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wrestlingwiththoughts · 19 days

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The First Annual WrestleMania Week 2024 Awards

The most interesting parts of WrestleMania Week 2024 were, as usual, in the shows that took place around Philadelphia this year. Though I didn't travel to Philadelphia for the shows, I tried to craft a path that covered as many of the most interesting shows that streamed as possible.

To start, let's acknowledge the shows that I was able to watch:

DEFY Wrestling: Can't Deny It

STARDOM: American Dream 2024 in the Keystone State

GCW Presents Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport X

The first half of the Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow

ACTION Wrestling & Segunda Caida: DEAN~!!

Jersey Championship Wrestling: JCW & GCW vs. The World

ROH Supercard of Honor 2024

CMLL Super Viernes (April 5, 2024)

Let's also provide the caveats on the shows that were on my radar that I was not able to watch due to timing conflicts:

The second half of the Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow

DDT Pro-Wrestling: DDT Goes Philadelphia

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling: LIVE in Philly

Wrestling REVOLVER & Hog of Glory Wrestling

Game Changer Wrestling: Joey Janela's Spring Break 8

Expect the Unexpected: Unlock the Unexpected - ETU vs. Dragongate

The call to promoters who schedule shows around major AEW and WWE shows: I understand the need to schedule around those shows. I suspect the desire to competing against WWE SmackDown, ROH Supercard of Honor, WrestleMania XL Nights One and Two forced promoters to focus on Thursday night as the premier evening option of WrestleMania Week 2024. The point of the weekend is, presumably, to make money via ticket sales and through the streaming sales that a company would make. Forcing customers to choose your show over competing options limits the ticket and streaming sales and exposure that your company can get that week.

On Thursday night, I was able to give the Hitchcock Memorial Supershow about an hour of undivided attention before I switched to focus on DEAN~!!. I missed the DDT show completely, and given the pace of WrestleMania Week and wrestling in general, I will most likely never watch DDT's show (or any other show that I had to skip due to time conflict). That means that I won't even have the chance to forget about the widely praised KONOSUKE TAKESHITA vs. Shunma Katsumata and Mike Bailey vs. Yuki Ueno matches because I won't ever watch them. Had DDT's show taken place on Friday afternoon, it would have received undivided attention and possibly better ticket sales and more views on WrestleUniverse.

With that said, here are my reflections on this year's WrestleMania Week in the form of my supremely prestigious awards.

The "Best Pure Vibes" Award: ACTION Wrestling & Segunda Caida: DEAN~!!

I visited the Death Valley Driver Video Review Message Board fairly regularly when I was younger, but I never created an account or tried to participate because it seemed too intimidating. My horizons broadened by reading discussions and reviews on Segunda Caida, but I never felt like I had anything worthwhile to add because my wrestling viewing was limited to some syndicated WWF shows, some ECW, and mostly WWF and WCW. Nonetheless, I recognized the name "Dean Rasmussen" in the message board and SC reviews, and I was sorry to hear of his passing. DEAN~!! was held in Rasmussen's honor, and it was probably my favorite show of the week. It had a vision, and that vision was felt in the eclectic mix of matches on the card, the exuberant commentary from Dylan Hales and John Mosely. Wrestling promoters and fans will sometimes defend nonsensical character development and plots, cringeworthy comedy, and substandard wrestling by claiming that wrestling shows have to feel uneven because they're variety shows that offer a little something to everyone. DEAN~!! felt like a repudiation of that defense, a counterargument that wrestling itself can provide that buffet without relying on the tired tropes that companies trot out when they refuse to think of anything better.

These are a few of my favorite things from DEAN~!!:

Colby Corino's setup for and commitment to the headlock gimmick. He was a busy and tired man, so he tried to win using the basic move in his arsenal. That went fine for him until Alex Kane was able to use his dedication to worker smarter, not harder against him. The match combined comedy and action very well, and it's forced me to re-evaluate my impression of Corino from the days when he ran with Eddie Kingston, Joe Gacy, and Shane Strickland in Evolve as The Unwanted.

O'Shay Edwards for ending the match with a moonsault. When a man as large as Edwards lands on you, the match should be over, and it was, which meant that the match ended at the right time.

The Ugly Ducklings and Violence Is Forever for giving the crowd an unexpected sprint.

Tom Lawlor for his reticence to touch the disgusting, bloodstained canvas that was used for his match with One Called Manders against the Coven of the Goat. I wouldn't want to either.

