HarryArchieGus

I thought both shows were a lot of fun. Rampage had great flow throughout. I think you'd really dig the Adora-Deeb match. I really liked Roddy's eliminator match with London Lightning. Malakai-Daniels was a nice showcase. The 4 Way Elimination match is worth your time. Collision also had a great flow. A lot of promos and video packages to break up the bouts. Dustin had a promo that you'll dig. So too Joe's rebuttal. I thought Renee's sitdowns with Ospreay and Danielson were well done. FTR-Top Flight was good, not great. Penta v Kommander was really good, but maybe not for you. I guess it's sorta true about the wrestling not being so good to go out of your way to see, but Collision was still kind of a fun show.

Re: Night 1 I pretty easily managed to make 8 hours of 2 nights of WM into about 2 hours. No way am I watching a rah rah Helmsley promo nor any of the other bullshit to begin. Loved the Rhea v Becky opener. Both looked great and the match felt big. Kinda weird heat on Lynch, but ppl love Ripper. Great to finally see both of these talented ladies in the ring with an equally talented performer. This was my favorite match over the two nights. FFWD passed the Tag Team Scramble Ladder Match. Ladders and Scrambles are not for me. Andrade/Mysterio v Dom/Santos was going really well til the parade of extras and celebrities. Rey/El Idolo hitting the towering crossbody was such a spectacular spot. Dom looked really great here too. Disappointing finish to a strong start. I ffwd passed Jimmy v Jey. Word is it wasn't good. Ya don't say!?! I can't quite understand how somebody would expect the Battle of the Usos to be anything but terrible. I ffwd passed Bianca/Jade/Naomi v Asuka/Kairi/Dakota. I liked Jade's Rumble debut, but I'm as sick of her here as I was during most of her AEW run. I used to look forward to Asuka matches, but I just couldn't muster up the interest here. Zayn v Gunther was nearly as good as expected. I wasn't quite as into the melodrama with Zayn's wife and Michael Cole's Miracle calls as much as the Universe, but solid affair nonetheless. Loved the brainbuster like everyone else. Gunther is easily my favorite wrestler in this company, and I will continue to go out of my way to watch his matches. Lots to ffwd before the Main Event. And then more ffwding to do when the Rollins/Rhodes v Rock/Reigns match started. What a fucking snooze. Every bit as shitty as many predicted when Rock was pulling us back in with his great promos. Re: Night 2 Stephanie McMahon makes me feel ill. She should have worn the ECW leather kangol. I was waiting for her to lead another 'Thank You Vince' chant. Rollins v McIntyre was pretty good. I ffwd Rollins so much that it's easy for me to forget that he's actually a pretty talented wrestler. Punk was chewing up the scenery on commentary - kind of disservice to the match. That said, the post match Punk/McIntyre/Priest angle was fuckinfantastic. Awful way to switch a title, but this title is FTW-level lame anyway. Haha, no way am I sitting thru Lashley/Street Profits v Killer Kross' gang. Bronson Reed, Gable, Nakamura and a bunch of talented ppl are sitting on the sidelines while Ellering's lumbering goofs get on this show? No interest in AJ Styles v LA Knight, so ffwd on by. Is Styles' pencil mustache the worst/best facial hair in the business? Yee-ah! Similarly uninterested in Gas Man v Owens v Logan. Triple Threat=*Big smelly fart sound. I've avoided Orton matches for far too long to give in now. Bayley v Iyo was as excellent as one would expect from these two talented ladies. I can get down with Bayley as a babyface, but really hoping she goes heel again soon. Also, kinda hoping Iyo and Asuka slide back over to the babyface side. Ffwd passed Snoop and the lengthy video packages. Roman v Cody was fine. Nice to see Brandi sporting her finest swimsuit. Cuz you gotta bust out your best for Mania! I was watching with my GF who has only really seen AEW and NJPW, and thought these two were totally stinking up the place. She fully believed she was watching the worst match she'd ever seen. She's long thought Cody was shitty wrestler. I enjoyed the sentiment even if I did think Reigns and Rhodes pulled off the Heyman schmoze pretty well. Damn, was kinda hoping somehow Goofy Rhodes would lose again. Yes, 'thank you Bruce Pritchard!' and Nick Khan! 'Gross' as the kids say. Cody is thee perfect Corporate Cult Champion! Now, then, forever! Ugh, I always ffwd thru all of Cody's entrances yet that rotten song still finds a way back into my head. Oh man, I'm so thankful WWE isn't the only game in town.

