Migs

Ooh, great news.

This is the first ECW match I ever saw and turned me into a fan of the promotion and a Shane Douglas mark in the span of an hour of TV. The whole thing is sort of insane to describe but really works and hangs together surprisingly well.

There's enough Uncle Kracker songs for a whole band? Or do they just play Follow Me for an hour?

Couldn't find a spot, needed to get in one more Gedo match.

I think ZSJ goes over Ospreay (with Ospreay getting the shot at Sanada at the April big show). Also think Cobb doesn't win the tournament (not really a point if he's beating Okada, which I think is the likely scenario too), leaving the winner of the other side of the bracket as the winner (I have ZSJ, but could easily be Shingo as well).

Thought both were good matches that suffered because NJ is just not going to put anything other than their top junior over a heavyweight. That's been a running problem with the tournament so far, just way too many matches with foregone conclusions. Watching today's show, and it's nice to see at least a little drama in the matches. At least the very chalky first two rounds have set up an interesting third round.

The best promos on Dynamite in 2019 are the build to Cody-Jericho.

I think they want something to happen to get to Omega/Bucks-Cole/ReDRagon and they are slow playing for Omega to be ready.

No, it's currently mystery opponents for the Briscoes (FTR of course being a very reasonable guess as the mystery).

Agreed. They've really punted on the first section of the tournament for the most part. Hopefully it means a stronger back half, as they're really clearing out the juniors and low level guys.

This is also linked, I think, to the idea of people freaking out that stuff from BTE could be canon that would be part of AEW stories. As always, it comes down to, if it didn't happen on the TV show, AEW has to do a good job of explaining the connection. But when they do, it's part of what makes them fun - it helps people realize that there's a broader wrestling world with its own rabbit holes. I talked to someone at All Out who was only a casual New Japan fan and was SO EXCITED when I told him that Mox and Suzuki had wrestled in Japan before. Because it meant there was more great wrestling to see and add to his enjoyment.

He also presumably has access to Google? I will admit that for me the song didn't 100% register immediately, but a quick check of Cagematch shows "oh, yeah, that's his ROH theme song" and you could then easily connect the dots to the rest of how he has was dressed. (If this guy has literally never seen a pre-WWE Punk match and writes for the Observer, he probably shouldn't.)

When I had a podcast and we got to talk to wrestlers, this was exactly what we focused on (especially about the wrestling they like). I feel like there's a lot of interesting stuff to be gleaned from hearing professionals talk about what they love in their profession. We had a fascinating conversation with the Beer City Bruiser of all people talking about why he uses the Mind Games match to teach his students about movement within a match. (http://theatlantictransmission.com/podcast_episode/one-off-match-shawn-michaels-v-mankind-in-your-house-10-mind-games-with-beer-city-bruiser/)

Fixed. Actually having people over for the show for the first time since Revolution 2020. Looking forward to it.

Bullet Club was in ROH post-AEW (GOD were the tag champs in 2019). White was supposed to be on an ROH show Wrestlemania weekend 2020. It only stopped during the pandemic, as when ROH came back the NJ relationship seemed essentially dead.

AJ did a fair bit in ROH while he was with NJ. A lot of six mans with the Bucks but pretty sure he had some title matches too.

Probably by far the biggest value here is owning All In. It's a fundamental part of the history that they own now. (And if they do put it on HBO Max, we can all debate whether or not it's appropriate to cut the penis druids.) The library is also a huge help with a streaming service, I'd think, particularly when it includes most of the non-WWE relevant work for a lot of their top guys (Danielson, Punk, Bucks, Cole, etc.). The actual ongoing operations of ROH are probably at the bottom of the list. I guess it has some potential to be their OVW. Wonder if they retain the TV deal with Sinclair long term. I guess Sinclair wouldn't be against paying them if its cheaper than the losses of the promotion.

Or "if I'm not going to be a top guy, maybe I can work with my friends and be happy instead."

I believe he has told the bullying story in another context, too, although whether it actually happened the day he met Punk is unclear.

KO has potential for a Harts style "Real Americans vs Texas" run!

I rewatched a lot of the Malenko-Guerrero stuff a couple of years ago. I think it suffers on rewatch from two things: 1) If you watch a bunch of it in a row, it's pretty repetitive. All the matches are good on their own, but they're not terribly different from one another. (This is a huge general issue for ECW in '95 - they keep running the same matches over and over. Cactus and Sandman wrestle each other more times than any sane human would want to see.) 2) They're among the hardest matches to watch with modern eyes because they were so copied. It's like the band that was the template for way more successful acts - when you come to them later, it's really hard to unhear the copies. So in 1995, people are comparing this to what's going in WCW and WWF and going "These matches are the best!" But in the context of the format being adapted and perfected later, it's hard to match the excitement. Even by the time I first saw them in the late '90s, having seen both guys have so many matches in WCW, these matches didn't pop in quite the same way I assume they did when they happened.

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/aew/kenny-omega-comments-on-cody-rhodes-departure-from-aew Kenny seems to point to a lot of what you're saying, @El-P. And what I think many would expect - Kenny and the Bucks essentially had artistic motivations. Enacting their vision, to them, means artistic freedom, especially in performing in the ring, that I'd assume TK has given them. The business side for them, at most, is about being able to integrate a lot of stuff - which, with the Forbidden Door, they've gotten (/will get when Japan opens up). Cody had a broader vision, a leadership role in wrestling of sorts. Cody wanted to be the kingpin, and that was not playing out how he had hoped.

When I left All In that night, all anyone seemed to want to talk about was what an emotional moment Cody winning the title was. Grown men sobbing. I still think it's the most incredible moment in that show and an all-time classic wrestling moment. I do think TK was necessary here. In the music industry - there's broader infrastructure that can be latched onto without a significant backer. Building a wrestling company required getting a TV network to buy in, and despite what Cody and the Bucks had pulled off on their own, I don't quite see them pulling that off. Could they have argued for a 1% equity interest in the company apiece? Maybe. But TK gave them big salaries and took on all the equity risk here (admittedly, a relatively easy thing for him because of Dad's money). In terms of why TK let him leave - I think one thing TK seems to have learned from WCW is that the locker room matters. Yeah, he could hold Cody here - but isn't there potential negative value of having the unhappy guy around for two years? He seems to have done the same with Brian Cage, basically sent home still getting paid because he'd rather not deal with a malcontent screwing up the locker room energy.

STEEL

Was surprised at a Cody reference 10 minutes in, but that's why AEW is great - Excalibur's not going to forget who was in the other dog collar match just because a guy left.