Teflon Turtle

I just recently saw this performed live. I feel like it deserves a spot here vs. the music thread. Otis gave the audience a whole history lesson about Sputnik Monroe. Honestly, despite being one of the only pro wrestling fans in the audience at first (he asked), I didn’t know much about Sputnik and got me an education.

Same as above, I don't want to say too much about that match until everybody has seen it. I will offer one thought/give something to look out for: I don't pay too much attention to online talk about watching New Japan with Japanese commentary or English commentary. Your preference is your preference: if you prefer Japanese, watch that way first. But if you do that, I'd say to re-watch with the English commentary. Drilla Moloney was a guest commentator, and to my surprise he made the comparison to Kobashi/Sasaki live. He also has a hilarious call about 1/3- to 1/2-way through the match. To me, it was a reminder that the wrestlers from yesteryear probably weren't wrestling fans, as the nature of fandom changed with the advent of cable/satellite TV and the internet. A lot of wrestlers working today, though, absolutely grew up as huge fans. It brings to mind musicians. I've always had this internal block when it comes to learning an instrument, as I'd be afraid that once I knew how the sausage was made, the magic would be gone. It's untrue. Whenever I hear a professional musician talk about music, their enthusiasm is usually greater than mine. I totally forgot about Kobashi/Sasaki, but Drilla had that in mind right away, unless Walker passed him a note or something. Just kinda cool to hear that from wrestlers.

Spoilered for results discussion/embarrassing eating of crow:

New Japan actually going to make me purchase some SANADA merch: This is the - unfortunately - sold-out Japanese version. You can get this from NJPW's global/US shop, but it is printed on, you guessed it, a black t-shirt. https://shop.njpw1972.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/sanada-tokyo-hiro-adopt-dont-shop-t-shirt

You're both right. Iron Maiden's "Trooper" has been around for a long time. There are different beers in the line. This Lagunitas collab appears to be new this year, though: https://www.ironmaidenbeer.com/lagunitas-and-iron-maidens-trooper-beer-unveil-2026-collab-brew/ Really, I think I want to try that SN West Ghost. It's been a while since I've had IPAs, after hazies took everything over. (EDIT: never mind. Appears to be limited release and not available where I am. Oh well. Guess I'll just try their Torpedo again.)

I mostly agree with everything said above. I thought ZSJ/Uemura was not perfect, but still excellent. Bit early to be saying this stuff, but that's my personal match of the tournament so far. I think I (and others) have been saying similar things for a while, but it struck me again during that match: Yuya has become the best dance partner (at worst, second-best) for virtually everyone on the NJPW roster full-time that he wrestles (it doesn't seem fair to include one-offs or dream matches - I'm not trying to suggest that his match with Zack was better than Zack's matches with Bryan Danielson, for example). Whether it's a by-product of his style that it makes it easy for him to slot in with anyone, or the guy is truly that good, I'm not sure. I suppose it could be both. I may need to go back and re-watch the post-match a bit more. I actually shut it off because it was going on so long and it was getting late. I differ slightly in that as I watched some of it, I thought at times it looked like Yuya had never actually high-fived anybody in his life until that night. Maybe it was just awkward because it was crowded. This could also be something you want to take with a grain of salt, as "socializing" and "relating to other human beings" are not really things I do. Could be I just didn't understand what I was seeing. Along those same lines...I'm starting to think all of the current-gen guys need to work on mic skills. It's not as important as it is in WWE/AEW, but if these guys are going to be closing more shows, they need polish. Yuya included. The funny thing is, he kind of admitted it in this pre-tournament interview: https://www.njpw1972.com/657726. His "Oshaa!" shout he wants to get over doesn't really mean anything; he just isn't good at coming up with a catchphrase. As for the other matches, I'm glad to see Henare get some love here. I think he's got one of the most expressive faces in wrestling, and that alone makes his matches fun to watch. Without spoiling the overall match result, I want to see Callum Newman pick up some wins with that rear naked choke. He's been hitting that jumping/spinning entry to it really smoothly. Looks great, and he'll be able to hit it on anybody. So long as the opponent's foot doesn't get caught on the mat (with the spinning portion, I'd fear for knee injuries), that would be a fine submission finisher for him.

Haven't been in this thread for a few days, but agreed. I'm not yet convinced it isn't a publicity stunt gone awry, or one that was at least mismanaged. I like Charley's music and for the time being, I'm not changing that. But all signs, to me, point to him needing to set his phone down for a few years. Stop posting and scrolling. I wish more musicians would go to the Sturgill Simpson school of social media: disappear for years at a time, come back only to post nonsense and be otherwise completely unbothered.

Night 1 Thoughts:

Today from the "It Couldn't Have Happened to a Nicer Guy" File.... Anyway, the D'arce/Peruvian Necktie hybrid from Paddy was disgusting, filthy, and abhorrent in the best possible way. Only way it could've been worse is if Paddy was wristlocking him at the same time. I know there have been a handful of normal Peruvian Neckties in MMA, but that could be a new one.

