Well that was……underwhelming

42 comments

1. Nah it was amazing just based on her gorgeous new hair 😍

2. It looked like KAIRI had reversed it into an arm drag, but then they both forgot it

3. You could have heard a pen drop and don’t get me started on the botch 🤦🏾‍♂️very underwhelming

4. Tam vs Kairi was cut short for this.

5. The look was certainly something. But the move felt botched and the promo was what it’s was…

6. Now let all the new fans get confused that she didn’t sign with NJPW but Stardom instead…. I know there will be a good amount of people out there.

7. Her entire body of work speaks for itself… It’s one botch, she’ll be ok. Probably nervous as all hell.

8. I think the reaction in SJ will be a bigger deal

   Also kinda looking forward to the match

9. Judging this on the crowd alone is unfair. She looked amazing and was clearly a little nervous. It’s a huge coup for New Japan and Stardom either way.

10. Yea not a good debut at all, but it will work out in the long run I think.

11. I mean no one watched for this anyway this was just a stardom special attraction the actual new japan is everything else

12. The match being 5 minutes was criminal, the botch was bad and the WWE promo was awkward as hell

    Let’s just hope it picks up from here

13. it was fine. idk what that move was supposed to be but she got a pop coming out, and she looked great

14. I thought it was cool. They made her feel like a big deal, and hey, she knew the Wrestling world would be watching. I can’t say I would have done better.

15. I’ve been trying to warn everyone this some bullshit

16. This should have been more time for Tam. What a fucking joke

17. Thats usually how a NJPW debut happens with an already established star. There is respect in this promotion. Even as a heel, she wouldn’t ruin the title match. You are just a western wrestling fan who doesn’t understand NJPW.

18. Francesco Akira had an awkward as hell intro and he’s turning out great. Boss lady will be ok too.

19. Maybe the move wasn’t 100% but everything else was pretty good and the crowd responded to it

20. They totally sabotaged the women tonight.

21. I understand some fans are underwhelmed with the botch, but think of it this way, she’s going to bring eyes to both NJPW and Stardom. That’s a great thing. More fans excited for things we love is a great thing imo. It also means the more money they make, the easier they can keep free agents. WWE is in hoarding mode now more then ever, and AEW is expanding more hours per rumors. WWE will just snatch them up but AEW will still allow them to work Japan. Point is if you have the money to keep them , for example, They will stay in Japan 90% of the time vs 10% of the time since someone is signed to Aew. I think Stardom will make out great and possibly attract more top women to the promotion.

    As for AEW, My guess is she will debut in AEW on the 11th now as Saraya’s partner. Jesus, Imagine if this happened in AEW on her debut? The world would shit on it 100x more lol. She looked rusty and nervous. Saraya did a promo when she first showed up in AEW and it was destroyed on social media, but she gotten more comfortable since. Mercedes needs to knock of the rust before January 11th because they’re alot of WWE fans that have been waiting for her to fail in NJPW, she didn’t imo as it’s very fixable, and are now waiting to see her faip in AEW. The more she gets comfortable in AEW wrestling and cutting promos without the safety net that she had in WWE, production, camera cuts to hide botches (there aren’t any in Japan), writers to help with promos, etc, the more comfortable she will be in Japan where it’s even less hand holding them AEW, and they’re very loose.

    Again, I choose to look at the positives. I’m more excited for Njpw in awhile since when Omega was there, and now I’m interested in Stardom for the very First time as far as watching the entire show, only matches and clips.

22. It was not good. Only awkward spot on the whole 5+ hours show, which otherwise was awesome!

23. Lmao at the WWE guys shitting the bed tonight.

24. Glad it wasn’t just me. Worst part of the show in my opinion.

25. Her debut at an NJPW show was not going to sound anything like her debut would in AEW. Different culture and crowds.

26. That’s Sasha in a nutshell

27. To add to /u/Sumo_Cerebro’s post, Sasha learned from the Charlotte “wear-high-heels-to-stand-above-and-diminish-your-potential-challenger” school of confrontation.

    Don’t get it twisted y’all I love Sasha, mainly and only for her NXT run (which is almost 8 years ago now), but her standing next to Kairi reminds me of two “wrestlers” I hate, one I already mentioned, and the other Jade Cargill.

    I hate the (high) heels shit.

28. I hated that the match was only 5 minutes. The debut was fine until the botch but I question why you’d show up to fight wearing gigantic ass heels.

29. IMO it was good for what it was, she brought attention to the product, she looked amazing, but Kairi botched the finishing move and her promo was a bit sloppy but that might just’ve been nerves. I watched her on the press conference and she sounded so much better! I cannot wait to see her matches for NJPW and Stardom!

30. Tbh i would of just preferred the match go like 15 mins more that was way more entertaining than the post match

31. Was she drunk or does she always sound that way?

32. NJPW clearly has no idea what they are doing with the women.

    The first IWGP women’s title match at Wrestle Kingdom only gets five minutes? Absurd.

33. Glad to see her in a wrestling capacity, but her promo skills are somehow still ass nuggets.

34. Mercedes is lack luster, always has been. A fewgood matches but she’s still over hyped in general

35. it wasn’t a home run. Maybe a nice pop out in the outfield? Either way, I think it will find. The main point is to get it out that Mercedes will wrestle in San Jose. It’s still a big moment. I will add, my goodness, Mercedes is a beautiful woman. Anyways, hopefully she will bring new viewers to the product.

36. On top of the fact everyone wouldn’t stop talking about it so it couldn’t be a surprise, that move Mercedes wanted to do was awkward af

37. Yeah probably not the best debut but shiy happens. Mercedes is going to do great things in Japan regardless. Can’t wait for her vs Kairi.

38. Awful all around. Kairi and Tam got six minutes so they could focus on the angle afterwards. All that money for Sasha for her to come out and dance, botch her finish, and cut a boring promo.

    It made Kairi, Tam, and the title look like afterthoughts.

39. It’s not Mercedes fault that the match was so short. That’s on NJPW management. She will for sure bring more eyes on the product.

40. Came out looking like a daytime stripper from the spearmint rhino.

41. I’d go with awkward. It was a cool moment. But admittedly, it did feel kinda off. The botch didn’t help

42. Having no crowd noise really took away from this.