gordi

Season debut of Survivor, maybe?

After a so-so run of shows in December 2019, AEW has been hitting it out of the park so far in 2020. They've put on a string of really solid shows with at least one must-see match or segment every week, they are building up to the PPV in interesting and logical ways, they have found the right balance of humorous/entertaining and serious/dramatic, former weak points like Brit Baker, Hangman Page, and PAC's promos are gradually turning into strengths, Wrestlers like Cody Jericho Darby MJF Sammy and Fenix are all on fire right now, there's a lot of fun speculation about who might be coming in, and they are making the switch from "I'll catch up with that later" to appointment viewing. Next week they'll have: - The Cody v Wardlow steel cage match, which if you are a wrestling fan at all you have to be chomping at the bit to watch after how they set it up last week. - Omega and Pageg v Lucha Bros. for the belts, which will have tons of action and ongoing story-lines. - A tag team battle royal that they set up nicely this week. - Mox vs Cobb, which could be really good and which was also set up nicely this week. They really seem to be in a hell of a good groove right now. I am loving it.

One nice thing about the cheap seats, you really get to enjoy the light show.

I am really glad I got to see that live. I arrived a little early and my friend was slightly delayed, so I spent the better part of half an hour making Naito's round-eye taunt at anyone wearing Tranquilo or LIJ gear. There was a steady stream of people wearing Tranquilo or LIJ gear, between Osaka Jo station and Osaka Jo Hall. Almost everyone smiled and returned the gesture. Manabu got a great send-off. I was pleased to be one of the thousands chanting for him. After that, you could genuinely feel the crowd holding back during the rest of the undercard, it was like we all knew we had to save our energy and our voices for the last three matches. Veteran crowd. A lot of serious wrestling fans. It was particularly noticeable during the Sanada vs White match. Then, from Hiromu's entrance onward the crowd let go, and kept getting more and more and more into it. We were flat-out rabid during the main event. I really hope that came across watching on TV or the internet or whatever. I totally, unreservedly, utterly enjoyed each of the last three matches. It's very difficult to pick a favourite. Hiromu vs Lee had the rake-gag version of the Kobashi vs Kensuke/Tenryu vs Hashimoto chop overkill - which was insanely fun to watch live. My whole section (I Block) was rolling with laughter as it just kept going and going... and even up in the nose-bleeds, some of those chops sounded sick. I mean, it was loud up there. And then came the insane highspots section, and the thud on some of those bumps was truly scary. You could feel the whole crowd catch their breath whenever they teased the Phoenixplex. My heart was in my throat a couple of times. Hiromu has crazy charisma in person. Again, you could clearly feel it even all the way up in row 15 of I Block. MiSu and Mox also have that crazy charisma. I was planning to cheer exclusively for MiSu, but I found myself chanting Mox's name when he was fighting from underneath. A nice 15-minute serio-comic exploration of the concept of manly toughness, with both guys earning shocked laughter from the crowd with their psychotic smiles, and with the obvious joy they took in both dishing out and taking violence and pain. Maybe not the all-time classic I was hoping for, but so much fun live. I was marking out non-stop. And finally, my first in-person post-modern epic half-hour NJPW title match (the last NJPW title match I saw live was, I believe, Nakanishi vs Tanahashi in 2009 which I also really enjoyed). It was a very, very pro-Naito crowd overall, but KENTA had a surprisingly large number of little pockets of support. People were chanting his name throughout the arena... but even more so everyone else was going nuts for Naito and booing KENTA like crazy. It was so much fun to be a part of that. I love, love, loved the 5-minute opening stooge fest. They took us up, brought us down, then blew the roof off the place. Naito's crimson mask was clearly visible in the cheap seats. KENTA kind of reminded me of SUWA in their classic match-up from 2005. Just heeling it up like a madman. The eruption when Naito won, and the huge reaction to the roll call and the confetti cannon were the best thing about the show. I got actual goosebumps. I can easily imagine that all three matches had stuff that I would nit-pick if I were watching them at home after the fact. I don't necessarily think that any of them will make a ton of noise in the 2020 MOTY discussions... but I had the time of my life in Osaka Jo Hall tonight.

In an hour, I'll be on the train to Osaka. I am very stoked for this show. Every match has something I can hang my hat on: - The opener is Manabu Nakanishi's last match in Osaka. I've always loved Nakanishi. I am proud to say that I got to see him wrestle in Osaka, where he is hugely popular, when he was IWGP champ. I bet he will get an emotional goodbye from the Osaka Jo crowd today. - The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match... is a championship match. - The Eight-man tag team match is a chance to see Tanahashi live again. Plus it has the mystery element of whether Ibushi has sufficiently recovered from Mallory-Weiss Syndrome to participate in the match. Plus story-line stuff about the tag championship. - Chaos vs. Suzuki-gun is a chance to see Okada live again, as well as a chance to see a bit of a re-run of Ospreay vs ZSJ. - Jay White vs Sanada is likely to be pretty good, and it's a chance to see an upper-card singles match outside of the G1 or the New Japan Cup. Booking wise, it could go either way. - Hiromu vs Lee has show-stealing potential, and it will be my first time seeing a big Hiromu singles match live and in person. - Mox vs MiSu could be great. One of those matches where, years down the road, I will be ale to say, "I was there live for that one" and people will be all, "Lucky you!" At the very least, some ass is going to get kicked. - And, I get to see Naito's first-ever defense of the double titles. Lucky me!

