El-P

Yeah, Bob Dylan is really relevant in 2016. Meanwhile, current Syrian poet Adonis, and I mean *current* in every sense of the word, doesn't get it ? Really ? It's somewhat a travesty actually. But whatever. I mean Obama got the Nobel prize in 2009, so it really means shit. Except some would benefit more from the worldwide media attention (not to mention not being washed up rock'n roll glories from 40 years ago). Senile gibberish hippies indeed, all respect due to Mr Zimmerman. Yeah, whatever.

Wait. What ? Mickie James ? That certainly is appealing to me.

Wow. And Dixie Carter will leave one hell of a legacy too.

Shoot-style, obviously.

A Block B Block MOTYC Ishii vs. Okada ****+ as they say Marufuji vs. Tanahashi Elgin vs. Naito Naito vs. Shibata Honma vs. Naito Naito vs. Nakajima YOSHI-HASHI vs Naito Quite excellent SANADA vs. Tanahashi Nakajima vs. Shibata Okada vs. Marufuji Nakajima vs. Nagata SANADA vs. Okada Shibata vs. Omega Tenzan vs. Marufuji Ishii vs. Marufuji Tanahashi vs Goto Ishii vs. Tanahashi Damn fine Tenzan vs. Ishii Nagata vs. Naito Fale vs. Goto Shibata vs. Honma Ishii vs. Goto YOSHI-HASHI vs. Honma Fale vs. Marufuji Omega vs. Yano Goto vs. Okada YOSHI-HASHI vs. Nagata Fale vs. Tanahashi EVIL vs. Nakajima Tenzan vs Okada EVIL vs. YOSHI-HASHI Tenzan vs. Goto Nakajima vs. YOSHI-HASHI Ishii vs SANADA YOSHI-HASHI vs. Elgin Goto vs Makabe Nakajima vs. Honma EVIL vs. Naito Shibata vs Nagata Good it is indeed Makabe vs. Tenzan Omega vs. YOSHI-HASHI Tonga vs Ishii Elgin vs. EVIL Makabe vs Marufuji Honma vs. Omega Naomichi Marufuji vs. SANADA Shibata vs. Elgin Okada vs. Makabe Omega vs. Elgin Tonga vs. SANADA Omega vs. EVIL Fale vs. Makabe Honma vs. EVIL Tanahashi vs Tenzan Shibata vs. YOSHI-HASHI Okada vs Fale Nagata vs. Omega Omega vs Nakajima Honma vs Elgin Unoffensive Makabe vs. Tanahashi Yano vs. Nakajima Ishii vs. Fale EVIL vs. Nagata SANADA vs. Makabe Naito vs. Yano Tonga vs. Tanahashi Honma vs. Yano SANADA vs. Goto Shibata vs. Yano Okada vs. Tonga Yano vs. Nagata Tonga vs. Goto Yano vs. Elgin Marufuji vs Tonga EVIL vs Yano Not good Makabe vs. Tonga Nagata vs. Elgin Tenzan vs Tonga SANADA vs Fale Fale vs. Tenzan

DAY 16 - BBLOCK Omega vs Nakajima Is it me or are they rushing Omega to the top already ? Seemed kinda rushed as a match too, with Nakajima seemingly out of fuel against goofy Omega. Good match, but at this point I kinda expected better. EVIL vs Yano Funny, Yano does look like he can win at any time, in an sleaze-bag Yoshi Ogawa way. Short. Non offensive. Kinda funny. The usual Yano deal. YOSHI-HASHI vs Naito An escalation match in that first, you go, this is very good. Then minutes are passing and you think, it's actually excellent. And before it ends, you're like, great match. Naito goes after YH's injured shoulder for a while, which is a nice change from the usual knee attack. YH really grew on me despite some of his offense, I do enjoy the stiffness. And he comes very very close to winning that one before eventually falling down to the master. That Naito is a piece of work. Shibata vs Nagata Old kicks vs Now kicks. Perfect pairing. Nagata is grumpy and doesn't shy away from zeroing on the bad shoulder. This is crisp, doesn't get goofy (always a risk with Nagata) and really gets focused on the kicking and shoot-style attacks of both men, including some neat mirror spots. Very good match. Honma vs Elgin Totally srpint style. Would be perfectly nice for ten minutes or so, but it kinda goes on forever without building to anything. And Elgin rushed through dangerous spots like they are bodyslams, a typical terrible indy mentality. Honma doesn't reign him in, so it never goes beyond good, it's an inflated match without direction and too much kick-outs. Proof ? The ending seemed like a relief and not very climatic. Elgin has lots of potential, but can get silly quite easily. Finally, the road to Kokugikan is over. Quite the ride with a bunch of great matches and tons of good stuff. Still, it feels like it's way too long.

