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Late to the party but ended up buying a front row ticket to Collision on Stubhub the day before the show. $140.. not too bad. Anyways, I was seated literally right behind Dasha and Doc Sampson. Really fun show. Danielson/Eddie was one of my favorite matches I've ever seen live. Bobby Cruise put over my Gorilla Monsoon shirt. Plus this happened right after we were DESPERATELY OUT OF TIME following Collision...

Found out today that my nephew will be kicking for Jacksonville State in the Bowl He is a freshman and hadn't played all season but the starting kicker entered the portal as a graduate transfer so here we are

I got tickets to collision 12/23 for Lawful Jr for Christmas but we are hopelessly behind (we haven’t seen All Out yet). Anything we need to know catchup on storyline wise?

Here is the official version I approve of the use of Tom Petty

Too good for the Lucha thread.

will AEW be holding a Festivus Battle Royal this month where the winner gets them to actually do something about their grievance?

I threw up a little bit reading that

That just got me thinking of a fun gimmick, where a wrestlers match keeps getting bumped for time (think Jimmy Kimmel always bumping Matt Damons appearance on his show to next week) complete with backstage footage of his reaction to getting his match moved as he was preparing to go out to the ring. The wrestler gets more and more frustrated, until he runs in on a match and attacks both competitors and stages a sit-in until he gets some respect.

Plaque better have a fucking cigarette in his mouth

I know who the Devil is now...dammit I hate spoilers.

Daniel "The Brian" Dragonboat

Herbstreit on the selection show was praising how BRAVE the committee was for putting in Bama over FSU, and basically laid the Noles' exclusion as exclusively the fault of Jordan Travis. Because, if he hadn't broken his leg, they get in. I swear to god, Kirk must really, really love his job. Because no one on earth is that sycophantic without some sort of incentive. Booger looked like he was ready to jump through the screen to choke him to death.

BRANIEL DYANSON

Oh man. That is a GREAT pro wrestling match. It tells three stories, really well. The first is the story of the match itself. As I suspected, there is a CLEAR senpai/kouhai structure here. Bison is Aja's right hand, and Grizzly is Bull's. Aja beats on Grizzly, Bull beats on Bison, and for a major chunk of the match Grizzly and Bison just beat the absolute crap out of each other. Right near the end, Grizzly finally gets to lay it in on Aja for a bit, after Bull has softened Aja up for her. Then Bison gets to save Aja's ass for a change, after Aja had been bailing her out all match long. Then, finally, the end of the match comes down to the two junior partners battling in the ring while Bull and Aja brawl on the outside. The match gets out of control IMMEDIATELY when the bell rings. Bison gets busted open right away. Grizzly gets busted open about half way through. They tease Aja vs Bull at the ten-minute mark but they don't actually fight for another five minutes. It's super-effective and very dramatic. But at first Bull pretty much dominates Aja. More on that, later. The actual ending of the match might seem anticlimactic after the INSANE violence that made up the body of the match. But the in-ring ending isn't actually the end of the story being told here. Aja and Bull keep on fighting after the bell, and then there is a long emotional confrontation between them, with tears and screaming, as real as any Eddie Kingston promo. And this, the setting up of a future match/rivalry, is the second story being told. But. It is the third story, the one maybe being told between the lines, that to me makes this match GREAT. Probably the most memorable section of the match is when Kong and Kimura are hitting Nakano with kendo sticks, and Bull just stands there no-selling, then rips the sticks away and absolutely hammers everyone, including the ref, with furious blows that break the kendo sticks into pieces and drop Aja to her knees. Then, and only then, Aja unleashes her rage and is able to finally gain the upper hand. I really get the sense that Aja Kong was still pretty green here while Bull Nakano was firmly established as THE top monster heel. And the third, perhaps most important, story being told (so well) in this match is Bull being all "Good. Let the hatred flow through you" with Aja. "Your hate will make you powerful. Now fulfil your destiny." So this is a damned good match in and of itself that also set up a huge singles match/rivalry, but it's probably also the birth of Aja Kong as the next great monster heel. Damn, Curt. Pretty good way to start this one off. Thanks for this!

