#but jbl? that’s just a dude. nice.

[legendaryrooftopscene]

I like Japanese BL because they’re the most likely to put people who look like normal humans on my screen

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I'm Muddled, there is SO MUCH on, but also I have FEELS

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

July 2024 Week 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

Wandee Goodday (Sat YT) ep 11 of 12 - Yak is such a demanding babygirl princess type. It’s kinda hilarious in a fierce boxer dude. I do adore the core brother friendship in this show. It’s so sweet. Also I guess Yak is out OUT now, on TV and everything. 

YES PLEASE GMMTV!!! This ship! Sail it!!!!

The Rebound (Weds Gaga) eps 4-6 of 12? - So it started out as a relatively simple sports romance: first love, separation, reunion. But then just went entirely off the rails: gay mafia orgies, kidnapping, druggie ex teammates with knives, I am Spartacus. All erratic Thai pulp mumbo-jumbo aside? MeenPing are doing great in these roles. Zen's hurt confusion, Ryu’s struggle with internalized homophobia that keeps hurting Zen as much as him. 

Am I wrong to ship FrankPing Just a little bit? I only wanna see them kiss. It’s not asking too much, is it? 

Not sure what’s going on with Gaga and their "ep 6 of 6" thing. Or why they bundle-aired them. Did they just get the rights for the first half? Where is the rest?  

Sunset X Vibes (Sat iQIYI) ep 5 of 12 - I always end my Saturday with these 2 simply because I love this pair. I also enjoy the show. It’s sweet and I giggle a lot. I like that they’re dressing (and letting) Lin be a bit femmey - with his pussycat bows, coco bag, and little heels. I’m not sure about the pet names but I’ll accept them if I must.

My Stand-In (iQIYI) ep 12 fin - I would like to watch an entire show about the older brother boss and his hot secretary. Bit of a bully romance? Please & thank you?

This was a good solid ending, less predictable than I expected, which I appreciat. I liked that they had a full conversation about forgiveness. But overall, I am left in a muddle.

The show itself? A summation? Oof, here we go...

Adaptation of Chinese novel "Professional Body Double" by Shui Qiang Cheng. Stars Up (Lovely Writer) and Poom (Bake Me Please) directed by the same team as KinnPorsche. Stuntman Joe dies on the job and wakes up in the body of another Joe with an entirely different life. But Joe just starts repeating the mistakes of his previous self - love, work, play. I enjoyed the experience of watching this show, I looked forward to it every week. I thought everybody did a great job with it and in it, and I liked that is was something substantially *different* for Thai BL. But I’m not sure I'll rewatch it or if it's bingeable. It left me feeling more sanguine than happy. Is there, objectively, anything wrong with it? No. But am I in love with it? No. I think that rests on the central characters, Ming in particular. I never liked him or warmed to them as a couple. I spent most of this show just very very sorry for poor Joe. Thus I was never rooting for their romance. I would recommend it, if you enjoy your BL more cerebral, with complicated unlikable love interests, and a downtrodden sympathetic lead. Is it, perhaps, more JBL that ThBL? Am I biased because it's a Thai production and I had expectations? What magical carnage could Japan have done with this IP? I'm left with questions, but I'm ultimately glad I watched this.

All this means that this show should, by all my own standards, get at 9/ 10. But I'm giving it an 8/10. So there.

We Are Cute (Weds iQIYI) ep 15 of 16 - It really is the antidote to Friend Zone. Like GMMTV just set out to make a nice little show about nice boys being very nice and kissing each other nicely. And it makes me very happy.

Century of Love (Weds Gaga) eps 1-2 of 10 - DaouOffroad are back, this time as fated mates in a quasi historical paranormal moment. Very much Director Who Buys Me Dinner meets First Love Again, hopefully better than both. I love this pair and think they can handle the premise, it's whether the storytelling is up to the challenge.

So far? I like it a lot. I love it when Thailand gets all up in its own historical business and reincarnation and bullshit like that. I’ve always liked this pair too (it’s not their fault I didn’t enjoy most of their first series.) Daou’s wushu is pretty snazzy. We got a fun meet cute. (Erm... Remeet cute? Meet cute 2.0?) And this is a very PRETTY show. With more comedy than I was expecting.

This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans (Fri iQIYI) ep 2 of 8 - I like the friendships, but so far I’m not sold on the personalities of the main couple. Of course I love the pair, and I know they can handle it, but I hope the story justifies their chemistry.

My Love Mix-Up Th (Fri YT) ep 6 of 12 - They are so damn teen dramatic and over-the-top. To have really played into the impact of the counselor character's original casting, they should’ve had Krist play the role! (GET IT?) That’d be ridiculously ironic. Not that I object to GMMTVs #1 Daddy Papang. Never that. 

The Trainee (Sun YouTube) ep 2 of 12 - Ah ha, I figured it out. This reminds me of The Devil Wears Prada. I’m finding most of the rest of the interns too caricature and thus annoying. But I’m still liking this more than I expected. 

Love Sea (Sun iQIYI) ep 5 of 10 - The bullying GL subplot is just bad. And I’m getting an overall squick from the fact that the two rich privileged characters are essentially taking advantage of the two lower class poor characters. Trash watch here.

Knock Knock Boys (Thurs Gaga) ep 8 of 12 - I’m coming around to Almond + Latte, but I’m not super sold on any of the other plot lines.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

I Hear the Sunspot AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 3 of 10 - It’s still good and it’s still sticking relatively closely to the mango. So I’m still enjoying it.

Takara's Treasure AKA Takara No Vidro (Japan Mon Gaga) ep 2 of 10 - I just don’t really like the dynamic of the younger, poor, country kid desperately chasing the older hot boy. It’s a bit too desperate or something. It’d be different if Takara were a nicer person, but he doesn’t have much going for him but a pretty face.

It's airing but...

Meet You at the Blossom

In case you missed it

OMG Vampire (Thai Sun ???) 10 eps - It's ended. Should I watch it? right now 1 vote for and 1 vote against.

The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer released to Korean theaters 5/25. HoTae & DongHee, side couple from Unintentional Love Story are back! Same actors, same character names. I love them. Devastated this hasn't had international distribution. I demand you tell me the moment you find it!

The Last Time (Thai Fri YT) - Got bumped to Aug 2. Convoluted story of loss and possible reincarnation or something.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

July Releases to Come

7/24 I Saw You in My Dream (Thai Weds WeTV) - Dee Hup is behind this one so I have high hopes. Younger boy chronically teased his whole life by the older boy next door suddenly starts having horrific prophetic dreams about his bully and must save hime.

7/26 4 Minutes (Thai Netflix or iQIYI?) - Great is a university student from Faculty of Business and the son of a wealthy business owner. Out of the blue, he gains the supernatural power to see four minutes into the future.

7/29 Battle of the Writers (Thai ????) - trailer here, TutorYim return and while I adore them, I really hope this is better than Middleman's Love. Won't be hard. However: that premise! Ugh. Something something authors fighting - save me. Why don't writers understand that nothing is more boring than writers?

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Such a Best Boy, not leaving his drink behind!

YES please.

Follow me here... these 2 in the Thai BL version of Tein Bromance X, which is to say: Mean assassin meets and falls HARD for snarky school teacher, they adopt a kid together. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO WATCH IT.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in it's infinite wisdom doesn't like too many tags.

There's these tricks, remember.

[ikeoji-subs]

Zettai BL Ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL Ni Naritakunai Otoko 2024 - Episode 5 Eng Sub

VS THE START OF A ROMANCE and VS HELPING

For downloading instructions and where to find the raw files, please check our masterpost.

[Subs link]

We ask that you not upload our subs to streaming sites.

Sharing with friends is fine. We’re also OK with folks sharing them in other ways as long as they aren’t public. Please use discretion when talking about the fansub outside of tumblr, but don’t hesitate to get the word out in other ways, and feel free to promote it here. Please credit ikeoji-subs whenever possible—we put a lot of time and effort into this.

Feel free to use the fansub for fandom purposes. Gif-making, meta-writing, and other fandom-related creative endeavors made using our fansub are not only welcome but encouraged.

Thank you so much, as always, to everyone who has left nice comments in the tags and such. Y'all really make the hard work we put into this worthwhile!

And big big thanks to @my-rose-tinted-glasses for gifs and spreading the word about the fansub.

translation notes:

About “naresome”

As tends to happen when translating Japanese, this is one of those words that don’t exist in English. Its literal translation is “the start of a romance.” So, while we’ve chosen to translate it as “get together,” it would be more accurate to give a more extensive explanation. It is a noun that specifically refers to the moment that love begins. So when we’re talking about “naresome” we’re talking about the thing or situation that triggered the romantic relationship or romantic feelings.–Snow

about casting Tominaga Yuya as a guy who gets busy when it rains

I think this is another tokusatsu Easter egg. Tominaga Yuya, who plays Jouji in the “Vs. The Start of a Relationship” chapter, was also on Avataro Sentai DonBrothers, a Super Sentai series that ran from 2022 to 2023. His character, Sonoi, was the agent of a culture from another plane of existence whose members feed off of the brainwaves of human beings. At first, he and his associates Sonoza and Sononi were enemies of the DonBrothers, but they eventually joined forces with the Sentai. A big reason this happened was that Sonoi had a special connection to the leader of the DonBrothers, Momoi Tarou. Their relationship reads as pretty darned queer to a lot of viewers, myself included.

Momoi Tarou and Sonoi bonding, before they found out they were nemeses

Many JBL fans know Higuchi Kouhei from My Personal Weatherman/Taikan Yoho, in which he played the titular meteorologist, Segasaki. Part of the premise of that series is that at the start of the story, Higuchi’s character only has sex with his partner on sunny days. Jouji, Tominaga’s Zettai BL character, does the opposite: he and his “sex friend” only do it on rainy days. 

Basically, the writers of Zettai BL 3 have made Higuchi’s toku boyfriend’s story into a reverse Taikan Yoho situation. What are the odds that’s just a coincidence?–Towel

Also, he gets his own “Zettai BL” title card moment (and he’s the only one out of the secondary cast who get to have that).–Snow

That’s right!

I’m going to put this in context a little because I’ve given a lot of thought (probably too much) to who’s been featured in the opening credits of the different Zettai BL seasons. For every season of the show so far, Inukai Atsuhiro has had four other actors perform with him in the opening theme dance number. (All of whom also get a crack at some of those title card moments.) For two seasons, three of the four spots were taken up by Yutaro (Ayato), Shiono Akihisa (Toujou), and Itou Asahi (Kikuchi). The fourth spot was taken up by different actors in the first two seasons. It was the guy who played the attractive dude from the goukon in the first season, and it was Izuka Kenta, who played Kikuchi’s ex Igarashi, in the second. 

This time around, I had hoped that Sekoguchi Ryo would take the fourth spot, because he’s my blorbo and of course I wanted to see him in a retro dance number (boy was that wish ever granted!). But I hadn’t expected Shiono not to appear this time. Maybe there were specific reasons for this, like a scheduling conflict or an injury. It’s not like Shiono appears less in season 3 than he did in the others, so that’s not the reason. It’s hard to say. But in that context, it seems even more significant that they gave a spot to Tominaga Yuya. We don’t know the reasons for this. But it’s possible they featured him more heavily in this way because of his tokusatsu backstory and the inside joke it allowed them to make.–Towel

about “pudding relationship” and “prince and princess”

This part was tricky to translate. As you might have noticed by this point, Mob likes to make puns. In Japanese, pudding is written as “purin” and it is used to refer to pudding as well as custard. Mob goes on to follow with “prince and princess”, which in Japanese are pronounced as “purinsu” and “purinsesu”. In here, there’s wordplay with these similar sounding words and the image of the ToujouAyato couple.–Snow  

about “cuteness overload”

Japanese is a language that uses a lot of onomatopoeia. There’s 4 types, iirc: animal sounds, object sounds (like rain, creaking and the like), things that don’t make noise (smiles, stares, silence, etc), verbs turned onomatopoeia (I unfortunately cannot remember this properly but it was something like that). In this case, Mob says “Kyun ga tomaranai” (which literally means “the kyun can’t be stopped”). “Kyun” is an onomatopoeic word to refer to a “momentary tightening of one's chest caused by powerful feelings,” usually tied to a romantic context but not exclusively. Taking this into account, we thought “cuteness overload” might be the closest expression in English.–Snow

It’s worth noting that Mob is also saying “kyun” right after the “cuteness overload” line. I really thought at first that he was saying “cute,” since it sounds so similar, it would make a lot of sense contextually, and English loan words are so common in Japanese. But no, it was “kyun.” There was no way we could get across the meaning of “kyun” in one or two syllables of English, so we went with “adorbs,” which is just another word for “cute,” but at least it has a cutesy pronunciation that steps it up a notch.–Towel

about bouhan buzzers (16:06)

The translation note shown onscreen during this scene reads: “a bouhan buzzer is a security gadget carried by Japanese schoolchildren.” We did our best to summarize the meaning of this term briefly, so that it would be readable in the amount of time it was possible for us to keep that caption onscreen. But here’s a longer explanation for those who might be curious. 

It took a while for me to understand what these things were. At first I pictured something like a hand buzzer–the kind that people used to use to prank people. But it’s nothing like that. They’re sometimes referred to as “personal security alarms.” They’re little doodads that you can clip onto a backpack or carry in your pocket, and if you activate them (the most common mechanism for which seems to be pulling some kind of tab or string), they make some form of alarm-type sound. I found a video, below, that shows someone activating two different types of buzzers, showing the sound they make. 

These two make the same sort of beeping/chirping noises you’d associate with an alarm protecting a car or the entrance to a building–not really a “buzzing” sound, or anything that resembles the sound Mr. Cheerleader makes in this scene. But maybe there are other types that are more buzz-like, or sound more like the sound our buddy is imitating. 

According to some things I read when I looked these up, children often play with their bouhan buzzers, making it somewhat less likely that people will be on alert when they hear them go off. I don’t think I could have resisted setting off a gadget like this if I’d had one as a child. They seem to be available with all sorts of characters on them and in all sorts of colors and shapes, which is cool but might make them seem even more toy-like. 

From what I’ve seen, these things are most commonly used by children, but adults sometimes use them too. If you look for them for sale online, there are more adult-looking versions available (say, a rose-gold blob instead of something with cute characters on it–though of course, adults might want those too). One listing I saw advertised that they’re useful for kids, women, and the elderly.–Towel

Tag list: @absolutebl @bengiyo @c1nto @come-back-serotonin @lurkingshan @my-rose-tinted-glasses @porridgefeast @sorry-bonebag @twig-tea @wen-kexing-apologist

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

3 and 12 especially if 12 does not correspond to the list from 3

3. Rank the shows you are currently watching from least favorite to favorite.

Ok. So I just answered this one. So I guess this time I'll give some reasons for each one.

