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[ShadowSwordmaster]

Would Jon Stewart count?
EDIT: I guess not.

 

[Professor Beef]

I hope Robocop loses first. This blatant favoritism is disgusting.

 

[notworksafe]

Can I still get in? I suppose Shaq would be allowed but I wouldn't do that to yall.

 

[Jimmy King]

If all goes according to plan, my entry will make for the best avatars.

 

[Heroman]

I hope this year a good wrestler when the rumble.

 

[FlammableD]

10 SPOTS LEFT FRIENDS

 

[Zach]

If all goes according to plan, my entry will make for the best avatars.

Got those Lex Luger avatars ready for us, pal?

 

[avengers23]

I think Data posted something about this before, but it would be good to see the state of singles champions around the more notable promotions out there.

NJPW
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Tetsuya Naito

In fine shape with Naito after a spirited defense against Ishii at Dontaku. It'll be interesting to see how they program Naito through the G1 this year.

IWGP IC Championship: Kenny Omega

Well, they're definitely trying with Omega, including booking a ladder match defense against Tanahashi. The defense against Elgin on Road to Dontaku Night 7 was very good, and Omega and Tanahashi should work well together.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA

Now that KUSHIDA has solidified his reign from a historical perspective with the defense against Liger, it's almost time to move on. With the Best of the Super Juniors and the Super J Cup coming, I expect KUSHIDA to win the Super J Cup but lose to the winner of BOSJ to breathe life into the title.

AJPW
Triple Crown Championship: Kento Miyahara

After a lackluster match against Zeus to win the belt, Miyahara's beginning to show the confidence of a company's ace. He had some very good matches in the recent Champion Carnival, and AJPW's alliance with BJW allows Miyahara to face challengers other than Zeus or The Bodyguard.

NOAH
GHC Heavyweight Championship: Takashi Sugiura

Sugiura is still holding it down for Suzuki-gun in NOAH, though they could be finally starting the process of moving the title on to Shiozaki. Sugiura's one so-so defense against Nakajima is only paving the road for Shiozaki.

GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship: Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Kanemaru has defended against Taiji Ishimori and Hajime Ohara since winning the belt from Ishimori in February, but there isn't much excitement about Kanemaru's reign. Maybe that's because no one pays much attention to NOAH these days, but there isn't much chatter about Kanemaru. It feels like everyone's waiting for the belt to transition to the next guy.

Dragon Gate
Open the Dream Gate Championship: Shingo Takagi

A blip loss against Jimmy Susumu aside, Shingo has dominated the Open the Dream Gate Championship as the heel champion in Dragon Gate. BxB Hulk is poised to be the one to finally dethrone Shingo Takagi, but I wish it were Yamato after the face turn at Dead or Alive 2016. Still, Shingo's been great, and he's not getting enough attention for his great work as a heel champion.

Open the Brave Gate Championship: Yosuke Santa Maria

Yosuke Santa Maria is trying her best to do what Akira Tozawa had promised, to elevate the Open the Brave Gate Championship, especially after the intentionally shitty run by Kotoka. Santa Maria has defended against Naoki Tanizaki and Mondai Ryu in decent matches, but I think better matches await.

Big Japan Pro Wrestling
BJW Strong World Heavyweight Championship: Yuji Okabayashi

You could make a case that the Strong World Heavyweight Championship is one of the most prestigious titles in Japan. At 302 days, Okabayashi's reign is one of the longest active reigns, and his defenses are always spirited hoss matches. Given the length of his reign, could he be the best champion of a company other than Shingo Takagi?

WRESTLE-1
WRESTLE-1 Championship: KAI

I hated to see Yuji Hino lose the belt, but KAI isn't a terrible choice. I haven't seen the title change yet though.

ZERO1
ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship: Kohei Sato

I haven't seen the title change from Hideki Suzuki to Kohei Sato.

