NikoBaltimore

Had a friend's birthday that I was a part of, so got to the show late. Got in by the 3rd episode taping and the guy just let me in for free. Can't beat watching AJ and Joe without having to spend a dime, though I did get a Joe shirt. AJ/Mark Briscoe was fantastic. Mark had to have been loving going back to a style before he became goofy. It was very much a hard-hitting match that was a blast to watch live. And Joe/O'reilly was excellent. I was standing in front of the area where ROH talent goes to chill out, and they were all on the floor. When Kyle came out I see 2/3 of the roster going to that area. I liken it to the "TV monitor sellout" that happens for big WWE matches. It was cool how I'd talk to Jay Briscoe for a minute and once the match starts we're all just fans watching Joe's return match. I am very happy to say that we very much got ROH Joe, and he looked tremendous. It was like doing a time warp to ten years ago and it ruled in every way. I'm so happy I went, and I'm hoping he comes back when they're back in July. Normally they do an after party at a nearby bar. I drive there and turns out it wasn't happening there. I head back to the arena to find out where the after party is and there wasn't one for tonight. But when I get there I see Joe and AJ coming out. They took pictures with a couple families but were trying to just leave. It was pretty cool to say hi to both of them despite them being in a hurry. Really glad I went back to see what was going on. So yeah, from what I saw ROH ruled. You're all going to adore AJ/Mark and Joe/Kyle.

I can guarantee despite all the bells and whistles Lesnar will not get half as good of a match out of Reigns like Bryan did. It's sad that he's pretty much the gatekeeper of the WWE for now, but he had a consistently better year. So much for waiting the weekend, went with Bryan.

I expected Ryback to get blown of out this in the early stages. In the NXT thread there are definitely those that didn't care for Finn, but it wasn't a full-on backlash. That said, there seems to be plenty of Balor hate here. I saw very little of him in NJPW, but liked what I saw. Do I like the paint and entrance? Absolutely. But he does need to better separate regular Finn from Demon Finn. In Demon form he should hitting lots of hurty moves or something. At this point it's easy for me to overlook, because it's not fully figured out yet. They're still making changes to him, and I get the sense there's going to be a better output from him due to that. It's not going to happen in this voting period, if one's mind is made up it's made up. Shit, I'm not sure if he's going to get past the next round as is. But next year will be better for Finn, if he loses I'm sure come next year he'll do a lot better. With Ryback, what you see is what you get. Muscled-up meathead who read The Secret is entertaining and all, but he's pretty much been figured out. He had a chance to be a main eventer, but got screwed over in that initial face run. Now it's hard to imagine him being built up to that level again. He was fine in Rybaxel though. Maybe he'd fare better teaming up with a face and go for the tag belts. As a singles guy he's just not working for me.

The main issue I'm having choosing either guy is I am such a Daniel Bryan fan I can't possibly vote against him. Yet at the same time due to injuries it's hard to actually vote for him. But he had that championship chase where he looked a million bucks. If God forbid he was so injured he had to retire after WM would that change how he fares in the voting? I'd say no, yet when he came back he's had a feud with Kane and an IC title hunt now. That might have hurt his chances. On the flip side, Brock's hardly around yet when he is it's memorable. The SS and Rumble matches alone should make him an easy decision. For me, it's a matchup between quality and quantity. With Bryan, even though he's had more matches a lot of them have ranged from good to great. Tough to choose at this point. Not sure if anybody is having a similar issue or if I'm just out of my freaking mind. And as entertaining as the "Vote for Brock or he'll eat your lunch!" comments are, that's not going to sway my vote.

Yeah, I see myself voting on this Sunday or Monday morning. I've always been a Cena fan, but am put off by his goofy promos and shitty punches. But the Lesnar matches are examples of how great he could be when it counts. With Tanahashi my main gripes are his constant use of the HIgh Fly Flow. If it's not meant to be a finisher, then why not have a finish that works? The only matches I've seen from him are against Okada and I loved those. But I'm not aware of how he's been against other opponents. Thanks to NJPW World I'm hoping to remedy that, but I'd like to see how he fares against mid-card guys and main eventers alike.

I didn't realize how tough this would be. Seth has had a killer year with the Shield and without. He's stepped it up in a big way and is proving why he should be one of the top guys. Against many others I'd easily pick Rollins. But Tyson is one of the most improved guys in quite some time. He went from being the talented guy nobody cares about to a talented guy with shit tons of personality. You could thank NXT or even Sami for that, but who knew that being a cat-loving chikenshit heel would revitalize his career like it has? Tyson is just awesome in what he does. Toss in teaming with Cesaro and it it only adds to how awesome he is. He's definitely worth voting for, but there's that feeling that it'd be a sympathy vote due to Seth. Normally I'd vote right away, but there's that feeling I'll need the weekend to think about this. But I'm really hoping this isn't a one-sided match. He deserves so much better than that.

Of the four matches this is the easiest for me. Nothing against Ryback as he seems like a decent guy (especially after the Jericho podcast) But Finn Balor all the way.

