El-P

No idea if the Network show being done plays a role in Bruce & Conrad being more relaxed again, but the last few shows have indeed been much much better.

Showing off your dick to a fellow co-worker (if that did happen) as a way of hazing is an sexual offense. It has nothing to do with age.

I'm amazed he's only 38 too. He looks way older.

Bruce Prichard talked about this on his podcast. He basically said that Butch was considered at some point for an IC title run, but nothing was ever set in stone.

I can't read that without hearing Mean Gene's voice. Crazy.

Totally agreed. Why is the phrase "He's a happily married man with children" always used as a way to describe someone who apparently would be a good person then ? I hear it all the time. I mean, really, I hate that stupid sentence. Marriage and having children don't mean shit. Tons, hell, most assholes in the world are married with children assholes. And the thing is, we're not talking about just "being an asshole", we're talking about a guy stroking his dick in front of his co-workers. Yeah, back in the days, it would be "just a rib". In the real world, that's got a name... You do some perv disgusting shit, you pay for it. Make your bed, lie in it.

Wasn't he notorious for being a dick to the Divas back in the days ?

With friends like that, you don't need enemies. Well, who knows, really, no one is intimate with the guy or knows his life. We just extrapolate on the public stuff. Still, that really seems like a dick move (on Punk's part I mean). Then again, those obsene amounts of money for legal fees, that flies right over my head. I just don't live in the same world (and I'm glad I don't).

Dave Meltzer, the women hater who used to say the japanese women in the 90's were as great or better than the best men. (but yeah, there goes that "japanese" word that some people seem to be triggered by these days... get over it people, japanese pro-wrestling has always been ahead of the curve. I do think at this point there's a resentment against Meltz that goes hand in hand with some sort of bizarre anti-japanese sentiment.) As far as "joshi rules", well, I haven't followed the scene since 2002. But when you see girls like Asuka and Kairi Sane show up and work circles around everyone else on either roster or the MYC, well. Sorry to say, but yes, japanese women seems to still be on another level in 2018. People should just get a grip. I was thinking about this the other day actually, if I had to show pro-wrestling to someone who never saw it now, I surely would either show some japanese stuff or some lucha libre (despite the fact I'm not watching lucha libre, really) to try and demonstrate why this is cool and can be really great. There's no way I'm showing any US stuff.

That G1 is the most compelling piece of booking I've seen in eons. Not to mention the wild matches. Who are you to doubt Gedo ? (hataz gonna hate, of course, but at this point, there's an underlying anti-Japanese sentiment that echoes through the Meltz bashing) The Budokan trifecta will probably be one insane week-end.

I see Ibushi winning too (not my favourite, but Naito ain't winning again and I don't see Omega going to the final three years in a row). The A Block is trickier. Way trickier (which makes up for being not as great along the ride). All three scenario work actually. I see Ibushi winning against Tana or White, but losing against Okada.

The crazy idea that makes the basis for the G1 so great is that wins and losses do matter. I know, crazy concept. But that's it basically. Then you get all these intricate stories depending on the worker, which makes the win/loss matter even after they are eliminated from the run at the win (not giving any exemple to not spoil anything). And of course, you get some of the greatest workers ever having great matches almost on a nightly basis, which is the cherry on the cake. But the basis of all this is : wins and losses matter. That's your basic story. And it builds from there. Pro-wrestling really isn't that hard to do. It's a wonder why some just can't seem to do it right...

Oh, so there's gonna be an Omega match ? Well, there is that I guess. When I look at this card, the six-men involving Rey & Fenix and Okada vs Scurll are the only two match I want to see. Omega vs Pentagon would not be a big deal for me as I've been down on Penta for a while now (yeah Zero Fear, we fucking get it, don't need to do it a hundred times per match). The ROHesque undercard does zilch for me. Ok, Janela vs Page could be fun, but that's it.

So, it's officially the Mania of indies. Sold on the name, lineup is meh.

Ishii vs Omega on Day 14. Motherfuckers... I've lost count on legit great matches already (and I don't drop "great match" label that easily either), but this one was another level of incredible. And then Naito and Ibushi manage to follow it up. For fuck's sake.

