Gordberg

It makes perfect sense if part of the plan in booking the tournament is to turn Mox to set him up as a challenger for the new anxious millennial champ down the road, which I think is likely. Mox heeling out on OC and then on American Dragon would probably be enough to get him booed. And it was pretty much a banana-peel finish after Hobbs physically dominating the lion's share of the match so I dont think it hurts Hobbs monster credentials all that much.

Me, too!

According to his book: Bryan first saw the move performed by Muta at an NWA tournament called Future Shock '89 (Starrcade '89, in Atlanta. Presumably he watched it on video year later? He would have been 9 at the time). Muta wasn't using it as a finisher, but Bryan thought it might be cool to use it as one. He called it the "bridging chicken wing thing." He started using it in Memphis (in 2000), but only a few times as a finisher. He first heard the name "Cattle Mutilation" from Reckless Youth at the Super 8 (presumably 2001) which is where he started using it as his regular finisher. At first, he didn't know what Youth was referring to, and after it was explained to him he assumed he'd never hear the term again. Subsequently, Christopher Daniels also called the hold the "Cattle Mutilation" but Bryan didn't like the imagery and in his own mind kept calling it the "bridging chicken wing thing." He says that he continued to call it that until late 2002, when he finally accepted that everyone else in ROH called it the Cattle Mutilation and there was nothing he could do to change that.

So, are you suggesting that we should Always Bet on

That's a really excellent pro wrestling moment there. Well thought-out and very well-executed. When Black paused in thought I figured he was going to go back and hurt Dante some more. Then, just that slightest nod. And Martin's selling pain and exhaustion, but you know he saw it. That was enough. No need to be overly dramatic. Subtle (particularly by pro wrestling standards), but effective (by pretty much any reasonable standard). Camera work was really good, too.

Obviously, we are all freaking out about this over here. I can now confirm, straight from the horse's mouth, it's true. You can't imagine how happy this makes me. I really hope he will work with Dotonbouri Pro (Kuuga) and Colega (Bodyguard) I super-duper hope he runs the old Delfin/Dotonbouri/Minami Move On Arena. That was the greatest place in the world to watch wrestling, drink, and have fun.

Someone in pro wrestling should definitely steal the 10-count bit that starts around 3:30 here. The whole clip is one of my all-time favourite movie scenes.

And now that we have definitive proof that a Dragon is stronger than a Fish, the next logical step for Bobby is to challenge Taz's son. Because Fish vs Hook is a natural rivalry.

Tournament bracket announcement Anxious Millennial Hangman interview Dragon vs Fish Lucha Bros vs A Masked Team of Andrade's acquaintance Mox vs Wheeler Hogan (not.that one) vs Penelope Dante vs Malakai I have marked out so much today (Bryan vs MiSu, etc, plus the stuff I posted in the pics and merch threads). Hopefully i can still get it up tomorrow morning (my time) for Saturday Dynamite.

Get a load of these kicking T-shirts I picked up today at a steep discount, in my size (which is rare in Japan) at a pop-up puroresu shop at a local mall. Started the day with Bryan vs MiSu, finished up with buying these beauties: I've been living here 13 years and I've never seen anything like this pop-up shop before. I have been marking out A LOT today! And yes, the AEW Best Friends theme played in my head when I saw the Baba/Destroyer shirt. This is the rest of the shirt: And the backs!! I posted more pics from the awesome little shop in the pics and gifs thread, including these two: Yeah, I basically spent the whole day marking out like a little kid. @The Natural This more than makes up for not getting any wrestling merch for my birthday!

So, like i didn't have enough to mark out about already today... My friend Juan tipped me off about a pop-up puroresu shop that was set up in a local mall this weekend. Something I'd naively hoped would happen all the time over here, but in fact this was the first time I've seen anything like this anywhere outside Tokyo since Mr. Hito's shop closed. Giant Baba's boots: Giant Baba's t-shirt: Tiger Mask's mask: And I'll spoiler the rest, and post the t-shirts I bought in the merch thread:

I'd say that would have to be true every time. I mean, what other options are there?

