MLB

You compare him to Callis because he's essentially a manager who wrestles. Like I said, he will be able to stay in this role after the inevitable Rhea split with another woman on the roster. I don't blame WWE for running with it. However, there's still something about him we agree that suggests he isn't ready and I am wondering if he ever will be. Is this lightning in a bottle/flash in the pan?

I was speaking in terms of Dom moving up the card and what his overall ceiling/future prospects might be. Dom gets so much praise on pWo, a "perfect" chickenshit heel as you say. Chickenshit heels don't tend to last very long, especially in WWE. They also tend to be managers. At some point, you have to kick somebody's ass, be a terrific promo, or get very creative at cheating. It worked for HTM, but he was in the WWF for what? Three years? After his initial IC reign and getting squashed by Warrior, he was either JTTS or beating the Red Rooster at house shows. He finished up his last year in a tag team. Even so, HTM was the main act and not Peggy Sue's manager. HTM is so much better of a heel promo than Dom it's not even funny. And honestly, I don't consider X-Pac a chickenshit heel. Waltman never really stalled or begged off. Incredibly obnoxious yes, but not a cowardly heel. Seriously, all things considered, Dom's nowhere in the same league as either of those wrestlers. Exactly what I'm saying, is he this mega heat magnet or should he still be in developmental? He's cosplaying Eddy's gimmick with Chyna from 25 years ago, I'm not impressed. The kid got lucky, I'm asking how far he can still go with it.

What a violent blockbuster of a match. In the opening promo, Funk and Pogo made it abundantly clear that it's all about Onita; Hayabusa (or "Haya-bussy" as Funk calls him ), Tanaka and FMW in general are merely collateral damage aimed at destroying him. The barbwire, sirens and smoke truly gave this a hellish atmosphere. From the trenches of WW2 is an amazing metaphor for this match. I see once again Mr. Pogo being smeared in the previous comments, but anytime he's got a lit match and a bottle of kerosene in his hand I feel like he's going to burn the place down. Hayabusa managed to falcon arrow Pogo at one point (kinda). A seriously dangerous powerbomb ended it. Pogo hacking away at Hayabusa's mask is another epic visual. Despite a couple of nice moments, Hayabusa and Tanaka got treated like Onita's stepkids for the finish and aftermath. The post-match fallout is absolutely crazy by itself. Immediately following the match, they cut to later on backstage with a bleeding Terry Funk, Mr. Pogo and Quinones holding stacks of cash while continuing to taunt the "retired" Onita. Next, we go to a sobbing and unmasked Hayabusa sitting on the floor in front of the Japanese wrestling media. A very emotional scene, I mean tears were flowing from Hayabusa. Onita walked in like a stern and angry father, at first refusing to even look at Hayabusa from the shame. Onita looks up and begins to death glare at Hayabusa crying on the floor in the hallway and yells at him for dishonoring FMW and Onita personally. Finally, Onita goes over to console Hayabusa who continues to cry into Onita's crotch as cameras are going off around them. In Onita's Dark Side episode, it is discussed that Onita did not like Hayabusa or ever considered him a worthy successor. I can understand to a degree because Hayabusa looked like a beaten toddler and it probably wasn't good optics for a future star in a hardcore promotion like FMW. Still, the whole scene and match was riveting.

I wasn't meaning to say Ibushi is entirely washed up, but his best days are likely behind him. I didn't see Bloodsport, is he a good shooter? If there was rust, he should've seriously been more ready to go. Ibushi is a performer that relies a lot on his looks and athleticism. Last night, he looked 41 and less defined than I've seen in the past. The flashy handspring triple axel kamikaze moonsaults aren't going to be as crisp. He disappeared in War Games and got a chant off some very basic kicks to Claudio's chest. American fans are hyped to see him and waited a long time for his full-time arrival in the States. I agree with @Tetsujin that Mox had the right energy for War Games.

