E3 2018: EA Play Conference - The Plus and The Minus

Guess who's back? Back again? Oli's back, and I'm going to slaughter EA now.

+ Anthem

Got a big deep look into Anthem at EA, the game looks cool, although I think I have my criticisms my main take away from all of it was: 'This looks like Destiny but made for me'. Destiny isn't really my thing because it's mainly just a multiplayer game, and although Anthem is kinda in the same bag, the addition of having story areas where you basically play a single player Bioware game is pretty crazy. February feels like such a long time away though, for something that you take such a deep dive into I thought I'd be seeing it sooner.

+ Battlefield V

I haven't picked up a military FPS in a long time, and back when I did it was always COD. So recently I've been looking over at the competitor, Battlefield, to see if this is where I'm gonna jump in. Truth is, I'm not sure, but I think the game looks graphically amazing and the story mode seems intriguing. That's the one thing Battlefield has over COD this year and it's definitely a plus to me.

+ Star Wars Battlefront II

Man oh man, a lot happened in between last E3 and this E3 for Battlefront II. And it probably doesn't surprise you that I didn't pick up the game when it came out. The nasty micro-transactions and levelling system killed any enthusiasm the game gave me. Now although at the press conference this year they weren't pulling out all the stops, they were taking a step in the right direction. It gives me confidence that if I wanted to pick up this game in the future at a very low price (I mean low) I'll have a fun time and not have to worry about the horrible stuff that used to be in the game.

+ Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order

Respawn are one of the only EA devs that I have hope for. Titanfall 2 was much better than it should've been and I want to see that team create something great with Star Wars. This game by description alone sounds cool. Obviously they only talked about it so take with a grain of salt.

+ Unravel two

It's nice to have at least one of these 'PLAY NOW' games at a conference, and EA just released a full blown sequel to Unravel. This time a full co-op game, I'm glad EA seem to support co-op games, A Way Out was a lot of fun and Unravel two could be as well. I wasn't fully convinced so I won't be playing it right away, but when I start seeing some positive reviews maybe me and my girlfriend can give it a go.

+ Sea Of Solitude

This games art style is right up my alley, and although there wasn't a huge amount shown about what the game play of this game was, the concept was enough of an interest for me.

- Command & Conquer Rivals

Can't say I know a lot about Command & Conquer, but a lot of time was taken by this mobile game, it was very dull. Legitimately felt like a time filler and although I know this is an IP that is beloved by some people, from what I can gather is that some people hate this is a mobile game and others don't? I don't know but I wasn't interested.

- EA Origin Access Premiere

Streaming gaming services still feels like years and years away from actually feeling good to play. PS Now doesn't feel good so I don't believe any other company could improve on that for a while. Also streaming games isn't a future I want to be going towards. Movies and TV is a different story for streaming as they are very short in comparisons and you don't wanna own a DVD for every movie you like or would like to watch. Video games are huge time sinkers. I like the idea you can jump from game to game to see what you would enjoy, but that could just be a demo service for new releases. I want to actually own the games I enjoy.

- Sports!!!

Same as every year, a lot of sports. It's fine, it felt like they cut it down huge this year.

- NO LOOT BOXES

The fact that they mentioned this several times for different games is really bad. They also expected cheers and celebration. They shouldn't have done these shitty practises in the first place and they shouldn't be commended for not doing it.

- No Skate 4... again.

Maybe this is the new Beyond Good and Evil 2 or The Last Guardian, but with more and more rumours coming out each year signalling a new Skate game, it is so disappointing to never get a word on the franchise.

Overall this conference set my expectations super low, and I felt thoroughly dejected for the first time for an E3. Really unfortunate. 

WWE Season Awards 2017-18

Well well well, what a weird figurative year for WWE. We've had some great stuff and we've had some down right terrible stuff. But I guess it's the time of the year I try and condense the WWE main roster from Raw after Mania 33 to Mania 34 via awards. Let's go.


Best Moment Of The Year - Daniel Bryan announces he's medically cleared to wrestle

Bryan is my favourite wrestler of all time, and it was felt among most that Bryan would leave WWE as soon as his contract was up to try and wrestle once again on the independant scene. Well we needn't have worried as WWE doctors finally cleared Bryan for in-ring competition again and it was the happiest moment of the year for me. On that Smackdown where Bryan took bumps and started attacking Owens and Sami gave me goosebumps. Welcome back!


