Octopus

If my main man @Matt D can be brave enough to derp it out I’ll ramble it. (Btw, WOAH Tenryu raised for you!!! If I recall, Fujiwara too!)!!!!! Going off the dome. I was doing GWE and making notes but switched over to my personal GME. So I need to derp out a more solid wrestler list. But here goes: (not checking notes. Going by heart 4 beers in , started adding olives to the beers) 1. Bryan Danielson 2. Terry Funk 3. Negro Casas 4. Kenta Kobashi 5. Mitsuhara Misawa 6. El Satanico 7. Nick Bockwinkel 8. Andre the Giant 9. Akira Hokuto (will likely be higher for me but I need to see more) 10. El Hijo Del Santo hmmmmmm. I’ll post this

I started typing a list and shamefully deleted it twice

For @Stefanie Sparkleface

Oh, you mean MTN DEW DARK BERRY BASH™ FLAVOR?! I have not yet. My stomach is in more of a beer mood right now. But I really like the way they blast the Dark Berry. Other restaurants would probably just set the Dark Berry in. It wouldn’t even be a Bash then!

Woah woah woah. The floodgates HAVE OPENED! I’ll get to your questions as soon as I can. This thread is hot hot hot just like Applebees Bourbon Street Steak. Sizzling and delicious.

I think Ricochet in AEW could be a lot like Claudio. A great athlete and well respected worker who was looked at as uncharismatic and then in AEW finding a personality that fits them as they wrestle. Oh, and THE FLOOR IS OPEN FOR QUESTIONS

Hope everything’s going well, my friend.

Bourbon Street? I thought I was in St Louis Park, Mn. I guess they bring the fun here! What a fun atmosphere and great food.

I regret not getting those. Hot dog, I missed a lot last time. I got the delicious Bourbon Street Steak. If I recall, you are a vegetarian, so out of respect I’ll post the pic below and not quoting you. In your honor, I’ll get mozzarella sticks after. Please forgive me.

One of the former bartenders now appears to be a manager. Way to go, Tyler! And way to go Applebees for letting employees grow as both individuals and employees. Great to see the community treated well and promoting from within. When you’re here, you truly are family.

Wow, I’ve never tasted a beer from this clean and well maintained of a tap before. At least not since the last time I was at an Applebees. Wow.

Sometimes in life I fall short. It takes a place like Applebees to help me realize when I was wrong. Sorry for the late response. In Minnesota it is always Gone-Yay! Vern once hit on my nana Elk from a corvette when she was walking past in probably the 70’s or so. In terms of “doesn’t work for me brother” I have that special touch to get talent to go along with whatever I book. The trick is to have a private meeting where I say “Brass Tax” a lot. After the sixth or seventh taxed brass reference, they’ll bend to my whim in a professional manner.

Orange you glad I made it to Applebees? I know I am. Where I’m here, I’m family! speaking of Orange, Blue Moon on tap. What a refreshing way to end the day with a late night meal. Check your local Applebees for their fantastic tap selection. Don’t want beer? Tons of margarita and liquor options. As well as tasty pops and juices. Wow, what a great restaurant.

That’s why I do this. Social Media and modern music about dancing and hand holding (and hands in general) have confused a lot of people.

Stepping outside knowing the journey ahead. It’s a glorious feeling when the trail leads to the beauty and grace of Applebees. But when you’ve spent an entire day goofing off with lil Octopus, I feel the aches and pains of my boneless body. But it was worth it and the trip will be worth it. Today I put together the toddler octocycle that my brother Cinnamon Bear got him. We played on that (I’m bent over helping his balance for long periods of time lol) and then went to a playground. He loves sprinting around. My wife, the lovely Gazelle, went with her family to Chili’s. Idk why go the long way to their when you have Applebees down the street, but eh. This journey begins: Same way as everyone else. Just put one tentacle in front of the other 7. Then repeat. I nor is anyone as great as Tenta. God bless The Almighty Earthquake! I’m not a fish. I’m a cephalopod. Yes, I have a wiener. If you mean like a human man, I’m kind of like a lesser version of Becky Lynch. I’m not THE Man. Just a humble regular shrimp larva eating guy.

I will be walking to Applebees in about 2 hours. The floor is open for questions! @Dolfan in NYC, feel free to pin this thread temporarily if the site can handle all the traffic we will face.

We need a new word. Respectfully, of course. Penta shouldn’t be in the same category as @The Natural’s “I have strong opinions about former WWF/WCW/WWE Champion Terry Bollea which you should PM me about. But I wanted to express them here too because I can't help myself”. EDIT: lol, I forgot F Hulk Hogan was autocorrected now. Maybe nvm then

My only reservations for Penta is when he doesn’t taunt enough and the booking around him. I want him to go full Jim Carey’s The Mask combined with Beetlejuice. Break peoples arms and dance like Chad Ocho Cinco. I want the ref to have a ceremonial cutting of the tag ropes for their tag matches. I also want to Death Triangle to end and we get more bloody brawls. If you have to keep Abrahantes, put him in a fun skeleton mask. Why am I seeing his face?!?! Penta should be on every late night show looking cool and be an important face of the company. Make a fucking mug out of his god damn cool looking head. What the fuck are you doing, ARW?

We might see a shoot screwjob where someone loses on purpose.

Lol I forget it’s Wednesday and I missed Hechicero. Darn. Gifs and clips I saw it looked like a fun show.

Who are the Five John Favorites?

