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Straight outa Urbana-Champaign, my name is Tony I'm a genuinely nice guy, I'm not a phony I love pro wrestling, I'm not bluffing We went all in, then went double or nothing The more wrestlers I sign you know my roster gets bigger Brian's contract expired and I pulled the trigger CM Punk shows up and the fans are popping Gonna keep signing guys although the roster is whopping Don't you even start to think think that I'm done shopping When Steen shows up you know it's gonna be shocking Taking on Vince like I'm Don Quixote With Kenny and Chris, the Young Bucks and Cody Lotta wrestlers signing up because they know we Payed our respects to our brother Brodie Our fan base and roster just keep on growing Now we're also gonna pay our respects to Bret's brother Owen Ruby Riot came here to get exposure Because in AEW we let our wrestlers get over Here on Dynamite on Friday night We're one big family and we treat each other right So hey, Max Caster: Show some tact and class It would make me really sad to have to fire your ... *Tony S takes the mic away* Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Ray Traylor after watching one Johnny Saint match:

They were pretty pawsitive about it but it wasn't exactly what they're looking for right meow.

I know it's semantics at this point, but there is a line between showing someone your penis and forcing physical contact with your penis and he's saying he doesn't cross that arbitrary ass line. It sounds like the exact line someone who thinks is appropriate to helicopter his dick in public would draw to justify his actions. It's kind of like someone who repeatedly gets locked up for multiple petty crimes justifying his actions by saying, "I haven't ever killed anybody." I've heard this type of self defense pretty often from dudes i grew up around. I always just think, "sure, you're not a murderer, but that doesn't excuse all the other things you actually are."

Well I just got my ticket for Dynamite. I am psyched to see this show live.

I liked Janela/Sonny more than I thought I would. Had my doubts as to whether Sonny could bring the intensity needed to sell a feud like this in the ring, but he looked good in there. Strikes were solid.

Here's Danielson's full letter: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/bryan-danielson-wrestling-wwe-aew

@John from Cincinnati

The greatest trick wrestling ever pulled was convincing the government and media see it as a joke, not to be taken seriously.