Dr. Cerebro for having some of the best looking gear that I saw all weekend. The key details are the exposed brain and glasses sewn on his mask.

Avery Good, the IWTV Championship Committee, and ACTION for commissioning a slightly larger IWTV Independent World Championship belt. It's a good bit.

Krule and Jake Parnell for surpassing my low expectations for their match. It was overbooked, but it was overbooked in a good way, and Krule impressed the most since the show where he emerged from a cornfield.

Arez for being such an odd fellow. Master of the Strange Style indeed had a match with Chikara alumnus Matt Makowski that exceeded my expectations.

Slim J for refusing to go gentle into that good night. He and Adam Priest ripped off an exciting match days after Slim J was released from AEW, and it hopefully makes promoters reflect on how they misused someone this talented.

Marcus Mathers for making me reevaluate my opinion after writing him off as a scramble flippy guy.

Demus and Mad Dog Connelly for unleashing violence and mayhem. Connelly started the match by snapping the chain and hitting Demus with it, and he upped the ante by punching Demus with chain-wrapped fists.

Daniel Makabe and Timothy Thatcher for rewarding the attention that I was forced to pay their match due to their style. Grappling-focused matches don't have obvious moments of excitement for most viewers, so you're forced to watch closely for small shifts in angle and advantage. Makabe and Thatcher had a match where I felt like the attention that I paid to them after a long day of watching wrestling was worth the effort.

The "But Now You Have My Attention" Award: The Sovereign/Sinner & Saint

My major takeaway from DEFY's Can't Deny It was the fast-paced and tightly executed work from Judas Icarus, Travis Williams, and Evan Rivers in their match against the Dragongate team (more on one of them later) and C4XKC. Icarus and Williams, as Sinner & Saint truly caught my attention in their match against Marcus Mathers and Austin Luke at DEAN~!!, and I'll peek in on what they'll do in TNA now that they're signed there.

The "Champagne Problems" Award: Mariah May

In the grand scope, AEW's insistence on continuing with Timeless Toni won't determine whether they sign a profitable TV deal or whether their ticket sales or TV ratings will reach new heights or depths. On a personal level, the combination of Timeless Toni and the Brochachos drove me away from AEW, and it took months before I could trust the company to not focus so heavily on crappy content. I'm willing to stomach a few minutes of Timeless Toni every week in recognition that nothing can be perfect. Nonetheless, watching Mariah May wrestle with Mina Shirakawa and Xia Brookside against Mayu Iwatani, Momo Kohgo, and Tam Nakano at STARDOM's show and against Kohgo during the ROH Zero Hour preshow highlighted how fresh and exciting she feels and how tired and mortifying watching Toni Storm play Timeless Toni feels.

The "Indifference Is Worse Than Hate" Award: Shun Skywalker

I gave Dragongate a chance to capture my heart in 2023, and it failed to attach. So, I wanted to give Dragongate another chance in a setting that piqued my interest in Dragon Gate back in 2006. Instead, the Dragongate team of Kzy, Shun Skywalker, and Ho Ho Lun seemed to disappear during their match in the DEFY show. I had hoped that it was an aberration, but the Dragongate group of YAMATO, Dragon Kid, and Shun Skywalker underwhelmed in the tag match against Los Desperados in JCW & GCW vs. The World. Then, the whole Dragongate group had an underwhelming performance in the much hyped match against Team CMLL during the Hitchcock Memorial Supershow. I want to give them one more chance with the ETU vs. Dragongate show, but the Dragongate showing this trip did not inspire me to give the company another chance in 2024.

The "Half-Hearted Efforts Produce Half-Hearted Results" Award: ROH Supercard of Honor 2024

Crowning Mark Briscoe as the ROH World Champion on the anniversary of his brother's ascension should have felt triumphant. Instead, it felt perfunctory, which seems deeply wrong. Other than the knowledge that it was Jay Briscoe's championship anniversary, viewers received no cues for the emotional stakes of the match, and pitting Mark Briscoe against fan favorite Eddie Kingston seemed misguided.

