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I was probably ten the first time I got in trouble for getting two toothpicks from the little thing by the door at Shoney's, sticking one behind my ear, and flicking the other one at my sister or whoever. When my dad asked my why I did it, I said "because I'm the Bad Guy." A few years later, I'm sitting watching Nitro, minding my own business. Scott Hall is on tv and my mom walks by. "Wait, is Scott Hall his real name?" She asked incredulously. "Uh, I think so. I know it isn't Starship Coyote." My mom left the room without saying another word. She came back a few minutes later with her high school yearbook. She opened to a certain page and showed me a giant half page picture of her and Razor goddamn Ramon cutting up in the hallway. Apparently they'd been super close in high school just before Hall had to move to Germany. They were both Army Brats. Some ten years after that, I'm sitting in a bar in Smyrna, Ga. I'm watching Brock Lesnar murder John Cena on my laptop while enjoying a couple of cold ones. This real tall kid comes up behind me. "You like wrestling?" "Yeah. I'm trying to figure out if I like this match or not." The tall kid laughed. We shot the shit a minute or two before he stuck out his hand. "I'm Cody. Cody Hall. My dad wrestled for a long time." It took me a minute to figure out who it was. After we talked another minute, I mentioned that my mom had gone to high school with his dad. He pulled out his phone and called Scott Hall. Scott was elated. Cody hung up after a few minutes. "Me and dad are gonna be watching football in here on Sunday. He said you could join us if you want." And that's how, on a random Sunday in 2012, I watched a full Sunday slate of NFL games with the greatest wrestler to have never won a World Title. He was unassuming, engaging, humorous, and more patient than he needed to be for a full grown man who turned into a mark the second he shook the hand of one of his all time favorites. We called mom and I heard a couple good stories from their high school days. He told me a couple real good AWA stories and texted Sean Waltman. Part of me wishes I'd gotten a photo or video from that day, but I had such an amazing experience that I didn't want to ruin it by acting like a mark. When it was time to go, he shook my hand, gave me a "too sweet," and that was it. That was my day with "The Bad Guy." He will be missed. What I remember most, however, was how proud his son was of his sobriety. Hall probably bought himself an extra decade+ of life by battling his demons and embracing the joys of life.

Nobody tell him I said that.

Proud to call Hangman my champion ❤

“I rule in favor of the plaintiff, the Omaha Days Inn. Mr Valiant must reimburse them for the glass table.”

So you’re telling me he did not just say that?

I haven't been paying attention but reading through this thread and trying to understand it with my pee brain soaked in dumb movies, am I reading this drama right?:

So they canned Dewey?

Orange is the new Black.

I have a new weekly feature at The Ringer https://www.theringer.com/2022/2/7/22921511/cm-punk-mjf-rey-mysterio-aj-styles-psycho-clown-gringo-loco-best-matches Where I am going to be writing up the best matches from AEW, WWE and everywhere else. I figure this thread could be folks commenting and giving me suggestions!

I’ve come here to settle down and admire Jamie Hayter, and I’m all out of settling down.

WM: You lost Cody Rhodes?! TK: We have CM Punk and Bryan Danielson. WM: You’re right, nevermind.

Clearly, this would be most effective.

Aww, that's sweet of you to say, thank you. Well now I feel like I have to answer in this thread. Stefanie - That's my name! And I chose that when I renamed myself because all of my names are after women in my life that influenced me. Stefanie specifically comes from my first sports hero, Steffi Graf. (It's also why I specifically prefer to shorten my name to Steffi, not Stef.) The Human - I have the depressing version, the non-depressing version, and the version I tell the kids I mentor. The version I tell the kids I mentor: Adventure Time reference (my Discord avatar used to be Fionna the Human, prior to my switch to using Pete Burns). Non-depressing version: I'm a workforce manager at work, so I'm usually the one called upon to make difficult decisions regarding staffing and scheduling, and some of the people that I work with joke that I'm robotic. It didn't help that my fashion sense was very Janet from the Good Place back when I worked in the office. Depressing version: trans people are often treated as subhuman, both by society and in law, but I refuse to accept this as I am a human, ergo Stefanie the Human. Whichever version you choose to believe is the right one is the right one.

Hey, @The NaturalI know you've been through a lot and you seem like a really incredible guy. So after talking about it with some on Discord I got you a Cameo from a special somebody and hope this finds you well. Special thanks to @Craig H and @Sammo~!for helping contribute, really appreciate that.

I’ll get into everything after Rampage, but imagine being in a public bathroom as a man at a urinal screams “Limitless Lee!” while pissing and then immediately follows it up with a medically alarming sustained fart.

Speak for yourself. I have like 70 people on ignore right now.

