Control

Zeus joins the Corps of God or whatever they’re called. Zeus and Irie could be a fun team. Not sure how they’re gonna manage pushing these guys and Jin at the same time.

In case you’re interested:

So is Dick Togo signed with NOAH, or is he just freelancing with them?

Said goodbye to this absolute good boy on Monday:

Can someone pin the 2020 topic? So far, Nagai is working the comedy six-man spot.

Thanks, man. That actually helps a lot. Honestly, even typing it all out assuaged my guilt: I realized that it was absolutely time for him to go. My wife (who is not taking it well, at all) actually looked up some online discussions of when to put your dog down, etc., and they all said that it's pretty normal to feel guilt. It's just profoundly weird and weighty to make a decision to end something's life. Like you, we stayed there for the procedure, so Ollie died in my wife's arms with me holding his paw. It was quick and painless, but it's still very disconcerting to see your pet transform from a living being into a corpse. We decided to get him cremated, and the vet's office makes some cards with imprints of his paws for us. I hope your other dog deals with it OK. I've only ever had cats, and when the older cat died, the younger cat's behaviour changed quite a bit.

We put our dog down today. It fucking sucks. Rationally, I know it was the right move. He became lethargic and lost his appetite at the start of the New Year (like, New Year's day, really). We took him in to deal with that, and they tested him for the standard causes and gave us some meds to deal with the symptoms. While we were treating him, he went blind. When we took him back to the vet, they discovered that he was also anemic. More drugs, more bloodwork didn't find a cause. And then his kidneys started to fail. Though they still didn't identify the cause, his symptoms suggest gastrointestinal lymphoma. Even to get properly tested for that, though, he had to gain strength, and so this last weekend we gave him even more meds and force-fed him for two days, which was fucking awful. He also started shitting blood. At that point we decided that it was best to say goodbye. Even if he got better (and he wasn't getting better), he'd be extending his life to likely get his eyes removed (there was too much pressure) and chemo and other surgeries that might not work. So, realistically I know it was the right choice, but emotionally it feels like we gave up on him. Because he never stopped being happy. At the vet's this morning he was wagging his tail and giving the vet kisses. It just felt wrong, and now I feel like dogshit.

Are you saying your vet did drop-in euthanasia?

Fuminori Abe joined JIN (AJPW). Hoping after tomorrow’s Singles match with Nomura, Ayato Yoshida joins as well (or another good option: vows a rivalry). edit: excellent

My dog is dying and it suuuuuuuuucks

My top two albums of 2019 were Richard Dawson’s 2020 and Hey Colossus’s Four Bibles. Just FYI.

Surprised AJ is #3, actually (would have guessed that they were behind DDT and Noah, tbh). Guess their working with Dragon Gate is a good thing, then. I hold out hopes that they can get someone like Ben K for the CC this year.

It's a new year! Rumour is that Shuji Ishikawa is the new booker for All Japan. I don't know if that's true. What is true, in any event, is that the next big All Japan show features three (!) first-time title challengers. Fresh match-ups! In All Japan! Wild. AJPW, 11.02.2020 Tokyo Korakuen Hall AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Susumu Yokosuka (c) vs Akira Francesco Akira is a skinny Italian guy who pinned Okada and Black Menso-re in the New Year's shows. He is crazy fast and very agile, but still pretty green and botch-y. Susumu Yokosuka is a Dragon Gate guy who won the AJ Jr. Heavyweight tournament. I've never seen him before, but he seems perfectly fine. This should be very different than the Iwamoto/Sato-style matches we've been getting for the Junior Title. AJPW World Tag Team Title: Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa (c) vs Shigehiro Irie & Lucas Steel Suwama missed the 1/3 show, but apparently he's good to go. Violent Giants are the perennial champs, and Irie & Steel are the new kids on the block. Both of them joined UTAMARO's unit within the last couple of weeks. Steel is a tall British guy who seems perfectly fine. I'm hoping Irie sticks around and makes it to the Champion Carnival. Triple Crown: Kento Miyahara (c) vs Yuma Aoyagi Aoyagi is the NEXTREAM dude who has been left behind after Jake and Nomura split off. He was Kento's partner for some of the best tags of the tag league. He suplexed Kento at the end of the 1/3 show, which was a great moment and a bit of a surprise. Good worker who hasn't really had many standout singles matches, so this is his opportunity to see if he can make a name for himself like Jake and Nomura. This will be Kento's 10th defence, which will tie him with Kawada's record. Typically there's a March defence before the Carnival as well. Another story is that all of Nextream has now abandoned Kento (though it's unclear if this is a straight-up betrayal by Aoyagi or if it will be more of a "sibling rivalry"-type thing. Also, if I'm reading translated Twitter correctly, Nomura and Yoshida might have a match later this month, which would be swell. AJ should book Yoshida as much as possible. Fuminori Abe as well.

UTAMARO’s training regime is really something.