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I’m cross posting this from the podcast thread. More people will see it here and I probably should have posted here to begin with. Highly recommend listening to the whole thing. Kenny omega on wrestling observer radio was very interesting. Two hours and he’s quite intelligent and honest. Only caught three quarters. -Kenny says when looking on who to mold himself on to do American tv, instead of ric flair it was Mr. perfect. Of course mr perfect has incredible matches with Bret hart, but he also wrestled hulk Hogan and ultimate warrior and Texas tornado and they are all good matches, and he makes them all look good. And mr perfect had Bobby heenan, omega has don Callis. -He compared nakamura and callis as guys who have outside interests bigger than wrestling, so that gives them a different perspective when they come to wrestling. They don’t mimic stuff from the last like other wrestlers who are just all about wrestling. -Complaining about commercials. He was watching the show the other day and noticed all the commercials were like these wacky slapstick commercials with silly music, but the match is a street fight, and then the fans have to get zapped right back to that with that in their head. -He wants rampage to be more for women wrestlers, but that doesn’t mean it will be that way. Everyone (male and female) is fighting really hard for the limited spots. -In the beginning they would have scheduled meetings and hash things out. Now if someone has an idea, they discuss it with the people the idea is about, then they discuss it with Tony, then they continue discussing it as weeks for by. -Talking about long term storytelling. You see tv shows that get cancelled and then years later they come back. If you leave stories open ended you can always return to them. He has open stories with hangman, ibushi, styles, white, tanahashi. -Dave is saying all the matches can be done in the United States because the way the crowd is, when any of these guys come out a large amount will react like this is huge, and then that makes everyone who doesn’t know them feel like they are seeing something special, which makes the tv audience think it’s a big deal. -omega vs Okada 5 “already happened in their minds” and they would have made it like a cool final ending. It could happen in the future and as Dave says they’ve never done that match here and everyone wants to see it. -He held back so much in the jungle boy match so they can take the rematch to a completely different level. -He’s at peace with winding down his career so he just wants to make his opponents look great. -Talking about how in new japan they see guys like goto and say he’s too old or ishii could just never be champion, and Kenny is like they’re awesome let’s just get behind them and give them big wins. Naito should’ve been way stronger champion. -For g1 they have unspoken rule, they don’t want to drop out of the tournament. They have to have amazing matches but they can’t get too injured. It’s just like the playoffs for a sport. I still haven’t listened to last half hour.

The key to making Rampage successful is a committed effort to making sure the same people aren't on both shows each week, including the top guys. That will naturally benefit the women more at present, but should also help some of the under-used low-card men too. Dynamite is still gonna be the flagship, so you still want everyone to get exposure there. If you turn Rampage into a B-show where the wrestlers and angles who have no chance of being on ppv go, it will flop.

Missy Hyatt, sharing a frequent DVDVR thought over the years:

AEW grand slam sold out the original capacity, now being expanded to 18,000

Just gonna put this here.

Kenny Omega on WOR: Of course he's correct. They're at the point where if you're a woman who wants to be featured consistently on television (and you're not someone they'd have clear plans for ala Thunder Rosa), signing with AEW is not necessarily the clear choice for most.

Les Blousons Noirs (Claude Gessat/Marcel "THE MONGOL" Manneveau) vs Remy Bayle/Dan Aubriot: They wrestled to start and I loved how tricked out this exchange was. Here's Bayle's karate chop and how Manneveau deals with it.

@Gordberg, I'll be posting my review of your match this evening. I've been at the hospital all week and all morning with my wife so that bloody Onita brawl will be a welcome bit of tranquility for me tonight. @Super Ape, let me know your preferences and I'll get you a match by tomorrow morning.

After he beats Jericho, it will be tattooed on Jericho's torso. Anyway, here's the Breadmaster with his two pups.