We saw it yesterday and while the original will always be my favorite this is the best Godzilla movie they've done. For one it's just a really fucking great movie where the focus is much more on the humans than Godzilla itself. Shikishima's PTSD about being a kamikaze pilot was really fucking compelling and his quest for redemption had us hooked the whole way through. With how they did it for him and Noriko when Godzilla was around instead of the "Fuck yeah!" reactions I tend to have there was a real sense of dread and hope that they make it out alive. And I can't believe I'm saying this for a Godzilla movie but we cried a few times and it wasn't just us. But in that we were rooting so hard for them and it was all just fucking wonderful. I don't know if I want this going forward but this movie it really worked. I don't know about going as far as saying it deserves award recognition. But if award committees could look beyond it being a kaiju movie I feel it should at least be considered in some way. Which again is not something I would typically say about a Godzilla movie but it really was that good.

RKO is the ducked-Superman Punch follow-up. Spear goes into Powerslam. Meanwhile, on LVL UP: Von Wagner beats Luca Crusifino Elektra Lopez beats Brinley Reese in a pretty good (but basic) outing Gulak over Tavion Heights, also worth watching.

Philly having a "security" guy on the sidelines who starts fights with key players of the other team is the most Philly thing ever.

Alright, new week... But first a note from the weekend: The Creeds take on Dirty Dom & JD McPunchableFace and Seth Rollins defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Jey Uso in a "100% Chance of Outside Interference" Match. Plus, the other guy who showed up at Survivor Series will be on Smackdown THIS FRIDAY!

Dang, that looks purty. The amount of stuff happening on screen at one time is insane. I waited 10 years, I can wait 2, or 3, more for the next. Then we get the band back together. We just swap two beer with the night shift for Ensure and early bedtimes.

I was watching the Monday Night NFL game on Channel 5. Pre-game they were showing a live look at the stadium, and I could hear Swerve's music playing in the background.

Alright I got one for ya! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycb4R_dQkWQ

THIS company loves tournaments?

Well shit. I'm not gonna tell my mom it's out then, because she'll want me to take her and I'm not gonna sit there next to her crying.

So apparently this means a full trailer won't happen for like another 6 months. No way this is coming out in 2024

There also have been A LOT of QBs who went down for the season (or missed a lot of times) and teams weren't prepared

Does the winner get a bumper sticker like when you run in a marathon? Is that correct? If Brody and Danielson win another match, then lose their next two, then they'd both end up 3-2. And if Eddie won the rest of his matches, he'd end up 3-2. Unless I'm missing something or the matches remaining make that impossible. Has anyone mentioned tiebreakers in each league? Also, why are they called the blue and gold leagues when "Dynamite League" and "Collision League" would have been better? I wanted to see Eddie win with a sneaky backfist to Danielson's blind side, but we just can't have nice things.

That's actually how I hope they deal with Danielson later on, where he wants to retire but he's either chasing the belt before he does or he has it and refuses to let go and it's like the siren song as part of his odyssey.

MJF is Baggins, holder of the 'ring', and Adam Cole is Samwise Gamgee with Samoa Joe as a cross between Boromir and Aragorn. The Eye of Sauron is 'The Devil'.

I saw him on the Danzig III tour in a tiny club that didn’t have a stage just a barricade between the crowd and him and he was barely taller then the barricade and he lost his voice on the first song and someone put their cigarette out on my back good times

And especially useful when you have two guys with big matches at Wrestle Kingdom (Naito and Despy) who can go and get surgery and still have some time to rest up before January hits.

If there is, Claudio better be wearing it for his tourney match against Eddie.

I did go to rmthe movies by myself once. I saw the first 15 minutes of Paul Blart: Mall Cop before walking out. James

And speaking of which:

Not sure what's greater: the celebration itself, or the idea that they did it against the original Fun Bunch.

Please prepare your fainting couch for this news, as it is, to put it mildly... Shocking. Ian Rapaport is reporting that it is "unlikely" that Aaron Rodgers will play again this season. Again, I rupaulogize if you were unable to get to a safe place before you saw this. Try to have a good day.

It's hard to look at that image and not hear A Flock of Seagulls playing in my head.

HIS NAME IS JEROME! Also, didn't we have like two back-to-back mirror related gimmicks with early Heartbreak Kid Shawn and Sherri and then the Narcissist? I am guessing they had an overstock of mirrors in Stamford.

Man, reading Flair's tweet 75% of it is noise to me but I kind of like his self awareness at the end. If it was legit anybody else I would almost feel sorry for somebody who's in a generation that's very different than the one that he thrived in. But it's Flair and he frankly should only have been there for a couple appearances at most where he's reined in. He is right in wanting to be there for Sting's retirement and he should. But this is what happens when you have a multi year contract and have to use him somehow. Since he's contracted I still think he's best doing backstage promos where they can edit out whatever. But if he goes out there I hope they now know he needs to be on a short leash with a live mic. Oh, and I don't post much in the AEW section anymore because of folks like Vileone. And it saddens me to see Gordlow not as interested as he was before. But I still love AEW to pieces and keep up on the news items on here. I just prefer to watch the shows without looking as much on here before and after. Plus with Dean gone the level of positivity he brought to the threads is very much missed. When people are talking shit it can be a bummer as it's not as well balanced out by his lovely wall of text. I'm not saying it's related to what any one person says about AEW (aside from Vile) It's more just a general vibe more than anything.

