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MAKE MY WISH COME TRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUE... BABY ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS ISSSSSSSSSSS.... A thread that doesn't get derailed based on topics that we do *not* need to be discussing here. Don't get baited! Just use the "Ignore User" feature!

I'm slowly playing catch up. The pre-show was excellent, by the way. Not a lot to specifically say but I'm very much looking forward to 2.0 vs Top Flight. (Heel) FTR vs Top Flight would probably be better, but 2.0 is very much up there in working a traditional tag style without everything breaking down and getting stupid too early. They could ground things perfectly for Top Flight. The Willow vs Adora match felt a little weird on a hierarchy perspective for me, if only because I think a year ago both were positioned pretty equally out in the indies and now Willow's really become a star. It's not that Adora isn't a good hand, because she is and the match was good, but Willow is definitely ascendant and it feels like Adora really hasn't gotten her shot. Dorada vs Cobb could have been midway through the main show. It really was the great Lucha Underground match we never got. Top flight's finish was sick, but more than that, Darius showed me something unique for the first time. We've seen so much Dante and so little of him relatively and I wasn't sure what he brought to the table but more of the same, just with less hangtime. But he had some amazing fire with his punch flurry and that'll make him a great hot tag in the years to come if he can keep on channeling it. If they ran another ROH PPV tomorrow, I think I'd be more excited for what got named to the pre-show than whatever the show was itself. Just random, joyous peak-AEW style energy there. The opener was good. I like Christian more in tag settings I think. He really got mauled once things opened up on the outside. Dralistico being full rudo instead of a tweener or a tecnico that's booed and acts accordingly, is weird to me. Didn't they attack him before anyway? Ian is a big dork, but he's a very, very quick dork. And a very well prepared one, and he's able to pivot, if not in the moment, than immediately thereafter. I'm a dork too and he notices a bunch of the stuff I might, or references things I would. Things like calling Rush's cable an extra auxiliary one. Sometimes, it's like giving people superfluous information in a world problem, but that's kind of how I live my life so I sympathize. The finish was pretty viable to me, with them making sure that RUSH couldn't break up the pinfall. I thought it was going to come earlier on something more haphazard. There's no shame in getting pinned on a 450 after escaping one or two other pinfalls in an obvious finishing stretch. I assume this was just how things were supposed to be since Vance was very quick to note that he'd be talking to JR on Friday in the post match interview. Also, does he just have bad posture or what? He didn't look all that big on the outside next to Jose. I know Jose is pretty ripped but Vance is supposed to be a big heavyweight dude. I'm a little torn on Mercedes vs Athena. I loved the immediate dodge of the Forearm-That-Athena-Uses-To-Start-Her-Matches and it was a big moment when she hit it later. Likewise, I loved how she missed the shotgun dropkick on the outside but then hit it into the exposed post to set up the finish. And obviously, Mercedes is an emotive pro's pro and was able to adapt on the fly to playing de facto heel, but this match would have been better if it had the logical heel/face dynamic. There was too much that Athena wanted to do within the match that was just set to get boos, and even though Mercedes adapted and even though the crowd was happy to cheer Athena for doing bad things, I could see a rematch somewhere in... Ohio or something, being a lot better than this turned out being (through no real fault of the wrestlers).

Velocity from 2002-2004 was arguably one of my favorite wrestling shows ever. As a kid, there was something magical about some late Saturday night wrestling. Followed by Confidential!

They're very good. There was a moment where Athena was really playing up the 9 count and rushed back into the ring and I think Coleman covered by saying that she had such amazing fight in her to make the 10 count when she had 20 and that gave Ian time to think things through and note that Athena's been more used to wrestling under AEW rules than ROH rules, and then Coleman bounced back on how that could give Mercedes an advantage in general. It just worked out really well and they do that sort of thing a lot. I was thinking about maybe hiring Nigel either to replace Regal in the BCC or to help announce ROH and the latter is really not necessary.

Not only will there be brands, but authority figures. Shad Khan - “The name on the contract does say Khan...however the contract reads SHAD Khan!!!!

