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Sitting at a hotel bar next to Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia right now and let me just tell you, they are the sweetest people in the world. This probably won't embed, but... https://i.postimg.cc/NMVdJjJj/IMG-7132.jpg

I feel like any discussion of the main event should really start with Jon Moxley giving a stadium-sized performance. From swaggering confidence, to drifting into madness as the blood started to pour, to his indignation at Hangman’s audacity to not stay down, and finally culminating in that moment of terror when he was caught in the chain and couldn’t escape, there’s a whole story in the range of emotions he goes through over the course of the match, and Mox played them all to the rafters. He gave his all to make this match work, to make it worth the wait, and I think he succeeded.

Bull Nakano liked a tweet I made mentioning her and I’m totally marking out bro

I’m just going to repeat myself from the Discord. In a world of shit it feels so fucking good to cheer on my guy, watch this with my daughter, be jumping out of my seat like a crazy person, and shed some tears because I’m happy and something good happened. Actual catharsis. Thank you pro wrestling. Hangman is my fucking hero. I fucking love pro wrestling and this was everything I love about. And it had all of the little things too, like AmDrag’s side plates still being on the title. I’m fucking spent and you’re all the best.

God, look at that pic of the stadium in Osprey's tweet. Totally empty. Embarrassing.

https://x.com/Brodyxking/status/1936106806641566140 Links still won't imbed, but Brody King is selling an Abolish ICE shirt and all proceeds will go to the Local Hearts Foundation to help families that have been affected by the raids and whatnot. based Brody

Brody King wearing an Abolish ICE shirt. Much respect Hangman Page cutting a hell of a promo in Spanish. I was not aware he had that in his toolbox.

If you all missed tonight's Swerve/Hangman segment. You REALLY should go out of your way to find it. Cinema.

People knew about the Sleaze thread 20 years in advance?

Lashley giving AR Fox a thumbs up at ringside after Fox hit the Lo Mein Rain was hilarious. After working first for Vince and then for a soulless corporation, I can definitely see how he’d find AEW to be pretty great. People who criticize TK, or any boss, for being “too nice,” are mentally ill. Thinking kindness is a negative is sociopathic. Needing a domineering lunatic to tell you what to do and treat you as less than in order to keep you in line just means you’re not a responsible adult and probably have daddy issues.

Dear DVDVR Forum, you won’t believe what happened to me tonight….

https://bsky.app/profile/allelitewrestling.com/post/3lrjx3u5vn225 Lee Moriarty vs Blue Panther in Arena Mexico and they're using DEAN's name to promote it. Oh what a time to be alive.

Holy shit, the Outrunners Newport cigs tights are the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.

They did, but the only wrestlers who agreed to go were Antonio Inoki and Masa Saito.

Next week will be the best birthday week/weekend for me. Day before is Dynamite, turn 36 on Thursday (Collision), I'm off work that weekend and that's when Supercard of Honor, All In, Evolution and SNME happen. Not to mention whatever indies are running shows in the Texas area that weekend that'll be on IWTV or Fite. I'm gonna overdose on cake and wrestling, y'all.

FUCK. YEAH.

So that was a great way to spend 2.5 hours. Some really fun matches and the build to ALL IN is really heating up. -Hangman cutting an entire promo in Spanish -Crowd HATES Atlantis Jr. and pops by association - Mistico's entrance was unbelievable -Toni Sandiego suplexes Mercedes and all the belts go flying like Sonic Rings -Main Event advancing all the key stories as well

There’s so much to be said about how AEW told the story of a reluctant, self-doubting hero and his hesitant friends coming together for the common good, compared to WWE’s simplistic, alpha male, lone wolf, I am a tough guy and very badass characters and storylines. I am so thankful for AEW, its staff, and wrestlers for doing what they do and telling stories designed to appeal to more than just 14 year old white kids.

