NintendoLogic

So, ummm...Charlie Haas isn't looking so hot these days. Meanwhile, Shelton Benjamin looks basically the same now as he did 20 years ago.

I've never seen "twinkletoes" used in any way but to describe someone who really likes or is really good at dancing. Cornette using it to describe Omega is in the same vein as comments like Kenny Olivier and jazz hands-he's trying to criticize Omega for treating wrestling too much like a theater performance. Trying to spin that as homophobic seems like a real reach. It reminds me of when people tried to claim that "sweaty" was a racial code word when talking about Mark Henry. Again, though, there are no good guys here. Cornette's comments about women's wrestling in general and joshi in particular are frequently infuriating, but the people wrestlers like Itoh cater to belong on a government watch list.

I know she's the worker. But the Twitter stans liking Itoh's tweet and swarming Cornette are not. By the way, I've seen Itoh work. I must not be in the target demo, because her singing gimmick is zero buys in my book.

Sorry, but Cornette vs. creepy joshi stans is a heel vs. heel matchup.

That's another important point. Edge has been exposed pretty badly by this current run, I think. Not only did his Rumble win not mean a thing for ratings, his appearance on NXT got destroyed head-to-head by the wedding segment on Dynamite. It's almost as if he's relied on smoke and mirrors to get people to care about him his entire career and the notion of him as an all-time legend is a total joke.

Average age: 41. But the real problem is their TV age. Other than AJ, WWE could have had this exact match in 2009. And this this coming on the heels of the oldest Rumble in history, breaking the year-old record set by the 2020 Rumble. But hey, it's not like they have a multimillion-dollar developmental facility or anything. Also, this happened:

Update: Riki Choshu/Kensuke Sasaki/Shiro Koshinaka/Kuniaki Kobayashi/Kantaro Hoshino vs. Animal Hamaguchi/Masanobu Kurisu/Super Strong Machine/Tatsutoshi Goto/Hiro Saito (NJPW, 6/26/90) I was prepared for a letdown after the February 1993 NJPW/WAR ten-man didn't do much for me, but this was everything I hoped it would be and more. This manages to be amazing despite the almost complete lack of star power. One side at least has a superstar in Choshu and a future star in Sasaki, but the other side consists entirely of sleazy midcarders. They compensate for the dearth of stars by serving up bucketloads of hatred. If you like 5-on-1 gang beatdowns and pre-CTE awareness headbutts, this'll be right up your alley. Another curveball comes in the form of this being 2/3 falls rather than elimination rules. The lack of ring-out eliminations opens the door to brawling on the floor, and they exploit it to the hilt. Kurisu in particular is a massive prick throughout, taking seemingly every opportunity to land a cheap shot or exploit an unfair advantage. He goes on the warpath with a chair in the first fall, and it's an awesome moment when he gets a taste of his own medicine in the third fall. But this is far from a one-man show, as the breakneck pace means everybody gets a chance to shine. Hamaguchi has some of the best elbow drops I've ever seen, Sasaki nearly breaks Goto's neck with a Rick Steiner-tier bulldog, Hoshino runs around punching people in the face like a pint-sized martial arts master in a 70s kung fu film, and Saito repeatedly flings himself into the guardrail like he's trying to cash in on a Lloyd's of London policy. A lot of 2/3 falls tags go awry by treating each fall as a self-contained mini-match with its own FIP section, hot tag, and finishing run. This is worked more like a high-end lucha apuestas match in that the falls are treated as part of an interconnected narrative. In the first fall, Koshinaka ends up falling victim to the numbers game and gets pinned without even coming close to making a tag. The massacre continues into the second fall, but he eventually tags out and even gets the pin for his side. He manages an additional receipt in the third fall when he headbutts Saito in the groin. More than anything, this is the kind of match that makes you appreciate wrestlers who can tell a story in the ring without needing the viewer to have an encyclopedic knowledge of context or backstory. I have absolutely no idea why these two groups are beefing with each other, but the way they go at it tooth and nail tells me everything I need to know. For my money, this is the second-best New Japan gang warfare match, behind only the August 1987 elimination match. ****1/2

Mahomes is obviously an entitled millennial too busy playing video games in the locker room to reach for the brass ring. He also got screwed in the first half by the most crooked officiating since evil twin Earl Hebner. As much as I despise Brady, I have to give the devil his due. He's accomplished more in his forties than most quarterbacks do their entire careers. He's the Tenryu of football.

