#Konnan sort of

[eclissy]

Buried Under the Aching Tree 1/2

Back when I was a baby and still writing a lot of DF stuff and my Hero OC stand in, I had a whole side story just about Ty’s sword, it’s name, what the details on it meant and so forth. But then I got tired, busy, and the whole thing felt over the top but, it’s October now. I redid it to de-stress a bit (and fill in the rest of the plot outline since I didn’t finish it seven years ago either. God of course it took me seven years to almost finish something).

Tbh, I reworked it so much that it’s more about Ash and Artix now.

Summary: Ash learns about his friend’’s sword, a relic passed through a million hands but never through a family. That and what it’s like to be possessed by a single feeling.

Accustomed to the Hero’s little giveaways, Ash grabbed the hilt of Ty’s sword before she could plunge it into the farmer’s chest.

“He’s not a thief anymore!” Ash yelled, having to dig his heels into the ground to keep Ty’s sword from getting stuck between the farmer’s ribs. Ty let go to make sure Ash wouldn’t hurt himself and the boy stumbled back, sword in hand.  

The farmer in question was shivering so hard, his skin was likely to peel itself off and all Ty was doing was smiling. No smile lines around her eyes; just this mechanical lifting of the corner of her mouth.

Turning to Ash, that grin shrank into a sheepish bit lip and raised shoulders.

“Did it look like I was going to hurt him?” Ty asked, an eye half closed in a wince as though Ash’s yelp had physically hit her. “Oopsie, I was only trying to scare him. I promise!”

Typically, if you were intending on hurting someone, scaring them came with the package.

“Ty…” Ash stood back, fixing a scolding glare he didn’t really know how to make. He tried to think about his mom giving him a hard telling to when he drank milk straight out of the bucket.

Shrugging and turning her hands over, Ty’s expression loosened into a scowl and her eyes rolled, coming to rest on the farmer.

“Don’t you remember this jackhole?” Ty kept the language clean for Ash. “He broke into your camp, took your gold, and your clothes so you couldn’t leave your tent for days!”

“I mean yeah, you didn’t need to remind me but yeah…” Ash muttered, scratching the back of his head.

Nervously, the farmer stepped towards the young man. He was half hiding behind his pitchfork which made his heavily scarred brutish face much less menacing than the first time he had met Ash.

“Funds are low this season so I’m awful sorry, I can’t give the gold back to you right now. But, you know where the farm is. After Spring comes back round, I’ll return what I stole,” He removed his hat. “Again, I’m awful sorry I did that to you and I really am trying to turn over a new leaf.”

“Honestly, I’m not angry at all. I’m glad things went right for you.” Ash said, genuinely thrilled that the thief had changed for the better. “Don’t worry about the gold.”

“Ash! Don’t let this guy off free!” Ty protested, more convinced that Warlic could drink a vat of melted wax and live than the farmer being completely reformed. “What he did was terrible! He needs to pay! When I found you, the crows were circling and it smelled like pee.“

“I know, I know!” Ash quickly cut her off. “But everything’s ok now. Look at that smile.”

The farmer smiled with all twelve of his green teeth.

“That’s a good guy!” It was okay, Ash hated going to the dentist too.

Brow creasing deeply, mirroring her scrunched grimace, Ty struggled to not break her arms crossing them so hard.

“If you say so.” Ty finally conceded, tilting her head to dodge the arrow shot at her.

For a stunned moment of silence, Ash gaped at Ty and the arrow stuck in the ground. He barely noticed the group of bandits doing the same thing.

Then, Ty began tapping her chin, examining the scruffy bandits that were slowly working their bravery back up. Brandishing some very pretty and very stolen axes and swords, the bandits were coming Ash and Ty’s way.

“Are these guys part of your old posse? Did they maybe come out here to rough you up for leaving?” Ty didn’t look at the man and see him nod. “Oh my god, you guys couldn’t have come at a better time,” She laughed, beginning to walk towards them unarmed. “When I’m done ripping your intestines out of your assholes and tying them together, they’re going straight into your mouths!”

Those bandits were shouting, half in a rage and half in true horror.

Ash didn’t approve of that wording but he was going to try helping first. Gripping Ty’s sword, Ash ran after the bandit that chickened out and was trying to get away.

“Stop!” Ash yelled, catching up to the fleeing bandit. He swung Ty’s sword and rolled on to the ground when it stayed stuck by his side. The blade had suddenly gotten incredibly heavy, squeezing Ash’s fingers white against the dirt. “Ow!”

Hearing Ash fumble, the bandit had returned, tapping his dagger on his palm.

“Huh,” He glanced towards where Ty was rearranging his fellow bandits’ faces some distance away between the trees. “We made it all the way into the woods. You think she can hear you scream over here?”

The point of the dagger flew towards Ash’s eye and gasping, Ash jumped up, lifting the sword with all of his might. It went over his head and he almost tumbled backwards from its weight but managed to keep his footing. The bandit didn’t hesitate making another stab at Ash’s belly.

Panicking, Ash blindly swung Ty’s sword and it smashed into the bandit’s rusty dagger, shattering into pieces.

“You little – AHG!” The bandit screamed, keeling over clutching his bleeding shin. Behind him, the farmer kept his pitch fork pointed at his once fellow thief.

Ash was busy staring at what was left of Ty’s beautiful sword scattered across the patchy ground to thank the farmer. He wanted to swallow the lump in his throat but it was too dry and any tiny movement made his stinging eyes hurt.

“Aw,” The bandit looked at him sympathetically. “It ain’t your fault.” Ash couldn’t hear him over the sound of footsteps coming up beside him.

“Huh,” Ty cast a wary gaze to the farmer though much softer than before. “I’m sad they passed out so quick. You doing okay here?”

“T-Ty…” His grip on the sword’s hilt shaking, Ash lifted his head to look at Ty who had noticed the shiny broken pieces of the sword her father had made for her. Her jaw hung open, hands held up in front of her chest. “I’m so--! I’m so so--!”

“Woah, Ash!” Ty clasped Ash’s shoulders, eyes all starry. “Did you break my sword? That’s so cool!”

The tears began to flow and Ty opened her mouth, shocked.

“Oh, no no no! You’re really cute when you cry!” Ty exclaimed, giving him a big hug. Ash’s tears were shooting out like bullets and Ty continued to pat his back. “Hey, you’re cuter when you’re happy so don’t worry! I’m not mad at all and this totally isn’t your fault.”

“I’ll bay de blacksmit.” Ash blubbered over Ty’s comforting, hugging her back.

“There’s already an appointment set up, I’ll just give Konnan a larger tip.”

Awkwardly, the farmer also began to pat Ash’s back. It earned him a thousand yard stare from Ty.

“Haha...I’ll go back to growing carrots.”

“Carrots? Ew,” Ty bit her tongue to keep herself from sticking it out. “No wonder you don’t have any gold.”

“Ty!” Ash exclaimed, starting to become and laugh a little at the situation.

Under Konnan’s hammer, the metal seemed to move on its own. The intricate embellishments of ivy and holly leaves that had been broken were weaving back together on the broad side of the blade. Ash stared in wonder, attributing it to magic.

Before Ash knew it, the sword was as good as new on the Smithy’s front counter.

“Don’t worry about the extra big tip. I don’t know, buy me some of Serenity’s scones tomorrow,” Konnan took off his gloves and attempted to wipe the soot off of his cheek, leaving a big streak. “I like working on your sword anyways. It makes me feel like I’m actually a master blacksmith.”

“You’re getting there fast,” Ty assured him, waiting for Ash to take his time looking at her sword before she sheathed it. “See Ash? Didn’t take any time at all.”

“That’s all thanks to the magic,” Konnan confirmed Ash’s theory. “I’m no mage but no sword can get fixed that fast. You need to tell me and Yulgar how this sword was forged. If all swords were like it…no wait, that’d put us out of a job.”

“Haha, I couldn’t let out the secret even if I tried. It’s an old antique my dad had remade,” Ty let her hand rest on the sword’s hilt. “We know a few of the stories it’s got under its belt but where it came from and who made it? Not sure and also not sure if that’s why it’s got the magic.”

“Oh well. I still would have liked to know. I’ve never seen this style of sword before,” Konnan rubbed his chin, smearing it with soot too. “And for such a well-made weapon, it has such a cutesy name. Fuukoo… Fuukoo shoes, or something,” He tapped the counter didn’t bring up the correct name. “I’ve got some other work to do so when that’s over, tell me a few of the stories.”

“Me too!” Ash jumped in, eager to hear what kind of heroic deeds pervious heroes had achieved with the enchanted sword. The young hero had only read about great swords with long histories in books. When he did see them, it was from afar with him jumping up and down in the hopes of catching a glimpse of it and its honored master pass through his village.

“No.” Ty said, flat out.

Konnan and Ash froze, though Konnan got back to moving a lot faster, evacuating the scene to busy himself by the tools in the back.

“Nah, that was a gut reaction,” Ty snaked her arm around Ash’s shoulder and lead him out of the shop. “I’ll tell you one while we walk back to my place.”

And she didn’t talk at all while they were in Falconreach. Ash tried to stammer a few things, a little flustered being hugged by the hero like that. Not to mention he had a kind of dumb grin; one that he couldn’t help make even when a few passerby definitely noticed the big ol tomato Ty was escorting out of time.

When they were on the well trekked path to the crossroads, Ty began to tell a tale.

“Long long ago, this sword fell into the hands of fledgling adventurer, who went from swinging sticks with his sister to leading a revolution in an empire wracked with civil war.” Ty started the story in a faux old lady voice to Ash’s amusement.

“The Emperor had already quashed the Empress and the Crown Prince’s rebellion. He had seemingly forgiven his wife and son for all transgressions but then, the Crown Prince died of illness. The Empress passed away of the same. Though he was grieving, the youngest son went to war before he began to suspect that his father had the Prince’s beloved brother and mother poisoned. He was, however, no war hero.”

“That adventurer was!” Ash cut in.

“And that adventurer started off strong, leading a small force of village folk against the Emperor’s men when they came to forcefully recruit them. His many string of victories brought him the Prince’s notice and he was honored with a sword from the royal treasury, a prize from a previous victory long passed. The Prince had stolen and put the weapon in better suited hands.”

Ash could picture it, the young man putting on armor that was shinier than any kind of gold or silver. He was kneeling in front of the crowned Prince on a wide grassy battlefield, knighted by the sword he would receive.

“On horseback, he drew his sword and pointed it at the sky as he charges into his first battle. An arrow strikes his horse’s leg and he skids over the dirt hard.”

The dream shattered and Ash was back on the path with Ty. She noticed his sinking glee but kept the same easy tone as she continued, holding her hands behind her back.

“That fall knocked the adventurer out and he was asleep as waves of his comrades died without his leadership. When he woke up in a panic, immediately rallying the army together, they kept dying because of his mistakes. As it seemed, the appointed champion knew his home woods best. These kinds of battles weren’t anything he’d ever prepared for before.”

Ash could picture that too. He thought of the same panic he had when Falconreach was on fire and his shouts were drowned out by the violence. Only, that hero must have had that fear magnified to a degree Ash couldn’t imagine anyone being able to think in.

“Luckily, the champion’s sister had come despite him asking her to stay behind where it was safe. She had fought beside him when the fight was on their turf and had snuck into the war camp to join him. Taking up a spear, she tied a banner to it and let the colours fly as she fought, grabbing her comrades’ attention and leading the battle to victory.”

Heart swelling, Ash was tossed back from the edge of a tragic end to the triumphant turn in the story.

“Saving the army and her brother was a story that gave the Crown Prince’s side morale. It swung the undecided to his side and the Prince decreed the two of them to be his champions. Together, they lead the armies until the army could only be led by one. That adventurer had no talent leading an army and one day, he disappeared.”

“What? Did he go back home?”

“In a sense, he did. All of a sudden, the Prince’s army was suffering losses and they had to retreat to the remaining champion’s home. They met her brother there in the flames he started. Jealous of his sister, the former champion had gone to the Emperor with all the information he needed to destroy the rebellion. He said as much when they reunited, having already killed his own parents to hurt his sister.”

As vivid as the bright sun that shone over Ash right now, the image in his head of the carnage was alight with fire.

The once bright and hopeful young boy was standing over his coughing sister. The heads of their friends and family were propped on stakes all around the village as it was demolished by fire and battle. In his gauntlets was the sword, more red than silver under the full moon.

‘You stole everything from me! I was the hero and you took it all away!’ Ash heard the boy’s voice when Ty quoted him.

