World's Worst Man

I really liked the mat work transitioning into the scorpion deathlock attempts in the early stages of the match. They also did a nice job of transitioning into the closing stretch of the match and building to the successful scorpion attempt. Unfortunately there was some utter stupidity - a nasty, nearly botched Tenryu powerbomb that was just blown off, Choshu letting Tenryu out of the scorpion for no reason, some confused sloppiness with some of the lariat/enzuigiri spots, generally poor selling from Choshu, and other spots where Choshu was in control and let Tenryu up, putting the match back on even footing for absolutely no good reason. Plus the typical 80's fuck-finish. It was looking like a really good match until that stuff so it's a shame. ***

For sure - it's a very difficult problem where it seems like it's either the guilty getting away with it, since it's a very difficult accusation to prove; or innocents being punished based on he-said/she-said, which is not adequate evidence in my mind. It's just unpleasant business any way you take it.

Abadon has a great look but I worry about how such a character needs to be booked / wrestle in the ring. It's a lot to live up to I think. Brilliant ploy to make it seem like Anna Jay is being featured and then having her get crushed. I love the somewhat subtle stuff that AEW does. Also, Abadon's finisher is terrible.

Well, at best, the evidence would be considered and it would lead to a trial and conviction if the evidence supported that outcome. At worst, yea, as you said. The problem is, putting it on Twitter just lets all of the moral purists get their jollies regardless of the evidence which is not really ideal either. But that's the world we live in unfortunately. Some people on the "correct" side of a debate feel justified in using scummy, coercive, and bullying methods to push their agenda.

The hazing shit with Lio Rush isn't a race issue, it's a "respect for an individual" issue. It's not acceptable regardless of the person's race, sex, or anything else. Fuck that sports culture, hazing bullshit. At some point the old timers need to get out of this whiny attitude that because they had to suffer through something then the newbies have to go through it too. If it's wrong, stop doing it.

I thought the main event was super rushed in order to stay within the TV time limits. They sold the table bump for like what, 10 seconds? And then Cody was back in control as if nothing happened. Britt Baker is awesome and kind of exemplifies the difference between some of the heels in modern wrestling versus the past. She is so endearing outside of the show and plays such an awesome character on the show that instead of hating her I instead love her and look forward to seeing her schtick. Jericho is another example where he is so entertaining that I can't hate him even though he's clearly playing an asshole character. To be a true heel these days the person almost needs to be unlikable in real life (hi Seth Rollins). Then it becomes easier to respond to them as a traditional heel.

Who are these rabid Cornette fans/AEW-haters anyway? Are they people who used to watch JCP in the 80's and have sworn off anything since then? Are they simply WWE fanboys of the ilk that seems to make up a lot of the anti-AEW segment on r/SC? I can kinda sorta empathize with the idea that it's frustrating that modern tastes have pushed pro-wrestling into something that is no longer palatable. Gross intolerance and belligerence certainly isn't justified though. And there's always old footage, probably enough to last a lifetime if one was so inclined.

Ah yea that would make sense. I am becoming an old, out of touch SOB. Or maybe it's the children that are wrong.

Definitely not trying to do the edgy "Why are people grieving someone they didn't know" schtick, but - It seems like the amount of reaction and outpouring on r/SC was much larger with him than with other pro-wrestling deaths in the recent past, which made me curious as to if there was any special significance to Shad Gaspard's career or personal life? I really don't know anything about him other than he was with Cryme Tyme, but I don't know anything about their run either.

The champion (Nyla) beating her challenger (Shida) clean in the final match before the title challenge just seemed silly. Obviously Baker was injured and couldn't figure into the finish, but if an audible had to be called, why not have Statlander eat the pin instead? Ray Fenix should be furious with whomever the group was on the outside that didn't catch him. Jesus Christ guys. Pac's vignette was awesome. The guy just comes across as so believable. Loved how he delivered the "cocky, little prick" line.

The Chris Jericho video was pure comedy. The gambling call-back in the main event was likewise hilarious. AEW really does the comedy stuff super well.

I remember back when this place started back in 2005 (holy fuck, it's been 15 years) and I'm quite glad it's still around and doing well. It was nice to have a change of pace from the incredibly toxic environments that were seemingly everywhere back then. And now it's great to have a place where, regardless of our preferences/opinions, the people are generally knowledgeable about various areas of pro-wrestling history. It makes for some interesting and refreshing discussions that can't seem to be found much elsewhere.

I wish more people realized that all of this is just that - different preferences. It's one thing for someone to bask in their ignorance and spout bullshit, ala the dregs of wreddit, but Dave is a guy who has a lot of exposure to pro wrestling and simply likes certain styles more than others. Criticising him for being snarky or trollish is fine, but I have to say it's really ironic considering that I see a ton of nasty/provocative comments about the things Dave likes (AEW, NJPW, the modern spotty indy style, etc), which is apparently fair game. With that being said, if a critic holds wildly different preferences from the reader, it's perfectly reasonable to discount and ignore those opinions. I would imagine that is the disconnect here, much as it's the disconnect with the WWE fanboys who started the Tokyo Dome meme.

