Would it be alright to get some recommendations on how to get into wrestling? I'm intrigued by your posting but I also have no idea where to start do I just search "most homoerotic wrestling" and go from there?

i will do my best to provide a baby starter guide … this is kind of how i got into things, but streamlined so that you dear reader can figure out what you want out of life, instead of fucking around consistently like i did

“isn’t wrestling silly and fake?”

yes. however, the unreality of wrestling and the blend between what’s real, what’s staged, and the genuine athleticism of the wrestlers makes for incredible long-term, partly improvised narratives that can happen nowhere else. you’re not watching a sports show — you’re watching a mix of theatre and gymnastics.

“is wrestling for me?”

suggestion: watch supereyepatchwolf’s video , “professional wrestling is stupid and beautiful and i love it”. it’s meant to convey the wonder and fun and joy of this silly silly thing to people who are not into wrestling or don’t understand it. if you’re still curious about wrestling when you’re done, it’s time to start watching for real.

“ok, i’m still curious. now what?”

fuck it, we ball. the beauty of wrestling is that whilst there are long term narratives, all the individual matches need to convey is the struggle of that moment. whether it’s a long term feud coming to a head, friends who have to compete or have turned on each other, someone struggling to the top of a championship mountain, or a challenger coming in to try and dethrone a champion - all that matters will be conveyed to you by the tone of the match and the commentators. so you can just pick up anywhere and dive right in. but across dozens of promotions, where do you start?

well, for you i’ll do what i did, which is pick on all elite wrestling (aew). they’re not better or worse than anyone else, but bluntly for me i think a lot of the wrestlers there are cute and they’re easy for me to find. here are a few matches off the top of my head, not in any particular order. i list their names and then what show you can find the match on. most of these can be found on the internet archive, if not all.

MJF vs CM PUNK (Revolution 2022) — dog collar match. they’re collared and chained to each other. mjf hits cm punk over the back with the chain and it leaves very real, visible marks. extremely sexy if you’re into that sort of thing.

DARBY ALLIN vs JON MOXLEY (Dynamite 08/05/2020) — i’ll be real this one awakened something in me it’s just very. um. it’s just very. umm. uhhh. 😓

DARBY ALLIN & STING vs TEAM TAZ (Revolution 2021) — this is fun because it’s filmed in a warehouse location and more cinematically. it’s goofy, but has some intense stunts too. i love this match. bonus points because sting literally picks darby up and throws him.

BRYAN DANIELSON vs KAZUCHIKA OKADA (Forbidden Door 2023) — so fair warning, bryan breaks his arm for real in this match. you can’t really tell except for how he stops using his right arm for the last 10-15 mins of the match, but i love this match. bryan and okada are just both great and very intense. (btw okada broke bryan’s orbital socket last month, please help)

MJF vs KENNY OMEGA (Collision 28/10/2023) i wanted a kenny match on this list and this one is recent but great, in part because of the respect the two men show each other, rather than being an outright feud. my heart grows three sizes whenever matches end in a cuddle.

i also recommend AEW ALL IN 2023, which was a ppv at wembley and literally every match is incredible and a banger. fucking rules.

“i watched those and they sucked!”

i dunno man try wwe or npjw or gcw idk or maybe you just don’t like wrestling

“i watched those and they RULED!”

congrats! now look into aew’s weekly shows or their numerous PPV shows, and start looking at shows from other promotions like wwe, njpw, and gcw! search the names of wrestlers you enjoyed to find more matches that they’re in! be free, and let the half naked sweaty men consume your brain 💜

i hope this helped 🥹

DYNAMITE 1/11/23

DAMMIT, MAX!

Firstly, we need to address something here, and its Matt Taven’s wonderful giraffe hoodie. Maybe down the line, Taven, can use a kick, and call it the giraffe kick. Then we can get a Giraffe kick vs. Kangaroo kick match. These aren’t just beautiful fingers typing these words you know.

The big question of the night was, who will MJF choose as his tag team partners?

We had a surprise appearance from Adam Cole via virtual call. He thinks Max should pick Samoa Joe as his partner, but Max is fond of this idea. The Man in the Devil Mask would interrupt the broadcast as his presence was looming over the show. Since the attack on Jay White, has this masked individual done anything else besides pop up on our screens? He needs to do something a lot more threatening.

Orange Cassidy defended his International Title against Claudio Castagnoli in a great opening match. Claudio showed off his impressive strength throughout. At one point he put Orange into a chokehold and swung him around. Orange won with a beautiful hurricanrana. The celebration was short lived as Jon Moxley returned to give Cassidy a beating. This sets up Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley at Full Gear, and it also looks like a feud between with Wheeler Yuta and Hook is starting.

The ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship’s were on the line as The Young Bucks/Adam Page defended against The Mogul Embassy. I really didn’t care for this match. I’ve said it before, the ROH titles should stay on Ring of Honor. I mean, I can’t even tell you who the other wrestlers were outside of Brian Cage. To my surprise, my prayers were answered. The belts are off the Bucks and Page, and the belts can return to the show where belong on. Page chased after Swerve Strickland as the two will meet at Full Gear. Matt was very upset after the loss and took it out on inanimate object's. Later on, The Bucks would take out their frustrations on Kenny Omega as they were not afraid to remind Omega of Jericho's past. Kenny as some work to do to get his friends and Jericho on the same page.

Daddy Magic/Cool Ange fought Jericho/Omega later on. Callis was on commentary with his family beh-WAIT, is that Kyle Flecher? Did I miss something? I thought Don kicked him out of the faction. Anyway, this match was short, so we could get to the meat of the story. In two weeks, it will be Kyle/Hobbs/Takeshita, taking on Jericho/Omega and…Paul Wright, in a Street Fight. I joked that it would be Wright last week, but I think he will work well in a Street Fight. I know some people will take issue with him being used, but I like when Paul is used like a beast.

Adam Copeland finally speared Christian Cage, after his former friend promised to snap his neck and leave him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. I still think Adam will come out of Full Gear as a heel, even though I didn’t expect him to lay his hands on Christian tonight.

Tony Khan makes rare appearance on TV to make another big announcement. It feels like these announcements are a bit excessive at this point. The reveal here is that AEW will be returning to the UK at Wembley Stadium next year. I didn’t get a chance this year to go , so I might just buy a ticket come December 1st.

Hikaru Shida defended her title in very good bout against Willow Nightingale. As I wrote previously, Shida had poor matches last week, and I’m glad to see her back on form. Julia Hart appeared post match to lure Willow, but Skye Blue came out and turned full heel, but it's a trick! She is actually a babyface. She misted Julia with the blue mist. Unfortunately she missed her face and her neck.

After some backstage segments, it's revealed that The Acclaimed will be MJF's partners against The Golden Elite. MJF wore Acclaimed inspired gear decked out with a pink burberry scarf. The match was about MJF getting his hands on White and getting his belt back, while Max Caster wanted to scissor MJF. I thought at this point, MJF would get his belt back, but lost when he was pinned by White. Post match, Caster took a title shot to the head from White as he pushed MJF out of the way. This led to a reluctant Maxwell scissoring The Acclaimed.

