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Sitting at a hotel bar next to Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia right now and let me just tell you, they are the sweetest people in the world. This probably won't embed, but... https://i.postimg.cc/NMVdJjJj/IMG-7132.jpg

Dear DVDVR Forum, you won’t believe what happened to me tonight….

Next week will be the best birthday week/weekend for me. Day before is Dynamite, turn 36 on Thursday (Collision), I'm off work that weekend and that's when Supercard of Honor, All In, Evolution and SNME happen. Not to mention whatever indies are running shows in the Texas area that weekend that'll be on IWTV or Fite. I'm gonna overdose on cake and wrestling, y'all.

So Punk didn't hit just eat a shit sandwich this week, he took a trip to an all you can eat buffet shit sandwich. Hope it was worth it

As a friend, I implore you: Please, lighten up a little. It's OK for wrestling to just be fun sometimes: That is gorgeous. That is lovely. That is a group of people spontaneously enjoying themselves. That is a sense of community. That IS a positive part of what pro wrestling can be, these days. Not every match needs to take the crowd on a complex journey (although it's great when that happens. It's the best). This kind of silly fun is also good, though. One nice thing is: Obviously your irrational hatred of maximalist flippy overkill and crowds going into business for themselves hasn't killed your love of pro wrestling overall. Possibly, it helps you enjoy the kind of wrestling you love even more; having something to contrast it with. Similar, perhaps to how my (entirely rational and logical) loathing of corporate sports entertainment superstar culture probably helps me love my precious goofy honest indie bullshit pro wrestling even more. But. Please. If you cannot enjoy those creative and spontaneous Kyle chants, you are REALLY missing out on some fun.

Fragile ego, fragile body, weak mind, weak spirit Punk gave some interview around Mania where he said something like, "why is it everybody else can say things and then say, 'that was my wrestling character,' but when I say things, everyone thinks it's me?" Like bro, since the start of your career, you have portrayed your "wrestling character" as 100% shoot, real you. NOW that everyone is catching on that the real you is kind of a douchebag, my man is trying to fall back on kayfabe. Or do we consider all his performative activism part of his wrestling character, too? Conspicuous women's rights t-shirts? Real Pro-Palestine insta posts? Real Old tweets and interviews shitting on Saudi? Wrestling character Amazing After seeing the way he's conducted himself over the years, watching Punk elbow Miz and say "save some of that sanguinous cock for me!" is awesome. To @TheVileOne's point: Just don't hold yourself up as some paragon of progressive causes and this shit would never happen. I kind of believe @EVA. I bet the dude really needs the money. As for the little kid who wanted a pic that Punk shoved aside, dude should know he needed to be 9 years older and female.

We chanted Percy at Paul Bearer and he replied in character, Percy's in the Urn!

I think we need to take a step back and think about how this is a six year old company and some are bemoaning the fact that they’ve only just now broken 20 THOUSAND TICKETS sold for a stadium show in the US (with two weeks to go, and that’s ignoring the fact that AEW shows like these always do better in the week before/days leading up). AEW was founded, basically, on the idea that no show in modern times could sell even 10k tickets. And they did. Then AEW has done that over and over again. And eclipsed that 10k bet several times. Just the idea that an alternative choice can sell what they’ve already done for a stadium show should make people extremely happy. Not be down in their feelings that they aren’t doing more. It’s already on pace to be the biggest gate they’ve ever had. But let’s be sad about them not getting a few thousand more I guess? What???

Hope you didn’t pull anything making such a stretch.

Seriously? Give me a goofy John Silver TNT Title run over any of the last year of the title. Jack Perry? Boring reign. Garcia? Boring reign. Adam Cole? So far boring reign. Not a knock on any of the performers. But a fun zany John Silver run (especially back when he was hot) would have been much better than what we've gotten.

That's my vote for the 2025 most disgusting promotional tactic.

It's July 1st. CANADA DAY! Get out of here with that American nonsense.

Going back to WWE is one thing, especially if you're in a position of needing money. I've done things in desperate situations to make some cash. However, suddenly dropping all your big talk about social issues when you get there and going to a place you said you would never go is way different, especially when you present yourself as different and a voice for the voiceless. Maybe I'm still holding onto my younger ideals but it's just disappointing. Not surprising though. At the end of the day, he's still a wrestler.

You want to know what's coward shit? Going in front of Saudi fans and apologizing over a "mean tweet" and telling them you simply woke up crabby one morning...

Have you not been watching Ricochet this year? Half his act now is playing to and interacting with the crowd. "Bald" is his "Kyle". I think we can safely put the 'Ricochet has no charisma' shit to bed at this point AEW crowds are the fucking best. I was enjoying the Kyle chants and then out of nowhere they start chanting WE KYLE PEOPLE....WE KYLE PEOPLE and I fucking DIED Fuck, the Mexican crowd a couple weeks ago was chanting 'FUCK YOU YUTA'. He's an internationally recognized little shit!

FWIW there is a world of difference between pre-heel turn Kyle Fletcher and what he has become since then. Beforehand he was generic workrate guy #427, but he has tapped into something as a heel that actually sticks out.

