Custos

I was thinking the same on both fronts. It probably helps that I haven't seen much of the Juniors recently so it's refreshing to see guys like Eagles and SHO again. As far as Hiromu goes, crazy's gonna crazy. For as much as Ibushi seemed to tone down the reckless risks in the G1, 'balls to the wall' is Hiromu's only setting.

Milano Collection not impressed by Liger's shirt and waistcoat collection

It's a fair point, I can't begrudge them for following direction but they unfortunately have that association now for better or worse.

Leaving aside out of the ring nonsense, Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano as the poster children for overdone epics. I know intellectually they are both very talented and by all accounts great people but I can hear Mauro screaming in my ears right now and I’m not interested.

And undeniably have been two of the few genuine draws in wrestling today. I don’t watch much WWE with AEW and NJPW so accessible but always check out the best stuff from both of them. I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since they tore the house down in the Iron Man match at NXT, back when NXT women kicking arse in front of a huge crowd was still a novelty (this one was still at Full Sail).

To me, the tagline has its place as an AEW motto in the rejection of the ‘history is written by the victors’ WWE approach, and goes hand-in-hand with the associated Starrcast movement in the celebration of the rich and diverse wrestling past and present. It’s their philosophy in honouring and not humiliating the legends. But I’ll concede that Cody’s entrance song maybe isn’t that place. And you might even say the sentiment is more 2010 (up until which Hart was still on the outs with WWE) than 2020, considering the role of the diverse library of the WWE network and the greater openness shown by HHH.

That’s me, I only became ‘into’ into wrestling after a solid summer in ‘99 of Revenge with friends, which was around the time UK Channel 5 started airing WCW. I think it’s underestimated how much a decent wrestling game can be a ‘gateway drug’ to being a fan of This Great Sport. As good as Fire Pro is, its too niche and retro-looking to be that, and lord knows the 2k games are beyond phoned-in at this point. So here’s hoping to a solid and fun core game engine for this one, to get some more kids hooked 20 years later. Like the best game remakes (not that this is one per se, but they are explicitly evoking the N64 games), they should go for the feel of how we remember the AKI games rather than how they actually were, with all the 2020 quality-of-life improvements that you’d expect. I would also dearly love to not have any EA bullshit micro transactions, carved-up gated content. Keep that to the mobile game.

I take a day to catch up on the latest dynamite and we’re 8 pages deep already. I’d mentioned PAC as the potential surprise for Full Gear half as wishful thinking, considering the travel restrictions etc but the Bastard is actually back, in all his seething glory! Three really solid matches between the main, the tag and the David/Goliath in Sydal/Cage. Definitely got my money’s worth for the week. I’ll defer to those more knowledgeable on the appropriateness of Brandi acting as she did, for me that was just one of those segments where you go ‘...okay, that happened’ and move along. Psyched for Omega and Moxley, even if Omega is still coming off too self-referential talking about his critics and this nebulous ‘cleaner’ thing that no-one in the company have explained in the context of how it relates to his AEW persona. Also, have we not had enough wacky hijinks with the Inner Circle crew already, now it’s ‘the Gang all go to Vegas’ episode with some knock-off Hangover gags next week? Surely they can bake in the animosity and dissension in the context of wrestling and competition? The best part of the PnP/Best Friends feud was when the shit got real, the balance for the Inner Circle guys feels off at the moment.

What a convoluted, circuitous and meandering build to the big pay-off. But enough about the US election counting process (yes 3 nights watching tallies tick up on foreign news updates at unsociable hours will do a number on your sense of humour). Seriously though, they’ve been hyping the FTR clash for literally years between BTE etc. Then when we finally get there, with all super kicking announcers and other shenanigans it just feels a bit of a jumble story-wise. Similarly with Kenny and Page it’s been long but not necessarily good. I’m intrigued how both will play out for how everything will develop from there (hopefully Heel Cleaner and Cowboy Shit Face running wild), but in terms of match anticipation, I’m more excited for Mox/Kingston and Cody/Allin which were by comparison just slapped together, and Silver/OC given the tear that Silver’s been on. Certainly ready to plonk down my Fite PPV money for this. Crossing my fingers for a PAC angle on the night, missed that geordie bastard and the Dynamite package was phenomenal.

