El-P

It's storyline. There's a beef between this referee and Ospreay already. This was the closest thing to a fuck finish without doing one. The match was all kind of awesome, and Ospreay is pilling up MOTYC's since the beginning of the year, four of them now in completely different ways. I can't believe I just saw Ospreay vs Mox either. Japan opening up is gonna be crazy when all the guys who want to go will be able to. Speaking of which, Suzuki vs Ishii was as great as it was supposed to be (how long can Ishii go at this level, while he's looking older and older ?) and now we get to see Ishii vs Kingston. White vs Umino was excellent. I've see White have so many excellent to great matches lately against a bunch of different opponents and this was no different. This guy works like some 35-40 years old veteran in term of psychology, controlling the pace, heel work, controlling the crowd... He's so good right now, it's flying under the radar but he's a legit very top worker in the world. The undercard was plenty of fun, although the Chicago Street Fight went way too long and the pacing was all over the place (still, some really crazy shit, that Jonah ladder squash was ridiculous).

It's too bad Sean Oliver didn't see the podcast bubble coming, because he would have probably been doing awesome interviews. Conrad does strikes me as a total IRL carny too (yeah, I wrote a big rant before but deleted it, because whatever).

It's getting really, really ridiculous. After not listening to any of his stuff for ever, I've been binging the Jarrett one and it's by far the best stuff he has done since the early Brucie ones (which were chockfull of bullshit but entertaining nonetheless). Regal.... fuuuuuck I dunno how I'm gonna pass at least giving it a try. Although since I have about zero interest in 00's and beyond WWE, I guess I'm not sure how much of it I would really want to listen if they overdue than kind of topics. Surely the Europe and WCW stuff is super interesting to me.

In this case, it actually is, because Sammy lost it as a face and won it back by turning heel. Quickie switches back and forth, I agree, aren't transitional. The Sammy babyface reigns had some really good matches but no arc at all and no memorable feuds. And honestly, despite Cody's effort at the beginning and the strong Miro's reign, the TNT Title is effectively a secondary title at this point. Which is not an issue for me. I like a secondary titles in a super crowded roster as long as it doesn't become a WWE post 00's case. Two top title that are "equivalent" (which they never are) is confusing to me, I never cared for the whole IC title/IWGP title scene in NJPW where both were top titles but the IC not really but still it was except not all the time... Just streamline the fucking thing already.

Dalton Castle sure got himself over. Gotta hope he's in the plans somewhere. Really good match. Gresham is such a pure joy to watch, always. Nyla vs Rosa was pretty good but sloppy at times, I was gonna say as always with Nyla. Hopefully we get an *interesting* feud for Thunder Rosa now and not some lame stuff built on lame segments. We need some deeper shit than this for the women's title. And, hate to say it, better matches too, because the standards are so high in that company right now. The last legit great woman match in AEW was Bunny & Ford vs Conti & Jay (and yeah, the gimmick helped). People are just getting silly with Sammy now. They went with the flow pretty quickly as this was a clear cut heel turn (basically stealing a belt, even from another heel, is the easiest signal to send), so now finally we're getting the best Sammy Guevarra, with the added heat of Tighs Conti (yeah, respectfully, whatever the gimmick is). It's one thing to not enjoy Sammy as a babyface when he's been obnoxious as hell, but now that he's doing what Cody never wanted to do, everything is fine, more than fine really, as this heel couple has all the potential in the world to be a main act, the kind of thing Miro (when is he coming back already ?) & Lana could have been in WWE. And as I said months ago, making out in public is heel heat, and they went the extra way with making sure they stuck those tongues out. They know their shit. So yeah, Scorpio got a transitional reign. He's a 39 old veteran, his role is to help build the company and guys like Sammy.

As we always said, the last segment is what people leave with in mind. And although Dynamite was mostly excellent (so many really good matches), that debut was the wimper of all wimpers At this point the "trying to get the Indian market" argument is gonna become a meme for shitty booking. Newsflash : NO ONE WANTS TO SEE A FUCKING BUMBLING GIANT FOOL IN AEW. That's 100% WWE shit. Also, at some point it's getting kinda insulting toward That Indian Market that it's always about big guys who can't work. Maybe you could try and find some actual good Indian pro-wrestler with charisma or something instead ? Fuck, Rohit Raju in IMPACT was tons of fun. Sure, he isn't gonna catch the eye as some giant dude or steroid injected freak will and he's also Canadian (like, well ya know), but he's actually super talented in a Chris Candido way. Instead of having him do jobs on Dark, get him some quality TV time, I'm totally up for more Rohit Raju in my pro-wrestling weekly dose. I kinda miss him. Speaking of people I really enjoyed in IMPACT that I kinda miss, I have no fucking idea what the Baddies are supposed to be apart from entitled annoying girls who think they are some hot shit, but Kiera Hogan is perfect for the role. I was super glad to see her up there, here's hoping she gets some quality TV time too teaming with Red Velvet, as she was super annoying in a good way in IMPACT and she & Velvet could be the new Fire & Flava or something. Really, put them on TV NOW instead of booking stupid-ass angles with cakes and idiotic beatings. Poor Rosa, this first feud has to be a rib, it's been awful. I also feel for Marina Shafir, because I really like what I've seen of her, but she hasn't been built AT ALL (no, 20 seconds montage for one week and a half don't count) and here's the result. Hopefully she gets built properly in the future, she should not have been put in that spot. Apart from that, yeah, tons of really good to great wrestling again this week, and damn Joe vs Suzuki even exceeded my expectations ! Also, Cole vs Page was terrific. Cole is such a trooper in these kind of matches, this is where he reminds me of Raven, he's not afraid to fucking die. I kinda wanted those Renegade Doink sisters to get the win over Soho, who is doing very little for me sadly (I say sadly because she appears to be a cool girl and I'd want to like her work more). I enjoyed the heel work here and did not see the switcheroo coming. Hopefully we see more of them. Oh, and Toni Storm vs Jaimie Hayter ? Ok, now we're talking. Battle of the Belts kinda look weak though. Rosa vs Nyla's build has been awful and Nyla has zero chance to win (I mean, nothing against her per say, but Vickie is unbearable and the booking has been shit). The ROH match is a cold ROH match, although anytime Gresham is in the ring I'm there because he's terrific. I'm most interested in Sammy vs Scorpio to see where they go with the hopeful incoming Sammy heel turn and maybe PVZ and Tay getting it on.

