Sublime

I thought Ishii/Ibushi was really good but Shingo/ZSJ was on another level. Zach might have the two best matches of the tournament so far. Really interested in seeing how things continue to play out. Also looks like they are planting seeds for issues between BC and House of Torture. Loved ZSJ quoting Dizzee Rascal as well. "sweet like a nut sweet like Tropicana"

The first two nights were really fun. Naito/ZSJ, Ishii/Shingo, Okada/Tana and Goto/Taichi were all outstanding and there weren't any matches that weren't enjoyable, even Yujiro brought it. The news about Naito is really disappointing, was really looking forward to him vs Shingo and was curious as to what his match against Tanga Loa was going to be like. ZSJ is always so good when in there against the main event guys I wish he'd get pushed more as a singles despite how much I love the Tekkers.

I think it's very possible that Ric thinks that if he himself doesn't physically force someone to touch him then he didn't force them. He definitely comes across like someone who doesn't believe coercion or intimidation are linked to sexual assault/rape. I've known men like this who think that if they are not physically harming the victim then everything is fine and dandy because they are fucking scumbag narcissists or sociopaths.

Kenyon was great. I saw him work a dark match against Nathan Jones and he made Jones look so good just feeding into him and bumping like a pinball. The crowd totally bought Jones as the real deal. Who beta than kanyon?

I think Gargano would be better suited to go to Impact where he could be a bigger fish. I don't know what his future will be in WWE if he stays and there are the changes to NXT, I don't seem him as having a lot of success on the main roster. Especially with HHH out of favor it seems. AEW doesn't really have a spot for him, unless he wants to be a solid mid to upper card hand.

I don't think the Casino Battle Royales have to be an issue because I like that they are basically shorter Royal Rumbles. The biggest issue is how the entrants are treated really. Announcing who is in each suit before hand would be a huge help and possibly staggering the suit entrants by 30 seconds or so could help to so each entry gives the crowd a chance to breath. Throwing groups out there does help stop the trope of new entrant hits their signature spots as soon as they get in that has plagued Rumbles for years now.

Accidently posted my thoughts in the AEW Sep thread so here they are here as well. This was the first live wrestling I've watched in a really long time and the first full non-NJPW show I've watched in 3 years and it was really so close to a perfect show. I'm really happy I made the choice to watch it and to do so live. AEW really made me a true fan of their product even before the end with Danielson's debut. The feel of the show was both fresh and familiar and it really felt like a return to big time US Pro-Wrestling (which AEW has probably been doing for a while but they knocked this out of the park when they knew there was going to be eyes on them). I loved Miro-Kingston was a little unsure about the finish because it almost put the heat on the ref instead of Miro but I think they avoided that. It was such a nice hard-nosed slugfest. I hope that Eddie gets a rematch in NYC and wins the belt, I would love to see him get a big TV moment in his career. Mox/Kojima was solid and I liked it, they worked well for their spot on the card too. Loved the surprise at the end with Suzuki showing up and the crowd singing along. I loved that a big US promotion PPV had the fans singing Kaze Ni Nare. AEW acknowledging and working with other promotions is really such a breath of fresh air and making other promotions being kayfabe on a similar level to them is really smart and works well in todays entertainment environment. They understand that most things are niche now, fans have a wide knowledge of the things they follow and dig deep and AEW leans into and that is smart. Women's Title match may have been my match of the night, it wasn't perfect but they worked smart and at a good pace. Thought Statlander came out looking strong in defeat which can be tricky as a face when dealing with losing by submission to a character like Baker who is so over as a heel/tweener that the crowd loves her. The moment of emotion by Cassidy worked to strengthen the bond between Kris and Orange to the fans also. The cage match was a spectacle and was really fun but I thought it was a little too over the top with stuff. I can see why people loved it and see it as a MOTYC but it drifted a bit into usual Bucks overkill for me but nicely they went with violence rather than flippy overkill. I enjoyed it and it's one of my favorite Bucks matches now and I loved the whole presentation of the Lucha Brothers and really liked the celebration at the end. Penta and Fenix where made true stars that night and my hats off to them and the Bucks for putting on the match that most new viewers will have engrained in their minds. Casino battle royals are kind of a clunky format but that format did lend itself to allow for a quicker way to get a lot of people on the card and a chance to show a bit to the crowd. It was really hurt by the fact that only Rosa and Soho felt like possible winners and the emotion on Soho's face when winning was so genuine and real that it was another moment that was great. MJF/Jericho as good, I've been rather down on Jericho for a few years and am not a huge MJF fan either but they did pretty good, some rough spots in there but they worked a good match that was a bit booked into a corner about what to do. In most cases I think you'd want MJF the young heel to go over the aging legend and end the fued on top(I know he had already tapped Jericho out and was a victim of his own hubris to take this match) to help boost him up but with the retirement stip Jericho had to win. I think they did a good job of making it so that MJF was his own undoing with the back damage he took from the powerbomb on the apron (which he put himself into position for) and his powerbomb off the top that he sold really well. CM Punk/Darby was the reason I was there and they did a really good match. I think Punk chose to work smart and a bit slow and didn't want to try to steal the show since he was coming back maybe a bit rusty, and that he seems to want to be in the role of helping boost the young stars up even when he's not on screen. I was surprised he didn't bust out the double arm back breaker just so the crowd could yell Welcome to Chicago Mother Fucker. Paul Wight looks a bit in bad shape mobility wise and with the amount of surgeries he's had he maybe should stay out of the ring, but as a cool down moment with some goofy heels it was a fine segment. Omega/Christian was great but it suffered from being at the end of an emotional show and not really having any suspense because Christian doesn't feel like the guy to un-thrown Omega as the AEW guy. The fake out with Cole was good and Danielson's debut was electric. I probably won't be watching their shows week-in and week-out but I'll very likely be watching Full Gear in November.