Thinking more about Mox’s performance and what this might have meant to him… At the first Grand Slam, he worked a tag match with Eddie against Suzuki-gun. At the All In 2023, he was in a Stadium Stampede match with like 20 dudes. He wasn’t even on All In last year. Even his Wrestle Kingdom matches were midcard affairs for the US title. So this was really his first opportunity to prove that “Mox” is an equal to his Shield peers as a stadium-level main event act. Can’t help but feel like that was some extra motivation for him.

AEW is so fucking good at wrapping stories up in a way to make fans explode with happiness. Hopefully some of y'all who are still scarred from years of WWE telling you to fuck off can start to heal

FUUUUUUUUUCKKKK YEEEEEEAAAAAHHH! What a show. Little dude was literally jumping on the couch in excitement multiple times during this show. Especially in the main. It hit me during the Bucks match that there hasn’t been a wrestling show in forever that I’ve cared about the outcomes of so many matches so much.

Jimmy just has this charisma that works better in person. Had seen him for years on TV and liked him. Then a decade ago was helping out on a show he worked in North MS. (yes same show where he got asked about the glass table story and replied with Brother I am tired of the lies and half truths about me on the internet... it was the Midnights that walked in not the Rock n Rolls) In person there is something about Jimmy that just makes you smile. And he had to be late 70s when I saw him that time.

That's Vince for you. The man is a lunatic and sincerely believed his product was better than anything out there, including the top drawing sport in the country. "We have Santino!" He took up permanent residence in the WWF/E bubble and probably got his mail delivered there. Absolutely! Flair/Garvin had some excellent, brutal matches. It was just that Garvin was in that mid-level Flair challenger group where you know you'd get a good match but none of those guys were at Flair's level in the kayfabe hierarchy. Like Flair would defend against Ricky Morton and Road Warrior Hawk on Bash tours but you knew they weren't going to win the belt. That's the level Garvin was at...but then he won the belt. Also, as you mentioned, the "going on a three month sabbatical to train for the rematch" was a dumb move and also not a good story for a babyface. OnlyFins? It's 1995 and a young Jay Reso is practicing flat back bumps with Ron Hutchison in a run down gym in Kitchener, Ontario. He gets a strange feeling and, for reasons he doesn't yet understand, realizes a deep desire for kinship with, and possibly to even mentor, Carl Oulette. It makes no sense to him then, but it will eventually.

Now it's obvious you're saying dumb shit just to say shit. Back to ignore, you're insufferable.

Well she sneaks around the world from Kiev to Carolina! She's a sticky-fingered filcher from Berlin down to Belize! Last week... we were in Mexico! Hope you got your fix of margaritas and elote! She'll take you for a ride on a slow boat to China... Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Then over on Collision... Okada and an old friend made themselves re-acquainted! (See, this is the sort of gay storyline I can go for. Sexual tension instead of the other one telling her opponent how she's going to fuck her to death in the ring.) Whoa, tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Tell me, where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? (Back to Chile) Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? This week! Kota can't just get a date with the Rainmaker, he has to earn it~! (Rockapella is her personal band? Arrest them immediately! They have to know some details of her plans.) Enjoy the week! Stay cool out there!

So Punk didn't hit just eat a shit sandwich this week, he took a trip to an all you can eat buffet shit sandwich. Hope it was worth it

As a friend, I implore you: Please, lighten up a little. It's OK for wrestling to just be fun sometimes: That is gorgeous. That is lovely. That is a group of people spontaneously enjoying themselves. That is a sense of community. That IS a positive part of what pro wrestling can be, these days. Not every match needs to take the crowd on a complex journey (although it's great when that happens. It's the best). This kind of silly fun is also good, though. One nice thing is: Obviously your irrational hatred of maximalist flippy overkill and crowds going into business for themselves hasn't killed your love of pro wrestling overall. Possibly, it helps you enjoy the kind of wrestling you love even more; having something to contrast it with. Similar, perhaps to how my (entirely rational and logical) loathing of corporate sports entertainment superstar culture probably helps me love my precious goofy honest indie bullshit pro wrestling even more. But. Please. If you cannot enjoy those creative and spontaneous Kyle chants, you are REALLY missing out on some fun.

