never quite finishing the job. El Idolo for the win to move 3-0 as Yuta becomes the third straight man tonight to fall to 0-3, as the line to compete for his ROH Pure Championship grows ever larger. Winner: Andrade El Idolo Time: 14:28 Rating: 83% ---

Tournament formats like this are great to build a dude up and have him go undefeated for a good length and have the question raised of will he lose eventually...KIND OF LIKE VINCE WHO'S FINALLY OUT!!!

A Block: Kyle O'Reilly vs. Swerve Strickland Same deal - ebbs and flows. KOR arguably looked like the most dominant man in the tournament with how swiftly he put down his first two opponents, yet tonight Swerve Strickland took him to the absolute limit. A back and forth encounter which the crowd got really into as it went deeper into the match. Swerve proved himself to be a tough bastard, muscling his way out of several KOR suplex attempts and wrangling his way to the ropes during submissions. Swerve connects with a big lariat and jumps up to the top for a Swerve Stomp for the win! Winner: Swerve Strickland Time: 17:15 Rating: 885 ---

I'm sure he's a nice guy and all but I can't get behind the name Swerve Strickland. Who came up with it, Vince McMahon? Oh, right, he can't BECAUSE HE'S GONE!!!

B Block: "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes vs. PAC The cagey Rhodes has been one of the surprise performers of this tournament so far, while PAC's still finding himself scrapping for a win. Tough not to start thinking about Rhodes as an ageless wonder with the performance he churned out here. As the speedier PAC tried to quicken the pace, Dustin was able to hold his own and meet him with his strength advantage. Fans were in for a treat as this was another one they got really into and they bought on all of the drama and near-falls. That sound Fire Pro makes when the crowd starts to get really electric during a tight match is a great noise indeed. PAC locks in a Brutalizer and Dustin refuses to yield, PAC takes a different course, goes up top and hits the Black Arrow for the win to finally get on the board. What a match! Winner: PAC Time: 14:11 Rating: 97% ---

Boo, the run is over for Dustin. I'm still not giving up on him. An old-timer like him can make a comeback. UNLIKE VINCE WHO'S GONE!!!

A Block: MJF vs. Rey Fenix Coming off of a surprise loss last time out, MJF looked to regain his composure against the speedster Fenix. MJF had no time for Fenix's lucha shit as he was able to cut Fenix down to size every time he looked to be getting the momentum. Fenix attempts a dive to the outside that MJF sidesteps, causing him to land awkwardly on his arm. MJF slides Fenix back in and immediately cranks back on the Salt of the Earth, bending Fenix's arm in a way it shouldn't. The referee calls for the bell! Winner: MJF Time: 7;19 Rating: 84% ---

It doesn't say Fenix tapped so I'm assuming the ref just decided to end things and call for the bell himself. Kind of like Vince in Montreal. Shame he can't do that anymore! Remember, VINCE SCREWED VINCE!!!

B Block: Daniel Garcia vs. CM Punk Jericho finally got the JAS on the board earlier in the evening, could this propel his stablemate to do the same? These two put on a clinic in there, with Garcia very smartly placing an emphasis over working on Punk's knees with an eye towards many of his signature moves, the least of which being the GTS. This all comes in to play at the finish as Punk does hit the GTS but Garcia is too close to the ropes, sliding himself out of the ring and leaving Punk favoring the knee in the ring. As Garcia recovers, he gets into the ring and relentlessly assults the knee further. He locks in a Sharpshooter and then goes a step further and bridges it for extra torque. With his knee in agony and a long tourney still ahead, PUNK TAPS!!! What an upset! Winner: Daniel Garcia Time: 16:39 Rating: 95% ---

Not familiar with AEW as you can imagine so is Garcia a guy who is even remotely close to being on the level with Punk? It's kind of jarring to see someone who's not a name in my eyes getting the duke over a big name. Still good to know Punk's doing wrestling. UNLIKE VINCE!!!

B Block: "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe On paper this match was a no-brainer to close out the night as the two have a storied history with one another, battling many times across multiple promotions including a more than 45-minute ROH Title match way back in the day. Although it's been quite a long time since they've faced off, I'm sure their in-ring chemistry would pick right back up again. Instead we got a match that was solid but nowhere near what it could have been. Them's the breaks in Fire Pro. Bryan is pretty deadly in the Fire Pro realm with so many submission and pinning combinations. Such was on display here as Bryan ducked a clothesline and turned it into a quick backslide for the win just as the match was hitting its second gear. Winner: Bryan Danielson Time: 11:27 Rating: 80%

See, here's the problem with a match like this happening in this day and age. Yes, they're darlings and talented and all that jazz but they've been going 20+ years at this point. I don't really see much of a difference between this and Hogan and Flair headlining Raw. OK, the latter might make me hang myself with barbed wire but still. Granted this is just a game but in the real world, both guys deserve so much better at this point. If for no other reason than TO SHOVE IT VINCE'S FACE!!!

OK, enough of that.

I'll see what I can do about getting around to my Slammy nominees.

[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by M-A-G Archer seems like the kind of guy Vince would cream himself over...IF HE WAS STILL THE BOSS!!!

Funny enough, he already had him. He was Vance Archer in WWECW and was doomed from the start as he was made to shave his face and cut his hair, completely killing his look dead from the jump.

He then went on to spend a decade in NJPW though and became one of the better big man workers around.

I'm sure he's a nice guy and all but I can't get behind the name Swerve Strickland. Who came up with it, Vince McMahon? Oh, right, he can't BECAUSE HE'S GONE!!!

He wrestled as Shane "Swerve" Strickland on the indies, had a WWE run as Isiah "Swerve" Scott and now is in AEW and just made Swerve his first name probably because people call him that anyway. I love the dude but felt like Shane Strickland was a less ridiculous name.

It doesn't say Fenix tapped so I'm assuming the ref just decided to end things and call for the bell himself.

Yep that's a Fire Pro feature. Certain moves can force the ref to call for a "Critical", effectively a K.O. It's particularly brutal when it happens in submission moves.

Not familiar with AEW as you can imagine so is Garcia a guy who is even remotely close to being on the level with Punk? It's kind of jarring to see someone who's not a name in my eyes getting the duke over a big name.

If they were to have a match in actual AEW I think it'd be one of those things where everybody knows Punk will go over, but they'd take care to make Garcia look competitive and good in defeat. In the real life G1 tourney though, there are always a handful of upsets. The IWGP champion always participates in the tourney and usually the 2 or 3 people he loses to throughout the tournament will be set up for a rematch with the title on the line. Takes care of the next few months worth of big shows.