So,what brings me here and why is this going be a long post? Well, I'm on a journey of sorts to rewrite some of, maybe, my wrong way of thinking and and life living and this is a post for hope and olive branch to make some wrongs right so to speak.
So, about me. I'm 22, gay, live alone, financially independent,wanting of nothing in that aspect of life. I consider myself a nice, soft spoken with the ability to stand up for himself but don't have the energy to do so; person who tries to think happy thoughts and help those less fortunate. I really have nothing to complain about, but yet, here I am 22 with not one friend in the world. First, I'm not blaming the world or others of my intolerance of human connections and my war on friendship,which I have raged for the last 5 years of my life. I have waged so hard, I stopped vocally talking to anyone in the world. It's been almost two years since I vocally talked to another human. You ask.. how is that possible? I have developed communication of nods and eye speech so to say to avoid happening to use my vocal cords. I even work from home to avoid contact with humans. I know this is very weird. I told myself 4-5 years ago I could learn so much about others by just listening and not talking. Now, to this day, I still, think that is holds some truth but maybe I'm missing something by not letting others hear my voice? Maybe their is something that can be relayed by sound and not silence; like how sarcasm over text can't be depicted correctly.
So, why am i like this why? First, I have had nothing happen to me violently or trauma that changed me. I, honestly, not sure why I started shutting everyone out. I decided one day that friendship was fake and its been so long since I had anything like that, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing or even if I am? Now, 22, maybe I'm thinking their is something to "go to war" for someone with so to speak; I mean someone to play games with and pick on each other. My brother left my life a few years ago and we used to talk baseball every day and we don't speak anymore so is it that? I mean we never were very similar and I can't even say if I liked him.
I think my biggest issue and why I'm here. I don't know if I like something or don't. It seems i just do stuff like a robot and not because i enjoy it. I don't know how to know who I like being around or what game I like playing or if I like a movie. I know this sounds off but I don't know what it should feel like to have a friend, a word I'm scared to say. How do you know if you enjoy someone's company or not? How do you know if someone is your friend or not or they just blowing smoke up your x-mas chimney? So, I figured Reddit might hold some answers or maybe, someone feels like me. I guess I'm just lost. I think some of it is I don't like myself at all and don't like being compliments. I'm more of make the other person feel good type.
So, know these are posts to make a friend but I wanted to be open about how I feel and maybe someone will read this and not be afraid in their post to admit their imperfections and maybe more people will find friends on here and not be scared to know others don't know what their doing in making friends. Anyways, that's the back story. Now, on to a little about me and what I'm looking for in a friendship.
Well hobbies wise, I'm into video games, I'm mostly into sim, strategy, and Rpgs. I play on PS5 (moved from PC a few months ago). I play more slower pace games as I think my reflexes are too slow for shooters, so only game I play competitively is Rocket League (I'm bad at that too).I'm also into sports (big 3; MLB, NBA NFL); I'm a bit of a sports nut. I also like to cook and love to learn new recipes. Other than that, I spend my time listening to asmr (monk chanting is my fave), daydreaming I am somewhere else (mostly Mars) I love anything about space. I spendway too much time wishing I was somewhere else so I probably need to ground myself. I like to read but never do. I'm in the beginning stages of learning about camping, survival (and stealth camping seems so fun).
So, what type of friend am I looking for? I'm going to list some a few things I want. I'm not listing them to be picky or be mean but I think if I got any chance of finding a long-term life long friend (which is what I'm looking for), I will hopefully find someone who into lots of stuff I am to make the best possible chance. First, I need the person to understand the things I listed by me above and be understanding and respectful about it. I won't become friends quick and not sure how long it would take to use the word friend. I can't become instant friends; that thought scares me to be honest. I move slow and like others very slow. That doesn't mean I won't respect you. You will always get that but a friend connection I can't say how long or it will ever happen. This is all new so not sure how it will go. So, anyone who wants to voice chat right away or want personal details about my life, i won't give them that; it will take a long time.
Others things I want in a person- I need someone from the Usa as I am and makes it easier time zones wise. I am CST (MidSouth) US so if you were too, that be great. It be cool if we could meet one day way down the line. I'm looking for someone who wants to and can talk regularly chat via here, text. I don't want someone who talks once a week, as I need someone not pushy but can drive the friendship until i get used to having someone to talk to. That doesn't mean you will have to lead the conversation all the time but maybe be more talkative. I'm quiet with new and more of a listener so I can come off as dry but don't intend to be. I thought about ages and I'm open to all but I'm 22 so someone my age would be cool but I'm an old soul so open to everyone I suppose. You do need to know this is platonic and I will not tolerate any weird stuff; only sfw here. I don't want any part of stuff that is not. You will get the same respect from me.
It will also be nice if you were a sports/gaming fan. It help with that start but we can be into different stuff but games seem to bring others together, so maybe it can with me and, hopefully, my future friend.
So,yeah this is A lot. If you made it this far, you either were intrigued really bored, or love the pain of listening to some random on Reddit making himself a fool. Whatever the reason, if you feel the urge,send me a instant chat message and say hi, drop a recipe, or just tell me I'm crazy asf and don't deserve a friend. Whatever it is, I will reply quick.

It's a bit late, but I've been thinking about the grey knight community post and wanted to share my reactions and thoughts.
List of Changes
Flash-Step: auto advance 6" + Fly; currently this has 0 damage implications. No assault weapons, no advance and charge. There MAY be something when the index releases, but I sincerely doubt it. That being said, this will still be a very useful ability. Movement is the most important part of the game. You can guarantee you'll get your units into cover, or out of LoS, or onto an objective, or into a screening position. Even being able to move over units (probably your own when you accidentally move block yourself), or on top of buildings (For +1 AP, and possibly denying charges) is going to be super useful. I think I've seen a lot of people dismissing this ability, but after teleport assault I think it's going to be the most definitive GK ability.
2+ armor, army wide: This pairs nicely with game-wide AP decreases. It also lets GK dodge the "space marine 3+ in cover" curse. GK should have an armor save against almost every weapon. I like this, as in 8th and 9th I resented that GK didn't have an invuln. Overall though, I think GK are going to feel about as durable as they do now, as the benefit is only going to be a 16% increase for some units against certain weapons.
Mono-Force Weapon Profile: Locking every force weapon into the halberd profile is meh. I feel mixed about it. On one hand, I thought it was kinda cool to choose the weapon of each of my little dudes. On the other hand, all it boiled down too was "spam whatever is best right now". I really wanted them to lock down the weapon balancing act so the way I loaded out each squad WAS an actual choice. I am bummed that they removed the thunder hammer and the warding stave. Having the option for anti-tank or invulns gave GK squads flexibility within shifting metas. Its weirdly a bigger nerf than it should be now that GK has lost most of its anti-tank.
Purgation Squad: All of their ranged weapons lost Heavy, which is nice as you'll probably want to move and shoot them each turn with 12-24" range. With the loss of Tides, all weapons will probably be stuck at 24" range too. But with the free deepstrikes and the ability to shoot from behind cover, I think Purgations squads might be one of the best targets for teleport assault. You should always be able to have a target for a purgation squad to shoot at without exposing themselves to counterfire. It might be pretty easy to keep 3 of these alive the whole game with 0 investment. That kind of return on investment might make 3 of these squads an auto include (especially if you're spamming Dreads in the elite slot for anti-tank, instead of NDKs). Target wise, they are basically geared for different versions of anti-infantry. Psycannons with a strength of 8 will only tickle light vehicles now (like T9 rhinos) , but seem like very cost efficient anti-marine guns. At a glance these seem the most competitive ranged option now (given the low range on incinerators, and that the storm bolters on every GK model do the same job as psilencers), but that really depends on how they're pointed.
GMNDK: I've seen a lot folks really angry about the loss in BS/WS. Personally, I like the loss in WS/BS! They've had to artificially limit units like this (like tau commanders, smash captains) to one per detachment. I think the GMNDK outcompeted the NDK profile by too wide a margin. They fill the same role, just the GMNDK does it better. It seems like here, they're trying to differentiate them a bit. With the cheaper strats and the full re-rolls vs monsters/vehicles, it seems like they still only want you to take one of them as a tech-piece. Both previewed strats would be awesome on the GMNDK at 1CP. And now there's design space for the NDK to have its own unique rule to differentiate its role further! Weapons wise, the psilencer losing AP and the incinerator gaining range makes me consider swapping them out. The psycannon looks like it got worse; losing AP and not having enough strength to threaten heavy tanks will really set it back. I think we'll still have to take it anyways, since our other anti-tank is so limited. I like the toughness increase. even though most anti tank will rise to match it, infantry S4 weapons will now wound NDKs on a 6. NDK's used to take a lot of damage from S4 weapons wounding it on a 5+, and with their 4+ invuln it was one of the more reliable ways to kill them. Melee-weapon wise the great-hammer really seems like the only way to go now. The dude is kitted out for going HAM on veh/mon, so there's no reason to take a sword that is kinda shit against infantry. Maybe it'll be different on the NDKs.
Purifying Flame: This was disappointing. It makes purifiers about as good at killing GEQ equivalents as purgators with psilencers, while still retaining their melee capabilities. A nice shooting buff, but even though it has better range I would say it's worse than before, as killing light infantry has never been a GK issue, and those guaranteed 3 mortals could do work into characters, monsters and vehicles. And even then you hardly ever considered this unit. Purifiers could have an ability that makes them relevant on their datasheet, but unless its really good I think these guys might sit out 10th edition as well. Has there ever been an edition where purifiers were relevant?
Haloed in Soulfire: For 2CP, this seems too expensive. This kind of CP only feels worth it on a Paladin brick. Which who knows, maybe that'll be optimal. But for 1 CP, it seems pretty worth it on a GMNDK. I think this will let you operate your singular GMDNK with similar impunity as the Sigil of Exigence allowed.
Radiant Strike: Same deal as Haloed in Soulfire. Exact same. Too expensive for anything but a paladin brick or at half price for a GMNDK. It further cements the role of the GMNDK as an anti-vehicle/monster unit.
And the best for last!
Teleport Assault: 3x re-deepstrike, starting from 2nd turn
This is huge. There have been comments saying that its easy to screen out, that skilled players won't let it work. I think this is one of the most bonkers abilities in the game. I'm astonished something of this power level has been given to any faction, let alone grey knights. So previously, we could kinda do this, with Gate and Teleport Shunt (on interceptors/NDKs). But we were limited to either a 7+ roll (which you often spent 1-2 CP on to guarantee it went off when you needed it, along with the range limitation) or 2CP to shunt either NDKs or interceptors, which then couldn't be targeted by the stratagem later.
​
It is true that it will be relatively easy for large armies/good players to screen you out of obviously advantageous positions. However, there's no opportunity cost for this ability. There's no range on Gate or a failed psychic test to limit you. You're not limited by CP, and you can target units that have already been targeted by it. Your shooting units are threatening the whole board the entire game with this ability. Your opponent can't kill off your librarian, or wait for you to be out of CP. On top of that, you perform jukes. You can deploy units heavily to one side of the table, then force your opponent to move units over there to counter you, then you can remove all of your units onto the other side of the board. Your opponent won't be able to match your mobility, and will have committed resources to a side of the board where they can't contribute. In other words, its a chess fork: if they don't move units to respond to where you are piling up units, you will sweep that side of the board, possibly into his backline. And if they do move units onto that side of the board, you can freely redeploy onto the other side of the board, losing literally nothing. I think a lot of Grey Knights playstyle in 10th edition will revolve around leveraging this army rule.
CONS
Anti-Tank damage looks a lot worse. Currently, we can hit big models with empyric amplification to power up NDK shooting, and Swordbearers can give all vehicles +1 to hit and wound. Storm bolters can plink off 1-2 wounds reliably with psybolt ammunition. Paladins with thunder hammers can go to town. Every unit has a smite, every unit can inflict mortals in melee and we have the mortal wound librarian. Quite a few options for reliably dealing damage to high toughness and high save targets. None of these will be in the next edition. Mini-psycannons and big psycannons won't be able to cut it with the new toughness'. They each needed +2 strength to be relevant against tanks in this brave new world.
GMNDK melee will slap cha/mon/veh, but it seems like we still have no reliable ways of getting it, or anything else, into melee.
Thats basically only leaves the lascannons/multimeltas on dreadnoughts, razorbacks, land raiders and stormravens. Everything (except dreads) are also paying for transport capacity, so they tend to be pretty inefficient as weapons platforms. And with the new mobility rules for grey knights, transports seem kind of redundant. Their points costs may prove me wrong, but I don't expect any of those 3 vehicles to become viable anti-tank for grey knights.
That leaves lascannon/missile dreads. I hope I'm wrong. I don't look forward to an edition where we spam 6 dreads as our only viable anti-tank. And thats even if Ven Dreads are still a thing.
As a side note, I wouldn't be surprised if dreads can't be targeted for teleport assault. It has precedents; there have been editions where dreads couldn't be targeted for gate. But then again, there have been editions where land raiders could be targeted by gate, so who knows.
So I'm a bit worried for the future of GK into the mega-toughness tank meta, but I'm excited out the wazoo to try out the new teleport assault.
​
Well, if you made it this far, thanks! I'd love to know what you think, as we've still got about a month to agonize over this until the full index releases.

Randuin's Omen is anti crit item while I prefer old passive but new is okish spot I feel they need to buff this item or added another passive like PC.
PC( omen)
Unique – Rock Solid: Every first incoming instance of post-mitigation Basic Attack basic damage per cast instance is reduced by 5 (+ 3.5 per 1000 maximum health), maximum 20% reduction each.
Unique – Critical Resilience: Reduces incoming Critical strike icon.png critical strike damage from basic attacks by 20%.
Omen in wild rift should replace cold steal passive which Reduce the attack speed of enemies by 15% for 1.5 seconds when struck by a basic attack to Rock solid because frozen heart should be anti attack speed.
I don't mind new omen passive but give omen rock solid passive instead of cold steel the item will be great against this Meta.

5 December 1518

 
Musical Accompaniment
 
Born in 1440 to Antonio Trivulzio and Francesca Visconti, minor Guelph nobles in Milan, Gian Giacomo Trivulzio was raised alongside Galeazzo Maria Sforza, and would spend much of his early life in his service.
His military career started in 1465, when at the age of 25 he accompanied Sforza's army to France, where they would fight on the side of King Louis XI against the League of Public Weal. This taste of blood was evidently rather satisfactory for Trivulzio, as he would spend the remainder of his life in military service.
 

Sforza and Montefeltro Service

In the 1460s, he fought in the service of the Sforzas against the famous Bartolomeo Colleoni - one of the greatest military minds of the 15th Century. Soon after, he moves to the service of Federico da Montefeltro, and fights in the infamous Battle of Riccardina, where the forces of Colleoni, Ercole d'Este, and Alessandro Sforza, as well as some Florentine families, faced off against an alliance of the Medicis, King Ferdinand I of Naples, and Federico da Montefeltro.
It is in this period that he marries his first wife, Margherita Colleoni - a distant relative of the famous Condottiero.
 

Condottiero

In 1478, he entered the service of the Medicis against the expansionist Pope Sixtus IV, defending the city of Florence in the wake of the Pazzi Conspiracy, until the Ottoman capture of Otranto forced a peace settlement.
In 1480, he purchased the castle of Mesocco. By 1496 the surrounding countryside will have joined the Three Leagues in Switzerland, by his permission.
 

Rossi War and Ludovico Sforza

In 1482, he enters the service of Ludovico Sforza, against the Rossi family of Parma, in rebellion against the Sforzas of Milan. As tensions built up between Ludovico Sforza - then Regent of Milan - and the other nobles of Milan, it was Trivulzio - then only a lieutenant to Costanza Sforza - who was entrusted with taking Parma. Trivulzio proved himself incredibly capable in the art of siege and harrying, devastating the lands loyal to the Rossi, and capturing alpine fortresses with great vigor. Making excellent headway, it was only the intervention of the Republic of Venice that stopped Trivulzio. His soldiers were transferred to the command of the Duke of Urbino - an old employer, Federico da Montefeltro. Eventually, Trivulzio would work his way to being the primary commander of Ludovico's forces in Milan, winning the war for the Milanese, defeating the Venetian army at Martinengo, and becoming Governor of Parma for the Sforzas.
His first wife died in 1485. She had given him one surviving son - Gian Niccolò Trivulzio, and a score of daughters.
 

Neapolitan Service

In 1488, he moves to Naples, and enters the service of Alfonso d'Aragon, Duke of Calabria. He would marry Beatrice d'Avalos, and would be appointed Commander of the army of Naples. It is in this period that Charles VIII invades Italy, after being invited into Milan by Ludovico Sforza.
 

