#although i do enjoy the chaos of uso

[love-hold]

hi tennisblr! we’re currently in that weird transition after slams and i’ve been thinking about the different periods of the tennis season. so i’m curious:

(idk why i keep on making polls but here we are)

explain yourself in the tags! (i don’t mind long tags, i love reading them)

reblog if you can :)

[thecheesiestcheese]

Hey everyone! I know I haven’t posted on here in forever, but I was going through some old notes of mine on my phone and came across this old piece of work that never found the light of day. Figured I’d let you all give it a read. I tried to fix any grammar mistakes, but there’s probably still a few. I also have a second chapter that’s pretty much done as well, just sitting there collecting dust. Hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you all think!

Bella Bonding Survival 101

This was not going to end well.

Beca just knew it.

Every time the Bellas do team bonding, something always goes wrong. For example, during their first year together, the girls decided to have their first official bonding session at the city park close to Barden.

Chloe and Aubrey were setting up everything they brought for a picnic later on, while Jessica and Ashley found a place beside a tree, cuddling with a book in each of their hands. Beca could be found sitting down with her back against a tree, headphones on and eyes closed, not having anything to do, since she wasn’t allowed to bring her laptop along, due to a certain redhead’s insistence of needing to enjoy nature and maybe Aubrey’s threat of ‘pitch’ing the laptop far, far away. Amy, Stacie, and Cynthia Rose were down a little ways walking along the side of the city pond, Amy seeming to take an interest in mocking the geese nearby. Lilly was nowhere to be seen, although Beca swore she saw her in a tree earlier shooting acorns at squirrels.

A few minutes go by when Beca feels a presence beside her. After quickly debating whether or not to acknowledge who was there, the brunette decides to open her eyes just in case its the she-demon herself there to take away her music as well. Luckily enough, she is greeted by a smiling Chloe looking down at her. Not even needing to know what the redhead was wanting, Beca pats the ground beside her offering an invitation. Chloe’s smile grows even wider, making her nose crinkle and plops down beside the small brunette immediately grabbing one of Beca’s earphones for herself. Being use to Chloe and her rule for no boundaries, Beca let’s her. As they sit there, the small brunette starts to zone out only to practically jump into the air due to a loud scream, followed by shouting.

Gathering her bearings, Beca looks down to the pond to see something out of a circus and couldn’t help but to laugh. It seemed that the geese that Amy was mocking had finally had enough and was chasing the trio around the pond.

Stacie could be seen throwing one of her shoes, completely missing the target while Cynthia Rose and Amy made their way around the pond, all the while Amy could be heard shouting, “Vertical running! I’m vertical running!”

The rest of the girls laughed as they watched the chaos happen in front of them. They all stopped though, when they noticed the three Bellas heading their way with the geese right behind them.

Eyes widening, Beca scrambles to her feet, helping Chloe up, joining the rest of the Bellas and making a run for it.

That day ended with them soaking wet and smelling like wet dog.

Another time for team bonding was when the Bellas were preparing for the World Championships.

Granted, it was technically Beca’s own fault for not paying attention to where she was going. In her defense, she was too heated to take in her surroundings.

That day ended with Beca in a bear trap.

Don’t get her wrong, team bonding is fun and she loves the Bellas, but Beca is starting to see a pattern and she’s growing weary of it.

That’s why when the idea of skydiving as a team bonding exercise was introduced by none other than Aubrey, Beca immediately shot it down.

“No. Absolutely not,” the small brunette shakes her head, not wanting to hear another word.

“Aww, but Beca, imagine the bonding time we could have,” Chloe pouts throwing her best puppy-dog eyes at the brunette. “Most of us haven’t seen each other in months and I think this would be a perfect way to catch up, especially while on tour!” The redhead exclaims while also taking Beca’s hand in her own, squeezing it.

Looking between Chloe and the rest of the girls, she’s met with pouts from all sides. “Fine.” She mutters. She’s quickly engulfed in a hug by Chloe making her blush then someone in the distance yells ‘Group hug!’ making all the Bellas rush in, crushing Beca further into her best friend.

Once the hugging fest was over, the girls decided to grab dinner at a small French Bistro they saw a few days ago while they were out shopping, getting a break from the USO tour. They all get back to their hotel in one piece, the girls splitting up.

Amy, Emily, and Flo head over to the bar, Amy already calling for shots all around. Jessica and Ashley head over to claim a table big enough for the gang. Lilly and Cynthia Rose started a game of pool, Lilly looking like she won the jackpot. And Chloe disappears once she sees Chicago, saying that he could get them free access to skydiving. Beca frowns slightly as she watches Chloe run into Chicago’s arms. An arm is draped around her shoulder pulling her focus away from the scene playing out in front of her.

“Keep frowning and your face will be stuck like that,” Stacie smirks.

Shrugging the taller brunette’s arm off her shoulder, Beca glares, crossing her arms. “Thanks,” she deadpans her face still impassive.

“I think it’s been permanent since freshman year,” Aubrey remarks making her way over and hands over a drink to each of the brunettes.

“Do I even want to know what’s in this?” the small brunette asks cringing catching a strong whiff of alcohol.

The tall blonde just smirks. “You looked like you needed it.”

Beca rolls her eyes. “Shouldn’t you guys be over at the bar or something?” motioning her hand towards the bar where Amy was giving Emily shot after shot of god knows what. She should probably stop them, but Stacie grabs her arm and starts pulling her over to Jessica and Ashley, Aubrey following closely behind.

