Gordi the recovering AEW f

I think I have already fantasy-booked this twice on these boards. But at that time I was thinking of it as the E1 Tournament. Or, considering it's the Continental Classic, maybe the Champions Carnival (CC). Don't think that's entirely coincidental, considering the man booking it is One Of Us. Eddie Kingston's announcement, however, makes this more like the Super E Cup, since we're using it to create an AEW/NJPW Secondary (Tertiary?) Belt Triple Crown. Which is awesome. Like southofheavy, I am as excited for this as a little kid is excited for Christmas, knowing they are very likely to get a longed-for Switch (or whatever the young person equivalent is in 2023). Like Phantom, I presume Kingston's announcement is very likely to factor into the booking plans. Most likely, in my opinion, is that he goes undefeated in his block, then loses in the finals. Like Log, and Matt, I am really happy with the first four wrestlers who have been announced. Great choices. Every potential match-up is exciting. My dream finals has always been Eddie vs Bryan. That could still happen! And it would be great. And Bryan would deserve it and also he could beat Eddie without the crowd turning on him or make Kingston look like The Best in the World if the plan is to put Mad King over. Alternatively, you could have Bryan and Kingston in the same block, meet on the last day, and have one of them in the final. Against... I will get to that. So. My fantasy blocks want to: Keep the "every potential match-up is legitimately exciting" vibes going. Have Bryan's block be loaded with guys I wanna see wrestle Bryan, and Eddie's block filled with guys I wanna see him fight. So: Bryan, Yuta, Shibata, Dustin, Keith Lee, Roosh Eddie, Briscoe, Andrade, Claudio, Hobbs, Brody King. (Maybe Chris Hero as a surprise entrant) There are literally 40+ good alternates for both of those lists, but Bandido and (sorry, Matt) Takeshita probably top my list. Guys like Orange and Swerve seem to have too much other stuff on their plates right now. If Bryan and Eddie are in the same block: Bryan, Eddie, Dustin, Yuta, Shibata, Brody King Briscoe, Hobbs, Andrade, Limitless, Claudio, Rush If Eddie wins, he meets Claudio in the finals. Or Briscoe. If Bryan wins, then vs Lee or Powerhouse to overcome a size/power obstacle (or put them over as The Best) in the finals. Or Claudio. Or Briscoe, if you want the finals to be a crazy fight rather than a chess match. Andrade would maybe be the most disappointing Triple Crown winner for me out of my field of 12. Because he still has too much " WWE Stink" on him for my delicate sensibilities. And if Andrade is your "disappointing" option then you are doing something right, in my opinion. Speaking of WWE stink and potential disappointment, my PLEASE NO! list is pretty much: Edge Jeff Hardy Malakai (assuming they would book HOB like HOT, which would kill me) (Meaning constant blatant interference, in case one of the millions of "casual" fans stumbles into this thread, somehow, and doesn't get the House of Torture reference ) For whatever reason, I feel they'd book Malaiai like that, but not Brody King. Stone Cold Max Friedman beating both the odds and injury to run through the tournament undefeated and create the BBQC (Big Burberry Quadruple Crown) Because it's the Tertiary Super E Crown rather than the E1, the world heavyweight champion doesn't need to be in it, and you don't NEED a guy to play the Yano role, in my opinion. Oh boy am I stoked for this. (Almost) regardless of how it goes. The trap to avoid is getting mad if AEW books this differently from what I want. The goal is to enjoy it as it plays out. I have been waiting YEARS for this. So... It's Continental, then? Next thing I want is a Tournament of Battles Royale. 20 Battle Royals, with the 20 winners all meeting in a Battle Royal to determine who gets to wear the Battle Royal Championship Belt. (On their shoulder, because their waist is too big). Definitely want Hobbs, Limitless, Claudio, Brody King among the final 20 there. Maybe Dustin, too. And JD Drake, Toa Liona, Archer, Bears Boulder and Bronson, Samoa Joe, Miro, Nicky Boy, Preston Vance, Jeff Cobb, maybe Athena...

It's gonna be Hulk Hogan. Do him vs Flair right, this time. 32 years in the making, brother! Edit: Confirmed!