Holy shit : http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2016/10/FERNANDEZ/56422 I haven't read it yet, but this is pretty amazing. Le Monde Diplomatique is like the best, most detailed newspaper in France, it's only monthly and it goes pretty deep into issues (and it's the only real intellectual, left wing newspaper too). One page on lucha libre and as always, it seems pretty well documented and has something to say about the americanization of lucha since the inception of AAA. I love that newspaper.

DAY Fifteeeeeeeeen. ABLOCK This stuff is officially running way too looooong. Kokugikan already. Marufuji vs Tonga Maru is awfully nice to Tonga. Maybe he fears him like he's his father. No stiff chops. Nice running around action. Quickness and shit, that was smart on Fuji's part, as it's Tama's strong point. Falls apart at the end though with some blown spots. Pretty good overall. Ishii vs SANADA Maybe SANADA is just miscasted as a heel. Ishii seems motivated again, which puts some fire under SANADA's. Bull vs dickhead. Although SANADA isn't enough of a dickhead. Nice work. Looks painfull. Some no-selling, fighting spirit style. Ok, this is very good and spirited, with SANADA pulling a nice upset. Tanahashi vs Tenzan Holy shit, Tanahashi is being a prick to Tenzan and actually gets booed. This guy really is the master, although he looks banged up on offense at points. Something his kinda lost with Tenzan at this point, although it's a good match, but there's no way Tenzan was winning. Well, ride in the sunset already, bull man. Okada vs Fale Ok, so Okada knows how to work with Fale. Builds to the good old bodyslam, like it's WWF in 1987, and it's really good. Damn, Okada is pretty giving to Fale, working a legit false finish and WHAT THE ??? Now this is one upset I could live without, as it kinda stains the huge Ishii win to me. Fale is a pretty good big man, but the IWGP champ, really ? Still, good match, efficiently worked. Goto vs Makabe Goto the young samurai warrior is making old scared up brawler Makabe the underdog. Interesting. Work is stiff and crowd pushes Makabe. This is Makabe's best match of the G1, and Goto's effort strongly indicates he's going far. Yep, this was impressive on both part, with some huge bombs. I still love the Spider Suplex. Very very good. Well, not bad for the last non-Kokugikan show of the A-Block. Tenzan should have received more though, and Fale got way too much for my taste. You could feel Goto's momentum in the main, which was nice.

Oh for fuck's sake. A losing streek. The "If I don't win this one I retire". The babyface getting the very last chance at getting the title against a heel that screwed him before. Title in line. Have you seen Rocky ? Plus, I'm not even saying this as a criticism, it would have made no sense whatsoever to have Dolph lose. Well, of course personally I'd rather have the Miz keep the title, but that's beside the point. It was obvious because it's the oldest story in pro-wrestling. That's why it also worked like a charm and stole the show. Well, there was no competition, but it was legit very good.

I guess no one watched that PPV anyway. Not a big loss apparently. That Triple Threat match was the usual clusterfucky business with cutesy spots galore. Waste of time. Tag team match was just there. The heel Usos are losing steam already. What the fuck was that outfit ? Mis vs Dolph was really good, but they did lost me at the very end, with the boot spot followed by the fucking Spirit Squad. And one finisher kick out too much too. This was lame, as was the finish, but the again most of Ziggler's offense looks like sloppy shit anyway. Overbooked finish aside, this was building into a very good and super heated match, with Miz clearly directing traffic again. Maryse reminded me again that being a valet is a lost art, she barely does anything except her two token spots, so she's just a body that's just there. And it's not like they do eye candy cam shots either, so. Did anyone really think Dolph was gonna, gasp, lose ? I mean really ? Of course he was winning that one. That's the most basic pro-wrestling story. The last match looked awful indeed, but I am not wasting my time with Orton & Bray, two black hole against each other. The women matches, well… Becky Lynch was missed. And Carmella was at her best doing goofy stuff with Enzo & Cass. One match show.

Basically they finally figured out that their future was the indies. But yeah, seems pretty unreal to be honest.

That's what Twitter does to one.