I loved Bryan vs MiSu. Right up there with WALTER vs Dragunov and Ishii vs Moose in my personal MOTY list. For me, the best thing was that the crowd was not hot at all for the two opening matches (even though Fish v Moriarty was excellent and the always-wonderful Tay Conti was in the opener) but then Danielson and Suzuki drew them in 100 percent using only strike exchanges, mat work, and character work. I love that the knuckle-lock got a "this is awesome!" chant. I get that there are people who are philosophically opposed to strike exchanges on principle… but THAT is how they should be done. They were obviously dancing the dance and responding to the crowd, and they really worked those exchanges for all they were worth. Real, actual, pro wrestling in action right there. Loved it. Really enjoyed Sydal vs Punk and Bunny vs Soho as well. My nitpick of the week is that they followed up a “skin of his teeth” match with a “skin of her teeth match” which is a pretty minor nit. Safe to say the ring rust is off of Punk now? Bunny is a really good heel. It was funny that the worst aspect of Dos Santos in the ring was his punches. Presumably, he was being too careful to avoid actually hurting Jericho. I popped for how happy he looked just before hitting the powerslam. I’m still enjoying the ATT stuff, and the sing alongs… I think if someone doesn’t enjoy Lambert’s angry grandpa act, there’s a pretty good chance that they are an angry pro wrestling grandpa. Awesome two hours of pro wrestling action. Maybe the best thing, as @Matt D pointed out above, is how Suzuki drew something out of Bryan that we haven’t seen from him recently. That was great.

If you look really carefully, there are also birds, possibly seagulls, in that picture.

Who can win, and how, per NJPW1972

Lawful Good Heel vs Chaotic Evil Face (or even lawful good character who gets heel reactions vs chaotic evil character who gets cheers) is a genuinely fun pro wrestling idea, regardless of what the original intentions might have been. If this was the intention all along, it's straight-up genius.

I thought I'd be back to regular "full-time" posting by now, but it turns out that I'm still pretty darned busy (with good things). I have A LOT of thoughts about what's been going on in AEW recently (and y'all can probably guess most of them, and a lot of people here have already shared very similar thoughts on the various AEW threads). One thing that really caught my eye, that I don't think was discussed here, was this interview on BR with Bryan Danielson, conducted by Chris Mueller. In particular, this lengthy quote: "One of the things that I've really worked on is trying to desire less and less," he said. "I feel like, and this is more of like a minimalist philosophy, but the less things that you want, your overall well-being is better, right? So, if I don't want a nice car, I don't desire a nice car, it doesn't bother me that I don't have a nice car, right? "I think that that comes from growing up poor and trying to focus on being thankful for what I have, which is something that my mom was always really great with us. And that's kind of expanded into my 20s when you get more into the Eastern philosophies and all that kind of stuff. So when it comes to it, it was hard, because with WWE, they want you to be very goal-driven. "All those the media interviews, if you don't say you want to main-event WrestleMania, then they're like, 'Oh, he doesn't have any drive, or he doesn't have any ambition,' which I don't [laughs]. But sometimes you just have to lie to please demand. My overall goal is just having fun and being satisfied with awesome people. "There's a part from the Tao Te Ching that really spoke to me. It's something about real happiness is living right next door to another country and having no desire to go there. Because you're so happy where you're at, you know what I mean? But I am an adventurer and kind of an explorer, so I like seeing different things. And one of the reasons why I came to AEW is the curiosity. "There's no desire for any sort of external expectations. As far as what's going to happen [in AEW], I'm going with an open mind and an attitude of trying to be the best wrestler I can be. And that's always been a focus. I think one of the cool things about wrestling is that if you really focus on it, and don't worry about the politics and anything else, you focus on just becoming a better pro wrestler." I recently read Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania (by Daniel Bryan) and the parts written by Bryan consistently reflect this set of values (while the parts heinously over-written by Craig Tello don't seem to have any grasp of those concepts at all). I also had the distinct pleasure of sitting at the same table/being in the same room with Bryan several times in the mid-90s when he made frequent trips up to work for ECCW in Vancouver, and I had some close friends working there. Based on my observations and interactions, this is very much the real Bryan Danielson talking genuinely here. Of course, he's a husband and father now, with new and different responsibilities, so how has that changed him? from the same interview: "When I say the base, like the home base in the back of my mind like as I'm doing other things, say, as I'm gardening, it would always just kind of go back to pro wrestling. And that's been since I was a kid, it was my default thing to think about. "And now that's not the case. It's weird how your brain can be rewired so quickly to be like, 'Oh, my default setting is not thinking about what I say, my default setting is thinking about my kids.' And I think any parent knows once you have kids, you realize how selfish you were before you had kids. I feel I'm a lot less selfish now." There's a lot more interesting stuff in that interview, including his thoughts about WWE and AEW. It's more than worth reading in full. You have probably already guessed why I pulled the above quote, though. Aside from how what Bryan says relates to a lot of our AEW navel-gazing on these threads, I just think it's excellent life advice, in general: Focus on growth and self-improvement, and set aside your desires for material success... ironically, that can be a real recipe for genuine success. And I love how it contradicts grumpy JR's oft-repeated assertion that people are only in pro wrestling for the money. I legit believe that Bryan would fight Minoru Suzuki for free, it it was either that or never have the match. One last thing. Bryan on his AEW debut: "A lot of times before a big thing, I also try to focus on my gratitude on things. It was like an incredible sensory experience that, if I close my eyes right now, I can think about it and feel it again." Here's a man who has found, and figured out ow to use, the keys to happiness and fulfillment. I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling really happy for him.

