Don Fale

"Don Fale is what we call a "vibe killer" in my friend group. You see announcements for a card and it is banger after banger and then...the Don Fale match happens. I will admit he used to be slightly better but his showing in New Japan Cup was genuinely embarrassing and destroyed the momentum of the tournament with his House Of Torture buddies. He can sometimes look kind of intimidating to impress a casual fan so I won't give him a 0."

[3.0] "Don Fale has always had a pretty good look and is a great piece of ringside aura farming for heel factions. He is not very good at anything else. He has rare bursts (increasingly rare as the years roll on) of quality but for the most part he's just a big sweaty hump who doesn't contribute much other than being a human roadblock. The only real upside is that my expectations for him are so low that he usually manages to meet them."

[3.0] "When he was younger he still wasn't great but he wasn't embarrassingly bad like he is now. I have no idea why he's advancing past the first round in any tournament or even participating in one. These days he's best suited to be the heavy outside the ring."

[1.0] "I don't think I've ever seen someone start at Bad and then somehow get worse as time goes on, and still have a career. Fale has somehow managed to stay with NJPW for over FIFTHTEEN YEARS and still just sucks total ass. He has not improved one iota in terms of in-ring ability. He sucked 15 years ago and he still sucks now."

[2.0] "Just really, really awful. Seemingly always apart of a heel faction, with constant interference and BS. If hes not outside the Ring running interference during matches and ruining them that way, then he's ruining them in the Ring with his awful performances. Even when hes facing the likes of Ospreay or Okada, the matches still stink up the place. I cannot recall one single moment or match in his career that I would even consider good to decent. Just awful"

[0.0] "Don Fale "Bad Luck" has overstayed his welcome in the greatest wrestling promotion. The fact that it can be possible that you have no good matches in a promotion like NJPW which is filled by the best matches ever is quite an accomplishment. This man is completely useless and not only just his current form, the man has never been good and never will be and he keeps wrestling in NJPW somehow which is confusing"

[1.0] "A contender for my least favourite wrestler ever. An absolute blight and black spot on the peak 2010s period of New Japan. Zero great matches, and even good matches were rare and took miracles from some of the greatest of all time. Genuinely terrible worker, and a shame upon all big men."

[2.0] "Truly one of the worst to ever do it. In life there are bright spots to everything, however in Fale's case I really can't see anything intriguing about him. He's just tall, and big. Not much really else to him."

[9.0] "Fale was never going to be putting on super complex or nuanced matches for the most part, and he never tried to. He's good at a few things, and he sticks to them. And the things he's good at, he's INSANELY good at. A truly imposing presence as the Underboss, the entire ringside can shift when he arrives. The Bad Luck Fall is one of my favorite finishers of all time, no one does a tossing powerbomb like him. His moveset is quite small, even by powerhouse standards, admittedly. I think as an enforcer, and even sometimes as a tag team wrestler, he's truly something special. One of the NJPW loyalists whose never shown any interest in wrestling in the Western World, or even outside NJPW at all, I think a lot about how many dream matches he could've had. I definitely think in a promotion less technique-obbsessed than NJPW he would've been a consistent world champion, and it would've been good."

[1.0] "Fale used to be a decent wrestler in 2014-2017 but now he's barely able to put on a decent match. Always has been slow, sluggish and uninspired. He's had a couple good matches with Tanahashi, Shibata and his match against Nagata in G1 2017 was good. Everything else is a hard pass. Not only that, I don't know how he's allowed to be considered a trainer. His dojo has a shitty reputation and has yet to produce any major stars. He has never really impressed me and with his age he probably never will."

[3.0] "Yeah I mean Fale is not a great wrestler. He has had some good matches across his career when facing some of the best in the world, but he has never been much more than a generic big man. In recent years he has been less than that, just being a bland and extremely slow detraction from most matches he has been in."

[3.0] "One of the laziest, unathletic big men you'll ever see. His infamous "pin me, pay me" t-shirt tells you everything you need to know about the guy. Serviceable at times during the peak BC days, but utterly awful in recent years. There's no need for him to ever be put in matches anymore."

[3.0] "Let's get something straight: Simitaitoko Fale is a great guy and a mentor when present. Even when those accusations against the New Zealand dojo being a crappy environment and the exposure of Tony Kozina's cowardly acts came, Fale was well regarded. Now the wrestler Bad Luck Fale is just outwordly bad. If you were able to see, every single time Fale tried to compensate his lack of will and skills with some Internet fever meme or other stuff like "Peacemaker" and "Area 69" to look like he's updated to today's world, you probably wonder how he got to run a dojo! There was a time that he tried to follow the rhytms, but suddenly, it seems he stopped caring about the "Tamashii" he often speaks about. Maybe because his body is all broken down already, or either because he relies on his dojo position to be "relieved" of working hard. My 3 goes to when he was The Underboss, he was at least a monster heel with credentials, but that is all there is to it."

