Gordi the former AEW fan

I realise there's a risk that this won't make anyone else laugh, but oh boy did it bust me up good. I have been keeping myself amused by typing in stuff like "Stan Hansen painted in the style of Vermeer." Results were never quite as bang-on as the Danielson one. Then I tried, "Jaguar Yokota painted in the style of Ogata Korin"

@SirSmellingtonofCascadia. Pre-1980 preferred, eh? How 'bout 1950? That pre-1980 enough for ya? Two out of three falls, for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. This is really excellent stuff. I'd recommend everyone give it a watch when they have the time. Also: I never drew DEAN or Porksweats, so here are hand-picked fully optional bonus matches for the two of yous: @DEAN I give you your handsome cinnamon boy vs my erstwhile drinking buddy: @porksweats You don't like EVOLVE, eh? I don't even know EVOLVE but according to Wikipedia their alumni list includes awesome wrestlers like Eddie Kingston, WALTER, Daniel Garcia, The Workhorsemen, Jeff Cobb... but also a ton of maximalist guys which I assume is what you meant. So: I'm gonna assume, possibly incorrectly, that what you dislike is a kind of self-consciously epic overdone too many finishers multiple 2.999 kickouts unnecessarily fancy style? Feel free to let me know if I am close or not. In any case, I offer you this: i already posted it on the general discussion thread. I described it as possibly the most minimalist, least flashy pro wrestling match filmed in my lifetime. It's the opposite of what I (possibly incorrectly) assume is the EVOLVE style you do not dig. It may in fact go too far in the other direction, but I honestly found this fascinating. A typical mid-card late-60s Japanese "indie" match? Maybe! I really don't know. I'm dying to get someone else's thoughts on this.I Oh! Hey! @SirSmellingtonofCascadia. Just struck me that I should have offered you up some Choshu! This is a great one. Feel free to choose either match.

That is awesome. I had no idea that was him. I got to meet Bret's other Japanese teacher at an Osaka Pro show years ago, shortly before he passed away. Mr. Hito loved pro wrestling so much. It was an honour to be introduced to him.

Could be! In which case, the footage is from no earlier than 1965. I did a bit of digging trying to figure it out but wasn't able to come up with anything concrete. Somebody somewhere must have compiled a list of what matches are in what Blue Demon and Santo movies, but I couldn't find it. The (truly excellent) YouTube channel I found that on also had this match, a mid-card IWA singles from 1969. It might be the single most minimalist, least flashy pro wrestling match recorded in my lifetime. There are some dropkicks and a bodyslam and a bump to the outside... But you could sum this up as "They work head scissors and headlocks for the whole match" and not be too far off! I find it mesmerising. All young wrestlers could learn something from this match, in my opinion. It's not just the "work" that is minimalist. The commentary, the crowd reactions, the ring gear, even the camera work and lighting... Enjoy!

"French impressionist American Dragon Bryan Danielson"

"The sound that a firearm makes when it is being discharged, the sound that a firearm makes when it is being discharged."

Really enjoyed Claudio vs Dustin, but the finish was kind of weird. This might be the week I get to vote for Emi in the poll! Claudio's shoulder looks all kinds of banged up. Looks like we really are headed for DO & Hanger vs Kenny & The Bucks plus Miro Sting Darby vs Spooky House at the PPV. Wardlow looks bigger. And leaner. FFS. Dude is a freak. BONUS HOBBS SQUASH! YES! I heard Sammy and Tay went to southeast Asia for their honeymoon and smoked a little weed.

You wanna pizza me?!?!

Far as I can tell, this is from '51 Edit: most likely 10/3/1950 according to Cagematch https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=294335

Geez. You'd think that "Austin" would be a name that JR could remember.

But according to JR on Dynamite this week, Colton is "The Other Guy."

It's a feature not a bug, with kettlebells, that they leap up in weight like that. Apparently you are meant to progress by doing more work in less time and so on, rather than by going up half a kilo or whatever. Wildman has some great videos explaining kettlebell progression. The bonus is you don't have to buy dozens of kettlebells.

Completely agree about "weird heat." Lean all the way into it, I figure. Why not? Although: Sadly also agree 100% with "while remaining safe, mentally and physically." I thought about doing an only-kind-of-kidding bit about how Bear Country didn't need no merch because they were pure and beautiful and only doing it for love... ...but then I remembered about Bryan Danielson coming out in a plain white tee because he "(doesn't) want to sell anything to anyone" and that made me happy but it also makes me happy that people who want a Blackpool Combat Club tee or a stick-on Cody neck tattoo can buy one and it turned into a whole navel gazing thing about merch. So I just gave you a laugh instead.