The show set up a few matches for Full Gear. Outside of that, you got the payoff with MJF teaming with The Acclaimed. I was expecting a bit more from this show, but I'll see where some of the stories end up before diving into any real major criticism.

I think a Kenny Omega vs MJF feud would be UNBELIEVABLE.

AEW Dynasty 2024 Predictions

Here are my last-minute AEW Dynasty predictions:

Overall:

It will be an excellent ppv – AEW rarely disappoints on this.

Pre-Show:

AEW/ROH Trios Championship Title Unification: The Acclaimed Vs the Bang Bang Gang (Bullet Club Gold)

I think the Acclaimed will win but I’m rooting for the Bang Bang Gang.

Trent Beretta Vs Matt Sydal: Trent wins. It wouldn’t make sense to have Trent lose while building the feud with Orange Cassidy. The real question is if Chuck Taylor will be ringside for either Trent or OC’s matches.

Orange Cassidy / Shibata Vs. Shane Taylor / Lee Moriarty: OC and Shibata win unless interference from his former Best Friends cost them the match.

The Show:

Bryan Danielson vs Will Ospreay: Tough call. Bryan has repeatedly put over younger talent so an Ospreay victory seems certain. However, they are clearly building a Blackpool Combat Club vs Don Callis Family feud, which will result in Ospreay leaving the Callis family. Hard call but I’m leaning towards an Ospreay victory due to shenanigans by Don Callis. I expect (hope)for appearances by the BCC and the Callis family. I doubt Khan has Moxley in the building and he doesn’t make an appearance for the entire pay-per-view. And I gave AEW the $50 so can I please have Claudio on the show?

Julia Hart vs Willow Nightingale for the TBS Championship: Willow wins. Julia is injured and Willow’s victory will further her story win Mercedes Mone. The only question is if Mercedes makes an appearance.

Samoa Joe vs Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship: I love Samoa Joe but whose house? Swerve’s house!

Toni Storm vs Thunder Rosa for the AEW World Women’s Championship: Toni all the way.

Adam Copeland/Eddie Kingston/Mark Briscoe vs the House of Black: Hard call. I’m going with the House of Black because they need some wins.

Okada vs PAC for the Continental Championship: I love both men but Okada wins. It’s simply too early for him to suffer a defeat.

The Young Bucks vs FTR for the AEW World Tag Team Championships: The Bucks take the win with the assist of a returning Jack Perry.

Roderick Strong vs Kyle O’Reily for the International Championship: It seems too soon for Roderick to lose the title but they’ve been building Kyle so a defeat would be odd so…Kyle?

Hook vs Chris Jericho for the FTW Championship: Unfortunately, it seems like this feud will continue after Dynasty so a Jericho win seems likely.

Final Thoughts:

AEW’s roster is insanely stacked. Even if you subtract the wrestlers on the injured list (Kenny Omega, Adam Cole, MJF, Britt Baker, Jaime Hayter, etc) you still have notable wrestlers (Claudio Castagnolli, Jon Moxley, Adam Page, Kris Statlander, Mariah May, etc) without an advertised match/role on the card. Crazy!

Enjoy the pay per view!

Feud, Hype, Titantron?

Feud ~ Your favorite rivalries?

Working my way through Jay White vs. David Finlay in NJPW and it does have a ton of compelling history to it, that they built up throughout even their time together as Young Lions! I'll plug KENTA vs. Marufuji in Pro wrestling NOAH again because they are simply the Bestest. And honestly, Kenny Omega vs. Hangman deserves a shoutout. They were the Big Time story when I got into AEW and they carried that through so well.

Hype ~ List some wrestlers you think are overrated and/or underrated?

Overrated: Bryan Danielson (sorry to the girlies I do think he is good! just not as good internationally as he is locally). I think MJF's in-ring work is very overrated, but I get that he's mostly a talker to a lot of people (caveat that I haven't seen most of his recent bromance in-ring with Cole, which I have heard was choice).

Underrated: Sonny Kiss (absolutely criminally :/ ) , Cara Noir (I know he's a weird indie choice but LOOK he's very very good and there is no one doing it like him).

*Titantron ~ Your favorite and/or least favorite wrestling entrances?

Favourites: Katsuyori Shibata, House of Black (THEY KILL IT EVERY TIME), Ricky Starks (such a good theme get it Ricky), Kazuchika Okada (I'm such a mark for the Rainmaker theme)

Least Favourite: Don Callis (but in the good way that I'm worked I suppose), House of Torture (means I have to watch house of torture), Outcasts theme (fuck offfff)

Double or Nothing preview

MJF vs. Sammy Guevara vs. Jack Perry vs. Darby Allin - MJF defends the AEW men's world title in a four-way, so the first man to score a pinfall or submission on any opponent will be the winner and champion.

On September 29, 2021, MJF characterized Guevara, Perry, Allin, and himself as "the four pillars" of AEW. (I assume it's an intentional reference to the Four Pillars of Heaven from 1990s All Japan.) The idea was that all four men were top recruits in AEW's first year, and all four were clearly being groomed for big pushes, so the company was being built on their work. Sooner or later they had to put all four into one program, which finally happened when the other three challenged Max on March 15.

My problem with this pillar bit is that all four guys are clearly still works in progress, while other homegrown talent (Britt Baker, Orange Cassidy, the Acclaimed, Wardlow, Ricky Starks) have begun to overtake them. If these guys were really carrying AEW, then any two of them would be able to headline this show on their own. Someday that will be true, I think. For now, though, the main draw of the match is that it's a four-way, simply because four is the number MJF pulled out of his ass in 2021.

This is being set up like every four-way main event you've ever seen. The heels (Sammy and Max) have teased that they'll be in cohoots, and then that they can't get along. The challengers (Sammy, Darby, and Jack) have discussed making sure one of them wins and MJF loses. The babyfaces (Darby and Jack) seemed to be on the same page, but seeds of doubt have been planted. Typically this intrigue is totally dropped once the bell rings, and they'll all brawl for 20 minutes until the heel champion steals a pin. Then the announcers will act like Max has discovered an obscure loophole in the rules, as we haven't seen this in literally every four-way ever.

Kenny Omega & Adam Page & Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson vs. Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli & Bryan Danielson & Wheeler Yuta - This is billed as "anarchy in the arena," so it's basically a brawl all over the building, until someone scores a pin or submission inside the ring. Page and Moxley have been feuding since October. In March, Page brawled with Mox's entire team (the Blackpool Combat Club) all the way to the ring and ran into Omega and the Young Bucks. After that the BCC was fighting separate wars with Page and the Elite, until the babyfaces joined forces on May 17. It's the first time Page has been on good terms with the Elite since 2020.

When they did this type of match last year, Eddie Kingston poured "gasoline" all over Chris Jericho, so that's the kind of craziness this match has to live up to. I don't mean "they have to do a fire spot," more like "someone has a chainsaw, but never actually uses it." Note that last year's anarchy in the arena didn't settle a damn thing and they came back with a "blood & guts" match a month later, which also didn't end the feud. So don't count on the Elite finally getting revenge. If anything I expect the BCC to get even more heat with even more heinous brutality.

