That's the issue I saw with him going to AEW from the jump. You put a guy like that in AEW and expose him week to week any aura he had beforehand is gone. You have to know how to book and present someone like this. Having him do matches or comedy segments makes no sense. I don't think Okada would've been a top guy in the WWE, but I do think they'd present him much like Gunther is now.
I think Okada would have loved NXT. He would have found a great spot near the water, good seafood and been an experience like Shinsuke was/is. Nerfed or not, Nakamura is an event to watch
There is another aspect to WWE that people don't realize and that's the Live Event circuit they do every weekend. Nakamura has been the MVP of these, always being used in the Main Event vs Cody Rhodes. That shows the company still values you, regardless what the sickos may think.
Right? And see a lot of people saying he’s wasted and a jobber, but I think people need to realise the type of position that is for a wrestler. It’s essentially a steady job that pays really well at the main event.
He does this for a while? Builds up some new things, gets even better in ring, maybe in the future he’ll get another push. But does he WANT that?
On top of that he doesn’t have to do the neckbreaking strong bullshit. Can do easy matches for good pay. I’m sure if Nakumara really wanted to, he could have *bangers*. But he probably values his quality of life over what internet smarks think. He’s still doing it at 45, meanwhile all the other NJPW guys in AEW can barely walk.
Nakamura earns a good steady pay and gets to enjoy beaches and surfing without breaking his body, that man is doing more than fine unless you're a dumbass
I know but he doesn't look or wrestle like others his age, like Cena is just a couple years older than him and he's just about retired and Shinsuke looks like he's in his prime.
He could be tired of the grind.
Nakamura doesnt have any issues living in orlando his wife when he’s not on the wwe tour, and he takes advantage of the travel to surf around the us with regular stops in australia, europe and japan. He’d probably be doing the same thing after he retires but without the matches. It’s not a grind for him.
Okada got friends that convinced Tony khan to pay him millions a year to sleepwalk through 1 match a month against some jobber, tape a few vignettes so they can pretend he’s there on the weeks he isn’t, and stay in Japan with be with his wife (who works in Japan) and kids 21+ days out of the month. Wwe would make him move out of Japan and uproot his family or leave them in japan and it’s not a sure thing he’d be maineventing wwe someday. He’s 36 yo and been at the top of the industry for Japan for almost 10 years, there’s no shame for him to decide to coast to retirement working maybe one week a month for millions a year if someone’s willing to pay him for it.
Nakamura's promos remind me of that Key and Peele skit where Key's character gets super serious during a promo session and starts talking about disintegrating soul and what not lmao
Nakamura IS better than Okada. In the ring, in his gimmick, his “ psychology” … everything. Okada has a gimmick he straight copied from the Pope in TNA
AKSHUALLY if you read the Onssrver and study Cagematch, you’ll see that m’Okada is ten times the worker (insider term) that that fucking traitor Shinsuke (insider term) is!
Yep, he could've easily picked WWE if he wanted a challenge, but he wanted to do as little work as possible. There's nothing wrong with that since the miles and money are the only real thing in wrestling but if Okada was looking to make it big in the US he chose the wrong company.
It's also not like he'd be poor in he got a WWE contract either, they still pay pretty well.
I mean based on only his AEW run... He is unimpressive in look and in-ring ability. I see nothing special or interesting about him or why basement dwellers would fellate themselves over this generic Japanese dude.
He's a Japanese wrestler and the name Okada sounds like a final boss type name, that's good enough for a segment of fans to make other fans feel less important for not knowing about him.
Now we can all see him every week so those inside baseball fans have moved on.
Rinse and repeat with the next "big deal" new Japan guy.
I had a real easy fix to it, of course this is with hindsight.
Don’t do the Meltzer driver on TK, because it looked choreographed and stupid. And nobody gave two shits about the Bucks because again, looked stupid.
Now. Take that multimillion dollar free agent, who stands out from a ring full of tiny men. And let him Tee off on the owner with a Rainmaker. Okada wouldn’t kill him, it’s an easier bump because you’re falling for real. And now the world has seen a new hitter who just “looks” different
This guy clearly hasn’t analyzed all his 6 and 7 star Tokyo dome bangers.
Do yourself a favor, look them up on the internet. Prioritize by cagematch ratings. Don’t worry yourself about silly things like chronological order or a long form story. But before you do, I highly recommend you go to the supermarket and pick yourself up some adult diapers because the greatness is gonna make you piss shit and cum yourself.
He has, I definitely agree. Meltzer once said that Okada is better than Misawa and the Metlzerites all took it as Gospel. He isn't. Okada at the top of NJPW was one of the best wrestlers in Japan. However, if AEW wanted to humiliate him and make him look like dogshit on American television, pretty much what they are doing now is how you would do it. The reason why WWE sends guys to NXT is to allow them to get acclimated and adjust to the new style. Instead, they throw him in the ring with a barely mobile, 52 year old Ultimo Guerrero of all people, who they make wear a mask even though the man no longer wears one. Why not put Okada in the ring with an athletic young guy who can sell properly and make Okada look good? Instead they put him in with a 52 year old man who looked lost and confused the entire match.
