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Everything posted by Teflon Turtle
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Funny thing is, I almost did the same. Show on Tuesday, bought my ticket the Sunday before. Not sure why I've procrastinated on concert tickets lately, but it's been a bad habit. I knew I was going to get my money's worth by the first or second song. Hopefully she comes around your neck of the woods again.
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I went to go see Molly Tuttle last night. It was a solo show at a small auditorium. Despite the fact that she has now won back-to-back Grammys for Bluegrass Album of the Year, it wasn't quite a sellout. But my goodness, did she bring it. She's an absolute phenom on guitar. I think my introduction to her was her collabs with Billy Strings, and at the time I assumed the intricate guitar parts were just his, since I didn't know much about her then. Hoo boy was I wrong. She is every bit as capable, if not more so, than any other top bluegrass guitarist working today. It was my first time at one of her shows, so I don't know if this is common: the encore was a single song. But, it was a really cool experience. She unplugged her guitar, stepped out from behind the mic to come to the front of the stage, and had the crowd join her in singing along with Neil Young's "Helpless." My hundreds of listens to his Unplugged album paid off in this case; I probably fumbled the odd word or two but otherwise did OK. All told: if you have any appreciation for bluegrass and its adjacent genres, you would be remiss to not go see Molly Tuttle should an opportunity present itself. I definitely plan on going to more of her shows in the future.
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Anybody who doesn't know who Gabe Kidd is should track down his singles match vs. HENARE from New Japan's Korakuen show on 2/4/2024. You'll find out right quick. It's an excellent match. Side note: folks have gotten so caught up with House of Torture and complaining about Finlay, that they're missing out on several Bullet Club guys who are doing really good work right now. Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney, and Clark Connors are all quite fun to watch. It's a shame Alex Coughlin had to retire because he'd also be on the list.
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2024 Pro Wrestling Merchandise Thread
Teflon Turtle replied to The Natural's topic in The PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
I was going to log in to post this, but only to point out that AEW is doing a bang-up job in keeping the New Japan continuity of "Okada has never had any good merch" going. Good lord. -
This oughtta be a fun watch.
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Forbidden Door III - 6/30/2024
Teflon Turtle replied to Dolfan in NYC's topic in ALL ELITE WRESTLING
It probably goes without saying, but both of ZSJ’s recent matches against Danielson. First one was at WrestleDream in 2023, but they wrestled again in New Japan on the 2/11/2024 New Beginning in Osaka card. That match was as good if not better than the one that took place in AEW. -
There was a New Japan press conference going over Tanahashi's first 6 months as president and presenting 10 points for the future course of the company: https://news.njpw1972.com/pres-tanahashi-offers-ten-steps-to-njpw-success-in-coming-months-931667878253 Some quick notes: they want to restore value to the championships and clearly define the role of each of them. The only thing they stated definitively was that the NJPW STRONG titles would go back to being defended solely on the American shows (with possible exceptions for big events like Wrestle Kingdom). There was a detour into kayfabe because one of the points addressed fan feedback about outside interference, of course naming HOT specifically. They didn't hint at storyline stuff necessarily (besides Tana saying he will be stricter on it and will physically involve himself if necessary), but one wonders if it leads to the stable being dissolved. Tana stated that fans will notice a difference by Dominion. Shoring up NJPW World again after the big update was 8th on the list .
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I’ve taken my time in getting caught up, but I’m caught up. The finishing sequence to DOUKI/Robbie Eagles is probably the coolest one we’ll see all year. A big part of the fun of these tournaments the last few years has been seeing who’s going to wrestle like they’ve got something to prove. In storyline and out, it seems like Eagles and DOUKI were two of those wrestlers this year.