Oh yeah, totally with the Skynyrd tune. Great song! I was emotionally struck at the Supercard until Riccaboni began yammering on and on over top of it. Still, when it hit it was glorious! I'm with the Homicide entrance too, but not at all with most of the ROH themes. A shit ton of buttrock and mall punk. Nowhere near the level of the fairly well curated ECW catalog of themes.

I just looked up Larry Sweeney's entrance music and see that he rolled out to 'Rock n Roll Part 2' and Andrea True Connection 'More More More'. I'm on board with those two! The list I have also says Danielson rolled out to 'Obsession' by Animotion! Awesome, so much better than the goddamn Final Countdown.

I don't really recall ROH having particularly good music. And no New Jack style music over top of the bout. Or promo montage music. Am I misremembering somebody having music that was important to the show? I guess Punk's theme was impactful, but not a song I'd miss hearing. Er wait, yeah, I'd miss the Copacabana. I wish TK would buy that one and give Colt a proper push already.

Absofuckinlutely!

Still, speaking of missing copyrighted music, is there anything worse than watching ECW from WWE sources?

How on earth do ppl sit thru 3 hour Raw broadcasts? Curious to see if the new brand tagline the 'Paul Levesque Era' makes it passed this Janel Grant court case. So much to skip on this show. No way am I watching Triple H talk. Nor Cody. I stop for the Rock, but seems like he's best to take that break and refresh. Haha, the belts swap! So Rocky bloodys Cody a week ago, but they're sorta cool with one another now? Dubya Dubya E! Really dug Dragunov v Nakamura even with the criminally short time they received. Shinsuke looked as good here as I've seen him. This roster could really use Ilia being regularly featured. I'm not entirely confident he'll be used well tho. Ugh, I just don't give a shit about another drippy Judgment Day promo. I stop for the Truth comedy. The Universe is happy to do as they're told and so cheers for the Miz! I skipped most of Miz/Truth/Cena v Judgment Day. Miz/Truth are an awful tag team. Glad FTR weren't duped by big money into coming back to this shitty tag division. Speaking of awful, John Cena! Is the idea that his kinda hilarious haircut and lame act is so bad it's good? Bronson Reed promo was good as per usual. Goddamn that NJPW run was too short. Ripley/Morgan brawl was pretty wild. I skimmed Roxanne Perez v Indi Hartwell. Perez seems like a real bluechipper. I skimmed Sami Zayn/Kaiser/Vinci interview. Ugh, even Zayn is all drippy. Zayn/Gable v Vinci/Kaiser was fine. Vinci/Kaiser are good, but have negative credibility. Dying for Gable to jump to AEW. Making the Draft out to be something important feels like an insult. I just can't fathom why anybody could possibly give a shit? The Universe believes in the Levesque era tho. Green v Jade. Love seeing all the love for Green's heel act. I became a fan watching her in Impact and on the Indies - she totally showed all the goods she's being praised for now. Great charisma. I sense she'll find a way to be properly pushed before all is said and done. So glad Jade isn't stinking it up on my preferred wrestling shows anymore... I'm still curious to see if Reps are even part of the plan. I suspect she's doing limited dates. She's a star ya see. Drew McIntyre interview to show all the drips how to do it. Ugh, an Uso Match and a 4 Way all rolled into one. Just a skim here, but Ricc and Bronson really worked nicely together. The 450 on the table was scary and insane and I'm glad O'cchet didn't injure himself. The Punk interference was really good. Two nicely constructed angles in two nights. Very into this McIntyre/Punk Collision course. The Universe and I completely differ on Jay Uso. I think he's horrible, but they like him. No further complaints, this show is for them.

