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It's easy to dunk on him and mock him (believe me, I've done it a lot and probably will in the future) but this still kinda feels like the end of an era.

I really thought that was Undertaker for a minute there.

Relax, guy. Bagging on team for losing 3 straight to another team who lost two superstars is not bullshit. It's fun. Toronto can't be a letdown. They're doing what was expected of them.

Somewhere in hell, Marge Schott is in tears lol

Man, I kinda love that conspiracy idea. Obviously it would be scummy, but it’s wrestling, so we have to accept—and maybe even celebrate—some of that. If I can project some silly pop psychology, I’d suggest NOAH and it’s diehard fans might have some identity/insecurity issues on display here. That is, big companies don’t get poached, and it is perhaps hard to accept that they are nowhere near a big company anymore, that it doesn’t matter that they could once run Dome shows and wildly outdrew New Japan across the country. I don’t think, for instance, that there was much vitriol when Kenny left DDT or SANADA left Wrestle-1; as I recall, fans were basically like “yeah, we’re an indie, this is what happens”. But while NOAH is no bigger than those companies now—maybe smaller, honestly—it’s hard to let go of that legacy as one of Japan’s big three, even if there’s now only one.

Very funny WWE meets Avengers: Infinity War:

No love for Paul Orndroff's elbow drop

It started because they were running two ppvs in several months, one for each brand. That didn't seem to help add any network subs, so they scaled back to 12 a year (give or take a sold show for a rich foreign government) But that made it harder for them to book each show when sometimes they'd go a couple months without a solo brand ppv for one show (like if RAW had the October ppv and then Survivor Series in November basically puts all storylines on the back burner for the head to head thing, SmackDown wouldn't have the big blow off show until December despite not having had one since September) And though Vic is right they did run quite a bit of TV in the 80's as well, there were a lot less marque matches and the understanding that some of the programs would only blow off on the road and not on ppv. Squash matches will never come back as a major full time thing, which is a shame because it sure did make getting finishers over and establishing characters easier. But it's important to understand that, by far, the biggest driver of WWE's frankly insane revenue is tv rights, not live events anymore. Then they also were struggling to sell tickets to some of the solo brand ppvs, so adding the headliners from the other brand as well would hopefully help with that. I can understand all the realities of why they are doing it but still dislike it intensely.

It is called building. You can't get excited by what is essentially a reboot of a program that has been bogged down by Enzo(who I point out that he did not make 205 Live exciting after his catchphrase ended) or Vince's booking decisions. It is going to take time. Right now, everyone save for Cedric is rebuilding their character and match psychology. Gulak is now more aggressive and technical while retooling his character into something more intimidating. The Lucha House Party are now starting to gain character, Ali is becoming the exciting Gargano/Zayn underdog that HHH loves to use in every program that he is behind. TJP is being his natural asshole self except now he is competent. Hideo is starting to become his own character and etc. You can say that Cedric could be more exciting, but he can't really do that in less than 10 minute matches. And from what I have seen, he does not seem partial to character building at all. His job is to put on the best matches of whatever show he is on and right now, he is batting .500. Cedric is Seth Rollins before NXT took off. His entire role with the belt is to put on good to decent matches while not having much of a character. Everyone else is supposed to get better and look better while Cedric is simply the flat character who, imo, is the best wrestler on 205 Live if not one of the best in WWE does not change yet. Character wise, he is Finn Balor except a shit ton better in the ring and we are waiting for Samoa Joe to take the title off him(Gulak). So far NXT worked with HHH sticking to a formula that takes time and did not pick up immediately. Not sure if you are a Philadelphia fan, but I say just trust the process. Give it more than two months As for the suggestion to put guys like Woods,Young, Ricochet, Strong and the Undisputed Era, Dunne, Bate, Balor, and etc in the 205 Live roster and make the division open for anyone wants to or can compete, yes. I have been wanting this since it became a division again. I want. My complaint with Enzo and even Goldust is that WWE, for some reason, wants to keep guys away from the title that actually would draw attention to the show. Finn Balor, as I have said before, should absolutely be in this division and the shift should not make him less viable for the Universal or WWE Title. Sami Zayn could lose the weight and compete. What is going to legitimize 205 Live as the show is to put on the best matches with the best workers, and it hurts it that you have guys who would be a perfect fit being alienated away from it.

