China still not approving games from Tencent and Netease
For most of last year, China’s approval board that voted on which games were allowed into the country was mostly frozen. But it seems that last month, they began to open their doors again. What’s the catch you ask? Well, it seems that Tencent and Netease are still not among those welcome into the country. According to James Batchelor of gamesindustry.biz, 67 of the 80 approved games were mobile, but none were from either of the two largest publishers. This news is troubling especially for Activision-Blizzard, who are in a partnership with Netease to release their much-maligned mobile game, Diablo Immortal, which is geared towards their popularity in China. Only time will tell, but the longer it takes for especially Netease to get approval, the worse it looks for developers like Blizzard, who are trying to release games inside China.
Britt Baker signs with AEW Wrestling
It seems that AEW has one of their first big signings outside the members of the Elite. Britt Baker, who was a participant in ALL IN, and who has wrestled on both WWE and Impact TV has signed with the fledgling promotion. She is an amazing wrestler, who will definitely be a great addition to the small, but growing roster. I can’t wait to see what the Women’s division of AEW Wrestling has to offer, and I’m glad that AEW maybe a new destination for hopeful female wrestlers to call home because outside of Shimmer and WWE, there’s not a lot of promotions that give regular work to female wrestlers.
Along with the news of Britt Baker’s signing, there seem to be several other pro wrestlers who are watching closely at what the Elite and Tony Khan are doing over at AEW. With reportedly Barry Bloom assisting in recruiting talent for AEW, I wouldn’t be shocked if soon we hear that “former” WWE talent may be signing. Only time will tell how many.
Ashes of Creation hires another Daybreak dev
Intrepid Studios hired yet another Daybreak developer, as former technical director of H1Z1: Just Survive, Mitch Evans has announced that he will be joining the folks over at Ashes of Creation as a senior gameplay engineer. This is another solid hire for the company who is hoping to create the next great MMO. Only time will tell if their dream will come to fruition, but with games like WoW seeming to falter, I am fervently hoping that Intrepid succeeds and releases the next great game in the MMO genre.
“Mean Gene” Okerlund passes away
I have been watching wrestling since the mid-70s, and when I tell you that Mean Gene is a huge part of my pro wrestling soundtrack, I’m not joking. I remember watching him during the Rock-n-Wrestling days, interviewing the likes of Rowdy Roddy Piper, JYD and Captain Lou Albano. I remember him during the first few years of WrestleMania being a key component of the base that made those pay-per-views the spectacle that lives on today. Watching him in WCW giving guff to some of the up and comers was some of the best times I’ve had watching pro wrestling back in the day. You always knew the feud was important, or that something was going to happen when Mean Gene was there. His voice—his voice was always distinct and bombastic. I could have been listening to an episode of Nitro as background noise, while doing homework back in the day, but when I heard Mean Gene’s voice, I knew to take a break, and watch what he was saying, because I knew it was important to the feuds that were going on at the time. I know that I am going to miss him at this year’s Mania, and as a pro wrestling fan, I know his voice will never be forgotten.
WoW: Women of Wrestling Premieres January 18th
This one caught me by surprise. I didn’t know this was coming, but hey I’m just a wrestling fan. Apparently, this promotion is brought to us by LA Laker’s owner Jeanie Buss and Founder of GLOW, David McLane. I’ve seen the First Look video of what will air on AXS TV, and I have two things to say. 1) the wrestler all have proven track records, especially Santana Garrett and Tessa Blanchard, so I know the matches will be top notch; 2) the ring seems WAY too small. I don’t know if it’s camera angles or what, but the ring just doesn’t look regulation. I’m hoping that they change that in future episodes because it looks like someone may get hurt, because of the ring, but I’m probably wrong. The ring really reminds me of the GLOW days.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 Predictions
This year’s Wrestle Kingdom has set up another amazing card on tap. Though this year there is no pre-show battle royale, which kinda sucks, they do have a #1 Contender’s Match for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag belts set up that looks interesting. There are top notch, show-stealing potential up and down this card, I can’t really guess who is gonna take the match of the night, but here are my predictions for the night.