Bret’s got to have at least one Canadian in the list, had a hand in his development/signing and seeing that potential turn into Edge being a top guy for a few years probably = a fave. It’s understandable.

Is there anything to the theory that 1. buying a Bucks shirt was a tangible affirmative expression towards the desire for a wrestling alternative as part of the Grassroots Indy Movement (c) and, like taking down the lawn sign after an election, the t-shirt demand subsided as they got the alternative they wanted 2. The t-shirt sale was reciprocal for the overall Bucks experience which included the Elite chanting on the way in, the match itself, the super kick party show-close, and the personal interaction, and in the absence of all the other stuff, there’s not the same compulsion to get the shirt 3. All along they were more closely riding the wave of the Bullet Club merch popularity than their own thing I’m probably way over-thinking this...

A real shame as Fenix/Omega was the match I was most anticipating. Not to say that Penta will be a downgrade. But yeah Fenix could tone down to like 85% and still be spectacular without risking another Hiromu situation (I assume, as a non-wrestler).

That was a fantastic show all over. No FF material, tournament matches were all very different from each other, Lucha Bros finally in featured in high-profile singles competition (salivating for Fenix/Omega), women's match was worthy of its spot, great promos/musical numbers (!) from the best talkers in wrestling (throwing honourable mentions to Taz and Starks). Years ago (too many) when the Buffy episode 'Once More with Feeling' came out my friends used to joke about what a Musical version of Raw would look like and who would get most over. Lo and behold, Jericho breaks the mould again and actually does it. I'll add to the chorus of Silver fans. He's got a some of that lovable Crash Holly energy, but at least doesn't have to worry about JR calling him Elroy Jetson. Edit to add: I forgot to mention, there were so many storylines kicked along in efficient and effective ways (Mox/Eddie, Darby/Starks, MJF/Inner Circle, Colt and Dark Order, Omega's attitude, Hardy/Sammy, Bucks/FTR and on and on)

Not quite the same thing, but I know she’s a competitive poker player so presumably she has some televised trash talking somewhere.

So much for watching live on chat, parental obligations got in the way. A satisfying enough finish to a great tournament which was a welcome distraction to dive into for the past few weeks. Final was at a pretty methodical pace but I was getting really sucked in by the near-falls by the end. Out of the two I'm happy the winner won but wouldn't have minded a fresh face or fresh circumstance (like Naito winning and calling his shot). I'll give Mister O Khan a minute before shitting on him like Wato but Ospreay's group does feel pretty low-rent British indy for the moment. The 3-man English booth did a solid job building up the hype with Chris Charlton giving the context and Kevin Kelly weaving together the story threads. I'm sure I remember Rocky being better than this before but he seemed mostly off and had a tone to his voice like he was barely able to take the whole thing seriously. And it seems Shingo is being slotted seamlessly into the Ishii role of bruiser workhorse who gives great performances night-in night-out but won't ever be the top dog.

Re: Eagles and Australia, there is talk again of a pacific bubble with Japan although early days still and you never know what tomorrow will bring. I said my piece about Ospreay but I do concede if it is a catalyst for freshening up the factions then I wouldn’t be averse to that depending on how it all shakes out. Yesterday was the better block final for me, KENTA and Naito never seemed to get to that higher gear with any urgency and then a flat finish, a fairly dull Yano match by his standards and Juice/Goto no better or worse than expected. The main was entertaining enough, it would have been nice if Hiromu had played equaliser a bit sooner and we could have had a bit less fuckery and more of the familiar ex tag partners going toe for toe. Also, the haters of the Paradise Lock have double the reason to hate tonight. I do wonder what the ‘serious business’ pure sports build zealots make of a main event in the world’s most prestigious tournament where a couple of blokes were curled up with their arse in the air pretending to be immobile. It is pretty absurd but the schtick is the schtick.

