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The frat house vignette deserves to be shared with the world

I think they need to keep the "Lights out" surprise for debuts and not mess with the lights for other things. When Clon (Clone? Clown? Clune?) debuted and they tried to do some weird lighting effects, everyone seemed to be waiting for someone to come out and join and/or attack them. When Toni Storm faded to black there was as sudden excited murmur followed by silence. What a weird crowd. Completely silent and uninterested in anything Tay did, including booing her promo, only making any sort of noise when Toni was on offence, then immediately "What"-ing her promo. I half-expected Toni to say "You people are idiots" and the crowd to respond "She's right, give us hell, Toni!" I think Ricochet deserves a lot of credit for channeling his fandom of The Rock into a completely new and much entertaining character for him. He's so much more watchable as annoying guy who is genuinely talented and knows it but is also kind of a coward. We don't get the ICE ads up in Canada (Well I do sometimes during football games, especially on Fox and they left me feeling icky) but we DO get Tim Horton's ads that are almost as offensive in a completely different way.

'One Battle After Another' felt like one of the greatest films I've ever seen. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Great to see Sean Penn back working at this level again. Between this and Licorice Pizza, Anderson has really revitalized this ol fossil. He's as incredible as he's ever been here as Col. Steven J Lockjaw. I've loved DiCaprio since he was Lucas on Growing Pains, and this may have been my favorite performance yet. His Bob Ferguson felt imbued with the Dude. Teyana Taylor, Benecio Del Toro, Wood Harris, Chase Infiniti and so many others provide wonderful performances. Exceptional tension and humour throughout. * * * * * 'Smashing Machine' was every bit as great as I expected it to be. The Safdies are in a can't miss zone right now. I expect equal excellence from Josh's Marty Supreme. Rock lived up to the praise. I was a little surprised by the film. Those expecting all the Rocky beats may be disappointed. Definitely doesn't feel as broad with it's audience aim as I thought it might. Very thankful it is what it is. * * * * * Great start to film season!

I could watch Koko Ware hit high-end offense all day. He's one of those '80s dudes who pop off the screen with their dynamic (for the time period) offense.

Gets older?

We need BEEF/Priest/Workhorsemen vs LFI now.

I've seen Roberts on the Memphis tv i was watching and thought he was a good big man. I've stopped watching because I wasn't into how WWE ID heavy they were going. Gio Savage is good too.

I’m the second biggest modern ROH fan here. I love wrestling for the sake of wrestling and squashes and what not but a Frat House squash followed by Lethal vs Solo was a tough one two punch. I’m excited for a Rush/Sammy vs Workhorsemsn title match though.

I mean, last time he talked to the media they took something pretty tame and turned it into "he's disgruntled and thinks Joe Flacco is trash!". I'd just fuck around with the media after that too. He can't win no matter what he says anyway. And I doubt anyone on his team gives a shit about it. They could all use the distraction from being the Browns, you know?

I didn't recognize that song as it wasn't Piledriver, turns out it was The Bird from The Time (like odessa, I'll always find an excuse to post Morris Day & The Time):

Brody needs to go back to the Abolish ICE shirt, or better yet, just wear a FUCK ICE shirt.

I hope they at least bring in Gringo Loco for his debut like they did with Hologram.

Our motherfucking CHAMPION Hangman is pissed about it and posted links on Bluesky asking followers to contact TBS and HBO. TK, make this man champion forever. 50k signing bonuses for brownshirts while we cut everything that helps people. Fuuuuuuck all this.

