Shartnado

At King of the Ring'93, Tatanka pushed the mirror on top of Luger at the beginning of the match, but I guess the impact wasn't hard enough, since that one didn't shatter like the one Sherri looked into, did?

Wow, Eddie's in deep shit! Danielson and Andrade on the board now. Another Huge win for Brody! I thought that since he beat Eddie, there is a definite chance he could also beat Claudio, but still bit surprised when it actually happened. Poor Garcia, too! Moxley is banged up but he's facing RUSH who's got a bad wheel himself. Moxley's biggest matches are the last two. Having to face White and Swerve in back to back matches, after facing RUSH, you would think that one of those guys gets a win over him? Maybe who ever is lucky enough to get the last crack at him? I'm very much looking forward to FTR vs Black/Matthews. Matt Sydal had a great showing once again in the losing effort to HOB. Vikingo vs Sabian was nice, but nothing too special, aside from 3 big spots by Vikingo. Main event was fantastic, but I think Claudio vs Brody was even more fascinating. Abadon beating Hogan leading up to a future shot at Julia was nice. It's good that challengers usually get at least one win to build them up. As much as it seems that Roddy isn't really hurt, I have to say he is funny in a very annoying way. I do think that the apparent earnesty of The Kingdom is what sells the humor, but it will be interesting to see if these guys are in on the deal or not. But if Roddy says MJF is the Devil, I'm pretty much 100% convinced that in that case, he's NOT! Good episode, we even got a match booked to Final Battle! Available for the price of Honor Club, yay!

I was hoping to announce that for this evening, Shartnado has entered the Light Heavyweight division, but the scale showed 203,1 lbs, so still missing a couple in order to get there. I wish the 13-year old me could see me now! "You'll be over 200 lbs eventually, kid, but you won't be a wrestler and you will be very thankful for that!"

If I remember correctly, (The) Black League was also the name of the new project by Sentenced's original vocalist. Whether the name has any connection to the said Russians, I have no idea? Anyway, for some reason, I figured the Blue and Gold somehow reflected the logo or promo material of the World's End PPV, but I'm not at all sure if that is accurate?

He did say in his first video package when he returned that he SAT at home for three (or four?) months. Maybe he was being really literal about that? Oh, and since people are talking about the overrun and such, the DAZN feed is usually about 30 minutes longer than the actual show. Not only does that take away any problems with overruns but it also blurrs the time when the show is "supposed" to go off the air. I sort of see this as not spoiling the length of the main event each week. I can appreciate that.

Damn, if they are putting that much thought into details then the pay-off cannot be underwhelming. Right?

I would imagine something should happen to make the tournament more unpredictable. We've seen two slight upsets so far, but both of them were totally within the realm of predictable. It was not unfathomable to see Brody beat Eddie or Swerve beat White (can't tell if it was inconsievable, though?). For something to be an upset in the Blue League, it would have to be Garcia actually winning a match and in the Gold League it obviously means Lethal getting points, Briscoe beating someone else than Lethal (and even Lethal may be an upset since Mark's record is like 1-99 against him), or Rush beating Swerve or Moxley. Every other result is at least fathomable or consievable in my point of view. I welcome as many upsets and possible draws to mix things up as much as possible.

Alright, a very good episode here. I have to say that THIS version of Adam Copeland I can appreciate. First thing, kick in the balls! Yes! Rush getting a much needed victory and Jay White with a slightly surprising loss changes the complexion of the tournament a little bit and that's good. Moxley has now faced two of the easiest opponents of his league, while White's matches have been the toughest of the top guys and Lethal's have been toughest overall and the results reflect that. Eddie Kingston may have fucked up giving up those titles. Facing Danielson after losing the first match is a tough position to be in. Emi tried to get into a better position for the moonsault and it was nice for the commentary to sell it as her trying to roll away from it unsuccessfully. I don't know if I like Sting putting no one over during his entire AEW run, despite how entertaining he has been during it? I mean, if he beats everyone, so be it, but that should logically lead to a title match before it is all said and done, right? Yeah, he made Darby, but let's face it he is not going to survive trying to skateboard down Mount Everest, let's be real here! Dante looked good in his return, the injury shown from a different angle did NOT! Holy fuck! Next week's trios match should be good, too! MJF putting over Joe and going over the guys he himself has beaten was good. Joe stepped in immediately when the terrorists attacked MJF to protect his investment, but is obviously against ANY kind of tag matches that may mess up his much deserved main event match.

