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the bartender at my local dive bar (when i was a regular patron. this was 15+ years ago) was a big MMA fan. we got to talking, and he mentioned that UFC nights always brought in a bunch of people. He wanted to have some sort of MMA night, or weekend, or something like that. I lent the bar my collection of PRIDE DVDs and got half price drinks for the whole time. and the bar was a pretty hopping place. definitely viewed it as a win/win!

per luchablog, Hechicero has signed with AEW. It's a dual deal, so he'll still be working CMLL shows too.

I was at a co-workers party one time (Have never been a party guy) and was introduced to said co-worker's boyfriend who trained in MMA, he asked me about PRIDE and I'd never heard of it so he ran out to his car and got his VHS tapes and was showing me them and explaining everything and his GF got SO mad that we had turned this work outing into a bunch of dudes watching MMA party. 20+ years later, my dad has knee surgery and one of the guys helping him with his physio was said former co-worker's (now ex) boyfriend! The world is a weird, small place sometimes.

I hated Seger’s music when I was 10 and I hate his music at 53. Hangman and Toni with killer promos, of course very different but totally in line with their characters. Superstars. Womens 4-way was good stuff, even though I had the Sisters of Sin spoiled for me. Honestly I couldn’t get super into the main event trios match. Felt too soon after the big PPV blowoff, I don’t know. I enjoyed the rest of the matches fine. Fletcher and Dorado was great, and Fletcher doing lots of character and slow body work during the picture-in-picture was excellent, didn’t miss any of the big high-flying comeback.

man, the '80s really were the glory years, weren't they? Championship Wrestling from Florida in the early '80s (speaking of promotions that don't get much word of mouth, although i attribute this one to lack of footage), Mid-South/UWF in the mid decade, along with WCCW, Portland, CWA/Memphis all having noteworthy stints in their localities. And even smaller scale groups like Central States (although maybe this one was more prominent in the '70s? i'm not sure). One more aside, it is staggering how many of these shuttered during '89/'90. what a turning point. Really makes you look at the dire state of the industry due to unchallenged WWE supremacy for damn near 20 years post-WCW, pre-AEW. sorry, TNA.

Ari Aster said in an interview that after Midsommar and Hereditary, he was offered the chance to direct Morbius. He politely declined.

If they can hang on til October, I think they could do a pretty fun classic horror thing with Toni.

also shout out to Kip Sabian for looking like every vampire in a Cinemax softcore porn last night

i started a new job in early March. it's my first time coming into a job cold as a "manager". The industry is tangentially familiar to me, and one of my departments is well within my history, but it's been a weird experience. I've never heard anybody talk about stepping in with little-to-no direct knowledge but still being expected to answer questions and make decisions. Luckily, my teams have been great and were understanding and helpful. Yesterday, one of my team leads (two steps below me on the ladder but significantly more experience in the company) paid me what i consider a pretty big compliment: "you've been here less than 6 months? Wow, you really learned a lot and know your stuff already."

If it's your thing, the estimates for 'ALL IN' buys currently sit at ~175,000 and could potentially go up. It would be the 4th highest in company history and it sounds like the merchandise numbers at the event were great as well.

Not just dummies, but dummies who only behave like they do because they believe that they're smarter than everybody else. I remember my grandfather used to tell me that you should never assume that you're smarter than everybody or you're tougher than everybody, because eventually you'll run into someone smarter or tougher than you. Its one of those things where if you assume everyone is relatively smart or relatively tough, you'll probably treat people with a base level of respect. But if you're they type who thinks that you are the smartest person in every room you walk in or the toughest guy in the room you walk in, you're probably going to treat people like shit.

I think now more than ever, you realize there's a large number of dummies in positions of power.

Honestly, I'd peg them fourth, behind World Class. AWA might've covered more territory, but WCW was probably more popular at the time, and had better tv syndication. The ESPN deal got AWA in a lot of households, but their product wasn't as good.

I'm pretty sure they don't care whether these guys did something immoral, they only care as far as whether or not they believe we will care that someone did something immoral. Duke Droese's legal troubles are recent enough that they think someone might complain. Buck Zumhofe is not someone that they believe people will complain about, so they'll upload one of his matches.

Looooool oh holy shit. “That dude look like a Skinemax vampire” is going into my lexicon. The last time a DVDVR insult stuck with me, it was DEAN’s description of Jim Hellwig in a suit, “he looks like landscaper with a court date.”

