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Gordi the former AEW fan

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Everything posted by Gordi the former AEW fan

  1. Thanks, brother. This is a bad one, but I don't think it's possible to permanently kill my love for pro wrestling.
  2. Oh OK. I thought I was being invoked to weigh in on some aspect of current AEW. (Sadly, in most cases my take is "I just don't care any more"). - Nope. - Nope - Nope - Nope. Definitely appreciate that you asked about "fun" matches. That's 100% my thing! I am honestly sick to death of darned near every wrestler constantly and self-consciously striving to work "great" matches. Could not possibly agree more with John E's excellent take on that subject above. The non-stop overkill and unnecessary risk taking has burned me right out. The last, camel's back breaking, straw was that ridiculous debacle of a "cage" match in Osaka. When Ospreay and company kept doing high risk moves on a bunch of exposed, uneven two by fours, something broke inside me. Haven't 100% been able to enjoy any pro wrestling since then. Don't want to leave it on that note, so: How about that run of singles matches Bryan has been on since December?!?! That whole Continental Classic run, putting Kingston over in the semi-final, Okada at WK, Nagata, HECHICERO, ZSJ in Osaka (the most beautiful professional wrestling, unfortunately followed up by the most stupid and ugly pro wrestling), Akiyama, Kingston again at Revolution, Shane Taylor, Shibata, Archer, Blue Panther in Arena Mexico (which I ain't seen yet), and Ospreay (which, I get why other people loved that, at least). Absurd. Insane. As great a run as any wrestler has ever had. And Eddie Kingston is still real, to me. And presumably Hayter is returning eventually. And I'm curious what Forbidden Door will bring, this year. Hopefully Jeff Cobb! And drinking with Cooger is still the best.
  3. Oh. Neato. Have not been invoked in ages. How come you invoked me, my tentacled friend? Anything in particular you (or anyone) would like me to weigh in on? I still generally watch SESE (Some Elite Sports Entertainment) but have mostly lost my passion for it (for what it has become). The positive things I have to say (about the actual matches, in particular about the insane runs Bryan, Kingston, Timeless, etc etc are on and how it's great to see Shibata back but I hope he's careful etc etc) all seem obvious enough that I don't feel like they'd add anything to the conversation. My complaints feel kind of obvious and repetitive to me and I have zero desire to piss on the parade of everyone who is enjoyng the sports entertainmentification of my once-beloved big goofy indie professional wrestling promotion. But since I have been invoked, (anyone/everyone) feel free to ask me anything while I am here.
  4. When Edge eventually retires you can kind of repeat this joke, and the subtitle can be, "Oh! Not you, too!"o
  5. I'm just as pleased as can be that Makabe showed his Best of Asian Cooger tape there. I'll try to remember to show that to him next time we go drinking. Edit: I sent him the twitter link with a brief explanation in my bad Japanese. If Cooger replies, and it's at all interesting, I'll edit his reply into this post. EDIT TWO: OK, So Cooger is just delighted by this, and it's turned into a whole conversation about Makabe and DEAN~! and etc. So hopefully @Phil Schneider or @Jacey or someone can let Makabe know that Asian Cooger saw that video and it made his day!
