MoS

Just from the way it was shot and presented, I very much doubt it was a shoot, at least a complete shoot. Especially given this is New Japan. This promotion was built on this shit. Hell it nearly died due to this shit. I am very surprised Dave seems to have bought the "Shibata went into the business for himself" line without any skepticism. He has been in and around the business for so long, surely his bullshit detector should go off?

Because I am a complete nerd, I went back and rewatched the world title match and it is a stone cold classic. I recommend all Americans (and Canadians?) to watch the international Fite feed of the match. It is entirely uninterrupted, the crowd is hot, the commentators are great. As a bonus for us nerds, during one of the commercials, when Hangman wipes Dragon's blood on his chest, Tony Schiavone references the Lynn-Corino Heatwave match, just going "Haha, Jerry Lynn knows all about that!!" Just the best pro wrestling match to start your new year.

Are "squarehead" and "pinhead" like some TV references or something? Cuz not only was the entire thing extremely unfunny, but it also made zero sense. The chef's kiss of cringe was one of the commentators making the most forced, contrived laughing sound you will ever hear.

The quarter numbers for the TBS title match are hugely impressive, especially in the key demo. People are worried about Jade not being able to have good long matches and being mechanically unsound, but she is clearly a star, and stars deserve some special treatment. Their mechanics and sloppiness can be forgiven or at least ignored. This was absolutely the right booking decision imo.

Now Gabe can yell at Joe too, really completes the box set

It was just a matter of time I would think

Even better than the demo number are the numbers for 18-34 and female viewers, particularly F18-34 AND F12-34. A part of that is of course Dynamite returning to prime time in the pacific and central time zones, and Big Bang Theory reruns presumably giving a stronger lead-in with female viewers than the 500th airing of The Equalizer (I must have the credit scene memorized by now), but it still did the 4th highest P18-34 number in its entire history (including Rampage), the 2nd highest F18-49 viewers in its history, and also the 2nd highest ever in F12-34. That's hugely impressive. It's a great sign that the show is working with younger viewers and bringing more women into the fold. For all of its minor missteps and small weekly booking mistakes, the general trend is undeniably strong and very positive.

He came along when WWE bought EVOLVE but I'm not sure what his actual role behind the scenes was.

Holy fuck FINALLY. Like I was legit stunned how he was surviving all these cuts for so long. Maybe TK can hire him so he can yell at Punk and Bryan and Kingston and Homicide one more time, for old times' sake

Really great news. Now hopefully Jake Atlas's injury also turns out to be mild.

Yup, I realized this when I saw the quarter numbers of matches like Adam Cole v. Orange Cassidy and Jurassic Express v. Elite/Don-t-Call-Them-Undisputed-Era, matches which personally held no appeal to me and which also kind of bored the shit out of me when I watched them. But they did excellent quarter numbers, particularly in the demo, to the point where I would absolutely not be surprised if Adam Cole is the next challenger for the world title. If I were watching yesterday's show at a similar movie theater, it is entirely possible that the place would have been louder for the tag title match than the world title match, simply cuz in the former they attempted a lot crazier stuff, and until Fenix Sid'ing himself, were able to do said crazier stuff. The specific lightbulb moment for me was a spot where I think like all four of them including Luchasaurus, someone who outweighs everyone else in the match possibly combined, were on the top rope holding hands and then basically did a tumbling routine culminating in a crazy bump, and the fans went absolutely nuts for it, while I was just slightly bemused. This question of how to grow your fanbase while still properly servicing your existing fans is really at the heart of promoting. WCW ultimately went out of business because they just could not find a balance.

Yeah he posted with his arm, which while understandably instinctive, is also a rookie mistake. It's really unfortunate.

I believe it was one of those BritWres indies whose number Meltzer corrected from his initial reporting, from around 400 to like about 150, which is a significant revision.

There's a debate going on on Twitter about Ospereay's drawing power, Meltzer himself got involved here. Since Twitter is the last place you should go to if you want serious discussion, is there anyone who has studied his drawing power in detail, with context? Not just the NJPW shows but also the independent shows he headlines. There was some chat recently because Meltzer corrected his numbers for one of those shows, and the revised number was significantly lower.

Is Shawn really an HHH guy? Like, I know they are best friends, but I feel like Shawn was a Vince guy before he was an HHH guy. Vince has loved him since pretty much the first day of his (2nd) WWF tenure, we've all heard him on commentary during Shawn's matches. Feels to me that there's a far bigger possibility that Shawn is the Brutus to Hunter's Caesar.

Per Bryan Alvarez, Atlas is scheduled for an MRI and might be okay. Hopefully he is fine. A lot of injuries to start the new year, across promotions. Let's hope it's not a sign lol

Tony Khan said Fenix is hurt. There was an AEW tweet about it, but it has since been deleted. It's uncanny how this is almost invariably the case. Happened to Rey too

He is probably going to wrestle Danny Garcia soon once that program wraps up shortly

It seemed to me like signalling the start of a new era, with contenders eyes the young team. That's what they were selling on commentary too

Also, yeah, this. It was clearly presented and sold as the other teams setting their sights on the new target. Especially cuz the target has that Ricky Morton vibe about him, which makes it easier for heels to imagine all the bad shit they are going to do to him

I would have paid money for Taz to cut a promo right then and there just insulting JB and Luchasaurus. Now that is GOOD HEAT

Crazy match for those who are into such matches. Jungle Boy is definitely one of their big success stories and this feels earned. Ending the first episode of the TBS era with his ascension is a nice touch, although I would obviously have preferred if the world title match had gone last

Right as I say it, Rey Fenix hurts his arm. I hope he is not too injured

This is really not my kind of match, but I have to say that Rey Fenix is not a human being and I really want to watch him live

Yeah he is great in a tag team but he wouldn't cut it as a singles wrestler. Terrible instincts. Him and Adam Cole going punch to punch urgh