Gordi the former AEW fan

It seems really unlikely that Supercard of Honor (main card starts at 9 am J-time) will finish before Rampage starts (11 am here). That seems kinda weird, Tony K competing against himself. Wonder how many people are going to try splitting their attention between, say, a tablet and the TV during the overlap. I'm leaning strongly toward ROH (and Spring Break, starting at 12 noon here, which looks AMAZING) and catching Rampage later. Sorry, Lard Lad! Kingston vs CaesaROH is just too compelling a match-up! And I am still reeling from the incredible contrast that was watching Bloodsport followed closely thereafter by the Impact vs Japan Multiverse show. Jeff Cobb was just as great in both of those settings as he was on Dynamite. And Marina was GREAT working straight shootstyle vs Killer Kelly!

Not exactly an earth-shattering insight or anything, but: enjoying Bloodsport this morning followed by Multiverse (TNA vs Japan) early this afternoon REALLY brought home what a wide variety exists within the very specific parameters of "professional wrestling." Despite the fact that fully half a dozen wrestlers appeared on both shows (Bad Dude, Coughlin, Speedball, Kratos, Cobb, Uemura) the two events could not have presented a more wildly different vision of pro wrestling. Strikes, suplexes, and submissions - nothing that looked like it wouldn't work in actual martial combat - on the one hand, and endless contrived and crazy and wildly imaginative spots on the other. Olympic-level amateur grappler Jeff Cobb early this morning, and power fighting, forearm strike exchanging, member-of-The-Empire-faction Jeff Cobb a couple of hours later. And BOTH were totally entertaining! Pro wrestling is just so great!

He's infringing on Moxley's gimmick!

That was a boatload of good-to-great wrestling! Two hours just flew by. I particularly enjoyed Kenny vs Cobb. Size vs speed story and selling previous damage both giving the match some... structure. And the "shocking" heel turn sets up a ton of great matches leading into Blood and Guts. And Marina vs Taya could be great if they go full shoot style. And Sammy vs Takeshita! But... Maybe it's just me? But.. Kenny not caring that Don was hurt seems a little... I don't know... Callous?

Friend sent this to me. I really hope it's true. I have zero personal nostalgia for it... But if it is true then hats off to Tony K for allowing his nostalgia and general human decency to trump business/competition/late-stage capitalist pettiness. More of this, please!

Oh! I thought of a type of complaint people could make if the are so inclined. Didn't even take very long. "Why is Jungle Boy's role in this company to feud with members of pretty-boy brothers tag teams from the Smackdown Six era?"

Oh, for fuck's sake. They are using WWE Newspeak on commentary now. "HE USED THE CHAMPIONSHIP! HE USED THE CHAMPIONSHIP AS A WEAPON!" Are they TRYING to drive me away? On the upside COBB vs Kenny! I will probably really enjoy that. BCC vs Castle Boys, too! Hager vs Brody King was a good hoss match! Hager and Julia should team up as... The Hat Foundation. There was a nice bit of unintentional comedy when nobody in the crowd flinched away from Juice Robinson. Otherwise, this was a VERY sports-entertainment-ish episode of Rampage.

You're definitely not the only one. It seems to me that AEW has shifted hard from a promotion that was determined to differentiate itself from WWE as much as possible into a very WWE-lite type of promotion. Not just visually (though certainly there) but also in the shift away from mostly clean finishes, the de-emphasis of unique indie characters (like, say, Abadon or Angelico, or Sonny Kiss) on the network shows, and (particularly galling to me, personally, though apparently delightful to a lot of wrestling fans) an over-reliance on empty "member berries" nostalgia pops (like, for example, the tired cliche of the tough good guy driving the ambulance back to the arena just in time to make the save). As long as they keep sprinkling in matches like Cobb vs Kenny and Hager vs Brody King and Hayter vs Emi and Bear Country vs Trustbusters... I am going to keep watching, but like you I am way less enthusiastic about the current "Burger King" era of AEW and wish they'd go back to differentiating themselves from the competition as much as possible.

Check out my new Road Warriors t-shirt!

I think I'd actually love that. Jarrett would have no choice but to bump and sell, for once. Punk would somehow have to try to top Jericho's bloody chest. I'd mark out for everything except the likely finishes. And if Jarrett put Suzuki over clean I might finally change my mind about him.

Me, too! I don't wanba be too greedy, but: Here's hoping they can hold off on Saraya talking about whose division it is, Jarrett saying "slapnuts" and MJF doing long sophomoric edgelord promos for a single week. Just for me. Please. That card, on paper, has everything I want out of AEW except for a guest wrestler from Japan. Featuring the one wrestler from Mexico that I have most wanted to see in an AEW ring absolutely makes up for that, though. Otherwise, it looks like a perfect balance of violence and goofiness! Loads of wrestlers who got themselves over organically by being unique and interesting. Two of the hardest-hitting WWE refugees. By far the best nostalgia act in AEW. Kenny vs Vikingo is a legit dream match and is gonna be insane in the best way. Everything else on the card has at least a pinch of "weird and indie" to it. This is the most stoked I have been for a Dynamite since Dragon finished his awesome run of singles matches.