A Block B Block MOTYC Ishii vs. Okada ****+ as they say Marufuji vs. Tanahashi Elgin vs. Naito Naito vs. Shibata Honma vs. Naito Naito vs. Nakajima Quite excellent SANADA vs. Tanahashi Nakajima vs. Shibata Okada vs. Marufuji Nakajima vs. Nagata SANADA vs. Okada Shibata vs. Omega Tenzan vs. Marufuji Ishii vs. Marufuji Tanahashi vs Goto Ishii vs. Tanahashi Damn fine Tenzan vs. Ishii Nagata vs. Naito Fale vs. Goto Shibata vs. Honma Ishii vs. Goto YOSHI-HASHI vs. Honma Fale vs. Marufuji Omega vs. Yano Goto vs. Okada YOSHI-HASHI vs. Nagata Fale vs. Tanahashi EVIL vs. Nakajima Tenzan vs Okada EVIL vs. YOSHI-HASHI Tenzan vs. Goto Nakajima vs. YOSHI-HASHI YOSHI-HASHI vs. Elgin Nakajima vs. Honma EVIL vs. Naito Good it is indeed Makabe vs. Tenzan Omega vs. YOSHI-HASHI Tonga vs Ishii Elgin vs. EVIL Makabe vs Marufuji Honma vs. Omega Naomichi Marufuji vs. SANADA Shibata vs. Elgin Okada vs. Makabe Omega vs. Elgin Tonga vs. SANADA Omega vs. EVIL Fale vs. Makabe Honma vs. EVIL Shibata vs. YOSHI-HASHI Nagata vs. Omega Unoffensive Makabe vs. Tanahashi Yano vs. Nakajima Ishii vs. Fale EVIL vs. Nagata SANADA vs. Makabe Naito vs. Yano Tonga vs. Tanahashi Honma vs. Yano SANADA vs. Goto Shibata vs. Yano Okada vs. Tonga Yano vs. Nagata Tonga vs. Goto Yano vs. Elgin Not good Makabe vs. Tonga Nagata vs. Elgin Tenzan vs Tonga SANADA vs Fale Fale vs. Tenzan

THANKS FOR THE ANSWER !!! Well, it had all the aura of a huge win. D14. BBlock Yano vs. Elgin Elgin apparently knows how to work the ga-ga too. Which is fun. There's something unsettling about Yano's demeanor. This guy is more creepy than funny. Or maybe he's freepny. He's an odd cat, but he can work comedy around anyone, with some good actual serious work, and it makes his character a spoiler of sorts. I like the fact his bullshits get him wins. Upper tier of Yanoism. Shibata vs. YOSHI-HASHI They go straight into sprint mode. Nice work, kinda auto-pilot though, not much in term of dynamic established here, and YH doesn't work as an underdog. If anything, it's Shibata who looks banged up. Good stuff. Small town match. Nakajima vs. Honma Small town or not, Hona is fucking over everywhere. Nakajima really grew into a dick more and more as the G1 progressed, and it shwoed a bit here too. Good, stiff back and forth action, the kind that doesn't dive too deep but sure delivers in term of building an exciting match. Very good. Nagata vs. Omega Omega is kinda Dick Muroch. He's half masterworker, half goof-on-coke. Nagata looks kinda old at points here. Shaky selling, by that he barely shakes his worked-on legs while on offense. Enjoying the fact Omega is going for the Nagata lock on Nagata, that's a true dick move. Finishing stretch had some goofy no-selling, not surprising considering those two, but it was still quite a good match overall, despite the kinda thrown together structure. EVIL vs. Naito Another stable member vs aniki match. They don't care about that fact apparently, busting each other without remorse. Naito makes the usually always true heel EVIL look like an underdog here, with the crowd behind him. Hell, EVIL comes close to pack it up I'd argue they played a bit too much equal by the end, Naito should have won easier than this, but it sure made EVIL look strong in the end. Very good match, probably EVIL's best. Small town show with some routine work, but enough good stuff.

I'm gonna finish this if that's the last thing I do here. Day 13 A-Block Tonga vs. SANADA What the hell happened here ? This is actually a good match ! And Tama is more than game. Finally he puts together something playing into his strenghts (the fakes and quick counters). SANADA was also on fire. In a way, Tama is totally ready for WWE. But then again, since he's using the RKO, not really. Fale vs. Makabe Doesn't work on paper. Works in actuality. Two big, lumbering bull charging into each others until one finally falls on the ground. Rather stiff, big man wrestling. Fale's finisher is still lame though. Good stuff again when it shouldn't have been. Tenzan vs. Goto So, Goto effectively killed Tenzan's G1. And it felt like it too. Great sense of a very last ride from Tenzan, and what is probably his best match of the G1. This was the most purposefull Goto ever looked too. Very very good stuff. Ishii vs. Okada MOTYC. MOTY maybe. Ishii pulling out all the stops, right from the get-go, to upset his boss and IWGP champion. Both are great here, but Ishii was the best. The chop during Okada's little Rockyesque routine was so cool. Well, he did got up a bit early after that outside DDT, but still, his selling and facials made it believable. Terrific work. Is that Ishii's biggest victory ever ? (I know, no one is gonna answer me) Marufuji vs. Tanahashi They had no chance of following the previous match at the same pace, so they didn't even try. Smart approach. And they still built into a great match. Maru really went from a running around high flyer to a guy who's chopping his opponent's chests into raw meat. Must be a pain to take those chops, some of the most brutal ever, really. Tana is still the Ace, it's obvious. Damn. That show. Two matches that overdelivered, the best Tenzan match of the tournament with an emotional response, and two great matches. The A Block was getting murdered by the B Block until then, but this changes the balance. Right pairings in the final two matches helped a lot I guess.