This was the first live wrestling I've watched in a really long time and the first full non-NJPW show I've watched in 3 years and it was really so close to a perfect show. I'm really happy I made the choice to watch it and to do so live. AEW really made me a true fan of their product even before the end with Danielson's debut. The feel of the show was both fresh and familiar and it really felt like a return to big time US Pro-Wrestling (which AEW has probably been doing for a while but they knocked this out of the park when they knew there was going to be eyes on them). I loved Miro-Kingston was a little unsure about the finish because it almost put the heat on the ref instead of Miro but I think they avoided that. It was such a nice hard-nosed slugfest. I hope that Eddie gets a rematch in NYC and wins the belt, I would love to see him get a big TV moment in his career. Mox/Kojima was solid and I liked it, they worked well for their spot on the card too. Loved the surprise at the end with Suzuki showing up and the crowd singing along. I loved that a big US promotion PPV had the fans singing Kaze Ni Nare. AEW acknowledging and working with other promotions is really such a breath of fresh air and making other promotions being kayfabe on a similar level to them is really smart and works well in todays entertainment environment. They understand that most things are niche now, fans have a wide knowledge of the things they follow and dig deep and AEW leans into and that is smart. Women's Title match may have been my match of the night, it wasn't perfect but they worked smart and at a good pace. Thought Statlander came out looking strong in defeat which can be tricky as a face when dealing with losing by submission to a character like Baker who is so over as a heel/tweener that the crowd loves her. The moment of emotion by Cassidy worked to strengthen the bond between Kris and Orange to the fans also. The cage match was a spectacle and was really fun but I thought it was a little too over the top with stuff. I can see why people loved it and see it as a MOTYC but it drifted a bit into usual Bucks overkill for me but nicely they went with violence rather than flippy overkill. I enjoyed it and it's one of my favorite Bucks matches now and I loved the whole presentation of the Lucha Brothers and really liked the celebration at the end. Penta and Fenix where made true stars that night and my hats off to them and the Bucks for putting on the match that most new viewers will have engrained in their minds. Casino battle royals are kind of a clunky format but that format did lend itself to allow for a quicker way to get a lot of people on the card and a chance to show a bit to the crowd. It was really hurt by the fact that only Rosa and Soho felt like possible winners and the emotion on Soho's face when winning was so genuine and real that it was another moment that was great. MJF/Jericho as good, I've been rather down on Jericho for a few years and am not a huge MJF fan either but they did pretty good, some rough spots in there but they worked a good match that was a bit booked into a corner about what to do. In most cases I think you'd want MJF the young heel to go over the aging legend and end the fued on top(I know he had already tapped Jericho out and was a victim of his own hubris to take this match) to help boost him up but with the retirement stip Jericho had to win. I think they did a good job of making it so that MJF was his own undoing with the back damage he took from the powerbomb on the apron (which he put himself into position for) and his powerbomb off the top that he sold really well. CM Punk/Darby was the reason I was there and they did a really good match. I think Punk chose to work smart and a bit slow and didn't want to try to steal the show since he was coming back maybe a bit rusty, and that he seems to want to be in the role of helping boost the young stars up even when he's not on screen. I was surprised he didn't bust out the double arm back breaker just so the crowd could yell Welcome to Chicago Mother Fucker. Paul Wight looks a bit in bad shape mobility wise and with the amount of surgeries he's had he maybe should stay out of the ring, but as a cool down moment with some goofy heels it was a fine segment. Omega/Christian was great but it suffered from being at the end of an emotional show and not really having any suspense because Christian doesn't feel like the guy to un-thrown Omega as the AEW guy. The fake out with Cole was good and Danielson's debut was electric. I probably won't be watching their shows week-in and week-out but I'll very likely be watching Full Gear in November. *Just realized I posted this in the wrong thread. oops.