They came over to my house and interviewed me for three hours. I gave them every detail of that night of FMW in one sitting without notes. It was a lot, mentally fried me the rest of the interview, as it was very detailed. So they had all the information, but time wise cut to the chase. Don't know why they said school yard when I specifically told them a park. I also got them Ricky, Arai's daughter, and Hayabusa's daughter for the show.

"SO YOU SEE, EVERYONE IN THE PITTSBURGH INDY SCENE HATES BRITT BAKER. SHE ALWAYS THOUGHT SHE WAS TOO GOOD FOR ME. NEVER SAYING HELLO TO ME AND HER OUTFITS AND WHAT NOT. I'M NOT SAYING THIS PERSONALLY, BUT I TOTALLY HEAR SHE SLEPT HER WAY TO THE TOP, BRO."

The entire Danhausen -> Starks -> Hook -> Starks -> Hobbs segment from beginning to end was pro wrestling perfection. One of the best 20 minute stretches AEW has ever done.

Hush Money in the Bank.

Lawl.

Hi everyone. Dolfan the HR Guy here. Don't do this at work!

Max Caster...the floor is yours my man

I do not have enough consciousness left within me to properly praise Kingston vs. Jericho. I want to talk about how this is probably the best match-for-match US pro wrestling card I've seen in a real long time but that's beyond the reach of my fingers or mind. Anyhoo. Best match in AEW history? The best match of either man's career. 1995 King's Road Chris Jericho fucking rules. I had no idea. I had no idea there even was an idea to have. And despite all the AJPW signifying that went on during the match, none of it felt forced. None of it felt like a wink and a nudge. They just picked five really good colors to paint with. Every move felt like the right move in the moment. No blood, but my God the amount of Red - Taue loomed over that shit, that the apron suplex felt like a Nodawa + both guys worked the eye for their cutoff spots like it was the '95 Carny Finals with a month of killer weekly TV build and an all-time promo in front of it. I don't think I need to tell anybody why Eddie Kingston is just the super mega God of this wrestling shit but I really don't know if he knew if his eye really hurt or if he was selling, and neither did I, and neither should I. Never mind the dense '89 Tenryu vibes Jericho was leaning into before he switched to a cocky, overmatched heel, a '98 Tenryu preening through the grit. WAR IS JERICHO, BABAY~! Chris fucking Jericho realized he was getting scattered babyface reactions during those dueling chants + ad-libbed that push on Aubrey Edwards to get his heat back. A brilliant territorial heel/face wrinkle in the middle of a Top Ten Triple Crown match. I'm floored. There is no more MotY race for me, that's it, I'm good. Jericho's washboard vs. Eddie's washing machine? Best Shape Ever Jericho vs. Eddie's Dangling Gut was some Reuben-contra-Statue-esque imagery that belongs under glass with it's own dedicated museum security guard. Everything else on this card ruled but this is all I can bring myself to type about.

I think the biggest thing being missed in this entire situation is that as different as AEW is from WWE it is still pretty committed to maintenance of the status quo as far as who they push at the top of the card or even as a future star. Then on top of that, when we discuss what black person should be in the main event, we are looking for people who are already at a main event level. That doesn't make any sense. If the problem is that black people aren't pushed to the main event, how the fuck do you expect to find someone on the black main event level. That is like in the NFL when people bring up the lack of black head coaches, and then someone says, "Well, they just hire the person with the most experience." So, black people should just stop trying, huh? If the problem is that these opportunities don't go to minorities, you can't then ask for a minority who has the already had the opportunity. They don't exist, which is the problem that we need to fix. We can't fix it by looking for the people who aren't there, you have to look at the people who are there and give them an opportunity to fail. Black people are given chances to succeed, white people are given chances to fail. When people talk about diversity and institutional racism, people start looking for klan hoods and burning crosses, but as bad as that shit is it's on the fringes. The most prevalent and insidious part of racism is the complete and total dedication to maintaining the status quo. No one expected Britt Baker to turn into the star she has become when she was put in that position. She was given the opportunity to sink or swim, and it turned out she could swim. Adam Page wasn't some can't miss prospect. He was given the opportunity to see if he could take that next step, and he made it happen. We also can't look at Jade Cargill of all people and say, "see black people get opportunities." Jade Cargill is Jackie Robinson. I know she's not the first black woman in wrestling, but she is about as exceptional of a wrestling prospect that exists. Jackie Robinson wasn't the best black baseball player, he just happened to be one of the most exceptional people this country has ever produced in almost every way. Jackie Robinson was literally great at everything, and had to fight and claw to get to the major leagues to play against people who were allowed to just be good enough at baseball. If you have to be Jade Cargill to get a shot, no one else is going to get a shot. Big Swole is an average ass professional wrestler, but black people don't get to be average. Big Swole is no worse than Anna Jay, but Anna Jay gets to be average. This shit will never change until black people get to be average at their job. Black people get put into positions when everyone believes that they will succeed. If there is a question about whether or not that a person will be successful, that position will go to someone else. Black parents always tell their kids, if you want to get somewhere in life you have to be twice as good as the white people you're competing against...and it's true. If someone has any questions about whether you are good enough to do something, the answer will always be no. Over the last decade the NFL has had a huge influx of black quarterbacks who would have never got a shot in the past and that's great, but it's still not ideal. Yes if you are Cam Newton or Lamar Jackson you can be the quarterback of an NFL franchise. You know who you can't be? Colt McCoy. Colt McCoy has been an average ass quarterback for over a decade and he just keeps getting them checks. It's perfectly fine to be average ass Colt McCoy, the vast majority of people at any position in any industry is overwhelmingly average. You just can't be black and unexceptional in every way and expect to stick around like Colt McCoy. We spent 8 pages talking about the two or three black people on their roster who get regular television time and it's Jade Cargill who is 1 of 1, Dante Martin, who is 1 of 1, and Powerhouse Hobbs, who in this day and age is 1 of 1. Matt Hardy has a whole team of just regular ass white dudes (I know there is also Private party and that dude who looks like buff Low-Ki). The Dark Order is full of just regular ass white dudes. The Best Friends are just Orange Cassidy and his average ass friends. You don't get to be black and fill a roster spot, and that is a diversity problem.