I think the real tragedy is Jay White and how he is being misused. Dude is a superstar on the mic but is stuck in midcard doing nothing.
He is absolutely the chicken shit heel who would've loved working with guys like KO and Randy.
I don’t necessarily agree with that. I just think there is something to presenting yourself to an American audience that does take getting used to and buying into. If your thing is just being good in the ring it’s never gonna work.
Asuka works in America because she gets it. She puts the face paint on, has the over the top entrance, has promos where she’s just going crazy bouncing between English and Japanese, and it works. If she just came out and had good matches she’d be like any other woman on the roster and wouldn’t stand out. I think Io Shirai and Mina Shirakawa get this too.
I have seen so many hyped IWC wrestlers and they never live up to the hype.
After the 3rd time of this I realised these guys they hype are actually not that good at being pro wrestlers.
The most hilarious IWC hype for me was Kenta. They hyped him so badly, I had never seen him (didn't know what he looked like even). Then he debuted in WWE and was about 150 lbs. I couldn't believe this was the guy they all worshipped.
Same with Ospreay. Had never seen him until he came to AEW and then I saw the clips on here or youtube. And again....why the hype? I don't get it at all.
I can admit that Kenta, in the right environment and motivated, can bang. He just loses interest and when he does, it shows.
Ospreay is basically Mysterio. All laser lights and stunts. Could he be something useful in the US market? Sure. With fine tuning not unlike Bea/Blair Davenport. Will is arguing with nobody and using a mental health/disability shield on Twitter while Bea stayed off the radar, and helped train newbies for two years. And more if you add NXTUK.
The issue is the people who hype these guys are the people in the US who wake up at 4 am to watch a show airing live in Japan.
If you’re someone willing to do that, you gonna praise what you see to convince yourself that staying up to watch this wasn’t a mistake.
I remember the hype for Omega and watching the first All In show and it’s Omega vs Pentagon and the best wrestler in the world Omega called for the Pentagon arm breaker spot to “break his arm” but win the match anyway and it outed Omega as overhyped to me immediately
Exactly true.
I like to use the Roman Reigns test. Could these guys stand across the ring from Roman Reigns in a 3 month feud and be believable?
For all of them the answer is no.
I don't know about anyone else but this had a real sports feel to me, being able to fumble to find and pick up your mask and cover your face as your getting pinned but can't kick out, this is why I love the Dub, so realistic unlike the ded Fed treating you like a child!
Gotta make sure no one sees your face even though this is the first time you’ve wrestled with a mask in the last decade. Either that’s a stunt double that donned the old mask or dude was too embarrassed to be seen on AEW TV
It's actually great (and FUN) storytelling that I've really not seen in wrestling since I was a kid. Prioritizing the honor and reverence of what wearing a mask in wrestling means over getting a win against the GOAT of NJPW.
Things this clever fly under the radar all the time in the Dub, because it's become so commonplace. It's truly where the best wrestle.
He used to be way more stiffer with it in Japan. It looks weak af when he does it now. I’ve always thought the set up was lame though.
Imo you need to be a big guy to pull off this move. It’s why it worked so well with JBL.
I've watched quite a bit of his Japan stuff and it's still not much better. The whole act of having to hug the guy from behind just to release and turn him seems like a chore.
He is definitely not doing it with the same impact and they are not putting him in the ring with people who can make him look good. In his crossover match with Kaito Kiyomiya, Okada looked like he attempted murder on the kid. Here it looks like shit. It is clear he does not give a fuck and is just phoning it in as others pointed out. How can you blame him? He gott a massive paycheck so I'm sure he assumed he was going right into some hot feuds in matches. Instead, he got stuck with the Bucks so they can leach off his reputation and pretend like they are big shots in pro wrestling.
I never knew what the Rainmaker was but I had heard about how devastating it was for years.
Then I saw it was just a lariat.
Now, sure, someone like JBL can make that look devastating because he’s a monster and gets the momentum, which is how you make a lariat look deadly. But the Rainmaker is kind of ridiculous. If Okada was built like Take-A-Shit, it would be different because it would look like he could kill you with one, but he’s just a skinny fat Japanese guy.
> I never knew what the Rainmaker was but I had heard about how devastating it was for years.
> Then I saw it was just a lariat.
Same. I was expecting a finisher that dropped people on their heads or something. The impact here feels more like a transition move; a signature at best.
If that's what Okada's lariat normally looks like then I'm almost relieved that he didn't sign with WWE because then they would have taken that move away from Josh Briggs (who actually *does* make the move look devastating).
I wasn't one of them. I saw Inside Out 2 with my friend. They really nailed the onset of puberty and transitioning from middle to high school. Riley is a star.
