The Silver Report: February 2019

Considering we are already at the end of March when this Silver Report goes live, there's not much for me to recap that you readers haven't already seen and possibly analyzed yourself. So, I'm dedicating this Silver Report to the huge developments coming out of New Japan's New Beginning tour. So, let's jump right in.

Let the Cutthroat Era Begin

Coming out of Wrestle Kingdom, one question bounced around wrestling circles: could New Japan keep up their high standards with the loss of big names like the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Kushida? Although New Year's Dash served as the start of this transition, all eyes turned to the first big tour of the year, the New Beginning tour, for New Japan's answer to said question.

For the most part, the New Beginning shows were similar to New Year's Dash — solid wrestling, but something missing in the story department. Despite the rather straightforward nature of this tour, Gedo saved the major developments until the final show in Osaka.

First, Kota Ibushi made his first appearance since suffering a concussion in his match with Will Ospreay at Wrestle Kingdom. Ibushi's surprise appearance came with the announcement that the Golden Star had committed to wrestle exclusively with New Japan for the foreseeable future. For a wrestler that has notoriously avoided being tied down to one promotion, this is a major win for New Japan as they secure a big main event talent in this current wrestling bidding war spurred on by the introduction of AEW.

The final major development came in the main event of the Osaka show. After conquering Kenny Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom, wear and tear cost Hiroshi Tanahashi his eighth title reign. After a competitive 30 minutes, Jay White turned Tanahashi's High Fly Flow into a Blade Runner for the shock victory. As Red Shoes Umino's hand smacked the mat for the three, the air was sucked out of the Edion Arena and around the world. Although many speculated that we may see a result similar to when Okada first captured the IWGP Championship from Tanahashi seven years ago— the infamous Rainmaker Shock of 2012 — nobody fathomed that history would repeat itself with Jay White.

Well, we were all wrong and personally, I'm happier for it. While White might be a polarizing figure as people either love him for his untapped potential or hate him for being pushed to the top so fast, White's quick ascent to the main event of New Japan has filled the void that has been desperately missing in the company — a top heel. Ever since Naito and Omega transitioned from outright heels to lovable anti-heroes in early 2018, New Japan has been missing an antagonist force to unify the babyfaces. Although White's surprise IWGP title win catapults him right into the main event scene, it has also placed the Bullet Club on top of the food chain once again as the de facto heel faction. And to be honest, a dominant Bullet Club is a great thing.

On the topic of whether or not Jay White is deserving of his current position, I personally think he has grown into the role over the last year. That can easily be seen in White's character work and mic skills, which are among New Japan's elite. In my opinion, the missing piece is in the ring. Although White has consistently put on solid matches as the Switchblade, I can't think of one that has really clicked with me. Even his title match with Tanahashi —  while good — never got out of second gear. To prove the naysayers wrong, White will need to step up and consistently put on main event caliber matches throughout his reign.

Much like the Rainmaker Shock from seven years ago, Jay White's shocking IWGP Heavyweight Championship win signifies a new era in New Japan. What exactly that era will be is anybody's guess, but we do have a name: the Cutthroat Era.

Source: New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Must-See Matches of February

2/3/2019

The New Beginning in Sapporo Night 2

Bushi & Shingo Takagi vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Evil & Sanada vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr.

Halftime Heat

Aleister Black, Ricochet & Velveteen Dream vs. Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa

2/12/2019
Smackdown
Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton - Gauntlet Match

2/17/2019
Elimination Chamber
Boss 'n' Hug Connection vs. Fire & Desire vs. Riott Squad vs. IIconics vs. Naomi & Carmella vs. Nia Jax & Tamina - Elimination Chamber
Daniel Bryan vs. Samoa Joe vs. Kofi Kingston vs. AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton - Elimination Chamber

2/20/2019
NXT
Aleister Black vs. Roderick Strong
Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream

2/22/2019
Honor Rising Night 1
Will Ospreay vs. Dalton Castle

2/27/2019
NXT
Keith Lee vs. Dominic Dijakovic

The Silver Report: September 2018

To be honest, I do quite a bit of rambling this report, so I am going to keep this intro short and (too) sweet.

As I will go into more detail briefly, September was a huge month for independent and alternative wrestling. We now live in a world where companies that aren't named WWE can sell out a 10,000+ seat arena, where wrestlers are more concerned with satisfying the fans than lining their pockets, where men and women are quite literally changing the world of wrestling as we speak. In short, we live in a post All In wrestling industry and that is gosh darn exciting.

Going "All In" on Independent Wrestling

Love it or hate it, you have to admit it that All In was special.

Like mentioned above, it quite literally changed the wrestling industry. While independent wrestling may not be on the same level as the WWE (and probably never will be), All In and its success made the mainstream take notice. It introduced the talents and styles of many different wrestling organizations to a larger audience than ever before via streaming services, pay-per-view, and WGN America. Hopefully, this exposure will lead to new and lapsed wrestling fans tuning into their alternative of choice over or in addition to WWE. Believe me, All In's impact will be felt for years to come.

