Log

I didn't really like the Britt/Nyla match. It was pretty sloppy and not in a "looked like a real struggle" way. As @EricR pointed out in his Segunda Caida review, they seemed to be doing an "epic" match, but without actual epic work. That match had an issue that I see a lot in AEW. A lot of their wrestlers just don't seem to know what to do between spots. They have a ton of people on their roster that can do really cool stuff, but a lot of them are very awkward getting in and out of those spots. Private Party is a good example of this. I think Nyla has that issue, too.

I think I may have messaged with Kahn on DVDVR at some point. He went to University of Illinois at the time and may have mentioned that. I'm an alum, so I think I shot him a message saying hi or something. When you say he's "one of us", @El-P, that really goes for me. He probably discovered a lot of this stuff while he was in college in Champaign/Urbana like I did (even though I was there a couple years before him).

I was going to post that video. I love that song. The album it comes from (Mr. M) is great too.

Did Big Show get bumped to next week or was that what they had announced all along? I didn’t pay attention at the beginning of the show.

That was the best Sting segment since he’s been back. I especially liked the short video that led into it.

The Bucks’ dad looks like the dude they pick up on a Law and Order episode and he rats out the big criminal. “He says we was just doin’ a simple job. We break in, and it’s an easy payday. I didn’t know no lady was gonna be home. I didn’t wanna see no one get hurt, man. I just needed the money!” Oh shit. He got whacked for sqealin’ to the cops!

When Moxley was making his entrance I was explaining to my son(3) that Mox was going to fight Kenny Omega later for the championship. He said, “Maybe if he gets his belt back, he won’t be mad all the time.” My son also keeps saying that Kenny Omega is a teacher because of the school segment last week.

Weeeeeeeeeeelllll, it’s a big show. For reals, it should be a good show tonight.

Yep. That match was exactly what I hoped for.

Was she yelling about her "hole"?

Man, I liked Bloodsport 5, especially the Mox/DBS Jr match. I wasn't that high on 4. Most of the matches, and especially the finishes, just felt flat to me. I thought 5 was a big improvement.

But, really, you should know that Kinks album, too. It's a classic.

One thing to keep in mind with OVW is that it is not technically an independent promotion. It's first and foremost a wrestling school. They just have a show attached to it. I know that's not unusual, but I think you have to approach how you view it, quality-wise, a little differently. I'm not trying to argue that those Cornette shows were actually great or anything. I just think you have to grade on a curve. OVW has had periods where they've drawn well even after their WWE affiliation ended. I went to a show just a couple years ago where the main even was a friend of mine who was a local tv sportscaster in a tag match with a couple wrestlers and a local radio guy. They literally had standing room only for that show. They'd use a lot of local tv and radio personalities since their former main commentator was a local tv anchor. Those shows always did well.

What did TJP do? I never heard about him.

No need to apologize. That's great info.

Serious question: Has the Performance Center produced any stars? Did Bayley, Sasha and Charlotte come through there?

Maybe it was just me, but as a kid, a big appeal of seeing Hogan live was getting to see the "routine". I was so excited the first time I got to see the Hulk-up and the post-match posing in person. It seems that the appeal of seeing Bruno was seeing that dastardly bad guy finally get what's coming to him. With Hogan, it was more of seeing the spectacle. Once you've seen it, it gets a little less special each time. That's just my theory off the top of my head. I'm not basing this on any kind of numbers or anything. What do you all think?

I’m hoping we get a “Wrestling Superstar Virgil” photo of Aries’ dumb ass.

Agreed. The stuff with Jade is a great example. I agree with him that she is not ready for the spot she’s in. But then he gets all racist (Shelton Benjamin’s body) and misogynistic (she must be fucking someone) about it and dammit. Now you’ve lost me.

No problem. You’re good people. I’m a little cranky today. When it comes down to it, I think you and I have more in common as far as our likes in wrestling than we disagree on.

I agree totally with your second paragraph. To be clear, I just said I don’t like Jackson doing that spot. I never got into any “inherently wrong” talk. You did that. I said I didn’t like a spot that one particular wrestler does and you took that to mean that I have these hyper-specific ideas of what each wrestler should do. I like lots of bands that I think have a shitty song or two. Doesn’t make me hate the bands entire discography. I like the Bucks, but I’d like them better if Matt dropped that spot. That’s it.

@El-P, I’m a little confused. From what I can tell, you have opinions about how you’d like wrestling to work and you consider them to be “correct”. Others (myself, maybe Matt D) have differing opinions about how we’d like wrestling to work and they are “wrong”. Is that it? Seems a bit Cornette-ish to me. Am I wrong?

But the Midnights’ characters were that they were flashy heels who did cool moves, so it fits. I’m not saying that a wrestler has to be defined by their heel/face alignment or their look as to what they do. Brian Cage’s character is that he’s a big muscle bound guy who does moves that smaller guys can pull off. He wrestles like that. Some people don’t like it, but it’s consistent with his character. Taz was a smaller dude who threw guys around. That’s his character and that’s how he wrestled. Matt Jackson’s character has never been presented (as I’ve seen) as a powerhouse. That’s why it’s jarring to me when he does power moves. I guess the bigger question is, as a wrestler, what is the point of having a character if you don’t wrestle like that character? I’m not making a blanket statement that ALL HEELS MUST DO “X” or ALL BIG MEN MUST DO “Y”. I’m just saying that a wrestler should be consistent with their character. That really goes for any medium. Movie characters, tv characters, etc.

I absolutely don’t think there is a set of rules for what must happen in a wrestling match. I honestly don’t know how you took my comment that far, but ok. I understand how strength works. I’ve played sports and lifted weights for over 20 years. I’ve personally known many guys that you would never expect to be strong based on looks. I’ve seen those guys do shocking things. That has nothing to do with what I said. I think it’s important that a wrestler wrestles to their gimmick/character/whatever you want to call it. I don’t think that’s an outdated thought. Kenny Omega’s character is that he’s a flashy, show stealer type of guy, so his style works with that. Moxley is a brawler and a fighter so he works like that. Like I said, I like the Bucks. I just feel like that Matt’s power spots are out of place with his character. For the record, I take offense to you implying that I “attribute false values (including "moral" ones) to them for strictly subjective reasons” based on the fact that I said I don’t like a wrestler doing a particular move. You don’t fucking know me, so you need to shut the fuck up with that shit, ok?