Migs

I occasionally get emails from them about new releases, but they are much rarer than they used to be.

Has anyone kept a running list of the key stuff in the BOSJ? I dropped off after the first week and probably will just skip to the finals show, but I'd be curious to go back and watch a bit after the tour is over.

This is amazing, but also love Jericho kayfabing at the beginning. Great little detail.

The Pillman Panel with Madden, Meltzer, Sullivan, Liam O'Rourke and Pillman Jr. was excellent. Well worth seeing. The first part of Dustin's interview where he talks about the match with Cody was great. Art of Wrestling had some very fun weirdness with Joey Janela and an amusing Randy Savage story from Glacier. Omega's Q&A had some interesting moments too, particularly about Ibushi.

Was at the show live - a tremendous night. A few notes: - The energy in the room noticeably changed when the video package started for Cody-Dustin. The first 90 minutes of the show were good, but after that things really locked in. Dustin talked the next day at Starrcast about how overwhelming the reaction from the crowd was, how much it meant to him. (He also said he got 8 stitches and was legitimately concerned for his own well-being at points - thinking to himself "it's pumping out with the beating of my heart, that's not good.") - I thought the Bucks being able to get the crowd to be behind the Lucha Bros was pretty amazing. I think they are setting themselves up for a heel run that is going to be excellent. Match was good, delivered with the big spots and overall construction. - I thought the main event was a bit below the WK match because the match was constructed in a more standard modern main event way - the WK match had a really different and cool pacing, while this merely good. The reaction for Mox was insane, and I loved that he actually got involved - I feel like the TNA version of this would have involved him just staring at everyone. - The after-show speeches from Cody and Kenny were terrific, with Kenny fighting through tears and legit busted nose to do his sign off.

His match with Cobb at Final Battle was also a lot of fun. He's not at the top guy level yet, but I think it's fair to suggest he can get there. He needs to add some layers and nuance to his work so he has more than one gear, but he's also surrounded by guys who understand modern psychology better than anyone. He's gotten worlds better in the last 18 months.

Why make a star when Brock Lesnar can keep half-assing main events?

Yeah, I might have it on before Thrones, but then it is absolutely getting shut off, and I doubt I'll go back to it after, since breaking down Thrones will be much more interesting. There's a lot on this show with potential, but nothing that feels must-see - very easy to wait and see what gets good reviews.

He did have a visa issued that prevented him from showing up for Wrestlemania weekend, so that seems plausible.

It always strikes me in these conversations about Moolah, discussing individuals' experiences, that the likeliest scenario is never suggested - that Moolah treated different women differently based on what she could do for them. Leilani Kai and Judy Martin say she didn't pimp them; well, those were her best workers. The story Princess Victoria tells involves her being pimped when she couldn't work. In other words, Moolah used people for what she needed from them, and just because something bad didn't happen to one person is not an argument it didn't happen to others.

No, other than "fall."

Sho vs. Shingo from this morning was real good, worth seeking out.

I believe they had a match or two in TNA (2015?) that I recall being enjoyable.

Ki's been in MLW for a year and had an excellent run? I'm not the world's biggest Aries fan, but I think he's a nice veteran addition to a roster that has a lot of younger guys with underdeveloped characters.

I don't think it's official yet.

Agreed. It's not a perfect parallel, but they both seemed to only get shots on the top of the card because other people weren't available. Hey, you have no idea how hot Dark Rollins is going to be in 2022! All 350 people still coming to the shows will be wearing shirts with his signature Thanos face paint design.

Seth ended Sting's career and in the process somehow became Sting. I look forward to him sitting in the rafters for a year in 2022.

I wonder if they need to save that one for BFG? Have Taya win another feud to solidify her and also have Tessa have a match that cements her babyface status?

I think the ultimate problem is the lack of a marquee star. The show is good, but there's not really anyone I'm fully invested in following from week to week. Tessa's probably the closest right now. But it seems like AEW will likely crush their ability to get and keep game changing talent.

That was true of GWN as well.

Just finished the show. I liked it, as I've liked basically all the big Impact shows in the last year - great work, nicely built, well constructed stories. Excited for them to come back to New York in June. I do think Josh Mathews is a weak link in the presentation - linguistically, he reads so WWE, like a poor man's Michael Cole, that I think it prevents Impact from developing it's own personality. I was also really surprised to see them take the belt off Johnny when they'd just built that fun heel stable around him, especially when the alternative is Cage, who doesn't feel like a top guy to me. If you're going to use Elgin, he and Cage as the dumb meatheads chasing a chickenshit Johnny seems more fruitful than the apparent direction of Cage-Elgin.

See, I think that may be fine for them. My best guess is Corgan wants to be involved in wrestling without risking a lot of money - the current NWA setup may limit his upside, but it also really limits his downside.

On the actual wrestling on the show, I think we're in agreement. I actually liked the production in that it really felt like a Crockett show, and that was clearly what they were going for. Not sure I'd drop that every night, when they're literally calling it the Crockett Cup, it worked. I also think the NWA concept right now (no real "promotion", building matches through Youtube, having the belts defended in lots of places) is smart. It's made the belts more meaningful than any time since 1994 (other than arguably a couple of points when TNA was riding high) and it's fairly low risk for Corgan. If it's an inexpensive vanity promotion for him that occasionally churns out good stuff, fine by me.