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Hot take. A *good*match and a match you enjoy seeing don't have to be the same thing. Some of the most entertaining matches aren't necessarily good by objective standards. And some is the best matches aren't always fun to watch after the fact.

“She’s gotta be a Skrull” is going to be this show’s version of “_______ is Mephisto” from WandaVision.

For those interested - someone wrote basically a "History of the Super 8" http://thewrestlingestate.com/index.php/2021/04/26/celebrating-25-years-of-the-super-8/ (Meltzer linked to it in today's update) No we aren't mentioned ?

Topical and pro wres related

This is a good comedy spot that someone needs to steal.

That's pretty much where my head's at with this show. I personally wasn't into Captain America despite the cool shield and Chris Evans being awesome. I get the history and how the Winter Soldier movie was excellent but it just wasn't for me. It was the parallels to real life through this show that got me very invested and I was happy with the finale. Did we end up with a Wayne's World style supermegahappyending? In a way yeah. But coming out of this I can say for the first time that I'm a fan of this Captain America and can't wait to see what happens next. Plus the combination of shield plus the wings is so damn cool. As for the Flag Smashers it was a bit of a mess at times especially in the previous episode but I'm with Craig on why I overall liked them. There were also some slight parallels that had me thinking about things which helped me understand them a bit more.

I'm still smiling over how, instead of a mindless, men in tights action show, we got a six episode (very timely) rumination on the black struggle in America, capped off by a black man assuming the mantle of Captain America and telling us that while this is all well and good, we still have a long way to go. Any qualms any of us have about specific plot points are secondary to this.

He's beating up cops with the angels now.

I can see Sharon being bent, considering Steve and Nat were either pardoned or just allowed to walk around after the Battle of Wakanda meanwhile Sharon had to stay hidden on Madripoor and no one seemed to do shit for her during the blip... yeah, she should be pretty pissed off.

It's Metallica so likely an obscene amount. Probably co-ownership of AEW.

Barcelona:

I'm due my second AZ vaccine shot next Wednesday!

It appropriate seeing that Marty was last seen on TV stalking Cage's wife

My Mom (in her 80's) liked Ice-T from the TV cop shows. I happened to find the Ice-T Sex Money Gunz concert on TV. Mom had no idea of his rapping. We watched it together and she was just laughing and gasping at all of the cursing and vulgarity. Mom actually got a kick out of it.

Foley quit commentary because of how Vince was on it. CM Punk straight up turned the sound off on Vince so he could effectively do his job.

Nick Gage coming in to help Mox feels like we're one step closer to Jon Moxley's Hobo Army, which is arguably the best dumbest idea Vince ever had that he never went through with.

I really hope Biomutant went silent for so long and was delayed for the right reasons as they claim (QA and bug fixing without crunch) and not because it was a dumpster fire that needed to be re-done, but it looks pretty and I'm looking forward to playing it in a few weeks.

Really fun episode, so much blue chip talent on display. Ricky Starks has a ton of Rick Rude in him, maybe he can feud with Cody and put Brandi's face on his trunks or something. He certainly deserves to be more of a main event player. Loved Darby winning with the last supper as I really like guys having more than one way to win a match, plus it puts over Darby as not just being a daredevil but a guy who can actually wrestle. I like the Nightmare Family vs Factory feud but it would be better if it was the main feud for AEW Thunder or AEW Saturday night. Wardlow feels like Batista right before he split off from evolution

Marty the Moth debuts on Dark tomorrow

The Bucks and Kenny strongly voiced their opinions that weight divisions are archaic back when they were in NJPW. I don't think we'll ever have to worry about that shit in AEW, thankfully. Nick Comoroto is the fucking man. His clothesline is filthy and he's doing the Goldberg press slam -> powerslam deal. I like it. Leyla Hirsch background package/interview is great. She speaks well even without being charismatic. That's totally fine. Get her in Team Taz ASAP tho. She's kinda working with Ryo right now, so if she's gotta turn her back on Ryo to join Team Taz, that's cool with me. Instant feud to get her going.