“That was when his sword became heavy. Its weight pulled him down and it disappeared from under him, coming back when his sister plunged it into the back of his neck.”

She could have incapacitated him when the sword decided that she would be its new master. She could have taken him to face justice. In fact, she could have killed him so no one else would have been hurt.

Instead, she murdered him in cold blood, hooking the point under his skin, scraping it into his skull just for the sake of making him suffer. The sound of her brother’s messy death blocked out the chaos, veiling her in the only kind of joy she would ever feel again.

“After that, the rest of the battles were nothing special. What was special was how the remaining champion kept the head of her brother chained to her belt. With the sword, she mowed the Emperor’s army down with the vindictive forces who had too been enraged by the destruction of their previous lives. They were only the Crown Prince’s army in name. Once they made it to the Capital—“

The champion, alone with the Crown Prince, stormed the room where the man who ruined her life sat atop a great throne. To her horror, the Emperor stood with her sword held at his side. She found that her hands were empty and the Emperor spoke to her.

‘Do you know my story? The story of a boy with not a drop of blue blood? I stowed away on the pirate ship that destroyed the small fishing village where my family lived. Under the bloodied gold and silver was the sword I used to avenge my family. It slew hundreds of pirates, thousands of the worthless soldiers, and all of the idle nobles until the remaining bowed to me. But I wasn’t done. This sword stayed in my hands until all I knew was war. Country after country fell for no reason other than for the phantom slight I imagined they had committed against me. Even when I found a new family, they came to hate me and were taken by an enemy I couldn’t kill.”

The remaining Emperor’s Son had found out long before that his father had nothing to do with his mother and brother’s deaths. His war had been waged not for revenge but to save a country from a war mongering tyrant he loved dearly.

‘I could not raise my sword against my wife and son. I only waged war so a truly evil Emperor would not threaten the next Emperor’s reign with their shared blood. This sword could no longer be mine.’

The cursed sword reappeared in the champion’s grip, refusing to leave her hands when she tried to drop the horrid thing.

‘Promise me that when I die, you will do all that is within your power to sink the sword into the sea.’

Ash’s intense daydream ended as the silver blade rushed towards the Emperor and disappeared into his throat.

Blinded by the daylight, Ash shielded his eyes, distraught by how he had been absorbed into Ty’s story. The young hero, reminded of her presence and of their walk, staggered away from her and her cottage. In the midst of the daydream, he hadn’t noticed that they had already arrived.

“They couldn’t pry the sword out of the champion’s hands and she didn’t hesitate chopping them off. The new Emperor had it sunk in a sea that was so far away, it didn’t have a name yet,” Ty was finishing the story. “Probably would done it, promise or not. He was an honest and nice person. I’d say he would have thrown the sword away out of guilt.”

“He should have broken it!” Ash said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. How had he literally seen the scene in his head?

“Magic, remember? One of the reasons why the first champion started to get really good at fighting after he deserted was because of the sword,” Ty was treating the matter so nonchalantly that it was making Ash angry. “I brought it to the Smithy to fix it faster but if I had left it alone, the sword would have pieced itself back together on its own.”

And come back to Ty on its own.

“I could tell you some more stories,” Ty unsheathed the blade, holding it level. “There’s a bunch I know from before it met the first Champion and after it crawled out of the sea. This one was just one of my favorites.”

Ash shook his head, keeping his distance.

“Why would you have it? Why won’t you throw it away? That sword makes you obsessed with revenge!”

The moment that Ty took to think about her answer that was scarily short.

“I like it.” She put it simply.

Despite her behavior before; every single fight that Ash remembered how Ty had taken too far, he still couldn’t believe his ears.

“What?”

“What if after each war we have in Falconreach, Amityvale, the Sandsea, anywhere people we care about get hurt, the event ended and I was too tired to stand?” Ty asked. “What if the villains get away with it and hurt more of the people we care about? What if I let everyone in Falconreach stay hurt? What if I can’t bring them the justice they deserve? What if, what if, what if, right?” Ty tilted the blade and Ash could have sworn, the ivy and holly leaf markings swayed.

“This sword doesn’t make you obsessed with revenge. The people it chooses are already in love with revenge and it won’t let them forget it,” Ty gazed at the sword, as if at peace thanks to the idea it kept locked in her mind. “I have to make them pay.”

“That’s it,” Ash said, disgust clearing dripping from his voice. “Does saving people matter at that point? You’re in love with revenge because you want to make people suffer. Whether they did something bad or not doesn’t matter. You fight to protect the weak, to be a hero. Not to hurt people. You didn’t have to make people suffer! You do it because you like it.”

Ty lowered the sword, thinking of dropping it. Only thinking.

“You’re right, Ash. And I’m sorry,” Ty turned to him, a little less color in her cheeks. She smiled despite that. “I was just glad you can’t use the sword. And you deserve to know the reason why,” She turned to face her friend. “You’re a real hero, Ash.”

A beat passed, one where he tried to stop being mad. It was just that he was so disappointed and the heavy, foul mood grew over him like mold.

“I…Ty, I need to go.” He didn’t intend to say goodbye.

“I know.” Ty nodded, watching him walk back towards Falconreach.

Taking a detour was seriously unsafe when the sun was setting so low but Ash needed it. He didn’t think any monster would approach, hearing how heavy his stomping was.

In all honesty, he had no idea how to deal with being this kind of angry.

Ash tried comparing it with some other mishaps in the past, like when he dropped his sword on a noble’s foot and it cut the poor man. That was Ash’s own fault and he was angry at himself though.      

Perhaps it was an over exaggeration but he tried likening this to the anger that came from Falconreach being attacked yet again. Destroyed yet again. But, they were all villains. Not any of his friends.

None of Ash’s friends would make him feel this way.

“Argh,” Ash tugged at his hair, not noticing how the orange sky had gone pitch black. Only a sliver of the moon was out now. He kept walking, going nowhere near Falconreach and into parts of Surewood he didn’t recognize.

In fact, all these trees had no leaves. Kind of like in Doomwood actually.

“Since when did the grass get gray?” Ash did a bit of a hop, startled at the mist beginning to form over the forest floor as well. “I didn’t walk that far, did I?” The panic started up and Ash frantically scanned his surroundings for anything familiar or for anything out to attack him.

If this was Doomwood and not some random patch of Surewood that caught the flu, Ash figured he could take down half a zombie if he tried very hard.

In the corner of his eye, a familiar glint caught his attention and his stomach plummeted.

Blade stuck into the ground, covered in a bed of foliage was the silver sword.

Ash rushed to it, terrified at how it was out in the open. Anyone could get their hands on it and do their worst. Anyone was likely to be a necromancer, a vampire, oh gods was Drakath out here?

What about Ty?

“I can throw it away.” Ash thought out loud. An ocean couldn’t keep it trapped but it had to have taken time to escape. Ash could toss the thing into a bottomless pit, a gully, or feed it to something nasty. Then, he could go to Warlic or Artix and find a way to actually destroy the cursed sword.  

Shoulders squared in resolution, Ash trudged through the leaves. He went right up to the sword, took its gold hilt into his hand, and wrenched it from its resting place.

Blood gushed from the leaves, pulled up by the sword and splattered his shins.

Ash’s heart came to a hard stop before pounding against his ribs in sheer terror. Confused and horrified, Ash tore away at the ivy leaves, searching for anyone that could be hurt under there.

The bed was endless and the more he yanked away, the deeper it got and thorns began biting into his skin. Before he knew it, Ash had sunk into this pit, his head disappearing under the leaves.

On instinct, Ash slashed the sword through the greenery and it was as light as air. Blood pooled at his feet, draining from the vines he slashed, making the thorns glisten.

“My children were flayed,” An ivy vine wrapped around his ankle. “Who would avenge them if not I?”

“My brother accused my wife of witchcraft. She burned as I was hung,” Another voice invaded as Ash tried to cut the bindings only for his other foot to get swallowed into the gore, ankle deep. “Why was it that I had to crawl from my grave to right the wrong? Who would have avenged us otherwise?”

This was a dream. A very bad nightmare Ash was convinced he was having. He didn’t remember falling asleep but he must have and the story of that magic sword scared him so much that the thorns tearing through his armor felt real.

“A wretched King conquered my home when we showed kindness. All of my friends and family, their bones piled like trophies in the royal coffers,” A pair of hands accompanied this whisper, grabbing Ash’s hands as he attempted to remove his boot and escape. “They all had to die. All of his people. That was the only right way.”

“No!” Ash’s voice was shrill. “Let me go!” He couldn’t hear himself anymore. The couple of voices had grown to tens, to hundreds, to thousands of laughing mouths and reaching hands. The fingers that wrapped around his neck were made of steel; prosthetic limbs made for a veteran.

“Didn’t you think I had to? I had to! We have to!”

That voice was the same as the one he had imagined when Ty was telling him the story. Except, it wasn’t his imagination. The sword had long felt his mounting disappointment, and caught him in its will long before.

“Avenge their deaths.”

“For hurting me.”

“Humiliated me.”

“My future destroyed.”

Each reason was increasingly becoming frivolous; things that Ash couldn’t understand people taking lives over.

“I was the hero.” Another joined the cacophony and Ash could not escape its echo. “I wanted to be the hero. I worked so hard to be a hero. I’ve been dreaming of being a hero, a real knight for as long as I lived. She stole it from me.”

That sword fit in Ash’s hands all of a sudden. He held the sword as though it was the only thing keeping him alive. The nails digging into his lungs screamed for him to act and Ash jabbed the sword towards the source of that despicable laughter, imagining silver slicing through a neck.

“My Hero let me down.” Ash heard and it came from somewhere that was so close, it could have been inside him.

The sky was orange again, tinged with the sunset. Surewood was as green as ever and the only rotting deathly smell was stuck in the back of Ash’s nose.

Resting across his outstretched hands was his silver sword. What was left of all of the ghostly shouts was a single, wind-chime like query.

“Prithee, great champion, may I ask of you—” Ash closed his eyes and the whisper sank into his heart.

“Is revenge a science? Or is it an art?”

[omegatheunknown]

AEW Double or Nothing 2021

In which the spirit of WCW is alive in confusing and delightful ways and we are left to parse whether overbooking and extracurriculars are offset by having actually very good wrestling happening at the same time.

- Lessons learned from Revolution on the production side? Maybe just cool it on pyro, though the rappelling adventure in the Stadium Stampede showed some of that now-characteristic 'trust us it'll look better on TV' flair. Hot crowd tends to paper over most woes, and the crowd was pretty hot. My one gripe is that the casino theme is hanging around like yesterday's takeout containers. Nothing wrong with clinging to a theme, I just think it's time for season 2. My suggestion? Under the Sea.

*Pre-Card Serena Deeb (C) v Riho for the NWA Women's Championship (***1/2) - Serena Deeb's star has finally risen. She's a remarkably consistent technician and she can get a match out of anyone at this point. She's working at the level of Mercedes Martinez or Madison Eagles at this point, it's amazing that she was overlooked or considered fit only to be a coach for so long. With the NWA belt she has this new swagger, she's basically everything Tessa Blanchard might bring to the table with none of the downsides (Serena has a lot of friends and seems like a lovely person, even!) - Riho's back and here to stay. Her time in Stardom didn't do much for my evaluation of her, which is that there are many better wrestlers that would be better representatives of the joshi style and she's merely pretty good. - The match was very good. Serena showcased a champion's aggression against a sympathetic Riho, they really work well against each other, Deeb's technical prowess against Riho's flexibility led to a very dynamic finish.

*Main Card Hangman Adam Page v Brian Cage (***1/2) - Here the shenanigans start. Brian Cage is on Team Taz, Team Taz has nothing else much to do tonight, so why wouldn't Team Taz flex their muscles, bait us with HOOK, etc? (Because it would be nice to have some variety in the card in terms of a match where one competitor stands across from another competitor?) - Hangman is (checking notes) yeah, still over as fuck, as befits the Anxious Millennial Cowboy. Cage terrifies me, he's a child's drawing of a body builder. He do be very agile for a man of his immense musculature tho. They match up well, Page is biggish for a flyer, Cage loves to play catch. Nothing much to write home about, other than Hangman's beautiful moonsault to the floor and what was overall a very good curtain jerker. - Okay fine, I am curious about Cage's reluctance to lean on the goons, Starks can't come back soon enough.

