Octopus

Yes, you in the back…yes…ok….I am now at the Applebees. Got a tall Deschutes Fresh Squeeze IPA. I’ll probably have one more. The flood gates have already opened with questions. @The Natural even has one. I will probably get another beer after this so plenty of time.

Beef, potatoes, onions I think, carrots. It was very much a beef soup. But very large and fatty chunks of beef. The beauty of the soup is everything breaks down in it. But I would say it’s a B-soup that is better likely do to drinking, but I’d enjoy it more in the right setting.

Yes, to answer your questions I am now walking to the Applebees. I’m so fucking sloshy. I miss being on mainstreet whete bars are closer. This Applebees ain’t fucking close, it’s near knowledge fuck. UPDATE: my duplex neighbor walked passed me and we high-fived and laughed. I ate too much soup

UPDATE: half way through the soup. Cool Guy sat near me for takeout order. He got a Maker’s Mark and I go “always a good call” we’re instant buds. He asks if the soups good and an old guy near us shout “looks good, THAT SOUP LOOKS GOOD!” I’m now over hyping the soup to be nice. It is good soup but not hype soup. Solid B-level soup but this is my chance to bond with Cool Guy and old guy. I say I usually get the Chori Polo and the Cool Huy knows it. We have a lot in common. He gets the enchilada with each type of meat. Fucking rebel, this guy. Old guy probably can’t hear what’s going on but I’m going to dip and walk to Applebees when I get the chance. Already paid, but I can’t finish this gallon of fucking soup. Cool Guy left and I only have a bit more of my beer. I’ll run like a coward to a worse tap

Long story short: I am out of the house, lil Octopus is wish my wife and her Mom. My wife has fun plans tomorrow so tomorrow lil Octopus and I will likely watch lucha libre and Sesame Street. Wife said have fun tonight, so I’m at the Mexican restaurant/ bar down the street. I used to be more of a regular but busy life I’m an occasional. I order a tall Pacifico (my usual here, but elsewhere I’ll get a Summit and maybe a shot of Tullamore Dew if I’m feeling frisky) and the bartender (not Chewy but the other one I never got the name of) says “ohhhh, your usual.” As someone with a necessity to be loved I take the slightest recognition as if it was a warm embraces of a good friend. Agter turning down a menu, I decide I’m actually a little hungry. I had Jimmy John’s at work, but that was quite a while ago. So, I ask for a menu. Yes, I know. I normally get the Chori Polo but I decide for something different. Which I explain as I’m looking. The bartender says, “You like Soup?” It’s loud with the sound of rhythmic pan flutes in the air.”, do I ask him to clarify. After confirming he is asking about Soup, I ask “is there good soup here?” “I really like the soup” ”what’s in it?” ”its very good” ………”ok” ”you want the soup?” “I’ll take the soup” ”You’ll like it. I really like it” ok, so I’m getting the soup. He says it’s on the menu but I couldn’t find it. Well, I got the soup. Bartender hands it to me with a super proud look on his face and goes “It’s a gallon!” He’s super excited to watch me eat this soup. It’s good soup. He’s happy it’s good soup and keeps looking over saying he really likes it. He’s happy it’s good soup. But I realized even though it is AC in here, it’s super hot out there. Like a dummy I got tequila and a lot of beer. This is a terrible fucking idea. But I need to put a big dent in this soup. I’m trying to read about @Elsalvajeloco’s thoughts on venue management and @Gordlow putting parentheses around a words to make a joke I totally get, I got a gallon of soup in front of me at a bar and a tall Pacifico. I figure, while I’m chowing down this large soup and planning a casual escape , I might as well open the floor to questions. Feel free to ask about whatever. Octopus life, soup, beer, derpin, wrestling, whathaveyou. @Matt D’s even invited. I will fight this soup from sobering me up and drink more.

There wasn’t even one parenthesis in there, @Elsalvajeloco

I (don’t get it) But I (want to be with included)

So it’ll be a series of Four Tournaments. One - A 8-man round robin where the winning team faces off in a round robin and if there is a tie then a 4 Fourloco Deathmatch to settle the winner Two - A 16-man regular tournament where the seeding is determined by wins and match length of the previous tournament, broken up in the divisions of their own group Three - A best of Four series of FourWays. Four - Each group has to work on a group project and best group advances. The winning group then faces off against each other to give a presentation on who the greatest wrestler of all time is. The winners of each of these tournaments will become THE FOUR RETAINING WALLS OF AEW. If someone wins multiple tournaments, they can nominate their buddy, even if they weren’t in the tourneys. I personally think this is good booking.

Give me Joe, then Jay, then Jay and Joe, then Joe and Jay. Just give me it all!