Chris Jericho vs. Adam Cole - This is billed as an unsanctioned match. Nominally that just means AEW isn't responsible for what the participants do to each other, but practically speaking it's just another street fight with no count-outs or disqualifications. There's nothing to prevent the Jericho Appreciation Society from interfering, so Cole is bringing in ECW legend Sabu for backup.

The story is that Jericho and his goons beat up Cole, then handcuffed him to the ring and forced him to watch as his girlfriend Britt Baker got beat up by Saraya. So technically Jericho didn't directly give Baker a black eye, but Jericho and Cole are both playing it as if that's what happened. That means Cole wants to super-mega-fucking-murder Jericho, and Jericho must stoop to the most despicable atrocities imaginable to avoid getting super-mega-fucking-murdered.

I'm pretty sure Cole has to win this, so that Sabu can do at least one big crazy spot that helps secure the victory. I have no idea what 58-year-old Sabu can actually do, but I'm certain he'll try to do it.

Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm - Hayter won the AEW women's world championship from Storm in November, and this is the rematch. Six months ago Hayter and Britt Baker were the top heels, feuding separately with Storm and Saraya. Hayter's title win triggered a double turn, with Storm and Saraya becoming sore losers and later aligning with Ruby Soho as the Outcasts. The heels need to maintain their heat on their way to some kind of multi-woman blowoff match, but I don't think any of them are going to win the title before that happens. Hayter retains.

Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal - FTR (Harwood and Wheeler) are defending the AEW tag team title. Mark Briscoe is the special guest referee. The story is that Mark and FTR became close friends after their 2022 rivalry, but Lethal is an old friend/rival from even further back. Lethal's faction is clearly only pretending to be nice to Mark so he can give them tips on how to fight FTR. FTR don't want him to get taken in, but they can't help but be all passive-aggressive and FTR about it. So the story going into the match is that we don't know what Mark is going to do.

I am extremely bored with Lethal and Jarrett chasing every title in AEW, and this story in particular has been extra-boring. So I hope they just do the basic thing and have Mark call it down the middle so FTR can end the feud.

Wardlow vs. Christian Cage - This is a ladder match with Wardlow's TNT title on the line. The title belt will be suspended above the ring, and the first participant to pull it down wins. Ladders will be placed around the ring, although technically I suppose Christian could just stand on the shoulders of his heavy, Luchasaurus.

The gimmick here is that Christian is a veteran at winning ladder matches, but ladder matches are super-violent and Wardlow is great at violence. There's also a sense that Wardlow vs. Luchasaurus is going to happen at some point, so I'm pretty sure Wardlow will retain and that won't really settle anything.

Jade Cargill vs. Taya Valkyrie - Cargill already defeated Valkyrie last month to retain the TBS championship, but this time Taya is not prohibited from using her finishing move. The whole feud is that both women use a double chicken wing facebuster, and Jade acts like she has proprietary rights to the maneuver. Jade is 60-0 and someone has to end her win streak, but I don't think it's Taya. But it's probably about time for Jade to need more help putting opponents away, so I expect a lot of interference.

Blackjack Battle Royale - Orange Cassidy invited literally anyone to challenge him for the AEW international title, and when 20 guys stepped up he proposed a battle royale. I don't know if a blackjack battle royale is the same as a casino battle royale, or what the rules are going to be.

AEW has announced the following 21 participants: Ari Daivari, Bandido, Big Bill, Brian Cage, Chuck Taylor, Dustin Rhodes, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Keith Lee, Kip Sabian, Komander, Lee Moriarty, Orange Cassidy, Penta el Zero Miedo, Rey Fenix, Ricky Starks, Swerve Strickland, The Butcher, The Blade, Tony Nese, and Trent Beretta.

They're building up Orange for a very dramatic title loss, but that needs to be a singles match against one guy, not 20 people ganging up on him and one getting lucky. I guess you could move the belt to a cocky heel, with the idea that he couldn't beat Cassidy in a one-on-one situation. But defending the title in a battle royale was his idea! He has to retain here to not look like an idiot.

Malakai Black & Brody King & Buddy Matthews vs. TBD - Black's team, the House of Black, has issued an open challenge with their AEW trios title on the line. Under "house rules," you get a twenty-count outside the ring instead of ten, you can't escape a fall by getting to the ropes, and the challengers can name any additional stipulation except no-disqualification. It sounds like Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, and Billy Gunn intend to accept the open challenge, but I don't know why AEW wouldn't simply book that match and advertise it. So my best guess is they'll be interrupted by some heel team. Either way I think the House of Black retain.

Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy & HOOK vs. Ethan Page & Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn - This is set for the pre-show. Matt and Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen, who are both sidelined right now) have been feuding with Ethan Page and the Firm since October. Of late Jeff and Hook have joined the fight, and it seems like they've successfully disbanded the Firm. Page wants payback, so he's recruited the Gunns (who were in the Firm for about two weeks but never mind that now). If Matt's team wins, he gains control of Ethan's contract, in revenge for the months when the Firm controlled Matt's contract. The stip is kind of pointless if Matt doesn't win, so I think he will.

Following on from my last post about Punk's title reign:

This is how I'd go for the booking of his title reign in terms of challengers (obviously things can change over time but as the landscape looks right now, this is my thought)

1st challenge: Kyle O'Reilly - big win over Darby and he's a fresh face in the title scene, a good one for Punk to just have a good match or two with.

2nd challenge: Adam Cole - Owen winner, Punk a massive Hart fan, it writes itself and Cole always delivers in big matches.

3rd challenge: Bryan Danielson - I mean, who doesn't want to see Punk vs Danielson again. Let's see if they can still go together like they could all those years ago.

4th challenge: Jeff Hardy - The history in the feud these two had would be great to dip into again but with Punk as a good guy, it would be a good way to maybe explore different sides to their dynamic.

5th challenge: Wardlow - Let's go into the fact Wardlow was a huge reason Punk beat MJF putting him in the number 1 spot in the first place.

6th challenge: Samoa Joe - Another round in the CM Punk history world tour. It's his matches with Joe that put him on the map in wrestling in the first place.

7th challenge: Jon Moxley - The man who pretty much took up Punk's crown of outspoken anti hero after Punk left wrestling.

8th challenge: Kenny Omega - I feel Omega would be back by this point and you need to do this match before Punk's title reign ends. In fact you could end it here and it would work... Or...

9th challenge: Eddie Kingston - Here's where I'd take the belt off Punk. Eddie deserves it, man and it would put him in a spot I feel he could carry in such a way we haven't seen in years. Plus they have been building the feud between each other in such cool ways for awhile now, it just feels right.

Obviously you have loads of others who could also step in: Hangman again, Jericho, Darby, elevate Jungle Boy or hell, even Hook or Danhausen but for me... That's the road I'd take in Punk's reign.

All In card predictions

Since we're finally getting matches, I am gonna predict what we'll be seeing at All In.