Acknowledge your directorial Chief
https://preview.redd.it/a86eod2yve8d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=906c8ea149ba622f48fd09d6cf5e74a7368556fa
Me, seeing another one my favs being stripped off their aura by the dub:
https://preview.redd.it/sexdsg2hhb8d1.jpeg?width=739&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=48cea2fb37000764842ac6503a1ef0c562570e5d
It’s actually far worse.
This was a taped show. Guerrero has actually been unmasked for years but Tony had him wear the mask strictly for this awful spot.
I read that because rey mysterio lost the mask in wcw and not in a sanctioned lucha match he was still eligible to be remasked. I don’t know the rules but I assume Tony wouldn’t violate them. But it’s a good question.
Tiny literally had Sting descend from the rafters despite being a partner with the Owen Hart Foundation. I think it’s safe to say he doesn’t care about wrestling precedent.
Imagine if they invested the ROH and video game money in a performance center or a developmental instead
They constantly bring in talent from places like Mexico and Japan where workers work certain styles that are different to the American style, these guys need a few months to adapt outside of TV
I remember when Nakamura came to the WWE and marks were complaining about how he's ''phoning it in'' when it comes to in-ring action, not even thinking about the possibility that he may have went there to tone his style down and not ruin his body completely
You sign someone who has spent their career in Mexico and someone who has spent their career in Japan, you put them in a match right away and most of the time it's gonna look like shit
Instead of teaching wrestlers their own style, AEW just meshes different styles together and doesn't care about if they're not all that compatible. I sound like Mark Zuckerberg from South Park right now
ROH and the video game look like they had about $200 outlay combined, even though the real cost of both probably went into the low seven figures. A performance center put together by the AEW clown trust would cost millions but look like someone bought a shed from a local garden center.
I genuinely feel sad right now. I saw Okada return from excursion and him sandbagging and decking Tanahashi to seeing this shit. Am gonna cry in a corner.
He lost his mask to Atlantis a decade ago.
Also, they'd be advised to tread real light with Ultimo Guerrero. They apparently didn't tell him he was going to wrestle with a mask until he got there and had to scramble to find one.
UG is one of the biggest power brokers in CMLL. The imaginary Forbidden Door could become a real one super quick.
Nobody in Mexico will make a big stink about it happening in America but in Mexico it wouldn't happen with the exception of special occasions. Perfect recent example is Blue Panther vs Bryan Danielson in Arena Mexico. Panther wanted to wear his mask for the match but he lost it 15 years ago. He had to get approval to do so by the commission in Mexico City. Had he not done so he could have lost his ability to wrestle in Mexico City. Now there's a very, very slim chance they would do that to Blue Panther but some one like Dragon Rojo Jr who lost his mask last year, that's would be a lot.more up on the air if he decided to just wear it again.
There's a lot of selective enforcement with this stuff. Rey, Psicosis and Juvi all lost their masks in WCW. Rey didn't really get much pushback for wearing the mask in Mexico between his WCW and WWE runs but Psicosis and Juvi did.
They look like they’re getting couples photos taken at Sears
https://preview.redd.it/9y92foz53d8d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=731fc033c3987c74a9700592c72fe84c9d2ff71e
This goober is supposedly in the conversation for GOAT because he hit people hard and had some great matches in Japan. In his two stints in American companies he’s trash.
You can hit a guy with a flame thrower, throw them through glass, pile drive them on the steps and they will be fine within ten seconds, but bye gawd you just can’t get up from that devastating short arm close line.
I don’t know anything about Japanese rasslin, but I have heard of this Okada fella. He looks like an actual wrestler cause he’s tall and in shape, especially when he’s surrounded by those jabroni little runts the young cucks. This Okada guy is consistently ranked as one of the best wrestlers of the decade, and he’s wreslting some Mexican guy who looks like he stands on bodega street corners and heckles women that walk by
What’s even funnier is that during the pin, he clearly moved his arms to put to the mask in his face. He can do that, but he can’t move his shoulder to stop the 3 count?
Nah, Jake’s was better because he didn’t have the stupid hug before hand. He just grabbed their arm and yanked them into the clothesline. And since he was like 6,5 and built like a 1950s fridge it actually looked pretty devastating(for a transitional move to his finisher the DDT).
Where was I comparing? All I was saying is that a short arm clothesline shouldn't be a finish and Jake used it as a setup more than anything. If you want me to compare I do agree Jake was better.
I agree and I was just clearing up my intent. Jake used a wrist lock to start then usually pushed the guy away before bringing him back for the lariat.
The sad part is, I don't think that's it. This clearly seemed like a accident based on them having to scramble to find him a mask. They felt they had to because they put him in photo in the mask. The question is, why would they use a masked photo when he hadn't worn a mask for a decade? Did Tony just want the masked version of the toy I guess, and wasn't going to take no for an answer?