So, Mania already looks dreadful with all those dream/nightmare matches. Hey, if they do Sasha vs Bailey, they should steal the show at least.

And it's really too bad, because it's obvious Gordon would be more than willing to tell the rest of the story. A terrific edition, easily one of the best with the 97 Cornette one. So many cool stories.

Always loved glamour in pro-wrestling. Or sleezyness in certain context (ECW, becaus it fit the atmosphere). Yeah, Sherry was probably my first adolescent fantasy. She just had the attitude of being sexy, which works much better than soulless T&A bimbos that came later in the Attitude Eras and later. To me Liz was nothing special until she hit 35 and got all milfy in WCW. She was hitting her peak during those days. So, no. One word : Woman. So 80's in WCW, then simply drop dead sexy and evil in ECW with the Sandman. The sad things is that being a valet is basically a lost art, as showed by Lana, who's a good performer but who isn't doing anything really until that one stop usually, whereas Sherry, Woman, Francine (especially with Douglas, who always knew how to integrate a valet in his act), all those girls were integral part of a match like a Cornette or Heenan could be, in different ways. Nobody to teach them I guess.

Good analogy. Let me add my voice to the "Why should anyone give a fuck" crowd. (Oh, yeah, because the late 90's is the last time pro-wrestling was relevant in the grand scheme of things, and no one has been a real star since then, and HHH is a legend). Plus they had one of the worst match ever already. But hey, you get the dream match you deserve. I'll add "good for Goldy" though, who's supposedly a good guy and heard he really wanted his child see him wrestle once. More power to him if he tricks those WWE idiots into throwing more money into a useless nostalgia match. I do want Sable on my WWE TV at some point. She was a fucking draw too in 1999. Make it happen. (but, uh, yeah, this beats Lesnar vs Shane by a million stars)

The first story being Sandman banned from the venue (a sports bar) before even the very first show makes it worthwhile already. This is glorious.

It's really telling that this is the guy they want to be the #1 babyface and his segment consisted of bullying a woman, Come on, don't diss the "Stop bullying" campaign and other feminist accomplishment by Stephy.

You obviously don't see the wink in japanese pro-wrestling I guess. BTW, Ric Flair was also cheered whether he was a heel or a face after a while. Atsushi Onita : greatest babyface ever switched to a guy his own audience couldn't stand.

Ah, the idea that there are no legit heels in Japan is hilarious. LCO beatdowns make the Horsemen look like pussies (to use a very 80's vernacular, pardon me people). As for the Rushmore of "can do it all on all front", here we go : _Terry Funk _Jushin Liger _Akira Hokuto _Barry Windham All pretty much clear as cristal.

Is that a new thing ? Stabbing pro-wrestlers ? I mean, Jamie Knoble got a pretty bad deal this week-end, now this ?

A Block B Block ****+ as they say Elgin vs. Naito Naito vs. Shibata Honma vs. Naito Naito vs. Nakajima Quite excellent SANADA vs. Tanahashi Nakajima vs. Shibata Okada vs. Marufuji Nakajima vs. Nagata SANADA vs. Okada Shibata vs. Omega Tenzan vs. Marufuji Ishii vs. Marufuji Tanahashi vs Goto Ishii vs. Tanahashi Damn fine Tenzan vs. Ishii Nagata vs. Naito Fale vs. Goto Shibata vs. Honma Ishii vs. Goto YOSHI-HASHI vs. Honma Fale vs. Marufuji Omega vs. Yano Goto vs. Okada YOSHI-HASHI vs. Nagata Fale vs. Tanahashi EVIL vs. Nakajima Tenzan vs Okada EVIL vs. YOSHI-HASHI Nakajima vs. YOSHI-HASHI YOSHI-HASHI vs. Elgin Good it is indeed Makabe vs. Tenzan Omega vs. YOSHI-HASHI Tonga vs Ishii Elgin vs. EVIL Makabe vs Marufuji Honma vs. Omega Naomichi Marufuji vs. SANADA Shibata vs. Elgin Okada vs. Makabe Omega vs. Elgin Omega vs. EVIL Honma vs. EVIL Unoffensive Makabe vs. Tanahashi Yano vs. Nakajima Ishii vs. Fale EVIL vs. Nagata SANADA vs. Makabe Naito vs. Yano Tonga vs. Tanahashi Honma vs. Yano SANADA vs. Goto Shibata vs. Yano Okada vs. Tonga Yano vs. Nagata Tonga vs. Goto Not good Makabe vs. Tonga Nagata vs. Elgin Tenzan vs Tonga SANADA vs Fale Fale vs. Tenzan