8.My Love Mix-Up! This one just started so there isn't a lot to say about it and what I got to say I kinda did when it aired. I'll be waiting to see if it improves because I like the actors. 7.Love Sea I literally just finished watching the first episode an hour ago. I'm not sold and the reason it surpasses MLMU is the ocean. I love anything a little bit more if I can watch the ocean at the same time. 6.We Are It's not breaking any new ground. But I'm enjoying the friendship moments a lot. The group is really fun and they are all very natural together. Tan/Fang are my favourites atm and I wish I had more than crumbs Chain/Pun, because I find Pun really fun to watch. 5.Knock Knock, Boys! It's really fun. I'm actually laughing in certain moments which doesn't happen all that often. I really like the house dynamics, it feels very real to me. Seng is great of course, but I like all of them. The food montage was a high moment for me. I was drooling. 4.Only Boo! They are so freakin adorable. I am in pain. That train break up was so sad. Well done but sad. I understand the reason, and it makes sense from what we know of Kang, but it was painful. And that title card '1 year later'... I hate it so much. We don't really know how much happened in that year so I don't want to preemptively criticize it, but I hope that something else changed and not only the calendar. Cause if you're gonna move past so many things, at least give me growth. 3.With You I Bloom This one is a jdrama and thanks to an amazing fansubber I can watch as it airs which is not always the case with jdramas. This is not a bl, but I don't think anyone has told the show yet. I started watching this one because there are a lot of jbl actors in it so I was curious. And I'm having so much fun. It's basically a bunch of dudes learning to fight with swords in very nice clothes. There are a bunch of couples pairs, with very different dynamics, several sad backstories, and the final theme song makes cackle every time because it's always a massive tonal shift, because it's so happy and honestly, so so gay. 2.Wandee Goodday It's a whole new level of idiots in love and I love it. Like there's idiot in love, and then there's Dee. He's going for first place and no one can even touch him. I think if Taem clearly and without reservations rejects Yak, he can accept his feelings for Dee properly. But Dee is all over the place and at this point I don't think the show is doing a good job at telling me why. He keeps going back and forth too quickly for me. I truly hope that final flashback he had when they were running was him accepting his feelings. Also I NEED to know about Cher and Oyei. I need that backstory. TODAY. 1.At 25:00 in Akasaka I love Hayama a normal amount. This last episode was a rollercoaster for me. That ending left me screaming. And then I went through a whole thing when @lurkingshan threw my glasses on the floor and I was able to see everything in a whole new way. Anyway I love this show. What they are doing with the two shows is so interesting, and the editing is so smart. And I love them both. Hayama has my whole heart though.

2. Which show do you think will have the best ending?

Honestly, I have no idea. Endings are hard. It's hard to tie all the loose ends and make everybody happy. Jbl's lately have not done a great job at them. I still trust them more than Thai bl endings and I feel like we are collectively dreading WG end because of that. So honestly. If I'm going by what I've seen so far, I'm gonna say Only Boo. Maybe because the stakes are not as high as for some of the other shows, I expect a solid ending that will leave me with a big smile and a full heart. And that's honestly more than I've been getting so I'll be happy.

Thank you so much for dropping by with questions. 💜

Currently Airing Shows Ask Game

[red-hibiscus]

1000 Years Old episode 1 thoughts

This is setting itself up to be a silly low budget show that doesn't take itself seriously. It reminds me of the old jbl (bromance??) rh plus, or what I remember of it. Similarly low budget vampire show. 1000 years old is a bit less cheesy than that, but still not something I'd watch with any serious thoughts or expectations.

So far I think it was an enjoyable first episode that got the ball rolling quickly on setting up the characters' personality, relationship dynamic, and setting.

The stalking from Yoh *is* a bit unsettling. I don't so much mind it at the food stall since it's a public place and Yoh is a regular customer there anyway. But the moving into a new apartment is odd. I'm letting it be as it was addressed as being weird by both Pun, and honestly kinda Yoh himself. Also I'm a lot more lenient with shows that are not meant to be taken seriously. Not saying I agree, just saying it's not currently ruining my fun.

Aside from that, Yo is weird dude. In a way that I'm fond of. Bro really starting having a one sided eating contest with a stranger. No sense of self preservation either apparently or survival skills.

I absolutely LOVE Pun. A weird loner vampire, but seems like a nice and friendly dude. Likes to sniff people, but that's fine. Just a vampire thing. He saw someone that likes to eat blood to and decided to make him his knew friend. No concern whatsoever that his new friend is stalking him. Nope. Just friendly curiosity. No thoughts but "hey new bestie, why are you so obsessed with me that you became my neighbor."

I'm definitely gonna add this to my weekly watch. I needed a fun show I don't need to think too hard with. Some fun silliness to my week. I don't predict this to be a masterpiece, but it will be a fun ride and that's all I ask of it.

[danwhobrowses]

WWE Royal Rumble 2023 - Review

It's that time of the year where throwing someone over the top rope is the most difficult thing in the world

Royal Rumble sets the stage for the Road to Wrestlemania, the card looks obvious, but with Vince's returned leering eyes hovering over Trips, what can he pull off?

Spoilers for the Event

Kick-off Kick-off is still kinda pointless, no matches, no fun. Plus Jerry and Booker, you can't get a panel with any Royal Rumble winners huh?

We get clips of Roman on the Tonight Show too, plus a SD recap reacted to by the full Bloodline, Jey took the fall (by telling the truth) which had Roman decide to focus on the night, Sami will be beside Roman all night.

JBL's segment is unneeded, Gabriel Iglesias showing up with an all gold world title was to confirm him being at Wrestlemania. We did have a sequence of the competitors drawing numbers, but it was like stickers on a wall, miss the old tombola.

Main Card

Pat McAfee came back, Cole acted like Steve Austin had shown up. Pat's a good commentator but like, that's what you start with? He almost fell off his chair too.

Men's Royal Rumble Cody Rhodes [30] wins the Men's Royal Rumble (Last eliminating GUNTHER [1]) Interesting but not a bad choice to have Sheamus and GUNTHER renew hostilities at 1 & 2, Miz at 3 though was just to be smacked around until Kofi came in at 4 (liked the Super Mario Tron). Gargano got barely any pop for 5 which was sad. Miz was first to be eliminated due to 25 Beats of the Bodhran, a Gargano superkick and then a Brogue, then Xavier showed up for 6, fake teases of them fighting each other before Kross came in at 7.

See, Kross had a good start there, fighting GUNTHER and Sheamus, he needs physical fights. Gable came in at 8 shooshing everyone, Drew at 9 reminded me how bloody long this ramp is but he Claymored Kross over the rope for the second elimination, we're saving for Brock and Lashley aren't we? Santos Escobar at 10 (in kickoff he was happy with that, dunno why it's the early half) but a mention of Mil Mascaras was funny. Dawkins at 11. Woods and Kofi saved each other by doing Private Party's silly string, but Gunther eliminated Woods and then knocked over Kofi into a chair, his foot was floating over it though.

Out came Brock, eliminating Santos, Dawkins and Gable in succession, squaring off with Gunther until Lashley came out at 13, spearing dudes and eliminating Brock quickly. Brock threw a fit as Corbin came out and got wiped out by Brock. One of my top 3 picks, Rollins at 15, threw in Corbin to eliminate him, Otis at 16, Rey at 17, nice small pop for him still but he didn't come out...Rollins eliminates Lashley, Dom at 18 wearing Rey's mask and ripping it (off camera) as Otis was eliminated. Elias at 19 guitar in hand to hit over GUNTHER, but ate a simul-Claymore/Brogue (why not call it the Double Banger?) before being thrown out. Balor backed up Dom at 20, double intercepts helped eliminate Gargano to no fanfare.

Ugh, Booker T at 21. Pretty shit Spinaroonie before eliminated by GUNTHER (who has been 2v1'd by Sheamus and Drew for a long time, the sores on that man's back), Priest at 22 meant it's a 3 on 1 advantage for JD, 23 is Montez Ford, skins the cat but Chokeslammed out by Priest, wasteful. Edge comes back at 24 so of course JD go one at a time, Priest and Balor eliminated but they come back to save Dom and eliminate Edge, all of these are taking less than a minute. Austin Theory at 25 as Edge fights JD, Rhea attacks so Beth comes out to Spear her. Omos at 26, is Cody 29/30 I wonder? Another GUNTHER standoff but he eats a chokeslam, Braun at 27 to standoff with his old rival and eliminate Omos, 28 is Ricochet to help team up with Braun briefly, GUNTHER eliminated both Drew and Sheamus after Drew attempted to save Sheamus from falling.

Ugh x2, Logan Paul is 29. Still can't change his fucking gear, everyone beats him down, he finally hits a Buckshot without screwing his knee (the lariat was shit), Braun had to save him from falling before Cody returned at 30. It's nice to see him healthy but what's the point of announcing it if he's 30? Eliminates Dom. Logan and Ricochet do a double springboard clothesline to try and highlight reel, Cody eliminates Strowman trying to save Ricochet, Theory eliminates Ricochet. They say final four but I did not see Logan get eliminated, which means he is fucking final four. Cody eliminates Theory after comboing with Rollins, they argue but combine to eliminate GUNTHER, Cody hitting the Pedigree that should've been a storied heel turn. Logan eliminates Rollins, which bites because I feel like Rollins winning could've been the true swerve win, he eats a Cross Rhodes and is eliminated by Cody.

So technically it comes to 1 and 30 (WWE with their first time evers), even though we never truly confirmed that Kofi was eliminated nor did Rey Mysterio get eliminated. The ending was more than textbook after that, GUNTHER using chops and his power but Cody trying to pull babyface fire. Cody cutter only puts GUNTHER on the apron, he uses Shattered Dreams, but then eats a Powerbomb, he hits a Cross Rhodes then eliminates GUNTHER.

*sigh* It of course had to be Cody didn't it? This was an okay Rumble, no love for NXT, no real shock value, no Zayn, no forbidden door, many lasting less than a minute and they keep trying to make Logan Paul a thing. Also technically, since Cody then jumps over the top rope to leave, Rey Mysterio should've won the Rumble just sayin. Big praise for GUNTHER, besting Rey's rumble time record though Rey keeps his record for longest time and winning, but he was sadly never gonna win it, I feel like we're gonna do Rollins/Logan for the mania paycheck which saddens me though, which really means we spent an hour to essentially set up Seth/Logan and more Edge/JD, the rest is all stuff we expected or was already active.

Mountain Dew Pitch Black Match Bray Wyatt def LA Knight (Pinfall via Sister Abigail) Having no expectations for this match could've worked in or out of its favour, it was a kinda 'wait to see how it played out. Bray seems to have borrowed Ronda Rousey's make up artist for the overdone mascara job XD Pitch Black was more Neon Lights match with skeletal neon paint, neon confetti and a neon kendo stick.

It was practically a squash, Knight hit a flying clothesline into the announcer's table and hit Bray with a Kendo stick but that was about it, a practically worthless match whose aesthetic was wrong for the match name. The neon lights do look cool but it doesn't match the theme, we could've used this somewhere else and not slapped Mountain Dew's name on it. Post-match Bray put on a new mask and chased Knight out to the backstage, no-selling Kendo shots and hitting the Mandible Claw, Uncle Howdy showed up and did a flying senton to Knight onto pyrotechnics while four other minions in masks (Firefly Funhouse masks) watched above like muppets.

Wrestlemania trailer after that, no reenacting hollywood scenes though like WM21 so -5 points.

Raw Women's Championship Bianca Belair (c) def. Alexa Bliss (Pinfall via KOD) Michelle McCool (Mrs Undertaker shown in a match with potential Uncle Howdy implications?) was ringside for the only women's championship match of the night. The affair was to and fro, there was barely any pop from Bliss hitting her DDT for 2 though. After attempting the Mandible Claw and Sister Abigail, she was lifted to a KOD and that was it.

Sadly it was tough to get into this match because it felt like such a foregone conclusion, the intrigue wasn't even centered around the women themselves. Post match there was evil Alexa clips with Uncle Howdy and a playground spliced in there.

Elimination Chamber trailer, I wonder what it would be for though? For the women I'd guess it's for the other titleholder but for the men are we splitting the belts? Making it a triple threat? Or using it to the midcard titles?

Women's Royal Rumble Rhea Ripley [1] wins the Women's Royal Rumble (Last Eliminating Liv Morgan [2]) Rhea started also nursing the spear from early, coming up against her former partner Liv Morgan - who wanted to be first, why couldn't we have swapped the numbers? They both got entrances. No. 3 is Dana Brooke, 4 was Emma who got all of the competitors to team on Rhea. No. 5 was Baszler, left high and dry after Ronda backed out, Bayley at 6 narrowly evaded elimination after eating ObLIVion. B-Fab at 7 meant more Top Dolla botch references, first to be eliminated by Rhea not without being busted open. NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez reps NXT at 8, Dakota Kai at 9, Iyo Sky at 10 completing Damage CTRL, who eliminated Dana Brooke, Emma and Roxanne. Natalya at 11 went for Baszler, Candice at 12 had no pop. Damage CTRL feigned allying with Shayna to eliminate her and Natalya before Zoey Stark came out for 13. Xia Li came out at 14, dumbly letting go of the staff she carried after the ref stupidly tried to prevent her from bringing it into a no DQ battle royal. Candice eliminated by Iyo's blindside before Becky came out at 15, using similar gear to the one she wore during her first rumble.

Becky brawled with Damage CTRL having not been eliminated but outside the ring, before being thrown into the Announcer's Table. Tegan Nox was next, followed by Asuka with a huge pop, a huge pop erupted for 17, that's not Asuka: that's KANA! Sadly though she eliminated Tegan, now de-Droudropped Piper Niven made a return at 18, Tamina at 19 to stare her down, Becky came back to rage at Damage CTRL before Chelsea returned at 20 (not a surprise, Cole)...and eliminated by Rhea, Becky eliminates Dakota and Iyo, but Bayley eliminated Becky, then Liv eliminated Bayley meaning Damage CTRL contintued to brawl with Becky to backstage. Zelina came in Street Fighter Gear, announcing that she'll be a commentator in the new game, she had a little street fighter moment fighting Xia Li on the apron, kicking Li out, Raquel Rodriguez at 22, Mia Yim at 23 still trying to make Michin a thing, Lacey at 24, McCool at 25 from the crowd landing the Faithbreaker (Styles Clash) and eliminating Tamina, Indi Hartwell at 26 reminding me that Dexter Lumis didn't even show up tonight, Sonya Deville at 27 eliminating Zoey Stark, Lacey used the Cobra Clutch to eliminate Zelina, Shotzi at 28, Sonya eliminates Indi to nothing, Nikki Cross charges into the ring at 29.