Non-Title matches

Keith Lee vs Swerve Strickland(FOR THE LOVE OF FUCKING GOD TONY, GIVE THIS FEUD A BLOWOFF MATCH, IT'S BEEN 8 FUCKING MONTHS)

Hobbs killing QTV. Not a match, just Hobbs putting us out of our misery and taking QT and his shitty QTV bullshit off of AEW for good.

Darby Allin vs AR Fox

Chris Jericho vs Sammy Guevara

Kenny Omega vs Will Ospreay III

Title matches

Orange Cassidy vs Jon Moxley for the AEW International Championship(I'mma be honest I pulled this one right out my ass lol)

FTR vs The Young Bucks for the AEW Tag Team Championships

House Of Black vs Los Ingobernables for the AEW Trios Championships

Christian Cage vs Luchasaurus for the TNT Championship

Kris Statlander vs Ruby Soho for the AEW TBS Championship

Hikaru Shida vs Saraya for the AEW Women's Championship

CM Punk vs Ricky Starks for the Real AEW World Championship

MJF vs Adam Cole for the AEW World Championship

The ending is a showoff between MJF and Punk teasing All Out

My Highlights of AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023

Well it's time to open the door again as AEW and NJPW put on another big card PPV

Last year it was perhaps one of the best PPVs of the year, let's see how this one holds up

Spoilers for the Show

Zero Hour

Despy reluctant to participate in Chaos' Best Friendsery, including the hug

As much as I'd have loved it on the main card, it's such a big deal that AEW put Billie Starkz on a PPV show match, for a tournament, against Athena! And she held her ground

Also if you haven't been watching Athena on ROH, fix that she is practically the company's Ace

ELP's LED J A C K E T

It goes understated just how crisp both Stu and ELP are respectively, Stu never got much time because Dark Order are always set to lose while ELP is best known now for his chicanery but they are very good at the wrestling

BUSHI with the Venom half-mask

Hiromu and Cobb had a fun little mini-feud going in their match

Main Card

That fan's reaction from receiving a fistbump from Tanahashi

MJF's 'New Japan is an Indie' on his robes

The callback of using 'Coward' to goad Max against running away

And brothers, sisters and every other pronoun you declare; we ain't in Kansas, and we ain't in Chicago anymore Toto

I have my opinions on Punk, not all of them good, but I also know that AEW right now are sitting on a gold mine with these reactions to ol' CM Trunks

Also appreciate the Kojima lore to validate him being in the Owen, training in the Hart Dungeon is a good feather in your cap to use

The chop sell on the Barricade

For a man who quotes The Thing's catchphrase that's sure a lot of Hulk-isms there, brother

I am just gonna stop here and just win the whole lot of shithousery Punk is doing

Also a Stan Hansen reference in commentary, nice

Since they mentioned All Out I gotta gush about the fact that I got All In tickets, also I am intrigued with how they intend to book 2 PPVs on back to back weeks

Also how fucking lucky are we seeing Shibata in a wrestling ring this past year?

It should be scientifically studied how Garcia got that stupid dance over

Shibata and OC's handshake is meme potential I can see it

Red Shoes chant

JB finally snaps with the heel turn, that was a nasty lariat too

Eddie bringing back the 'Redeem Deez Nuts' shirt

Eddie vs Mox is still THAT FEUD

Claudio's opportunistic heel work was good here with him ducking Eddie, and taking cheap shots in front of Mox - who seems pretty reluctant about that

The Cinnabon Gone Bad being able to floor Ishii with a forearm, he knocked out ISHII, the stone pitbull, the man with no neck, the G1 bane of Kenneth Jerome Omega, and the mans just fucking decked him, I had to rewind just to watch that again like in the best way possible what the fuck?

And Hangman is still the top babyface of the company

I did not expect Eddie to save Mox from the Superkicks, that's muscle memory there

Super surprised that BCC, Shooter and Takeshita lost but it was kinda nice that Ishii got the pin

Excalibur vs Despy when?

Meaty DVD on the apron by Willow

Every time I hear it, I fucking love Elevated, top 10 modern entrance themes

It's been a hot minute since I've seen Ospreay whip out the shooting star while their opponent was on the ropes

I feel like Ospreay licking blood of his bicep was purely for his wife and the Ao3 community

Kenny empowered by the Canadian flag

The rope break unglued the crowd

OWA at 1!

Tiger Driver 91 Fucker Me!

KAZE NI NARE

Sammy has 'Brodie Forever' on his jacket which is nice

Joker Sting!?

You know, I would take a feud between Darby and Suzuki, you've got the daredevil and the man who dares the devil

Jericho 'tag me' Suzuki 'no'

Suzuki with the pose, man does what he wants

They went and got the Final Countdown for Bryan, Mr Tempest is going to the bank for this one

One of these days Okada's just gonna come out wearing Nick Jackson's attire that he's stolen and I wait for that day

Knowing in advance that Bryan fractured his right arm during this match gives me a lot more respect towards how much he did without it

Okada's dropkicks are absolutely picture perfect

Not only did Bryan beat Okada, he submitted Okada! Don't think anyone expected that

Conclusion

There were high expectations going into Forbidden Door, but if anyone tries to tell you that it's a 'two match card' feel free to slap them, because they'd probably jizz over the one Bloodline match per PPV and call it the best thing ever. This PPV had its downsides for sure, a lot of weak finishes - a couple maybe done due to injuries or Sting feeling a little loopy - so it didn't come out to its full potential, but it was still a really good night for wrestling.

I would still say in spite of everything it was still a success, but I also feel like AEW and New Japan need to consider making it a 2-Day event to fit more talent on the show, we still lacked names on AEW's side like FTR, HoB, Acclaimed, BCG (if they wanted to come on I'm not sure how Jay feels about using FD as a loophole), Miro, Ethan, Dark Order, PAC, Keith Lee, TNT Champion Christian I mean Luchasaurus, Wardlow, Samoa Joe, and names on NJPW's side like Bullet Club, GoD, Alex Zayne, Nagata, Team Filthy, Bishamon, Great O Khan, Toru Yano (let Yano and Mox face off you cowards!), Master Wato, and KUSHIDA, and this is not even bringing up all the women we could've used - which frankly, we should try to schedule an All-Women's crossover PPV with Stardom featuring DDT/TJPW, AEW/ROH and maybe even other companies' talents.

But I digress, a lot of match finishes were poor but a lot of the wrestling in matches were enjoyable, I had fun and we set up some new directions and potential rematches down the line.

Match of the Night: This is probably gonna be controversial to some but I felt that the 10 Man Tag was the best of the night. Omega/Ospreay and Okada/Danielson were really good, but they also took time to get going, and I do prefer a high-energy wrestling match to a slower technical bout. Best Attire: Tetsuya Naito, man looks like he stepped out of a masquerade party and since SANADA is just his 'regular guy' persona rather than the cold skull and we had no extended Omega attire he's really the only choice. Best Performance: I want to give it to Eddie for carrying the emotional weight of the 10-man, I also want to give it to Punk for being a proper shithouse to a mixed crowd, I also really want to give it to Danielson for wrestling a clinic with a fractured arm, but I do have to give it to Omega and Ospreay as a tie they wrestled their butts off Spot of the Night: As much as I still love Takeshita decking Ishii, it's Omega kicking out of the OWA at 1

okay @keefsteef i was gonna send this in an ask but i got SO OUT OF HAND that i'm just putting it here so i can keep it organized!!! it's so many words i'm sorry!!!!!!!!! behold: my konosuke takeshita manifesto

i don't actually believe that you need to know or understand the rules of a match to get a lot out of it! they have a set time limit, and go until either they reach time (ending in a draw), or a wrestler can win either by covering and pinning the opponent (both shoulders flat on the mat for a count of 3) or submitting them (getting them in a hold they can't get out of, and the opponent physically or, if thats not possible, verbally taps out and gives in). everything else you can pick up as you go.