I am only aware of two matches for Dynamite this week. Per the FITE app. Jericho, Golden Lovers, and Big Paul (not the Natural, the other Big Paul) vs Callis Family. (Takeshita, Sammy, Fletch, and Hobbs?) I am kind of worried about the giant's hips and knees based on how he looked just standing there. Count me very much among the "I hope they are smart enough to use him like latter-day Andre" crowd. On the other hand, I am stoked for Takeshita/Ibushi interaction, and kind of sort of think maybe Hobbs should get to bust some giant spine just once. Also Mox & Yuta vs Orange & Hook. Which: Yowza! Dang! Pretty strong odds of that being a VERY good and fun and hard-hitting tag team match. I looked for more info but one site had "Dynamite Results" for 11/15 so I stopped looking just on the chance that there might somehow be spoilers. Oh boy, do I ever NOT want to know what's going to happen in those two matches! Also, forgive me, but I am going to be obsessing over this like a little kid before Christmas until we get the actual brackets. But. Yeah. Shibata. Current Dream Block A: Bryan, Shibata, Dustin, Keith Lee, Rush, Yuta. Current Dream Block B: Kingston, Hobbs, Claudio, Bandido, Brody King, Mark Briscoe I would mark out for every single one of those match-ups. Also, I somehow forgot about Colt Cabana when thinking of guys who could play the Yano role! Cabana,with Cutler in his corner. Cold Spray:Cabana::Tape:Yano

Obviously, I am pretty stoked about this tournament. Announcing Dragon and only Dragon as the first and only announced entrant is pretty genius, in terms of getting us all to think about it excitedly. My dream finals: Bryan vs Kingston. My dream 12: Something like Bryan, Kingston, Hobbs, Keith Lee, Claudio, Bandido, Dustin, Brody King, Briscoe, Rush, another younger guy (maybe Starks) or a guy to play the Yano role, and also squeeze in one outsider to add spice (Suzuki, Ishii, Ospreay, Cobb...) even though it's a small field, because it's a G1 tradition. There are at least 30 AEW wrestlers whom I'd be utterly stoked to see in a mini G1, and only a tiny handful I hope are kept away from it. I am also curious how much of a G1 clone it will be, other than the way it's structured. Three key questions there: 1) What about MJF? The G1 is to determine who is The Strongest, so the champ has to step up... But Friedman already has a TON of stuff going on. Doesn't really need to set up more challengers right at this moment. 2) Will you have crazy upsets? It's absolutely a feature of the G1. One of the best things about it. ANYONE can, and will, lose to ANYONE at any time. There are ALWAYS some utterly unpredictable results, but never TOO many. I feel like Punk spread the disease of "giving a shit about wins and losses" in the AEW dressing room, and a G1 style tournament provides a lovely opportunity to re-set that bullshit. Particularly, because you are starting with Bryan and hopefully building around Bryan. Be like Byran! Err on the side of being TOO giving. I will be bummed if it plays out 100% predictably. Also, if you book it NJPW style, but scaled down, you maybe don't NEED guys who are there to eat losses. The guys who are there to eat losses can be ANYONE at any time. But I would also be more than OK with Nicky Boy or JD Drake or Bear Boulder in that role, particularly if they get at least one juicy upset. 3) Do you want a guy to play the Yano role? (A guy to do off the wall, creative, comedic stuff so that not every match is two guys killing one another). Obviously, I hope they do. I LOVE Yano in the G1. And who could play that role? I don't think you want Orange doing that, at this point, (and more on Orange later), but you could slot in Danhausen, Evil Uno, Serpentico, QT... But you kind of need someone credible enough to get a believable upset or two over a top-level guy... ...So I am.kind of thinking Jarrett might be the best guy for that slot! Also: 6 wrestlers times 5 matches times 2 blocks, plus finals. Nine towns. From 11/22 through 12/27. So I am kind of expecting AEW TV to be like the COVID-era G1 shows where it's just one tournament match after another. Which: Awesome! Presumably squeeze in one woman's match per show and some angle advancement toward the PPV. I am also assuming that dudes who kind of have PPV matches/angles building up already (Orange, Mox, Kenny, Jericho, Takeshita, Joe, MJF, Acclaimed, etc etc) will be left out of the tournament. But that might be way off. You can use the tournament to build to stuff, through upsets and controversial finishes and so on, but hopefully they keep that to a bare minimum. Final thought: I figure they are actually better off booking this straight for the hardcore maniac fans. Because we exist, and we actually watch AEW wrestling. Rather than the "casual" fanbase. Which does not exist and even if it did they wouldn't watch AEW anyway. So go all out! Give us match after match after match of your best available guys going as hard as it's possible to go. Leave us drained and on the edge of being burned out! We all have experienced that with the G1, and/or other "projects" and we are still here, eager for more. Don't hold back! Don't stop when we say, "WHEN! " Also: The NJPW tag league looks sick this year! Ishii & Yano! Suzuki & Nagata!! Archer & Zayne!! A NOAH team!! GATES OF F'N AGONY!!!!! I am going to be doing too much tournament watching over the next couple of months. AJPW RWTL going on, too. Won't have enough time to follow that, sadly. But mainly I am stoked for E1. It's been a running joke with some of my friends for years, and now that it's really happening we couldn't be happier. I, personally, can never get enough tournaments or battles royal. And I am stoked to see who Tony K's Dream 12 are... And I am always stoked to see Bryan Dragon fight ANYONE so it's already a success as far as I'm concerned.