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Yes, and I will also re-air my complaint that the problem started earlier when AEW broke up the Starks/Hobbs team. There was so much more the two of them could've done. Splitting the team before they even won the tag championships was a mistake. Also, I don't think there's any real reason why either guy couldn't have pursued singles success while still teaming. I understand the dynamic is a bit different, but it has worked for teams/small factions like The New Day. Once those two got split, the matches between them were rushed and underwhelming, and the energy around the two wrestlers changed completely. Ricky had some opportunities that Hobbs didn't, and some things like Punk doing Punk things were well out of his control. But ping-ponging between heel/face/tweener also didn't do Ricky any favors, in my opinion. The fans were cheering the Hobbs/Starks act as it was. I have zero booking experience, but I'd love to ask a booker why we so often see a wrestler's mannerisms or characters change when what they're doing already is clearly working. Let it play out! I don't think either guy has ever really recovered from the split.
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Everyone should be sure to watch the El Desperado/Clark Connors brawl from earlier this week. Clark excels in that sort of environment, Despe can do anything. A lot of viciousness and hate, with a situation that sets up for an even more intense match in the near future. Something I've been noticing about the roster in this tournament: the sheer volume of ways that the wrestlers have to transition in and out of their signature offense is really impressive. I'll use Drilla Moloney as an example. The story in his matches has been that he's really hunting for the Drilla Killa at all times (except of course the match with Akira), with the English announce team doing their part in putting over the danger of the move. It normally has a standard piledriver/powerbomb setup, but because of his strength and power advantage over the rest of the division, Moloney is finding new ways to threaten with the move each match. It's not an "out of nowhere" move like a cutter, but Drilla is finding ways to make it that. A lot of fun to watch.
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I think you hit the nail on the head in the sense that Garcia would stand the most to gain by doing it. Like some of you above, my knee-jerk answer to this has always been Claudio and/or Danielson even though Danielson has said more or less his time to do a G1 has come and gone. I'd be in favor of any House of Black member going. Brody King has worked NJPW before, so some fans may remember him over there. Malakai would be interesting for a lot of reasons. I don't know that he really fits in New Japan gimmick-wise, but given how prevalent striking exchanges are in puroresu, I'd be intrigued in seeing the fan response to him smoking people with one kick. Oh! Also PAC.
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Good first day of action, if you ask me. Then again, over the last couple of years BOSJ has been pretty much my pro-wrestling sweet spot and yearly highlight, so don't expect too much negativity from me in this thread. Kosei Fujita had a good first showing. Interested to see him throughout the rest of the tournament. My personal match of the night was actually DOUKI/Ishimori. I've never been super interested in Taiji despite his obvious skill, but those two were on the same page tonight and put on a great match. Some super slick sequences and transitions in that one would make it worth seeking out. In other news: despite a scary moment in KUSHIDA/Hiromu, those two don't have a bad match in them. Always a treat to watch. TJP/Kevin Knight and the main event of Desperado/Titan were also quite entertaining, I thought. One last takeaway: I didn't know Blake Christian turned heel. So now between him, Drilla/Connors, SHO, Kanemaru, and maybe Hayata (I'm not so familiar but it seems he leans heel), we may be in for more shenanigans this year than last year.
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May 2024 Wrestling Talk
Teflon Turtle replied to Dolfan in NYC's topic in The PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
If you want to keep on feeling not great about Ric Flair, the Grantland archives are still up - including this article: https://grantland.com/features/the-wrestler-real-life/ It solidifies that he became the character a long time ago. Also pretty gross that he lived so fast and loose with his money - as the character demanded - that financial "advisors" were able to fleece him and his wife/wives out of a whole lot of it. I found this article right around when I started studying for some securities licenses years ago, and the actions taken by one of his advisors as described in the article are just shocking in their blatant abuse of client trust. Churn, baby, churn. -
Thread does not seem to have any Charley Crockett, but it ought to have some. And because my Willie Nelson/Billy Strings collab from the last page apparently isn't available on Youtube any longer, here's a Charley/Willie collab instead.