The "That Sure Is A Decision That You Can Make" Award: Syuri, Masha Slamovich, JCW, GCW

I was looking forward to Syuri vs. Masha Slamovich at JCW & GCW vs. The World when it was announced, and it was one of the matches that kept me going through the fatigue from the grueling activity of watching wrestling for hours on end on Thursday. My spirit deflated when ring announcer Emil Jay announced a 30 minute time limit for the match since he announced no time limit for the other matches on the show. It was also billed as a JCW Championship match, and since Syuri wasn't going to win the title from Slamovich this weekend, my expectations joined my spirit in a state of deflation. The fact that they wrestled to a 30 minute time limit draw at 1:00 am Eastern in front of a listless crowd probably contributed to my dissatisfaction with the match; it felt like a slowly paced collection of moves rather than a coherent story told through the medium of professional wrestling.

The Best Match of the Weekend, Leyenda Division: Bryan Danielson vs. Blue Panther

Bryan Danielson is my favorite wrestler, and I've greatly enjoyed his post-WWE run. He's made it clear for years to anyone who would listen that he greatly admired Blue Panther and wanted desperately to wrestle him, and we were served an appetizer when they faced each other at CMLL Homenaje A Dos Leyendas 2024 on March 29. We got the full course when Danielson and Panther wrestled at Super Viernes on April 5, and it was what I, as a Danielson fan, would have wanted from this match. Both men defied age and expectations and challenged each other's technical skills and indomitable wills. Danielson tried to play rudo by hitting the aged Panther with brutal kicks and dives and by showing off with the Santo Escape several times, but Danielson is too delightful for any attendee at Arena Mexico on April 5 to truly despise.

The Best Match of the Weekend, Non-Leyenda Division

The finalists are:

World of Stardom Championship: Maika (c) vs. Megan Bayne (STARDOM: American Dream 2024 in the Keystone State)

Fuminori Abe vs. Takuya Nomura (GCW Presents Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport X)

Matt Makowski vs. Charlie Dempsey (GCW Presents Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport X)

Slim J vs. Adam Priest (ACTION Wrestling & Segunda Caida: DEAN~!!)

Daniel Makabe vs. Timothy Thatcher (ACTION Wrestling & Segunda Caida: DEAN~!!)

Dog Collar Match: Mad Dog Connelly vs. Demus el Demonio (ACTION Wrestling & Segunda Caida: DEAN~!!)

Jordan Oliver vs. Aigle Blanc (JCW & GCW vs. The World)

Limited to what I saw, my pick is Connelly vs. Demus, which was the most fun of these great matches. I was hooting and hollering as they bludgeoned each other with garbage cans, chained fists, and possibly fans, and the experience was heightened by the very game crowd at DEAN~!!.

My second pick would be Maika vs. Megan Bayne, which featured a great story of Maika, usually the bully, finding herself unable to bully the bigger and stronger Bayne. Maika's absurd Michinoku Driver from the second rope on Bayne looked absolutely reckless and devastating, and it felt unique among the many watches from the past week.

#pro wrestling #wrestling #defy wrestling #sinner and saint #action wrestling #segunda caida #ring of honor #roh #world of stardom #dragongate #cmll #bryan danielson #blue panther #maika #roh supercard of honor #bloodsport #gcw #jcw #mariah may

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wrestlingisfake · 2 months

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I was re-reading an old post of yours about RIc Flair, and I was wondering: what do you think makes it a proper world title? Is it just being the most important belt any promotion has (so, teeny-tiny ones can just say they have the world champion) or is there some measure of size or prestige (if such a thing exists in a fake sport) that a belt has to have before you can say you are an x-time world champion?

I've thought about this over the years, but I don't think a "proper" definition of a world title is possible in pro wrestling. Usage of the term within the business has become totally divorced from the literal meaning of the words.

Semantically, it'd be fair to say a "world title" is any championship with "world" in the name. Realistically, we might limit that to the promotions with a worldwide audience. But by this standard, ROH world six-man tag team champion Austin Gunn has a world title, and undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns does not. And we instinctively know that's not right.

In the context that the term is used, a "world title" is clearly a promotion's main event championship, with the implicit assumption that only a men's world heavyweight singles title could be that top prize. So if we're talking about a 7-time world champion, we might mean Harley Race, but probably not Danny Hodge.

In the old says, the aura of a (men's) world (heavyweight singles) champion was that of a man who could carry the entire company, and defend himself in the event of a double-cross. The mentality was that the world champ had to be the legit toughest guy in an otherwise fake sport, because if he wasn't, someone might take a payoff to go off-script and break his leg. That all kind of faded away 40-50 years ago, but the perception that you have to be on a higher level to win a world title persists. So there's a sense that you have to be the top champion in a promotion big enough for it to mean something that you're on top.