Some good news today.

I was like “man, shit, Hook is the future of the company, wait no Starks is the future of the company, shit wait, nope, Hobbs is the future of the company, oh fuck Jungle Boy with the promo of his life he’s the future of the company, shit man Dante Martin is good is he the future of the company? wait holy shit Daniel Garcia is the future of the company!”

I always catch myself thinking about the "Lost Generation" of US pro-wrestlers who existed after the demise of WCW/ECW and before the NXT talent raids. Like, I don't think we realized what was happening during those 18 years of WWE dominance and TNA futility. I don't think we realized it was a period in wrestling history when things were not the way they were supposed to be. Even (especially?) die-hard fans were so pessimistic about the whole thing that we just assumed wrestling wasn't ever going to be cool again, the UFC took all the legitimacy away, Benoit took away all the joy, the demise of WCW took away all the creativity, and somehow our favorite thing deserved to be portrayed to the masses as a largely stupid and childish form of entertainment. That's why I think it's really important to remember and celebrate the generation of wrestlers who peaked in that era and never got to make the millions of dollars & fans that they would have in any other. Off the top of my head, Homicide, Nigel McGuinness, and Chris Hero are the big-name indy superstars that come to mind but after that first tier comes a bunch of bigger what-ifs. Alex Shelley, Super Dragon, Eddie Edwards, maybe not headcases like Low Ki and Davey Richards. Really entertaining guys who would have gotten over as midcard acts, like a hypothetical 2002 ECW run with the Spanish Announce Team, or 2009 WCW running an odd CHIKARA tag in the first hour of Nitro. Who's to say an edgy rival doesn't counter-program the Cena era and doesn't do a Gage-esque short run with a deathmatch guy? I think the rawest deals went to the "sports entertainment" type guys who worked a real solid style but weren't flashy enough to win over spotmark indy fans, i.e. BJ Whitmer, Adam Pearce, Xavier, etc. Or European guys like Jody Fleisch who would have, at the very least, been able to garner a decent following with just a little US TV exposure or bigger US indies that could afford to fly them in. Or, here's a shocker, every woman who was in that first wave of SHIMMER talent - it is bullshit that people like Lacey or LuFisto never even had a chance to be famous. A majority of the PWG founders + early regulars had to eventually say "fuck it" and fall back on their day jobs, and I'm pretty certain time has already dimmed the glory of their deeds. Not to mention global talent like the cursed 3rd Generation of the NJPW dojo, the heavyweights that failed to inherent the throne of NOAH, and the dozens of luchadores who would have done a better job with the Sin Cara gimmick than Mistico. I guess what I'm saying is, this board was built on the discussion of monopoly-era indies and international wrestling so talking about these guys is second nature to a lot of us. But the rest of the wrestling fandom is pretty darn clueless. Don't allow these past decades to become the Dark Ages. Tell the children all your tales of B-Boy, "The Turkish Delight" Murat Bosporus, and Osamu Nishimura, or we will live in a world that will forget them.

