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TH2 and Butcher & Blade both just seem constantly lost on tv. I've seen both have good matches in other promotions, so maybe it's a live nationwide tv thing? Both teams are just constantly hesitant and out of place. On the other side of that, Santana and Ortiz are the exact opposite. Those dudes are fucking pros. They are exactly where they need to be and they hit even the most complicated stuff so clean. I had no opinion on them when Dynamite started, but they've become two of my favorites.

Just to pile on JR a little more... At the end of the show, Mox headbutts Kenny and draws blood, and JR is blabbing about Omega’s boots. I thought this show was really solid in-ring. Orange/Luther was nothing, but they kept it short.

Titles or not, I just want to see more of Santana and Ortiz. I'm ok with AEW not having everyone on every show, but I feel like they could use those guys more.

I didn't realize that Hero's shows are all up for free right now. I misunderstood and thought only the first would be. I've listened to the 3rd and 4th episodes and they're really good. Conrad could definitely follow up more, that's for sure. I also just don't like his delivery. Hero is great in these, though. He's very thoughtful and honest (at least, it seems he is) with his answers.

Who are the masked guys Powers and Roma are facing up there?

You guys ever heard of a job being called "golden handcuffs"? As in, you feel stuck because the pay, etc. is so good, but you're not happy. You don't want to do it anymore, but you have to because you'd be crazy to give it up. There are probably a lot of guys/girls who feel that way in WWE.

Bloodsport 4 was a pretty good show. I say "pretty good" because it just lacked something. It was a little too low-key. The announcers were good, and Barnett is very knowledgeable, but they didn't have much energy. A finish would happen, and they'd just be in the same tone they'd been in the whole match, no excitement or anything. To be fair, though, the finishes were a little lackluster, too. I've said before that I dig shootstyle wrestling because the finishes can come at any time on any move. But the finishes here were a little TOO out-of-nowhere. Shootstyle is still "worked", so I'd like to see a little drama in my matches. This show was just a bit too mechanical. I know it sounds like I didn't like it, but I did! If you can, check it out. There was a lot of great grappling and I left the show wanting to see more of quite a few guys. Anyway, I'm looking forward to 5 this weekend. DBS/Moxley is an intriguing match.

I also think there's been a shift in who the "marks" in wrestling are these days. Promoters (really just Vince) aren't trying to "work" the fans anymore. They're working the workers (sorry, that's corny). They've convinced an entire generation of wrestlers that the WWE is the ONLY career path that matters. It's your dream! Do whatever it takes to achieve it! You haven't "made it" unless you've stepped foot in that WWE ring! When you have a bunch of employees with that mentality, it's easier to take advantage of them. I actually worked for a tv station that has many parallels to WWE, of course on a much smaller scale. The station worked it's way up to being known as a nice place to work (If any of you have worked in local television news, you know that's a low bar to clear). We would have a meeting at the end of every year where we were told how it was, financially, the station's best year ever, year after year. Then, we'd get told how they just couldn't do raises this year, though because of blah, blah, blah. BUT, we were all part of something great! We were doing something we'd tell our kids and grandkids about! Isn't that wonderful?!?!? Yeah, thanks. None of that is anything unusual, really. Companies have been doing that forever. Doesn't make it less shitty, but it's not uncommon.

I listened to the first episode that they had up for free. It was pretty good, but not good enough that I feel compelled to pay for future episodes. I didn't feel like there was a lack of follow-ups. They sort of spent most of the episode just establishing a timeline of Chris' career, sort of a broad overview. I do think it could get really good if they have Hero breaking down what works/doesn't work in a match, things like that. He's obviously a knowledgeable guy, and he's been everywhere, so I'm sure he's got some great stories. Like I said, I just didn't get enough from that first episode to make me want to pay for more.

It's weird because I feel like this all ties back into carny, kayfabe thinking. On the one hand, WWE, in recent years, has started to acknowledge that their wrestlers are pretty much actors playing a part. But, on the other hand, they still stick to the idea that the wrestler and their character are interchangeable. I guess it's just jarring when the old-school carny aspects of wrestling bump up against WWE's current status as a major corporation.

Man, this just shows you how shitty the booking of NXT has been the last couple of years. I don't even remember anything about Kobashi's NXT Women's title reign.

And then he'd call Inoki an "Oriental" or something worse.

And all she had to do was not tweet. (Well, she could’ve not been a garbage person, too, but just not sharing it with everyone would’ve meant she still had the gig.)

Good riddance. Edit: To Carano. Not in response to HumanChessgame, lol.

That figure’s face is extremely accurate.

One good thing to come of the pandemic is that I can watch a wrestling show on the Saturday of Valentine’s Day weekend since my wife doesn’t expect to be taken anywhere!

I don't have any real insight into that, but I do know he was poised to have a huge WrestleMania weekend last year before all of the indy shows shut down. I think he was facing Shingo on one show. That probably would've been a big talker from the weekend.

From the F&WS trailer, I’m happy to see them continue the use of a plain baseball cap and hoodie as the go-to MCU disguise.

As a big fan of Lodge 49, I'm happy to see Wyatt Russell in the MCU.

'A' is a mixed bag. On the one hand, you get Bryan on the indies doing his thing and he maybe ends up in AEW. On the other hand, he maybe ends up crippled or worse because he never has to tone down his style. 'B' is interesting. His 'firing' wasn't a Drew McIntyre thing where he goes away and raises his stock. When he came back, it wasn't like they got behind him right away. I kind of feel like he still ends up where he is now in that scenario.

I’m going to go out on a limb and assume she’ll be the first person to have a wrestling figure and a Star Wars figure. Is Sgt Slaughter the only other wrestler to get a figure in a major non-wrestling toy line?

Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'm still not going to eat the filthy motherfucker. That's cool for Miz (it really is, not being sarcastic), but I still don't want to watch him.

Well, Stafford's wife has made her feelings clear on the pandemic.

My son and I finished Batman: The Brave and the Bold last night. That last episode is so great! Really, the whole series is great. It tows the line of being appealing to kids and meta enough for the adults to catch some fun stuff. We've also been watching Batman the animated series on HBO. Now, since my son also likes the old Adam West Batman show (on the Roku app, fyi), it leads to much confusion as to which Batman he wants to watch. We've finally come to an understanding. The West Batman is "The Old Batman", TAS is "The Original One" and BATB is "The Batman on Prime". I've been trying to get my son to watch this one, but he's hesitant for some reason. He loves the Turtles, too. I don't think he believes me that it's real.

Bloodsport 4 & 5 Man, the card for Bloodsport 4 looks pretty awesome. Looking forward to seeing Cobb and Tankman in that setting. Edit: Oops. Forgot Tankman was on the last one.