Since anybody can call any championship a world title, there's no obvious place to draw the line as to which of them really matter. It seems to me, though, that a promotion has to have (or once had) nationwide exposure for its world title to be taken seriously. That sounds contradictory, to say that being a national-level promotion makes your top title a "world" title. But going by that definition we can count the top belts in WWE, AEW, WCW, the NWA, the AWA, New Japan, All Japan, Pro Wrestling NOAH, CMLL, the UWA, and AAA, which sounds about right. Of course, this would also include TNA, ECW, and ROH, which would be controversial, but any definition would put somebody on the bubble.

Going forward, I expect the top women's titles in those companies will be treated more and more like "world titles," not just in name but in terms of that tippy-toppy aura. And sooner or later I figure GCW and at least one British promotion to have the credibility to join the club. So even if we could settle on an objectively useful definition, it'll probably need to change within the next 10-20 years.

#pro wrestling #wrestling championships

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cavenewstimes · 6 months

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AEW Star Andrade El Idolo Set For A GCW Debut In December

Read More Wrestling Inc. By /Nov. 12, 2023 9:10 pm EST All Elite Wrestling star Andrade El Idolo is set to make his Game Changer Wrestling debut next month on December 9 in Los Angeles, California, at the Highest in the Room 2 pay-per-view. His opponent has yet to be revealed, but GCW did announce on their X account, previously known as Twitter, that he will be at two other events next year —…

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tomhardydallasstarsgirl · 1 year

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I posted 9,196 times in 2022

That's 1,038 more posts than 2021!

31 posts created (0%)

9,165 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@dadotnetofficial

@racerchix21

@sunnyfleur23

@sheslikealostflower

@allelitewrestlings

I tagged 27 of my posts in 2022

#jon moxley - 10 posts

#spotify - 6 posts

#dean ambrose - 5 posts

#aew - 4 posts

#youtube - 2 posts

#wwe superstars - 2 posts

#seth rollins - 2 posts

#gcw - 2 posts

#wwe smackdown - 2 posts

#instagram - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 32 characters

#omg he was so chill and charming

My Top Posts in 2022:

I MISS THE SHIELD!!!! So much credit to the artist of this. Splitting image of them all

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8 notes - Posted March 19, 2022

👀👀👀👀

Yeah pretty much. Felt worse than the skid marks from the damn bus I was under. That's okay a Beast was nice enough to treat me to dinner though. Despite.....

10 notes - Posted September 27, 2022

Studies show that according to women

Now where shall I begin. I want to see all the hot men with salacious, sexy, godly, droolworthy beards you can find in all your pic/film stock. Even if it's the same pic others have posted (impeccable great taste). If it's your favorite post it. I'll show mine if you show yours 😂😂 10 is the limit plus a Bonus (gifs, black and white, color or still pics) . And the more the merrier. I'll start off......

You simply can't resist a man with.... A BEARD

Lunatic Fringe Dean Ambrose/Wild Thing Daddy Mox

See the full post

12 notes - Posted July 28, 2022

This pic is 🔥🔥🔥 as fuck

BLACKPOOL COMBAT CLUB

23 notes - Posted June 27, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Those Infamous Eyes.....

Dean Ambrose x Black Reader

Warnings: Bad Boy Dean, Freak Boy Dean, Nasty Boy Dean, Fluffy Boy Dean, Sweet Boy Dean. Hopefully that's enough Dean Ambrose

Hey everyone this is my first fic about a WWE Superstar so bare with me. I normally write about other celebs so I hope many enjoy this as much as I wrote it. May be some mistakes in it. If so apologies. I am working on another WWE one as well so please let me know what you think. THANK YOU 😘😘🤗🤗

Actually all you wanted was to enjoy a nice quiet evening alone at home. Your best friends Naomi, Sasha, Charlotte and Rhea with their +1's decided to have you tag along with them to a Slammy's Red Carpet, Award Show and Dinner afterwards. But, of course that meant you had to see WWE Wrestler Dean Ambrose again. You've seen him on different occassions when you were with your friends and each time it was the same thing. Always staring. No words. Just his baby blue eyes were always on you regardless of the situation at hand. Dean Ambrose will make it his sole mission to have you before it's all said and done. What could possibly go down on a night like this?