[2.0] "Bad Luck Fale is honestly one of the worst wrestlers I have ever seen and I am genuinely baffled as to how he has made a living out of this and still continues to. I always dreaded the G1 participant announcement just in case I had sit through his matches and somehow he always tends to beat big names, baffling."

[2.0] "One of the most boring wrestlers I've ever seen. He's in a unique position seeing that he is the only founding member of BC still in the group and by far the longest serving current member, but that hasn't translated into anything interesting. He has never been a major player in BC, most prominent thing I can think of him doing was tagging with Devitt when the group first started, he's mostly taken a backseat to the better members, which in kayfabe, shouldn't he have something to say about having seen so many greats come and go? and why he has always been treated as an afterthought? Just multi-man tag fodder? as of this post, only 183 of his 1012 matches have been singles matches and the last one of those was in December 2022, over a year ago. This lack of kayfabe ambition is seemingly because of his lack of IRL ambition, he just collects paychecks while only having to wrestle a few minutes a night, and he's awful at it. The most by-the-numbers, sleep inducing big man wrestling ever, he has stayed at the same crappy level for years, no wonder he's hardly ever gotten a push (if you want to count getting some G1 wins a push). Every championship and dime he has gotten from this business has been ill-gotten, because not a single person wants to pay to see him wrestle. How New Japan have kept him around for so long is absolutely baffling"

[3.0] "Once upon a time, he really was a solid big man and could put on kind of good matches even. That time has passed since and Fale works just for the paycheck. Nothing wrong with that, but as a viewer it's just not very appealing. Of course age is also a factor but there could still be something left if he really wanted to in my opinion."

[4.0] "Generally Fale sucks. His matches tend to be fairly unwatchable. He did a decent role in fulfilling the Underboss in Bullet Club but that is about it. From what I've heard he is a pretty bad trainer as well. Even if he does suck in ring at the very least he tries somewhat. Overall, in the right circumstances, with the right opponent, and when all of the planets are aligned in the correct order, his matches can be watchable and are somewhat ok. He is bad, but not unwatchable."

[3.0] "Needs to stick to his training dojo in Australia and stay out of New Japan. Yes, Fale had a specific role that he fulfilled in Bullet Club, and occasionally offered a pop when other wrestlers would try and avoid him, or try fruitless feats of strength against him. But Fale has looked terrible for YEARS, gassed thirty seconds into a match, plodding, fat, and just basically THERE. Younger giants with better potential to actually improve like Hikuleo have taken his spot."

[3.0] "Fale has played an important role in BC, but the man can barely wrestle . Never impressed me. Its a good thing they kept him out in Austalia this year."

[5.0] "While Fale is far from the best in the ring, he has a good gimmick, is a great trainer and manager and has a banger of a theme. Ultimately a solid 6/10."

[2.0] "A boring wrestler. I cant remember a single good match of his. He is the big guy that is not talented in njpw. (Like Omos is in wwe)"

[5.0] "Bad Luck Fale is another average big man. Works well in the Bullet Club in an enforcer role who can take the pin for bigger star and be a prescence but is nothing special in the ring or on the mic."

[3.0] "Found himself in good spots with Nagata and then BULLET CLUB but Fale is just a below average big guy. He's not in good shape and his in-ring work is nothing special. Even for a power guy, his signature moves aren't good either. Little charisma to speak of. He was semi-interesting as Devitt's enforcer but has shown no improvement since that. Plenty of other guys can fill his role (believable big guy G1 spoiler) better."

[1.0] "So bored while watching Bad Luck Fale. Not impressed with his moves, and when he delivers them it feels like there's not much power behind them. When he gets in the ring, everything just feels like it slows down. He's bottom of the barrel bad. Why is he beating wrestlers in the G1 Climax?"

[3.0] "Never watched a match of his that I can remember a thing he actually contributed to it afterwards. Mostly just exists, almost always in multi-man tags to play the heavy. Slow, gassed, and dull. His tag team run with Chase was excruciating."

[5.0] "Fale is either good or bad, the perfect example of a 5/10 wrestler. He plays his role well, but he's nothing to write home about when it comes to actually wrestling. Used to be a pretty big name in the company but now he's just a multi-tag match guy."