Feeling better now. But can't smell anything, at all. The last two days sucked, mostly due to this constant headache. It wasn't headsplitting or anything, but enough to keep me awake despite trying my best to sleep. I've spent 3 of the last four days basically just lying down (did go to work on Monday, as the symptoms weren't too bad at that time yet, and no "fever" in general sense, since my body temperature is freakishly low). Tested positive on Tuesday morning, by the way. I have been able to eat, despite having no appetite, so the weight hasn't gone down and I'll try to keep it that way. Man, it feels good to be back, despite not really being back yet. The thing about the headache was that it just didn't let up. I kept taking paracetamol and ibuprofen, while icing my forehead and massaging my temples and that only worked a little bit, until you stopped. The thing about constant (mild) pain is that a lot of times, there IS a way to get rid of it, but that involves a short period of much more intense pain. This didn't seem to work in this case. It did work, however, on Saturday as my lower back was feeling very stiff from the trapbar etc. but lying on a hard rubber ball and working on my glutes for a good while made all of that go away. So the continuous temple massaging (that was also painful) having little to no effect was very frustrating. I'm glad that's over for now.

Just heard this for the first time last week while listening to Tom Lehrer on Spotify. Seems appropriate.

Does he get to become a proper part of Undertaker's Wrestlemania Streak now? These are weird times, indeed!

You bet! Did Rampage +Collision today, although slept through some of it. Plenty of ROH and Impact to go as well, while waiting for Dynamite.

Yes, good matches here. The Seat Belt is quite the pinning combination, these past couple of weeks! Huge win for Brody King, this time, The House did always win! 3-0 for HOB tonight. Now Eddie has to fight from behind if he wants to get to the finals of the league. Wow, they are getting Swerve vs White out of the way, quickly!

Going through my first-ever (proven) bout with Covid-19. Started showing ever so slight symptoms on Sunday, not feeling great on Monday and now it's on. The test showed up positive within seconds, so there was no doubt. I kinda knew this or a regular flu would knock me off at some point, as my workouts have been so rough it can't do good for my immune system. So, this means staying in bed and/or the couch for as many days it takes, trying to get my calories and vitamins in as much as possible. I have to say that my appetite isn't great today, but didn't have any problems with it prior to this.

Why not both? I mean both screaming at each other that the other ruined their perfect plan, until they both stop, stare at one another and then start making out in frustration would be pretty funny.

Somebody needs to remove that man from power! Trying to sabotage a wrestler's important career moment like that! And considering he is in a position of power, couldn't sending a "gift" like that to a specific wrestler be considered bribery? 4 turkeys can't be cheap with this inflation! Even if that isn't exactly what Anne's brother is going for here, someone could see this as "here's a bunch of expensive food, now go lose the tournament by forefeit *wink-wink* "-type of corruption.

I bought this game's Elite Edition for my nephew upon release (for PC). A few weeks back he finally showed it to me and I was actually embarrased that I had basically forced that abomination upon him. I mean, he never has to play it if he doesn't want to but still that was not cool. Also, there were zero other players online when he showed it to me. I don't play games, my nephew is not a wrestling fan, there was nothing but the aforementioned goodwill that made me buy that game for him. There were no winners in this one, except for AEW for the short term, in a good old "fuck you, we got your money"-sense, even if it wasn't their intention.

Not only chaperoning but doing everything possible to sabotage the date, which then, against all odds ends up being so successful that Ruby and Ang are even closer by the end of it and Menard and Saraya flip their shit!

Yeah, Trapbar! My legs felt stiff as hell despite all the stretching I did last night and this afternoon, but it ended up going better than I figured. Started with 2x405 off the large deficit without gloves. Then 499 off the one block deficit with Versas and from the smallest deficit without them. 521 off the floor level and then it was off to the blocks. Getting 616,5 off the half blocks and 644 off same. Then 695 off 2/3 blocks. 738 off the 3/4 blocks and then off the full blocks 789,5. After that, I took the shoes off and did 3 separate singles with 833. Then 789,5 again, then 738, 3x695 and 5x600. After that I was running out of time, so just one set of shrugs with 295 and that was it. So, not as many reps with the big weights as last week, but the 3 singles with 833 was the best so far. Also, the early lifts had some progression from last week. That's it for this week, the eating of ton of calories shall commence at the earliest convenience.

