Zach Arnold reported earlier today that Mutoh has severly damages his knee when doing his "space rolling elbow" and twisted his knee.There might be ligament damage and if so,he'll be shelved for a while.
In the same report,it was also noted that Kawada was planning to delay his return untill April of 2003,and that his knee is at about 70%,...but now with Mutoh out,he may end up returning sooner.
Personally,I hope he takes the extra time to recooperate,as we all don't want him causeing futher harm to the knee.Who knows,mabe this will force All Japan to start pushing the right talent with both of them out.OR...maybe we'll have Arashi pushed as the next top tier guy,....UGH!
Also,the under appreciated Shigeo Okumura is out with an undisclosed injury,so we'll have to wait and see what happens,and what effect this all has.
I would really liked to see Taiyo Kea get the push. As well as the MLW Heavyweight Champion, Satoshi Kojima.
These two are on the rise; if they will be remembered in a decade or two like the Misawa's and Muto's then they need to be pushed to the top soon.
Remember Sting and Flair at the first Clash? Sting took Flair to the Time Limit Draw. He didn't win the Title for a couple more years but he still was pushed early and dominated (when used right...) until the end of WCW. The Rock was pushed early and even though the fans hated him, he is atop the WWE.
......More ramblings tonight by the Haiku Warrior......
"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Kevin Spacey (Usual Suspects)
Well, it seems to me that's it's time for Mutoh to prove that he was the right choice as president. I hope that it means pushing Kojima and Kea. It would be a big step for either one to "avenge" their loss to Goldberg...
As for Kawada coming back sooner, he's apparently had so many problems that he should wait until he's 100% before stepping in the ring again. Maybe Kensuke Sasaki could work a few shows to help push younger talent along, while Choshu's new promotion gets on it's feet...?
Proud enough for you to call me arrogant
Greedy enough to be labeled a thief
Angry enough for me to go and hurt a man
Cruel enough for me to feel no grief...
****! AJPW has been running on wounded knees already, now with their top draw out, it could get really really ugly. Kojima and Kea would be obvious choices to take his spot, but who knows, maybe Goldberg takes the triple crown soon and AJPW goes the gaijin route to attract an audience. Mutoh should be calling another guy with bum knees currently unemployed....to put on the matchup everyone was dreaming of 4-5 years ago...Steve Austin. Austin v. Goldberg, in the unlikliest of circumstances. Well, just a thought.
I think AJPW has a few different options. This is all assuming that Mutoh actually takes time off, which I don't think he will for very long as I'm sure he doesn't want to miss the Bob Sapp match for WRESTLE-1, the match with Tenryu, nor the match with Goldberg.
1. Push Kojima & Kea. Probably tough to do right now since they are coming off such embarassing defeats to Goldberg. Their stock is probably lower now than it has been for a while. Kea's victory over Tenryu in August means a lot less now after getting destroyed by Goldberg, and Kojima still hasn't been able to get past Tenryu...perhaps now is the time.
2. Have Shinya Hashimoto fill in for the Tenryu match. Zach's article said Hashimoto would be willing to fill in for his old friend, if needed. Mutoh vs. Tenryu isn't much of a draw at this point anyway, especially with Mutoh at far less than 100%. On the other hand, Hashimoto vs. Tenryu could be a huge draw and is certainly a much fresher match. Perhaps this would open the doors for more interpromotional matches with Zero-One.
3. Bring in Kensuke Sasaki. Although it's down the road, there is certainly a great storyline already in place between him and Kawada.
4. Give Terry Funk a big run at the Triple Crown. Why not? Yeah, he's old, but Tenryu ain't no spring chicken (did i just use that expression?). Funk can have a great match with pretty much anybody and even if he doesn't go over, a Funk vs. Tenryu match could be great.
Anyway, those are just a few thoughts. The post that mentioned Steve Austin is an interesting idea but he is supposedly still under contract to WWE.
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