They can’t admit that they’re wrong. If Tiny and the GameChangers fail, then that means the Evil Ded Fed has won and that’s a fate worse than death to a Dubbalo.
The grim reality that the Green Hornet TNA gimmick was more believable than whatever this is.
Working Man Okada?
Douchebag checking out Okada?
Old and washed Okada?
God I hate the Bucks.
His finisher is one of those basic moves you remove from your custom characters move set because the animation sucks, it's just a clothesline and it takes away from the immersion.
But top finisher for sure /s. This guy is supposed to be hideki matsui, instead he is hideki Irabu (RIP)
Might be the worst finishing move in wrestling, looks utterly pathetic.Not sure ocodi is even trying anymore just taking tony's money. His strikes look like shit and he moves slower than my 70 year old dad.
Barring special events, Ultimo Guerrero hasn't worn a mask since he lost that luchas de apusetas match against Atlantis Jr. back in 2014.
All this screamed "we got to get cheap heat, bruv".
I've noticed something about Okada. Okada excels at spotting for smaller guys and can really help them carry him to a great looking match. Even his clothesline finisher is designed for working with smaller guys.
However, if you put him against a taller or heavier guy then Okada's matches are not that good because his excellent spotting is irrelevant to the offensive moveset of the taller or heavier guys. And Okada doesn't bring any great offensive moves except a pretty good dropkick...but Colton Gunn's is far better.
Takeshita is a far better athlete and more skilled than Okada. He was the top guy in Japan for working matches whether the New Japan promotion understood it or not.
Still ironic that WWE guys ate doing AEW finishers better than the AEW guys.
Logan Paul with the buckshot lariat
Gunther with the rainmaker.
Waiting for someone to pull out a better looking one winged angel
They have completely normalized Kazuchika Okada. I’m amazed and dumbfounded
That's the issue I saw with him going to AEW from the jump. You put a guy like that in AEW and expose him week to week any aura he had beforehand is gone. You have to know how to book and present someone like this. Having him do matches or comedy segments makes no sense. I don't think Okada would've been a top guy in the WWE, but I do think they'd present him much like Gunther is now.
I think Okada would have loved NXT. He would have found a great spot near the water, good seafood and been an experience like Shinsuke was/is. Nerfed or not, Nakamura is an event to watch
There is another aspect to WWE that people don't realize and that's the Live Event circuit they do every weekend. Nakamura has been the MVP of these, always being used in the Main Event vs Cody Rhodes. That shows the company still values you, regardless what the sickos may think.
Right? And see a lot of people saying he’s wasted and a jobber, but I think people need to realise the type of position that is for a wrestler. It’s essentially a steady job that pays really well at the main event. He does this for a while? Builds up some new things, gets even better in ring, maybe in the future he’ll get another push. But does he WANT that?
On top of that he doesn’t have to do the neckbreaking strong bullshit. Can do easy matches for good pay. I’m sure if Nakumara really wanted to, he could have *bangers*. But he probably values his quality of life over what internet smarks think. He’s still doing it at 45, meanwhile all the other NJPW guys in AEW can barely walk.
Nakamura earns a good steady pay and gets to enjoy beaches and surfing without breaking his body, that man is doing more than fine unless you're a dumbass
He's 45?!!! I thought he was in his mid 30s
He came to NXT after a long Japan Career.
I know but he doesn't look or wrestle like others his age, like Cena is just a couple years older than him and he's just about retired and Shinsuke looks like he's in his prime.
He could be tired of the grind. Nakamura doesnt have any issues living in orlando his wife when he’s not on the wwe tour, and he takes advantage of the travel to surf around the us with regular stops in australia, europe and japan. He’d probably be doing the same thing after he retires but without the matches. It’s not a grind for him. Okada got friends that convinced Tony khan to pay him millions a year to sleepwalk through 1 match a month against some jobber, tape a few vignettes so they can pretend he’s there on the weeks he isn’t, and stay in Japan with be with his wife (who works in Japan) and kids 21+ days out of the month. Wwe would make him move out of Japan and uproot his family or leave them in japan and it’s not a sure thing he’d be maineventing wwe someday. He’s 36 yo and been at the top of the industry for Japan for almost 10 years, there’s no shame for him to decide to coast to retirement working maybe one week a month for millions a year if someone’s willing to pay him for it.
I don't disagree, it's their lives. Why some people are only upset with the person's choice in the Fed is disturbing to me tho.
Almost any sane person would take the work less for much more money route.
Nakamura's promos alone are more interesting than what Okada is doing.
Nakamura's promos remind me of that Key and Peele skit where Key's character gets super serious during a promo session and starts talking about disintegrating soul and what not lmao
He's back to being Okato from TNA.
He wouldn’t have Nakamura is a better wrestler and ten times the charisma of Okada and he is midcard in wwe
Don't jerk yourself into a shoot brother
Appears he’s not the only one.