I am watching Elevation: Rosa vs Kaia: You guys realize I haven't seen much Rosa right? I'd say 75% of what she did looked really good. Loved the chop to the stomach and the face, loved the dropkick to the back in the ropes. I think she gave Kaia a little too much because while her rib shots were a good idea, the execution was really lackluster. I thought there was a moment where she just took back over and wasn't going to give everything back but then Kaia hit the quizzical jawbreaker (which was worth it for Eddie's Ogawa reference but not much else). Biggest issue I had with Rosa was her goofy back somersault after the cool dropkick to the back in the ropes to set up the next spot. I'm sure that's one of her signature moves/flourishes and the crowd expects it but she was way out of position and instead of it adding to the move and setting her up for more momentum, it just looked really silly. Otherweise, she moved very well in there. My gut says that this one stuck too close to a script that Kaia couldn't quite execute and maybe Rosa should have called an audible and just goozled her for her own good? Happy to see more Rosa but I'm not over the top wowed out of the gate. Gunn Club trios: It's funny how much we all used to resent Billy back in 2001 when he was taking the IC belt from Benoit and whatever. Now he just makes it look easy with a simple matter-of-fact confidence that goes along with his size. I think it would have been commonplace 30 years ago but it's nice to see now. Austin's interesting to watch? Sort of Brian Christopher vibes with how hyper and over the top he is. He fed well for a second or two in the comeback there and wasn't afraid to bump. I'm less sure about his offense. It was always neat when Billy started using that armdrag/suplex/powerslam thing in the early 00s. It finishes a ton of French matches actually, but Austin used it more as a neckbreaker like Colt. I like the legacy element there anyway. I don't think Colton even got in there so who knows. Other side was fine for what they were expected to do. No comments. Dark Order Explodes: I thought everyone was good here with Colt putting on an excellent, excellent performance. It was a little overwrought, went on too long, and needed to be refined into tighter emotional beats for the sake of the crowd. I get the idea that it going long meant that the pressure just kept building for Colt to fire off on Angels, but it wasn't entirely worth the time invested to get to that point; they could have gotten there sooner and with less noise, even if there was some artfulness to the mess. And the proof there is the crowd not really being into this despite caring about everyone there. When Angels pegged Cabana on the apron, there was a disappointed/sad oooh and that worked with the brief please don't fight chant, but otherwise, it just wasn't resonating. The mask ripping was a huge moment but then they went around one too many times with the finish. Would have preferred Angels pegging him, Uno trying but Angels ducking it for a roll up pin instead of what we got. All these guys are committed to the act, but I love the way Uno moves like a video game minion or something. Cassidy vs Verna: This was quick. My head cannon says that Verna going so quickly to kicking Cassidy in the gut meant that he played right into his hands (as opposed to a more featured match where Cassidy's opening shtick would last longer) and led to the quick finish but of course that's ridiculous in a good way. Lookswise, Verna should probably be on NXT 2.0? Private Party vs Santi/Goodz: This might be the first time I've seen Private Party and they looked good in a squash. Quen's little flourishes as he does moves (like the hands on his head during the rana) are fun and because he's on my mind, makes me want to see him against Cassidy who does similar but very different things. Good little tag team maneuvering, nice tandem Kaientai DX style bits. Not sure how they'd do in a real match in putting this stuff together (as i could see them not implementing their offense into the tag structure but just spamming it, which is a problem with almost all 2010s and on wrestling) but this was a fun squash. The quasi leaping hot tag from the other side was annoying because it wasn't at all earned. Shida vs Slamovich: Ok yeah, this gets the full Worldwide point or whatever. Chippy as hell despite them doing some acrobatics and elaborate stuff which is always impressive. Slamovich took the rana right on her head and then, a little while later just ate that headbutt in the corner. Maybe you don't do dragon suplexes in the middle of Elevation matches? I don't know. Hard to say because I still kind of went nuts for it. I love that the move that took extra effort here wasn't the finish but the sit out dominator which was the thing that turned the tide and put Slamovich in a state that she wouldn't recover from, even if it took a couple more moves to put her away. Good stuff. Kiss vs Janela: Great opening minute or two here with the initial hot attack, the dive, the shot back to the ring with the blood, and then the shot to Kayla taking out Sonny. Just a lot to process one after the other and a pretty perfect way to open the match. After that it was a sprint which was brutal and high stakes (that bump on the apron!) but maybe didn't lean into the animosity as much as I would have liked. Kiss taking a few detours from what was laid out to attack the wound between spots would have been nice, for instance. Look, kicking out of a Spanish fly and two pile drivers is not cool but I'm ok with fiery and revenge-minded Kiss doing it before a banana peel finish; it just should have been more on Janela to create some space and logic by taking time and getting heat before the pin. Protect moves. Santana/Ortiz vs Dunn/Good: Well, I guess we can't really say how Dasher did, huh? Yeesh. I haven't seen a lot of Santana/Ortiz but they had a good flowing rhythm here, while maintaining their image/persona/presence. The contradiction sort of makes it work. Again, it works as a squash but I imagine in a real match it'd all be spots back and forth as people disrupted it and they got it back, but I can't know that for sure. I can't see these guys hanging out with Jericho. Dustin vs QT: So Dustin's a pretty amazing pro wrestler in how good his stuff looks, in how he works from underneath, in how he engages the crowd like no one else (but maybe Christian) does in 2021. Maybe that's all we should say this week? As for QT, I wish he wouldn't work quite so strong. I think there are things he does well but he should work 20% more manager-y and chickenshit. That would serve him better for his role on the show. He's a guy who shouldn't be doing a top rope superplex without some outside help, that should use that Enzuigiri as an opportunistic desperation move more and something maybe that he's suprised that he hits. I don't know about the power bomb. He's best served as a more Heenan-like figure in a six man. Still dangerous when he smells blood but will probably lose a fair fight. General thought: Eddie is such a joy to listen to but there's definitely a sense that we're on borrowed time with him in this role. Let's enjoy it while we can.

I love the part where the 30 for 30 producer is a habitual liar and you can't trust a thing out of his mouth, except the one thing he said that defends Flair. What a fucking goof. I hope this finally keeps Flair off everyone's TV for good. His gimmick was already gross and retrograde before we found out he was a rapist.

Bring back the 1990 grand finale match of survival.

I've got goosebumps. I'm at least 85% sure that the "Thank you for comming to Japan. Please come back" was from when Kingston, Fire Ant, and Green Ant came to Osaka pro in September of 2011. The Kenji who signed it is presumably my very good friend the Osaka Pro super-fan, and Keigo is presumably Keigo Yoshino, Osaka Pro referee and announcer who was also in charge of bringing in and taking care of foreign talent. If so, I believe I had a small hand in making that (I was sometimes asked to help with/proofread English language stuff. Me: You spelled "coming" wrong. Them: OK). Oh boy did we ever love Eddie Kingston. A whole bunch of Chikara guys came over in October 2010 and they were so obviously delighted to be there that heels often tossed us a nod and a wink when they were heeling it up. Not Eddie. He never cracked a smile. We booed him like crazy, relentlessly. He frequently teamed up with my good friend Kuuga, and Kenji and Kae and I would scream at them and they would yell at us and flip us off. "Please come back" was meant with 100% sincerity, if indeed that was my friend Kenji who signed it. It warms my heart to see that in the video and imagine it still has some meaning for Kingston. I can't find any pics from that tour at the moment, but I do have some from the 2010 Chikara tour, specifically the Haloween party/show. Kae (the goat), Dasher (who is working AEW this week!) and Kenji Stigma, me, and Vin. UnStable! EDIT: I just got confirmation (from Kae) that it was definitely us who wrote that letter. She remembers him being moved when they gave it to him. Also, that's my boy Mihara that Kingston is suplexing in the Japanese magazine at 1:00!

