#kayfabe aside this is the stuff i love

[samijey]

I'm always a sucker for wrestlers checking on/thanking each other during a pin so here's Jey stroking/squeezing Ilja's arm at the end of their match

[junglejacks]

so a few things that could come of danny “turning” on bryan

1. he never actually aligned himself with bryan or the bcc. he didn’t really even turn on jericho. he just said he wants to go his own way and made a tag team match. i think that him turning wasn’t even him turning, it was just him being like i’m not aligned with any of y’all. he looked hesitant to hug jericho after the match as well (that could just be danny being danny though). so, what this could lead to could be daniel being like “i want to be the one to take the title from jericho, i don’t need a team and so on and so forth” (i don’t think he would fit well in bcc anyway) he should just be a heel/tweener on his own. he doesn’t want to be seen as “bryan’s bcc brat” or “jericho’s pet project” he is his own person and an actual competitor.

2. heel turn for yuta. look, i know u guys see yoots as a sweet cinnamon roll or whatever but the seeds have been planted for a wheeler yuta heel turn. he was shoved aside in favour of bryan’s need for daniel to join them. he was left alone when the firm attacked him the first time. regal was the only one there to help when the firm attacked a second time, and he’s there for almost every brawl the other guys get themselves into. and, HE HATES GARCIA in kayfabe or whatever. he has every right to be upset with danielson for turning his attention to garcia, someone who wouldn’t be loyal to the faction, over himself who is already an amazing talent that they should be turning their attention to. AND renee is having a sit down chat with yuta and danielson where more seeds could be planted. yuta being like “this is what you get when you shove me aside for a snake like garcia” or some shit like that. personally, i think a heel turn for yuta would be great.

3. garcia taking the roh title off of jericho and unifying the pure and world titles, as a heel who is not a “sports entertainer”

at the very least, we know this will most likely result in the unification of the pure and world titles which would be great. i have a feeling all of this is happening as a means of splitting the rosters between aew and roh for hopefully an upcoming roh tv deal. this will add spice to the bcc cause they have been kinda unfocused lately (specifically when it comes to bryan). also, i know y’all hated last week but the story there was like “look daniel, sammy is my original protege and he won the match by staying aligned with me and my sports entertainment and all that jazz”. daniel lost that match alongside bryan danielson which could have caused him to lose faith in all that real wrestling stuff. that’s the story that is being told at this moment. my theories are just things i would love to see that lead into. please leave some more thoughts on this.

at the end of the day, wrestling shouldn’t be predictable and this is a fun storyline. get over the need for instant gratification.

[breadclubrising]

I swear if kota tweets ONE MORE unhinged teasing-golden-lovers-reuniting tweet I'm going to walk into the ocean

I'll be honest... when I first read this ask, I was like "calm down, Anon, we have a long road ahead."

I read those tweets soon after he tweeted them, and I was just [scruffy ben affleck with cigarette], because, sure, it's a nice thought, but we have no way of knowing how long it'll take, or what kind of absolute horseshit he/they/we will have to endure in the interim.

Like! Remember! Forbidden Door! Remember how, when it was first announced, we were in a place where it actually would have been a little weird if they didn't do something with the Golden Lovers for that show? And then by the time it arrived they were both injured and Omega was talking in interviews about how awful he felt physically and spiritually, and Ibushi was trying to ragequit his NJPW contract?

BUT! ANON! I am NOT saying ‘there is no reason to hope anything nice like that will happen, and you should be sad about wrestling like I am.’ Because you're right! Ibushi tweeting about a Golden Lovers reunion like it's just a thing that's obviously going to happen in the next few months is indeed a reason to get cautiously hype! I’m not going to, but only because I’m already at my personal ideal level of cautiously hype (which, because of the above bullshit and so much more, is admittedly low).

My initial response up there? Is totally based on the absolute assumption—that I at this point have taken for granted—that it IS going to happen. Ibushi's tweets will continue to be unhinged, and more importantly, the Golden Lovers will reunite, eventually! The reason Ibushi is tweeting about it like that (aside from the fact that he has chosen to stop giving a shit about most things, very much including kayfabe) is that it's a matter of when not if.

Nothing is ever certain in life, and I can think of a few things that could stop it from happening, but they’re all catastrophic and (hopefully) pretty unlikely. It’s gonna happen! Whether it will be soon, or satisfying, or which wrestling promotion(s) (if any?) will be involved, is more uncertain. We can assume they have a little more control over the story than they have in the past, but last time it took years for stuff to come together in a way they were cool with. 

But this thing is so important to both of them, and they are so important to each other. Like the Golden Lovers story is so important to them that they kept their irl (little-r) relationship a secret, even backstage at shows, for like 5 years, for the sake of kayfabe. They’ve both made career decisions with each other and the Golden Lovers as a big factor. Kenny has made that story the narrative frame for his entire career, and while Kota is less of an architect about stuff, the Golden Lovers has been his home base—he even made sure to keep Golden-Lovers-ing when he was considering going to WWE. I mean, like... almost all of their gear has references to the other! They care! If they both retired tomorrow, they’d find a way to tie it all up.

I guess what I’m saying is, yeah, I’m a little jaded; I can see ample places where there could be hella bullshit to endure. So! Please protect your feelings, sweet Anon, and stay away from the ocean! But also I am taking a moment to appreciate that we don't have to worry about whether it will happen, because there is some good in the world still, and the Golden Lovers actually big love each other irl.

That's a lot of trust to put in performers of media that you really care about, and especially in pro wrestlers. I still feel [ben affleck smoking while suffering] when i think about what might be between now and whenever they reunite, but I am also incredibly grateful that they’ve made it so clear for so long that as much as fans care about this story continuing, they care more!

[filmsthatdonotexist]

The first thing you should know about this film is that, by all accounts, it should not exist.

It appears to be so expensive, so extensive in its use of locations, that surely some record of its creation should exist. But it simply does not. All names connected to the production appear to be aliases and It's location of production is unknown, presumed Italian due to many context clues, but with a few others within the film contradicting such, with a fictional rating of "H" described only on some copies as "Hastur," in a way totally unconnected to the MPAA, in a situation some have compared to a bizarre version of the situation surrounding the former "X" rating.

Its date of production is estimated at some time within the 1970s or 1980s, but the fact that  this is such a wide margin of time is telling in and of itself, as is the fact that the film mainly appears to only survive in the form of copies of faded prints or in widely bootlegged VHS tapes; for there was never any copyright information attached to it as far as we know.

The plot is seemingly simple, a woman is in love with a gargantuan monster, and mutilates people in a way that, when they appear dead, they are transmogrified to monsters themselves, as she slowly transmogrifies and, in the end, realizes she has become the beast she seeks.

And yet, it is at once difficult to capture with how it scatters through time and space at once, at one point cutting from what seems to be the woman's origins as victim of occult abuse in a dungeon; to a pseudo-documentary that appears to become more surreal and unhinged in its description of the things happening in the film, to a montage of clips from multiple strange silent films thought by most scholars to be totally otherwise lost.

It can be compared to immensely; deliberately transgressive films like Sweet Movie or Saolo: 120 Days of Sodom, with large amounts of nudity; sexual assault; and gore, but it relies less on the scatological in those films but rather on the flesh itself, conflating through cinematic language the mutilation of the flesh through violence to the transmogrification of the flesh into monstrous forms through the unknown force.

Even amongst the undoubtedly expensive sets; location shooting; casting of extras; miniature effects for the Beast's rampages; and even the other creature effects; the transformation effects are egregious in their ostentatiousness, infinitely more extensive than even many contemporary high budget films could have afforded, and while there have been some online attempts to dissect how the effects were done; most parts remain a mystery; and some have speculated that certain effects may have been impossible by the effects of the era, in particular the mass-murder-transformation-orgy scene in the theatre.

The enigma of how it could have acquired such a budget is further enhanced by the many pornographic scenes therein, some hardcore, some softcore, though for most it is difficult to judge which is which due to the strange editing style of these scenes. Which could be compared to a film like Tinto Brass' Caligula in terms of pornography with a budget except for the fact that; again; there appear to be no actual records of this film's production despite its likely considerable expense.

But, the final disturbing thing is the fact that, while the footage of the actual film runs five hours, the actual runtime is at seven, occupied by multiple "Intermission" slots. Given the fact that there appear to be multiple cuts of the film with different footage added or missing in ways patchworked with these "Intermissions", these "intermissions" appear to be covering for two hours of missing footage in the film

There have been multiple attempts to assemble a "definitive cut," but there s still remains a missing thirty minutes, and all attempted producers of such cuts appear to have had psychological breakdowns after or shortly before completion. This becomes more disquieting when one notes the multiple records of people having physiological feelings of illness at watching "normal" cuts of the film, only abating at those Intermissions, with further physiological effects observed at those "definitive" cuts.

There have been few studies into whether the source is simply a self-imposed nocebo or something further, but those studies that have been done have had... disquieting results...

...

... ...

Kayfabe aside, this one was partially based on a dream of mine, which I shall recount to you in full because it is perhaps even more disturbing than the fictional film that came from it.

The dream involved me and a couple of friends (Not any particular friends, just generic ones) going into this strange "movie theatre" which was supposedly at Six Flags but looked to me more like the livestock area at our county fair.

It looked very dingy, though I'm not sure in the way of a school or of a 90s-era movie theatre, it may have been a mix. There were multiple stories in that building, which was far more spacious than the weird, tucked-off corner would indicate. I remember seeing what looked like a gross mildew-y empty olympic swimming pool through some of the windows, in the center of the building, no reason why.

There may or may not have been something moving there.

The films they showed in each room were... odd. One of them I distinctly remember was this descent down what looked like a regular multiplex theatre seats but far longer, going slowly down like a weird hybrid of dark ride and film, with "people" around me that looked like 2d sprites and these "screens" floating around with stock-art-like images. It overall gave me the vibe of a combination multiplex and the feeling of a grainy photograph of a decrepit carnival ride and Shutterstock, if that makes sense. I think I recall there was a laugh track, and this weirdly stock old-timey dance music.

Another one I remember was a crudely drawn/animated Pearl from Steven Universe as a bee violently stinging other bees in what seemed to be a gory-yet-sexualized matter.

But the one I remember most in the halls was that one poster, just green text on a black background (more minimalistic than my recreation), The Ghastly Love Of Beauty And The Beast, rated H. In the dream, I understood that H was for Hastur, and that it signified something terrible.

I opened up the door to go in, and it was not a conventional theatre, but rather, a strange room that looked like one of those rooms in a fancy Victorian-type house, but made entirely of hand-sculpted pottery clay glazed with a blue checkered pattern akin to cloth, like a weird mix of lumpiness and elegance, with an crudely hydraulically operated (Think like a carnival ride, adorned with the stuff the room was made of) elevator in the middle that opened up for us. I almost went down with my friends, but at the last minute, as it was descending, I got out, and ran away.

My friends did not make it...

[titleknown]

Hello, yes, this is Xavier X Xolomon. An archivist and a multiversal-metaversal naturalist by... I am unsure if “trade” is the proper language, but it will have to do.

I am a cataloguer, analyst, and visualist of creatures from beyond the beyond and between the between, to say it how my creator; the Librarian; perhaps might. Though, I am perhaps a bit more humble about my situation, I am but a simple witness and traveller I would say.

I have recently ended up in a situation most unenviable regarding the showing of my work, and thusly, have had quite the delay in pursuance. Thusly, I find myself coming here, after a simple port of my archive by a compatriot.

Please, feel free to investigate my works, as there are far more to be shown on this place in the future, and regarding the law of demographics, I believe there is some great fascination to be found in my future labors...

-Xavier X. Xolomon of the XXX Book of Monsters

---------

SO, kayfabe aside, I’m trying to do more posting of my stuff over here in case Pillowfort goes belly-up, but it’s perhaps a bit of a doozy trying to introduce a lot of the projects that originated on Pillowfort.

But, I mean, since I need to port them to the Wiki to keep them from dying and that Wiki collection’s probably the best way to archive binge ‘em, I figured I might as well just rip the band-aid off and introduce ‘em up-front, so here they are!

It;s basically an excuse by me to do a wild and weird bestiary-type thing, because y’all know how I love those, from the perspective of one Xavier X. Xolomon, a living book created for this very purpose aeons ago by the mysterious Librarian of Babel.

Who is this Librarian of Babel? Well, she’s... a character I really do need to color in my lineart for regarding her updated art. But stay tuned, cause she’s on the way, and Xavier isn’t the only creation of hers bumping around the metaverse/multiverse!

As a bonus, all of the species I create for this are totally open to use under a CC-BY 4.0 license, as you see fit, as long as I get creator credit when ya do.

So if you wanna make wacky sparkledog variants on stuff like; say; the Blastudine or Nickobruty, go nuts! Tho, the next critter I have planned might be a bit harder to Sparkledoggify, I will say...

...Also, shoutout to friend of the blog Daytona for helping port these to the Wiki, they’re a wonderful cartoonist and musician, so you might as well check ‘em out!

[malewifehenrycooldown]

OOH!!! I’m really curious about 6 and 17 for that wrestling ask game!! 👀 [rozengael]

[Ask Game Here]

shdhsahh THANK YOU GAEL FOR THE ASK, I SHALL GLADLY ANSWER BECAUSE THESE TWO TOPICS ARE REALLY INTERESTING.

6. Favourite Tag Team?

Currently without a doubt its Jurassic Express (they just won the tag team titles recently!). I'm gonna be honest when I first saw them via the first All Out PPV, I was automatically drawn into the fact that each member of the team complimented each other's skills. They are all able to work together as a cohesive unit - it's almost as if they have been working together for ages.

Individually they also stand out, Luchasaurus is hard to miss due to his height which makes him a VERY scary opponent to face if you're in the ring. Also I have a lot of respect for him, especially his character which in kayfabe, found Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt and basically took them in as family and now for some reason they all wrestle. ITS VERY CUTE but also like super sweet.

Jungle Boy is a natural babyface (a good guy), he's one of the four pillars (as in he's the future generation of wrestlers who will be the next big thing but also represent different staples of wrestling as a whole next to Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin, MJF/Britt Baker). also is the son of the late Luke Perry (I wish I was joking. it's a very small world.)

Marko Stunt, while obviously smaller than the two, is not to be underestimated. In fact I'd say he's probably the one you need to look out for more because he works EXTREMELY well with Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus as a tag team partner. He hasn't been seen on the wrestling scene in a while and that's probably to do with wanting to do other things other than wrestling which I do respect (I hope he does well).

Christian Cage - as in yes. the WWE Christian. has joined Jurassic Express but I don't know much about him aside from YES THIS IS A BIG DEAL. and I think it's really cool that he's on the team (for how long though... I'm not sure).

Honorable mentions for other favourite tag teams, TayJay (Tay Conti and Anna Jay) as well as Penelope Ford plus The Bunny are also really good teams and if AEW is able to do a Women's tag division I'd LOVE to see these two teams be crowed as Tag Team Champions at some point.

I kind wish there were more tag teams established outside of Impact and AEW - although I haven't seen stuff from GCW or the general independent scene yet, so maybe if I look further I might end up having more faves.

