Gordi the BJW fan

Australia

Really? Dax cuts a heart-felt promo about his daughter surviving a life-threatening heart condition, and they release a t-shirt with 100 % of royalties going to the American Heart Association, and that's "corny" and "cringe"? Fucks sake. Think it's time for me to take a short break before I start saying stuff I regret.. I'll be back on the 31st for the start of Secret Santo ?

Tomorrow, Saturday Night Slam Masters is being released for the Switch as part of Capcom Arcade 2. (In Japan, at least. Not sure about the rest of the world but apparently it comes with the option to play in English, so presumably not just here. I have been looking forward to playing this one again for quite some time.

Brody King ragdolling Darby and the BF vs BCC tag were both great. Really great. Loved how they told the story in the tag match, in particular. And Dax's promo was great as well. My daughters inspire me, too, dude. And we are apparently getting JD Drake vs Takeshita on Elevation! So, I still love you, AEW.

Too weak?

Listen, Japanese Pizza Hut: I appreciate you putting part of your ad in English, for folks like myself who enjoy pizza but are poor at reading kanji. Appreciate it. But, and I am just being honest here, the slogan "Hot My Box" makes me think of something other than pizza.

Mad King vs Painmaker Here's what Road Warrior Animal had to say, in his book, about barbed wire matches: "I’m pretty sure I speak for everyone involved when I say barbed wire matches are the most useless and dreaded in the business." That's a hell of a take, from a guy who knows what he's talking about. I remember being excited to see the Sabu vs Funk barbed wire match, for example, back. when I was trading tapes... but it was kind of a ghoulish spectacle. I kind of wish they were having a different kind of brawl, just more straight up clubbering and hatred and not so much gimmicky violence. On the other hand, if anyone is ever going to give us a great modern-day barbed wire match I'd have Eddie Kingston pretty high on the list of "dudes who might be able to pull that off." And it's fair to assume that they'll figure out something very creative and entertaining w/r/t the shark cage. Best Friends (? and Tennis Shoes) vs BCC (Mox and Wheeler) I'm more excited for this than for the barbed wire match. I think this will be more up my "straight clubbering, please" and "while you're at it, why not also tell a little story" alley. I think this is going to be great. I think I'm also more excited for Ex-Alien, former Moon, and delightful Songbird vs The Baddies. I agree that it seems likely that Leila Grey takes the fall and the blame and if that means we get a subsequent any two of Stat and Athena and Willow vs Jade and Hogan match, I am excited for that too. I'm definitely more excited for Darby vs Brody King! Darby would reportedly like to die in the ring and Brody is apparently trying to murder everyone who faces him. It's a natural match-up. It might be more harrowing to watch than Jericho vs Kingston, too! Of all the announced matches, I suppose I am least excited for Christasaurus vs We Miss You So Much, Julia but it's not like I am not excited for that. I am stoked. This is a hell of a card. AEW is just mashing the proverbial foot back down on that gas pedal! It occurs to me as I'm typing that I am going to miss out on watching a lot of the ROH PPV, DBD, in real time as it is happening, because I'll be on my way to Osaka to watch the BJPW show live in person. "I can't watch this wrestling show now because I have to go watch a wrestling show" is, it seems to me, the best possible problem I will ever have.

I think maybe what your research is uncovering here might be that time is a limited resource and even people who love wrestling don't generally have time to watch everything. I have a friend who keeps telling me that Impact is genuinely good now, for example. I have sincerely enjoyed the few GCW shows I have watched, for another example. I have friends who work for Pro Wrestling NOAH. But I barely have time to keep up with AEW. I can't even watch every YouTube match every week. And now it's G1 season! I'm sure I am not the only one whose wrestle-watching time budget is stretched pretty thin. And, to be clear, "there is too much really good wrestling and I can't watch it all" is a wonderful, delightful problem to have.

Minoru Suzuki vs Tomohiro Ishii, night one of G1 30. One of the hardest-hitting matches of all time and (therefore) one of my absolute favourite matches. My 2020 MOTY. Every time these two warriors face off it is great, but in my opinion this one really stands out as something special. Almost 100% pure clubbering! If you don't mind bilibili, you can enjoy it here: https://m.bilibili.com/video/BV1RV411m7PH

Seems to me that keeping the Dark Order going is at least in part a way to pay continuing tribute to the memory of Brodie Lee. Personally, I am happy they are doing so. It feels like part of what makes AEW distinct, what makes AEW special. I sincerely hope that, for example, Negative One never stops appearing on AEW TV. I also hope Orange Cassidy never stops putting his hands in his pockets, Trent and Tennis Shoes never stop hugging, JD Drake goes back to wearing trunks, and Swerve and Lee never fully turn on one another and stay tag partners and friends until they are old and grey, like Ricky and Robert.