The problem with WWE training guys with no experience is, to me, the fact that history shows they only train guys to work one way. Which leads to bland homogenized wrestling. You need wrestlers with different backgrounds to have guys with their own styles. This is one place where the comparison to the Japan dojo’s doesn’t hold water because those places train to work house style but to also let the trainees to work in ways that match their strengths and also they don’t train out the new aspects that they gain on excursion. Even with guys like Brookside at the PC their not showing that their from ground up trainees are any different from the guys how they produced through OVW. All pretty much the same from look to style to promos. Wrestling needs guys learning to adapt and change and have the ability to wrestle a way that matches their personality. Maybe things will be different but the past shows that this will probably turn out a certain way and people are right to be wary. This won’t really affect me cause I haven’t watched WWE since 2018 and probably won’t start again anytime soon

If they hadn't already booked out the venues I'd be fine with them making this years G1 a straight tournament instead of a round robin, it's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out. And who knows what will happen if there is a COVID infection or even exposure within one of the blocks.

Owens and Yano are going to be meeting for the KOPW title in either a Texas Strap match (Owens choice, with touch 4 corners rules) or an I Quit match (Yano's choice). I really hope the I Quit match wins cause while I imagine Yano could think of some fun shenanigans for a touch 4 corners gimmick I really hate those kind of matches and want to see if Yano will follow up his words of showing Owens how serious he can get and see if he goes back to his more violent roots.

Scurll was 50%look 30% gimmick and 20% worker. Most of his gimmick was his look which was often amazing for his entrance to give the devil his due. But for the most part while he had a character he wasn’t that great at character work. He just stood out more when so many guys had gimmick of “I’m a good wrestler who has good matches”. Work wise he was probably the worst of the Elite and likely still is I haven’t seen him work since his last BOSJ. Dunne is miles ahead of him as both a worker and at character work. Watch the UK title tournament and you’ll fully understand who Pete Dunnes character is something that I could never really do with “the Villain”.

If I didn't feel like White is practically a lock to win the G1 this year I'd be really excited about the idea of Shingo/Naito at the dome. Oh well. When Ibushi was announced to be ill I was worried that EVIL would end up being his replacement and was relived when it was Tanahashi but then....Guess this will make the show shorter to watch cause I'm not watching that unless I hear it was awesome but EVIL doesn't seem to want to be a slapping meat guy these days so I don't have hopes. But whatever Hiromu is back!!!!!!!