I remember Noble being one of the reasons Velocity was must watch TV

Settle down MLnetico

When I think of Jamie Noble, it's his WWE run as WWE Cruiserweight Champion in 2002, as James Gibson in 2005 winning the ROH World Championship, "Why, Vickie why?" in WWE's 2007 and J&J Security in 2014-2015.

Vince McMahon x Northern Boys - YouTube Since WWE blocked that Botchamania for hurting their feelings, Maffew got the clip itself posted individually on Youtube Again, NSFW

Samoa Joe's the best. Keep both belts on Joe for ages.

If I'm gonna be an edgelord I'm gonna do it in the service of cultivating worthwhile discussion about wrestling. Alright, so, FTR/Briscoes 3. Nobody with the gift of sight (or taste) is gonna call this anything less than a classic. But I just gotta give in to that 20% percent of my brain that wants to gripe. The second the bell rang, I thought to myself "all four of these guys are gonna blade". One of the reasons we bitch about guys "getting their shit in" is because when you're waiting for that inevitable highspot, it takes you out of the scene. It takes you out of the realism and the belief suspension of good theater. Yeah some spots always get a pop and it's smart to know how to use them, but they're cheap pops. They're catchphrases. When James Evans died in a tragic car accident, the last shot of the episode wasn't JJ going "That's not very Dy-no-mite ;(". And that's where FTR loses me a lot. They are the most crushingly self-aware act in the business. FTR fool us, because most Pretentious High-End Wrestling is aping Shawn Michaels and 90's AJPW-cum-00's NOAH and kickouts and no-sells and moonsaults and post-ECW plunderbumps and a really rigid, maximalist approach to the nearfall section of a match. FTR's territorial Mid-South 'n Crockett worship might be a different flavor of reverence than we're used to but they'd still rather pray than preach. The fact that they mark out over their Meltzer stars as part of their gimmick should tell you enough - would Arn Anderson even consider doing something like that? Like I love that Dax gave some props to @Phil Schneider on Twitter the other day. They're pulling from wrestling critics that aren't just Meltzer. But god damn so much of their high-end stuff feels so performative and tribute-based, regardless of influence. I think Dax vs. Cash was the worst good match of 2022. Two dudes who present themselves as purveyors of this old-school, smashmouth, it's-still-real-to-me-fuck-it style went out there and instead of paying tribute to Bret and Owen's ability to keep it realistic and honest and natural, went and tried to do a shot-for-shot remake of somebody else's match. They Gus Van Sant's Psycho'd that shit. And there wasn't nearly as much of that in this match w/ the Briscoes, but there was some. Just enough of it. I didn't care that Dax couldn't hit a headbutt with a chain wrapped around his head cause his head was too bloody. That looked real. I loved that the finish was sort of abrupt on a night of sort of abrupt finishes. I can live with the fact that Jay and Dax + Cash and Mark being the chain pairings was too obvious. I just don't like the fact that the blood, the BLOOD that the match was built around, felt like regularly scheduled high spot. Jay's gusher felt wild and real, and maybe he shoulda went last. Dax and Cash bled because they had to. Because Dusty and Terry and Flair would have. Like dude could you imagine Dax getting a decent more amount of heel heat if he was the only guy not to blade? Anyways yeah. That's the spiciest take I can manage. That's why, in all my anti-Meltzerian grandstanding, I only give this match ****3/4 stars. Funny thing about blood, it's pretty iron-y.

I would, absolutely, stop watching if AEW split into WWE-esque "brands." Possibly, I would go back to only watching live shows (in Osaka), Secret Santo matches (matches I am given and matches I'm considering giving to others), and WK and select G1 shows on streaming services. Which is where I think I was before AEW started up. Maybe I wasn't doing Secret Santo then? But I still would have been watching semi-random weird matches on YouTube that were recommended by friends or that showed up in my feed. Which is pretty similar to Secret Santo, minus the mandatory write-ups. That would free up a lot of time every week, so once I got over the shattering disappointment over AEW turning into WWE I think I'd be able to spin it as being for the best. Edit: I will also stop watching if they do an AEW vs ROH PPV where wrestlers on either "brand" put aside their differences, don color-coordinated t-shirts, and battle to determine "brand supremacy."