[6.0] "I would describe Fale as the Kane of NJPW - He is easily 1 of the largest and strongest wrestlers they have, and his wrestling style could be described as "A Night Off" for everyone who get in the ring with him. He works a slower pace, has a safe move set, and is athletic enough to bump for much smaller guys. And while he can have a 4 star match when his opponents want to bring it out of him - he usually provides a more relaxing performance for the top stars, especially in a G1 or New Japan Cup setting."

[4.0] "Bad Luck Fale can occasionally be carried to a good match, which is just about the only compliment you can give him. It's not just that he's not good at wrestling, he rarely even tries. Size is the only thing he has going for him."

[2.0] "A slow, lumbering, perpeutually gassed big man. Reminds me of some of the undercard Gaijin's of 90s All Japan. At the very least NJPW seems to have stopped pushing Fale in main event positions and he's mostly used in six man tags and the like, which is a far better position for him to be in than challenging for the IWGP Heavyweight title or the IC title."

[7.0] "Fale is a really weird wrestler to rate in my opinion. His in-ring abilities aren't exactly terrific and most of his battles are fought by his teammates, but especially during the pandemic, whenever Fale walked down the ramp I got this sense of relief, a sign that everything was going to be fine. Fale appearing on a card is a sign that, sure, it's not going to be an all-time classic match, but it's going to be good, familiar fun, and sometimes, that's really all you need. I wouldn't call him one of my favourites, but he has a very special place in New Japan, one that I don't think any other big guy could replace, and I'm always excited to see him compete."

[5.0] "I don't know what it is, but Bad Luck Fale is one of the first guys I think of when I think of the Golden Era of New Japan. While he has never been an in-ring technician, actually he's pretty bad, he's definitely someone I can't separate from some of my favorite moments from the promotion's golden period. He also seems like a great guy and someone who's giving back to the sport by training the next generation."

[6.0] "My rating is based on his whole career. He had ups and downs. He's definitely closer to retirement now, but he used to give some good matches in the past. Always better as a tag team partner than a solo wrestler. He was always unique because of his size. It worked sometimes as a advantage and disadvantage as well. I still respect him, even though he's pretty terrible now."

[5.0] "Fale plays his role pretty well: he's not gonna be a high flying guy or a technical master, he's a big enforcer that can hit some good looking power moves and play the big guy in matches, getting a good response from his opponent who works from under him. Fale despite his brutal looking slams and strikes isn't actually that dangerous in ring, and he's pretty damn safe overall. Of course for a man his size, he's really not that impressive, and I would never see him as a main guy, especially as he's getting older. That being said, he'll always have a role as a big brute who can safely work with someone in ring while also having a decent match here and there when he's up against a guy who can really work around his limitations. Rating him low when he's basically just wrestling that way to fit his long standing booking as a big man (much like other giants like Big Show, Andre, etc) is a little bit unfair. When he's motivated and allowed to wrestle more freely, Fale has some surprisingly good wrestling chops in him."

[3.0] "After getting nowhere in the early part of his career even teaming up with NJPW veterans like Nagata, Bad Luck Fale found like minded individuals like himself in Karl Anderson, Prince Devitt and Tama Tonga and formed the gaijin stable Bullet Club. Fale saw the most success in those early years of Bullet Club, in 2014 he headlined a major show for NJPW, Dominion where he defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in 2014 and in 2015 he had a feud with Kazuchika Okada. However Fale always seems to be used most often as a plot device. He has a role in NJPW, he plays it well but in general he kind of sucks ass."

[1.0] "Playing a role as an enforcer, as a big guy or whatever was hardly a good excuse for little to no ring skill 30 years ago, let alone in this day and age, when we have a lot of impressive big men/powerhouses that work wonders in the ring. Fale has an extremely basic moveset, no athleticism whatsoever, no psychology to speak of, not even an interesting gimmick. Even though he was one of the OGs, he adds nothing of value to Bullet Club - nor to NJPW as a whole, for that matter."

[3.0] "Bad in ring and just bad in every way, boring, slow, bland, just a big guy that can't do anything, trash"

[3.0] "Fale plays his role as the "enforcer" well and has a cool entrance, but ring wise hes way too slow and lumbering for him to put on a great singles match. I think he would have been kicked from the Bullet Club by now if he wasn't an original member."

[3.0] "Fale is a frustrating one; when he tries he can have some good matches and contribute positively to New Japan but a lot of the time he doesn't try. He plays his role well which is why I don't think you can rate him that negatively and outside of the ring he seems to be a positive contributor to New Japan but, outside of a few flashes every year, he's someone who seems to make every match he is in worse."