“You need to relax. Let loose a little of that pent up frustration.” Stacie’s voice is muffled while drinking whatever concoction Aubrey gave her. Setting her glass down, a sly smile appears on the leggy brunette’s face, her eyes glinting with something Beca couldn’t quite figure out, but had a feeling it wasn’t going to be anything good. “Maybe we need to find you a tall blonde, I’m sure we could find someone here.”

“Dude! No!”

“I’m not sleeping with Beca!”

The loud commotion could be heard throughout the whole bar, catching the attention of many onlookers, including the girls at the bar. Emily could be seen spitting mid drink, eyes wide, Flo patting her back as she makes some comment related to Guatemala.

Amy quickly makes her way over. “Aww yeah, Shawshank! If I hear moaning of ‘auu-beca’ tonight,” pointedly looking at the tall blonde, “I’ll be taking twenty dollars to go out. I don’t know how you could pass up a good bloe though.” She comments while setting down a tray of shots that the girls were going to down, sooner rather than later.

Both of the girls groan, Beca’s face growing red, Aubrey’s showing disgust. “I would have to be completely inebriated before I even thought about sleeping with the hobbit.” Aubrey takes a long drink grimacing as the alcohol burned down her throat.

Beca raised her hand in the air, her head facedown on the table. “Likewise.”

Stacie rolls her eyes. “I wasn’t implying that you two should get together.” Groans could be heard. “But now that you mention it, I’m thinking I should have.” The tall brunette smirks. “Don’t worry Aubs, I know you’re more interested in taller brunettes.” She winks making Aubrey blush.

“Wait, what are y-?” Amy gets cut off.

“Nothing! She’s implying nothing.” The blonde stresses looking anywhere, but the Bellas.

Actually feeling bad for Aubrey, which never in a million years did she think she would ever feel anything other than anger towards the former Bellas captain until they spent time together outside of a cappella learning that they actually had more in common then they thought, Beca drags the focus back on her.

“So,” she clears her throat, “If not Aubrey, then who were you suggesting?” The shorter brunette shifts nervously in her seat averting her eyes every time she made contact with Stacie, having an inkling that she already knew who she was referring to. Stacie was grinning like the cat who caught the canary.

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me...”she drags the wait out knowing she was making the brunette squirm, “..little maus.”

Beca covers her face with her hands too embarrassed to look at the girls. “Don’t remind me.” Knowing they most likely won’t believe her, Beca still tries to convince them. “She was just intimidating. She’s freakishly tall and we all know I’m small.” She shrugs looking indifferent when really inside she was anything but that.

“Alright shortie, you keep saying that, but we really know what you mean.” Amy winks. Beca just groans. She’s definitely not getting out of this one.

“Now wait you guys!” Emily blurts out. “I mean she was intimidating. Who wouldn’t be!” She exclaims loudly waving her hands around in the air. “I mean, she did call Beca a troll,” she drawls, “but tiny maus is a term of endearment soo...” Emily trails off. “Yeah, I’ve got nothing.” She slightly shrugs giving Beca a look of apology.

“Just face it Beca, you were interested in Kommissar, I’m pretty sure we all were.” Stacie claims, the other Bellas nodding along even Amy. “I don’t blame you. Besides, I think the German goddess was interested right back. In fact, I’m kind of surprised she didn’t try anything now that I think about it,” Stacie mentions, a curious look upon her face.

Someone coughs. “Oh, I know exactly why she didn’t.” The girls all face Cynthia Rose who looks like she knew one of the top secrets in the world.

Even Beca becomes curious as she gets closer to the edge of her seat. “Well?” Beca starts to grow impatient.

Cynthia Rose locks eyes with the tiny brunette. “Let’s just say a fiery fox seemed to have their claws in someone, not letting them out of their sight.” Smirking, she continues. “If that wasn’t the case, Kommissar would’ve ate you up...if you know what I mean.” C.R. winks.

At that moment Chloe seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Hey guys!” She beams. “So Chicago said we could do tomorrow afternoon if that worked for everybody.” Chloe is only met with silence. “What’s up?”

She looks around the group, eyes finally landing on Beca who seemed to be showing all signs of embarrassment. “Uh, what’s going on? What’d you guys do to our poor little DJ?” She coos taking the empty seat by Beca. The redhead wraps the brunette in her arms in a hug. “What’s got you all embarrassed?” She asks sneaking a quick sip of the brunette’s drink.

Beca remains silent.

“Oh, Shawshank has just realized that Kommissar was interested in her. She would’ve ate her up, if you know what I mean.” Amy says repeating the last part that C.R. said.

Beca could feel Chloe’s arms around her tighten.

“What?!What do you mean?” The redhead demands, eyes narrowed with a hint of agitation in her voice. “That dummkopf is the enemy! She just wanted to get into your head.” Chloe fumes.

Beca refuses to make eye contact. She could feel Chloe’s stare burning a hole in the side of her head.

“Well, it worked,” Beca mutters.

“You’ve got that right little shortie!” Amy and Stacie hi-five.

“She had you all kinds of flustered.” Stacie fans her face jokingly. “But who can blame you? It’s hard to resist tall intimidating blondes. Stacie comments winking at Aubrey.

Aubrey rolls her eyes. “Can we just move on from this conversation?”

