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I’m so straight, my house is filled with tough straight stuff like leather and pictures of buff bikers.

There's also some value in just letting some stuff go too, and not constantly holding onto a misdeed from the past. Take the woman in my avatar, for example! She played Michfest (a music festival with a significant bend towards TERFness) a few times, and in spite of repeated statements in support of the trans community since then, she still gets called a TERF. And like... People can change? People can have different opinions than what they used to have? Do we have to crystalize everyone to what they used to be years and years ago? I was a pretty awful person ten years ago, I hope to heck I've changed since then. So if I give myself that grace, why wouldn't I give someone else that same grace? If someone's still a deliberately awful bigot now, okay, fine, I get it. But if we're taking people to task for something they did in like 2011, I dunno. Maybe tap the brakes some.

If Jericho shows up with straight back 'rows and black air force ones tonight I will take back everything I've ever said about him.

Horace was an okay midcard worker, and I don't think being over pushed as an nWo B-Teamer deserves this sort of vitriol.

Yeah, for judging artists, athletes, whatever, for a lot of them it's a spectrum of "maybe questionable" ------------------> "irredeemable human being." You just need to pick where your own line is on a case by case basis. On the Hogan tip, if you watch any 80s wrestling PPV, I guarantee most of the people on that show have some racism knocking around in their heads. They just haven't yet been dumb enough to express it publicly. Anyway, you find your own personal line and you don't tell anyone what that line is

Eventually I'll do a "tell all" post with input from Phil & Eric about what went into this and other things

We need Jericho to start wearing a durag, carrying the FTW title, and cutting promos claiming Winnipeg and Manhasset are far tougher than Red Hook.