A botch for 30 seemed almost poetic since it was Nia Jax's return, her music hit 7 seconds early and barely got a pop. Everyone ganged up on her, Rhea couldn't do the powerslam but hit a Riptide before everyone eliminated her. Raquel eliminated Lacey, KANA on the apron eliminated Sonya, Ripley eliminated McCool, Mia eliminated Shotzi, Piper eliminated Mia, Raquel booted Piper out but was eliminated by Rhea, Liv eliminated Nikki for the final 3. It's worth noting that Liv and Rhea broke their record for Sasha Banks erasure, but all 3 ended up on the apron, Rhea dodged the mist which Liv was hit by, and used a 619 to sweep KANA off, a blinded Liv left Rhea dangling with a Codebreaker but Rhea won with a headscissors.

I think that was better than the men's, another unsurprising winner but the final 3 made it that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, KANA and Liv could've easily won it too, unlike Cody we built to Rhea earning the spot. Still, Nia at 30 was meh and we did shorthand the likes of Tegan and Roxanne plus we buried Chelsea Green's third debut for the company, while also not really developing more on Becky vs Damage CTRL, since KANA didn't really affect the 3v1 situation, but the match felt more tight-knit. We redebuted Piper Niven properly and the right person won.

Undisputed WWE Championship Roman Reigns (c) [w/ Sami Zayn & Paul Heyman] def. Kevin Owens (Pinfall via Spear) We return to yesteryear with two men once again facing each other, only this time there's not a botch with the handcuffs we never really followed up on. With nearly 30 minutes left on the clock when the bell rang and chants of 'Sami Uso' rang in the arena there was the air that things will get down to business.

Kevin Dunn was at it with the wild camera cuts like he's jimmying a combination lock, Cole also making sure to use a quiet voice on calling Reigns' uranage a Rock Bottom. Owens controlled much of the early stages of the match though, including two Frog Splashes one to the floor and one in the ring but only a 2 count, he did kick out of a Superman Punch too, there was an unfortunate botch where he slipped attempting a pop-up Moonsault (he lost his footing on the twist) but they repeated the spot for Reigns to dodge again and Spear him for 2.

After pushing KO away from a Stunner attempt, we had our deflating ref bump so Owens could get the visual pin via Pop-up Powerbomb, Reigns then low blows Owens and tells Zayn to get a chair, Sami's hesitation nearly cost Reigns as he ran into a Stunner for 2, Reigns gets his own 2 by hitting the Superman Punch and the Spear in succession, Owens and Zayn then talk outside, Zayn imploring Owens to stay down as Reigns then spears him through the barricade, then a pretty gnarly steel steps spot twice. Hesitation again from Zayn as he raised his 1, but Owens' last attempt to fight back led to a Spear for 3.

The Bloodline appear post-match, Roman stops Jey from putting the lei on him as the Usos hit a 1-D on Owens and set him up for a Pillmanizing hip attack from Sikoa. Out come handcuffs to set up defenseless Superkicks, as Sami squirms at the abuse. As Reigns prepared a chair shot, Sami gets in the way, begging Reigns to stop and it's beneath him, so Reigns gives Zayn the chair reminding him that they're family. Further hesitation though prompts Reigns to get in Sami's face, so Sami winds up, and hits Reigns in the back instead. Jimmy superkicks Sami as he apologizes to Jey, Jimmy and Sikoa then beat Sami down but Jey refuses, so Reigns rains chair blows over Sami and leave.

It's hard one to call because like the women's title match the result felt like a foregone conclusion, but the main drama revolved around another character. Unlike the women's match though, Sami was in more direct involvement to the match and Owens put up more of a fight. Honestly I feel that the post-match segment went a bit too long, but it was perhaps the best thing on the show, Sami turning on Roman was well executed, even though they followed it up with a beatdown on him. I do worry though, because this feels more like Sami will fight Roman at Elimination Chamber, lose the match due to Jey interference and then him and Owens will win the tag titles, which I maintain is still a downgrade compared to giving Sami a chance at the main event of Wrestlemania, you heard the pop, it was louder than what Cody got, but I do fear that WWE will once again opt for the salesman rather than the storyteller.

Conclusion Overall it was an alright Rumble, the Pitch Black and Women's title match were low spots and the respective rumbles could've been executed better with making it seem like the most predictable option may not in fact win.

But it was fine, the predictable winners aren't bad shouts and we developed on the key storylines, we'll see how it builds to wrestlemania

Congrats again to Rhea Ripley and Cody Rhodes Rey Mysterio.

[feuqueerfire]

Be My Favorite Live Blogging

Haven't been really watching shows and haven't watched anything long since literally August but now that it's nearing the end of the semester and I have big, big projects due that I'm not close to being done, clearly it's the correct time to watch this.

I've been anticipating this for so long, I hope I love it.

Ep 1 (Nov 23)

1-1

hijabi side character

12 years after 1st year, so are they 30 years old now?

not Pisaeng being a liar! lol

1-2

oh yeah, Kawi is a translator!

the time travel has started

1-3

omg him getting a call from his dad and going to see him and hug him T.T because his dad passed away in real life T.T

oh the first time travel iteration, i'm having fun

"Do you like me? [...] What should I think?"

1-4

The way Kawi has already begun to act unlike himself and getting out of his shell like with Pisaeng in the locker room and dancing drunk in the bar, even if it involves first stealing Pisaeng's clothes and next his money

Fun start!

Ep 2 (Nov 24)

2-1

ohh okay so doing that takes you to the same moment as when you twisted it? both in the present and past

2-2

Ahh, his time travel affecting the current timeline, he's now besties with Pisaeng and isn't a recluse

2-3

Kawi's repeatedly using Pisaeng's money and whining is offputting. like i fully know that a large portion of his inferiority complex comes from the lack of money and how he thinks that people think of him poorly because of it but omg it's so ew

2-4

I would hate to be in Pear's situation so much omg she was hoping to get have lunch with the guy she's known for a while + probably has a crush on and now he's left her at this restaurant with some random dude who has definitely been trying to get closer to her... rip but she's being nice about it

ah, the kissing the best man on the day of the wedding

the coming-back-to-win-prize is extremely expected lol

Krist's expressions are too much fr, reminds me why I don't like certain slap-stick cartoonish jBLs. paired with the whining? please I need it to lessen over time

Ep 3 (Nov 24)

3-1

Pear inviting a friend as soon as she realized Pisaeng had ditched and now she's having lunch alone with this guy who could misconstrue this as a date, exactly so true

For all my ehh feelings about Khai's mannerisms, the way he says "Then who do you like? O.O" is so good

3-4

I know the point is that Kawi is unlikeable and doesn't quite know how to navigate people or relationships but he's supposed to grow throughout the show but man he bothers me fr like the way he keeps being cruel to Pisaeng is just. I know it's cuz he doesn't want Pisaeng to fall for him and leave Pear on their wedding day but it's like girl...

actually more than just terating him shitty, it bothers me that every time Kawi acts like he doesn't get why Pisaeng is hurt. "Oh just this hurt you?" "Why are you mad?" etc

loll the lottery ticket thing is so true

I was whatever about Gawin in Not Me and wasn't really someone I wasn't someone I was drawn to in general but I really like him in this role! Hot boy Pisaeng let's go

Ep 4 (Nov 25)

4-1

The way Kawi wears his backpack only on one shoulder bothers me cuz it doesn't look light

4-2

broo Kawi put your fucking backpack on properly like the whole game whatever is dumb and annoying obviously but don't be silly

I hate these confession things so much, fuck Not for real. ofc it's a lot of pressure on Kawi to confess but I also hate these things that definitely pressure the girl into feeling like she has to say yes

4-3

okayy at least they're all leaving the two of them together, rather than witnessing the confession but I kinda thought they were gonna film him get rejected or smth

oh lmfao they're eavesdropping on him knowing he'd get rejected such bastards

I knowww the point is that Kawi has many shortcomings but goddamn being 30 in a freshman's body and still making stupid decisions is so annoying to watch, why are you going to the nightclub rn bffr and he knows Not is an asshold, he almost slipped up when he tried to make Not and Pisaeng go back to being friends so why is he hanging around Not still smh

Not stop trying to get a girl to sleep with a drunk Kawi omg

4-4

annoying, including what Pisaeng is saying

although drunk Kawi jumping past!Pisaeng for the crimes for current Pisaeng is funny though, Pisaeng is confused as hell

ah Pisaeng gay and avoidant

Damn, Kawi really got Pisaeng to confess to Pear that he doesn't like her and never will, good job

wait... Pear asking to sit with Kawi... knowing that she doesn't have a chance with Pisaeng... are we gonna get groom Kawi in the new future?

bro wtf he's not going to go back to the present? how are you not curious enough smh but I guess he doesn't know that Pisaeng said no to Pear

Ep 5 (Nov 25)

5-1

Oh, he wants to accomplish his last goal of dating Pear or whatever before going back...

oh Pisaeng taken with seeing boys kissing at the club he works at

5-2

ahh Pisaeng going to the gay club!

aww him running out as soon as he saw Max and got recognized

ah Max good head

5-3

I don't want Kwan to be nice to Nott, she's too good for him

I don't quite agree with Max because what do you mean people don't care or gossip or talk about where you go and what you do

lol did Kwan being nice to Nott make Nott be nice to Kawi. will it last

not Kawi running to meet Pisaeng and actually apologizing gj

Pisaeng really confessed

5-4

Corny scene of Kawi and Pisaeng but better than the whining

damn singer Kawi

oh the next episode has the drunk scene with Kawi asking why Pisaeng likes him... it's in every edit + trailer I think

Ep 6 (Nov 26)

6-1

lol is a business tycoon that good to watch, Max?

Pear whining to her dad to treat Kawi's father is so... eh? idk it's a serious topic but idk

oh damn the dinner with Pear's father is going really sideways

Pisaeng shouldn't have told Pear but that's one thing, I don't think Pear also shouldn't have just started talking about Kawi's dad to her dad without consulting him

but also was Kawi planning on asking Pear's dad without telling Pear beforehand?

Kawi's little drunk ramble here is pretty good

6-2

wtf why is Nott being cute and smiley to Pear...

oh the drunk Kawi and Pisaeng kissing

what are we doing why are we unbuttoning the drunk guy's shirt bro

okay sorry I think this would've been better if I though Kawi was attractive

not Kawi falling asleep omg pls

6-3

she may be a capitalist businesswoman but at least she supports queer people and her son being queer

oh my bad spoke too soon! she's like keep it quietttt

oh so Nott is there to tell Pear he thinks Kawi isn't straight?

lol not the time-travelling sleep-talking

crying why didn't Pisaeng shut Kawi up quicker

6-4

oh Pisaeng has become bold

Ep 7 (Nov 26)

7-1

ahhh tragic the way Pisaeng

aw, I'm proud of Kawi, mans really accomplishing his goals

girl what kaljdsfkljadsf omg

7-2

so how does memory work here? Does Kawi just know the lyrics even though it's a song he never learned in a life he hasn't lived?

but i'm assuming there's still stuff wrong with his life and him being so happy is out of character?

girl not Nott D: Pear no

oh nooo Pear and Kawi had been dating but he's been putting her through it?

Can they show what actually lead to Kawi and Pear's breakup?

omg ? did Kawi cheat on Pear with Pisaeng or smth?

7-3

omg Nott is suchhh a dickhead, how is he getting both Kwan and Pear smhhh

girl so you're pregnant, get an abortion plsss ik it's not as easy as i'm saying it but T.T tying yourself to Nott for life?

okay at least Kawi didn't cheat on Pear, he just didn't wanna marry her and settle down

7-4

I guess Kawi let Pisaeng be true to himself but leading him to discover him being gay?

ahh Pisaeng giving Kawi gift for his "confession" anniversary even 8 years down the line, how are you so down bad omg Kawi and Pisaeng are both kings of holding onto crushes, though at least Pisaeng has been around Kawi this whole time, unlike Kawi having like no contact with Pear lol

Okay my confession is that Nott and Kwan are both very attractive to me and kinda want to see them play a couple together

Ep 8 (Nov 27)

8-1

tragic reaction to the kiss

so did Kawi often kiss Pisaeng while drunk? and forget or what?