Charles' War for Naples First Italian War (1494-1498)

Musical Accompaniment
 
In 1494, Trivulzio negotiated the surrender of Naples to Charles VIII, who, impressed by the man, hires him into French service, with the written permission of Ferdinand I of Naples. In 1495 he fought in the Battle of Fornovo in the service of the King of France, marching back to France with the army. He is appointed Marshal of France for his actions in the battle.
 

Second Italian War (1498-1503)

In 1498 Trivulzio was placed in charge of a large army by the new King Louis XII. He marched on Milan, and chased Ludovico Sforza, now Duke of Milan, to Innsbruck, where he bid the assistance of Maximilian of Austria.
In October 1499, Trivulzio entered Milan, and was appointed Governor.
In 1501, Trivulzio was again placed in charge of a French army - this time, he was intended to be in command of small contingents of French troops to hold river crossings. Instead, he found himself in the midst of the French Army in their victory at Gorgonzola. The French - employing great numbers of Swiss mercenaries, defeated an Imperial army marching alongside Ludovico Sforza.
In 1502, Trivulzio commanded the French army at (the later named First Battle of) San Martino, buying valuable time for the French to bring reinforcements across the alpine passes after the Fall of Savoy and save Milan from the Imperial incursions. Later in the year he would lead the French at Marzaglia, being bested by Cesare Borgia, and withdrawing to Reggio.
In 1503, Trivulzio commanded the French army at Monterosi, squaring off against the Spanish Army, with the Fate of the Eternal City at stake. Routing the Spanish, he drove south to the banks of the Garigliano River, before being finally stopped, not by the Spanish, but by his own supply lines.
 

War of the Second Italic League Third Italian War (1506-1509)

In 1506 Trivulzio commanded the French Army putting Modena to siege, taking it in early 1507. Having kicked a hornet's nest, Trivulzio was forced to withdraw from Modena, though stood up a valiant defence against a Venetian-Ferrarese army at Lodi.
With Milan in rebellion (in part to Trivulzio's poor governance), he withdrew from Milan, and met with the main French army in Novara.
In 1508 Trivulzio spearheaded the counterattack into Milan, which was then in Austrian hands. Crossing the Ticino, he met the main army under Georg von Frundsberg at Borgarello. Bloodying the Austrians, he forces them to withdraw, and is joined by Rohan-Gie and Trémoille, to defeat the Austrians and Venetians at the absolutely gargantuan Battle of Gaggiano. With the Austrians and Venetians defeated, Trivulzio set about restoring order to Milan. It is said that he attempted to put a stop to the worst of the sacking, but it is rather suspicious that most of the sacking hit the worst of the Ghibelline sections of the Duchy...
In 1509 Trivulzio oversaw the capture of Montferrat, and its subsequent integration into the Duchy of Milan.
 

Borgia War (1511-1512)

In 1511, following Cesare's attempt at seizing Rome and subsequent flight to Romagna, Trivulzio leads a Milanese army to the Romagna, where they put down Cesare Borgia alongside a Papal coalition by 1512. It was in this war that his son, Gian Niccolò passed - camp fever had taken him during a siege.
 

Francis' War for Naples Fourth Italian War (1512-1515)

Musical Accompaniment
 
With the betrayal of the Spanish, and the commencement of Francis' War for Naples, Trivulzio commanded a rear force in the siege of Pescara. With the fall of that city in 1513, he lead a supporting force to Francis, proving to be a mentor and moderating voice to the rapacious young Duc de Valois.

Lombard War Fifth Italian War (1515-1516)

By 1515, the French army in Naples was exhausted, and saw fit to retire north, as the Emperor had made a pact with the Venetians, and invaded Milan. Trivulzio fought a rearguard action against the Spanish, allowing the Duc de Valois to pursue a stunning victory against the Austrians and Venetians at Lodi, and yet again routing Maximilian and the Venetians from the Duchy of Milan.
 
Trivulzio's final actions came in 1516, where he took over the command of the army from the gravely wounded Duc de Nemours, and proceeded to assist in the seizure of Venetian Lombardy, and the subsequent Second Battle of San Martino.

Retirement

Tired and contented, Trivulzio passes in his bed in the Castello Sforzecco on the 5th of December, 1518. He was 78 years of age. He is succeeded by his grandson, Gian Francesco Trivulzio.
It is said that Giangiacomo requested to be buried with a sword on his chest, instead of a cross. When asked why, he answered, "To scare the devils when they come for me."

Nail Yakupov : He was traded to the Blues for a 4th round pick/prospect, plus a additional 2nd on a condition he scored 15 goals for the blues. The condition was never met, and Edmonton only got a 3rd round pick. Which then turned into Stuart Skinner the same Skinner from this past season because Edmonton traded that 3rd to Arizona plus a 5th to get Skinner. Cameron Crotty is what that 3rd round pick turned into. And he is still struggling to even break the AHL level. Overall the Blues didn't really lose anything and neither did the Oilers. And eventually you could say Skinner was the result of the trade. Even trade and Yakupov was out of the league 2 years later. Funny thing is Yakupov was making 2.5 million at the time ....the exact salary most of you predict Laffy will get and probably why there was such little return for him. It was too late and he had cemented himself as a bust at that point.
Taylor Hall : He has been traded multiple times. He first trade was to the Devils from Edmonton. The trade was as follows....Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson. Initially this trade seemed like just a good swap. Edmonton needed defense, and the Devils needed some offense. Then season 2 happened and Hall won the Hart Trophy and Larsson, well just looked like a good stay home defenseman. But then Hall would never play more then 30 games in a season for the Devils again. All the while Larsson put steady efforts in for Edmonton. Hard to say which is a clear winner at this point.
But then the Devils traded him for an absolute HAUL. I mean just raped the Coyotes. They got a 1st in the 20 draft, and 3rd in the 21 draft plus a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round prospect/player. N. Merkley, N. Schnarr, Kevin Bahl, the picks ended up being Dawson Mercer, and Ryder Korczak. Not like anything special came out from this trade. IT is a joke. While Edmonton ending up letting Larsson go to Seattle in the expansion draft. Clearly the Devils won this trade.
Erik Johnson : The trade was to the Avs from the Blues. (Side note this was 3 years after he was drafted) Blues had already found their number 1 D man so had time to shop Johnson around. The Blues sent Johnson, j. McClement, and 1st round pick which turned into Duncan Siemans. In return the Blues got Chirs Stewart, Shattenkirk, and a 2nd round pick. Stewart was a 18th overall pick, Shattenkirk was a 14th overall pick, and the 2nd round pick was 32 overall and Ty Rattie was selected. On the Avs. side McClement was a 2nd round 52nd overall journeymen Center. Siemans never amounted to anything. But Johnson has had a long and fairly decent career as a 1st pair shutdown defensemen. Obviously Ranger fans know all about Shattenkirk. Stewart was a decent defensive minded center. 3rd or 4th line ability. Ty Rattie outside of his amazing name never really panned out and is out the league today. At this level of diving into this trade....it is clear the Avs won this trade. I am sure if I dive deeper it starts to even out with the returns of Stewart and Shattenkirk when they are traded later on. Shattenkirk got the Blues a 1st and 2nd and 2 prospects from Washington. Stewart got traded and got the Blues Ryan Miller and Steve Ott. Not such a clear win for the Avs anymore.
Marc Andre Fluery : Essentially played his first 13 yrs of his career for the Penguins. Covering his trades at this point when a 1st overall Pedigree or label had long worn off and the 2 x Cup Champion had taken over his reputation. Becomes very mute. So I skipped him.
Rick Nash : Again his 1st Overall Pedigree had mostly worn off by the time of his trade to us. He was already a Pro for 9 years in Columbus when they decided to move on. All though.... he did get us quite a haul back when we traded him to Boston.
Ilya Kovalchuk : Again traded after 8 seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers. Not exactly worth covering. Only notable thing is Kevin Hayes was apart that trade to the Devils. Which I then assume the Devils traded that pick away to Chicago. Essentially the Thrashers got on the prospect level...... a 1st round pick 23rd overall, A 2nd round pick 54th overall, and a Journeymen defenseman in Oduya. Plus a 1st and 2nd round pick in the 2010 draft. An the Devils got a 2nd round pick, and undrafted player who never played in the league. The first pick ended up being Kevin and the second ended up being Justin Holl. Who plays for the Leafs now.
Patrik Stefan : One of if not the worst first overall picks in the history of the league. Never lived up to his potential in Atlanta. And should have been traded well before he actually was. He played 6 years for Atlanta before they finally traded him to Dallas for a bag of pucks. He netted Atlanta a 6th and 7th round pick/player. Too late and I am amazed anyone gave Atlanta anything at that point for him. He was gone and out of the league the next season.
Now take what you want from all of this. But typically players lose significant trade value the longer you hold onto them. 3 years into a first overall's playing career is the deadline for a decent to good return for even the so called bad 1st overall picks. After that ....they must already be pretty elite and the team just feels it needs to move on from the player. The worst players on this list .... arguably should have been moved sooner. Stefan and Yakupov, both struggled mightily early on in their careers and that was the clear calling sign to move on. People on here often use Thorton as the example of why you should just hold onto to Lafreniere. But his 3rd year he put up 60 points. He wasn't traded til his 8th year in the league and the GM was rightfully fired 1 year later for that trade.
Look there are always going to be doubters. People who are too scared to cross that road. Too afraid of the what ifs. To me the chances of Lafreniere having success on this franchise at this point are the same as Patrik Stefan and Yakupov. And both Franchises held on too long and got nothing in return because those players were long past the expiration date.
I would love to be wrong! I would love for Lafreniere to go out there and prove all of his doubters wrong. And have a massive season and dominate the league. It is never going to happen. I will give a very clear example of why....both Kakko and Chytil went to the World Championship and played for their respective teams. Why didn't Lafreniere? What is Lafreniere doing right now? Nursing an unknown injury? Or more likely fucking off like a typical 21 year old in NY with millions in his bank account? It is not like there wouldn't have been a roster spot on team Canada if he wanted to play. But notice no one is asking this question in the media. Why not?
If someone can point to something about his game that stands out...I would listen. Can anyone tell me something about his game that truly stands out besides he puts up the most points at even strength? Yet no one includes with that little tid bit of information that he also has the 3rd highest 5 on 5 ice time only losing to Panarin and Trocheck on our team. I not saying Quinn, Gallant, Drury, and Gorton didn't mess up his career. I am not blaming just him. But if Drury doesn't see the same thing I do, what the hell is he looking at?
I get why the majority of this toxic sub doesn't want to move on from him. They are afraid they are going to lose a top talent for nothing and regret it in the future. Or the other common argument is he is at his lowest value why trade him now? I say trade him now because look at what you get if he doesn't pan out or prove his doubters wrong. There are 2 very clear examples of players that struggled just like Lafreniere in the beginning of their careers right above. And ultimately those teams waited too long and got nothing for those players when it was clear as day they weren't nhl players. If we can trade him for a top 10 pick with say an addition of our pick ....I say why not? That is a great return.
I honestly want to see Lafreniere succeed. I like him as a player and wish him nothing but the best. No one has ever come out of the QMJHL to have success in the NHL with the one exception of Crosby. I am sorry, but this kid is not Crosby. He doesn't show that same work ethic/desire to be the best. If you doubt this point just go look at all the players who have led the QMJHL in scoring since Crosby and see what level of player they are. There is 20 years of history surely I am wrong.
I will end this with...please give me a valid reason to believe in this kid. Give me a reason if you don't agree with me on why? And don't give me a recycled answer of look at his 5 on 5 stats or he has never gotten a chance in ice time. Corey Perry as a 37 yr old has less even strength ice time then Lafreniere but has more points. What do you see from him that says..... given the proper ice time/ line mates he will succeed? What is it exactly that you see in him...that people like me don't? And any who point to his trade value....it is only going to keep decreasing with time. I am not an optimist. I am very practical. If you have an opinion that he will get better..... show me a player who had similar stats/ice time issues who then suddenly turned it on in their 4th, 5th, or 6th year? I will take anything. I am not talking about a guy who struggled with injuries and never got a look at the NHL level. Lafreniere has 200 games plus of nhl ice experience. Show me a player who meets that criteria. I don't care if you go back to the 1920's to find them. But I honestly don't know of any player 200 plus games into their respective careers that suddenly became an impact player and doubled their point production. Hell I would take a 60 point winger at this point. 20 to 25 goals and 35 to 40 assists. I don't think we will even see that from him because of where he is on our depth chart at LW.

I wouldn't draft either them top 6. I wouldn't draft Cam Whitmore there either.
In Whitmore's case, I love his physical brand of ball, I like the shooting upside, I like the athleticism. I just don't think he's processing the game at a high level. He doesn't make basic plays, passes after he collapses the defense.
Suggs was the latest example that you can't brute force your way to success in the NBA. You'll just get injured and collect tons of offensive fouls on the way. He adjusted this past year and he's been a really good player. I don't think Cam will be able to make the same transition.
On the twin brothers, the whole situation is weird. They're super old prospects playing against high school aged kids, are supposed to have this insane never-seen-before athleticism, are supposed to be great playmakers, yet they could only manage to score 16ppg in an unproven league with no defense?!?
They could pan out but that's a bet to make in the low lottery.
My big board for the magic would look like this:

1. Wemby
2. Scoot
3. Brandon Miller
4. Taylor Hendricks
5. Anthony Black
6. Gradey Dick
7. Jarace Walker
8. Cason Wallace
9. Jett Howard
10. Cam Whitmore
11. Ausar
12. Amen
13. Keyonte George

Honestly, after the top 8, those are the hail Mary guys you hope can put it together.

Besides the staple crit medium cluster (with reforge caster), what are the great cluster jewels to craft with harvest juice this league?

