General

Are there not full entrances in the game? Looks like they kept it like WWF No Mercy where you just see them on the ramp. It's not too big of a deal I suppose, but I was wanting to see if The Acclaimed would rap at all.

No one seems to know for sure, but it looks like short entrances. Which is odd since I’ve read you can change camera and pyro for entrances. I usually skip them, even in WWE games, but I know people enjoy them

I spent nearly an hour in WWE 2K23 perfecting my entrance (looking for the right lighting, what camera angles to use and making sure my pyro was timed right, etc.), but yes I do often skip them all once I've seen them enough times.

I really hope this game performs well on Switch (lack of framerate drops etc). I'd love to have a wrestling game that I can take with me or pick up and play while in bed. I want to pre-order it but I'm worried Switch is gonna get the short end of the stick.

I may just pre-order it anyways and cancel it if reviews aren't great, assuming the reviews get released with enough time before it ships.

Night of Champions was a pretty good show overall with some duds thrown in for good measure.


Styles vs. Rollins -⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Stratus vs. Lynch - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Gunther vs. Ali - ⭐️⭐️.75
Belair vs. Asuka - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Ripley vs. Natalya - ⭐️
Lesnar vs. Rhodes - ⭐️.5
Owens/Zayn vs. Reigns/Solo - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

WWE is failing Cody Rhodes hard. Not because of the result today, but because of the stupid Hogan-esque "adversity" crap they keep piling into his story that they book him to be unable to overcome cleanly. Having him "pass out from pain" after having his "broken arm" trapped in a kimura lock (a move that doesn't restrict blood flow to the brain) for an overall total of 5+ minutes was so fudging goofy, and Michael Cole explaining that his very obviously cloth arm brace was "titanium" just reeked of oversell. They tried to imitate the Hart/Austin finish from WM13 but forgot that Austin passed out due to blood loss, not "pain". Match was a major dud, as was Ripley/Natalya as it was just a squash. Super pumped for Asuka to have won the title, and they delivered a slightly above average match. Gunther/Ali could have been far better but was way too short. Rollins/Styles was a really good match but something just didn't click all the way for me, and the result was more than obvious.

Stratus/Lynch was a great showing from both ladies and probably the best match either has had in quite some time (especially Trish). Match of the night was of course the tag title match - great in-ring work as to be expected, but they threw an actually-interesting (and unexpected) story beat back into the Bloodline story that finally made things interesting again. The amount of momentum that angle lost post-Mania was huge, but they were able to gain a little of that back after tonight. Where they're failing Rhodes, they're at least delivering with the Bloodline (even if it took them 2ish months).

I didn’t watch most of the show. I came in about the time the ref was speared in the tag match. What I saw was excellent, with the Bloodline storyline. I don’t understand why they let it go for a month and a half after Mania, since they could’ve done some good stuff with Roman being gone, but it’s obvious he’s the one that stirs that drink. I was caught off guard by Bianca losing, but everything else was predictable. I do wonder why they felt the need for Brock to win since they’ve cooled Cody off so much already, but that’s pretty normal for WWE to want to ‘keep Brock strong’.

Uncharacteristically flat first half of an AEW PPV for Double or Nothing, but the second half ruled real hard.

Hook & tthe Hardy Boys vs Ethan Page & the Gunns - ⭐️⭐️.75
International Title Battle Royal - ⭐️⭐️.5
Adam Cole vs Chris Jericho - ⭐️⭐️.75
FTR vs Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wardlow vs Christian Cage - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Toni Storm vs Jamie Hayter - ⭐️⭐️
House of Black vs The Acclaimed - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Jade Cargill vs Taya Valkyrie - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Jade Cargill vs Kris Statlander - ⭐️⭐️.5 (for brevity, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ moment though)
MJF vs Sammy Guevara vs Jungle Boy Jack Perry vs Darby Allin - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Blackpool Combat Club vs The Elite - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

The Buy In was fine but nothing memorable. Battle Royal was entertaining and was happy to see Orange retain, didn't want him to lose the belt in a battle royal. Cole/Jericho was average, more than I was expecting tbh but still sort of slow. FTR vs. JJ/Lethal took a bit to get going, but was straight forward and well executed. Always nice to see Briscoe in there in some capacity (wish he was wrestling though). Wardlow/Christian was a total slopfest but featured several entertaining spots, it was what it was supposed to be.

