Gordi the former AEW fan

Miro is definitely the one I'd have protecting me. I'd have to imagine that'll be close to consensus. I could see picking Abadon to keep her from attacking... but I don't know if you could trust her to really protect you. Who would you choose?

So we should give some consideration to the humanity of pro wrestlers when we follow their twitter timelines (or whatever. I am not a big social media guy). Hard to disagree. Seems like a good idea. Might it perhaps also make sense to give some consideration to the humanity of pro wrestlers when they are fired by the filthy rich corporate behemoth that they work for? Could we maybe give that a try while we are being so considerate?

Oh baby! Using a meme from 2012 to try and paint someone as out of touch is just beautiful. Also, it's "How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?" Also also, it's generally used to point out that someone is pretending to be part of a subculture that they clearly know nothing about, rather than how you seem to be trying to use it here. I've said it before and it fell on deaf ears but "The Bucks Don't Sell" is rock-solid proof that someone just isn't paying attention. As is claiming that Kenny only works one kind of match. If you can't see how the Jungle Boy match was markedly different from other recent Omega matches than you are either truly blinded by hatred or just slavishly paraphrasing Jim Cornette regardless of what happens. Or both.

I think that was the most I have enjoyed Kenny in the ring since Dominion 6/9/18. They match up about as well as we were all expecting. That crowd was great all night, at least from what I saw (my wife has night shift so I was looking after the girls,but they kindly let me watch the whole main event match without interruption, which I appreciated). Looking forward to watching the replay more closely, but for me at least that championship match totally lived up to my high expectations. I loved seeing Jungle Boy's family's reactions as well.

Yep. You are remembering correctly. Main event of the June 4th Dark. Pretty good match.

Maybe she thought it was NutraGenics?

I think it's interesting that every announced match is a singles match. I am not sure if this is the first time that's happened on Dynamite. Every match has something you can hang your hat on, in my opinion. Bear Bronson vs. Ethan Page I'm a huge fan of Bear Country. I'm not exactly sold on All Ego just yet. He's obviously a big strong guy but (allow me to step into the wrestling grandpa role here for a moment) he doesn't look like the kind of big strong guy who should be using a Razor's Edge type of manoeuvre as his finisher. If he hits the Ego's Edge on Bronson it will either look great or look stupid and I think that will have a big effect on my opinion of Page moving forward. Either way, I'm stoked for Bear Bronson on Dynamite. Dante Martin vs. Matt Sydal Veteran high flyer vs up and coming high flyer. Sounds good to me. Maybe they'll have Sydal take the youngster down to the mat. I'd be fine with that as well. Kris Statlander vs. The Bunny Aliens vs animals match-ups are always intriguing. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Hangman Page Both men are big strong and athletic. Hobbs has a clear size and power advantage Page is maybe a little quicker and definitely more experienced. There's all kinds of sub-stories going on with Team Tazz but I hope they let this match go to a clean finish before advancing the angles. Speaking of angle advancement: As @Caseypoints out, a Tully/Konnan confrontation has been announced. I'm always happy for more Tully on my screen. I think that something leading up to MJF and Sammy Guevara's June 30 main event match is planned as well. It wouldn't surprise me to see some advancement in the Darby/Sting/Jerks and Christian/Hardy angles as well. AEW Championship Match: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Jungle Boy I don't want to get anyone's expectations up too high, but I feel like these two might put on an OK match.

And, like, every other guy on the roster is, like, "Grr! I'm intense and I have a beard and, like, the sides of my head are shaved."

I wonder if this is true for anyone else: For me, pandemic life has steered me away from craft beer consumption. I'm almost entirely a social drinker. And, I have literally not been out for a drink with friends since that brief period in July of 2020 where the first State of Emergency was lifted and the curve had not quite started trending back upward again. If I have a beer now, it's because I'm having something like gyouza or curry for dinner and beer goes nicely with that. But, a simple basic lager is just fine for those purposes. As much as I'd like to support the fledgling local Japanese craft beer scene... it's not so fun for me to drink tasty beer by myself. I wanna be all trading sips and opinions and so on, with my wonderful drinking buddies. Trying to enjoy a delicious fancy beer on my own just makes me miss that. Also, I actually get a buzz off of a single beer, now. In 2019, it generally took me five to eight drinks to get any kind of buzz going. I am going to have to be very careful when it's time to start going out again.

Who do you guys think Jim Ross' top two picks would be for Best Brainbuster?