See how last week's Dynamite ended with a brawl in progress between Suzuki-Gun and Mox & King, but then we never saw how it ended? Well, it's in here:

https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/eddie-kingston-recalls-turning-fan-when-ring-sting

What a stand up guy Cody is. I keep hearing talk about how young AEW's audience skews. Happy someone's fully committed to making sure their youth see good wholesome values represented on television. Unlike other EVPs, I'm sure he will never betray our trust.

To the last two posts, 100% on each. Ric can say that he didn't force someone to touch his penis, but he's so fucking dumb and such a good ol' boy that you can pretty much guarantee that to him, cornering a woman while naked, saying "come on baby, touch the Nature Boy!" or "hey baby, you know you're curious" isn't the same as forcing her to touch him when it is the same fucking thing. It's all gross. Even typing that out made me feel gross.

I think it's very possible that Ric thinks that if he himself doesn't physically force someone to touch him then he didn't force them. He definitely comes across like someone who doesn't believe coercion or intimidation are linked to sexual assault/rape. I've known men like this who think that if they are not physically harming the victim then everything is fine and dandy because they are fucking scumbag narcissists or sociopaths.

I don't think Bearcat is a bad nickname, although usually I think of guys losing, not gaining, nicknames when they go from the indies to the WWE. Could have been Bearclaw. Then have him eating apple fritters all the time backstage.

I remember the threads with no accounts. Oh yes, I've been here all along. Watching you.

They should be. There's nothing likable about them.

Can i say how awesome it is to have the Steiners back in my life?! Bronn sounds just like Uncle Scotty!

Judging by the seating layout and this, looking like a small set. Exciting.

Not college highlights but this is too batshit crazy not to share here. SPIRIT OF PLANO EAST~!

Tempting, but money is at an absolute premium and I just couldn't make the numbers work. Also not quite feeling the idea of being in a crowd that big during a pandemic, even if they're enforcing the rules. No worries. I saw the chance to swerve folks on the answer and I took my shot. ?

The folks who'll be there in person for both shows. Live this is shaping up as the show of the year.

Mark Henry is completely capable as a radio host. He's a smart enough guy and can string together a meaningful observation better than the average person. He just can't do it at the speed wrestlers wrestle.