  6. Rampage is less than 90 minutes away! According to the Fyte app: The Young Bucks return to action following their attack on Sting & Darby Allin - I bet I will enjoy this more than Drew does! I hope they wear their blood-soaked white suits to the ring! Matt Sydal vs CMLL's Mistico - This is simultaneously the MOST "I didn't realise I wanted this" and "a few years ago this would have been a dream match" AND "I will DEFINITELY enjoy this more than Matt" match of the week. Kris Statlander & Willow Nightingale vs The Outcasts' Saraya & Ruby Soho - Saraya is right up there among my "There's too much WWE stink on this person, I wish AEW had never brought them in" list, and I feel much the same about the entire Outcasts deal. On the other hand, I LOVE watching Stat fight, Willow ALWAYS sparks joy, and I was excited when Ruby came in to AEW. Sometimes I think "too much WWE stink" sometimes I think "good for them getting away from WWE" There was a time when I'd make a self-deprecating joke about my irrational hatred of WWE in order to avoid offending some of the more thin-skinned members of the E Universe on these boards but I suppose that hatred seems pretty darned rational now. Not that any of THAT is in ANY way Saraya's fault... but I'd just as soon not be reminded in ANY way of that cesspool of straight up evil while I am trying to enjoy my pro wrestling. Orange Cassidy, Trent Beretta, & Rocky Romero face Undisputed Kingdom - I am SO stoked for Orange vs Ishii tomorrow. Except for the announce team overpronouncing the second "i" in Stone Pitbull's name. That drives me NUTS. I will definitely enjoy that match more than Casey. Sadly, Roddy Strong yelling people's names has already worn completely thin on me. It's up there with "Scissor me Daddy Ass" in terms of "Oh well, I guess some people still enjoy it." It's another way AEW COULD distinguish itself from Cesspool Sports Entertainment: Quit running bits into the ground! That's a fair bit of complaining but in fact I am stoked. Think I'll walk over to the convenience store and get some popcorn. They have a season-limited sour plum flavour right now that I just love. EDIT: I got what I was asking for! Speaking of: They ANNOUNCED two women's matches for Collision this week! Maybe AEW is still ignoring their fanbase w/r/t the catastrophic way they are adding new content to the Pay Forever game, but they really seem to once again be listening when it comes to how they book the shows. And it's certainly the latter that's more important.
  7. I think this is a MASSIVE misconception. America is absolutely where AEW runs the vast majority of their shows, but in terms of broadcasting, they are huge in the two other countries where they have run shows, Canada and Britain, and in terms of international reach it's easier just to cut and paste the Wikipedia, which I will do below. This all connects with (among other things) how bizarre I find it that anyone gives any real weight to discussion of same-day US-only TV ratings as an important metric in debating the success of a wrestling company. Even here, on a board filled with wrestling FANATICS,there are plenty of times when more of us watch a show (particularly Rampage) on tape delay. So same-day ratings are pretty empty and meaningless in terms of how many people are actually watching. Then, take a look at the list below! It's INSANE to suggest that America comprises the lion's share of AEW's viewing audience. (Obviously, though, the US TV/Broadcasting deal is hugely important to AEW, I happily concede that point. And TV ratings presumably have some relevance there). But we've got folks from Canada, Britain, Oceania, Finland, Japan, etc etc posting here every week. It's clear that AEW's audience is truly international, not just American. The Wiki: On October 22, 2019, TNT Serie announced a deal to air Dynamite on Friday nights in Germany.[53][54] On October 24, 2019, Toonami announced a deal to air Dynamite on Tuesday nights in France.[55][56] On July 21, 2020, Sky Sport and AEW announced a deal to air Dynamite on Friday nights in Italy, replacing WWE programming.[57][58] AEW also aired on Sport Extra in Romania from 2020 until 2022.[59] Dynamite aired in Poland from March 5[60] until August 27, 2022[61] on Warner TV. In Spain, AEW announced that was going to air Dynamite on TNT starting on June 17, 2022, and later live from June 19, 2022.[62] As of 2023, in some European markets (including countries like Portugal, Sweden, Poland, Turkey, Romania and Czech Republic), Dynamite (and other AEW events such as PPVs, Rampage, Dark, Elevation and Battle of the Belts) are available on DAZN.[63] Latin America edit On October 22, 2020, AEW reached an agreement with the digital platform with Pluto TV broadcasting its repeat events (including past pay-per-view) with commentators in Spanish from Latin America.[64] On November 22, 2020, Dynamite began airing on Space, a WarnerMedia International channel in Brazil and on Space's Spanish feed, available throughout Latin America on Sundays.[65][66] On September 30, 2022, it was announced that AEW would stop airing on Space in Latin America on October 1, with Brazil following on December 30.[67][68] Currently, AEW Dynamite (alongside the rest of AEW programming) is aired by Televisa-Univision, on TUDN in Mexico and on ViX streaming Platform in the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean. Africa edit Dynamite began airing on TNT Africa on February 5, 2021, in English-speaking countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.[69][70] The show airs every Sunday morning at 10 AM CAT, four days after the U.S. broadcast.[71] Asia edit In India, AEW is announced to be airing Dynamite on Eurosport starting on August 15, 2021, and later live from August 19, 2021, every Thursday on 5:30am IST.[72] Dynamite began airing on Premier Sports in the Philippines on September 25, 2021.[73] On April 8, 2022, it was announced that as part of the AEW and NJPW working relationship that Dynamite would air in Japan on NJPW World.[74][75] Oceania edit Dynamite started airing on ESPN2 from 16 February 2023 in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Niue, Nauru, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Northern Marianas, Tokelau, Tahiti, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, American Samoa, Marshall Islands, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, and Wallis and Futuna.[76]
