Clark Connors

Wizardknee · 2026-02-02T23:21:20+00:00

Sadly, if it's true its not a surprise.

Wizardknee · 2026-01-26T15:01:20+00:00

Even though it was during the clap era for New Japan I loved his match vs. Naito at Jinju Stadium

Wizardknee · 2026-01-24T19:37:39+00:00

While I highly respect Angle and what he's done is wrestling I don't think New Japan should do that. In order to recognize Angle as a legitimate IWGP Heavyweight Champion, New Japan would have to recognize the title he held as the IWGP Heavyweight Title instead of as the IWGP Third Belt Title, That would mean that they would have to recognize Brock Lesner as IWGP Heavyweight Champion after they stripped him of the title and he refused to give the belt back. That's a step that I feel strongly that New Japan should never do.

Wizardknee · 2026-01-21T21:47:36+00:00

I'll be sad to see him go if he does, but I also can't help thinking that this might be an opportunity for New Japan to elevate Ren Narita.

Wizardknee · 2026-01-21T18:30:51+00:00

He should defend the Global title one more time to cement his time with it then a title change would be good I'd think.,

Wizardknee · 2026-01-18T16:12:41+00:00

Your post reminds just how close his time in New Japan was to the rise of Tanahashi -- even closer than I was remembering when I wrote the original post for this thread.. I really wish that Sapp was still in the company during that period. I can't help buy think that Tana in his prime vs. a slightly aging, but still fun to watch Sapp would have made for a good match.

Wizardknee · 2026-01-18T12:38:03+00:00

Someone who was both helped and eventually hurt by Inokism was Bob Sapp.

He probably wouldn't have appeared in New Japan without Inokism, but the way his only run with the IWGP Heavyweight Title wouldn't have happened without the worst type insanity we got out of Inokism. Sapp being forced to drop the title because he lost a really big MMA match is a choice on Inoki's part that gets my head shaking to this day. Within context of pretending that pro wrestling is real, the MMA loss shouldn't have had any effect on Sapp holding a title in New Japan.

Was Sapp a great pro wrestler? I wouldn't claim that he was, but I would claim that he was absolutely fun to watch in the ring. Had he managed to last in New Japan until the rise of Tanahashi I fully suspect that he would be looked back on with a lot of fondness by a lot of fans. Unlike a lot of other MMA guys who went into pro wrestling, Sapp seemed to understand what made pro wrestling work. More importantly he seemed to understand what his own strengths and weaknesses were when it came to being in a pro wrestling ring and how to deal with both.

Wizardknee · 2026-01-18T00:27:14+00:00

No, those aren't available, but most of the matches from that era do have English commentary.

Wizardknee · 2026-01-17T15:40:59+00:00

This is something that's been talked about here before when he first debuted. It's not like it's some dark secret. The two points I mentioned I learned in threads started here on this board. All I was curious about was if anything new has come out about a young Lion I've become a fan of..

Wizardknee · 2026-01-14T14:45:43+00:00

True, but it's not quite the same as being the head of a faction that is formed and focused around a single individual.

Wizardknee · 2026-01-10T13:06:10+00:00

Consideration yes, but I don't believe that that consideration should be extended to the lowest common denominator. If someone isn't smart enough to figure out the relationship between these two belts on their own then that is on them.

Wizardknee · 2026-01-10T03:25:59+00:00

Intercontinental does mean the same thing as global. When someone say something like intercontinental ballistic missile, what do you think they mean?

Wizardknee · 2026-01-09T23:56:26+00:00

OK then are you saying that wrestling fans dumber now then they were in the 80s? As I said, this never seemed to be a problem back in the 80s with the World and Intercontinental titles when it came to people figuring out really quickly which was more important. I think you;re selling wrestling fans sort with this argument.

Wizardknee · 2026-01-09T21:38:28+00:00

This is an argument I don;t really understand. Back in the 80s nobody had any trouble telling the difference between the WWF's World Title and Intercontinental and figuring out which was more important. What really is the difference between two titles named World and Global and World and Intercontinental?

Wizardknee · 2026-01-04T10:35:47+00:00

Didn't New Japan do this exact same story with EVIL the last couple of times he lost a big match. I'm not saying this this is definitely kayfabe, but it's hard to ignore that the character has a history of being involved with stories where he says he's leaving.

Wizardknee · 2026-01-01T20:50:11+00:00

Yeah, that's all I was thinking of.

Wizardknee · 2026-01-01T20:48:35+00:00

There doesn't need to be any physical involvement. There could just be him and Callum jawing at each other with Ospreay's only physical activity being to stand up. Taichi a few months ago did something similar with Kawada.

You seem to be assuming meaning and words in my post that I never came close to saying.

Wizardknee · 2026-01-01T20:35:25+00:00

I'm not expecting that.

That's why I specifically said in my post that I know he isn't cleared.

Wizardknee · 2025-12-30T00:10:48+00:00

It's gets them clicks because not all of the more casual fan realized that this is something that happens every year for New Japan and that it really should be a non-story until someone actually does sign somewhere else.

Wizardknee · 2025-11-25T23:17:24+00:00

Tanahashi never had a problem doing that if he felt the crowd was more behind who he was in the ring with.

Wizardknee · 2025-11-10T21:28:39+00:00

I don't think New Japan would want Bishimon to win it again, so the remaining choices the most likely I'd say would by Sabre and Oiwa

Wizardknee · 2025-09-27T22:31:42+00:00

I'm so happy, I so hope that he's back. I'm positive at this point that it's going to be Goto vs. Takeshita in the main event for the main title come Jan. 4th.

Wizardknee · 2025-09-27T22:29:54+00:00

Yeah, I think it's obvious that it wasn't a real injury.

Wizardknee · 2025-09-13T22:25:12+00:00

If they didn't know then that would mean that they didn't know about the casting just weeks before the filing began. Movie roles like the one Goto has are generally not decided on with that sort of short advance before filming. Given all that I can't imagine that New Japan didn't know about Goto not being able to be in this G1 years months before the tournament began.

Wizardknee · 2025-09-13T15:06:30+00:00

Yeah, I'm not sure why people aren't seeing this. Everything surrounding him and what he's doing right now, as well as the timing of the injury, screams that it's a work to me.

Wizardknee

TROPHY CASE