Gordlow

Good stuff. But. Uhhhh.. Someone needs to politely explain to Mr. Vintage Purorseu that literally none of that is "matwork." While we are at it, that is also not in my opinion vintage puroresu (It = being pedantic)

I was sure that Claudio vs Takeasnack was going to completely run away with this poll. I was also certain that it wouldn't merit a mention on The Ringer. Oh boy was I happy to be completely wrong about that second one! Will recency bias and bloodlust combine to make me wrong about the first prediction? CeasaROH vs Cinnesuke is off to a two-vote head start!

Oh. Hell. Yes! We got to hear at least part of "Cash In" THREE times. For those who wish I would be less positive sometimes, I have something for you to hang your hat on: An actual complaint from Gordlow about something that happened on an AEW TV show: In my opinion, that Sonny Kiss match was too short. I await the angry blowback from all of my fellow AEW defenders. I hope none of you feel too betrayed by my heel turn here. My first loyalty is to the truth. But hey! Now Sonny's a Trustbuster, so maybe we'll see her on TV more often! Beaudreaux or Boudreaux is 2020s Ludvig Borga without the xenophobic element. I mean that as a huge compliment. How great is it that AEW can give us a Dynamite bookended by two bloodbaths and follow that up with a show that is mostly goofy fun (Tay and Sammy kissing! Beardhausen! Ass Clan! Orangey Shenanigans!) but it all feels part of a whole? It legit looked like Garcia was gonna cry. Imagine your hero talking about how great you are in front of an arena full of screaming fans. I think the fight will be even better than the promo. Lotta good bumping and stooging today! The Brothers Gunn bouncing around for Redbeard, and a spectacular bit of selling from Slim J were the standouts for me. Orange almost stealing Mark Henry's line, and superfasttalkingEx were also a lot of fun. Ospreay Open vs Death Triangle will be sick. More negativity! Or, maybe, just a legit question: Does anyone care about Reality TV megastar Zack Clayton? I'm the wrong generation and the wrong personality type for that kind of thing. I did enjoy the first couple of seasons of the "Here, guys get beaten off" UFC reality TV show. And I love Tom Lawlor in New Japan...

Rampage 8/13/2021 more or less exactly a year ago - featured Miro vs Fuego for the TNT title, and also if Fuego wins he gets a contract! Doesn't that feel like a lifetime ago, but also kinda like it was just yesterday? Also on that show: Britt vs Red Velvet for the AEW Women's Title and Kenny vs Christian for the Impact World Title. Yowzer. Whatcha got for us later today/tomorrow (depending on where we live), AEW? Sammy & Tay vs Dante & Skye for the AAA Mixed Tag Team Titles? Really? Awesome! I kinda had no clue those were a thing? When did Tay and Sammy win those? The crowd reactions are gonna be insane. Our boy Octopus and his work friend among the voices raised in righteous anger and loathing! Just one question about your Road Report there, Broctopus: Who is this Jasmyne person you keep referring to? Beardhausen vs Ass Club I am not trying to be controversial, but my guess is that this match will be quite entertaining. And also it will likely offend certain Jim Cornette podcast-following pro wrestling grandpas, which fills my heart with purest schadenfruede. And I have read reports of two (2) Trustbusters matches being on this one (1) show! Will we get to hear "Cash In" (the awesome Jane's Addiction rip-off Trustbusters theme that debuted on the YouTube shows) twice? The matches, reportedly: Sonny Kiss vs Parker Beaudreaux! which is doubly awesome because Sonny Kiss on TV and people who don't watch the YouTube shows get to enjoy Parker Beaudreaux (and his theme song) just like us real fans, which is generous of AEW. Orange Cassidy vs Ari Daivari! I mean, really, this looks to be one hell of an entertaining hour of pro wrestling TV. Also, at least three (3) interview/promos have been announced: American Bryan of The BCCs, presumably talking about Dragon vs Red Death III, which I assume all of us are unbearably excited for (if not, don't tell me). Lee and Swerve!! And Tony (S) interviews Hook. I hope Hook just eats chips at him. FTW = Fun Television Wrestling!

I, personally, am holding out for the return of: - Broken arm Jericho who accidentally blades himself way too hard, and - First time in Germany Jericho where the hard water and humidity makes his hair really frizzy. That's the Jericho I would demand to face, if I was ever given the opportunity to fight him.

I think I have already hit G1 burnout! I'm working through the second Osaka show, the one with the Okada vs Jonah main... For the first time, I skipped most of the prelims. I didn't laugh at all at ELP vs Juice (even though I appreciate them doing a mini Ebessan vs Kuishinbo tribute in Osaka), I got mad about Ishii vs Owens, I got mad about Kevin Kelly mispronouncing "Ehime" and now I don't even feel like watching the main - even though I know it's "my kind of match." I didn't even get all that into Shingo vs Ospreay Obviously both those guys are great and they have great chemistry, but I am kind of over the million near falls and finisher kick-outs great match formula. It's definitely a "me" thing. Not sure why I am burning out so early this year. I have a ton of free time this week. It's not the wrestling or the booking, both of which are just fine in my opinion... it's a bad sign, I think, that I feel like I'm "working through" the Osaka shows, rather than "enjoying the hell out of them" and I'm like "So much more to get through to catch up" rather than "oh boy! So much more to see!"