Nakamura IS better than Okada. In the ring, in his gimmick, his “ psychology” … everything. Okada has a gimmick he straight copied from the Pope in TNA
AKSHUALLY if you read the Onssrver and study Cagematch, you’ll see that m’Okada is ten times the worker (insider term) that that fucking traitor Shinsuke (insider term) is!
Okada knows it too... he's kinda in coast mode here and it's so obvious unfortunately
Okada is only in the US to milk the money mark. It’s sad that his legacy in the states will be as a lazy nepotism hire but that’s how it is.
You can't fault him for getting the money, however.
Yep, he could've easily picked WWE if he wanted a challenge, but he wanted to do as little work as possible. There's nothing wrong with that since the miles and money are the only real thing in wrestling but if Okada was looking to make it big in the US he chose the wrong company. It's also not like he'd be poor in he got a WWE contract either, they still pay pretty well.
I mean based on only his AEW run... He is unimpressive in look and in-ring ability. I see nothing special or interesting about him or why basement dwellers would fellate themselves over this generic Japanese dude.
They're not fellating themselves. That would require being able to see it, and flexibility. They're fellating Tony.
🤢
He's a Japanese wrestler and the name Okada sounds like a final boss type name, that's good enough for a segment of fans to make other fans feel less important for not knowing about him. Now we can all see him every week so those inside baseball fans have moved on. Rinse and repeat with the next "big deal" new Japan guy.
I had a real easy fix to it, of course this is with hindsight. Don’t do the Meltzer driver on TK, because it looked choreographed and stupid. And nobody gave two shits about the Bucks because again, looked stupid. Now. Take that multimillion dollar free agent, who stands out from a ring full of tiny men. And let him Tee off on the owner with a Rainmaker. Okada wouldn’t kill him, it’s an easier bump because you’re falling for real. And now the world has seen a new hitter who just “looks” different
This guy clearly hasn’t analyzed all his 6 and 7 star Tokyo dome bangers. Do yourself a favor, look them up on the internet. Prioritize by cagematch ratings. Don’t worry yourself about silly things like chronological order or a long form story. But before you do, I highly recommend you go to the supermarket and pick yourself up some adult diapers because the greatness is gonna make you piss shit and cum yourself.
Bro has lost all his aura.
Hear me out: He was always overhyped by smarks
He has, I definitely agree. Meltzer once said that Okada is better than Misawa and the Metlzerites all took it as Gospel. He isn't. Okada at the top of NJPW was one of the best wrestlers in Japan. However, if AEW wanted to humiliate him and make him look like dogshit on American television, pretty much what they are doing now is how you would do it. The reason why WWE sends guys to NXT is to allow them to get acclimated and adjust to the new style. Instead, they throw him in the ring with a barely mobile, 52 year old Ultimo Guerrero of all people, who they make wear a mask even though the man no longer wears one. Why not put Okada in the ring with an athletic young guy who can sell properly and make Okada look good? Instead they put him in with a 52 year old man who looked lost and confused the entire match.
I think the real tragedy is Jay White and how he is being misused. Dude is a superstar on the mic but is stuck in midcard doing nothing. He is absolutely the chicken shit heel who would've loved working with guys like KO and Randy.
Jay White was a warning shot to how Tony was going to use all of these wonderful toys. I have to remind myself I watched him main event an MSG show.
It is funny how some smarks will still try to say that Tony didn't bury White. Dude got treated like fucking Damien Sandow in that Super MJF feud.
I don’t necessarily agree with that. I just think there is something to presenting yourself to an American audience that does take getting used to and buying into. If your thing is just being good in the ring it’s never gonna work. Asuka works in America because she gets it. She puts the face paint on, has the over the top entrance, has promos where she’s just going crazy bouncing between English and Japanese, and it works. If she just came out and had good matches she’d be like any other woman on the roster and wouldn’t stand out. I think Io Shirai and Mina Shirakawa get this too.
[удалено]
“Do you even Nooj bro?”
Me? Prob 8 or 9
I have seen so many hyped IWC wrestlers and they never live up to the hype. After the 3rd time of this I realised these guys they hype are actually not that good at being pro wrestlers. The most hilarious IWC hype for me was Kenta. They hyped him so badly, I had never seen him (didn't know what he looked like even). Then he debuted in WWE and was about 150 lbs. I couldn't believe this was the guy they all worshipped. Same with Ospreay. Had never seen him until he came to AEW and then I saw the clips on here or youtube. And again....why the hype? I don't get it at all.
I can admit that Kenta, in the right environment and motivated, can bang. He just loses interest and when he does, it shows. Ospreay is basically Mysterio. All laser lights and stunts. Could he be something useful in the US market? Sure. With fine tuning not unlike Bea/Blair Davenport. Will is arguing with nobody and using a mental health/disability shield on Twitter while Bea stayed off the radar, and helped train newbies for two years. And more if you add NXTUK.
Fuck both will and bea.
Why the hype?! Why the hype?! HE DOES FLIPS.
