AxB

T'Challa was great in Civil War (and in his brief minutes in Infinity War and Endgame), but Ryan Coogler did a better job with the character than the Russo brothers did.

Don Callis said the other week that he'd used up his last favour from the NJPW office. So suddenly only being able to get his guy a title Eliminator, rather than a title Shot, makes complete sense.

The best NJPW Heavyweight of the 90s (Shinya Hashimoto) vs the best AJPW Heavyweight of the 90s (Toshiaki Kawada): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57hlvO3yVUk

Effy should book Danielson vs Parrow for Big Gay Brunch, then.

Strange that Chris Jericho, all of his years in the business, gets busted open from the back of the head and doesn't turn around to show the wound on camera. Although possibly it didn't look that good. The Swerve vs Brian Cage match was really good. Ever since Cage arrived in AEW, he's not really had a singles match that went long. They've kept him in tags and multi-man deals. I'd seen people speculating that possibly his cardio was shot and he had to control his minutes, but not tonight. He's actually underrated in terms of what a good base he is for people reversing out of his power moves. Like Swerve reversed a Gory Special into a Short Arm Scissors and it looked smooth and safe as hell, even though there was a pretty big possibility of it going wrong and him landing on his head. Then Harley Cameron and Toni Storm are in the ring, and the AEW camerawork is doing the "AEW camerawork during a women's match thing". Taz asks Tony Schiavone if he's OK, and Tony says "I'm fine, just a little wet." (uncomfortable puase) "Nothing to do with the match, it's thanks to Jack Perry". Doesn't mention that he got a drink poured on him, for anyone who came in late. Harley vs Toni was the first all-Australian match in AEW history, wasn't it? Toni piledrove her so hard on the finish, it snapped her dog collar. You know how before the NWO was the NWO, and Scott Hall was still doing the "You know who I am" thing? They were trying to imply that Hall was actually Razor Ramon from WWF, representing the WWF? The Willow vs Mercedes promo segment felt more authentically interpromotional than that did. Because Willow spoke and it seemed honest, legitimate and from the heart, and Mercedes' retort felt scripted and rehearsed, with the catchphrases forced in. Dax reddened the fuck out of Okada's chest with only like, two chops. His chest was redder than Dax's head! Hopefully Okada doesn't start getting that atrophied central pec gap like Jericho and Scott Steiner have. It's a wonder that more people don't (unless it's not actually from chops; Nobody seems to know exactly). Dax managed to somehow have TWO "Only way this match ever happens is in Fire Pro or 2K!" matches in the space of 4 days. But that streak will almost certainly end now that Cash's legal problems are at an end, unless they randomly book FTR vs the Rock n Roll Express on Rampage or some shit. (I'm pretty confident that FTR could have a good match with the Rock n Roll Express in 2024; Ricky Morton inexplicably still has it. Robert Gibson can't do too much physically any more, but he's still really good at standing on the apron and getting increasingly concerned for his partner.) Apparently the reason why AEW is getting these 3 hour blocks of Dynamite/Collision PLUS Rampage immediately afterwards, and they're getting more and longer overruns (12 minutes last night!), is because TNT and TBS are considering extending AEW's TV hours further.

You will end Double or Nothing just like every degenerate in Las Vegas: Flat on your back with an arse in your face, wondering where the bloody hell your dignity went" - Toni Storm, 2024 Nicholas Jackson being all covered in facial hair while Matthew is clean shaven, and them having the same hair colour now, it's really hard to tell which one is which. Each looks more like the other than themselves.

https://www.gameinformer.com/2024/05/14/the-art-of-the-new-dungeons-dragons The first real good article previewing the new 2024 edition main rulebooks. Although mostly it's about the art in the books. The Unicorn is totally dead Ha Ha.

Hoodslam WRESTLER WRESTLER Full show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqxmPJqUeXQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXp1SY5I8y4 Athena, interviewed by comicbook.com, about her love of Baldur's Gate 3 and TTRPGs.

The new Fall Guys update is a pile of shite. Too many crappy user-made "Impossible Level LOL" levels. The whole point of it is it's an easy, casual game. Now it's an annoying, infuriating one. STUPID.

OK, so which banned former poster got a new IP? Is that bloody Thibs again?

https://www.pwinsider.com/article/183681/cash-wheeler-criminal-case-dismissed-in-florida-prosecutors-decline-to-pursue-trial.html?p=1 Cash Wheeler's criminal charges dismissed, ahead of his trial.

Bryan Danielson who is apparently working in an executive role in AEW? Who cut a promo on how much he loved AEW before leading the crowd in chanting the companies' name just last night?