World Wonder Ring Stardom
World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai

Shirai won the belt from Meiko Satomura in 2015 and has defended it against Kairi Hojo, Viper, The Alpha Female, and Mayu Iwatani since. Knowing Shirai, I'm sure the matches have been good to great, particularly the Kairi Hojo and Mayu Iwatani matches. Shirai vs. Satomura blew off Satomura's domination of Stardom's championship as the invader from Sendai Girls.

Sendai Girls Pro Wrestling
Sendai Girls World Championship: Meiko Satomura

The company's owner is the current champion, and she's held the belt for more than 200 days. The Aja Kong defense this year alone elevates this championship, and it should be great when Satomura finally drops the belt.

WWE
WWE World Heavy Championship: Roman Reigns

There's enough talk about Reigns' run as a champion as it is. It is what it is.

WWE Women's Championship: Charlotte

I can't help but feel like this is a placeholder until Sasha Banks returns, but Charlotte's making the best of what she has with this run.

NXT Championship: Samoa Joe

I want to see Joe get a lengthy run and some fresh match-ups after dispatching with Finn Balor at the next TakeOver show.

NXT Women's Championship: Asuka

Let's get the Nia Jax match and the Bayley rematch out of the way. I want Asuka vs. Athena.

TNA
TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Drew Galloway

I had to look this one up. Is Galloway making his idea of touring as the TNA champion happen?

TNA X-Division Championship: Trevor Lee

I also had to look this one up.

ROH
ROH World Championship: Jay Lethal

At 334 days, this is the longest active reign that I could find, but it doesn't feel as important as it should be. They're going with a Jay Briscoe rematch as their next big program, so good for ROH, I guess.

PWG
PWG World Championship: Zack Sabre Jr

I scoff at the lengths of PWG championships because they're inflated by the fact that PWG barely holds shows, and the shows that they do hold don't get seen for months after the fact. And I think Sabre is missing the next set of PWG shows. This could be another dud PWG championship run, but its not like it matters since every match on the card is booked like a championship match.

SHIMMER Women Athletes
SHIMMER Championship: Madison Eagles

Speaking of independent wrestling companies with huge backlogs or delays in getting their shows out, here's SHIMMER. Eagles has defended against Candice LeRae and Nicole Savoy since winning the belt from Nicole Matthews, and I'm sure they were good matches. I haven't seen them though.

EVOLVE
EVOLVE Championship: Timothy Thatcher

Thatcher's still technically champion, despite Gabe Sapolsky's "Thatcher Crisis." But the shine has come off of Thatcher and his run, and it feels like we're treading water until he loses it to someone from Catch Point or TJP.

PROGRESS Wrestling
PROGRESS World Championship: Marty Scurll

The Brits can probably talk in greater depth about Scurll's current run as champion, which is almost defined by the Scurll vs. Ospreay global rivalry.

Revolution Pro Wrestling
RevPro British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr.

Can you have a heavyweight championship when you're not a heavyweight? Sabre has defended against bigger guys like Elgin and Damo since winning the belt from AJ Styles, but I wonder if Sabre should drop the title if he's going to work more in the States.

 

[Discotheque]

Just please don't let Big Show win the Avatar Rumble

whats the avatar rumble.

 

[Jimmy King]

I like those Kayfabe rankings they do over on wreddit. If I knew how to work photoshop I'd do one for my WCW watch.

Got those Lex Luger avatars ready for us, pal?

Lex Luger is not my entry, but I encourage you, or anyone, to submit him. He would be great.

snip

good shit

 

[Bluekaveli]

Santa Maria, does she do her role better than Tyler?

 

[Zach]

I like those Kayfabe rankings they do over on wreddit. If I knew how to work photoshop I'd do one for my WCW watch.

Learn how to work Photoshop.

 

[Data West]

Santa Maria, does she do her role better than Tyler?

she actually has charisma for one, so yes

 

[FlammableD]

TNA
TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Drew Galloway

I had to look this one up. Is Galloway making his idea of touring as the TNA champion happen?

I mean, he's made TNA the top heel stable in ICW and EVOLVE as champion, so I guess?

