The Thread Killer

I thought it was really good, and I am not saying it was a bad match by any means…but nothing about that match stuck out to me that would distinguish it from the matches Ospreay had with Omega, for example. To be honest, I preferred the match Ospreay had with Takeshita at Revolution. But the minute this one was over, people were saying it was the “Greatest Match in North American History” etc. etc. etc. I just took that as yet another example of me being out of touch with what the kids seem to enjoy nowadays. Mind you, I also find that people were deciding the match was going to be an all-time classic before the bell even rang, and as much as I respect him, I can’t help but feel that Danielson gets praised in some circles no matter what he does. I personally find him to be one of the more egregious examples of a modern wrestler dragging a match out about 10 minutes longer than it needs to be, with countless false finishes that dilute the effectiveness of finishing maneuvers, but that’s just my opinion, of course. I absolutely loved the “Four Pillars” of AJPW in the 90’s but in retrospect, a lot of the stuff they did at the time which seemed awesome to me then, can now be directly traced to some of the worst excesses of the modern product today. Namely, matches going on way too long, brutally dangerous manoeuvres that are totally unnecessary, and too many false finishes. Much in the same way that lesser talented people took what Onita did, bastardized it, and turned it into crap, a lot of the 2000’s indie kids took the worst excesses of vintage AJPW and we are seeing those seeds bear fruit in front of our eyes as we speak.

Are the Dio version of Sabbath in as well? Because if they aren’t, then fuck the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. EDIT: I just checked, and not only did Dio not get in with Sabbath, he is not in as a solo act. Well, at least Cher just got in. What a bunch of crap.

In his book, Dynamite Kid mentioned that a promoter wanted him to wear a mask, and he didn’t want to do it because wearing one made him feel physically ill.

Putting a team like FTR in a Ladder Match is a total waste of their abilities. They’re the most technically sound team since…I don’t know…maybe ever? (As witnessed by those matches they had with Bullet Club Gold last summer, just to name a couple off the top of my head.) I get that this was the fourth time these teams met, so they were trying to add a different dimension to the rivalry, but to me FTR are better than doing garbage matches that everybody can (and has) done. Mind you, I am so over Ladder Matches and all that crap, I could live a long happy life as a Pro Wrestling fan if I never saw another modern garbage match again. If I have to, I can deal with one garbage match per show…but this PPV already had the Jericho/Hook match. A Ladder Match on the same show was overkill, but that’s AEW and The Young Bucks for you. They still haven’t figured out that just because you can do something, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

I actually thought the O’Reilly/Strong match was great…although the stuff with Wardlow was totally pointless.

I actually had some sympathy for Rousey at first, but the last couple of interviews I have seen/read with her have been getting perilously close to tinfoil hat territory. She seems borderline obsessed with talking about Bruce Prichard for some reason. She also keeps conflating her unhappiness with the sexist culture in WWE with unhappiness about the way she was booked. Maybe I am just predisposed to not liking her because she is a terrible human being who is an Alex Jones, Sandy Hook denying type. I couldn’t stand her long before she even got to WWE. I don’t think she helps Vince’s actual victims much, to be honest.

Matt Hardy showing back up in WWE, after spending the past couple of years verbally fellating the Young Bucks every chance he got, would be hysterical. It’s pretty obvious that Tony Khan sees little to no value in him, so they lowballed him on his contract offer. So now he has to go groveling back to WWE trying to get a job. Sad.

Having seen that documentary they just did about Wyatt (which was a heartbreaker, by the way) I can totally understand why they might try and form a new stable with Uncle Howdy, Alexa Bliss, Rowan and even Stroman. It was obvious from that documentary that they had big plans to advance this whole thing into a major angle that was only scrapped due to the death of Bray Wyatt. And Bo Dallas was clearly already planned to be a big part of it. I don’t view this as them trying to make something out of nothing, just to exploit Wyatt. I look at it more as them trying to salvage what was ruined with his untimely death. I would hope that (as odd as it sounds) they intend to make this group babyfaces because I can’t see the fans not cheering it, out of sentimentality if not anything else. That documentary also reminded me how crazy over Wyatt was at the time of his death. I am also not sure it’s a good idea either, but I’m willing to see where it goes before automatically deciding that I don’t like it.

The building normally seats 13,500. The last time AEW ran the building, they drew 4,168. This time they had it set up for 3,312 (they had the “hard camera” side blocked off with no fans at all) but they still only drew 2,971. Tonight, they were basically trying to just sell floor seats, and the lower level on one side of the building, and they still couldn’t do it.

They have less than 3,000 fans in a building that seats 13,500. Even if the fans were hot (which they really don’t seem to be) it would probably still sound dead in there. And this show really isn’t giving them anything to cheer about, either.

This crowd SUCKS, by the way. This is like late era Thunder

THAT was it?!

That was presented to him by Muhammad Ali’s Widow at the HOF. It is the official title of “The People’s Champ” which is a moniker that The Rock “took” from Ali in 1998 (with permission.)

That was a lot of fun.

For what it’s worth, apparently the ring is heated. It is supposedly a special ring they purchased that is heated specifically for outdoor events like this. That doesn’t mean the fans and announcers aren’t freezing, of course.