Fighting a man with a perm

As Michael Conlan said at the Rio Olympics, "Fuck AIBA!". My heart goes out to both these women who have been caught up in both a power struggle between AIBA and the IOC and the shitty culture war stuff that seems to infect everything. Barry McGuigan (who was a hero of mine growing up) has waded in on this with total ignorance under the banner of "saving female sports", yet he has had no problem training and working with actual wife beaters (and worse) over the years! Sean Ingle (Guardian chief sports writer) is all over this too, the bigoted prick! A man so concerned about women being cheated out of sporting achievement, whose own wife got caught cheating in a marathon by taking a taxi.

Daniel! Wiffen! clap clap clap clap clap! Great start to the games for Ireland and with our rowers looking strong, Kellie Harrington 1 fight from a medal, Rhys McClenaghan a good shout on the pommel horse, Adeleke and Mageean possibilities for a rare athletics medal plus Wiffen and McSharry to swim again we could beat our London haul. Hoping to hear Amhran na bhFiann at least twice more, c'mon Ireland!

Just like Legion of Doom really, "what a rush" indeed

This was an enjoyable show. Great main event (with a very meme-able shot of Christian lying down outside the ring). Max's promo furthered the story and did a good job of adding some layers. I just don't get the people cheering him here though, even if you're a fan of his work you lessen the impact of it with your reaction to his heinous acts. I can only assume these people think Ricky Gervais is an edgy and hilarious comedian. During the first match Nigel made a quip about "titty city" being equally appropriate for the next match, which ended up being Toni Storm and Trish Adora. Someone needs to have a word with him because that's incredibly disrespectful. Schiavone was stunned into silence by it. Nige has some good moments, but he's quantity over quality and he far too often crosses the line to Jerry Lawler "puppies", bleugh! Positive stuff - lots of great backstage stuff here from Hangman, Christian, HOB, the conglomeration. Some interesting development with OC's character becoming more nihilistic.

That OC ZSJ was extremely my thing! Loved it. That final submission hold was nasty. I wish Excalibur would break out some of the niche submission names Zack has used though - I want my "Barry from Eastenders" call, dammit! The main was thrilling. Because Ospreay continuously pulls off these incredible physical feats it's easy to go, "well that's just Will", but like, I've been to see My Bloody Valentine live a few times and they're always ear-bleedingly loud, but I still love it every time even though I expect it. All the matches were good to great, but I would have liked a sprinkling of some story beats. There wasn't really anything coming out of tonight that sets up what's next, except for the return of DMD.

Something I've been thinking/feeling a lot lately when watching AEW is that the demographics of the crowd (particularly the front couple of rows visible on screen) has skewed significantly older in the last few years. I'll have to go back to confirm, but I seem to recall a younger crowd in the early days. The front row nowadays often feels very "I pay for a blue tick on twitter" - I'm looking at the people who wear ref shirts, the people who combine burberry scarf with Hager hat with neck brace, the people who wear sequined jackets, all the "so-and-so eats corn the long way" signs. Does any of that influence your view on the freshness at all Niko?

With the Blood and Guts announcement and Swerve's continuing beef with the Elite, I could see the EVPs approaching Ospreay (and being rejected), leading to interference/beatdown/no contest at Forbidden Door and then Swerve/Ospreay unite for Blood and Guts under Team AEW banner.

He has some really great moments - after the Toni/Mariah Rampage promo, "we're hitting the bars", the way he just stood up and took off his headset was priceless.

Finished it over the weekend. Totally agree, it felt like you were looking at a masterpiece. Found myself looking up flights to Rome, Palermo and Naples afterwards.

This should really be Swerve vs Brandon Cutler

Loved how OC was locked on to Trent from minute 1, I'm really looking forward to their match Sunday. Is the endgame of the Callis/OC interactions that Ospreay breaks away from Don and OC joins the Empire? "Darby got final destinationed by a bus in New York" "Was that a kick Jones?" " You're really pissing me off Schiavone!" Noticed @The Natural holding up his "Push Penta" sign in the crowd Lots of faces standing tall tonight for a go home show Nick Jackson was my MVP of the closing angle with his excellent screaming after going through the table.

There was a moment where Schiavone described it as "....like a...large crow bar" and Taz chimed in as though to correct him before settling on "yeah, that's exactly what it is". 90 seconds later Taz was mumbling that he knew the babe for this incredibly large pry bar and it was killing him that he couldn't think of it. As someone who interviewed for a promotion yesterday and at different points forgot the words "credibility", "leadership", "direction" and "motivation" I felt his pain. Enjoyed Ospreay's segment with Strong. Particularly enjoyed when Taven asked "what's a bellend" to which Ospreay replied, "you're a bellend mate" and then named all of Undisputed Kingdom bellend.

When I saw your original post I was assuming it was anti-Irish practice by Triller charging me 10 euro more than my Scandinavian neighbours! Which raised ancestral bitterness in me seeing as my hometown was raided by the Vikings back in the day....

Also get the impression the Infantry may get the win over HOB based on them confronting FTR last week, which I'm not keen on. Have to assume a Chicken involvement to cost HOB, but regardless Brody should be squashing the Captain and his pal.