Worst Moment Of The Year - Jinder Mahal wins the WWE Championship at Backlash

I have no idea what WWE were thinking this year. Jinder Mahal was, and still is, very plainly a mediocre to bad wrestler. Not only that, but he has no charisma, he cannot talk on the mic, to the point where you can tell how scripted his promos are. To me it's unforgivable that the WWE chose to put the WWE Title on him and keep it on him for the majority of the year. I stopped watching WWE apart from PPVs because of this, after several years of being a loyal weekly viewer as the product kept getting better, this was a horrid realisation that the company is still out of touch. It didn't helo that the Orton/Mahal feud was agony to watch as well.


Best PPV Of The Year - Royal Rumble

It had to be. These awards usually almost always go to WrestleMania, that usually has recency bias towards it, but not this year, Royal Rumble knocked it out of the park this year, with the first ever Women;s Royal Rumble and the Men's Royal Rumble being such a blast too, the show came back to the standard it should have always been at. Although the other matches around the rumble matches weren't anything amazing, the rumbles really made the whole show shine.


Worst PPV Of The Year - Battleground

God almighty, the card sounded horrendous and the matches were even worse, the return of the Punjabi Prison match was the worst offender along with the return of The Great Khali for a one night appearance. So bad it wasn't even worth watching.


Best Debut Year - Elias

Elias came to screens on Main Roster during the Superstar Shake-up, the second week into the figurative year, and although initially a little lack luster in NXT, Elias has really made a name for himself on Main Roster. Unlike all previous musical gimmicks, Elias actually has some great musical talent. The work he puts in to make his segments on each Raw memorable is astounding, recently on a Edge and Christian podcast he said that he sits and writes a song for every town they go to, that along with the extent he will go to continue his character outside the ring, like going to open mic spots, which was seen in New Orleans for WrestleMania 34. Another staning out point for Elias is the fact that he doesn't use the guitar as a gimmick weapon like most guitar wielding superstars. Elias is mainly a segment and entertainment character for TV, but he is good in-ring, he just needs some more chances to show that.


Superstar Of The Year - Braun Strowman

Let's just think about the year Strowman has had. At last Mania he was only in the Andre Battle Royal, not even winning. In between that time Strowman feuded with Reigns several times, with some of the best segments such as tipping over the ambulance and other amazing goofy feats of strength. He was in the Summerslam Main Event and shone. Turned face and was cheered unanimously, made it to the end of the Survivor Series Match and took out Triple H. Was in the Universal Title match at Royal Rumble. Completely slaughtered in the Elimination Chamber Match. Paired with Alexa Bliss in the Mixed Match Challenge, not only being comedic and making a fun storyline, but adding another layer to his character, softening it slightly, so when in came to WrestleMania, he could pick a 10 year old boy from the crowd to be his tag partner and win the tag team championships with him to 'Awww's. It almost sounds like this guy is the perfect person to be your figurehead. Everyone loves Braun Strowman.


Underutilised Star Of The Year - Rusev

It's just starting to get some traction behind it but Rusev has been a superb performer for years, and this year he fell off majorly. If it wasn't for his talent he would be in a hole right now, but the later part of this year has been a god send for Rusev. With 'Happy Rusev Day' getting majorly over and being paired with the entertaining Aiden English, it seems Rusev may be on the up again. Sadly he was pinned by Jinder Mahal at this years WrestleMania, but hopefully this can be rectified in the coming year. Oh and HAPPY RUSEV DAY!


Woman Of The Year - Asuka

It is about time Asuka got to Main Roster. To be plainly honest if she wasn't in NXT for the previous years Asuka would've been winning this award every year. She debuted around midway through the year but Asuka has been great. She won the first ever Women's Royal Rumble and she had an amazing match with Charlotte at WrestleMania (even if I don't fully agree with the way her streak has ended). Definitely deserving of this award.


Team Of The Year - The Usos

The Usos have had a phenomenal year. Although their heel turn and thug-ish gimmick change weren't done this year, the Smackdown Tag Team Championship title reign that happened this year along with their amazing feud with The New Day has properly made The Usos stand out more than any other team in the WWE this year. The Usos solidfy themselves as one of the best teams in the industry today and prove the doubters wrong.