The Young Bucks v Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston (***) - I will not be referring to Mox & Eddie as (The) Wild Things because it gives me 'he calls it the wacky line' flashbacks for some reason. - The Bucks have to cheat and abuse Rick Knox's attention span constantly to be on even footing with Mox & Eddie, which is a clever sort of thing that gets washed out by the appearance of LG and Karl Anderson, which again, is cool in a vacuum but was the story of the evening. - Pace was weird - repetitive in eliminating Eddie, then Mox fights back, failed hope spot, Bucks team up, Eddie saves x2/3 in a row. - Mox, unlike Cody (in so many ways,) will probably actually be taking some time off with Renee, which is the kind of thing I would prefer not to know in terms of booking, but they really uh, put him down on the canvas here, and it felt pretty finale-esque.

Casino Battle Royale (n/r, but on the balance pro) - Any changes to the theme of the PPV would likely include changing up the nonsense suit format of these largely joyless slogs. - Obviously anticipating a NJPW talent, or... I dunno, actually -- Lio Rush was a surprise. Got in a quick demonstration of his otherworldly quickness, and you know what, there's probably a fun place for him in AEW. He'll need some friends, of course, feel like Team Taz might fit his temperament. I wonder if he was aware of the Mark Henry news... - Christian does not need to win this kind of match to get a title shot, obviously, but that said it was super lovely to use him to give Jungle Boy the shine. Jungle Boy would be a license to print money if he was even as big as Hangman. - Could register some continued griping about how Penta is not getting his due in AEW but he also literally was dressed as the Joker so I'm low on sympathy on this one particular night.

Anthony Ogogo v Cody Rhodes (*) - I did not like this. It's hard for me to read jingoism as a face move to begin with, and Cody's was egregiously tone deaf and kinda silly yet delivered without a trace of irony because Cody doesn't do irony on purpose, ridiculous neck tattoo aside. - Great argument to be made that Ogogo just isn't experienced enough to be winning matches against Cody. But like, what are we doing here? Cody needs to take some time off, maybe. I thought that's what was happening when he had his mini feud with Penta that really just ended in quick decisive Cody win. I though maybe Cody was being turned when QT and The Factory snapped-- sure, they're a group of impotent player 2s, but Cody is an out of touch elitist with a callous and manipulative streak. Alas, also no. America #1. - Cody is approximately 8 times as tough as Billy Gunn based on his weathering of the one punch man. Match ran a bit long given how little there was to go on. Cody gigged? Quelle surprise. - Cody had the best match on the card like, 3 out of the first 4 AEW events or something, and that was all booking and storytelling. I do hope Cody follows Moxley's lead into a little sabbatical.

Miro (C) v Lance Archer for the TNT Championship (**1/2) - Card's hossiest hoss match, a quick burst reminiscent of a car wreck. Absolutely hit on what it should've hit on but a little slow moving considering it went all of 10 minutes. - I will not complain about Jake the Snake, who I love. And also the gimmick spot, with Miro very astutely yeeting what was definitely a snake in a bag (surely.) back down the tunnel.

Dr Britt Baker, DMD v Hikaru Shida (C) for the AEW Women's Championship (***) - Picked up a lot of steam toward the end but seemed a little toothless (heh) until the last five. - Shida 'deserved' some more time as champion in front of crowds but also it's time to let heel Britt reach her peak, I can't even imagine how obnoxious she can be as the champ, it's going to be great.

Sting & Darby Allin v Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky (***1/2) - Such is the power of STING that I feel like I might be underrating this match... I mean it was an okay match about very simply getting some revenge and the sixty year old man did a very subdued Code Red and a slightly less subdued dive. He's also Sting. They missed an opportunity in calling it the 'Scorpio' Death Drop, but the main takeaway here is you see something like this where it's The Icon and you start to understand why WWE trots out their legends to come out of incredibly still kick ass without bending their knees. - The difference, I guess, is that Sting is absolutely being used to build up Darby Allin, whereas it's not like the fed brought back Goldberg and his attendant aura to pump up... anyone but Goldberg?

Kenny Omega (C) v PAC v Orange Cassidy for the AEW World Championship (****) - Off the top I have to say I'm very sad that the rest of the Galaxy's Greatest Friends were seen only very briefly, nice of them to bring OC's backpack. - Also have to point out that PAC's promo featured one of my favourite jokes, that Kenny must be short for Kenneth as a sort of legal/birth name belonging to a professional wrestler. (See also: Samoa Joseph) - And Mr Cassidy certainly did try in this match, ragdoll sells and all. Kenneth and PAC are absurd talents who bring aerial, power and technical maneuvers in equal measure and OC is not doing any of those on the same level, but he picked his spots, showed his genre savvy and hung in there to the point that he wasn't just the fall guy. - The extracurriculars continue in a match that was already a little overboard for silliness due to asymmetry... I think if you're the Invisible Hand it would've made sense to save up all your tricks for this match, but who am I to question the golden goose? - Sure, Kenny and Don ran the classic heel manager interference spot and taking out the ref in desperation spot but having to take out the ref because PAC wouldn't break the hold is fun, as is the stupid/inspired sense in running the 'smash opponent with the belt' spot four times so as none of your heavy gold prizes feel left out. (I love that AAA Mega Championship, they weren't on TV so we get to see it?) - "Fuck You, Don," indeed.

The Inner Circle v The Pinnacle in 'Stadium Stampede II' (***1/2) - This one had to grow on me for two reasons, first that it's usually pretty unforgivable to co-opt the main event spot from the championship match, and second to law of diminishing returns on dumb gimmick matches. - But grow it did. There's a full on meat locker? Commentary will refer to a cardboard cut-out of Shahid Khan as Tony Khan's father (that's canon now,) and Jericho will lovingly pat it? Konnan happened to be the DJ at whatever night club there is a Jaguar Stadium? Spears surrounds himself dramatically with chairs and his hoisted by his own petard? - Ultimately it comes down to letting Sammy shine. His involvement with the Inner Circle has sometimes come at the cost of being able to showcase that prior to AEW he was an ascendant talent in PWG, on his way to Ricochet level feats of acrobatic excess. Still feel like Sammy could've/should've been the one tossed off the cage a few weeks ago, but even better is being the guy getting the pin in the ring.

[sillyluchadoradventures]

Konnan and his grumpy cat face have a hard time, sometimes.

Konnan: *Walking down street, humming a jaunty tune* Doo doo. Do do da deee. De dahhhh doo do doooooo—

Faby Apache: *Bursts out of nowhere, looking concerned* Oh, Carlitos. Chin up! It will all be ok! *Hugs him*

Konnan: I—thank you?

Faby: Remember that we’re all here for you. You’re not alone. 

Konnan: I—what? Wait, what? 

Faby: *Phone starts ringing* Oh, I have to take this. It’s the Overlord. But I believe in you, sweetie! *Runs off*

Konnan: What the fucking fuck is going on

—————--7 hours later——————-

Konnan: *Backstage at arena, waiting for show* *Rapping quietly to himself* An’ I’m sayin’ to m’self sometimes life is mighty fine—

Fénix: *Bursts in, throws himself into Konnan’s arms*

Konnan: WHAT *Fights him off* WHAT ARE YOU DOING

Fénix: But but but Drago said you were SAD and that you needed hugs and might even cry and I need hugs when I cry so so so—

Konnan: *Massages temples* Oh god. Just—go. Go find your brother. Give him your love and tell Drago to stop taking drugs or whatever he is on.

Fénix: Ok, but what should I tell the others?

Konnan: What others?

*Door bursts open and El Elegido walks through, shirtless, pants undone*

El Elegido: Do not fear! For I shall soothe you through the power of provocative dance! *Wiggles out of denims* 

El Elegido: *Dances provocatively in the ancient art of the striptease*

Fénix: *High pitched screaming*

Konnan: *Cracks neck* Welp gonna’ have to kill a man now.

*Mocho Cota Jr sticks his head in* Hey, ten minutes until show— *Sees a mostly naked Elegido* YOU.

Elegido: *Wiggles his bottom*

Mocha Cota: *Yells down hallway* BOYSSSSSSS GET HIM

*Elegido runs out of the room and off down the hallway, Poder del Norte in pursuit. Fénix, after looking at Konnan’s scowl, inches out of the room*

Konnan: *Calls Vampiro* IAN

Vampiro: WHO

Konnan: Don’t pull that shit with me bro I know your ways

Vampiro: Oh shit, sorry. Thought you were my mom. 

Konnan: *Squints angrily at phone* 

Vampiro: Ok so anyways I think we’re friends at the moment, right?

Konnan: Bro we’re always friends we buried the hatchet years ago you have to stop forgetting this.

Vampiro: We buried hatchets?

Konnan: Well actually we sort of set each other on fire but same thing

Vampiro: I mean if you say so? But Electroshock said you were having a bad day—

Konnan: I’M NOT HAVING A BAD DAY

Vampiro: —and I just wanted to make sure my bro was doing ok.

Konnan: FACETIME ME IMMEDIATELY

Vampiro: *Facetimes him*

Konnan: WHAT IS GOING ON IAN

Vampiro: Ah bro I don’t know. Everyone was saying you had a face like a slapped ass and so we all assumed the worst. But this is just your grumpy cat face. There is no crisis here.

Konnan: I don’t think I want to be best friends with you anymore. 

Vampiro: Well tell that to our hatchets

[wrestlingisfake]

Impact Fake Rankings, 7/14/2020

Men’s singles division - babyfaces

Eddie Edwards

Sami Callihan

Rhino

Willie Mack (Impact X division champion)

Crazzy Steve

Suicide

Men’s singles division - heels

Ace Austin

Moose (self-proclaimed “TNA world champion”)

Madman Fulton

Chris Bey

Johnny Swinger

Rohit Raju

The officially sanctioned Impact Wrestling world title has been on ice since the coronavirus pandemic started--first because titleholder Tessa Blanchard chose not to travel, and then because Impact released her and vacated the title.  The belt will be awarded to the winner of Austin vs. Edwards vs. Trey vs. a mystery entrant on July 18.

In the meantime, Moose has unilaterally "reactivated” the TNA world title.  Technically that championship was never defunct so much as it was renamed to the Impact world title.  But Moose’s gimmick now is pretending that it’s a separate lineage, and that he’s defeated all the wrestlers from the TNA era, so he’s the “real” world champion.

I’ve listed Suicide here, although he’s a weird case.  Usually one of the wrestlers on the roster plays Suicide in addition to their own gimmick, and in kayfabe they’re separate people.  When more people were watching and covering Impact, it was an open secret who was under the mask--for example, Caleb Konley played the part until he left the company in 2019.  Now the character is back but Konley seems to be gone, and nobody who would be able to figure it out seems to be paying attention.  So for all I know Suicide and Crazzy Steve are the same guy, but whaddya gonna do?

Men’s tag team division - babyfaces

The Rascalz - Trey & Dez & Wentz

The Deaners - Cody Deaner & Cousin Jake

TJP & Fallah Bahh

Men’s tag team division - heels

The North - Ethan Page & Josh Alexander (Impact tag team champions)

Reno Scum - Adam Thornstowe & Luster the Legend

XXXL - Acey Romero & Larry D

Trey is being pushed hard in a feud with Ace Austin, but for the time being he’s still being billed as part of the Rascalz rather than breaking out for a true singles run.  We’ll see if that changes in the next round of TV tapings.

The North are set to face the new odd couple team of Ken Shamrock and Sami Callihan on 7/18.  If the challengers lose then I expect the team will be a one-and-done; of course if they win they’ll be champions and stuck together for a while.  I have a hard time imagining any of these other teams being serious competition for the North or Shamrock/Callihan.  Then again, it’s been widely reported that Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are on their way here.

Women’s division - babyfaces

Jordynne Grace (Impact women’s champion)

Kylie Rae

Su Yung/Susie

Havok

Neveah

Alisha Edwards

Women’s division - heels

Deonna Purrazzo

Taya Valkyrie

Rosemary

Kiera Hogan

Tasha Steelz

Kimber Lee

As it happens they’ve been doing a couple of two-on-two feuds (Kylie & Susie vs. Valkyrie & Rosemary, Hogan & Steelz vs. Havok & Neveah).  That’s not enough teams to build a tag division around, but I could see Impact deciding that it is.  Back in the day they had a women’s tag championship, and since WWE has one now they’d probably love to remind everyone that they did it first.

No TV matches in 30 days: Jacob Crist, Katie Forbes, Ken Shamrock

No TV matches since March: Madison Rayne, Raj Singh, Rob Van Dam, Shera, Tenille Dashwood

Part-timers: Gama Singh, John E. Bravo, Konnan, Tommy Dreamer

Rayne, Shamrock, and Dreamer all have matches set for 7/19.