Rampage has, recently, been my favourite AEW show because it's been the show that hews most closely to the goofy old school AEW that I loved so much and miss so dearly. Particularly in the sense of just throwing wrestlers together to have fun or great matches. This weeks show felt VERY Sports Entertain-y to me. To a disconcerting degree. The focus seems to be shifting hard toward "why are they fighting" and away from the fights (ahem) per se. I was massively bummed out to see that Nigel was on commentary today. I think I need a whole big Navel Gazing post to explain why. I'll do one, eventually, when I have the time and inclination. (Basically, I like my characters to be more honest, my bullshit to be more *obviously* bullshit and I am not looking to satisfy my nostalgia cravings when I am watching current wrestling. It might make sense if and when I go on and on about it). As it turned out, though, Nigel was mostly fine. His refusal to pronounce "Vikingo" correctly aside. The main event was predictably great, but I really really wish they had ended on the wonderful show of respect and allowed at least one match to just exist as a fine match, rather than making *everything* into angle advancement. Probably today I am predisposed to be a bit negative, though. Personal stuff... FEEL FREE TO SKIP IT: On the upside: Happy Birthday to Dump Matsumoto, The Greatest Heel Ever! Also: Metalik, HBK, and Hulk Hogan don't do jobs, brother. Everyone knows that! Maybe I'll post an amusing/ historical picture of Giant Baba here later..

Great idea. Great list. I'll totally take the bait! I am sure I forgot someone OBVIOUS. My criteria: How much joy do they spark in me? How much do I miss them when they are off TV? How happy and excited do I get when they have a match announced? Interestingly, it broke down pretty evenly into round numbers: THE TEN I GO INTO FULL ON FROTHING AT THE MOUTH MARK-OUT MODE FOR EVERY TIME: Bryan Kingston Orange Darby Hobbs Athena Willow Emi Hayter Yuka Sakazaki the Magical Girl THE TEN I AM ALWAYS STOKED TO SEE FIGHTING ANYONE Dustin Keith Lee Lance Archer Wheeler Yuta Legit Leyla Bear Boulder JD Drake Toa Liona Fenix Claudio THE TWENTY (PLUS?) THAT NEVER FAIL TO SPARK JOY Stat Abadon Billie Starkz Timeless Toni (w/Luther) Skye Blue Deeb Outrunners Bucks Shibata Claudio Kenny Ibushi Hook Vikingo Bandido Joe Nicky Boy Roosh Komander Takeshita Garcia Brody King Edit: Briscoe, Shida The Ten Where, sorry, but I personally would just as soon never see them on AEW TV ever again And I could probably do another "ten where once they figure it out/get more reps they certainly have the talent to be great." And another ten where, "I don't like them as much as others do, but I get it and I certainly wouldn't prefer them to leave AEW..." So, Matt: disagree on certain particulars, but definitely agree with the overall "pretty solid roster" take.

If I am not missing something (and it's certainly possible I am missing something), the only match that has been announced for Rampage (which starts in 15.5 hours, roughly) is: FTR vs Vikingo & Komander. And, you know what? That's plenty. I'll be watching. I can hardly wait. I literally bought popcorn. There are all kinds of crazy-good unexpected match-ups happening all the time in all kinds of promotions all over the world. Like, say, Maki Ito vs Speedball, or whatever. (That's reportedly an actual match that has been announced for GCW, by the way) It is IMPOSSIBLE to keep up with everything. It's overwhelming. And yet, AEW manages to come up with stuff every week, like FTR vs Vikingo & Komander, which hits (me, personally, at least) as both: "I have to see this" *and* "This could only happen in AEW." So: let's get hyped for Rampage! Also: I like not knowing what else we're getting. Sometimes. Probably they'll announce something else good or fun or both before I wake up tomorrow. Possibly, before I go to bed. It's not even 9 pm here. Maybe they'll go two outa three falls and leave just enough time for a couple of promos and a solitary women's match! edit: 11.5 hours later. Four hours from showtime. Still nothing else announced. Awesome! Here's hoping they show restraint and let FTR vs Vikingo & Komander be the lone selling point. I am legit curious now!