Made my way through the show, as I am trying to get into AEW again. So much wrestling. Okada vs. PAC Fascinating match. The first third of the match they essentially take turns being the heel working over a babyface, and it felt confusing. Also Excalibur did a great bit of storytelling by talking about how Okada was trained by Ultimo Dragon, and PAC made his name in DragonGATE with a bunch of Ultimo students. Eventually settled into Okada being the bad guy, and he was honestly great at it. Loved him laughing after the DDT on the ground. Loved the middle finger on the pose tease. Loved the eye rake on the submission attempt. Does PAC ever have bad singles matches in AEW? I don't know what you do with him, but he's a guy I have to watch if he's on the card. House of Black vs. Edge/Briscoe/Kingston This was hot stuff. Mark and Eddie are great "in the moment" performers, who feel like they're making some stuff up on the spot, as opposed to doing the match that was planned out beforehand. Really enjoyed Malakai avoiding Edge the whole match and catching him with the mist for the finish. It's crazy how good Edge has been working with all these younger wrestlers. He's hanging with everyone. Willow vs. Julia Hart This felt brief, which is a little disappointing because I think Julia is a great character and Willow is pretty lovable. I'm bummed Hart's reign had to come to an end, but I think this story between Willow and Mone could be a good one, with Mercedes trying to undercut Willow's shine. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Roderick Strong Roderick Strong has a belt too? I’m sure this has been discussed to death, but what the fuck are all these belts? Strong did all those nifty backbreakers and I don’t think Kyle referenced his back until just before the finish.. Not even after the superplex. They could’ve done so much with that. Like every time Kyle did a guillotine choke, Roddy could’ve just ran his back into a corner, or slammed him on his back as a way to break the hold. Just missed story telling. Adam Cole can walk. I hope that means that we're a little closer to getting MJF back because I thought their Best Friends story was great and I hated that injuries spoiled so much of it. Chris Jericho vs. Hook More titles, but at least I know this one. Kid in the front row chanting “AUBREY AUBREY” to start is gold. Jericho’s gimmick is fucking hilarious. He also nearly killed himself trying to make Hook look awesome. Crowd chants “Go Home Jericho Go Home” .Same crowd counts along when he’s punching Hook on the top rope 10 seconds later. Same crowd pops when he hits the top rope ‘rana. And he just keeps giving them the thumbs up like he’s Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Crowd chants “Please Retire”. Same crowd chants “Tap” when Hook is in the Liontamer. HE HAD TO HIT HIM IN THE FACE WITH A BASEBALL BAT TO WIN. This shit is ridiculous and I dig it. Toni Storm vs. ThunderRosa There is some young baby face who will eventually get to do an All About Eve storyline with Toni Storm one day, and it’ll be awesome way to introduce a character. Not a whole lot to say about this one. Rosa looked good but might be a little too screamy for a babyface. That moment where she replied to a fan “I love Toni Too.” Before murdering her on the apron was fucking gold tho. More of that. Danielson vs..Osprey Incredible. My son came in to watch this one with me and we were on the edge of our seats for that final stretch. I haven’t watched much Osprey at all. Like I don’t think I saw any of his Japan stuff. And I wasn’t super impressed watching his recent match with Hobbs. But he got my attention here for sure. Bryan again showed he can do anything and everything at an exceptional level. Best in the world. FTR vs. Bucks Obviously not as good as their last match, but this served a much different purpose. This felt like a lot of big spots, BUT they were always desperately trying to get to those titles. Jack Perry run in was always the most obvious conclusion, and him coming in with a Sting mask was great. I’m actually interested in how they use him moving forward. Swerve vs. Joe Joe is one of my favorite wrestlers. He just brings a different vibe. Liked Swerve’s working on the arm, which allowed him to escape the Kokina Clutch. I don’t know if I like Strickland as a face, because I think he’s really good as a heel, particularly the way he moves in the ring. His acrobatics feel less about being pretty and more just being vicious and mean. Loved Joe immediately leaving like a bully who just got embarrassed. Eventual Osprey vs. Strickland match is going to be fucking wild. OVERALL THOUGHTS Exceptional night of wrestling. No duds. All killer stuff. Even the weakest matches had engaging work. And holy cow what a great crowd. They were down for everything. Also after having been face down in WWE’s and the great build to Wrestlemania, I’ve got to say AEW’s announce team is the best. Everyone that sat in the booth helped tell some great stories and always added to the action. Jim Ross has had some rough nights with the company in the past, but I’d say he was lucid and rock solid in the matches he called. I think it’s crazy they switch guys in and out, but it didn’t hurt anyone’s rhythm or chemistry. It’s probably easy when the wrestling is this good. Lots of interesting questions going forward that make me want to keep watching.

This is one that I don't think I can watch again. It's just too heartbreaking. I can't believe how beautiful was, and how talented, because I haven't seen much really, so to have it end like that... And fuck Eric Bischoff forever. All the money in the world. No rehab, no surgery, no nothing. Right out on her ass. Fuuuuuuck YOU.

Ok, who's the asshole that thought it'd be funny to wish for more AEW storylines of the fucking Monkey's Paw?

first Black World champion in AEW curtain jerks the show with a match, with only a segment announced (for next week!) to make his DoN title match official, the IWGP champion is the semi-show closer… but the show ender is the third rate Elite beating up Tony Khan. Jack Perry is a main event level guy now, based off… getting put into a chokehold backstage by a bigger star, over a year ago. This fuckin’ sucks.

I thought the idea of butcher block countertops was wonderful (they look fantastic) until I was informed that most people straight up use them as cutting boards. I mean, that's their purpose, yes, but cutting food on your countertop without a separate board to thoroughly clean and eventually replace is absolute madman behavior.

You're straight though, we queer people have different rules for our homes:

Fuck H. Hogan.

Honestly if he clowned on the whole idea of the fake belt and threw it in the trash, I would mark out like crazy.