Based on seeing Malakai and Punk in multiple (2) pictures and him coming in as part of Cody's stuff rather than the Elite's, I hereby draft the House of Black for the Punk show.

He was one of the masters of the 5-minute TV sprint.

Main event was amazing. They tricked me into thinking they were going to a draw. Alexander throwing piledrivers down the stretch was outstanding. The better half of The North keeps putting on great matches.

Not only was the match a classic, I heard the guy running the hard cam for that taping is really good-looking and has the coolest opinions on pro wrestling.

This commercial is bullshit. Roller skating didn't help keep me off cocaine.

Yea can't possibly be part of the story, oh wait... You are trying too hard, there are plenty of legitimate things to complain about with AEW/ROH without just being a mindless troll, you can do better.

Rampage gets 2 hours and a better time spot, CM Punk says he’ll stay as long as him and the Elite are on separate “Brands”, Tony Kahn hires “YOU” to separate the roster in half. This includes wrestlers, managers, referees, and color commentators. Who you got on Dynamite and who you got on Rampage?

I saw a sweet live Noble/Joe ROH match in 05. I instantly became a Jamie Noble fan on that day

Secret Santo Winter 22 Review #1! First off Gordlow, you hit the right spot throwing me some WCW Regal, always happy to see the Good Lord in action. We open with a Colonel Parker promo, followed by a suited up Steamboat promo about his match coming up against Flair where Parker comes back out and interrupts saying Austin's got the match against Flair. Some facts before the match starts that I learned by looking up on Cagematch, this is the first televised time Steamboat and Arn ever teamed up, they apparently had a house show match against the Nasty Boys a week earlier than this. They'd team up only two more televised times so this is a unique pairing. Likewise the Austin/Regal pairing is novel, however they had previously teamed up for Regal subbing Pillman at Clash of the Champions #24, where the rag-tag combo lost the tag titles to Flair and Roma, so we've got some real heat brewing between the Horsemen and Austin at very least. Austin and Regal would team a few more times in 94 before also going their separate ways. But enough talk, it's time for the Main Event! Steamboat and Regal start this off, and it turns out that Regal's bigger than Steamboat? I don't think I expected that. Regal's got the initial advantage but Steamboat overcomes to take the lead here. Some back and forth til Arn gets tagged in. Arn's working the hell outta that headlock. Regal breaks free and goes for the tag to Austin who walks away! He comes back and finally gets in and now it's Arn/Austin. Austin's got some real stooge sells from Arn's punches and now we've got Steamboat back in. Austin works from underneath but isnt really given much, gets pushed back into the corner where Regal's back in. Regal's off the ropes and Steamboat jumps high to dodge but Regal holds tight and catches Ricky to flip for a Blackpool Crab but the Dragon holds strong, giving Regal a taste of his own medicine. Ref gets distracted, Austin comes in and they stomp out Steam. Austin tags in real quick, Steamboats getting beat down, Regal's back in, laying in some forearms. Irish whip to the corner and Steamboat goes to leap over but Regal snags him and throws him flat to the mat. Steamboat is dazed and falls out of the ring partially leaving him wide open to a shot from Squire William's umbrella and some more Austin stomps. Extended beatdown here with a glimmer of hope from Regal getting dropped but before Arn can tag back in, Stunning Steve's dumping Steamboat with a backdrop and mocking Steamboat to Arn. Beautiful cheating here with Regal adding leverage to Austin's Abdominal Stretch. He breaks again but goes to the wrong corner and there's Austin right on top, hitting a helluva spinebuster himself. Even more Steamboat beatings! The heels are just flagrantly breaking the rules doubleteaming Steamboat and Arn's had enough and pandemonium breaks out. Squire William tries for another umbrella shot to Steamboat who ducks and gives a hellacious chop of his own, putting down Dundee. Austin and Regal whip Arn to the ropes and Arn counters when he's on the bounceback, going for a sunset flip on Regal. Austin reaches out and holds Regal's hand to try to prevent it but from up high the Dragon soars with a crossbody to Austin, Steamboat still being the legal man and gets the win! Thoughts: The Arn/Steamboat team didn't really do too much in terms of tandem offense but Regal/Austin definitely were more in step with each other. It was great once Arn finally made a stand at the end, even if he wasn't tagged in. The MVP of the match is Regal for sure but for all the names involved, it kind of underwhelmed me but 94 WCW is a weird place for all of those guys in their careers. If you were to mix up the teams here, I really wonder how a Regal/Arn pairing would've been.

