Brandon Bones

Well now I relate to this match on a level I’d not considered before. (Except for the freakish athlete part). ?

That pic is awfully close to an “ROH looks like he has no pants on” DVD cover.

Maybe I’m weird. But as I was watching the show I was thinking of a recent post around here reminiscing about King of the Ring 93. I recalled how great that show was because it was JUST a wrestling show. A show that could be watched in a vacuum detached from current storylines and continuity. I was kind of anticipating getting something like that out of this show. A rewatch will really cement it. But I’m already really sure it’ll work that way. I’m so not familiar with a lot of the current New Japan roster. It didn’t matter. I was even enjoying friggin’ Kanemaru. I hate Kanemaru. Whatever. Everyone decided to be awesome. Kanemaru is awesome too, I guess. I walked away being very impressed with a bunch of guys who I’d never really seen in El Desperado, El-P, and even Great O’Khan didn’t seem nearly as worthless as I’d heard portrayed. Even Jericho kept the pace with a lot of people who are A LOT younger than him. Kudos to all of them. The Ass Boys is getting over. Just wait until Danhausen convinces them to embrace it. What even is this world? Edit: Fuck! I forgot mention how great PAC finally being a champion is.

Good times! Great Memories! I wonder if a show like this might ever curb the anxiety in the fans mind prior to the event. Perhaps the build for the show isn’t everything (or maybe just not being up to snuff) in determining whether the individual decides the show itself would be worth the money. Dynamite has a very high standard it has aspired to and been held to in its short life. But historically, I have watched so many WWE shows where the lead up was complete garbage but the big show ended up being pretty great. So maybe there is something to that. And it was really great last night. I’m familiar with many of NJPWs roster. There are a few I’d never seen before since I lost touch New Japan after The Elite jumped ship. It didn’t matter. At all. While I’m sure we’d all like a bunch of 1 on 1 matches. The show that was put together more than compensated by injecting a lot of focused character and highlighting the motivation behind them even into the chaotic multi person formats. Finally! “Billy Ass and the Ass Boys” makes its debut in AEW. Now make it their permanent theme. Gwarsenio Hall 4 life! I love you AEW.

Let’s fucking gooooooo!!!! I’m so ready for this shit. Yeah, the build is more awkward than a 12 year old boy taking a group photo with the Swedish Bikini Team. This may or not be a true story. But Okada and Tanahashi are going to be performing on a big stage on PPV in the United States. They are awesome. I love awesome. More of that. Mox is winning here because nothing is stopping him from becoming The Man in 2022. But my heart would soar if Tanahashi pulls it off in a come from behind victory in a match that delivers his reputation of quality to any newcomers.

It’s ok to just say Roman vs. Brock.

“Mercy doesn’t defeat an enemy.” Apparently not.

I guess when someone leaves you for dead, burning alive on a lava planet. It tends to stick with you as the most painful cruel action that someone can take. Vader suffers thus he inflicts that same suffering on others. Not the most strategic approach. But hey! Petty assholes gonna asshole. Which Vader most definitely is. Or to quote the Grand Inqisitor “There are some things worse than death.” For this round of Vaders story. I was impressed with how perceptible his anger was. For once they really made him vocalize it. In fact I have zero problem with Hayden using a vocal filter to present as James Earl Jones. It worked. This show was a good time. Loved Obi Wan and Vaders presentation throughout. Having Jimmy Smits, seeing Alderaan, Uncle Owen, and The Inquisitors were very good. The new characters were pretty good too. Tala and Reva delivered the goods. It’ll please me to no end when they eventually announce a Reva series as a fuck you to the racist dicks that tried raising so much hell over her part in the show. The young actress that played Leia had a couple of wonky moments. She wasn’t very good at running. But her delivery of dialogue was strong. But yeah, they could have just black bagged her immediately and cut out the chase. I admit I got a little weepy with Obi Wan talking about her real parents. Good choice having her willingly accepting what she has in the Organas. ”You want to meet him?” Yes.

This. This. This. This. Thiiiiiiiissssss!

That argument between Jericho and Regal about Johnny Saint had me howling. Mox is the man. THE man, right now. He proves a mean character doesn’t automatically default to a heel character. He even countered “The Bret Hart Special” sleeper reversal in the corner. To my knowledge no human being in history has ever countered this move. Today I learned the difference between a Lariet and a clothesline. Never stop growing. This Ass Boys/Acclaimed Union makes me happy. Bowens is brilliantly staying relevant to riding out this injury. It’s like they re-invented the FBI. They could be doing better with Bear Country. I might have spaced out during what I think was a Hookhausen promo. It’s been a long week. That was a quality match from Jade/Willow. Brutal dive from Darby. Good grief. I think as a potential booster to the overall ppv buy rate. I’d suggest doing like a small discount on PPVs if you order early. I know Don Draper would look at my suggestion and go: “A coupon? Really?” Darby Allin is so good. His selling and bumps really make you feel it. I love that human grenade has a killer roll up finisher. Tony Skee-a-vone should’ve been there for the STING reveal. It’s mandatory.

It’s gold either way.

You can’t blame me! I watch AEW. ?

I remain stunned Bill Fralic didn’t pursue a career in wrestling. He seemed to get it.

Con: Oh for fucks sake. Pro: We won’t see Jeff Hardy finally die in a ladder match. Bonus Pro: Guess I’ll have to save all this airplane glue for myself.