Been feeling the exact same way. Given that I was arguably never a hardcore gamer in the first place, I was thinking about grabbing a Switch 2 so I could play stuff that's a bit more casual/not horrifically violent and/or gory...but beyond that, I've been feeling like video gaming is kind of wrapping up for me. I have a PS4 backlog to get through, but once that's over, I'm not sure. There are certainly games on that system I would want to revisit, but when the console finally stops working, that may be the end of the hobby for me. I am a physical media person in general. Vinyl, books, CDs, DVDs/BluRays...I also always liked having the game cartridges or discs. I think the industry has evolved beyond me in a lot of ways. I'm mostly OK with it. If games are going to be all-digital purchases now, that's probably a good breaking point for me unless Nintendo keeps up with whatever their switch mini-cartridges are called.

Man, did I like Tenchu when I was younger. But, I wonder if a hypothetical new Tenchu game would face a similar-ish problem to what I feel Assassin's Creed: Shadows had. AC fans were practically screaming at Ubisoft for a game set in feudal Japan with the Assassins as ninja. Years went by and it didn't happen. When I finished Ghost of Tsushima, I basically said "Well...Ubisoft got beat to market by a game they will never be able to top." Yeah, the themes of the AC series aren't really the same as the Ghost franchise, but AC: Shadows came out and it was like nobody cared. I was about to say Sucker Punch should just get their hands on the Tenchu IP, make some tweaks to the "Ghost" stuff, and do it themselves. But, since the rights to Tenchu are held by FromSoft.....on one hand, if anybody could make a Tenchu revival awesome, it's them. On the other, how would they differentiate it from Sekiro? EDIT: Sorry @Contentious C. Somehow I missed your post when I started typing mine. I've changed around some stuff above; you made the same point I wanted to.

I appreciate it, thank you. For better or worse, I had six cans of the stuff to play with. Last night I found that serving it in a wider, dimpled mug helped with that initial shock a bit. Probably helped the aromas dissipate sooner? Maybe it just isn’t a style suited for normal pint glasses/narrower vessels.

I too got a copy of American Utopia, just the regular BluRay, though. The B&N where I am actually seemed to stock up a bit. I’m hoping they get re-ups throughout the month, though. Also grabbed copies of Killers of the Flower Moon, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus, and Perfect Days. I was maybe most excited about the last one. I checked out a copy of that from my local library a short while ago, and found I arrived at that film at the right time, I think. I collect records and CDs more than films, but I’m very pleased I’ll be able to revisit that one as time goes on.

This reminds me...I'd been meaning to talk to...uh...somebody...the universe...about something in the beer -> soap pipeline. I have never had a red ale that didn't taste like soap, at least for the sips before it warms up a little. It's like the time I cussed at my grandma's house and literally got my mouth washed out with soap. I get that beer consumption in excess can cause child abuse, but it really shouldn't taste like it, y'know? Am I alone here? I learned early on (I even mentioned it in this thread) that letting certain beers like Imperial Stouts warm up brings out different flavors/changes the character of the beer. I guess I should just learn my lesson and let red ales - if I must drink them - sit out for a bit before consuming?

I am loving all of this Mount Rushmore talk recently. Promo Mount Rushmore should be as follows: carve Macho Man Randy Savage holding a tiny plastic cup of cream into the rock. Then, do that three more times. If I had my druthers the real Mount Rushmore would be three cream-holding Savages, and Abe Lincoln. Lincoln stays on because he is also a bearded wrestler. I don't want to dox myself, but on the other hand, I feel like this should be enough to land me as a write-in on a respectable number of ballots. For what US political office that is, I leave up to you. Good luck to election officials trying to figure out who or what "Teflon Turtle" is. To actually try to answer the prompt: I would unironically put Savage's "Cream of the Crop" promo on there. Unhinged, mostly nonsensical, still iconic. While he continues to be divisive, I would put CM Punk's first WWE pipe bomb up there too. At least for me, that might be one of the last times I got genuinely excited by something happening in WWE off of just a promo. Jay White cut the promo of his life right after Wrestle Kingdom 15, and for me personally, it's an all-timer. Blurs the lines perfectly while only really stepping out of character for a moment, and Jay's delivery is in parts of it very reminiscent of Foley in ECW. Spot #4 is just Foley himself. I'd have to go back and rewatch my "Cactus Jack in ECW" DVD, because I'm pretty sure there's a promo on it I actually like more than "Cane Dewey," but can't remember if it has its own unique title. He's had so many good ones it might not matter. EDIT: ugh ugh ugh bad memory Dusty's "Hard Times" promo goes up there. If I'm being realistic, it should probably replace Switchblade. I'm gonna need a bigger stretch of rock.