[4.0] "He has had surprisingly good single matches in the past with the likes of Nakamura and Tanahashi and until last year his G1 Climax showings were usually if not good at very least watchable. But starting last year he's been on a downward slope: his matches are just a chore to watch and the whole "I'll kill the ring announcer for no reason" angle got tired after two weeks and we got at least six months of it. His present gimmick is somehow even worse than Jay White's, with the difference White is at least watchable in the ring while Fale's best days are clearly behind him. Oh well, it's still not as bad as Yujiro Takahashi's act, right?"

[5.0] "The last active original member of the Bullet Club. Some people might think due to the lack of skills in everything he is not really important for the success of the BC, but I highly doubt it. In the ring he's one with the shoulder tackles and in most matches there won't be much more to see of him. He really isn't much of a wrestler, only rarely you'll see more of his repertoire. And yet his personality is every the original Bullet Club represents. Even while doing nothing, he's very intimidating and just his look spreads domination. It's difficult to blame him for doing his job. He's damn good at it and he doesn't need to be much more than that."

[3.0] "Consistently underwhelming and the worst part of any match he's involved in. His only good matches are against genuinely amazing wrestlers who carry him to good matches on their own."

[3.0] "He is not a good wrestler . Watch G1 Climax 29 . Every his match is a flop and I don't want to see him again"

[5.0] "Fale IS NOT BAD. But he is not good. He plays good his role, but nothing more. Can he have great matches? Of course he can, but he really needs to improve. Specially this year (2019), Fale had his worst performance since I watch NJPW. To be honest, I liked the guy in 2017, but nowadays, I have zero interest in him. If he don't improve, he won't receive more title shots, because we have Lance Archer, who is more entertaining than him. I'll give him a 5 because at the end of the day, he is not that bad like people say. Low midcard is good for him."

[4.0] "Bad, slow, lumbering, powerless, unathletic, unfit, boring, generic, repetitive, overly reliant on his peers, etc. Fale is bad. I've gone through periods of appreciating Fale for his 'role', since he can very rarely play a decent monster for a babyface to either struggle against and convincingly be defeated by, or valiantly overcome through grit and/or intelligence. His role as the monster who plays a spoiler in tournaments is valuable, but he wore out that attribute by having so many matches with zero interest due to all those factors I mentioned in my first line, plus all the excessive interference that has plagued his matches the last few years. There is really no place for Fale in New Japan. We've had 5+ years of him doing his schtick, and none of his character developments have been interesting. It's time he packed it up. I might end up rating him even lower if Archer continues to prove to be the vastly more interesting spoiler-monster in the company, since then what value does Fale have at all?"

[5.0] "Fale is a decent big man and works well in stables, but if he ever goes solo, he'd most likely get lost. His moveset is generic but it works well for his character, and he doesn't have much character except for angry dude. Not really that much to say, just a big powerhouse wrestler with not much potential in my eyes, but seems to be doing alright in his current role. Although I have to admit his finisher sounds badass."

[5.0] "This guy seems not to improve at all. His work is still dull, generic and uninteresting. At some occasions, he can have strong matches but with good opponents. He can take all the heat of live audience away just by his boring, monotonous performance. And the bullet club overbooking BS does not help much. Small comparison to Lance Archer this year's G1, he has been much more impressive and exciting than Fale and the match with Ospreay at Night 1 is far better than anything Fale has done so far. So not great but not very bad, just kind of there, pretty average. Nothing less, nothing more."

[6.0] "He's not bad when he has the right opponent to work with, but I have never found Bad Luck Fale much of an interesting character. As far as being a big man gaijin, Fale seems to fall far short to what Vader or Hansen brought to Japan."

[6.0] "He is a solid big guy who plays his role pretty well as a loyal Bullet Club member and someone who can be credible enough to beat anybody. Right now I think he is more useful in backstage, trying to get some of his trainees into the New Japan dojo but when he has a match, I'm not automatically bored like a lot of people. I understand what to expect from him, and he does his part."

[7.0] "Fale gets a bad reputation as a big man with no talent but on his day he can have a good match, of course guys like Okada, and Tanahashi can carry him to good matches, but when motivated he can do his bit brilliantly, his match with Juice from Sengoku Lord is an example where he just targets Juice's Back. I don't ever see him winning the big one, but is always a threat to the big titles due to his size and being a former IC champ and always finishing well in Tournaments like the G1 Climax Title Reigns Intercontinental Championship: his reign with this belt was mainly used to get him over as a serious threat to any single's belt, would have preferred if he got a succesful title defense but not everyone can get that. NEVER Six Man Tag Team Championship (3x): Fale really works well with these belts as his size will always prove to be a issue and allows him to do some great stuff in the ring while also having two other guys to do more work if needed."

[6.0] "C'mon, Bad Luck Fale is not that bad, you know? You can pull some good matches out of him, but that's it. It won't be a must-see match, but it's gonna be a cool match."