I did NOT expect the show to start out with Max vs Garcia! Figured that meant a big MJF angle to close the show. Friedman opening and closing shows works pretty well. Max did the dance better than Garcia, in my opinion. Body part psychology! These young guys have learned from fighting Bryan Danielson. That old footage of Jay White! OUTRUNNERS! Great squash. Luther looks great in black and white. I LOVED Timeless calling Shida "Hick-ah-roo" Nana added a spin to his dance! 91-55 record for Penta. According to the chyron. Penta's gear looked great. Probably not his intention, but BC Lions colours. Go Lions! Penta and Swerve tried to legit kill each other and I was entertained. GOLDEN JETS vs YOUNG BUCKS!! I am excited about that, and also amused because I know people (on these very boards) who are the opposite of excited (either bummed out or angry) about it. It will be crazy. Also the video game street fight. EXACT same notes for that one. The Portland crowd absolutely RULED during the Limitless vs Joe Match. "MEAT!" " Holy Meat! " Meat Forever! " and "Slap That Meat!" chants. Nice work there, Portland crowd. Also, Gordlow agrees with you in all four cases. Why. Joe. Serious-ah??? (That one's for you, Natur-Paul). Serious Orange, too. Orange you glad he didn't say Cabana? BOLLYWOOD BOYS! Damn. They drove all the way to Portland for THAT. Hope it was a decent pay day, at least. The gurv of some people. Harv you ever seen such a thing? HAT vs CAKE! Then the ex-alien/spooky witch/nice colour/tree bird standoff. All good. As was Switchblade vs Kung Foo Chicken. I am getting tired of thumb-typing on my cheap tablet. Are you getting tired of reading? FTR vs VIKINGO & KOMANDER!!! I LOVE RAMPAGE!!! I LOVE AWESOME RANDOM MATCH-UPS!!!! MOX & YUTA vs ORANGE & HOOK next week. Yowza.

DAMMIT, DOLFAN!!! Amazing job on the thread title this week. Edit: Limitless vs Joe has the potential to be maximum BMMSM Switchblade vs Briscoe has the potential to heat the crowd up to a boiling point. I am pretty excited for this episode of Dynamite.

Wow! That's pretty cool. I knew Mochizuki Junior was Masaaki Mochizuki's son, but I hasn't heard that Strong Machine J was Junji Hirata's son. Super Strong Machine retired in 2018. Strong Machine J started his career in 2019. I had to look it up, but the third guy on their team was Yoshiki Kato, who is "barely a year into his career." As far as I can find, he's not, like, Kato Kung Lee's son or anything like that. I also found this explanation on F4W: "In Frontier Zone matches, wrestlers from outside of NJPW get the chance to face off against NJPW competition. The Frontier Zone match debuted at Destruction in Ryogoku earlier this month." It's a cool concept. Hope they keep it up. As to your question: It was a pretty short match. I also haven't watched any DG in years, even though I have a great time every time I go to one of their shows. So this was my first exposure to all three wrestlers. Mochizuki, who also debuted last year, throws some pretty stiff kicks so in that respect he is like his dad. Small sample size, though. Machine certainly seems smaller than his dad, but he wears the single-shoulder/mask combo really well and absolutely uses some of his old man's trademark moves. He went for a machine suplex but it got broken up. It got a pop welling up which collapsed into a disappointed "oh!" out of a few people, including myself. Presumably, most of us reacting that way were over 40 years old. Probably my new friend Kazu was among the group reacting. That was the highlight of the match for me. Strong Machine J also does a LOT of snazzy breakdancing, which in my opinion is not something his dad did in the ring. Edit: Just for fun, one more clip from the show:

Just on my way back from Power Struggle in Osaka. It was one of the very best pro wrestling shows I have been to live, both in terms of match quality and atmosphere. My only complaint was it was a.very long show. The Frontier match, featuring Mochizuki's kid, Mochizuki Jr. started at 4:30. Meanwhile, the Japan World Series Tigers vs Orix game started at 6:30. The baseball game was finished before the wrestling show was! I love Hiromu, but I was burned out by the time the semi-main started. Main event 100% brought me back into it, though. It was a GREAT match, certainly for everyone there live. You can hear how hawt the crowd was. Hope the microphones picked that up well. Hope the energy and drama come across watching it on a screen. At the start of the match, the crowd was at least 80% pro-Ospreay, which genuinely surprised me. There were several little Japanese kids who screamed "AWE-SOO-POO-REYYYYY!!!" over and over again for the ENTIRE 40 minute and sixteen seconds. To the point where I was literally laughing out loud. But for the last third of the match the crowd was SOLIDLY behind young Shota. So, to me, that is GREAT crowd work, from both guys. And that table spot was far from the #1 highlight. There was a double cut-off spot that got the greatest double-pop that I have ever been a part of. The trios match was also excellent, in that "everyone slotted into the perfect role" way New Japan sometimes nails. Mox vs O-Khan made me lose my mind! I ran down to the railing and sat on the floor to watch it. OK. Home now. What else? Naito gets so much more love than Sanada, in Osaka. It is funny in a kind of cruel way. Even Tsuji gets WAY more love than the champ. Mochizuki Junior looks like a blonde Japanese Hook-style dangerous cutie and... There were a TON of cool and good things set up for Wrestle Kingdom. The best of which was an AEW favourite doing a video to challenge Okada after which the crowd... But... THE ATMOSPHERE was even better. It was my friend - who, a few years back, got me to pull my head out of my ass w/r/t Kenny & The Bucks & Modern New Japan, thus opening the door for me to get right into early AEW - who got me the ticket. More specifically, his new girlfriend got three tickets and suggested he invite me. She is really nice! My good friend has a really nice girlfriend who likes wrestling! I am happy for him. Also, I am happy for her because he is a great guy. On the train there I saw a guy around my age wearing a Desperado t-shirt. We got to talking. Ended up walking to the arena together and drinking beer outside the venue together, while waiting for my friends (and his son) to show up. I like getting there early. Soak up THE ATMOSPHERE. SO MANY people wearing New Japan gear. Particularly LIJ, but by no means exclusively. (Almost) Everyone is friendly, because we all have the same weird hobby. Best was a very tall and muscular Japanese guy wearing a BCC t-shirt. I said "Nice t-shirt!" at the same time he said " Nice jacket! " while pointing at my AEW hoodie. We laughed and fist bumped. Also met up with an internet friend of a friend who is touring Japan. We went for yakitori after the show. Pretty good day. That's Kazu, the nice guy from the train. (I'll post a buncha pictures now) By showtime, Edion Arena/Furitsu was PACKED. It was a GREAT crowd, even by Osaka standards. Reacted to EVERYTHING for FIVE HOURS. Friend of a friend. So, basically, a friend. Losing my mind during Mox vs O-Khan Mochizuku Junior. He seems like a super nice young man. One of his tag partners was dressed like a Machine. Like Super Strong Machine, I mean.

Obviously, Vikingo vs Komander vs Penta was going to have some spectacular and creative spots. But that match had some SPECTACULARLY creative spots. Guns vs X Division Legends was fun. Skye vs Shafir was stiff and nasty. Garcia vs Trent managed to combine stiff, nasty, AND fun. Effectively. The giant funny guy on commentary is named Paul, right?

Just try and imagine how different modern pro wrestling would be if they had to enforce those rules.

Timeless Toni gave Tony S an orange. While eating it, he got some juice in his eye... It... STIIIIIIIIINGS! Hey, Tony S, what is that thing Darby Allin is wearing around his neck to support his injured shoulder? It's (a)... SSSSLLLLLLIIIIIINNNNNGGGG! Hey Tony S, what sound does your penis make when you see Britt Baker? It's... I have zero notes about the actual wrestling.

It's a little known fact that pumpkins ripen from the bottom up. Shida's mistake was that she hit the pumpkin too high. Shida! Shida! Next time hit the... gourd low.

Excellent, enjoyable, entertaining three hours of wrestling there today. And, plenty more on the way! What does everyone figure Tony K's big gift for Sting is gonna be? I guess: Socks.

