Shartnado

Damn, that's hardcore! On both fronts!

Yeah, I thought he was just wearing headphones to the ring and thought that was ok, but then I saw it was a headgear that was actually on during matches, too and was like "Aw, shit!"

So, let's see? The guy I actually voted for won, even though I thought I was voting for the other one! Very good wrestling match. Punk v Page official. I know I'll probably get the PPV anyway, but this is a decent start to make sure of it. Swerve vs Allin seems like a pretty huge qualifying match, no? Death Triangle back in full force! I wonder if the match makes it to the actual PPV this time? Big victory for The Professor! During the match I was like, "why haven't I noticed how freakily far out Deeb's cheekbones protrude from her face before?" Then after the match I was like "Oh. Yeah, nevermind." That was explained pretty fast. I hope she didn't fracture anything, since she is now very solidly the number one contender. Wardlow busting out some Brian Cage moves against Archer was very warmly welcomed by me. So it's Big Ass Morrisey up next? Team Taz going for the tag titles? Christian Cage slowburn turn inching forward? Haven't seen the 10 man or the Ladder Match yet, but so far this was once again really, really good stuff, even without those. ... ... 10 man was an ok warm-up, but the damn ladder match was simply nuts. What the fuck, Sammy?!? Hey, your life, pal! You do you. What's with all these quick TNT title changes? Throwing fireballs is Sports Entertainment now, Chris? There go Kingston's eyebrows!

Sounds about right!

Yeah, anyone who would have wanted him for the main roster is crazy! What would have been the chances of him being used any way good? Let's give him a mute gimmick! "That's it! Ok, you never speak. Not a single vowel, ever!"

Even Kacy and Kayden changed up their gear a little bit after that, with more see-through mesh on the sides of their tights (well, Kacy wears tights, anyway), which was like a "please, don't"-move, but that's way less worse than that bullshit name change!

Yeah, SOMEONE should do that, but there is NO way that term is ending up on my search history. But yes, sounds like a good idea to check in advance! And more to the actual topic, I don't know enough about current NJPW to add my dream matches, but if they announce good enough stuff in advance, I'm likely to spread my sweet "not WWE Network" money around and get this one as well!

So yeah, we are currently visiting Edinburgh, as that is my wife's favorite city. This May 1st we are celebrating 20th anniversary of our relationship, although we've actually been married for close to 12 years. I still very clearly remember stuff that happened 20 years ago, even though few years in both decades to follow are a blur. Maybe people will freak out to know that Lose Yourself by Eminem was 20 years ago and next year, Fallen by Evanescence will be 20 years old, too! Feel old, yet?

I was rather preoccupied during Rampage, but that backfist by Kingston was fucking brutal! That's good storytelling. The evil little dick absolutely will get you every time there is an opportunity for fuckery, but when it's just the two of you, it is still a tough fight, but that's when you will just cut...him...down!

I think there are more recent and logical answers, but the first one that came to mind was Yoshi Yatsu from '90s NJPW. Looked like shit, but wrestled pretty exciting matches with pretty much anyone. Mind you, I had no idea about the stuff he did in the early 80's All-Japan at that point.

I guess one should not be shocked that it took the abuse of potato chips to finally get Hook's attention? That is pretty evil, though! Just like the popcorn abuse earlier in the week and later that evening, only worse!

Whatever else happens this week, workout-wise, will be inconsequential, so I might as well update now. Only two workouts so far, but I will go today, too. Tuesday was bench and lat pull-downs. I was able to get the right side of my neck and the right trap stiff af and it still kinda bothers me. I've had this before, so no biggie. I did more than 10 sets of bench within the 232-292 range, but the heavier ones were just singles with a couple of abysmal partials added. A clean 286 was all I took from this, once again. Had to skip Wednesday because of work stuff, but that included way more biking than usual, just to actually get back to where I was supposed to be by the time my shift started. Thursday was trapbar and I was aming high. So, I started quick and short. 10x140, 5x196, 5x306, 3x416, 1x515, then going for 579. After failing twice to get it off the ground, I was really bummed. I was in he process of taking it back down to 515, when I figured I could use the small platforms that I made that are usually beneath the 70lb kettlebells. They are basically just boards with some worn down padding at this point, no more than an inch, inch and a half max. I put them in place and go for 515. That cleared easily, so I load up 579 once more. And lo and behold, it comes up. Yes! I walk to the nearby office to gloat and ask if someone wants to come and see me do it again. No takers, so I go back and do it again. I say fuck it and add the remaining 11 lbs and now one of the co-workers does come to take a look. I take my position and lift 590. He seemed surprised. I was just happy. I knew I would clear it. I do it once more, before scaling back down to 526 and get 3 reps. At this point, the other avid gym user shows up for a quick workout before our shift and witnesses me doing 6x515. I decide that's enough of that and go for shrugs. Two sets with 416 with both going to around 15 reps or more, then two more sets with 403, same range, then one set with 306 and one more with 196 with two separate sets with 110 between those. Then the hanging knee raises with the chain and other ab work. Yeah, this was big. 579 without the platforms will have to wait for a bit longer, but that day will come. But c'mon, 590, that's like the combined weight of Demolition (Ax and Smash combo, anyway), for fuck's sake! Like I said, whatever happens there today, doesn't matter after yesterday. Beast-mode, motherfucker! Next week, I'll be in Edinburgh enjoying the fine Scottish cuisine for the first time since 2019, so there will only be walking at best. Then, the spring/summer diet begins. ...yeah, today's workout was just light upper body pump, not much else, although I did do the hanging knee raises with 2 chains this time! I looked somewhat similar to Gresham's Octopus-gear when wearing those around my neck. But the real reason for the edit is that I once again miscalculated the weight I was using on trapbar and it was in fact 581 and 593, which would make my last week's best 559 lbs, so only 2lbs beneath my all time record.