Whenever someone complains about flying you get a number of counterpoints that sort of ignore the bigger picture, and it's hard to force myself to take into account all the details in one go. So here they are as I see them, many of the counterpoints against flying being overpowered and why I disagree with them.
You may find that not all of them are true in your mind, but disproving one or two of these is not enough proof do do away with the issue.
📒Knocked prone = falling to death
Yikes. People treat this like some sort of Mike drop moment This makes combat extremely swingy. So we go from flying being overpowered to nearly instant death. This almost feels like it's a massive punishment to flying so in all honesty most would not suggest using this type of thing too frequetly at the risk of being accused of specifically targeting that character (you will be). Players might even say that they are fine with it ahead of time. But they rarely hold to that when the time comes.
Additionally, the ways you can limit someone's speed are often specific and limited. It's not like these abilities never appear, but if all the sudden they do then that's going to be a giveaway
That is unless you use it sparingly. But if you do... It will barely be useful anyway.
However, this also assumes that the character in question is both in range and has weak enough saves that can be targeted. Things like nets and bolas in my experience both never see play and are weak... When someone is even in range. 20/60 range for a bola? You're going to be attacking for disadvantage for sure. Might as well shoot a bow. And the save is only 10 strength? Assuming a character with +0 strength modifier and saves, and assuming you are shooting at disadvantage (bolas) you can at max expect to hit half the time and the save with only fail half the time. That's 1/4 chance to actually do anything if you can line up a shot. Just shoot some arrows at the guy.
What about walloping arrows? Firstly, I didn't know those existed until some tried to argue about using them on flying characters. Seeing as I've never seen these used before, I would 100% accuse you of targeting me if you whipped this out on me as a player. Never seen it before and will probably never see it again. It's like it's tailor made for flying characters... Still a DC 10. Maybe you'll get knocked, eventually.
If I'm not mistaken fall damage is 1d6 per 10 feet. If that's the case then a character flying at at level of 15ft above ground isn't in that much danger. That means if they did fall they'd be taking 1d6 fall damage and if you REALLY have to be petty about it then that would be 2d6 at max. The average damage there being 7 damage. Now if you are in the business of cheesing flying characters, they will learn real quick that this is the sweet spot of where to be to avoid any real damage punishment.
You might say that this is really risky at low levels and I would say DUHH. You could die at level one to being spit on by a llama my guy. However, this will be only after your speed reaches zero or after you are knocked prone. If the net result of that is 7 damage the you might as well just shoot at them or throw a rock or something.
Additionally, as you move up the levels this amount of damage is negligible
Lastly, this only solves a part of the problem. It can only really be applied to combat. Anything else and it generally doesn't work
📒Use ranged weapons Oh nah! It's not that simple.
Firstly let's recognize that as of last year only about a third of the monsters in the monster manual and the additional books have ranged options. And for most of them that do, the ranged options are weaker.
Now I know what you're saying: but the DM should snap his magic God of creation fingers to give almost every monster and enemy a longbow, and that the terrasque should magically have access to infinite massive boulders to throw with the exact same pdr as his whopping five melee attacks.
This effects everyone, not just the flying character. The reason so few monsters have decent ranged options is to make them come close and pose a threat personally. To solve this problem, a lot of enemies would need their ranged options added or buffed and they would have to be strong enough to he worth it -- otherwise it's mathematically easier to just jump the characters allies.
Even worse is if we actually give the enemies these buffs. Now all the sudden melee Martial builds are even more garbage than they already are. If ranged attacks have no mathematical opportunity cost to use, there is no reason for enemies to risk hp and such to come into close range.
Do you know who doesn't need melee viability? Casters. BOOM! You've literally made caster comparatively more powerful. most spells are ranged anyway, and some of those ranges are huge even without spell sniper. They probably don't care that much.
The worst issue here is that we now expect the DM to do EVEN MORE work than he already has. This will be one of many excuses to add to the workload of the DM. it certainly won't be the last in this campaign. The goal of running the game isn't just to make a good experience. It's also about doing that without breaking your back needlessly. DMs don't always need to be coached on the million and one ways they can solve a problem. The just need less problems.
📒 weather
Yes. This is an incredible solution that makes sense and isn't hard implemented. I actually love this one except for two issues. Firstly, it's extremely circumstantial. It can't be bad weather all the time, unless you set it up in a really believable way. Additionally, it doesn't work indoors or in caves unless you to some real bending over backwards. For what it's worth though it's a good and easy solution when it applies... Unless you make it subject to an easy save.
📒 Don't ignore strength
This actually helps the issue, however it's not a magic cure all. It also reopens the dialogue on why people ignore strength to begin with. Probably because it... Makes the game more complicated. Still though I think it helps to prevent the flyer from using strength based abilities or carrying things. If he isn't doing much of that, or if he's a caster or has a back like or caravan it largely doesn't matter.
Whole we're on the subject, pray the flying character isn't a caster. Even if you think neither is overpowered, putting two nearly overpowered qualities together won't end in something balanced.
📒But horses are equally useful.
You kiss you mother with that lying mouth? majority of players don't even use horses for obvious reasons. Barely any hp, can't attack on the same turn. Goodness forbid the horse has to make any form of save. Any combat involving a horse of non boss monster variety results in the horse being the first to go down. really easy way to depower an enemy. Where as flying characters can fly until zero hp, a player with a horse only has it until it dies. And that bad boy doesn't respawn like in a video game. And please don't pretend that land travel at high speeds is equally as useful as flying. It is obviously terrain dependant, where a flying person can avoid ground bound obstacles, horsey boy has to go around them, spending however much movement is required. Ground bound traps effect a horse as well. How well can your horse climb? A flying character has perfect climbing skills... Because they are immune to having to do it! Can your horsey boi swim across a surface of water to get to the other side? Probably not better than my wings that can fly across.
📒 Familiars are equally useful
Firstly it's not the same. Maybe nerf those too? Classic example of something many DMs find tedious to work around. Not absolute in it's power, but it is incredibly annoying on a great deal of fronts. Naming some other thing that gets under peoples skin doesn't make them both less problematic. Moreover, flying is still easily worse.
📒 It only solves problems for one character
What ever the hell that means. People behave as if this wasn't immediately apparent. As if other players not having it magically negates it's usefulness? If only one player is playing a class that this overpowered, does that magically discredit it's lack of balance. Why is this argument exclusively used for flying?
Moreover, players not being able to be hit by some things will just put more pressure on those who can.
This also brings up an entirely separate problem that compounds with it. Some players agency is actually too high. That sounds crazy I no know, but many players -- specifically casters -- have so much utility, damage potential, social interaction spells and whatever else, that they can basically just run off on their own and do whatever unchecked. I've seen plenty of occurances of caster players just ditching the rest of the party to do solo mumbo jumbo, solving every problem they come across by snapping their fingers to cast a spell. Fly makes this worse because that's a whole level three spell for free, and increases their incentive to do so because it's costless and doesn't need concentration. Even on a Martial build it further incentives people to go off on their own -- especially if the other players can't follow anyway. People think that the flying player is just going to stand around like an NPC or only go somewhere if the others can follow, when in reality they will fully utilize that moment to become a main character.
📒Narrow spaces People use these arguments all the time, and in theory they make sense. However there aren't mechanics for this. There is no listed wingspan in any flying race. That's a recipe for debate. Because if a player who really, really wants to fly(aka every character that has flight) sees you making these excuses that don't exist in the game then their patience for that will be very very limited.
📒Low ac, can't wear good armor
This has always been funny as an argument. Like heavy armor is just the bestest thing to have graced the table. But it's simply not. Not the best but remember in most cases you will literally be immune to melee, which gives you an incredible EFFECTIVE increase to ac if you stop to think about it. If you are a caster then this is worse. My guy the idea of casters being squishy has always been a lie anyway. Some of them already get decent armor options independent of heavy armor. Casters also get mage armor and shield, and misty step. Their effective ac is great if they are slightly prepared. Add ranged attacks to both of these and you are in a stupendous spot.
📒 All combat takes place indoors or underground.
This is actually categorically untrue. In my personal experience this is actually the opposite. However this is something that ultimately varies tremendously and is therefore not a valid solution. Sometimes it will be that way and sometimes it won't. Moreover, it's not as off all indoors encounter happen just below ceiling level. If the ceiling is 15 feet up fliers can reliably just effectively hang out on the ceiling. And if not, just staying above the space directly behind an ally solves this issue. If the ceiling is lower than 10 feet then this may actually be countered, but it's not a given that it will be.
Not ever indoor or cave dungeon is narrow and cramped. In my experience there have been plenty of open and sprawling spots because worrying about positioning is a massive headache.
I would also like to take this moment to remind everyone that combat is not necessarily the main issue with flying.
📒Casters counter them 1. Casters counter everyone, assuming they have the proper spells. 2. Casting technically isn't that common. 3. Okay, so now nearly all of my encounters must have casters? Often many encounters are centered around circumstance that causes the creatures and their conditions to vary wildly. Now I have to ignore all that just to challenge this one player?
📒 Don't challenge them. Just let them be overpowered.
This has always been silly. Even in a game where players basically demand to be overpowered, this isn't always as universally good as it sounds. I can prove it too... Because all forms of game balance in dnd and otherwise assume this isn't the case. So why are we changing our minds now. Seriously, a game almost entirely designed around combat and exploration, and both of those things are held up by bubblegum and boxtape? Not memorable. Might be fun cheesing the first dozen encounters or puzzles but eventually there will not be anything gained from it. Moreover, not every player even wants that! It might just be one out of four or six.
Moreover I feel like catering to this idea too much is deceptively toxic. Wanting to be powerful is not the same thing as not having a challenge. If a player wants to be strong with zero challenge then that player is low-key being sort is spineless. Play another game, or accept that you might have to think about your actions and your strategies to at least some extent. I run the type of game that if you at least have two braincells and use them you will probably be fine. Only players that have failed at my table or the ones that want excessive handouts. And it's arguments like these that sort of out people for not really wanting to underact with the came. Just circumnavigate it.
📒 This is only a problem at low levels
Also a lie. People say that because wizards get to use the fly spell at level 5 then that means natural flight is only overpowered until they get to do it. Except that's not really how it works.
Casters get the fly SPELL. It takes one level three spell slot minimum, same as fireball. Flying races don't spend any spell slots. Their fuel economy is unrivaled.
Casters get it for ten minutes. Flying races get it literally forever. Their endurance is unparalleled.
Casters have to use their concentration on the spell, and if they get hit they risk losing it just from taking damage. Flying races use no additional action economy, and don't risk falling just from taking damage. They are da biggest bird.
But let's be frank. What is overpowered is not determined based purely on itself. Often times, a specific combination of abilities is what makes it overpowered.
As you know, casters are extremely powerful. Some of them also don't use medium or heavy armor anyway. So there is already synergy here. Most casters have an overwhelming abundance or ranged moves to use. Sounds like it would be useful for something that rarely has adjacent enemies.
Now, nevermind the fact that flying as a racial trait is stronger that having it as a 3rd level spell. But! What if the already unnecessarily powerful wizards chooses the be a flying race? That would mean that they have an infinite 3rd level spell, resoursless, and they can use it to solves problems and avoid damage (both things that their spell list is designed to do) WITHOUT USING SPELL SLOTS OR CONCENTRATION. That's right, that means they can cast another concentration spell, effectively casting two concentration spells at once. There will never be an opportunity cost or major risk to casting fly again.
Wizards normally don't during battle because it costs a 3rd level slot and getting hit might mean you lose it anyway. These are now no longer issues, on top of casting a whole nother spell of concentration if need be.
Now, the overpowered option is even more overpowered.
📒 "Well, I have flying in my party and it's not overpowered because [DM put in significant extra effort adding in a bunch of stuff to stop if from being a solution to every problem]"
This is pretty much an admission that it's overpowered. If I have to warp the entirety of encounter design, level design, and puzzles to account for flying, it's classically overpowered. This is what we call a centralizing force. Generally speaking, features or abilities in a game that overly centralize the meta around stopping them are explicitly overpowered. This is actually the perfect example of a centralizing force in DND. You don't have to be omnipotent to be overpowered. Just excessively more overpowered than you need to be. Having counters is not disproof of being overpowered.
Additionally, anything that drastically expands my work load is overpowered. Deal with it, because I sure won't.
📒We play for fun at my table
You play for DM headaches more like it. We can have fun without breaking the DMs back. Stop advocating for the players so much that you disrespect the DM position
📒Yeah? Well I'm a DM and I have no issues with doing the work. Other DMs are just laszy!
You are an exception. Just because we can do the work doesn't mean we think it's worth it. I am absolutely meticulous enough to run this game. But largely I just don't think it's worth it. And most don't either. That's why there are so few DMs. Because people wag their fingers at the DMs that are reluctant to break their back over everything little ability or spell that the game would be perfectly fine without, the game as a whole suffers.
A few more things to remember:
📘 Your dm is probably in denial if he says this isn't an issue
This happens all the time in my experience. A session could actively be going up in flames and the DM or the player producing the issue will be shrugging their shoulders pretending nothing went wrong. I've seen games reached a screeching halt and be discontinued because of how difficult the players or their abilities were to handle, only to have the DM refuse to acknowledge that, or deny that there mishandling had any effect in the situation. Then I watch them make a new campaign and do it again.
📘Your dm is probably bending over backwards solving the problem. So if you don't encounter this problem, then this is why.
📘 People refuse to consider the amount of additional work for the DM. Even DMs have been conditioned the think this way. This is stupid, and the primary reason we have a DM shortage as it is now.
📘The worst issue here is that this ability seems to interrupt some specific DM styles more than others. This leads to DMs that aren't specifically having their styles countered will not take the issue as seriously. Just like how a DM who wants an adventure designed around a special plague will he annoyed when the paladin starts slapping key characters with lay on hands instead of going to find the plot hook mcguffin or negotiating for a cure.
TLDR: Flying is busted, and the DMs well-being is objectively more valuable than this measly ability. Remove one to maintain the other.
Edit: I love how people say "just ban it and be done with it" like people haven't been cooked and chastised for doing that for years on this sub. Like if you're out of arguments then say so LMAO.

Here's a list of my favourite alternate costumes for every character in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Feel free to ask questions or something.
Wedding Mario (bring back Fire Mario) Green Donkey Kong Armour of the Wild Link (Is it weird that I prefer Smash 4 Link?) Light Suit Samus Default Dark Samus (don't really have a skin for her) Cyan Yoshi (drop Crafted World, bring back Black Yoshi) Blue Kirby Green Kirby Red Pikachu Fire Luigi White Ness Default Captain Falcon (don't really like any of his other skins) Sleep Hat Jigglypuff Fire Peach Blue Daisy Red Bowser Dark Blue and Light Blue Ice Climbers (skin 4) Purple Sheik Blue Zelda Red Dr Mario Flower Pichu White Falco Red Marth Red Lucina (skin 3) Red Young Link Green Ganondorf (skin 4) Blue Mewtwo Violet Roy (skin 7) Black and Cyan Chrom (skin 8) Dark Green Mr Game and Watch Red Meta Knight Blue Pit and Dark Pit Red Zero Suit Samus Default Plumber Wario (I don't like Biker Wario) Fire Camouflage Snake Blue PoR Ike or Green RD Ike (I switch between the two) Default Pokémon Trainer Blue Diddy Kong Default Lucas Green-ringed Sonic (skin 8, didn't use this skin in Smash 4 because some of the colours were swapped) Green King Dedede (although all his skins are great) Red Olimar Default Lucario Red ROB Purple Toon Link Blue Wolf Default Villager Rush Mega Man Red Male Wii Fit Trainer Red Rosalina World Circuit Little Mac Red Greninja Dark Red Palutena Red Pac-Man Blue Male Robin Default Shulk Bowser Jr. Beagle and mallard Duck Hunt (skin 6) Street Fighter II Turbo Ryu Super Street Fighter II Turbo "Light Punch" Ken Red Cloud Red Male Corrin Red Bayonetta (skin 6) Blue Inkling Purple and Lime Ridley Black Simon (he doesn't have a very good selection) Red Richter Blue King K. Rool Red Fall Isabelle Blue Incineroar Default Pirahna Plant Red Joker Erdrick (Hero, skin 2) Purple Banjo and Kazooie Green Terry Default Byleth Red Min Min (I use this skin in ARMS, too) Default Steve White Sephiroth (his skins barely change anything wth) Blue Pyra and Mythra (skin 6) Purple Coat Kazuya Red Sora (skin 6)
I don't know why, but I feel like I'm gonna get called out for some of these.

Behold, my lackluster attempt at stoking some midwestern rivalry. Thinking it may be interesting to keep tabs on our midwestern rivals via a fan-made competition - hypothetically called the Ope Cup.
Teams in the Ope Cup:
Chicago Columbus Cincinnati Minnesota St. Louis Kansas City
Chicago’s record: 3-3 vs Cincinnati (1 pt) 2-1 vs Minnesota (3 pts) 1-0 vs St. Louis (3 pts)
Columbus’ record: 2-3 vs Cincinnati (0 pts)
Cincinnati’s record: 3-3 vs Chicago (1 pt) 1-5 vs St. Louis (0 pts) 3-2 vs Columbus (3 pts)
Minnesota’s record: 1-0 vs St. Louis (3 pts) 1-2 vs Chicago (0 pts) 0-3 vs Kansas City (0 pts)
Kansas City’s record: 3-0 vs Minnesota (3 pts) 0-4 vs St. Louis (0 pts)
St. Louis’ record: 0-1 vs Minnesota (0 pts) 5-1 vs Cincinnati (3 pts) 1-2 vs Chicago (0 pts) 4-0 vs Kansas City (3 pts)
Since there are 3 teams in both conferences, and some teams may play more games than others, points-per-game is the most fair way to rank the teams.
Chicago - 2.3 ppg
St. Louis - 1.5 ppg
Kansas City - 1.5 ppg
Cincinnati - 1.3 ppg
Minnesota - 1 ppg
Columbus - 0 ppg
So despite our league position, we’re still the kings of the cup!
Dumb idea? Great idea? Let me know. Or don’t. Mostly this suggests to me that we would absolutely dominate a Central Conference.