AEW released Kevin Sullivan (no, not that one). He was the VP of post-production. Mike Mansury, who is the VP and co-EP, made the decision apparently. In true journalism fashion, PWInsider pontificated about the feeling that the “original AEW” has changed. Yeah, no shit dumbass.

While I obviously wish more were done with it for the rest of us non-Canadians, I gotta say, I don't hate the idea of running old school localized promos to try and help fill buildings. I wonder if there would be an easy, cost-effective technological way to get location data for YouTube users and pump in a quick 10-15 second local promo before whatever video on their channel starts. I'm thinking of something along the lines of Iron Maiden using Spotify listener data to map their tour dates (not a bad idea in itself to track on the AEW Music/Mikey Ruckus page)

Lincoln Riley announced that Caleb Williams will not play in the Holiday Bowl So to continue the online meme - THEY DON'T DESERVE TO BE IN A BOWL NOW~!

Watched Collision yesterday and wow ... Danielson vs. Eddie was absolute thing of beauty! My favorite match of the tournament so far and probably my 2nd favorite match on Collision this year behind the FTR vs Bullet Club 2/3 Falls match.

I've need Baker freaking Mayfield to cover for my parlay to hit. Pray for me.

The opening "McClane's Office" backstage skit was amusing and a fun setup to the main event. Nice, sudden and super decisive win for the Tonga Twins, debuting the Double Vision finish against Classmaster & GI Jane. Another excellent finish from Coach Campinelli against Katarina Jinx, awesome counter catch coming off the ropes. I like babyface Fury a lot and always thought she had good potential. Very solid match with Holidead, they match up well. Loved Fury going singles being compared to famous rockers leaving their bands for solo careers. Nice setup for Holidead/Chainsaw which I had forgot was brewing but definitely wanna see. I look forward to seeing more of Coach's talent search. Great main event! Miami Sweet Heat are always killer with the best double teams. Both teams looked great here. Sylvia took some killer bumps. I love the Fab Jab finish. Vicki & Penelope were hilarious on commentary as a bonus. More post-match chaos was very well done and effective, good stuff all around.

Athena Athena was emotional at the start of the interview, saying in her career she had never had a main event on a pay-per-view until Saturday. She said that it meant so much for her to be given that opportunity as she felt that both she and Willow Nightingale earned something. She said that the sky’s the limit as to what is next and that she is open to all challengers. When it was mentioned by Jon Alba that two African American women headlined Friday’s show, Athena said that representation is key. She remembers being the only African American woman on indie shows she would be on. She said that she wanted to inspire everyone of all races. She said that they felt tonight that they’ve made the statement that they are not going anywhere. Tony Khan said they earned the position of being in the main event, citing their ROH match. He thought there was potential for a great trilogy. He said that Death Before Dishonor was one of the best shows they’ve ever done. Corey Lieb pointed out that there were a lot of “love letters” during her match, and asked if she would like to face Giulia. Athena said that she did. She then shouted out some former ROH star names including MsChif, Sara del Rey, Alexis Laree (Mickie James), Daffney, Allison Danger, Sumie Sakai, and Daizee Haze, among others. She said that they inspired her to become more than just a pretty face and that those women don’t get enough credit. She mentioned names such as Kairi Sane, Mayu Iwatani, and Guilia as potential opponents in the future.