EDIT: Also yes, this is a dope post. RE: Scurll as champ, the work is real good, but he doesn't have a defined antagonist now Ospreay is gone, and they're only just about getting the crowd on side booing the guy WHO RETIRED KRIS TRAVIS BY BEATING HIM UP AFTER HE CAME BACK FROM CANCER

 

[somedevil]

They announced dates for the Cruiser weight Classic:

The WWE has officially announced the dates for the upcoming Cruiserweight Classic, which kicks off next month. June 23, July 14, August 27 and September 24 were revealed as the dates for the tournament.

Seems they are splitting up the tapings instead of doing the whole tournament in the same week. So they are probably going to split up the rounds during the tapings and hope none of the winners get injured before the next taping.

The tickets go on sale this friday if people are interested.

 

[Bluekaveli]

she actually has charisma for one, so yes

I have to see this. Tyler should be doing much more with his gimmick but I've only seen bits and pieces of his nxt stuff. I know he's a good wrestler but he's about his bread mostly.

 

[FlammableD]

whats the avatar rumble.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=203943327&postcount=11418

 

[Data West]

you forgot some

i'm not counting CMLL's titles because they care about them even less than i do

 

[Tagyhag]

Yosuke Santa Maria is a badass name.

 

[klonere]

I think Data posted something about this before, but it would be good to see the state of singles champions around the more notable promotions out there.
.

Great post man, I'll have to give it a fuller response tomorrow no way I can type out anything good on a tablet...

 

[klonere]

Santa Maria, does she do her role better than Tyler?

Sexual assault is one of her trademark spots. Only half joking.

I mean, he's made TNA the top heel stable in ICW and EVOLVE as champion, so I guess?

EDIT: Also yes, this is a dope post. RE: Scurll as champ, the work is real good, but he doesn't have a defined antagonist now Ospreay is gone, and they're only just about getting the crowd on side booing the guy WHO RETIRED KRIS TRAVIS BY BEATING HIM UP AFTER HE CAME BACK FROM CANCER

Yeah they are only getting around to setting something longer term up with Marty now with End. Havoc made Ospreay, who will make Scrull?

 

[avengers23]

Santa Maria, does she do her role better than Tyler?

I wouldn't compare Yosuke Santa Maria to Tyler Breeze, but she's great as the undercard champion.

 

[Bluekaveli]

Sexual assault is one of her trademark spots. Only half joking.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Theoretically, they could overcome the odds to out-vote Vince and Dunn to strip Roman of the title!

Spoiler

Fun fact: Vince has a bunch of stock worth 10 votes

 

[FlammableD]

Sexual assault is one of her trademark spots. Only half joking.

Eww, is it as transphobic a gimmick as I'm imagining?

 

[avengers23]

you forgot some

i'm not counting CMLL's titles because they care about them even less than i do

I'll be honest: I ran out of time, and I don't know enough about the lucha title scenes to even make educated guesses about their states.

 

[Bluekaveli]

http://www.wwenetworknews.com/2016/...es-hit-service-including-lost-iron-man-match/

So the goal is to finish 2004-5 by the end of June so Mr.Fantastic can see Shelton. After 2006, all hell breaks loose.

 

[Kaladin]

http://www.wwenetworknews.com/2016/...es-hit-service-including-lost-iron-man-match/

So the goal is to finish 2004-5 by the end of June so Jimmy can see Shelton. After 2006, all hell breaks loose.

Holy shit, I had actually forgot about the Benoit vs Triple H iron man match from 04.

 

[sf2fanatic]

Mr T count?

 

[Data West]

Eww, is it as transphobic a gimmick as I'm imagining?

It's not as bad as you think. She's basically a mindgames master and is SUPER over with the fanbase.

 

[slightconfuse]

 

[British Monsoon]

Eww, is it as transphobic a gimmick as I'm imagining?

They do the whole "wrestlers being terrified because Maria tried to kiss them" thing on occasion, but it's off-set when they have a veteran like Mochizuki acting all smitten around her. In general DG handle it fairly maturely, Maria's presented as a face and the fans have taken to her really well.