In Part Three, Shingo Takagi confronted both his duties as World Heavyweight Champion and member of Los Ingobernables de Japon, proceeding to right the wrongs of his first reign by winning the January 4 main event against Tetsuya Naito to squash their beef and become co-leaders. With PAC shockingly joining the group after having gone on a crusade against them, they seemed stronger than ever, all except for Shingo's neck. Feeling the weight of CHAOS crushing it, it took both Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi to bring him to his knees, the Ace of the Universe back to his rightful spot after 5 years, restoring CHAOS’s purist regime. Ending off on keeping the riches from blood rival Katsuyori Shibata yet again, he now awaits the arrival of the 2024 New Japan Cup Winner...
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New Japan Cup Finals (March 28, 2024)
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“ZACK SABRE JR. HAS PAC IN HYPERNORMALISATION! PAC SUBMITS! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, FOR THE THIRD TIME IN HISTORY OUR NEW JAPAN CUP WINNER IS ZSJ!” After two failed attempts to translate his cup success into gold, the Bone Master has another chance to fulfil his career’s greatest goal. And out walks the man he beat in the 2018 Finals for his first win, the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Hiroshi Tanahashi! One of Zack’s biggest rivals since coming to Japan, and one that’s had his number more time than he’s had theirs, he must beat the godly Ace of the Universe if he wishes to claim his first piece of IWGP-commissioned singles gold!
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The stage set for Sakura Genesis, Sabre makes sure to rub in everyone’s faces the premonition he laid down at New Year’s Dash. He said to LIJ he’d be back for the title, and after beating one of their men, he’s made good on his claims. And now, he’s going to make ‘God’ bow to him, whether he wants to or not. When asked for his opinion on the challenger, Tanahashi says he’s amused by how earnestly the Windy Man’s tried to become a New Japan guy, moving his entire life to Japan in pursuit of the top prize. Whilst that dedication may be admirable, it’ll be for nought, Zack just another visitor to his grand kingdom, CHAOS remaining Sabre’s white whale at the end of every NJC journey.
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Sakura Genesis (April 7, 2024)
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Also on the show:
United Empire (Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare) (c) vs Just6Guys (SANADA, Taichi, Ryohei Oiwa) - NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
YOH (c) vs El Desperado - IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship
TMDK (c) vs Bishamon - IWGP Tag Team Championship
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Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Zack Sabre Jr. XI - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
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They say third time’s the charm, but that remains to be seen in Sabre’s case. Sabre-Gun with mixed successes throughout the night, El Desperado coming up short whilst TMDK kept their gold, it’s up to their leader to set an example for his group. Popping his collar, he steels his gaze on the championship as Tanahashi makes his entrance, Zack blocking out the surrounding world. Despite channelling the controversial words of the polarising Okada for the past year, Hiroshi still has Ryogoku in the palm of his hands, remaining the people’s favourite no matter the shade of grey he envelops himself in. Back to his pomp and circumstance, he gives ZSJ the full show of what a true star looks like, ready to bring Sabre back down to reality.
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It's a methodical opening from the two talented grapplers, Tanahashi standing toe-to-toe with the best technical wrestler in the world with merely his sheer aura. Sabre shoots for an early Article 50, but Tana sidesteps him into the ropes, before condescendingly patting him on the cheek! Zack retaliates with a forearm, knocking Tana to the mat, a deluge of stomps raining down on his face as the Hiroshi tries to cover up!
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Escaping to the ropes, Sabre charges at him with a EUROPEAN UPPERCUT! Tana evades, connecting a DRAGON-STYLE HARITE, slapping respect into the challenger! Incensed, Sabre leaves a mark with a stinging slap of his own, before nailing a chain of Uppercuts! Tana fights back for a TWIST AND SHOUT, though Sabre counters with a FLATLINER! A High-Angle German is stuffed, Zack decked with an ALL OUT and a MIDDLE-ROPE SENTON BOMB! ONE! TWO! THR-KICK OUT!
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Tana guns for the leg like he did Shibata, but a Feint Roundhouse into a Legsweep from ZSJ floors him! AND A NECK TWIST!!! With Hiroshi distracted by his neck, Sabre immediately switches for the legs, applying SUNDAY RAIL ENGINEERING WORKS REPLACEMENT BUS SERVICE!!! Tana’s quick to make the ropes, though has to physically pull himself to the apron when Sabre doesn’t release! No breather for him, Zack hooks his leg in the ropes and connects a DRAGON SCREW!
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Tana receiving a taste of his own medicine, Sabre slides out and scores one directly on the apron, bashing Hiroshi’s leg into the hardest part of the ring! He attempts to Irish Whip Tanahashi into the ring post, but the Once in a Century Talent nails a SLING BLADE ON THE APRON! DRAGON SUPLEX TO THE FLOOR!!! Playing the starpower card, Tana poses with a grin as the cameras catch a shot of Sabre beneath him. He doesn’t notice Zack’s little twitches though, committing to a HIGH FLY FLOW TO THE OUTSIDE!!! A POSSUM SABRE PUSHES HIM MID-AIR ONTO THE BARRICADE!!!
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As Tokyo gasps, it’s academic from Sabre as he threads Tana’s leg through a steel chair, PILMANISING IT!!! Evidence long discarded by the time the referee walks over, he wraps Hiroshi’s leg around the steel post, using it to apply a SASORI-GATAME!!! Tana lets out shouts of agony, Zack milking the suffering as Hiroshi begs the referee to get the challenger to stop. Eventually letting go, he forces Tanahashi to walk himself back into the spider’s web, a SPRINGBOARD ENZUIGIRI awaiting! BRIDGING NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX! ONE! TWO! THR-KICK OUT!
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Swivelling into a KNEEBAR now, he rolls around with Tana’s leg in his grasp, countering Hiroshi’s each attempts at escape, before going for the SELECTED TECHNICAL WORKS VOL. 2 combination, but Tana stacks his shoulders up! ONE! TWO! THR-NO LUCK! Forced to release to kick out, he scrambles to his feet to batter Hiroshi with a elbows, a DISCUS ELBOW SMASH staggering him, but a Pele Kick is caught, Tana nailing his own DRAGON SCREW!!!
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A TWIST AND SHOUT follows, before Tana wraps on the DRAGON SWING! Wrenching on the neck, he makes a good few rotations before suddenly dropping to a knee, his leg unable to hold up for too long. Going for a DRAGON SUPLEX, it’s blocked by a barrage of back elbows, though Hiroshi nails the DARUMA-SHIKI GERMAN INSTEAD!!! ONE! TWO! THR-SABRE KICKS OUT! Nursing his neck, Sabre gets no reprieve as a HASE URANAGE spikes him, and a HIGH FLY ATTACK… IS CAUGHT IN AN ANKLE LOCK!!!
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Tana rolls through but Sabre rolls with him, though he can’t get the grapevine, Tana booting him off with the other leg! TWIST AND SHOUT! Sabre subdued, a SLING BLADE takes him down, a HIGH FLY FLOW FOLLOWING SUIT!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Tana rushes for a TEXAS CLOVERLEAF, putting the hurt on Zack’s legs now! The Submission Master searches for escapes yet Hiroshi commits his everything to this move, not letting him free for the life of him! That is, until his own leg gives way! Grounded, he can’t stop a PENALTY KICK!!! AND A ZACK DRIVER!!! ONE! TWO! THR-TANA STAYS ALIVE!!!
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Ragdolling Hiroshi with a pair of Double Underhook Suplexes, Zack puts Tana in a prone position to stomp the insides of the knees, before applying a CALF SLICER!!! Yet again, the Ace of the Universe is in trouble, his condition deteriorating with each submission. Knowing he needs to change that and fast… HE GRABS ZACK’S SKULL AND RAMS IT INTO THE MAT REPEATEDLY TO BREAK!!! Gears turning in his mind from Sabre’s tribute, HE GETS HIM UP FOR A STYLES CLASH!!! ONE! TWO! THR-SABRE SURVIVES!!!
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Connecting a SLING BLADE, he dumps Zack with a DRAGON SUPLEX! ZACK RESPONDS WITH ONE OF HIS OWN! Open palm strikes from Tana light up Zack, only for him to wring out the arm for a PELE KICK!!! Sabre teases a Legsweep, but Hiroshi hops over this time and nails a GROUNDED HIGH FLY FLOW!!! Air driven out of ZSJ’s lungs, Tana hoists him up… AND NAILS A TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER!!! SHADES OF OKADA!!! The CHAOS Leader beating him like this both past Sakura Geneses, it’s going to happen again!
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Scaling the ropes, Tana crashes down with a HIGH FLY FLOWWWWWWWWWW!!! But he’s not done! Wanting to make an example out of Sabre, he takes his time posing atop the world like the star he is… BUT IT ALLOWS ZACK TO RECOVER, GRABBING HIS LEG!!! Hammering the knee before Tana has a chance to respond, he yanks him off… RUNNING LIGER BOMB!!! ONE! TWO! THR-KICK OUT!!! STRAIGHT INTO CLARKY CAT BAD BALLOON REMIX!!! Folding Tana’s leg over his shoulder, he utterly destroys the geriatric knees over the champion, who wails in agony, doing anything he can to break free… BUT HE’S TOO FAR FROM THE ROPES!!! TANAHASHI TAPS OUT!!! THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM – ZSJ’S THE NEW KING OF NEW JAPAN!!!
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Zack Sabre Jr. def. Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (30:23)
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Cutting Tanahashi’s reign brutally short, Sabre-Gun has claimed its spot on the throne! Raising up both his trophy and championship, he’s lifted onto TMDK’s shoulders, the three men flaunting their gold to the world as the remainder of the stable joins them! Tana shell-shocked, he hangs his head in shame and despair as he limps off, Ryogoku the first of many dark days for NJPW…
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As the new monarch, Sabre’s first order of business is simple – kill off his counterpart. And by that he means the man who successfully defended the title against him last year, Will Ospreay. Though he may hold the title, jealousy courses through ZSJ’s veins knowing the Commonwealth Kingpin’s considered the company’s top gaijin despite Zack’s superior record over him. Wanting to change that, he calls out Ospreay, who’s fresh off dropping the NEVER 6-Man Titles to Just6Guys, having had quite the identity crisis since having the WK main event taken from him. Eager at the chance at a do-over, he accepts without hesitation.
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Wrestling Hinokuni (April 27, 2024)
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Sabre-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & TMDK) vs United Empire (Will Ospreay & Aussie Open)
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Whilst Sabre and Ospreay have kept their distance since their Royal Quest match, the same can’t be said about the greater stables. World Tag League Winners TMDK taking Aussie Open’s IWGP Tag Team Championship at Wrestle Kingdom and United Empire successfully defending the NEVER Titles against Sabre-Gun at the Anniversary Show, this conclusion was only inevitable. Aussie Open also wanting a chance to get their titles back, they team with Ospreay here against the champion unit, the Commonwealth Nations going to war for supremacy.
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Unlike Royal Quest, Sabre’s notably a lot surer of himself against Will here, no longer compensating by matching his striking game, rather trying to make Ospreay play his game instead. However, even with Zack being in his best possible form, SG falters against UE once more, the Coriolis to Mikey Nicholls setting the stage for Wrestling Dontaku! Zack grits his teeth as much like Tanahashi, Ospreay looks down on him.
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United Empire def. Sabre-Gun (17:34)
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Wrestling Dontaku (May 4, 2024)
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Also on the show:
Ren Narita (c) vs Shota Umino - NEVER Openweight Championship
Taichi (c) vs Hiromu Takahashi - NJPW World Television Championship
YOH (c) vs Robbie Eagles - IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship
KENTA (c) vs PAC - IWGP United States Championship
TMDK (c) vs Aussie Open - IWGP Tag Team Championship
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Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs Will Ospreay XVII - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
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A rivalry extending back an entire decade to the UK Indies, the spot for best British wrestler in the world has long been contested between these two. Back at it again, it’s time they settle the score once more. Ospreay strides out comfortably, having been in this position plenty of times by now as a potentially soon-to-be 3x World Champion, this his domain. As for Sabre, it’s his first time defending a title of this magnitude, pressure clearly weighing on his shoulders, but taking a deep breath, he prepares himself for victory just like TMDK earlier in the night.
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As the bell rings… Ospreay explodes for a DROPKICK right away – shades of NJC 2021! Zack fishes the leg out the air and applies an ANKLE LOCK, LOOKING TO TAP HIM OUT WITHIN THE FIRST FEW SECONDS OF THE MATCH! Alarmed, Ospreay thrashes with kicks from his free leg to force Sabre off, rolling to the outside to recollect himself! Sabre doesn’t let him though, nailing a Baseball Slide Dropkick, before tossing him back in and wrangling the leg again!
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A roll shakes him off, a HOOK KICK following, AND AN OSCUTTER! Sabre stops it though, countering with a SNAP DRAGON SUPLEX! Will rotates through to his feet and soars for a STANDING SHOOTING STAR PRESS, but again Zack dodges! BOW & ARROW ATTEMPT! Will flips into a cover, Zack kicking out instantly! Ospreay handsprings off the ropes, teasing his signature Enzuigiri, Sabre grasping the leg mid-air, but another follows, wrapping around his neck to twist through into a CROSS ARMBREAKER FROM WILL!
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Sabre gets the monkey grip, preventing full extension, BUT WILL BITES THE FINGERS TO FORCE HIM OFF, now getting the full stretch, yelling at the referee to ask Zack if he submits! Sabre refuses however, rolling onto his stomach to turn the hold over and stand up, getting his legs around Will’s neck to score a NECK TWIST, getting him to release!
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Zack knowing it to be a sore spot, he gets rallying with European Uppercuts to rock it like a bobblehead, before leaping into a GUILLOTINE CHOKE! Zack tightens his grip around Will’s neck, but a BUCKLE EXPLODER SUPLEX loosens it again as Sabre’s left dangling in a Tree of Woe! Ospreay sits cross-legged in front of him and SMASHES HIS NOSE WITH FOREARMS, busting a defenceless Zack open! Fish-hooking the nose, Will shakes his head about and lets crimson droplets paint the surroundings like a psychopathic Bob Ross, before letting go, cackling.
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He heads to the top rope, but Zack meets him there, pulling himself up using his core strength and crotching Will on the neighbouring rope! The two face-to-face again, Zack sitting on the turnbuckle and Will on the rope, they trade forearms, blood continuing to leak down Sabre’s face, but he doesn’t care, INSTEAD GRABBING WILL’S LEG TO SUSPEND HIM UPSIDE-DOWN WITH A HANGING SUNDAY RAIL ENGINEERING WORKS REPLACEMENT BUS SERVICE!!!
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Will’s in sheer agony as Sabre contorts his limb, but he’s saved by the referee’s count, Sabre forced to let go, Ospreay slumping to the apron. Zack turns to face the apron as he collects his wits and catches his breath, whilst Will nurses his leg, being checked on by the referee to make sure he’s good to continue, hopping to his base. Sabre settles down on the apron behind Will, grabbing him from behind, TESTING AN APRON TIGER SUPLEX!
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Ospreay smashes the nose with a rear headbutt to ward him off! AND HE SPRINGS OFF ONE LEG TO DROP SABRE WITH AN APRON OSCUTTER, BOTH MEN SPILLING TO THE FLOOR!!! The referee starts their count as both lay still, no sign of movement as the 10 count nears. Reaching 12 now, they finally begin to stir, getting on all fours… 13… 14… 15… OSPREAY’S LEG GIVES OUT! 16… 17… 18… BOTH MEN MAKE ONE LAST PUSH, SABRE SHOVING HIMSELF INSIDE THE RING BY 19, WHILST OSPREAY PULLS HIMSELF UP ONTO THE APRON AND SPRINGS OFF ONE LEG ON THE ROPES FOR A PIP PIP CHEERIO!!! ONE! TWO! THR-KICK OUT!!!
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Coming down hard on the leg though, Ospreay writhes in pain, but with Zack down, he pulls himself up with every last bit of energy he has up for STORM BREAKER… ZACK WITH AN OCTOPUS HOLD!!! Will immediately rams him into the turnbuckle until he lets up, Sabre instead sliding down his back like a bird hitting a window, OSPREAY COLLECTING HIM TO NAIL A HITODENASHI DRIVER!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOO!!!
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Will shouts in frustration, having jammed the leg on the landing. Feeling victory nigh though, he preps the HIDDEN BLADE!!! SABRE SPINS AROUND AND COUNTERS WITH A ZACK DRIVER!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NO DICE!!! PENTALTY KICK! ANOTHER COVER!!! ONE! TWO! THR-STILL NO LUCK!!! NOW A NUMERO DOS A LA DESPERADO!!! Ospreay screams as Sabre tears the leg in half, Will dancing around in search of reprieve, until a FRANKENSTEINER stands ZSJ on his dome! BRAINBUSTER FOLLOWS!
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Sabre rocked, Ospreay cracks the CHELSEA GRIN against his neck, before connecting the HIDDEN BLADE!!! ONE! TWO! THR-ZACK’S STILL IN IT!!! Will’s leg is falling apart as he stumbles back into the corner to try for seconds, losing balance and collapsing before he can reach his target! EUROPEAN CLUTCH FROM ZACK!!! ONE! TWO! THR-OSPREAY SURVIVES!!! BUT A PENALTY KICK TO THE SKULL! AND STRAIGHT INTO ORIENTEERING WITH NAPALM DEATH!!! OSPREAY THRASHES LIKE A MADMAN, FEELING HIS LIGAMENTS ON THE VERGE OF TEARING… AND HE TAPS!!!
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Zack Sabre Jr. (c) def. Will Ospreay to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (34:18)
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One more for the bad guys. Commonwealth Kingpin at his mercy, Ospreay a mess as he scrambles off, Zack’s the new Top Gaijin in town. Raising his title high from the turnbuckles, he juices every last drop out his victory, this moment perfect to him… or not. OH MY GOD IT’S MINORU SUZUKI!!! Any bit of colour that remains on ZSJ’s pale face drains off as the King’s music rings through Fukuoka, but there’s no sign of the man- WAIT, SABRE’S SPUN AROUND! KICK TO THE GUT – GOTCH-STYLE PILEDRIVER!!! HE’S HERE!!! Placing a boot on Zack’s chest, Suzuki holds the World Title high over his former stablemate’s body!
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The ending of Dontaku has Japan buzzing as they question the true motive of Suzuki’s attack, and after an extended silence, the King sets the record straight. 1 ½ years ago, Suzuki-Gun was dissolved, and ever since, Sabre’s been writing checks with his mouth that he can’t cash. He walks around with the World Title like he’s the reason he even received recognition in NJPW in the first place. Suzuki gave him a home beside him, and as rapidly as he elevated Sabre, he can take it all away from him just as fast. He’s getting old and is still missing the final piece to the Japanese Triple Crown, so he plans to take that from Zack.
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Sabre doesn’t take too kindly to these words, letting his actions speak for himself as he ASSAULTS SUZUKI on a Road To Dontaku show! Bringing Sabre-Gun with him, they brutalise the legend, before Zack plants his group’s flag on Suzuki’s chest! Mocking him for having no allies the next night, declaring Suzuki’s era of relevance to be long gone… this plays. SUZUKI’S HERE, AND HE’S NOT ALONE! IT’S JUST6GUYS!!! Racing to the ring, the two factions erupt in a massive brawl, bodies flying left and right! Sabre tries for a quick getaway but he’s stopped by Minoru, who gives him a devilish snarl before clobbering him with forearms until Sabre-Gun’s sent packing through the crowd, Zack yelling expletives at Suzuki as he retreats!
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Back to Yokohama Arena (May 16, 2024)
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Sabre-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado & TMDK) vs Minoru Suzuki & Just3Guys (Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI)
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With Sabre-Gun and Just6Guys feuding ever since their respective formations, switching between silent competitive warfare of racking up belts to fighting each other, notably the Sabre/Taichi saga, it all fully comes to a head in Suzuki’s home of Yokohama! With full freedom to destroy each other however they please, the two factions don’t hold back one bit, with Suzuki especially targeting ZSJ. He’s unable to give him grief the way he wishes to though, Zack tactfully hiding behind his partners until he can blindside Minoru, before scramming again. Ultimately, it’s Minoru putting Desperado away with the GOTCH PILEDRIVER, before signalling to Sabre that time’s running out for him, Suzuki to get his hands on him too soon enough!
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Minoru Suzuki & J6G def. Sabre-Gun (15:03)
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As much as Sabre tries to deny it, that day only speeds closer with each accusation of cowardice against the prideful champion’s name, the world questioning whether he’s afraid of Suzuki. Adamant to silence his doubters, he finally accepts Suzuki’s title challenge, setting the stage for Dominion, though promising he won’t have a career to go back to when Sabre’s done with him!
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Dominion 6.2 (June 2, 2024)
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Also on the show:
YOH (c) vs SHO - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Just2Guys (c) vs Sabre-Gun (Blake Christian & Clark Connors) - IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship
TMDK (c) vs The Lucha Brothers - IWGP Tag Team Championship
PAC (c) vs Katsuyori Shibata - IWGP United States Championship
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Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs Minoru Suzuki - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
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With Sabre-Gun beating Just6Guys earlier in the night, this war’s already at its boiling point by the time the main event arrives, Suzuki opting to enter second as Zack steps out- CRACK! STEEL CHAIR TO SABRE’S SPINE!!! Suzuki isn’t wasting even a second here, tearing the jacket off Sabre’s back before bending the steel over his spine! The Windy Man desperately tries to crawl away to the ring, but Suzuki steps on his ankle to stop him! Turning him around to meet his maker, MINORU GOES FOR A GOTCH PILEDRIVER ON THE CHAIR!!! LOW BLOW FROM SABRE TO COUNTER!!!
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Suzuki drops to his knees as Osaka boos the smarmy champion, ZSJ now battering the King’s back, before finally sliding him in to get the match started! PENALTY KICK RIGHT AWAY!!! ONE! TWO! THR-KICK OUT!!! Sabre wrenches in a CLARKY CAT, working the arm as Suzuki writhes under him, but it’s not long before Minoru stands up out of it, hurling ZSJ to the mat! Booting him in the jaw, Suzuki backs him into the corner and tears into him with open palm strikes! He winds up a CORNER DROPKICK, but Sabre evades, blasting him with a rapid barrage of European Uppercuts against the turnbuckle!
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Zack taking the run-up now, Suzuki bucks him over the ropes to the apron, SABRE BLASTING A THUMB IN HIS EYE! Minoru blinded, Zack leaps up for a SPRINGBOARD ENZUIGIRI- SUZUKI BLOCKS WITH A WILD SLAP TO THE CHEEK!!! Sabre stiffed, Suzuki applies a HANGING JUJI-GATAME FROM THE ROPES!!! Zack screams in agony as Minoru damn near rips his arm out the socket, the referee’s count the only thing keeping him from going!
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Releasing, Sabre crumples to the floor, getting as far as he possibly can from Suzuki, though he’s not fast enough, Suzuki nailing a GOAL KICK to his skull from the apron! Grabbing Sabre, he HURLS him into the guardrail with it shoulder-first, the velocity sending Zack through! As he goes to collect his prey though, SABRE TOSSES A CHAIR AT HIS SKULL!!! Threading Suzuki’s arm through it, SABRE STOMPS THE ELBOW!!! AND AN ARTICLE 50!!!
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Sabre abuses the legend, but he forgets about the other arm, Suzuki slapping his head in with it until Zack releases! Shaking off the arm, a BACK BODY DROP sends Sabre crashing back to ringside, Minoru following after him as ZSJ slinks inside the ring. Zack beats him to his feet though, stomping a hole through the mat with Suzuki’s skull, dribbling it! He cracks a ROLLING ELBOW off the skull, but Minoru walks through it, glaring at Sabre! Throwing an elbow of his own, it gets caught, Zack scoring the PELE KICK to the arm!
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AND A KIMURA LOCK!!! Sabre brutally rips at the arm, bringing Suzuki to his knees from the pain even, but Minoru pins his shoulders to the mat! ONE! TWO! THR-SABRE RELEASES TO KICK OUT! As Zack rolls to his feet, a SHOTGUN DROPKICK awaits him! Suzuki clobbers him with slaps to the face, Sabre seeing stars as one knocks him clean off his feet! Turning to the turnbuckle… SUZUKI RIPS IT OFF!!! Steel exposed, he teases a SNAP SUPLEX INTO THE CORNER!!! SABRE COUNTERS WITH A BRAINBUSTER ON THE MAT!!! GUILLOTINE CHOKE!!!
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Draining the life out of Suzuki, Sabre presses on the carotid artery, Minoru is deep trouble! BUT NOW THE KING BITES ON ZSJ’S FINGERS!!! Zack yelps and releases, allowing Suzuki to secure his wrists and STOMP HIS HEAD IN!!! Sabre catches a boot and applies SUNDAY RAIL ENGINEERING WORKS REPLACEMENT BUS SERVICE!!! ZSJ tortures Suzuki’s leg, though in doing so leaves his arm exposed, Minoru yanking off his grip and countering into HIS OWN HEEL HOOK!!!
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Sabre desperately tries the same counter, but Suzuki’s grip is too tight to break, forcing Zack to roll to the ropes! SUZUKI ISN’T LETTING GO! Crawling on his hands, Sabre pulls himself to the floor and WHIPLASHES MINORU’S NECK OFF THE BOTTOM ROPE!!! Staggering about ringside on one foot, he grabs his title and rolls back in! Suzuki struggling up, Sabre tries to deck him with the belt… but the referee grabs it from behind! A tug-of-war ends in SUZUKI KNOCKING THE BELT INTO THE REF WITH AN ENZUIGIRI!
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Both men hitting the deck, Minoru rocks ZSJ with a Dropkick! GOTCH PILEDRIVER ONTO THE TITLE!!! But there’s no one to count! Pissed, Suzuki limps out and abuses a couple young lions, before picking one out the crowd to toss in the ring, ripping the referee’s shirt off and telling the lion to put it on! SUZUKI COVERS! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Even more livid, HE DECKS THIS LION TOO! Turning back to Zack, he notices the champion feebly reaching for the belt! Kicking it out the ring, Suzuki goes for another GOTCH PILEDRIVER!!! BACK BODY DROP COUNTER!!!
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Still hurting, Sabre struggles to get a rally of strikes going, Suzuki meeting him blow for blow! BUT SABRE WHIPS THE SHOULDER INTO THE MAT! Minoru stunned, sadistic thoughts run through Sabre’s mind… TIGER SUPLEX INTO THE EXPOSED STEEL!!! AND A RUNNING LIGER BOMB – ONE OF SUZUKI’S RIVALS MOVES!!! THE REFEREE’S BACK TO CONSCIOUSNESS! NOT LIKE THIS! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
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Sabre’s exasperated, thinking he had it! Running out of options, he teases a ZACK DRIVER, but Suzuki slips behind and applies the SLEEPER HOLD!!! Sabre’s quickly fading, frantically trying to tear the bad arm off, but Minoru doesn’t budge, shoving ZSJ to the mat for the PENALTY KICK!!! ONE! TWO! THR-ZACK KICKS OUT!!! Suzuki grabs Sabre by the chin, demanding him to strike Minoru if he thinks he’s so tough, ZSJ doing his best, but Suzuki eats it and returns a HARD SLAP! SLEEPER SUPLEX!!!
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Tossing Sabre to the apron, Minoru steps onto the middle rope and cinches in an ELEVATED SLEEPER!!! Zack dangles in the air, unable to find his footing to escape, Suzuki lifting him higher and higher! Blood rushing to his legs, he needs to act fast, attacking the elbow again until the hold is finally slightly loosened! Leaning forwards, he pulls Suzuki his direction, allowing him to lower his feet onto the apron… YANKING SUZUKI INTO AN APRON ZACK DRIVER!!!
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Sabre coughs up a lung as he kicks Minoru’s corpse back in, before lining up a PENALTY KICK!!! ONE! TWO! THR-SUZUKI’S ALIVE!!! Zack’s stunned as he comes face-to-face with Suzuki’s sneer, Minoru still having enough in him to throw slaps! Sabre returning Uppercuts, they go blow-for-blow until Zack collapses first, though he’s playing possum, HEADBUTTING THE SHOULDER as the King tries to grab him! He goes for YOU CAN’T PLAY CONKERS IN ENGLAND, though he’s immediately tossed down, SUZUKI NAILING A PENALTY KICK!!!
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Winding up, Minoru goes for one more… ZACK SLAPS HIS HEAD OFF HIS SHOULDERS!!! Putting the head between his legs, HE NAILS A GOTCH PILEDRIVER!!! Suzuki collapses in position for a PENALTY KICK!!! AND NOW SABRE CINCHES IT IN – HURRAH! ANOTHER YEAR, SURELY THIS ONE WILL BE BETTER THAN THE LAST; THE INEXORABLE MARCH OF PROGRESS WILL LEAD US ALL TO HAPPINESS!!! Suzuki grits his teeth, trying to fight through it, Sabre keeping his eyes on his hands to see the tap… NOWHERE TO GO, MINORU FLIPS HIM OFF WITH BOTH HANDS AND VERBALLY SUBMITS!!!
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Zack Sabre Jr. (c) def. Minoru Suzuki to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (32:50)
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Surviving one of the toughest matches of his career, Zack’s kingdom still lives, though barely. As he’s handed his title though, he chucks it aside, this about far more than the gold to him! SABRE STOMPS OUT SUZUKI!!! Signalling to the back, out rush Sabre-Gun, coming to Sabre’s aid to conduct a mugging on the legend! SUDDEN DEATH FROM ELP! PINCHE LOCO FROM DESPERADO! THUNDER VALLEY FROM TMDK! TANDEM JEEP FLIP/DROPKICK FROM BLAKE, CONNORS AND FUJITA! And now, it's Zack’s turn. Dragging him to the concrete… HE’S GOING FOR THE GOTCH PILEDRIVER!!! HE WANTS TO RETIRE SUZUKI FOR GOOD!!!
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BUT HERE COMES J6G!!! AND LANCE ARCHER TOO!!! Sabre tosses Suzuki aside to deal with the oncoming traffic, Taichi and co. putting up an honourable fight, but they’re still down a man, Sabre-Gun managing to retain their upper-hand, until… OH MY GOD, IT’S SUZUKI’S OLD TAG PARTNER NAOMICHI MARUFUJI!!! Sabre can’t even get a curse out before a KO-OH SMACKS HIM IN THE FACE!!! Marufuji beats on Zack to turn the tide, going for the POLE SHIFT, but Sabre manages to escape in the nick of time, Sabre-Gun once again sent on the retreat, the show closing on Marufuji helping Suzuki up!
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NJPW/AJPW/NOAH All Together Again (June 7, 2024)
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Zack Sabre Jr. vs Naomichi Marufuji
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After the events of Dominion, it’s only natural these two fight, long, long overdue a one-on-one since their NOAH days together! Fighting in Suzuki’s honour, Marufuji steps to the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and it’s like 2016 all over again the way he utterly humbles Sabre to start like he’s facing Okada! A match of two halves, it goes from Naomichi giving ZSJ the biggest whooping of his life to Sabre brutally breaking down the legend, reminding him he’s 8 years too old to still be winning these sorts of matches. Though Maru gives Zack grief one more than one occasion, he meets his demise at the hands of a CREMATION LILY, Sabre spitting on Naomichi as he leaves, declaring himself untouchable!
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Zack Sabre Jr. def. Naomichi Marufuji (25:37)
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With his war on J6G and friends officially behind him, Sabre sets his sights on a show he has quite some history with. Losing to Claudio Castagnoli at the first Forbidden Door, before beating Katsuyori Shibata at the second to take both the NJPW TV and ROH Pure Titles to ALL IN to submit Danielson, there’s naturally only one direction for him to head…
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Dynamite (June 12, 2024)
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Racking another AEW International Championship defence under his belt, Wheeler YUTA is on top of the world, and as he’s approached by Tony Schiavone for a post-match comment… WHACK! IWGP WORLD TITLE TO THE BACK OF HIS HEAD!!! SABRE-GUN’S HERE!!! Mugging Blackpool Combat Club’s young gun like they did Suzuki, a SABRE DRIVER leaves him broken on the mat as Zack yells down the camera that he wants Moxley’s head at Forbidden Door, scurrying away before BCC can make the save!
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Collision (June 15, 2024)
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Zack Sabre Jr. vs Wheeler YUTA
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Off the back of Sabre’s assault on YUTA, a match is made between the two technically-gifted champions in a massive Collision main event! Though ZSJ’s far out his paygrade, an arrogant Wheeler does his best to knock off the Technical Wizard, impressing with a display of submissions he’s picked up from Danielson, before employing some of Claudio’s marquee athleticism and Mox’s grittiness. Never a fair match to begin with though, a TESCO MEAL DEAL cruelly silences YUTA!
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Zack Sabre Jr. def. Wheeler YUTA (10:12)
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Grabbing a mic, Zack runs down Moxley, reminding him how they were supposed to fight 4 years ago until the pandemic ruined that, Jon ducking him ever since. Now though, he’s the last member of BCC he needs to get through before he can shut up those babies too, so all he needs to know is if Jon is still afraid of him or not. And as Sabre awaits his response… HE RECEIVES IT IN THE FORM OF A PARADIGM SHIFT!!! Mox holds Zack’s title over his body, gaining some retribution for YUTA!
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AEWxNJPW Forbidden Door (June 23, 2024)
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Also on the show:
The Lucha Brothers (c) vs La Faccion Ingobernable (RUSH & Dralistico) - IWGP Tag Team Championship
PAC (c) vs Swerve Strickland - IWGP United States Championship
Tetsuya Naito vs Andrade El Idolo
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Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs Jon Moxley - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
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The final showdown of a lengthy saga, Sabre makes his third defence against New Japan’s Ace, and it’s quite literally a bloody clinic, Mox showing zero fear in the face of the Top Gaijin, who looks to plant his flag over another territory. From a Paradigm Shift to the floor to a Zack Driver through a table, both men are busted open by the surroundings, the blood loss only helping Sabre’s case when he locks in the HYPERNORMALISATION, causing Mox to pass out! Alas, ZSJ stands atop BCC, but perhaps a more personal challenge yet awaits him…
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Zack Sabre Jr. (c) def. Jon Moxley to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (23:20)