OKAY SO! sometimes it's difficult to find full matches for the bigger professional wrestling promotions (including AEW which is the one i've been mostly watching and the US-based one that takeshita is working with rn). the smaller/indie promotions (which he also wrestles with sometimes) often upload full matches to build hype, and those tend to be really intense and less cinematic and sometimes a lot cooler than televised matches. but! AEW does usually put up highlight clips, and those are really good for catching up on a storyline. so i'm dropping a few takeshita-focused links here for you to enjoy at your leisure:

this video i found is kind of a "who is konosuke takeshita?" mini doc, which is def a great starting point! it's about a year old and there's a lot of filler, but i learned a lot from it about the structure of japanese wrestling and the context of how wrestlers like takeshita have gotten to where they are. the takeshita-specific parts start around 6min.

[quick side note! you may have heard the whole 'wrestling is fake' comment before and really all that means is that outcomes are often predetermined, but the moves are all legit even if coordinated, and any good wrestler will say that their primary goal in any match is to make sure their opponent is safe. which i mention because some matches, especially indies, can get super violent. so for me, i'ts important to know and remember that they're highly trained not only in making stuff look cool but also in keeping both themselves and their opponents safe. some of the clips below include copious amounts of blood, but i didn't put anything with major legit injuries.]

some AEW highlight videos from the past 6 months or so, that give the overall trajectory of his current arc:

match vs bryan danielson (member of the 'blackpool combat club' faction), who was currently on a run to challenge for world champion title against mjf (current champion). couple weeks later, takeshita fought mjf and got real wrecked, and danielson came to help him out, nearly missing his own match in the aftermath, because his opponent's faction-mates trapped him in takeshita's locker room. (the takeshita vs mjf one was also the first match i watched live! so it has a special place in my heart.) (also mjf's character is a fucking dickhead to the extent that i feel the need to give a heads up for it.)

he then had some one-off matches that didn't really impact the story, and tbh i think they didn't have a good grasp on his storyline yet, but then!!!! a huge feud (that is still going on currently and i do not even understand all the layers of it) arose between two groups:

the elite (brothers matt and nick jackson, kenny omega, and later hangman adam page)

danielson's faction, the blackpool combat club (=bcc, also including jon moxley, claudio castagnoli, wheeler yuta)

there's also a manager figure, don callis, who has accompanied omega for years, but during this feud he started trying to lure takeshita into working with him and joining with the elite. he is trash. multiple people have called him a carnie piece of shit.

[almost everything from here on out is summarized in this video, but because i'm obsessive and extra, i added other links too. i do not myself know japanese, so i'm not sure who the guy at the end is or what he's adding in commentary, but from the backdrop it looks like he's with DDT, the japanese promotion takeshita works with and the ones who put together the video.]

at the end of an elite vs bcc match, callis got takeshita to come out and help the elite, more allying as the feud continues and he fights a match alongside omega. after it the bcc thought that, because of his history of respect with danielson, that he might help them. he refused.

then! callis turns on omega and attacks him in a match against another big figure of the bcc, jon moxley. everyone forgets about takeshita. then at the big pay per view event, big match between the two factions, omega is about to secure the win for the elite but then A MASKED FIGURE comes out of the crowd, vaults over callis (who is trying to interfere) and knocks omega to the ground. pulls down the mask to reveal that he's takeshita! working with callis, and now officially A Bad Guy (aka a heel). now he wears a leather jacket and all black gear, and glowers at the camera.

he hasn't gotten to do TOO much since, except this singles match against another awesome wrestler, bandido, then this past weekend he sided with the bcc (still hasn't joined officially) in a big match against the elite, which the elite won (the summary video above includes the announcement of the match, where moxley calls takeshita tall dark and sexy, but it doesn't have the footage of the match itself. i can't find any good clips).

i don't know whats next!!!

some cool indie matches where you can watch a whole match:

against speedball mike bailey in june 2022. bailey is another super unique wrestler (imo) and so it's really cool to see them together! it's one of my favorite matches and even from the first couple minutes you can tell it's a banger and that they're both going to make sure they highlight each other. they've teamed together in the past, so they know each other really well which makes it fun. (side note: mike's wife veda is a commentator on this one, which is also a fun element to this particular match!) i know that in this one, takeshita does one of his signature moves, the blue thunder bomb. it's such a cool, high-impact move. also uses his big finishing move, the german suplex, which he is a master of. and he talks a teeny bit at the end!

AND then this is a pretty recent one, at a lucha libre (mexican wrestling) street event in april. the organizers are a pair of brothers from mexico who also wrestle in AEW, so for them to have thought of takeshita when it came to putting together a lineup for this one-off event speaks very highly of him. i don't know this opponent that well, but the match is really cool, and i also think the setting is really unique and adds a lot as well.

oh my god this is so out of control i'm sorry thank you for your time

AEW FULL GEAR 2023 PREDICTIONS

Full Gear is shaping up to be a decent card, but I’m hoping we get resolutions to some nagging issues I’ve been having with AEW as of late.

MJF and TBA vs. The Gunns - ROH World Tag Team Championship

The Ring of Honor titles on AEW TV has done nothing but cause a distraction. Most of the titles are now back on ROH, and I think the tag belts will follow. The only other angle they could do is, Samoa Joe and MJF team to win. Now both men are tied together with these belts. I can see this working, but I can also see Jay White getting involved in a screwy finish. I’ll with The Gunns for the victory.

Hikaru Shida vs. "Timeless" Toni Storm - AEW Women's World Championship

Hikari Shida reign as been lackluster. No fault of Shida by the way. AEW women’s wrestling can go from hot to cold within a week. The lack of consistency and focus on the division is frustrating as a fan. I just don’t know how Shida comes out with the win when Toni Storm’s new gimmick is so over. It makes sense to strike while the iron is hot. Timeless gets the win.

Sting, Darby Allin, and Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, and Nick Wayne

This match is going to be a blast. I’m going all in with Adam Copeland going heel, thus causing Darby Allin and Sting to lose. Then they could do an Adam & Christan vs. Sting & Darby at Worlds End. It’s a risky prediction, but I’m sticking to it.

Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley – International Championship

This past week on Dynamite we saw that the orange punch barely fazing Jon Moxley. If Orange Cassidy wasn’t the underdog already, he’s definitely walking in as one. The story is that the odds are stacked against Orange, which is why I’m giving him the win that he needs. Moxley should walk out with a newfound respect for Orange.