How does Jay White sound as a Taue comparable? He's the least flashy of the group and is a great prick. I like Okada over Misawa. Misawa was mechanically amazing but I never really got how he became so over, especially when you saw Kobashi coming up later who had a better overall package but never quite reached that level (maybe because of the overall downturn in business). Plus Okada seems like a fun, goofy guy outside the ring which I like. Speaking as someone who still cares about selling, I'd say Okada, Naito, Ishii and Ibushi are still at or near the level of the four pillars in terms of ability. To the modern fan that doesn't care so much about selling and is all about the workrate, they would clearly rate higher.

Agreed. Neither of the main events was excessive which I think has been the main problem with some of the epic, main event matches of the past. Some of that may be due to the absence of certain workers who tend to go overboard (Kenny Omega for example). The criticism about the early parts of Okada matches is puzzling to me. How many matches ever have a significant amount of "meaningful" segments, especially early on? And regardless, it's pro-wrestling - the idea is to beat the opponent. This is done by wearing them down and hitting big moves that have a chance of getting a pin-fall or submission. If that's not one's cup of tea, fine, but it's a perfectly rational way to present a pro-wrestling match.

This makes me think guys like Undertaker and JBL were the biggest marks of all. Pro wrestling is a performance, not dissimilar to a play or television show. Trying to maintain the act in normal, real-life situations is just pathetic. Treat the art properly during the show or in relevant situations, but outside of that, get a life.

The Butcher and the Blade kind of have an aesthetic that would fit in perfectly with a certain villain. Just saying.

I used to like Mauro Renallo in the earlier NXT days but last night just made it clear to me that he has no restraint anymore and has become a parody of himself. Over the top, 11/10 reactions lose their meaning when they happen constantly - then it just becomes annoying. It's a shame because he used to be fun. It's typical WWE in a way, where something good is run into the ground as it becomes more and more forced and unnatural.

Mental health issues, apparently.

Joey Ryan sucks and Cornette is spot-on with a lot of his criticism towards Omega (stupid body language, stupid facials; bad acting, basically) but holy shit he is completely insane at this point. The vitriol he directs towards these guys is to such a degree that it would only be justified if they were actively trying to hurt him or his family, yet instead it's simply because he doesn't think they are good at pro-wrestling. Even if his behaviour is simply for entertainment value (which I don't think it completely is) it's embarrassing and at this point, disturbing.

Hell, you can go back to NJPW in 2014 and see that the atmosphere and crowd investment is better. Maybe I'm mistaken but when I compare the incipient stages of NJPW's comeback (2011-2015), it feels like the crowd heat was way stronger than it is today. Regarding the complaints of matches feeling "samey", I think this is partially a by-product of the fact that there is so much footage available now. Look at the G1 - we are getting 19 PPV/major show level cards in less than a month. It's just too many big matches where the wrestlers are trying to go all-out. I remember years ago being asked why I had so many more matches rated ***1/2+ in 2005 as compared to the years from the 90's, when 2005 was considered a pretty crap year and the 90's were the 90's. The simple answer was that I watched a ton of NJPW TV that year and each show usually contained several matches and had something that would hit that mark (usually not much higher than ***1/2 if I'm honest). This was compared the old days where I would watch a handful of big shows and the odd television with only 1-2 matches.

I think there is some truth in saying that over-analyzing matches and nitpicking obscure details does lead to some pretty severe burn-out. I'd also say over-analysis is a problem becaue I believe it leads to a lot of shall we say, creative interpretations of matches that don't necessarily conform to what is actually going on in the ring. I don't think any of this has anything to do with ranking and categorizing matches though. Someone could do that based completely off of their emotional response to a match as opposed to whether the match ticked all the boxes of their mental checklist. To me, keeping track of my ratings/thoughts is a pragmatic response to the sheer quantity of media that I consume, a lot of which doesn't stick with me unless it's odd or strikes a particular emotion. This is a problem because there are enjoyable matches that I tend to forget because they didn't meet the criteria I just mentioned. I actually tend to not remember details very well in general, instead remembering my emotions towards a certain thing or experience rather than the details of such. Recording the information helps me out quite a bit in this regard.

Vader is one of the few guys I experienced both as a marky kid and as a workrate fan adult. Fond, nostalgic memories of seeing him in WCW and an appreciation for his ability when I watched him during the late 90's/early 2000's in AJPW and NOAH. I think Keiji Mutoh and Jushin Liger are the only other wrestlers that I've had that experience with (both thanks to early 90's WCW). Who else comes close to the combination of Vader's achievements/popularity in the US and Japan? Mutoh, Hansen, Terry Funk, Hogan, Road Warriors? It's not a long list in any case.

Jay White has the best worker in the world on night 1, no excuses if he lays an egg there. I will be interested to see if he's improved or if it ends up being just a one-sided carry job.

If anything I'd prefer NJPW to start a separate women's promotion that can enjoy NJPW's exposure and finances. That would be a terribly risky move though and NJPW is already embarking on a somewhat risky but fairly important business strategy (North American expansion).