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The AEW women's belt is one of my favorite belts in wrestling right now, easily the best belt in the company, and the size/vague resemblance to the old Lou Thesz belt is one of the reasons I like it so much.

Cut Jericho some slack, he's 50 years old and he has the coronavirus.

Watching the first episode of the women's tag tournament made me think of how smart NJPW is to make their rookies focus on mastering a small set of basic moves. It seems like a lot of the awkwardness in these matches comes from the wrestlers trying to do fancier stuff without the strong fundamentals you need make them look good. To be fair, I've had the same reaction to newer male wrestlers. I don't blame them--there's a clear incentive to try complicated stuff, since it's hard to get hyped for having good basics. But it grates on me as a viewer.

This might be the thing that finally drives me into the loving arms of AJPW.

I realize that cheating and interference and ref bumps have been common in New Japan at least since the Bullet Club formed in 2003, but I'm really getting sick of it. I thought maybe the Dominion title match would be the last straw. But then they went and brought in Dick Togo. Just when I thought I was out...

I wish there were a lot more pro wrestling like that Zangiev/Sawyer match.

I have a thought like this in response to at least 80% if these French catch gifs. So much cool stuff that would absolutely work today.

I think Chuck would benefit majorly from (a) adopting Bret Hart-style long tights + singlet ring gear and (b) ditching the vest he wears to the ring (IMO vests only work for Texas cowboy dudes and douchebag heels).

If SANADA won, sure.

YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tenzan was solid.

But it's not like Tyson admitted wrongdoing and went to prison voluntarily. He fought the charges in court. The fact that he served his time doesn't tell us anything about what kind of person he was or is. (Not trying to start an argument or be hostile, just registering polite disagreement.)

The AEW women's belt makes the men's belt look so garish and tasteless in comparison.

Come to think of it, "Pins and Needles" would be a great name for a book about steroids in pro wrestling. Maybe if Brian Cage ever writes a memoir...

^For a split second I thought that was Roman Reigns getting the mist from Tajiri. Big missed opportunity for WWE there.

Dude, next time you get in an argument on here about WWE booking or whatever, please DON'T bring up Hana Kimura's suicide.

Looking again, that's gotta be Jumbo on the right page, top row middle.

Can anybody recognize all of these? I'm only confident about a few on the left page, Hiroshi Hase (second row left), Dr. Death and Stan Hansen (third row middle and right), and The Patriot, Kamala, and Johnny Ace (bottom row L-R). Top row on the right page looks like it has Rusher Kimura on the left and Jun Akiyama on the right.

Isn't it a little misleading to say that Baba booked around just one guy? It's true that he presented Misawa as the all-around best in the company, but there were always other wrestlers around who were credible enough to hold the title here and there. This is even more true of Gedo's NJPW, where Okada is clearly the top guy, but he's also just one of five wrestler to hold the title in the last two years (and Ibushi ready to be elevated to that level any time). I think the biggest weakness of the "ace" approach to booking is that there's just no way of guaranteeing that your top star will have a successor who the audience will accept in that role. But I don't think that can be helped. That said, I do sympathize with what @Southside Jim is saying. If one guy is the unambiguous top wrestler in the company, then when they lose the top belt, you know it's just a matter of time until they get it back. And in fact, them NOT getting it back would be dissatisfying, since it would go against they way they've been presented! The idea of Okada becoming heavyweight champion again kind of bores me, but the idea of that not happening is bothersome too.

This makes it sound like PRIDE was specifically designed to destroy the Japanese pro wrestling industry!

OK now that gutbuster might be my new favorite. I wish I lived in the alternate universe where backbreakers and gutbusters became ubiquitous instead of destroyers and crummy suicide dives.

@Matt D That backbreaker might be my favorite of all the old French catch moves you've posted. Far from the flashiest or the most distinctive, but just perfect.

Chris Gethard also booked himself to get gored by Rhyno.

Looks like the person who really missed something was... me :^(

I was gonna say--in all the excitement about AEW doing their own version of War Games, people seem to have missed that this is exactly what WWE does with Hell in a Cell: announce that they're going to have a big stipulation match and then assign a storyline to it later.

Beside myself with excitement for Tenzan vs. YOSHI-HASHI.