Crist is in a weird place right now.  At the last set of tapings he turned on his brother Dave Crist to join Joey Ryan’s “Cancel Culture” faction.  Now Ryan is gone, and he can’t even reset by undoing the turn because Dave is gone too.  Forbes and Rob Van Dam were also in Cancel Culture, but it’s not clear how they can really continue with Crist without being an uncomfortable reminder of Joey Ryan.

I would guess that pandemic-related travel restrictions have sidelined the Desi Hit Squad (Gama, Raj, and Shera), Dashwood, and possibly Konnan.  But there hasn’t been a lot of hard information about that sort of thing from promotions that actually get news coverage, let alone Impact.

Contract status unclear: Hernandez, Crimson, Jax Dane

Unless Impact puts your profile on their roster page or tweets that you’ve been signed to a contract, nobody really knows if you’re a freelancer or locked in.  Hernandez has appeared in arm wrestling vignettes for weeks, but those were probably all taped in one day, and there may be zero plans to follow up with him.

Inactive

Daga (international travel restrictions)

Rich Swann (right ankle - fracture)

The last I heard about Daga goes like this: He and Tessa Blanchard are engaged and residing in Mexico.  Blanchard didn’t want to come to the US to drop the title because, as a US citizen, she wasn’t sure she’d be allowed to re-enter Mexico.  This hasn’t caused any heat between Impact and Daga, apparently, but the travel ban stuff probably affects him in a similar manner.

Swann’s ankle injury was nearly six months ago.  I’m guessing he’s healed up by now, although with the weekly TV taped so far in advance he probably hasn’t had a chance to return to action.  If he’s ready, I’d expect to see him no later than the 7/21 episode of Impact.

[kanasmusings]

[Kanji/Romaji/English Lyrics] Hoshitani Yuuta - “STELLAR TRAIL”

Y’all knew this was bound to happen!! Ahhhh~! I’m so happy to have started working on this because this is one of the cutest songs that Hoshitani has ever sung and performed for StarMyu~!! (Mayhaps, we’ll see them dancing to this in S3 musical, too????)

Anyways, enjoy~! After this will be the new (and slapping) Warera, Ayanagi Gakuen Kao Kai song~!! 

※ Please don’t re-post the kanji, romaji, and English translations without permission. Instead of reposting, please just like/reblog instead ^^

Full lyrics under the cut, enjoy~! 

「STELLAR TRAIL」(Kanji source: here)

KANJI:

  Come together!

またここで始まってゆくんだ

夢行きストライド弾ませ

ワクワクする遊びの時間

どんな出逢いが待ってるんだろ?

  夢に迷い夢追って年中夢中さ!

受け取ったこの羽根が羅針盤

あの日に似てる風の中

高鳴る鼓動は Newバージョン!

  100点じゃない

スキルさえスキになればいつか

100Caratの 永遠が(ミラクルが)

照らしてく(スポットライト)

青春エンジョイ NEXT STAGE!

  Brush up!

Singing! Singing! Singing!

輝きを 撒き散らすんだ星一杯!

幕開けに Clap your hands!

ひたむきが My good point!

動き出した Season!

  Show up!

Dancing! Dancing! Dancing!

明日に向かう

リズムを踏んでディスカバリー!

何度でも Hop Step Jump!

目指した場所まで

足跡を刻んでゆく☆STELLAR TRAIL

  Joy to the world!

やる気なら世間知らずさ

毎日が生まれたて Alive

奇跡がほら、軌跡になる

進んだ一歩を地図にして

次から次に 困難は多分やってくるんだろう

これまで以上 汗かいて(絶対に)

越えて行く(あきらめない)

運命スタンバイOK!

  Action!

Doing! Doing! Doing!

努力って 未来まで��ストローク

限界へ Fly away!

ガムシャラに Try again!

まだまだチャレンジャー

 Keep on!

Going! Going! Going!

ゴールへと

ZIG ZAG ロード駆けぬけて

地団駄で Tap! tap! tap!

星くず纏め 全力を出し切るから聴こえるYELL!

  Future!

Shining! Shining! Shining!

四六時中 

星をまとって煌々と

今までの In my self

追い越して Rising Star

きらめき総決算

  Show up!

Dancing! Dancing! Dancing!

明日に向かう リズムを踏んでディスカバリー!

何度でも Hop Step Jump!

目指した場所まで

足跡を刻んでゆく☆STELLAR TRAIL

                                     »»————-　★　————-««

ROMAJI:

  Come together!

mata koko de hajimatte yukun da

yume yuki sutoraido hazumase

waku waku suru asobi no jikan

donna deai ga matterun daro?

  yume ni mayoi yume outte nenchuu muchuu sa!

uketotta kono hane ga compass

ano hi ni niteru kaze no naka

takanaru kodou wa New version!

  100-ten ja nai

sukiru sae suki ni nareba itsuka

100 carat no eien ga (mirakuru ga)

terashiteku (supottoraito)

seishun enjoy NEXT STAGE!

  Brush up!

Singing! Singing! Singing!

kagayaki wo makichirasun da seiippai!

makuake ni Clap your hands!

hitamuki ga My good point!

kagayaki dashita Season!

  Show up!

Danicng! Dancing! Dancing!

asu ni mukau rizumu wo funde Discovery!

nandodemo Hop Step Jump!

mezashita basho made

ashiato wo kizande yuku ☆ STELLAR TRAIL

  Joy to the world!

yaruki nara sekai shirazu sa

mainichi ga umaretate Alive

kiseki ga hora, kiseki ni naru

susunda ippo wo chizu ni shite

tsugi kara tsugi ni konnan wa tabun yatte kurun darou

kore made ijou ase kaite (zettai ni)

koete iku (akiramenai)

unmei stand-by OK!

  Action!

Doing! Doing! Doing!

doryoku tte mirai made no sutorokku

genkai he Fly away!

gamushara ni Try again!

mada mada challenger

  Keep on!

Going! Going! Going!

gooru he to

ZIG ZAG roodo kakenukete

jidanda de Tap! Tap! Tap!

hoshikuzu chiribame zenryoku wo dashikiru kara kikoeru YELL!

  Future!

Shining! Shining! Shining!

shirokuji chuu

hoshi wo matotte koukou to

ima made no In my self

oikoshite Rising Star

kirameki  soukessan

  Show up!

Dancing! Dancing! Dancing!

asu ni mukau rizumu wo funde discovery!

nando de mo Hop Step Jump!

mezashita basho made

kiseki wo kizande yuku☆STELLAR TRAIL

                                     »»————-　★　————-««

ENGLISH:

Come together!

Everything’s starting in this place once more.

Let’s spring into a stride towards our dreams.

It’s an exciting time to play, isn’t it?

I wonder what sort of meetings are waiting for us!

  I’m always getting lost in my dreams and following them throughout the year!

The wings that I received will be my compass.

And, amid that similar wind from that day,

this new impulse that’s beginning is a new version!

  It’s not 100 points but…

As long as we have the skill, we can do what we want.

This 100-carat eternity is—(This miracle is--)

It’s shining upon us! (It’s our spotlight)

Let’s enjoy our youth towards our NEXT STAGE!

  Brush up!

Singing! Singing! Singing!

The brilliance is being scattered so we’ll give it our all!

Clap your hands for the raising of the curtains!

Being earnest is my good point!

It’s the season to let ourselves shine!

  Show up!

Dancing! Dancing! Dancing!

Step on the rhythm that faces tomorrow and it will be a new discovery!

Hop, step, jump no as much as we can!

Until we reach the place we’re aiming for,

We’ll continue to leave our tracks where we are☆ STELLAR TRAIL

  Joy to the world!

As long as we have the drive, we can get to know the world.

Appreciating life every single day, feeling alive.

Look, the miracle is leaving its tracks behind.

Let’s turn our steps into our map, should we?

I’m sure that after this, more trials will be waiting but…

We’ve shed so much sweat to get here so—(We will never--)

We’ll overcome it! (Never ever give up!)

Our fates are on stand-by, OK!?

  Action!

Doing! Doing! Doing!

Effort is a stroke for our futures!

Fly away to your limits!

Try again, as daring as we can!

We are still challengers!

  Keep on!

Going! Going! Going!

Until we reach our goal…

We’ll blast through this ZIG ZAG road.

Tap! Tap! Tap! our feet as if impatient to move!

The stardust are decorating the sky so, we’ll do our best until you hear our YELL!

  Future!

Shining! Shining! Shining!

Let’s do this all day.

Together with the brilliance the gathered stars give,

I will continue to believe in myself.

I’ll be the Rising Star that overcomes many things!

A brilliant declaration, isn’t it!?

  Show up!

Dancing! Dancing! Dancing!

Step on the rhythm that faces tomorrow and it will be a new discovery!

Hop, step, jump no as much as we can!

Until we reach the place we’re aiming for,

We’ll continue to leave our tracks where we are☆ STELLAR TRAIL

                                     »»————-　★　————-««

※ Please don’t re-post the kanji, romaji, and English translations without permission. Instead of reposting, please just like/reblog instead ^^

[closetofanxiety]

Slammiversary thoughts

“What’s Dresser of Unease doing in the Impact Zone??” (h/t @thedeathofscottywazz)

I have never ordered an Impact PPV before, and I did so this weekend based entirely on my desire to see the Su Yung match, my desire to see EYFBO on a big(ger) stage, and my curiosity about Tommy Dreamer and Eddie Edwards. That was enough to fork over $40.

I’m not really in the mood these days to do lengthy reviews or ratings, but here are some quick thoughts on what I liked:

Initial thoughts: I don’t know how many people the Rebel Center in Toronto holds, but the place looked full and the crowd was hot. Insanely hot. Multiple chants of “Impact Wrestling” hot. Toronto must be a hell of a wrestling town. Also, good production values and entrance packages, considering they’re working with like 1/100th of WWE’s budget. Josh Matthews is vastly more tolerable on commentary when he doesn’t have to do a shitty heel gimmick. Don Callis is also good when playing it straight and not chewing the scenery as he did in his ECW days.

Fatal Four Way: Fenix vs. Petey Williams vs. Bone Soldier vs. Johnny Impact

This was a good way to start the show. It was the definition of a spotfest, with no real story going into it (Petey Williams was a last minute substitution for a concussed Rich Swann). All these guys are good, even Bone Soldier, who is sort of the Brian Adams of the Bullet Club. Or maybe the Michael Wallstreet. I don’t know. Either way, lots of acrobatic stuff here, the crowd liked it, it ended just as it was on the verge of overstaying its welcome. This is Not My Thing, but it made sense as an opener.

 Tessa Blanchard vs. Allie

This was really good! Possibly the best Tessa match I’ve ever seen, and certainly the best Allie match. Really crisp, well-executed stuff here. One thing I liked is that Allie, whose character has gone through all kinds of hell and has supposedly emerged a changed woman, actually wrestled differently than she had before, with more focus and seriousness. That’s good storytelling. Tessa is really growing as an arrogant, entitled heel.

Tommy Dreamer vs. Eddie Edwards

A fun, violent brawl. Eddie Edwards has sort of struggled to define himself as a character, but he’s pretty good as an enraged New England townie who can’t quite articulate the source of his rage, so he lashes out at the people who are trying to help him. Maybe the highlight of this was Dreamer grabbing a replica ECW heavyweight title belt from a fan and waffling a bleeding Edwards with it. First blood of a crimson night!

Matt Sydal vs. Brian Cage

This is the only match that really didn’t do it for me. Cage has a time limit beyond which he is visibly tired, and this match exceeded that limit. A lot of it seemed like guys practicing spots on each other. It lacked the convincing meanness of the previous two matches. It also ended with Sydal possibly botching a shooting star press on purpose to set up the finish, but it looked hairy. I don’t want to see anyone get crippled on a wrestling show.

Su Yung vs. Madison Rayne

They have finally given Su Yung an entrance befitting her: carried to the ring in a coffin by the Undead Bridesmaids. Su is one of the very best characters in wrestling today, and I’ll happily watch anything she does. This was not a spectacular match; Rayne is just out of place in the New Impact. Her work stood out as being a step or two behind everyone else. The drama of a Su Yung match is seeing how much inhuman punishment she can take and still come back to horrify her opponent with her resilience, and Rayne is just not the kind of wrestler who can dish out offense on that level. She did, however, magnificently sell the Purge, passing out like a victim in a horror movie and then getting shoved in the casket. 

