El-P

Rossy Ogawa has just made it, 21 years after ARSION. I would love for the joshi talent to finally get a full feldge platform to be showcased. Anyway, this sounds like a really cool news. Again, how crazy has been this year ?

Omega vs Janela was insane. Just insane. I cringed a bunch of times, which is a sign of a good Janela match. Omega reminds me of Benoit circa 96-98 in that he looks like the crispest, best performer in the world. Tons of batshit insane spots. Cool details like Janela paying hommage to Eddie Guerrero on the anniversary day and Omega actually using the rebound clothesline to make fun of Mox (he also used his finisher). Just a brutal match that did not under-delivered nor went a minute too long (especially compared to the NJPW main events of last week-end). If there's two criticisms to be made, is that next to Omega, Janela's selling really appears as lacking (but of course that's not what you ask from him anyway, you want him to kill himself again and again, not do long term selling drama); and really that this match on Dark was a waste as it was the best match on any AEW TV tapings thus far and could very well have been booked for a PPV with an actual storyline. Great match. The other two matches were pretty fine, although the Dark Order is painfully not over. Peter Avalon actually is a really solid in-ring worker. Sonny Kiss stuff is cool but again, it came off a bit too gimmicky, I have no faith in him looking good in a meaningful singles match yet (he was really helped by LU production). Leva Bates is adorable, but... dunno what she is really good at... give her some funny promos or something...

Lucha Brothers need to win to establish the tag titles as really important. We need a star team on top to start, not underdogs.

Hey, I look forward to this one to see how well Riho will work with a non-monster and to see what Dr. Baker has to offer at this point.

That would have been so depressing. Even though NOAH is not a blip on the radar, it was once the glorious home that Misawa & Kobashi built.

Probably. Speaking of which, I wonder what will come of that in term of luchadors/doras showing up on Dynamite. Hopefully this happens and we get guys like Taurus in big heavyweight matches or Aerostar with Janella and Allin in a "who dies the most times ?" crazy-ass matches. And bring Ayako & Mari Apache already !

Well, so ROH gets him but he can't work NJPW ? That makes NJPW the loser in that deal and they get nothing from being in business with ROH on that one either. Volador Jr.... ugh....

I watched Anderson in TNA, he was rotten. Total 00's WWE boring worker, and not even a decent one at the style. His act was beyond annoying too after the third time you saw him. Typical NOA mentality of having an intro and then nothing much.

Well, the fact is the Bucks & Omega were more the vital partners for NJPW during those years than "ROH", whatever that meant then, ever was. So you could argue they could stay loyal to people instead of companies (of course I know it doesn't work that way). What are they even getting out of this ROH deal (pun intended) right now ? Mox was the biggest outsider deal in the G1, and he's AEW. Jericho is still getting main events, and he's AEW. In every way but contractually, they already get more out of "not-working" with AEW than they do with working with ROH. Well, maybe that's the thing too... About CMLL, is Dragon Lee still allowed to work the NJPW junior tag league ?

Rumours and innuendos. I'm really tempted to listen to Eric podcast this week...

They really need to. NJPW's relationship with ROH is exactly worth two things right now : jack and shit. With CMLL crumbling with discontent and the biggest stars leaving/being fired, that relationship doesn't seem vital either, especially since we're talking about the strong relationship with the Alonso family. I mean, Sofia is gone and she was supposed to run things. NJPW needs to evolve. No idea how AEW would feel about working with NJPW, it seems like there's some sourness of Omega & the Bucks. But really, with Jericho working the Dome, he's already identified right now as an AEW guy. Let have Omega go back and work a main event in a huge building while NXT Japan is half-packing Korakuen with nise-puroresu matches.

The introduction of BTE this week was nothing short of brillant. They not only shows that they are aware of the criticisms (basically why was there no DQ when Mox jumped on Omega the first week on Dynamite?), but they find a way to "explain"/make fun of it (aka themselves) while also shitting on the opposition. Also, I eagerly awaits for the day Bob Holly is gonna make that cameo. I mean, he has to.

Did it not kill (or badly hurt) the UK indy scene though ? Because that was its only goal, so from that standpoint, it's a success, if you can call create misery for people a success. NXT Japan sounds like the worst. Remember at some point WWE wanted to buy CMLL or something ? But yeah, NXT Japan has failure written all over it. They have no shot of understanding the japanse business. Hell, they don't even understand the US business anymore. They should rather do NXT Dubai or NXT Emirates, really...