Chloe immediately jumps in. “Yes! I think we need to forget about the past and talk about the present.” The redhead nods her head seeming to need to reassure herself. Beca finally looks up, making eye contact with Chloe beside her. Chloe sends her a smile, her face still holding a slight look of irritation. Beca sends a small smile back receiving a tiny squeeze from Chloe’s hand. They’re both interrupted from their staring contest by the girls laughing.

“Damn Em! I never thought I’d hear you say that!” Cynthia Rose laughs clapping the younger brunette’s back.

“Oh look, Bloe has decided to grace us with their presence again,” Amy announces. The rest of the Bellas were still laughing at whatever Emily said. “Hey, aca-child, wanna tell our two captains what you said?” Amy nudges Emily with her arm. Emily’s face turns bright red, but what she says next she can’t stop. Later, she’d tell them that it was because of the alcohol.

It’d already be too late.

“If we can’t find a tall blonde, other than Aubrey.” The blonde sends her a grateful look. “Then I think we could find a tall brunette who maybe or maybe not also has an interest in music and is here. As in the hotel....right now...Over at the bar.” Emily points her finger, the others follow with their eyes.

“O-M-ACA-G! Emily! She’s just as bad as that blonde giant!” Chloe shouts standing up and grabbing the attention of the Bellas and even the group of girls at the bar. Beca shrinks down into her chair, gulping down what was left of her drink.

“Hey Red!” Amy holds her hands up in slight fear, “Take it easy! We’re just stating the obvious.” The blonde looks over at Beca. “I mean, you did say that she smelt like vanilla and complimented her outfit, right?” The rest of the Bellas hold their breath, torn between what Beca’s reaction would be, but also fearing for her life or Amy’s.

“What the hell Beca?!” could be heard throughout the room.

Beca just groans.

She’s actually starting to wish that she was skydiving right now.

Instead she sinks further into her seat, face burning.

Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

[flipflap-flipflap]

[Alright take-two on this damn post.  First one got eaten by post editor right as I was ready to post.  You see how long this is?  Save to drafts, kids.]

I’m here to shove a manga on you: Ookami Shounen Wa Kyou Mo Uso O Kasaneru (The Boy Who Cried Wolf Also Told a Lie Today).  It’s a gender bending romance.  Despite how awful that probably sounds, it’s actually really fucking good and I do not say that lightly. 

(No spoilers, this is all in the first chapter)  A high school boy insecure about his intimidating face, Itsuki, has fallen for a shy loner girl, Tokujira, who does not seem specifically phased by his naturally scary face.  So he takes a risk and confesses, but she turns him down brutally.  Itsuki goes to his sister to lament his insecurities about his face, which he (more or less correctly) attributes as why he can’t make connections.  To give him a new perspective on his appearance, his sister (trans btw) gives him a makeover while he’s sleeping and then kicks him to the curb of her salon - fully crossdressed.  On his way home, Itsuki (♀) ends up bumping into Tokujira, and she mistakes him for a boyish girl.  Under this misunderstanding, she asks "her” for a favor...

She has androphobia, and she has it bad.  So much so she can’t even look at men without snapping violently or becoming physically ill.  And Itsuki (♀) is just boyish enough to trigger her, but not enough to lock her down.  So she asks for “her” help, to see if she can desensitize herself to her phobia. Itsuki’s in a bind for a couple obvious reasons, not the least being the guilt of deceiving Tokujira. But nonetheless, he genuinely wants to help her.  So, he decides to continue crossdressing, diving into a lie that he soon finds he has no easy exit from.

I really recommend this manga.  I cannot say that enough times.  It is phenomenal, shattering tropes left and right in fun and interesting ways.  Do yourself a favor and give this manga a try.

Personal feelings and meta analysis below the cut.  It’s, uh, ungodly long, and will get very spoilery.  But I will flag spoilers.  And there will be pretty pictures?

(Also, no, I did not go into this planning to compare a manga about crossdressing to the abolitionist writings of Frederick Douglass, but reality deserves to be a bit absurd sometimes.)

Before you think I’m getting spoilery, with the intro I gave or anything I don’t mark as spoilers, I’m really not.  Everything outside of spoilers is right on the package at the start.  It sounds like I’m spoiling late-game stuff, right?  That’s something that was really fantastic to me: this manga doesn’t spoon feed you.  There’s no arcs of pure silent angst, even at the lowest point in the story. These kids are smart, they think and intuit on the spot, and they share what they’re feeling with each other like good friends do.  Like that next panel down there with Itsuki introspecting about his confidence level while crossdressing?  That’s from the first chapter!  These kids are smart.  And god damn that is so nice to see.

There was a lot I liked about this manga, but at the top is how compelling the protagonist and his internal conflict are.  Right from the first chapter he’s already wracked with guilt about what he’s about to do: deceive this girl by pretending to be a safe space.  But Tokujira told Itsuki (♀) she hopes to one day be able to fall in love, and Itsuki wants to ensure she can have that - even if it’s not him that gets to confess to her.  He’s fully aware of exactly how fucked up what he’s doing is, and is appropriately beating himself up over it in a really realistic way.  But although the guilt never fades, it slowly gains company in happiness. He enjoys this new, fragile life he has constructed around the two precious new friends he's made as a girl.

It was probably easy to gloss over in the synopsis, but arguably the biggest part of Itsuki (♂)’s conflict is his complex about his face.  He looks dangerous, and because of that he is afraid to even lift his head or smile in front of others.  But as Itsuki (♀), he smiles and laughs without fear.  It becomes immediately clear to him on the first day that he's a more confident person while crossdressing.  Happier in a way he can't be as a man.