LAX (Santana and Ortiz) w/Konnan vs. The OGz (Homicide and Hernandez) w/Eddie Kingston

This was tremendous fun. Santana and Ortiz are young, athletic dudes capable of mixing it up with a nasty edge, while Homicide and Hernandez are insane middle-aged men with absolutely no regard for their personal well-being. A lot of great “holy shit” moments in this second hardcore match of the night, including Homicide, 41 years old, flying through the ropes and putting Santana through a table outside the ring. It ended with Santana throwing a goddamn fistful of thumbtacks in Homicide’s face, slamming him onto other thumbtacks, and hitting the top rope frog splash, again with the thumbtacks. After the match Kingston finally got involved, and there was a beatdown of the victorious youngsters and their decrepit manager.

Sami Callihan vs. Pentagon Jr.

I guess he’s Pentagon Jr. again? Is it weird that I now think Penta El 0M is a better name? Anyway, these two have a long-running feud across indies in North America, so my hopes were high, especially as this was a LUCHA DE APUESTA. There was zero chance Pentagon was losing his mask, but that sort of didn’t matter, as this was an insanely violent collision between two guys who, when they want to, are among the best brawlers in pro wrestling. Lots of blood in this one; at one point, Pentagon was using a baseball bat to hammer a steel spike against Sami’s skull. This was one of the rare “two wrestlers hit each other with steel chairs” spots where it looked as it would if two people having a legitimate fight were hitting each other with chairs. This had a power blinding. This had a referee getting his arm broken. This had run-ins. This had a crying, drooling Ohio psychopath being shaved bald by two masked men from Mexico. This was a trip to Memphis, baby. I loved it.

Moose vs. Austin Aries

I was really skeptical about this as the main event after the funhouse carnage of the Callihan-Pentagon match. But this really delivered. Far and a way the best Moose match I’ve ever seen, Austin Aries deserves a huge amount of credit for making his opponent look like a world-beater, while getting genuine boos from the crowd for being an arrogant veteran dickhead. There were a couple of great moments in this, like when Aries stuffed Moose’s spear and immediately rolled into the Last Chancery, and Moose hurling Aries off the ramp into the crowd. Great stuff from both guys. A title match that felt like a title match. There’s a non-zero chance I will go to the Impact Shop Zone or whatever the hell it’s called and buy a baseball cap.

[mamingle]

Oh boy, where do I even begin

Dalrate easily has the most amount of people that can be used as leverage against him, since he’s held a lot of guilt over the people he and his sister failed during the events of Book 1 and Book 2. Besides the people he’d be confronted with in the rare waves, I think the other characters that would be featured prominently would be Yulgar and Konnan.

Before he became a Dragonlord, he used to work with Yulgar in the forge as an apprentice alongside Konnan, who he befriended. When the Great Fire War happened, it was a painful endeavor as it was his and his sister’s first major taste of failure as heroes, and also because it’s like he lost a brother as he witnessed Konnan’s decent to madness. The waves that would feature Yulgar and Konnan would both have lines that pertain to his perceived failure to prevent the tragedy that led to the Great Fire War, so it’s lines like “You could have done more to prevent this.” or “Remthalas can help you become stronger if you’d just let him.”

Avhione on the other hand is significantly better at pushing aside her own grief to focus on the needs of others, but she’s not immune to Rem’s psychological warfare. She’d still be affected by the people they’d encounter in the rare waves, but the other character that would feature in her dreams is, strangely enough, Sepulchure (or Amadeus in this case).

Sepulchure is kind of a mixed bag for her since a part of her absolutely despises him for being the catalyst to the whole mess of Book 1, but after finding out about Gravelynn and his desire to just have a normal life with his daughter, her opinion on him started to change a bit. She felt a strange sort of kinship with him because she related her experience with raising her little sister to his own situation with Gravelynn, as they both had to hide their respective family members from the rest of the world for their own safety, and that factored into her desire to help him with his goal of ridding himself of the DoomKnight Armor’s influence just so Gravelynn can have a chance to have a normal life with her father. She’s very conflicted about him, basically.

But the one character that would haunt both the twins the most is their little sister, Ezyra.

She’d be the most glitched up of all the characters as they both don’t want to remember the state she was in when they discovered her body under the remains of their burnt down house after the end of Book 1. In fact, she wouldn’t even speak. All she has to do is stand there and force them to fight her so they could progress.

It’s a pretty effective tactic, to say the least.

Fun question for tumblrfable I just thought of for Hero Appreciation Day: with the recent war, the rare waves have been Remthalas using dreams of characters important to our Hero to guilt or convince us to join him.

So, what characters not already used in rare waves would Remthalas use to tempt/guilt your Hero?

[iptvbeast]

80sStyle TV Love Beauty & The Beast

Chavo Guerrero Jr. is currently the most important interviewer for the series today that Mike Tenay is pumped outside and” Mean” Gene Okerlund has been spending a night outside town with Big Vito and Johnny The Bull. Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr. are back to health in hospital beds due to Your Revolution Shane Douglas, Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn, Asya. In contrast, Kidman and Eddie Guerrero would likely soon be about a different cable station sorting out their differences in Love Connection. Before the next game, Shane Douglas declares that”Operation Roadkill” has been a massive success, along with the Filthy Animals Konnan, Rey Mysterio Jr., Kidman, Eddie Guerrero, Torrie Wilson are not any longer.

He states The Revolution functioned them from the interior, as the Filthy Animals never knew what hit them, and they almost set the world on the flame. In an ideal world, we would say,” and they lived happily ever after,” but you will need to see the series to discover for certain. Hall asks Nash exactly what the deal uses all the World Television Championship, stating he has not gotten some free TV dinners or fulfilled Ted Turner. beast iptv The official Redbox program offers almost 30 live TV stations, which you could flow at no cost. When you flow online content on your own devices, your private details like IP address and place becomes tracked by third party trackers.

Vito invites Okerlund into a night outside town. Okerlund takes the invitation. Juventud Guerrera defeats Jushin”Thunder” Liger to function as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion! Throughout the game, Buzzkill distracts the referee in addition to Jushin”Thunder” Liger. Also, Juvi attracts a bottle of tequila from a bag. Finely pulls out of the tote two Kendo sticks, then tosses you to Knobbs, tosses off the other person, and manages to do a rapid job of Knobbs. The two girls from before tonight put in their makeup.

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[takesfromthetoprope]

Talk is Jericho Vince Russo review

Yesterday I tuned into another great interview on Talk is Jericho featuring the one and only Vince Russo.  I will admit, I know many useful and useless facts about pro wrestling, but one area that I have paid little attention to is the history of Vince Russo in the wrestling business.  Sure, most of us watched the attitude era and some of his characters and angles in WCW.  However, it was nice to hear an interview of his where he wasn’t arguing with someone else (which can become tiring) but simply telling his perspective of his mark on the industry and his comments on the current state of the industry.  

While it was hard to get passed the numerous “bro” and “freaking” word crutches Vince uses, I found his interview entertaining and insightful.  It was cool to be able to have the inside scoop on some of my favorite periods in wrestling.  From the angles with Rock and Jericho, to what could have been for Jericho’s push, and Steve Austin’s ascend into Stone Cold Steve Austin.  Vince seemed like a genuine fan of the industry with good and bad opinions of where the business is today.

Jericho is the ultimate professional, as I was surprised he was not defensive in Vince’s critiques on the AEW product.  Jericho was able to hold back his own emotional responses from the equation and listen to Vince speak his mind and give his opinion, right or wrong.  

Talking points I agreed with: 

1. Vince brought up a good point of allowing the talent to be themselves more in promos.  Talent can be handcuffed when someone is handing them a scripted promo.  A lot of the story line is benefited by great character development, and when everyone is saying the same thing and no one has a real character it all starts to look the same, sound the same and feel stale. 

2. He made a point that without great characters the show must rely more on the wrestling matches.  Wrestling matches will need to up the stakes in order for people to tune in. (What will Ricochet do next?!?)  Talent will begin to risk more, performing greater high risks moves putting themselves at risk. This is a point Disco Inferno drives home a lot on Keeping it 100 w/ Konnan.  For a long time I thought this was a veteran not fully understanding the evolution of the business today, I also try to not agree with Disco (Fuck DI!) . Vince’s explanation makes a lot of sense. Other than a hand full of guys in WWE, how many people are able to work the mic, or at least given the opportunity to?  How many people are able to talk fans into the building?  How tired has it grown to watch the same guys wrestle the same matches over and over again without any sort of stakes at play.  Why aren’t we doing qualifying matches to the Rumble every week on both Smackdown and Raw? Or more drawn out tournaments to be #1 contender rather than the played out gauntlet match angle that hasn’t done any favors to anyone since Kofi earlier this year. It’s because not enough talent are given the space to work their characters.  Drew McIntyre looks like a million bucks yet he’s had no strong story telling and not a single feud that he’s benefited from. Cesaro, in my opinion, had one of the best matches this year in NXT UK by simply answering an open challenge, yet on the main show they have nothing for him? Pathetic.  I think WWE, excluding NXT, misses the mark at the entertainment aspect of its product and now even the amazing matches seem not enough to keep viewership. They have an incredible cast, maybe the best it’s ever been, but without full trust of the talent to get themselves over, no one is going anywhere.  Vince drove home that at the end of the day it’s a television show, and a good television show needs great characters. 

Talking points I did not agree with:

AEW needs writers.  I don’t necessarily believe they don’t have writers. It’s been said in BTE videos they all talk creative in a group text.  I don’t think they would go to mainstream TV without months of story-line written. Shout out to the Dark Order build!

I don’t buy that Russo is as innocent with backstage politics as he says.  Too many people have said too many stories that he is an awful guy to not believe it.  I don’t know of anyone who has vouched for Russo that he’s actually a great guy who only wants to produce a great wrestling show. 

I don’t buy that if Russo was back in WWE they would gain back their ratings.  No real explanation there other than I don’t see it happening while retaining the sea of writers and Vince McMahon not really open to change. His voice would be one of many and it would get drowned out, bro.

Give this one a listen if you haven’t already, it was great banter between two credible names in the business.

#TalkIsJericho #VinceRusso #Freaking #ProWrestling #Bro

[gm-warlic]

THANKS!

And since you asked for it...

Buckle up.

Jonathan’s mother was from Swordhaven, while his dad was from a small village on the western edge of Greenguard. His dad fought for Alteon in the war to free the kingdom from Slugwrath, and it was in the celebrations after the liberation of Swordhaven that the two met. They fell in love, married, & moved back to his family farm, where they raised three children, two daughters and a son (Jonathan)

Jonathan grew up in that little village, far from the capital and far from anywhere exciting.

He was always was a little too smart for his own good, with not nearly enough common sense to balance it. It sometimes got him into trouble with some of the other kids, who also liked to pick on him for his slightly pointed ears (a leftover trait from a little bit of elven blood on his mother’s side). He was always tinkering, always finding new & inventive ways to do things. But he didn’t think quite the same way everyone else in the village did (mostly because he is autistic and has adhd).

One day when he was 15 years old he was out doing his chores when he found a book by the side of the road. There was no sign who might have dropped it, so he decided to take a look inside.

The book was filled with maps, descriptions and sketches of strange creatures, and more. The book seemed to have some sort of magic to it, as there didn’t seem to be a last page. But while the pages kept coming, the words and sketches did not. The book had countless blank pages, as if they were asking to be filled. This book was titled “The Book of Lore”.

He started reading the book whenever he could find the time, slipping away from chores to read in the branches of trees. The more he read, the more he felt drawn to these strange lands and wondrous creatures, the call to adventure growing ever louder within him.

After his 16th birthday the call finally grew too strong to ignore and he stole his father’s sword and armor, modifying the armor to fit him and leaving home in search of adventure.

Since he started adventuring, Jonathan has used the same Book of Lore that started his journey as a journal, writing down his adventures, as well as adding new creatures he encounters (and in most cases fights) and lands that he travels to the book. Even up to the present events of Book 3 he still has no idea where the book came from, who owned it before him, or why it ended up seemingly abandoned on that country road that day.

When he left home he looked a lot like this, a farm boy with an absolute mess of hair wearing his dad’s old armor.

The first friend he made when he first made it to Falconreach was Yulgar’s apprentice Konnan, the two of them bonding over their shared love of creating beautiful & useful things and experimenting with the possibilities.

Jonathan basically lived in the Inn since first moving to Falconreach, and while he didn’t have much of a connection with the first couple innkeepers, once Serenity bought the Inn and found this literal child already living there she essentially decided to adopt him.

Throughout all his early adventures, Jonathan was completely, 100% incapable of magic. Unable to do even the most basic of spells, despite many attempts to figure it out, he just couldn’t do it. After meeting & befriending Warlic, he was able to convince Warlic to teach him some things, but even under Warlic’s tutelage, he simply had no magical aptitude.