Really good crowd early, for the Collision/ Rampage show. Obviously they burnt out as the night went on, but a few of the wrestlers in the later matches found interesting ways of bringing them back. Top Flight changing their gear from mostly Black to mostly Green is a choice. Looked a bit military, and there's already a tag team doing a military gimmick over there. Good match though. It's pretty mindblowing how, if you didn't know Dante had broken his leg really badly just over a year ago, you'd never be able to tell. The miracles of youth and modern medicine working well. Not sure why Claudio does the Naruto run before the double stomp, he can't be stealing a Kidd Bandit spot, can he? Dante seemed to not know what to do with his hands during the Giant Swing, he went from covering up to limp hanging and back a couple of times. Danielson started cutting an in-ring promo about the match we cannot initialise (because Anarchy in the Arena is not the 'Am I The Asshole?' match) and Claudio walked out, but then they addressed it later in the show. He's not mad, just disappointed. Running a show simultaneously with an NJPW USA PPV, when Mox and Kingston are both booked on the NJPW show, it really makes you realise exactly how stacked the AEW roster is. Because two (or more) of the biggest stars in the company weren't there, and you'd never know from watching the show. Will Ospreay vs Lee Moriarty, that was a good match. Roddy Strong's whole "Yelling the first name" thing didn't come up as much on commentary, because he only does it when directly addressing someone, not talking about them. We could have had him going "Wristlock applied by LEE! but WILL! is able to flip away from the pressure". Lee Moriarty continues to use the Border City Stretch, despite the fact that the MCMG are apparently on their way in. Perhaps we'll get a continuation of the Moriarty vs Shelley rivalry/friendship in AEW though. If it drives people to watching thier 2019 matches, that could boost Lee in a few people's eyes. Mercedes Mone capable of throwing a ball, CONFIRMED! Yeah, I'm never going to understand the Baseball thing. I admire Toa Liona's commitment to having a classic "Samoan Wrestler" look. All of those Bloodline guys with their slender abdomens, running around looking like underwear models. AFA AND SIKA AIN'T DO NO SIT-UPS! Despite them having easily despatched of the Tik Tok Twins and Not Tom Lawler, Swerve Strickland then proved that his former muscle weren't very good muscle by beating the three of them up singlehandedly. Toa Liona ran into the cinderblock shot so fast that it gashed the hell out of his arm. Dax Harwood vs Dynamite Kid Tommy Billington, in a match that was clearly an example of Dax living out his early 90s Hart Family feud aspirations. Young Tommy, despite his extreme youth (Cagematch says he's 23, but he was 15 when he showed up in Defiant Wrestling 5 years ago), does nothing in the ring that's really post- Bret vs Owen. It would be quite interesting to see Billington vs Nick Wayne or someone like that, who is so modern in his in-ring stuff. He might not have earned himself an "IS ALL ELITE" banner based on this one performance, but he's certainly earned a second look at least. It was a pleasant surprise that the match went 12 minutes and was back and forth; Dax could have squashed him in 3 if he'd wanted. Most unsigned guys don't go over 10 minutes on their company debut. But Dax's throwback spots, his "let's do this thing from this one specific Bret match" made it pretty clear why it went that long. The fans were super-hot for the Adam Copeland vs Kyle O'Reilly match. Cope got a big babyface reaction coming out, but he was definitely the heel in the match. Like he got booed for using a rope break to escape a submission hold. Nigel quoting the Stone Roses on commentary, and Tony Schiavone clearly had no idea what he was talking about. The fans really elevated this match; The actual television build to it made it feel somewhat like just another match, but the live crowd being so into it conferred a Big Fight Feeling upon it anyway. Nigel calling the Les Kellet Lariat as the Les Kellett Lariat was good. So much better than the Rebound Lariat (surely that's all of them? What is running the ropes, if not rebounding?), or the Wackyline. Dalton Castle vs Trent had a much lesser reaction, but quite possibly they were exhausted. Disappointing lack of heel heat for Trent's control segments, but they came alive for Dalton's suplexes out of the control segment. Dalton does have really good timing on them, to be fair. Bryan Keith vs JD Drake had a near-silent crowd too, but then JD actually made the most of it with a fucking LOUD chop in the corner. And then they basically sprinted to the finish from there, which kept the fans into it for the whole closing stretch. Now Lady Frost vs Deonna Purrazzo, that's clearly intended as a Purrazzo showcase because she's the one getting the push and so on, but she really didn't do anything memorable. Sometimes it feels like her "Great technical wrestler" thing is more that she's a regular wrestler doing a "Great technician" gimmick, rather than being an actual technique specialist. Whereas Lady Frost, being the super agile ex-gymnast, almost everything she does looks spectacular. She's very precise in her athletic execution, but she makes the actual wrestling move she's flipping into look devastating and painful too. The "Murder Gymnastics" stylistic tag that initially confused Tony is paid off by the way she wrestles. Also I saw her on twitter talking about how she loves all of the support that fans are showing towards male wrestlers who can keep getting it done over the age of 40, and hopes that they'll extend the same support to women wrestlers who are in their 40s too. So I looked up her age, and she's 39. I would have guessed she was in her early 30s tops, but apparently she was already out of her 20s when she had her first match (on WWE Raw, before she actually started training to wrestle). Thunder Rosa brought a lot of intensity with her run-in. Surprising though, that AEW security attempted a pull apart and actually kept the wrestlers apart the whole time. Usually they break free periodically. This was the first ever Johnny TV vs Pac match in history. Somehow they managed to miss one another on their WWE runs (meaning they were almost never in the company at the same time), and nobody ever booked it on the indies either. Nigel discussing how Johnny has great genetics, then segues into speculating what it would be like if he and Taya had a child (implying that said child would be a highly evolved athletic wunderkind), and Tony misses his point and thinks he's doing a "Snobby heel, disgusted at the thought of sexual reproduction" routine. Everyone assumed that Johnny TV's AEW name was Johnny TV because he's Johnny Television, but what if we've all got it wrong? Perhaps he's actually Johnny Taya Valkyrie? The show ended, not with a victory celebration, but with the winner pissed off in the ring because the final segment was a backstage promo cut upon him. That's pretty Sports Entertainment, that. Going off the air on a down note... even though it was less like Rampage was the Third Hour of Nitro (when the NWO show up), and more like it was the Collision after-party.

The blocked Armdrag is a pretty recent thing (or possibly an old thing that's been brought back recently). Krule does it quite a lot. It's strange that it hasn't been done more, back in the day. It's such an obvious "I'm a big strong monster" spot.