The Golden Jets vs. The Young Bucks 

The stipulation is simple; if The Young Bucks lose, then The Golden Jets (awful name) will obtain the Bucks number one contender spot for the AEW World Tag Team Championship. If the Jackson boys win, then Jericho and Omega must disband as a tag team. I’m giving the win to Kenny and Chris. The Golden Jets will then go on to win the belts from Big Bill and Ricky Starks and then the feud with The Young Buck - who are already pissed off due to the loss from Full Gear - will continue.

Ricky Starks and Big Bill vs. La Facción Ingobernable vs. FTR vs. Kings of The Black Throne - AEW World Tag Team Championship

Ricky Starks and Big Bill as tag team champions has been boring. I must keep reminding myself that they have the belts, which is a bad sign for the division. I don’t see LFI winning as it’s early days for them. FTR don’t need the belts, and Kings of The Black Throne just haven’t been built to take those belts. I believe Starks and Bill will retain, and as mentioned, they will drop the belts to The Golden Jets…unless The Young Bucks win their match and FTR wins this one, and we get another match with both teams…please, let’s not do this match again.

"Hangman" Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland - Texas Death Match

This is easily one of the best feuds of the year. Both men are telling a fantastic story where the drama keeps building each week. This is going to be a bloody and vicious fight. I’ve heard many people say that Serve Strickland needs to win this match, but he doesn’t because this is not your typical match, it’s a fight that has stemmed from a man breaking into another man’s house and threatening a baby. Adam Page needs to win to show he can defend his family. At the end of the day, both men will come out of this match looking great.

Kris Statlander  vs. Julia Hart vs. Skye Blue -  AEW TBS Championship

Who is Kris Statlander? She was an alien, but she dropped the gimmick, so who she is now? I don’t know. AEW has failed to explore her character. With no clear direction, she’s just been standing between to Skye Blue (whose had development as a character) and Willow Nightengale looking confused. Like Toni Storm, Julia Hart has been connecting with the audience. I think the belt will be going on Hart because it’s not doing anything for Statlander. I feel Blue still has some time to go before getting any gold.

MJF vs. Jay White – AEW World Championship

It feels like this feud has been going on forever, so I’m glad it’s being wrapped up this weekend. I’m also not a Jay White fans because AEW has failed to tell me anything about him as an individual whereas MJF has transitioned wonderfully into a babyface where we’ve seen a vulnerable side to his character that’s relatable. MJF wins this one.

I’m hoping Full Gear finally reveals The Devil. Again, it feels like this Devil character has been around for much longer than they have. I can’t wait for MJF to retain so he can move on. I want the tag division to have a clear direction and for the women’s division to shine the light on the characters that need it. I feel positive that this PPV will conclude and open up new and exciting stories.

Predictions for AEW wrestledream

As always this is who I think is gonna win not necessarily who I want to win.

The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) and Billy Gunn (c) vs.

TMDK (Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Bad Dude Tito).

Six-man tag team match for the AEW World Trios Championships:

The acclaimed and Daddy ass

Luchasaurus vs. Nick Wayne Singles match:

Nick I hope cause I don't think Darby is winning.

Josh Barnett vs. Claudio Castagnoli Singles match: Claudio.

Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty), Diamante, and Mercedes Martinez vs. Satoshi Kojima, Keith Lee, Athena, and Billie Starkz Eight-person mixed tag team match:

I had no idea this match was happening lmfao. So Keith and athena.

Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. Singles match:

everyone but mines dream match lmfao but I think Bryan gotta do it he's the best man.

Eddie Kingston (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata Singles match for the ROH World Championship and Strong Openweight Championship:

Eddie is on a roll so I'm going him, and he's only just won the title.

Kris Statlander (c) vs. Julia Hart (with Brody King) Singles match for the AEW TBS Championship :

now this one I'm torn on cause Julia hasn't lost a match in months but Kris has only just won the title ahh I don't know.... I'm going Kris but I wouldn't be surprised if Julia won.

Ricky Starks vs. Wheeler Yuta Singles match:

Ricky is on a roll right now but so is Yuta ahhh I'm going Ricky but once again I won't be surprised if Yoots won.

MJF (c) vs. The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch) 2-on-1 Handicap match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship:

Unless Adam comes to help out I think Max might have bitten off more than he could chew. But it's MJF he'll probably find a way to cheat to win.

FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) (c) vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) Tag team match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship:

Everyone's saying FTR are done with the titles but I'll forever have faith in my boys. I'm going FTR.

Chris Jericho and The Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi) vs. The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita, Sammy Guevara, and Will Ospreay) (with Don Callis) Six-man tag team match:

Now everyone has lots of beef in this feud and everyone (apart from kota) has lost to their enemy in this. But I'm going golden lovers and Jericho cause Kenny hasn't won a match for ages lol.

Hangman Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland (with Prince Nana) Singles match:

This match is the one I'm looking forward to so so so much , I think Swerve is gonna win cause its hometown advantage but I think this is gonna be my favourite match of the night. Its gonna get intense I just KNOW it!.

The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs. The Gunns (Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn) vs. The Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero Miedo) (with Alex Abrahantes) vs. Orange Cassidy and Hook Four-way tag team match for a future AEW World Tag Team Championship match:

Now if the bucks book themselves to win this match everyone is gonna lose their goddamn minds.

Buuuuut ...... nah I'm joking I think OC and hook are gonna win it cause they're being pushed to the moon right now.

Christian Cage (c) vs. Darby Allin Two out of three falls match for the AEW TNT Championship:

Well well well , emo baby in the main event I'm so goddamn proud. This match gonna be brutal, it's gonna be intense, it's gonna be bloody and it's gonna be full of surprises might get me on the edge ;) of my seat.

Frfr though I think Christian is gonna retain only because he's just won it. But I've a feeling there's gonna be shenanigans with nick Wayne and Luchasaurus and Adam copeland and maybe just maybe sting.

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (466): Mon 26th Jun 2023

Unlike yesterday where I was on shitty stow for the entire day, today I immediately got pulled aside and sent straight down to shipping. I could have French kissed this guys penis right then and there because I’m now at the stage where doing any amour of stowing just fucks with my head. Although I’m happy that I’m apparently getting moved to shipping full time I imagine that I will occasionally have to go back on stow when they’re low on staff. For six weeks last Christmas I did no stowing at all as I was needed on pack so I imagine that when Christmas comes around this year (assuming the Russians haven’t taken over and replace Christmas with whatever their version of Christmas is…Putinmas I imagine) I will be sent from shipping to pack once again but that’s fine with me since pack and shipping are my two favourite processes. To be honest I’m surprised that they haven’t moved me from stow to another process already since my rates on pack are always significantly higher than my rates on stow. It makes me think back to school where they kept badgering me about focusing on my English, Maths and Science and I kept on pointing out to them that I was only on track to get a D- in all three of these subjects but in Food Technology I was on track to getting a D+ so why not just let me focus all my energy on that? They didn’t bite…and I ended up getting an F in all four subjects anyway.