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I am not usually one to trash commentary, but I had to cringe a bit when the commentators said that Max's turn side kick is a newly-acquired skill. I don't think that's true. He threw that kick well in some of his earliest fights in the UFC (I think he threw at least one in a losing effort against Dennis Bermudez). I only bring this up because I can remember thinking at the start of Holloway's career - even if he had some early losses against Bermudez, McGregor, and Poirier at 145 - that he was so good at such a young age that he had the potential to be something very special. For sure a champion. To see him grow up in the game and accomplish everything he has, with the style and fighting spirit he has, has been really cool as a fight fan. MMA fans are lucky to have a fighter like him. Also, I just checked Wikipedia - he's still only 32. And yeah that was insane.
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NJPW 52nd Anniversary Show/New Japan Cup/Sakura Genesis 2024.
Teflon Turtle replied to The Natural's topic in JAPAN
Card over-delivered for what it was, I thought. Not the most exciting Sakura Genesis lineup we’ve ever had, but I enjoyed everything. Match of the night for me was probably the three-way for the Jr. Tag championships. Lots of crazy and unique spots. The antics from Drilla and Connors are growing on me. One particular spot that Moloney did with Kevin Knight had me laughing out loud. Don’t know if it’ll go down as an all-time classic match, but it had everything and I was quite entertained. Felt terrible for YOH. He’s had a long injury layoff before, and the feeling of possibly staring down another surgery is not an enjoyable one. Especially since he’s had such a goofy persona over the last year, seeing the real frustration and emotional pain come out was tough to watch (and I don’t know what the usually great camera/direction crew was thinking trying to get a shot of the trainers attempting to legit pull YOH’s arm back in to socket). Here’s hoping that it’s something he can rehab and bounce back from quickly. I liked the main event. It maybe didn’t move at the quickest pace at times, but a story was told. Tsuji has to be considered made after the NJ Cup run and this match; I feel his position at the front of his generation of wrestlers was solidified, even more than previously. Also, I don’t know if I can talk about this main event without discussing Naito’s matches with SANADA earlier in the year. Lot of folks used those two matches as evidence that Naito was in really rough shape. And honestly, I didn’t entirely disagree with that assessment at the time. But, Naito hit all of his stuff in the match with Tsuji just fine. Between Tsuji and SANADA, Tsuji is the bigger and likely stronger of the two. It has led me to wonder in retrospect whether the problem really was SANADA not knowing how to take Naito’s signature offense/whether he didn’t have enough gas in the tank to do so in those matches, versus Naito being “washed” in the parlance of Reddit take dispensers. -
NJPW 52nd Anniversary Show/New Japan Cup/Sakura Genesis 2024.
Teflon Turtle replied to The Natural's topic in JAPAN
Exactly. It’s pro wrestling discourse on the internet, so I should know better. But, one of the most consistently tiring opinions to read concerning New Japan is stuff like that. Fans complain that the matches go too long, are too indulgent, etc. Then when New Japan gives them something on the card that’s the exact opposite, or otherwise tries something different, they complain about that too. It’s not a perfect promotion, and there are a ton of reasons why they’ve been up against it post-COVID. But my goodness. -
It's funny, I was just having a similar conversation with a friend last weekend. In terms of the popularization of anime in the West (or I guess we could confine ourselves to the US) Gen Fukunaga should get some credit for starting Funimation. But, that company needs things to distribute. Dragonball Z was that anime. Just about every friend I had in Jr. High/High school would rush home from school to get Toonami on for DBZ. For me, I don't think there's any question that the Dragonball series and Toriyama are responsible for anime taking off in the English-speaking world. I think it's safe to say that the vast majority of people who got in to anime and manga did so through DBZ. It's generational now. That same friend I mentioned earlier has a son: he got the kid interested in DBZ, and the son owns the entire manga series, artbooks, etc. As for Toriyama himself being one of the most important of his generation: again, for me anyway there is no question or argument. The art for the Dragonball series was drawn between 40-30 years ago, and it absolutely holds up today. To this day, I can look at something Toriyama drew and it just...makes me feel better, no matter what. I'm sad that he's gone, but that feeling I get when I take in his work won't change so long as I've still got eyes that can see. He's a worldwide comics GOAT candidate, and he belongs on the Mount Rushmore at the very least.