Vance/Dralistico vs Two Guys (Wheeler/Prasher): I miss RUSH but I think he's been off for the birth of his new kid and I'm glad AEW is giving him time if that's the case. It's going to be a real shot in the arm when he comes back. Los Ingobernables can't play together in the same matches but the same card, I guess. Ethan Page beat Vance in Hamilton as a Dark Match and I need to see if anyone fancammed that just for Page's reactions. Look, mainly I just miss RUSH. Good for 10 here getting Preston sucks chants. Dralistico's strike flurry looked good. Vance maybe sort of needs to work on his emoting? Him shouting out "hermano!" when he wants Dralistico to do something is kind of funny. Why did I write so many words about this? Dark Order vs Righteous: It's a shame Excalibur couldn't have slipped in the idea that Stu had left them too into the stuff on Dynamite? Just a throw away line. Hype up ROH a bit and give them even more reasoning for turning on Page? I like Stu's jacket and especially liked the chess to get Uno out of there. I'd like to see Dutch in a singles match to really get a sense of him. I like how he matched up vs Silver though. His random double stomp off the apron was awesome and i've never seen him do that. Reynolds and Nese are probably the two AEW guys I've come around on the most vs my initial mindset. Finish was clever but I'm curious where this is going especially as Dark Order are becoming heels on AEW TV maybe. Diamante vs Grey: Ian joking about a litigation mode in Fight Forever was kind of funny since they do run a ton of legal/contractual angles (Tony writes what he knows). Fans were a little more into this than last week but they were more into everything. I'd say some of it is tricky since Diamante's always been a tweener but she's low enough on the card that it doesn't really matter I guess. In some ways it's nice that she's just consistently who she is. And hey, she hit a pretty great Chaos Theory off the ropes. And Grey hit Danny Doring's Bareback basically, which is always a move i liked more than I should (It did not look great here). Lucha Guys vs Shane Taylor/Workhorsemen/Gringo Loco: I hated when Fenix just walked into the ring at the beginning like nothing mattered but really liked when Shane Taylor punched Vikingo in the face. Also when it took Komander's head off with a clothesline. God, Drake/Loco/Taylor ... that's like the greatest base team imaginable. Drake just killing Komander was so fun. (And yeah, I liked when Vikingo landed on GL's shoulders. That was cool). Bill/Moriarty kill some vaguely over local guys: I'm not sure about Bill's staggering. Part of being a giant is knowing when and how t give and when not to. Mark Henry was amazing at that by the end, for instance. I didn't love Bill's choices here. But his cut off was good. Moriarty got nailed and then shouted "You crazy?!" before killing a guy. Just pointing that out. Of course I love Lee's Reinera into the Border City Stretch. That brings us to the Forbidden Door section of the show. Embassy vs LIJ: Bushi's mask is quite the thing. Hiromu has star power. Shame they couldn't find more for Shingo over the weekend. I don't know about these guys all getting their own theme. Hiromu was pretty hilarious against Cage. This felt like an important match for the Embassy. Shingo is not a guy I've seen much of and his timing is interesting. I wish we had seen the Toa corner post bum better. El Desperado vs Willie Mack: I'm glad Ian told me some about this guy. I like his social media presence. How is that Moxley match? Love the fans being so excited for this. Mack punching out of the deathlock looked great. I thought they worked well with each other for two guys who had never wrestled before. As strike exchanges go, this one was better than most as they made every shot meaningful. Mack had some great counters using his size here. I liked Mack's selling overall but I would have liked to see just a little more on those times that Desperado went for the double underhook but couldn't get him. It was a hugely impressive visual when he did. House of Torture vs Roppongi Vice: Rocky was taking this seriously and didn't have the eyepatch. Yojiro has fun expressions. Sho is properly vocal. I liked some of the heel BS here. United Empire vs Andretti/Martin/Daniels: Did TJP get cancelled? He did a good job running circles around Andretti and Martin so that Fletcher could be the one clowned by them. I liked Fletcher just going low and slamming Daniels. Imagine Cobb as the partner to Taylor and co. instead of Henry. TJP looks like he should be the villain in a Blade sequel. Andretti's deadlift falcon arrow was neat but he can maybe do it to TJP and Serpentico and that's it without giving himself a hernia. I wanted to see a little more of Daniels working with these guys We just got a bit at the end. UE probably should have went over here? Athena vs Spinelli: Spinelli got in a little more than I was expecting early until Athena just started clubbering. Got to love the magic forearm. Who the heck is Athena going to wrestle at the PPV? There's the person who redebuted last night and I'd like to see that match but it doesn't seem quite big enough (and not just because they're both short). Claudio vs Taylor: Taylor is a guy that I think I like but the Best Friends sometimes buy me in tag matches. Here he showed resilience and familiarity and Claudio just got to be a tank. He based as well as always for the big dive. I would have liked the time limit to play into this somehow but it's also a bit of a waste to run that angle on Taylor unfortunately. Maybe they can do it again with Claudio's next challenger, where he goes past the Proving Ground time limit but doesn't beat Claudio and they build from there. Chuck really shouldn't be allowed to do Toni Storm's finisher as a nearfall. This one didn't have anything nearly as good as Joe vs Sydal, Athena vs Hogan, or Romero vs Garcia unfortunately. And what the heck are they even doing with this PPV?