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As per usual - as the new year is upon on us, some changes in layout will most likely happen PLEASE DO NOT START ANY NEW YEAR/MONTHLY THREADS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE (Give it a few days and then check with a mod if you see something that still needs to be done). There is one major change that will be happening. Due to recent issues (and some long lingering ones), we will no longer have separate threads for Images/Gifs. Any new image thread will be closed. This doesn't mean the General threads should become a substitute - 99% of what was being posted was unnecessary and since so many are having display issues on the board, we are trying to make things a little more streamlined (at least until Invision ever fixes the problem). Newsworthy images/tweets are fine with in reason but constant spam will most likely result in folks losing their ability to post images I will try to get a jump on starting the new year threads - how successful I am with that is a different story

Wait, what do we have here? It's Ring of Honor's top guy from their bad years Jay Lethal's only known for imitating dudes 20 year veteran and no one's imitating you Hello, 911? I need to report a murder...

I saw Don do his thing at TNA's first Coney Island show in 2010. They had a huge crowd (like 6-7,000) and EVERYONE wanted some merch. Don was completely inhuman... getting pulled in 19 directions at once, selling everything in sight and still taking the time to get selfies with folks that wanted one. In a lot of ways it was one of greatest performances I've ever seen in wrestling. RIP Don... you were absolutely gem mint ten.

Don't be a dummy, be a smarty! You're the worst Jeff since Nemo Hardy

DZ? My dude is RK now and this thread has ratings in the title. Bless him and bless us all on the beautiful soon to be new year.

Last AEW show of the year! ORANGEY BOY CASSDIDY vs TRENT QUESTION MARK! Last GREAT match of the year? Maybe! I am.SUPER stoked to see how they work this one! Both of these guys are VERY good at the whole pro wrestling part of pro wrestling. It's for the ALL ATLANTIC CHAMPION'S HIP! I think Trent could also represent that region, but I BOLDLY predict that Orange will win. KIP SABIAN "in action" and I wanna joke that I BOLDLY predict Kip will win... but we all know what happened last time Jericho was in action, so I am afraid to make that joke. tbs Champion JADE CARGILL vs KIERA HOGAN in a match I BOLDLY PREDICT will be extremely callipygous! And also probably pretty good. WHEELER YUTA vs SWERVE (WITH BOUDREAUX AND WHITE UMAGA) which really could be the last GREAT match of the year. I think maybe Ren vs Zack at WK17 might be the first GREAT match of 2023. Maybe Go vs Nakajima? HAPPY NEW YEAR! よいお年を! Cheers for all the great discussion and all the lousy jokes this year. Here's to more of the same in 2023!

If you have never seen Don West hustling baseball cards (his pre-wrestling gig) - you are in for a treat. Including young Don looking exactly like Jeff Foxworthy

This.

Charlotte beating Ronda for the title is some real "wishing on a monkeypaw" booking

Meltzer: Before starting out I'd like to send sympathies to the family and friends of Don West, who passed away earlier today at 59. We talked a lot about him on today's show. I'll just say I barely knew him, but when I saw him, he treated me like he'd been my friend for 20 years. He came into this business with very little product knowledge and was thrown on national television because Jeff Jarrett I believe saw him selling merchandise on the Shop At Home Network on television. It was a ballsy move to put a guy like that on commentary but he also had the advantage of working with Mike Tenay, who has as great an understanding of wrestling as almost anyone. Don was not well received at first because of his over-the-top style and lack of product knowledge, but he wanted to learn, did learn, and he and Tenay jelled quickly. I thought they ended up as a tremendous pairing, with Tenay's X's and O's product knowledge and West's enthusiasm. Announcers can't save a bad product, but announcers an enhance a good one and when new talent was trying to get over, or matches were exciting, Don's ability to enhance the excitement of the audience was tremendous. At the end of the day, he was a great guy who was given a bad hand in recent years with his battles with cancer. After leaving Impact, he worked as a radio host at KPQ in Wenatchee, WA and as the General Manager for the Wenatchee Wild minor league hockey team. He and Tenay had remained close long after they were no longer working together.

Warning: watching that video may make you want to see Miz in the main event scene again, which probably isn't healthy.

What Jeffrey could be worse than Dahmer?

Okay, found one: Joe Louis Arena NWA (via JCP) - Ron Garvin b Ric Flair 9/25/1987 WWF - The Undertaker b Hulk Hogan 11/27/1991 WCW - The Giant b Hulk Hogan (by DQ, retroactively) 10/29/1995

As y'all know, I have seven kids, ranging from 28 years old to 16 months. Well, I have news. I now have a grandson! Felix Donovan was born yesterday in Florida. Can't wait to meet him! I'm a Grandpa! And my baby is now an Aunt! What a world.

Hijo de Vikingo is a human cheat code. Unreal.

Okay I thought of two things that were really great on this one. 1. The Michinoku Driver from... I wanna say Trent? That was just evil as all fucking Hell. 2. Lay Jethal (I accidentally writed Lay so now that's his name forever) losing his mind just to induce laughter. "I'M SIGGUVIT!" Also, finding out that Mox is a shoot Strickland mark and Yuta's music was the old NBA on NBC theme written by John Tesh from our friends that partake in the Discord was cool.

The injury is a non factor in the whole situation. He seems to be pretty mobile and healthy and not wearing any brace while doing MMA commentary. So the real sticking point is how The Elite feel / how much truth there is to the Jericho 'I wont let him come back' stuff / if he's willing to apologize and all that. It's by no means a lock. But I think there are feelers out there. I don't think this is like his Colt grudge or his WWE grudge. I think he's wiling to let this one go. But the ball is not in his court. The ball is in TK's court / The Elite's court / the locker room's court. I very much want it to happen. And I'm starting to see a path for it to be possible for the first time. But it's certainly not something I'm saying is a lock. Punk is super private. But him posting a comment on a post asking for everyone to shake hands and move on good indicator that he's over it all. Or at least I hope so.

7/7/90: Jumbo/Yatsu vs Misawa/Kawada: I was positive on my PCR on Tuesday but I'm symptom free so I ran. This is it for Yatsu, our one big Olympics vs Misawa+X tag. It'll be interesting seeing Jumbo moving forward as most of his usual partners: Yatsu, Kabuki, Takano, Nakano, Tiger Mask, will all be either gone or on the other side. He teamed with Fuchi in 89 and 90 a bit but not a ton due to the wealth of options, really, and due to Fuchi being in the Baba tags a lot. Yatsu was a special talent and fit so well in this period of AJPW. He could scrap. He could wrestle. He could wear the headguard and just headbutt people with an absolute ton of heart. He could dominate with the big power moves (bulldog, power slam). He was the only guy with a real submission finisher and not just a crab or a Scorpion deathlock. And he got it. There's a moment here early where he's faced off with Kawada and it's just not what the fans want to see. They're itching to see Misawa vs Jumbo again right? So he disengages, claps to get the crowd going, and then presses Kawada right into the ropes, knees him a couple of times, and slaps him in the face. Kawada responds by just unloading on him and driving him out of the ring. The crowd goes nuts and chants for Kawada. He understood the possibilities of that moment. Almost immediately thereafter Jumbo hits the jumping knee on Kawada and starts crushing him (he also runs across the ring and takes out Misawa on the apron for good measure), until Kawada can hit a cross body off the ropes and they get the first taste of Jumbo vs Misawa in the match. Misawa dodges the knee and crushes Jumbo with a jumping clothesline. Great stuff. Once Kawada's back in, the Olympics take over on him (Hierarchy!) but he comes back with a clothesline that makes Jumbo mist spit everywhere. Great visual. There's actually a chunk of work on Misawa's leg here, as Yatsu starts on it with his leglock. When he tries to kick at it, though, Misawa just outkicks him. The kids are living by kicks and spinkicks really, and it works to a degree but it eventually lets Yatsu catch one and tag in Jumbo to switch advantages. Finishing stretch is fun, with Misawa busy clocking Yatsu on the floor with a chair as Kawada turns around one belly to back on Jumbo (a move that is all the more important after its use in the Jumbo vs Misawa singles match), but Jumbo catches him going up to the top and hits a rare belly to back off the top (I think the indication was that Kawada was going for a moonsault as he had hit a press when Misawa helped hold the opponent earlier). Fare thee well, Yatsu, I'll see you back in SWS in a year or so.

When I think of Don West, it's enthusiasm, passion and summed up in this moment.

“Go Red Go”

No. I like the randomness of the pictures you choose.

Crossing posting to make sure they are seen

Cross posting to make sure they are seen

Hardy? EDIT: NOT that Jeff Hardy is WORSE THAN Dalmer Just, that could be who they changed it from.

I called for a Wardlow haircut in the Rampage thread. I goddamn got it! Yay me! Thank You Samoa Joe. You’re the man. Spike that football. Excellent show. Did anything else happen?

UNCUT… UNCENSORED….. NEVER BEFORE SEEN… THE NIGHT DADDI DOOM DANCED ATOP DAILY’S PLACE ARENA.

Not only did they all happen in the same arena, but they happened in the same match. It was a Thunderdome set up, it was wild. Otto Wanz did a bump off the top

The Hansen/Williams hoss fight was a lot of fun. Has anyone shown this to JR? He might crack a smile for the first time in 20 years. Is this the best Steve Williams singles match up until this point? It's gotta be close. Loved Williams as the aggressor, especially that part where Hansen is prone on the mat and Williams is screaming, "Come on!" at him. When Stan was willing to sell for a guy, he was one of the best sellers of all-time. He'd probably tell you he was just copying Terry Funk, but the way he stumbled and tripped over every time he tried to escape or catch a breather was sublime. He was as reckless with his own body as he was with his lariats. That bump through the ropes after he missed the lariat was something else. And the finish... Jesus, he took off Williams' head. Has there ever been a better finish than the Western lariat?

Call me an AEW optimist...but in my opinion all this Jericho/lockerroom leaders not wanting Punk back is a false flag and part of a work which was established after all sides made up behind closed doors. The stuff from the Dax pod is part of the work. I can see "Jericho not wanting Punk back in the locker room" being Chris angling for a big singles match down the road. Maybe its me and my rose colored AEW glasses....but I'm hoping that im right because if Punk comes back there are alot interesting places they can go.

One last French gif before we close these things out for good. I've posted this before from Panama and from Juan Gil Don in France, but I've never seen it from this angle. Someone needs to steal it. It's very cool. Imagine someone like Pac taking it and really spiking his head on it too.

I hate that finish requiring the opponent to do a sell like a fighter in Mortal Kombat about to be hit with a Fatality.

Regardless, I still have a feeling that the Elite don’t win match 7. It feels too telegraphed and there’s unfinished business between the House of Black and Death Triangle.

Jokes about her attractiveness aside, I do kind of like that they went with a Jack Daniels and Marlboro kind of lady over your more traditional supermodel-type. 'An elegant twist on an old favorite' as Chef Jaques Pepin might say.

That man definitely talked me in to spending my money on more than one occasion Wrestling is definitely worse off without him

My favourite wrestling game is WCW vs the World. I know there are much better games, but when World came out my only exposure to wrestling games were the various WWF NES/Super NES games, that one WCW NES game, and stuff like Saturday Night Slammasters and Pro Wrestling. I had never heard of Firepro, so it was the first game I played where there were wrestlers from other promotions. Even with the fake names, it absolutely blew my mind that was possible.

Okay we agree it’s really close between Becky and Bayley. So we’ll only agree on #4. I’d move Sasha to third, and bump Bayley to one with Becky second. I’d actually say the gap between the top 3 for me isn’t huge, I just prefer Bayley’s character work to the others. Plus that’s the main reason I’d go Becky over Sasha. Sasha has had great matches, but Becky has done more character work with great success over her entire run where Sasha has always been The Boss character regardless of heel/face alignment. 4. Charlotte 3. Sasha 2. Becky 1. Bayley

Sri Curt McGirt, I gots a hot one for ye - https://youtu.be/QB1ne62O1nw The Fantastics vs D C "Mad Dog" Drake & Damien Kane, 1988(?) It's a cliche to state that The Fantastics are criminally overlooked, but it's true. RAF will proselytize for DC Drake all day long. Reinforcing the proto-TSWA/ECW connection is his manager/cohort Damien Kane and a skinny lil' Paul E. Dangerly. Classic tag team fairground fun. I noticed that my picks thus far have skewed in a "sleazy characters" manner, so I will roll with that from here on out. Note: the "sleazy" may only refer to one's gimmick, and not necessarily towards the worker's lifestyle or moral compass, and at any rate the "sleaziness" may only exist in RAF's eyes alone. Let's hear it for the scum!

Honestly I think their is money in an eventual Bowens singles run, just don't split them up. Keep Caster as mouthy best friends. this is an act that is clearly more than the some of its parts

https://www.theringer.com/2022/12/29/23529964/sting-all-elite-wrestling-journey-character-history-career-legacy More people see this topic so posting this here also, a must read Sting interview. Read it twice already.

“Spent your time never playing for the best team. you’re the worst Jeffrey since...”

Decided to get back into the Val Lewton RKO films. Found a couple that I wasn't able to find when I initially started searching for them last year (The Body Snatcher and Mademoiselle Fifi). Still can't find Youth Runs Wild, his juvenile deliquency film. The Body Snatcher was not much to recommend. A Burke and Hare style story about Boris Karloff as a grave robber who supplies to a doctor and his apprentice, who resorts to killing to provide specimens. Love Karloff, but its closer to a creaky Universal style horror that Lewton actively didn't want to make. Too much time on a saccharine story about a paralyzed girl needing a special surgery to walk again. It's the catalyst of the plot, as the doctor wants a cadaver to practise on, but they come back to it way too much. Mostly notable for being the last time Karloff and Bela Lugosi were in a movie together. The one scene they have together is the best in the whole movie. Lugosi finds out about the murder and goes to blackmail Karloff and it goes about as well as you suspect it would. The low end of the Lewton films for sure, but that scene makes it a worthwhile watch. Rewatched The 7th Victim after and that may be my favourite of the bunch. Really dark subject matter for a early 40s film. A young girl goes to New York to find her missing sister and discovers that she was caught up in a Satanic cult (of the bored, rich Greenwich Villagers type cult, not cloak-wearing, dark spell type cult). Spoiler for the end and how surprisingly dark the subject matter is: I've watched it now a couple times and it still gets me. There's some period-specific things that undercut the horror for a modern viewer and a really inappropriate shoehorned in romance, but it's still so fucking good. Big recommendation. The sister is played by Jean Brooks, who herself is a sad tale of washing out of Hollywood and dying of cirrhosis at a young age. She gives such a haunted performance. Still need to watch Fifi, Bedlam, and Youth Runs Wild but I think my current personal listing has them at (spoilered for space and for people who don't care to see other people's lists): 2-6 I could honestly jumble up a lot of different ways depending on the day, but that's my current thoughts. The Ghost Ship is a good movie about gaslighting, but 1-6 are capital-G Great movies.

I was there for the Martel/ Hansen switch. My mom drove me and some friends in some shitty weather for Pro Wrestling USA.

Oh. My. God. First, this rematch is going to fucking rule. Second, I hope Darby spends the next seven days settling his affairs and saying his goodbyes.

All I know about Dragon Lee is that he's a hell of a worker, and his name works incredibly well as a substitute in this song:

Seeing today is the anniversary of Stan Hansen beating Rick Martel to win the AWA title at the Meadowlands, and the thought occurred to me: how many US arenas can claim they hosted world title switches for three different promotions? Meadowlands: AWA, WWF (Hart b Undertaker), NWA (Flair b Sting)

Just in case you were wondering.. Ringside News on Instagram: “#MJF's mystery woman is Daddi Doom #aewdynamite”