Over the past maybe decade with all these retrospective podcasts and the Network , The Internet wrestling community has really gone back and look on him more fondly. He certainly wasn't the best commentator but I think his enthusiasm made alot of people look past that. He was horrible I'm the ring but I think being apart of the Horsemen was the best possible position for him. Character wise it was a perfect fit and too it made sense to put him in a group with Arn and Ric to help him as much as he possibly could. He's a legit wrestling fan and he probably could have gotten away with doing alot less. If he came along today, he'd probably be a much better wrestler, he wouldn't be Pat McAfee level good but he'd definitely be better than he was in WCW

Eh, I feel that weight classes in pro wrestling is a gimmick and has never been a real thing anyway. The whole point of "cruiserweight" or "light heavyweight" titles is to showcase speed over power in order to put on matches with a really fast pace and more aerial spots. It's also been the gateway for Lucha and smaller Puro guys to break into North American federations. AEW has done a pretty good job of elevating titles and putting them in the hands of workers with varying builds and getting away from the so called WWE type. Thanks to the gigantic roster, it has also done a really good job of booking smaller workers like Riho, Darby, Leyla Hirsch, and Jungle Boy as dangerous contenders in catchweight matches against larger opponents. I don't think you want to do them the disservice of creating a Cruiserweight division for men (or a Women's Cruiserweight the ladies) and implying that the champion can only hack it against competition their own size. That's the one danger of promoting a Cruiserweight division if you have not cultivated that subculture in your fan base.

Pretty sure that TNT would want the TNT title defended on TNT lol ? (But I get your point. Having a title match consistently in the second hour on Elevation or Dark would also be a nice shot at the WWE programs on TV at the same time too)

14 Pages, so let's just get into lazily using the > sign. I'll start: Joey Janela > Seth Rollins

Assorted TNA IMPACT GFW belts

Best looking Tiger Suplex I've seen in a long time. I've been saying this for a while, but SANADA should be picking up the occasional win with that, even if it isn't his main finisher. I'd be fine with him as a sort of face version of ZSJ as the guy who has multiple ways to beat you because his fundamental techniques are so solid.

The second QBFC plants the shovel they will officially be ahead of NYCFC in the stadium sweepstakes. They had me at "Populous" and "20 minutes from my house."

What does licensing "For Whom the Bell Tolls" cost?

I saw the title of the thread and my first thought was motherfuckin' Front Mission. If Front Mission 3 got re-released on, well, anything, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. As it is, if you're a fan of strategy RPGs and you have a PC and especially if you have a Switch, then Into the Breach is a must buy. In some ways, it feels like a spiritual successor to Front Mission, but it's also vastly different since you're playing on a 8x8 grid. It's also a rogue-like with time travel-y stuff in that if you die, you start over, but you get to carry some stuff with you. Also, you tend to get attached to your mech pilots and they grow with you as you complete each mission. Speaking of that last point, while it isn't on the Switch, the new X-Com games are fucking rad. Big Fresh or someone used to have an X-Com thread back in the day where they named all of their soldiers after folks on the board here. When one of those soldiers would die, there would be a memorial and it was a good time. X-Com is a game that I keep feeling like I should get back to. HOWEVER, you have a Switch and you're asking about strategy RPGs. It's not a joke when I say GET MARIO + RABBIDS KINGDOM BATTLE. It's basically X-Com, but with Mario and Rabbids and it's fucking awesome. And while I haven't played it, I know the new Fire Emblem game on the Switch received very high marks from many sources. It doesn't seem like it's for me because it looks like there's too much relationship building type stuff and I can't really get into those games, but a lot of people like it.

Sharon being a Skrull seems dumb as fuck. Sorry folks. Sometimes good people break bad. I know if I bent over backwards to help my country expose that Hydra had infiltrated basically everything except for the Presidency and my reward for that was: Being deemed a criminal and wanted by the government Having to flee because I didn't want to spend my days rotting on the raft or in federal prison Trying to survive on my wits and skills in a shitty country full of other criminals on the run then yeah, I'm not going to be too fucking nice and caring about my country anymore. I may not try to bring it down from within, but I'm sure as fuck going to leverage them for my own personal gain for all of the years of shit they put me through. Being a Skrull just marginalizes all of that.

The Shadow Casey knows!

Let's welcome a new addition to the DVDVR cruiserweight division : SuuuppprrrreemeeeBVE!!!!!

I've always said that Mortal Kombat (1995) is shitty but really fun. And Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is shitty but also really shitty.