8-2

aw man the dad died right away

i mean... Pisaeng's mom isn't wrong here tbh

dang, Kawi gave Pisaeng his diary

I feel like Kawi should've given Pisaeng some more concrete proof ngl

8-3

forever gotta love a queer ralley or info session or whatever in a BL

plsss not all this dramatics while Pisaeng prlly just dropping his mother off at the airport but i suppose it'll move Kawi along in his feelings bravery journey

8-4

girl not the time travel man almost getting to Pisaeng's car

Ep 9 (Nov 28)

9-1

is the writer or director of this show a child of divorce with a shitty mother who is obsessed with her work and never there for her kid or smth? because pear, kawi, pisaeng all have separated parents, pear and kawi love and are in contact with their fathers while their mothers left for work and a diff family respectively. pisaeng is living with his mom technically but she's also never there and busy with her work. we could've at least examined why women are forced into these scenarios for at least 1 situation instead of having 3 shitty moms for no reason lmao

9-2

agh Not is a problem fr

idk i kinda don't care about Kawi and Pisaeng cuteness negl even though I feel like I should be having fun with it... I'm just kinda bored of this show rip even though it's like objectively not bad and probably not actually boring

9-3

bro Not isn't just calling Pear but discussing it with a group in public, get fucked fr

aw Pear

9-4

Kwan needs to get over Nott and Pear needs to not entertain him either aghhh this fucker

Kwan is so pretty fr I cannot see her like Nott fr T.T and Nott is nicef to look at too, why can't he be a decent guy

ah Pear asking Nott to not tell anybody, she's kind but he's an asshole who's already told everybody so

and at least she's not falling for him, yes a win

At first I was watching this show on 1.25 but I started doing 1.5x because I kinda want it to be done

Ep 10 (Nov 28/29)

10-1

Nott pushing Kwan like that??? die

10-2

hehe making up with friends Pear and Max

awwww this tragic Pisaeng moment with his mother

ohh so the mother approved finally

10-3

Kawi is a 30 year old virgin who figured out he likes guys also like a week ago so I understand why he's shy, its not out of character for him the way it is for many of the other BL characters but it's still so awkward T.T

just gonna ignore Max's response to possibly asexuality but whatever lol

[Linguistics] Oh, then discussing stopping gu/mueng and using Khun or smth instead because they're dating now

10-4

not even gonna lie, skipped the entire intimate scene thing because it's making me uncomfortable idk like it's not giving horniness vibes which is definitely fine, i love tender and sweet but for some reason it's giving me the ick here - maybe cuz I actually wanted it to go a different way of maybe not leading to sex and going in an ace route?

i saw a glimpse of the kissing and yeah not into it

Actually, I wonder if not watching anything risque or sexual in a show for the past few months has made me averse to it again? but idk bout that cuz I've been enjoying the Pit Babe edits lmfao (although the edits don't really show much actual NC content, just convos before or interactions)

Anyway 2 more episodes, I can do this. idk why i'm so meh about this show when I've been hoping to love it while many people who were so apprehensive about it like it way more than me

Ep 11 (Nov 29)

11-1

Aw Pear and her mother making up

having to skip through the continuation of the Kawi and Pisaeng sex scene to get to the interweaved character stories lmfao

11-2

Graduation gift? How fucking long has Kawi been living in the past

the compilation of Kawi and Pisaeng (+friends at Christmas) is cute, aw

11-3

wait Pearmai wedding invitation? Is this still in the past?

the constant Khun is so confusing now

11-4

I'm so confused by the passing of time this episode, ig it's been a few days since Kawi got sick?

ohhhh so the reason nothing happened with Pisaeng the first time is because it was his first time spinning the snowglobe so he's back there on his second try

omg just one more episode left, i'm so tired of this show i want it to be done

Ep 12 (Nov 30)

Last day of the month and I'm finally almost done whooo 1 last episode on 1.5x let's go

12-1

Ohh, nice choice to make Kawi reflect on not wanting to actually become famous

12-2

I don't get the aging thing either

Okay my bad I really skipped through this last ep to get the just of what's going on

Overall:

It is such a tragedy that despite looking forward to this show for so long and enjoying some aspects and moments, ultimately, it fell flat for me. I feel like a lot of this show was objectively done well like the character arcs and acting and stuff but I'm not attached to any of it. The romance didn't make me feel giddy even though I really wish it had like it's strange that I didn't care at all about all those cute moments Kawi and Pisaeng had or the established relationship montages when usually they're some of my favourite aspects of a BL. agh whatever ig at least the show didn't treat Pear terribly.

Rating: 5.5/10

[lorecatchup]

It's bad enough just making Seth think he liked him but if Randy actually like, seduced that man and gave him the best sex of his life to the point that he forgot how to think right, while also hating him and wanting to /kill/ him?? That is so dark sided omgggg

At least with Cody I think he actually liked him in a Randy way (he was just horrible and abusive to him still) but damn dude, Randy's out here laying the best pipe in the game apparently and these poor guys are so WEAK for it and powerless to stop him

Stardust Cody just called his IC title his "white stallion of the Milky Way"

[sound on]

give him back his titleeee

Oh I cannot wait

Oh boy

This is such a wild move

Okay, Seth's opening up the March 16 episode of RAW, he's saying a lot and there's no clip of it on youtube

Oof

Everyone abandoning Seth because he can't not be an egotistical asshole

Also Seth getting talked down to by Kane and Big Show and keeping his mouth shut and staying in a submissive position because they hold more power than him physically, and then turning around and taking it out on Jamie and Joey because he sees them as beneath him

He talks a big confident game but it smells a little like insecurityyyy

The Cody chants upsetting Stardust because Cody wants his own identity outside of his family and name, he wants to be respected as his own individual with Stardust but the audience refusing to let him seperate himself from that identity is so sad but also interesting

Also getting to see him in the ring with his best friend Wade again has been really nice

Stardust just tagged Luke Harper in and he gently grabbed his face before going to attack Dolph???

And I'm having feelings about it??? I was just thinking like, they turned their back on Cody's family, they don't really have many friends (Stardust had some cute moments with Adam Rose awhile back, and Cody always has Wade) but idk! Seeing people show them affection and care is really sweet and I'm always going to get 🥺🥺 about it

Okay he played me too, I knew he was going to pull some 'it was my plan all along shit', obviously, but I stand by what I said

JBL "it's what Seth Rollins does, ruins the moment" between him, Stardust, and Cody, I have a feeling there's not many ~moments~ lmao

Not a lot of ~romance~

[domschestofbones]

Aural. 1/5 short stories based on the five senses (cosmic horror)

“Lonely Day is the best ¾ metal song of all time. Tell me I’m wrong. System is undefeated, you can’t find a single bad song in their entire run. Go on, tell me one, bro.” The greasy punk squealed, eyes twitchin’.

Can’t I ever get a break from these fuckin’ people? Some sweaty guy gets an eye on what I'm lookin’ at and just feels the undying need to interject. It’s like a law of nature. God forbid I pick up a Metallica record around a dude with a ponytail and a Led Zeppelin shirt. I try to just enjoy things that make me happy, man. Metal, hip hop, electronic music, country, pop, whatever. All art has merit, and will make someone, at some point, happy. I see people nitpicking creativity all the time, especially if it’s something someone else enjoys. Music purists should be banned from record stores. Issue is that they already own all of ‘em.

 It’s cool, though. Bitchin’ to myself about others bitchin’ to me about shit I like but they don’t is so dumb that only a human could do it. If my JBLs are loud enough though, I can’t hear ‘em. 

My mom bought me a shirt from Walmart or something when I was a kid that said “If it’s too loud, you’re too old”. I thought it was pretty badass when I was younger. It had a rough sketched stick figure on it cranking up an oversized red volume knob under the text. It honestly rings true, in a different context. It’s nice to just pay attention to things you understand.

Crossing the sidewalk makes me think of Abbey Road. Rubber Soul is my favorite, for sure. “What Goes On” is some instant headnod with how those drums drive. Aren’t people who hate the Beatles just so much fun to talk to? Fuck those guys right off, man. Zappa out here yapping day in and out like a goddamn chihuahua. 

From behind me someone yelled “Ay Don!”

I turned around,”What’s u—”

The world goes blank.

I woke up in the hospital without a memory of any incident. Feels like I got hit by a car or something, though. My ears are ringing like feedback from an amp. I can see my mom arguing with a guy much shorter than her, he’s wearing scrubs. Fuck, my ears hurt. This rigning sucks, man. I hope they can give me some meds for it. I hope this shit goes away soon, it makes me want to dig a pencil in my ear. 

Part 2

I should be leaving the Hospital today, fuckin’ finally. Feeling yourself getting weaker, muscles shrinking, face losing weight, it’s torture. I’m not a gym rat, but I appreciate my health and ability to do a shitty kickflip. Can’t wait to go do that again, I should be getting out today.

While the nurses were wrapping up the last of the discharge paperwork, they let me put my headphones in. I didn’t bother telling them my ears were ringing, I didn’t want to stay here any longer, it smells terrible. Plus, it gradually went away after the first day and a half or so. I wasn’t actually too banged up. Just got a concussion, a broken rib and some ear ringin’ that I kept to myself.

The kid who hit me was a young girl in driver’s ed. She looked like she had seen her parents slaughtered in front of her or something, her eyes were wide when she looked at me. I can’t really get it out of my head how upset she seemed when she saw me in the bed here. The instructor later told me that she was still under 10 hours of driving time and that she was on the spectrum for autism. Emotionally taxing events like these hit her really hard and she would sometimes spiral into herself. I told him to tell her that I didn't wanna press charges, and to relay to her that I'm fine and that I hope she’s fine. I waved to her and smiled when she came to see me, and she just cried more. Hope she’s getting along better now, poor kid. 

I kinda feel like listening to a podcast, but I’ve actually had this song stuck in my head since I woke up. That annoying dude in the record store had me thinking about System of a Down. Is it another rule of the universe that a self titled album will live throughout time in crystallized mint? Track one is Suite-Pee. I get goosebumps thinking about the breakdown one minute in. I need to see these guys before I die. 

What a fuckin’ track. Quick picking and some slides in the tuning of C G C F A D start poking at my eardrums, I close my eyes and a smile tears along my skin. I swear the beginning measures of this song could form the mountains, rivers and stars of my own Shangri La. I would live so well in that world. A place where positivity and aggression dance together in a grip so intense that the air flexes around them. Destruction is disgusting and beautiful. The expanse of life is terrifying and soulful. It comes into focus under my shut eyelids. Fuckin’ A.

The introductory riffs switch to the drop of the chords and bombing of the drums and my head explodes. My ears scream like they’re bleeding and I wail louder than I thought I ever could. I’m dizzy, nauseous and my face is melting. I puke all over myself, my ears start ringing in the highest pitch I’ve ever heard in my life. Like, I had no idea a sound could ever be this high. This shit seems like it should just kill someone on the spot. I certainly fuckin’ thought this was it. Killed by my favorite SOAD song, ain’t life a bitch. That’s what my headstone should say. I faint.

Part 3

The ENT doctor tells me I have Subjective Tinnitus that can eventually progress to Musical Tinnitus. ST is caused by an overexposure to loud noise, MT being a malformation of that condition which occurs over time. It’s essentially going to make me start hallucinating and recreating melodies in real time in my mind as I get older. Which kind of sounds cool, sounds kind of trippy. Fuckin’ sucks, but I guess it’s better than being deaf. I should’ve worn more ear plugs at concerts, for sure. I started to wear em every show last year, but one year out of almost twenty isn’t a groundbreaking change. Thus, here we are. I have yet again fucked myself.

They gave me some ear drop medications to take home, an information packet on the condition and related issues, and told me to avoid using headphones and listening to loud music. My mom rubbed my shoulder in a hug knowing that I wasn’t going to be okay when the shock wore off. I can feel it wearing off already, I need to get home. I can’t be here right now. I hug my mom a second time, tell her I love her, get in my Lyft and head off to my apartment complex. I had to ask the Lyft driver to turn down the track, he looked at me annoyingly. I told him I love Kendrick, though. He kinda just scoffed. Fuck me.

As I close the door and take my first step toward the lawn, a kid rides behind me on a bike. He blasted a toy megaphone alarm at the back of my ear and I swear a rusty nail flew into it. My knees buckled and I hit the sidewalk hard, gripping my head cuz it felt like my brain was trying to escape my skull. I thought pressure would help so I squeezed hard. The kids got scared of my voice and pedaled like hell down the street, crying cuz they probably thought I was insane. 

The ringing was an ocean that felt thick yet without density. It was sterile and formless, I couldn’t tell any sense from another. Everything in existence was piercing, white, loud. I knew I was on the ground outside my apartment, but I couldn't place the feeling of actually being anywhere. Sometimes, when I sit on a couch too long, my limbs will start to feel like they’re part of the couch and my vision tunnels towards the TV or whatever. I start to feel, like, further back than I really am. If that makes sense. It was like that, but with absolutely everything that I can see or feel, or hear or touch. It’s like an endless valley.

Maybe not everything though, I could’ve heard a voice near the end of the white out. It didn’t sound like a language though, it sounded more animalian or something. If not animalian, something more…natural, than a human voice.

Part 4

During my white-out I couldn't really think. I was really only able to think about how it felt afterwards. It felt like I was in a coma or something. I didn’t really look at my phone when I was in the car, so I didn’t notice what time I collapsed. But it seemed like the sun was further in the sky when I came to. I hope I wasn’t out too long. I really don’t want to get kicked out of this apartment. My head feels fuzzy and thoughts aren’t coming to me so easily right now. I think I'm just gonna chill and watch some TV, probably still need to recover from the hospital anyway. Gotta get snacks and shit before I loaf out.

I looked in my cupboard and saw a sticky note from Mom: 

“Hi, Honey! I hope you got home ok! Give me a call as soon as you’re in, ok? I stole your keys and put all your favorite snacks in the cabinets and frozen meals in the freezer! Stay home for a few days ok? No work? Also, clean up the WEED and BEERS. What kind of girl is going to spend the night with that smell? Ok, enough griping. 

Love you!”

-Mom

Oh fuck yeah. I can’t believe she remembers I love Andy Capp’s. She’s always shit talkin’ me but she’s the best. I grab the chips and a beer and hit the couch. She’s right, I’m fuckin gross dude. I should really clean this place up, I could probably start a spider habitat here. I’ll do that in a bit, I really should sit down for a second. My legs still feel like jelly and I’m kinda foggy. The cushions are all I need right now. I stand in front of the couch, stretch my arms out like the chilled out christ figure that I am and just…plop…Fuck, that feels good. The couch, a beer, some snacks, and some weed after a hard day is better than any sex in the world and I’ll be a purist on that one. Die on that hill. Yup. The condensation on the can makes me feel like I’m in exotic lands, baby. Fuck, that tastes good. I turn the cable on, streaming seems like too much work right now. I am so surprised MTV is still around, or that they’re still called MTV. Martin is on VH1 right now, hell yeah. Get me a pack of Tropical Fruit Bubblicious, and some skittles. I feel like watching Bad Boys.

I got halfway through the bag of chips when my doorbell rang and sent me back into the pearl void. That ring resonated into a fine point that penetrated any walls I had in my head. It broke me down. I can’t feel anything, everything is jagged snow. Barely holding thoughts… Heari-.. Some. can’t….Agh–..nnn…him.him..him.you.him..you.you…….who– WHO A….That.. noise..I…so fucking beau…WHOO ARE YOUU?!

Part 5

The world goes from white to black, then slowly blooms. I’m on the carpet on top of a now soaked up puddle of beer and a crushed up bag of chips. What the fuck am I gonna do about this?! I can’t even drink a beer and watch TV without being almost killed by this shit! Obviously I gotta take out all the bells and alarms; smoke detector, door bell, phone on vibrate, all that. Fuck! Should I just post a sign on the door? People are idiots, they don’t read signs anyway, fuck that. Nah, I’m taking this shit down. I don’t care anymore. I need to soundproof this place. I spend the next hour doing just that and then I feel safe enough to chill a bit. I step into the bathroom for a long hot shower on the dime of the landlord, he sucks so fuck him. I’m so pissed, man.

The shower turns on with a little rattle and then starts to whine. My heart jumps out of my chest and I scramble to run away from the noise that I think is going to follow it. My foot gets caught in the shower curtain, jerks me downward and I–.

I come to with a throbbing head, I’m zoned out but the shower is still on. My eyes slowly refocus and my ears recalculate. “no..no.no…NO FUCK! NO PLEASE!!” I hear myself whimpering, losing a sense of who I am for a moment.

 The whining shower head gives me no chance and I’m plunged in it again. I just want peace. Death would be better than this. The whine becomes my world. Sharp white angles bent inward on other sharp white angles create a reality that’s invisible but feels harsh and violent, directed even. Precisely towards me. Is this my world? I think it must be. It feels like I’ve never known anything else, what could a memory be in a place like this? If I had memories, I feel them mingling and folding in on each other to make one mesh substance. I know I have been here before, though. I know this place. I think I’ve been here for some time.

There it is. I hear something other than the ring, it’s a crackling maybe. Or maybe something blowing up or expanding. It’s very dense, very fast approaching from a long way away. I don’t think I can be scared of what it is anymore. That sort of mindset isn’t a part of me anymore. Whatever that is, is however, a part of me. My world of a single shade is a part of me. I need to know this other thing. I wait for it to come closer. It takes a while. I don’t really feel the pain anymore, I don’t think. Don’t feel much of anything, just anticipation. 

It’s here!! I can finally hear it! It’s warm, burning. Not a memory, this is new. New, and burning, and bright. It’s overwhelming, makes me feel and smell and taste everything and the nothingness of everything. I’ve never really known what any of those sensations truly meant until just now. Everything I’ve ever heard in my life, this sounds just like that, all in one. Everything that could be heard and translated into love is here, everything that could be hateful I hear along with it. I think it is everything. That’s why it’s not human, why it’s not exactly natural. It’s everything that could be or couldn’t be heard at any and all points in time. It makes my heart disintegrate as I try to recognize my place in this grand song. I’m here, there, and also not. I can’t recall where it stopped or if I believe it will ever stop. It seems like it would be impossible to see it while merely being a part of it, but can I observe the thing if I am the thing? I believe I am. I believe I must be. I must be. I can’t go back into the dark. This is where I stay. Measures and patterns of non-existence swim in this space and there is no use for claiming the title, “I”. It’s no longer suitable. 

A thought turns into a fragment and then seems very, very far away.

[prorevenge]

How I got my revenge on a Tv Show!

So to begin this story I have to explain, I'm a college student in Portugal (so sorry if my English isn't 100%), I was born and raised in Azores ( some little islands in the middle of Atlantic ocean), in order to pursue college I had to move to the mainland, for this I had to rent an apartment. It's a good apartment, 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms , a living room and a Kitchen and it's in a quiet neighborhood so all good. This was until they started to do construction work in the apartment above. This construction work is made by a tv show called "Querido Mudei a Casa" that literally translates to " Honey I Changed the House ", it's quite famous here, they remodel the entire house, replacing everything in it with new furniture, new floor, you get it, so THEY MAKE A LOT OF NOISE. I'm not the party kind of guy and I'm quite calm and peaceful guy that likes to stay home, have some friends here, drink a bit, play some games etc. , and also I do a lot of my college work at night in the apartment ( I spend most of the day in class )

So to explain this Portugal has a law that you can make noise from 8am to 6pm, most of my classes start around 11/12pm , which works great for me, since I go to sleep around 4am due to all the work I have to do and little plus time for myself. They started drilling the floor at around 8am EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Me and my housemate were shocked by the amount of noise they were doing, we let it pass since they shouldn't take more than a week to replace the floor ( I make that assumption cuz Me and my Dad did it once to our house back in the Island) but no, that noise lasted for the entire time they were there, i got a bit upset since i couldn't sleep but I also couldn't leave the college work undone. So i decided to try and talk with them I went to the upstairs apartment and knocked, then came this really fat and short guy looking at me like I wasn't even there and the talk went like this:

Me: Hi, I'm from the apartment below .

FG: Hey, what do you want ?

Me: I was gonna ask if you guys could start the drilling at around 10am, I'm a college student and I do most of my work at night, some time I only get to sleep at morning , is it possible ??

FG: Nah, we have a job to do, you should go to sleep earlier if you want to sleep.

He closes the door, I was pissed but remain calm, after all it kinda is my fault if I go to bed at that time

Some time goes by and the noise continues, I get grumpier and grumpier, I call the customer service of the show, they said politely that there is nothing they can do about it since it's in the legal rights, I should talk with the guys in the apartment so we can come to a conclusion.

Weeks go by, I'm wondering " That fucking apartment is the same size as mine, how the fuck are they taking so long ?" until a glorious morning I wake up, normal routine, I go to the bathroom to take a shower, when I turn on the light what do I see, my bathroom full of Clay, everything completely dirty, rocks everywhere and a fucking hole right on top of the fucking toilet. I'm Furious, my house mate arrives home that morning, he is NOT a calm person in this situations I tell him all about this, we both go to the upper apartment, I convinced him to let me talk , he agrees. I knock on the door To my surprise, the same fat guy, but this time he was looking at me Me: Uumm, You guys opened a hole in my bathroom.

He interrupts

FG : Yeah yeah, we know, we already covered our part

Me: Okay, but what about ours ?

FG: Can't you guys fix it ? I mean , you are men , can't you fix the house ?

My friend is furious, but I calmly put my hand on him and keep talking

Me: No way, you broke it, you're gonna fix it unless we have to call the landlord and sue your show for this.

FG: Okay okay, we will fix it, no need to get all formal

We came back to the house, we could hear them making fun of us because of the hole, my friend is furious, but I'm calm because I already thought of a way to get back at them.

Couple of days go by when they finally decided to fix the hole, Two nice guys came down and fixed it, said they were sorry and everything, we chatted, they were cool, but my revenge was already planned, sorry dudes. Me and my friend both have JBL speakers, the good one that can really play loud, this is where it begins.

Every day i started to go to bed ealry now, so I can be up at 8am, first I take a shower and set up for college then i plug both of the speakers to my laptop, search for " Japanese Porn" ( You know, cuz Japanese girls scream like hell in a high pitched voice) leave the volume up in maximum and let it play in a loop until I get home, around 6pm.

Oooh my amusement was speechless, my house mate agreed with this since we both started to leave the apartment earlier. Until one day we heard a knock on our door. IT WAS THE FAT GUY

FG: HEEY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING BUT IT HAS TO STOP, WE ARE RECORDING TODAY AND WE CAN?T HAVE THOSE WEIRD NOISES IN THE BACKGROUND (They record the episodes in the house so they can authenticate the sound in the house and everything, they could easily use a studio for the sound but they are really cheap on saving money)

ME: Nah, Since you are in the legal right to make noise from 8am to 6pm, I am too, I can make the noise I want in that period of time FG: That will really hurt the show and you know that, people love this show, probably your Mother watches it and loves it Me: Maybe, but she knows how things are around here so she doesn't really mind, I don't really mind and the landlord doesn't mind, can't you fix it yourself ??

The fat guy goes mad, starts stomping the ground as he turns around and leaves

This continues, I see the camera crew arriving from my window, they enter the apartment, knock on my door, I didn't even awnser, just some Loud Lewd Noises all day .

This goes for 3 days straight with the camera crew, but one day they never tried again. I think the episode was cancelled due to the noise, the funniest part is that they make this constructions free for people, the only revenue they gained is from the viewership of the espisodes, It puts a smile on my face when I know that they just wasted a budget for nothing Aah Sweet Revenge !!!

​

(Ps: When the camera crew came I was on vacation for the week , so I was still home but still blasting the Lewd Noises, but wearing my headset of course so I could Barely Hear it)

(source) story by (/u/bochechas2)

[jafreitag]

Grateful Dead Monthly: Cow Palace – Daly City, CA 3/23/74

On Saturday, March 23, 1974, the Grateful Dead played a show at Cow Palace in Daly City, California.

Originally the California State Livestock Pavilion, the Cow Palace was built in 1941. Early on, it was a processing area for Pacific-bound WWII troops. And it hosted the 1956 and 1964 Republican National Conventions and a lot of nights of boxing. And it has been home to a host of sports teams – primarily the San Francisco (now Golden State) Warriors and the San Jose Sharks.

The Dead had ended 1973 on a high note with a blistering December run through the South.  During that tour, they had been toying with versions of what became known as the Wall of Sound, an insanely large and complex sound system that we’ve discussed before. The debut of the for-real Wall of Sound – the Wall of Sound Soundcheck, if you want – was 3/24/74. And it’s an all-time classic.

Here’s how Brian Stollery describes the scene in a 2015 Relix magazine piece:

“It’s spring of 1974, Daly City, Calif., at the famed Cow Palace where Ken Kesey and many Dead associates piled into the psychedelic Furthur bus to see The Beatles in Tom Wolfe’s famed novel, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. The date is March 23rd, and LSD guru, obsessive soundman, and all around freak Owsley ‘Bear’ Stanley’s vision of a kaleidoscopic skyscraper of speakers is coming to fruition. Even for seasoned roadies RamRod and Kidd Calendario, positioning the roughly 50 JBL speaker cabinets was grueling, backbreaking labor, but it paid off. Not only in the several ounces of premium weed that would fill their cubbies at the office each month, or the eternal throngs of beautiful hippie girls thrown at them from every direction, but in the band’s sound, which attained a dynamic so clear and sustained, that each note was as clear as a freshwater stream or a blue sky of deepest summer. On this night, Owsley’s Wall of Sound would propel the evening’s proceedings, which included debuts of nascent material, some hints of the forthcoming record … From The Mars Hotel, and most importantly, absolutely ineffable improvisation.”

Doug Collette, in a 2013 Glide magazine piece, provides a nice overview of the show:

“The Dead are in relaxed but anticipatory mood right from the start of the easy going U.S. Blues, slyly followed by Chuck Berry’s The Promised Land, as a thinly disguised comment on their own inimitable brand of patriotism. Yet Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir sing excitedly, the former so much so it’s as if he can hardly wait to add guitar fills around the vocals….

Apart from the good-natured false start and some slightly shaky vocal harmonies, the band erects an extended continuity at the start of set two, navigating faultlessly through ‘Playing in the Band/Uncle John’s Band/Morning Dew,’ then back again. Big River and Bertha provide relative points of stability in the wake of such a mammoth segues (as does, in its own way, Weather Report Suite, earlier in the concert), while the cinematic Wharf Rat simultaneously contrasts with and connects to the euphoria of Sugar Magnolia.”

According to ECM (@31daysofdead on Instagram), this show featured the first Cassidy, the first Scarlet Begonias, and the last Playing Palindrome – the “then back again” segment that Collette mentions.  A Playing Palindrome is a sandwich with Playing in the Band as the bread and symmetrical layers of goodness inbetween. Here, it’s Playing in the Band > Uncle John’s Band > Morning Dew > Uncle John’s Band > Playing in the Band. Via email, ECM also offered his highlights:

“Excellent China>Rider, BT Wind and WRS

Playin’ #1, Earth-shattering Dew, and the transition from UJB #2 back into Playin’ #2 are just nuts. Very Phil-heavy. My favorite of the 3 Palindromes that were played (11/10/73, 11/17/73 and 3/23/74).”

I agree with him on C>R and BTW. And the palindrome is just incredible.

3/24/74 eventually became Dick’s Picks #24. Here it is on Spotify:

The DP of this show is missing a bunch of songs, so if you’re a completist…

Transport to a soundboard recording of the show on the Live Music Archive HERE.

And transport to a matrix recording of the show on the Live Music Archive HERE.

Also, a big shout-out to my dear friend PB, who has plugged these blogposts and ECM’s 31 Days project to the GD cognoscenti – archivist David Lemieux and whomever else he could find a way to reach via email, even if it was a forward of a forward. Appreciate the effort, dude. The people that matter to us are paying attention. And if nobody else cares, shrug. We’ll keep on truckin’.

More soon.

JF

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[vertigoambrosia]

wxw rules vimeo roku app drools

as much as new japan doesn’t need more white people, i might die for a njpw/wxw joint show

[just bring mack, francis, and rico lol]

actually really though francis doing a japanese excursion would be awesome

bullet club would probably still be jizzed over though :(

chris colen is so light and sparkle for a wolverine

‘if you wanna call rehab a vacation’way harsh, rico

i can’t decide if adam is annoying or awesome

someone please screenshot that spot with hurricane making francis hump chris

ok adam talks way too fucking much

chris colen kinda looks like a elongated austin aries

chris your trunks are kinda riding up i’m fine with it but i think you should know

how can dudes wrestle while chewing gum

i like colen’s stumbling sells

*bobby gunns voice* drago is your girlfriend a dragon or a human? either way, i fucked her

i can’t tell if these are intentionally package flattering trunks or if he just has a semi

wxw why did you cut to a pan when bobby was doing a move

god adam shut uppppp you’re doing the jbl type bickering/insult meaningless bs

he’s actually ok when he’s actually talking about wrestling

...did they ring the bell before drago tapped? i didn’t quite see the finish on that one

if i ever go to wxw and am on the balcony i wanna make a ‘fuck you emil’ banner

why is karsten so precious

unrelated note: just realized tim could almost definitely show up for shortcut to the top

wonder if he’d stick around in the fall like he did last year

god adam at least don’t talk over rico

polak is distracting, really; even ignoring that his voice is annoying

lmao ok him screaming shenanigans at kim suplexing walter is pretty funny

WHAT DOES RELAXED RULES MEAN

...who are these guys in ugly suits?

no but really is tassilo jung gonna take an ativan or something before reffing the match?

does relaxed rules = no dq? some dq? casual dq?

rico that is clearly not concrete

hahaha adam approving of vampiro being penta’s dark master

i kinda hope adam kidnapping alan becomes an actual plot point; not that i want more adam on commentary but i like silly villainy

also i don’t have the attention span for this match; i was up real early watching bosj and it’s hot out and honestly this match is meh

‘the referee is just there to look on them’ hahaha fair enough adam

hardcore matches are not exactly my jam

goddammit sometimes adam is actually really funny

it’s interesting cause i say hardcore matches aren’t my thing, but bones vs ilja was a carnagefest and i loved that; tbh it’s probably what clinched my interest in wxw

bones! that is too far up!

haha rico selling that like actual death...and adam being like ‘ummm excuse me vampiro can’t die he’s undead, duhhhh’

eh crowd, it was ok

awwwww bones watched vampiro as a small that’s super sweet

ok i am ready for next match crowd let bones finish

hugz

wait this is so sweet wrestling is so nice

aw it’s time for a4 to lose their titles :(

six months is a good long reign though, i’m just not quite ready for andy and marius to break up

aaa that silouette is super sick

not sick; my wireless dropping for no reason

ngl i am having a hard time paying attention it is too hot here

it’s almost 11pm and it’s 80 degrees out [that’s 26.6 for you germans]

it also doesn’t help that firefox is freaking out my cpu for some reason so guess i gotta finiosh this later

we trreturn next time at 1:19:53

[closetofanxiety]

Show review: THE ULTIMATE THRILL RIDE

Epic clashes on the grandest stage of them all! Surprise returns from beloved figures! Title changes! And VIDEO PACKAGE AFTER VIDEO PACKAGE AFTER VIDEO PACKAGE! Let’s look back at Wrestlemania 33: Orlando Furioso!