  8. Man, Bryan vs Hechicero was beautiful pro wrestling. Too bad the ref almost screwed up the finish as that *briefly* took me out of the trance I was in, but the match itself was *so* cool. Nice creative variations and counters and even some nifty stuff I have never seen before! Just the pure joy of "pro wrestling as an art." The whole first hour just flew by! A 90's Japan style slugfest, a technical masterpiece, then a fun Outrunners match! My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Then we got TWO women's matches! It seems like the new AEW singles TV match template is that the winner is a foregone conclusion but the wrestler who is going over is going to bump and sell so hard for their opponent that there's going to be some moments where we almost believe it's going to be an upset. I am fine with that. It leads to some pretty entertaining matches. And it looks like Matt is going to get Christian vs Garcia! The rest of us are going to get that, too, but Matt specifically asked for it. Speaking of getting what we ask for: Congratulations, Bounty Hunter!
  9. Kaito Kiyomiya. I have two more, absolutely Oscar-worthy. If I can find the clips, I'll add them to this post. And to be fair to John Cena, Peacemaker was great and he was great in it. 1) "Looks like you lost your edge,lad!" Seems to be some kind of server issue with YouTube right now, but the entire 2009 Kurt Angle starring vehicle Endgame is up on YouTube.I cannot recommend it enough for anyone who is a fan of wooden acting and atrocious dialogue. It MST 3000-worthy! Edit: Here you go!
  10. Luchasaurus vs Cash? Hells yeaah! But seriously folks. That looks incredible. That special mix of excellence and goofiness that AEW can dish out better than any promotion anywhere anytime ever. And, really, bring on Luchasauris vs Cash, too. Plus: Dragon vs Hechicero. Which is a mix of excellence with (a different kind of) excellence. AND; AEW Continental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston faces Bounty Hunter Bryan Keith! SLUGFEST! Yeahhh BABY! I JUST got done calling Hulk Hogan a racist. So. Uh. Is it racist for me to suggest that Bounty Hunter and Willie Mack should maybe form a tag team? I like the idea of two under six foot beefy dudes where the heavier one is also the high flyer of the team and the lighter one is more of a brawler. PLUS: In just over an hour we are getting: AEW Tag Team Champs Ricky Starks & Big Bill vs. THE #2 RANKED TAG TEAM CONTENDERS The Dark Order. - YES! Rankings paying off IMMEDIATELY in the most amusing way possible. Queen Aminata vs Willow Nightingale. - WILLOW! Plus: Love Queen getting ALL the reps lately. Is she the next Skye Blue? CMLL stars Mistico, Mascara Dorada, Hechicero, & Volador Jr battle Christopher Daniels, Matt Sydal, Cool Hand Ang & Daddy Magic. I love how t he FITE app (where I got this info) has to pount out that they are CMLL stars. I bet every website giving this info uses that exact language. This could literally be too much fun. Maybe we'll get a BCC run-in, too! To set up tomorrow. Top Flight vs Private Party. - NO WAY this is less than super-fun. Edit: Just checked. Sure enough, in the Collision preview Bryan is facing "CMLL star Hechicero." EDIT: Definitely a very fun show. Top to bottom. I have been pretty busy the last couple of weeks. Glad I had some free time today! Tomorrow too! Kind of sad that the reason I have free time is that a lot of people are down with the flu this weekend... but I'll take whatever good news I can get out of that situation. The crowd was having fun, cheering for Private Party and Ricky Billy even though those teams were working Bad Guy Style. Willow's charisma won them back over to the Good Guy Side, though. The main was exactly what it needed to be. Let everyone show a bit of what they can do, let the CMLL guts bump and sell during picture in picture, put over Hechicero before his huge match with Dragon tomorrow. I am stoked for Collision! Any time you give me Eddie and Bryan I am going to get stoked. And if you give them each an interesting opponent,then even more so
  11. And that jUST had the super famous racist Hulk Hogan hosting a "Premium Live Event"
  12. I quite like it. Particularly the ersatz PWI-ish nature of the presentation, including the couple of "Wait! What? Really?" rankings. Hopefully it generates some enjoyably spirited discussion. Hopefully the rankings don't lead to wrestlers and fans caring overmuch about wins and losses. Looking forward to someone completely losing their shit because (for example) Dragon isn't ranked as a male singles wrestler. Curious how the usual doomsayers will parse this to continue forecasting doom for the promotion. A lot to like here. An interesting condiment on the buffet table that is AEW.