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/triple-h-says-hes-incredibly-proud-of-cm-punk-for-apologizing-to-saudi-arabia/ Yuck.

Yeah, whatever spark was there between Cena and Punk in the closing stretch of Elimination Chamber did not show up in Riyadh. Big time Age in the Cage vibes from this one. Two guys just running through their old spots at 1/4 speed. And all of it was meaningless because it’s a 2020’s WWE main event, so nothing means anything until the run-ins start. I could not be any more tired of the Punk/Rollins issue.

Two weeks since Mercedes and Mortos went public with their relationship, and two Dynamite main events for the Beast. What a woman Mone is.

I suck at math but if that is july 10th congrats. I hit 51 that day. Got a show 2 days afterwards,and unlike every other show happening near my birthday most years,this one is inside and they got A/C.

Boy do I have a good story about Rusev later. He’s definitely the laziest guy in wrestling. Top of the class graduate from the Kevin Nash School of wrestling business.

(obligatory FHH! but this Mr. America dude is pretty cool, brother!)

On Wednesday, I'm heading to Seattle for the 2025 Rubik's Cube World Championship. At 2000 entrants, it's the largest competition ever. They sold something like 4500 spectator tickets for it, too. I'll be competing - poorly - and mostly staffing. ESPN will be there for a segment for their "50 States in 50 Days" thing they're doing. Kevin Negandhi will be there, presumably interviewing folks. In round 1 of the main 3x3 event, I'll be in the catbird seat, judging the world record holders in the event with a decent chance of being up close for a world record. To say I'm stoked about the whole thing would be a gigantic understatement.

There's a match between the Dream Team and Ricky Steamboat and Tito Santana in 1985 that was marvelous. Actually, the Dream Team's run as a whole was really good, but people sleep on it because of Beefcake.

So, maybe this should go in the weekly thread, but holy hell, what a glorious week this was for those of us who have always rolled our eyes at CM Punk’s “anti-establishment” act. This was the modern answer to what trips had to go through after the “curtain call.” I believe the direct quote that Trips attributes to Vince was; “you’re gonna eat so many plates of shit that you’re gonna like the taste.” Phil had to go to Saudi Arabia, a place he explicitly said he’d never perform, dress up like John Cena and do the shittiest freestyle rap since Noah Vanderhoff went on Wayne’s World, apologize to a planted fan for a tweet that I believe he genuinely meant, and then got made to look like shit against a thoroughly coasting John Cena. And to think: all he had to do was not get upset at Adam Page for not wanting advice that he didn’t ask for. This is what narcissism and self adulation gets you. He’s “Mr. TKO” now. The highest paid corporate stooge since Ed McMahon assured us that any of us could win the sweepstakes. Fuck that poser. I hope the Saudi blood $ keeps him warm, because he’s sold off every moral he’s ever pretended to have.

Gordi, love you man. I know you come from a place of love too. Trust me, I have a lot of fun. I wish you could see my twitter wall (though I get why you wouldn't. In the last few week I've posted clips of.. Bryan Keith getting slapped by Nick Wayne, changing his expression hilariously, and then beating him up. Kota Ibushi's sell of the pile driver where he lifts his hands up like he's going to fighting spirit through it and then drops them and has a thousand mile stare (called it abstract art). Cash Wheeler doing the Bandido taunt and going "Did I do that?" after they hit the double shot into the table on him. And then dancing to the Bandido chants. Fletcher posing with Dash both doing double biceps during the commercial break. A French Catch swimming pool match full of comedy. Ospreay doing that little curtsy bow to Swerve Swerve doing his roll for the flatliner only to get punched by Taylor Blue panther mugging Konnan's eye with a line "Your favorite wrestler's favorite luchador." Mercedes covering her ears to sell the Catalina chants before running right into a Reinera bomb Brody Lee pushing Fletcher ass over teakettle over the railing at Arena Mexico "You can't take Kyle Fletcher anywhere." and Takeshita doing Daniel Garcia's dance to him as a taunt during a commercial break. As well as a few critical things like the Bucks not showing enough fear to Hobbs and how terrible Aminata and Ford timing their dive together looked. But overall, I'm a barrel of monkeys, buddy.

After seeing all the damage Punk did to AEW because he’s a thin skinned bitchboy, all this, plus apparently aging 10 years in the space of two and having an awful match, is delicious. Every once in a great while, the shitty people get what’s coming to them. Savor it when it happens, my friends.

Thought I was a pretty hardened filmgoer. Then last night I saw PINK FLAMINGOS for the first time.

The thing about Kyle vs Kyle is, it's actually a masterclass in how to take a group of fans that are determined to ignore the match and just chant shit for their own amusement, and make them actually emotionally invest into the match. It's like Claudio vs Ricochet, if either of them knew how to work a crowd (they both know how to work a match, but neither of them really got deep into the Entertainment aspect of the Sports Entertainment).

What does any of this have to do with him claiming multiple times online and in interviews, podcasts, etc. That he personally would never take Saudi money and it was gross to go over there given the human rights issues circling the Saudi government?