I'm kinda totally fine with an epic fail here, but I don't suspect it will be. Why do you assume no one cares about FTR v the Young Bucks 4? I think there's more than a few of us who really dug each of their first three matches. I suspect 4 will be just as excellent. I'm also very much hoping this footage helps bridge the return of Jack Perry. I guess you could say 'I care'. I liked his early babyface act, and was totally into the beginnings of his heel run. Jack's a great example of the lack of patience in 2024 for the progreassion of young wrestlers. He's only 26 years old - a long way from his prime.

'Rate Your Music' indeed says Speaking in Tongues is ichiban. A cursory look over the top albums, and I wouldn't put it above New Order's Power Corruption and Lies nor the previously mentioned Tom Waits' Swordfishtrombones and the Fall's Perverted by Language. Nor would I rate it above Eno's Apollo, but that's neither here nor there. SIT isn't even so high on my Talking Heads list. For me it's a toss up between the 3 Eno records. Prolly Fear of Music. All that said, great sell on SIT. An 'amazing synth funk' record ya say. Okay. I'll take it for a drive shortly. I like the Chameleons, but have yet to connect in a way that puts them on the level with say Joy Division or Echo or PiL or Faith-era Cure or the Fall. Or The Sound. To be honest, I've been jumping around their catalog on Spotify. I'm not sure if I've listened to Script of the Bridge as a focused listen. Lemme give that a go too. Joe McPhee! Very nice. I love the Birthday Party. I especially love all the live videos on Youtube. Another great post punk band. Such a great era of music!

I got a chance to see a screening of Turin Horse here in Toronto at the Lightbox. It was a deeply moving experience. One of my all time favorite screenings. This was Bela Tarr's retirement film, and what a way to go out. As much as I loved Turin Horse, I've moved very slowly thru the rest of the catalog. His movies are so profoundly emotional that, for me, they require time around them to just sit still and meditate on the subjects. I've loved the first 2 and half hours of Satantango, but have been sitting on the rest for over a year now. I'll take this as a reminder. Silver Linings Playbook is my favorite of the Russell catalog as well. I actively disliked Bradley Cooper before seeing this. I'd thought he was resting on his good looks, but I'm happy to admit when I'm wrong. His performance here is so goddamn good. I've loved his work as both an actor and director since Silver Linings. Tho, I'm sure there's some 'one for them' films I've passed by. Especially loved him in his Maestro and Licorice Pizza. I hope Jennifer Lawerence makes some worthwhile films again. I loved her so much paired with O Russell - this, American Hustle and (the underrated?) Joy.

