HumanChessgame
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Posts posted by HumanChessgame
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19 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:
Hey, did anyone watch that Starz series Heels about a wrestling fed? I can watch it for free on demand and am wondering if it's worth my time.
My synopsis after the first episode-
A family business in a small Georgia town has fallen on hard times with the eldest child struggling to keep it going. The family patriarch had built it up through his own hard work and was held in high regard by the townsfolk. Though he's well liked by his peers and coworkers, the oldest son's constant struggle and excessive time spent on the business has begun to alienate his wife and kids. Even though his employees respect him, they find his unwillingness to listen to their input on business ideas frustrating. His younger brother is very skilled at the family trade feels he deserves a bigger role in the business and longs to leave town and succeed in their field on a larger stage.
Wrestling itself is treated kind of similar to how it is in GLOW. There are a few scenes of wrestlers training or going over spots which serve more to introduce the non-wrestling fans to the technical aspects more than anything. There's even a scene where one wrestler's wife explains the concept of kayfabe to the other. The main character is the booker and heavyweight champ of the promotion who is a heel but is generally a good guy who is well liked in the community. His younger brother is the biggest face in the company but is kind of a douche who doesn't seem to get the business as much as his brother does. There are references to WCW and real world wrestlers while another character who was a former local star that went on to become nationally famous is now a road agent for "up north". He offers the younger brother a developmental deal which naturally causes the age old "you have to stay and help the family business rather than go succeed out of town" story you get in drama films.
I watched the rest of the season and that opinion remains pretty constant. The show was ok for the most part with the bigger plot points being things that could happen in any company - people thinking they've been overlooked, deserve bigger roles, have opportunities from competitors trying to take over their particular company, etc. The wrestling portrayal is about as realistic as you'd expect in a tv show. A character shoots on his opponent and legit breaks his leg at one point which I found one of the more egregious segments.
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1 hour ago, Niners Fan in CT said:
MJF/Punk at All In for the "Real" World's Championship and the winner faces Adam Cole at All Out? Am I crazy?
I'd rather Starks win the FTaeW title off Punk and be the one to face MJF in the unification match, but a) MJF/Punk would be a bigger draw and b) like you said MJF defending against his new friend Cole and trying to decide if he wants to play by the rules or not is also the big money angle. Starks can go on to face whoever wins that match.
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I had really been looking forward to Pac/Gravity but it was just kinda there. Darby/Swerve was good though. The upcoming feud between Swerve/Fox and Darby/Wayne is going to turn someone's spine into dust.
The highlights of the night was Excalibur making a Steamed Hams reference after Darby's match and Daddy Magic exclaiming "figureitout" during an otherwise lame Jericho segment.
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Has there been any word on who's agenting Collision as opposed to Dynamite? Everything about it flows better and seems to mean more.
I admit I'd never seen what the big deal about Juice Robinson was but the past couple weeks I've really started to come around on him. His goofy, wildman facials are just short of being over the top and lending him the air of crazy unpredictability that fits his character. What I've seen of White has been good but just kinda there, however I've been more and more into his work as well. He and Robinson just compliment eachother really well.
FTR's promo got me really looking forward to the match against MJF and Cole, mainly because I have no idea what is going to happen, but I know we're going to get a good match out of it.
The main event was a bit too long, but everyone got to look good. Punk/Starks have their blowoff match at the next PPV right?
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Despite the lackluster build this was a great show that's worth checking out.
Shane Taylor has really come into his own since he and Keith Lee parted ways. I had hoped he would go over Castle last week as I would like to see he and Joe have a hoss-off, but the TV title match we got was great in and off itself. I've always been a fan of Castle but I wonder if his back is too messed up and his gimmick is just too suited to ROH to play on the main roster.
If Willow is going to AEW or Japan full time then Trish Adora needs to be built up as Athena's next challenger. Her match last week against Utami was fantastic and she did really well against Leila too. She's got the charisma and in ring skills to be the face of the women's division.
The tag title match was looking like just another clusterfuck but it really started working towards the end.
Claudio/Pac was fantastic but I could have done without the distraction finish.
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1 hour ago, Craig H said:
I don't believe I said it took me this long to figure out I couldn't get into it. I couldn't get into it early on and just stuck with is hoping it would grab my interest more.
This was my experience as well. I also got into the whole "I've invested this much time in it, I might as well see how it ends" mindset. While I didn't dislike it, I didn't think it was the masterpiece it's touted as being.