Seems like women getting the main event match on Rampage has quietly become SOP, and that seems like a good decision. Seems like fuck finishes in the main events is also a thing now... I am less happy about that, personally. Rocky vs Mistico 2 outa 3 falls makes me extraordinarily happy just by existing. Orange's match tomorrow will be fun, for sure. Also, it will determine once and for all which is the superior colour Claudio & Wheeler really work well as a tandem now. That was a groovy showcase of their teamwork. Three more fun hours coming up tomorrow! Also, elsewhere, Ospreay vs Josh, Kento vs Aoyagi... I heard WALTER vs Jonah was really good... It's a non-stop river of excellent match-ups. Literally too much fun. Yikes! I am sure Bryan vs Andrade will be excellent... But... Didn't it already happen in WWE? I think that, technically, disqualifies it from "Dream Match" status, but I am willing to listen to arguments to the contrary. Did Tony K actually announce it? I somehow missed it if he did. (Edit: He was even wearing Seahawks-coloured gear for their match! That popped me). I worry sometimes that the neverending bounty of this buffet is going to spoil us. So we'll churlishly complain about, let's say, Edge getting pushed over JD Drake or Dragon vs Idolo not being a *true* dream match or too many fuck finishes. Hey... It *could* happen!

To be fair... *Letterkenny gif* Andy from Kansas' question (to which I was replying) was "How do you feel about Adam Copeland’s “Rated R Rebuttal”? And not "What is your take on this Dynamite/AEW as a whole?" That being said, I was wrong anyway. That Edge segment was EXCELLENT. I will, despite myself, probably end up getting emotionally involved with the whole E&C reconciliation story, and the eventual retirement run. Speaking of: Bryan and Sting both retiring... Happy for them, sad for me (sad for us?) I enjoyed damn near every moment of Dynamite this week. Except for Sting making me sad. Not sure I can say I enjoy being made sad. Sometimes, maybe. I bet I enjoyed Blade vs Penta more than my wrestling buddy Paul did. I was NOT expecting a stiff chop exchange there! Max ❤ Max! NICE video package for Teacher vs Student. Lovely match, though I agree with Matt, Zen, etc that it would have been great if Emi won (and we got a rematch) Edge:Christian::Wayne:Garth Heel Suburban Dad Wardy vs Face Friedman could be excellent. MJF has beef with Wardlow, Joe, Kenny, Juice, Blade... I like it! Multiple stories and stories crossing over is one way (two ways?) AEW clearly differentiates itself from WWE. The Kingdom stuff still consistently makes me laugh. Red Pants Powerhouse with Callis is good stuff. Maybe this is where Hobbs gets overly over and stays there. I DEFINITELY enjoyed Fletch vs Omega more than my wrestling buddy Matt did. Nobody in my chat group made even a single joke during that match, which almost never happens. We were all quietly paying attention like a traditional Japanese crowd. Archer looked great. I love the shift to black and white for Timeless Toni. That seemed like a relatively filthy joke for US network TV. Was that in PiP for y'all? ***insert buddy and nick pic here later*** BotB is this Saturday?!?! Stat vs Willow? I'm in! Hook talking with his mouth full was enough to get a legit lol outa me. Him and RVD teaming should be fun! I hope Hungie wins that 3-way match. Orange vs Silver is a natural rivalry. That kick from Dustin was nuts. Hatless Hager should team with Limitless Lee and Timeless Toni. "DO THE DANCE!" chant. Huge pop. Max + Juice = Brian Cage. Foreshadowing!

Tony K loves his new toys, and so Sexton is gonna be treated like the biggest deal on AESE TV for a while (and I truly hope the endgame isn't actually bringing in The Dudleys to do a 3-way ladder match redux). The Attitude Era Nostalgic 'Member Berries Tickling is absolutely not for me. Ex-WWE Superdupermegastars being immediately treated as a bigger deal than the the wrestlers already on the roster is my LEAST favourite thing about current AEW, and has been at least since Jarrett and Saraya were brought in. I would, legitimately, WAY rather watch Nicky Boy or Sonny Kiss or Abadon or JD Drake or Yuka Sakazaki or Billie Starkz or Big Shotty or Queen Emi than watch (or listen to) Sexton Hardcastle (or Jeff Hardy or Saraya or Taya or Billy Gunn (or even Christian or Jarrett, both of whom have been pretty consistently entertaining)). I would be totally fine with having Dustin and maybe Sting (and Arn) take on ALL of the "veteran wrestler" responsibilities. My favourite thing about AEW USED TO be watching younger or relatively unknown wrestlers make a name for themselves, but crowding the top of the card with nostalgia acts somewhat limits those opportunities these days. So listening to Edge talk reminds me of that. So, it hits me roughly like a Kenny match hits Matt D or a Cole match hits The 6'4" 265 Pound Krav Maga Master. But I hope not to go on about that multiple times every week because... What would be the point? I appreciate you asking, JfC, but anyone who knows me presumably could have guessed my answer. I doubt any of this is shocking, to anyone here. You knew what you were doing when you asked me that question. (Somebody should ask me for my opinion on Jim Cornette's podcast next) And we ARE getting EMI this week! (Tony should buy the Sex Pistols' "EMI" for her. Just noticed that now, typing her name in all caps). And that match should rule. And as long as AEW keeps running Battles Royale and touraments and tossing me juicy bones like Bryan vs ZSJ and Kingston vs MiSu, (I guess, when it comes to favourite matches, I definitely have "a type") I am gonna keep enjoying AEW anyway. (edit: Bring back Shida's old entrance music!) (That's a thing I AM nostalgic for).

