HarmonicGenerator

Edit: Now it's time for a Q&A

I've attended a couple, in Glasgow and in Edinburgh, and they were fun to be at - the guests being Michael Palin and Jack Lowden respectively helped - but a lot of the fun feeling wasn't there when I listened back. I always slightly dread when I'm catching up on other podcasts and I know a live one is coming up. Plumbing The Death Star had the right idea at the Edinburgh Fringe a few years ago, they did a show in the format of their podcast but didn't record it so it was live audience only.

Dexter Lumis! Had completely forgotten he was a thing. Did they not release him?

Sounds like the return of the banneret knighthood, when you could earn it through prowess on the battlefield (almost) regardless of rank. The commander of the battle was the one who could knight you, but Henry VIII put a stop to it after the Battle of Flodden in 1513 because he didn’t like the idea of anyone but the monarch being able to grant knighthoods. It’s his fault! Anyway 1) Global ban on trophy and big game hunting. Hunters to become the hunted, see how they like it.

The ending of the match is on AEW’s YouTube, I watched it on there.

Working from home today and every two hours I’ve been interrupted by a gigantic wasp buzzing around the living room. 11.15, 1.15 and 3.15. I haven’t got any of the windows open so I don’t know how the fuckers are getting in. I don’t even know if it’s the same bastard each time finding his way back. But I hate it.

Nigel Havers, coming out of Sainsburys in Edinburgh. Orange carrier bag in hand.

Thanks Rooster - great write ups from everyone and I can’t argue with that number 1!

What was the last house show card before the Covid shutdowns? And was this the longest gap between house shows they ever had? (I know it must be, but it’s interesting all the same)

Davro’s performing at the Edinburgh Fringe this year.

The Parking Lot Brawl on this week’s episode was really good. Worth a watch.

It’s about time. 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷 Either this or they finally give me Les Miz.

I’ve gone for “these aren’t the best matches and they’re not my favourite matches but they’re five matches with a special place in my heart” as my metric. Undertaker vs. Mankind, Hell In A Cell I didn’t watch it at the time. For years, all I had seen of it was the clip of the first fall from “don’t try this at home”. But as a newly re-hooked fan in late 2000, I read the section of Have A Nice Day Foley wrote about this match again, and again, and again. I couldn’t believe it had really happened, that wrestling could be this spectacular. TLCII, Mania X7 Then I saw this - and it was the ultimate stunt show spectacular. Having been desperate for Summerslam 2000 to be my first ‘PPV’ (I think it was on Sky Sports, I think you could see the first hour on one of the free channels because I’m sure I saw at least up to X-Pac vs Road Dogg) I didn’t convince my parents in time. So this was my first TLC match. I didn’t convince them for Mania either and I’d borrowed the tape off my friend David. I must have rewound Bubba and Matt’s big table bump dozens of times. Jonny Storm vs Teddy Hart, TNA The first match I saw on the first show I watched on the test broadcasts for what became The Wrestling Channel. My first steps into a larger world. Twenty years on, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t stand up - it was only about three minutes and it’s Teddy Hart, for Bret’s sake - but it was like nothing I’d seen before. D’Lo Brown vs Sheamus vs Assassin, Dan Fitch’s first show I’d been to WWE live before this show in October 2005, but I hadn’t experienced just how fun wrestling could be live until this match, where the crowd just LOVED D’Lo. Constant “D’Lo is a legend” chants for him, and I don’t think it was an ironic hijacking thing, I think it was genuinely an audience who knew they’d better recognise. It’s the second most memorable part of that show behind a guy from Gateshead who was booked on the opening cruiserweight six way that was meant to showcase Spud, but who blew everyone’s minds. From this show he went on to FWA, then within a couple of years wrestled El Generico in PWG, then went over to Dragon Gate, then WWE, and now he’s wrestling Okada on PPV. PAC has been my favourite since this show. Stadium Stampede, All In London I couldn’t believe my wife was willing to come to a wrestling show with me. I had no expectations she would stick around longer than the first match. But her reactions to the cooking skewers, to OC getting beaten up, to SUUUUEEEE arriving… she stayed for the entire show. This match didn’t make her a fan but I think it’s the match that made her understand the appeal of this stupid wrestling thing.

I’m off today so got to spend my morning watching. I really liked PAC vs. Okada and could have happily watched them do another 20 minutes. Happy Willow won, would have been fine with them having a not-so-short match. Mercedes is losing me each time she appears, hopefully by the time she has a match she’ll show why she’s a good signing. I’m very ready for The Sabbatical Of Jericho. Danielson vs. Ospreay was incredible. Impossible to follow that. I didn’t love the ending and that did take some of the shine off, but right up to the shaky neck injury it had all the stars from me. What a match. Swerve is champ! Found it hard to focus on the match after Danielson-Ospreay but this is a good move and excited to see where they go next.

I treat Khali as a world champion very differently, because the title he won had only been around for about five years when he won it, and didn’t really mean a lot anyway. Jinder won the title, the one that’s supposed to go back to 1963 as the pinnacle of the company. That’s worse.