If the DVDVR boards didn't exist, I wonder if I'd feel alone in being ridiculously stoked for Dustin vs Claudio? Let's take it a step further: If the DVDVR boards didn't exist, would I even be super-excited for this match in the first place? But the DVDVR boards do, in fact, exist... so, I am all worked up about this and I know I am not alone. Remember how this was set up? ROH champion Claudio came out to tip his (metaphorical) hat to Ricky Steamboat and say he wants to be a fighting champion. Then Dustin came out to answer the open challenge. Then we all marked out. Because this is going to be good. Good guy vs good guy. Wrestling machine vs wrestling machine, if you will. Dustin is going to do his "hang on a second, I gotta catch my breath" thing. CeasaROH is going to Giant Swing Dusty's son. And we are all going to mark out some more. I don't ask for anything more than that from my pro wrestling, most days. I'm glad to see everyone having so much fun with the active rumour mill this week. My guess is it tickles some kind of important nostalgia for what it was like to be online during the attitude era for a lot of people. I lack that particular nostalgia, having been teaching in post-conmunist central Europe for most of that period. So, it seems I'm missing out on the "hot goss" fun. But I am all in on the good wrestling. So, we all have stuff to enjoy this week. Hooray! Speaking of: Dark Order vs House of Metal! I scrupulously avoid spoilers, but I strongly suspect I already know what the result is here, just from extrapolating comments I have read without clicking spoiler boxes. Nonetheless, I am stoked. I can hardly wait to see how these two trios interact in the ring. Odds are, every match on this show will be really distinct. This match and Claudio vs Dustin will be totally different kinds of matches, but I am excited for both. This is a thing I really like about AEW! Speaking of: Sammy and Tay vs Ortiz and Ruby!! For those of you into Hot Goss, are you more excited for this because Eddie Piefaced Sammy for calling him fat and Ortiz is Mad King's friend? I hope so! I kind of am, too! Damn it! I guess I'm not "above" the Hot Goss stuff after all. Who doesn't want to see Ortiz punch Sammy and Ruby kick Tay? And who won't kind of enjoy the, I dunno what to call it, frustration(?) when Sammy and Tay cheat and then tongue kiss? Anger? Whatever it is that makes it fun to boo. Speaking of: Ryan Nemeth! Boo! Kill him, Wardlow! Something that those of us who watch the YouTube shows will enjoy more than those of us who don't. Although, probably, everyone will enjoy this. Also: Jade speaks! Will she say "That bitch" and "Cut the shit, Tony"? I predict that she will. Also: "Iron Savages" my ass! But honestly I got so excited thinking about Claudio vs Dustin that I forgot I was doing a gimmick this week. I am bad at kayfabe.

It's Riki Choshu! He's a pretty major guy. Worth getting to know. His feud with Tenryu is right up there with that Hogan commercial, Ebessan vs Kuishinbo Kamen, and Babymetal on the list of "Best things to ever come out of Japan." EDIT: In case you were also wondering, the guy who breaks it up is Hiro Hase and the dude who walks out with Vader is Masa Saito. Also major-ish dudes. Saito vs Inoki generated some pretty good discussion, a couple of Santos ago. First time seeing that Hogan commercial, for me. Thanks for posting that!

Well, my first thought in situations like this is almost always, "Gee, I wonder what Joe Lanza is speculating."

Yeah. Whatever. Some guy who if I understand correctly is a member of a British Wombat Club squashed some punk to become the undisputed champ? There's at least a 50% chance that we get Storm or Hayter all strapped up next week? Garcia is a wrestler? Colten gets a "The Other Guy" t-shirt. The best KiLynn in all of wrestling? Sabian kips up? Ospreay gets the snot knocked out of him? Stiff as hell Dax singles match? Yeah. Whatever. Nice try. "Iron Savages" my ass.

Bum Rush

JT Davidson, if I am not mistaken.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to finally turn my back on this company once and for all. I guess there might be some interest in the outcome of Mox vs Punk for some people, and others might expect Aussie Open vs Death Triangle to be exciting, or find some interest in a Dax or KiLynn singles match or even hope to get some entertainment out of the Ass Family Explosion. Whatever. They turned Bear Country heel, gave them a new name (and a manager). I'll be over there, sulking and nursing a grudge.

