Chris B

Works for me. Get to be part of the singalong, then join the concessions queue during the actual match, and my dislike of Ospreay barely touches my show.

3 minutes ago, Loki said:

Roderick Strong should never talk, ever - if he sticks to being the workhorse in a long multi-man match he's good.  He's good as a tag partner for Kyle O'Reilly.  But that's IT.  

Good is stretching it. He's so forgettable that I can forget that Roderick Strong is in a multi-person match while he's the one in the ring wrestling.

Obviously a shame about Ibushi's performance here - for a whole bunch of reasons, hopefully not reflective of who he is from here on out. If the stories about him having gained and then lost a lot of weight, along with everything else, are true, then it's possible he was just brought back a month or so early. It's mainly a shame because that'll have been a lot of people's first impression of him and that'll be a lasting one. But then, Minoru Suzuki's first appearance was unfortunately crap, and people now seem to get him and be generally happy to see him. So, fingers crossed, he'll be back on form sooner rather than later.

Other than that, I really enjoyed this one. The twink-on-twink violence to open was really good, and moved everyone along to the next stage they needed to get to well. The MJF/Cole stuff has been absolute gold, and I wish this could be longer-term than it is. Easily my favourite version of MJF so far.

And I liked the Blood and Guts match overall, and having seen negative responses might have lowered my expectations. Mox was absolutely, again, the MVP, but Pac wasn't that far behind him. I also loved the storyline beat of Callis pulling Takeshita out when he realises it's all going south - just brilliant stuff, and I liked everything about the ending.

57 minutes ago, andrew "the ref" coyne said:

To answer Red Roosters multiple points... if I didn't have a three year old I could spend age pulling stuff up. 

But according to Wrestlenomics the top merch sellers in 2023 for AEW are as follows:

Overall for 2023:
1. The Acclaimed
2. The Elite
3. AEW generic
4. MJF
5. Danhausen & FTR
6. The Briscoes
7. Kenny Omega
8. Hangman Adam Page
9. Blackpool Combat Club
10. Sting

Wwe are similar in that most positions are male.dominated, but Rhea Ripley and Bianaca Belairs are in the top 10 (credit to wwe for that).

Was going to try and find more but my evening just got busy. Follow Wrestlenomics, they come up with tidbits like this all the time.

With the exception of Danhausen and Sting, who are exceptions for obvious reasons, which women get comparable TV time to any of the above?

If the women were presented as stars, then they may be perceived as stars. If you don't get behind them properly, and treat them as the piss-break match, then that's how they'll be perceived.

8 hours ago, Dr. Alan Grant said:

Seven Samurai - To my eternal shame, this is the only Kurosawa film I’ve seen. But I’ve got Throne Of Blood, Yojimbo, Ran, Sanjuro and The Hidden Fortress on Blu-Ray to work through. Hopefully Toshiro Mifune is in them all as he was incredible in this. 4/5

He's in all of them except Ran. In Yojimbo, he causally inspires Clint Eastwood's entire shtick. Astonishing actor. 

Building up Darby's protege for a couple of weeks, then having Swerve fucking murder him while looking at Darby, is one of the best bits of booking I've seen in a while. Absolutely tremendous stuff and really shows what a big deal they think Swerve is. I think they know exactly what they have in him and they're not rushing it.

But they should rush it - World Champ Swerve, pls. What a great, nasty, piece of work.

Also, loved that last segment. Pac being another great nasty bastard, and then Kenny laughing about the fifth member as he's about to be murdered. Absolutely brilliant stuff.

And yeah, I'm also down for the MJF/Cole stuff - it doesn't feel like previous odd couple partnerships, because it plays so much into their longer-term characters. 

That entire episode flew by.

I don't understand complaining that you've spent a load of money on tickets, and that you don't have the opportunity to spend more money to watch the show on TV later.

34 minutes ago, WyattSheepMask said:

He is fucking terrible though and always has been. He had one good night with Michael Cole at the UK Championship Tournament and hoodwinked everyone into thinking he was good

I think a whole bunch of people confused 'being British' with 'being a good talker'.

20 minutes ago, BrodyGraham said:

It had already been a turgid first 3 weeks and then they add Scorpio Sky to the mix as well. Fucking hell.

I don't dislike Scorpio Sky, but he's got to be in there with more interesting people. Putting in there with Action Andretti has to be punishment duty for him or something.

1 hour ago, Lorne Malvo said:

I feel like this could be the impetus of a CM Punk heel turn. The only blemish on Punk's record since he returned is a tag match where Starks took the fall, and now they're fighting each other in the tournament final. I can see Punk cheating to win it next week.

I'd agree if we didn't have the Samoa Joe beat-down to finish the show - that's pure babyface stuff. Also... while you could get some pretty nuclear heat out of cheating to win for the Owen Hart cup, that feels off, considering how carefully they've worked with Martha Hart on this stuff. 

I mean, Owen was always a cheating heel, so it's not exactly the worst way to pay tribute, but it could come across as AEW being disrespectful to use it like that.

Was a pretty stacked show and ended up watching more of it than I expected. Really didn't like the Punk promo to open - and found encouraging the 'Owen Hart' chants pretty cringy. That said, I liked the outfit nods from Powerhouse and Punk, which both rocked. 

Glad to see Hobbs move away from QT etc. Baffling decision to put him with them at all. He just looks the business so much - I can't remember the last guy who looked so much like an action figure. And Ricky Starks came across as much more of a star this week than the other week's 'I'm in the match to get pinned' role.