I loved the green WCW Worldwide set from the late '90s for some reason. Same with when Pro got the warehouse look. This is cheating because it's not really a set, but I'm big into any venue with a balcony. Hammerstein Ballroom, Manhattan Center, Terminal 5 (though I've read it sucks live) Madhouse of Extreme, Lowell Auditorium, Sumo Hall

Cena's being advertised for 15 shows leading up to SummerSlam. I feel like it's all but certain he's wrestling Roman on the PPV. Heyman singing what I can only describe as as a kazoo version of Cena's theme as he walked off was hilarious.

I'm actually liking Baron Corbin as Ol' Gil from The Simpsons. I hope that the next time he wins a match or someone gives him money he goes, "Ol' Baron'll be eating food tonight!"

Cheers for the shout out, @Gordberg. Like you, I want it to be Wednesday already. I just hope The Elite vs. Adam Page/The Dark Order and FTR vs. Santana/Ortiz get the match timings right particularly the former match for how big it is and we don't get a rush job of eliminations. Match times and pacing are so key. You don't want a match getting short changed or overstating its welcome. Sometimes AEW matches do need trimming by 5-10 minutes. Glad FTR and Santana/Ortiz get a showcase two on two tag again. Been a while. If I booked, The Elite vs. Adam Page/The Dark Order take the whole second hour from entrances, the match (30-35 approximately) and post match. I'd have left Christian Cage/Jungle Boy/Luchasaurus vs. Angelico/Private Party off the show for next week's instead.

That's a big deal. Cool getting AEW, NJPW, IMPACT Wrestling and NWA working together for the greater good.

YAY! Toni Storm on Smackdown! I didn't quite comprehend her finisher but.... YAY! Toni Storm on Smackdown!

That clearly comes across as they were definitely firing him the last time but because people found out they did that "NO WE AREN'T! DIRT SHEETS ARE WRONG!!!" and paid him for another month just to be spiteful

Is it next Wednesday yet? I kind of want it to be next Wednesday already. Why not "Fyte for the Fallen?" Anyway, it looks like the card is already pretty much set and I have got some time to kill... Tony Khan announces a new live event I wonder if it will be a New Year's Day event? There are more than a few interesting rumour-based things I'm wondering about and I wonder if Tony Khan will get into any of them. The Elite vs. Hangman Page and Dark Order ten-man tag with World title and Tag Team title shots at stake I'm really hoping for that classic Survivor Series type of feel here, and as @The Natural has said, I hope they don't rush this match. IWGP U.S. Champion Lance Archer vs. Hikuleo Coming off an excellent main event, I'm interested to see what Archer and Haku's nephew/adopted son can do in the ring. Christian Cage, Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus vs. Angelico & Private Party With that look that Jungle Boy gave when Luchasaurus hoisted Christian onto his shoulders, I'm wondering if they are going to do some sort of slow-burn build to a match between JB and Cage. I'm curious who the bad guy will be in that scenario. Obviously, the eventual match has the potential to be excellent. This match should be fun. Santana & Ortiz vs. FTR Sometimes it's better not to get your hopes up to high, so you don't end up disappointed. My hopes are sky high here, though, and I'm not too worried about it. Five Labours of Jericho, pt. 2: Chris Jericho vs. Nick Gage in a no rules DQ match I'm actually a little nervous about this one. I guess that kind of unpredictability is something that Gage brings to the table.

Lets go Shingo.

Jordynne Grace apparently set state and national powerlifting records at 165 lbs.

This was a match I was looking forward to and it turned out to be pretty good: Hopefully Nakamura will wrestle more frequently for NOAH in the future, would love to see him against Nakajima.

Giving He-Man a magical girl transformation sequence is odd. It was neat... until the hair sprouted from his belt and grew downward.

I think that Gage sucks and have zero interest in his merch, but that is a goddamn masterpiece of a t-shirt. I hope he sells a million of those, absolutely fantastic work from whoever designed that. EDIT - Thought I was in the merch thread. If that isn't a t-shirt, then ignore me, because I know nothing of what I speak.

