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Speaking of speaking of the AEW Championship, Samoa Joe is our champion.

It's funny, because every time you post, I picture you as Scott Ian (Even though it's not even your avatar anymore) and always picture you bald.

Gangrel

I read this as "John Waters" and was highly confused for a minute.

After every 3rd or 4th Bryan Danielson match, The Natural has to replace the asterisk key on his keyboard due to wear.

So many snowflakes...

I feel like WWE realized quickly that while Sasha Banks had great presence and could cut a solid brief promo she did not have big show opening monologue talents (TBF most don't). For whatever reason AEW seems to have unlearned this and like... I know there are some people who have a real hate on for Mone, I think she's one of the best american women wrestlers out there atm but I don't think you can book her to just talking like this for another month before letting her wrestle.

If Gangrel is showing up I want Jeff and Matt to get a bloodbath and a Hardyz/somebody vs. E&C/Gangrel cinematic Crypt of Terror match at the Hardy Compound or Gangrel's Castle. Somebody loses by getting put in a casket that's set on fire, and then explodes.

Maybe Ohtani can play minor league basketball for a year.

The best thing Karrion Kross has done? That would be Scarlett Bordeaux, of course.

I liked the I Quit match a lot, the hockey fight bit was a little corny but also really funny and awesome and the crowd loved it. There were obvious callbacks to their past. I also think that the longer term storyline will be that Cope just couldn’t bring himself to totally maim his friend. Having this and the Street Fight on the same card could have been tough but the women delivered some great moments. Willow once again shows that she takes a Code Blue better than anyone, this time on an announcers table that does not give an inch. Ouch! Skye blades without going full crimson mask. We get tacks and some nasty but not gnarly bumps. Loved how you could totally see Skye’s pride at receiving the “You Sick Fuck” chants. Kingston-Okada was great but also sad in the end result, but effective in the longer run. I thought Hook-Jericho was excessive and was worried about Jericho’s neck on several of those bumps. Surprised a little at Best Friends going over. I thought they might actually give OC some time off. Takeshita-Rocky was fun until the end. Shibata in a squash was weird in the sense that I’m used to the Japanese legend AEW guys only having big matchups. The opening felt very WWE to me, the promo seemed heavily scripted towards catchphrases, and the song is going to wear thin quickly. The Tonis vs. VirtuRosa was solid but never quite excellent. Rosa was best bumping and selling, her offense wasn’t as crisp as the rest of them. I also was proven wrong in my discussion of AEW seeing Toni as a face, as this match tried very hard to make them the heels. The fans ain’t buying it, and we did get seeds of a full Deonna turn at the end.

It works, too. I love FTR and have no real interest in all the dull mechanics in AEW who are just dull mechanics.

March 1979 Nashville Six Man Tag Team Match Andre The Giant & The Jet Set (Bobby Eaton & George Gulas) defeat Gypsy Joe & The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy) And from a few weeks later in Birmingham, for historical amusement: NWA Mid-America Tag Team Title: The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy) (c) vs. Bobby Eaton & Robert Gibson - Draw

I applaud them for being two dull mechanics who turned "being two dull mechanics" into their gimmick. Some real 3D chess there. Like, "we're not two boring, nondescript white guys whose only value is giving you a good 20 minutes! We're old school wrestlers!" Gotta respect that hustle. It's like a con inside a con inside a con. Con-ception. It's like when Primus turned "Primus sucks" into a catchphrase, thus sidestepping legitimate criticism. It's funny to realize guys like John Walters just had to take their "boring technician" gimmick a few more inches into 70s & 80s cosplay territory and they would have been something.

Funny. I've never thought of them as pretentious but man... they really are, when you look at it. Pretention can be obfuscated when the target is... aesthetically susceptible, I suppose. (Read: "Hey you know this is just MX cosplay." "Yeah... but it's really GOOD MX cosplay!")

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QG-nQ5bg8-0 Throwback to the best thing Karrion Kross has done.

"Tony Khan said that whoever holds the Continental Championship after November's annual Full Gear pay-per-view will get an automatic spot in the Classic. However, the titleholder will have to win the tournament final at December's Worlds End PPV in order to keep their championship." F4wonline.com.

I'm praying NO to 3 hour Dynamites, but excess is kind of the name of the Khan game. Seems obvious the Rampage rating goes up from usual, but the potentially negative effect on Dynamite going to 3 is something I hope they seriously weigh. Tho, UGH, suddenly feels ineviable. I'm partially against this because I watch Dynamite before work on Thursday mornings, and 3 hours will throw a wrench into the works. It's also kinda passed my single sitting threshold.