It’s not until after Draco hatches & wakes up and the two of them begin their training with Lady Celestia that Jonathan is finally able to cast his first spell, his bond with Draco finally sparking his power to life. When he managed to cast that first spell, he cried.

Celestia gave him his first set of DragonLord armor, but being the person he is, Jonathan wasn’t able to keep his hands off it. He began tinkering with the armor almost immediately, and he has been modding and altering the armor regularly since then. Celestia also becomes another mother figure for him. Jonathan has a lot of moms.

After he has been adventuring for about a year and his 17th birthday is coming close, Serenity convinces him to go return home to visit his family and let them know that he is alright. He stops by Swordhaven on the way home, and since he was knighted as the 301st Elite Knight during the war against Xan, he talks to the king about what lands exactly he gets as part of this title. And he has some ideas on the topic.

Jonathan returns home with Draco at his side and has a tearful reunion with his parents and sisters, and he tells them all about his adventures over the last year, also returning his father’s sword and armor. He also tells them of his knighthood and how he now has stewardship over the village. He stays home for a few weeks, using his skills and newfound magic to build better defenses for the village to protect it from bandits, as well as teaching some of the townsfolk how to fight and organizing them into a provisional militia. With his home safe, he returns to Falconreach, this time with his family’s blessing. He makes semi-regular visits home to check in with his family and make improvements to the town’s defenses.

Jonathan had always idolized Artix ever since the first time he met him in Amityvale, and when he got to fight and work alongside Artix during the Darkness Orb Saga, he was absolutely elated, though he learned over the course of the saga how Artix, as perfect as he sometimes seems, is a person too, with his own faults.

When he meets the gnomes of Popsprocket during the Energy Orb Saga, he is IMMEDIATELY fascinated with their technomancy, and studies it obsessively until he learns how to make his own complex technomagic devices. He also makes another trip to his home, repeating the trick he learned in the Popsrocket war to get a small army of Sneevils to act as added security for his home village in exchange for regular payments of boxes.

His 18th birthday happens not long before the Great Fire War begins, when he is forced to watch as Konnan, the very first friend he made when he came to Falconreach and still one of his closest friends at the time, falls to rage and the desire for revenge and becomes a villain that Jonathan is forced to face, fight, and defeat. (And as far as he knew at the time, kill.) It devastated him.

Luckily, it’s not long after that he makes a new friend, as he and Tomix team up for the first time on Mogloween against Greed.

A month or two before his 19th birthday, Jonathan comes to Sunbreeze Grove for training to find someone new in the Grove: Celestia’s new apprentice, Elysia. Their eyes meet and there is a spark immediately, though neither of them quite knew what it meant yet. The mutual pining (with both completely oblivious to the fact that the other shares their feelings) begins not long after, as they continue to interact with each other regularly as they both learn from Celestia.

Jonathan keeps doing hero things, becoming close friends with Tomix over the course of the Ravenloss saga and helping Ash with his dream of becoming a knight over the course of the Archknight events. This is the first time Jonathan genuinely realizes how big he has become. He has gotten to the point where young aspiring heroes like Ash look to him as their example. That scares him a bit, but he remembers when he used to look the same way at people like Artix, so he does his best to help Ash like how Artix helped him.

Then the Final 13th happens. The worst war that had ever occurred. 25 million undead. The Guardian Tower destroyed. Celestia murdered. The whole world in chaos. But Jonathan had no time to mourn, because everything rested on his shoulders. This 19 year old, who in many ways was still a kid, had the fate of the world on his shoulders and all manner of people older, wiser, and more powerful than him looking to him for what to do. So he did his best. And barely, just barely, with the help of a madman with a phone box, it was enough. Afterwards, Jonathan and Elysia went to Sunbreeze Grove and just held each other, together mourning the woman who in many ways had been a mother to both of them.

Then all the events of Book 2 happen, and Jonathan has a reunion with Konnan, which results in a lot of mixed feelings. He was glad to find that his friend had survived, but all the pain and sense of betrayal didn’t go away. It was still there, and there was now a wall between the two that they couldn’t break down.

As the Professor, Xan, Jaania, and Jonathan all prepared to go out and face Wargoth for the final battle, Jonathan first went to visit Sunbreeze Grove. He knew that Wargoth was more powerful than anything he had faced before, and that he might not make it back from this one. He meets with Elysia and tells her what is happening, and they finally have their very first kiss. She then makes him promise to come back to her.

And we all know what happened next. When Elysia heard rumor of what happened, she immediately went to the site and found Jonathan trapped as a Herosicle. She tries to use her magic to free him, but only manages to teleport herself back to Sunbreeze on accident. She then breaks down crying, having now lost two of the most important people in her life. She regularly made visits to the ice prison over the years of Jonathan’s imprisonment.

When Jonathan finally breaks free (now 20 years old, not including the years frozen), he is initially very confused and discombobulated. He does the Oaklore stuff, trying to figure out what exactly has happened and how long he has been out, making his way back to Falconreach. But once he has been (at least partially) caught up by Draco & Twilly, he immediately takes Draco and flies to Sunbreeze, where he and Elysia have a tearful reunion. He is also super proud to see how Ash has grown in the years he was gone.

After seeing how the world has gone to crap in the years since his imprisonment, Jonathan decides he is going to need some heavy-duty equipment to deal with this crap, so he goes back to the places that he hid the pieces of the Blade of Awe back in the Earth Orb Saga and reforges the Blade himself.

This picture is old, so there are some inaccuracies, but this is basically what he looked like after reforming the Blade of Awe.

A lot more things happen in Book 3, but throughout it all Jonathan and Elysia continue their relationship. When Tomix dies at the end of the Void Ship Saga, that almost breaks Jonathan, as he has lost so many friends and loved ones now. Too many. Elysia comforts him, and they have their first night together.

Bunch more crap goes down in Book 3, including the death of yet another mother figure of his, as Serenity is sacrificed and turned into a vessel for Caitiff. Finally in Black Winter (he is 21 by this point), in the final fight against Caitiff, he loses his shield and his hand to one of their mega-blasts. He spends the weeks after the battle crafting his new hand & shield bracer and helping the townsfolk rebuild Falconreach.

And that is when we reach this version of Jonathan.

After everything that has happened, he is tired. So tired. He has lost too many friends, too many moms, too many people he loves. He takes a month and goes home, and with Draco’s help and calling in a few other favors, he builds a castle (basically the DragonLord Castle you can buy in the DragonsGrasp house shop) overlooking his home village, with cavernous tunnels beneath for Draco.

But his break can only last for so long, and he goes back to heroing not long after the castle is finished. But while he now has a crap-ton of trauma & ptsd, also he has a home of his own, a loving girlfriend, and a cool robot hand.

Some other small bits:

By the current events of the game he is now 22, getting pretty close to turning 23.

One of his sisters became an adventurer while he was frozen, sort of taking up what has become the new family tradition.

The gates (and larders) of his castle are pretty much open 24/7 to the people of the village. They most often use it for village-wide parties, festivals, and feasts, though it also acts as another layer of defense for them to retreat to when need be.

The Rose doesn’t dare come near Jonathan’s home village. They aren’t welcome there.

HI YOUR HERO LOOKS SO COOL

(via @gm-warlic)

❤️❤️❤️❤️ thank you!!!

renegade shield IS the best shield, you have good taste

[betterdcyz-a]

A message a basket with a little bulge inside it covered in blankets was sent to Uthrel, the baby was dirty, covered in ashes, it was a hint of from when the small and crying baby was from, the village that couldn't be saved Konnan's village... Inside the basket was something else than a baby, a note that it said 'Please, love our child as we loved them... but our time is running out. With the pains of our hearts we want you to keep them, so they survives. Save our child at least!'

Serenity ( ——the owner of Serenity’s Inn. ) announced the arrival, knocking on the door twice until Uthrel was up. He yawned, got up and advanced over to the basket that was left close to the door of his room. He knelt down and removed the blanket to see a small crying baby covered in soot. 

It sparked a recollection; a memory of sorts of a burning village torched in flames by Akriloth. Why would someone send this baby in this condition? It wouldn’t be good for their health to be covered in ashes like this. So without reading the note first, Uthrel picked up the baby, cradle it in his arms and went into the bathroom to clean the baby. It made him think though.

The baby was soon clean (  ——it was a quick wash, nothing too serious. ) and was now dried up and wrapped in a warm towel as the hero cradled the baby in his arms. He then saw the note and picked it up with one hand, the baby now being cradled in his other arm. 

                                  “Please, love our child as we loved them. But our time is running out. With the pains of our hearts, we want you to keep them so they survive. Save our child at least!”

Then his stomach churned; the vile almost rose up inside his throat as if the puzzle had finally been pieced together with a quick click of an automatic complete button. He then looked at the baby, tears threatening to leave his own eyes and perhaps make him look like the baby crying here. 

He wiped away any tears that escaped from his eyes and forced a smile on his lips, cradling the baby in both arms with the note now dropped, swaying left to right before hitting the ground. 

“I guess I have to look after you now.” 

[flamestoillusions]

You know, I think the duo has an interesting dichotomy with Jaania.

In all honesty, neither Tannim nor Rune find the Rose to be inherently bad. The idea of it appeals to them for differing reasons. Tannim finds that that something like the Rose can unite beings of all places. And all for the sake of helping protect those that cannot do so. What could be better in his opinion? He applauds the Rose for getting as much done as they have. Not even the Paladin Order has achieved such feats in the many years they have been established.

Rune likes the idea of the Rose because he’s more or less, “Great, now stop calling me every time the town is on fire.” He maintains that he is not a hero and doesn’t like the idea of a ‘hero.’ However, a network that allows the opportunity for others to defend themselves? That’s fantastic so that no one ever becomes the ‘effigy’ that a hero is. They also, hilariously, are in more magic research than ever before and what part of that isn’t appealing?

Neither cannot say that magic has been solely good in their lives. Tannim lost Andrei because of the Konnan’s rampage with the Fire Orb. His own fire magic is very dangerous without control and he is aware he’s hurt someone because of it. He also knows of many friends hurt by magic’s doings. He wouldn’t deny this if asked. Rune, if he ever felt like mentioning it, had his entire life run and destroyed by the Mysterious Stranger’s pursuit and meddling. He’ll never know the full extent of the damage and will always be considered tainted. 

Despite this, they cannot get onboard with the Rose because of their treatment of those with magical blood or inclination and the intent to eradicate magic. Tannim remains concerned for other beings in general. Enslavement, imprisonment, and outright leading them to death is unacceptable. How can you treat anyone with such disrespect? Do you know that your forces are doing this and you are willing to accept this? How can there be peace and happiness when it was paved with so many lives? Can anyone truly be satisfied with this outcome? These are questions he’d want to ask Jaania because maybe she truly doesn’t know and could turn it around. He doesn’t want to believe that there are those that think so little of others’ lives, but he can’t turn away from the acts he’s discovered since adventuring again.

Rune is more concerned with the lack of choice. So long as you’re not imposing on most, he doesn’t care. But getting rid of magic is eliminating choice and a chance from many and he cannot stand by it. Whether beings will destroy or create with their power is their decision and if you so greatly oppose the decision, deal with it how you wish. This is why he ended up a hero, if your choice are too detrimental to him, then it is time to dismantle it. He also is a bit peeved with Jaania’s lack resolve within leadership. He hates indecisive people and doubting when you are so far up the chain has repercussions that falls onto far many lives for Rune’s liking. The benevolent hand or the iron fist, straddling the fence is not acceptable. Especially when doing so still creates more work for him.

But above all is that they both have a perspective that in a way is the opposite to Jaania. While she has seen the terror of magic and how it can and will corrupt those that wield it, both of the duo have witnessed and experienced the hysteria and fervor anti-magic holds. And, to them, that’s much more terrifying than any damage that magic could cause.

Tannim has watched a village attack without mercy on a being, a dragon, that was no threat to them. A being that was injured and helpless, beaten and wings shredded. Just for being. He died because of the fear of magic. Family and friends turned against him for his blood and nothing he could truly change.  He’s seen how drastically people can change from fear. From hatred. From zealousness. All of it not understood. And as the one tormented, he couldn’t help but think if it was a sin just to live. That awful feeling and scorn he saw between tears made him wish to never let others experience that sort of pain.

Rune finds the real monsters to be those that harbors hate like those of anti-magic. He spent childhood shunned because of the ‘bad magic’ he supposedly naturally possessed. Beings that hold power, particularly that of discrimination, are dangerous and cruel, he’s learned. Denied basic needs. Treated lower than filth. Dismissed under anyone’s gaze. It is a nasty sort of status that if he allowed to be unchecked here, would cause more suffer that sort of treatment. One earns their treatment, not bestowed for what one possesses.