FWIW, on CMLL's weekly press conference show Informa, MJF sent in a promo calling out CMLL Semicompleto Champion Averno - Mistico's eternal rival. He said he wanted to take the title from Averno, so that Mistico would have to challenge him for the title. CMLL's anniversary show is right around the corner (Sept 19th I think), and the speculation is that we're getting Mistico vs MJF on that show. The fact that a main event level apuesta match hasn't been announced yet, so the door is open to them in a mask vs hair match. Just to be clear, CMLL is on an absolute tear right now. They are selling out Arena Mexico almost every Friday, and selling out Arena Coliseo DF often on Saturdays, which is almost unheard of. The ticket prices announced for Anniversario are higher than ever, so everyone is expecting a massive apuesta match to headline that show. My point here is that, if MJF is getting his head shaved in CMLL in September, any program with Hangman is going to be short-term.

It's what I went with, I did it as a backup in case there were was an issue with my wife and I going to Dave and Busters to see it, and there was. They had it listed on events that they'd be showing it, and we went and it wasnt on and they said they wouldn't be playing it, so we went across the parking lot to Trader Joe's and got some snacks and went home. We had only missed the first 2 matches at that point and Amazon let us rewind to the start (pre-show even!) but we skipped to the start of the main card. Don't know what I'll use the credit on yet, but I'm always excited to watch a movie.

There was one night back when I was in college when my roommate Gavin, unprompted, said something like "you know, I'm of above average intelligence. I have the test scores to prove that. That scares me because I'm a goddamn moron."

My read on that - and I haven't watched it back because I'm happier being ignorant and just believing my own "head canon" - is that when they went over the finish beforehand, Dustin was given a different one and was fully expecting Guevara (or someone else) to break the count and then for it to end with someone else winning and someone else taking the fall (probably Fletcher over Garcia). Meanwhile, everyone else involved (except maybe the commentators) knew the actual finish was for Dustin to win, which is why when Aubrey Edwards (I think) made the 3 count, it not only shocked the audience, but also seemed to have legitimately surprised Dustin too. As such a seasoned pro, I think they trusted that Dustin would naturally (see what I did there) know that if the ref counts 3, you have to go with it and get your hand raised and celebrate (even if its a "botch"), which is why Dustin's tears in the corner weren't just him being a great actor, but him realizing, in the moment, "Goddamn it, these fucking kids swerved me." You could even see that Aubrey looked a little weepy when she handed him the belt.

It finally struck me. Gabe Kidd looks like every guy who does Gay For Pay porn movies.

Okada's new music kicks in. "This isn't too bad. A little generic, sure, but not horrible. What was everyone complaining about?" Vocals start. "Oh Jesus." Between that and the Sum 41 track, Tony's apparent love of Hot Topic mall punk vocal styling is where he and I differ.

First, the Aragon is awesome. I mentioned it in the Discord, but that’s where I first saw Weezer. I also saw someone else there, maybe Ted Leo? I can’t remember for sure. But it still looks cool to this day and it’s great to be there live. Second, the thing on Kyle’s head is probably a benign fatty tumor or a benign cyst. My niece’s husband has the exact same lump on the side of his head. I asked him before why he didn’t remove it and he said the doctor said there was no need to and it wasn’t something that would bust so there was no point in having a scar on the side of his head and having the area constantly drain. I’m guessing Kyle has the same thing.

The Bucks stuff was great and makes sense that everyone from the production truck to the ring announcer would needle them after how they've been treating everyone the last year plus. The payoff is probably Callis treating them like shit and then reuniting with Kenny to take down the family, which is neither here nor there, but the pop for Carry On My Wayward Son will be huge. I was surprised how much I liked the Matriarchy promo. Shayna has clearly done some homework on promos since the last time they put her on the mic, so respect there. Julia/Skye/Thekla is the coolest stable that will never do anything. Swerve/Okada? Sure why not? I took the finish of the show to mean that Hangman is done with the Death Riders and they're Darby's problem now.

I just emailed one of our network guys asking the range of our Wireless Access Points. Not really thinking about it, the subject line is "WAPs." Now I'm hoping he doesn't know anything about Cardi B, lest he mistakenly thinks I'm asking about self lubrication.

If we're trying to build Thekla as Wardlow/Cargill than the play would be destroy all, but obviously they went another direction. The first Thekla-Aminata bout got ppl talking. And interested. Going back to that match again, and letting Thekla work for her first feud win is the new play. The alternative, considering AEW's monster pushes historically, could easily be aimless squashing (see too much of Hobbs' run) - which would be no fun. The fact that ppl are coming alive for Queen-Thekla mid-match battles in trios and guantlets suggests to me it's working. I think its a positive example of AEW's creative going with something working that fell into their lap. Or maybe it was designed this way from the beginning.

DAMN. Of all the Bonds you'd never think Roger Moore would be that brutal. There were a bunch of Breaking Bad clips that came up in that feed, and there's got to be at least ten thousand of them to post. If someone has the best Mike one, let 'er rip.

https://youtu.be/c-f0DwbNF08?si=EG2hqpgsd43Y8fRd Roger Moore as James Bond kicks that car with a guy in it off a fucking cliff.

Still Waiting is my favourite Sum 41 song.