I had to avoid the internet all day so I wouldn’t have the results from Forbidden Door spoiled but it was worth it because AEW and New Japan put on a hell of a show last night. I never thought I’d say it. It MJF really carried Tanahashi in their title match. Tanners is really starting to show his age and the extent of the injuries to his knees since MJF had to slow down to accommodate The Ace and at certain points had to make himself look bad by selling for moves that Tanners could only put half of his energy into. Unless Tanahashi takes some time off to get his knees looked at then I’m afraid to say don’t think he’s ping for the squared circle.  Punk vs Kojima was really entertaining and Punk did a good job of playing up to the hostile crowd. I think he’s accepted that certain people are just going to see him as the bad guy and rather than just ignore it like Cena and Roman Reigns he’s just going to go with it which I think is the right move. Sanada vs Jungle Boy Jack Perry was entertaining enough burnout still looked out of place to have an upper midcarder just be rewarded with a title shot because he was the first to public ally accept an open challenge (even if it was clear he wasn’t going to win the belt). Luckily though it all worked out for Jack as they had him turn on Hook after the match solidifying his heel turn. I think this was definitely the best move as his character has felt stale for a while and there has definitely an audible fan backlash for a while now so I think it was for the best to have him embrace the hate and go a different direction with his character. This will be the true test of whether he truly benefited from the tutelage of Christian Cage. The Elite vs BCC ten man tag match was great with plenty of drama although it looks like the feud between these two factions is still going to continue which is starting to make my dick itch because this feud should have ended a while back…in fact I dare say the BcC should have ended a while back because Regal isn’t even there anymore. Ospreay vs Kenny Omega (who I’ve recently realized is the spot of British comedian Seann Walsh) was amazing. Fully deserving of the seventeen stars Meltzer is inevitably going to award it. I especially liked the ending of Callis helping Ospreay win because it gives Ospreay some added heat for when he returns to Japan and also helps set up the Omega vs Takeshita feud. Sting, Darby and Naito vs Jericho, Guevara and Suzuki was predictably disappointing. Naito has been Randy Ortoning it for a few years now and I wouldn’t be surprised if he called it quits before long. Sting messed up a few spots and as much as it pains me to say it I think it’s a good think he’s hanging it up this year. When he first came to AEW I enjoyed it because although he could only do the basics he could still bump but now he can’t even do that anymore. Finally Okada vs Bryan Danielson was everything longtime fans of both athletes were hoping it would be and more. Some great technical mat work, lots of close calls with both almost hitting their finish and both men going out of their way to make the other look good. Sadly it looks like Danielson suffered a broken arm in this match but he managed to finish the match because of course he did and it looks like he’ll only be out for a few weeks.

ok finally watching forbidden door because my back is fucked so this 1 is for my 3 wrestling followers

mjf / tanahashi - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

punk / kojima - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ heel punk gen x straight edge run pls

oc / shibata / garcia / zsj 4 way - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ purely for garcia, would’ve preferred OC / ZSJ 1v1 though

sanada / jungle boy - ⭐️⭐️ good for sanada for becoming a main event guy but this is a waste of a match for an angle that i don’t think has the juice (jungle boy heel run)

elite kingston ishii / bcc - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ beautifully paced and booked for such a busy match, i am tired of 6 month long feuds but everyone works perfectly together.

side note- mox is unrivalled in terms of best escape from wwe he has never stopped being incredibly important while also doing shit just because he wants to

willow nightingale / toni storm - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ i don’t like storm in the outcasts stuff… she’s too good for this wwe booking… willow needs to have 2 belts idc the women’s belt has been plagued by injury as of late but they need to build more people up, they’ve also treated all former champions (bar britt) like shit. shida and nyla and riho need to be booked wayyyy better.

ospreay / omega 2 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ospreay is a cunt but omega is literally the best wrestler of the last decade. ubisoft vs square enix. love the announce table spot. i love blood i love violence. no notes. tiger driver 91.

darby sting and naito / suzuki jericho sammy - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ bizarre booking. naito said fuck y’all shirt stays on. i hope sting gets a good send off before retirement. sammy guevara you will never be a face.

danielson / okada - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ shame danielson broke his arm 10 minutes in because this never kicked into the higher gear 4 me.

All Out preview

Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley - Cassidy is making his 31st defense of the AEW international title. He has not lost a one-on-one match since September 21, 2022, but this is easily his toughest opponent yet.

These two were scheduled to meet for the first time one-on-one in November 2021, but that match was canceled. Other than that, these two had very little to do with one another until July 21, when Cassidy and the Best Friends confronted Moxley's partners in the Blackpool Combat Club. Moxley wasn't there, but on July 26 he made up for lost time with an ambush on Cassidy. The two factions and their allies have been feuding for weeks, including a ten-man brawl last week at Wembley Stadium, where Cassidy scored the winning pin. I wouldn't say these two in particular have had a personal issue, but they're the biggest stars on either side, and sooner or later they had to face off.

This is the biggest match of Orange's career. You wouldn't expect a guy with a comedy gimmick to last two minutes against a protected badass like Moxley. But a win, or even a well-fought loss, would prove Cassidy can hang with the tippy-toppy guys despite (or because of) his silliness. Beating Chris Jericho in 2020 meant a lot, and an 11-month title reign helped even more, but this match can take him to the next level.

It's pretty clear at this point that CM Punk vs. Ricky Starks was supposed to headline this show, until Punk was suspended last week and fired yesterday. Now this match has to close the show, in Punk's hometown. Both guys are making this match about which of them will carry the company through troubled times. We know Moxley can handle that kind of pressure. Cassidy has a chance to prove he can too. The best case scenario for AEW would be if Moxley makes his opponent a bigger star, so that people remember this week for Orange stepping up to make chicken salad out of Punk's chicken shit.

I could see this match going either way. Moxley has expressed a desire to "give back" by putting over younger guys; that doesn't mean he'll always do the job, obviously, but he's looking for the right time and place to do it. On the other hand, Cassidy's storyline for months is that he's fighting hurt and refuses to take a break, and that clearly won't end until someone breaks him, so he can return stronger than ever. I'd kinda like to see Moxley hold the international title just to add to its prestige, so I'd be cool with him winning here to set up Orange winning a rematch later on. But under the circumstances, you've only got one chance to headline a PPV with this matchup, for this title. So there are plenty of reasons to just let Cassidy win the big one.

MJF & Adam Cole vs. John Silver & Alex Reynolds - Max and Cole won the ROH tag team title at Wembley Stadium last week; Silver and Reynolds, representing the Dark Order, won a battle royale to earn this title shot.

I expect both sides to get a babyface reaction. The fans love MJF and Cole, even though the entire basis of their friendship is that they bonded over being pricks, and we'll never be sure one won't betray the other. I think the Dark Order is supposed to have turned heel, but they're still so lovable and cuddly that I'm not sure anyone really buys it. Their whole deal now is that they resent Adam Page for "abandoning" them to reconcile with the Elite, so now they're ruthless and looking out for themselves. But it's not going to be easy to get over as selfish heels in the ring against MJF of all people, even if he is a babyface.