Their interactions with Jaania however end up much more strained as Tannim is afraid of Jaania. Since, you know, she almost accidentally killed him. She also is treating him as a something of a liar or criminal, which hits sour notes with Tannim to begin with. Rune makes it worse as Jaania’s already shot any trust she’d hope to gain by attacking them and injuring Tannim so Rune finds no need to respect her in anyway. And Rune balks at eliminating magic because magic is cornerstone of the entire world so while trying to save the world from dangerous magic, she will cause destruction regardless.

[welcometowcwmondaynitro]

WCW Monday Nitro 10/06/1996

“It’s time to get rockin’!” proclaims Tony Schiavone as the fireworks go off, and we’re welcomed to WCW Monday Nitro live on TNT. 

Larry appears in surprisingly normal attire this week. And he looks rather pleased with himself, too.

We’re a week away from the Great American Bash, and we’re told that the main event of this episode of Nitro will be Arn Anderson & Ric Flair against Joe Gomez & the Renegade. Gee, I wonder who’s going to win that one? You may remember the Renegade as WCW’s attempt at an Ultimate Warrior rip off. 

We’re also getting the Giant Vs Scott Norton in hour number two. That should be hard hitting. 

Tony mentions Scott Hall’s interruption of Bischoff from the previous week, and recaps Sting’s rebuttal. No explanation as to why Hall isn’t barred from the building, as there is no indication he works for WCW... but hey. This plot hole does get filled eventually. Kind of. 

Our first match gets underway, and out first is Booker T...

He walks out looking vaguely confused. As the camera pans to the fans, Schaivone says “look at the fans, they are living”.

Yes, they do appear to be alive.

“Here’s a story of two brothers, Ricky and Scott...”

Booker’s opponent is Scott Steiner and his ridiculous arms.

Booker T Vs Scott Steiner

Tony advises that viewers call their family and friends to remind them that the Great American Bash is six days away, and now would be a good time to tune into Nitro. You have to assume if these family and friends were really into WCW they’d be aware of the upcoming PPV and the fact that Nitro is on... but anyway.

Both wrestlers play to the crowd. Generally boos for Booker, and cheers for Steiner. From recollection Harlem Heat were essentially being booked as heels at this point. The WCW crowd isn’t just being racist. Well, not all of them at least.

The two wrestlers lock arms back-to-back.

Booker realises he’s made a mistake here.

Steiner attempts a variety of suplexes, which Booker slips out of and reverses. Booker then misses a kick and ends up taking an underarm suplex. Booker then eats an atomic drop and is clotheslined out to the floor. Steiner dishes out a quick beating on the outside and then throws Booker back into the ring. The commentators, invested in the match as always, are talking about the Horsemen Vs Greene & McMichaels at the PPV. Larry says the Macho Man thinks he’s Napoleon Bonaparte. I can’t imagine Macho Man even knows who that is.

Booker finally lands some offence by catching Scotty with a kick in the corner, then hits him with a scissor kick and gets a two count. 

They do this for a while. It doesn’t look particularly painful. Steiner fights out of it, but then gets hit with a scoop slam. Booker climbs to the top rope, hits a cross body block and gets another two count. Steiner hits a reverse DDT on Booker and hits him with a back body drop. Larry tells us that aggression is good in wrestling (you don’t say?) and claims that whoever hits offence first usually wins the match. I’d like to test that theory. 

Booker gets hit with a belly-to-belly, but Scott then misses a Frankensteiner and gets smacked with a flying sidekick. 

Bam. Tony calls it a “spinwheel kick”, which is ridiculous as Booker did not spin. 

Booker hits a side slam and goes up for what you would assume to be the harlem hangover, but no. He just kind of flops into the middle of the ring as Scott Steiner rolls out of the way. Larry calls it a “swan dive”. Another belly-to-belly from Steiner, and he gets the three count. That was a very quick ending to an otherwise decent match. 

Scott Steiner beats Booker T via Pinball. 

For some reason these two idiots are practicing for football again. Shouldn’t the Macho Man be there to remind them that they’re wrestling now?

We’re back with Mean Gene, who is interviewing Scott Steiner.

Steiner’s arm is legit bigger than Gene’s head. It might even be bigger than his own head. 

Mean Gene notes that the Steiners will be facing Fire & Ice in a match where somebody must win. I assume that means no DQ. 

Steiner concurs and is about to launch into a verbal beatdown of his opponents, but before he can do so, he’s interrupted by Debra McMichaels, wife of Steve McMichaels.

Gene’s face here cracks me up. That’s such a “why aren’t you in the kitchen?” face. Cold.

Anyhow, Debra says that she needs Mean Gene’s attention and basically tells Steiner to go away. And he does. Unusually amicable. 

Debra tells Mean Gene she can’t sleep, and is worried about the upcoming match. She’s worried that her husband “Steven” will get really angry and hurt somebody permanently. She feels bad because she thinks it’s her fault.

Gene suggests it isn’t her fault, and Flair has form for winding people up regarding their wives/girlfriends. Debra asks Gene if he can arrange a meeting between the teams to settle their differences before the PPV. A stupid request for numerous reasons - why does she think Mean Gene has the power to do this, or the motivation? He’s just an interviewer. Gene is cracking me up again though. 

What’s with this facial expression - is he shushing her? 

Mean Gene says he’ll try to get Heenan to get the teams together. Yeah, I’m sure that will work out well. 

Jim “Jobber” Powers comes running out with a determined look on his face, so I guess we’re onto the next match.

Then we see this shot.

This type of thing is fine as long as the kids are in the right order. If the kid at the end isn’t there the other two are just advertising a bathroom though.

Powers’ opponent is heel DDP.

Schiavone calls DDP the “Lord of the Ring”, which fortunately never became an official nickname.

Jim Powers Vs DDP

Powers looks a bit like tarzan. Powers starts off well, but DDP soon takes control. Powers makes a strong comeback, but then...

Bang. Diamond Cutter, game over. It’s weird hearing so little pop for this move.

DDP beats Jim Powers by Pinball.

After the match, DDP calls himself the Lord of the Ring. Almost as bad as the Ringmaster.

We’re given a promo on the issues between Chris Benoit and Kevin Sullivan. 

Sullivan tries to look demonic (I think?) but ends up making a derp face.

When this promo finally ends, we’re backstage with Mean Gene and US Champ Konnan.

They both look thrilled to be there. 

Konnan is facing some guy called “El Gato” on Sunday, who Konnan says is a “legend of legendary proportions” in South America. I’m pretty sure this is a lie, as he’s talking about Pat Tanaka, who is most famously known for using Goldberg’s music before Goldberg used it.

Konnan finishes the promo speaking in Spanish whilst Mean Gene gives another look which has me laughing.

“What chu talkin’ bout, Konnan?”

We’re going back to the ring, where Meng is making his entrance.

Larry says that every challenger for the US belt should have a Green Card. It’s actually a fair point, as they’d presumably have to get one if they won the belt and had to defend it regularly. 

His opponent is a man called Sting...

The announcers are still talking about that back-hand bitch slap that Regal gave Sting. Apparently this was hugely humiliating for Sting. They say Regal will be on the program in a return match against Billy Kidman. I was hoping they were going to say Junior Adolf.

Larry mentions that Steve McMichaels may have sent Debra out to purposefully try and get the match on Sunday cancelled. Yes, they’re back on this again. Schiavone says this is nonsense, but honestly, it sort of makes sense. Mongo clearly realised last week he was teaming up with an utter imbecile. 

Meng Vs Sting

Meng backs Sting into the corner and then literally just starts smacking him in the face over and over, until they’re in the middle of the ring.

Meng does not give one fuck. Larry calls Meng a “human vegomatic”. I do not know and do not want to know what he means by that. He also says that Meng is not the kind of guy you want to “send a telegram to”. He doesn’t expand on why.

Sting hits a back body drop but then misses a drop kick off the ropes. Meng hits an elbow drop and then chokes Sting, before getting up and stomping him into the mat. This is a pretty brutal beatdown. Sting does eventually manage to take control and knocks Meng down with a series of clotheslines.

After some more back and forth, Meng decides to go to the top rope. This doesn’t work and he ends up getting crotched and falling to the mat. Sting locks in the Scorpion Deathlock.

And this one is over.

Sting defeats Meng via Submission.

For some reason Schiavone sounds stunned that Sting managed to beat a mid-card tag team wrestler. “And Sting wins AGAIN!” ... I’m not sure why he sounds so surprised. Sting wins most of his matches. The guy’s a former world champ and current Tag Team champ. Why the shock that he won a match?

Regal is coming up. Always entertaining.

Mean Gene is out the back with Debra and Heenan.

A sombre scene.

Heenan insinuates that Debra has been talking to Flair all week and all night, which she denies. He says “you want to talk to Flair? Follow me, toots”, and they walk through a door. Flair is inside with Woman and Liz. Heenan for some reason slams the door shut, and then we hear screaming. 

Debra comes running out looking dishevelled, and suddenly there are a couple of jobbers in the hallway. 

Flair and Anderson lay a beat down on them. This is apparently Joe Gomez and Renegade. An unfortunate coincidence that they just happened to be around, I guess. 

Back to the action, and out comes “Squire” Dave Taylor along with Jeeves.

I’m not convinced Dave is a legitimate squire. 

This kid is not impressed, nor is the dude beside him wearing the wifebeater and the big glasses. 

Dave Taylor’s opponent is “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan.

Tony says that he’s getting word that there are people willing to wrestle in place of Renegade and Gomez, who apparently are too badly injured to compete. What a shame.

Dave Taylor Vs Jim Duggan

Duggan yells “hoooo” as he beats up Taylor. He starts a “USA” chant. Standard stuff for Hacksaw. 

The announcers are very quickly informed that the Horsemen will now be facing Luger and Sting for the tag team titles. A slight improvement to the main event, to say the least. Sting’s pulling double duty tonight.

Meanwhile, Hacksaw and his gut start clapping and dancing around the ring.

The crowd are thrilled.

Taylor takes control of the match and chokes Duggan on the ropes. Duggan comes back and hits a clothesline, but Taylor gets a foot on the ropes. Inexpicably, Taylor does this whilst Hacksaw pulls the customary tape from his tights and wraps it around his hand.

Hacksaw smacks Taylor across the skull with his Tape of Doom, and gets the pin for a mercifully quick win.

Jim Duggan defeats Dave Taylor via Pinfall.

We get a brief Mysterio/Malenko promo, then cut to a recap of John Tenta’s infamous “I’m not a fish” promo. Gene narrates by saying “that was the announcement, he was not a... not a fish”. 

We cut backstage where Gene is with Big Bubba and Jimmy Hart.

Bubba is playing with scissors. Don’t try this at home kids. Or try to copy Bubba’s look. 

Hart tells Tenta that if you don’t pull your own weight in the Dungeon of Doom, you suffer the consequences. In Tenta’s defence, that’s a lot of weight to pull. 

Bubba says “Big John Tenta, you say you’re not a man, you say you’re not a fish any more, that you’re a man” ... not a great start. Bubba says that cutting Tenta’s hair proved he’s half a man, and that “the whole world” has been laughing at Tenta behind his back for years. This is not a nice thing to say to a guy who is clearly already pretty paranoid. Bubba says he’s going to leave Tenta laying like “the big whale” he is and sweep him out with the trash. Seems like a missed opportunity to make a beached whale reference, but whatever. Gene quips “nice beard” as Bubba walks away. Snide, especially coming from a guy with dat tasche.

Back in the arena, Gene is up again. He’s all over the show tonight. He introduces Scott Norton, “the flash”. Considering Norton’s lack of speed I have to assume his nickname does not refer to the superhero. 

Footage of Norton being chokeslammed last week airs. Gene says he needs to remind Norton of this, as if he’s already forgotten.

Norton says he took the chokeslam twice and he’s back because he doesn’t care and he isn’t scared. A good attitude to have. 

Colour co-ordinated. Sort of. We’re forty seconds away from the second hour, so Norton has to stand around and wait until the countdown ends and the fireworks go off. It would be kind of silly if they started going off during the Giant’s entrance, I suppose.

We switch to Bischoff and Heenan on commentary as the second hour begins. 

Out come Jimmy Hart and the Giant, who despite being world champion is pretty far down in the pecking order as far as overall importance goes. Bischoff calls Heenan “coach” and Heenan says “you can call me whatever you want, but always call me a winner”. Not whatever you want, then.