First episode of the new season was a definite hit for me. Nothing groundbreaking or hilarious, but consistently entertaining and funny. I got a big kick out of the Namor character and out of Morty inadvertently causing an entire community to devote its culture and history entirely to killing him. I'll be interested to see if anything comes of this new twist on Jessica. I'm mostly just happy to have one more thing to look forward to every week for a while.

https://redcircle.com/shows/be34c05b-8483-4797-af55-5ec4bd254611/episodes/173fa5e9-8321-4bdc-a5e7-5288fa292ba0 That's a link to the "Way of the Blade" podcasts where @Phil Schneiderdiscusses the matches in his book with various guests. So, why am I posting it here? This is why: Ric Flair vs. Ted DiBiase with Tony Khan 1hr 41min We are joined by AEW President, Promoter and Booker Tony Khan to discusses Ric Flair vs. Ted DiBiase from Mid-South wrestling. We talk about arguably the greatest hour of wrestling television ever, the challenges of producing AEW in a pandemic, his vision for booking World Titles and a lot more First of all, this is a great listen! Both of them are so enthusiastic and joyful discussing the match, reminiscing about tape trading, talking about booking... Just two likable, knowledgeable guys going on and on about pro wrestling. I am not a podcast guy. Never have been, never will be. I vastly prefer reading about stuff to listening to people talk about stuff. But I am really glad I made an exception here, l laughed out loud several times, and enjoyed the hell out of the nostalgic stuff. And the reason I posted the link here: I feel like anyone who likes thinking about AEW will also enjoy the hell out of listening to Tony Khan talk to Phil Schneider. I think it's possible to get some genuine insight into the kind of person, the kind of wrestling fan, the kind of booker, and the kind of pro wrestling mind that Tony K is. He totally comes across as a good dude, a person who both loves and understands pro wrestling, and an intelligent and thoughtful person.

My wife is a Hospital nurse (a midwife) and she was in the first wave of inoculees. My mother in law's boyfriend is in his 70s and he just got his first shot. I teach one day a week at the elementary school affiliated with the local University of education, so I count as a teacher working with children and I will be the third person in my extended family to get vaccinated. I'll get my first shot July 2nd, the second shot on August 8th. I think only around 10% of people here have been vaccinated. tl/dr: it is going slllllooooowwwwwlllllyyyy

I met Kohei Suwama in 2013, at a CC show at IMP Hall in Osaka. He's an immensely likable person, and he speaks English well, with really good pronunciation. I hope he's feeling better soon.

I wonder about that, too. Here's what Arn thought about it: And here's a transcription from 411mania of what JR said about it on his podcast (both men have similar takes on why he did it): On if Vince McMahon meant for the gimmick to be a rib: “I think it was. Look, Bruce was there, I wasn’t. I know Bruce [Prichard] loved Dusty as much as I did, and a lot of the rest of us that were fans of his work. Big fans of his work. I think there’s a little evilness, a little mischievous bent on the Dusty characterization. Why? Again, who knows.” “I think it was a rib. I have a hard time being able to defend that it wasn’t. And I think Dusty was the key player with the competition and without calling out the competition, without doing any Billionare Ted skits as we saw later on, I think that it was a subtle way to throw a little shade on Dusty because he was a top babyface, the booker, and the owner’s right hand man.” On why Vince McMahon would want to take a known star like Dusty and give him a gimmick like that: “You gotta wonder what the motivation for that was. ‘Well, it was Vince [McMahon].’ OK, we got that folks, we got that. Of course it was Vince. You think it was Howard? Howard Finkel? No, Howard didn’t have anything to do with it. I’m being facetious. But my question, why would Vince want to humiliate Dusty, or was it all about Vince proving that he could change even the biggest of stars into something that was more readily accessible in Vince’s imagination, and he could do it with anybody, anytime. Because why would you change 25 years of heavy duty marketing for a name if you’re buying a product. And that’s what Dusty was, a product. He had great name identity as Dusty Rhodes ‘The American Dream.’ He was everything you wanted this ‘Common Man’ character to be, but just change the name because you can. Bad reason. Bad logic.” On why Dusty agreed to do the gimmick: “Here’s the thing man, people say ‘Why did he do it?’ Let me tell you why he did it. He did it to feed his family. He did it to provide his family a roof, groceries, education, transportation, all that good stuff. What Dads do. And like a lot of guys, that are old territory born and developed guys, a lot of these cats got paid every night back in the early days, in cash, and a lot of them saved nothing. I’m not saying Dusty didn’t save a lot of money, I’m not saying that whatsoever, because I don’t know. But my thoughts are, if I had to bet, he was not unlike any of the other boys in that era, they spent what they made, and sometimes a little bit more. So he simply did that gig because it was the best opportunity he had to make north of six figures and take care of his family. And that was the reason.” On bringing up the gimmick to Dusty years later: “I brought it up to him [Dusty] years later, maybe after six or eight beers, or after a Texas win at the Cotton Bowl or something, just to bullsh*t with him about those polka dots. And he’d look at you like, ‘Alright, I know, go ahead, go ahead.’ So, he knew what was happening.”

Man, I never thought I would see the day when WWE started blatantly copying AEW like that!

Gene Kiniski and Don Leo Jonathan.

Hey, anybody interested in watching a Dream Match? This match has to be the purest Dream Match of all time.