That’s my fuckin’ men’s world champ

Please yes! I'm curious what turned you off on Bryan Danielson doing regular Dynamite and PPV commentary? You don't really mention what it was that bothered you before suggesting he should do something else. Not sure I agree on awkward professionalism. I've long thought Taz actually oughtta cut a bit of the dad humour and pay closer attention to the action. Danielson continues to be my favorite (huge) improvement to the show. I love his insight and he keeps me locked and focused like he is. I feel like he's done more for some of the wrestlers he's analyzed on commentary than anybody had in their entire run. And I say that will all due respect - I just think Danielson is just that good. Exactly! This Meltzer blow-up on WOR was really intersting. He was pissed about this signing, and saying all the same cliched things that get thrown around online. I wonder who's in his ear? You said it tho, TK praised Andrade at that Worlds End media call. If Dave's right, yeah, bad move, but something tells me there's more to the story. Personally, I'm pretty thrilled to see him. And especially with a mouthpiece like Don Callis. Perfect! That's what he was missing (even with that buff stud Jose). You can argue his charisma or connection to the audience, but to my eyes Andrade is easily one of the best bell to bell wrestlers in the world. Nobody smoother. Andrade vs. Omega sounds fanfuckingtastic to me. Yeah man, I miss Dean highlighting all the bump machines. Blake Christian is most certainly one of them. I dig Garcia's look too. Was Joe really yelling "I'll fuck your ass"? I didn't hear that. I love this simple build tho. Just a bit of hotshotting and dropping a belt and somebody's big dumb ego blows up. Makes total clear sense, and I am so game for Hangman v Joe. Feels like a nice twist on this run. Unlike many on the DVDVR, I'm cool with Pac's new cut, but yeah let's hose that motherfucker down. I thought the Toni fade out was another wrinkle on AEW's all time awful use of the lights out gimmick. RIdiculous! On the same night that you use it for a debut? That said, I did like the Andrade return. One of the better lights out situations. The Clon debut was such an epic fail. The commentary and wrestlers acting like they were seeing Hologram was such a bad idea. And a little embarrassing. How did nobody put a stop to that in the creative process? Ha, then the shitty lights thing with Clon, and the Family akwardly standing there. Nonetheless, CLON'll be fine. I don't think he needs Hologram to be around, but he really should have been the guy who put him out. Kyle Fletcher attacking Hologram in the back with no punishment is a logic/credibility killer, or would be if more than me and a handful of ppl watched Collision.