Storm/Hayter was what it was unfortunately: a title change due to legit injuries catching up with Hayter. Still a strong showing all things considered. Jade Cargill is a star, and put on a good match vs. Taya Valkyrie and delivered a great moment in dropping the belt to the super-over, returning Statlander. The World Title four way match absolutely lived up to the "Four Pillars" name (even if I'm still not 100% convinced they should be considered AEW's pillars), and they delivered match of the night. Anarchy in the Arena was as advertised and delivered what was promised. The Takecrapa heel turn makes this guy sad but it's a real interesting direction to take the story. Glad they didn't depend on any major debut this year and let the ending be dedicated to the ongoing story.

Overall a somewhat average, but good show elevated in a major way by the two top notch main events.

I ended up skipping both shows yesterday because my friend wanted to play a game. If the first hour of Raw fails to hold my interest tonight I'll try and at least catch up on NXT instead.
I also skipped the Saudi show. I don't ever watch those shows, despite usually hearing good things about them and thinking "I'll watch the next one". I don't know why I won't sit through one, it's not out of "blood money" protest or anything.

@BucketofJustice Happy birthday brother

I went back and watched it. First one I’ve sat through entirely since the very first one. It was a good show.

I didn’t watch NXT because I’ve more or less fell out of keeping up with NXT. No interest in watching AEW.

AEW > WWE lately, by a mile in my book, but Night of Champions was probably the more consistent show overall this weekend. No matches topped the AEW main events though. None even came close other than KO/Zayn vs Bloodline.

Oddly enough, even though I only catch a show here and there and won't keep up with it regularly (just one or maybe two shows a month, about the same I do with AEW), and I never thought I'd say this post-2008 or so, but I feel like Impact Wrestling is putting on the most watchable product in the country lately, both in-ring wise and storyline wise, but nobody knows because so few watch it anymore.

I catch an Impact show here and there, still meaning to catch up on their PPV from this weekend. I still prefer AEW but I do enjoy what Impact’s up to lately (minus PCO unless he’s taking brutal bumps).

I just like pro wrestling. No one company puts on exclusively great matches or exclusively bad matches, no company is free of some gold and some crap. I don’t get why so many folks subscribe to one over the other these days as if there are inherent reasons behind it, but whatev. Impact especially has gotten the short end of the stick from folks in that realm and they put out mostly great stuff.

I’d agree with that. Impact has flown under the radar and they’re consistently really good. I don’t think they’ll ever get as big/prominent as they were before, either. I think they’re gonna be where they are now, putting on good shows and having a very underrated roster.

I wanted NWA to turn out better than it did, do you guys keep up with that at all? I hardly follow it anymore and don't think I've seen any of it so far this year. But I feel like Billy Corgan might be in over his head, and seems to take offense to anyone not liking something he has booked. I saw an interview where he said to the people that don't like Tyrus because of his political views "if you're not gonna watch him, you're not a wrestling fan". It just seems like he gets overly defensive if you question him or his ideas, almost like Vince Russo.

I loved the NWA product before the pandemic. Up until that show where Marty Scurll was going to wrestle Nick Aldis for the title, I think. It was really good until then. I was also in and out during the Matt Carson’s reign, mostly out.

I didn’t see any of the Billy Corgan stuff you’re talking about, but if Tyrus is your champion then you have bigger problems.

theJaw wrote:

Thanks man. Appreciate it.