 

[Bluekaveli]

 

[FlammableD]

Glad to hear it's not done too badly. DG is on my list after seeing some GIFs yesterday

EDIT: Mr T would count

 

[Data West]

When do Maximo and Maria form the dream team though

 

[RBH]

We noted last week that there has been very little promotion from Pop TV for Impact Wrestling in recent weeks. The network seemed to be behind them in the early stages but it’s looking like the honeymoon is over. Last month at the Pop TV upfront’s, the network revealed their 2016-2017 slate of programming with a list of returning shows and shows currently in development. Shows like Schitt’s Creek, Nightcap, a new docu-series on child stars of the 90’s, Big Brother After Dark and a show called Unusually Thicke were among the shows listed.

Impact Wrestling was not mentioned at the upfront presentation or in any of the press releases sent out by the network for their 2016-2017 slate of programming, and Pop TV President has not mentioned TNA on his twitter account since early March.

Ad Sales EVP Michael DuPont touted the fact that Pop TV has added nearly “100 new blue chip advertisers.” As noted before, advertisers are not spending much during TNA programming. It’s the same reason why Destination America dropped TNA last year.

None of this sounds good for TNA especially after the news last week about Pop pulling the Saturday morning Impact replay. Pop TV’s decision to drop the Saturday morning replay last week follows the same pattern as Spike TV and Destination America. They pulled the plug on TNA’s secondary shows before pulling the plug on the main show.

http://wrestlingnews.co/impact-wrestling-not-listed-on-pop-tvs-fall-schedule/

 

[Kaladin]

TNA can always go back to broadcasting via Real Player streams and torrents.

 

[Bluekaveli]

TNA can always go back to broadcasting via Real Player streams and torrents.

Napster you meant. They can help the pirate business.

 

[Kaladin]

Napster you meant. They can help the pirate business.

I swear I remember a time where you could officially download a torrent of Impact Wrestling.

I can't track that down, but I can find where they started on Real Player (lol) in 2005.

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

Can we change our representative for the Rumble?

 

[Cagey]

The Vaudevillains feuding with the New Day feeling right exposes how lame the New Day have gotten in recent months.

The cheddar cheese of their schtick is overwhelming.

Also these WWE dudes are simply too big for the Styles Clash.

 

[Kaladin]

Maybe TNA can become the first wrestling company to broadcast weekly episodes exclusively to Netflix.

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

Maybe TNA can become the first wrestling company to broadcast weekly episodes exclusively to Netflix.

Does Netflix want that?

 

[sf2fanatic]

TNA brodcast coming from public TV station from parts unknown. You know the one station that had people dancing in a ballroom on Saturday Nights type of channel

 

[Bluekaveli]

I swear I remember a time where you could officially download a torrent of Impact Wrestling.

I can't track that down, but I can find where they started on Real Player (lol) in 2005.

You know that's pathetic but I believe they teased at ECW actually taking an online only route before wwe bought them.

TNA brodcast coming from public TV station from parts unknown. You know the one station that had people dancing in a ballroom on Saturday Nights type of channel

Roflmfao! Dude, Friday and Saturday nights, I remember that shit so much.

 

[Kaladin]

Does Netflix want that?

I can't see why they wouldn't, TNA still brings in viewers and it might bring in more viewers in a Netflix format instead of a small cable channel.

 

[Angry Grimace]

The funniest part of the Vaudevillians is that they aren't actually doing anything. All they do is beat up the New Day out of nowhere. That's not getting their gimmick over. That's just being generic bad guy filler tag team.

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

I can't see why they wouldn't, TNA still brings in viewers and it might bring in more viewers in a Netflix format instead of a small cable channel.

That is true.

 

[Kaladin]

They say Vaudevillains were always penned in to win the #1 contender tag team tournament, but they feel like a filler team filling time till Enzo can come back.

 

[Angry Grimace]

They say Vaudevillains were always penned in to win the #1 contender tag team tournament, but they feel like a filler team filling time till Enzo can come back.

Enzo and Cass vs. ND would be good except they're all faces now, which would be a strange dynamic given that Enzo's sch-tick is telling opponent's they suck.