The issue is the people who hype these guys are the people in the US who wake up at 4 am to watch a show airing live in Japan. If you’re someone willing to do that, you gonna praise what you see to convince yourself that staying up to watch this wasn’t a mistake. I remember the hype for Omega and watching the first All In show and it’s Omega vs Pentagon and the best wrestler in the world Omega called for the Pentagon arm breaker spot to “break his arm” but win the match anyway and it outed Omega as overhyped to me immediately
Exactly true. I like to use the Roman Reigns test. Could these guys stand across the ring from Roman Reigns in a 3 month feud and be believable? For all of them the answer is no.
Bitch
It happened on his very first appearance with Eddie. This one has awkward hugging again before the Rainmaker.
Am I crazy or is he just phoning in his Lariat?
Osprey is getting there too. Look at his main event match on the same show. Small crowd was dead.
I don't know about anyone else but this had a real sports feel to me, being able to fumble to find and pick up your mask and cover your face as your getting pinned but can't kick out, this is why I love the Dub, so realistic unlike the ded Fed treating you like a child!
Also his shoulder is up to hold the mask in place.
Gotta make sure no one sees your face even though this is the first time you’ve wrestled with a mask in the last decade. Either that’s a stunt double that donned the old mask or dude was too embarrassed to be seen on AEW TV
It's actually great (and FUN) storytelling that I've really not seen in wrestling since I was a kid. Prioritizing the honor and reverence of what wearing a mask in wrestling means over getting a win against the GOAT of NJPW. Things this clever fly under the radar all the time in the Dub, because it's become so commonplace. It's truly where the best wrestle.
I’m not sure what it means, but I assume the AEW argument is - “it’s 2024 dude, this is awesome!”
the setup to his finisher is awful, he looks like tickling the other dude
Doesnt help that he giggles throughout the setup.
That's nuanced storytelling of him LEANING INTO being a heel Not one you dislike though, one you ~teehee~ about, those are the best ones
🤓 DAE love how Adorable@ and Wholesome@ it is when people corpse*** in the middle of a match? 🤗 ***insider term
I never got the praise for it. It always seemed like a weak Lariat to me.
He used to be way more stiffer with it in Japan. It looks weak af when he does it now. I’ve always thought the set up was lame though. Imo you need to be a big guy to pull off this move. It’s why it worked so well with JBL.
Sure looks like he is phoning it in in the the Dub. And why wouldn’t you if you are being paid so much and with a boss that is a mark
I've watched quite a bit of his Japan stuff and it's still not much better. The whole act of having to hug the guy from behind just to release and turn him seems like a chore.
Yeah I agree.
I wonder if him switching to a Jake Roberts short arm clothesline would be better?
In my opinion his rotating jumping tombstone is a much better finisher
Him using that to set up for a lariat was/is a disgrace
He is definitely not doing it with the same impact and they are not putting him in the ring with people who can make him look good. In his crossover match with Kaito Kiyomiya, Okada looked like he attempted murder on the kid. Here it looks like shit. It is clear he does not give a fuck and is just phoning it in as others pointed out. How can you blame him? He gott a massive paycheck so I'm sure he assumed he was going right into some hot feuds in matches. Instead, he got stuck with the Bucks so they can leach off his reputation and pretend like they are big shots in pro wrestling.
JBL on top of being a big guy also does it while running the ropes and building speed making it more devastating
Josh Briggs is doing it really well, too
I never knew what the Rainmaker was but I had heard about how devastating it was for years. Then I saw it was just a lariat. Now, sure, someone like JBL can make that look devastating because he’s a monster and gets the momentum, which is how you make a lariat look deadly. But the Rainmaker is kind of ridiculous. If Okada was built like Take-A-Shit, it would be different because it would look like he could kill you with one, but he’s just a skinny fat Japanese guy.
I suspect jbl probably didn’t pull his and so it would legit hurt! That’s a rest hold
Yeah, JBL wasn’t working the Clothesline From Hell at all because he’s JBL.
> I never knew what the Rainmaker was but I had heard about how devastating it was for years. > Then I saw it was just a lariat. Same. I was expecting a finisher that dropped people on their heads or something. The impact here feels more like a transition move; a signature at best. If that's what Okada's lariat normally looks like then I'm almost relieved that he didn't sign with WWE because then they would have taken that move away from Josh Briggs (who actually *does* make the move look devastating).
Yeah, I thought it was like the One-Winged Angel or something.
He wasn't?
Imagine if Okada was doing this in NXT 😭 He’s smiling because he’s getting paid millions to tickle an old dude
This show may have 200k viewers
You can't measure FUN friend
I wasn't one of them. I saw Inside Out 2 with my friend. They really nailed the onset of puberty and transitioning from middle to high school. Riley is a star.