Fragile ego, fragile body, weak mind, weak spirit Punk gave some interview around Mania where he said something like, "why is it everybody else can say things and then say, 'that was my wrestling character,' but when I say things, everyone thinks it's me?" Like bro, since the start of your career, you have portrayed your "wrestling character" as 100% shoot, real you. NOW that everyone is catching on that the real you is kind of a douchebag, my man is trying to fall back on kayfabe. Or do we consider all his performative activism part of his wrestling character, too? Conspicuous women's rights t-shirts? Real Pro-Palestine insta posts? Real Old tweets and interviews shitting on Saudi? Wrestling character Amazing After seeing the way he's conducted himself over the years, watching Punk elbow Miz and say "save some of that sanguinous cock for me!" is awesome. To @TheVileOne's point: Just don't hold yourself up as some paragon of progressive causes and this shit would never happen. I kind of believe @EVA. I bet the dude really needs the money. As for the little kid who wanted a pic that Punk shoved aside, dude should know he needed to be 9 years older and female.

Hangman is visibly shaken when Swerve admits to him that he deserved what he got several months back. Hangman wrestles with that as the two circle each other with the overlap of the Bucks and the Death Riders. He then sees that maybe he has a way to process all that trauma by hashing something out with Swerve, even if it's just a confirmation of something he already knew. An honest-to-God therapy session with the man who he despises the most. Swerve then takes the chain left behind and figures if he's going to truly walk the walk, he will do for Page what Page did for him and give him the help Page didn't ask for but knew he needed. He hands him the chain after showing his value to Page, and Page knows the way to victory lies with how he won the last time he fought Moxley in the Revolution Texas Death Match, and hangs him over the top with the chain Swerve gave back to him, exorcising all his demons in one fell swoop as Mox taps out exactly as he did those years before. PROFESSIONAL. MOTHERFUCKING. WRESTLING.

AEW RULES THE MOTHER FUCKING WORLD!!! RIP the late great DEAN.

Meltzer: Bryan Danielson revealed that WWE sent him letters telling him not to do the “Yes” chant. He was always careful not to start it while on television. I guess they saw him doing it in one of his recent off television cameos and didn’t see it that way. Natural: Fuck off WWE.

I ended up with some pretty choice assignments anyway. Also had one of my solves broadcast over the stream, which is pretty cool. The competition was amazing, with one dramatic moment after another in the Finals of different events. 3x3 Finals was amazing, coming down to the last solve before being won with an average time of 4.23. The crowd exploded for it, 5000 people going nuts. Awesome. And a friend of mine, who I've been watching compete for 7 years, successfully defended his world title, competing in his hometown. Being the first to tell his parents he'd won (it's tough to follow from the audience if you're not tracking the times online, which they weren't) and hugging them was awesome. They are just about the nicest people ever. So, yeah, great stuff.

The casino four way was loads of fun. I like that it acknowledges that there really isn't a difference between the #1 and 2 spots in these kinda matches. Probably the smallest gripe I can have about the Royal Rumble is that the #1 spot is always touted as this absolute mountain to overcome when the second entrant pretty much has to do the same thing. I was wondering too if Max lost that match, how would Mark feel about having that shirt made and not being able to do anything with it? Part of me really thought Mina was gonna win to set up Mercedes winning at Texas. Speaking of that weekend, I got so hyped for Takeshita and Bandido only to realize it's on the night before. Not that I've watched RoH since AEW took it over but that match sounds like a total banger. Was surprised Okada won clean but it was a nice reminder that the Rainmaker has been a killshot since he came to AEW. If Okada wins I'm definitely looking forward to some Golden Lovers tag matches, say vs. Hurt Business or FTR. -Edit- Pink Pony Club was my pride month anthem this year. As someone who figured out shit well into adulthood, it took me back to being a confused and feel like I listened to that song for that younger me, "Hey, you'll find your place and your people someday. They're out there."