Also, there's a Battle Royal tomorrow! (Tomorrow morning, my time) If I am not mistaken, this is the first time that AEW has ever had a Battle Royal. I wonder if Wardlow will win. There are several wrestlers who would make interesting winners, MJF/storyline/matchup-wise. That will make this fun! Also Penta vs Switchblade. How many miedos do you think Penta will bring into this match? Personally, my prediction would be no meidos at all, but I am curious what everyone else thinks. And they have announced THREE not-actually-wrestling-type segments! Sting speaks, JR talks to Mrs. Wayne and her son, Nick, plus a new (presumably silent) Timeless Toni film. All Elite Sports Entertainment! Hey! You know who has two thumbs and loves Battles Royale?

Mad King vs Suzuki was The Second Best MiSu AEW Preshow Match, which is still extremely high praise. Obviously, I LOVED that. Swerve vs Dragon was among the Top 100 Bryan Danielson AEW Matches. Also, still very high praise. Loved that one, too. Orange and Shida both getting their belts back makes for two pleasant surprises on one show. Hobbs crushing Jericho was an even bigger surprise! And hugely entertaining. So I LOVED five outa the seven (edit: eight) matches we got here. That's pretty f'n good! Wardlow: Just a Guy. Just a Squash. Poor Ole Evan Bourne. Blade vs Hanger and The New Toy Gets the Main Event vs Kaneasaurus were both kind of more sports entertainment-ish than I personally prefer, but top to bottom that was a very enjoyable two hours and forty minutes of the professional wrestling. Taz called Luchasaurus a person. Kayfabe is dead. (single tear)

I would 100% rather watch Nicky Boy over any of the big name nostalgia acts being pushed in AEW now, except maybe for Sting. quick edit to add that I got a very nice surprise from Fight Forever just now:

Thank you, my friend! PERFECT choice of a birthday image there. Popped me. Lot of super-enjoyable peripheral stuff on my Birthday Rampage! Loved ex-JAS's matching white trousers ring gear. And the 4-way hug. Whose Hausen? Dan Hausen! I ❤ roided-up jobbers. (Apologies to Wise Guy if he got that bench-pressy naturally. Also, hats off, if so). Plz add Giant Swing Dropkick Combo to Fight Forever, along with Lung Blower One Winged Angel Combo. "What is this! A discotheque?" popped me like a Bryan Danielson is All Elite birthday post. Also, if Garcia gets abandoned by ex-JAS BECAUSE he is now TOO committed to sports entertainment/dancing, that is just GORGEOUS irony. Mad King on commentary for the Underground-esque 4-way! (because he's fighting the winner) gifts us with: "Oh! Like a kitty-cat! I get it!" AND " Then get kicked in the face, like a human being" AND the resulting match will be one hell of a clash of styles. Also loved that SPLX t-shirt. Considered buying one myself but I honestly have too many Japanese wrestling t-shirts already. Plus SPLX shirts are relatively pricey. Plz bring back Shida's old theme music! And the nose boop. But plz keep giving women the Main Event slot on Rampage. That has been going well, in my opinion. Really enjoyed Hot Tag Stat, and Shida clicking the right thumbstick for the... FINISHER THEFT!