  13. I actually had a positive thought the other day! It's quite possible that Okada will wind up in AEW alongside Ospreay, whom we definitely know is coming. If so, then basically every week is gonna be Forbidden Door. Which is really all I want out of pro wrestling right now. Even if The Rainmaker ends up on Netflix Pro, it'll be interesting to see if WWE can do a better job running back the 2014 MOTY (Okada vs Shinsuke) than they did with the 2026 (NJPW) MOTY (Shinsuke vs Styles). It would be a fun referendum on how much things have really improved since Mania 34. So, ether way: Neato.
  14. FU*CK! is 100% still active! They've moved away from death match style but still run shows in basements in front of, like, 30 people. Current Far East Asian Champion is Lucha Master Takemaru, whom I am sure I have met, but I can't find a picture of us together. I found a picture with Moriya, who is a current FU*CK! mainstay, and with Fuke, who worked for them back in the day. Fuke is a Fujiwara guy, and Moriya was trained by Kurisu! I am connected to current FU*CK! through my close friend Kuuga/Cooger/Asian Cooger (in fact I am probably going drinking with Cooger and Moriya again soon) so, SINCERE OFFER HERE: If the fine folks promoting this show ever manage to raise enough sponsorship dough to fly some wrestlers in from Japan I would be quite happy to liaise the Osaka Indie scene for y'all. How about Bodyguard singing his entrance theme on the way to the ring? DEAN loved that. I am SURE I could convince some good people to go if it were at all financially viable. This year, or at any time in the future.
  15. Sorry for the delay in responding. I have been trying to come up with a story worth telling that won't make anyone look or feel too bad if it gets back to them. The first piece of writing I ever sold was a story on Big John Tenta. The second was an interview with Tim. Both of them were really generous with their time, at least partly because I had connections at Wrestling's Main Event magazine and it sure wasn't going to hurt their careers any to get their story and picture into one of the New York rags. But also they were both, in my opinion, genuinely decent human beings. Both were LEGIT tough guys, too. But they expressed it differently. John was very quiet and laid back in real life. Tim Flowers was larger than life. Like a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood character. More than once, I heard him say, "As long as you don't mess with me, my family, my house, my dog, or my car, we're not going to have any problem." And as much as anyone I have ever met, I got the distinct sense that you'd really have to be some kind of idiot to mess with Tim. He absolutely had everyone's respect. Here's the story: I was one of a big group of wrestlers, etc, invited to Tim's home for the goodbye party before he left to work in Calgary. (Which in the end didn't work out for him). Here he was, talking openly in front of a group of wrestlers about how Stu had said the only two "worth a shit" in Vancouver were him and Tenta. And NOBODY was offended. We could all see that they were on a different level. But to me, THAT is respect. I definitely respected him. Learned a fair bit from him in the short time I knew him. i do remember being bummed out when he started promoting shows in Vancouver after the collapse of All Star, and declared that anyone who wanted to work for him wasn't allowed to work for any other promoter in the area. I worked for Rocky DellaSera, and was on friendly terms with Michelle Starr and Mike Roselli, so that was that. Last I heard, he was still living in BC and working the occasional show. He'd have to be in his early 60s by now. I assume it would still be a bad idea to mess with him.