Season 3, Show 18: “Evil Rising” or Choices That Matter: And Their Heroes Were Lost Recap: Willie Mack earns the title shot that he won by surviving the Battle of the Bulls tournament tonight. The Rabbit Tribe seems to still have their sights set on the trios tag belts and also doing as many drugs as they possibly can. Drago is indisposed as of right now, though, as Kobra is very theatrically trying to starve him. Oh yeah, and Sexy Star still thinks Mariposa Martinez is sticking tarantulas in her belongings even though Mariposa is from the Moth Tribe, is literally named “butterfly,” and also only deals in butterfly-and-moth-based weirdness. Seedy dark temple interstitial: A baffled Mil Muertes monologues to himself, wondering how Prince Puma could possibly be alive again after Mil stuck him in a coffin to win their Grave Consequences bout. Of course, Catrina has an answer: Vampiro, who according to her “toys with dark magic.” That, he does! Catrina advises Mil to attack Puma via attacking Vampiro, the latter of whom really doesn’t understand how to leave well enough alone, don’t you think? The name “Vampiro” echoes in Mil’s head as Catrina blit-blurts away… …and blit-blurts right into a seedy backstage interstitial; as soon as she teleports into the Temple’s hallways, Jeremiah Crane immediately sidles up and asks if she saw him defeat the love of her life last week. Alas, Crane hasn’t been watching the same shows that we have and doesn’t realize that Rey Fenix is actually the guy that Catrina loves. Catrina informs Crane that she doesn’t even like Mil like that and that he didn’t even put a glove on the one she really loves last week. She walks off while Crane stands there with a hangdog look on his face. Seriously, I’m half tempted to video capture his face right now at two minutes and twenty-two seconds into this episode and put it in some sort of online dictionary next to the word "hangdog." Does Ivelisse know about any of this? This dude Crane used a relationship with her to weasel his way back into the Temple so that he could try to bang Catrina. Ivelisse can be a domineering and toxic partner, but she doesn’t deserve this! Matt Striker and Vampiro open the show, and Vampiro, you’re in danger, sir! You might want to take the night off! Striker runs through the card, then sends us to the ring for the first match. That first match: Sexy Star hooks it up once again with Mariposa Martinez. Star double-legs Mariposa and throws a ton of hands before getting to her feet, grabbing Mari’s ponytails, and whipping her around. Mari manages to scramble upright, but Star flings herself at Mari, lands a rana that spills Mari to the floor, and follows up with a dive. Mari is already in deep trouble, but manages to reverse an Irish whip into the wall underneath the raised guardrail. She manages a choke, then breaks the count to inflict more punishment; this punishment includes killing a Star facebuster, grabbing her by the legs, and bashing her into the side of the commentary desk a few times. That was a neat spot, which is something that Mariposa is always good for in her matches. Back in the ring, Mari attempts a Butterfly Effect, but Star twists away from it and goes on the run after stuffing a Mariposa charge with a boot. Star lands a leaping arm drag, then shoots Mari in and, after being reversed, blocks a hip toss with fists and a sitout hair toss that was kind of neat. Star’s worked punches are shit, though. We got a close-up on them, and they did not look like the sort of punches that should faze a newborn, much less a professional wrestler/assassin for the Moth Tribe. The psychological story of this match is that Mari is not taking this match as seriously as Star is because Star sees Mari as a legitimate threat whereas Mari is simply enjoying another chance to beat up Star for the fuck of it all. Mari lands a Samoan Drop to counter Star running at her, then presses for two before taking her sweet time to wrap Star in a variation of an Indian Deathlock that leaves Mari’s left leg free; Mari uses it to stomp Star’s shoulder as Star inches toward, and grabs, the bottom rope to break it. But again, Mari’s a bit casual about this beatdown. She drags Star into position, stomps her abdominals, and then slowly goes up for a moonsault; Star moves and then immediately picks up the pace again, though Mari uses her height advantage to catch a leaping Star and put her up top for a superplex attempt that Star blocks. Star shoves Mari to the mat, then hits a Killshot-like top-rope double-stomp for the three count. Star screams at the downed Mari to leave her the fuck alone, probably, before leaving. It is likely that Star thinks her spider issues are over. They almost certainly are not. Meanwhile, Marty “the Moth” Martinez slides into he ring to check on his injured sister, and by that, I mean he slides into the ring to chokeslam her for her failure. I notice that his AZTEC PRIDE shirt, which is usually yellow with black lettering, is now black with yellow lettering. Who does this Moth think he is, our current emp version of Prince Puma? Seedy backstage interstitial: Mascarita Sagrada is working out backstage, and man, this guy should get a gym membership and get his reps in somewhere else, because he’s always accosted by complete jackasses every time he tries to get his pump on. Last season, it was Famous B., and the working relationship that blossomed from that meeting ended up going poorly for him. This season, it’s Paul London and the Rabbit Tribe. They all bow to him because they think he’s the white rabbit that led them