That was derpiful, Octopus.

Yerp! Steamboat vs Misawa. It really happened. As did this: This one holds up well even out of context, I think:

This seems to be where our thinking diverges. My take would be that shame is not an impetus for change for the better, so much as it is toxic bullshit that keeps people stuck right where they are. That is why this lady was not, in my opinion, one of the heroes of Game of Thrones. I'm not really interested in getting into duelling TED talks on the value of shame, though, and I doubt many people here would want to read them... So I am going to bow out of this now. Feel free to have the last word on the subject, if you'd like it. I think I understand better where you were coming from, but I cannot agree and therefore I stand by my eye-roll. Hopefully you also get where I was coming from now.

What a great main event match that was! Lotta firsts. First time seeing Jericho in lionheart tights in AEW. First time anyone has kicked out of the Judas Effect. I'm pretty sure that was the first time Mox has bled in an AEW ring. I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong about that. Jericho hit a Thrillseekers level gusher at the end there. Mox bleeding from his ear was sick. Holding the Crab all through pitcher in pitcher was awesome. Did Jericho come out to White Zombie? What a pop for the surprise run-in! face off was goose bump territory. Our boy @Octopus picked a good one to see live. There was some issue with FITE at the beginning, my chat buddy got a "no feed from the venue" message too. So I missed tge start of the coffin match. Loved the finish, though. Brody king nailed that difficult bump and roll into the coffin! Were those issues just in Japan? I expected to love the tornado tag the most. But I was distracted while it was going on, missed a bunch of the action, and mostly came away thinking "enough with the unmasking already!" Jade was effective and believable taking offense. She keeps improving. She could be genuinely great some day. I.got to see a workhorseman on TV! Jobhoresman, maybe. The way to beat Starks is to invite him to a wedding at your castle, in my opinion. The way to beat Solo involves either carbonite or his own son turning on him. lookie here: Trustbusters! United Empire! No Baybay Fish KOR. Surprised and relieved. FTR run-in was good fun. Fans dressed as Brandon rule the world! BEARDHAUSEN! BRYAN VS GARCIA TWO OUT OF THREE FALLS!!! YES! YES! YES!

Here's the thing, though: The eye roll gif was pretty clearly in response to the idea that Tony "Khan should be ashamed" rather than to the idea that the AEW women's division could be booked better. I think it's not unreasonable to assume that a fair number of female professional wrestlers are better off thanks to AEW than they would be otherwise. So, I found the idea that Tony Khan * should be ashamed *to be a massive overstatement, and thus eye roll worthy. Still do. That doesn't mean that there isn't room for improvement. But, the situation is well well well above "shameful" right now, in my opinion. Also: I can't speak for anyone else, but my take that "... if anyone is unhappy in AEW and thinks they could do better elsewhere, I genuinely hope Tony Khan just cuts them free. I popped hard for Miro's debut and enjoyed his run and want to see more of him in AEW and hope there is nothing to the rumours... ...but if he really wants out, let's not be petty about it. Wish him well. Let him go. Burn zero bridges" does NOT come from a place like " If Miro (or anyone else) is unhappy, then screw them! " It genuinely comes from a place of wanting Miro and all the other wrestlers who entertain me to be free to work where they want and to be happy in their circumstances. Not from a place of wanting to defend AEW from anyone who might dare to complain, but from hoping that AEW will do the right thing by their employees rather than treating them like chattel.

Gordlow should be ashamed.

The way to do it would be to charge roughly the same price for two shows that they are now charging for one, right? Just an absolute show of love and appreciation for their fan base. Or make AEW's total cut for both shows roughly the same as it is now, but allow PPV providers to charge their fees for both? Not sure about the business model here. Hopefully production costs won't be literally doubled if they are running two nights in one building. Does WrestleMania cost twice as much as a normal Premium Live Event? Or, do fans have to pay full price for each of the two days? I can see the appeal of offering, say, two 2-3 hour shows, reducing viewer fatigue, and getting more of the roster on PPV. But you are also asking fans with other, competing, priorities to take two nights away from family or whatever (like, double the commitment to watching wrestling as a priority - on my mind as always during G1 season). Offering something close to a two for one deal might make it easier for folks who have a spouse to convince, as well as those of us on a budget. Personally, I'd like them to keep it to four PPVs per year. It really feels like the perfect balance point. You get time to build to it, and I can handle that much wrestling in one sitting that often in a single year. I am also perfectly comfortable with one 2-hour and one 1-hour main show/week plus optional YouTube viewing. Don't really think this is a case where more would be better. "Keep them wanting more" seems to me a better plan than "drown them in it."