  16. At first it felt like having the Continental Crown defence as the opener and a Dark Order trios match as the main was kind of backward? But. I ended up REALLY enjoying that main event. It was 100% a return to the goofy indie AEW that I am so painfully nostalgic for. LOVED the (thikk gold) chain wrestling! LOVED the return of TRADITIONAL HAT-BASED PSYCHOLOGY!!! Really LOVED Cool Hand coming out all mopey with the cake residue still all over his face. I think he should ALWAYS come out like that now, like when guys get their head shaved once and their hair never grows back. PERFECT use of Negative 1. My second favourite thing on the show was Mark Briscoe's facial expressions in the bit with the Hardyz. Which is really saying something because it means Eddie Kingston's SUBLIME selling was only my third-favourite thing on Rampage today. Number four was the other announcers completely no-selling JR's constant American Football references. Speaking of unfortunate JR-isms: After he referred to Swerve (but not Sydal) as an athlete in their match, I wondered how long it would take for him to refer to Queen (but not Shida) as an athlete as well. Sure enough, about ten or fifteen seconds in... I kind of have to assume that, even if someone were to take JR aside and politely but clearly explain what the issue is there, he wouldn't be able to help himself. It's just how football-obsessed guys in his generation think and speak. It's ingrained. Sidetrack #1: AEW Pay Forever The Storm is Coming Downloadable Content Pack has dropped. For "only" $12 US, or 1430 Japanese yen, you get Outcasts-version Toni Storm plus 10 music tracks. So, only three major issues that I can see here. First: You have to be kidding with that price. Second: For an out of date character model, and no way to even make Timeless Toni. and Third: If you don't want to wildly overpay for an out of date character, there is no way to add the new music. Just like you HAVE TO purchase the Acclaimed to get the crap version of the new Dynamite arena. And that is a shame, because the pack includes such timely, in-demand themes as the one Men of the Year used. That was All Ego and Scorp, right? It is, sincerely, as if they are DESPERATE to make everyone who paid full price for the game FURIOUS with AEW. related Sidetrack #2 So the game stuff seems to have affected the way I look at AEW as a whole. I REALLY noticed it watching that excellent video on YouTube about great moments at Daily's Place. At the time, my point of view was as a fan who had been DREAMING of a big fun fan-friendly goofy awesome indie/Japan/Mexico non-corporate pro wrestling TV show and my tendency was to look for the good in everything AEW presented. Now, through more jaded eyes: there really always has been some ridiculous-in-a-bad-way/annoying/outright awful stuff mixed in with all of the entertaining and spectacular awesomeness and nice/genuinely moving stuff. It's really interesting! To me, anyway. Totally Unrelated Side-Track #3: AJPW MANIAx had a match where the Japanese-American ex-sumo Saito Brothers faced off. It was PURE BMMSM. Just two massive dudes laying it in until one of them couldn't get back up any more. LOVED that match. It's about 1:08 into the video. What I loved the most about it was that there was close to zero fancy Dan bullshit in the match. That being said, I also enjoyed Ospreay vs Nick Wayne (both AEW-related!) from GCW even though it's about 96% fancy Dan bullshit. Matt, I think you should watch this one! Every move will make you grind your teeth, but there is 100% a classic "touring dominant star faces plucky local underdog favourite" story being told here, and I sincerely believe it gives the match something approaching a clear and comprehensible structure (!) Plus the fan response is *chef's kiss* in this one. Maybe that match gives us some insight into what Ospreay in AEW will be like. Spots plus story plus structure? Could be fun! The main event of that AJPW show is NASTY. (Nakajimmy vs Kento 2). Fuminori Abe, El Lindaman, Minoru Suzuki, and Tatsumi Fujinami are all on the show, as well. Anyway, hope at least a few other people here enjoyed the main as much as I did. I'll assume that almost everyone also liked Kingston vs Yuta. Because: Obviously. Why wouldn't you?
  17. My immediate thoughts: Lance Archer, Powerhouse Hobbs, Jeff Cobb, Brody King, Jacob Fatu, Keith Lee, Toa Liona, JD Drake, Bear Boulder, Jonah... That's 10. Gimme a sec. I'll come up with a few more, make a top 20 or something WALTER. Him and Archer would be my top 2. Also Dutch, Nicky Boy, Hikuleo. Trying to think of dudes who could legit make Hogan sympathetic but also as Zimbra says, bump like maniacs for the big comeback. Oh! Otis! If we can also bring opponents from the past then Don Leo Jonathan Hama. Still need 3 more. Back to the past! Strong Man. Bruiser Brody. (Sorry, Matt) and CRUSHER BLACKWELL EDIT: I can see Technico's point (below) that a lot of those guys aren't tall by 80s standards, but: Orndorff and Sheiky Baby were only 6'0" , Piper 6'2"