It's July 1st. CANADA DAY! Get out of here with that American nonsense.

On Wednesday, I'm heading to Seattle for the 2025 Rubik's Cube World Championship. At 2000 entrants, it's the largest competition ever. They sold something like 4500 spectator tickets for it, too. I'll be competing - poorly - and mostly staffing. ESPN will be there for a segment for their "50 States in 50 Days" thing they're doing. Kevin Negandhi will be there, presumably interviewing folks. In round 1 of the main 3x3 event, I'll be in the catbird seat, judging the world record holders in the event with a decent chance of being up close for a world record. To say I'm stoked about the whole thing would be a gigantic understatement.

We chanted Percy at Paul Bearer and he replied in character, Percy's in the Urn!

I think we need to take a step back and think about how this is a six year old company and some are bemoaning the fact that they’ve only just now broken 20 THOUSAND TICKETS sold for a stadium show in the US (with two weeks to go, and that’s ignoring the fact that AEW shows like these always do better in the week before/days leading up). AEW was founded, basically, on the idea that no show in modern times could sell even 10k tickets. And they did. Then AEW has done that over and over again. And eclipsed that 10k bet several times. Just the idea that an alternative choice can sell what they’ve already done for a stadium show should make people extremely happy. Not be down in their feelings that they aren’t doing more. It’s already on pace to be the biggest gate they’ve ever had. But let’s be sad about them not getting a few thousand more I guess? What???

Hope you didn’t pull anything making such a stretch.

Seriously? Give me a goofy John Silver TNT Title run over any of the last year of the title. Jack Perry? Boring reign. Garcia? Boring reign. Adam Cole? So far boring reign. Not a knock on any of the performers. But a fun zany John Silver run (especially back when he was hot) would have been much better than what we've gotten.

That's my vote for the 2025 most disgusting promotional tactic.

Appreciate it. Here it is if anyone wants it: http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2025/06/aew-five-fingers-of-death-and-friends_23.html

Please, please, let's not re-litigate Punk's exit from AEW again.

I may or may not have much more about this show. I thought it was dope as hell. I just wanted to chime in on the Hangman Love-fest. That dude is too good for this business. Can you even imagine what a sanctimonious, self-righteous piece of shit one would have to be to not get along with a standup human being like Adam Page? Imagine the deep-seated insecurity required to see a quality human being like Hangman Page as a threat? Lots of guys in this business talk the talk when it comes to speaking out about human rights. Hangman Page cut a promo in spanish in Mexico during a highly tumultuous week in our nation's history. I could be completely wrong, but when I listen to a guy like Hangman speak fondly of a handful of migrant workers he encountered during childhood, remembering their names, and generally just being a wonderful human, i almost get a little misty-eyed. I have a young son, and I want him to grow up to be a guy like Hangman Page.

I think I'm getting back into AEW and it's because of Mercedes Mone and Toni Storm. Also the Hangman/Osprey/Swerve stuff. Make room on the wagon.

I drank so much Scotch. Great show.

When my wife and I were in Hawaii for our honeymoon, she very quickly got sick of me saying, “You know, here they just call them shirts.” every time we’d see a Hawaiian shirt.

Sir we are discussing professional wrestling not the wedding you went to last week

As someone who loved The Cat's drunk country karate uncle gimmick (we really haven't explored the diversity of goofy black uncles in wrestling), I'd be all the way into him and Duggan having a feud. Hear me out. Do a series of vignettes where The Cat and Duggan are neighbors who are both having cookouts at the same time, they begin to argue about who makes the best barbecue, and after a day of drinking they start brawling. The entire angle is about two men who have too much pride to admit the other man's barbecue is just as tasty as their own. The blowoff wouldn't even be a match, it would be a barbecue cookoff at Great American Bash where the judges taste both men's barbecue and give both perfect 10s. They then look at each other, and realize they're both right, they toast a beer, and hug it out. I might shed a tear after that.

BE-AU-TI-FUL

In hindsight, "our executives are stupid" may have been a little too on the nose.