I'm still mad they gave up on the central conceit of Shotgun Saturday Night and had it from regular arenas after like three months. To me, that was the penultimate time that a WWE B/C show (not counting developmental) was really interesting (the final time was Attitude-era Heat, of course).

If FTR do, in fact, take some time off from AEW to travel indies/overseas, I'd love to see them stop in Impact for a short stay. There's the obvious MCMG match, but I'd love to see them against Bey/Austin, too.

Jushin Thunder Liger and Minoru Tanaka vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru Well, this starts with Liger hitting Kikuchi with a lariat on the ramp, so I'm in. I should say that other than Liger, I've seen Kanemaru and Tanaka maybe a few times before. I'm not well-versed in puro. This is clearly part of a heated feud, as guys jump each other, tangle with the ref, and refuse to break holds. Structurally, the match is sound, with the heels cutting off the faces. cheating whenever possible, and stuffing bursts of offense. They try to generate some heat to generally decent levels of success, forcing Kikuchi to show his fighting spirit and paintbrushing him before he can get a hot tag, or hitting a Shattered Dreams on Kanemaru behind the ref's back. The heel stuff is pretty mean, definitely. It's really that the work in between the big heel cheating spots or the fiery babyface spots is dull. There's lots of really dull arm work on the part of Liger and Tanaka early on, and the control stuff never really gets better from them. This match, in short, is better when it breaks down and becomes a tornado tag, and isn't super-compelling when it's a straight tag match. I don't think it's bad, though! Some of the cheating spots are inspired, some of the babyface spots where they outwit the cheating heels are good, and I do think the hatred comes through very nicely. I suspect that this match would be better had I seen everything that led up to it because I get the sense that some of these spots (like the mask-ripping spot) might have been more meaningful to fans who had been paying close attention. I will say that some of it feels excessive. If one guy goes for rolling brainbusters and hits one, the next brainbuster should not be reversed by the opponent. A brainbuster should be a death move. Someone getting piledriven outside should be pretty much incapacitating for the rest of the match, too. I don't think Liger should have had to hold the guy back so his partner could eke out a submission on a valiant Kikuchi. Dude should have been out. I've headed back toward a certain amount of minimalism in my ringwork preferences, I guess. There is a giant brawl after this match is over and I'm curious about exactly what the deal is, but yeah. I do like that Tanaka just stands there in the middle of the brawl like fuck y'all, we just beat your boys' asses. I mean, come on. That's the coolest thing anyone could have done in the post-match scrap. Liger's out here taking swipes at booing fans, though, so that's a close second. This was interesting, definitely, but it feels like a match that I also would have liked more had I understood the backstory. On the other hand, I was mostly entertained as-is. However, I wish I could have just seen these four brawl around the arena, as good as most of the cheating spots ended up being. More tornado tags, dammit!

I liked the show a lot but wanted to point out Booker crying his eyes out seeing his prized student Roxanne win the Iron Survivor match. That was pretty heartwarming. Iron Survivor match was surprising easy to understand once the first one got toing. Maybe they needed to be a bit more concise in explaining the rules but they have a good thing going with this. It feels like a unique thing for NXT to have at the end of the year and I hope they keep this going forward.

The thing is that for a team that has a reputation for so Old School, all three masterpieces against the Briscoes are about as far removed from a Rock N Roll Express vs Midnight Express old school match as humanly possible. There are no heat segments or cutting off the ring or any of that stuff. It was all Funks versus Brodie/Hansen until the dog collar match where it became Terry Funk/Terry Funk vs Dory Funk/Mad Dog Sawyer. And you were really confused and put off by THE BLOOD?