I guess it's more that he showed glimpses of being able to be a surly ass kicker in his NEVER matches a few years ago. That's when I liked him most when he would lean into that style that was the focus of the NEVER belt at the time but he's been trying other stuff and I just don't think what he's been doing really fits with his strengths as a wrestler. Him starting his own group would have been good too, the current groups (CHAOS and BC especially) need to be shaken up or done away with. I think EVIL taking a guy like YOSHIHASHI and helping him find a bit more edge. Oka/O-KHAN would have fit alongside EVIL well too I think. Nothing about EVIL really makes sense to be a part of BC and that's the one faction that needs to shed guys for sure.

EVIL should have never joined the Bullet Club. I think he would have fit better in Suzuki-Gun and focused on being a surly ass kicker like he’d do when going against the Ishii and Goto’s of the world rather than being a guy who had Togo choke his opponent for most of the match. I never though Dick Togo would be someone I didn’t want to see on a show but Gedo found a way to make it happen.

One of the great things about Eddie and Funk is that in addition to working any style they’re guys who you could put anywhere on the card, face or heel, and they would fill their role perfectly. They’re true pros who would do the job asked of them and do it well.

Oaf that's a long match, I enjoyed their BOSJ finals match but felt it was too long then. NJPW is really having a problem with these long matches. Long matches can be wonderful Okada has had plenty but not ever long match is great and not every wrestler is an Okada level talent (he's a top 1% worker of all time) who knows how to make those matches work. Just stop with these forced epics.

I have no problems with wrestlers failing their goals. It’s just that lately goals are rarely achieved it makes it so there is no investment in the goals wrestlers set because it’s almost a forgone conclusion that they won’t happen. That’s how NJPW has mostly been for the past few years so when a guy says I’m going to do this it’s pretty much a signal that they won’t do it (unless it’s at WK). I’m fine with people failing as long as we get to see success too.

Those spoilers are something.

This is such sad news. OSJ is someone I had a few direct interactions with over the past two decades but he was always nice to me when we did. I'm gonna miss the stories of his cats and all his knowledge he'd drop about old wrestlers, comics, and authors.

The problem with All Japans influence is also we had the 2000s Indy style being created by a bunch of workers who were influenced by what they saw of the promotion and wrestlers without all of the context. And that style became really ingrained in the US scene all the way to the WWE so we have an idea of these highly dangerous spots and moves being what is good rather than stories that build to the need of those spots

Yeah I always saw Michaels Mr Wrestlemania thing (in it's early days at least) not about him being dominant at Mania but more that he would always put extra effort into his Mania matches from both a kayfabe and shoot perspective. He would give his opponents the hardest fight and put the most effort in when the lights were on bright

Sending a letter to the courthouse explaining that you are an anarchist who does not believe in the laws of man worked well for.....someone (until they moved to another area anyway).

I almost canceled my NJPW world sub. last month and kinda wished I had. My interest is so low both in NJPW and wrestling in general (the deaths of Brodie and Hana really drained me last year) and putting Ospreay on top makes me not care about the upcoming dome shows, which I was holding out for hoping they’d do something interesting there. The new era is shaping up to be one that isn’t what I want to see.

I was just starting to like Ospreay when the speaking out stuff came out. He was strating to put things together better but yeah my opinion of him dropped back down last year (he's heel turn has been lame as well) The only time I thought Scurll looked good was against Okada at All In, I thought maybe I can get into this guy he's never looked this good, turned out you just look great when you're in the ring with one of the best of all time. Ospreay/Okada at WK is easily Ospreays best match too and the only worthwhile thing to come out of his turn (well heel Cobb is good too). Stormbreaker is lame as hell, but I thought it was still better than the oscutter. I do agree that NJPW is too reliant on finishers to finish matches, most of these guys have secondary big moves that could easily end matches. Another NJPW take is that as great as Dangerous Tekkers are both guys should be getting bigger singles matches and being positioned higher up the card.