"Don't talk to the judge alone! Let Anders and Thomas do the talking for you! Right Glenn?" "The government said I owed years of taxes. Then I called Anders and Thomas!" "Thanks, Glenn, we'll see you next visitor's day. You, too, can negotiate a pretty decent plea deal. Call Anders and Thomas at 555-5555." "Don't want no jive? Call 5555!" "Cut! Great take, guys. Now switch suits and try it again!"

You guys have been debating, meanwhile my brain broke when it was implied that The Beautiful People were better than anyone at anything.

Ummm, stalling and heel tactics are in-ring work.

Yep.

The first two episodes of COBRA KAI are up for free on YouTube: Just watched episode 1, so far, so good.

Yeah, it looks like Youtube has mainly random clips as well as a few full shows of the compilation tapes that the promotion put out. But if you can find the Super Ladies Showdown, that's a decent show with the tournament to crown a Japanese champion as well as a nice Bambi/Malia Hosaka vs Glamour Girls match and Rockin Robin vs Black Venus. Some other matches to check out from off of the top of my head: Madusa vs Malia Hosaka Team America vs Bad Black and Beautiful Team America vs The Nasty Girls Bambi vs Magnificent Mimi' Glamour Girls vs Wendi Richter and Rockin Robin (I marked so hard for this as a kid lol)

Sounds like a goddamned slurpee

All of this. As a kid, I was wowed by the JBA and the GG were just...there but, as I got older, I began to really appreciate the work of Kai and Martin. They are two very talented and solid workers who have not gotten their due mainly for the reason you listed. But, looking back, they were doing really innovative stuff for the time.

Why not both? Being conspirational we could assume that whole reason behind ridiculous Suzuki-gun booking was to tank NOAH and make it cheaper for buyout and eventual pillage. But either way I think that people wouldn't be happy with one of their favourites jumping shit. Imagine if Kento left AJPW for NJPW? Even without all the bad blood I think that AJPW fans would be pissed.

I think part of it is he implied his goal was to go become a star in America, which is viewed as a more acceptable reason for leaving, and now it appears the plan was New Japan all along. Regarding the alleged attempt at destruction: People have argued the Suzuki-gun booking nearly did that, but I imagine people are referring to the rumor that New Japan (or their parent) was looking to buy and absorb NOAH.

You mean Evolution isn't a mystery?

Lashley vs. Matanza would be pretty damn amazing.

He trios match was a ton of fun and what TNA has always done well, here's 6 talented cruiser weights, watch hem have a hell of a match. The ending segment was great and I'm glad they are using the women in a different way than WWE. Rosemary and Su Yung are fantastic, Allie was great "sorry, not sorry", and the undead brides were great. decent show, but for some reason I am sick of Matt Sydal, can't explain why but he has "fast forward" heat with me right now

Thee were, I think, 46 field goals made by the Pelicans. That means nearly half of them were assisted by Rondo. Unreal.

Okay, the obvious story coming out of the game is Anthony Davis, Destroyer of Worlds, but... TWENTY-ONE MOTHERFUCKING ASSISTS!!!

Are either of these more human than human?

Started playing my Gamecube heavily. Never owned a Gamecube or paid any attention to it when it was current gen. Didn't even realize there were new Zelda, Metroid, Mario, and DK games until on it until a few months ago. KInda digging it. Has a lot of bright, colorful fun games. I don't feel like the catalog is that deep, but there's quite a few games I either love or am eager to try. Currently playing Jungle Beat (DK). It's a lot of fun, but I can't figure out if the bongo controller is a work of genius or evidence someone at Nintendo secretly hates game players. Made the mistake of trying to play with the wife in the room. Won't be doing that again.

