AxB

It was a great match by Wilow's standards because her usual match is really good. Whereas this one was outstandingly good.

The masters of the POUNCE, united at last: Collision, on paper it looked like it might be a 2 out of 5 type of show, but then a few of the matches really over-delivered and it turned out really great. Bailey vs Dralistico really felt like they'd worked together a lot and knew each other like the backs of their hands, but it legit was their second match ever. Willow vs Stat was outstanding by Willow's standards, but the fuck finish really bought it down. Up until that point, it was fantastic stuff. Also, I'm very gratified that a week after I advocated for running more 6/8 man tags to get more people ring time on the show, we had a really fucking good 8 man tag that got a lot of people ring time on the show. Kyle Fletcher is now so big and strong he can snap bodyslam someone without any apparent effort at all.

The modern day Disco Inferno is Logan Paul. By which I mean, they have the same face.

The World titles are supposed to be the most prestigious belts, with the idea being that they are defended infrequently, and it's very hard to earn a title shot. But right now, the Women's World title is on Toni Storm, who is both a) a draw who they want to use on TV as much as possible, and b) a workhorse, who wants to wrestle every week. Which leads to her being booked in Title Eliminators a lot. Now having the TBS title, which is supposed to be defended very frequently, on Mercedes Mone (who wants her appearances on TV to be rare and special occasions), that messes things up a little.

I never understood why, whenever wrestlers did a big Tower of Doom spot, the person/ people on the bottom (doing the powerbomb) would also sell it. Like everyone else in the spot is taking a big bump from a point of elevation, but the person at the bottom is going from standing on the mat to... still standing on the mat. Is hitting a Powerbomb (where you don't even have to do the lifting part) so exhausting?

For anyone who thinks there aren't any hosses on the US indies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3GqfEZS0FY Brick Savage vs O'Shay Edwards

It's "Current Superstars call out Hulk Hogan" day, apparently. Not only Becky Lynch, but also Shelton Benjamin have dissed him today. Hogan, in an interview to promote his Real American Wrestling thing, he said lots of Amateur Wrestlers have star quality, and cited Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, and "Benjamin Shelton" (sic). He also said he was the first wrestler to face Lesnar after Lesnat left the UFC, which was obvious bullshit. So on his twitter, Sheton said: (Will Smith Keep my name out your fucking Mouth gif)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz2oQYcbWMo Fritz Von Erich vs Giant Baba

I'm watching a Nate Quarry interview on an Anti-Maga MMA YouTube channel, and he's talking about how the "MMA Fighters sue the UFC" lawsuit was (during the Obama Administration) attempting to segue into an expansion of the Ali act. Change the wording from "Boxer" to "Fighter". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WH4i4nv83s It's 1hr 11, but it's pretty good background music.

I think one of the GYVs is injured. I do like the move in AEW to have six/eight man tag matches on the TV shows, it's a far better way to get more talent on TV. They should start doing that with the women too. If rather than the parade of Women's singles matches and occasional squashes, we start getting a women's trios match every week, far more women can get on TV and advance their angles (and they're a great way of moving from one feud to another; If they do Harley Cameron & Anna Jay & Willow vs Meghan Bayne & Penelope Ford & Abadon, it's a great way to segue the singles feud into Willow vs Maghan.

There's a video on AEW's YouTube of the faceless backstage interviewer trying to get a post-match interview with Max Caster, who refuses, leaves the building, runs away and... actually, just watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siaBPyRdyZE&pp=ygUOYWV3IG1heCBjYXN0ZXI%3D

The way Love Machine got Eddy Guerrero to turn heel on his partner El Santo was, he unmasked Santo mid-match, put the mask on, and started attacking Eddy while pointing at his own (masked) face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3W5ujaWE7A Dr Cerebro vs Gringo Loco, from DEAN~!!! 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_3dMRbfGbA Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu, 1st Feb 1986 (Also featuring Japanese Television commercials)

Meltzer has confirmed that WWE has signed Alberto El Patron (for the AAA brand).

There's lists out there, but none from an actual reputable source. Every chance that the ones people are reacting to are basically troll-bait. Like, they have La Parka on the list. Meaning AAA La Parka, not LA Park. And AAA only just re-assigned that gimmick, after their original replacement for Park died a few years ago.

The first talent announcement!

What the people really want is Pizza Cat vs Pizza Cat Junior. (When Shotzi got signed, they had Billie Starkz take over the Pizza Cat gimmick, as Shotzi's faux daughter)

The Ruthless Pro Wrestling King of the Kill works like that. It's an annual 8 man, one night Deathmatch tournament, where the winner then gets to challenge last year's winner, and whoever wins that match holds the trophy for the year. And their title shot (which is also a Deathmatch) happens that same night. They just clean up all of the glass from the ring, fill it with fresh weapons, and then the guy who has had three deathmatches that night fights someone who's been hanging out with commentary all night.

It's one of the things I do find interesting. There's been a lot of people in the last few years leaving WWE and arriving in AEW, or vice versa, and the differing ways the two fanbases react that is quite intriguing. We've seen a lot of complaining in these threads about AEW coming to stand for All Ex WWE, and people getting frustrated at the AEW uppercard being overstuffed with WWE veterans who we've seen enough of. And in particular, if it's an ex-Main Event WWE guy. Like Swerve comes to AEW from WWE, and people who knew him as Strickland (or Killshot) before he was Isiah Scott get excited to see Swerve with the handbrake off. But Cope comes to AEW from WWE and it's like, we've seen everything you have to offer. We've seen you as a top heel, a top face, as a veteran making a comeback. He comes to AEW and does nothing different from his WWE routine, and there's a feeling that... we don't need to see this. Like, we've seen it already, and the fact that he's here doing this means there's an AEW original who isn't on the show. Cope was in the WWE system so long, and arrived in it so early in his career, I don't think he could ever have a match that didn't follow the WWE match formula. And people don't watch AEW to watch WWE match formula matches; If they wanted to see WWE-style matches, you watch WWE. But on the other side, when wrestlers jump from AEW to WWE, the audiences seem to uncritically love them. Whether it's a main eventer like Cody or CM Ponk, an upper midcarder like Ricky Starks/Saints, a career midcarder like Ethan Page or Shawn Spears/ Tye Dillinger, or a useless idiot like Pillman Jr/ Lexis King, the WWE fans are ecstatic to see them. Like every example of someone leaving AEW is an objectively brilliant wrestler who AEW fumbled. It's frankly bizarre.

OK, so there's one. Four to go!

Very few wrestlers these day incorporate the struggle and storytelling into their matches, eh? How interesting. Name 5 currently active wrestlers who don't do that. Give examples of how they don't do that, and where they should. This could be very enlightening.

It was pretty jarring two or three years ago, when they did a big Pride Month promotion by putting all of their NXT LGBTQ+ wrestlers (and most vocal allies) all on their rainbow Capitalism poster, and then everyone who had been on that poster was released 5 months later.

They're all so young! I love that this match is so old, they're still using broken bottles for glass because nobody has clued in to using light tubes yet. AND YET, on commentary, they mention that "This could be IWA Mid South's swan song". Like Ian was doing the "We might be going out of business" grift even back in the very early days of the promotion.

Like that picture of Adam Cole with ZSJ, where they're both six feet tall yet the top of Cole's head barely reaches Sabre's nose?