Collision is the Sunday tape delay priority. Elton John opening returns! Could the promo montage be far behind? Please. FTR v Top Flight was good, not great. The Martins seemed a bit sluggish here. I may have overhyped this one in my head after Darius/Dante's solid promo on Supercard. Loved the the reverse into Shatter Machine finish. Pac squash was fine. Not sure why Pac would heel tease his top rope finisher? You're the babyface, ya bastard! I very much liked the post match promo. Pac deserves more mic time, and seems to be getting it. Okada v Pac is a terrific booking. Okada video is good stuff. I like the reps the promo packages are getting. Excitement is brewing. Bryan Danielson sitdown was terrific. Loved all of what he was saying here. Renee is an MVP! Hook/Jericho v Taylor/Moriarty seemed well laid out to showcase the Hook. He looked like a beast throwing around Taylor. I'm all for Ogogo aligning with Taylor/Morarity. The fighting over submissions finish was good, but I'm starting to get a want to see Lee get some wins and credibility back. Shane Taylor loves spandex. He loves the feel of it. Even if its not his best presentation. Hook/Jericho/Shibata promo was good, and I'm all for that 6 man. The Dustin 'ALL IS I WANT, ALL IS I WANT!' promo was a lot of fun. Joe v Dustin will be a helluva piece of business! Ospreay/Renee promo was very good too. The packages and videos really help make this show come alive. House of Black v Keith/Daniels/Sydal was another nice showcase. Here's hoping for Keith v Black singles. Keith oughtta battle Buddy and Brody too. Malakai's heating up, and I like seeing it. Cope/FTR/Briscoe/Bucks run-in provided a modicum of sizzle towards each's future battles. Simple but effective. Rocky/Roddy promo was also simple but effective. Bucks/All-In announcement, and I'm looking forward to it. Yuka v Adora was stronger down the stretch. Yeah, I'm curious what Yuka v Deeb might look like. Good booking. Menard/Garcia promo was good. I'd like to see more simple direct promos from this pairing. Claudio v Butcher wasn't without its charms. I need to see Claudio go on a run like he had while wearing the ROH Title. Basing for more high flyers for example. Julia Hart promo was good. She's doing admirably well on the microphone. Samoa Joe promo was excellent. So stoked for the Dustin match. Komander v Penta was pretty strong for both. I'm curious to see what Copeland v Penta looks like. This was a fun show. The promos and video packages make for a much better flow. They tell us that stuff is happening in AEW, and the future is bright. I buy that!

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it!

Welcome to tape delay, it's glorious. Yeah, you never have to watch Billy Gunn matches! Or Acclaimed promos. That said, I couldn't help but skim the Jay v Billy shitfest. I'm still holding out hope that cameras were rolling throughout the day and a complete documentary of Gunn v White is produced. From conception to finish. It was great! Fun, fun, fun Rampage that too few will see. Roddy Strong v London Lightning was particularly fun. Lightning has strong fundamentals and worked extremely well with Hot Rod. Kudos to the person that brought the 'Matt Taven is Human Nyquil' sign. Lightning seems likely to get more TV or Honorclub time after this match. I even enjoyed Wardy's interference here. This whole show was good, but the 4 way *ELIMINATION RULES!!!* match was the highlight. These rules are soooo much more satisfying than lucky first pin. Garcia v Andretti v Komander v Bryan Keith were all fantastic. This was full of action while building a nice story. Was there a title shot on the line? Malakai Black v Daniels was a terrific opener. Easily the best Chris Daniels match I've seen in ages. Malakai's the real deal. Here's hoping he's able to wrestle more singles. Serena Deeb v Trish Adora continued the flow of excellence. Trish Adora continues to improve weekly, and has become cosistently strong. That bouncing submission is gonna get over. Deeb wrestled a helluva bout here too. Saraya/Harley Cameron/Zak Knight promo was fun. Harley Cameron needs more to do. She's outrageously funny. Let's get to the Knight-Cool Hand match already. Julia Hart/Leyla promos were also very good. Julia is the best promo amongst the Goth kids. This was a total darkhorse awesome Rampage that I hope more ppl around here see.

AEW piloted 'Elimination Rules' in a multi-person match on Rampage this week. It was a great example of how much more satisfying these rules are to first pin McBullshit.

Take another look. The explosion of the crowd was heated and organic, and kinda makes the finish.

If anybody sees a nice GIF of Austin Gunn buckling to Suzuki's forearm please post it. A nice bounce back for the BCG after Wednesday.

The move was reversed, Aminata got the knees up. The story was Starks learned how to cheat from her mentor Athena.