While it's been a few weeks since the Diamond League opener in Doha, there has been plenty of track and field action elsewhere in the world as athletes around the world get their outdoor seasons going. This weekend has already been busy with a World Athletics Gold Label meet in Los Angeles that included:

• Abdihamid Nur securing running 13:05.17 in a quick 5000m race to secure the 13:07.00 Budapest World Championships qualifying standard on Friday evening (additional recap).
• Timothy Cheruiyot showing that he's still very much a threat in the 1500m this season with a world-leading 3:31.41 win the the 1500m Saturday afternoon.
• A slew of additional world-leading marks from Ryan Crouser (23.56m shot put world record), Maggie Ewen (20.45m shot put), Mondo Duplantis (5.91m pole vault), Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (12.31s 100m hurdles), Diribe Welteji (3:57.84 1500m), Marileidy Paulino (48.98s 400m).

The next stop in the Diamond League season takes us to the Moroccan city of Rabat!
For American distance running fans, the men's 1500m is probably the marquee event of the program. It features Yared Nuguse making his Diamond League debut after a great winter and early spring that was highlighted by American indoor records in the 3000m and mile. Because Nuguse missed out on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Eugene World Championships, this race should be an exciting test to see how well he'll stack up against world-class talent like Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Abel Kipsang.
On the women's distance side, Gudaf Tsegay will be making her season debut in the women's 1500m. Unfortunately, Faith Kipyegon isn't in this race, but Tsegay will be joined by three other sub-4 women (Freweyni Hailu, Linden Hall, and Winnie Nanyondo) and a Cory McGee who is still on the hunt to finally find the third of a second that would make her a member of the sub-4 club. The women's 800m features Natoya Goule and Sage Hurta-Klecker opening up in their primary event against 2022 Eugene bronze medalist Mary Moraa and current world leader Catriona Bisset.
Shifting attention to the sprints, while we won't get to see the Marcell Jacobs vs. Fred Kerley showdown that we had hoped for in the men's 100m, Kerley is still racing a strong field that includes Trayvon Bromell, Letsile Tebogo, and Ferdinand Omanyala. In the women's 200m, Shericka Jackson is taking a step up from her season-opener 100m race in Doha to face a field that includes Tamari Davis, Kayla White, and Anthonique Strachan.
Feel free to use this thread to discuss the meet.

• Diamond League overall calendar
• Start lists and live results
• List of official broadcasters
• For Americans, the meet will be streamed live on Peacock during the TV window (9:00-11:00am PDT). It will be on CBC for Canadians, BBC for UK residents, and the Wanda Diamond League Youtube channel for countries that aren't covered by existing broadcast rights (e.g. Japan).
• Previews: World Athletics, Diamond League, Athletics Weekly, LetsRun

Here is the schedule, with Diamond disciplines in bold:

Event	Local time (UTC+1) - Sunday, May 28	Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10) - Monday, May 29	Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7) - Sunday, May 28
200m National Women	5:55pm	2:55am	9:55am
200m National Men	6:03pm	3:03am	10:03am
800m U23 Women	6:10pm	3:10am	10:10am
800m U23 Men	6:18pm	3:18am	10:18am
1500m National Women	6:26pm	3:26am	10:26am
1500m National Men	6:36pm	3:36am	10:36am
Shot Put Women	6:37pm	3:37am	10:37am
400m National Men	6:49pm	3:49am	10:49am
Start of TV window	7:00pm	4:00am	11:00am
400m Hurdles Women	7:04pm	4:04am	11:04am
High Jump Women	7:05pm	4:05am	11:05am
800m Men	7:15pm	4:15am	11:15am
Discus Throw Men	7:27pm	4:27am	11:27am
110m Hurdles Men	7:29pm	4:29am	11:29am
1500m Women	7:38pm	4:38am	11:38am
Triple Jump Women	7:38pm	4:38am	11:38am
400m Men	7:52pm	4:52am	11:52am
200m Women	8:02pm	5:02am	12:02pm
1500m Men	8:11pm	5:11am	12:11pm
100m Men	8:25pm	5:25am	12:25pm
800m Women	8:34pm	5:34am	12:34pm
3000m Steeplechase Men	8:46pm	5:46am	12:46pm

Hello. Some of you may know that many characters in media are autistic-coded, ADHD-coded, and so on... but the problem is that they sometimes have inadequate representation, because of ignorance simply put. Many YouTube commentators have poured out reviews and their own thoughts about neurodivergent "rep" in media. I have thought quite a bit about the possibilities of the "Byronic" phenotype being prominent in some fictional well-known characters.
When I mean Byronic, I don't intend to imply the 19th century archetype but the theoretical personality phenotype.
Warning: Overanalyzing characters.
I give you at least 3 characters which I speculate to show at least some Byronic-coded tendency:
Number 1: Linus van Pelt
This is surprising as you may not expect a Peanuts character to be on this list. But trust me, anyone who knows enough about Linus knows how precociously insightful, philosophical he is for a 6 or 7 year old, yet in other aspects he has not grown so much. Especially when it comes to going outside of his comfort zone concerning his safety blanket, which may reflect a delay in adapting to emotional independence. He uses the safety blanket as a shield from stress and potentially the terrifying outside world, yet at the same time he is quite the old soul and knows a lot about the outside world. I know that many Byronic-like persons are very prone to addiction. Linus went through severe withdrawal symptoms after his blanket was removed from him.
In one comic strip, Linus gives a speech that threatens to change the educational system in a particularly terrifying and politically educated way. At such a young age, he is already so disillusioned, yet is also deluded by his childhood imagination with an inflexible belief that a Great Pumpkin being will one day arrive to him. This plus the blanket is the triad that defines Linus's byronic traits. He mentors Charlie Brown, and also mentors other characters. He and his sister both have the quality of being able to give "advice" often, yet Lucy's tends to be.... unpractical.
Linus is capable of reciprocal relationships but he also has this annoying byronic tendency of attempting to recruit as a primary mode of relating at times, as in, recruiting Great Pumpkin believers.
Linus is definitely not the edgy, meanie type of Byronesque personality. He even once said he'd rather not have a warped personality. He's more of the ideological-philosophical variant.
Number 2: Daria Morgendorffer
I watched all of Daria episodes, so I know exactly how she's like. She is not only sardonic and an angsty teen, she is more than that stereotype of the unpopular brainy chick; she's riddled by her profound disillusionment of society, the matrix, the system, 1984 and everything. This is one of the most classic Byronic traits; severe disillusionment from a young age, which amplifies other traits.
Her disillusionment creates serious chronic angst, which makes her deeply unsatisfied and unhappy with her circumstances. As she said, she has low esteem for everyone else. She even was meta-edgy by once defining the word edgy as a corporate marketing master plan. This angst, and her disillusionment affect so many aspects of her life, and she is deliberately blunt and honest about what she really thinks. Unlike what autistic people typically do (unintentional brutal honesty), Daria deliberately shocks others by stating the raw truth.
Daria is also known for hiding her emotions, and keeps a muted or flat affect, and a monotone voice. This may be also part of her own byronic traits, as she simply doesn't care about emulating fake emotions. Daria knows what she is supposed to emulate, but chooses not to do it. She proves this by 1. mocking how social situations are scripted or expected to be in the matrix (such as the "we were born here" dialogue in the party episode) and 2. once faking Brittany's perky voice with a very monotonous change in intonation.
Daria possibly learned to define herself in a rigid, narrow idea of herself thanks to the constant reminders of how much of a "brain" she is.
Daria seems more like a "reactive byronic" - she developed as a defense mechanism from years of ostracization, yet as with most Byronic individuals, she always had predispositions.
Number 3: Garfield
Ah, what can I say about this feline.... a foodie, Monday-hater, dog-kicker, mouse-friend, and mailman-catcher. The internet's lore has metamorphosed and corrupted him into a monstrous beast, and although this is not canon, it could very well be a reflection of what fans perceive subconsciously about him - his deep, profound unsatisfaction with life, as in fatigue, addiction, and many believe he is in fact chronically depressed. Or even, bipolar - he does have episodes of inflated sense of self, especially when he does stand-up comedy (he is blind to how much his jokes suck), or constant irritability.
Garfield definitely has mood swings and has strong antipathic states. It also was said about him by his creator Jim Davis that he is not very good with politics. He also uses a lot of sarcasm as a coping tool, to deal with his Groundhog day, unfunny, uncreative life that Mr. Davis has made him to live until the strip is no longer updated.
Garfield is also a strongly oppositional, rebellious cat, defying everything Jon says, and pranks him many times. Jon Arbuckle also displays some obvious signs of very odd autistic-coded behavior and thought patterns, to the point where fans have portrayed him as a schizophrenic (Garfield minus Garfield). The sneaky cat always seems to manipulate and torment Jon.
He has a very vivid imagination which can often fool him.
Garfield is a very intelligent feline - yet he is also quite insecure, especially around his birthdays. Aside that, I do not see too much proof that he may in fact be Byronic-coded but there are some mild substantial evidence or hinting.
Notes:
With Linus, and Garfield, I do not see much dysfunction within their respective love lifes, strangely.
P.S. I also speculate Wednesday is on the more Byronic side, but I haven't watched sufficient content from the Addams Family or Wednesday to verify my theory. Many fans suspect she is autistic, but I think she really just is intentionally edgy and brutal, and just has an overly selective mind accompanying that.
I also see strong verbal skills in a few characters.