Heel Of The Year - Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

Yes, I'm cheating, but these are my damn awards. They get a joint award because they spent most of their heel runs this year together, and although Owens has been a superb heel since debuting in WWE, Sami Zayn has really broken his character mold by being the ying to Owen's yang on screen. It's hard to imagine that either of these two being as successful as they were this year, as heels, without the other one their, so I'm making the executive decision to have joint winners this year.


Face Of The Year - AJ Styles

AJ has been face all year and he hasn't lost a beat from his heel run from last year. It was a seamless transition from heel persona to his face persona and has been consistently great since. Overall faces have been very lack luster this year, Finn and Seth both were fun babyface but the booking for all these guys have been a little under par, but after this WrestleMania it looks like it is on the up.

Shock Of The Year - Jinder Mahal winning the WWE Championship at Backlash

Shock the year isn't mutually exclusive to being a positive thing. Read Worst Moment Of The Year for more.


Match Of The Year - Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle vs Triple H & Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 34

Wow, just an amazing match from start to finish, not a beat was missed when it came to this match, completely enthralling the whole time. It was more on the 'sports entertaining' side of WWE but it didn't hinder the quality at all. This is where Triple H shines in my opinion and it's clear that Ronda worked her ass of to make her match super memorable. Don't forget that Angle and Steph brought out surprising performances too. But the highlight of the match was the short inter-gender section between Triple H and Ronda. This match did not have any right to be this good but it was. Match of the night, and match of the year.


Feud Of The Year - The Usos vs The New Day

In my Fluffie Awards from the end of 2017 I had Owens and Zayn vs Shane McMahon above this feud between The Usos and The New Day. But since that point the feud has become infuriating. Shane McMahon acted like a heel consistently and expected to be cheered, and the feud only came around when Bryan was cleared to compete again. Here with The Usos and The New Day, the teams have had several classic matches with each other back-to-back. Not forgetting the amazing promos between the teams. Truly career defining for both teams, something to be remembered for years to come.

So that's it for this year, let's quickly shout-out a couple of things, The Usos vs New Day at Hell In A Cell and Summerslam were very close to winning MOTY, most of Smackdown's tag division matches were all very stellar. 205 Live got no mentions here, because the division had been in the toilet for the majority of the year. But ever since the Cruiserweight Championship Tournament started on the lead-up to WrestleMania the show has been absolutely amazing. Buddy Murphy has been an amazing stand-out that would've gotten Best Debut Year if he didn't debut so late. As such Murphy and Kalisto put on an amazing match on 205 Live that was nearly a MOTY contender. Rollins and Balor had a fairly decent year, Rollins and Ambrose had a great run as The Shield again, such a shame that Ambrose got injured, Rollins vs Ambrose would've been a great Mania match-up. Balor hasn't been pushed back to the heights of the Universal Champion yet and this year since returning at the beginning of last year has kinda been floating around the upper midcard of the Raw roster. Sadly I think this year was extremely weak for WWE Main Roster, for the majority of the year we had Lesnar as Universal Champion, who hardly ever appeared, an idea that worked a number of years ago with the WWE championship, but not anymore, and the WWE Title on the most boring and incompetent wrestler in the company. Couple that with AJ and Owens' feud being surprisingly mediocre and the IC belt being round the waist of Miz who didn't get to have many stand-out feuds and matches, meant the tag division shined the brightest, but didn't wipe the bitter taste in our mouths that we didn't get enjoyable singles runs from our favourite wrestlers.

Some Thoughts - Call Me By Your Name

I got to finally see Call Me By Your Name, and WOW!

Call Me By Your Name is a romance about a 17 year old boy and a young 20-something man in the summer of the 1983 in Italy.

The movie is obviously excellent, acting, directing, writing, it's all so well done. I think maybe one of the best parts about this movie is it's almost fairy tale romance nature. It feels kinda surreal, there is never any obvious lines that get straight to the point of that they want to be together or they want to be in a relationship, a lot of the lines are kind of very round about way of saying things and then the actions of the characters says a lot more of the talking. It feels like you're watching a very personal, secretive and intimate story the whole time. You get absolutely engrossed with the stunning visuals of Italy and the story about these two men.