Botan is easily my favorite character in the series.  She’s introduced early on, as Tokujira’s first and only friend before Itsuki (♀).  At the start she’s a dangerous third wheel, a serious threat to Itsuki’s ability to keep up his lie.  And though the situation is (thankfully) defused rather quickly, she becomes a massive source of internal conflict for Itsuki. Nonetheless, she becomes a dear friend for both Itsuki ♂ and ♀. She’s just so...*chef’s kiss*

^This face is the repository of all my love and affection.

Mark my words, this is the first and I assume last time I will ever say this: love triangle good. You know it’s inevitable in a romance genre piece, but this manga approaches the trope in a new and compelling way. [Spoiler] Needless to say, it’s between Itsuki, Tokujira, and Botan.  But...there’s two Itsukis involved, ♂ and ♀, and in the center of it all is this lie. His lie stops being about him: it's about not hurting these two girls he cares so much about. [/Spoiler]

On a more personal note, I saw so much of myself in Itsuki’s older sister, Ibuki.  She runs a salon, catering especially to crossdressers and transwomen.  She’s a self-described “Youthling”, an alien from the planet Youth, obsessed with observing the exciting and turbulent lives of the youths of earth.  For more or less for the same reasons most of us do: transpeople don’t tend to get the youths we want, if we allow ourselves to experience youth at all. So it’s nice to be able to enjoy it vicariously, through this younger generation that is able to more fearlessly pursue the lives we couldn't. 

^Incidentally, one of my favorite interactions in the manga.

Despite getting Itsuki into this crossdressing mess, she’s someone he can always return to and confide in, and get good, helpful advice from.  Her whole philosophy is to give young people agency to explore their identities and find themselves, and though she tells Itsuki the road he's taking is dangerous as soon as she learns what he's doing, she'll always support him however she can.

That, I feel, is what separates her from other, more creepy/pedophilic enabler types, like Sawako from K-On! or Lucoa from Dragon Maid. It’s a refreshingly honest and respectful portrayal of a quirky adult just trying to be a good older sister.

The last thing I want to say, and I’m not going to even mark this as a spoiler because of course it’s going to happen and if you can’t predict that then you’re not my problem, is that Itsuki of course eventually has to drop his lie.  All I’ll say about it is that it is probably going to live in my head for years. Everything about it, the lead up, the execution, the fallout, and the recovery, are all so masterfully crafted for maximum emotional impact.

That’s all I want to say exclusively about my personal feelings.  On to analysis.  There will be a lot more contextual spoilers here that, even without reading the parts I’ve specially blocked off will probably leak through.  Read at your own risk, but I would recommend revisiting after you have finished the manga.

One thing I really want to talk about is language.  That’s right, I’m going to compare a crossdressing manga to The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the autobiography of a freed slave turned abolitionist. Douglass talks about a concept that has remained imprinted on my mind ever since I first read it: how and why slaves struggled to comprehend the concept of freedom.  This wasn’t anything to do with fear or “racial inferiority” like pro-slavers would argue, but rather with a lack of vocabulary.  They have all of these feelings and things they know to be true, but lack the words to make meaningful sense of them.  For Douglass specifically, his life completely changed when he learned the word “abolition.”  It was like a floodgate burst, as he was suddenly able to put meaning to feeling, create context from chaos.

And that’s right, we see that happen in a big way, with Tokujira.  This should be an obvious development, but as it happens late in the manga I will mark it [Spoiler].  As Tokujira and Itsuki (♀) practice things like talking, eye contact, holding hands, etc., Tokujira naturally starts to fall for Itsuki (♀).  But she doesn’t understand that.  An important part of her character is that, growing up, she focused on expanding her vocabulary as much as humanly possible in the hopes of being able to better articulate herself.  So words are very important to her.  It’s not until she sees a work of lesbian fiction on display that she finally realizes that’s the word she’s looking for.  The floodgate bursts, and all of her emotions suddenly make sense.  She realizes she loves Itsuki (♀). [/Spoiler]

And I think that is a vital and underexplored concept when discussing LGBT youth, especially in countries where even knowledge of these concepts is taboo.  The reason so many LGBT youth struggle with their identities, especially trans youth, is because we do not have the vocabulary to conceptualize our feelings.  I am always excited to see this concept play out, especially in this context.  It’s such an important thing that needs to be addressed more broadly.

Moving on, I want to talk about historical context of the genre as it relates to what the author did here.  Notably, I want to talk about a specific trope rampant in Japanese queer fiction, specifically early lesbian fiction: the idea that queerdom is a meaningless, youthful phase that children will naturally and inevitably grow out of.  It’s problematic for obvious reasons.

[HELLA HELLA SPOILERS]  My kneejerk reaction to the ending of this manga was that the author fell into this trope.  In the end, Itsuki comes to the conclusion that he does not need to crossdress.  So again, kneejerk.  But...it really wasn’t like that.  He never had any dysphoria; crossdressing was always just a necessity of his circumstance.  Nonetheless he learned to analyze and value his experience crossdressing as a woman, and because of that grew as a man.  And as part of his journey to understand his identity we, through him, see why some people crossdress.  Along with his example, we see why his sister, a bona fide post-op transsexual, has made it a permanent change to her life.  Likewise, we see Miyama, who crossdresses purely for the gender euphoria, but has no (stated) interest in going all the way.  These are all presented as valid and meaningful. [/Spoiler]

Crossdressing, and gender nonconformity in general, is portrayed not as some one-dimensional fetish like cultural taboo would depict it to be, but rather a meaningful exercise for exploring and critically analyzing your own identity.  For some, yes, it’s a phase, but an importantly transformative one when done right.  While for others, it is a gateway to a new way of experiencing and enjoying life.  Or, it’s fun just for the pragmatic reasons...