Yeah, this is awesome. Brother KinchStalker bursting out the gate like Lesnar. It makes more sense when you remember that the Beatles had their series of concerts at the Budokan in late June and early July 1966, when Jumbo was 15. They were actually incredibly controversial at the time because the venue had been built to house martial arts competitions and ultranationalist types considered allowing a Western rock group to perform there to be sacrilege. There you have it. Jumbo was the Lex Luger of Japan. Also, Choshu having heat with Jumbo, worked or not, over careerism is a bit rich considering he's the one who bucked the traditional order by jumping to All Japan and then jumping back a few years later. The public was willing to accept the former due to all the scandals in New Japan, but the latter move was purely a business decision and made him seem like a greedy American athlete rather than an honorable Japanese sportsman. Supposedly, it led to a short-term dip in the popularity of pro wrestling in the country. Oh, the irony.

If you can't re-sign the real Lesnar, I guess this is the next best thing. He won't be the next big thing going through the Performance Center. I can't wait for the inevitable "he's been training for years but still looks completely green" comment in a future Observer. That is, if he doesn't blow out his knees with hours of forward rolls.

Not only is this idiot partying maskless in a crowded bar and broadcasting it to the world, one of her friends was part of the insurrection at the Capitol. Garbage company full of garbage people. The hell with all of them.

He's actually had a green card since 2004. That's probably why he was able to spend so much time on the indies.

Hogan's best-drawing opponents were either giants (Andre, Kamala) or smaller guys who were super workers (Orndorff, Savage), and Reed was neither. At least not in 1987, because his work had fallen off greatly by that point. He had been scheduled to beat Steamboat for the IC title, but that went out the window after he no-showed a series of TV tapings because he was burned out from being on the road all the time. I certainly can't blame him. Mid-South and the WWF were probably the two toughest companies to work for schedule-wise, and going from the former to the latter was like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Maybe he thinks having Bryan as an ally in creative will help his career. Speaking of which, the latest Observer noted the difference between Edge and Bryan on the creative team. The former is using his position to push for a main event title shot while the latter is using his position to try to get other people over.

Look at the adjective: "most." If there are several high-profile instances of selfish behavior by a wrestler that have to be explained away, he is, ipso facto, not one of the most unselfish top guys ever. Hulk Hogan and HHH did plenty of jobs too. Does that make them unselfish?

Reks had posted a bunch of anti-mask and QAnon stuff on social media, so when I saw a headline that said "Tyler Reks is now Gabbi," I thought it meant he had opened a Gab account. Good for her for coming to grips with her identity, though. Hopefully she's been able to jettison whatever toxic beliefs she held.

I believe the announcers mentioned in passing that Taker was undefeated at Mania during the HHH match at WM17. Speaking of which, I once read that original plan was for HBK to cost Taker the match by interfering, but that went out the window after he showed up in no condition to perform on the go-home Raw.

I was under the impression that most of the bad blood on both sides stemmed from Harold Meij, and that's obviously no longer an issue.

The only modern music I listen to is kpop. Charlotte referenced ITZY on IG a few weeks ago, which I thought was pretty cool. https://www.instagram.com/p/CJG05swsU_1/ Not gonna lie, I'd mark out if they showed up on Raw.

Meltzer said on the F4W board that Vince still wanted to push Lars but he no-showed TV. I guess that was strike three for him after the first no-show and the knee injury. In fact, I'd be willing to bet they would have cut him loose after the first incident had the Mauro/JBL situation not still been fresh in everyone's minds.

There was a lengthy stretch during Backlund's reign as champion when he refused to allow opponents to get nearfalls on him because he was paranoid about being double-crossed.

In other news, Lars Sullivan has had a lot of time lately to slide into the DMs of yoga instructors because PWInsider is reporting he got released last month.

THIS is how they blow off the Edge/Orton feud? Even by WWE standards, this is horrendous. And that wasn't even the worst part of the show involving supernatural garbage. Whenever I think they can't find a way to sink any lower, they find a way to outdo themselves. Seriously, name a worse television show.

I've seen more examples than I can count of a guy in a shoot or whatever trying to put someone over as a great guy while making him sound like a psychopath or at least a deviant who would be unemployable in the real world. Buzz Sawyer must have been a real piece of shit because I don't think I've ever heard anyone say a kind word about him. It takes some talent for a wrestler to be too much of an asshole for other wrestlers to stand.