The story mode revolve around the Nightmare Collective

My issue with beaches is that if they don’t have foot washing stations away from the sand, then I’m just walking around uncomfortably. A quakable body of water or said quaking happening near water, that sounds like a more pleasant evening out with the boys. Here was my road report from the previous quake filled event:

I’m hoping for Quake by the Lake 2. Fingers crossed later this year.

Pillars talk - it’s just fun branding of young people on the first show, taken from a promo that lead to a shirt and more references. It stuck, so it’s a fun thing. You can point to Brit Baker and OC as non-WWE talent that got over outside of the Pillar branding. Starks brought up how he doesn’t like the term (and maybe it’s him hinting at a storyline and I’m a mark) but no one actually believes that Jungle Boy is the second coming of Taue. Starks has It and with the right storylines and build could really be something. He doesn’t A) need to be a part of referred to grouping, or B) need to say the term is dumb. If we do want to make more cute little four person categories to be cute and have cute fun, I believe it was @AxB that once said the 4 Killahz (he probably didn’t use a Z but it’s cute and let’s be cute and have cute fun). But that stuck with me. Let’s make four cute groups so no one feels left out and the have the four groups have a tournament to see who the cutest is. Four Pillars - MJF, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara, and Jungle Boy Four Killahz - Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, Hobbs, Lee Moriarty Four Thrillas - Ricky Starks, Swerve Strickland, Peacock guy, Komander Four Kidz of Wrestlahz - Hook, Brock Anderson, Brian Pillman Jr, Rush? I would have included women like Hayter as a Killer but if it’s a cute tournament then outside of the video game, AEW doesn’t do intergender matches. ——— Yeah, @The Natural I agree. You have to leave Dynamite with at least one A-level star

Uggggh, I’m gonna do it. I’ll get the extra version for FTR. I’m excited. I want to play @The Natural online and be Penta. I may lose, but I will spam taunt so hard.

One thing Cole has going for him is that the people that like him, really like him. This was before he was on UUDD, whether through ROH or PWG or BTE or maybe his own streaming he seemed to get very passionate fans. Small sample size, but a few instagram pages I follow of people that are also wrestling fans share a bunch of pictures of him and cite him as their favorite. I’ve brought this up before and I’m sorry if I’m misremembering where specifically I heard it. I believe on AEW Unrestricted Cole was on and he was talking about Shawn Michaels being a mentor and really teaching him to understand ring psychology. I’m sure there is more he’d have to offer on the subject, but what he talked about was very much treating a match like a rollercoaster. Also to lay down longer when he is selling to increase fan investment. I’d be interested to hear more of his thoughts and what he learned from his wrestling dad. I think he has loads of charisma. With the right storyline or feud we could see some really neat promos. Before all the injuries and shenanigans, I thought an Elite vs Ultra Elite or whatever would have been cool. I’m ignorant enough on his work to not be able to reference pre-AEW greatness or weakness. Off what I have seen, I guess I’m 50-50. I think he gets a lot of love from some circles and distain from others. Not an Octopus Guy and I’m not sure he’ll fully win me over but could be an enjoyable character in the wild world of wrestling. He comes across as a kind guy so I’ll always be pulling for him to stay healthy and do cool things. For the body talk, I think he is fine. Handsome face, a real cutie. I understand the criticism, but I will say his pointy knees are a plus and not a negative. Let those razor sharp bad boys get the back of your head and that should be protected like a Jackhammer. ——- Jesus! I was typing this out and say @just drew posted so I thought I’d read before posting my casual indifference but a nice guy post. Hot dang, My dude Drew has the day off and I’m not going to disagree with him today. *fearfully shuffles papers* Adam Cole looks like if a pale Daschshund with greasy long hair stood up on his hind legs and was bad at video games. I bet he tips waitresses poorly and talks too much about his collection of beer shirts but only drinks pilsners. Nothing to see here bud, just casually backing away quietly.

Very well stated evaluation of personal biases and self critique.

Dear lord, if this years All Out they can build to an Anarchy in the Arena type match called Brawl Out with the Elite vs CM Punk Sympathizers, I’ll shake the great Tony’s hand on a masterful long term booking/ talent management save. If they don’t collide, give me a different thing that is neat.

Keep that hat on. We will see Attitude Era snide remarks sent each other’s way as if it was Nitro vs Raw. Some passive and subtle and the other abrasive and bombastic. And like the Invasion, we’ll settle for Cash Wheeler vs Colt Cabana. Not a bad match up, all things considered.

Great work, Tony! I never questioned ya!

Yes! Taunting!!!!!!!!!!