See the full post

95 notes - Posted March 17, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Instagram

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allelitewrestlings · 1 month

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#jon moxley #wrestlingedit #aewedit #gcwedit #aew x gcw #event: josh barnett's bloodsport 9 #ours: gifs #maker: s #*#tw: flashing gif

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rickygoldman34 · 2 years

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Hello everyone Ricky Goldman here.

Its TNT vs GCW.

But 1st we get a match on the pre show. Its Tate Mayfairs vs Nico Angelo fot the ultra X title. My 1st look at Nico here and what a this was. Lots of high flying and back and forth action. A really good match here that defines impressed me. Tate ofcourse tried to cheat with a set of brass knux that were quickly took off him. The crowd was very much into this,alot of hard hitting action in this one. Tate grab one of the security outside the ring to get back the brass knux. Nick low blowed Tate,hit a spine buster and then the 450 splash to retain.

1st match on the main show is Robbie X vs Blake Christian the former Trey Baxter of NXT. what a damn good match this was. Plenty of high flying action and high risk moves,the neare falls were aplenty in this one. A very hot crowd split down the middle here. I couldn't keep up with the very fast and quick action.lots of suicide dives and high risk moves for this one. Blake Christian with the victory.

Next we got Kings Of The North vs Nick Wayne and Jordan Oliver. My 1st at all of these ofcourse and they all impressed me. The crowd very much into this one here. Lots of very quick and hard hitting moves and yes back forth action. This was a fairly quick match here but still good. Kings Of The North with the win here.

Next is Man Like Deriess vs Tony Deppen. The crowd certainly hot for this one. Mat based wrestling started this but it quickly turned fast paced. Tony turns the action around to his favour but Deriess got back into it. I forgot to this is my 1st look at Tony here. Back and forth action between the 2 men as they have thier share of pin fall attempts. Deriess took the lead and hits a high flying top rope move for the win.

Next we have Drew Parker,Big Fn Joe and Clint Margera vs Alex Colon,Jimmy Lloyd and John Wayne Murdoch. This was pure insanity. Chairs,light tubes,darts, mouse trap table and chop sticks all used. An all out war and blood everywhere. Someone even got thrown off the stands and then got dived on. This was pure mayhem. Plenty of pin falls that saw Drew Parker,Big Fn Joe and Clint Margera win.

Next we have Lizzy Evo vs Allie Katch. My 1st look at Allie here the crowd was very much behind her in this back and forth contest. Lots of pin fall attempts in this one. This was a decent match I wasnt too into it to be honest. Lizzy Evo with dub here.

Next match is Gene Munny vs Joey Janela. This was very much a comedy match but it was actually decent. I guess it's good see9ng Joey after he's been in AEW. Joey soon got angry and took over but not for long as Gene did a suicide dive onto Joey outside the ring. Back in and Joey is in control once again he brings a steel chair into the match and puts Gene onto and goes for a splash but misses he then gets another chair and throws it at Gene. Back in the ring and Joey puts a guard rail in the ring but gets slammed on it bending it in half. Joey then with a coast to coast followed by a coup de Gras for the win here.

Next up is Che Monet vs Effy vs Visage in a triple threat match. Visage apparently turned up as a surprise. This was an odd match to say the least but the crowd was right into it. This was hard hitting action galore but Effy and Che did kiss then Visage kissed Che and clocked him. The action continues and we see Visage dive off the top rope onto Che then quickly back in the ring where Che goes for the cover but Effy breaks it up. Action gets rolling again and its hard to keep up lol. Che dispatches of Effy and scores the pin on Visage for the win here.

It's now the MAIN EVENT it is Dan Maloney vs Matt Cardona for the TNT title. Matt played chicken shit heel and ran away from Dan. This match took a while to get going Matt grabbed the mic to get heat the match did get going though and Dan took it right to Matt. Dan very controlled the action here. Matt fained injury as Emergency staff ran out this is where Matt completely took over but Dan was back into it again and the action gets hard hitting. Matt hits the rough Ryder out of nowhere and almost got a win with it. Matt in control one more time and he tries to clock Dan with the title but a low blow from the champion followed by his finisher keeps the title on Dan Maloney.

This was a very good show and I give it 10 stars out of 10.

Don't forget to add me on Facebook Ricky J Pate,follow me on Twitter @ricktherock30,go and check out WWA world wrestling alliance on Facebook and go and like and SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel the people's wrestling channel.