Zero Hour was a lot of fun. This had a level of excitement sorely missing from the weekly show. Nese/Woods/Davari v Adam Priest/Titus/Deppen was fast paced and well executed. Great to see Priest on the show after the fantastic DEAN bout with Slim J. I hope they start booking Deppen again. He's a great hand. The perfect enhancement wrestler (if not more). Woods could use more to do. He's greatly improved. The Beast Mortos v Blake Christian was an exciting suprise! Two of my favorites, and gelling beautiful here. Beast Mortos is a fair name change. Glad he's back. Stoked for Mortos v Komander! Fletcher sitdown promo was good. Kyle's good on the mic. I skimmed passed much of Karter/Garrison v Serp/Angelico. Karter and Garrison are not interesting me. Maria interests me with her terrific heel act and red styles. Mariah May v Momo Khogo was a nice bonus. A nice opponent for May and a good showcase of her talents. The Toni cosplay's been fun, but looking forward to Mariah going back to her own pastels. Lee Johnson v Kyle Fletcher was challenging. Fletcher's most ridiculous display of killshots yet. Really, Lee Johnson isn't going down for a top rope whatever? I could not buy what was being sold to me. This seemed intent on killing so much heavy offense for the night ahead and for no reason. Who do they think is buying Johnson as a star after barely selling a bunch of killshot offense? Completely senseless. Mei Seira/Shirkawa/Maika v Nakano/Kamitani/Azm was sorta fun. I may have been expecting a bit too much. Great to see more of Mariah May. Champagne all around for Stardom in AEWROH! I skipped much of the Infantry v Kingdom. I just couldn't muster any interest, but I am pleased they did a straight tag match rather than another pointless scramble. Very, very thankful for NO scrambles on this card. I thoroughly loved Aminata v Billie. My match of the night. Aminata looked like a killer. I even liked the injury angle. Great, great job all around. And then an excellent Top Flight promo! Dante really worked on his mic game during the hiatus. Smart move. Darius sounded great here too. Now I'm kinda hoping they beat both FTR and the Bucks on the way to the titles. But are they ready for such a feat? Jay/Asses v Minoru/Zayne/Archer was a whole lotta fun. Very nice surprise. Austin buckling to Minoru's strike was a highlight of the show. The BCG stooged beautifully here. Some questionable offense from Lance/Zayne (like that chokeslam bullshit), but pretty strong bout nonetheless. Assclaimed looked like the idiots they've become known to be after the match. I'm feeling a bit sad for Bowens and Caster. Johnny v Dalton was awful. Everything about this feud was horrible. ROH should work to improve passed this complete creative failure. Athena v Shida was solid. Sometimes Shida's strikes take me momentarily out of the match. Athena's red paint looked ridiculous. Still, solid enough. Good win for Athena. I may have overhyped Briscoe v Kingston in my head, but it wasn't far off. As mentioned, found myself irritated by Riccaboni's overselling dramatics and talking completely over top of 'Gimme Back My Bullets.' I just realized I can watch this with the commentary off - Will definitely be doing an Encore of this one sans commentary. Definitely good enough for a second look. The post victory celebration was very emotional. I love Mark and Jay Briscoe. I also feel happy for Kingston helping to make this magical moment. Compassionate manly love on full display. Very beautiful. Complaints aside, there was a lot to like on this ROHPPV.

I know the kneejerk is to get hot about the exploitation of a legit injury, but this was done so perfectly that I couldn't help but LOVE being duped. I was buying the injury, so it's hard for me to think Aminata looked dumb. This finish was the best heel cheat finish I've seen in ages. Further, the match was so good before that. Aminata has become a legit bad ass. She was so awesome here. No wrestler on this card had stronger looking offense. Early on, Starks looked really soft in comparison, but Billie brought plenty in the latter half. This was easily my match of the show. Further, the injury portion was the best executed angle seen in TKROH. Amen. Shameful. The complete opposite of the greatness of the DEAN show. Both Dalton and Johnny oughtta take a long hiatus after this. This should also be a wake-up call to the struggling ROH creative. Well said. I was kinda taken out at points too. The crowd for the Main seemed understandably exhausted. But the worst part was Riccaboni overselling the backstory and emotion. He also talked all over the incredible Skynyrd entrance. We also had Caprice's religious rant. It's great having Nigel on this show, but he can only do so much. Somebody needs to reel Ian in on the overselling dramatics. It makes for an unpleasant aural experience. It'd be perfect for a children's wrestling show, but I sense the audience is over 12. That said, Riccaboni's play by play is generally very good.