On the other hand, I would rather see Ishii and Suzuki in AEW again than, literally, any other two wrestlers in the world anyone could name. Nothng in wrestling would make me hapoier than to see both of them back in an AEW ring this year. And next year. And the year after that.

So you don't actually like watching wrestling any more, but you still enjoy complaining about it? That's kind of funny, but I can understand it.

I know we are getting Kenny vs VIKINGO this week, and it's understandable if Bear Country vs Wingmen ends up on DEAN's lengthy cut list. But, if Bear Country vs Wingmen makes the poll it will get at least one vote (from me. I will vote for it). Bononi just LOOKS great with his new beard and trunks. I think they should team Bononi up with fellow ripped bearded weirdo Jake Hager and give them, like, the "I'm too sexy for my shirt" song as entrance music. HOWEVER: here is what a hypocrite I am. Even though I am exceedingly proud of my weight loss (dropped 25 kilos and have KEPT IT OFF for over a year) and I feel better, move better, look better, and will likely live longer (knock wood) at this new weight... I am mildly bummed that Bear Country are slimming down. Because I enjoy watching fat dudes fight. I also enjoy watching muscular dudes fight, and curvy ladies, and slender petite Japanese young women, and athletic crossfit type dudes in certain cases and etc etc but there are not, in my opinion, enough really fat dudes in pro wrestling any more. However, I guess I hope the actual dudes who used to wrestle as Bear Country both succeed in their weight loss journeys and feel better and get better blood test results and so on, like me. My hypocrisy has limits, I am pleased to discover. Also, it's cool that they are fighting as good guys now! Next step: Change the name back, please. I appreciate the 100 % accurate heads up, @Matt D

Great question. And: No. Not really. I like to navel-gaze about Lawler because to me he's like Springsteen or Dylan in that the talent is OBVIOUS, I get why people really dig them (both fans and critics) I know people who are wildly passionate about them, count then among their absolute favourites, but I personally have never been able to get into Jerry Lawler, Bruce Springsteen, or Bob Dylan at all. Just not to my personal taste. I like to navel-gaze about the matter of personal taste. It's mostly inexplicable. The best explanation I ever heard, and one which I paraphrase often: maybe when you were a little little kid you were running to get a hotdog and you fell and skinned your knee (which, because you were really little, was kind of traumatic). Now, as an adult, you cannot understand why anyone would want a hotdog. They are greasy! And loaded with nitrates! But really the reason you hate them is subconscious association with a childhood trauma. So I enjoy engaging in arguments about personal taste, and feel there is real value in such discussion as long as we steer clear of tribalism (e.g. as brain exercise, as a way of expanding and refining our opinions...) But it's mostly bullshit. Particularly so when people treat matters of personal taste as unassailable fact.

Man. This sounds so great. All of the stuff I love about AEW and none of the current stuff that rubs me, personally, the wrong way. I literally do not have sufficient free time to watch all of Dynamite, Rampage, Dark, Elevation, the big important New Japan shows, big important "other Japan" shows, random old matches on YouTube, and the insane stuff that shows up on my YouTube feed every week. Making room for ROH would REQUIRE cancelling time for something else +wrestling, books, video games, exercise?) The main reason I am sticking to Dynamite and Rampage as my appointment viewing is the enjoyable live chat with an international group of wrestling nerds that I enjoy during Dynamite, and the discussion here in the AEW thread. Maybe if more people get into watching the new ROH and there's more discussion of it here, I will have to consider spending my 1000 yen a month and 4 hours a week on ROH rather than AEW.

So, I'm over here completely BAFFLED by the near-universal love that Orange vs Jarrett is receiving on these boards. Possibly, my dislike of all things Jarrett is just irrational. If so - even if not - it's probably useful in the sense that it gives me greater empathy for people who have seemingly-irrational hatred for (lets say) The Bucks, Kenny, and/or Adam Cole, regardless of what those wrestlers actually do or say in a given week. Jarrett taking the fewest possible bumps, doing his little strut, having a half-dozen run-ins every match, saying "Slap nuts" like it's a clever insult... None of that appeals to me. quite the opposite. I have zero nostalgia for that shit. But I don't think that's my issue. What brought it into focus for me was Nicole Matthews being used to troll the crowd before Taya showed up. I, personally, would prefer the version of AEW that doesn't treat a very good but relatively unknown pro wrestler like Nicole Matthews as a joke. I think a huge part of the reason that I loved AEW deeply, madly, unconditionally for the first three years or so was that they were constantly bringing in so many really good but relatively unknown professional wrestlers and allowing them the space to get over (or to fall flat) on their own merits on (inter)national TV. Exposing new talent to a wide audience and largely letting the crowd decide who would get a rocket strapped to them. Occasionally bringing in someone like Miro or FTR or Ruby who maybe wasn't booked to their best advantage elsewhere and giving them a chance to shine (or not) in a new environment was also fun and interesting, and having wrestlers like Arn in a mentor role seemed a good way to scratch people's nostalgia itch without overshadowing the young wrestlers on the rise, but to me it was watching new-to-me wrestlers being given the chance to get themselves over that was the real magic. So I think what I resent about Jarrett and Saraya in particular is that they are wrestlers who had their run at the top being brought in not as mentors, not to get a fair chance to shine that they hadn't received elsewhere... But to be treated as bigger stars than the wrestlers I had grown to love, to take up loads of TV time that I personally would prefer be given to, say, Abadon or Sonny Kiss, or Angelico, or Yuka Sakazaki... And to give a polished, professional vibe to a show that I would vastly prefer remain weirdand rough around the edges. I am not necessarily saying that actually bringing in and pushing Nicole would be better than bringing in and pushing Taya... I am saying that, for me personally, it would be a LOT more interesting. (Nothing against Taya. She surely belongs in the "deserves a chance to shine" group). I am also, please note, not DEMANDING change or forecasting doom for AEW because they are no longer pandering directly to my specific tastes. Even though this week's Dynamite devoted plenty of time to Jarrett and Saraya, I still watched and enjoyed it. On one hand, I see zero evidence that the new reliance on "established stars" is cranking up ratings or selling more tickets than the previous model of building around unique indie wrestlers and random Japanese guests... On the other hand, obviously lots of people here are pretty happy with the current direction. So I guess I'm just sorting out my own current dissatisfaction in my head by musing about it online. Navel gazing, as it were.