(Reposted with formatting with Kirk's blessing)
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After a rocky start to the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship’s legacy, this past year gave it a much-needed push back into the limelight as one of the most sought-after belts in wrestling, but there’s still work to be done. Kazuchika Okada was about to do that until his fantastic run was cut horribly short by SANADA, but that’ll no longer be an issue as we take matters back to the aftermath of Wrestle Kingdom 17, to the start of the Rainmaker’s 2nd reign. This isn’t just about recapturing the glimmer of the V4 belt though. In each company, the World Championship acts as the centrepiece to its future, any changes affecting the greater surrounding stories as well. Thus, this booking aims to orient NJPW as a whole, smoothing over complaints like the redundancy of BULLET CLUB and the staleness of CHAOS whilst building a promising future for New Japan for when its current pillars ultimately need to hang up their boots.
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New Year Dash!! (January 5, 2023)
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Also on the show:
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI) vs Sabre-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls)
BULLET CLUB (Jay White, KENTA, El Phantasmo, EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi) vs Guerrillas of Destiny, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Master Wato
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Kazuchika Okada & Kenny Omega vs United Empire (Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb)
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As always, New Year Dash!! has been an explosive night thus far, seeing the debuts of Just4Guys and Sabre-Gun from the ashes of Suzuki-Gun, as well as House of Torture finally leaving BULLET CLUB after their loss earlier in the night, turning their backs on Jay White. But it’s the main event which shakes the company to the core, as legendary rivals IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and IWGP United States Champion Kenny Omega shockingly team up to take on Will Ospreay’s United Empire henchmen, both having their issues with the Commonwealth Kingpin and his posse. A fun showcase sees the super-team nail their RainmakeV-Trigger combo on Aaron Henare to seal the deal, with Cobb eyeing Kenny menacingly post-match and Okada going right back to big-leaguing Omega, refusing to acknowledge him.
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Once the Cleaner departs, Kazuchika cuts a post-match promo claiming last night was merely the first of many nights of a company-wide purge. He’s tired of these outsiders trying to share his earned spotlight, so one by one, he’s going to send them back home. “Kaito Kiyomiya, young lion, I’ll see you in Yokohama.” Okada drops the mic and heads back, where IWGP Tag Team Champions Bishamon are wrapping up an interview. They’re disgruntled from their loss to Sabre-Gun earlier in the night, Goto seeming even more upset that Okada chose to team with Omega over anyone of them, questioning the use of CHAOS, but Kazuchika pays it no note, shooing him off so he can have his interview time.
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Kazuchika Okada & Kenny Omega def. United Empire (Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb) (13:36)
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Heading into Yokohama, a 5-match series is announced between Los Ingobernables de Japon and KONGOH’s members! With Shingo Takagi staking his claims to Okada’s title the night prior, Katsuhiko Nakajima raises the question of how deserving the Dragon truly is considering he’s lost twice to the NOAH star. Taking the potshot as a challenge, Shingo agrees to put his shot on the line, the faction with the most wins facing the Rainmaker next!
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Wrestle Kingdom 17 in Yokohama Arena (January 21, 2023)
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Also on the show:
BUSHI vs Tadasuke
Hiromu Takahashi vs Hajime Ohara
SANADA vs Manabu Soya
Tetsuya Naito vs KENOH
Shingo Takagi vs Katsuhiko Nakajima
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CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii) vs Team NOAH (Kaito Kiyomiya & Masa Kitamiya)
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Before the LIJ/KONGOH series can commence, Okada calls on his trusty right-hand man Tomohiro Ishii (not Goto) to assist him in driving home the GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito and his main unit ally, Masa Kitamiya, promising to beat Kiyomiya like in last year’s tag. What starts as an average match rapidly devolves into a brawl when Kaito, sick of Kazuchika overlooking and disrespecting him, boots his face off with unbridled intensity, causing Okada to snap, beating the snot out of him! A German Suplex dumps Kazuchika on the floor as referees pull them apart, and as Okada seethes, it’s clear this is far from over.
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CHAOS and Team NOAH fought to a no contest (6:35)
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Though Kaito’s stunt gains the Rainmaker’s attention, it also garners his wrath, a livid Okada cursing up a storm in a post-match interview. When asked if a match will happen with Kiyomiya, Kazuchika outright refuses to work with the ‘snivelling, puny prick’, claiming he had his chance and ruined the honour of dancing with the Rainmaker. Goto tries to calm Okada down, reminding him that with Nakajima winning KONGOH the series 3-2, they have a preview match with KONGOH tomorrow. In the heat of rage, Okada tells him to ‘f*** off’, before naming Goto their team’s captain since he wants to play smart with him.
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The New Beginning in Nagoya (January 22, 2023)
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Captain’s Fall: CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto [C], Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI) vs KONGOH (Katsuhiko Nakajima, KENOH [C], Manabu Soya, Tadasuke)
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After a turbulent recent weeks, Okada’s in dire need of something to calm him down, hoping a match in his home prefecture of Aichi will help. He’s all calm until he sees Goto’s dumb face though, becoming irrationally angry again, barking at the Aramusha to do his job. Okada sits out majority of the match until Nakajima mouths off with him on the apron, piefacing the Rainmaker when he refuses to get in! Furious, the Rainmaker shoves a concerned Goto aside and tags in, laying into Nakajima to the point of near-disqualification, before murdering Tadasuke to equalise the sides after KENOH eliminated YOSHI-HASHI! He gives Soya the same treatment, tearing KONGOH a new one until Nakajima almost slaps him unconscious, Okada staggering back into his corner, where Goto tags in! As Hirooki and Nakajima go at it, Okada regains his bearings right as Nakajima nails the Vertical Spike to pin CHAOS’s captain to automatically win the match!
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KONGOH def. CHAOS (17:11)
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As a smug Nakajima snatches Okada’s title away from the referee and holds it over his head, sneering and taunting at Kazuchika, the Rainmaker flips him off! Collecting his boys as Katsuhiko unceremoniously tosses Okada’s belt over to him, Okada returns to the back with gritted teeth, promising to ruin Nakajima, though not before chewing out Goto as the rest of CHAOS watch on uncomfortably.
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The New Beginning in Osaka (February 11, 2023)
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Also on the tour:
Jay White vs EVIL
Bishamon (c) vs TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste) - IWGP Tag Team Championship
Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs YOH - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
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Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
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It’s been a rough tour for CHAOS, from getting whooped by KONGOH to YOH failing to bring back gold, but through their failures, Bishamon is able to redeem itself by beating back Sabre-Gun’s TMDK. Nevertheless, it’s all taking quite the toll on Okada’s mental, who’s been devolving back to his cocky, snappy self. Finally though, he gets a chance at release when he faces arguably his spiritual counterpart from NOAH, the fellow 35-year-old meeting the Rainmaker in a first-time match that’s been a very long-time coming. Nakajima oozes confidence as he strides out to his grand piano theme, while Okada stomps out with a scowl as Katsuhiko crumples raining Okada Dollars in his hand.
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As the bell chimes, Okada offers a traditional lock-up but Nakajima stiffly kicks his thigh instead and smirks. Okada though glares a hole through Katsuhiko, launching at him like a mack truck with harsh elbows in response! Whipping him at the corner, Okada charges, but Nakajima slides out the way and rocks him with a Superkick, dusting off his hands and covering for two! He beats a Lariat attempt, nailing a Big Boot and a Leg Sweep, before crashing into the champion with a MISSILE DROPKICK!
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Dazed, Okada finds himself in the ropes, Nakajima continuing to rock him with stiff boots, one sending him to the apron! The Genius of the Kick follows, wanting a Roundhouse, but Okada kicks out his other leg and nails an APRON DDT! Back inside, a Senton Atomico and DIVING ELBOW DROP nabs 2! Okada builds momentum with a Neckbreaker, but Nakajima flips out a German and whacks a SOCCER KICK into his chest! He caves Okada’s sides in with more as the champion splutters until Okada flips him off again!
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Nakajima charges with a YAKUZA KICK but Okada pulls the ropes down! Nakajima caught, Okada nails a DROPKICK! Katsuhiko collapses out, Kazuchika chasing after, whipping him into the guardrail before cleaning his clock with a Big Boot of his own! FLYING CROSSBODY – SUPERKICK SNIPES OKADA! Nakajima kicks Okada’s arm into the guardrail, before a HESITATION DROPKICK whacks it off the steel post! Seating Okada on the canvas, Nakajima bullies the arm with disgusting shoulder kicks. A Penalty Kick misses, though as does Okada’s Short-Arm Rainmaker, NAKAJIMA WHIPPING THE SHOULDER INTO THE MAT!
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BOW-AND-ARROW ON THE ARM! Nakajima tries tearing it off the bone, but when that doesn’t work, he ties Okada in the ropes and goes to town! The referee intervenes to force the break, but as Katsuhiko turns around a DROPKICK awaits! BELLY-TO-BACK SUPLEX! Okada teases a Rainmaker, but Nakajima slaps him away and nails the shoulder – STRAIGHT-JACKET SUPLEX! ONE! TWO! THR-KICK OUT! Keeping wrist-control, Nakajima mockingly kicks the arm and shoves his face, BUT OKADA EXPLODES BACK WITH A LARIAT FROM THE OTHER ARM!
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Keeping hold himself, Okada knocks Nakajima down with another Lariat, before a BEAUTIFUL DROPKICK knocks him loopy! HEAVY RAIN! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOO! Okada sets up the TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER, but Nakajima thrashes free with head kicks, pulling him over for a VERTICAL SPIKE attempt! Okada slips free and nails an Enzuigiri! GERMAN SUPLEX! The arm keeps him from bridging, instead climbing the turnbuckles, teasing the Crossbody, only to eat a ROLLING FIFTEEN!
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Okada staggers, holding the ropes to keep upright, but Nakajima has other intentions, kicking the arm off, before nailing a RING-SHAKING SUPERPLEX! Rolling through, he pulls him into a TWISTER II!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NO DICE!!! Disappointed, he drops Okada into seated position with a BICYCLE KNEE STRIKE, before lining up a PK! OKADA COUNTERS INTO A SURPRISE EMERALD FLOWSION ON THE NOAH STAR! Regaining his bearings for a moment, Okada smells blood in the water, throws out the arms, wanting the RAINMAKER… NAKAJIMA SLAPS THE SOUL OUT OF HIM!!!
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Okada collapses deadweight to his knees as Nakajima grins sick thoughts to himself, before mocking the Rainmaker pose! Ripcording Okada around, he nails a JUMPING KICK, before going for the VERTICAL SPIKE… OKADA REVERSES INTO A SHORT-ARM RAINMAKER!!! Nakajima now stunned, Okada lifts him by the waist and nails the RAINMAKERRRRRRRRRR!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOO!!! But a ticked Okada doesn’t let him go, mauling him with haymakers and kicks like he did Kaito as even Nakajima’s forced to cover up!
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Frustrated, he slaps Nakajima in the face, but Katsuhiko with a SHOULDER KICK! DOUBLE UNDERHOOK SUPLEX! Okada rattled, he eats a Sliding Dropkick and an AIR RAID CRASH, before Nakajima nails the NORTHERN LIGHTS BOMB!!! ONE! TWO! THR-OKADA STAYS ALIVE!!! Nakajima back to the well with the VERTICAL SPIKE… DROPKICK FROM OKADA!!! ANOTHER DROPKICK!!! SHORT-ARM RAINMAKER!!! AND A TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER!!! Lifting him up with hatred, Okada ripcords him into the RAINMAKER!!! But he’s not done, going for another as NAKAJIMA FLIPS HIM OFF!!! RAINMAKERRRRRRRRRRRR!!! ONE! TWO! THREE!!!
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Kazuchika Okada (c) def. Katsuhiko Nakajima to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (27:18)
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Triumphing over the outsider, Okada steps over him like he’s dirt and collects his title… BUT HE’S SPUN INTO A BLADE RUNNER!!! Jay White stands over his rival’s fallen body, the respect shown at Wrestle Kingdom a mere ruse, the Switchblade wanting his title back!
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Done with White’s antics, Okada agrees to a rematch on one stipulation – if White loses, BULLET CLUB must disband. It’s coming up to 10 years of him dealing with their rubbish, and frankly, he’s hurt and old and tired of the rinse and repeat. It’s time he ends it for good.
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Battle in the Valley (February 18, 2023)
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Also on the show:
Kenny Omega (c) vs Jeff Cobb - IWGP United States Championship
Tama Tonga (c) vs Tomohiro Ishii - NEVER Openweight Championship
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Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Jay White VII - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (If White loses, BULLET CLUB must disband)
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With Okada dropping a massive bombshell, a deranged and desperate White can only accept, needing the title back, even if it means risking BC should he fail. Their 7th and potentially final match, Jay’s still 4-2, putting the Rainmaker at a disadvantage, but he couldn’t care less. White makes his entrance flanked by BC, who look downright scared for their future, but KENTA tells them to hold strong. As Jay approaches the ring though, he tells them to let him run this solo against the Black Sun’s advice, White believing this to be his fight despite everything on the line, going it with just Gedo. Okada’s by his lonesome as always, ready to bury the past forever.
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Unlike their WK match, this starts surprisingly in Okada’s favour even with the hell he went through just a week ago, the Rainmaker cutting off White’s condescending trash talk with a DROPKICK! Beating on his torso, Okada whips Jay at the ropes for another Dropkick, but Gedo pulls White out, giving him a pep talk to focus as Okada flashes him a ‘Too Sweet’! Not thinking, Jay slides back into a BIG BOOT, Okada continuing control with a Neckbreaker!
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Hammering on the neck, Okada cinches in an early RED INK, forcing White to fight as Gedo looks on worriedly. Hissing and spitting, Jay struggles to the ropes, but there’s no breaks for him, a FLAPJACK snapping his neck off the ropes and a Lariat stumbling him to the floor! Regrouping with Gedo again, his friend pleads with him to snap out of whatever this is, only to step back fearfully as a snarling Okada approaches.
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Understanding he’s in supreme control, Okada takes his sweet time tossing Jay back in, though his return’s slowed by Gedo, who begs for mercy for Jay as Kazu steps on the apron. Okada rolls his eyes, ONLY TO TURN INTO JAY RUNNING FULL SPEED AT HIM! SHOULDER TACKLE SENDS OKADA FLYING RIB-FIRST INTO THE GUARDRAIL!!! As Okada wails in agony, White cackles. Mission accomplished. Playing possum to lower Kazuchika’s guard, he’s in control now.
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Collecting Okada, he rams his spine from apron to post… BEFORE TACKLING HIM THROUGH THE GUARDRAIL ITSELF, BOTH EXPLODING THROUGH!!! As Okada nurses his ribs, Jay plops down on a vacant chair next to a fan and snatches their water, taking a swig and patting himself on the back, before ‘making it rain’ over Okada’s head. He sets up a table at ringside which remains untouched for now as his foe crawls back in, Jay instead nailing a sick DEATH VALLEY DRIVER! Chopping and kicking the midsection, a SNAP SAITO gets 2!
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A Reverse STO attempt backfires though, Okada lifting Jay into a HANGMAN’S DDT! One Corner Elbow later, and a DROPKICK sends Jay crashing from the top turnbuckle to the ramp! Gedo orients the dazed Jay to a chair, White using it for support, only to yank him off as OKADA SOARS – TOPE CON HILO EATS THE OPENED CHAIR!!! Back in agony, a SLEEPER SUPLEX only doubles it! Sliding Kazu in, a Running Corner European follows into a Blade Buster tease… JAY HITS A BLOODY SUNDAY INSTEAD!!! ONE! TWO! THR-KICK OUT!!!
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Okada tries fighting back with a forearm, but a HURRICANE DRIVER FLOORS HIM!!! INTO A LIONTAMER!!! Jay tortures the back holding up the company as now Okada searches for the ropes, but the moment he finds them, another SLEEPER SUPLEX awaits! Okada rolls through though and nails a PERFECT DROPKICK! White rocked, he eats a TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER!!! Okada goes for a RAINMAKER, but sensing Jay trying to counter into the Blade Runner, he pushes off and nails another DROPKICK!
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Remembering the table, Okada nails a SPINNING RAINMAKER, before rolling White onto it! Heading up, Gedo begs him to spare Jay, but Kazu refuses… DIVING ELBOW DROP THROUGH THE TABLE, BUT IT TAKES OUT GEDO!!! JAY PULLED GEDO INTO HIS PLACE!!! Chucking evilly to himself, Jay rolls Okada in for a KIWI KRUSHER, but the Rainmaker writhes, readjusting into seated position on White’s shoulders! He hammers on White’s head, but Jay pulls his body down instead… STEPPING OVER THE ARMS, HE NAILS A STYLES CLASH!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOO!!!
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Quickly losing patience, he bashes Sharp Sensations against Okada’s chest, before holding the finger gun to his head… V-TRIGGER!!! IS HE GOING FOR IT?! Lifting Kazu onto his shoulders as the crowd gasps… JAY FEIGNS IT, DROPPING OKADA INTO BLADE RUNNER POSITION- OKADA REVERSES INTO A RAINMAKER!!! HE’S NOT FALLING FOR WHITE’S TRICKS ANYMORE!!! ONE! TWO! THR-JAY KICKS OUT!!! Dumping Jay with a German, he nails a couple Short-Arm Rainmakers, followed by a LANDSLIDE! Getting ready to nail another Rainmaker, he grabs the wrist…
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JAY NAILS A RAINMAKER OF HIS OWN!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOOOO!!! White slams the mat, tears in his eyes, not knowing what to do, but right as he’s about to lose hope, he remembers KENTA. Charging up the Busaiku Knee Kick… HE RUNS INTO A DROPKICK!!! Slugging elbows as Jay returns chops, Okada suddenly scoops him up for a LANDSLIDE!!! And he’s back up in position for the RAIN-BLADE RUNNER!!! BUT JAY CAN’T CAPITALISE, TOO SPENT!!!
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Instead, White wills himself to go for another, securing wrist-control to nail a couple Short-Arms of his own, before doing the slit-throat taunt… BLADE RUNNER- OKADA DOESN’T BUDGE!!! Jay tugs, growing frantic as he locks eyes with Okada, who shakes his head! SPINNING TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER!!! INTO A RAINMAKER!!! Picking a limp Jay back up, Okada ‘Too Sweets’ him on the forehead, before waving goodbye, NAILING ONE MORE RAINMAKERRRRRRR!!! ONE! TWO! THREE!!! BULLET CLUB is dead. Long Live Okada.
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Kazuchika Okada (c) def. Jay White to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (38:48)
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A stunned silence fills San Jose at first, followed by a standing ovation for both warriors. 10 years of one of the greatest factions of all-time, now over. BC rush out to White’s side, some shocked, some furious, but overall emotional for their last night together. KENTA gives Okada a soulless look as the Rainmaker leaves the ring, Kazu nodding to Tanahashi on commentary, knowing what this moment means to him too. But alas, the night is over as Jay walks himself out of New Japan, no betrayals on their last night.