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38 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:
That list of folks is just further proof that Homicide needs to be hired by AEW. Poor dude.
Claudio issuing an open challenge due to Mark's injury and Homicide showing up wouldn't be the worst idea that could happen.
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I'm not sure why Blood and Guts is on Dynamite and not a PPV (it's got to take up the entire second hour, right?), but the lineups for both teams has my interest.
The match itself was fine and I'm sure he and Swerve know eachother well but I don't get why Nick Wayne lost his debut match after all the hype he got. Maybe they are doing some kind of "you've got talent but you're not there yet, kid" story or whatever but it seemed pretty anticlimactic. I don't see any shows on their schedule in the PNW anywhere for him to get that big hometown pop.
Adam Cole will actually get over as a sympathetic babyface when MJF eventually turns on him. Though that got me to thinking...what if they're going to pull a swerve and have Cole to be the one to turn?
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On 7/11/2023 at 2:21 AM, HumanChessgame said:
Anyone know what Pac's status is? The last AEW match he had was the final of the best of seven trios matches against The Elite back in January and the only two other matches he's had this year have been in the UK.
Well I guess that answers that
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I wondered if Bret and Adrian ever wrestled in the WWF but cagematch says no aside from some battle royals. Adrian's last six matches were an NJPW run featuring him, Dick Murdoch, and Owen Hart as a trio which is one hell of a random pairing.
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38 minutes ago, StuntmanCrowley said:
How does someone working a GCW show mean "so much for sobriety"?
Seems short sighted to say something like that when none of us have any idea his support system, etc.
Nick Gage is a recovering addict and the main star of the company. I don't know what his personal life is like, but if he can keep clean in that environment then I'd think others can as well.
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Anyone know what Pac's status is? The last AEW match he had was the final of the best of seven trios matches against The Elite back in January and the only two other matches he's had this year have been in the UK.
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Wasn't Jericho's last book just a printed version of his diaries from every match he had?
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The ending of Starks/Hobbs was weak (Hobbs really needs to stop using the spear as a finisher) but it was a good match other than that.
I was set to be disappointed with FTR winning as I was enjoying the match and wanted to see a longer, more competitive version with the belts on the line. Then in the final act BCG kept escaping defeat and I started wondering if maybe they were going to pull it out after all. Sure enough that's what happened and this match was why I like wrestling - sometimes the outcome seems clear but they do just enough storytelling to convince you something else is going to happen that keeps you glued to your seat. Looking forward to the rematch.
Punk/Joe wasn't on par with their ROH bouts but that's to be expected given both guys' ages and mileage. They made it seem like a struggle with Punk wrestling from underneath and telling the story that maybe he's too worn down to be able to compete with Joe, only to get the surprise rollup. Not sure how I feel about Joe's post-match attack, but am glad it opens the door for another match. Hopefully Punk puts over Starks in the finals.
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I'd read about Funk in the magazines for some time, but my first time actually seeing him in action was his ECW run. Despite him being over 50 and that he was hardly a physical specimen, I still had no problem believing he was every bit as tough as the rest of the roster. When Raven and his crew would beat him down, he'd sell the beating in such a way you had sympathy for him and thought he was seriously getting messed up, yet also got this sense he was going to get up and somehow take his revenge.
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9 hours ago, Sparkleface said:
There's slash fiction for everything, probably.
Kinkshamer!!!
I remember searching through Livejournal in 01-02 looking for other wrestling fans and damn near every other blog I found that had wrestling listed as an interest was some kind of slash/fanfiction. I'm sure it's only gotten worse since then.
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3 hours ago, odessasteps said:
There's a part of me that expects one of them to turn on the other.
I wouldn't be surprised if Jimmy vs Jey is going to headline one night of next Wrestlemania.
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On 6/27/2023 at 3:49 PM, tbarrie said:
One percent? According to Google, there are 206 people on the AEW roster. So which two people is Eddie thinking of?
Jericho was my first guess as being one of the offended parties, given his comments about Punk in the past.
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Eddie Kingston interview where he mentions the alleged backstage drama surrounding Punk's return among other things.
He did it his way and that’s the way wanted to do it. I expected it. I knew it was happening, knowing Punk and what he thought was right for him. That’s it. I see the reports. I see the clickbait on YouTube. But the locker room is not divided, not the people I hang out with. Punk’s gonna do what Punk does and if whatever Punk does helps this company, no one can say anything.