Although All In will definitely be remembered for its impact on the industry, that's not all it will be remembered for. From Zero Hour to the main event — which finished only seconds before the broadcast was cut — it was a celebration of wrestling's past, present, and future. You had Stephen Amell throw himself through a table, an old-school NWA championship match with boxing-style entrances, Hangman Page carried out of the arena by penis druids, Chris Jericho attacked Kenny Omega while dressed as Pentagon Jr., a 30-minute match condensed into a non-stop 12 minutes, just to name a few great moments.

Looking at the show critically, All In was a great show. Some may even say it was one of the best shows of the year. Personally, I say All In is on the lower half of that list due to its rather slow start and some of the angles and gags being a little too hard for those who haven't caught up on Being the Elite to understand. Despite my qualms with the show, things kick into high gear once you hit the Chicago Street Fight and the show doesn't let up for a second.

In summation, huge thumbs up to Cody and the Young Bucks for putting this show together, the talent that put their bodies on the line for our entertainment, and the staff that made the broadcast possible. Without everybody's hard work, this incredible show would never have happened.

Source: Sports Illustrated

Bad Form in the Cell

I went into Hell in a Cell with low expectations. Like most main roster PPVs, the matches looked good on paper, but considering WWE's track record, there's always the chance that they'll find a way to screw it up.

Going into the main event, Hell in a Cell was doing better than the average main roster show these days. There were a couple stinkers in the Raw Women's Title Match and the Mixed Tag Team bout, but there was enough okay to great matches to counteract the bad. And the main event was Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman in a Hell in a Cell match. What could possibly go wrong?

Other than Mick Foley botching a two count, everything was all good until Roman speared Braun through a table. After the proceeding kickout, Roman and Braun would lay in the ring as all hell broke loose around them.

First, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre ran down to bully their way into the cell, only for Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins to stop them. The two teams would fight outside and on top of the cell for a good eight to 10 minutes before Rollins and Ziggler put each other through the announce tables at ringside. Then a returning Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman stormed the cell. Lesnar kicked down the door while Heyman maced Foley's eyes. Brock would then go on to F5 Roman onto Braun. After Lesnar made his quote-on-quote statement, he and Heyman left as a substitute referee called off the match right before the show cut to black.

It's hard to summarize how angry this debacle of a match made me. WWE quite literally flushed away all the work they did to try to rebuild the Universal Championship and Raw's main event scene. And just to bring back Brock Lesnar of all people! Seriously, WWE needs to move on because this over-reliance on Lesnar is doing serious damage to their product. Not only did Brock Lesnar's return at Hell in a Cell ruin a perfectly good main event, it made a mockery of the Money in the Bank contract (not that they've already done that multiple times in the past month) and made the top face and heel on Raw look like total chumps.

While these shenanigans may make a memorable moment, they'll also get people to take their money elsewhere. Especially in this post All In wrestling industry.

Source: India Today

Chaos in Kobe

Ever since Jay White returned from excursion late last year, the Switchblade has stirred up a whole lot of drama in New Japan, especially for Chaos.

Originally White was brought into the faction following WrestleKingdom by Kazuchika Okada as a challenger for midcard heavyweight titles like the IWGP Intercontinental and U.S. championships. Lately, the silver-tongued fiend has made an effort to challenge Okada's leadership at every turn. From his mind games with Yoshi-Hashi to trying to instill a killer edge in younger members Sho and Yoh, White's anarchist antics went unpunished as the faction concerned itself with the G1 then Okada's opportunity to win Hiroshi Tanahashi's place in the main event of WrestleKingdom.

With Chaos' attention diverted away from the problem child, nobody clued into what would happen next. Following Okada's loss to Tanahashi in the main event of Destruction in Kobe, White made his intentions clear — he won't be apart of a Chaos led by Okada.

White would take care of Tanahashi with a swift Blade Runner before turning his attention to the defeated Okada. As White's attack began, Yoshi-Hashi ran down for the save only to be dispatched by White almost immediately. Following Yoshi-Hashi's run-in was longtime Chaos member and Okada's former manger Gedo. Considering their former partnership, Okada turned his back to a chair-wielding Gedo as he readied to gang up on the mutinous White. Unfortunately for Okada, Gedo would blast the Rainmaker with a chair shot and align himself with the Switchblade to bring an end to Destruction in Kobe.

Although I haven't been a big fan of White's in-ring style since his return from excursion, I have to say that he has tremendous potential as New Japan's trickster, a character that uses his greater intellect to trick others for their own amusement. This manipulative nature has come across perfectly in White's antagonistic tenure in Chaos and his incredible promo work. Add Gedo into the mix and there's a lot of ways the Switchblade can make his ascent to the main event of New Japan.

So, will you breathe with the Switchblade?

Source: New Japan Pro Wrestling

Must-See Matches of September

9/1/2018

All In

Hangman Page vs. Joey Janela - Chicago Street Fight

Kenny Omega vs. Penta El Zero M

Golden Elite vs. Bandido, Fenix & Rey Mysterio

9/5/2018
NXT
Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream

9/7/2018

Road to Destruction Night 2

Golden Lovers vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Will Ospreay

9/15/2018
Destruction in Hiroshima
Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii

9/16/2018
Hell in a Cell
Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose

9/19/2018
NXT
Pete Dunne vs. Ricochet

9/23/2018
Destruction in Kobe
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada

9/30/2018
Fighting Spirit Unleashed
Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll
Golden Lovers vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii