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The cure for an underutilized roster is not to book an Ironman match.

So there have been two hour wrestling shows, of course, but this is two hours without commercials so it's a lot of wrestling. Slim J and Mark Briscoe matched up real well. Slim's just got such a veteran's sense of pacing so they had all of the comebacks and cutoffs perfect here. He's also so comfortable in how he moves around the ring, making really difficult things look easy. Plus his rapid-fire short clotheslines are awesome. Mark is an absolute folk hero right now. You got the sense that despite how good Slim J is, the crowd was a little dubious about the Trustbusters coming out first, but everything turned immediately into a party atmosphere when Mark came out. I'm pretty sure this was a brand new match up too (which is a benefit of Slim working southern indies for fifteen years. They were great at getting the crowd to clap up for Mark but in having Slim J annoy everyone and get actual heat. Infantry vs Kingdom was a nice little sprint. Kingdom's stuff is so smooth. I like how they went back and forth with a bunch of stuff but still more or less kept the tags up. It never fully broke down. Taven running aroudn the outside taking guys out to set up the finish worked well too. ZSJ's promo was good but he kept blinking weirdly. Just saying. Really like the Undertones style theme with the record though. I love the Kingdom's theme too for what it's worth. 2023 Sabre is so much fun to watch just how he transitions from hold to hold to hold. Ian and Caprice did a nice job explaining it all. The catch into a cravat on the first dive was amazing and they did a good job with the usual house style set up/payoff, both with things like Blake spinning for a trip and then getting one later or, yeah, the dive. Also there were some moments that were so believable, like when ZSJ really opened up the arm after the twisting wristlock and when Christian absolutely failed to cover him after the KO knee and the announcers called him on it. You really felt that. I think this probably should have went home after the dive when he caught him in the Cobra Twist actually, but I don't get to make these calls. It was a complete story at that point. After that, they went back to the arm but Blake really dropped it when he hit the DVD, which was a bit I didn't love since he basically was in a double wristlock when he hit it. I was totally ok with them going away from the arm earlier because that was a choice by Sabre on the attack. Overall, more to like than to dislike here though. Daniels vs Raju was a perfectly fine wrestling match. It probably could have used a minute or two from the ZSJ match. Daniels could have given him a bit more maybe? Ian and Caprice, again, did a good job with it. Raju is a fun studio promo so it's a bit of a shame Daniels got the video package instead of a backstage talk from him, especially since he was going to get eaten up. I like Woods' shirt. Look, I'm a low vote on Takeshita because, while I absolutely acknowledge his tools, I think he's problematic, when driving a match, with pacing and structure. You plug him into someone else's match, which is often a possibility when he's a babyface, and he brings a lot to the table. I just happen to think he should have won most overrated instead of most underrated in the WON. This might be my favorite match with him ever as Woods really grounded things and they set up a lot of clear, clean, logical, meaningful sequences. A lot of more modern, twisty offense bugs me, but I really do like those twisting suplexes/brainbusters like Woods' does and Dustin's finisher. Woods' impressive power stuff (that, the gutwrench with a foot on the ropes) all looked great and Takeshita hit hard when he should have hit hard. Great Chaos Theory battle at the end too leading to the wheelbarrow German. This was really good and they should run back Woods vs Claudio again. I'd be all for Woods/Nese/Davari vs the Embassy too for that matter. Speaking of the Embassy, they made short work of their opponents. Again, I liked how the tags were a focus and rules were adhered to. I wonder who's agenting this and if it's a conscious difference with AEW vs ROH? Davari vs Metalik was good. Some of the shine that Dorada had in 2015 is long, long gone, and I'm a little burnt out at this point of the show, even with the palette cleanser. The idea of paying so that they don't show Metalik's entrance is good (and a good way to save a minute too). Davari took all of Metalik's stuff well and I liked the BS at the end since the show hadn't had a ton of that so far. Renegades' inexplicable modem theme always makes me laugh. Charlette had the trashtalk. I know Robyn had a few more matches but I'm not convinced Charlette didn't look better in there in general. Granted, I was relying on Ian telling me which is why. I always like when Taz asks Excalibur these things and he gives you the cheat sheet. Not a lot to say overall. They never really had control over Rayne and Skye for any length of time, but Skye's shots always look good. I do think there's upside with the Renegades but I'm not sure if it's in AEW or WWE. I spent a chunk of Frost vs Willow looking up Frost as I'd seen her listed for things but haven't seen her much. She got into wrestling in her early-mid 30s a few years ago? That's pretty unusual. She's very quick and agile while still making everything look solid (though some of that was Willow basing). They're rushing to Athena vs Willow way too soon. That should be the payoff to December! Light vs Darkness. Feud of the year. So here's a generalization about AR Fox's offense vs Swerve's, and no one's reading this far, but this is the most interesting thing I have to say. Swerve adds in additional rolls and flips and twists in order to make his stuff look more impactful, though it generally doesn't. You have to take it on faith and I'm not always there. AR Fox does a lot of those things to create openings for his offense. It's a subtle difference but it's why one is more suited to be a heel and one is more suited to be a face. Claudio, however, was amazing in just cutting those openings off for the first third of the match, forcing Fox to get even more creative with it. Both guys were wrestling like they had something to prove. On the one hand, while it's hilarious that Eddie sees himself as an independent contractor when guys are clearly working AEW and ROH. On the other hand, it's so endearingly Eddie. I liked his little "Ooooh" when the fans started to chant his name. So that was definitely good, but it was pretty exhausting too! More good wrestling is always better than less good wrestling.

I hope we get a Satnam / Bill Bill tease during the tag match. Then put that one on the back burner and pull it back out in a year or two.

Oh hell yeah! Top Flight vs Dark Order vs BCC vs Aussie Open! RIHO VS EMI! And, according to the FITE app, Swerve & Boudreaux vs KEITH LEE & DUSTIN! OH BABY! That is more up my personal alley (phrasing) than most of the matches on the PPV! LET'S GO! Perfect card for me, after the rough week or so I have just gone through. (Everything is pretty good now, and trending better).

They are my favorite to announce too. In addition to Danielson-Doug Williams, I announced an Iron Man match for IWC with Christopher Daniels vs. CM Punk. When I found out that the audio got messed up and I had to call the whole match again, I was happy.

I'll be going to the movies to watch this. Maybe I'll hit up Buffalo Wild Wings before the show.

I'm British but can't endorse that title change at all. Jamie Hayter needs a long run as AEW Women's World Champion. Give me Mercedes Mone vs. Jamie Hayter at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II.

I genuinely had that book as a young teen. I think Mr H's ghostwriter skipped a few crucial chapters on supplementation.

It is eating a gallon of chocolate fudge ice cream. Mmmmm.... ice cream....

I can understand if I am alone in feeling this way, but this show was WAY more what I want out of AEW than what Revolution seems like it's going to be. An all-action Go! Go! Go! extravaganza. A straight up really good Joshi match. A complete squash. A train wreck main event with a big green tattooed football guy looking kinda lost in there and three pretty great wrestlers working around him. JR going FULL JR (Do you think he maybe actually had difficulty distinguishing between Riho and Emi)? I am not being facetious in any way. That was full on weird/indie/Japanese/amusing/enjoyable pro wrestling, warts and all. Loved it! ROH sounds like literally TOO MUCH good wrestling. Too much good wrestling to watch it all is my favourite problem to have! Enjoy the PPV! That crazy hour was my fix for this week. It totally hit the spot. Oh! And I am happy that Fenix and Mark Briscoe now both more or less have a match on the PPV. I might even get to watch that one before I have to head out to work.

We got double the Riho this week! Good stuff with Sakura as expected. Feels like Riho is getting a bit of a build which is cool.

So I have to say, House of Black v Elite and Mox/Page IV are my two most anticipated matches to watch. I'm still on the fence on whether I'm purchasing it or not, but if I do, it will be because of them. I want House of Black to win. They need to be featured more on AEW programming and I want Omega to be back on the singles scene. That's not a shot at the Bucks, i don't mind them at all, but give me Omega/MJF or Hobbs or Kingston or Starks or Jungle Boy or Takeshita or Big Bill or Orange Cassidy or even fn Danhausen!

https://www.theringer.com/2023/3/3/23623004/bryan-danielson-aew-revolution-2023-career-longevity-interview Nice article on Danielson from The Ringer. Highlights (for me) were his talk of using longer warm-ups and stretching afterwards to keep himself going at his older age. Add Danielson to the list of wrestlers who praise Randy Orton as one of the best ever, too.

Agreed. You can’t turn Best Friends heel! Heart and soul of the promotion, gone.

This is probably an irrational take, but that might make me quit watching.

I mean huge respect for Hobbs in that moment though. He's a 300lb guy standing on the very tippy top of a shortass ladder reaching above his head trying to get the carabiner undone. Then his big ass stands on top of it posing for 20 seconds. I'd get dizzy on the 3rd rung.

HEy! Claudio and Wheeler Yuta are on AEW! They are ROH! HOLDING THE LADDER! Aussie Open are running things early! John Silver and Claudio are waaaay fun together. Silver does his five spots on the floor but is cut off by the strength of Claudio, who breaks his BACK! Alex Reynolds is CRUSHED constantly by Claudio in picture in picture. Alex makes a hot tag and we move on to Top Flight versus Aussie Open! STUFF AND MORE STUFF HAPPENS! Wheeler Yuta steals the pin the Dark Order does their fifteen section finisher on Darius! Dark Order and the Blackpool Combat Club fight to the back! That was a wreck as one would expect. Fun! It's RIHO! EMI! EMI! EMI! Emi is fucking AWESOME beating the crud out of Riho! EMI CRUSHES RIHO AGAINST THE BARRICADE! In picture in picture, Emi beats the pulp out of Riho and does full Rolling Mexican Ceiling Hold! Riho FIRES BACK! ROLL-UP SEQUENCE! This match is GREAT! NICE LAriat by EMI for TWO! Riho SPINS AROUND EMI AND GETS THE PIN! That was fucking GREAT! What the fuck was THAT? That was great. Powerhouse Hobbs mauls SERP. Poor SERP. Don Callis moves CLOSER to Cinnabon BONANZA! KEITH LEE'S CAPE IS FUCKING AWESOME! Whoa! Parker Boudreux is not ready for primetime. Parker Boudreaux IS Blade Runner Rock! Dustin assumes the role of our face in peril! POUNCE by LEE! KEITH LEE IS A POWERHOUSE! LEE SPIKES SWERVE WITH ONE HAND! Swerve does a Moonsault off Lee's chest! CANADIAN DESTROYER! JACKHAMMER on BOUDREAUX! That was kind of a mess because Boudreaux needs some SEASONING, but Keith Lee looked fucking great. That was way more fun than good except for the truly great Riho/EMI match. AEW RULES THE MOTHERFUCKING WORLD!

Whoa! This will be good.

Word mate, word

Are we just naming human orifices until somebody guesses right? Left ears!

Ironman matches are my favorite stipulation. I love them because they are a great puzzle. There is built in drama as the clock winds down. They have the end in mind, but how do you get to that end along the way? A certified wrestling genius like Dragon is going to have a lot of fun putting it together. As tedious as he is on the mic, I love MJF in the ring. He is a great sleazeball for a match like this who can add in all sorts of fun shortcuts for falls.

It was a Death of Superman reference, but no one got it

While it's time to move on, it sucks that they're jumping straight to no holds barred for JB and Christian. There were potentially great standard singles matches to be had there, but due to injuries and possibly even some slow booking we've most likely missed out on something special. The Moxley-Page stip has potential to be a drag on the proceedings. Wish they were no holds barred and JB vs Christian was standard singles. Speaking of time to move on, Christian vs Starks would be good. Please. Surprised Top Flight missed out on the PPV considering their push, but the tag title match could be fun. Think it's between the Gunns retaining or them hot-shotting back to the Acclaimed. JLowe is likely unfounded in his fears regarding Jarrett, but that'd be pretty funny if he was right and I'd probably really enjoy it. Likewise, putting the belt on Saraya would give me a good laugh. I'm sure the main event will be good, but I'm not looking forward to an hour long match that I know will be an hour going in when I'm cold on the whole program. And it's not like I'm going to get terribly excited about the mere prospect of Danielson doing his thing at a high level, we get plenty of that for free every week because it's all Danielson wants to do. I've recently enjoyed Danielson against Bandido, Rush, and Top Flight -- there's little urgency to pay a premium price to see him lose a world title match. Thank goodness it's MJF in there putting in more work than usual to keep me curious.

I wouldn't quit watching, but it would be one of the worst things AEW could possibly do to damper my enjoyment of their product.

I hope they run an entire 'dissension' angle, only for all four of them to come out at the end with a returning Statlander in jumpsuits that say 'We're - Never - Gonna - Break - Up' ala Anthrax after the post-9/11 mail scare

I will never fully trust Jarrett in a title scenario. Not saying that he's going to shoot, just that I can see him talking his way into being the team being chased in that scenario (hey Tony, if we double-cross the Gunns then you have us feuding with them, Acclaimed, and Best Friends, you're booked for the rest of 2023!).

I think they did the Mox thing to "capture the moment" cinema verite style. I thought it was a nice touch to match his character. Page also had sound problems being under that weird construction awning.

Seems really cynical for the school to pay $50,000 just to the coach's son can set a scoring record. And don't forget, Davis is on his fifth season... Maravich did it in three seasons WITHOUT a three-point line. But whatever... not my money. Also, this.

People clearly tuned out in disgust after Pretty Peter lost

Now that the votes are in abd it seems to be unanimous: if there ANYBODY who is looking forward to Starks vs Jericho? And if not, can we largely blame this lack of interest on the sneaking suspicion that one way or another Jericho is winning (so help us god)?

I just got back to New Jersey from a trip to see Muto's final and assorted stuff. I went to Natsu Bar after a Tiger Mask show at Korakuen. I unfortunately missed a tweet by her about the same time I left to go that she felt unwell and went home. At least I know how to get there now. Kyoko Inoue did the same thing and just her young boy was at her bar when I got there. I went around the corner to go to Noriyo Tateno's drink bar instead. Noriyo showed me some video pushing the JB Angels for the WWE HoF. She is still tight with Itsuki. The noren at Itsuki's new restaurant is a gift from Noriyo. I'm happy that I got to go there after an absence of a few years. I had thoughts of going to Kaoru Kage's restaurant on the same street, but when I went to Noriyo's, Kaoru was sitting next to me at the bar. I had the usual good times at Genki Misae's Izakaya Never Give Up. You can actually have a full meal there. I went there twice. One of the times, Kabuki and his wife called me over to sit at the table with them and some regulars from his restaurant, which used to be in the location that Misae runs now. Speaking of actual wrestling, I saw a Stardom show with 47 wrestlers followed by a Big Japan show the next day with 10 wrestlers. Actwres GirlZ at Radiant Hall was shockingly good. They have nearly all new girls because SAKI continued COLOR'S and everyone good went free when they stopped wrestling shows for a while. Check them out if you can.

That was fuckinfantastic! Fun to excellent bouts and strong promos throughout. Well paced. Very smooth and nice looking production. $10 well spent.

Dear god this match is gonna have the darkest of endings, keep Birdie out of the building at all costs!

I am absolutely not looking for a sympathy pop, but I had to rush over to Canada to deal with a family emergency and I haven't had time to watch, read about, or discuss much AEW or any pro wrestling for a week or so. I am back in Japan now but very busy as a result of having to rush off. I might have time to watch, and discuss, Rampage tomorrow morning (J-time), but I'll be working Monday AM (can't afford to cancel any more lessons) and will not be able to watch the Revolution as it is being televised. (That's a Gil Scott-Heron reference. I am sure a lot of you got that). I I looked at the PPV card on the airplane coming home. The flight from Tokyo to Osaka had free WiFi. It bummed me out. As we stand now, Eddie Kingston ain't got no match on the PPV. Takeshita ain't got no match on the PPV. Claudio ain't got no match on the PPV. Wheeler ain't got no match on the PPV. Garcia ain't got no match on the PPV. Ortiz ain't got no match on the PPV. Top Flight ain't got no match on the PPV. Darby ain't got no match on the PPV. Rush ain't got no match on the PPV. Fenix ain't got no match on the PPV. Bandido ain't got no match on the PPV. FTR ain't got no match on the PPV. HOOK ain't got no match on the PPV. Keith Lee ain't got no match on the PPV. Sonny Kiss ain't got no match on the PPV. Lance Archer ain't got no match on the PPV. Of course JD and Boulder and Toa and Nicky Boy and Pretty Peter and Fuego and Dustin and Hungie ain't got no match on the PPV. MJF is headlining the PPV. Jeff Jarrett has a major role in a title match on the PPV. Athena ain't got no match on the PPV. Toni Storm ain't got no match on the PPV. Willow ain't got no match on the PPV. Emi ain't got no match on the PPV. Shida ain't got no match on the PPV. Riho ain't got no match on the PPV. The Magical Girl ain't got no match on the PPV. Deeb ain't got no match on the PPV. Of course Kiera and Abadon and Mercedes ain't got no match on the PPV. Saraya has a major role in a title match on the PPV. I GET IT! I did a whole fantasy booking thing to help me understand that it's not really feasible to book all my favourites on every PPV. And maybe they'll squeeze some of the people I really wanna see onto the buy-in or something. And maybe some of those people are "more ROH than AEW now" or something. Possibly some of them are injured or busy or whatever. FTR are a whole other thing right now... But Jarrett and Saraya getting clear priority over all of them just kind of confirms my worries about the direction that MY SECOND FAVOURITE PRO WRESTLING PROMOTION IN THE ENTIRE WORLD (After Osaka Pro) is heading in. And I don't wanna complain about a one-hour American Dragon match. BUT There are SO MANY wrestlers on the roster I would MUCH rather see him fight for an hour. So many. Still: Bryan has a match on the PPV. An hour-long match! Orange Cassidy has a match on the PPV. Potentially an Osaka/Chikara Pro type comedy match! Mox has a match on the PPV. Hanger has a match on the PPV. Joe has a match on the PPV. Wardlow has a match on the PPV. Hayter has a match on the PPV. Jungle Boy has a match on the PPV. And so on. So it's not like there's NO reason to watch. It's not like there won't be a ton of fun-to-great in-ring action tomorrow. But I think I'm just gonna skip this one, and not just because of everything else going on in my life at the moment. if Bryan actually WINS the title, I'll probably regret that decision. Otherwise I imagine I'll be fine with it.

Liv Morgan comes in HOT! Rhea Ripley beats on Liv for a second. Liv has a quick comeback that dies when Rhea avoids her Tope! Liv Morgan is getting in a lot offense in, leading up to great nerfall on a Lungblower to the face of Rhea! RIPTIDE! Standing Cloverleaf for the tap out! That was good. Santos Escobar channels Rey Misterio Jr. Dominick Mysterio channels Eddie Guerrero. NICE dropkick by Escobar. Dominick is an AWESOME heat machine. Dominick is awesome smacking Santos upside the head. GREAT offensive flurry by Escobar. BRASS KNUX! RIPTIDE ON THE FLOOR! LOVE MACHINE SPLASH FOR THE WIN! Dominick is fucking AWESOME ripping up Rey's mask. REY REY shows up! Dominick punks him! So great. What a little PUNK! Shayna Baszler and Tegan Nox have a match. Baszler crushes Tegan's arm. And then recrushes it. Then Nox taps out. That was quick. Next weeks Smackdown looks good. Solo Sikoa and Sami Zayn starts off hot! Sami beats on Sikoa and then Top Con Hilos Solo and Jimmy! Jimmy distracts Sami on the floor and Sikoa CRUSHES Sami. Sikoa is beating Zayn's ass. Tornado DDT to COMEBACK! Crossbody off the top for TWO! BLUE THUNDER BOMB! FOR TWO! Sikoa makes with the SAMOAN SPIKE and wins the match! Postmatch, Sami just avoids getting murdered. That was a pretty good episode.

It should be noted that I believe it's one of the venues that started the naming rights nonsense 20+ years ago. Cruel irony.

Cunts.

I think the show itself is going to be good but this will be the first PPV I can recall having to skip. My reason is because the Bucks/Wizards game originally for Monday got moved to Sunday night. Considering this was my birthday gift to see Giannis in person I can't possibly pass this up. But thinking back it's good as I'd rather see the ironman match one time with full attention and not twice as I'd be too busy to pay full attention live. So this kind of works out for me in the end. Hey, I'm that one guy! My hope is that Starks has a star-making performance and beats Jericho. That way he can be done with JAS and be next in line for the title. And yes even if Danielson wins (which I hope for) that would still be a mighty fine title match between them. And you know what? Even if MJF wins a rematch where Starks either wins or comes much closer would be just fine with me as well.

I know there's been some malaise towards the booking lately but personally I think the card looks awesome. Almost every match should be good. - MJF vs Danielson - I know MJF retaining is predictable and some people aren't into the Ironman concept, but I am here for it. There are key ingrediants to making this stipulation exciting and Danielson more than has them, and MJF is no slouch in the ring either. I fully expect we'll get some schtick with him trying to run down the clock, but he's also proven he'll put his working boots on when the time comes and I think he'll want to make a point of hanging with Danielson at this level. - Joe vs Wardlow - in contrast to the main, the key to this match being a fun hoss match is brevity. If we can get in and out in under 10 minutes that should hopefully mean he get all bombs and no running out of gas tank or ideas. Surely Wardlow has to win otherwise he's DOA - Moxley vs Page - I'm in the camp of low-voters on Hangman (although I did like his title run), but all the previous matches between these 2 have ruled and Moxley seems to bring out the best in Page stylistically, so I have high expectations here. Feels like a good way for Mox to finally take that vacation and give Page some momentum back up the card towards a potential title feud. - Tag title four-way - this is your comic relief of the night amongst a card full of grudge matches. The Gunns haven't shown anything to warrant their place as champs yet but I expect this combination of teams to be FUN. Give me Double J vs OC - Hayter vs Saraya vs Soho - Expect this to be a flop of the night. I have basically zero interest in the triple threat formula these days, the whole angle kinda stinks and Saraya is a solid 9/10 on the Ric Flair in-ring fragility spectrum. It's disappointing her return and this angle has somewhat hijacked Hayter's title run. Are we expecting some sort of angle here? Is Soho going to turn / not turn and help one of her opponents win the match? - Elite vs HOB - I'll just say I get why some will like it but I'm not the intended audience here. The Elite, 6-man titles, the House Of Black, the whole 6-star hyper spotfest formula - it ain't for me. - Jericho vs Starks - this feud has quickly become a dud but I am holding out hope they have sense to put Starks over. I don't expect the match to be anything above average but hopefully they lean on their personalities and charisma to make it fun. - Cage vs Jungle Boy - unfortunate this has lost its sizzle, but they're both quality workers so looking forward to what they do. Jungle Boy had an awesome match with Luchasaurus and Cage is WAY better than the lizard. I think the key will be having a match that is very different to the Texas Death Match, because they aren't likely to beat that and having a similar but less memorable match would feel like a waste.

Slim J is absolutely magnificent. And deserving of a substantial push.

MJF is dehydrated as fuck in that picture to look extra jacked. He'll look like regular old Spray Tan Max on Sunday.

HAPPY DE LA DAY! 3 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER! De La Soul's classic early Tommy Boy albums are finally available on the streaming services! RIP Trugoy.

the perfect analogy

Gulla, Bob. “Behind the Music.” Guitar One. September 2002: 94--‐96. Print. O’Byrne, Chris. “Ring Masters.” Guitar One September 2002: 86--‐87. Print. Can't find the issue online, unfortunately

GREATEST. CRAVATE. EVER.

I had a blast watching the All Star Junior Festival. So cool to see so many companies represented and some lesser known talent given a showcase to shine. Also you can really feel how much the crowd is enjoying being able to cheer and shout again. Korakuen was rocking.

My son when Hook made his entrance: “He didn’t even stop and say hi to his father. That’s so sad.”