I know some folks think it's trite to feel/say this, but: If we are really headed into a new era of "competition is good for the business" then this legit might be The Best Time to be a Pro Wrestling Fan. Even if all we get out of it is Bryan vs MiSu on YouTube for free... Good Lord! What a dream match! And Fish v Moriarty ain't exactly chopped liver. Too bad guys on a Greggulator level of "casualness" don't know/care who Suzuki is but I guess they can watch SmackDown anyway so as fans we are all winners here. Not directly related to AEW, but connected to "TBT to be a PWF" I've seen discussion elsewhere: Is GCW now the #3 promotion in America? Impact, ROH, and MLW all have TV, and Impact has a big name, and ROH has that legacy of great matches (and MLW has Jacob Fatu...) But could any of them run Hammerstein? I honestly think GCW puts more butts in seats than any of them. It's partly due to the new era of inter-promotional cooperation... and partly due to GCW listening to, understanding, and respecting their fans... which does tie this neatly back into Tony Khan's way of running things (and to this being The Best Time etc).

I said, "You [email protected]$in' die." No, I-- we were just goofin' around No, no. It didn't have anything to do with anything She said, "Don't tou- anybody touches my stuff..." And I said, "You [email protected]$in' die," like that I was finishing her part for her You know what I mean? (I really wanted to make a "It's a song about a Surfer. Named Rosa. Like, Rosa is her name. And she surfs. So she is a Surfer named Rosa. I think it's called 'The Song That Couldn't Slow Down'." joke... but the song is called "Oh My Golly" and the song "Vamos (Surfer Rosa)" is not about a Surfer named Rosa). (It seems to be about a maid named Maria).

I have been watching some of their shows recently, thanks to the enthusiasm of a couple of members of the group of online friends that I chat with during AEW and New Japan shows. They constantly over-deliver. Very much like AEW, they seem to really get their fan base, and make a real effort to keep them happy. Their show yesterday had a few huge surprises (like the one during the scramble match, or the one after the 6-man tag) that massively popped the crowd (and me watching at home, and the dudes I was chatting online with). They had a comedian (jRon Funchess?) wrestle on a recent show, and built a damned entertaining match around him. They are about more than the death match stuff. You get go-go-go spotfests, technical wrestling, comedy, story-telling, David v Goliath... That being said, Nick Gage is over like Lawler in Memphis. And the death match stuff is not for the squeamish. Death Match King Matt Cardona is the perfect post-modern heel. I love GCW crowds Definitely worth checking out a show, if anyone is on the fence about it.

You did that TWICE?

It's not exactly an answer to your question, but I always got a hug kick out of Krusher Kruschev not even trying to fake a Russian accent. I used to be able to get a laugh by explaining that it was because he's from Soviet Georgia.

Loved seeing the Anaconda Vice as the finisher. Laughed out loud when the announcers started out the show with a "What a great time to be a wrestling fan/The best time!" exchange. I concur! Nitpick of the week: Rush's new gimmick is not distinct enough from Big Money Matt. G1 less than 5 hours away! I love days like these.

Thanks, Matt! Happy birthday to you, too, Sharty! Nah. Got some Mozart merch, though. Birthdays generally aren't as big a deal in Japan as they are in the West.

@Happ Hazzard also asked about this. I finally decided to try out Kindle and am well into a major wrestling bio binge. Scott Norton's book Strong Style gets my highest possible recommendation, particularly for anyone interested in 90s New Japan. He goes into tremendous detail and the tales of his time there are filled with great, funny, insane, interesting stories. Also I was very surprised to learn that the co-author is a very nice and very intelligent guy whom I've had the pleasure of drinking and watching wrestling with in Osaka: Adam Randis (who used to post here and there as Dynamic A back in the day). Adam does a great job of capturing Norton's voice and making everything flow. It's the only wrestling book Adam's done. He is a close friend of the Norton family. Seriously, no fooling: One of my all-time favourite pro wrestling books. Adam, Russell, Jonathan, Ebessan, D.J and I at Minami Move On Arena in Osaka in 2009