to the Temple. They’ve decided that he is the leader of their tribe and want him to join them at ringside for their trios tag match later tonight. Sagrada tells them all that they’re crazy, but they’re just crazy in love with you, Sagrada. Anyway, they proclaim Sagrada “incredible” and all hold hands while trying to keep their glee at tracking down their supposed leader. This poor bastard Sagrada. He’s one of my favorite characters in all of LU: an undersized, but highly skilled fighter who has to put up with a ton of stupid bullshit while he’s merely trying to make his way in the world. Speaking of the Rabbit Tribe, here they come to the ring. Matt Striker Reads American Postmodernists: He mentions Jack Kerouac and Timothy Leary while talking about the '60 counter-culture themed Rabbit Tribe. I bet Striker reads, and I bet Striker reads a lot of American guys who were writing around this same time. If he’s not a fan of Mailer and Bukowski, I’d be flabbergasted. Anyway, I think “turn on, tune in, drop out” broadly lives on as a way of life as described by the concepts of “lying flat” or “quiet quitting” in the modern day, but you don’t want to read my writing about any of that because this is a wrestling review, not a sociology paper. What you want to read my writing about is Kobra Moon playing Colonel Robert Parker to Drago’s Kole and Kane; she leads Drago to the ring on a chain and collar to tag with Vibora and Pindar. It’s the Rabbit Tribe against the Reptile Tribe! Next! Bad Luck Cisco – oops, I mean Mala Suerte – starts the match out against Pindar. He wins a headscissors, but when he tags Saltador in, Saltador leaps into a power slam. Kobra, who directs traffic for her team from the floor, deamnds that Pindar tag Drago in. Pindar does, and Drago goes on the attack instead of, I don’t know, taking off into the stands and rushing through a door, out into the relative safety of this Los Angeles-area warehouse district. Obviously, Kobra’s plan to starve Drago worked to make him compliant…or maybe something else we didn’t see on screen did the trick. In any case, Drago has no hesitation about landing offense alone and in tandem with Pindar. Striker is very confused about what this means for Drago’s participation with the Super Friends, who I will remind you are the current trios tag champions. I imagine that Fenix and Aerostar will not be champs for long, though Drago might not miss a beat if the Reptile Tribe is the team to beat them. Fenix in particular has a series of enemies that he isn’t responsible for making right now – the Reptile Tribe and Jeremiah Crane, most notably, and probably still Mil Muertes considering how much Mil relies on Catrina's guidance. This alone has caused Fenix to gain my sympathies. This match has a bunch of Rabbit Tribe shtick. Vibora tags in and the crowd insists on chanting LU-CHA-SAUR-US, which Matt Striker simply ignores as though he were Michael Cole commentating the post-WrestleMania RAW episode while trying to block out whatever nonsense the annoying crowd was chanting in counter to the ongoing WWE NarrativeTM. Paul London pokes Vibora in the chest, trying to figure out if this dude is real or an apparition. Vibora demonstrates that he is no mere apparition by nailing London with a big boot. This sparks a London FIP segment, insofar as the Rabbit Tribe are babyfaces. Kobra cheats from outside the ring, even choking him with the chokechain that she uses to lead Drago around. London eventually manages to escape the corner and make a hot tag; Mala Suerte and Saltador hit the ring and land a series of double-teams to the Reptiles; they get two on a double-dropkick to a seated Drago. Suerte does his whole Coast-2-Coast fakeout move, but the time he takes to set it up allows Drago to recover, headscissors Suerte as soon as Suerte lands his dropkick, and tag out to Pindar, who teams with Vibora on a big boot/swinging slam combo. Pindar and Vibora signal to one another that they should end it, but London hops in the ring and delivers a few superkicks. London tries to follow up by springboarding onto Vibora, but the once-and-future Luchasaurus catches him and rotates him into jumping Tombstone position before spiking him. Korba demands that Drago finish this match, and Drago does so by attacking the legal man Saltador with his running flipping neckbreaker, which he does earn three on. Pindar and Vibora hold up Drago’s arms in victory while Kobra chains him up again. This is when Fenix and Aerostar rush the ring; they clear the ring of the Reptile Tribe’s generals and then release Drago, but Drago seems entranced by Kobra Moon – TBH, who wouldn’t be, and yes, I am perfectly settled down – and doesn’t know how to respond to his buddies. He shoves them away, but he doesn’t attack. He merely looks confused while Fenix and Aerostar remonstrate with him. Kobra and her other two generals seem content to let Drago attempt to clear his mental fog from the safety of their position outside the ring, probably because they feel confident that he won’t be successful. Seedy backstage interstitial: Fresh off her victory over Mariposa, Sexy Star walks up to Willie Mack, who congratulates her on her victory. Star thinks that Mack will be victorious tonight as well, but Mack asks her not to interfere in his match against Mundo tonight, just as she asked him the same a few weeks ago when she wrestled Mundo for the title (Season Three, Show Twelve). Star agrees, and then they do their Complex Friendship Dap, which is one of the best tag team moves anyone has done on this show ever. Seedy backstage