Don’t hate on the mean streets of IKEA

OMG, what a F'n PPV, once again! A few things aside the matches: - The crowd was amazing! They seemed appropriately appreciative of pretty much everything and weren't completely "let's make this about us", which was awesome. They were super into Strong vs O'Reilly and even gave heat to Jericho. Go away heat, but heat nonetheless. If Jericho can get "Learning Tree" over, then he truly is one of the greatest. I have to say, I have my doubts about that one. - The match placement was stellar. Start with 2 exciting, big matches, then get all of the "undercard material" out of the way and finish off with 3 mega matches at the end. Still sounded like the crowd WASN'T even blown out by the end of it! Ospreay vs Danielson lived up to the expectations and then some. So many amazing things. The ending was absolutely phenomenal. The ladder match ended up being wonderful and Jungle Turd returning made the All In footage way more logical in retrospect. Good call. Big day for Swerve. This was definitely the way to go, he could not lose another big one. So, Malakai vs Copeland, instead of Brody vs Copeland? C'mon, Adam, face all 3 of them in separate matches, yeah? Jay White gets his revenge on Billy Gunn and unifies the titles, another right call. Adam Cole walks! I feel bad for Willow if she's just keeping the title warm for Mone. Let's see where it goes. It was probably Statlander who attacked Mone in the dark, right? It will be interesting to see, who goes after The Timeless One next? She solidified her title reign with this win. I watches this in two portions, including the zero hour and this was worth more than what I paid for it, so it ended up being a bargain!

I appreciate you writin' this. Thank you. I dug the match on first watch, but I'm totally going to watch it again. At first, I was kinda put off by Will's selling of the ribs, and felt that the Tiger Suplex off the top, while not brushed off or no sold at all, wasn't really given satisfactory weight by Will. From what I've seen Ospreay, it really does seem that nothing gets in the way of him performing his offense, so I could chalk it up to Will being Will. There may be something I'm missing here, and it's definitely worth watching the match again to see how I feel. That said, this could've been Danielson's version of a Will Ospreay match, but he really did a take a different approach than what I was expecting. I really didn't think he would take as much of the match as he did. It's a really, really cool contrast to the Hechicero match, where Danielson spent much of it on the back foot. I absolutely loved his end of this match. I didn't even consider the crowd while I was watching it. Maybe I'll give watching it on mute a shot. Great call on the standoff finish, too. If I were to rank Danielson's matches this year, I think I'd have to line it up as such: 1. vs ZSJ 2. vs Hechicero (My favorite match this year.) 3. vs Blue Panther (I'd feel comfortable putting this #1. It's a goddamn love letter to professional wrestling.) 4. vs. Ospreay We'll see if I still feel that way after a rewatch. Regardless, that's a fucking murderer's row.

Congrats to the new champions from this weekend. Especially that up and coming Chris "The Learning Tree" Jericho. I'm assuming he'll come out dressed in various foliage for this particular personality. Oh right, Swerve's champ. Double or Nothing is in 4 weeks! LFG!

I don't like heel authority figures either but I do appreciate how they are taking the "Khan is a nice guy and wrestlers walk all over him" thing and running with it. That's pretty darn good storytelling if you ask me.

Yeah, SD has been gone for a hot minute. In heaven, Special Delivery wins all his matches.

I wondered who sniped me on that Tom of Finland eBay auction.

“For some reason we showed Haku the Booker T/Hogan promo and he laughed for minutes”

Gonna be honest, if I didn't enjoy the art of people who didn't like my skin color, I'd enjoy like zero art. Especially of the pro wrestling variety. If you don't get over some of that stuff and just enjoy the work, you'll drive yourself crazy and never enjoy anything.

What I don't understand about Hulk Hogan is how people can be a fan of his knowing what he's done. It's bad enough he was a selfish bastard pulling the "That doesn't work for me, brother", what he said about the victim his Son left brain damaged in a car crash but worse of all, he's a racist piece of fucking shit. The racism trumps anything he's done in wrestling and childhood nostalgia. Fucker lies as he breathes as well. Fuck Hollywood Hulk Hogan.

That tweet is the funniest thing Hogan's ever written or said. Classic.