I honestly cannot recommend this manga enough.  Tragically, I cannot imagine it ever getting an official english translation, so you’ll have to settle for a  scanlation like the one I linked in the title up top (and here, again).  It’s a really good translation, though the site is predictably sketchy.  Warning for lots of NSFW ads.

Read it, and then come talk to me about it!!!  There is basically zero fan community and I need to fangirl with someone!

[wrestlingisfake]

Dominion preview

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega - This is for the IWGP heavyweight championship.  Omega challenged Okada for the title at Wrestle Kingdom 11 back in January, and came up short in a 46-minute epic.  I think almost everybody who saw the first Okada/Omega match enjoyed the hell out of it.  Dave Meltzer thought it was so far beyond anything he’d seen that he literally gave it six stars out of five.  So there’s been demand for a rematch since the moment the first match ended, and a whole lot of hype to live up to.

I want to avoid kissing the ass of the first match, except to say that it turned me on to Okada, which is extremely impressive.  Before I thought he was New Japan’s Randy Orton, in that I find Randy Orton dull as shit.  I can’t even imagine seeing an Orton match in 2017 that’s so good I become an Orton fan, but that’s what Okada/Omega I pulled off.  I wanted Kenny to run rings around that wet blanket and have a star-defining performance, but Okada held his own and played the role of a champion who won’t let a great challenger walk over him.

It’s unlikely this match will get the unreserved adulation of the first.  A lot of people are going to be scrutinizing this, including people who thought everybody made too much out of the first match.  My advice is to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.  Okada has been having a really good run of title matches for the past year, so it’s best to anticipate another really good match instead of some insanely godlike match.

Everybody is expecting Omega to finally win the title, but we all expected that last time.  The key seed Omega planted for the rematch is that he never actually hit his finisher on Okada, so we still don’t know if that will make the difference.  In theory, the Canadian Omega would be a better ambassador for the California tour in July than the Japanese Okada, so that sounds like a reason to do a title change.  But honestly, at this point I take Okada seriously as a world-class global champion, and if he beats Omega again, I think everyone will.

I don’t know who’s going to win.  I kinda don’t care.  I just gotta see this match.  Even if they fuck it up and let everyone down, that’s going to be huge news, and I’d want to see the trainwreck.  But I’m willing to bet they do pretty damn well.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - Tanahashi is challenging for the IWGP intercontinental title. 

This is Tanahashi’s first big match since he was pulled off the road on May 18 due to a torn right biceps.  He didn’t get surgery, and he hasn’t had nearly enough downtime to let the tear heal on its own (if that’s even possible with such a severe rupture).  It is a short-sighted mistake to not scrap this match, and I think it’ll be tough to watch just like when Rey Mysterio did something like this in 2008.  I’m not a fan of this.

What really scares me is the thought that Tana and New Japan expect that he can gut his way through entire G1 Climax tournament (July 17-August 13).  Ideally, a big injury angle will cut this match short and send him home for (at least) the rest of the year.  But the circumstances of the storyline may work against that idea.  Since winning the intercontinental championship, Naito has abused the belt to the point that it is literally falling apart.  The angle is clearly that Tanahashi has to win the title if only to save the title belt.  Having him fail–even due to a legit injury–really screws up the storytelling, which may be half the reason there’s so much pressure for him to make the date.

This is probably not going to be fun at all.  I’d like to think a Naito win and a big Tanahashi beatdown are assured, but I can’t rule out the possibility that Tanahashi wins the title and pretends to have two working arms for the rest of the summer.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Hirooki Goto - Goto lost the NEVER openweight title to Suzuki in April, so this is the rematch.  It’s a lumberjack match, so the ring will be surrounded by wrestlers to prevent either participant from going out to the floor. 

I haven’t seen this stated anywhere, but I presume the lumberjacks will be Goto’s teammates in CHAOS and Suzuki’s henchmen in Suzuki-gun.  The entire Suzuki-gun stable is notorious for turning matches into brawls outside the ring, so hypothetically lumberjack rules would help maintain order.  In practice, though, this just means more guys are going to be at ringside when Suzuki-gun inevitably starts a fight.  The fight may be more fair, but it’s bound to happen and color this match.  That works in Suzuki’s favor, so I’m pretty sure Goto is fucked.

Hiromu Takahashi vs. KUSHIDA - Last week Kushida won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament to earn the right to challenge Takahashi for the IWGP junior heavyweight championship.  It’s a necessary first step towards redemption after Kushida was absolutely spanked in a humiliating two-minute loss to Takahashi back in April.  To fully recover, he absolutely needs a title win here–not a 25-minute back-and-forth loss, not a tie, not a moral victory, but a championship.  Whether he gets it or not remains to be seen.  They wouldn’t have booked that squash match if they weren’t super-serious about Hiromu, so they may be so super-serious that they’ll just totally throw Kushida under the bus for him.  It’s hard to bet against Takahashi right now.

