Niners Fan in CT

The Booking of the Pillars fatal 4 way is nearing the height of convoluted bullshit. I'd expect that out of say the last ten years of Vince McMahon but at one time AEW was better than that.

You forgot Kane.

I'll start with the good. I don't hate the design of the new World Heavyweight Title. I think it's their best looking one, which low bar there but I dig the inspiration behind it, it does look a little like the Big Gold. I also don't hate the idea of split titles if the brand split is a legitimate one. But now to the bad. My god man... three fucking world titles? We are back to square one. Roman unified the belts a little over a year ago so what do they do, they just ADD another title.. How about just beat Roman for the belts at some point and then split them up? Because let's be honest here... the title holder is going to be a paper champion until Roman actually loses a damn match. Nobody is going to think that person is a world champion. I'll laugh like hell if they put this belt on Cody. That would be awful. But I'll cry if it's Brock Lesnar or fucking Goldberg or somebody.

I saw Giulia speaking English, she seems to be fluent? Or at least pretty decent. I don't want her anywhere near WWE while Vince is hovering around. I don't trust it. I'm perfectly fine with Giulia and Mercedes both staying in the NJPW/Stardom fold and never leaving. Just keep building up women's wrestling around the world. They just did 5500+ fans last night. I think that's even more than the 'Evolution' PPV that was headlined by Charlotte and Becky. Edit: Actually, I don't think it's more than 'Evolution' but it's certainly the most for an all-women's promotion in a long time.

I'm hearing the Stardom show did monster business in terms of live gate and also PPVs.

Mercedes? Her two matches in NJPW are up on NJPW World. Sakura Genesis was streamed live on the service as well.

Is Mercedes vs. Mayu II confirmed now for the Long Beach show or are these tweets going around just speculation? Maybe they went 13 minutes because they knew they were saving stuff for a 25-minute showdown in Cali.

When I was a kid I met Strongbow at a tiny little indy show and he autographed a picture and gave it to me, no charge. I thought it was cool.

Attendance announced at a little over 5500. This is Stardom's highest attendance of all time. Also, here's Mercedes entrance.

I only watched the top matches, there's just no way I can commit the 5+ hours. I'm no Stardom expert, I do realize Tam Nakano and Giulia have a blood feud and Tam's been on the chase but I was surprised they did the change here. First of all, it was an excellent hard hitting match as expected. Tam and Giulia both looked awesome, their star power is off the charts. It was a shortish run for Giulia though who I view as their current biggest star so I'm wondering where she goes from here. Mercedes vs. Mayu was good but at 13 minutes, a little on the brief side. I think they have a classic in them but they weren't given the chance here. Mercedes took some BRUTAL strikes and suplexes. Her own suplexes to Mayu have never looked better, she's doing the Bret Hart style launch yourself backwards on the follow through and the ring was CRACKING. Finish was nasty but again it felt abrupt. What can I say about Mercedes entrance attire. Black Tiger tribute was fucking incredible. It's amazing how over she was already after only a couple appearances. The crowd is chanting "C-E-O!!!". They shared an awesome moment after the match as well. Was Mayu winning here the right decision? Yeah, probably. Mercedes has reportedly signed an extension but Mayu is their Tanahashi and the longterm IWGP champion should probably be someone who is never leaving.

Looks like the arena is packed. Unfortunately, Stardom needs to do a better job of PPV access for foreigners. There's no reason why this shouldn't be streamed live on Stardom World and Fite.

Yeah they had no problem selling out in San Jose once Mercedes vs. Kairi was announced so maybe they try to go big with Long Beach.

Would they do a match of that magnitude on a NJPW Strong show? I guess they would considering she's their biggest U.S. based star but I don't know A) how much they want to push the women's division in NJPW and B) what their objectives are for it.

Trinity was training with Kalisto today. Looks like she's gearing up for an in-ring return somewhere.

This was good stuff at the press conference. The card is stacked. 【スターダム】岩谷麻優がメルセデス・モネにキレる！モネはIWGP王座防衛でスターダムと新日本プロレスのアイコン＆エース宣言！-4.22 前夜祭 特別調印式-【STARDOM】 - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keSxIhuy1fY

She claimed in an interview with Sports Illustrated that she's learning Japanese and looking for a more permanent residence in Japan.

Mercedes and Giulia both brought out the high fashion vibes for the press conference. I think they'd have an amazing blood feud. We Are Stardom on Twitter: "The Champ is here! https://t.co/gi6MlRyefH" / Twitter We Are Stardom on Twitter: "World of Stardom Champion Giulia! https://t.co/FpDjQ8e5ab" / Twitter

Yes, yes they are. It's a cohesive story that clearly the audience is still into. Explain what's great about the Pillars story right now? Sammy and Jungle Boy look like 17-year old high school kids doing a local stage performance out here. No presence on the microphone at all. They shouldn't be put in a position to carry 15 minutes of air time.

WWE is way better right now at least with the stories at the top. Maybe they are dragging some shit out too much but I'd rather watch a cohesive story than constant shit being thrown at the wall. And here's the thing... AEW doesn't HAVE to do it. The Elite vs. Blackpool Combat Club feud could carry the show. I get that Tony wants to be loyal to the pillars and give them chances, ok fine, just setup a natual fatal 4 way with them and be done with it. Surely they can have a dope match with some cray spots or whatever. They don't need to be talking for 20 minutes every week. They aren't good talkers aside from MJF and sometimes Darby. Also, really don't care about Jericho and Adam Cole either. It feels like the old WWE where they'd do shit just to set something up for a reality TV show.

This was a weird show. There were some good things on here but a lot of questionable booking shit to go with it. Hobbs never had a real run with the TNT belt and to be honest that belt doesn't really mean shit right now. It's changing hands every other week for months now. Hobbs didn't gain a damn thing from winning it and then being saddled with QT. The Pillars segment in the opening was garbage. Sammy and Jungle Boy cannot hold anyone's attention in a 15-minute promo. The whole tournament makes no sense either. Why is Darby getting a bye. If he makes it through to the PPV, ok cool. You had an easy road. If he doesn't, he looks like a goof. I enjoyed The Elite and BCC stuff with Takeashita coming out and saving them. I also liked the Jay White vs. Kommander match.

Unless I haven't seen the option, Bushiroad should think about doing bundles for NJPW World and Stardom's service

Here we go again. Before Bubba Ray and Disco Inferno and all them chime in, let me say fuck Bubba Ray and Disco Inferno and all those clowns. Mercedes Moné Varnado on Twitter: "Hi fans I’m happy that you’re excited that I’m here but please don’t follow or wait for me at my place of stay. They’ll will be an appropriate time and place for a meet and greet. Please respect my privacy and space. Arigatougozaimashita " / Twitter

I am not too familiar with how Stardom is traditionally booked but Which then begs the question, what's next?

I just watched that the other day. It was really good and certainly full of emotion. Also, add Drew McIntyre to the list of people on Twitter who are now doing work/shooty shit. His profile is all blacked out and has removed all references of WWE from it.

I'm not a Riddle guy. He's a decent wrestler but I was happy Solo got the big W here and then destroyed him post-match. Interesting that Paul tells Zayn/Owens that Roman is losing patience with them but looking in The Usos direction as he's saying this lol.