My little one surprised me today with an early birthday present, she knows me well

I am "on a break" until the start of Secret Santo... but I feel I owe y'al! at least a mini road report after you gave me all that good advice. The advice was absolutely on point as well. And I don't wanna let Octopus down. Enough unhappy octopi in the wrestling world today already. Basically: I am glad I went. All the matches were good. It was nice to see some old friends again. Live pro wrestling is the best pro wrestling. BUT Corona precautions are still in full effect over here. It is VERY WEIRD to sit quietly, clapping politely, while dudes are getting slammed into thumbtacks. It's sad to see old friends but not share drinks with them, to not chat with them or the wrestlers I know. to not embrace anyone. To not take pictures with anyone... The wrestling - per se - was good, though. Often very good indeed. I woke up nice and early to catch the Death Before Zero Hour pre-show, and the PPV up until half-way through the Deeb vs Martinez match which is when I had to go and catch my train. My free ticket was literally in the top corner of the arena, but those were still pretty good seats. It was in the small hall. nice venue. Good neighbourhood. I'd estimate about 300 people in attendance. Atmosphere was friendly and happy but subdued due to the Corona restrictions. You could get a picture with Okabayashi with a social distance screen between you and he... but non fan club members had to pay for it. I am willing to pay for pics with Joshi legends only, out of respect for tradition. Every match had something for me to hang my hat on. Dark match was Dyna Mido vs a grouchy veteran. I met the Dynamite Kid tribute guy at the Matrix Charity Show party years ago. The match was brief and amusing, due to grouchyness. The actua! first match featured my boy Quiet Storm, who very recently became the first gaijin to win the Osaka Pro championship. He is massive. Next match featured my boy Ultimate Spider Junior. He's really fast and athletic. Nice contrast in matches. A fair bit of comedy in every match. I wonder if that's something BJW does in Osaka. Osaka=comedy. Spidey was supposed to semi-main in a Jr. Title match but Sekifuda got injured, if I understand correctly. Daichi Hashimoto & Daisuke Sekimoto vs (my boy) Shigehiro Irie & Takuho Kato was an excellent little match. Irie is great. Shinya's kid kicks REALLY hard. Sekimoto is even more massive than Quiet Storm. Then there was a trios comedy death match! It must be an Osaka thing. Yukking it up between staple gun and cinder block spots. Ishikawa was in this one. Surprisingly, (spoiler!) he got pinned (if I'm remembering correctly). TLC & Pushpin Death Match: This was the weirdest match to watch without yelling. Yankee Two Kenju (Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto) vs Abdullah Kobayashi & Jaki Numazawa ended with a piledriver from the top rope! (Through a Japanese table)! That had echoes later! Thanks to Curt and Beard I was properly pumped to see Miyamoto and Kodaka. They were great. There was some thumbtack-based comedy, too. Then there was a break and they replaced the whole ring canvas. That was interesting. UWA World Tag Team Title Match: Eisa8 & HUB (c) vs Brahman Brothers (Brahman Kei & Brahman Shu) , Okinawa Pro vs Michinoku Pro (kind of)! Straight up comedy match. My first time seeing the Brahmans live, I believe. I guess we got this to make up for no Jr. Title match. BJW Tag Team Title Match: Astronauts (Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura) (c) vs Kazuki Hashimoto & Koji Kanemoto was f'n excellent!! They beat the hell out of each other! Just vicious strikes and really snug holds. Lots of hatred. Thanks to Dean and Beard and my friend Rod I was mentally prepared for this level of violence. is it racist to assume that every Japanese wrestler who kicks really hard and is named Hashimoto and works for Big Japan is related to Shinya? Because I was surprised that Kazuki Hashimoto is apparently not related. Good heavens, he kicks hard. Fuminori Abe is my new favourite wrestler. BJW World Strong Heavyweight Title Match Yuji Okabayashi (c) vs Daimonji Sou was 20 plus straight minutes of Big Meaty Men Slapping Meat. These lads gave us a Main Event! it was weird just to go home after the show. My wife was surprised that I came back sober. i got back just in time to catch Tana vs Naito (very epic G1 match that Rod saw live) and then I watched the rest of the ROH PPV. And I have to say, that long Bricoes vs FTR match held me rapt for all three falls. Pretty impressive! What a match! what a day of wrestling!

I'm giving AEW 40 bucks tonight. I got no problem stealing WWE ppvs from sketchy Chinese sites.

My favorite use of what would become Harlem Heat's theme:

I do love everyone falling all over themselves to say "Cokehead" without saying "Cokehead."

Why are you even making this thread? Will there even be a show tonight? The ratings are in the toilet and TK spent all his money on Tony Nese. I doubt this even airs.

Check this picture posted by AEW. Wow.

We wish WWE all the best in their future endeavors.

Dolfan, please ban TK for shitposting. Thanks.

I thought Vince hated tag teams?

Wanna rehab the TNT title? Konosuke Takeshita.

Oh man.

Matt Hardy, Sting and Darby Allin getting beat up. Jeff Hardy:

Can we get a new sub-form or something where all you weirdos can talk about Adam Cole’s physique amongst yourselves?

So yesterday, I was successfully discharged from rehab after 111 days. I went for alcohol and mental gymnastics. To say I feel like a new man is a metric fuckton of an understatement. It feels great and I feel great to be out.