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Whilst Okada’s been through two tense defences in a short span, yet another challenge awaits him. Kaito consistently calling him out in the past weeks, using Okada’s moves on tours, Kazu finally caves, confirming he’ll be there at Keiji Muto’s retirement show, but he’ll be there for blood.
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NOAH Last Love (February 21, 2023)
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Also on the show:
AMAKUSA vs Hiromu Takahashi
Keiji Muto vs Tetsuya Naito
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IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya
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The most invigorating Japanese rivalry in recent memory finally receives the pay-off everyone desires as NJPW’s Ace fights NOAH’s up-and-coming Ace. What ensues is awfully one-sided, Okada fully tapping into his role of Big Brother as he demolishes the man he deems lesser than him. Kaito does his best to hold out, getting in Kazu’s face a couple times, but he’s no match for the unbridled arrogance and fury of Okada, who wrecks him with an Antonio Inoki Enzuigiri, a Mitsuharu Misawa Emerald Flowsion, and a stiff-as-hell Rainmaker! 7 years ago, this was Naomichi Marufuji to Okada, but now Kazu is the Alpha Dog in town.
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Kazuchika Okada def. Kaito Kiyomiya (16:32)
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With Okada drifting into this unrecognisable version of himself, the rift between him and members of CHAOS continues to grow. Goto’s outspoken in his discontentment with CHAOS’s current position, HASHI standing with his partner, believing Kazuchika should be spending more time uniting the faction as their leader rather than running off to humiliate others and dapping up Tanahashi. Ishii and Yano, on the other hand, refuse a rebellion as CHAOS OGs and loyalists, Tom already eating well with his NEVER Openweight Championship. As such, a match between them is set for Anniversary!
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As for Okada, with LIJ not getting the chance to fight Okada due to their loss to KONGOH, Hiromu Takahashi challenges him to a Champion vs Champion fight as one of 2 LIJ members who did win against KONGOH.
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51st Anniversary Show (March 6, 2023)
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Also on the show:
Bishamon (c) vs CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) - IWGP Tag Team Championship
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IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi
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A long-awaited rematch from 2020’s New Japan Cup Semi Finals for Hiromu, much like Prince Devitt a decade ago he wants to prove he can hold both titles simultaneously. Though Devitt failed, Takahashi tries to avenge stablemates Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi’s failures against the Ace as Tanahashi commentates again, having surprisingly voiced his support for Okada’s recent regime of culling the outsiders. An 18-minute sprint sees Hiromu rely on his explosiveness to leave Okada reeling, a Time Bomb II banging up the neck for a near-fall, but Takahashi still isn’t on Kazu’s level, a Rainmaker silencing him!
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Kazuchika Okada def. Hiromu Takahashi (18:03)
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Despite Bishamon’s defiant victory against CHAOS, Okada pays it no regard when choosing a partner for New Japan’s return to Aichi, remembering how Goto failed him last time. Called out by recent Young Lion graduates Ren Narita and Shota Umino, who have been making waves in the New Japan Cup, Narita determined to replicate mentor Katsuyori Shibata’s run to avenge him, whilst Shota wishes to impress idol Tanahashi, Kazu fittingly invites the Ace of the Universe to team with him!
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New Japan Cup - Night Five (March 11, 2023)
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The Dream Team (Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi) vs Ren Narita & Shota Umino
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A true dream team, the company’s Aces battle its future in a thrilling exhibition bout, Shota borrowing from Tanahashi in his performance, whilst Narita remains very much determined to get in Okada’s face. Much like the rest who have tried as of late though, he’s well out his weight class, Okada paying him a mocking headbutt and a Rainmaker to humble the youngster! As Narita wallows in disappointment though, Okada offers a hand to Shota, helping him to his feet and claiming he sees a future in the Tanahashi-derivative star.
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The Dream Team def. Ren Narita & Shota Umino (13:32)
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As the New Japan Cup rolls on, it reaches a scintillating conclusion with Just5Guys’ Taichi besting Sabre Gun’s Zack Sabre Jr. in the Finals, Taichi having beaten Ospreay in the Semis and Zack triumphing over SANADA! As the group joins the Toshiaki Kawada student for the trophy presentation, complete with a recently-turning SANADA, who betrayed Naito in the Quarter Finals, they invite one last member to their family to Sabre-Gun’s Kosei Fujita’s umbrage – his former friend who he left, Ryohei Oiwa! Whilst J6G and Sabre-Gun’s rivalry bubbles in the background, the important matter at hand is Taichi’s upcoming shot!
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Road To Sakura Genesis - Night Three (April 3, 2023)
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The Dream Team (Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi) vs Just6Guys (Taichi & SANADA)
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Once again calling on Tanahashi, the (Aether) Aces step to their mutual foes of Taichi & SANADA. Looking down on the pair as AJPW guys, Okada & Tanahashi are especially hostile in their treatment of J6G, but unlike Kaito who ate all of it, Taichi & SANADA are a lot more defiant, the Holy Emperor especially passionate in his reminders that no matter where he came from, he still worked his way through the Dojo like Okada and Tanahashi. Still, even with Taichi catching the champion by surprise with multiple near-falls, forcing him to become more serious, it’s not their night… yet, SANADA eating the fall off a High-Fly Flow!
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The Dream Team def. Just6Guys (15:27)
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Sakura Genesis (April 8, 2023)
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Also on the card:
Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs Lio Rush - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs Great-O-Khan – NEVER Openweight Championship
Bishamon (c) vs Aussie Open - IWGP Tag Team Championship
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Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Taichi VI - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
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Though the tag match may not have gone in J6G’s favour, tonight’s a lot different. One year ago, Taichi watched as his partner ZSJ failed to dethrone Okada after winning the NJC, much like four years before that. But now, he’s earned the chance to be the one fighting Kazu and silence his critics, especially the Rainmaker, rather than spectating a third time. Conducting a full operatic entrance, the Holy Emperor is the fan-favourite in the very arena his mentor Kawada retired, looking to make him proud, and for once, even Okada’s grandeur pales in comparison to his foe, though he looks past it, prepared to stomp out another outsider.
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What ensues is a match centred around respect, Okada refusing to give it to Taichi, and Taichi doing everything he can for it! From homages to Kawada with the DANGEROUS BACKDROP and a GANSO BOMB tease from Taichi, to Kazu intentionally attempting NOAH-centric moves like the BURNING HAMMER and EMERALD FLOWSION, they trade bombs from start to finish, Taichi even connecting a RIPCORD AXE BOMBER for a near-fall! Yet despite putting on the best underdog performance of his career, the RAINMAKERS put a stop to it!
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Kazuchika Okada (c) def. Taichi to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (28:32)
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So close yet so far. As another one bites the dust, CHAOS comes out to join Okada for the show-closing promo – Ishii with his gold, but Bishamon now titleless, as well as Lio Rush failing to win gold too. The Rainmaker gloats, saying he’s never been better… though CHAOS could be a lot better. Admonishing their failures, he tells them he’s disappointed in them. Unlike other factions do, he refused to hold their hands every step of the way, putting his faith in them, yet they’ve thrown that in his face time and time again. Certain members are holding the group back, so he invites them to either leave while they can, or face the consequences.
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A few moments pass, but no one budges. Okada scoffs, about to speak until Goto gets in his face! Running down Okada, he says he’s done with the treatment he’s received from the Rainmaker lately, his spot in CHAOS always one of shame after all, constant losses to Okada forcing him to join his foe rather than fail further. But he’s no coward. He’s not going to tuck his tail between his legs and scram like Okada wants. He knows Kazu wants him gone, so if that’s the case… he challenges him to put the leadership of CHAOS on the line against him at his 20th Anniversary Show! If Okada wins, he’ll leave. If Goto wins, he takes over. Astonished by Goto’s defiance yet almost respecting it, Okada agrees to let him fight for his future!
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Capital Collision (April 15, 2023)
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Also on the show:
Kenny Omega (c) vs El Phantasmo - IWGP United States Championship
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The Dream Team (Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi) vs Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) (c) vs Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) - NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship
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Before Goto’s final stand, Okada makes a trip down to America to challenge for the STRONG Tag Titles, wanting to show Hirooki how it’s done by not only beating the team which dethroned Bishamon, but also the legendary Motor City Machine Guns! Joined by Tanahashi as expected, the icons make up for their lack of tag team experience with sheer talent, giving both teams a tough draw. A Rainmaker to Fletcher sets up Tanahashi for a High-Fly Flow, but as Okada prepares to defend the pinfall, OUT COME BISHAMON! Drawing Okada’s attention, Goto brawls with the Rainmaker whilst HASHI distracts Tana, allowing Davis to take him out, before nailing the Coriolis on Shelley to win the titles!
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Aussie Open def. Motor City Machine Guns (c), The Dream Team (25:13)
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As Okada realises what’s just happened, Bishamon are long gone by then, Goto waving to a fuming Kazu from the entranceway!
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Hirooki Goto 20th Anniversary Event (April 22, 2023)
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Kazuchika Okada vs Hirooki Goto XVI
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High stakes for the main event, all of CHAOS and Tanahashi are in attendance to witness their stable’s future. Goto’s stoic, not letting the emotions of it all get to him, whilst Okada’s arrogant as ever, overconfident in his abilities despite their series being only 8-7 to him, Goto able to score the grandest of equalisers tonight should he win. What ensues is an all-out war for CHAOS, Goto doing everything to prove himself a worthy member, whilst Okada devotes himself to ruining the Aramusha. And at certain points, Goto has the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion on the ropes, humbling the Rainmaker off a nail-bitingly close near fall on the GTR! But Okada’s simply unstoppable, it taking three Rainmakers to seal the deal, Okada besting Goto!
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Kazuchika Okada def. Hirooki Goto (25:10)
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Ruining Goto’s big night, Okada’s smug with himself as HASHI, Lio, YOH, and even Yano tend to their fallen comrade, while Ishii watches with a hint of sorrow, though ultimately steering clear of treasonous actions. As per the stipulation, an emotional Goto’s forced to leave CHAOS, though he doesn’t walk the plank alone, YOSHI, Rush, and YOH, following suit! Okada seems taken aback at first, though ultimately nods, needing all traces of weakness gone from his stable. Just Ishii and Tanahashi left standing at ringside, Okada declares that the foundations of the group will be rebuilt, starting with… the three of them!
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Handing a CHAOS shirt to Tanahashi, he welcomes Hiroshi to the group, before handing over the mic! Tana explains that upon speaking with Okada, he realised this would be the right way for him to protect the future of the company he fought so long for. Just because he’s carrying a flag now though, doesn’t mean he’s any different from the man they all know and love. He’s doing this for the betterment of the place he loves. He’s doing this for a purer New Japan!
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As the three stand tall together… BUSAIKU KNEE KICK TO OKADA! Just as quickly as KENTA slipped into the ring, he slips back out, Taiji Ishimori & SHO by his side! Banding together as a group of misfits following BULLET CLUB’s death, SHO leaving House of Torture too, it’s clear KENTA has one thing on his mind… take from the man who took from him.
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Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni (April 29, 2023)
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CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & X) vs KENTA, Taiji Ishimori & SHO
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With KENTA and co. targeting Okada, a Six-Man Tag is set, though not with Tanahashi as CHAOS’s third man. Instead, he gives up his spot to their ‘new member’, who reveals himself to be Shota Umino! Okada impressed with his talents a couple months back, he shows off his chops here as a functioning member of the new CHAOS, the three gelling together perfectly. A rather shades of grey encounter between two sides with moral ambiguities, the crowd is evenly split, but alas, it’s KENTA’s crew scoring a bit of an upset after some shenanigans, the Busaiku Knee Kick taking down Ishii! After the match, KENTA gestures Okada’s belt around his waist.
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KENTA, Taiji Ishimori & SHO def. CHAOS (14:39)
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Wrestling Dontaku (May 3, 2023)
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Also on the card:
Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs YOSHI-HASHI - NEVER Openweight Championship
Kenny Omega (c) vs Shingo Takagi - IWGP United States Championship
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Kazuchika Okada (c) vs KENTA II - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
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Not having touched one-on-one since KENTA’s debut G1, there’s a big fight feel for the sacred rematch 4 years long overdue. The Black Sun carrying NOAH’s flag in Okada’s eyes, he’s determined to add KENTA to his list of casualties, whilst vengeance remains glued to the challenger’s mind. Returning to his Overture theme, KENTA’s just as arrogant as the champion, the two producing mirroring self-absorbed entrances, but as the bell rings, it remains to be seen whether their skill is also mirrored.
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Starting with a feeling out sequence, the two trade a variety of holds back-and-forth with increasing pace, before Okada teases a sudden RAINMAKER! KENTA has it scouted, catching the arm and immediately getting to work on it, remembering Nakajima’s strategy. Hammering it with elbows and kicks, a HIGH KNEE finds its mark on Okada’s shoulder! Whipping him to the mat, a PENALTY KICK follows to the joint! Okada shakes out his arm in agony as KENTA’s target becomes crystal clear, smartly looking to eliminate the Rainmaker from the equation as early as possible!
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KENTA races in for a Corner Big Boot, but Okada ducks out the way, dropping KENTA with a BACKDROP SUPLEX! He shakes out his arm as he drops into cover, shooting the half, only for KENTA to reverse the pinfall mid-count into a GAME OVER attempt! Alarm in his eyes, Okada frantically lunges at the ropes for reprieve, though KENTA holds on until 4 to exact as much damage as possible on the limb!
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Okada resting against the ropes as he tries to get some feeling back in his arm, KENTA sprints for a RUNNING YAKUZA KICK, but Okada pulls the ropes down, the Black Sun sent crashing to the outside! He whips KENTA into the guardrails for a Big Boot that sends him over, a JUMPING CROSSBODY following suit! Dragging KENTA out the rubble, he teases a HANGMAN’S DDT off the steel, only for KENTA to drop down and SNAP OKADA’S ARM OVER THE GUARDRAIL! Threading it through the gap, a HESITATION DROPKICK MANGLES HIS ARM IN THE STEEL!
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Okada lets out a cry of pain as the section crashes down on him, having no time to recover as he feebly frees himself from it, KENTA yanking him by the arm! He tries to send Okada’s arm into the steel post, but the Big Boot takes him down! Rolling KENTA inside, Okada hails down a MISSILE DROPKICK to send him sprawling across the ring, before a STRAIGHT-JACKET NECKBREAKER subdues him for the Rainmaker to lock in RED INK!
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Using the opportunity to rest his own arm, it backfires when KENTA contorts it over his shoulder to free himself, a CROSS ARMBREAKER turning the tables! Kazuchika gets a monkey grip to prevent full extension though, rolling KENTA over to his shoulders for 2, before hoisting him up into an AIR RAID CRASH NECKBREAKER! ONE! TWO! THR-KICK OUT! Okada tries to pick KENTA up with one arm for the TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER, but he fails miserably, KENTA turning the predicament around into an EMERALD FLOWSION!
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Scaling the ropes, KENTA teases a DIVING DOUBLE FOOT STOMP to the point of Okada’s elbow… MILLION DOLLAR DROPKICK INTERCEPTS! Okada stands KENTA up with a DDT, before dumping him with a GERMAN SUPLEX, though is unable to get the bridge. Wanting to wrap things up and fast, he uses the ropes to get KENTA in position for a TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER, before securing wrist-control! He looks for the RAINMAKER, only for KENTA to blast the arm with a YAKUZA KICK!
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Okada’s arm dropping by his side, KENTA teases going for a RAINMAKER OF HIS OWN, only for Kazuchika to bring him down with a FLAPJACK instead! A SHORT-ARM RAINMAKER shakes off KENTA’s advances on the arm, before a RAINMAKER FINDS ITS MARK!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOOOO!!! Not enough strength behind it for Okada to put KENTA down for good, he tries for another… KENTA SLAPS THE TASTE OUT HIS MOUTH! KENTA RUSH FOLLOWS SUIT! AND A BUSAIKU KNEE KICK!!! ONE! TWO! THR-OKADA SURVIVES!!!
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Doing the Rainmaker pose, KENTA secures wrist-control himself and puts Okada on his shoulders, teasing a GO 2 SLEEP! OKADA NAILS HEAVY RAIN!!! A LANDSLIDE attempt is stuffed, KENTA again abusing the arm like it’s the Dragongate monkey, BEFORE NAILING A SHORT-ARM RAINMAKER OF HIS OWN!!! Okada forced to eat stiff shot after stiff shot like it’s Shibata all over again, he looks to be on dream street as KENTA fires up a second BUSAIKU KNEE- DROPKICK COUNTERS!!! Accounting for his deteriorating arm, Okada nails a pair of SHORT-ARM RAINMAKERS with his nondominant arm to ease into one more RAINMAKERRRRRRRRRRR!!! ONE! TWO! THREE!!!
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Kazuchika Okada (c) def. KENTA to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (26:35)
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It may be the accumulating fatigue talking, but KENTA may have given Okada his biggest scare yet, a lucky last gasp saving the Rainmaker’s reign. Not so bad for an outside, he thinks. As a shattered KENTA collects his bearing, SHO and Taiji by his side, Okada stops him from leaving just yet, instead calling to Tanahashi from commentary, who tosses him a shirt! Mic in his other hand, Okada declares that KENTA impressed him more than he would normally care to admit. It’s almost as though his talents were being wasted in BULLET CLUB… So, why not join CHAOS?
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The Black Sun’s understandably stunned, the man he hated just moments ago now offering a truce? But Okada tells him to sit on it, offering a couple more shirts to his pals, stating he could use their talents to fuel his new vision. SHO was always the better Roppongi 3K member after all. And Taiji’s an Ultimo Dragon trainee like him. Just think on it. As KENTA and co. leave to the back in deep thought, it appears big things lie ahead for CHAOS…

