WingedEagle

Fuck. Just incredibly awful news. My jaw was on the floor like many others watching this. I'm not about religion, but thoughts and prayers to Roman, his family and friends. Hopefully he pulls through this.

What were the circumstances behind him making the finals of the 1980 Champion Carnival? Was it simply not as big a deal as it would become in later years?

Wow. Legitimately shocked by the top of the list for this period. I knew you gave high marks to the Sting/Vader feud, but ahead of both Wargames! Keep it up, I can never get enough of these.

And then played singalong with Taker's catchphrase.

So Crown Jewel has been heavily promoted tonight, but they've gone out of their way to avoid explicitly referencing S***i A****a, correct?

It seems as though a common theme throughout Austin Aries's career is Austin Aries performing unprofessionally.

That's just not an interesting take these days.

No one will mistake this for an all time classic, but I thought this was a terrific match that stood out for its pacing and simplicity. The early minutes are worked around a Dusty headlock and Race's efforts to avoid it. Race uses simple, credible cutoffs like short headbutts and kicks while Dusty brings the fire and charisma to a receptive Japanese crowd. Both do a terrific job of working what's essentially a simple, basic match but doing so in big fashion for the live and TV audience. Race's bumps and selling are big and expressive without veering into anything ridiculous. I mentioned the pacing, but it can't be commended enough for never feeling slow, but at the same time every action was given time to breathe for a long enough pause that it mattered to the match and the audience. Really strong stuff here. ***1/2

Nothing wrong with hoping people face appropriate consequences that may arise from their actions. I'm not holding my breath, but it would be a refreshing change.

https://ijr.com/senators-wwe-saudi-arabia-event-crown-jewl/ Now we're getting somewhere. Still don't think I'd bet on any major audibles, but the timing was bound to bring some unsolicited attention and scrutiny.

That card doesn't exactly make me regret passing on the show. Hope its a great one but its not a lineup I'm going out of my way to attend on a Sunday night.

Linda's done a remarkably good job of keeping a low profile throughout this nightmare, but you have to think at some point her position will bring a critical eye towards this relationship.

So they found some fun and original ways to work a triangle match. Whether worked around laying out one man so the other two could work together, near falls/saves or expanding a wrestler's signature spot to use 3 participants (see Ibushi's lawn dart) there was very much some good here. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of the Omega/Ibushi angle they're working here, whatever it may be. I really liked their G1 match but didn't think it worked in this setting where they weren't necessarily eager to tear into each other, but at the same time were quite eager to prevent the other from winning. We know its not building to WK. Perhaps MSG is a possibility, but that would seem too far removed from the G1 to retain whatever heat and intrigue were in place then. Bottom line -- this was a fine match but would be New Japan's worst main event in some time absent the recent Suzuki/Naito stinker (I didn't find their first outing earlier this year as bad as most). it was way too long with too many shenanigans and "bad Kenny" -- overacting and exaggerated bumping rather than any compelling selling. ***1/4

White has become a great heel that the crowd absolutely loves to hate. I also thought Gedo's performance here was terrific and look forward to more from him in the stooging, smarmy heel manager role. This wasn't the the dramatic classic that you might find (if you're a NJPW fan) in Tanahashi's big matches, but it was a strong and effective outing that furthered a couple interesting storylines. As opposed to the main event. A bit surprised we're not getting a Tana/Okada tag at Power Struggle as that seemed to be the tease, but I can't complain with Wrestle Kingdom looking like it'll have at worst 4 and maybe 5 singles matches with incredible intrigue and potential. ***3/4

Thanks! On Civil War, it looks like there's a trade paperback collecting all of these under the Civil War banner, but another site made it sound like you need to read a bunch of issues under other titles. What's necessary? I'll look into what's available on the others online, but my gut is that I'm old school and want to hold it in my hands rather than on the computer. We'll see if that changes.

Those new Hidden Gems sound incredible. I don't want to get too hot about it until we see if and how strongly they're clipped, but this reads like quite the haul.

This is the rare week where Smackdown somehow feels even longer than Raw. Short of the Becky Lynch promo/angle in the main event slot hitting a home run this will be one of the most boring episodes in some time.

Let's say I haven't read a comic in 20 years and wanted to jump into something fun from books I read as a kid. Batman, X-Men, some Image & Valiant titles I don't remember offhand. Any recs?

Would Shingo want to come in slotted as a junior?

I've got more hair than Shawn Michaels. The end is near.

I'm not going to lie, I almost switched to the Japanese commentary when I heard Ross's voice. But I stuck with it and while there were moments where he was incredibly annoying and out of touch, it wasn't that bad. Seemed like Kelly controlled things enough to keep them calling the matches and stick to the talking points.

For those on the fence, the Fighting Spirit show last night was a huge home run. Some quick hit thoughts: The lineup was hardly all that exciting on paper, but basically every undercard / nonsense tag was quick with solid action and almost no fat. Ospreay/Scurll may not have approached their Sakura Genesis classic, but it was hot from the start and a sound, logical match with big spots, great selling and transitions and a convincing finish. Plus no nonsense antics from Scurll. Bucks/GOD was hands down my favorite NJPW tag of the year. Another incredible sell job by Matt Jackson while the GOD played their part well and didn't bring things down at all. Cody/Juice was also solid even if it didn't touch the evening's big matches, and had a fun finishing stretch. The main event may not be memorable 6 weeks or 6 years from now, but if you enjoy these four in big singles matches you should love this as well. Great job teasing Okada/Omega without giving away too much, just like they did with the Ospreay/Ibushi pairing in the 9/7 tag. I went ****, ****, ***1/2 and ****1/2 on those last four matches. This was no doubt a show that benefited from low expectations, but wow did they ever smash them. It even felt like a pretty quick show despite having a 10-15 minute intermission. Nothing like a few great hours of wrestling on the couch on a Sunday night.

Thanks, resources like these are always much appreciated. Nothing like one-stop shopping for this kind of info.

Very interested in hearing what folks think about the Nitro and Hornbaker books. Both sound promising.