I think this counts as an actual hawt tayk on these boards: Kenny and the Bucks acting like clueless insufferable dorks who think they are cool is the second-most-entertaining act in pro wrestling today (after Lulu Pencil). The "Belt-Co-Lec-Tor!" chant, the porn staches, the hideous outfits, the shoes, the headbands, the corny insults... they have an endless number of variations on that theme. Respect to them for going all in on the gimmick, all the time. Whether you like it, or you don't like it... Learn to love it! It's the second-best thing going today!

Shawn Michaels looks like shit.

Ya gaaaaaatta wonder if they know something about TK's upcoming live event announcement that we don't yet.

Anytime you have to release a statement defending the pick you just made, within 10 minutes of making the pick, you have fucked up

Need the Finn Balor from his second NXT run instead. Looking forward to Reigns vs. Balor still going on their past matches together.

Jeff Cobb

I think there should be more wrestlers recruited out of Rubix Cube competitions. It’s a game of human chess, Larry always told us.

YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF NON-SPORT PLAYING NUMBNUTS.

Not meaning to cross post too much from the sports board, but my goodness is the SEC using the 1980’s Vince McMahon playbook in college football right now or what? The parallels between the SEC killing the NCAA and Vince killing the NWA are crazy. Expand beyond your region by signing the best talent/teams in other territories to exclusive contracts, crown your own champion, sign exclusive TV deals … I wouldn’t be surprised if the next move will be to disallow those talent/teams to work for other promotions (play other major teams out of conference). Like, it’s all right there. In 10 years we are going to have Kansas State walking around with the NCAA football title like Nick Aldis.

But can you make $500k a year working autograph signings and the odd indie date? And how hard do you have to work to make that sort of money. Stroman was making $1 mil from his WWE contract, so I'm guessing he'll resign for at least $500,000. That's a lot of autographs. I'm assuming Enzo and Cass are sharing that $40 with the promoter, so how many autographs do you have to sign to make $10k that weekend. And.... if you do make $10K that weekend, are you going to be able to get bookings 50/52 weeks that pay you that same $10k? I mean, it's doable. Stroman is supposedly asking around that to book him, plus whatever he can make off merch and autograph sales. Before he signed with WWE, Danielson claimed he was making more than WWE would have paid him from Japan tours, indie dates, Mexico, etc. But..... he probably had to hustle pretty hard and not take time off to make that money. I feel like most guys would have to work reallllly hard and never take a weekend off to make their WWE salaries, and even then, it probably would not be a sure thing and you'd be worrying about it constantly (if you needed the money to begin with). The other unknowable is maybe he just likes WWE? Some guys just like their coworkers, want to perform in front of 12.000 people instead of 420, want a guaranteed salary instead of lining up indie dates every week, etc. I'm trying to picture what I'd do if I was asked to take a pay cut by my employer, and I'd probably do it? Hard to say since it's never come up, but I like my coworkers, I enjoy my job, feel pretty loyal to the company, etc. I also have a lot of small perks that I'd hate to give up. I think I could find a new job without much stress if I had too, but the little perks like having time to run home for lunch with my wife (I live 10 min from my office) would probably make staying the better option. Not everyone is wired the same and we don’t know enough about Braun’s home life or finances to even guess about what he wants to do and why.

Did thunder Rosa become the new titty master or is she reacting to a shirt I can't figure out

Miss that small MSG entrance in the stands.

I did love discovering that that one dude from The Doors showed up to play a song with Creed while wearing a motherfucking UNDERTAKER t-shirt.

As long as you keep gaining, I'd stick with what you're doing, but that's just me.

I mean, it was a Guerrero in Texas, if they didn't pop for that just shut the whole thing down at that point. But I will add both that 1) I see your point, and 2) That Chavo pop really did warm the hell out of my heart, he was a WCW favorite growing up and then knowing some of the losses he suffered, I thought it was a really great, really pure moment. The segment kinda dragged from there, but shit happens.

That was such a crazy/stupid bump. I loved it. I liked the death match because it stayed a crazy violent brawl instead of getting caught up with weapons or setting up spots. Just a couple of guys beating the hell out of each other. My wife was extremely grossed out by it (especially the fork) but couldn't stop watching it so I consider that high praise.