Michael Elgin vs. Cody Rhodes - Cody has been riding the wave of his dramatic departure from WWE and whirlwind tour through every other promotion.  But the honeymoon is nearly over and I can’t see him coasting much further on a “hottest free agent in wrestling” gimmick.  His matches need to start being about what he’s doing now, not where he’s been and who he’s related to.  He seems to have settled into Ring of Honor and New Japan as a member of Bullet Club, but I haven’t seen his work since his first NJPW match in January, so I’m eager to see what he’s got.  Elgin is his toughest opponent yet in New Japan, and a win here would probably mean that he’s moving up to bigger things.  I figure both guys will be eligible for the G1 no matter who wins this, but a victory for Cody probably means a championship match later this year.  I’m going with Rhodes to win.

Raymond Rowe & Hanson vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa - Rowe and Hanson are War Machine–the defending IWGP heavyweight tag team champions–and Tonga and Roa are the Guerillas of Destiny.  Both teams are the kind of stuff you can’t get in WWE, which is good.  Imagine the Ascension if anybody gave a shit and the Usos if they looked like they would murder you.  War Machine in particular has freshened up the roster, since the New Japan fans love big monster teams but haven’t really had one in a while.  I’m pulling for Rowe and Hanson to retain and get some of the momentum that gave Michael Elgin a boost a couple of years ago.

Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero vs. Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson - Beretta and Romero–Roppongi Vice–are defending the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team title.  The Young Bucks are the ROH tag team champions, but that isn’t on the line.  These two teams have held the junior tag title for 550 of the last 850 days, and I’m getting a little tired of seeing them trade off.  I assume the Bucks win to keep the feud going perpetually.

5-Team Gauntlet Match - The NEVER openweight six-man tag team championship is at stake, with these five trios competing for it:

SANADA & EVIL & BUSHI (the defending champions, from Los Ingobernables de Japon)

Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI (from CHAOS)

Ryusuke Taguchi & Juice Robinson & Ricochet (from Taguchi Japan)

Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page (from Bullet Club)

Zack Sabre, Jr. & Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (from Suzuki-gun)

“Taguchi Japan” is kind of a made-up faction, where Taguchi has been feuding with LIJ and doing a spoof of them with any of the non-aligned babyfaces that want to team up with him.  He’s actually won the six-man title from LIJ a couple of times this year, although that was with teams that featured Tanahashi.

The rules for this match haven’t been made clear (or at least, not in English), but I assume it’ll be like the gauntlet match at Wrestle Kingdom 11: Two teams start, whichever team scores a fall goes on to face the next team, and so on until only one team is left.  The order of entry may or may not be random, so I don’t know if the champions are guaranteed to get the last spot, which would be a massive advantage.

You’ve got three heel stables in this match, and the two face teams feature  Yano and Taguchi, so I’m expecting a lot of shenanigans.  I’m kinda thinking excessive shenanigans favors Suzuki-gun, and a win for them would help put Sabre on the map.  Then again it’s the NEVER six-man title so it sort of doesn’t matter who has it.  But this is the doorknob of New Japan, and everybody gets a turn, so a title change is all but assured.

Togi Makabe & Yuji Nagata & Tiger Mask W & Tiger Mask IV vs. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jushin Thunder Liger & Manabu Nakanishi - This is your standard undercard eight-man tag match.  Not much to analyze here except that Kojima has been doing homage spots for Tomoaki Honma (who was injured in March), which might get awkward when Honma’s partner Makabe is on the opposite team.  Liger just finished up an emotional final run in the Super Juniors tournament, so it’d be nice if he picked up the win here.

David Finlay & Tomoyuki Oka & Syota Unimo vs. Katusya Kitamura & Hirai Kawato & Tetsuhiro Yagi - They’ve basically put all the rookies in this pre-show match.  Finlay stopped being a Young Lion last year, but he still has to sit at the kids’ table.  Pretty sure that’s enough to ensure victory for his team.

[gamerssphere]

We already had our Wrestlemania for NXT on Friday. It is time for RAW, SmackDown and 205 Live to have theirs. We have about 7 hours or show ahead of us. Sit tight, grab a drink and enjoy the ride. This is Wrestlemania 35!

Disclaimer: this is written as the event goes on. Expect more images to be added after the article is initially published.

Pre-Show

Cruiserweight Championship

The very first match of the event is Tony Nese against Buddy Murphy. We start off with the Goliath’s of 205 Live. Of course, the WWE would always show how little they respect these superstars by playing ads about the main show during their match. I don’t even know why I keep mentioning this.

We see a really technical match between these two. Completely worth mentioning how the champion was hit in the eye rather early, getting him to bleedsince the beginning of the match. This is the kind of entertainment we are going to be getting tonight. Interestingly enough, and given how these two were friends before, Nese is the one dominating the match. He is anticipating every single move the champ is trying to throw at him.

In the end, we we have a brand new champion as Tony Nese is able to finally pin Murphy. A new era starts now for 205 Live!

Women’s Battle Royale

The second match of the night is the second annual Women’s Battle Royal, a match which started super fast with many superstars getting eliminated quickly.

The main highlights from the match come from the teamwork done by the Riott Squad. Ruby, Liv and Sarah worked together to eliminate a few superstars. This was all great until Dana Brooke countered them to the point of eliminating two of the three members of the team. We are down to the last three: Asuka, Sarah Logan and Sonya Deville. Asuka starts to attack, gets Sonya out and gets thrown out of the ring by Sarah. We all think she won, but no. She didn’t yet. Carmella was out of the ring.