Great tag match, and the crowd got *really* into it. Even for all the weird gobbing all over himself, Jay White came out looking like a star.

Punk/Joe was really good, and hopefully Joe has more of a main event role than a one-off. 

On the downside, fuck me, but the commentary made this almost unwatchable. Kevin Kelly doesn't sound like he gives a shit. And Nigel McGuinness sounded awful, particularly when talking about Julia Hart, and talking all about her looks and poise. For the rest of it, he just reminded me of Alan Partridge at times. They desperately need to switch things up there.

I don't feel huge amounts of pull to watch regularly, but individual matches may win me over slowly but surely.

15 hours ago, Just Some Guy said:

I think I gave up around the time of the 1st film.

I seem to remember thinking it was getting a bit convoluted.

I lost my enthusiasm around the time of the first film as well. And I don't think that's a surprise.

Before it came out, the X-Files film felt like it was going to be a pay-off. You've invested multiple seasons into an overall arc (which, let's not forget, wasn't something that many shows did at the time). And it's been built up well enough that we were all prepared to pay for answers. And that felt like the promise - that it would close off the arc and give some answers.

And it didn't. There weren't any answers, and there wasn't a grand plan. It became clear when the film came out that Chris Carter had a great set-up, but not a pay-off.

The clear highlight of the week was Taz muttering '...Ball sack?'.

MJF's 'Adam! Adam! Adam... Adam! Hey, Adam! Adam!' bit had me laughing a lot, especially with how much it reminded me of Black Books.

I tend to dislike MJF as an edgelord. However, the idea that, underneath it all, he's absolutely desperate to be loved... that works.

Swerve for champ btw. Phenomenal performer.

9 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

Had my first 7-star match today, PAC beating Orange Cassidy in a ladder match in 17:32. Still can’t kick out of pins properly.

Had my first as well - Omega and Allin vs the Young Bucks in a tag match in career mode. 

Now I've got the hang of playing a bit more (on Steam Deck), I'm enjoying the game quite a lot. It has that enjoyable thing wrestling games have where you do your best to have good matches and build to exciting finishes. It's definitely bare bones and unfinished, but it's a fun game at its core.

Best tip I can give is that you have to be aim at the middle of the ropes for springboard stuff. 

I would definitely watch Back Door Vegan Shenanigans (volumes 1-7).

2 hours ago, Merzbow said:

Is that the Grant Morrison one? I'm sure I remember it getting mixed reviews but I have a friend who absolutely adores Superman and she has it as her top comic, I'll get around to reading it soon myself

There's always mixed reviews with Morrison, especially when it comes out month-by-month (or every-few-months-by-every-few-months as was more the case). Even compared to most of his stuff, it takes time to become clear what the overall shape of All Star Superman is. It was a less satisfying read in that format than it is collected, where you're not waiting and trying to figure it out for months at a time. It was actually much more simple than appeared at times, and the overall shape of the thing ended up being one people went back to a lot.

So yeah, it's superb. As is Final Crisis, btw. When Morrison is on form, they're amazing.

43 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

I'm not sure if it's the kind of history that fits but You Must Remember This is amazing, it's a deep dive into the seedier and secret history of Hollywood and there's so much very early stuff covered, Karina Longworth does a hell of a lot of research. I started with a season of Charlie Manson which goes into not just him but all the links to the business at the time, currently she's in the 90's covering eroticism in film and tv.

It's absolutely brilliant. I tend to only listen every now and then, so binge on a bunch of them while walking. The Erotic 80s / Erotic 90s stuff has been fascinating, and the context she puts into things is really well done. One of the things I like about this particular run is that the episodes don't have a particular order to them - I'm jumping between the 80s and 90s ones rather randomly, and enjoying them a lot.

I'm pretty sure I was the first person to mention it in here, and that was entirely speculation on my part.

5 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Omega vs Ospreay III at Wembley is going to blow the roof off!

Good thing it's retractable then.

2 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

Not a fan of that, and I can't quite put my finger on why.

I don't have a clue.

Extremely fun show - I ended up sitting with a group who had never been to a wrestling show before and they loved it. 

Anyone else going to this? I'm solo-ing it, but looking forward to it. Lost Souls is great and it looks like @BomberPat has done an amazing job putting it all together.

Going back to that great runs conversation, let's not forget John Carpenter.

Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, The Thing, Christine, Starman, Big Trouble in Little China and They Live.

Obviously, mileage varies on some of those (Christine is solid rather than great and I've never seen Starman, but know some people love it), but that's a hell of a run either way.

1 minute ago, poetofthedeed said:

Supermacs is a step above McDonald's/Burger King, but I don't know if it could crack the UK market, especially since the owner is one of the biggest cunts on earth.

Oh, that's disappointing to hear - I had no idea.

On 6/15/2023 at 7:52 PM, SuperBacon said:

Surprised you got sick from a fast food place but another reason to hate BK.

Never heard of Supermacs but this is good #eatclean.

They also do a bucket of sausages because why not?

Supermacs rocks. Those garlic and cheese fries are amazing, but the fries are chunky and closer to chips, and perfect for mopping up vinegar.

On 6/16/2023 at 3:50 PM, Carbomb said:

I remember @Chris B telling me about how they were never able to get outside Ireland because of some copyright/trademark thing with McDonalds, but that the case has now been resolved, and it looks like they could very well be coming to the UK at some point.

Basically, McDonald's blocked it on the basis that 'Supermacs' was too close to 'Big Macs'. It was successfully argued recently and McDonald's lost (not least because nobody thinks that McDonald's calls their restaurants 'Big Macs').