interstitial: Star has long left by the time that Dario Cueto skulks around the locker room in search of Willie Mack. I do wonder what Dario is up to, and here it is: Dario has made this title match tonight a non-title match tonight, with the winner picking the title stips for their actual title match. Mack expresses his confidence with the faintly silly catchphrase, “Always bet on Mack.” I’m living in the “Johnny Mundo as LU Champ” era and, while it’s not as bad as it would have been if he were a babyface champ, heel champ Mundo isn’t exactly inspiring me. I am guessing that he’s going to drop the gold to Brian Cage and his Aztec-powered gauntlet, but you know what? I would like a babyface champion for at least a few weeks. We got Puma being a weak babyface champ in season one for most of that season, but since then, we’ve had two babyface champions who held the belt for a single week apiece. I am assuming, by the way, that Cage becomes a heel because he’s imbued with the power of the Aztec gods, and as far as I can tell, the Aztec gods are mega-heels. I dig Willie Mack even though sometimes he works like a guy who just wants to do awesome deceptively athletic tubby-man offense and WWE callbacks no matter what else is going on in the ring. Vampiro says that the Mack is used to beating beaten by police and fighting homeless people for food, which is not the story of every black American ever, dude. Mack does shrug off Mundo’s forearm to the back. He doesn’t shrug off Mundo flipping him the bird though. That’s his gimmick, dammit! He lifted it off Stone Cold Steve Austin first! He hits Mundo with an Exploder Suplex on the floor while Vampiro drives this very bad conversation juxtaposing Mundo growing up well-to-do in Los Angeles against Mack growing up being beaten by cops, I guess? Where is this coming from? You know, you guys can talk about a black wrestler without insinuating that he’s a broke fatherless dude or whatever. Goddam. I mean, we’ve seen Mundo’s (presumably kayfabe) home before, and it’s extremely nice, but I thought the inference was that he bought it with that big WWE money, not that his daddy was a high-powered lawyer or whatever. Even if that’s a truth about John Hennigan’s real life, I don’t think it’s ever been said or implied on LU television before and really wouldn’t be relevant in kayfabe when the whole point of Mundo’s “I’m a superstar” act is that he’s come to this seedy Temple from the WWE and obviously carries himself like he’s been in the big time and all these other wrestlers should bow before him. Anyway, sorry for the side rant, but I hated all this opening commentary, and for once, Vampiro is the person who took the commentary down this particular type of shitty path and not Striker (who even cautiously paused while Vamp went off about Mack’s upbringing). The match is perfectly solid so far, as Mack hits a bunch of huge moves once he gets Mundo back in the ring – a nice lariat, a leaping back elbow, and a big slam. Mack then kicks Mundo’s arm and, in a show of how permissive I am toward his worst instincts, doesn’t irritate me by landing a People’s Elbow and then dabbing. In “honor” of his LU backstory, I’m going to call Mack’s version of that move a Downtrodden People’s Elbow. We shall overcome. The DPE only gets two, by the way. Mundo kicks his way out of immediate trouble, then hits a leaping elbow in one corner. He tries a whip into another corner, gets reversed, but turns back a Mack charge with a boot. Mundo then rushes the staggered Mack, but he is reversed in turn; Mack scoops him up and scores a Samoan Drop, then kips up and lands a standing moonsault for 2.8. Mack hooks Mundo in uranage position; Mundo elbows his way out, but bounces off the ropes and runs into a pop-up forearm that puts him down for two more. The experienced Mundo makes a bit of room for himself by rolling to the apron, but he loses a punchup and gets caught with a Codebreaker; he topples back into the ring, but manages to kick out at two on Mack’s cover. Mack tries to follow up with a Mack Stunner, but Mundo shoves him away and right into referee Marty Elias. Mundo tries to leap onto Mack’s shoulders, but Mack catches him and scores a sit-out powerbomb for a visual six count that is only an actual two count because Elias takes a long time to recover from a weak bump. Jack Evans and P.J. Black figure out that their buddy Mundo needs help, so they run out and surround the ring, which distracts Mack for long enough that Mundo can sneak up behind him, hit a low blow, and schoolboy him for three. This was a very 2000 WCW Thunder-feeling finish. If you’re going to do a ref bump, make sure that it’s convincing and that the ref is positioned in a way that doesn’t make it obvious that he’s prepping for a ref bump. After the match, the Worldwide Underground stomps out Mack; Evans and Black hold Mack in place while Mundo is like, Go home, fatty! And come back at a later date so I can kick your fat ass in an All Night Long Match for the title, which is the match type that I am now choosing. Oh no. Please, no. This is not going to be good. The Worldwide Underground celebrates in the ring until Mil Muertes and Catrina step onto the stairs. Mundo thinks that Mil wants his gold, and Striker thinks that Mil wants Mundo’s gold, but we know from earlier that Mil wants to throttle Vampiro, which he does. Just as Catrina planned, this brings down Prince Puma for the save. Vampiro orders Puma not to intervene just before Mil clobbers Vamp with a Flatliner, which is how our show ends. Meh. 2.5 LU-CHA chants out of 5.