Night 2 was also excellent! I am glad I had time to watch the first two nights "live." Definitely won't be able to watch every single match this year, but I'll catch what I can... and MAYBE get out to the Saturday Osaka show (Shingo vs Ospreay!) live and in person. Ishii vs Taichi was EXACTLY what you'd expect out of an Ishii vs Taichi match. Yano vs Jonah was EXACTLY what you'd expect from Yano vs a beast. ZSJ vs KENTA was maybe even stiffer than the Stone Pitbull match. I already posted this clip in the NOAH and general discussion threads, but in my opinion Cobb has both the best match and the best joke of the tournament so far!

Yeah, that explains why the staff in the drug store were following me around the health and supplements section. They assume all big bald Canadians are out to steal their protein powder now. At least Jeff Cobb got a laugh out of it.

See, my issue is what if Japanese fitness shop and gym and drugstore etc employees start assuming that all big bald Canadians are petty protein thieves? That will screw my life up! Also, and it's related, anyone who enjoys schadenfreude should watch this Jeff Cobb press conference.

Happy birthday to a heck of a wrestler, a great technician in the ring, and a jam up guy: Alexander Otsuka! He's one of the best ever to do it. Probably all-time top 20 for me,in terms of how much I enjoy his matches. Maybe celebrate by watching this:

You know I'm in! And I appreciate you holding off until August as well, Matt. To everyone else: It's always a lot of fun. I recommend giving it a try to anyone who is reading, on the fence, and open-minded about watching different kinds of wrestling. You're almost guaranteed to learn about/think about/enjoy matches and wrestlers you'd never paid close attention to before. And you can get interesting takes on matches you recommend to other participants. Decent way to develop internet friendships, too!

I'll be surprised if Mox vs Takeshita doesn't run away with it this week. It was every bit as fun to watch as the Cinnamon Soup vs Mad King Kobashi vs Akiyama semi-tribute match, and way less divisive.

That was a straight-up excellent Night One. All of the preliminary tags were enjoyable (except for the House of Torture one, obviously). We got And I really enjoyed the hell out of Okada vs Cobb. Cobb has become one of my absolute favourite current wrestlers to watch. His power moves are insane, and he's good at telling a little story in there. Usually a speed-vs-power or toughness-vs-power or power-vs-ridiculous power type of story.

I'm late (and incomplete) but I am not sorry! My daughters had a ballet recital today, so I had to eff off for the Bunka Kaikan just after the bell rang for the main event. Got to hear Mark Henry tell us there had been enough talk and it was TIME! for the MAIN! EVENT! Which I enjoy every week. The ballet was pretty good. My older daughter can get right up on her toes and stay there while doing stuff, which I find genuinely impressive. I still haven't caught up with PP vs LB but I'm comfortable assuming it was all-action and ended up with Fenix and Penta victorious in a way that moves their beef with Andrade and Roosh forward. And House O'Black vs DO points toward something with Darby and Sting. And a nasty squash moves Ember and Strat closer to fighting some baddies. And we are gonna get Gunns vs Rappers and an exce!!ent ROH title match! I was entertained. Storylines were advanced. I got to catch my breath before the G1 started. I'm watching - or, I guess, listening to - the G1 as I type. And I got to look forward to reading all the opinions about the show, too, on my way home. My wife and kids are still at Bunka Kaikan helping with the evening show. Ballet is not so interesting for me when my girls aren't on the stage. So I'm home now, reading and writing about watching pro wrestling. With wrestling on, in the background. My life is good! Cheers for contributing to that by making this a great place for discussion! (Assuming you have contributed toward that in some way). And I can still look forward to catching up on the Rampage main event!

What's the reference there? I am thinking 80s two-tone ska band Madness, but that can't be it.

Rampage tomorrow morning (for those of us living in the mysterious Orient): Gresham vs Moriarty ROH Title match. Tully Blanchard back on AEW TV! Presumably we'll get more build toward and info regarding Death Before Dishono(u)r as well. And this match will be both very fast and very technical. And as a bonus it will anger the kind of pro wrestling grandpa who thinks anyone under 6'3" and 250 pounds has no right to compete for a heavyweight title belt. Also on the card: The Dark Order (Silver and Reynolds) vs House of Blech (Malakai and Brody King) where I hope Hungie gets a chance to get in a house afire hot tag sprint around and kill everyone moment, and might complain if it's just a straight up squash with no shiny Silver. Athena and Statlander vs The Renegade Twins! Awesome! Two ass-kicking tag teams kicking ass. Also: Statlander used to be an alien, and Athena used to be an (Ember) moon! It's a natural pairing! Private Party vs The Lucha Brothers, which will definitely be a lot of fun. All four of these matches seem like foregone conclusions, from where I am sitting. An upset or two is certainly possible, but the appeal of this show seems to be mainly in getting more good, fun, exciting, pro wrestling and also seeing how they build toward the ROH PPV, DBD. I am glad that AEW is easing off on the gas slightly here. I personally need a cool down. I have been marking out non-stop since (at least) the week before Forbidden Door.