We'll find out soon enough, I suppose. An upper-card PPV grudge match against a white-hot Cody Rhodes is about as good an opportunity for a breakthrough showcase match as any pro wrestler could hope for these days. MJF will either hold up his end... or prove that he just hasn't got what it takes to be a top guy in the ring. If the match flops there will still be a role for him, just not as a big match guy. I've been pleasantly surprised by AEW often enough that I am cautiously optimistic.

absolutely.

That continues to be one of the main things I love about AEW. They genuinely seem to have respect for their fan, and want to make them happy (in sharp contrast to a certain massive American Corporate Pro Wrestling monolith). Also, they often come up with absolutely gorgeous "little things" that just delight me. - As sek69 pointed out: TH2's LA Park tribute. - As MoS pointed out, Jericho's hilariously too-small Bobby Heenan jacket. - The way Isiah Kassidy sold the Judas Effect - Hangman Page has really started to get himself over with little things like Crowd Surfing on the boat last week and his most excellent "hold my beer" moment this week. - Dr. Britt Baker has yet to win me over, but the specificity of telling Tony Schiavone he’s got "moderate-to-severe generalized gingivitis" got an actual laugh out of me. - Mox referencing things that Jericho did to other wrestlers in other companies had me legit marking out. I used to loathe the way that the WWF would refuse to acknowledge the outside-the-company history of the wrestlers that they brought in. Mox referencing stuff from Jericho's heelish past was a nostalgia shot that hit the bulls-eye with me. - Speaking of nostalgia, I'm pretty sure that Mox coming out swinging a black bat to clear the bad guys out of the ring was an intentional nod to Crow Sting. - When Jericho came out for the six-man tag, he was wearing the bandana that Santana and Ortiz gave him during the Thanksgiving Celebration. Sure, AEW is not batting a thousand. (The Joey Janela kiss spot was maybe trying to hard, for example)... But any company that listens to their fans, rewards us for paying attention, keeps trying to improve, and gets so many things right week in and week out is going to keep my attention, even if I'm often a few days behind in my viewing.

After reading about this week's shows, I think that Randy Orton is a really good choice for Edge's first feud (assuming that they are going to feud now and that Edge is coming back). They've got a lot of experience working together, and you'd have to assume that Orton would know how to protect Edge from injury and work a relatively safe style with him. I often pop over here to complain or harp on something that bothers me. Figured I might as well post a positive thought about WWE, for a change.

As goodhelmet often, and correctly, points out: A big problem with AEW is that there is generally no sense of urgency to make us feel like we need to watch their shows right away. I guess the main reason I want to try and keep up is just to engage in discussion here... but I have honestly just caught up on the last couple of weeks of AEW content. It was good stuff! Can they extend their streak to three really good shows in a row?

Yeah, I think that's a good assumption... but given Kenny's character, I was wondering if it might be a different 'Kotaro' from a video game or anime or something.

What's the origin of the name 'Kotaro Cutter'? I mean, which Kotaro is it named after?

Not to derail this thread, but when I was living in the Czech Republic I dated a woman who was a high-level translator and according to her it is exciting, but also harrowingly difficult. She often got blamed and had to apologize formally when the person she was translating for screwed up. Apparently, "blame it on the translator" is a pretty common diplomatic and business tactic.

Oh hell yeah!! I am going to New Beginning in Osaka! Mox vs MiSu live and in person, baby! Good Lord, I am excited about this. My friend's student's friend -who I met once, years ago - had the opportunity to buy cheap sets through his work, and got them specifically to sell to us since he had heard that my friend, - his friend's English teacher - wanted to go. Life in Japan, brother. Never ceases to amaze me.