Crazy lucky score today. Stopped by the local thrift store and there was a weird pair of old homebrew speakers. What looks to be maybe a Fisher cabinet form the late 1960s, but the grills and back were all newer and a homemade crossover/Lpad. Had no idea if they were any good but they were $20 and the woodworking was really nice and accurate and careful so I took a chance. Get them home and can't get the grills off because there is no grill frame, just grill cloth glued down onto the from of the cabinet and I'd have to cut it off and probably scrape it away. Can't back the back off because not only is it screwed in but sealed with some kind of sealant and fit so tightly that if I try and pry it off I'll wreck the whole thing. So I have no idea what's in there. So I just say fuck it and plug them in and they are absolutely amazing. They are now basically the best speakers I've ever owned and I may never know who made them or what the actual drivers are or anything.

So after that loss is it safe to say the Broooooooinz are pretty much... licked???

At least he didn’t fully dress up... **Shit, I didn’t realize it was the Spanish version. Fuck it.

I enjoyed everything involved with the main event/closing segment. Everyone involved is really good in their role and I like the Undead Bridesmaids. Tessa shines as a heel and I can see the fans getting behind Kiera much as they did Allie.

Makes sense, seeing as he's the last man to foil a Brendan Rodgers title bid.

Shirts with charitable donations should never be on sale, defeats the point. Or just give $30 straight to the charity.

On a different APW show at the end of the month MANSOOR (as seen on the WWE GRR) is returning to the bay area!

In part due to the commentary? Which past local promos that we rarely got to see because women were not featured that way at the time, was the only way they were presented. You’re arguing for stuff which doesn’t, wouldn’t, and couldn’t exist basically? Look, I don't blame you for the in-ring stuff. Conventional Wisdom both then AND now is that the JBA were these special talents that the poor yokels who normally consumed cruddy WWF wrestling and crummy US women's wrestling of the 80s were BLESSED to get to see, and that the GGs were just the stiffs who were int here to work with them. That's decades of wrestling lore and understanding. It's wrong because of how we have come to value other things over the years and you have to watch the footage to see that. I don't fault you for buying into the traditional view. The rest though? That's pretty out there. You want WWF to have used them or highlight talents that it never would have highlighted, whether they had them or not due to the era and prevailing philosophy. Richter was super over, hugely over, but she still had a mouthpiece and a celebrity hook.

More previews from Diamond got read. Man of Steel #1 is good. Very good, even. I didn't like the preview stories in either Action #1000 or DC Nation but this read well. The new big bad has an interesting history and dips cosmic in some cool ways. Most importantly, Bendis writes Superman right. Can't speak too much to the art since it was pencil and ink with aggressive amounts of watermarking but looks like it could be good too. Really makes me feel good about Bendis' run after a shaky start. The Unexpected is a blast. Steve Orlando having fun with a blend of cosmic stuff, Multiverse stuff, Dark Multiverse stuff, and some big action. Very much playing off precedents set by Snyder and Morrison while doing his own thing with it. Highly recommend not sleeping on that one when it hits.

Peter King is leaving SI after 29(!) years for NBC. Unrelated, fuck Peter King and the MMQB.

Happy birthday, Mark. Pro: meanest press-slam ever. Con: No idea what's up with the camera angles.

If his elbow doesn't knock you out, his right tit will smother you

His finisher could've been awkwardly jamming his forearm down his opponents mouth

I love how safe Saturn is being in this gif. He crawls to his spot, hangs on to something to get in position, then carefully butt-scoots off to fall from a sitting position rather than trying to do it standing. Like, "I was an Army Ranger but even I am not crazy enough to trust this rickety-ass Paul E. contraption."

A great top rope elbow drop not mentioned till now, Tyson Kidd's:

Reminder that great elbows don't need to come off the top rope.

That OG off Milner's head was something.

(***)

The machines have learned Yano level intelligence. I'm sure this is the start of Skynet.