Tony Atlas had a great dropkick. Jim Brunzell deserves mention. My personal choice might be Jaguar Yokota: Back on topic: The Iron Savages? My mighty heart is breaking. When you have something as pure and beautiful as "Bear Country" why would you mess with it, unless your new idea was actually much better? I cannot cheer for The Iron Savages. You are dead to me now, AEW. Dead. EDIT: They still wrestle like Bear Country. OK, AEW, you are back on life support to me. But I am eyeballing the plug.

I'm really pleased that in the "Gordlow loves Sports Entertainment" image there is a bald guy in the second row. I did "Octopus puts an Octopus hold on The Octopus, Jonathan Gresham" but the results are definitely of a sexual nature (in Japan, anyway).

Man, that home gym is beautiful! I straight up envy you! For you and @SprintingFromAmerica here is the complete Enter The Kettlebell video! Must watch for anyone interested in that kind of training. In my opinion, though, Mark Wildman has by far the best instructional videos on kettlebells and get-ups. He's had a huge effect on how I train over the last couple of years. And Al Kavadlo's calisthenics videos are the best I have ever found. They both seem to be genuinely excellent teachers. To me, it's amazing that this quality of instruction is available completely free. Though, I have bought books from all three guys. Wholeheartedly recommend binging their YouTube videos!

My gym has suspension training straps, sandbags and kettlebells, which is lucky for me. A lot of gyms in japan are heavy on machines and lacking everything else, in my experience. My gym has lots of cardio and weight machines and they are always in use. I might literally be the only person who uses the sandbags. Certainly I am the only person training in the afternoon who uses them. I have seen several people eff around with the kettlebells but I have never seen anyone else do what I would consider a proper swing or snatch, at my current gym. There are a few heavy squat/deaflift/bench guys, and some ladies who train quite hard, and a handful of people who can do strict pull-ups... But most of the people who use the gym I go to just use the machines or the tiny dumbbells. Which is great for me. there are videos on YouTube about how to make sandbags. EDIT: for example. Alan Thrall has some great sandbag instructionals, also This instructional one is good too, though his sense of humour is pretty cringe: Sandbag training is fun!!

"This is excellent, but I am not really enjoying it" is such a weird feeling. I often get it during the G1, whenever one of the last matches on a card goes too epic for my current tastes, for example. A buddy of mine was at both Rev Pro shows this weekend, sent this to the chat: "I’m sure that main was excellent but I have apparently hit my wrestling fatigue before Will Ospreay heh. A full on Rev Pro main event was A Bit Much haha. I’m hot. Sweaty. Hungry. And my arse is numb from the balcony seating." Maybe like how you felt at the sushi restaurant. Other things on your mind, food was not quite enough to draw your mind away from that. It was cool to watch some 2000s Michinoku Pro. Big blind spot for me. If I had moved to that part of Japan, maybe I would have been one of those hardcore fans sitting on the blue mats. Love those fans. if I had been there live this would probably be one of my top ten matches. I'd probably still be talking about it today the way I still go on about Billyken vs Dick Togo sometimes. Here is a thing I got out of it: current podgy overtanned horrible hair unstoppable tough guy Kenou may be my least favourite wrestler. After watching this, though, maybe I'm willing to re-think that. If I had followed his path from young plucky junior underdog to now, I'm sure I would feel differently. He takes an insane beating here. Fires back nicely. They kick, and kick, and kick and kick and kick. They do not do anything that doesn't seem like it couldn't happen in a real fight. They do a bunch of kick outs at the end, but they don't overdo it. Not really sure why I couldn't get into it. All the execution is really good. The ending is a sick and believable KO. I should probably have loved this. Partly it's that I have little nostalgia for late-2000s wrestling. Partly it's how quasi shoot style has evolved so much since then. for example: Hayato gets caught in a guillotine, and struggles to get out and tries so hard to get the crowd to chant their support... and I am thinking, "Kenou's guillotine must be really weak if he can't put Hayato out after all this time." I dont want to look at it through 2022 eyes, but I can't help but do so. Definitely a me thing. It really is a good match and I can see why you gave it to me. Maybe I'm just more in the mood for wild brawling than for precision striking these days. Here's something else for you that you may not have seen: An "Original" Sheikh match without Terry Funk that doesn't stink! Particularly if you include post-match shenanigans.