Honestly I never thought he looked like the coolest guy in the world in NWA either. He always came off like a forced cosplayer to me. But yeah, local jobber from mid 90's TV is exactly that.

Okada vs ZSJ was high art in term of pro-wrestling. Some of the nearfalls and sequences toward the end were insane. Did not watch the entire card though. EVIL single match = banned. Ishii doing some funny sumo shit was kinda cute, good throwing technique to win the match. Hopefully the Shingo match doesn't get silly and gets all stiff and stuff.

These guys are fucking clowns. Speaking of which : Who is not shocked at this latest development ?

Ok, understood, fair enough. Lambert and his crew have become the babyface testing wall.

The gift that keeps on giving (ironically enough, Suzuki had a match, that was actually quite good, with Killer Kross on Mania week-end).

Yep. Most efficient angle I've seen in term of ratio in a long-ass time. Yuta was the guy in the background of Best Friends. He's a now a legit crowd favorite who's having terrific matches with key players. Masterful booking and execution by all.

"I pray you don't end up like Tay Conti" isn't a babyface promo. At all. In the real world, this is straight misogynist asshole who tell women what to do with their bodies. Slut shaming was great babyface stuff in the 80's, when babyfaces would also sexually assault valets who "liked it !". Doesn't change the fact Sammy & Tay should be heels, but because they made themselves really unlikeable, not because Tay likes to have lots of sex or something. (and really, Sammy being a natural heel just rubbed off on Tay, who's more of a babyface at heart it seems)

It was actually pretty evident on the Fite version, you could hear loud boos during that segment. Yeah. They are heels already. Turn them. Meanwhile Indeed. Two all-time great tag-teams having a classic match on TV. And what a week for FTR, as it's two classics in the same week, as babyfaces mind you. So lucky to be able to watch this as it's happening. Pro-wrestling was the best now.

I'd pay for a streaming service with AEW/ROH/NJPW/AAA stuff on it.

Between the Kimber Lee/Carter Nash debacle (the more you know about it, the more it reeks of "everyone involves sucks" indeed) and the Sunny tragedy (mental health and justice system issues notwithstanding, she just seems like someone who doesn't care about other people at all), tons of stuff that has hit a bit too close to home lately. Meanwhile, Micheal Elgin is booked back in NOAH. Meanwhile, the Park family have been fired from MLW for taking liberties with Jacob Fatu and Alexander Hammerstone and injuring them.

Yep. AEW on NJPW World.

Doesn't matter if he sucks, he can always have a big match at Mania 50 if he wants to. Doesn't matter if he sucks at that either.

What a sad life. 3 years of fame and 23 years and counting of spiraling down. Is there a Dark Side of the Ring S4 coming up ?

Ishii vs Edwards, Bailey vs Shelley and White vs Sabin were excellent matches. Not bad for a late show at Wrestlecon, with some of these guys who already went through wars. Funny how context matters so much. Aldis may look like a "big" deal in the NWA studio, but coming alongside his wife in IMPACT to face Matt Cardona & Chelsea Green, it really came off like "Who's that NPC behind Mickie James ?".

Well, I won't argue against that, especially the bolded part.

It's not like being "entitled to opportunities" has anything to do with morals or merits anyway. It's basically luck and social spot. Plenty of truly awful people who do awful things are getting great opportunities every day. But the idea that no one can change and you are for life reduced to one thing you *said*, no matter how bad it is, years ago, just doesn't seem the sign of a very healthy society. Who hasn't said some really stupid, including hateful, shit in their lives ? Who hasn't done any bad stuff ? Let's be fucking real now. People who say they never have are liars, plain and simple. People evolve. Well, some don't, but hopefully people can evolve. If not, there's no hope whatsoever. It could also be a learning story to tell to those who still have hateful beliefs. Anyways. PWO.

Agree 100%.

I mean, the picture where Carter seems to do a nazi salute (I mean, he actually does it while cosplaying Uncle Adolf's hairstyle, so even if in jest, that... well... hum...) is probably enough from their point of view, I guess.

And let's be real now. What I would REALLY love but won't happen, is the Briscoes showing up at Dynamite "uninvited" and cost the Bucks the match, or attack them afterward.