I would honestly argue that Mick Foley has had an enormously positive influence on the world of (post-)modern pro wrestling: - Wrestling autobiographies (and wrestling books in general) that are genuinely interesting to read, teach you something, and do not insult the reader's intelligence. - (some) Wrestlers not taking themselves too seriously, and being able to have a laugh at their own expense once in a while. - (some) Top wrestlers trying to connect with the fans as real people, rather than looking down at us from atop some kid of marble pedestal. - (some) Wrestlers - and promoters - listening to their fans and taking those opinions into consideration. - (some) Promotions being quite open and honest about the histories and backgrounds of their wrestlers. - Everyone - even the very big guys - working a more exciting style with some big high spots. (I don't think anyone is trying to do this, exactly, but it would be insane to try and blame Foley for the go-go-go non-stop spots style. You can throw the blame for that, and head-drops, somewhere else. That blood is not on Foley's hands. He was a huge bumper and if - like me - you cringe at huge bumps and unnecessary risks, OK, that is at least partly on him. But he was never a flashy offense guy. He generally built dramatically to a huge spot that involved him taking a ton of punishment and/or a monster bump. Certainly, the unprotected chair shots are an issue. That I could live without. And, obviously, Shane's bullshit stunt work is all on him wanting to get a Foley pop. But, on the other hand, the positive trend of big men in North America pulling off ring-to-outside dives and working a more exciting style in general was definitely influenced by Foley and Sting. I count that as a huge positive). - Man... Foley's comedy stuff worked like a charm. It is in no way his fault that there is so much bad acting and worse writing out there today. - Likable regular-dude characters (like Danielson sometimes plays) are influenced as much by Mick Foley's "Mick Foley" character as by Dusty Rhodes. - Relatably goofy characters (like the Young Bucks) are definitely Mick Foley's spiritual offspring. Jim Cornette and his followers might count that as a negative. I think it's one of the best things about wrestling these days. - Dude did not invent stiff striking or taking stiff shots, but he certainly got it over with the mainstream audience in North America. - Pioneered the use of dirty socks as a weapon. I could go on, but I have to head out to work. Overall, though, I think the current pro wrestling landscape would be way worse without Foley's influence. The good far, far outweighs the bad.

From what I have heard, that seems to be the plan. Basically, migrating Dark onto the network, focussing more on up and coming wrestlers, and airing more vignettes and such. That sounds good to me. I was a bit worried they were going to add another hour or two of matches every week. With Dynamite and Dark and BTE and WotRGRS already on my viewing list, adding another AEW wrestling show would be edging into WWE-esque "it's getting to be a chore to keep up with everything" territory.

Damn. That sums it up pretty nicely. I can get really frustrated or even angry if I think too much about what an incredible pro wrestling show they could put on with that astonishing collection of talent if only they cared enough to "give (us) good characters with some solid conflict..." but... it's best for me just not to think about it.

And while I'm here, w/r/t AEW 1/8/20: Oh boy was the bad stuff ever bad this week! The was way more good stuff than bad stuff overall, but the bad stuff was so very very bad that it kind of tipped the balance anyway. It was a curious decision to book two screwy finishes back to back, and to also book Dark Order and Nightmare Collective run-ins back to back. Might not have seemed so bad if it had been spaced out a little. Brandi just does not seem suited to playing an evil heel, at all. Really enjoyed the good guys vs good guys 6-man. Entirely entertaining. The ending to the Mox/Inner Circle angle was very well done.

From what little I have seen, Cage is one of the relatively few big muscle guys who fits in perfectly with the modern go-go-go style. He can really move. He is very generous (perhaps even too much so) with his bumping and selling. He could be a perfect fit in AEW if they use him correctly. If I made a list of "guys who AEW should sign" I wouldn't have thought of him... but I am super excited for what he potentially brings to the table.

That Tsuruta vs Brisco match seems to me to e one of the more underrated great matches of all time. For example: The (also obviously great) Jumbo vs Terry Funk match from '76 seems to make a lot of all time lists, but the Brisco match rarely seem to. I was delighted to see the Brisco match on your list. Jumbo's selling during the third fall is really beautiful. It's my second-favourite match from the 1970s. In fact, the only match I've seen from that decade that I definitely love more is Giant Baba vs Billy Robinson, which I consider the absolute source spring from which all of King's Road Style flows. Is Killer Khan the undiscovered great match worker of the 1980s? I love both of these matches, and he had another great one vs Andre the Giant that is almost as good as the Stan Hansen vs Andre match. I once thought that Khan was one of the least compelling giant bad guys that the WWF brought in to lose to Hogan during the Hulkamania years... It was a very pleasant surprise to finally be introduced to footage of three great Killer Khan matches in the last couple of years. A true classic! My third-favourite tag match of all time, after 6/9/95 and Hokuto & Kandori vs Bull & Kong (AJW - 3/27/1994). I'm looking forward to seeing if those matches make you list as well. That punch is one of the most perfectly timed and perfectly executed moments in all of pro wrestling.

http://www.thecubsfan.com/cmll/2020/01/11/la-parka-1966-2020/ cubsfan's write-up is well worth reading.

DMJ, I'm assuming you mean to say that Miz in in the 90th percentile on the mic (i.e. the top 10 percent. 10th percentile is the bottom 10 percent). He certainly can be an entertaining chickenshit heel.