I watched Danielson-Ospreay again last night with a nice buzz, and after having read all the posts, Matt’s excellent write up, and lots of skeets. I don’t have lists, and I don’t do stars other than DEAN~! Style MILLION BILLION STARS, which is what I give this one. I thought everything was earned, they were constantly fighting against holds, trying to find counters and reversals, without it seeming too “indie”. The timing on everything was impeccable, there were story beats and callbacks throughout. The showdown at the end gave me goosebumps again. Also, Callis and Nigel were fantastic in getting everything over. I understand wanting to watch on mute due to the early intrusive crowd, but you will miss out on a master class in commentary.

After 25+ years of gentrification, I'd probably feel safer in Red Hook than some parts of Winnipeg.

I thought Bloodsport was work-shoot, not shoot-shoot

That cover photo goes sooooooooooo fucking hard.

Our friend Dylan Hales tweeted the cover art:

Dave?

use AI as the general manager and blame it when the booking is unpopular

i think Hogan just went full Sheiky. i think it ties back into the "separating the art from the artist" idea. easier for some people than others (i mean that for both the performer as well as the audience). i can go back and appreciate '80s Hogan promos and matches for what they are, but anything after his in-ring career ended is just cringeworthy.

As far as wrestlers always using inside terms goes, I'm really enamored with the use of the word "gimmick" as a verb, adjective, adverb, noun, whatever, with multiple meanings. It's like "Smurf."

Man we are really sleeping on Dragon vs. Hechicero, that's something that would slide easy onto a Schneider comp. If Hechicero would have kept coming out and jumping Dragon then running off before BCC would get to him, the crowd would have totally bought the feud. Dragon's Kryptonite.

You know if he did that he would just introduce the NUUUUUUUW Jericho Championship Wrestling belt. And then hopefully the Juggalos could sue! "Get into the Vortex under the Learning Tree, where I can drop my nuts on you"

Philip... you know they just traded for their QB of the future, right?

Jericho bought to come back as

Tomorrow! Mina returning to the USA quickly. Feels like she only arrived back in Japan a few days ago.

In a world where everyone seems in a race to be the biggest piece of shit, the Beastie Boys were real ones. GOATed hip hop act for more reason than one. https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/04/beastie-boys-paid-for-trans-womans-gender-affirming-surgery/

The beauty of this is you can use different celebrity voices

I love the idea of segments where wrestlers get mad at each other and want to have a match but neither of them can reach Daniels.

The best gimmicks are part shoot.

The Road to "Mr. Khan" begins.

Not gonna lie, "Flee to Antigua on the Sexy Bitch" might be one of the greatest things said on this board.

Gizzimick

It's hard out here for a Poang

days late, but this is the second PPV in a row I didn’t buy because I’ve been down on AEW for a bit. But they hooked me back in with pulling the trigger on Swerve. I was scared they wouldn’t, but then I remembered what company this was. I don’t feel like Ospreay/Danielson is the best match I’ve ever seen, but it’s way wayyyy up there on the list. Danielson is obviously one of the GOATs, but it’s really incredible how far Ospreay has come when he was a junior. Ospreay/Swerve is going to hit like fucking CRACK if they do it at All In. Only other things I have to add: the Jericho match wasn’t the worst in company history, or even close. It wasn’t great or anything, but let’s not lie to ourselves here. And we also can’t ignore the fact that HOOK just… isn’t that great, honestly. He needs NXT, or something like it. Working double digit TV matches a year isn’t going to get him where he needs to be, IMO. Jericho sucks, and this whole meta “Punk was like this backstage” gimmick is fucking stupid. It’s one of the things bringing me down on AEW - now that the bad man is gone, they start doing stuff they should’ve been doing a long time ago (Bucks & Hangman going heel are the main culprits). Toni at the presser saying if you want to watch cinema go watch a fucking movie is how I feel about WWE right now. They’ve only got my attention because of Punk and a few other things, but this over reliance on “omg this is cinema” and stupid shit like that clouds fan perception of what’s really going on.