It's him!!! Yeah, that one! I knew it was one or the other, but him, yes.

And I just voted for the WRONG one, because I thought I could tell the names apart! Well, there IS no wrong answer here, but stil... I meant the other one!

Dustin vs Punk was really solid straight up wrestling. MJF coming up with nice plan that didn't exactly pan out. His message to Wardlow via Sterling was choice. Did Mark wait until the handcuffs were on, before delivering the said message? I mean, I would have! Jake Roberts has found the perfect client! Archer said he doesn't care about the money! Heenan and Slick would be climbing over each other to manage someone like that! Who do you think ended up picking the money up in the end? KOR with a big win! And escaped the Snare Trap as well! Jungle Boy will bounce back. Will Eddie finally take out Garcia next week, when it's just the two of them!? Blackpool Combat Club kicked assume once more. What happens when they run into House of Black? FTR explodes for one night! Shades of Gargano/Ciampa CWC! Forbidden Door PPV, and Cole and Jay White ruining the announcement like they own the whole shit! Cold, man! Sting in a Sting mask was awesome! I was just thinking that Allin need his backup, and there he was! Yeah, Allin needed this win! Holy shit are Sammy and Tay going all out with their "subtle" heeling! They will NOT leave this opportunity unused! Hook vs Nese will be something. Has Danhausen actually witnessed his curse working or does he just assume that bad things happen straight afterwards? I mean, maybe it was all just a coincidence? Or, the not giving a single, solitary fuck is actually the antidote? Oh, and DMD qualified to OHFT! No surprise there. Yeah, what can I say? Once more, very good episode!

Who ever it was who said that Sammy's heel turn is what a lot of people thought Cody's heel turn would be, seems to be right on the money! They were leaning heavily into being total dicks, on this one. Almost making America's Top Team look like somewhat less of a dicks. Three times for Sammy, or is it 4 already? Dalton's baby chickens look to be in a lot better shape than they were at Supercard of Honor. What is he feeding them? Oh, probably the other two baby chickens? First time actually seeing Gresham. He seemed very solid. Lethal, Dutt and the big man destroyed everything until Joe and the pipe arrived. Gresham's Cthulhu-inspired gear was bad ass! Is that a norm for him? Nyla's warpaint was a little Umagaesqe, although the pattern was very different. Have these two met before? These two seem like a good match. A few rough spots, but a good fight, with Rosa getting the third rana attempt for the win. Now she has at least one successful defence. I really don't need Britt to regain the title any time soon. Yeah, good program.

Yeah, that's the biggest reason why she became my favorite from the very start.

Hopefully, @The Natural is back on his feet and feeling at least somewhat better! I hope seeing Adam Cole getting destroyed helped a bit. As for me, next weekend we'll head over to Ediburgh for the first time since 2019. Seems like forever. Really looking forward to it. I can't wait to get some decent fish n chips again!

Just to see where I'm at, cardio-wise, before the diet, I went for a walk this morning. Brisk walk to the stairs, jogging the stairs up and down three times and brisk walk back home. Maybe 45 minutes overall. Legs were hurting, otherwise fine. I need to take the forest route from now on, so I won't make the same mistakes as last year. I also may need some extra protection/support for my ankles, just to be on the safe side. As I'm writing this, my lungs are still somewhat burning, but I have missed the "runner's high", which I could totally feel after the shower. It's funny that the daily bike rides absolutely do NOT give me this rush, like at all! Even when they go smoothly. The pump workout playlist seemed to work for this too, by the way.

That had to have been the most unfortunate case of "getting the hook" there has been so far, right? Sorry, despite the warnings, I had to go there.

Got around to Rampage last night. Opening six man was very nice. Big win for Yuta. Still amazed at the sheer grace with which Billy Gunn seems to age, especially since he's sharing the ring with his sons. His kids are like, we're sure glad to be sharing those "genes"! Nice to see The Butcher with a dominant win. I don't know about you guys, but I still don't fancy his chanches against Wardlow next week! The Blade didn't fare too well, earlier in the year! O'Reilly vs Jungle Boy is the first qualifyer that could go either way. Punk vs Dustin should be nuts! There already was Dustin vs Bryan in the previous World Title Eliminator, right? I think I saw that. Also, Storm vs Hayter in the first round of Owen cup. Pretty big match for first round. Ruby beating two Renegades without realizing it and going "ok, whatevaz" was amusing. Main event rocked, as one would expect. The ending spot and the Orihara moonsault into a superkick were both nuts! Tony with ANOTHER huge announcement?!? I'm not even going to try to guess. Battle of the Belts II still to come (or go).

Things seem to be looking up for Matt Cardona! That's about all of them!

Vince tried saying Kacy Catanzaro and whatever came out of his mouth resembled Katana Chance and people around him were like "Ok, then. That is what she will be called from now on!" Seems like I took my leave at the right moment.

First Ludwig in WWE since Borga! Not too many Ludwigs over here in '93, either. Much less now, except that parents these days seem to give their children old sounding names for whatever reason. Spite, I guess?

Yeah, I figured that was a reference to the Mid-South main eventer, not some meta level trolling. If a part of the audience took it that way, because they were too young to understand that reference, I can't help you there!