Well, PURE is just hours away, and only now have we got a main event scheduled, so I feel like if nothing else, I should do the marketing team a favour and build the excitement for this match. I could rattle off any number of accomplishments I've had, as well as all of the accomplishments that Logan has had - I've held two FBE World Titles while he's held two Pure Titles, I picked up a set of Tag Titles that he now holds, I won the Stardom Gauntlet in seven matches while he took home the Shining Light League in six. I could ramble about any of those accolades and make this match about statistics, but that's not what this match is about. I could talk about how Dr. Logan Wright is the only member of the Ark I haven't faced, or I could talk about how winning this match and becoming a fighting champion, something that's always been a flaw of mine, is my only way back into the company I created due to my own hubris in setting the stipulations while fighting Logan's stablemates. I could discuss any of that historical context and make this match about the Ark, but again, that's not what this match is about.
For as good as they are, this match isn't about Logan Wright's teammates in the Ark. This match isn't about my friends in the former REVOLT, either. Despite the platform it's being held on, and how important the victories we both hold over him were for our careers, this isn't about Blitz GM and FBE World Champion Inferno. All the things I've touched on are great to discuss, and make this match all the more interesting, give the pre-show panelists the chance to talk about how our careers "mirror each other" or what have you, but at its heart, this match is about legacies. See, the legacies of FBE and myself are intertwined. My legacy is creating this company, the titles that bolster my record are for the most part titles I designed, won on shows I envisioned from roster members I signed, broadcast thanks to deals I negotiated in front of a fanbase I helped build from the ground up. But your legacy, Logan - your legacy is THIS.
YOU have been dubbed the Final Boss of Blitz, and rightfully so. You have become synonymous with the Pure Title, you have overcome every obstacle that's stood before you, you have shattered records and built this whole ruleset around yourself, and nobody, NOBODY, is more deserving to headline Blitz's BTE equivalent, PURE. This is your chance to create a legacy even more grandiose for yourself by ensuring that PURE history forever dictates that you won the first main event. That may not sound important to some people, but you know who won the first BTE main event? Inferno. Four years later, he's the World Champion, atop the company, his legacy completely bulletproof no matter what losses he may accrue. If that's what PURE is going to be, then this is the chance to go from the Final Boss of Blitz at the moment to the Final Boss of Blitz ad infinitum.
For me, it's different. My legacy is what it is. It's one I'm very proud of, but it's one that seems complete. It's why I've been so content with retirement - when I walked into this industry, I conquered all there was to conquer, and instead of weeping, I built a new world and conquered it too. What more could be done? I've left, and I'm not even in control of my own career anymore. I have no autonomy here - I was requested by you, and I had to seek approval from Kaze Tanaka. So I spoke with him, and he tried to extend an olive branch. He said that if I came back and won, I'd have to stay, and I realized in that moment that he was giving me an out. He thought I might not want to return, and it makes sense. He knows I don't have to. He knows those close to me don't want me to. He knows I have no reason to - but I still asked him to respect your wishes, because I got this feeling that I haven't had in many years, and it woke something in me.
When I walk into PURE's main event as the challenger, it will be with that feeling, because despite having created FBE, despite having created BTE, I'm walking into this as an outsider. It's new ground for me. I've never worked a Blitz show. I've worked only one Pure Rules match. I didn't create Blitz, or PURE, or the championship I'm vying for on Saturday night, and I don't resent that. I'm proud of all the work that's been done, I'm astonished by the legacy that's already been built for Blitz, PURE and the esteemed championship gold in equal measure. It's enthralling. It's invigorating. It woke something in me, Logan, because by requesting the right to face the Infinity Ace in the biggest match in the history of the division, you've given me something that I've lacked for years - a new world to conquer.
This is a very rare chance to expand my legacy, five years into my career, from the Final Boss of his own domain to the Final Boss of the Pure Division. To the Final Boss of Blitz. Logan, you've done incredible work, and you should be very proud of all you've done. I'm honoured that you requested me as your opponent, and I have the utmost respect for you and all you've done. I haven't seen dominance like this since the Summer of Ape. You've earned the right to be called the Final Boss of Blitz, but you have extended me the opportunity to expand my legacy. I was the Final Boss before you debuted, and as cliché as it is, there can only be one. So, on Saturday, I'm going to walk into PURE, into Blitz, into the division, as an outsider... but an outsider with a legacy of equal parts creation and destruction in my wake. I'll walk in an outsider, but I'm going to walk out with gold slung over my shoulder and an ever-expanding legacy of conquering new realms. I'll walk out the Final Boss once more.
So, remember to Stay ELITE, Doctor, and as always, allow me to sign off with... FBE F-F-F-F-FOR FUCKING LIFE!