Today's reminder that Sept was a really long time ago... The Carolina Panthers - who fired their coach and traded away their best player - now control their own destiny If they win out - they win the NFC South

Not entirely sure why I can't embed tweets, but nevermind.

Moved me.

Had to rip this myself: The Bloody vs. Yoshiko Tamura (NEO St. Battle Day 2004 Part 1 09/20/2004) Yoshiko Tamura does her best impression of Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 13. Like a goddamn crime scene. The match is also excellent.

6/5/90: Kenta Kobashi vs Bam Bam Bigelow: Bigelow, during this run and from what I've seen in 88, for instance, really works "American" heel. That's going to be a problem against guys like Doc and Gordy. It's probably a problem in tags in general. In singles, it'd probably be a problem against guys like Jumbo. It'd probably even be a problem against Kawada. Against Kobashi though...? You know what? It kind of worked. There was a comeback towards the end here where Kobashi fires up out of a chinlock with elbows! Like he was Tommy Rich or something. I'm not sure how many other guys in 1990 AJPW would do that the way that they were supposed to. He did though. I mean Bigelow crushed him in the corner a moment later, but that's how cutoffs work. Bigelow was super eager to put Kobashi over in the end too as everything built to him slamming Bigelow and then missing the moonsault so he could get crushed. Bigelow was overeager to jump up and get slammed and went up too early and it looked a little silly. There's another world where Bigelow doesn't get fired for counting money in front of Baba or whatever and they have six more encounters before Kobashi finally wins. It's a weird world but one we missed out on. 6/5/90: Steve Williams vs Stan Hansen: Hell of a thing, this one. Doc takes it to Hansen like no one else and actually manhandles him for the brunt of this. Hansen gets his pokey little cutoff shots in and takes back over now and again but I wouldn't call it 50/50. Hansen might stop himself from getting powerbombed on the floor after the mat was pushed back but he's also going to crash hard in the corner so he can't keep the momentum. Eventually he gets opened up and frankly, I'm surprised the crowd wasn't more shocked, because this felt shocking. Chronologically, in this project, I've never seen Hansen treated like this in a situation that mattered. Doc was just an absolute beast here, which isn't to say Hansen wasn't, but one of these guys was in control for more than the other and one was bleeding and the other wasn't. Finishing stretch was great with Hansen wiping out on a desperate missed lariat attempt and then Doc going for the Stampede and almost getting it but Hansen dropping down and hitting the lariat out of nowhere instead. Great hossfight.

The fuck? You might be the most egregious outrage harvester I’ve ever encountered… and this is coming from a guy who’s own inability to let things go is well documented…

Snoop Dogg owns a line of pet accessories. His face is on a bottle of mass-produced Australian wine. There is a Snoop Dogg themed DLC bundle in Call of Duty. He has created long-lasting advertising synergy with Martha Stewart - I think they even did a cookbook together. You're not gonna believe this one, he owns a weed brand. He has a YouTube channel dedicated to children's songs with millions of views for classics like "The Wheels on the Bus". Lest we forget his directorial debut that was named the best-selling title of the 2002 porn awards. Maybe, maybe maybe, his cousin is looking at all this and thinking to herself "it might be a good idea to own my personal brand and image".

We would legit be to the point where you can do a Foreign Army (Saraya, Sasha/Mercedes, Toni, Ruby) vs. the Native Army which would include Britt, Hayter, and Jade for the first women's Blood and Guts. Problem is Tay and now Athena have already flipped to the heel side. Also, I am not sure where Rosa fits into all this.