Like I said in the weekly thread, the top 3 guys of block Gold were established in this first round. By the looks of it, RUSH would be the number 4 guy, and we'll see how the chips fall for Lethal and Briscoe? I'm thinking that anyone can make it to the block finals with one draw, because otherwise it would basically be a single elimination tournament, but is it possible to get there with one loss? It should be possible, but not if say Jay White just waltzes through beating everyone until losing the actual championship finals. I would prefer this to be as close as possible and with some upsets as well. As I said, I don't see Mox in the championship finals, but definitely in the block finals against either White or Swerve. Having White vs Swerve as the block finals would be interesting, but probably not the way to go. Block Gold is rather heel heavy, with only Briscoe as a true face. RUSH and Mox may be cheered, but that doesn't mean that they are real faces. Blue Block is also just tweeners on top of tweeners with only Eddie as a true face and even he is a F'n asshole 90% of the time. Bryan is closer to being a face these days, but he still hangs around with a bunch of tweeners who were heels just a while ago! Well, guess those matches are easier to book, as anyone can face anyone and not worry about the crowd reaction. This block is a bit harder to predict, but it would definitely suck if Eddie put his belts on the line and would end up nowhere near the block finals. I don't know if this field is as good as it could have been, but I'm sure that there is a reason why these people were chosen and others weren't. I'm sure we are in for a bunch of really good matches. I have to say that the 20-minute time limit is good, as it raises the possibility of two top guys going to a draw and giving the number 4 guy a long shot chance, because he was able to beat #5 and #6 guys etc. If the time limit was 30 minutes, we would probably be looking at 1 max, if that. With 20 minutes, I can see a few matches going that long.

Ok, that covers it, literally.

Would this mean Swerve would be the one breaking Bruno's longevity record? Or is that going to be Roman's record at that point? Given that MJF's reign has to be winding down, Joe could probably have it for a few months, then Eddie would probably hold it until the next Dynamite after the PPV he wins it at, so this would leave Swerve with quite a stretch before Negative One becomes at least a zero, right?

Well, it could have been itchy balls, but he also talked MJF into taking the match he obviously doesn't want, and he conveniently messed up two attempts to help MJF against White, so the circumstantial evidence is piling up and I guess the alibi for the first attack isn't exactly airtight, either! He also deflected by saying some people are saying Roddy might be The Devil, so yeah. ...Oh, and one of the most interesting aspects of this is that IF IT IS Cole, is Roddy in on it, or not? Because some clues point to yes, while others clearly no. I find that very fascinating!

Wonderful episode. So much stuff building with the main storyline with MJF, Adaaam, Joe, Devil, Roddy, Wardlow et al. MJF trying to weasel out of his promise was to be expected, but he can be talked into being the hero, apparently. That may end up costing him, though. At least Joe is there to protect his investment! I kinda felt bad for Roddy after Adaaam blew up on him, but it's not like he didn't bring this all on himself with his actions. Christian Cage is out of control. Somebody needs to shut him the hell up, I guess even if it is Adam Copeland. Nick Wayne's Mom has a name now, but you know what, I'll still call her Nick Wayne's Mom. The way Copeland treated Nick, it may actually make her see things from Cage's point of view, however gross that may be! The tournament matches were all very good. This established the usual suspects as the top 3 guys, with Jay White having the toughest time facing the apparent number 4 guy in RUSH. Too early to say who is the number 1 guy in this crew. At face value, it should be Mox, but I absolutely do not see him being in the finals (although Eddie-Mox is an issue that was never truly resolved one-on-one, since it resurfaced). Danhausen and the HAT returning during the trios match was a nice surprise. The match itself was entertaining, but the heels deserved an actual entrance too! Skye Blue took the advantage of the on going drama between the other participants, as she should have! This Ang-Ruby saga isn't exactly Indy-Dexter, but it has potential, for sure! Storm acceptance speech was good enough, and the way Skye Blue sort of crashed it with her entrance and with a win tonight, she could actually be the first one to challenge Storm this time around. My math says Danielson vs Andrade rematch is the only first round match not announced. I guess that would be the White-RUSH of that block, as the end result is at least somewhat in doubt with that one. Claudio and Eddie take their matches, most likely. Plenty of entertaining stuff here all night!

Opted for seal-row, squat-machine, regular bench and pushdowns (with resistance band and the actual machine) for tonight's workout. Granted, I only went heavy on the seal row and a couple of reps with both 264 and 286 went pretty well before starting to lag, badly. Still, improvement from last week. The squat machine I wussed out on and kept the weight at 284. Did something like 6 sets, first being 5 reps and the last one being 10. I went deep and stopped at the bottom for most of the reps, and once I pulled the safety pin in place the final half a rep was always super slow. The pushdowns were just something to do between sets. Bench topped out at 3x263,5, doing more sets with 252 and 230, reps around 3-5, maybe 7 sets overall. I was feeling the first two nights of workouts on my shoulders still. I may have to and do some hanging upside-down after the night shift is done, as I didn't have the time to do that at the end of the workout. I also have a feeling that the Trapbar tomorrow won't be too spectacular!