Neville def. Austin Aries via pinfall

I didn’t see this match. I missed most of the pre-show, to be honest. I really watched too much wrestling over the long weekend. I went for a walk instead, actually three separate walks on Sunday. It’s the first nice day we’ve had all year here in southern New England, and I took full advantage of it. I mean, it fucking snowed on Friday and Saturday. So, anyway, Neville won. The cruiserweight division is full of talented men with almost zero connection to the audience. It’s only a matter of time before there’s another Swoggle winning the title and it gets retired again. There will be a lot of blame to hand out then, but I’ll blame Vince. It’s usually a safe bet.

Mojo Rawley wins the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Rawley joins Cesaro, Big Show, and Baron Corbin in the winners’ circle of this particular honor, although unlike them, he needed an assist from New England Patriots tight end and human game of beer pong Rob Gronkowski in order to win. I missed almost all of this, because after my third walk of the day I went to Starbucks. You have to give yourself little gifts. It helps keep you normal. That’s my advice, although why anyone would take life advice from me is a mystery. I mean, I’m not living in a refrigerator carton or anything, but I’m exactly the kind of person who might as well not exist at all. Much like this battle royal, in fact, crowded as it was with wrestlers for whom no storyline or narrative currently exists: Sami Zayn and Dolph Ziggler tossed in among lower-midcard-for-lifers like Curtis Axel and Epico. What a fate. What a bleak way to further the preshow, which is really just “the show” when you think about it. 

Dean Ambrose (c) defeats Baron Corbin via pinfall to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship

I did watch this perfectly serviceable matchup that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the first hour of a fair-to-middling Smackdown episode. The Intercontinental Championship is almost an insult at this point. The WWE giving you this belt is like your boss putting you on a performance improvement plan at work. It’s to “enhance your capabilities” but it’s like a dunce cap. This was defended on the pre-show, on free TV: the USA Network broadcast it before the start of Wrestlemania proper. Honestly, Epico had a less humiliating day. Rating: Two Ultimate Thrill Rides.

AJ Styles defeats Shane McMahon via pinfall

This was a pretty good match, I guess, although the thing I liked best was the ref bump: AJ Styles really looked like he kicked Mike Chioda square in the fucking head. That was beautiful. Occasionally you’ll see a ref bump where the official basically gets lightly jostled and then pretends to be out cold for two minutes, but this was a ref bump you could put your full faith and credit in. Good ref bump. Anyway, a good match. I saw people online saying “Match of the Year,” which I guess is indicative of the environment of Plaudit Inflation in which we’re currently living. This will almost certainly be the best match of the year to feature Shane McMahon. But I’m tired of the McMahon family in general, and sick of seeing them on TV. AJ Styles should have been in the main event, not the curtain-jerker. Still. At least they haven’t put the Intercontinental Championship on him yet. Kiss of death. Rating: Three Ultimate Thrill Rides.

Kevin Owens defeats Chris Jericho (c) by pinfall to win the United States Championship

A solid match here, although it lacked the raw emotion of Owens’ best matches, and the extra spark of brutality you’d expect from a match that was ostensibly the culmination of a bitter falling out between two “best friends.” This story was all about the buildup, with the blowoff leaving a little something to be desired. A fine match, though, perfectly acceptable as a Raw main event. If that’s damning with faint praise, it’s because I expect a lot from these guys, who are two of the very best. This was better than Jericho’s lackluster match with AJ Styles at last year’s Wrestlemania. Faint praise again, I guess. Rating: Two and a half Ultimate Thrill Rides.

Fatal Four-Way Elimination Match: Bayley (c) defeats Nia Jax, Charlotte Flair, and Sasha Banks to retain the Raw Women’s Championship

They got rid of Nia early, which was crucial. Nia can’t do very much inside a wrestling ring. From that point, the big expectation was for Sasha Banks to turn heel and betray her weird hug-prone friend Bayley, a possibility they had been advancing on commentary for weeks, but it didn’t happen. Instead, Charlotte pinned Sasha, somewhat unexpectedly, sucking the air out of the arena. Bayley won with a flying elbow from the top rope in tribute to Macho Man. I buy that Sasha was a huge Eddie Guerrero fan as a kid, but Bayley’s supposed childhood love of Randy Savage is puzzling to me. She was born in 1989, how much Macho Madness was there really from the mid-1990s onward? Were there a lot of kids in like the year 2000 saying “I want to be just like ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage”? Maybe there were. I was not a kid by then, so I didn’t spend a lot of time talking to kids about their favorite wrestlers. But when I was a kid I liked Savage a lot. I seem to have wandered from this match, which had its moments but was kind of lackluster. Rating: Two Ultimate Thrill Rides.

Fatal Four-Way Ladders Match: The Hardy Boys defeat The Club (c), Enzo Amore & Big Cass, and Sheamus and Cesaro to win the Raw Tag Team Championships

Big surprise return from Team Extreme! Listen, I’m never going to adopt the WWE spelling convention that insists we identify them as the Hardy “Boyz.” First of all, the mid-1990s are over. Second of all, they are grizzled middle-aged men. It was fun to see them back. Genuine pop from everyone watching at my house. I’m not sure how much of the “Broken” gimmick they’re going to be able to do; Kevin Dunn hurriedly cut the cameras away from Matt as he was doing the “delete” thing, but that could be standard Kevin Dunn incompetence. Anyway, this match was fun, with a truly insane Jeff Hardy Swanton Bomb from the top of the ladder capping it off. Astonishing to think they had a ladder match for the Ring of Honor tag team belts just the night before this. Them North Carolina boys are tough, I’ll tell you what. I have gripes and grimaces to share about this kind of thing overall, but for now it’s fun to see these dudes back in the WWE for the first time since 2009. And I’m relieved Enzo and Cass didn’t win the titles. God, I am tired of them. Rating: Three and a half Ultimate Thrill Rides. 

John Cena and Nikki Bella defeat the Miz and Maryse via pinfall

This was a weirdly lowkey match, most of it focused on the Miz working over Cena with brawling-type offense, until the Queen of Strong Style Nikki Bella got the hot tag AND CLEANED FUCKING HOUSE, hitting a sick tope suicida on the Miz and whaling on Maryse. Maryse basically did nothing in this match. Mike Chioda took more bumps than Maryse during Wrestlemania. Anyway, the real winners of this match were you and I, because we got to see John Cena propose to Nikki Bella (he used her real name, EXPOSING THE BUSINESS!!!) in the ring. Cena actually sounded like a human being during this segment; it was very sweet and came across well. Some people booed. You’re going to boo love, my friends? If so, for what will you cheer? Rating: Three Ultimate Thrill Rides for the match, Seven Ultimate Thrill Rides for the proposal.

Non-Sanctioned Match: Seth Rollins defeats Triple H via pinfall

I love a good non-sanctioned match. What a weird holdover term from the territory days. What body are we to believe “sanctions” matches, and is it different from the body that permits a “non-sanctioned” match to be televised to a worldwide audience? This was also very old school in terms of the match itself, which was focused almost entirely on Seth Rollins’ ailing knee. The crowd was very quiet for this perhaps, despite the insistence of Jim Cornette et al, people don’t really want to watch old-school wrestling matches in 2017. It was OK, but it felt very slow. Rollins won, which was the right decision. Stephanie got knocked through a table, prompting the biggest pop of the match. The best part for me was Triple H’s hilarious entrance, where he came down the ramp AS A BAD-ASS BIKER ON HIS BAD-ASS THREE-WHEELED MOTORCYCLE surrounded by indie wrestlers dressed as highway patrolmen, also riding motorcycles. One of the great visual flourishes of the territory days was the spectacle of the hated villain being led to the ring by a phalanx of stone-faced Southern cops protecting the wrestler from enraged fans, a scene that sent the unmistakable message This Is For Real (even though it was obviously not), one of those sweaty, smoky aspects of wrestling that’s lost forever. Triple H, weirdly sentimental about wrestling history, tried to revive that aura of county civic center danger, and it came across like a campy musical version of “CHIPs.” I loved it. Rating: Two and a half Ultimate Thrill Rides. 

Randy Orton defeats Bray Wyatt (c) via pinfall to win the WWE Championship

I had been pretty excited for this match, but it felt weirdly truncated, with a truly abrupt finish. They were running long (the goddamn show ended at midnight) so maybe these guys were told to keep it short. One thing that kept happening is that every time Bray would do his Exorcist bend-over-backwards thing, the lights would dim and images of giant worms, maggots, and cockroaches would appear on the ring canvas, apparently because Bray was possessed by his late sister, Abigail. “He’s channeling the full power of Sister Abigail now!” JBL yelled, referring to an imaginary ghost. Even the power of an imaginary ghost was not enough to prevent Randy Orton from hitting his finisher “out of nowhere,” but actually out of somewhere: out of the midst of a rushed, unsatisfying match. Rating: Two Ultimate Thrill Rides.

Brock Lesnar defeats Goldberg (c) via pinfall to win the Universal Championship

This was a fucking blast. I was a total skeptic coming into this, but they did it just right: five minutes of these two big boys pulling out the crowd-pleasingest parts of their arsenals, German suplay after German suplay after German suplay from Brock, verses spear upon spear from Big Bill. It was like watching two rhinoceroses collide on the savanna and fight over rights to a watering hole. Magnificent and brutal. Big Bill threw himself around that ring with abandon, including maybe the best “Oops I missed the spear now I’m hitting the ring post” spot I’ve ever seen on a WWE show. Good for Big Bill. Good for Bork, who is now the indifferent holder of a championship belt. This was fun. I have not liked much of the Goldberg stuff, but this was fun. Rating: Four Ultimate Thrill Rides.

Naomi defeats Alexa Bliss (c), Carmella w/James Ellsworth, Becky Lynch, Mickie James, and Natalya to win the Smackdown Women’s Championship

This was in the Death Spot between the Bork-Bill showdown and the main event, and the crowd was not overly hyped. There was also an abortive Pittbull concert at some point. Maybe prior to Bork-Bill? Anyway, this match was kind of a cluster, with a lot of disconnected action and a vibe of being made up on the fly. My favorite part was when Becky Lynch - sporting truly abominable dreadlocks for some reason - hit Ellsworth with an exploder suplex. The rest was meh. Mickie James had #Problematic ring gear, unless she’s Native American (she may be). Alexa Bliss was good in her role as despicable brat-fetish heel. Naomi, the hometown girl, won via submission. Rating: Two Ultimate Thrill Rides. 

Main Event: Roman Reigns defeats the Undertaker via pinfall

Maybe the best part of this match is that they brought Jim Ross down to do commentary on it, indicating it was almost certainly the last Undertaker match. The match itself was about as good as it was going to be: Roman is a really good wrestler, but the Undertaker is 52 years old and long past the point of keeping up in a wrestling ring. He tried hard. Lots of kickouts of finishers, etc. The drama felt forced, honestly, as did the whole buildup, like at some point in February they just decided they were going to have the Undertaker fight Reigns and then even later said, “Hey, this is it for ol’ Taker.” After he lost, Taker took an extended curtain call, which was nice. I have never been a fan of the Undertaker as a performer, but his popularity and contributions are undeniable. Rating: Two Ultimate Thrill Rides.

[amiasmarktho]

Smark’s Thoughts Live pt 2

-AJ Styles is perfect. It is so hard to boo him. I love the fact that when AJ tells Cena to shut up, HE DOES XD. The story is perfect for the heel/face double turn. Cena, the has been who keeps burying guys and won’t let go. The guy who just uses his star power to stay on top but doesn’t ACTUALLY earn it. And then AJ, the cocky dude that talks a little too much but dammit he works his ass off he deserves his arrogance! This better have good booking! -Nice match between Ziggler and Kalisto. Ziggler was always better as a heel. JBL getting upset again is stupid though considering he is the heel commentator. I hope Ziggler comes out on top over Crews and Kalisto in this feud. -Does anybody care about Naomi anymore? Alexa was the only thing worth talking about xD -I’ve never enjoyed the concept of the lumberjack match. It’s always been a boring gimmick to me. But the match is decent enough. No JBL, Bryan didn’t win at Mania with the knee. He made Batista tap out you dumb fuck.  ugh.....ofcourse it leads to them all in the ring. That was just a silly match. I guess they all can’t be winners though.  -Despite its downfalls, Smackdown was still better than Raw this week. If you like hearing some smark’s opinions, make fure to follow me. Now it’s time for 205

[danwhobrowses]

WWE Wrestlemania 37 Day 2 - Review

And we are back! Wrestlemania hit hard with Day 1, good shit and big moments fitting of the show

So let's see if Day 2 can match up to it, lots of big matches on the card, we'll see how it goes.

See the Night 1 Review Here

Spoilers for Night 2 and References to Night 1 included, you have been Warned

Pre-Show Like the last Night, no matches on the Pre-Show, just drivel and promos. So the same criticisms really, Lawler saying 'Wrestlerainia' doesn't make it any better than when Cole said it, his attempts at jokes were awful even when they were his material. When they recapped Night 1 though they should've shown footage of Ford celebrating with Bianca rather than just say it - a Picture says a Thousand Words. Standard Promo Package lies apply too, 'Rhea Ripley has brutalized everyone she's come through' ...except Io Shirai and Raquel Gonzalez, similar went down for the second half of HOF because Great Khali is only there to pander to India - also what did the Mayor of Knox County ever do for WWE? Sonya also popped up again, strangely to talk about the Nigerian Drum Fight - which Booker T talked about the most, if I wanted to watch a bunch of old dudes talk over Sonya Deville I'd be drinking bleach. She also stuck for Sami vs KO, and barely talked in that too.

Also the promo they had about Kofimania was rough to watch, considering how it ended and how Kofi fared on Night 1, all this to promote a cheesy Cricket commercial about him not touching the ground...

The 24/7 title even got a continuation of ads, but it was more a 'to be concluded on Youtube' - honestly the belt has run its course, Truth has ran out of jokes and it's been reduced to an Old Spice ad crossover.

Main Card Starting once more with 'America the Beautiful', replacing the boob window with a bright yellow hat. It was fine, as a Brit 'America the Beautiful' does nothing for me.

They then did the same intro package as night 1 just with some different clips, skippable. And the shoddy camera switching is still there.

Hogan and Titus came out again this time in pirate outfits, there was noticeable boos in Hogan's bits with cheesy pirate puns. In the end the host concept was wasted on them. Reminder that names in Bold are those I predicted to win.

Randy Orton def. The Fiend [w/Alexa Bliss] (Pinfall via RKO) Orton opened night 2 in white tights and a fairy long-winded entrance, the melted Fiend then walked through a corridor of fire LEDs as CGI burned away into his original Fiend look...but Alexa's Firefly Funhouse music hit. Cutesy Bliss approached a giant Jack in a Box commentary act like just 'appeared'. The Fiend arose from the box in a combat vest, posed then dove right at Orton. Red lights cover the match throughout, Uranage and a neck snap started the match as the Fiend continued to do his spooky thing, it looks like he was gonna set up the punt but Randy rolls out of the ring. Randy hits the back body slam on the Announcer's Desk but it's no sold into the Mandible Claw, rope break and apron DDT from Orton only staggers the Fiend but rebounding his neck off the ropes grounds him momentarily. Orton tries to methodically beat down the Fiend but the monster hits back hard, a missed Senton and a senton follows some head kicks and another apron DDT, he sets up for an RKO but the Fiend gets the Mandible Claw (which commentary no sold even though he has won titles with that move), he sets up Sister Abigail but the ring posts pyro like Kane and before Fiend is Bliss with new makeup, dripping in black goo she extends her hand to the Fiend from the jack in the box, RKO and...3!? Post match Fiend and Alexa stare down, the electricity shorts out and both members disappear.

That's it? That's what we got? The Fiend was burned alive and survived but 1 RKO does it? The Fiend no sold so much in his career and one RKO felled him. The fuck man, this was as bad as the last time these two went at mania, you'd think like the brilliant Firefly Funhouse Match last year we'd get some course correction. But nope, Fiend's story is just being taken over by Alexa and this daft-ass black goo stuff, I don't get the motivation either. Fiend helped Alexa straddle Orton for a 3 count at Fastlane, talked all big for months about how the Fiend was going to obliterate Orton and it lasted about 8 minutes, the entrances lasted longer! Last year the Fiend was great with a cinematic match, but WWE have somehow managed to systematically destroy one of their most inventive characters time and time again, not a good start.

Backstage once again Bayley gets buried by the Hosts and this time Eric Bischoff as she tried to push Ding Dong Hello and got jealous of them talking up Bianca vs Sasha from last night.

WWE Women's Tag Championship - Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax (c) def. Natalya & Tamina (Ref Stoppage Submission by Baszler on Natalya via Kirufuda Clutch) Not a promising sign to follow the opener with this match, the challengers entered quickly with Natalya having a slightly altered attire. Jax and Baszler came in with red, black and gold. Natalya and Baszler start the match with some mat wrestling, Natalya almost gets the Sharpshooter so Shayna tags Nia in, Nia shoves Natalya and demands that Tamina - her old tag partner - be tagged in. Both trade headbutts, Tamina almost lifts Nia but fails, she tags in Natalya for the double back body drop and drops the blind tagged Shayna onto her partner. Natalya tries a Sharpshooter but is schoolboy'd for 2, Natalya retaliates with a German Suplex, whipping Shayna into a Clothesline, then launch pad into a superkick. As Shayna strikes back an advantage she stiffs Natalya in the mouth with a knee (legitimately, there was a picture of a welt before) Nia brawls with Tamina outside, hitting a powerslam outside of the ring. Another knee strike floors Natalya for 2 as Shayna works on the leg, kneebar and then an ankle stomp, Nia follows up with a Legdrop over the injured leg, another kneebar and then combos of swing/knee strike and irish whip/powerslam. Nia runs into the turnbuckle as Natalya floors Nia with multiple lariat attempts, Nia though hits back with a Chokeslam/Powerbomb thing they called a Spinebuster but the pin is broken by Tamina. Tamina gets the hot tag against Shayna, Baszler tries to weaken the leg, then the Kirufuda clutch but Tamina powers into a Samoan Drop. She goes up for a Superfly Splash but Shayna kicks her, Nia looks to do an Avalanche Samoan Drop but Natalya pulls Tamina away, she lariats Baszler but Nia hits the crossbody on both opponents for 2, favouring the knee after. Talking trash to Tamina she gets hit with a slam, Nia's repositioning couldn't be missed by the wide shot as Tamina goes for the Superfly Splash, but nobody home. Natalya's tagged and she goes for Baszler in the corner, Baszler counters and blind tags as Nia lifts Natalya up, but she wriggles out, floors Baszler again and sets the Sharpshooter on the now not legal Nia. Baszler cinches in the Kirufuda clutch and the match is over.

The fact that this was more eventful than the opener speaks volumes. It was a match, I don't think there's many people who feel like Nia and Shayna deserve this spot. Shayna was great in NXT but she's not doing herself any favours stiffing her opponents, Nia's rubbing off in a bad way. I had the challengers to win because I'm bored of them still being champions - only briefly giving it to Asuka and Charlotte so Charlotte can add that to her list - they should've either dropped to NXT or let the Riott Squad win, there was nothing in this match to invest in.

Rey Mysterio is used to promote 2K22. A surprise since we thought WWE and 2K's partnership was done, I am a huge fan of Rey so it was nice to see, much nicer if he was actually on Wrestlemania and getting a push...

Kevin Owens def. Sami Zayn [w/Logan Paul] (Pinfall via Stunner) JBL is the guest commentator for this...for some reason. Sami struts to the ring in dark green trying to pull off a Che Guevara look, a mini tantrum at the ramp before heading to the ring and grabbing the mic to introduce Logan Paul, who walks to the ring as Sami dances super embarrassingly in the ring. Owens then charges into the ring with vigor to get the crowd amped up. The bell rings, Sami tries the Helluva Kick and gets hit with a Pop-Up Powerbomb. KO punishes Sami in the start, dropping Sami gut-first on the ropes, corner clothesline and Cannonball as the camera awkwardly keeps cutting to Logan Paul. Sami gets a suplex on the apron to get back some momentum as he demands for Owens to be counted out, Owens rolls in at 8 but Sami continues to club at KO's head. Cole calls a Michinoku Driver a Blue Thunder Bomb but this time gets called out on it, pinfall is 2 and Sami gets into the ref's face. Attempted Superplex leads to a fistfight in the corner, Owens headbutts him off and Frog Splashes for 2, tries the Pop-Up powerbomb, Sami leapfrogs, Sami tries the Michinoku Driver but Owens reverses it into a meaty Pumphandle Neckbreaker for 2. He goes for the Package Piledriver but Sami hits the corner exploder, tries for the Helluva Kick but misses, KO tries the Stunner but it's reversed into a Blue Thunder Bomb for 2 as well. Two Exploders and a Brainbuster for 2 frustrates Sami further, brawling in the corner, he tries for a Superplex but gets hit with an Avalanche twisting Fisherman's Suplex. KO hits Sami with some corner clotheslines but as he runs to bounce off the other corner he runs into a Helluva Kick, Sami catching his collapsed friend as he sets it up again, 2 Superkicks from Owens and a Stunner finishes Sami off as Logan Paul applauds. Post-Match Logan checks on Sami and congratulates Owens, which Sami takes umbrage with. Logan shoves Sami as he storms off, Logan holds KO's arm in the air to boos, cheers start to rumble as Paul is hit with a stunner to a pop.

KO and Sami rarely disappoints, I don't think they really got to get out of second gear but it was still a good match. The Logan Paul stuff though was stupid and unnecessary, sure we got him to eat a Stunner but the ends don't justify the means. Also why was JBL there?

Backstage Riddle scooters across to Great Khali, stoner comedy doesn't land as Khali no sells it, RVD shows up to wish Riddle luck. Segment was meh.

US Championship - Sheamus def. Riddle (c) (Pinfall via Brogue Kick TITLE CHANGE!) Sheamus arrives blinding white but no special gear, Riddle scooters down in an Evil Knievel jacket, hologram doves with pirate hats and eyepatches adding to the cheese. Sheamus uses his power to start, but Riddle comes back with some chops, Sheamus hits back in each of his attempts; knee to the gut, then driving Riddle's sleeper in the corner, then a reversal swinging slam. Irish Curse gets 2, Riddle tries a Tarantula Armbreaker but Sheamus hits his Beats of Bodhran, he goes up high but Riddle reverses with a Spanish Fly Belly to Belly on the top turnbuckle. Riddle rallies with strikes, hits a Pele Kick and a Senton, to slight Goldberg Riddle hits the Jackhammer on the second time of trying but only gets 2. He tries the Bro Derek but Sheamus rolls back, Riddle kicks Sheamus away but in his slingshot lands into a Brogue Kick, 1, 2, No. Alabama Slam, 1, 2, No. He tries a White Noise on the Apron but gets pushed into the Ring Post and then German's on the Apron. An Apron PK and Moonsault keeps Sheamus down enough for Riddle to hit the Twisting Moonsault, he locks in the Reverse armbar but it's reversed into a deadlift powerbomb, Riddle then latches the sleeper for the rope break. Sheamus tries again for a Top Rope White Noise, Riddle tries to Sunset Bomb but fails, Riddle tries the Spanish Fly Belly to belly again but Sheamus grabs him. A stumble means that the two hop off the Turnbuckle for a normal White Noise, Sheamus goes up with a Knee Drop but it only hits 2. Sheamus calls for the Brogue, gets rolled up but catches the Knee strike, Riddle dodges the lariat, goes for a Springboard Moonsault but lands into the Brogue, 1, 2, 3. Post match Riddle is bleeding from the mouth, he angrily stares at the gleeful Sheamus who leaves with the title.

A good title match and much deserved from Sheamus, who has delivered in many matches on the later stages of of the Wrestlemania year, shame he was on the wrong brand to complete the set, he only needs the IC title to win everything. Riddle doesn't do it for me in this gimmick (which as I gather is mostly himself stoned) but credit where it's due, he put a good performance and that was a strong finish.

An odd package followed where Triple H handed Bad Bunny a golden briefcase with a skull microphone, which he opened atop his truck. The briefcase says Tour 2022 to promote his future tour.

Nigerian Drum Fight for the IC Title - Apollo Crews def. Big E (c) (Pinfall via Dabba Kato Chokeslam TITLE CHANGE!) The promo really hurt my ears to hear Apollo's accent devolve into this foreign heel gimmick. Wale though performs to enter Big E, more questionable camera cuts to E and the Fireworks. E's jacket represented Feeding Tampa Bay as a nice nod to the food bank, Apollo came out in Nigerian colors with his scarf and Spear. Commentary's line saying 'this isn't about percussion' falls kinda flat when there's drums around the ring.

Both men roll out to grab Kendo sticks, trading blows which E gets the power advantage over. E grabs the giant cymbal but Apollo knees it away, hits E with some more Kendo Shots back into the ring. You can hear the WAFT of Apollo's missed shot as E knocks him away and then does the out-of-ring spear. E sets up the lower steps near the apron but gets hit with a DVD on the apron, pinfall gets 2. Crews grabs the top half of the steps, lays E on the one he sets up and throws the other steps at it, but E rolls away just in time. On the apron Apollo hits a big boot, but on the second attempt falls into an Uranage onto the flat steps (which Cole called an Uranage Suplex for some reason...), after some trash talking E gets a table set up in the ring near a corner. Apollo kicks back and flurries E with a Kendo Stick, he rolls E onto the table to go for the frog splash, but E rolls away sending Apollo crashing through the table. E hits the Big Ending, but Dabba Kato/Babatunde in a military jacket breaks the pin, a sorta Samoan Spike and a Chokeslam leads to him dragging Apollo onto E for the win. Apollo gets a lot of unnecessary pyro and shakes his new comrade's hand.

Bit short that, the gimmick didn't really come into play. I mean, I'm glad Apollo gets a chance to hold another title and E can look towards the top of the card but I don't think this was really the way to do it. It didn't need to be a 'Nigerian Drum Fight', could've just been a No DQ, Dabba Kato gets his third repackaging since Greatest Royal Rumble probably as Apollo's 'General' which is kinda no different to what AJ and Omos are doing just with more foreign heel-isms. But yeah, bit disappointing on the means of it but the outcome was right, just...kinda stop faking a thick accent it's getting you nowhere acting like you're on the set of Black Panther.

Again we look back at Night 1, this time with minor clips of Ford congratulating his wife, but should've been a segment on its own rather than a flash-through recap. Stone Cold Mania 38 Texas promo and the HOF promo they did on this Pre-Show happens again which is unnecessary but the hologram of a ghost ship was cool, the HOFers come out and Kane gets the entrance, he does his pyro and that's it - that's how you do it, Hogan.

Raw Women's Championship - Rhea Ripley def. Asuka (c) (Pinfall via Riptide TITLE CHANGE!) THIS IS MY BRUTALITY! performed live as Rhea wastes no time coming out, leather biker outfit this time, no Vegeta costume. Silly camera cuts to Rhea and the Singer AGAIN though, stop it WWE it's distracting. Asuka dances down the ring in a bit of a Jason mask, but the camera keeps cutting to Rhea which is off-putting. Also commentary on 'she has never seen Rhea Ripley up close and personal', they were in a tag match together a week and a half ago and in Survivor Series 2019 she faced her in Team NXT as part of Team RAW, seriously WWE...

Asuka starts hot with her athleticism, dropkicks, rebounds and rollups met with more shoddy camera cuts, Rhea leaves the ring to take a moment as Asuka taunts her, she baits Asuka out of the ring as she rolls in but her leg is caught, pop-up knee strike returns Rhea to the ring but she misses the hip attack, gifting Rhea the slamming facebuster for 2. Rhea wears the champion down and taunts her with leg scissors and hits a couple of clotheslines, Asuka reverses the third into an ankle lock but Rhea rolls into a Release German Suplex. Rhea grinds away at Asuka's back and sets up for a super German but Asuka elbows her away and lands the Missile Dropkick, Release German, Hip Attack, a strike combo, another Hip Attack but it only gets 2. Asuka goes up top but is dropkicked to the outside, Asuka tries a PK on the apron but is caught into an Electric Chair position and dropped chin-first onto the apron. Trying to roll Asuka back into the ring, the champion returns to hit a DDT from the apron to the outside, after breaking the count Asuka only gets 2, stomps at Rhea but her running knee gets caught, Rhea stomps at Asuka and sets up the Texas Cloverleaf, Asuka rolls out and into the Armbar but Rhea swings Asuka into the bottom turnbuckle. Deadlift suplex back into the ring for 2, Asuka reverses a waistlock into two armbar variations and then an Asuka Lock, Rhea rolls back for 2 and the hold to break but gets gutted with kicks to the chest, Rhea demands more so Asuka runs to the ropes, Rhea catches her, Riptide, 3!