August 8 release date
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY5xsVgDHxY

I think I’ll wait for reviews. Kind of like with AEW Fight Forever.

Also Impact has a weird new match type they’re gonna be rolling out. Seems odd, but we’ll see what happens. Can’t be worse than a reverse battle royal.

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1663636...

BucketofJustice wrote:

Actually looks pretty interesting.. the winning team of the 8 man tag face off later on in a fatal 4-way.. Like old school Survivor series with an interesting twist.. Basically, the team will work together to win, then face each other..
What the hell is a reverse battle royal?? I'll have to look that up

It was an old TNA match. It was seriously dumb. Everyone started on the outside and fought to get in the ring (since it was a reverse battle royal, they had to get in the ring by going over the top rope). Then everyone that was in the ring fought in a regular battle royal until there were 2 left. Those two had a singles match then and there and the winner of that, won the reverse battle royal match.

It was always hilarious watching folks TRY to not get into the ring if they knew they weren’t supposed to make it to the second phase. They’d always have blatantly easy paths to get in the ring (considering that’s probably the easiest thing a wrestler can possibly do) but had to find some excuse to avoid it. Some guys would legit be on the apron but then opt to drop an axe handle or something on someone instead of just… enter the ring haha

It was Wrestlecrap worthy for sure haha. Bad match, bad concept. I hope this new thing they’re trying turns out better than the reverse battle royal. We’ll see what happens.

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

I still don't even fully understand the concept of this game. Is it just wrestling matches in wild settings, incorporating JRPG elements... like is the whole game just a battle system pretty much? Or is there a story and exploration, etc? The trailer didn't do a ton to clear any of that up for me.

I feel the same way. I don’t know what it is.

I always liked the "last 2 have to win via pinfall or submission: part of TNA...

Here's an interesting concept similar to the 8-4-1..
Have a random draw of tag teams and have a two round tournament with say 64 people.. after 2 rounds, you have 16 wrestlers left.. Those 16 enter a battle royal.. you can create some cool story lines, fun teams and the ability to create new storylines with teams that lose.

That sounds a lot like a really big Lethal Lottery that WCW did in the early 90’s. I thought it was a decent idea, but I was a kid and watching it back wasn’t great. I’m sure it can be improved upon from then though haha

They've announced what's included in the Elite Edition of Fight Forever

- The Matt Hardy Pack which features two of the many Matt Hardys: Matt Hardy and Broken Matt Hardy.
- The FTR: Revival Pack which features AEW wrestlers Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler PLUS minigames JoinUs and Deth Race-X
- The Limitless Bunny Bundle which features AEW wrestlers The Bunny and Keith Lee PLUS minigames MJF Car Thrash and Sloth Sling
- The Hookhausen Very Handsome, Very Evil Pack which features AEW wrestlers HOOK and Danhausen

Matt Hardy and Broken Matt Hardy are also included if you pre order. They have been releasing trailer everyday over the past week and my expectations went from tempered excitement to full blown. It looks very good from what I've seen. Unfortunately (well not unfortunately because it's going to be an awesome trip) I'll be in Japan on my first day of vacation on the 29th so I wont be able to play it until mid July. I'm thinking of blind pre ordering it though although maybe I'll wait for reviews and just buy it digital.

Yah the more I see of the game, the more interested in it I am. I just went ahead and preordered the standard edition for Switch. I have enough faith that I’ll have a good time with it.

I do wish the wrestlers exclusive to the Elite Edition were just included in the main game, especially FTR & Danhausen, but whatev. I’ll just order them separately eventually down the road.

I’m sure all the preorder wrestlers will be able to be bought separately. I’m going to wait for reviews. I liked some of what I saw in the match released today between MJF and Jade Cargill, and I didn’t like some of it. We will see what happens.

What are some promos that left you scratching your head by the time it was over even after re-watching it multiple times? Had I watched them for the first time as an adult and not a 10 year old mark, probably "every Ultimate Warrior promo ever" would fit that category, but for now I'll go with that "worked shoot" where Dustin Rhodes crapped on WWF, Goldust, Seven and WCW.