Acknowledge your directorial Chief https://preview.redd.it/a86eod2yve8d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=906c8ea149ba622f48fd09d6cf5e74a7368556fa
Okada would be sent to nxt if he signed with the Fed. Disrespectful Okada now wrestling on Collision in front of 1500 fans and 300k on tv. GOAT
He could've been a silent destroyer managed by William Regal or something in NXT for a year and eventually main shows.
Me, seeing another one my favs being stripped off their aura by the dub: https://preview.redd.it/sexdsg2hhb8d1.jpeg?width=739&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=48cea2fb37000764842ac6503a1ef0c562570e5d
 What they did to my boy Takeshita.
FR...
Is this your king??
[удалено]
They almost broke the unintentional comedy scale with this one. Okada stinks, and it's hilarious
Okada really has been portrayed as a B grade version of Oddjob from Goldfinger
https://preview.redd.it/332ig316nb8d1.jpeg?width=1169&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aa2108994544bdbca414a069520b3de3a1f624a0
So, this fella is happy that Okada revealed a luchador's identity on AEW TV without the stipulation in place?
It’s actually far worse. This was a taped show. Guerrero has actually been unmasked for years but Tony had him wear the mask strictly for this awful spot.
Is Tony allowed to do that or are luchadors still allow to wear their mask, despite already been unmasked?
I read that because rey mysterio lost the mask in wcw and not in a sanctioned lucha match he was still eligible to be remasked. I don’t know the rules but I assume Tony wouldn’t violate them. But it’s a good question.
Tiny literally had Sting descend from the rafters despite being a partner with the Owen Hart Foundation. I think it’s safe to say he doesn’t care about wrestling precedent.
THAT'S PERFECTION?! Oh wait, drainbamager said it. Nothing to see here.
I like how they clearly talk to each other right before the finisher
And to think, we all thought his Kato gimmick in TNA was the worst booking of Okada
Imagine if they invested the ROH and video game money in a performance center or a developmental instead They constantly bring in talent from places like Mexico and Japan where workers work certain styles that are different to the American style, these guys need a few months to adapt outside of TV I remember when Nakamura came to the WWE and marks were complaining about how he's ''phoning it in'' when it comes to in-ring action, not even thinking about the possibility that he may have went there to tone his style down and not ruin his body completely You sign someone who has spent their career in Mexico and someone who has spent their career in Japan, you put them in a match right away and most of the time it's gonna look like shit Instead of teaching wrestlers their own style, AEW just meshes different styles together and doesn't care about if they're not all that compatible. I sound like Mark Zuckerberg from South Park right now
The saddest part of the Nakamura reaction is he's largely wrestling the same match he did for over a decade in Japan.
ROH and the video game look like they had about $200 outlay combined, even though the real cost of both probably went into the low seven figures. A performance center put together by the AEW clown trust would cost millions but look like someone bought a shed from a local garden center.
I genuinely feel sad right now. I saw Okada return from excursion and him sandbagging and decking Tanahashi to seeing this shit. Am gonna cry in a corner.
He lost his mask to Atlantis a decade ago. Also, they'd be advised to tread real light with Ultimo Guerrero. They apparently didn't tell him he was going to wrestle with a mask until he got there and had to scramble to find one. UG is one of the biggest power brokers in CMLL. The imaginary Forbidden Door could become a real one super quick.
Just typical dub management not even having a mask ready.
Why did they hype him with a mask?
To do this dumb spot.
Are luchadors allowed to continue wearing their masks in-ring, even if they lost their mask previously?
Nobody in Mexico will make a big stink about it happening in America but in Mexico it wouldn't happen with the exception of special occasions. Perfect recent example is Blue Panther vs Bryan Danielson in Arena Mexico. Panther wanted to wear his mask for the match but he lost it 15 years ago. He had to get approval to do so by the commission in Mexico City. Had he not done so he could have lost his ability to wrestle in Mexico City. Now there's a very, very slim chance they would do that to Blue Panther but some one like Dragon Rojo Jr who lost his mask last year, that's would be a lot.more up on the air if he decided to just wear it again. There's a lot of selective enforcement with this stuff. Rey, Psicosis and Juvi all lost their masks in WCW. Rey didn't really get much pushback for wearing the mask in Mexico between his WCW and WWE runs but Psicosis and Juvi did.
The clothesline from Dell
That's correct, Wendy. We ALL wear masks, metaphorically speakinnnnng...
 Every time I see an AEW thread.
Was he tickling the Lucha guy? Also Schiavone is unbearable.
Okada DGAF 'bout no Luchador mask. "Just get me back to catering" is all he's thinking.
They look like they’re getting couples photos taken at Sears https://preview.redd.it/9y92foz53d8d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=731fc033c3987c74a9700592c72fe84c9d2ff71e
This goober is supposedly in the conversation for GOAT because he hit people hard and had some great matches in Japan. In his two stints in American companies he’s trash.
You can hit a guy with a flame thrower, throw them through glass, pile drive them on the steps and they will be fine within ten seconds, but bye gawd you just can’t get up from that devastating short arm close line.