As of this moment I haven't watched every nominated movie for the Oscars (thanks to all the films getting released in the UK around the January/Febuary season -.-) but I can say that Timothée Chalamet (who plays Elio) would definitely be in the front running of Best Actor in my opinion. Armie Hammer (Oliver) is also fucking superb and a scene by Elio's dad played by Michael Stuhlbarg inparticular is one of my favourite movie scenes of all time.

It is hard to say much more without spoiling some plot details which I would rather not do, it is much better going in as blind as you can, but if you're reading this it might be a bit late now.

Some Thoughts - Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

While bringing in the new year and having a short break I decided to hop on the Wolfenstein train, Wolfenstein II came out quite recently and was talked about a lot in Game Of The Year lists, so I grabbed my digital copy of The Old Blood that I'd been hanging on to for a while and took a punt at it.

I decided to play The Old Blood over The New Order for two reasons, 1. This was the game I already owned. 2. I was told that it was a prequel to The New Order. The opening mission of the game is probably one of the best opening missions in any game. A really fun stealth orientated level that sees you traverse through pipes, vents etc, trying to take down as many Nazis as possible with only some broken drain pipe. Most of the enemies you encounter are huge Fallout Power Armour styled guys with mini guns. It's an empowering level and feels so fun to play in, problems start to show for me at the end of the level. At the end of a big shoot out with a lot of Nazis, you get on a boat and ride off, for me though this was the most infuriating part, after my shoot out I had a low health, I got on the boat thinking this was the ending of the level and instead was met with more enemies shooting at me, I soon ran out of bullets and I would continuously die, it got to the point that I thought that maybe I had got on the boat prematurely and I should've looked for some more health or some more armour, but when I went to load up a previous save that was before the boat, I realised that the game didn't have any auto saves. I'd basically trapped myself into a situation where I was too low health to progress even after switching the difficulty all the way down. This whole situation ended when I took the chance of hitting the menu button of starting from the beginning of the chapter, which then took me back to the beginning of the game.

Needless to say that whole experience meant I didn't pick up the game for a while. But I wasn't gonna give up on the game especially when I had 50 minutes of really fun game play, so I decided I would start again after the New Year and play it in a more casual setting. SO I didn't pay much attention to the story even though the game didn't have too much complicated plot points anyway, and I also decided to play the game on the lowest difficulty setting, maybe to some fans that is a bit of a cop out but I don't really mind. The game is structured almost like a book, into chapters that are roughly an hour each, allowing the game to be picked up and played for just a short period of time and then left if wanted to, which is truly one of the best aspects of the game, it allows the game to feel interesting every time you start the next chapter as each level doesn't feel the same as the others. It also means that a lot of each level is quite memorable. although sometimes difficult to identify where to go.

Level design isn't the only thing here that is made very well, the boss fights are all classic bosses in the sense that they all have their own gimmick and will change in different stages of the fight that you're in.

At the end of the day I think Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is very much a fun, short and memorable FPS, it doesn't have any outstanding features that other FPSs have, just an interesting setting plus exciting combat. Also the chapter structure really allows the game to shine.

I can't say I had an amazing time with the game but the game had enough enjoyment in there for me to be interested playing the other two games in the series.

2017's Best Of The Year - Wrestling (The Fluffies)

Yknow, I'm a big wrestling nerd, and when I wanna do wrestling awards I wanna make it as goofy as wrestling can be, so let me introduce you to the first ever 'Fluffies' (You get it right!?). This'll be similar to my WWE Season Awards, except I'm involving all the wrestling I saw this year. Sadly I'm no Meltzer, so I haven't seen everything, I've just watched what I could.



Male Wrestler Of The Year - Kazuchika Okada

I think there is absolutely no doubt that Kazuchika Okada has one of the best, if not thee best, year in pro wrestling, every major championship match he had this year was a Match Of The Year contender, along with the greatest wrestling trilogy with Kenny Omega and being the longest reigning IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. This couldn't go to anyone else this year.


Honourable Mentions:

Kenny Omega

Well, maybe it could've gone to this man. Omega has had an incredible 2017, not only the trilogy but he has just as many stand out matches as Okada, as well as winning the IWGP US Championship and being the main reason New Japan has started getting a lot of western fans attention.

AJ Styles

In a year of WWE where has been lack luster to say the least, AJ Styles was a consistent in having the best matches in the company. Sadly it was hindered by being an undervalued US Champion and having a slightly disappointing series with Kevin Owens.