Ricky Goldman out.

#youtube #wrestling #gcw #liverpool

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jonmoxleys · 2 years

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Blood, sweat flying, tables breaking… God, I love this shit.

#wrestlingedit #gcwedit #aewedit #moxleyedit #jon moxley #gcw #aew #game changer wrestling #sheslikealostflower #wrestling #blood cw #tw blood #tw gore #gore cw #*#gifs*#aes*#m🩸x

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deathtriangles · 2 years

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ETHAN PAGE VS PENELOPE FORD | GCW : LOST IN NEW YORK ( 2018 )

#aew #aewedit #gcw #game changer wrestling #penelope ford #ethan page #x . my edits #x . penelope ford #x . ethan page #darbs #maxwellfriedman #THIS FINISH *chefs kiss*#this match was so good omg

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blueonwrestling · 2 years

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i am very interested to see shite bag heel janela out of aew, i think he can portray a very interesting character as he's probably the first solid worker to leave AEW, he can really capitalize on that.

#gcw #joey janela's spring break 6 #joey janela #aew #x-pac

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wrestlesideblog · 2 years

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My Favorite Matches 2021

Deonna Purrazzo vs Masha Slamovich - Knockouts Knockdown 2021 (This match fuckin’ ruled!)

Kenny King vs Shane Taylor - Final Battle 2021 (Two men putting their bodies though hell to not only give a grand sendoff to their feud and possibly their company, but beating up their bodies as an audition for work elsewhere in the increasingly limited spots in major companies. Also promo game on these two is 20/10. Stunningly amazing)

Bryan Danielson vs Minoru Suzuki - AEW Dynamite 10/15 Buy-In (This match FUCKIN’ RULED)

Chris Sabin vs Josh Alexander - Victory Road 2021 (The first time they acknowledged Sabin as a final boss of the X-Division. Legitimized Alexander in a big way. The ending was immaculate and based in old lore and the mat wrestling yes please.)

Mei Suruga vs Emi Sakura - ChocoproLive! Special Show (MEI TIME! :D but also an emotional goodbye to Emi Sakura since she signed to AEW. She put Mei over and left on her back the proper way even in this silly promotion.)

Young Bucks vs Lucha Brothers - All Out 2021 (This match fucking ruled and I wasn’t surprised because the Bucks vs Lucha Bros never misses)

Bianca Belair vs Sasha banks- Wrestlemania Night 1 (So special. The first WWE main event back with fans, Bianca’s emotions and coronation, Sasha gleefully ushering in a new star like the A+ heel she is, all of Bianca’s spots, the story telling, and two black women main eventing Wrestlemania)

Rhea Ripley vs Raquel Gonzalez - NXT New Years Evil (This match fucking RULED and I nearly forgot it happened this year)

Jacob Fatu vs Calvin Tankman - MLW Never Say Never (Big meaty men slapping meat! Tankman is a star in the making and Fatu was made to be a champion. This match introduced me to them both.)

Sho vs Yoh - Wrestle Grand Slam (better than the BOTSJ match. Mostly because Yoh is more satisfying as a seller and he gets his shit kicked in during this match. One of the only stories I followed in NJPW this year because I’m all up in my feelings about it)

Best Friends vs Kip/Penelope/Miro - AEW Arcade Anarchy (the match that sold me on AEW tbh. So much unflinching fun with a group of misfits that I like. The ending was perfect and stayed with me)

Honorable mention: all of Final Battle and the NXT Men’s War Games match which were nails in the coffin of an era of two well loved wrestling shows. Also Hangman vs Omega because the ending blew my mind and shout out to Matt Cardona winning the GCW championship because that made me laugh.

#Wrestling is fun #I liked emotional matches and solid storytelling and anything that made me say "that effin ruled'#Look at me not tag my nonsense #Year end

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gdwessel · 3 years

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Wrestle Grand Slam STARDOM Matches Announced; NJPW Strong Moving to Saturdays 8pm EDT / 7pm CDT on 9/18/2021; More Autumn Attack Matches Announced; Minoru Suzuki v. Dominic Garrini in Timebomb Pro on 10/21/2021

NJPW has announced the two opening STARDOM exhibition matches for both nights of Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome. The Queen’s Quest tandem of Momo Watanabe & Saya Kamitani will be working both nights it appears. Tomorrow, they will face off against Donna del Mundo’s Maika, who will be teaming with the currently unaffiliated Lady C. Then on Sunday, the QQ pair will go against the current Artist of Stardom tag team champions, Donna del Mundo’s Giulia & Syuri, in what appears to be a non-title match. NJPW is taking great pains to point out Giulia will be less than 24 hours removed from a 5-Star Grand Prix tournament match against current World Of Stardom champion Utami Hayashishita, so they expect that to play a factor in the match in Saitama on Sunday morning.