Jeff Jarrett and Saraya?

Turns out it's... Taya. Quite a twist, eh? Bet you didn't see that one coming! To be honest, the way they used Nicole Matthews to Willy Wonka the crowd was my favourite thing in the show today. I also appreciated Orange wearing his Canadian tuxedo just for Winnipeg.

Every time I see this ad on the train, I think of Kazarian and smile.

I met my friend Ji-sama, who is my friend because we're both (Asian) Kuuga's friends, in Osaka for drinks (and also food) and she took me to possibly the MOST hole-in-the-wall prowrestling bar in Japan. The sign "advertising" the bar is one of the funnier things I have ever seen. CLEARLY it's the kind of place where the only people who go there are regulars. I would be ASTONISHED to learn that I was not the first gaijin to ever visit the place. But everyone was EXTREMELY welcoming. They all yelled out "Ji-sama!" when we came in, like she was Norm going up to the bar in Cheers. And every person in the bar was a major pro wrestling maniac. It's run by the somewhat unlikely "couple" of almost-my-age Bull Power Takuya (whom I first met at a Kuinshinbou Kamen Produced show in April of 2011) and 19 y.o. cute-as-a-button indie joshi wrestler Miyu. The walls are covered with indie wrestling posters, there is a rack of wrestling magazines and programs to leaf through, everyone brings snacks to share, and Takuya mixed my whiskey sodas hilariously STRONG. We had such a nice relaxing time hanging out there that I almost missed the last train home. What a privilege to be invited, and welcomed, into a self-contained little world like that! (Ji-Sama, it's the sign on the right, of course it was DVDs of indie wrestling playing on the TV but also sometimes baseball for whatever reason, a SECRET BASE poster! The guy in the purple shirt helps set up the ring, Miyu and Bull,I also met Emi Sakura at that show in April 2011)!

I honestly would have preferred a straight-up hoss fight between Hobbs and Wardlow. Just Big Meaty Men Slapping Meat. With a relatively clean finish. The bells and whistles really detracted from the main event, for me personally. There are still a lot of really good and great and fun and entertaining wrestlers getting to wrestle long matches so I am still a fan, but I am nostalgic for the days when the wrestlers were booking their own programmes and doing all kinds of weird indie shit. I dig the current WWE-lite style booking and storytelling and bells-and-whistles heavy style with plenty of fuck finishes WAY less. They are catering more and more to a very specific " Attitude Era " and ECW type of nostalgia that doesn't really hit with me, personally. But it does seem like plenty of folks here are happier with this "Burger King" version of AEW, so I'll try not to constantly piss on that particular parade moving forward. And I already miss making "All Atlantic" jokes! On the plus side, it was like they booked this show specifically to allow me to make the MAXIMUM number of terrible dad jokes. o For example: I was joking that Toni Storm should marry Ricky Starks and then exclusively wrestle in iron man matches (because she'd be "Toni Starks") and then JUICE ROBINSON came out to attack Starks after his match and I got to yell, "Dude! I was just kidding!" Also: Absolut and Juice is a natural match-up. I also think Skye Blue should marry AR Fox. Or Scorpio Sky. LOVED the crowd reactions for FTR and the Takeshita vs Vance announcement. Lufisto, maybe? That would be cool. i wonder who Don was thinking of as the BEST wrestler from Winnipeg? Roddy Piper? Chi Chi Cruz? Moose Morowski?

It's the 6th here in Japan, so allow me to be the first(of many) to wish a very happy birthday to an all-around jam-up guy and everybody's friend: Paul E. "The Natural" Clay! Wishing you nothing but the best! Devote this year to getting into the healthiest condition of your life, buddy! We are all pulling for you.