I don't know what message he was trying to get across with this nonsense. Of course I understand the frustration he must've been feeling with the effort he put into this gimmick and the network shooting it down, but the line that always got me the most was "I left WWF for gimmicks like this", but he specifically wanted a gimmick that would not draw any comparisons between him and his dad. Plus he said "Goldust nearly ruined my career", but lest we forget he was committed enough to the Goldust gimmick that he had pitched the idea of getting real titty implants for it. It makes even less sense all these years later now that you know he went on to return to the Goldust gimmick four or five times after that.

I know he was battling his demons with drug addiction when he left WWF originally and very likely was still going through it in WCW (and it only got worse years later in TNA during the Black Reign era, another over-the-top character with facepaint) but this was not the way to kill the Seven gimmick in a "I'm gonna pretend this gimmick was forced on me and that I didn't come up with it all on my own" type of promo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TsAjp6AzGM

The Warrior WCW debut promo was like that for me.

There was also a promo that Hogan did in 93 building up to his match against Yokozuna that was just nuts. Something I think about driving a motorcycle through a desert or something. I figured he was just hallucinating. It was on a Superstars episode, but I don’t remember which one. Also any Hogan and Beefcake promo from around the same time was just bonkers.

First look at Owen Hart in Fight Forever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXT_IJPRwtk

Also on the topic of awful/odd promos:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=RE7tp-KOLhU

theJaw wrote:


Ugh, how could I have forgotten that one?
That was the promo equivalent of the infamous Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell match from TNA.

Another one I forgot about was "the genesis of McGillicutty. Some veterans may argue about how promos are too scripted nowadays, but some people desperately need them to be because look what happens when they're allowed to just say whatever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-NpQEiyfY4

Damn, apparently 3 matches for AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2 were announced last night at NJPW Dominion.

-IWGP US Title: Kenny Omega (c) vs Will Ospreay

-Bryan Danielson vs Kazuchika Okada

-NJPW World TV Title & ROH TV Title: Samoa Joe (ROH) vs Zack Sabre Jr (NJPW)

Those 3 matches are worth the price alone. Omega/Ospreay running their incredible WrestleKingdom match from January back. Danielson/Okada is a literal dream match. Also oughtta be interesting to see how both NJPW/ROH handle the TV title situations regardless of who wins both belts. Cannot wait for this show.

EDIT: apparently the TV title(s) match isn’t official and was only teased on ROH, which means it may not even happen at Forbidden Door… though it’d make sense. Also unsure if the hypothetical match would be for both belts. I just went off the Wikipedia entry, but it looks like that’s just a fan’s wishful thinking atm.

Still, the other two matches are top notch and all I need in order to know I’ll be tuning in.

Those are going to be damn good matches if they happen. I hope they have some sort of build and story besides great wrestler A vs. great wrestler B, but if it’s like last year there won’t be much of that. We’ll see what happens.

To be fair, almost all the top programs last year had to get shifted due to injuries. It was considered “cursed” heading in haha

Either way, I’m fine with the “great wrestler vs great wrestler” shtick since the show is between companies from two different countries and both have a stacked schedule for June in their respective native lands. I sorta feel the entire purpose of Forbidden Door is solely to put on good pro wrestling matches, like the old ROH/NJPW mash up shows.

That said, Danielson/Okada is really the only one that doesn’t have a story other than potential US GOAT vs potential Japan GOAT. Omega/Ospreay have been part of an on-again/off-again story for over a year now.

If y’all watch Raw, be prepared for it to suck. Vince is backstage.

A lot of office execs are there too. I wonder if they've started going over who will be losing their jobs due to redundancies after this merger is finished.

Vince being there did not stop Kevin Owens and GUNTHER from putting on one hell of a match 🤌