In the end, Carmella eliminates Sarah to be the second ever winner of this annual match.

Raw Tag Team Championship

The last minute addition to Wrestlemania is here as The Revival defend their belts against Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder. Could this be the time when Hawkins breaks his record for most consecutive loses?

Throughout the entire match we see The Revival controlling the match. For some reason, they prefer to fight against Zack instead of Curt, though.

We finally see Hawkins coming in, he is attacking the members of The Revival, not only attacking, but dominating them. This is what wrestling fans are here for: surprises, emotions, title changes!

The Revival retakes control of the match, but the crowd start chanting “Let’s go Hawkins!” Guess what? Hawkins got the win!!! The 269 consecutive loses are done!

Andre The Giant Memmorial Battle Royal

Colin Jost and Michael Che are the special guests of this match. They seem really scared.

Braun Strowman gets into the ring and now the match becomes “everyone versus the Monster Among Men”. There are so many teams in this match that it makes no sense; however, it makes up for great entertainment.

In the end, we have Braun Strowman versus our special guests as Braun eliminated the Hardy Boyz. Braun wins, of course.

The kickoff show (or pre-show, however you want to call it) is over now. Let’s go to the main show and all those title matches!

Main Show

The Host and the Hulk

We start Wrestlemania by having the Goddess introducing Hulk Hogan only to be interrupted by Paul Heyman, who calls Brock Lesnar to the ring, saying if he isn’t main eventing, he is starting the event.

Universal Championship

Brock Lesnar comes to the ring after Paul Heyman says they will finish the business here to fly to Las Vegas where people “do appreciate” the beast. We will be having a great match, first. Seth Rollins responds with a great entrance, stating he’ll slay the beast. Oh, guess what? There’s pyro in entrances!

Without starting the match, when Rollins was about to enter the ring, he is greeted with a knee to his ribs, followed by an F-5, outside the ring. The match hasn’t even started, and Seth Rollins is being destroyed by the Beast, who finally decides to take him to the ring after throwing him to the announce table twice.

The match finally starts and Brock hits the first suplexes. Rollins can’t even stand right now. Three German Suplexes, Seth is already bleeding from the back and elbow. When Brock was about to hit anotyher F-5, Seth pushes him against the referee, who gets out of the ring. This is the opening for hitting Lesnar with a low punch followed by 3 Curbstomps. We have a new champion!

This is how you start the grandest stage of them all! Seth officially becomes the Beast Slayer!

Who built SmackDown?

Great rivalry right here. Two of the best talents from WWE facing each other for the bragging rights of calling themselves “The Man who built SmackDown”. RKO out of nowhere or Styles Clash? We’ll see who wins.

A technical match where we see both superstars working towards evading and countering each other. We almost saw an RKO a few times, but AJ was able to escape. We see a Calf Crusher as well. Randy got to the ropes. What about a Phenomenal Forearm? Well, we didn’t, but because AJ stopped when he was already on the top rope and saw Randy waiting with an RKO.

Randy gets to hit one RKO on AJ, but he kicks out! We see numerous moves and strategy changes from AJ, while Randy simply went with his favorite move. With a Phenomenal Forearm, AJ Styles gets the 3 count over Randy!

SmackDown Tag Team Penitentiary

After the Usos decided to forfeit their match against New Day during the Russian Rullette to give Kofi a chance for the WWE Championship, The Usos were sanctioned by having to defend their championships in a Fatal 4 Way match. This is it.

What we’re looking forward the most is the team of Ricochet and Aleister Black performing again, after we saw them on Friday in NXT TakeOver New York.

Now, I can’t be the only one who thinks a Fatal 4 Way Tag Team Match should have 4 superstars fighting at any given time instead of just 2. I really hate the way in which WWE perform these matches. Then again, I’d rather watch a Tornado Tag match.

The early highlight of the match? Sheamus and Cesaro working perfectly as a team. Why do I say “early”? Simple, because Ricochet is always going to be a highlight in any match; although, I’d love to see him bring the Prince Puma style into WWE.

Shinsuke and Rusev bring some amazing team chemistry to the ring, somehow. Tell me again why did the “Rusev Day” movement die? I still have my t-shirt for it…

In the end, we see a lot of great moves, but The Usos were the ones coming out of Wrestlemania as SmackDown Tag Team Champions! That’s Karma for you.

Overused Story

We all know it. Friends who become enemies. They became close, became a team, became champions. After that, they lost the belts and one betrays the other. They make it personal. This is Shane’s annual Wrestlemania match. I like Shane being a heel. He is a McMahon after all. What I can’t get used to: Miz being a babyface.

I’ll admit this: I love the way Shane throws punches. This is one of my most anticipated matches for this event and I’m sure it’ll be good, unless they do everything inside the ring.

Shane starts up taking advantage, getting into Miz’s head. Then, making him bleed out of his head. At this point, Shane is about to hit a coast to coast from the corner to the announce table, but Miz’s dad comes into the picture. Shane attacks him, and Miz starts attacking Shane.

Now that they went ringside, I see something interesting: there are empty seats ringside.

For the first time, I see the fight going to the place where the announcers in other languages. There was chaos there. They lost chairs, tables, screens…and it was super fun to watch. Then they went up to where the “expensive cameras” are. This won’t end well for one of them. Miz hits a superplex there, but both end up knocked out. Shane, though, was on top of Miz’s body, so he wins.