I just assumed the emotions in the match came from a combo of Dustin winning and the Adam Cole situation.

I don't think Hangman is quite done with the DRs yet and I don't think Moxley is done with him, but I think Moxley is afraid of Hangman. I would almost like to see Hangman challenge Moxley and Moxley wuss out and Darby is then like, good, now you have me. Only problem is that I don't know what Hanger does for now. It's too soon for MJF and MJF is fucking around with Mistico. Although, and this is just a reminder for folks, Forbidden Door season is upon us and that's usually when the booking takes a dip. With NJPW still being kinda sorta the shits, I worry we'll get some horseshit like EVIL vs Hangman. Hmm...and overbooked match against EVIL wouldn't be the worst I guess from the perspective of Hangman's well being and just keeping him healthy. The other options are probably Gabe Kidd or David Finlay. Whatever the option is going to be, booking is going to be ultra limited because the G1 Climax is only a few days before Forbidden Door so maybe Hangman faces someone from CMLL instead?

I spent quite a bit of time with DK Bananza yesterday. Quick impressions. I spent two hours smashing things up in the tutorial mine area. I would suggest that you don't do this! All the super-important unlockables, the skill tree, etc., gets unlocked with the first true level. Nintendo's first-party games have been killing it with their audio. Pauline screaming DEEEEEEE KAAYYYYYYYYYYY as you transform and then singing a catchy pop song while you smash the shit out of everything around you is incredibly satisfying. This game kept Super Mario Odyssey's doors to microlevels. I haven't run into a 2D level yet (and thankfully, no fucking minecarts...yet), but these levels do keep the deal where at least one moon/banana is hidden off the main path and you have to search around to find them. DK feels fun to play himself, mostly the smashing parts. His forward roll into a smash is nice. He can climb most (not all) things as well, but the climbing is just okay, especially the parts where you have to climb across things like you're using monkey bars. He's a little fidgety in those sections. They hid a ton of collectible shit in this game. Like with Odyssey, which has moons/kingdom-specific coins that are used to buy costumes, this game has bananas/kingdom specific fossils that are used to buy costumes. The big difference in Bananza is that the clothes offer buffs (quicker swimming speed, more treasure boxes found when smashing shit up, etc.). A skill tree and equipment that buffs your stats in a Donkey Kong platformer. I can scarcely believe it, but I like it. I hope we see this sort of system in the next 3D Mario. This game is addictive in many ways. It's not as good as Odyssey, but it has a vicious gameplay loop that Odyssey had maybe halfway developed. It's not just the bananas; it's not even the fossils. It's a) smashing the shit out of everything you can and b) number go up. That gold number just keeps going up, you know? You smash shit, you get more gold, and the number raises, and you just wanna smash more shit and get more gold. I don't even know if there is a point to having all this gold (outside of needing to gather it to transform). Doesn't matter, I want more gold like I'm playing an old-school Wario platformer. (They should make a modern 3D Wario platformer based on those old-school games, dammit!) Also: I'll sure say it's further beneath the surface than you expected! *goofy dad laugh* (Seriously, waiting for your next post when you have a sudden grand realization about something important after having spent a bit of time underground.)

Reminder that Hechicero's music is a fucking banger. I need to make a playlist on Spotify or Youtube with badass music. Io, Hechicero, Thekla, and Brody are at the top of that list. If WWE changes Io's music that might be the final nail in that coffin. I know this is the AEW folder, but I do wish all of this shit with Rhea and Naomi would make Io go crazy like she was in NXT so we can get her best entrance again.

I know STP isn't brought up here much but they're quite easily one of my favorite parts about ROH. I wish people got more into them but on a recent episode I did hear a chunk of the crowd changing "STP!" which made me wish it would catch on. I would start by giving Infantry the tag titles (which they really should have won at Supercard) and Shane could stand to get in a heated feud. And you know what, fuck it why not make them badass faces? Trish is kind of there already and Lee tends to be more prideful than hateful at least in big matches. Them shutting down Premier Athletes for a bit before bigger feuds would be nice. This is wonderful.

Meltzer: Opps vs. Death Riders/Kidd: ***3/4. Men's Casino Gauntlet match: ****. Rhodes vs. Fletcher vs. Garcia vs. Guevara: ***. Strickland/Ospreay vs. Young Bucks: *****1/2. Women's Gauntlet match: ****. Hurt Syndicate vs. JetSpeed vs. Patriarchy: ****. Storm vs. Mone: ****3/4. Okada vs. Omega: ****3/4. Page vs. Moxley: *****1/2. Natural: Opps vs. Death Riders/Kidd: ***1/2. Men's Casino Gauntlet match: ****. Rhodes vs. Fletcher vs. Garcia vs. Guevara: ***1/2. Strickland/Ospreay vs. Young Bucks: ****3/4. Women's Gauntlet match: ****1/4. Hurt Syndicate vs. JetSpeed vs. Patriarchy: ***1/4. Storm vs. Mone: ****3/4. Okada vs. Omega: ****3/4. Page vs. Moxley: *****.

