Gordi the BJW fan

In less than an hour, I'll be on the train to Osaka. I am very stoked for this show. Every match has something I can hang my hat on: - The opener is Manabu Nakanishi's last match in Osaka. I've always loved Nakanishi. I am proud to say that I got to see him wrestle in Osaka, where he is hugely popular, when he was IWGP champ. I bet he will get an emotional goodbye from the Osaka Jo crowd today. - The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match... is a championship match. - The Eight-man tag team match is a chance to see Tanahashi live again. Plus it has the mystery element of whether Ibushi has sufficiently recovered from Mallory-Weiss Syndrome to participate in the match. Plus story-line stuff about the tag championship. - Chaos vs. Suzuki-gun is a chance to see Okada live again, as well as a chance to see a bit of a re-run of Ospreay vs ZSJ. - Jay White vs Sanada is likely to be pretty good, and it's a chance to see an upper-card singles match outside of the G1 or the New Japan Cup. Booking wise, it could go either way. - Hiromu vs Lee has show-stealing potential, and it will be my first time seeing a big Hiromu singles match live and in person. - Mox vs MiSu could be great. One of those matches where, years down the road, I will be ale to say, "I was there live for that one" and people will be all, "Lucky you!" (That might also be true of the Hiromu match). At the very least, some ass is going to get kicked. - And, I get to see Naito's first-ever defense of the double titles. Lucky me!

New Japan crowds in Osaka and Nara, in my limited experience (half a dozen shows over a dozen or so years) are also pretty cool. It's not the family atmosphere like you get at an Osaka Pro show (where half the crowd are regulars and old friends) but New Japan crowds over here seem, like you say, nice. Friendly in that kind of "we both like the same thing" way. Very into the wrestlers and the action. My kind of people. The 9th will be my first time at Osaka Castle Hall. I am looking forward to seeing what that is like.

Thanks, @The Natural!

Oh hell yeah!! I am going to New Beginning in Osaka! Mox vs MiSu live and in person, baby! Good Lord, I am excited about this. My friend's student's friend -who I met once, years ago - had the opportunity to buy cheap sets through his work, and got them specifically to sell to us since he had heard that my friend, - his friend's English teacher - wanted to go. Life in Japan, brother. Never ceases to amaze me.

That sounds pretty good. I was a bit worried. With Dynamite and Dark and BTE and WotRGRS to watch, most weeks I am already skipping through a segment or two here and there. Adding yet another show would be edging into WWE-esque "it's getting to be kind of a chore to follow everything" territory. But Dark moving onto the network with more vignettes and featuring more up and comers could work just fine. Sounds like good news, also, for those who wish AEW would move more of their video content onto TV. I just made a post saying that they probably were not going to do that. In this case, I am pleased to have been wrong.

Yeah, I can imagine it must get tiring, hearing that all the time ?

I think the amateur-hour vibe of BTE is kind of the point. It's *supposed to* feel like something a fan might make while goofing around with some friends, a video camera, and some low-budget editing software. Helps to keep Kenny and the Bucks relatable and likable even though they are good-looking jocks... that kind of thing. Personally, I prefer Wrestlers on the Road Getting Room Service. It's quite a bit less goofy and gives some real insight into the characters, the people behind them, and their relationships and so on. I don't think AEW are ever going to put everything that matters on TV. They are catering to a younger audience, one that is used to going on YouTube for entertainment and information. TV-generation grandpas like us can either keep up or be left out.

I think he should go with Harper Lee, and call his finisher The Mockingbird Killer.

My friend went to Lawson to buy tickets and they were all sold out. It's possible that only the 2nd floor seats (the ones in our price range) were sold out.

Reportedly G1's been moved to Oct.

Apparently Osaka Jo Hall is already sold out ?

Oh hell yeah. Joe Pera talks to you is one of my five or ten favourite things on TV or the internet now. Right up there with Mandalorian, the 2nd episode of the last season of GoT (the one with all the reunions where they are all preparing to die), seasons 4 and 5 of Bojack, the first season of GLOW, the first season (but not the second season) of Cobra Kai, the Adam Sandler, John Mulaney, and Eddie Murphy episodes of SNL, and Wrestlers on the Road Getting Room Service. Joe Pera's (character's) kind, gentle, curious, open, and quietly enthusiastic approach to the many simple pleasures in his life is purely inspirational to me, and watching him engage with his world fills me with joy. Happiness and positivity are very hard to do well without falling into a Full House kind of cloying sentimentality, and this show somehow steers straight into that without being even a tiny bit mawkish. In my opinion it's a million times better and more important than 95% of the dramas that try to engage with the postmodern world by being all dark and mysterious. Joe Pera talks to you is the diametric opposite of Rick and Morty. It's completely grounded, very positive, people only have one another's best interests at heart, nothing out-of-the-ordinary ever happens... I love both shows, I have laughed right out loud while watching both shows, and I have honestly learned from both shows.

Jericho's post-match comments should be interesting to anyone hoping for more NJPW vs AEW moving forward:

Personally, I hope the 2-night WK remains a one-off. It's too much of a good thing, for me.

It's already been pointed out in this thread, but the reason for the two-night show is that 1/4 fell on a Saturday this year.

At the very least, we have Mox vs MiSu to look forward to on the NJPW vs AEW front. Even if that's all we get this year, it's a pretty nice consolation prize!

I'm a little sad about no Bill Dundee.

Dr. Luther was pretty great in FMW.

Naito sold the knee so well, and so consistently, that I am actually a little worried that he's legitimately hurt. Hiromu also had me worried with his neck selling. And when Ibushi teed off on Okada after no-selling his offence around the half-way mark of their fight, I felt like he was handing out receipts for something that happened earlier. He kind of freaked me out. It reminded me of that MiSu vs Goto match from 2 years ago, in that I remain convinced that Suzuki legit choked him out a little. Never thought I'd accuse Ibushi of being too stiff with his striking!

That was just tremendous. Sheer insanity from Archer vs Mox onward. Great nostalgia trip with the Liger match, too. Between this and the excellent 1/1 AEW show, the year in pro wrestling is off to a rip-roaring start! Really looking forward to Naito vs Okada. How much do those guys have left after what they went through tonight? Hiromu vs Ospreay was the platonic ideal of a 2020s Jr Hwt match. Set the template for the coming decade. Some of the nearfalls tonight really had me going. I was genuinely pulling for Hiromu, and for Naito. That's kind of rare for me, to be on tenterhooks w/r/t who wins and who loses.

Nope. He came out of the Vancouver BC, Canada indy scene.

How about Brodie Lee as the exalted one?

It's true, he does. And his character is like a bad-ass version of Takoyakida. He wears an apron, on which is printed a warning not to double-dip. That's a very specific Osaka kind of joke, and I was pleased with myself for getting it.

Black Buffalo dried wakame seaweed. Fully autographed World Joshi Pro Wrestling Diana towel.