Women’s Tag Team Championship

I have nothing to say for this match besides that I wish Beth and Nattie win. Knowing they won’t do it, I’m not excited about this match, though.

We see a bit of every team. Nattie and Beth had the upper hand for a while, until Nia and Tamina started attacking. Then it was the Boss and Hugs team. It feels as if the belts will be changing hands. Beth hits a super move, and The Iiconics are the new champions!

Kofi-Mania!

Eleven years in the making. Eleven years waiting for this moment. Kofi Kingston is going up against Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship. He endured a grueling Gauntlet match, handicap matches. The New Day endured a Russian Rullette to get him here. This is what Wrestlemania is all about!

The match starts and we see how both are just measuring each other. Kofi is the one having the best performance this far. Backstage, we see then entire locker room cheering for him.

Unfortunately, Kofi misses and hits the announce table instead of Daniel Bryan, and after that point, it is pure dominance by the champion. I’m anxious as for some reason I’m smelling a betrayal happening during this match.

The crowd chanting “Yes! Yes! Yes!” when Kofi hits Daniel is the best feeling in the world.

Rowan finally interferes in the match, but Big E and Xavier Woods are there to help their brother. The crowd is going insane, but Daniel Bryan hits his finisher. 1, 2…Kofi kicks out! “New. Day rocks!” “New. Day rocks!”

KOFI KINGSTON DEFEATS DANIEL BRYAN!!!

Handicap Match: US Championship

Nothing will top what we just saw. It is going to be a tough thing to do now. An injured Rey Mysterio will have to take on Samoa Joe for the United States Championship. It isn’t that I don’t trust Rey. It simply is that he is injured. Joe will annihilate him.

Of course, it took it less than 5 minutes for Joe to retain his championship.

This is Someone’s Yard

This is an interesting match. I’m a Drew McIntyre fan. I’m also a Roman Reigns fan. Two forces will collide this time, and I’m cheering for Drew. He needs this push.

There’s nothing to highlight on this match. Roman Reigns wins with a Spear.

Musical Interlude

We get to see Elias with Elias and Elias. The three of them played a nice song. He got interrupted by a video showcasing Babe Ruth. Of course, this is just to announce that John Cena is entering, bringing back the “Thugonomics” persona.

There’s some slow rapping done, and an Attitude Adjustment to Elias, but under its old name: an “FU”.

The King versus the Invisible Man

Wait! Didn’t we already see a friends-turned-enemies match already? Oh, yeah, we did. Still, to have The Animal back for one match is the best thing I can imagine right now. Former Evolution members. I expect blood.

Some photos of the “most expensive entrance in WWE history”. Didn’t feel “that” expensive, though.

The match started and quickly went out of the ring. A toolbox is used against Batista, then chains, then some pliers. Batista is under a steel chair in the ring. Triple H takes the nosering away from Batista. BLOOD!!!

This is a grueling match. Outside the ring we see them throwing everythin at each other. Breaking tables. Using the steel steps. Batista hitting his finishers. Triple H has to bring his best game if he wants to keep his career. Triple H hits a powerbomb against the steel steps inside the ring, followed by a Pedigree, but Batista is able to kick out as well.

In the end, Rick Flair comes in to aid Triple H, who hits Batista with a mace and then a Pedigree. Triple H wins.

Farewell, Kurt

The match that makes no sense at all. They had a feud about being General Manager for RAW. That’s it. Nothing else. This rivalry got Corbin to fight like dressed like an idiot. Unfortunately, Baron Corbin defeats Kurt Angle. Is it a surprise? No.

Immediately after Kurt got pinned and Corbin left, Kurt just got up, gave a speech and he wasn’t even tired. No sweating. Nothing. This was disappointing. Worst “last match ever” I’ve seen.

Intercontinental Demon

This is it, we’ll finally see the Demon again. Finn has never lost a match while under his Demon King persona. Will this be his first time?

Finn Balor comes in fast and strong, attacking Lashley with everything. Lashley counters, hits a couple of spears. The Demon King is able to kick out and go back to hit the Coupe de Grace to win the title back.

Main Event

The WWE have been pushing women’s wrestling for a while. This is the best thing that could happen to the Women’s Revolution. Wrestlemania’s Main Event has RAW Women’s Champion, Ronda Rousey vs SmackDown Women’s Champion, Charlotte Flair vs The Man, Becky Lynch in a “Winner Takes All” match. We need this.

Being the main event, it was only logical for Charlotte Flair to make an entrance. She got to the Met Life Stadium via helicopter. Ronda Rousey, on her end, had Joan Jett performing her entrance music, live. Becky, though, had her normal entrance. She didn’t need all that fuss.

We get to see a super dynamic match with all three women leaving everything they had in the ring. All of them are trying to make their opponents tap out just to get hit by the remaining superstar. We see Charlotte breaking a table with her body after applying two perfect spears. In the end, when Ronda was about to hit her finisher on Becky, she was able to use that momentum to get the three count on Ronda and become the new Women’s Champion for both brands.

Final Verdict

Wrestlemania 35 is one of the most entertaining and emotional events we’ve seen in recent years. From Curt Hawkins breaking his losses streak, to Kofi becoming WWE Champion, to Becky overcoming all odds and winning the Winner Takes All Main Event. This is an unforgettable event we’ll be talking about for a long time!

#Wrestlemania 35: The Grandest Stage of 2019 We already had our Wrestlemania for NXT on Friday. It is time for RAW, SmackDown and 205 Live to have theirs.