Jiji

Man's man babyface.

To an extent, but barring a few exceptions, many of these matches have felt like the same routine, the same story just with interchangeable participants. G1 wasn't like that years ago when I watched. You'd have the bigger guys taking out smaller guys without going through 10 finisher level moves, to tell a broader story of career progress for those young lions/midcard wrestlers. You'd have more unique matches with the individuals telling stories catered to their characters they'd built up over the years. It's like dudes are scared to lose if they don't get hit with two finishers. I agree that, from what I've seen, it does seem a broader issue than just this tournament, but WWE isn't nearly as guilty outside of the majority of Cena big PPV matches. I'll shut up now because this is probably a conversation better suited for one of the many generic threads 'round here. Having fun watching the tournament but a little disappointed with how the style has evolved, I guess. I haven't seriously followed Japanese wrestling since about the mid-part of the last decade, only watching in spurts and lately just the highly praised stuff.

Except that he controlled the fight and did more damage.

But what did Patti Smith have to say, dammit?!

Nice trunks and origin story for his nickname, though. His stand-up is still brutal.

Nagata is so easy money for screen caps. I've finished days 1, 3, and most of 2. Kojima/Tanahashi from day 1 was pretty decent and then Red Shoes fucks up that pin. Fucking hate the delayed third count that he and most refs do nowadays, but to go the extra step and completely blow it like that? Ole Anderson says, "that's a firing." I haven't watched much puroresu the past four or five years, so this may sound silly, but... Are there many matches that don't go through the extended, predictable finishing stretch where both guys go through every one of their big moves at least once, usually twice? Why should fans bother popping until both guys have emptied their arsenal? Sorry for the rant, but watching that much stuff in the day, how formulaic most everything seemed just stuck out like a sore thumb. That said, it's still been a good three days of rasslin' for the most part after I came to accept that. I enjoy Shibata matches because they usually avoid this and are short'n'brutal.

Stann is good on commentary, but that "congratulations, you just got gaped," was hella awkward.

They bring this guy back? Just terrible.

Does Devitt do the outside interference/chair spots every match?

Just catching up on this, and from the little I've seen from this year, Tanahashi/Ishii is the best match of 2013. Awesome Korakuen crowd, great use of the headbutt, and really smartly worked throughout (though perhaps one too many back'n'forth exchanges). Disgusting SSD.

Who doesn't love White Men Can't Jump? Tom Chambers.

Well, if you're going to be in shambles, go all the way like Newcastle. Why finish 7th when you can finish 16th and bring in Joe fackin' Kinnear to fix what ails you?

Dan Hamhuis? I was surprised he was invited to team Canada's summer camp, even more so when people started penciling him into the final roster. He's not the most well known guy, plays an under the radar type of game, he's fairly limited offensively, and he didn't have a very good last season.

EDLER WILL BE THE STUD HE'S PROMISED TO BE ONE DAY. IT'S HIS DESTINY. Oh...

I'd take him ahead of Kronwall.

At least you get fun shit like Lambeezy. Edit: Although... an attack consisting in part of Diego Costa and Suarez would provide lolz and tears. Still think Suarez leaves but Costa's such a massive troll, he's even got the mug for it.

Why is Grabovski still a free agent?

Not even the actual football department where most of my concerns lay. How many PR guys have they gone through, each making blunder after blunder? Their first guy goes overboard on the Suarez racial case. The next one, Jen Chang, loses his mind, threatens Duncan Jenkins (a perspiring journo!) in public. And they've replaced Chang with this brilliant fucker who makes a wonderful list of no-nos, only for the press to find out that Warrior uses one such phrase as part of their shitty marketing campaign. That part of the equation should not be difficult to handle. Then there's Ian Ayre being given way too much responsibility with only the Standard Charter deal on his CV (and who knows how much he had to do with that). If the owners aren't going to be hands on, then they should have a vice-chairman (a la David Dein) and/or an experienced DOF to oversee the day-to-day operations, And not Damien Comolli btw. And the stadium. It goes on and on. I want to support FSG but they've made it so difficult. Thank fuck for li'l Phil.

I remember the opener in '09-'10 at Tottenham losing 2-1, looking dog shit in the process, really was the time that ended. How does a PR wizard come up with a list of banned words for a club without going over said list with your sponsors? And let's loan Skrtel to Napoli too while we're at it... not like they have any money or nothing. There are some positive signs but it's pretty clear ownership still haven't come close to having a clue about football yet.

It would be sweet if the people running Liverpool Football Club could go a week without making asses of themselves.

Piranesi just died a little.

Undead is hilarious. My friends and I would whisper "the world is ending" in terrible Aussie accents whenever anything was amiss for about two or three months after watching that one. Yeah, we're idiots.

Does Mutiny On the Bounty count? The '35 version was fantastic and I'd put it ahead of Master and Commander. It's more of an internal conflict rather than external, though, so I'm not sure it meets your criteria.

And it's not close. Two hours of butt clenching drama, bad ass Prochnow at his best, the rest of the cast is really good, superbly done claustrophobic atmosphere, and an ending that just destroys the viewer. When I started my history BA, I watched altogether far too many war films, most of which I wouldn't watch now if you'd pay me. This one stands the test of time. Probably on my top 20 list if such a thing existed.