It's EMI SAKURA! EMI! EMI! EMI! It's Danni Bee! She is the pride of Oklahoma- to the point that she gathers heat with it wrestling in Texas. The people in Austin must not know of Danni's secret Oklahomanism- as they are behind her! Emi applies the Dragon Sleeper! It's Daddy Magic! It's Cool Hand Ange! It's two dudes! And it's over. It's Glitch the Gamer! When not in WOW, she IS Vertvixen! She is against the amazingly OVER Willow Nightingale! Vertvixen lays it in. NICE SPINEBUSTER! Vertvixen isn't big enough to warrant a Doctor Bomb yet. Postmatch, Anna JAS and Tay Melo attack Willow! Ruby Soho makes the save! HEAT THAT BABY UP! It's Zack Clayton! And Zane Valero? I don't think I've seen him before. The Best Friends! Since they both had introductions, I guess this may last a few minutes. Zane Valero STAYS RAD! Zack Clayton looks good in this. Trent is also making him look like a million bucks. Trent Barretta is so fucking good. Clayton is great in this, pulling Taylor off the apron and busting him up outside! Zack Clayton walks away from Zane Valero while Valero was staying rad! Our MAIN EVENT! JOSH WOODS! AWESOME! BRANDON CUTLER! FUCK YEAH! SERP! AAAND LUTHER! And TONY NESE! AAAAND SMART MARK STERLING! STERLING GARNERS HEAT BY BUSTING ON OVERRATED TEXAS BARBECUE! CAROLINA BARBECUE, MOTHERFUCKERS! Josh Woods and Luther are MAGIC in the ring together. TRIPLE AIRPLANE SPINS! Josh Woods hits a fucking BEAUTIFUL Suplex. They OPT to beat the living dogshit out of SERP! BRANDON CUTLER IS ON FIRE! GREAT nearfall after Sterling accidentally sprays Nese in the face with the cold spray! Then they murder SERP and the funnest match of 2022 comes to a regretful end. MILLION BILLION STARS.

Varsity Athletes/Davari vs Chaos Project/Cutler was super fun.

It's Bron Breakker and Apollo Crews! I wonder who will go the MOST Steiner in this. I love that this starts out with an extended Headlock/Head Scissors segment. Crews does some light Lucha Libre highflying. Breakker goes Steiner first with the Delayed Lateral Suplex and matches Crews highflying by hitting an AWESOME Fat Boy Tope Con Hilo! They both did Standing Moonsaults! GREAT Knee To The Face by Crews onto Breakker coming off the top. Apollo Crews then goes crazy! And makes with the STEINER! hitting three German Suplexes! And then goes TOTAL Doctor Death Steve Williams hitting multiple Powerbombs! AND THEN A LOVE MACHINE SPLASH! FOR TWO! THEN! HE misses a Stinger Splash! Breakker then matches Crews Steinering culminating with a toprope SteinerLine! These two should jump to 1995 New Japan. Then they start beating the crud out of each other. THEN! Breakker hits a Spear and pins Crews! That was good. A total power heavyweight match isn't something you see everyday. That was a good little PPV.

Rampage Punk, Hook, Claudio, Danielson, Joe, The Acclaimed, FTR, Sammy Guevara, Athena, Wardlow, Swerve, Eddie Kingston, Darby, Moxley, Blade, Bandido, Jamie Hayter, Sasha Banks Commentary: Excalibur and Taz Dynamite Bucks, Omega, Death Triangle, House of Black, Hangman, Adam Cole, The Kingdom, Maria, Brit Baker, Shida, MJF, Orange Cassidy, Jungle Boy, Dante Martin Commentary: Excalibur and Chris Jericho

I expect Sylens to say, "McNulty, my office!," and Aloy to make a silly face and say, "what the fuck did I do?"

Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman. Best commentary team in wrestling.

Of course it was made in Reno, with A/V assistance from the Reno Sherriff's Department.

She runs a gym with her husband so it makes sense she doesn't want to do full time again.

You already fucked up one thread with your incessant bullshit. Knock this shit off.

In the next year or so, you will probably be hard pressed to find a celebrity that doesn't have a CBD line of products.

Add Hobbs to that group and take my money, please and thanks.

Should be renamed the "AEW nitpicking it all to death because it isn't EXACTLY how you'd run a wrestling company so bitch here so the rest of us can fucking enjoy something" thread.

I've been good, Santa Tony.. at least good enough. Please give us Keith Lee, Miro, and Samoa Joe (as a group) just running over people in vast swaths of destruction in 2023. AEW? ROH? Indies? Doesn't matter. Just give us big girthy men destroying smaller jumpy flippy wrestlers in a reign of terror.