El Dragon

Also, in my neck of the woods St. Louis Anarky just announced the field for the “Spirit of Spaulding” 24 person, 2 block round robin tournament that is starting soon with all shows going up. Names in the tournament include Gary Jay, Matt Fitchett, Davey Vega, Aaron Williams, AC Mack, Warhorse, Thomas Shire, Jeremy Wyatt, and Fred Yehi. Getting 11 matches from Yehi with a variety of opponents should be super fun.

Honestly when Candice LaRae came forward with how shocked she was and had no idea I was very skeptical. She was closely associated rival/tag partner of Ryan for years. Also he popularized moves like the Boobplex on her. She might have been cool with it, but that never raised any red flags? Really?

Being real, I think the sad part is a lot of the talent DO believe in what CHIKARA was supposed to represent. A lot of the talent, especially the younger workers, probably joined because they thought it was a place to would be perfect for them due to them being very inclusive. That ideal is great. The problem is the person running that was an egomaniac who bought into al his own shit.

I'm uniquely qualified to give specifics here, so quick rundown. When the original breakdown of this shit was happening, a wrestler in CHIKARA going by Kobald was accused by 4 separate women for predatory behavior. CHIKARA promptly fired Kobold, but it has spurred on others to tell stories of the company being shitty, as one of the women who came out (a former podcaster for the company who now does the same for CZW) has started taking on reports from other who have similar stories for the company and posting them. Lowlights have included accusations of Quack getting caught sleeping with some of his female students, including the time his wife found out. Also, accusations of racism, homophobia, and more have been levied on Quack. Also, the podcaster running this also happens to be my best friend of 15 years, and I can personally testify the Kobald shit was horrific bullshit and I will punch that dude in the face if I ever meet him in person.

Or it's a sign he asked to turn heel repeatedly, which he did. He's stated as such. He was still popular, he just wanted to turn heel.

I similar vain to Togo who is a good shout, Meiko Satomura would have to be in the top 10 running too, right?

Are we really judging quality by what a modern crowd thinks of a match on if it’s bad now? Cause I’d rather self lobotomize with a hatchet then watch an Adam Cole epic and people love those.

Yeah, we are listing the almost Memphis style Bryan/Miz March as bad now? That match ruled.

Which Miz part? I liked there most recent feud, even though it was the only face Miz stuff that was bearable. And while the Kane feud was the shits, he also got a legitimately entertaining tag team out of Kane.

Oh, didn't realize would even notice I haven't posted much. Just been focusing on work, have been kind of out of wrestling for a while.

With respect to the New Japan fans: It's Bryan and it isn't close. He's been a contender for best in the world for basically every year he's been active. I think you can make a claim he's in "best ever" category and I don't think it's hard. Some names that would be in a top 10 discussion that haven't been brought up yet, mostly from US. Rey Mysterio: While it seems like he's clearly done as a top line guy this minute, he was having good stuff with Andrade, what, last year? Was probably the only guy in the discussion with Bryan in the US for most of the 2000-2010 era. And has still produced very well in times since. It's weird how his name doesn't get mentioned when he was such a stalwart for so long. Chris Hero: I'm not even a big Hero guy, but I'm surprised some others haven't thrown his name in the running yet. I would guess the failed WWE runs have hurt him in a lot of eyes. Jun Akiyama: Maybe I'm just super out on New Japan, but he'd still be my "best guy in Japan" for this century so far. Another name I'd give a shout to being a super Darkhorse, though obviously not a winner in this contest, is Eddie Kingston, who has remained one of the few guys I will seek out there work for almost 15 years now.

Only wrestler I think you could make a very convincing argument for best wrestler of the decade for 2 decades.

The Otis spot was hilarious.

Romans charisma carried the match enough for me to say it was easily good. Roman crowd interacting was strong shit.

Sheamus vs. Gable was really great. Nice limb work from Sheamus in a company that doesn’t do it much anymore.

Well it’s nice I can cancel my Network sub then.

The thing that blows my mind is Lee has been wrestling since 2005. Has anyone done a deep dive on him? The footage has to exist, right?

Remember a month ago when it felt like Lee going nowhere? Jesus Christ what a turn around.

This might be the best last 2 they could have done.

That’s such a hilariously wwe move, and I’d laugh if the crowd just booed everything.

They win me back for WALTER with Riddle over Orton.

And now they hint at Gable/Riddle which is flat out unfair.

Yeah, this was the problem with this match. Poor WALTER.

Oh, it’s not the main... but yeah, the average talent level of everyone in this match is super high and this could still suck.

Sad thing is the talent level in the main is great but I can’t see it being a great match.