The Giant Vs Scott Norton

This match does not last very long. Norton gets pounded in the corner, then hit with a powerslam. Giant chokes him in the corner with his boot. Norton makes a very brief comeback before running himself into a pole on the outside and getting chokeslammed.

Match over.

The Giant beats Scott Norton via Pinfall.

After the match, Lex Luger comes out and gets into it with the Giant. In case you’ve forgotten, he has a title match against the Giant at the PPV. The announcers certainly seem to have forgotten.

Luger is tossed outside. Up until this point I hadn’t noticed the VIP area, but yes, it had been set up. Giant decides to destroy it.

Good. 

He tries to Chokeslam Luger through the table, but Luger gives him a low blow, cracks him over the head with the champagne holder and gets the fuck out of there. Giant is pissed.

“LUGERR!!!”

Giant storms to the back. Apparently he didn’t see Luger head up to the announcer’s booth.

Luger says the gloves are off and the rulebook is out the window. He’s got a lot more surprises for the Giant and will see him at the PPV.

Billy Kidman is out next and he’s just super excited to be there.

His opponent is Lord Steven Regal, who in contrast looks like he just shit himself.

Steven Regal Vs Billy Kidman

Regal gets into the ring and beats the piss out of Kidman. He recieves a dropkick to the back of the head and Kidman goes up to the top, but misses a splash. Kidman quickly submits to whatever this is.

And the match is over. Squash.

Steven Regals beats Billy Kidman via Pinfall.

Sting suddenly appears, knocks Regal down, points at him and leaves.

Humiliation avenged, I guess? Heenan says Sting must have had “a roll of ten dollar notes in his hand”. Definitely not the case and not sure how that would have helped.

The Nasty Boys make their way out...

Public Enemy come running out and immediately begin a brawl. 

The Nasty Boys Vs Public Enemy

This match lasts for far longer than it should. 

Match ends when Knobbs hits Rocco Rock with a trashcan and the match ends in disqualification. Moving on.

Public Enemy beat the Nasty Boys via Disqualification.

There is a promo video for Hulk Hogan. We then get a promo of Greeen/Mongo Vs the Horsemen, as if the announcers haven’t been going on about it literally the entire program. There’s some bizarre hillbilly music playing in the background. It makes the whole thing seem like a joke, which is strange as this is supposed to be a serious match. It’s like they found some background music for the Dukes of Hazzard and said “fuck it, that’ll do.” 

Sting’s music hits, and out come the first team for the main event...

Their opponents are, of course, Flair and Anderson, accompanied by Woman and Liz.

As usual, Arn is way back in the background. Flair yells at the camera “you know what they say Macho Man? They say lonely women make great lovers”. Probably true, but I’m not sure that’s a common saying.  

Arn is checking out dat ass.

Bischoff recaps the situation for anybody who’s “just joined us”. Considering the show is basically over it’s a bit late to tune in. WCW seems to think a lot of its fans are extremely forgetful.

Luger & Sting Vs Anderson & Flair

Flair walks over and shoves Sting, who returns the shove and causes Flair to go tumbling over.

Arn is not impressed. 

Luger and Flair start the match. Flair gives Luger some chest chops in the corner, but Luger no sells this and gives Flair a gorilla press slam followed by a couple of clotheslines. Anderson comes in and gets decked as well. The Horsemen roll outside and regroup. One of the fans does this weird hand sign and yells “booooo” at Flair...

Who totally ignores him. This is the correct course of action.

Flair gets back in the ring and the camera zooms in on Liz.

Lovely... hair.

Back in the ring Flair gets knocked down again and is hit with another gorilla press slam as Woman screams “RIIIIIC!” 

Flair does his trademark flip over the turnbuckle and runs into Sting, who decks him on the apron. 

KO.

Luger suplexes Flair back into the ring and then attempts and elbow drop, but Flair manages to roll out of the way. I don’t think Flair has hit any actual offence yet. He tags in Arn Anderson, who briefly attacks Luger before also getting knocked down. Luger tags in Sting, and Arn wants no part of that.

Bischoff asks for people to send pictures of their Nitro Parties to WCW. This is the start of something dreadful.

Anderson comes off worse against Sting and gets face planted. Flair runs in and eats his third gorilla press slam, this time from Sting. 

Flair runs out to grab a chair from the VIP section...

Then proceeds to drop it. OK.

Flair and Anderson are regrouping outside again. The match has been a total fail for them thus far. 

We go to a commercial, and when we come back Sting and Luger are still in control of the match, beating on Anderson. Flair is tagged back in.

Flair knees Sting in the gut and tries those chops to the chest in the corner, which once again do not work. He might want to reassess using this as an attack. Sting attempts to hit a Stinger Splash, but misses.

Bad times. Flair goes up to the top turnbuckle. This quite literally never ends well for him, and once again...

Fail. For a veteran, Flair sure makes a lot of the same mistakes over and over again. 

Sting hits a clothesline from the top rope and gets a two, but Arn breaks it up. Momentum stays with Sting and Luger, as Sting hits a superplex on Flair. Arn once again breaks up the pin, and Flair uses the distraction to rake Sting’s eyes. Arn is tagged in and chokes Sting on the ropes. Arn hits his patented spinebuster and gets a two. Luger comes in to break up the count, but is so slow that Sting had already kicked out by the time he got there. Focus, Lex.

Arn attempts to jump on Sting, but gets a couple of knees to the groin...

His face says it all. 

Flair is tagged back in. He chops Sting to the mat and gets a two count. Sting reverses a back suplex and nearly gets a pin. Flair goes for the Figure Four but gets rolled up. The referee is for some reason more interested in Luger, who’s just standing on the apron. By the time he gets to the count, Flair kicks out at two.

We go to another commercial break. 

When we come back, Sting is being whipped into the guard rail on the outside by Flair. They get back into the ring and go into various unsuccessful pinning combinations, before Anderson is tagged back in. Anderson tries to hit a vader bomb on Sting, but gets knees to the gut. 

Flair is tagged back in, just as Sting manages to tag in Luger. Lex beats on Flair and gives him a fourth gorilla press slam. Flair and Anderson try to double team Luger, but end up getting knocked over the ropes.

Weeee! By the way, in WCW it was supposed to be a rule that going over the top rope meant a disqualification. This was generally ignored.

After what seems to have been an unnecessarily long search, the Giant has finally found Luger.

Luger eats a forearm, but then Scott Steiner comes out to get involved.

Because, why not?

Luger, Sting and Steiner beat on the Giant. Jimmy Hart gets between them and begs the Giant to leave. Giant sees sense and walks away. Bischoff says the crowd are chanting “Luger, Luger”. They are definitely not.

Mean Gene is out sticking his beak in everybody’s business again. Giant yells that Luger is a dead man. He promises that Luger will leave the PPV on a stretcher. Ominous.

Luger & Sting Vs Flair & Anderson ends in a No Contest.

We cut back to the announce booth, where Bischoff tries to recap what’s just happened. Rather than go along with this, Heenan launches into a rant about how Macho Man won’t lay a hand on him. He stops short and scampers, because...

Scott “not Razor Ramone” Hall has shown up. 

Bischoff grabs a microphone and says he doesn’t want any trouble, but then goads Hall about the “big surprise”, asking where it is.

There it is.

For some reason, Bischoff completely ignores Hall’s pointing and only reacts once Kevin Nash grabs his shoulder and spins him around. Nash grabs the microphone.

“You’ve been sitting out here for six months, running your mouth. This is where the big boys play, huh? Look at the adjective, “play”, we ain’t here to play. Now he [Hall] said last week that he was going to bring somebody out here. I’m here. You still don’t have your three people, and you know why? Because nobody wants to face us. This show is about as interesting as Marge Schott reading excerpts from Mein Kampf.”

Another Hitler reference. Did Regal help write this promo? Bischoff says he wants no trouble, and Nash replies “yeah, no trouble, because I’ll kick your teeth down your throat. Where’s your three guys? What, you couldn’t get a paleontologist to get a couple of these fossils cleared? You ain’t got enough guys off a dialysis machine to get a team? Where’s Hogan? Where’s Hogan? Out doing another episode of Blunder in Paradise? (ouch!) Where’s the Macho Man, huh? Doing some Slim Jim commercial? Hey, we’re here. You wanna say something?”

Nash shoves the mic in Bischoff’s face. Ken Doll takes the mic and says he doesn’t have the authority to do anything now, and if Nash wants a fight, it isn’t with him. He tells Nash that tomorrow morning at nine o’clock he’ll be in the offices in Atlanta and he’ll try and get them their fight.He tells them they can show up at the Great American Bash and they might get a fight.

Hall and Nash say that they’ll be there. Nash says “bring what you got. The measuring stick just changed around here buddy, you’re looking at it.”

Nash then shoves the microphone into Bischoff’s chest so hard he falls back onto the announce desk. Hall and Nash mug to the crowd as Bischoff makes the sign to cut the program.

An excellent promo from Nash here. At the time a lot of his references went over my head, as I was so young, and I still had to google Marge Schott. This was a sign of things to come, as Nitro began to move away from its standard format and into a more chaotic era.  

[atomicdrop]

Rey Mysterio Jr. (WCW 1999)

On  February 21, 1999 as part of SuperBrawl IX Rey Mysterio Jr. and his tag team partner, Konnan, took on the team of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash in a Hair vs. Mask match. As could be expected Rey and Konnan came up short and Rey Mysterio Jr. was forced to unmask, revealing himself to have the face of a seven year old boy. Konnan, already having his head shaved just sort of shrugged his shoulders I suppose.

Of the unmasking, Rey Mysterio later said, “I was strongly against it! I don't think WCW understood what the mask meant to me, to my fans and to my family. It was a very bad move on their behalf. The fans wanted Rey Mysterio with the mask and losing it hurt me a lot. It was also frustrating that it didn't come as the climax to a feud with another masked wrestler, but in a throwaway match. The same thing happened to Juventud and Psicosis and psychologically wise it was a bad move by Eric Bischoff. I think the fans understand that I was in a position where I had no option. I either had to lose my mask or lose my job.”

[wwelivestream247]

Dave Meltzer On Samoa Joe Invades AJ Styles Family | WWE Smackdown Live Review

Dave Meltzer On Samoa Joe Invades AJ Styles Family | WWE Smackdown Live Review

Click Here to See WWE Live Stream Event (SmackDown) For More Daily Wrestling Locations, Interviews and Wrestling Pod-casts. Here you get Dave Meltzer, Bryan Alvarez, Booker Capital t, Edge & Christian, Philip Jericho, Jim Cornette, Konnan, Storm & Cyrus, Sort Keller, Mark Henry, Tazz, stone cold steve austin tx, Jim Ross, Chasing fame, The Raven Effect, X-Pac and more. So , Please Sign up Our…

[latestnews2018-blog]

Jeff Jarrett On Whether WWE Would Ever Revive WCW

New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/jeff-jarrett-on-whether-wwe-would-ever-revive-wcw/

Jeff Jarrett On Whether WWE Would Ever Revive WCW

WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett was recently interviewed by the Lock Up podcast and discussed a variety of topics of his career as a pro wrestler. Jarrett discussed WCW, and how one of the biggest reasons of its demise is that non-wrestlers ran a wrestling company.

The demise of WCW was a significant reason why TNA was birthed, because to Jarrett, “you can never have a number 1 unless there is a number 2.” Jarrett was also asked whether WWE would ever revive WCW as a brand.

“I don’t believe so,” said Jarrett. “I think you’ll see bits and pieces of what [we saw]. I think that the War Games, the things that, you know, Starrcade last year, but I think they’ll take bits and pieces of that nostalgia and monetize it. But as an overall brand, I think NXT speaks for itself how a smashing success that is that if they’re going to invest in a new brand, it’s gonna be new. And that makes a lot of sense.”

After being inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame this year, Jarrett returned to the ring. However, it was for the AAA promotion, and his surprise entrance in the Rey Mysterio vs. Rey Wagner match, along with some rogue tactics which included Konnan perpetrating as La Parka, led to his second reign as Mega Champion.

Jarrett commented on making an in-ring return at the age of 51.

“The beginning of this year, the very end of last year, I sort of recommitted myself from a bunch of different points of view, but physically, I’m in as good of physical shape that I’ve been in seven, eight, 10 years.”

Jarrett credits DDP Yoga as a big motivator of why he feels in good shape. As far as competing in the WWE again, Jarrett responded, “dot, dot, dot,” intentionally leaving that question unanswered. He also admitted that his guitars were gimmicked throughout his career.

If any portion of these quotes are used, please be sure to credit the Lock Up podcast via Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Source: Lock Up

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