The "Mark Coales Wants To Be Difficult" Review. GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI Directed & Written by Jim Jarmusch 1999, 116 minutes Cast: Forest Whitaker as 'Ghost Dog' John Tormey as Louie Henry Silva as Ray Vargo Cliff Gorman as Sonny Valerio Isaach de Bankolé as Raymond Camille Winbush as Pearline Tricia Vessey as Louise Vargo Richard Portnow as 'Handsome Frank' Frank Adonis as Valerio's Bodyguard Victor Argo as Vinny RZA as Samurai In Camouflage Gary Farmer as Nobody Shi Yan Ming as Kung-Fu Master This is more bullet opera than martial arts joint. Just sayin'. It's a kung-fu movie review thread and Mark picks something that doesn't even have one single fist fight. The training montage of Ghost Dog practicing kenjutsu, Kali knife fighting, and Chinese drunken boxing techniques barely allows this feature to meet the minimum requirements. If you executed Jim Jarmusch for being a conventional filmmaker, you'd be hanging an innocent man. His movies can be hit or miss, but you cannot say that they are not original visions and Ghost Dog is arguably his magnum opus. It is a truly elegant and brain twisting vision. A real thinking person's movie. Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker in the role of a lifetime) is a hitman for the mob. He got into this business because one day a world weary mobster named Louie (the brilliant John Tormey) saved his life, or so he believes. Rashōmon and the idea of perception bending reality weigh heavily into the meta of this movie. Ghost Dog is a strict adherent to the code of bushido and the film is actually broken up into chapters with Ghost Dog's readings from the samurai treatise, Hagakure, serving as the narrative segue points. The story begins with Ghost Dog completing a contract at Louie's behest. The problem is that Louie's bosses, the enigmatic Ray Vargo (HENRY SILVA, MOTHER FUCKERS~!) and Sonny Valerio (Cliff Gorman is so much in character that it is hilarious), have not exactly been honest with him. Vargo has ordered the fracking because he knows that his overprotected and impressionable daughter, Louise (Tricia Vessey in full mob ingénue mode) is secretly seeing another mobster and Vargo decides to have this offending party whacked. The problem is that "Handsome Frank" (Richard Portnow) is a "made man" so Vargo must make sure that there is no evidence to connect him to Handsome Frank's snuffing, less the mob at large takes revenge on Vargo and his collection of wise guy dropouts for the unsanctioned clipping. This includes thumping the non-Italian freelance cleaner hired to do the job. Louie does his best to explain to Vargo and Valerio that going after Ghost Dog is an extremely bad idea. They should have listened. I don't think you can really encapsulate everything that goes on in Ghost Dog in one review. It is a genre smashing piece of work that not only pays tribute to everything from Yojimbo (1961) and Le Samouraï (1967) to Branded to Kill (1967) and High Noon (1952), it also weaves a complex tale of clashing cultures and conflicting loyalties. You will ponder how a disciplined and honorable person like Ghost Dog could serve such disorganized and decadent masters. Vargo's gang is a rag tag bunch of mafia misfits that does not stand a chance against Ghost Dog's "very particular set of skills", and it is amusing that they actually believe they will come out on the winning side of this conflict. When there aren't any bullets flying around, Jarmusch also takes time to explore the complicated relationships that keep Ghost Dog engaged with the real world. Despite being a loner and the movie pounding it into your head that Ghost Dog has no friends, our unconventional assassin still has the ability to cultivate seemingly functional relationships in a very dysfunctional world. Ghost Dog shows Louie nothing but the utmost respect and reverence despite Louie's low standing in a third or fourth rate organized crime family, he manages to strike up a proper friendship with a Haitian ice cream man named Raymond (Isaach de Bankolé!!!!!) even though neither man understands the other man's spoken language, and Ghost Dog also nurtures a mentorship with a young girl named Pearline (Camille Winbush, who would later go on to be in The Bernie Mac Show!) and does his best to encourage her interest in classic literature.... even if the classic is the infamous adult pulp novel, Night Nurse..... (Pearline: I haven't read it yet. I just like the cover...) Only the ingenious Jim Jarmusch could take elements from Hong Kong heroic bloodshed epics like The Killer (1989) and make a movie with arthouse sophistication and sensibilities. The RZA's banging original score just ties this awesome and complex character study together with a bow of hip-hop badassery. The soundtrack of incidental music also fucking rocks. There are tracks by experimental jazz master, Sun Ra, as well as a remix of Armagideon Time by Willie Williams and there are also songs from a host of other artists! Do not miss the 90's wuxia movie shout out / Wu Tang Clan Easter egg! Ghost Dog is a cult classic that is more than worthy of your time and study. I have owned a copy of this movie for about ten years now. Where is yours? If there is a DVD that should be mandatory shelf porn, it is this one.

The coat thing is the old Stanley Ketchel trick, which is hilarious cause the heavyweight du jour for that era was usually between probably 180 and 190 pounds when he did it. I want that but with the Bishop Sycamore vs. IMG Academy twist where the commentators are nothing but confused and baffled. JR: We have unverified reports that John Silver is now 6'7" and 278 lbs. Again, we could not verify this information. We didn't get this stuff from Reuters, folks.

They didn't play Kaze Ni Nare. Unforgivable.

"Are those rocks in your pocket or did you just have an adverse reaction to a vaccine?"

I slayed MC's in EWR expansions My style broke New York's fuckin neck like Stan Hansen

I'll take Punk/Tazz/Eddie, please.

Oh, I thought that too but I'm assuming he's got others lurking about. Just in case: Hi, Tony and/or whoever is from there! I'll see you guys Wednesday!

That's a fill in the blank, mad lib sheet for a movie plot in some exec's office.

Still faster than Bartolo Colon.

I'll just leave this here

I hope they hire a really sexy dude when they do a reenactment of whomever photoshopped Duggan holding a dildo blender. ?

Can't wait for Dark Side of the Ring: Glass Bottom Boat

So that's why he started the sleaze thread.

It does feel like Tony Khan has a big list of the worst things to happen in wrestling and he's trying to make them right for peace of mind, fun, and profit.

CM Punk and Owen Hart both back in the landscape of professional wrestling in 2021. I really am not trying to be morbid here, but man - that Brodie show may have changed the course of the entire business judging by some of the comments Punk made. It's so sad what happened, especially with the Rochester show looming next week, but damn it all Brodie and AEW changed the business. For the better. That man, that heartfelt tribute show - everything.

You missed Kevin Nash being funny then.

what did he say? I was thinking about Stratlander's alien gimmick a while back and I think it kinda works. Reminds of how Ace Frehley he was born on a different planet, his was of saying he's always felt different. If its approached like that as opposed to we are actually supposed to actualy believe she's an alien it stands a really good chance of getting over with kids cause a lot of kids feel like that (plus the face paint). The whole Best Friends seems very kid friendly to me

Sweet merciful crap. Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow... that might be the only thing that prevents them from getting 20,000 come belltime.