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Post by problematic on Sept 29, 2017 2:01:36 GMT -5
The king. The best promo in the business. I've not seen a single match of his this year. That needs to change, but I need to know what to watch. Everyone make suggestions here
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Post by armsofsleep on Sept 29, 2017 8:01:20 GMT -5
He won't have the volume/variety I want in a guy (beyond maybe an 80 or below spot) but he still has the same pop off the screen charisma. Gage/Riddle was a slight let down but still very worth a watch, especially to see Riddle in a very different environment for him. The Teddy Hart match was sloppy, but great in the way you'd expect a match between those two guys to be. Gage/Lloyd is a must watch just because of the emotion and crowd reactions, and Gage/Tremont in the ToS finals is probably his best overall match of the year. And that basically covers everything he's done this year. I haven't seen the NGI 2 yet but I'm sure he had good stuff there too.
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Post by mrlaughalot on Sept 29, 2017 9:28:57 GMT -5
The King returned this year in a big way, only appearing in GCW, OPW, among others and has really killed it whenever he is in the ring. His match with Riddle is worth a quick watch and I think both of his matches with Tremont are very good (especially the second one at the NGI2). He won the TOS2 earlier in the summer working with some really fun guys. Overall he's back and just as crazy as ever even if he is not working as much a good a fun wrestler to watch
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Post by brockobama on Oct 6, 2017 14:45:45 GMT -5
His only weakness is lack of volume. Legitimately it. I've yet to see a match of his this year that wasn't enthralling on some level and one or two of them were almost spellbinding in their violence. Nearing 40, being almost 20 years into a rough, rough deathmatch career, following a lengthy prison stay, he's somehow putting in the best work of his career in 2017. If he had 22 matches so far this year instead of 11, he'd probably make my top ten.
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Post by notoriousgib on Nov 5, 2017 2:18:27 GMT -5
The man had a random deathmatch on Facebook Live at 1:30 in the morning. Legend.
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Post by xoanafacetico on Nov 5, 2017 11:11:00 GMT -5
Promoter of the year.
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Post by brockobama on Jan 2, 2018 4:26:24 GMT -5
If he had 22 matches so far this year instead of 11, he'd probably make my top ten. Nicky made it to 22 matches in 2017 (23, actually) and what do you know, he made it into my top ten too. Tempted to go as high as top five but I think Quentin would rip a number of my vital organs out if I put him over Zack. Decry it as irony or whatever but the hype is real with the King. The feud with Tremont may have ended too ambitiously for its own good but the first two matches are utter classics of the style befitting of two of the finest of all time. Along the way the dude managed to rack up great matches with Ciclope, Jonathan Gresham, Jimmy Lloyd, Haku and the Barbarian, David Starr, and Tim Donst. If that ain't a mixed bag of variety and talent I don't know what is. He might have had a dud or two against the likes of Darby Allin but I can forgive those when it's against the likes of Darby Allin. Most importantly, though, Nick Gage made me get on Facebook for the first time in God knows how long to watch a stream of him beating another man into unconsciousness at two in the morning. It's not so much the "getting me on Facebook again" part that's impressive as his totally unique approach and appeal to wrestling. Nobody changes the game like the King.
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Post by problematic on Jan 3, 2018 0:33:17 GMT -5
Wait, the Darby Allin match was bad? Wait, you don't think Darby is good? Well that's a separate discussion I guess.
I need to see the third Tremont match to really make up my mind about what to do with him. His aura is so...intense and real and fresh and different and exciting from anything else in wrestling that he sort of gets a critical pass that I don't think other guys get. I'm 50/50 on whether or not I think that's a good or bad thing, but at least in a return run I don't hold it against anyone to get the warm fuzzies watching a guy "be real" based on our somewhat disgusting societal expectations of what a formerly drug addicted ex-con straight out of prison yard is actually like.
I loved the NGI and thought he was pretty incredible that night in his own element, as a weird hybrid master of ceremonies/Tyler Durden type, bringing in international talent and social miscreants to die with him in hell. The first Tremont match was excessive, but a sort of naturally occurring excess that felt right for who it was and where it was. I didn't think it was an all time classic, but it was the match it needed to be. H8 Club v. Da Hit Squad was a nice fulfillment of a decade old dream match, but I didn't think it was a special match outside of the fact that it was a match that finally happened and was clearly not a failure. The match at Black Label on the other hand I thought was awesome, as Gage v. Meng was exactly the fight you wanted, and you almost didn't care that the cameras forgot Jimmy Lloyd and Barb existed. I dug the Gresham match as a completely wild spectacle, with Gage actually wrestling, and a very smart finish. He had a three way in On Point that I absolutely loved with G-Raver and Danny Havoc that no one else has really talked about, which might be my favorite "Gage elevates a show" match of the year and the best argument for him as a performer that can make real magic. The Riddle match is great for the sprint that it is, and satisfying while also being minimalistic which is a rare thing from a death match guy. The Starr match I liked a good bit, but was kind of stunned to see people rating it as a super high end match. It's not even my favorite oddball death match to occur on a Beyond pre-show on Powerbomb.tv, or may favorite David Starr death match to occur on Powerbomb.tv as a livestream.
I'd really like to see the On Point matches with Janela and Garrini before voting takes place, hope they make their way to PB before then. But a lot of it hinges on that last match with Tremont who has had a hell of a year, and was active all year, unlike Nick who we are really only judging on six months. Hard for me to get a guy into a top ten off six months - even when he is the most special guy in wrestling - especially with Tremont right there, operating out of the same genre, and having a very similar resume based around aura, violence, dream match feel, atmosphere, et.
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Post by concrete1992 on Jan 3, 2018 15:38:48 GMT -5
Every match with Nick Gage is an experience. Nothing like it in the great sport of professional wrestling. His intensity is a gravitational pull where almost every one of his opponents attempts to rise to his level. The one match that I have seen where is opponent did not get ensnared was the Gresham match, giving it a different feeling than the other Gage fights. Starr becomes a man pushed to the brink, defending his turf at the enemy's game. Against Meng, you see the years being gifted back to Meng as they maul each other. Gage gives you peak Tremont.
Hoping the On Point stuff goes up before voting.
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