I believe the Boys story, and I'm sorry in reality that they no longer have jobs. But... as a viewer, I'm very happy I don't have to watch them anymore. They may very well have been the two worst performers on the roster.

Another lackluster ROH on Honorclub. Kingdom v Infantry was fine, but hardly in need of more time or a rematch. Not something I would Pay per a view. Speaking of which Kyle Fletcher promo was going fine til Lee Johnson stunk it up. Lee has little to offer with a microphone. He seems lost more than most. Its hard to imagine any of the local jobbers having less aptitude in front of a mic. Lee v Kyle wouldn't be something I'd go out of my way to see on the weeklies let alone the Supercard. Really weak booking. It's hard to imagine what Kyle says in this promo not to be true. Lee certainly didn't give a reason otherwise. Still part of me does hope Johnson steps up and proves himself worthy. Skimmed Anna Jay v Nikita. Glad to see Anna repping on ROH. She's quietly one of their best prospects. Dalton/Johnny promos were far better than the incredibly weak creative they've been doing week to week. Curious to see the blow-off, but again, not something I'll pay per the view. Comoroto v Johnson was fine. Glad to say I wasn't yet in the crowd when the Toronto faithful decided on a 'Shave your body' chant. Why should he shave his body, Toronto? I wonder if this Lee v Kyle match was booked after Toronto gave a Lee Johnson match some rare heat. I'm wondering if we should blame my hometown for the poor choice of Johnson as challenger to Fletcher's TV title? Carter/Garrison/Serpentico promo where if I'm correct from my skimming thru - Serp tricked them into signing a contract for a match? ROH Creative is really something. Carter and Garrison are terribly lucky to have dodged the cuts. Ffwd passed Nyla v Alexia Nicole. I wonder if somebody like Nyla wouldn't be better off taking an excursion. She's already lost to Athena and the act is more than a bit stale. Jacoby Watts/Comoroto promo was lame. I don't sense Watts has much to offer this program. Skimmed Uno v Lightning. Uno seems to be in late career Hacksaw Duggan mode. Maybe an excursion is needed for the remarkably stale Uno. I had no interest in the Athena/Billie/Amanita/Shida contract signing. Why is Billie still being labeled a 'Minion in Training'? Regardless of my total lack of interest in this segment, I look forward to both title bouts. Kingston/Briscoe sitdown was fantastic, and the best thing on this show by a long, long, long shot. This is a thrilling main event and worthy of Paying per the view. I skimmed Daniels/Sydal/Cartwheel v Red Eye Flights. I like Sydal he's a good hand, but he and Daniels as a unit are very challenging to get excited about. I was interested in seeing how Cartwheel would work with the Flights and Andretti in particular. Cartwheel would be a better challenger to Fletcher than Johnson. This show was pretty shitty. Maybe I ought not watch this carelessly booked show every week. Goddamn Riccaboni rapping Will Smith was the cherry on top of this rotten show.

High stakes! Easily the match I'm most excited about this weekend.

Really, really hoping the ROH titles start becoming a regular fixture of ROH TV. I'd love to see the TV work as a way of organically building challengers to all the many titles, and then having said title matches on the actual weekly ROH TV show.

Be sure to check out that Mathers/Luke v Williams/Icarus tag match. Thrilling stuff. Very much with you. Krule v Warhorse was a real surprise. Both guys looked impressive. The angle stuff less so, and too bad the fireball kinda missed - the camera work as a whole was very good on this show. The Dog Collar match featured incredbile intensity. I suspect guys like Connelly will have made bigger names for themselves. The interlacing styles of Arez v Makowski was amongst the top curatorial/booking efforts of the evening. The lay out or flow of matches was maybe the best play of all. I was hoping TK might see Priest v Slim J, and run it back on the ROH PPV. Here's to regular Schneider curated Supercard Independent shows? We could badly use one in Toronto.