It's pretty clear this match is just a pit stop for Cole and MJF, on their way to a reckoning with Cole's former friends Roderick Strong, Mike Bennett, and Matt Taven. Unless those three guys interfere somehow, I don't see any chance of Silver and Reynolds winning the belts. Actually, even if there's a bunch of interference, I'd say the champs are heavy favorites to retain.

Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita - Omega and Takeshita have since clashed in various tag team matches, but this is their first singles encounter. As Don Callis has helpfully pointed out, Kenny has not won a singles match since Don betrayed Kenny on May 10.

When Callis arrived in AEW in late 2020, he was symbolic of Omega's heel turn. Once Kenny basically went babyface in 2022, it was only a matter of time before Don turned on him. By November 2022 Callis was scouting Takeshita, raising questions about whether he was looking to replace Kenny. It seemed like Takeshita was too pure of a cinnamon roll to become a ruthless enforcer for Callis, but that's exactly what happened on May 28.

Omega does need to get some payback against Callis and Takeshita, but I don't know that he needs it right now. If he just beats Takeshita clean in the middle of the ring, the storyline's over. That doesn't make any sense when Don has spent months talking about building a new "Don Callis Family," and despite working with half a dozen heels he hasn't actually recruited anyone except Takeshita. We need more guys in this faction, which makes this the perfect opportunity for a new recruit to run in and cost Omega the victory.

Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks - This is a strap match, so the participants will be tied at the wrist to either end of a long leather strap. The goal is be the first person to touch each corner of the ring in succession. I hate strap matches, because the build is "dudes whipping the shit out each other" but then the payoff is "dudes tangled up and reaching for turnbuckles." They always try to lash each other with the strap, but with both ends tied to the wrestlers it's hard to get your body in the proper position for the strappation, dudes.

The setup for this was when Ricky Steamboat refereed CM Punk vs. Starks on August 5, and Starks took Steamboat's belt off and whipped him with it. That was probably going to set up a Punk-Starks rematch on this show, but once that was off the table Starks issued a challenge to Steamboat. Steamboat produced a contract, except it was for Starks to wrestle Danielson, who unexpectedly returned from breaking his arm ten weeks ago. I assume Danielson let Dr. Proper know, and Dr. Unger know, and Dr. Hughes know, that the release forms have been signed, so those guys aren't responsible for the last couple fractures in the forearm, brother.

I assume Danielson will play babyface and get the big comeback win. But I'm rooting for Starks, because he did an amazing promo on September 2 about starting over after the rug was pulled out from under him. Danielson needs to be protected but not nearly as much as Starks needs to be elevated.

Luchasaurus vs. Darby Allin - Luchasaurus is defending the AEW TNT championship, even if his mentor Christian Cage is the one carrying the belt and all but calling himself the titleholder. Cage will be in Lucha's corner, and Allin will be cornered by his young ward, Nick Wayne. Last night Cage told Nick he'd have to throw in the towel for Darby, which may be telegraphing the finish. I suppose it'll be interesting seeing Allin fight someone the size of Luchasaurus, but this feud has been ice-cold for me and so has the Nick Wayne storyline, and combining the two hasn't made either of them better. I get the feeling Luchasaurus retains to drag this out further.

Kris Statlander vs. Ruby Soho - Statlander's AEW TBS title is on the line. Soho is 2-0 against the champion. I vaguely remember that after one of those matches people were outraged because Statlander deserved to win, but honestly that happens so often nowadays that I'm not even sure the match I'm thinking of was these two. Anyway, I don't see much point in a title change right now so I'm sure Statlander will get one of her wins back.

Samoa Joe vs. Shane Taylor - This is for Joe's ROH television title. Taylor was the runner-up to Dalton Castle in a July tournament to earn a title shot, but after Joe defeated Castle they immediately booked another tournament to choose another contender, and this time Taylor won. I have not been terribly impressed with the storytelling in Ring of Honor.

This is a huge opportunity for Taylor. He was with ROH for years, and Tony Khan brought him after the buyout, but he's not one of the ROH guys that got an AEW contract or time on AEW television. This may be the biggest crowd Shane has ever worked in front of, and I think he can deliver at this level. I mean, Joe's still going to beat his ass and retain. But I still think Taylor will turn a few heads.

Miro vs. Powerhouse Hobbs - I decided not to attend this show (last time I went to see wrestling I got COVID) but this is the one match that gives me second thoughts. I don't know what the hell these guys are fighting about but I don't care, and I don't think they do either. They're both huge and mean and they're gonna have a MEAN GUY MATCH~! and I am here for it. Well, not as "here" as I could be, I guess. I am on my couch for it. I'm always gonna root for Hobbs, but honestly it doesn't matter who wins as long as both guys pound the stuffings out of each other.

Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler & Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs. Jay White & Juice Robinson & Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn - FTR (Dax & Cash) and the Young Bucks (Matt & Nick) continued their rivalry last week, and the Bucks were salty that they lost. They were trying to have a civil conversation about it on August 30 when Bullet Club Gold interrupted and suggested an eight-man tag match.

Last night's Collision (in the same building as tonight's show) ended with the Bucks saving FTR from Bullet Club Gold, and the Chicago crowd was hostile to CM Punk's top enemies asking for handshakes from CM Punk's top buddies on CM Punk's show, on the night where they announced CM Punk is fired. Thew show went off the air with the Bucks smugly shaking each other's hands, which seems like a ballsy thing to do in Punk territory, when so many weirdos think the Bucks set him up somehow.

Anyway I expect Chicago to be radioactive for the Bucks for years to come, but if they are they'll just love FTR all the more. So the crowd reaction here could be complicated. Kinda thinking White's team should win.

Eddie Kingston & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta - Claudio vs. Eddie and Shibata vs. Yuta were two top matches on Ring of Honor's April pay-per-view, so I guess we're running those back as a tag match. We have to be getting back to Claudio-Eddie for the ROH men's world title at some point, but they don't seem to be in a hurry. The babyfaces should win, and it'd be nice if one of them pinned Claudio to set up a title bout.

Billy Gunn & Max Caster & Anthony Bowens vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh - This is scheduled for the pre-show. Last night Jarrett's group gave celebrity guest star Dennis Rodman a hard time, so the Acclaimed and Billy offered to give them a shot at their trios title, with Rodman in the champs' corner. Billy and the Acclaimed just got new custom pink title belts, so there's no way they're going to lose the championship this soon.

Athena & Diamante & Mercedes Martinez vs. Hikaru Shida & Willow Nightingale & Skye Blue - Another pre-show match. I heard Tony Khan wanted to book Athena vs. Billie Starkz for the ROH women's world title, but Billie's not medically cleared. I don't know why that means Athena can't defend her title against one of the other five women in this match, but whatever. WIllow has has been feuding with Diamante and Martinez of late. Skye is a local girl so she always gets a good Chicago pop. Shida should probably be higher on the card, but maybe she can get an ROH title shot out of this if she wins. Actually, I think Athena's side will win.

Over the Budget Battle Royale - It's a battle royale for the pre-show, and that's all I've got. No participants have been announced, as far as I know. The winner will get to donate $50,000 to the charity of his choice. I assume that's 50k of AEW's money, not the winner's. Literally anything could happen with this, but I suppose a babyface needs to win.