Me bitching and not saying much in coming…. The last two PPV’s were maybes for me. I ended up getting Revolution and was very glad I did. Excellent main event (becoming among an all time favorite for me), a wild tag team silly Willy four way, an intense Texas Death Match, and Christian Cage had a sleeveless turtleneck. What I’d want in an AEW event! Double or Nothing just didn’t have it for me and I decided not to get it way sooner. At least the Forbidden Door was a last minute no that I regretted. Outside of gifs, I don’t think I’ll go out of my way for the last event. Which is a shame for a company that even when I’m not sold on the stories usually makes me feel my money was well spent. Anarchy in the Arena I bet was a hoot. The last one was fantastic. I’m sure the Four Pillar 4-way Thrillar was fun, but I’m not really interested in that as a title match. I can see it being Tony investing in giving them these moments like when you draft a QB and feel the need to give them important playing time. This felt like a TV special main that could have either had a shorter build or not make me long for having Rush in Jungle Boys spot. I find Darby very unique and cool and someone you could really make money off of with great television and matches. I think MJF can be hokey at times but is a very good champion. Sammy needs help on the direction of his character. If he doesn’t go on a face attempt after the pregnancy announcement then what was all this for? If he does go on a face run, be very careful because you can only attempt this so many times. Don’t let him have dumb moments where he comes across like a douche. In a weird way, if you replaced Cole with him in that same Jericho feud with a beat up girlfriend (please no now that Tay is pregnant) then Sammy could have pulled it off better. More on that later. I’ve never been a Jungle Boy boy. I used to be in the camp where he is getting better and with his looks and a willingness to get more experience could really be a popular fella. I’ve now seen him in a build for a championship match and I don’t see him anywhere near there. This is dumb of me, I admit, but that was a factor in me not getting the PPV. Statlander is champ. Neat. Now hopefully we get good weekly women’s matches around this belt. Outside of the Ladies World Order that is now holding the World Women’s Title. TBS Championship can be the workrate belt. Even if you don’t want Statlander weekly, you have a number 1 contender match and can spread it out. ramble ramble ramble Sunny Matt D and Gord Julius are right, there are certain uncanny elements to the recent feeling of AEW that have a Sports Entertainment feel. I think the matches are likely still often better than WWE, but no one can out WWE the WWE. You can be less than, worse than, or different than. Give me the alternative. I like Jarrett shenanigans but we’re getting it along with JAS and the Outsiderz. The Elite have shenanned once and I could see them shenan-again. ramble ramble rambl i won’t spell check this and I no longer know where I’m going with this. ramble ramble ramble Nyla Rose stealing the belt from Jade was the best part of her title run. That was straight up neat and showed a fun side to both Nyla and Jade. Staying on Jade, what’s the deal with the Baddies. It came into existence almost randomly and I don’t know who is in and who is out. Red Velvet was a face that wasn’t getting cheered (often facing hometown talent) so she turned Baddie. But it was done not with a shocking in ring handshake. It was explained by the announcers, if I recall correctly. Wasted opportunity that tells me that if a show doesn’t care enough to show the talents character development, I shouldn’t care. You had bleach hair McNair having a bag over his head for like a year and when you finally do something, he just gets beat and it was revealed poorly. You wasted a year of My Chemical Romance’s Welcome to the Black Parades’ time and mine! The Dark Order was beloved and their slow disappearance is a disappointment and failure of booking. Absolutely embarrassingly bad. ramble ramble. I remembered I liked the Cole vs Hangman match from one of the PPV’s. It had a different feel from the other matches on the card and was a joy to end the show one. I was likely bombed depending what the date of that event was. I’m in the Cole is a better heel camp. I do know nothing on that matter and can very well be wrong. I agree his wrestling as a heel can be excitingly good guy moves, but he has such a swagger to him when he’s pretending to be mean. He either lost that as a face ORRRR is being booked to play victim and then tough guy which comes off awkward. I’ll wait and see. I think everyone here can agree that he is a big draw and regularly moves ratings and merch, so we can drop this. ramble ramble rambl I hope we get Danielson v Omega 2 this year and it goes to a hour time limit draw. ramble ramble ramble calm down Octopus. Everything is fine. Let’s see the next builds now that the current derp is over. ramblw ramble Rush is pretty neat. I hope with the new show that stable can be used well. Speaking of new show, if CM Punk comes back OR doesn’t come back and we get more stupid drama (after I make memes for likes and trophy emojis) I’ll be like “oh shoot” and it’ll really kill my enjoyment likely only temporarily. But for that time period, oh boy. I’m typing all of this while getting sweaty on a couch. everything sucks but everything’s fine and I’m just hungry but I ate so much noodles what the hell. karen Jarrett hitting Aubrey with a guitar is funny to me. Keep it up, Tony!

Speaking of fun sponsorships, I’m surprised AEW does use Cracker Barrel more like they did in 2019. I recall the barrel being used in fun ways.

If this is McGuinness return All in hype, I’ll maybe cry after the match

I’d like to see Jericho vs face Guevara. Including a proxy war of Sammy against Garcia. Guevara had an awkward face attempt in the past with the TNT Title feuds that didn’t work out, but I think it is possible for a good guy run. If I’m wrong, I deeply apologize for bringing this into the world.