Stuff I scribbled while watching this morning, apologies for any duplication! Preshow thoughts: Is Max Caster sporting a 5 o'clock shadow to show how much his rap yips are affecting him? Love it! Who's the Knife Pervert eying up for Boston - Okada? Return of the Bastad! Yes! Let him heel it up at the top of the card please, away from Penta! Julia Hart's presentation is head and shoulders above the other competitors in this match Main show It's a Christian match so of course there's shenanigans! DG's time is soon though, I think he's got limitless potential. Love that Daddy Magic got the mega pop! First match of the main card and Nigel has made a Tony Schiavone Only fans joke 3 times already..... Lovely big fight feel with the intros to Eddie/Bryan. So, I love BD, one of my favourites, but he's obviously playing a heel right now. To me, it feels disrespectful to what he's doing to see a crowd engage in duelling chants, y'know? Just one of my personal peeves and it happens a lot in AEW unfortunately. Ooof! This crowd hates Jericho. Lots of sitting around outside here. That first "meat" faceoff happened way too early. OC never fails to deliver. He is simply the best wrestler on planet earth. Great story told throughout, kudos Roddy too. KOR looks rough, but glad to have him back. Helluva gusher from Dax! That midair catch powerslam by Claudio was insane! Claudio with lots of impressive physicality here. Genuinely surprised by the result here. Toni Storm match was a foregone conclusion. None of the recent contenders have seemed even remotely likely to beat Storm. Super go-go-go action from Billy and Take. That one German Takeshita hit, whoo! This is breathless stuff, love it! Hopefully we can separate Ospreay and the Aussies from Callie now. It's the return of Prince Nana and the "I didn't do it" dancers. Loved Hangman's descent here, laser focused on stopping Swerve. Thought it was Swerve's time to win but they have something special between him and Hanger. Eeeugggh, Flair! Hopefully this is the last time we see him too. Return of the Codyvator!! The Bucks are heeling beautifully here! Darby you lunatic!! Sting you lunatic!!! "We're not sorry! We hate you!" Haha! See you all in St Louis to watch Alexis Carrington win the strap!

Can't believe they turned the Bucks face at the last minute - sure was glad to see that decrepit old sex offender take a beating, even if that low blow could have done with a bit more (or any!) spice on it.

Loving the Succession knock-off tune!

Saw Giant Haystacks in a shopping centre in Navan (small town 30 miles from Dublin) back in the late 80s. I hadn't a clue who he was (the only wrestler I would have recognised then was Big Daddy!) but he was massive! Have bumped into Seamus around Dublin a few times and was at a wedding that Becky Lynch was at (my partner fell ill during the ceremony so I missed my opportunity to say hello), she looked stunning in real life, stood out like a star!

Should I, as a massive Chuckie T fan, be concerned about the recurring lack of everyones favourite 76ers fan?

Jonathan Ross, is that you?? (This may not make sense to Americans)

Looking at the lineup, Lethal really sticks out to me especiallu as they've said that everyone banned from ringside - lethal without Jarret and crew bringing the nonsense just does not excite. Interesting that we have 3 from BCC and zero from the Elite. Would love to see Garcia get some big wins here, likewise Big Bad Brody KingSize!

Thoughts I scribbled down while watching, apologies if I duplicate anyone else's thoughts - let's put it down to "great minds think alike" and ignore the "fools seldom differ" of it. I groaned when Ric flair started punching Christian but cheered massively when Christian smashed that old sex offender in the nuts! Love some Chekhov's ring buckle action! Massive victory for OC! He's my Ace! Yuta is such a great prick after the match. Big bad Brody Fucking Kingsize! Roooooosh knows how to own a crowd, doesn't he? Cash man, the turnbuckles are not your friend, learn to accept it. Big Bill has shown incredible improvement, it's heartening to see knowing the struggles with mental health he's had. Both women's title switches earned big reactions and that's due to the focus on character in the division of late. There's talent there if they're given time and space for creativity. Credit to both Stat and Shida for holding the division on their backs the last few months. Absolutely fuck that guy with the Fire Tony Schiavone sign!! YMMV but Ospreay has massive aura and is a brilliant signing in my book. Prince Nana getting his own "I didn't do it dancers". Hanger bringing the hate early here! Rare American sports reference from this Mick - hangman seeing all the Lakers colours and thinking he's in the Staples Centre! (Does that work?!). Incredible blood here tonight! Incredible, hate-filled, visceral match! Why then add Brian Cage and Nana nonsense?? Both men deserved better than that level of distraction. Oof, the crowd was not into the Elite plus Jericho match at all! On the other hand, they (along with I!) Loved all the MJF melodrama. It's all so over the top but he makes it work.

That man had no clue where he was for most of that match! On the Cross Slash he wanted around for ages kinda looking to Kenny for what to do, and then completely mistiming it. There was a sequence before the piledriver through the chairs where people kept running in and hitting a move before being hit by the next guy - I could hear both Kenny and Aubrey screaming for Ibushi to come in, but that handsome idiot just stayed in his own world. And then of course there's the ending where he comes running in weapon in hand with no clue that the match was over. I'm not super familiar with Kota - is this normal for him, to be so completely oblivious to what's going on around him??

I'll do you both one better - it's Tony Khan! And he's gonna use his reveal as the devil to tell us he will be making a huge announcement next week on Dynamite!

I'm really digging the absolute maelstrom of "stuff" around MJF. There's a really good kind of interconnected, logical chaos there that's exciting. That's the stuff that got me into AEW in the first place, the lack of silos and the strings between stories. There was some of that in the main event too. Eeeeuuuugggghhhhh - I could do without Ric Flair appearing. I'm not gonna cheer a sex offender. Does Luther appearing as the Butler mean the end of SAP?? Maybe now we can get that Angelico singles run?? A boy can dream, right? Nice that there were some Chikara mainstays running the main event in Philly. OC Claudio should be a banger.