I was super wrong about Cole and MJF. Crowd was eating up every second of it. Somebody said it before, this clicks because Cole is such a likable babyface. Max has done a nice job tweaking his gimmick in this program. There's still part of me that feels this is all too cute. The double clothesline, MJF's character being played ironically, tongue in cheek. I liked FTR coming out and facing off. I did laugh out loud when Roderick wandered into the frame wearing the neck brace after AC/MJF's promo. Cole handing the title back to Max after the match at least kept some tension going between them and focus on the championship. Not being a regular New Japan viewer, I hadn't seen Ibushi in a while. It is me or does he look bigger, older and not as shredded? Looked a little past his prime, he's 41. I've always been more of a Shibata fan. Ibushi has a style that won't age gracefully. I dug Perry tonight. The new theme is timeless, I love classical entrances. Hook's cool, although I find myself giggling at his whole James Dean/Rebel Without A Cause pout while staring out into nothing. Hook struggles a bit with the Tazplexes and Rolling Germans. His emo hairstyle tends to get in his face and mess with his vision during matches.

Yeah @MoS, I was harsh on the MJF face turn at first. No one else said anything. Max can always turn back in a flash, so there isn't really lasting damage to his character. With Starks and Perry going heel and Punk a 60/40 tweener, it was probably a good window to try something different with MJF. I just wish it wasn't during his first world title reign because the AEW Championship has gotten lost in it.

Do you guys believe Dom is going to be a long term main eventer in WWE? They gave him the North American Title? He's been good up to this stage, however I see don't see him sustaining heat and becoming a serious threat in the ring on his own. Competent in the ring, but I don't see anything new other than a bunch of Eddy and Rey moves. Dom's gotten over largely by proxy, which part of his heat. You could've put an inanimate carbon rod in that role and it would've worked. The real test will be after Rhea dumps him. He'll get another bump off being her ex and replacing her. Beyond that, I feel like he's already reached his ceiling. He does have legacy going for him, so I'm sure he'll always be around to some degree.

Unintentionally funny headline this morning on the rasslin' newz: "Matt Cardona Says He’s Willing To Have Conversation With WWE Or AEW" Um, you think he's "willing" to have that convo?

Teddy Hart was arrested again. MDMA and steroid possession in Florida.

Thanks for the link, I checked it out. Mr. Pogo only did two shots for WAR. It was a strange match but I enjoyed the chaos of it. They tried to lock up awkwardly at the start, then Tenryu blasted Pogo with a power slap off the break. Tenryu completely no sells a back elbow. Pogo almost goes full Jeff Hardy, attacking Tenryu's eyes trying to get disqualified two minutes in, before bailing out of the ring and screaming "fuck you!" at Tenryu. Pogo is pursued outside by Tenryu and they scrap a bit. At one point, Pogo starts fighting with random people and young boys in WAR tracksuits at ringside. Eventually, the sickle comes out, along with a huge knife from Pogo, who uses the blade to cut Tenryu's boot. In the end, the audience seemed very confused as Pogo walked out and lost by forfeit. The camera crew followed Pogo all the way out of the arena as he got into a taxi. I think he's had plenty of super famous hardcore matches with Onita, Matsunaga, Terry Funk, Kanemura and Masato Tanaka. Also, teaming with Terry Funk (who else has teamed with Fujiwara and Funk?) vs. Hayabusa and Tanaka is great. A lot of his FMW stuff is sick. Insane violence in IWA-Japan. Pogo vs. Gypsy Joe from W*ING is pure mayhem, and the hardest I've ever seen a human get thrown into a steel cage. Brutal matches vs. Kim Duk. The coffin match with Jason the Terrible is a wild brawl. In WWC, he has a good match vs. TNT (Savio Vega), and as a member of the Ninja Express vs. Rocky Johnson and Bruiser Brody. Molten hot PR crowds for both matches. I haven't seen the Brisco matches or any of the early 80's Stampede footage. I only saw highlights of the Ninja Express vs. Maeda and Takada in NJPW '87 and it looked cool. It just pisses me off @strobogo and others called Mr. Pogo trash, gimme a break.

