twiztor

speaking only for myself here. When AEW only had Dynamite, i watched it every week. Then they added Rampage and i caught that every week. Then a quarterly Battle of the Belts and i would watch that too. But then they added a third weekly show, Collision. It passed the breaking point for me. Now i watch Dynamite every week, BotB every quarter, and will only catch Rampage or Collision if there is an absolute can't miss match (MJF vs Omega a few weeks ago being the most recent example). I don't engage on YouTube or anything. They over filled the bucket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OG67bMg3-Q NWA POWERRR! Episode 134: Overman vs Beastman **this is listed as episode 134 but last week was 132** 11/14/23 @ Nashville, TN Junior Heavyweight Title: Colby Corino (c) vs. Mo Jabari Jabari gets the jobber entrance. He apparently recently scored a victory over Kerry Morton in Canada, which earns him this title shot. This wasn't a perfect match (some of the interactions weren't very smooth. in particular, they did the rolling exchange of 2 counts which looked all sorts of sloppy), but it was still very good. Women's Tag Team Titles: King Bees (Danni Bee & Charity King) vs. Pretty Empowered (c) weird that two matches in a row we see a competitor getting a title shot in their debut. King Bees get a good reaction early on and the crowd stays with them throughout. this was a pretty great match and was only made better by the crowd buy-in. a super lame segment, game show style, with Rush Freeman, Rolando Freeman, and Billy Corgan searching for the newest Spectacular. Mercurio and (Paul) Burchill try out. this was AWFUL. if the rumors that NWA is cutting costs is true, the Freeman brothers would be at the top of my list. next to Gaagz the Gymp, of course. Submission Match: Blake Troop vs. Koa Laxamana i like both of these guys, and the stipulation should play to Troop's strengths, so i expect this to be decent. Laxamana gets the jobber entrance. ends up kind of being a mixed bag. when this is done in a "worked shoot" style, it just looks like trash. Troop has very slow strikes and takedowns, and it just looks very phony. when they pick up the pace it improves tremendously. We don't really get a crescendo leading to the finish, it just sort of happens. but not in a "sudden victory" way, just in a "it's time to end the match" way. i came a way a bit disappointed. we get the third and fourth interviewees for the Spectaculars. your newest candidates are Tyler Midas and KC Roxx. This is completely terrible and utterly pointless. I could not overstate how fucking bad this is. Billy Corgan: "i'm not sure it's made for good television but it's certainly interesting". YOU'RE THE DAMN PRODUCER, WHY WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO BROADCAST THIS?!?! NWA World's Heavyweight Title match: EC3 (c) vs. Talos Talos here to play the monster of the week so EC3 can fight from underneath. And it works pretty well. Talos is still pretty green but works as a big physical threat. kind of like Dallas Lance Hoyt Lance Archer in his early TNA career. interesting spot where EC3 is draped throat-first over the middle rope. Instead of Talos pushing EC3 down into the rope, he grabs the rope and pulls it up across the neck of EC3. it worked. this was by no means a 5 star match, but i enjoyed it.

good looking out! that would work, except they don't ship to the US. unless there's some European board member who wanted to act as a go-between......? my DMs are open. edit: was able to source it from a different UK source. Thanks Zakk for putting me on the right path!

i know this is probably a longshot, but if anyone could help me track down a copy of an indy show from 2005 i would appreciate it (or even any leads). 11/19/2005 CCW (Carolina Championship Wrestling) - A Tribute to Starrcade sometimes just called "Tribute". this used to be up on highspots or one of the streaming services but is no longer available.

well that is just amazing. i watched all the IFL events a couple years back but had never seen this. it sucks and i hate it and yet also love it. thank you. edited to add: in this thread, twiztor reveals that he has horrendous taste in music. first the Macho Man rap album, now the IFL rap. what's next, the SuperBowl Shuffle?

there it is, folks. the best thing ever written about the "Be A Man" album. And i say that as someone who enjoys (parts of) the album, and also bought it the week it released. one of the 14k or whatever its sales ended up being. Also of relevant note, they just pressed this on vinyl for Record Store Day earlier this year. i did not buy this one. i think this nails it, completely. He felt his ring work was good enough (which it was, for his role as a midcard tag team with flashes at the top of the division), so he stopped trying to improve. Once the "Buff" character gave him the outlet, he took it and ran. Leaving his ring skills miles behind.

i would like to see Jiri face off with Jan, Johnny Walker, and Jamahal Hill. that's my order of interest as well. then probably Krylov. i really don't know Rakic, so i don't know how he ranks on this list.

good win for Aspinall. I think Aspinall/Gane is a very interesting matchup, and i'd like to see it depending on if/when/how Jones/Stipe ends up. felt like an early stoppage in the Jiri/Pereira fight, but i'm sure Alex would have landed a few strikes right away on the ground and the result wouldn't be much different. Jiri was sprawled out on his back and full mounted. he definitely would have taken a few before he'd have an opportunity to buck and potentially get back up.