Great show! Rampage will always have the uphill climb of coping with being a “B show”. So many years of WWE treatment has us all kinda trained to expect to expect nothing if the Main Show has anything else tacked on it. Rampage at the very least has escaped being painted as a throwaway Velocity or 205 Live. Bad schedules aside. Every match hit the the sweet spot in a very compact hour. I even dug the good work done in getting Santam Singh on tv. Plus the trios act overall had a very good presentation. Pretty sure Big Show was the agent for this one. Count me in on the elevation in opinion of both Statlander and Red Velvet. Statlander seems to train for the sake of power and strength. Velvet smaller stature and ability to rag doll really complimented Kris to put that all in focus. That snap zoom on Jade had to have been edited in but was really good. I like The Baddies as an act. The Main Event was a blast. I hadn’t seen Osprey since before he left CHAOS. Additionally, I’ve seen very little NJPW over the last couple of years. So Aussie Open was new to me. Kind of surprised it’s not a Golfing gimmick. Glad it’s not. They impressed me. It was like somebody posted earlier that it was a real treat to discover them. Good times. Great memories.

Brandonetico is done being calm. My Thunder Bae vs. Maldovian Murder Face Marina may not have had the most heat. But it got it just right all the same. Technique beats raw power this time around and I loved it. Shafir does the same face my mom would make when I handed in my report card. Bae looked hot in her Bride gear. She is real good at that rasslin’. I’m continually baffled by AEWs inability to do another Battle Royal as good as the All In preshow one. This wasn’t bad at all. It got a lot of little seeds planted throughout the under and mid card. KOR fucking rules, but I get it that the Undisputed flavor being stale. Mox is fucking killing it right. He counted his chip stack in that promo. My dude is staking his claim that he is The Man in this business. He gives William Regal the “willycobbles”. Duh fuc? Good promo from The Baddies. I watched the international feed this week. That fucking ruled. Wow. Wardlow is a fucking DORK. He dresses like my step father. That doesn’t work for me brother. That being said. Let’s see… 20 security dudes x 3 power bombs a piece at least + 1(2?) for Sterling = 62 power bombs? That sounds exhausting. I don’t want to see Jeff Hardy die. But I have some airplane glue if he needs it next week. That Swerve fellow…

When I suggested Tanahashi. I said so in complete ignorance to his upcoming G1 schedule. That being said, he is still my favorite choice. Not so much a prediction. Tanahashi is in my eyes the Japanese wrestler who most got over a generally American style of wrestling outside of America. I’d like to see him do that under a big spotlight stateside. NJPW probably won’t have too much of a problem changing some plans to accommodate unforseen injuries. When it comes to winning the AEW title. It raises Tanahashi’s credit limit on a career that at least in Japan… has “been there done that” for a long time. Plus the matches will be bangers. Thankfully, TK is as much of a “fucking mark” to want to do it.

Put it on Tanahashi.

Well I procrastinated long enough not seeing Dr. Strange. I can genuinely justify not going now. Go me.

For me. The BCC vs The League of Extraordinary Ice Cream Men is a solid #2 behind Bryan/Hangman.

Here comes Mr. Positive! The Ruby/Storm vs. Hayter/Baker was MOTN for me. Christ! Does Hayter just attack the mat/floor with every bump she takes. She is indeed in my top 5 every week she is in the ring. Rubys bump off the apron to the floor was vicious. The 10 man was pretty great too. Even if I’ve seen a parade of that style of match for awhile now. When Punk came back after 7 years. My advice would have been: “Keep everything the same. Just ditch the springboard clothesline.” That move has the highest probability of failure. He got away with it for awhile. But yeah, maybe drop that one or start doing some extra stretching and practice it until it comes back to muscle memory. Good match. Tanahashi on American TV. Fuuuuck yes! That match with Punk is going to fucking rule. Wardlow is heading into Hangman territory now. Where he had the hit song go to number 1. Now he needs a follow up. Sterling isn’t a bad choice to get him some heat. Plus is WAS a nice smooth little dance move exchanging roles with Smart Mark and Stokley. This was a first chapter. Wardlow next appearance will be very telling. I’m somewhat baffled by some of the negative reactions to MJFs promo. Not because I’m ignorant to some fans having issues with shooty promos. I’ve heard all about it for 25 years. But with all that material out in the world from over the weekend. What are you going to do? Not weave it in and have the other side of the argument say: “What? Are we just ignoring this shit now?” Because on its own. The promo was a high tension, quality piece of television. Delivered by a compelling competent performer who backed up and believed every word he spoke. I did indeed “feel something. Even a buddy of mine, who hasn’t exactly migrated over to AEW (yet) had to text me about the promo this morning singing MJFs praises. I love you AEW. You’re my only hope.

That poor stormtrooper that ate shit on the laser gate. Rugged.

I’m largely enjoying this show overall. The little girl playing Leia was much better handled this episode. The editing could be a bit tighter. I’m also enjoying the familiar music cues that never quite get to what we know in totality. That’s a nice touch.

Just because it makes me happy.

Ultimately, as it concerns rumors of plane tickets and no shows. I can’t really be bothered. What matters is what was had on screen. Which was a seven minute cathartic squash of the biggest asshole character of the last three years. I’m trying to recall another time where the payoff to an storyline had that degree of finality to it. But it’s not really coming to me. But for me it highlights one of AEWs biggest strengths. For years the backstage story has more often than not eclipsed the one in front of the cameras. Not this time.