Happy birthday to Dan Ginnetty! That '92 AJPW set I bought from you was amazing ! Does he still post here? Anyone able to @ him? Dude is a legend in tape trading circles.

Dude. I love AEW having the balls to start out with two straight good guy fan favourite vs good guy fan favourite fights and have both of them end with both guys coming out looking great. " I just love watching big men knock the stuffing out of one another. " Amen, Mr. Regal. Tough women, also. And that main event! Is that match maybe enough to convince the Young Buck haters and the folks who hate three-ways and the people who hate go-go-go style and assume every AEW match is worked that way? Maybe. Maybe not. Doesn't matter. Dynamite was so awesome. Dark was so awesome. JD vs Dante from Elevation was so awesome. Rampage was so Awesome. Forbidden Door was so awesome. I have to agree with @Leonidas, It's literally too much good wrestling. I didn't think that was possible. My marking out system is overloaded. One of my friends was there live in the arena. Singing "Judas." Basking in glory. I was so happy for him. Also, he says that for Elevation they taped some matches that were . ..promise not to stop when I say "When."

I got up really really really early (for me) today so I could take a shower and watch JD vs Dante from Elevation before watching the special Dark "live" while chatting with a couple of wrestling friends. Then I had to eff straight off to work, so I didn't have time to do a write-up and I just got home and I am pertmuch exhausted. But I want to say: Totally worth it. Oh boy was that entertaining! Off to finish choring and then get 8 hours of shut-eye before Dynamite starts! See y'all soon.

Triple or Nothing Tag Title Match! Bux vs Team Taz(z) vs Swerve In Our Glory! If you are mad that the Bucks (and therefore the titles) injected themselves into this match then you just might be a pro wrestling grandpa. That being said, I am probably more excited for a subsequent Hobbs & Starks vs Lee & Swerve match. Like I am assuming most of us, I just prefer straight tag matches and also think those two teams match up really really well being one behemoth and one creatively athletic guy. This triple threat match should be great, though. I am not literally a grandpa. My older daughter just turned 11 yesterday. We had ice cream cake. I am a great uncle though. My younger brother had a son in his twenties who proceeded to do the same himself. I'm certainly old enough to be a literal grandpa. But I am trying, Ringo, I am trying real hard not to be a pro wrestling grandpa. If the pop-up no-sells ruined Kingston vs Takeshita for you, you are definitely a pro wrestling grandpa. I still consider you a friend, though, Matt. ? Claudio vs Hager! I am aware of The Real Americans and "We the people!" and so on, but had already more or less given up on sports entertainment by that time. Not even sure if Real Americans is the correct name for that team. I wonder if I'd be more stoked (or at least differently stoked) for this match if I'd been watching then. As it stands, I'm plenty stoked anyway. The pop they got facing off at B&G set the stage really well. Two big tough dudes. Hager's takedowns. Airplane spin variations and giant swings. BMMSM. That's good enough for Gordlow. Anna Jay vs Deeb! I think that is this week's ladies match. I'm typing on my cheap tablet and don't want to close this screen to go check. It's a good match-up! Who doesn't Deeb match up with well? The AEW ladies' division is fully a strength now. I'll bet The Professor has a lot to do with that, in more ways than just what she brings in the ring. Excited to see what she brings out of Anna (Anna! Anna!) Christian and Bad Dinosaur! I am enjoying the "Who needs MJF" takes. Christian really is better as a hateful prick on the mic. That's reasonable, considering how much more experience he has. MJF could get there some day, no doubt. Bad Dinosaur is more fun than good Dinosaur. And in my opinion Good Dinosaur was plenty fun. Mox vs Takeshita!!!! I am so happy. Wardlow vs Orangey Boy!!! Oh that is lovely. Wardlow's been squashing everybody. Who can you put in there with him where the outcome could possibly be in doubt? Oh my goodness, this is such a good answer to that question. I am on tenterhooks waiting to see what happens here. Presumably Team Sterling interference of some sort? But this is AEW. They love to throw curveballs. So many ways this could go. And who doesn't love fighting champions? Edit: And don't forget! Pac vs Shooter and Thunder vs Miyu Yamashita on Dark! Can't miss, must-watch Dark! Let's hope it's the start of a trend.

I actually spoke to Wally Yamaguchi about that, and he explained that Val Venis' matches are in fact way longer than average ...but they shrunk.