17. Favourite style of Wrestling? (Technical, High Flying, Hardcore, Comedy, Spot Fest, Strong and so on)

It honestly depends what kind of mood I'm in and I don't exactly have a specific preference for a particular style. I will say I do tend to lean towards the high fliers, mostly because what they're doing is both dangerous and spectacular to watch. However there are times when many people including myself do get a little tired of High fliers simply because there's so many wrestlers with that style. That's not to put them down, it's just that it's so common of a style in the industry that when you come across someone who doesn't follow that lead, they have you're attention.

it's one of the reasons why Hook in AEW is SO POPULAR, and he got popular so fast because he was different. Yes, he's a second generation wrestler but dare i say he is very old school, very technical. He outdoes his opponents through submission holds and grapples which does tie into the greco-roman wrestling style. It's old school but it is extremely refreshing to see that amongst a sea of high fliers and fast action.

I do have a bit of a soft spot of hardcore wrestlers, but also like. that can be a little dangerous and knowing the industry it can do a lot more damage to the body than people say it does. I can only ever watch so many hardcore matches or styles in a day.

I think what is a surprising rise in the industry are wrestlers undertaking a more comedic style - Orange Cassidy is one of the BEST examples of a comedy style taken to heart. His character can be best described as a mix between The Driver form the movie Drive, and the slacker trope from popular media. His character uses 1% of his power in matches, and it creates extremely hilarious and amusing results. His most dangerous move is to tap people on the shin with his legs, but its done in such a sluggish way that it pretty much makes the situation hilarious. and he's doing this while he's wearing aviators and hands in his jean pockets.

I do not know much about the strong style as I haven't been super exposed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling just yet, but it's something I wouldn't mind looking into down the line because wrestling in Japan is a whole other world compared to the Western Wrestling. It's more serious and held in high regards over there and I really can't wait to see what they have to offer.

[theundergrounddog]

Kenny Omega at DDT (Part 2)

Interviewer: “How was it for you adjusting to the Japanese culture?”

Kenny: “Uh well… I was lucky that I sort of had a good introduction to DDT. I mean I made that YouTube video of the anywhere match where I’m wrestling around my cottage and DDT fans are kinda wacky so before even like arriving to DDT they were already really excited to see me. So I sort of had that little bit of buzz. The adjustment was really easy to do in ring and in the match. The more difficult adjustment was adjusting to the actual culture and the food and the language and that was sort of like, you know a really long slow process.

Cause I mean it’s… you’re on your own to learn the language, you’re on your own to figure out to eat properly and maintain your diet and maintain your conditioning and that took about three years to balance it all out and to get to like a level in my Japanese where I could converse and sort of survive.

So yeah, the matches and stuff, that was easy. It was the other stuff, the after/before match type of things, the time when I wasn’t wrestling that was most difficult.”  Under the Mat (podcast) 2014.21.04

(Quick disclaimer: I just want to make it clear that translation-wise I’m operating on google translate and common sense only. I cannot speak or read Japanese. If you can and you notice any issues where the meaning is drastically off, I would really really really like to know!  Thank you!)

Kenny has 9 matches on his first tour in Japan however, 6 of these were during the beer garden shows which were over and done with by the 10th of August.*

At the same time, Kota was working other promotions aside from DDT including competing in Pro Wrestling Noah’s Junior Heavyweight tag league near the end of the month. This despite perhaps not being at 100% health-wise. There are reports on the blogs of him going to hospital to get checked out after his match with Kenny. The story is that he hit the back of his head when taking the Michinoku driver to the chairs and doesn’t remember the match clearly after that. Given that my main source for this is Takagi’s blog, he may be slightly exaggerating it for kayfabe’s sake however this wasn't the only place I saw the rumor that he was made to go to hospital after the match. 

Kota works a match on the 9th for K-DOJO 3 days after his match with Kenny but doesn’t wrestle the final night of the beer garden shows on the 10th. He is at the show, but he just takes part in a comedy skit and works at the shop rather than doing the tag match originally advertised.

(Source)

Kenny has a street fight against the president Takagi himself! Unfortunately, apart from the Kenny vs Ibushi match and the tag match he had before that, none of the rest of Kenny’s matches from this tour are available online as far as I can find.

(Source) (Source) 

Afterwards:

After the match (which Kenny loses) Takagi calls him “the best foreigner” and promises to call him in one year. The crowd chants ‘please come back’. And Nakazawa translates a promo from Kenny for them.

Kenny: "My wrestling career was so blessed to contract with WWE so that I could finally join ROH and finally come to DDT. Whatever anyone says DDT is the best company, with the best wrestlers and the best fans, as long as you want to see me, as long as Mr. Takagi asks me, I will definitely come back because this is where I am." (source)

So now the bulk of the wrestling was over. Kenny stayed in Japan for another three weeks, but only performed on three more shows.* One on the 17th in Nagoya, one on the 27th at Shin Kiba 1st ring again for another promotion called Great Pro Wrestling and one on the 31st at Korakuen Hall.  

Tagaki’s promise at the end of the beer garden show hopefully eased Kenny’s mind a little but his initial concern to prove his worth so that DDT would bring him back was not unfounded. DDT was a small promotion. They didn’t have a huge amount of money to spare flying in and hosting talent from across the world.

The dormitory where Kenny stayed was in a quite run-down state. Matsui, one of the DDT refs, actually writes on his blog that he was impressed Kenny stayed there the whole time without complaining. It was in an industrial area outside of the center of Tokyo. The residents were mostly elderly with little or no English and they often crossed the street to avoid him. When he got lonely, he used to go talk to the staff at the local convenience store. It was a 45-minute bike ride to the closest internet café. (If you want to know more about this, the Japanophiles documentary is probably the best thing to watch. The other tidbits of information are scattered about on various podcasts and shoot interviews.)

Michael Nakazawa was a busy guy who appears to have been holding down multiple jobs, but he still finds time to hang out with Kenny often during his stay. 

From his blog entries, it’s clear that Kota and Kenny’s connection was more or less instant. The day after the beer garden shows end, Nakazawa and Ibushi take Kenny to Akihabara and they play arcade games.

Ibushi vs. Omega, rebound match suddenly broke out! (August 12th)

“It's a game though. (^ _ ^;)

Today we have come to play in Akihabara in a group of three.

A splendid O Mega revenge with an initial D! Happy.

Silent Hill played alongside teaming together. I heard that I have not seen Silent Hill's gun shooting in the USA. You are pretty enthusiastic.

Even so, both of you are considerable gamers .... There is no language barrier in the game. That’s a relief. (^ O ^)”

From an interview with Kenny in November 2008 (August 17th -ish)

“-Then, if there are memories etc in DDT?

Omega: There are lots of memories and it is difficult. If I had to give one, I guess it's the hot spicy challenge with Ibushi. We went to a restaurant in Nagoya. There was a Russian roulette pizza in that shop, and one of the 6 piece pizza had hot sauce on it. Me and Ibushi are poor at eating spicy foods and can not eat them at all, but decided to do the challenge because it would be funny.

Eating with us was a rookie from Nagoya. He ate first but there was nothing. And then we ate, but there was nothing at all. Why?

'The truth is that mine was hit.' The new guy turned white, the Russian roulette pizza was over. But then it's not fun, right? So Nakazawa passed a spicy sauce to Ibushi, and Ibushi made the sauce for my pizza. In return I put sauce on Ibushi’s pizza, but I slipped and put it all over (laugh) But, for the time being, I handed it to Ibushi and decided to eat that pizza quickly. 

Then it's hard to do anything! The two of us drank water, I put ice in my mouth, but I still felt like drinking water. Ibushi cried tears it was so spicy. So, Ibushi wiped the tears with his hands, but his hands actually had hot sauce on and so more and more tears flowed. So, both of our tongues are still burning, I asked for ice cream, but my tongue was still burning, still continued drinking water and then it took a long time to settle out. That was a good memory.”

Kenny’s match on the 17thwas a triple threat with Kudo and Masa Takanashi which Kenny actually won! Kota has a match with Dino in the main event. Can’t find either match online but the latter looks like its pretty standard fare for a Dino vs Ibushi match i.e. a copious amount of non-con kissing and heavily dick centered offense.

Ibushi wins but the Extremeparty recapper still notes some concern over his physical wellness. 

Today's Ibushi & Kenny Omega (22nd)

The events of this day were recounted in both Nakazawa’s and Matsui’s blogs.

Nakazawa: “We joined with Mr. Matsui and Mr. Ibushi, who didn’t play at Noah today, we went to Ikebukuro. When people went to America with ROH before, people who became indebted people are connected, but the barbecue has become a treat for everyone. Well I have not eaten such good meat after a long time Nobunashima ....

Street brothers Kenny and Ibushi-san were playful while eating ice-cream. Good relationship. In this case you do not need an interpreter anymore.

What close friends you are, before they leave the office, they say they say "Hado-ken!" Or something like a fireworks that happened to be sandwiched with both hands and shoot it with you. Ah Ibushi I'm burning a hand. f (^ _^;)”

Matsui: “Tonight, Ibushi and Michael were invited by the mother who took care of me during the expedition of ROH. Ibushi, Michael, Kenny, and me got to eat meals.

It was delicious!

Also moved to the shop that they are doing.

Despite the fact that Kenny did not drink a single drop, he sang English songs for a long time without giving up the microphone, and it made me drink.

Love song sent to Ibushi was sweet and painful.

So, now we will return.

Kenny wanted to stop by the arcade,

"If you play now, the train will be gone!" I said in Japanese.”

Kenny Omega Night (August 24th)

Ibushi’s Noah matches start on the 23rd. Meanwhile, Kenny and Nakazawa hold the first Kenny Omega Night at Dropkick! He squishes the grapefruits with his bare hands apparently. They play street fighter with customers + other DDT wrestlers.

Then they play strip street fighter. Which goes badly for Michael.

They do a little Q&A with Michael translating:

"The reason that I came this time was to fight Ibushi. The fight against Ibushi was the most important match. I did not expect it, but after fighting we got along well. I want to do a rematch with Ibushi when coming next time, but, only if Ibushi has the same idea, it is possible we could tag. "

"It's boring to stay in the dormitory, I’m a rarity in Adachi-ku so it is not very pleasant. It’s not like that in Akihabara or Shibuya. I like all Japanese food, but I have to ask Michael and Matsunaga to explain all the menus. I was surprised by the Moss Burger Rice Burger. How does rice replace the buns? I thought it was delicious when I ate it. I had an image of Japan as the advanced country of technology, the impression has not changed since coming. "

There is more strip-Streetfighter and Michael loses again.

Yesterday appeared in the S Arena! (August 27th) 

Nakazawa:“Yesterday, Mr. Ibushi & Kenny appeared on the S - Arena on Samurai TV, so I was present as an interpreter. I wonder if I can translate properly. It's my first time to interpret something on TV. It is not bad usually as usual.

However, it was a big pinch before recording. We were meeting at the studios at half past eight, but no one had come yet. Well Kenny I know was at Great pro's match at Shinkiba from 7 o'clock before this recording, but Ibushi-san was late for no reason as usual (lol). What should I do if they never turned up? He was not upset but upset. Actually, Ibushi-san arrived after broadcasting had begun. f (^ _^;)

If you were watching the broadcast yesterday, you will understand, but there are not any words such as the language barrier, they are really good friends. They are is about the same age, and wrestling is a person who can respect each other, both of them are fond of games, they cannot drink alcohol or spicy food. They like the streets, and like indies. I guess there are things that germinated through fierce fighting and sympathies that they both feel.”

“After that, we went to eat Okonomiyaki by three people, we cooperated together and breathed in briefly and baked over with one more thing! Another photo was baked by Kenny: Smiley Okonomiyaki It was my first taste & mischievous but it seemed like it was.

Kenny's last match in Japan for the time being is 8.31 Korakuen convention, please come and watch! Without business, Kenny Omega once I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon.”

The match Kenny has before going to the TV station on the 27th is a bit of a mystery. It’s for a promotion that isn’t DDT called ‘Great Pro Wrestling’(?) but it was in the Shin Kiba 1st ring which was the same place the beer garden shows were held. I didn’t find out about it anywhere the rest of the match recaps are, but from our old friend Griffon591! The match was against JOM Taro but I’m struggling to find much information on it. Griffon591 did however take some really cute photos of Kenny standing about.

Before Korakuen (August 29th-30th) 

Everyone is busy in the run up to the big DDT show at Korakuen Hall. Kota is also in the middle of the NOAH Junior Heavyweight Tag League at this point, fighting guys such as but not limited to: Daniel Bryan, Davey Richards, Kenta/Hideo Itami and Taiji Ishimori.

(source) (source)

Matsui: “Yesterday I made a mozzo in my office, and I drank with Kenny and others. I nearly missed the last train.

It looks like Kenny managed to learn how to get back to the dorm from here by train.

Korakuen is nearly here so today I stayed at the office for a while. There was one meeting and two meetings. I will return from now. The office has always had a high population density in the production of DDT. About 9 o'clock, Ibushi, Kenny and Michael came to the office, but of course he was playing.

However, the way of Ibushi and Kenny's communication is quite creepy. Words are hardly exchanged, communication is measured only with a smile. Surely, I wonder if there is something known only to crazy people.”

DDT Summer Vacation Memories (August 31st)

The big Korakuen Hall show finally comes and Kenny has his last match of the tour was against HARASHIMA.  

(source)

Promos after the match:

HARASHIMA: "Kenny Omega! Your last trick, it worked ... Damn, I lost, as you know, Kenny will return to Canada at the end of the game, but I will not allow running away. We will play with this DDT ring!"

Kenny: "HARASHIMA-san, Thank you. Korakuen Hall, DDT, DDT fans, This is my dream. And my dream has come true. For you fans, I gave 100%, I gave everything in every match I had in DDT."

“(He did not have an interpreter this time, but chose language that was easy to understand.)”

There’s also much amusement from Yukihiro Abe (another DDT wrestler) that Kenny has the [for private use] copyright warning on his gear. 

Kenny’s knee was apparently injured during this match but it’s not so bad that he doesn’t keep wrestling on it.

Saying goodbye (September 1st-3rd)     

Kenny leaves on the 4th but it looks like he probably says goodbye to Ibushi on the 1st. This makes sense considering Ibushi’s Noah matches. He has one on the 2nd and one on the 4th both of which are outside Tokyo, so maybe he just wasn’t coming back in between.

Matsui: “Today, slowly to the office from the evening.

I was thinking that I would normally take a day off but I decided to go in because Kenny is coming by.

Kenny is going to return to Canada on the 4th.

We may meet again tomorrow or the day after tomorrow but we may not meet with everyone so we took a photo.

He wasn’t selfish, even though he lived in a dorm for a long time he did not complain, but it was a truly wonderful foreign player who performs great in the ring (even on the street).

Good bye Kenny.

Until the day we meet again!”

Nakazawa: “Since from today Ibushi-san has matches with Noah, campground, SEM and so on, we will have a memorial photo with everyone as this is probably the last chance we can meet with all of you. Mr. Ibushi must also be missing. It will come back again soon.”

Nakazawa (in a later blog entry): Kenny says, "It is a funny thing, as returning to Canada comes closer, it becomes a bit sad every time people say: "Kenny, today is probably the last day to see you before your return." Yesterday is really something I (almost?) cried, I rarely get such a thing. I finished playing games at the arcade and it's about time to go home and say goodbye to Ibushi. I came back to sleep with an attitude almost incomprehensible because it was difficult to cry.

See you! (September 4th)

Nakazawa: “Yesterday was the last chance to see Kenny. Today I work in the gym so I cannot go to the airport to see you off ... I'm sorry. 

At night I went for dinner with Mr. Matsui and Inokuma but I had my two-shot taken at the end. Double Hadoken! (Why naked and in the station premises) 

We shook hands and hugged and parted. It was a busy month after Kenny came, but it was fun. I am really looking forward to seeing you again and again. There are also opportunities to have a match against you next time. See you!”

And that’s the end! Spoilers: Kenny does come back in January 2009 and many more times after that. Lots of cute shit happens then too. Go out onto Michael Nakazawa’s blog and discover it for yourselves. 

*I say at the start that Kenny had 9 matches, but earlier this week I thought he only had 7 so there could easily have been more. I was going off cagematch’s results and then found the mystery 2 with blind luck lol. 

[spine-buster]

I Thought You Might Be Mine (Ricochet) - Part VIII

A/N: This is the last official chapter for this story!  There will only be ONE more little drabble (something cute) and that’s it.  Thank you to all who liked/reblogged.  It was never meant to be long but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.  Iris is now in my OC canon!  

I guess at this point I should announce that the next story I’ll be working on is an Adam Cole one.  Like always, it’ll be outside kayfabe (real names).  It’s still a work in progress but the character you meet in this chapter, Cecilia, is the OC for it.  

August 18, 2018 Brooklyn, New York

Iris was trying to keep a low profile backstage at NXT Takeover Brooklyn IV.  It was a big night for Trevor and she didn’t want anything she was or wasn’t doing to overshadow that.  That she was in even in Brookyln, traveling with the entire roster and crew, was something new – usually she stayed in Orlando.  But she had to make an exception for Brooklyn.  

Trevor had refused to tell her what the outcome of the match would be tonight, making her a bit on edge.  She knew it was going to be a big match; one that would take everyone’s breath away (Trevor’s matches almost always did); one that would end up being the highlight of the card.  She didn’t want to brag that her boyfriend was the highlight of the show, but it definitely seemed that way whenever a Takeover came rolling through.

Her boyfriend.  

It had only been around four months since she broke up with Ryder Fleming.  Four months since that fateful night in her old apartment where she gave back her ring, gathered her belongings, and left for Trevor’s house instead.  Four months since having one last encounter with Ryder, deciding whose stuff belonged to whom, before finally saying their bitter, sad goodbyes.  She hadn’t heard from him since.  She knew he was living in Manhattan still, for his job, but that was it.  For all she knew, she could bump into him tonight.  It was weird, being with someone for five years, loving them, being engaged to them, then suddenly having an epiphany and realizing you wanted to be with someone else.  All the memories fading from memory quicker than normal.  

She only hoped that one day he would find happiness.  Like she did.

Iris was wildly happy.  Like, wildly happy.  She didn’t know and couldn’t understand how she could have been so stupid for the last five years.  All that time could have been spent with Trevor.  All that time could have been spent building a life together instead of watching each other attempt to build lives with other people.  

After she had broken up with Ryder, Iris was hesitant about everything.  After the Tessa incident rocked her to her core, she wasn’t exactly going to grab a megaphone and announce she and Trevor were finally together.  At first, she refused to move in with him until “everything died down”, whatever that meant.  She told him that the only people who had a right to know they were together were their parents, and most importantly Cameron, which Trevor agreed with one hundred percent.  But then, it just so happened that Iris began spending more and more time at Trevor’s house, and soon there were more…sleepovers, and eventually, they walked in to work together one morning and were too slow to separate their clasped hands, so Johnny Gargano, cutest-person-in-the-world Johnny Gargano saw them and commented, “God fucking damn, it’s about fucking time you two.”

And now, Iris found herself in Brooklyn.  Her stuff had been moved into Trevor’s house about four weeks ago.  She made regular appearances in Trevor’s Skype and Facetiming sessions with Cameron, who always said hi and was always excited to tell her about his day at school since she was a teacher too.  He already knew her from before but was more exited since Trevor told him she was now his girlfriend.  When Cameron asked her, “Are you going to come with my daddy to Paducah next time he comes?” her heart melted.

Trevor had long since gone to do his warm up and pre-match rituals, so she was wandering to find an area with some chairs and a TV screen so she could watch the match.  It wasn’t long until she stumbled upon Erica Greenwood, Kyle’s wife, who was sitting next to her new friend, Cecilia.  Cecilia was married to Austin, who Trevor was facing for the North American title in mere minutes.  Iris had met Austin in Tokyo countless times.  

“Mind if I join, ladies?” Iris asked timidly as she approached them from behind.  

Cecilia spun around with a giant smile on her face.  “Get over here!  We need to talk as our husbands kill each other,” she said, encouraging Iris to move a chair over.  “Austin tells me you and Trevor have finally moved in together.”

Iris giggled at Cecilia’s use of ‘finally’.  To any other couple, moving in together after less than four months would be seen as rushing things.  To Trevor and Iris, it was ‘finally’.  “Yup.  I moved into his place since it’s bigger.  Everything’s out of the boxes and blended with his stuff.  All the extra or doubles we’re donating.”

“Oh, good!  There’s a place that caters to new immigrants to Orlando only a mile away from here.  You two should totally bring your stuff there,” Erica suggested.

“We definitely will,” Iris nodded her head.  “There’s a lot to donate, especially plates, and pots and pans.  All my stuff is staying – the quality of his were shit,” Iris giggled.

“Trevor doesn’t cook?” Cecilia asked.

“He does, but he doesn’t care about the equipment.  He’ll just throw stuff away and buy another cheap pan instead of investing in a good one.”

Erica and Cecilia both shook their heads.  “Men,” Erica grumbled.  “Kyle’s the opposite.  I actually had to talk him out of buying the most expensive frying pan at Crate and Barrel.”