Female Wrestler Of The Year - Asuka

Asuka has had another stellar year in pro wrestling, starting in NXT with her bouts with Ruby Riot, Nikki Cross, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce and Ember Moon, then later moving to the main roster on Raw. Admittedly her main roster run so far has not as good as her NXT run, but that aside she is the greatest female wrestler today.


Honourable Mentions:

Kairi Sane

Although my lack in eastern women's wrestling is obvious, Kairi Sane since turning up in WWE has been phenomenal. Winning the Mae Young Classic, and being featured prominently on NXT afterwards she is one of the best pro wrestlers in the world and it is obvious to see.

Shayna Baszler

When Shayna Baszler had her first match in the Mae Young Classic, I was absolutely in shock. She was an incredible story teller and athlete. Even from a MMA background you can tell that the love for pro wrestling runs deep in Shayna's DNA.



Tag Team Of The Year - The Young Bucks

It has to go the other two thirds of The Elite, The Young Bucks. I think at this point in their careers it's hard to put anyone else on the top of this list. I think their successful series Being The Elite puts them up their alone, using modern platforms to change the way Pro Wrestling tells stories is truly groundbreaking for the industry, but not only that but they produce some of the best matches on the planet.


Honourable Mentions:

The Usos

In the past couple of years WWE's Tag division has been dominated by The New Day, but The Usos took a risk to try and become more prominent again and it worked far better than anyone could have ever imagined. The twins have had a gimmick change and a heel turn that has only allowed them to come out of their shell more, they've upped their game when it came to tag matches, allowing their new heel personas to allow them to update their movesets and use dirtier tactics. A great year uce.

DIY

Before their split, DIY was probably the greatest WWE orientated tag team, they were the constant factor to all the great NXT tag matches this year, matches with The Revival and Authors Of Pain really elevated the whole NXT brand where most of the NXT Title matches were getting predictable.



Male Breakout Year - Braun Strowman

This was a pretty hard category out of the three mentioned here, but I think I truly need to praise Braun Strowman. His initial debut was not good at all, but since then he has absolutely become my favourite part of every WWE program he is included in. So entertaining along with being able to play the best Big Man since early Undertaker. I hope he rockets from here.


Honourable Mentions:

Travis Banks

Travis Banks has been on my radar for a little while, but his most recent run in Progress (also I heard some stuff from Fight Club Pro?) has added a new entire level to him as a performer and really shone everything he is capable of.

EVIL

Although been amazing for a while, EVIL this year has become my guy to root for in NJPW, not only a goofy but really cool gimmick, just an insanely talented performer. All his G1 matches were must watch, the one with SANADA and Okada immediately come to mind, plus his matches in the New Japan Cup and winning the World Tag League. Don't forget his firt shot at IWGP World gold at Kings Of Pro Wrestling.



Female Breakout Year - Toni Storm

Toni Storm this year has shown to be one of the most charismatic and enjoyable wrestlers in the world, this year saw her get the best notoriety from WWE's Mae Young Classic, getting to the semi-finals. But Toni also went through every other women's division this year, in Stardom she won two tournaments and their World Of Stardom championship, along with still holding their SWA World Championship that she won in July 2016. In Progress she became the first Progress Women's Champion too, and has been defending the belt in great matches ever since.


Honourable Mentions:

Shayna Baszler

See female wrestler of the year honourable mentions

Peyton Royce

At the beginning this year Peyton was entertaining but not reached her full potential, throughout this year with her iconic partner by her side, Peyton Royce has shown herself to be one of the best women's wrestlers in the WWE, not just that, but a character that has fully shown her potential.



Tag Team Breakout Year - Authors Of Pain

You may feel like Authors of Pain were on top a long time ago, but although debuting in 2016, AOP didn't win the Tag belts till 2017, which means their whole dominant reign and great matches that connected with it happened this year. Authors Of Pain are the most surprising team, there were a lot of doubters to their ability in the ring but they have proven time and time again that they are


Honourable Mentions:

Benjamin & Gable

Although only forming recently after the WWE decided to push Jason Jordan as a singles competitor, Benjamin and Gable have completely taken everything in their stride, although at first they were a little rough around the edges and their baby face personas weren't garnering as much traction as they liked, they come out of the wood work as heels putting on spectacular matches.