That finish came out of nowhere, which was not a good thing. We were having quite an enjoyable match which ended around the 15 minute mark, it wasn't short but the narrative wasn't quite there yet. I'm happy for Rhea, who I predicted to win but like Sasha/Bianca it came with the heavy heart. Like Sasha, Asuka has often been slighted especially at Wrestlemania, she deserves her moment too, especially Asuka who carried the Women for most of the Empty Arena era.

WWE recapped the opener which was a bad idea, Hogan and Titus thanked all the viewers at home and the fans but were interrupted by Bayley who demanded and got her pyro, then out came the Bella Twins. Bayley got a good zing by calling them Elmo but then Nikki slapped the mic away from her when she says 'John Cena isn't here tonight', Bellas said 'Ding Dong, Goodbye' and beat down Bayley. This was shite really, Bayley had been buried across 2 nights and her 'comeuppance' is the Bella Twins, not the woman beginning with B I was hoping for, and the John Cena comment was heavily forced, fans know they broke up ages ago Nikki has a kid with her husband who is not John Cena, fans aren't stupid WWE.

WWE then promoted 'Wrestlemania Backlash' for May 16th, a whole month away. They say it'll be a whole new season for WWE so I'm wondering if it's just a storyline reset...y'know how Wrestlemania is supposed to be, slapping Wrestlemania on other show names doesn't make it Wrestlemania-tier guys.

Universal Championship - Roman Reigns (c) [w/Paul Heyman & Jey Uso] def. Daniel Bryan and Edge (Pinfall on Edge and Bryan via Con-Chair-To) To the Main Event, one of the few storylines in Mania's card that was consistently good in build. Bryan comes out first, camera angles flashing during the YES! chants. Huge pops and smoke rage for Metalingus and Edge enters in white and Red (bookending with Orton), fireworks camera shots though. For once, Roman Reigns enters the Main Event without a chorus of deafening boos, but he takes his time to come out, in his red wreath flanked by Jey Uso and Heyman, cameras cutting to each opponent's faces a bit too much, especially to Bryan. Bad call not to bring in Justin Roberts to announce Edge either. Roman makes sure to hoist the belt while facing both his opponents before the bell.

Reigns starts by suckering Bryan and then going after Edge. He throws Bryan out of the ring where Jey superkicks him and sends him into the steps thanks to Triple Threat rules. Edge eats a superkick from Uso too when he's thrown out as Roman cleans up the announcer's table, as Edge is grabbed by Uso, Reigns is hit by Bryan's suicide dive but eats an Uso superkick, this gives Edge time to throw Uso into the steps, pinballing Reigns against the barricade and apron until bouncing off of the ring post. Edge then sets his sights on Uso, hitting a DDT on the steps to take him out of the equation, medical team swarm Uso as Heyman halfheartedly looks concerned. Edge chases Heyman away and enters the ring with Bryan - a moment which would've been sold better if the camera didn't cut to a close up of Roman alive and well on the outside. Bryan gets the Yes Kicks in the corner but his Super Rana is reversed into a sunset flip, Edge-o-matic but it's only 2. Roman comes back on the apron both men attempting to suplex the other, Bryan slides under Roman and cuts Roman's legs from under him - jawbreaking Edge on the ropes - he hits the Missile Dropkick on Edge, kips up and hits the uppercut, after dodging the lariat he tries to suicide dive Roman but he's caught by the champion and hit with a belly to belly suplex. Edge brings Roman to the ring but gets hit with a clothesline, Roman sets up the Superman Punch but Edge turns it into an Edgecution. He sets up the Spear but Roman knocks him down, Roman sets the Spear but it is reversed in a Sunset Flip, both men collide with spears to take each other out. During a wide shot Bryan goes up top, he lands a diving headbutt on Edge, then on Roman, he pins Roman but only gets 2. Yes Kicks to both men, Roman dodges one and pushes him towards Edge, but Bryan ducks the Lariat and hits the Buisaku Knee, Roman tries the Superman Punch but is kicked in the gut, Buzzsaw Kick! 1, 2, No! Bryan stomps on Roman's head and sets up the Yes Lock, but Edge breaks the hold, so Bryan puts Edge in the Yes Lock and Roman breaks the hold, clubbing at Bryan and powerbombing him onto Edge. After dumping Bryan, Roman pauses before setting up half the steps near the Announcer's Table, he's incited by the 'Roman Sucks' chant and powerbombs Bryan through the Announcer's table, but is then blindsided with a Spear! Edge goes to bring in a chair but Roman keeps his foot on it, he pulls the chair away and tries the Guillotine but Edge locks in the Crossface, as Roman powers out Edge grabs a part of the chair leg that fell off and uses that in his Crossface - a humorous face from Reigns as I pause the vid as well XD - he's about to tap but Bryan grabs the hand, and locks in the Yes Lock! Annoyed that his win is stolen, Edge demands he break the hold, but Bryan refuses, leading to a headbutt fight and Bryan pounding at Edge. Bryan then stomps at Edge's head and looks for the Buisaku Knee, but gets hit by a Spear! Roman tries a Spear but Edge hits one of his own! 1, 2, Bryan pulls the ref out of the ring. Furious, Edge introduces more chairs, hitting Bryan and Edge one after the other. He sets up Con-Chair-To to both men, hits it on Bryan but Jey Uso returns to attack, eats a Spear and a load of Chair Shots, Reigns hits the spear on Edge, hits the Con-Chair-To, drags Edge over Bryan and pins both for the win.

The show closes with pyro and Fireworks as Roman talks trash on his opponents and holds the title aloft, ending Wrestlemania 37.

It was a very good back and forth match, Roman of course relying heavily on Jey's interferences and the animosity between Edge and Bryan to come out on top. Keeping the Spear and the Con-Chair-To for last was the right move and the latter was definitely impactful enough to ensure that Bryan could sleep for a few minutes, especially with his and Edge's history of neck injuries. I bet on Roman because of his past record, how after finally turning heel he gets the right heat and because in Triple Threats involving a Heel Champion and 2 Faces, you either bet on the third man or the heel champion, since the story was that Roman could lose without being pinned I chose the latter, the heel often finds the escape. All three men had great chemistry together and I hope for more, SD's world title scene having an absolute slew of competitors waiting to challenge the head of the table.

Conclusion Overall another good night of wrestling...just not better. There were some super baffling and poor moments in the first half of the show and 3 title changes in a row (as well as 2 live performances in a row) was probably not the best card layout Night 2 could've done. Overall it was still a good show though and as a whole Wrestlemania 37 was a success, if not without its glaring flaws. But it goes to show that a 2-Day Wrestlemania continues to flourish as a new season of WWE kicks off.

[trilotechcorp]

New Post has been published on PBA-Live

New Post has been published on http://pba-live.com/damian-lillard-knows-the-power-of-social-media-for-athletes/

Damian Lillard knows the power of social media for athletes

Just a few years ago, social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram were used by athletes mostly for status updates at the spur of the moment, random photos at the gym or loose chats back and forth with close friends. But players like Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard have quickly learned how powerful those platforms can be.

Unlike players now, who have accounts before they reach high school and have massive followings by the time they’re making college decisions, Lillard didn’t take the plunge and create an account until some nudging from a friend at Weber State, which led to his aptly titled initial @MrWeberState Twitter account.

At the time, building his brand was a distant thought, and he mostly used the account to fire off commentary during live games, tweet out his favorite song lyrics and talk to friends.

“I never really dove into it,” Lillard said of his social media use in college, during a recent episode of the Nice Kicks podcast. “I was really just consumed with trying to make it to the league. I never paid attention to it.”

That all changed once he turned pro. After being selected sixth overall by the Trail Blazers in the 2012 draft — deemed a reach by pundits at the time — Lillard established himself on the court right out the gate, racking up countless awards in his first year. He won co-MVP of the summer league, was named first-team All-Rookie, and went on to win Rookie of the Year, all while leading the league in minutes played. He also won a much less publicized award that the league had quietly added to the mix: Social Media Rookie of the Year.

“When I got to the league, that’s when I realized how useful it could be,” said Lillard, “as far as growing your brand and allowing people to get to know you as a person.”

During his time in the NBA, Lillard has racked up a total of nearly eight million followers across his Instagram, Twitter and Facebook channels. That’s far from the most — LeBron James has a combined 80 million — but Lillard consistently ranks among the top handful of NBA players in terms of engagement and activity, an ever-valuable measure of influence online. He’s also taken up an interest and learned how to navigate each separate platform differently, working in tandem through the years with Nate Jones, his marketing rep at Goodwin Sports Management.

Part of the strategy involves weaving in his seven global endorsement deals and three regional sponsorships through his flow of social posts, while also keeping a tone that strays away from feeling too forced, pushy and promotional. Among all eleven current NBA players with a Nike, Jordan, Adidas or Under Armour signature shoe during this past season, Lillard had over twice as many branded Instagram posts as the next closest athlete, James Harden.

He was routinely featuring his “Dame” signature series and his Adidas association within his feed, amounting for more than 3.5 times as many branded posts as Nike’s signature stars Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, who ranked third and fourth. Nevertheless, he feels he’s mastered the balance of posting products, while also maintaining every brand’s favorite buzz word: “authenticity.”

“People know that what I’m doing, they know it’s going to be genuine. They know it’s real,” Lillard said. “I’m not pitching nothing at you. It’s never going to be fake. When I’m constantly posting stuff, it’s always related to me. It’s never like, ‘Sign up for this, and use my code.’ [laughs] It’s never like the corny stuff where you’re using people. It’s more inviting them. You’re inviting them to be a part of something, as opposed to just trying to sell something.”

Lillard’s deal with Adidas includes a set annual budget for his social media campaigns, encompassing anything from photo shoots for imagery to money used to boost reach and promote an individual post to a wider audience. Earlier this year, Lillard took an entirely unique approach to seeding his third signature shoe out to media members and influencers.

Rather than package the shoe in a grandiose box or include a gift card to a high-priced restaurant, as other athletes have done, Lillard provided a $500 charity donation card, nestled next to a pair of his new Adidas Dame 3 sneakers. Recipients were able to pick any charity or organization of their liking. The donation concept went on to benefit dozens of charities around the United States.

“The simple answer is four years of college better prepared Damian for the responsibilities that go with being a superstar athlete and pitchman,” said Eric Goodwin, who along with his twin brother Aaron, represents Lillard and other NBA players at their Goodwin Sports agency. “He understands the value of connecting with fans in authentic ways and there is no better way to do that today than through social media.”

As he’s grown more comfortable with sharing his voice, Lillard hasn’t shied away from using his platform to speak on social issues that he feels warrant his attention. Each spring on Instagram, he’ll often highlight and congratulate fellow family members graduating from high school and college, as he did. He’s a key global ambassador for the Special Olympics and an advocate for anti-bullying initiatives.

In addition to his community events centered in California and Oregon, Lillard has also built up an online community of aspiring musicians, through his own #4BarFriday concept. “Four bars” is a technical phrase in rap music, simply representing four lines of written lyrics. It also just so happened to fit perfectly within a 15-second video, the initial time limit when Instagram first introduced video to the platform in 2013. (Users can now upload videos up to 60 seconds in length.) Lillard came up with the concept himself while jotting down notes in his journal in his bedroom.

“I always share my ideas with Nate Jones, and he’s the person that brings it to light and makes it as strong as possible after I come up with the idea and my vision for it,” he says.

Since Lillard’s first post, rappers have posted their #4BarFriday submissions weekly, racking up almost 70,000 posts. Each Friday, Lillard will also re-post a few of his favorite raps on his own account, providing massive visibility to a sea of aspiring artists.

“It started off with me just saying, ‘I just want people to be able to hear me rap,'” Lillard reflects. “From there, it turned into people caring about what they submitted and taking pride in it.”

In recent years, it’s blossomed into more than just a weekly Instagram contest. Lillard now leverages his endorsement deal with JBL Audio to provide speakers and headphones to weekly winners. He’s even flown out #4BarFriday rappers to perform at concerts that he’s hosted during NBA All-Star Weekend. His willingness to share his own music has also grown each summer. He started out by posting a new song on Soundcloud each Monday during the summer of 2015. Last year, he released a full studio album, “The Letter O,” which quickly rose to No. 2 on the iTunes Hip-Hop chart.

While he’s grown to enjoy utilizing all of the exposure and visibility that social media has afforded him so far as a pro, Lillard is still wary of the effects and impact of too much attention for younger athletes, like prep phenoms Zion Williamson and LaMelo Ball. The duo faced off in an exhibition game in Las Vegas before Adidas’ annual summer championship AAU tournament last month. A livestream of the game on Facebook drew in as many as 75,000 viewers at once. Lillard arrived 90 minutes early to secure his front-row seat.

“All the other athletes [there] are fans of dudes that are the same age as them. I’m not used to that,” said Lillard of the frenzy caused by Williamson and Ball among their peers. “You’re supposed to look at them like, ‘They not that good!’ Almost hating on them. They’re competition. That was different. I think back to when I was in the 10th grade, and I went to a game with my boy P [Phil Taylor] and Jerryd Bayless was playing. They’re like, ‘He’s gonna be the No. 1 pick!’ We’re looking at him like, ‘He good, but he’s not better than me.’ [laughs] Now, these dudes have their phone out recording another 16-year-old.”

More than anything, Lillard knows firsthand just how ruthless people can also be at times online, whether it’s commenting to him on Instagram or Twitter when things don’t go right, or, even worse, sending harsh messages to a phenom still in high school. He expects both players to handle the pressures well, and continue advancing their careers. While everyone deals with naysayers in their own way, Lillard still enjoys firing back at critics online from time to time, pointing to the continual improvement he’s made each year in the NBA.

“People tell me all the time, ‘Man, you don’t gotta respond to it.’ But I’m always going to say something,” Lillard said. “Sometimes, that’s the last thing they expect. Or, they don’t want to have to explain what they said, or they don’t want that type of confrontation.”

Regardless, Lillard doesn’t stress it, because his routine doesn’t allow him to lose sight of his priority: the game of basketball.

“It’s easy for me to dismiss, because I know the first thing that I do every day is get up and go work out. I do my conditioning, and I’m in the weight room. I know first things are always first,” he said. “And then, I can go rap as long as I want to [laughs]. If I put out a quality album, and then I come out and have my best season … How much weight does what they’re saying have?”

Nick DePaula is the creative director for Nice Kicks and former editor-in-chief of Sole Collector Magazine.

Author: Nick DePaula Source: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20258850/damian-lillard-knows-power-social-media-athletes