Wow that Ibushi/Taichi match was something, with Ibushi’s love of pushing the artistic boundaries of wrestling I can see him coming up to the Holy Emperor and saying ‘what if we just kick each other in the hamstring for 20 minutes until we can’t stand...then fall over and do it some more?’ Cody likes to talk about wrestlers playing their own music, that was like a Steve Reich piece with the trance-like repetitive percussion and the minimalism. I have enjoyed Taichi a hell of a lot more than usual during this G1, his match has become one to look forward to (Juice, YOSHI-HASHI and Yujiro being the ones who usually cause a automatic fast forward). I can’t believe it’s over for one block already. Also it was heartwarming to hear the instinctive screams of joy at the finish of the main event before the Japanese crowd remembered their decorum and reverted to clapping. EDIT: forgot to say on the Ospreay stuff, I find him more goofy on the acting and angles stuff than Cornette finds Omega so not enthralled by Gedo allocating one of his precious few non-match story developments to Billy No Brains.

One could even say...undeniable. He’s still the poster boy for the WWE Alternative Movement (the All In ‘no entity owns pro-wrestling’ promo being emblematic), I think people are underestimating the goodwill still left in the tank for Cody to indulge himself in his high-profile programs, leaving aside any heel turn foreshadowing etc. The Jarrett and HHH comparisons feel hyperbolic to me (for example, the crazy long streak where HHH was either champion or challenger for World Title match on PPV feels far beyond Cody’s actual or potential antics at this point). Or perhaps I’m underselling the FICKLE nature of fan support.

Agreed, what a medley of awesome matches. Was into Cobb the most I’ve been so far in the tournament, I guess that’s Ishii’s magic G1 dust. I get what you mean about the ending of the main event, but the journey there, plus the Osaka crowd reaction, and loving all things Shingo took this one to the top for me. And evil Suzuki giving and taking the ever increasing brutality was fantastic. And Yuya with the big W in a great match to start, the show had everything. Puerile chuckle of the night goes to the Japanese announcer call of ‘Cheekee Nandos Kiku!!!’, I don’t know why it tickles me so much. And since I hadn’t commented on the previous couple of nights, ZSJ/Yano takes the top spot for Yano matches so far, between the match itself and Zack’s priceless ad-libs along the way (‘Why would I do this to myself, ref?’ as he sits there with a chair taped to his wrist) topped off by the piss-take of the cliche-riddled sports interview trope linked by @The Natural above. Sublime.

Night 5 had been plenty of spectacle between the battle of the ‘no-sellers’ and the battle of the former juniors and that was even before Jay ruined Okada’s night. Shingo might have my favourite in-match facial expressions, that face he pulled just before he ducked the hidden blade was priceless and there was quite a range of others in this one too.

I get the wonky logic of the heel dictating the revenge stipulation and all, but this was so good I don’t think it matters. Brodie had that Mick Foley quality where you totally believe in the moment and in the imminent danger. I expected Harper to bring the snowflakes and the work rate, not to be in contention (and with tippy top promo guys like Jericho and Kingston) for most entertaining non-wrestling stuff between BTE, the Colt interactions and this.

Eddie: throws up handsign Santana: throws up handsign, badass expression Ortiz: does his best (THE BEST) gurning face for the camera Love it.

And Jay White being the ultimate bastard is trying to goad the fans into breaking the rules and mocking the faces for the lack of cheering. I think it’s Milano on commentary doing his disapproving hums to express himself in a compliant way too. Suzuki, Ishii, Taichi matches all worth a look plus Naito/ZSJ though I’m a sucker for the extended submission stuff so your mileage may vary.

Taichi on a tear and Cobb looking more explosive and less sluggish than he did last year based on the two matches so far. Yujiro is such a channel changer though I spend most of my time skipping hammering the arrow key skipping forward even in an Okada match. Ospreay's ragdoll crumple on the Ishii forearm was the highlight of that match. Lastly, world-class dickhead Jay has been sorely missed.

RIP Animal. The awe of seeing LOD stomping down the aisle with that face paint and those huge spikes on their shoulders, with the BMF walk (as Austin likes to say). They were tied with Undertaker and Bret as the most over guys in the early 90's UK school playground and what made wrestling so cool. Plus as other people said, if I think 'big man dropkick' I think of Animal's big standing leap, and his powerslam was a thing of beauty too.