Q: So there hasn’t been this feeling in the locker room that things that he’s said have bothered at least a large portion of it?
A: Not me, man. Not my crew of people I hang out with. Maybe there’s that one percent that are bothered but the people I chill with, they’re good. They don’t care.
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For those of you who were there, how full was the building? There's been quite a lot of kvetching about AEW's ticket sales and territory fatigue so I'm wondering what the actual turnouts were like for the Toronto shows.
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The preshow matches were all totally decent though nothing I found overly memorable. Liona and Kaun are great in ROH but the main roster could use them Hossing people.
It's been a while since I've seen Tanahashi wrestle regularly but he looked like he was moving at half speed. MJF is far from a fast paced wrestler, but even with him doing his methodical heeling style, Tanahashi still looked rough here. I think they both did the best they could and MJF dropped a visual fall and cheated to win, so it wasn't like Tana looked bad in defeat. Putting this on first worked for a number of reasons - it wasn't main event level based on limitations, it played off those asinine rumors of certain people needing to be kept apart on the card, and MJF's promo about going on first was totally in-character for him.
Despite the age and mileage on Punk and Kojima they put on a good match. Dug Punk reading the room and leaning into his more heel manerisms.
I was distracted for a bit of the four way but what I saw was solid.
Jungle Jack has been cold for a while in my eye. He isn't terrible but I thought he's kind of plateued, especially in his continued lack of mic skills. I don't know if Sanada was doing a lot of the heavy lifting here or what, but he looked a lot better here than he has in a while. A Hook/JB feud isn't the worst idea though I have questions about Jack being able to be a heel. Christian was right all along.
The 10 man tag was basically one of those big tag matches they'd have on the last night of BOLA featuring all the guys who had been eliminated in the earlier rounds. There was a lot of stuff going on and it was an entertaining specatcle overall.
Aside from the somewhat flat ending, Willow/Toni went very well. I'm a bit over The Outcasts matches all ending the same.
Osprey/Omega was good save for Omega's trademark finisher kickout overkill. I thought Omega was dead after that Ganso Bomb. What was the point of Callis being kicked out if he just came back and the ref didn't care? I wonder if they added more time to this after Lawlor/Cole was cancelled.
What I caught of the six man tag seemed to feature more stooging than actual wrestling. It was a cooler match before the main and that was pretty much the purpose though.
Work distracted me from really focusing on the main event but everything I paid attention to was excellent. Danielson getting Final Countdown back as his music cemented this as my favorite match of the night before it even got going. Considering his relaxed schedule there is of course concern about how banged up Danielson is and knowing he doesn't really hold back I was worried he'd do some reckless and risk serious injury. Fake legit injury spots are one of my pet peeves in wrestling anyways and this was especially egregious. I do think they should have switched the placement of this and Osprey/Omega though.
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2 hours ago, JLowe said:
The chant I thought I heard was “who are you”
That's what I thought as well, especially considering I had no idea who she was until QT came out and I figured she was the girl from their bits.
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Even being a preteen at the time I thought Doink was corny as hell and didn't pay much attention to his matches on Challenge or whatever. Then he had two King of the Ring qualifying matches with Mr. Perfect that ended in time limit draws and a third that Hennig won but was a solid match, then all of a sudden I thought, holy shit this guy is actually decent. Looking back I've seen other clips of his jobber matches where he'd hit some nice looking stuff, and I think he was the first person I can remember using the Stump Puller submission.
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SummerSlam XXXVI - 8/5/2023
in WWE PROGRAMMING
Posted
Paul/Rick O'Shea was fine but probably Paul's least good match so far.
Cody/Brock was every Brock match we've seen for years now only he did the job this time around.
The battle royale got everyone a paycheck. LA Knight is following in the footsteps of Bobby Roode and Shawn Spears of having a catchphrase the fans like to chant and not much else.
Rhonda/Shayna was pretty meh
The IC title match was about the only thing on the show I was really looking forward to and it delivered big time. Happy Gunther won.
Both world title matches were solid with the women's being especially good. I thought Bianca getting the rollup while still being partially in the Figure 8 was a cool spot. Her short lived reign was kind of predictable.
I honestly thought the women's match was the main event and started watching Collision. After finishing the opening tag match I remembered the Bloodline match and it wasn't even half over. Anything Bloodline related has been skippable for me since after Jey's recent turn and this was one of the most boring main events I can recall.