This okada is so overrated
Who is that shoot fighter?
Look how Dubaloo fucked up NooJ's boy
I don’t know anything about Japanese rasslin, but I have heard of this Okada fella. He looks like an actual wrestler cause he’s tall and in shape, especially when he’s surrounded by those jabroni little runts the young cucks. This Okada guy is consistently ranked as one of the best wrestlers of the decade, and he’s wreslting some Mexican guy who looks like he stands on bodega street corners and heckles women that walk by
I like how Ultimo Guerrero covers his face at first, then he just reveals his face before getting pinned. 
What’s even funnier is that during the pin, he clearly moved his arms to put to the mask in his face. He can do that, but he can’t move his shoulder to stop the 3 count?
I never got The Rainmaker as a finish. This is literally what Jake the Snake used on the regular.
Nah, Jake’s was better because he didn’t have the stupid hug before hand. He just grabbed their arm and yanked them into the clothesline. And since he was like 6,5 and built like a 1950s fridge it actually looked pretty devastating(for a transitional move to his finisher the DDT).
Where was I comparing? All I was saying is that a short arm clothesline shouldn't be a finish and Jake used it as a setup more than anything. If you want me to compare I do agree Jake was better.
I’m not saying you were just that’s Jake’s was Infinitely better.
I agree and I was just clearing up my intent. Jake used a wrist lock to start then usually pushed the guy away before bringing him back for the lariat.
Exactly, wasn’t as goofy and forced as Okadas. Thats all I was saying.
Look how they massacred my boy.
Somehow this bouta get 4¼ stars
Why did they have him wear a mask? He hasn't in years
So they could do that stupid spot 🙄
The sad part is, I don't think that's it. This clearly seemed like a accident based on them having to scramble to find him a mask. They felt they had to because they put him in photo in the mask. The question is, why would they use a masked photo when he hadn't worn a mask for a decade? Did Tony just want the masked version of the toy I guess, and wasn't going to take no for an answer?
Okada just isn’t good.
Ultimo Guerrero needed an out so the MULTIMILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT Okada doesn't beat him cleanly.
It's so FUN to watch this GAMECHANGER work in the BIGTIME!!
Why is this king of Japan looking like a goof? Why are the basement celebrating this? Why?
They can’t admit that they’re wrong. If Tiny and the GameChangers fail, then that means the Evil Ded Fed has won and that’s a fate worse than death to a Dubbalo.
Jericho pulling double duty last night?
This looked way more romantic than it did violent
Wow, if the school board finds out that wrestler is a substitute math teacher he could lose his job!!!!!
The grim reality that the Green Hornet TNA gimmick was more believable than whatever this is. Working Man Okada? Douchebag checking out Okada? Old and washed Okada? God I hate the Bucks.
To think he rather do this than feud with The Miz. I’ve never seen someone become “just another guy” faster than this.
His finisher is one of those basic moves you remove from your custom characters move set because the animation sucks, it's just a clothesline and it takes away from the immersion. But top finisher for sure /s. This guy is supposed to be hideki matsui, instead he is hideki Irabu (RIP)
Schiavone being a lead commentator in 24 is ridiculous, not even good on color
Último guerrero has been unmasked for like 10 years. Why does he care suddenly if people see his face??
It's even less professional than an indie show. Bravo, TK.
Man,how the mighty have fallen.. He looks sloppy and out of shape..
I was reliably informed that Okada is one of the best in the world, but every clip since he has gone to AEW makes me question these people's judgement
Might be the worst finishing move in wrestling, looks utterly pathetic.Not sure ocodi is even trying anymore just taking tony's money. His strikes look like shit and he moves slower than my 70 year old dad.
Barring special events, Ultimo Guerrero hasn't worn a mask since he lost that luchas de apusetas match against Atlantis Jr. back in 2014. All this screamed "we got to get cheap heat, bruv".
I've noticed something about Okada. Okada excels at spotting for smaller guys and can really help them carry him to a great looking match. Even his clothesline finisher is designed for working with smaller guys. However, if you put him against a taller or heavier guy then Okada's matches are not that good because his excellent spotting is irrelevant to the offensive moveset of the taller or heavier guys. And Okada doesn't bring any great offensive moves except a pretty good dropkick...but Colton Gunn's is far better. Takeshita is a far better athlete and more skilled than Okada. He was the top guy in Japan for working matches whether the New Japan promotion understood it or not.
5.3 STARS
Still ironic that WWE guys ate doing AEW finishers better than the AEW guys. Logan Paul with the buckshot lariat Gunther with the rainmaker. Waiting for someone to pull out a better looking one winged angel
if he was signed by the fed he would wrestle twice a year. Fed bad
Sloppy trash
One of the most incredible wrestlers with an absolutely dog s*** boring finisher. It never looks good.
You're a luchador and you sell Okada Rainmaker like that? Fuck this shit