Matt D hates fun! Honestly, I'm more annoyed by all the Defy-related chants. More than any other indy, it feels like Defy fans make it their whole personality. I agree that chanting jokey shit about wrestlers' names instead of getting into the match is kind of stupid, but chanting for another promotion entirely in some effort to show how smart you are is top tier wrestling hipsterdom. It's like going to some modern pop concert and holding up signs for your local open mic coffee house. Defy is the Crossfit of wrestling. How do you know someone is into Crossfit/Defy? Wait long enough, they'll bring it up.

Honestly, WCW should've done with Bret what AEW did with Danielson. Just have him come in and say that if WCW was where the big boys play, then he wants to wrestle them because he is the best there is, best there was, best there ever will be. And then just let Bret have awesome matches with guys like Benoit, Malenko, Saturn, Guerrero, Douglas, etc. But awesome matches wasn't important to folks watching US wrestling at that time.

Mid/lower mid card guys going 60/40 with stars and losing has been cemented as AEW’s TV formula. I guess there’s just always going to be a need for content and something to bitch about. I grew up in the 80s with nothing but name guy vs jobber matches on TV except for SNME & Clashes. The Raw vs Nitro period gave us more competitive matches (but usually with shitty finishes) because both sides were trying to beat the other in the ratings. WWE after the end of WCW was a mixed bag, but mostly shitty because they had no competition. Now we get AEW and their typical TV format, with some matches between same-level guys mixed in. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just different. My point is, everything changes. That’s like seeing a famous rock band from the 70s nowadays at the state fair, only one or two original members, they’re all old, and being like, “ I don’t know what all the fuss about them was about.”

Could be a number of us here.

They could go a few ways with this movie, which I like. - They're native to that Earth, and are doing a space mission (already have their powers) when they discover Galactus, and get the fuck outta there. They come back, and we get the montage of months going by, them defeating villains like Mole Man and Giganto. Galactus follows them to Earth, months later, once he senses Franklin Richards. - They're not native to that Earth, are doing a space mission (don't have their powers until this) when they discover Galactus, and get the fuck outta there in a hurry and accidentally travel through a wormhole and that's how they're on this 60s looking Earth. They decide to stay - with Reed secretly looking for ways to get back home - and we get the montage of them, for several months, defeating villains like Mole Man and Giganto. Galactus follows, etc etc. I think they'll make the audience think they're not from the sacred timeline and do a twist in the middle of the movie where Sue discovers Reed trying to come up with ways to get back home, not caring about protecting this world because it's not HIS world, etc. Jonny and Ben get upset because they've developed connections to this Earth, Sue is disappointed, etc. Reed has to redeem himself, but maybe it's too late by that point. I don't think I've been this excited for an MCU movie in a good while. My birthday month is July, and I'm eating so fuckin' good. Superman the day after my 36th, All In/Supercard/Evolution/SNME all that weekend, and then F4 a few weeks later. Good time to be a wrestling and comic nerd.

Holy shit, for once Mortos might not be the designated pin-eater!

Did you find the French interference to be a tad overbooked?

In a Canadian tuxedo no less.

So he fits right in with 95% of people that are going to see Superman

As much as I can get nostalgic about the Steiners vs. Owen/Bret, most of it is just a pale imitation of what you would have seen in New Japan or All Japan at the time but sans any type of story. The execution is phenomenal, but you can tell whoever agented the match just told them to go out and do whatever until they hit their time cue to go home. The Action Zone match with the Kliq members of Shawn/Diesel vs. Kid/Razor is superior IMO.

Are you counting multi man matches or just traditional tag teams? Otherwise, Canadian Stampede main event or the 10 man Raw match deom Dallas would be candidates. Also Austin/HHH vs Chrises when Hunter tore his quad also up there. And if including the women, some of the JBA vs Glamour Girls matches.

Kyle Fletcher is the Evolution of what Randy Orton started as. Just a giant douche that if I knew him in real life, I'd probably hate him. On tv as a character I'm supposed to dislike, he's perfect. Those glasses he's been wearing are infuriating in the best way. Speaking of gear, Nick Wayne's entrance jacket is very swank.

I miss those innocent days when we could safely assume this was just a metaphor.

Deonna Purrazo, much like Serena Deeb, simply isn't over. She doesn't connect to the AEW crowd in any way.

Well, that’s probably the problem right there.

Pink Flamingos was lent to me by a member of the Marvel Bullpen. I'd never even heard of John Waters at that point so when I was told, bluntly, that I had to watch it, I took this person at his word. I was still living at home at this point and my gut told me I couldn't watch this movie in the living room. I was right James

I think Bischoff didn’t actually want Bret he just didn’t want Vince to have Bret. That and WCW was always sort of a mess when it comes to booking.

There was a fun little character moment after that on the floor, where Yuta tried to struggle to his feet, using Shafir for balance, and she violently shoved him off of her and up the ramp. I lol’d. Yuta is doing his best work right now as a conniving, stooging little shit.

What's insane is I just discovered the only way for people to even see the ROH show live is to purchase a $1,050 - $1,350 ticket to All In. What in the TKO is this shit?