  18. Well, we need to take this seriously, because Raz has a PERFECT record when it comes to predicting doom for AEW.
  19. YES!!!! YES!!! YES!!! YESSS!!!! Guess who's going to be there live and in person to see Bryan vs ZSJ II. My buddy from Tokyo is making the trip so we can watch it together. Dragon vs the 7-time Bryan Danielson Award winner volume one made both of our top 3 matches lists last year. We are SO stoked to get to see the re-match live. Plus,Ospreay's last match as a full time NJ wrestler before joining the AEW roster (which will be a 10-man steel cage UE vs BCWD match)! And the other two matches that have been announced are also at least AEW-adjacent. Hikuleo (who had a US title match with Lance Archer on AEW TV) is in a tag title match vs KENTA (who attacked Mox on AEW TV) and all three of the current NJ trios champs (Okada, Tanahashi, & Ishii) have fought in AEW as well. Okada in another of my 2023 MOTYs and Ishii in one of my 2022 MOTYCs! Plus Hikuleo's partner, El Phantasmo, is a guy whom I have seen dive from a balcony through a table that I was standing next to, in a tiny hall in Vancouver. So that's cool, to see him in a big title match in a large arena in Japan all these years later. But. Dude. BRYAN VS ZSJ!!! I am SO HAPPY!
  20. I have been lucky enough to meet literally dozens of pro wrestlers over here in Japan. Without exception, the interactions have ranged from pleasant to unbelievably wonderful. They have also ranged from quick chats to hanging out to going for dinner to getting drunk together. I was also lucky enough to work with guys like John Tenta, Raven, Tim Flowers, Mauro Ranallo, Buddy Wayne, etc etc in Vancouver All Star in the 1980s, and through the friendships and connections I made then I got to meet people like Asian Cooger and Bryan Danielson, who worked in the Vancouver indies in the 2000s, plus guys like Bad News Allen and Matt Borne when they were brought in as special attractions. And now I am more or less a part of the Osaka indie wrestling scene, warmly greeted by name at shows and parties. It seems odd to me that people would be shy to speak to wrestlers or think it's weird or creepy to want to do so, but at the same time: I get it. There's an EXTREMELY creepy aspect to certain elements of Joshi fandom over here, and I can sadly imagine that every famous person has had to deal with some kind of creeper at some point. Also, I can totally respect the people who bumped into wrestlers but wanted to respect their privacy. My experiences interacting with wrestlers have almost all been along the lines of Zakk's awesome Hobbs and Kiss stories. Really positive interactions with people who legitimately seemed just as happy to meet me as I was them. A very partial list of well-known wrestlers who have been particularly friendly or kind would include John Tenta, Bad News Allen, Superstar Billy Graham, Bryan Danielson, CIMA, TAKA, Dick Togo, Hokuto, Jaguar, Atsushi Onita, Bob Sapp, Fujiwara, Otsuka, Chono, Devitt, Ricky Marvin, Super Crazy, Tajiri, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Suwama, Joe Doering, Abdullah, and... You get the idea. The worst interaction I ever had with a wrestler was The British Bulldogs. They ere DICKS! They cursed out a little kid right in front of me. I have lived kind of a charmed pro wrestling fan life. Some of it is that I am friendly with a lot of pro wrestling "insiders" and if you are introduced by someone inside the circle that gives you a huge amount of benefit of the doubt. Part of it is I am a guy who obviously trains hard but I am generally easy-going and friendly and not aggressive or hostile in the least. For guys like Zeus and Bodyguard and Bob Sapp, even though I am not on their level, being really into training gives us something in common. My big open friendly face probably helps with everyone. Some of it is just that I am lucky. BUT: Here's a story. My wife and I once drove down to Seattle for a vacation. Roddy Piper was performing his one man show at a theatre in a small city in Washington. I got invited to the after-party. At the after-party, Mean Gene Okerund was absolutely besieged by autograph seekers WHILE HE WAS TRYING TO EAT HIS DINNER. He politely but firmly refused. I waited until he was done, then approached and asked if we could take a picture together. He was more than happy to do so. Afterward, a group of people who had been rebuffed approached me ANGRILY. Literally, one of them asked, "What's so fucking special about you?" It absolutely did not seem to occur to any of them that the man might just want to eat his dinner in peace after a hard day's work. Anyway, I think those of you who didn't speak to wrestlers out of basic human consideration were probably correct in so doing, and it was probably appreciated as well. I don't have pics with, for example, Mutoh or Akebono because when we were in the same room together there was never an obvious opportune moment to approach then. Mean Gene came over to shake my hand before he left. Piper, sadly, never showed. In terms of AEW wrestlers, Eddie Kingston and Fire Ant both came over for a Chikara tour of Osaka Pro, but I can't find my pictures from those shows. I also have met Luther, who is friends with my good friend Verne, and through him I once met Jericho, in Calgary. I have pics with a guy who once fought Kingston on AEW TV, a guy from Washington state who is a pretty big name in AEW now, and a pic with Emi Sakura, who looked very different when I met her.
