Gordi the former AEW fan

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.

When Edge eventually retires you can kind of repeat this joke, and the subtitle can be, "Oh! Not you, too!"o

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!

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.

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]

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!

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!

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

And that jUST had the super famous racist Hulk Hogan hosting a "Premium Live Event"

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.

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.

How about Truth AND Consequences?

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.

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.