Mr. Pogo's case for GWE is being criminally overlooked here. One of the worst wrestlers of all-time? Fucking sucks? Like Tony Khan, "I'm serious, I'm not gonna sit back and take this fucking shit." This was a career that spanned 42 years. Pogo was great even before the deathmatch stuff, very good martial artist with a sweet roundhouse. Great bumper, fantastic street fighter. Best fireball ever. Epic and unforgettable feuds. Big main events. Incredible career. Lost his first match to Fujinami in '72. Wrestled in Stampede against Bret in '80. Matches with Jack Brisco and a tag against Dusty and Mil Mascaras in '81. Entertaining tag stuff with NJPW in the late 80's. Tagged with Fujiwara for crying out loud! Pretty awesome in Puerto Rico. Legendary heel but also extremely over as a babyface at times. I absolutely *love* W*ING and everything about it! Had a bizarre and chaotic brawl with Tenryu in WAR that went off the rails, I'd love to see that if anybody has a link. Pogo was doing coffin and inferno matches before the Undertaker. Who was a better heel in Japan during the 90's?

Worth a mention from Collision how massively over the Acclaimed are in Canada. Even they seemed taken aback by the ovation they got. Oh, and I thought Dr. Martha looks great at 56. Owen married extremely well.

How so? Edit: Ok I get it now, Vince exploited Sr's death...but it's still a huge opportunity for Jr. and Trips is in charge now (for the most part).

I can understand Max's resistance if that happens to be the situation. I don't want to see a MJF babyface test run, especially if there isn't another top heel of his caliber in AEW. I think Jack Perry's heel turn is part of what's going on with MJF. Tony wants to give Jack (and BC Gold/BCC, I guess) more room to get over as a heel(s), so Max is playing more of a babyface as a consequence. I could see Max being pissed about that. I'd rather see Kingston get a title shot or Darby in a one on one rematch than tagging with Cole and going over again in a rematch. Cassidy still hasn't gotten a shot, he's like 84-0 this year. Or send Hook. You want to make a splash for Nick Wayne, give him a non-title tv win over MJF.

MJF can't have it both ways. Was he the rich frat prep star that set the school record for tackles while getting brain in a sports car? Or was he an isolated Jewish wrestling nerd getting stuffed into a locker, watching CM Punk tapes, and plotting future revenge against the jocks that he was actually a part of? Also, we just did this whole "suck him in" tag angle with Guevara.

You're right, they keep circling back to that with MJF. Max is a great heel, that ought to be his sole focus. He doesn't need tearjerker "I was bullied/lonely" sympathy from incels, it dilutes the heat. Sympathy for "the devil"? It confuses the audience when he goes into the pity party material about being Jewish and women ditching him. It came up in the feuds with Punk, Danielson and Regal. You were my idol and all I ever wanted to be like was you! You have a beautiful wife and family and I've got nothing! The boss doesn't pay me enough for my effort! (I thought he was rich?) A lot of the audience identifies with those feelings. I don't recall Flair ever mentioning he was adopted as a child or any hardships growing up and that made him into the Nature Boy. Imagine the Million Dollar Man going, "Everybody's got a price for the Million Dollar Man! Oh, and by the way, I was raped as a kid....MUHAHAHAHAHA!"

Not really a fan of this Cole/MJF odd couple at all. Max is trying out dorky, goofball humor and leaning more babyface in this program. What is his motivation for tagging with AC? Why does he want the tag titles (in a tournament no less) when he's world champ? They're really stretching this MJF reign, I don't think AEW is in a position where you can have the world title in a tag program. Again, we're talking like 3 world title defenses in what? 8 months? Another complaint, and maybe I'm not watching closely enough, but it seems like the trios division is dead. You got Pac randomly joining the BCC, where is Death Triangle?

Appears WWE is pouncing on Pillman Jr. quickly, he was seen at the PC yesterday.

WWF The Music Vol. 2 features a weird official version of the Austin theme that starts with "You are completely pathetic!" before the glass shatters: There is some of Razor's bassline in Austin's theme, I can hear it. Another song that reminds me a lot of Razor's theme which could've inspired it was "Those Shoes" by The Eagles:

That's a great point, @Coffey. I would've tailored the roster more to Watts's style before I ran a scenario like that through AI. It might be a flaw in AI that it didn't recognize the type of wrestlers Watts would've promoted.

Everyone involved was sublime; Liz, Sherri, Warrior. WWF 87-92 transcends pro wrestling, it will never recapture that magic for me.

Really great call, @sek69. What a beautiful moment, it's like a dream. I'm almost tearing up thinking about it.

Gymnastics?

Yeah, it's a bit dry but provides a very solid framework to color between the lines and/or spice up the language used.

Wow, that's incredible.