I thought similarily, but I think they actually tailored a few things here to make certain Hook was the babyface. The entrance music being first and foremost. Flares and an even more pronounced overhang, but Eddie's in ring acumen and all around genius easily rises above these poor presentation choices. I may be alone, but I find the yellow kickpads shabby as well. I know, I know Kawada. Other than Mariah May, whom I'd really like to see revert back to her own (far better) look sooner than later, I find the cosplay in AEW consistently awful. Remember that Ninja Turtle backpack looking thing Adam Cole wore for his big PPV title match? There are so many great examples of awful cosplay gear. And regular gear. Also, my gawd, the music last night was just awful. Fucking Alter Bridge sing-a-long. That Will Ospreay theme is unbelievably shitty. As is the somehow-worse-than-the-original new Dynamite theme. Buttrock galore! I was so thankful for Action Bronson last night. And Jane!

Btw, here's TK's pre-Dynamite promo

I haven't watched much indy stuff in years for reasons but signed up for Triller Plus and am watching GCW Ashes to Ashes. First time seeing Jack Cartwheel and I was prepared to hate his schtick but I kinda dug it. Helps that he pulled out a Sasuke Special which is one of my favorite moves. The show gave me the feeling I used to have watching IWA MS shows especially with Prazak on commentary. Abdullah Kobayashi and Tremont was a stinker. At one point Tremont was a really good deathmatch worker but he's fallen off. Every time I see her I wish Maki Ito was in AEW on my TV weekly.

The Brood vs. House of Black would be a fun match. Who can out mind game the other?

There is probably some cheeky graphic tee somewhere with a fake knockoff WWE logo with "I Want to Pump Something into Your Local Economy.".

This just triggered a memory of Bret talking sense to battling brother-in-laws Davey and Owen. And the Two Time Slammy Award Winner bursting into tears. One of the greatest moments in the history of Wrestling. Not that they'll try and emulate their heroes, but it's got me wondering who could be the one to bring these two old friends back together.

Old Crow (heh) was on TV last night. Boy that's some '90s shit. Top Dollar came across rather well. Wish Berryman had his part in there... EDIT: I fucked up Michael Berryman's name and deserved to be flogged

Well, the real bonus of the Smith is that it lets you safely overload things you may not otherwise. You can much more safely overload a military press or an incline bench there than you could with dumbbells or a barbell. For whatever reason, my mid-back is not great at stabilizing those, especially OHPs. I guess I could try push presses, but I feel a lot better about using the Smith for overloading that. It's a total game changer for lunges, too. Again, the capacity for overload is higher *because* stability is taken out of the equation to a large extent. It's not like I don't also do squats or Bulgarians or something else to get my adductors and hips working. But being able to really focus on glutes or quads or getting deeper than normal is really helpful. Basically, the Smith machine is cereal: part of a balanced breakfast, not the only thing you should gorge yourself on.

Pretentious - attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed. The arguable best tag team in wrestling seem less fitting than…

I should consider myself lucky that at 43, I've still got a full head of hair.

This reminds me of that series of Achewood strips where Ray is prank calling various other comic strip characters and Beef is cheering him on. Someone's going to be laughing in my ear and asking me to do Mike Bailey next.

OMG Dave and Bryan going round and round about that yesterday made me dumber for having heard it. 10 Print "Bryan says: it was fucking dumb to put them clean over FTR and then keep them out of the tournament" 20 Print "Dave says: lots of promotions throughout history have done things like that. It's about making money, not logical booking" 30 GOTO 10 Dave, who has made a career calling out bad, illogical booking, reversing to say that if it makes dollars, it doesn't need to make sense, is certainly something.

If it's any consolation, I'm in the same boat and I just turned 39, mate. If I bent down, you'd see Friar Tuck.

Every time I start to feel bad about my hair thinning and getting patchy in front a few years back, leading me to just shave it weekly with a 1 guard, I'll revisit this thread. Thanks, dudes!

Gotta say, Mox and Claudio squashing FTR in a feud and then immediately going on vacation is peak AEW https://411mania.com/wrestling/backstage-notes-recent-aew-tv-absence-jon-moxley/

It would’ve cost AEW nothing to have Hangman & the Dark Order win the trios titles. You could’ve done the angle where hangman accidentally costs his team the match a week or so after. But, ya know, Jackson’s gonna Jackson…

https://variety.com/2024/artisans/news/spider-verse-animated-short-the-spider-within-1235948300/ The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story a short film set between Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse looking at mental health. This will be released on Sony Pictures Animation YouTube channel, 27th March.

Fully agree with Phil's take on the BTS pod: someone needs to throw a fireball.

Not following concussion protocol when he injured Jeff Hardy and still picking him up to hit his finish instead of ending it there.