Number One Contender Gauntlet Match for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship (Pre-Show)
Hirooki Goto, Beretta, & Chuckie T vs. Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, & Toru Yano vs. Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb, & David Finlay vs. Marty Scurll, Hangman Page, & Yujiro Takahashi
Who I pick: Suzuki, Archer and Davey Boy Jr.
I think they have as good a chance as any out of the 50-50 booking of this match. I do think though that Takahashi is gonna turn on Page and Scurll to return to the Bullet Club. I may be wrong, but he has been the one naysayer in the Elite group since the Firing Squad beat down.
Kazuchika Okada vs “Switchblade” Jay White
Who will win: Jay White
Though I want Okada to win (I can’t stand Jay White), I think that if NJPW really wants to push White as the next top Gaijin, then he is going to have to beat Okada, who has become the new ACE in New Japan.
NEVER Openweight Championship
Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Will Ospreay
Who will win: Will Ospreay
This match has the potential to be a match of the night or show-stealer of the night. Both of these wrestlers are among the top shelf of pro wrestling today, and I have no doubt that they have the potential to have a 5-star match. I give the edge to Will Ospreay because it seems to me that he is being positioned to be the next head of Chaos, and take on White for a top foreigner of the promotion along with Zack Sabre, Jr.
IWGP Tag Team Championship
Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa (c) vs. EVIL and SANADA vs. The Young Bucks
Who will win: Bullet Club
I love all the tag teams in this match, but I give the edge to Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa because it seems that NJPW is trying to take the Bullet Club back to their heel ways and push them as the top heel faction in the company. One way of doing that is to keep the belts on Guerillas of Destiny, and allowing them and the rest of Bullet Club to wreak havoc on NJPW.
IWGP US Championship
Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Juice Robinson
Who will win: Juice Robinson
Though this is another instance of 50-50 booking, with the announcement of AEW Wrestling, it seems that Cody’s tenure in NJPW may be over. Also, NJPW has been pushing Robinson for a while now so it would seem he’s poised to take the belt from Rhodes in epic fashion on the Wrestle Kingdom stage. I just hope that AEW can form some partnership with NJPW, RoH and possibly NWA.
RevPro British Heavyweight Championship
Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Who will win: Zack Sabre, Jr.
ZSJ tore it up in 2018 with wins across the whole pro wrestling spectrum. It’s his time to shine, and I think the RevPro Championship is just another step towards him eventually winning the IWGP Heavyweight belt. Also, with NJPW wanting to make more inroads into the west, I think ZSJ would be an amazing representative of New Japan has to offer.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado (c) vs. Roppongi 3K vs. BUSHI and Shingo Takagi
Who will win: Roppongi 3K
I just think they are going to take them back from Kanemaru and El Desperado. I do think that Bushi and Takagi have an outside chance though.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship
KUSHIDA (c) vs. Taiji Ishimori
Who will win: Kushida retains
Though Ishimori is no slouch by any means, it’s Kushida’s time. He is one of the most popular and highly respected wrestlers in New Japan today, and honestly, he needs a long reign, until hopefully, Takahashi comes back.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
Who will win: Naito
Chris Jericho is a great of pro wrestling. His run in New Japan last year has been nothing short of spectacular, and I was so happy when he won the IC belt from Naito at Dominion. Having said that, the second half of last year especially was a redemption story for Naito. Can he come back from losing so convincingly to Jericho to regain the belt that he lost? I think he will at Wrestle Kingdom, and bring the belt back to Japan.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Kenny Omega (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Who will win: Kenny Omega
I went back and forth on this match. During the build-up to this match, there has been this push and pull on “old style” vs “new style” ways of Puroresu between the ACE of the Golden Era of NJPW, Tanahashi vs the “Change the World” of Kenny Omega. We also know that NJPW wants to open the door to the West more, and one way to do that is to have the “Best Bout Machine” retain the belt over the past in Tanahashi. There’s no doubt that both wrestlers are among the best in the world past or present, but at least for Wrestle Kingdom, I’d have to give the future, Kenny Omega the edge.
Regardless of what happens at “New Year’s Dash” on January 5th, I think the night of Wrestle Kingdom will belong to Omega unless the Bullet Club disrupts the match in some way.