The reason (primary or not) that NXT was moved off of Wednesday was, at the time, because of the anticipation that the NHL would be on USA If it is truly on TNT - then that would mean AEW is gonna have to move

This isn’t comics Sharon, so saying “Sharon wouldn’t do this...” doesn’t hold much water as far as the MCU Sharon goes. She clearly will go against the government if she feels like it, and it’s not unrealistic for a fugitive government secret agent to use their skills for profit, especially during a period of time of general chaos when half the world disappears. She appeared skeptical that Sam was going to be able to get her a pardon, but helping him at that point was low risk/high reward, especially as it would keep him off her scent as the Power Broker. As for Karli, my biggest problem is that her general plan/goal seemed largely undefined. What was she trying to accomplish? It’s clear that she felt the refugees weren’t being treated well and that the world was better with 50% less people, but what was she doing about it by blowing up a building and preventing a vote? None of that would end the refugee problem, there would still be the same number of people as before the blip. So far the heroes actions post-blip are making a pretty strong argument for the Sokovia Accords. You’ve got Wanda inadvertently mind-controlling thousands of people, Bucky instigating a prison riot to break out one of the world’s most dangerous criminals who also assassinated a world leader, Walker straight up murdering a dude in a public square, and the Avengers trying out time travel untested with the working theory that they’re creating new universes by doing so. It wouldn’t surprise me if whatever program Elaine is cooking up is someone in response to all of this type of stuff.

I think you are going a little hard on Karli and the Flag Smashers. They aren't anywhere near Malekith territory. I thought their characters, or at least Karli's, came through clear enough. They were former refugees who had been living a decent life for five years only to be literally forced back into being refugees so the returned could take back their homes before the Blip. The governments of the world were not watching out them and screwed them over hard post Blip by kicking them out of their recent homes, throwing back up previously dissolved borders, and then offering little to no support in housing and food. The group was desperate and Karli felt that more than any of them as their leader. She was barely an adult and had to think of how improve her life and the lives of those around her without any type of government support since it was clear they intended to give none. She unfortunately got stuck deeper and deeper into the hole she was in because this was a fairly complicated matter that she really shouldn't have been one thinking of solutions for because she wasn't a leader of nation. I never got any feeling that they changed the plot for the group. I think they could have been given more, but I don't think they are anywhere near as underserved as some of the other villains in the MCU, especially Malekith.

One of the weaknesses of some wrestling companies is their inability to move beyond titles as motivaters in of themselves. While I agree that everyone (barring like a mindless bezerker like Abadon or Abdullah the Butcher) should want to be champion, the reason to do that should vary from wrestler to wrestler and we should be explicit in those cases. Titles should excentuate the motivation, not be the motivation in of themselves. Here are some examples that would make my case... Matt Hardy's character is about money, and champions earn more money. If Matt wins a title, he should demonstrate aditional spending in order to show that the money is increasing with the belt in hand. Kenny Omega's character is about self adulation and knowing he's the best performer. The title validates his claims that he's the best. He should absolutely lose his mind when he loses the World Title. Let's say John Silver's character motivation was about making Brody Lee pround and proving himself worthy of Lee's faith. A championship would do that. I want the belt because I want the belt is shallow thinking.

I like this one. Much cooler than a Rolex or something like that.

The explanation that maybe the Flag Smashers had a different plot written and shot, and then it got changed through creative editing and ADR, really feels right. Spot on mentioning Malekith...how often does Marvel screw up an antagonist like this? Were we supposed to empathize with the Flag Smashers? Because the show really didn't do the work enough in that regard. Good explanation. Being able to make Super Soldiers that maybe you can't control <<< having access to all the US government's secrets and technology. Being on the inside >>>> being on the outside. Though I hope she's not a Skrull, because that's just cheap. "Carter was ostracized and made an outlaw by the government her family spent their lives fighting for, so in her bitterness she did her own thing and gradually became more and more evil" is, to me, far better a story than "she's an evil shape changing alien!" How good people become bad is more satisfying than hand-waving it with "good person was replaced by baddie and nobody knew."

I love to smash 'em, I love to stack 'em, I love to pin 'em... I'm a... Ro' Man?

The 43rd annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament was held this weekend. Usually you gotta fly to Connecticut to attend, but with the whole pandemic thing, the tournament was virtual this year, and you could solve online. My girlfriend and I were in the Pairs division, and we finished 10th out of 135 pairs participating. Take that result with a bit of a grain of salt, because the best solvers are almost always in the individual divisions, not the Pairs - we're not like word-class level by any means. It's still a respectable showing. Would like to reach top 3 in Pairs someday, especially if they keep running tournaments online.

Cue the "Worst person in the world making a great point" picture.

Got the second dose today! Arm started to hurt as soon as I ripped off the bandaid hours later, which was a strange omen. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Also, got a guy coming to size up the moving of the contents of the house in the morning. Hopefully it won't be a total reaming but there is a lot of vinyl, and it's even heavier than I first thought...

I'm hoping season four has an episode on the contents of Baby Doll's Dusty blackmail manila envelope.