I really don't like the idea of a 3 hour Dynamite being a regular thing from a personal viewing perspective, but it's probably good for business. AEW does at least have the roster to pull it off without too many people being in multiple segments. The best thing about this block was the women had multiple segments for 3 different angles and didn't feel like anyone got shorted. Wednesday is by far AEW's best night, so if they can get some of their programming out of those Fri/Sat death spots, that's a win for them. Hook taking Jericho to suplex city sure was something. That was a really good put-over by Jericho, so hopefully he won't ruin it by overstaying his welcome and dragging out this angle. Maybe just have him ask Hook to help him get revenge on the Callis Family and call it a day.

You should be happy you don't have about six cowlicks in the same spot on your head like I do. Try getting THAT to ever look right.

Ever since I saw 'Kingpin', EVERY time part of my hair sticks up anywhere, I immediately assume I look like Ernie McCracken and start frantically trying to fix it. It doesn't matter that every time I look in the mirror and it's not like that (Though im getting old so it probably IS coming!), every time my hair blows in the breeze or gets all static-y, it's https://tenor.com/YWto.gif I didn't know Sammy got suspended again...what was it for this time?

Judas vibes from the crowd singing Metalingus! Meltzer mentioned awhile back how the plans to move Jericho in to a tag team role kept getting derailed, first with the Golden Jets going for the titles but Kenny got hurt, then Jericho & Sammy were going to be in the tournament but Sammy got suspended and so Jericho got moved on to Hook. Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics also mentioned this, "Rampage following Dynamite tonight can be seen as a test of whether Dynamite could be a 3-hour program. If a scheduler coldly had to choose between Rampage, Fri at 10p or a 3rd hour of Dynamite, Wed at 10p, the answer seems obvious. Tonight's rating will quantify it."

Gummo should have beaten Titanic for best picture and Elliot SMith should have beaten Celine Dion.

They've actually named the Brutus Beefcake episode next week...

Yeah those new flared bottom pants weren’t doing the Mad King any favors. Should go back to the old tucked into the boots look ASAP.

Watched Tenebrae for the first time. It was really good.

Every time I see Jericho's weave/plugs/otherwise fake hair get all sweaty and sticking out in all directions, I can't help but think of Bill Murray in Kingpin.

Phil was on the Masked Man Ringer podcast to plug this show (episode is called "The WrestleMania XL Fantasy Draft with Phil Schneider"). It's right at the start of the show, starts at 2:50. I won't spoil it, but the highlight for me was Phil's story about a DM he got, around the 11:30 mark. https://podbay.fm/p/the-masked-man-show

This Mercedes booking is really starting to remind me of when Saraya came in. Massive initial pop. Sustained follow-up reaction. But Mone single=handedly fighting off the TBS champ and Skye Blue, hinting at Willow (who should pretty much only be face...and get some better theme music while I'm at it!) turning on her, then getting in Willows face reminds me of the crowd completely turning on Saraya. Also, it's really funny to have Mone and the announcers having to talk about Willow injuring her when it was my understanding she slipped off the turnbuckle, right?! I would be down for a heel Mone with Stokely Hathaway doing her promos for her though. Also if you don't know hockey, that spot in the penalty box probably didn't make a ton of sense to you but there's a fair amount of backstory to the Toronto-Boston feud that explains why the crowd went nuclear when the the good guy not only put on his hometeam jersey but put the Bruins jersey on the bad guy. It was like 15 years of hockey disappointment being let out at once!

Eh, they’re a midcard team that can be used for either funny moments or a needed mid show feud. I can respectfully see not liking them (Chuck Taylor might be an acquired taste). RAMBLE: Maybe I’m fond of them being the thing that made me smile in the original AEW. More so than the JungleSquad or Private Party. I really feel connected with Best Friends. They don’t really need to do much (I’d like a thanks for your service title run but…) I’m just happy they’re still there to make me smile. For body shapes, I know this is a tough topic. I like how OC is skinny and wrestles a unique way to take on the big bullies and sexy athletes. I love how I could see me having a spicy chicken sandwich with Chuck Taylor after he Awful Waffles someone. I’m nowhere near them in actual shape, but I relate to them and maybe subconsciously cheer them on because of it. They’re also willing to be silly. Don’t take life to seriously and I can relate to that. In a brawl I’m sure they’d get beat up pretty good but at the same time I wouldn’t count them out. They got whatever It is. I also like how AEW has groups that support each other, I don’t watch New Japan much but it’s how I assume they operate. Even hip hop. Tupac has the Outlawz, 50 Cent has G-Unit, Busta Rhymes has Flipmode, Eminem has D-12, etc. It’s cute seeing Orange Cassidy and Statlander have the Best Friends. Willow and Danhausen are like Wu-Tang affiliates Redman and RA The Ruggedman. Yuta leaving was cool. I wish more happened with it, but I remembered that was fun. They really helped established Yuta’s personality before his full on BCC dickish antics. I forget the specific match, but I love the shot of them walking up the ramp completely bloodied and dazed after a victory. It just felt like AEW and I was so happy to see it.