same picks here! man, Jiri is probably my favorite current fighter. Him or Max Holloway. But he likes to fight in wars. And he doesn't have a problem getting hit. Pereira knocks dudes the fuck out. I don't see this ending well for Jiri, but i hope i'm wrong here. As i said when he won the title, "i don't see him as a long term champ, but he'll be a great one for as long as he holds that belt"

i've been curious about UFC 300 since this past spring, wondering what will get booked and if it will be some sort of super show. still curious. i currently watch all of the numbered events (live if possible, but definitely on Sunday if live isn't an option). i think once we slide past UFC 300 and Rizin 50 (which should happen around the same time, maybe mid summer), i'll probably get even more lax about watching and paying attention. I'm already to the point that i only really have name recognition with about half of the main card fighters, and prelims drop that percentage sharply. i just can't follow it with the same fervor that i used to.

NWA POWERRR! Episode 132: It's Time to Give Thanks 11/7/23 @ ?? (Nashville, TN?) Southern 6 (Morton & Taylor) vs. the Heatseekers Pretty decent match. this was a return to the NWA for the Heatseekers and they put in a good account of themselves. I don't remember if i've seen them before, but their name sounds familiar, so they were probably at the Crockett Cup. Anyway, the results were never in doubt, but it was a fun ride getting there. Women's TV Title: Max the Impaler (c) vs. Missa Kate Max does what Max does, and it's another fun match. I've been pretty ambivalent about Missa, but she put in the work here and Max made her look good. interview segment with EC3 where they introduce his challenger at the next event..... Jax Dane. Dane cuts a pretty good promo, especially to build a match that has no history. EC3 retorts and does pretty well also. Should be a reasonably good match. non-Tag Team Titles match: Blunt Force Trauma (c) vs. Magic Inc. another match where the question was never in doubt, but this one was even more clear-cut and less fun getting there. Post-match, CJ gives Aron Stevens a low blow, in the high spot of the segment. non Women's Title match: Kenzie Paige (c) vs. Taylor Rising easily the best match of the night. Kenzie does such a fantastic job of looking vulnerable by being undersized but alternately being able to dominate her opponents by her combination of skills and dastardly tactics. if you only watch one match from NWA this week, this is the one to look for.

surprised that Julianna Pena isn't involved. not upset or anything, but after the Nunes fights i certainly expected her to get the shot.

i care and i think that's awesome. i loved that DC vs. Marvel 4-issue series and used to have a couple of the one shots (Bruce Wayne, Agent of SHIELD and one of the Darkclaw ones). my favorite of that type of "this can't be real" books are the Stan Lee's Just Imagine the DC Universe books. those blew my mind as a teenager and i knew i had to have all 10 or whatever of them.

found the PPV enjoyable overall, but very inconsistent. i wasn't in the best headspace, but i appreciated all the weird flourishes they gave the matches. Missed most of the pre-show except the Daisy Kill & Talos vs. Immortals title match. Good: Corino/Alonzo had some wild crowd brawling and dives. really enjoyed this one. Headbangers looked good enough, and i'm surprised but glad they recognized them as former NWA Tag Team champs (this would have been during the "NWA Revival" on WWF Raw in early '98, which for obvious reasons is rarely referenced). Thrillbilly/Adonis was better than i expected Thom Latimer & Kamille cosplaying Macho Man & Elizabeth was awesome. I even ended up enjoying the clowns! Middle: Jax Dane/Blake Troop. didn't feel like it had the animosity that it should have. I don't think it was BAD, just lacking. Kenzie/Ruthie also didn't live up to expectations, but wasn't a bad match whatsoever. BFT/K&M was a fun match with a shit finish. to have all these escalating table bumps, just to end with the same type of finish we've seen for 3 months now? bah. i second the love for Kyle Davis' increasing exacerbation at having to keep announcing that. Bad: the Spectaculars EXPLODE~! setup was dumb, match wasn't great. shit finish for a shit angle i guess. Billy Corgan got to cut a babyface promo on Matt Cardona. THAT is what we really needed. sadly, this did not happen.

i watched live (very rare for me for boxing matches). i scored it a draw 96-96 but don't watch a ton of boxing so not perfect on seeing what judges see. Fury winning is no surprise, even during the fight. very dxciting and glad i was able to catch it tonight. honestly, this is probably the best outcome for all parties: Ngannou. took the undisputed best to a close decision. his next fight (regardless if this is mma or boxing) adds a ton of credibility. especially with the knockdown Fury. beat the best that MMA has to offer and adds to his credibility. still undefeated. Usyk. adds intrigue to his upcoming title fight (does this still happen in december?) and potentially more ppv buys.