Again, for the first time since Bushiroad purchased the company from Rossy Ogawa, STARDOM matches will be shown on NJPWWorld, having been prevented from doing so previously due to STARDOM’s existing contracts with NTV, a direct competitor to NJPW minority partner TV Asahi, who facilitates NJPWWorld. Again, I don’t know the ins and outs of how this was made possible, but it’s good STARDOM is now getting to be shown to an even wider potential audience that will hopefully be receptive to the womens promotion.

Tonight, NJPWWorld will show the “BBQ Brawl” episode of NJPW Strong. This is hands down one of the all-time worst titles they have ever come up with for an NJPW event of any kind. That said, the first match tonight looks to be very good, as Impact Wrestling’s X Division champion Josh Alexander returns, this time to face Daniel Garcia, who once again will be wrestling on two TV shows in one night as he is also due to take on Darby Allin on tonight’s live AEW Rampage from my home base in Hoffman Estates, IL. (I was never due to be at this show, but if you still need a ticket for GCW/BLP 3 Cups Stuffed or tomorrow’s BLP show, hit me up.)

The real point of this entry, is that NJoA have announced that in two weeks’ time, starting 9/18/2021, the show will be moving to Saturday nights from Friday nights, at 8pm EDT / 7pm CDT on both NJPWWorld or FITE TV (for a fee). One wonders if this is in fact due to AEW Rampage taking place at the same time now, and their continued partnership. With AEW being a much hotter product than NJPW at the moment, I can’t imagine there are too many people skipping Rampage to see Strong on Fridays, but I can see a lot of people skipping Strong for Rampage. I am guessing with the big move happening, that the Fighting Spirit Unleashed set of matches will start airing with this show.

NJPW Strong started life last summer as Lion’s Break Collision, an experimental empty-arena TV show during the peak of lockdown, and has run ever since. There have been some memorable moments on the show, it has to be said, but lost a lot of its luster once NJPW proper started running again. Now that shows are starting to happen outside of Thunder Studios, maybe interest will start picking back up.

On that note, NJPW have announced four more matches for the September NJPW Strong taping shows Autumn Attack, 9/25 & 9/26/2021 at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, TX, have been announced.

One that looks to be a highlight of Night 1 is “Filthy” Tom Lawlor v. Ren Narita. Curiously, the NJPW hype piece for this does not mention Lawlor being the current NJPW Strong Openweight Champion, so one wonders if that’s an accidental spoiler. Also added to Night 1 is an 8-man tag match, as Juice Robinson, Lio Rush (possibly the Strong champion now?), Clark Connors & TJP will take on a Bullet Club tandem of Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, Hikuleo & Impact’s Chris Bey. This would be Bey’s first NJPW event since joining the Bullet Club in Impact.

On Night 2, the indie flavor of the month Daniel Garcia is booked against Switchblade, Jay White, in a non-title match against the NEVER Openweight Champion. Then, a tag match has been booked, where Karl Fredericks & Clark Connors will face off against the United Empire’s Will Ospreay and a mystery opponent. This could be Jeff Cobb, this could be Great O-Khan, this could be Aaron Henare... or this could be a new member of the Empire (most likely). We’ll see at the end of the month.

The announcements for Minoru Suzuki’s tour of the US indies continue. Now announced for Thursday 10/21/2021 in Dilwroth, MN, is Suzuki going into Timebomb Pro, a promotion based in Fargo, ND. No, it’s not just a movie/TV show, it turns out. At this show, Suzuki will have a first-time dream opponent in Dominic Garrini, an amateur wrestler/shooter type who’s been big on the indies the last few years, often teaming with Kevin Ku as Violence Is Forever, which is the name this show is taking on. Tickets for that event at TimeBombPro.com if you feel so inclined and are in that neck of the woods.

I actually am starting to keep track of all of Suzuki’s bookings now, so once we get closer in another week or so, I’ll post the entire list.

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