Well, I'm gonna say some positives for a change. And not use *that* word. The studio format allows people to actually behave like actual humans beings and interact a lot more "naturally" with the crowd (which does sounds directed though). I had never ever seen nor heard about Rick Starks, and he came off like a bigger star than anyone I've seen on the few NXT shows I've watched in the last few weeks. James Storm & Eli Drake also shine in this setting. Now that I'm aware of what this show is gonna be, I can enjoy it at least for what it is. I did like Allysin Kay vs Ahsley Vox, which was a decent competitive squash. Now they have to find some actual women challengers. Starks vs Murdoch was a good little short match. Murdoch looks more than ever like his namesake (refrain from using that word). I wonder if CW Anderson is still working somewhere... Apart from these two matches, I still find the actual pro-wrestling content to be on the very light side. Yes, it's easy to watch, but it's not extremely exciting nor even interesting from a work standpoint. At some point, they'll have to actually deliver something stronger to really get my interest. Hearing Corny trying his best to put over Cabana while not throwing up was cute. Homicide wearing a NWA Straight Outta Compton T-shirt was a nice touch in this context. Damien Sandow... well... ok... But Ken Anderson ? I mean, with the biggest names in this promotion being Nick Aldis, James Storm (whom I like), Ken Anderson, Eli Drake & Homicide, it kinda feels like "'member TNA ?"... That's the one other issue I have, no one is really exciting. ROH is dull as fuck, but they do have Rush, Bandido, PCO, Brody King... The commercials are absolutely what the show isn't, that is playing on the 80's cheesiness exactly like Swinger's gimmick, and they are quite funny. If the entire show was based more on that aesthetic with kinda tongue-in-cheek humour, I would probably love it. This is what the first season of GLOW did, of sorts. At this point, I'd expect for the Smashing Pumpkins next album to be straight up synthwave. Hey ! That's what I'm gonna call this promotion. Synthwave pro-wrestling. They needed Carpenter Brut to do the theme, not Dokken !

I should have posted this *before* the show, but I SWEAR. I thought I would not be surprised to see Ken Anderson end up there eventually. I had no idea.

Millennials don't listen to rock music. Like, at all. That ship has sailed. AEW needs Charli XCX or something.

Not weekly. Monthly, for sure.

Agreed. The infamous Smackdown 6 era was basically "we have a bunch of great workers, let's have some great matches", which is not very hard to do, really. The ECW redux booked by Heyman was putrid. Hell, Heyman during ECW was toasted by 1998.

Maybe it's time to listen to the podcasts again... It sounds crazy, but at this point I would not be that surprised if Russo got a job for a week or two, since all they seem to know is the past and they promoted Smackdown on FOX with a clip focusing on Taker, Austin & Rock.

Ok. So the question remains : what the fuck did Bischoff do during that time where he was "in charge" (apart from "being seen at the catering", per Meltz). Wow. Bischoff's legend keeps on growing. And Brucie in charge, which means Vince, really.

That's brutal !

Seth the the Architect of Corporate Droning. This guy is amazing. At least it's pretty much given he's a lifer, which mean we'll never have to endure him anywhere else, which is a good news. Does he realize he's killing himself as far as public image with the fans though ? I mean, he comes off as Brucie's level of office stooging.

I thought this show overstayed its welcome and felt way too long to me. The issue is that the last two matches were basically technicalities. That's why I don't care for the "Winner of G1 goes to the Tokyo Dome" gimmick, it's way to WWEiffy, complete with the stupid breifcase. It makes pretty much every title and briefcase defense useless from August to January. The Ibushi vs EVIL match was particulary boring to me, because there's nothing worst than a fake epic match where the result is actually never in doubt. Plus, EVIL is a good worker, not a great one and not particulary compelling. As much as I enjoyed him in the G1 this year, this match was a complete throaway that would have been fine as a 15 mn sprint, but I guess that's a lost concept sadly. Ditto for the main event, we've seen that match too many times this year already, although it was much better for obvious reasons (EVIL just isn't a top guy, while SANADA still looks like he could be, not that's not a given either). I thought Ospreay vs Fantasmo was awesome for 20 minutes, and then they kinda lost me after the outside interference (again, Gedo and its american wrestling fetish can get annoying). Then they went into overkill to me. Also, that damn back elbow needs to be worked in a way the guy taking it is a bit protected, Fantasmo got decapitated in this one. So, overall I'd have Liger vs Suzuki as the match of the night, easily. And Lance Archer vs Juice was a very good garbage brawling match, although a bit deliberate I thought at time. The other highlight was the KENTA and Ishii interactions during the six-men match, really made me want to watch that one (haven't seen the London show). The rest was ok, but again, as much as I enjoy their pariring, yet another Taichii vs Naito match ? I feel a sense of sameness in NJ right now with not much in term of fresh matches on top. The G1 has been awesome, but the booking id dragging its feet to the Dome, which will probably be awesome all things considered...

I do take it as a compliment.

The crowd was going bonkers for Riho vs Nyla Rose at the end on the first show. Hottest finish of the night probably. Allie : excellent character, solid worker Awesome Kong : name value, used to be awesome, literally Bea Priestley : jury's out, looks really good but seems kinda reckless Brandi Rhodes : great promo, great character, great manager, not so good in the ring Britt Baker : jury's out, green but has potential Emi Sakura : terrific veteran from what she showed Hikaru Shida : awesome Leva Bates : funny Nyla Rose : green with tons of potential Penelope Ford : does spectacular spots Riho : really good and has underdog appeal Sadie Gibbs : no idea Yuka Sakazaki : jury's out, she looked really good thus far That's a perfectly fine roster if you can't have anyone WWE big name nor the best IMPACT girls (Tessa, Taya, Dashwood).