i just remember WWE using the band Neurotica in a shit load of videos and packages and stuff. i believe they were the only band ever signed to the WWF's record label ("SmackDown Records"?) except for wrestlers and their side projects.

hoo boy. in chronological order. Been to a few more events than this, but nothing particularly noteworthy. 6/15/97. WCW Great American Bash. i didn't go to this event. but my friend had convinced me that his dad was going (it was plausible, as said dad had gone to nWo Souled Out in January) and that we could go with him. so i wore my homemade Macho Man shirt and hung out at/around their house all day. well, by the time 6pm rolled around, i knew we weren't going and i was crushed. i shouldn't have been- this friend is a habitual liar, so it should have been a lesson for me. Instead, he's still one of my best mates, and every event below (save the last two) he was present for. Plus, it was still a good day. 5/25/99. WWF Raw. my first live event, i was 15. took place 2 days after Owen Hart died, but aired on tape delay a week later. the Acolytes won the tag team titles. i believe this was the first appearance of the "Higher Power" in person. of course, he remained hooded, so we didn't know that it was Vince McMahon at the time. 10/19/04. WWF Taboo Tuesday. went with 3 friends. my friends are loud, but i tend to be less so. i remember there was a family behind us where the mom asked me slightly before the show was starting if we were going to be loud and distracting. i remember answering that maybe my friends would, but we wouldn't be rowdy and that i'd be mostly quiet. i should mention that i (and my friends) was a Snitsky defender, so i was possibly a bit animated in my vocalization of his persecution. the mom called me out on it, but it was all in fun. 4/11/05. WWE Raw. i don't remember much about this, except that the marquee outside advertised "Randy Ortoz". i still refer to him as such on occasion. i remember using a camcorder to make a record of this. i wonder if someone still has it? 4/2/06. WrestleMania 22. the most memorable part of this weekend was going to a strip club the night before called "Heavenly Bodies". turns out, it was a bikini bar, so the ladies can only strip down to their bikinis. We were disappointed and ready to leave until we found out that it was "50¢ You Call It" night, so all drinks only cost a half dollar. WELL, let me tell you that we all drank a LOT of alcohol that night. one of my friends BARELY got out of bed the next afternoon/evening to make it to 'Mania. for real, all of us (including him!) thought he would still be too sick, but he made the trip. Also, i remember enjoying the Trish/Mickie James and HHH/Cena matches, the latter of which is noteworthy since i had historically given Cena zero credit. 4/1/07. WrestleMania 23. just one friend with me this time, as it was a longer trek. pretty uneventful, but i remember it for cruising 7- and 8-Mile in Detroit. I made it a point to seek out a White Castle, since i had never been to one. the hotel clerk gave us simple directions, and it went something like this: clerk: so you go down this road, take a right at <whatever> street. you know what a 'Michigan U' is? me: yeah, of course. right at <whatever>. what's next? clerk: <gives the rest of the directions> me: (5 minutes later, in the car with my buddy): what the hell is a 'Michigan U'? i legitimately have no memory of the actual in-ring product whatsoever 9/1/18. All In. front row of the upper deck. this is the event that reinvested me into current wrestling. 4 months before this, i had zero idea who most of these people were, except for what i would glean. mainly from this board. but i started watching BTE. started scouring YouTube for whatever i could see of Kenny Omega and Okada from NJPW. went on a Pentagon Jr. deep dive. I literally can't give this event enough credit for jumpstarting my love. Could not ask for a better crash course. 8/26-27/23. NWA 75. look, i typed out a whole Road Report in the NWA thread, so you'll have to read that yourself.