Oh, jayzus, Cena/Tanahashi and Bryan/Lesnar just opened up. In the words of Shang Tsung from the MK movie: "IIIIITTTT HHHAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSS BEEEEGGUUUUUNNNNNN!!!!!!!!"

So Tanahashi/Cena and Lesnar/Bryan are only one day threads, right? If so it's a shame as a second day would be nice. Sensing a lot of people are going to be voting for those two matchups.

The most enjoyable part about Orton was the RKO Outta Nowhere memes that were hilarious. Can't remember the last time I was into Orton, likely when he was full psycho. Owens though is mobile for a big guy and entertaining as anything. His run in NXT so far has been fantastic and the interactions with Sami and Riley of all people have been compelling. Easy win for Owens.

I voted Lethal strictly off his character. The guy is doing his damndest to make the TV title seem very important, and I'm loving his promos. Never thought him turning heel would be the best thing to happen to a guy as nice as he is. Taking his matches into consideration, it's understandable if people are going with Panther instead. But tournament results be damned, I'm a Jay Lethal fan.

What I forgot to say before was I was very interested after Rza talk so much about the 36th Chambers and doing albums based off of that. Over the years he's hyped it up so much that it was always one of those must-see movies. Before seeing it yesterday, I read how it influenced Rza and it made sense. But it proves this movie is so influential that a rap group can make albums based off of it and become legendary in the process. I don't listen to rap, but now have a strong desire to check out their albums. Thanks, Rza. I was going to check the 36th Chamber sequels, but the opening for the second one didn't grab me. Are those worth watching, or are they okay to pass? The last thing I want after seeing the original is mostly comedy in the sequels. I wish Gordon Liu came back for those to continue where the first one left off. As it is, I'm fine with passing on the sequels and re-watching the original.

Holy shit, I can't say enough how glad I am to be snowed in today. Watching 36th Chamber Trilogy in one day is going to be sublime. Saw the first one just now and it left me practically speechless. No wonder this is considered one of the best kung fu films of all time. From what I've seen so far it's number one in my heart. Going to see the other ones after a round of shoveling, but oh what fun it is to be snowed in.

I must say, when making my picks I originally felt foolish. It feels reassuring knowing I might have made the right call after all. Awesome. Hey, guys, we're in the band!

I love Neville and will surely vote for him...in later rounds. I know he's going to win, but feel a need to give a sympathy vote to Pentagon, Jr. The guy is too damn good to get blown out like that. Especially given his current push in LU, he went from "another guy" to one of the most feared men on the show. EDIT: If he only gets three votes, I'm okay with that. It's better than none for Pentagon, Jr.

Poor, poor Thatcher. He's so goddamn good, but has no chance against Nakamura. If it gets to this point, I'm begging for him against Ambrose. Both for the tournament.and an actual match. Them trying to outcrazy each other would be money. Of course Shinsuke would win, but it'd be fun to see anyway.

Talk about a bad draw for Hechicero. Obvious vote for Sami is obvious.

There are those when released who will skate by off their WWE reputations for as long as possible. Then there's those who go "Fuck them, I'll show WWE what they missed out on!" and aim to kick all kinds of ass. Drew is definitely in the latter situation, and it's been pretty to watch. I like Bray the character, but not as much the matches. The Cena feud was my favorite one he's had, though that was mainly the angles leading up the match. Going mainly off match quality Drew wins and it's not even close.

For what it's worth I did this match in WWE 2K15 some time ago and it was an excellent match Gotta go with Breeze. Glad Goldust teamed with Cody as the unofficially named "Brothers in Paint". But Breeze had some high-quality matches against high-quality opponents.

Gah, now I'm reminded of that after voting yesterday! Sorry, Titus. Paige is still awesome. Nattie was actually decent. Nikki said "Cray, cray" for some dumb reason. And Cameron is fucking horrible. I love this show. Take Cameron out of this and I'd love it a lot more.

I took that as her attempt to clean up so nobody sees what happened. Guess she didn't have a broom or anything in there. This episode took some interesting turns. Mack appears to still be recovering from what happened to him, Caulson is more on edge than ever, Fitz is much more temperamental, Simmons feels for remorse, and Raina now is an evil inhuman. Add to that Skye being an inhuman and freaking out and this makes for one fun season.

I'll give this a try (DVDR March Madness style!) : Ultimo wins round Dave Mastiff beating Big Show Rippa is happy

It's been one year today since my would-be father-in-law passed away due to cancer. He died three months before we got married, so it's been a pretty up and down year. Today both of us are in a bad mood and don't want to work at all. But going home it'll be a pretty sad night. Can't wait for this day to be over with.

You know what's pretty fucking awesome? It's having these wonderful matches to watch from the tournament entrants. It's pretty obvious, but this is almost like a one-stop shop for getting a taste of what all these wrestlers bring to the table. Normally they're segmented in their own separate sub-forums (Lucha, Japan, etc.) but for the tournament they're all in place. [/CaptainObvious] Of course it sucks that I can't watch them now due to work. But it's something to look forward to when I get home.