I think that’s very possible. It’s tough (and kinda fun) that Cody is so delightfully a bull shitter. So much so that the positives and negatives I don’t have an ability to have a definitive read on what would have or wouldn’t have happened. I think the stipulation was a bad idea. A positive that did come from it was it being MJF’s first big villain moment that created the framework of how manipulative and cunning he was. Whether Cody himself said know to the title by overthinking the potential Dusty comparisons or was already never going to win the title, I’m not entirely sure. I’m also not sure of when the four champion plan was put in place. That was either the Khan-concept since conception (or Khancept-tion) or came later. I recall the EVPs and Tony having a super booking meeting at the end of the first year when Dynamite did a best-of show. I think that meeting was later on attributed to setting up the Hangman Saga, but I could be completely wrong. To comeback to my uncertainty of the Truth of Cody: we have no idea if he’d ever actually turn heel or not. He said he didn’t want to or was happy with this weird meta Cena/Roman aura cosplay. But I can’t trust him. The weird which tunnel was he going to use moments and the long promo segments of being a good guy is something I could see an obliviously aligned Heel doing. It even fits into the meta of being meta. We have no idea though because they couldn’t come to an agreement when his contract expired. I fantasy book him “saving” AEW by going back on his word and BSing his way to a win. Honestly though, I like his WWE run better than that.

Derp. Octo-Ramble on the first five years The Rise and Fall of Cody Going into AEW and the first few years, Cody Rhodes was hand down the face of the company. Jericho was the veteran to legitimize the brand, Mox was the defecting star, Omega was an artist attempting a potentially interesting storyline, The Young Bucks were a tag, and Hangman was the future. People were red hot for Cody. It really seemed like he could do no wrong. I remember him walking up to the press box to punch Jericho through glass with DDP. He just felt like this new version of an old school face. He wasn’t quite the awe shucks SUPER DUPER STAR he became in WWE, but he felt cool and something we haven’t seen in a long time. I remember him in a limo with a briefcase of money and even writing that it seems like a heel thing but it wasn’t. The slow burn of bad decisions back to back to back turned a super face into a kinda meta heel but wants to be a face but the fans just started to really hate him. The Codyverse became a joke. He was striving to be liked by jumping through a flaming table. I’d say it was sad but things turned out so well for him. His AEW run from the ups and the downs need to be studied. The Transition of Who Represents the Company At the start of AEW, it felt like the spirit of it was a combination of Dusty’s Lineage’s Revenge, the successful profitability of Indy Wrestlers creating a big brand, and the New Japan influenced work-rate. It’s interesting to think of when the focus of how we refer to AEW transitioned from Cody and the EVP’s to this is Tony Khan’s toy box. Of course he was always the owner, but him being so highlighted as the brand or representative wasn’t initial. The Art and Arguments of Storytelling For a company that gets shit on (understandably) for its booking, AEW had some of my favorite feuds and arcs. The Hangman Saga was very possibly my favorite in wrestler. Punk and earlier Cody vs MJF we’re both phenomenal. Hangman vs Swerve was very well done. The Continental Classic was perfect and if they can replicate it’s success then it’ll be an absolute triumph. The wackiness of the current Elite shenanigans took my from depressively on the brink of taking a break from the company to still keeping up. There are a lot of turds and mishandled moments and angles. Things that go on for too long to have a specific payoff date or even over-fixing a oversight of a visa issue, it can be wildly inconsistent. But let’s be real, there hasn’t ever been a company that has been. That’s not saying we shouldn’t comment on what we don’t like, I’m more rolling my eyes at all the tik tok comments I have read. CM Punk and the End of the Era of Goodwill I’m not going to rehash all the drama we’ve covered repeatedly. I’m also not going to take sides. I’m just going to say that the CM Punk run and all the hoopla involving and surrounding it was absolutely fascinating. I think his entering the company was such a historic high note that how everything turned out was wild to follow along in real time. When he went down and we had several other wrestlers also get injure and/or suspended at the same time, we started to slowly see the benefit of the doubt and built up equity with the fans slowly dissipate. Personally, it was cool seeing Mox solidify himself as Mr AEW / the Ace of the company. But with the negativity and divisiveness we saw from reports and just awkward attempts at solutions, AEW was no longer the fun company. The singing we see in WWE audiences used to be in AEW. Now the arenas are half filled. American Dragon Thank you, God, for this Danielson run. These past however many years he has been with the company is something I’m going to regularly go back and watch. Bryan is my GOAT and this was what really edged him over my other contenders. Title Turnpike I’m fine with the amount of titles they have. Don’t fucking add more though. As long as the right people hold the belts and the matches/ stories are good, I’m happy. Kingston being awesome made me like the Continental Crown/Belt/Fondue set. Okada now having it makes it feel really important. I thought that being a belt would be stupid. Same with so far all the titles. Currently, I’m fine. It’s clearly a thing that isn’t going to change, so just do it well. They are currently well. The Saviors Who were wrestlers that came through when the company really needed it? I mentioned Mox. Samoa Joe recently just had the presence of strong and no bull shit when the company desperately needed that. Danielson was maybe the only person that could fill in for a recently exited Punk. Any others come to mind? AEW Specific Gimmick Matches I love when companies have their own special match up that you can only see there or it somehow feels different. Like the Royal Rumble in WWE or Ultimate X in TNA. Anarchy in the Arena is so fun and nuts. Blood and Guys feels so much more violent than WWE War Games. The AEW cages even feel taller. Having the weird card based battle royal with a special Joker at the end is a thing. MIMOSA MAYHEM! An Open Universe It is so cool to see other companies acknowledged and even represented. We got Kingston vs Jun Akiyama. Forbidden Door is such a cool show. Oh sweet, CMLL guys are here. I remember watching Danielson vs Suzuki and just being blown away that it happened. ——- I’ve been typing this off and on. Lil Octopus has been having tough nights. So I won’t spell check and I know I forgot 3 or so other things I’d bring up.

Wrestling is cool

Never tired or anything negative to be there for a friend. You hit us up when you need to and we’ll do the same.