NWA POWERRR! Episode 131: See You In Hell 10/24/23 @ Nashville, TN EC3 & Jordan Clearwater vs. Kal Hero & Luscious Lawrence Hero/Lawrence get the jobber entrance. Which is really saying something, since entrances in the NWA are only a couple seconds regularly. the match was fine, but something just seemed off to me. can't quite place why. This was all a showcase for EC3 and Clearwater anyway. i don't know if it fully accomplished what it was supposed to, but it's not like it was actively bad or anything. video from Violent J. the stipulation for the upcoming PPV will be a "RiddleBox Match". There will be a bunch of boxes at ringside. What's in the boxes? We'll have to see. Knox & Murdoch vs. Fixers opens with a slugging match between Murdoch and Wrecking Ball, so you know i'm in. lots of punches, chops, forearms, shoulder blocks, and other heavy strikes. YMMV, but i loved this. Pretty Empowered vs. Samantha Starr, Ruthie Jay, & the Woad This was pretty decent. i feel like the NWA's weakest in-ring is multi-person matches. Or maybe that's just my bias showing through. But the story of the match is usually too muddy to shine through. Rox-C comes down to ring, seemingly begging to be let back into Pretty Empowered. She gets kicked away and blindsided. I'll take that as a "no". Magic, Inc. vs. P&P Connection (Mario Pardua & Jeremiah Plunkett) my expectations for this match are directly tied to how involved CJ is. She is by far the best thing about this team's presentation. and that's not even in the Hollywood Cibernetico way, the two wrestlers are just not very interesting. To it's credit, i enjoyed this a lot more than i expected. and CJ was barely involved! Plunkett with an early advantage with arm drags to both opponents, but the Magic boys take control and issue a beatdown on Plunkett. Pardua gets the hot tag, and we enter the finishing stretch. Yeah, i take back what i said earlier. fun match. Knox & Murdoch backstage interview. Knox laments that they don't know who BFT are under the masks. And now he's been kicked out of his HOA and has to issue a public apology to his neighbor. But now he knows that his neighbor is not a part of BFT. HA, that was pretty great. Blunt Force Trauma (c) vs. Luke Kurtis, KC Roxx, Soda Pop they only hyped this as "BFT In Action!", and their opponents get the jobber entrance, so this is obviously more angle than match. i will also assume that it is non-title, since it is 3 vs. 2. BFT jumpstarts the match by attacking their opponents. Aron Stevens promos/commentates via the house mic for the entirety of this match. It was a decent way to do this. total decimation. Stevens constantly threatens to put these guys through a table, but before they get an opportunity, K&M run out and a brawl ensues.

thanks Natural! you've got me down pat. Between last year's Nightwing and the amazing Lawler/Condit fight, and now this year with Mountain Dew, i appreciate it. Cheers to 41!

i think you'd be surprised if you rewatched Jones/Gus I. I remember scoring it for Jones but thought it was really close. On rewatch, it was a damn good fight, but Gus definitely didn't win. yeah 295 is now looking awfully weak outside of the top. Would be a hard sell if PPV buys still meant anything. i think Stipe will soft retire. Like, he won't announce that he's retired, he just won't fight again since nothing will materialize for him. Jones i think will try another comeback and maybe have a fight (if something high profile enough piques his interest) but i think he's pretty much done too. and yeah, Stipe obviously isn't the top contender that UFC is trying to present him as and i don't think many were giving him a chance anyway.

big OOOF at jones being injured and the miocic fight being off. that SUCKS

Dynamite thoughts: dug the Switchblade/Pentagon match. that move that Penta hit (somebody posted it earlier) was pretty cool and i would like to see it again. this may seem like blasphemy to some here, but i could not care less about Emi Sakura. she was never going to win this match. i have zero investment to her or her character whatsoever. keep her off Dynamite. i looked up the 2/23/98 WCW Nitro that Powerhouse Hobbs was presumably referencing. Jericho retained his cruiserweight title over Lenny Lane. unfortunately, jericho did not interact with any young fans at ringside. i also did not see anybody that could be confused for a young William. mostly high school/college white fratboys. was hoping for a screencap. must have been post-match or off air sometime. to be fair, i only watched the jericho segment, so Hobbs could potentially be seen at some other point. ok, i was in for Toni Storm's character. last week's silent movie was pretty dumb but not terrible. this week's was actively bad. unsure what's happening with Wardlow. Omega/Fletcher was fun. the battle royal had a painfully obvious winner, so it was hard to get invested. i think it's most likely that MJF retains over Switchblade, so i would think Juice gets the ring to make MJF look vulnerable. i'm sure it will be through BCG's interference.

it seems like this thread is supposed to be for GOOD food, but i'm going to take it in another direction. i'm kind of obsessive, and like to try all the flavors of Mountain Dew. So, naturally, i had to track down a bag of the Dew-flavored Doritos and give them a shot. Sure, they only released in Australia, and they expired in 2020, but how bad can they be? https://youtu.be/fy69jpWiZOU

i find it kind of odd that David Michelinie is rarely mentioned as a prolific comic book writer. I wouldn't say he's an all-time great or anything, but he had a long run on Iron Man (most notably "Demon in a Bottle" was his. He introduced Jim Rhodes and Justin Hammer). He had a stint on Avengers (including this storyline, but he also co-created the Scott Lang Ant-Man as well as Taskmaster), another long run on Amazing Spider-Man (second only to Stan Lee! he co-created Venom and Carnage). over with the Distinguished Competition, he wrote the Aquaman story where Black Manta killed Arthur Jr., and co-created Madame Xanadu. this quick recap reads a lot like he wrote a lot of shock stories, possibly akin to Mark Millar? but while reading the books i don't really get that impression (Avengers 200 notwithstanding). I just rarely see his name mentioned alongside other longtime successful writers.

i just read Avengers #197-200. this is the storyljne where Ms. Marvel gives birth to a baby boy who, it turns out, sexually assaulted/raped her and is his own father. what the actual fuck, 1980 Marvel?