Funny you should mention Dr. Death, because the more I watch him the more he looks like the worst possible Steve Williams ever in the worst possible pro-wrestling world ever. It's like he picked up all the worse trait of Dr. Death and none of what made him great (or even fun to watch). His piss poor approach of pro-wrestling was perfectly summarized in these two spots during his match against Fale : at this point, he's selling his injured shoulder like crazy, meaning he's keeping his arm bent and close to his chest (good) and simply does this "I'm taking a shit" pose he always does (bad). Anyway, he's selling it like crazy. Except, when he does a superkick, he emphatically uses his arm to slap his tight, because he's a tigh slapper like that. And I mean, Shawn Micheals like emphatic (and damn, thank you Micheals for all this bullshit, among other stupid stuff like delaying you finisher forever while making it obvious to the opponent who often looks stupid taking it). So, it's not like going through pain to execute an offensive move : it's fucking superkick ! Yet, he flails his arm to slap his tigh and make a stupid noise effect. Dumb as fuck. Then later, he actually uses his injured elbow as a weapon, throwing a huge-ass elbow shot to try and KO Fale. Ok, so, since he's been selling this shit all the time between spots and this has effectively hampered his power stuff, he's gonna sell this like it hurts like hell, right ? Wrong. He just throw the fucking elbow like nothing and go for his nearfall. Then, goes back to selling it. Elgin's "great selling" in a nutshell. Yeah, at this point (Day 13), I'm really, really tired of the guy in featured matches everyday. Apart from that, you can see as the tournament progress in the second half that they are getting a bit tired and they do work some shorter matches (or so it feels to me, I haven't punched a clock). They are clearly aiming at getting some wind back before the three Budokan shows. Tons of cool stuff still in the big points matches and some cool detail booking. Hangman Page vs Togi Makabe was a nice surprise in how good it was too (I'm not saying it was great or anything, but really good and solid and well worked on both parts).

The SummerSlam 97 edition was good. Bruce tells fun stories about the wrestling cruise, Conrad seemed motivated as it's a really interesting time in the company (and his favourite year, as it should, really), very few if any bitching about the dirt-sheet. The following editions could be good too as they tackle subjects which are hot periods (Hogan 89 - SummerSlam 98 - SummerSlam 88). Hopefully this is a return to form now that they don't have the burden of the Network version show to do.

You weren't kidding. His week to week character was more annoying than anything else outside of a few Cactusy moments, and in the ring Foley looked washed up beyond belief for a guy his age (wonder why....). Yeah, first half of 2009 is mostly a complete waste of time. Very few things to enjoy really. The worst talent/product ratio since Russo's WCW.

The Airport Ghetto Street Fight between star rappers Booba & Kaaris (and their crew). (Orly Airport - Paris - France - 08.01.2018) Booba clearly was the biggest heel here, but there was really no babyface. They worked stiff but it was a little sloppy at times. At 0:44, gotta love the bump on the chairs from a single leg-kick, that was classic. The Duty Free brawl part was the highlight, with a great Horsemen style beatdown at 1:20. You can see the blood on the floor too, so you got some nice juice going on from the playaz. Guy filming the shit at 1:32 talking slang, which I sadly can't translate accurately, but he's your typical white boy using arab/african "street" verbatim (wesh and all), so it's funny because it's so lame. Later on though, Booba and the crew were all "Bunch of faggots !" and also "Your grand-mother (???) you son of a bitch." Cheap heat, that... No contest. Next time in the prison yard I guess. Dumbfucks.

"Crypt the Keeper !!!" That's legendary stuff (I know, this was in IWA, not WIN*G as far as I know) And really, I take any of these quick goofy pro-wrestling promos over the modern WWE format of endless badly acted charmless monologues and dull back and forth neverending exchanges.

I must add I love relaxed, goofy Okada. The whole thing has its ups and downs obviously, but I've reached Day 10 watching the entire cards without any sign of burning out. Block B days are obviously delivering the best stuff every time around.

Elgin managed to have the weakest of the Suzuki matches thus far. That's all there is to say about it. Meanwhile, Jay White keeps on being an awesome heel, including in the tag matches. Hangman Page is more hit and miss to me, he's got that indierriffic kinda style that doesn't always work well with me. He has to stop doing that ridiculous standing shooting star press outside, it looks dangerous as hell and the impact always looks crappy. On the other hand, I've been enjoying Fale a lot, including with all the bullshit by the Tongans. At least, it's consistent. Sabre Jr. is just great. That face he made when SANADA was all of a sudden going toe to toe with him on the mat... Speaking of which, SANADA vs Ibushi was as terrific a stallion match could be. Ishii, Tana, Okada, Naito, well, they are as great as they are supposed to be. Omega is having quite the tourney thus far too, despite working injured apparently.

I've stopped using Amazon last year for this reason. At some point, I'd rather pay 5 euros more for a CD (yeah, I'm still buying CDs, go fuck off)+ s&h from the label's site directly rather than giving money to such a horrible company. I know there's plenty out there and I'm probably using lots of them still, but when you know exactly what they do and how they operate, then it's your choice to keep on or check out.

You don't say. It just can't be !

Yeah, that and the "Signing the wrong one legged man" story that never ever get old. The fact Bruce is a great storyteller when he wants to is what still saves the show for me and still have me listen to it weekly, despite the annoying bullshit.