It should be noted that Tretter's "advice" was so blatantly bad that an arbitrator ruled in the NFL's favor and basically said the NFLPA was "violating the CBA"

Hard to top this anytime soon for me. Been working on Robinson to talk Starman. I doubt it would happen, but I’d love to chat 70s/80s stuff with Bates or Conway or Maggin.

I liked Mortal Kombat (2021). Kano carried it big time, so funny then Scorpion/Sub-Zero. Glad Johnny Cage is in this and looks to be the star, he was sorely missed in the first film. Hope and expect what you say happens to Cole Young. Mortal Kombat (1995) is by far my favourite MK film.

As much a people say that you should never pay a running back, a quality running back us a hugely important part of an offense. They touch the ball 20-25 times a game and are a vital part of pass protection. If you are a running back who is in the last year of your contract and the team doesn't want to pay you, maybe you get a hamstring injury or a concussion and don't play. So teams would either have to pay their running back or completely change everything about how the offense works. There is a very interesting clip from Saquon Barkley pretty much saying. "I don't want to fake an injury, but you aren't giving me much of a choice." He knows like all top level running backs know that they are the engine of their offense. Nobody with one of those guys built an offense that isn't built to use them in every way possible. Basically they're saying if you want to build an offense where I have to carry the ball 20 times, catch passes and protect the quarterback pay me or don't pay me and figure out some other way to do all of that. I'm kind of on their side. It's a job that uses your body like a battering ram, and I'm not doing that every Sunday for anyone who tries to tell me I'm not worth paying.

I don’t understand the running back part of that. How does faking an injury get you a better contract?

I was thinking "Peep Show guest star who sells Super Hans fake drugs"

Quick follow up. The biggest revelations were J.C. Tretter basically told running backs to fake injuries to get better contracts and then told everybody on a podcast. There is also an interview where Lloyd Howell, who claims he's not a part of the venture capital side of Carlyle Group, basically saying "me and my colleagues at the venture capital firm Carlyle group sure are interested in investing in the NFL." The interview was posted by the NFLPA, but with some fairly obvious cuts that completely remove the sections about him being part of the venture capital group. But, because he said these things at a public press conference a newspaper posted it in its entirety. Two things that are important about this. The players who are on stage, don't react at all to this comment. A lawyer for the union immediately filed paperwork looking into Lloyd Howell and this obvious conflict of interest. The thing people miss about how sports unions work is that the members of the unions are all dudes in their early to mid-20s who do not notice these types of huge red flags. He publicly admitted in front of the people he's potentially screwing over that he wants to be on the other side of their negotiations, but they didn't even notice. When I was 25, I don't think I would have noticed that shit either. I don't think I know any 25 year olds who would. These are all guys who have millions of dollars on the line, but are too young and immature to know how guys like Lloyd Howell are trying to screw them out of their money. He knows that, said it in front of them, and then had it posted on YouTube without the parts that would catch anyone else's attention.

THAT'S how you say the F word.

As always, when Nick and Matt are eating shit, they're at their best. I can't believe Okada actually changed his theme; I understand why someone might pull the trigger, but that is an iconic theme, man. The way I'm describing how AEW is being booked right now is PRECISE. They are pushing all the right buttons and know when to be direct and when to sow chaos. Symphonic, really. An amazing turnaround for the company over the past few months.

Damn, pro wrestling is good.

He probably saw what AEW did for Sting and wanted that kind of build, given that he also mentioned he would've liked to have seen all of this start in January or so and lead to the retirement match in July. Instead of it starting last year with his confrontation with Gunther, then it's never mentioned again until like 3 weeks before the match is due to happen. Which nobody wants a 6 month build for one Goldberg match. Sting did several in between when he announced his last match and it actually happening. But, also, nobody wants several Goldberg matches in 2025. Sting was different because he was actually doing things in his AEW run he had never done before IE being a crazy old man.

Honestly Kang was done generally well in the shows and films he popped up in. Its just that no matter how you slice it having the most actively threatening version of Kang fall in Quantumania simply undermined the whole idea of him as a multi-film threat. Will say I still suspect RDJ as Doom is a slight red herring. I still think we see someone else taking over the role by the end Doomsday and Secret War.

Let us not forget that the pizza cutter was used during a picture-in-picture ad break for Domino's Pizza (or was it Papa John's?). Hilarious.

i think (hope?) that the thought process was that this will raise Aminata's stock, not diminish Thekla's. I'd like to see Aminata get a higher profile, and if this feud is a way to accomplish it, i'm on board. I think she has a higher ceiling than Thekla, but admittedly i'm not familiar with Thekla's pre-AEW work.