CCK

Almost completely unknown until recently where they had taken on British Strong Style in Progress, the team of CCK is so over in the UK that it's hard not to mention their rise to success over this past year.



Top 10 Matches Of The Year

There will be less writing here, just take these as the best matches to watch from the year if you missed out or you wanna rewatch it all again!

10. Aleister Black vs Velveteen Dream - NXT Takeover War Games

9. Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe vs Braun Strowman vs Brock Lesnar - Summerslam

8. Kenny Omega vs Tomohiro Ishii - G1 Special In USA (Day 2)

7. The Usos vs The New Day - Hell In A Cell

6. Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega III - G1 Climax (Day 18)

5. Tyler Bate vs Pete Dunne - NXT Takeover Chicago

4. Kazuchika Okada vs Katsuyori Shibata - Sakura Genesis

3. Kenny Omega vs Tesuya Naito - G1 Finals

2. Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega I - Wrestle Kingdom 11

1. Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega II - Dominion

Honourable Mentions:
As long, maybe even longer than the actual list. Please go check out all of these as well!

Travis Banks vs Pete Dunne - Progress Chapter 55, Johnny Gargano vs Andrade 'Cien' Almas - NXT Takeover Brooklyn, DIY vs The Revival vs Authors Of Pain - NXT Takeover Orlando, Kazuchika Okada vs EVIL - G1 Climax (Day 14), Kenny Omega vs Juice Robinson - Destruction in Kobe, AJ Styles vs John Cena - Royal Rumble, AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon - WrestleMania 33, AJ Styles vs Finn Balor - TLC, Triple H vs Seth Rollins - WrestleMania 33, Undisputed Era vs SAnitY vs Authors Of Pain & Roderick Strong - NXT Takeover War Games, The Young Bucks vs The Hardys - Supercard Of Honour XI.



Top 5 Feuds Of The Year

5. The Usos vs The New Day

The Usos and The New Day absolutely reinvigorated the WWE tag division this year with several of their great matches and amazing promos. This whole program has really brought The Usos out of their shells and allowed them to become even more popular faces than they were before. Meanwhile The New Day continue to be WWE greatest asset.

4. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs Shane McMahon

This is an on going story as of writing this but it's prominance from 2017 has to give it a space here. Unlike most I don't mind Shane McMahon wrestling matches as I find he's entertaing outside the ring and he is willing enough to try anything in a match to get a reaction, it also helps being paired with the best performers around today with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, who for the most part this really shows off. Sami Zayn's perfect baby face persona has vanished and now we've gotten a even better heel. This is also made even better when you add teh real life and on screen chemistry he has with best friend Kevin Owens, who has been the best consistent character in WWE since his debut.

3. Travis Banks vs Pete Dunne

Progress have been one for great storytelling and there is no exception here, realising the popularity of Pete Dunne and how amazing he is as a heel called for a underdog babyface to counteract, and they found it in the most unlikely place, great heel Travis Banks. The story is maybe a little by the numbers but it doesn't matter when the performers and the company they are in are so good.

2. Aleister Black vs Velveteen Dream

Aleister Black and Velveteen have created a very subtle and extremely curious feud that plays with sexuality but also character study that is hardly ever seen in professional wrestling, all based around the idea that Aleister Black won't say Velveteen's name. If you can grab the network to watch the progression of this in NXT I highly recommend you do.

1. Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega

I don't think this is very surprising to many. After having the best trilogy in wrestling history with each match jammed to the rim with beautiful story telling there is not much more you can say. You just have to watch the matches to understand.



Event Of The Year - Wrestle Kingdom 11

Just an amzing show from top to bottom, the last four matches of the show were all immediate match of the year contenders in all wrestling review companies. It couldn't be any better than this.



Promotion Of The Year - New Japan Pro Wrestling

Due to the Omega/Okada trilogy, the abundance in popularity of The Bullet Club, and the G1 Special in USA it has allowed New Japan to reach the western audience it was always lacking, especially in a year where WWE have been the dullest it has been in the past 3 years. New Japan's 2017 was a year of growth and showcase, their isn't anything better than that.


Thank you all for getting this far and reading my first annual Fluffies. Hopefully many more in the future. Don't forget if you like these kind of award posts that I'll have one for my annual WWE Season Awards the day after WrestleMania, looking at the ups and downs of their Mania to Mania season. Thanks!