I thought Hager looked really good in the Shooty Styley match, particularly his selling. I think the winging haymakers looked more out-of-place than the hurricanrana. Match itself was a nice swing at something different, as @just drew said. MJF hitting Malenko was a sick heel move and MJF vs Sammy should be good. Hangman vs Powerhouse? Yes, please! I was legit surprised at the finish to the triple threat. I think that was the right way to book it. Bononononi looked impressively big and strong against Orangey Boy. I thought the outside-the-ring makeover stuff was legit funny and Pretty Peter doing the Pietà during the post match was hilarious. Anyone not looking forward to Kenny vs Jungle Jack? "Acting like it's Wednesday, but it's really f'n Friday!!" It sounded like the crowd was boo-ing Anderson when he came out. Are people already anticipating the heel turn? Him eating a spinebuster was a nice spot. As @eliziumpointed out, I liked his "The Genius" ring gear. For whatever reason, JR being all pissy about QT wanting his name to be pronounced Mar-SHALL made me laugh. I liked the nice dad and son moment at the end. It's Father's Day tomorrow, here. I also though that Cody staying out of the spotlight was a point in his favour. I was kinda expecting him to make a speech about Baby Liberty. I'm happy that Arn and Brock got their moment. Here's to Evil Uno! Penelope's Indian Death Lock looked great, and everything Miro does is awesome these days. Miro vs Pillman? Yes, please! FTR vs P&P?!?!? Oh. Hell. Yeah. I like Penta Hand Gesture's Joker gear. I thought there was some real heat and fire in the main event. I enjoyed that up until the bullshit ending. Kazarian wanting nothing more than to kill Kenny and The Bucks should make him the most popular AEW guy on these boards. I agree with @Death From Above that this was probably the best Friday Dynamite so far. I'm looking forward to all of: Sammy vs MJF, Miro vs Pillman, Hangman vs Hobbs, P&P vs FTR, and JB vs Omega.

You look like a damned action figure. Hard work paying off.

Speaking of Cody: Congratulations to Renee and Mox and Brandi and Cody for the birth of their daughters! From the bottom of my heart, in all sincerity, I hope that their babies bring them as much joy and love as my two beautiful talented daughters have brought my wife and I. Also: Cody's little girl is named Liberty. He is living his gimmick to the fullest.

It's Saturday Morning over here. I know what that means! Andrade El Idolo Sits Down With Jim Ross Yes! This is how to use JR. Now, let's transition him into this full time and also figure out a role for Vickie that doesn't require so many "EXCUSE MEs" Hopefully we will get some idea of what La Sombra's first AEW program will be during the interview. Perhaps via interruption? Penta El Zero Miedo, Eddie Kingston & Frankie Kazarian (that's good) vs. AEW World Tag Team Champion Matt Jackson & The Good Brothers (the toppings contain potassium benzoate) At least we know that The Good Brothers won't be running in on this one. Orange Cassidy (w/Best Friends & Kris Statlander) vs. Cezar Bononi (w/The Wingmen) Bononi just might be the Most Improved Male AEW Wrestler of the Pandemic Era. Cody Rhodes & Brock Anderson (w/Arn Anderson) vs. QT Marshall & Aaron Solow (w/Nick Comoroto) I'm genuinely interested in seeing what BROCK! (pause)Anderson brings to the table. I also wonder if they will announce him like that today as well. Handicap Match: Darby Allin vs. Scorpio Sky & “All Ego” Ethan Page I'm genuinely interested to see how they book this. Will Sting keep his word? Will someone surprising have Darby's back? Will someone surprising seem to have Darby's back but then turn on him? Is this the beginning of a JJ in TNA run for Darby that will eventually make us all hate him? (probably not). MMA Rules Cage Fight: Jake Hager vs. Wardlow Maybe I'm naïve (maybe) but I have fairly high hopes for this as a hoss fight.

I FINALLY got around to watching the tag match. Work, family, AEW, a sudden surge of renewed interest in the music of Ralph Vaughn Williams and Frederick Delius, and an obsession with Fire Emblem on Switch are all cutting into my "watching great old wrestling matches" time. If I had to choose one quite specific kind of match that I could watch for the rest of my life, I'd choose 90s AJPW trios matches, so I'll get around to watching that eventually as well. If it ends up being more or less "the tag match, plus Kabuki and Kawada" I will be totally fine with that. Jumbo & TM2 vs Tenryu & Fuyuki was great. Loved it so much. It's exactly what it needs to be: A continuation of Jumbo vs Tenryu, but with the young guys mixed in to change thing up. Misawa in the Morton/Kikuchi/Xavier Woods role is tremendous stuff. He takes a hellacious beating and gets his mask all ripped up, but has enough fire to keep coming back. Fuyuki, in contrast, is a sneaky opportunistic little weasel throughout the match, but gets a whole story arc thanks to that truly creative finish. I've seen a similar idea used to comic effect in Osaka Pro more than once, but here it's clearly to set up the tale that Tenryu is responsible for the loss but chooses to just blame the young guy. You could use this match as an example to explain what we mean when we talk about pro wrestling storytelling, or to show how hierarchy works in classic All Japan, or to show someone why some of us hold Tenryu in such high regard... I love that, while Tenryu is clearly younger and more spry here, he was already working like an angry old man in 1990. Of course, I'll take every ounce of Jumbo vs Tenryu that life can give me.