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I keep forgetting that I need to post in this thread more often.
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When Darby was out with Sting for their part of the press scrum, I thought I heard him say he's leaving for his Everest climb at the end of the month. My guess would be he won't be involved.
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This one sprang to mind for me, too. This won't win me many friends here, but the Bucks have a pretty decent big match resume, if you ask me. The above-mentioned cage match against the Lucha Bros, vs. Golden Lovers in NJPW, Bucks vs. Omega/Hangman (this one might be my personal favorite in terms of straight match quality). But, I think it's safe to say the match tonight was probably their highest-profile match in terms of emotional stakes and overall historical relevance. Ospreay/Takeshita was a crazy athletic spectacle. Though, it felt like someone told them "Okay guys! Go on out there and have a thirty-minute NJPW-style epic spectacle match! But you have fifteen minutes or so."
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Everybody ought to go watch that. I don't think it's an exaggeration to state that instantly became one of the all-time video packages in pro wrestling. Great stuff. Then, if you've got another eight hours to kill, you can go watch the Timelines video of Sting's AEW run.
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FEBRUARY 2024 Wrestling Talk
Teflon Turtle replied to Dolfan in NYC's topic in The PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
I gotta be honest, I don't always get through these without needing to reveal a letter or a word. This time though, whole thing done in 11:53. My best showing yet, I think. Thanks for putting these together. Even if I don't always get through them, I try every one. -
Since this doesn’t really spoil any event results, I’m not spoiler tagging this: Apparently, during the show Minoru Suzuki took to social media to state that he’s “giving back” the Strong Style name. As is probably evident, the translations I’ve seen are a bit spotty, but he basically seemed to say the name isn’t needed by him or Despe any longer. On his Instagram, the post starts with the translation “departing on a new journey” and he reiterates his status as a freelance wrestler. One would think if he was leaving New Japan for good, he’d get a larger send-off. But…also kinda seems like he’s not going to be around for a while. Personally…you could see his involvement dwindle after Suzukigun disbanded, but it’s still jarring to have him potentially on the departure list with Okada, Ospreay, and Tama.
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...buckle up, I'm an American who has just watched a Significant American Football Game and am under the influence of whiskey/whisky (yes, I had both). I will probably ramble on but will at least try to spell correctly. First, add me to those who think ZSJ/Danielson 2 was amazing. Run, don't walk, to find a way to watch that match. If Danielson is getting ready to hang it up as a full-timer, he's doing his level-best to put on the all of the dream matches he possibly can before he reduces his schedule. I didn't post in the Wrestle Kingdom thread, but I kept trying to find a creative way to describe Okada/Danielson 2, and the phrase I kept coming up with was "museum-quality." As in: if I wanted someone to see how pro wrestling should be defined, that's the match I'd want them to watch, next to stuff like Guerrero/Mysterio from Halloween Havoc '97. But with these ZSJ/Danielson matches...I don't know that we have seen in-ring chemistry and overall match quality like this since the Okada/Omega series. It is mind-boggling how good the WrestleDream and now the New Beginning matches have been. We don't get to see perfectly paired wrestlers put on matches like this every day, and as alluded to above, when ZSJ is done, this style may largely go with him. Also: I don't think this will require spoilers, but man...that Osaka crowd knew they were in for some special stuff at this event and acted accordingly. Part of me wonders if some folks made the trip from the UK to see ZSJ/Danielson, and Ospreay's final match, hence some of the chants in English that we don't usually hear from Japanese audiences. I could feel the atmosphere through the screen, which doesn't happen for me too much any longer. More on that below.