That sounds tremendous! But point taken and understood.

Not if the Brewers themselves can help it. Nevertheless, this may be one of the hottest playoff series ever just for the crowds. By hook or by crook, Wrigley North will be a thing.

Well that is about as perfect an evening I am gonna get I had to go to be right after the Yanks went up 4-0 Turned out I had nothing to worry about

It’s also a 50+ minute episode apparently. I hope that’s without credits - Gunn was responding (on Threads? Bluesky? I don’t know) to someone asking if the finale will be longer than what we’ve been getting. I’m assuming the last episode and the portal stuff leads into Man of Tomorrow. In the preview, it sounded like ARGUS was looking for other realities/Earths that could support human life since we’re rapidly using up resources. I wonder if they maybe stumble upon Colu? I’d freak out if this introduced us to Lobo.

Yeah I am not sure if people thought one of the top promos of this year would come from someone with barely a book chapter of ones in his career in Amazing Red. But it was incredible. There is no way Trick is winning after that right?

Other comics had a "Zero Year" issue, but the story itself is self-contained.

Dude, you should watch it, because that's how half? a quarter? of how the characters sound. It's almost too heavy and verging on parody. The co-star of the series says everything like how you said.

Jesus fucking Christ. I think I've finally calmed down after that Cubs win. Despite their best efforts in the 9th inning, they held on. Another one of those, "I've seen this story before" things, only to thankfully be wrong.

Tigers let Cleveland come back to win the division to give them false hope

Honestly, they've kinda botched the whole angle so far. Not sure why they didn't introduce Clón by having him just wrestle as Hologram, and do a couple of atypical moves and actions that the announcers could really pound home were very un-Hologram like. Then you run the angle they did last night, where Hologram seems to turn, only to then reveal there is a second evil one. Instead they did a bunch of vignettes explicitly saying he is an evil Hologram clone, then kinda tried to pull off the "why is Hologram doing this" after everyone should be in high-alert that there is a fake Hologram running around. And you can't even explain it away as "they don't watch the show so they didn't see the vignettes", because the Conglomoration and other have commented on them. The matches will probably end up being dope, but just seems like a missed opportunity to give the angle more continuity, even with pivoting due to injuries.

He started using it In mid south.

AJPW 2009 Great Muta in Taiwan vs Zodiac or the Jesus guy in WWE

pivoting away from in-ring promos (or just having less of them!) feels like a worthwhile idea that I don't think anybody is willing to do because wrestling TV shows have the same general set layout that they had 25 years ago

I get the feeling that Samoa Joe will drop the "apology must be as loud and as public as the offense" line.

Great shout. Hope you and Little Log are well, mate.

Great visual.

More evidence Hangman Adam Page is one of wrestling's good guys. I remember when he burned Kane, pun intended.

Hot start with the opening trios and Andrade's surprise return. Had me hoping for a more epic ending to the show but it was a rather weak finish and then just kinda ended.

If you think Andrade wasn’t going to be welcomed back, then you weren’t paying attention in 2023 when he left anyway. TK had nothing but nice things to say about him and publicly said he’d hire him again. Malakai & Miro, not so much.

The Bucks having a gambling problem is a story I can get behind. Wow, they actually showed Punk in that montage! Does Andrade coming back mean they'll re-hire Jose The Assistant? What a weird time/way to debut ClØn. It was strangely similar to how Sin Cara Negro debuted. Also, they kinda blew it as you could easily see he was wearing ClØn's pants, not Hologram's. Is Mortos not in LFI any more? And TIME TRAVELIN' AL PEREZ as a security guard!

Ooooooh! You’re faster than me.

The best villains believe they're right.

How does Keith David continue to look cooler as he gets older?

Man, Tony Geary also played the bad guy in the award-winning Fat Boys tourcde force Disorderlies. What award you ask? The Lily Harris "Oh my! That's Luke from General Hospital!" Award. An award said with such sadness in my grandmother's voice that I became very worried about her mental state. Yes, I took my beloved Grandmother, who raised a son during the Great Depression while her husband ran a front for Murder Incorporated, to see a movie starring The Fat Boys. You don't get judge me for naming an award after her! James

Yakuza 3 Kiwami will no doubt be cool. It'd be a lot cooler if they add Planet Harriers to the arcade so Westerners can finally officially play it

Undertaker out of character is always going to be weird to me

"Bird blindness" is the funniest goddamn gag in a while. I love Tim Meadows.

Season 2 of PEACEMAKER Debuts August 21 on HBO Max

Who cares about the trailer, we need the opening with the S2 cast reveal!

Guessing we'll get a full trailer in the next day or so.