  21. OK. This is completely amazing. I actually know the back-story to this match! But first: I don't have a computer, I just use tablets. So for me the only option is to use Firefox to post videos and/or pictures. (I am on Firefox now, and I am going to post a TON of pictures to explain why this match is such an AMAZING pick for me. Then I will have to switch to Chrome to write it up, because I can't do paragraph breaks on Firefox). w/r/t embedding: Apparently on a PC you can take the "s" out of "https" and posting works fine. So, on Firefox, or if you can change it to http, you just need to copy and paste the video link to embed. Second thing: Don't know if you're aware of my posting history here and elsewhere but I was a regular at Osaka Pro shows, events, and parties from 2009-2012 and still take part in various Osaka indie wrestling events, barbecues, and parties when time permits. Billyken and Spider are guys I have known for years. Both of them have gone out of their way to invite me to events, make me feel welcome, engage me in conversation etc etc since the days when I first moved to Japan, even when I could barely form a sentence in Japanese and being friendly toward me involved real effort. They are great guys. Could not be nicer. I really like both of them and it always makes me happy to see them again. Here are a handful of pictures of us, over the last FIFTEEN years: Third thing: I KNOW THE BACKSTORY! This was probably from 2019, (maybe February?) the first anniversary of Bistro de Ramekin, which I have been told is a nice place to go for lunch, a few minutes walk from Namba Station in Osaka. If I understand correctly, Spider's brother has connections to the restaurant. The card was: My good drinking buddy Osamu vs freelance joshi wrestler Itsuki Aoki (If you are reading this, Stefanie, I am 99% sure Aoki also works for Ice Ribbon) Then the Billyken (not Billy Ken. Billyken, after the Billiken good luck charm statue in the Tsutenkaku tower which is an Osaka landmark) vs Ultimate Spider Junior match that you gave me. Then they had a battle royal! I would LOVE to see how they made a 4-person battle royal work in that space! And that is just CLASSIC small-show booking! Last thing: All of it on tiny shiny elementary school PE class gym mats. In a space even more enclosed than Gatoh Move's Ichigaya Chocolate Square. If you look at that picture (from Billyken's blog) and watch the video (which everyone reading this REALLY should) you get a very clear picture of how tiny the space is. And Billy and USJ work a pretty stiff and competitive match in there! So obviously the challenge is how do you work in such a limited space? Particularly considering both of these guys are known for their speed in the ring and there's no easy way to use that here. The answer at first seems to be mat work and chop exchanges. But eventully they throw caution to the wind and bust out some rapidfire exchanges and a couple of big moves! It's too much fun. I was literally laughing in delight. But also with the entire audience so close to the action, you can't let any light show, so they are working really tight. So I was both delighted and impressed. Going to a ChocoPro show is 100% on my bucket list. I think I am going to have to try and finagle an invitation to a show where Billyken breaks out his gym mats as well. Thank you so much for this! Really, everyone should watch this match. It's well under ten minutes and it's really very interesting and clever how they work around the limitations of the tiny space. PLEASE BE PATIENT WHILE I JUMP BETWEEN BROWSERS AND FINISH THIS!
  22. You could have been there live for the GARCIA VS NANA DANCE-OFF?!?!?! Dang. I sincerely hope you can find a better way to spend the $60 you saved by skipping that. Or found some cheap tix somewhere.
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