My take on the whole "Toni Storm would like us to enjoy pitcherinpitcher, Adam Copeland used Christians 'shoot name' etc etc" debate is that I, personally, prefer it when AEW subtly-by-wrestling-standards breaks the sacred walls of kayfabe. I absolutely do not mean it as a repudiation of Matt and J.T's take. I can understand preferring that your willing suspension of disbelief not be deliberately disturbed. (I do mean it as a repudiation of the angry grandpa "THAT'S NOT HOW IT WAS DONE IN MY DAY!" - and therefore it should never, ever be done that way- take, however. If that is your take on this or any other subject please feel free to be mad at me). It's the same way I used to feel about Stat being an alien, Orange just doing the lazy kicks because that's how he is (as opposed to it being "mind games"), wrestlers being terrified of Abadon, etc etc etc For me personally, the great secrets of kayfabe have been out of the bag for a long time indeed, and in my opinion it's a tiny percentage of current and potential pro wrestling fans who 1) ) haven't heard the news and 2) who might, for example, see that a member of the commentary team is wearing a mask and thereby grow disillusioned. On the other hand, I have argued, long and loud, for the high value of "inside jokes" when it comes to forming a sense of community and the EXTREMELY high value of said sense in creating a passionately loyal fanbase (in the postmodern and fractured media landscape) ((lets say) O how I lament that Stat is no longer an Alien, Orange is playing mind games, and Abadon is now invisible. I don't think AEW should be looking to hire more big names and get more catchphrases over and try to pretend that they are The Big Time. I personally think they need to lean, heavily, back into the cute little in jokes and sense of AEW being "our" little special thing. ** But that ship has sailed. And the Wembley crowd in general certainly seemed to get the Hulk Hogan reference a LOT better than they got the references to indie and Japanese things, for example, so maybe there is value in playing to the LCD. But anyway I personally was happy that Edge used a secret shoot name and Timeless Toni broke the fourth wall and I personally hope we get more of that. i personally don't bother suspending disbelief while watching pro wrestling. Even something highly realistic and believable like the Gruff and Violent but Still Very Loveable Dragon vs Snide Technician from Kent fight, I am gonna be all "Oh! Excellent selling there!" while live-chatting with my wrestling watching internet messaging mates. * And I kind of assumed that was how everyone watches pro wrestling these days. it would be interesting to try and suspend my disbelief (or try to watch as if my disbelief were suspended, maybe?) and see how that feels. Today's Rampage is probably not the best time to try that, though. ** Catchphrases are relatively witless and lack subtlety compared to in-jokes, in my opinion. "To-fuu" and so on are the LCD version of the nose boop etc etc. In my opinion.I think "WHAT?!?!" kind of killed the catchphrase for me (personally). * (I don't think that match in particular would have benefited from any nod and a wink "in jokes" however. There's a time and place. Also, I frequently get caught up in and even emotional about who is gonna win and who is gonna lose, and how they will win and/or lose, even with my disbelief fully engaged). Edit one: possibly should have posted this in the Navel Gazing thread. Edit two: Hats off to Dolfan for the title of this thread! Gets a "Dammit, Dolfan!" from me.

Per the FITE app, Rampage will be: Daddy Magic, Cool Hand Ang, Jake Hager & Daniel Garcia take on The Hardys & Best Friends in an 8-Man Tag match. Kris Statlander & Hikaru Shida face off Nyla Rose & Marina Shafir. Johnny TV vs Komander vs Lince Dorado vs Penta El Zero Miedo in a Winner gets a shot at the ROH World Championship match. Not a bad birthday present from AEW to ole Gordlow (literally old. I am turning 58 tomorrow). It's been a pretty darn good birthday week thus far. Participated in a sake tasting event on Tuesday, serving (and describing and explaining) 4 delicious and rare local sakes to the 1000 participants of the United Nations PRI conference; then my wife and daughters took me out for a steak dinner on Wednesday (because the girls are busy with ballet tomorrow evening, (though there will be time for cake afterward); Thursday was a really enjoyable Dynamite plus I had time for an epic workout; Today I had a drinking lesson with some of my long time private students and got some really excellent sake and umeshu as well as pickled baby corn (!) and a full set of the gold (rich taste) Cup Noodles among my gifts; plus we ate a ton of yakitori. Then tomorrow Rampage, a COVID booster (my doctor thinks it's funny to give it to me as a bday present) (I kind of agree) and (presumably) delicious cake. Hopefully I will be able to squeeze in a quick workout also, if the vaccination doesn't take too much outa me. Only kinda sad thing is that my old friend Seth/Salty the Seaman was in town working for Cooger while I was away at the sake event, so I missed the karaoke party. On the other hand, I got a free ride on the "bullet train." I think this is Lince's AEW debut! Anyone know for sure? He's yet another Chikara guy (like Mad King and Orange/Fire Ant) that came over here to do a tour with Osaka Pro back in the early 2010s. I'm stoked to see him and also stoked for Rampage being a little bit random and weird and WAR-ish (which I personally LOVE) on my actual birthday. Hooray! Also the birthday umeshu is just unbelievably good. Made in my wife's home prefecture of Wakayama, which is famous for plums. Also my wife bought our girls a Chihuahua puppy and he is a VERY good boy and I suspect my daughters will give me a little present "from" the dog and if so I will most likely be delighted.