“Well you hold on to him and never let go,” Iris gripped her arm playfully, causing her to giggle.  “Because I dream of the day that Trevor spends more than forty dollars on a kitchen staple.”

When Austin and Trevor’s music played, the ladies silenced themselves to watch the action.  Iris and Cecilia threw clever and playful jabs at each other throughout the match until things got more intense.  At the lionsault-into-a-superkick spot, both shrieked at the impact.  Iris for sure thought that Trevor had broken his neck – neither were sure if it was a botch until the slow-motion replay.  Then, when Trevor hurricurannaed Austin onto the floor, both women gritted their teeth until it was clear her was okay.  Suffice to say that neither Trevor nor Austin told them about the spots they were going to do.  It was definitely one hell of a match, and both women were eager to see their men by the end of it.  

When Trevor pinned Austin and won the championship, a few tears escaped Iris’s eyes.  She tried to wipe them away quickly so Erica and Cecilia wouldn’t see, but there was no chance – Cecilia was already wrapped her arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.  “Congratulations,” she whispered.  “He deserved it.  Austin’s so happy for him.”

“He’s worked so hard,” Iris nodded her head, wiping the tears away quickly.  “He’s over the moon, I can tell.  God, why’d he have to take those bumps though?”

Cecilia laughed out loud.  “Let’s go ask them, shall we?”

As the two women left and made their way closer to Gorilla, there was a crowd forming to greet Austin and Trevor.  As Austin came through first, he received a round of applause from everyone, garnering back pats and handshakes, even some more intimate forehead-to-forehead moments from some.  Trevor made his way through right after, garnering more applause, handshakes, and back pats.  As Iris watched him, she saw him taking in the adulation, but also looking around.  She knew he was looking for her.  She stood on her tippy-toes to wave at him, and when she caught his eye, she saw him visibly relax.  

A trainer pulled him aside, and Iris watched as they mumbled something to each other before the trainer patted him on the back and led him in the opposite direction of where she was standing.  She furrowed her brows.  

“They’re just checking on his shoulder, Iris,” she heard Austin’s voice from behind her.  She spun around to see him wiping his face with a towel.  “You know how his shoulder is.  They’re just taking a precaution.  He said it was completely fine during the match but they want to be safe.”

Iris nodded her head.  “Thanks, Austin.”

Suddenly, Cecilia slapped her husband’s chest.  “Why didn’t you tell me you’d do that superkick to Trevor’s neck after the lionsault?!” she demanded of him.  “We thought you broke his God damn neck, Austin!”

“Baby, I wanted everything to be a surprise!” he defended himself.  

“A little hunt would have helped!” she continued.  “Uh, hey, babe, we’re gonna do this spot, but don’t worry – evrything’s gonna be okay.  We practiced it.  Like, that’s all it would have taken, Austin.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise!” he reiterated.  “We hardly told anyone we were working on it in the first place!  If you knew, then you would have told Kyle, then Kyle would have told Bobby and Roddy, and soon the whole locker room would have known!”

“Are you calling me a big mouth?”

Iris snorted.  God, they were such a married couple.  She wondered if she and Trevor sounded like this.  “What about that hurricurrana?” she goaded on.  

“Yeah!  That too!” Cecilia started up again.

“Baby, please --”

“Alright, you two.  I’m gonna go find my boyfriend,” Iris giggled, waving them off.  “Get into a locked room before you guys celebrate the match,” she winked. 

“Tel Trev I’m gonna be looking for him after,” Austin said as Iris turned to go.  

“Will do.  See you later.”

Iris knew exactly where she needed to go in order to see Trevor after his match against Austin, but she wanted to give him enough time to get checked and properly assessed before she made it her business to go into the trainer’s room.  Even just watching on the monitor, she could see the welt that had formed on his neck after that amazing yet brutal moonsault-into-a-superkick spot.  

The problem was that Iris was impatient by nature.  She tried to take her time getting to the trainer’s room to no avail.  She watched through peeks as the door opened and closed, trainers rushing in and out, as they put an icepack on his neck and taped it there.

When everything was clear and she was allowed in, the trainers got the hint to leave the room to let them have their time.  She stood in front of Trevor as he still clung on to the North American championship, his knuckles white for how tight his grip was.  It was sitting around his waist, but he hadn’t made the attempt to buckle it in the back.  

“What do you think?” he huffed, still catching his breath.  

“It looks good on you,” Iris smiled, her hand reaching out to touch the belt.  “You were incredible out there.”

Trevor smiled at her words, knowing how much she meant them.  She had watched him countless times – even looked his matches up on the internet when she couldn’t see him in person – so he knew she had seen his good matches and his not-so-good matches.  To have her here, in Brooklyn, meant the world to him.

He grabbed her hand and held it in his, squeezing it against his abs for a moment before bringing it up to his lips to kiss it.  “Took us long enough, huh?  To be here.  Together,” he said quietly, resting their hands on his heaving chest. 

“Yeah.  We’re a long ways away from the Best of the Super Juniors 2014,” she said, referencing the first time they met.  “You’re bald now.”

Trevor snorted.  “I think more important things have changed besides my hair, or lack of it,” he said.  “We’ve been through a lot since then, haven’t we?”

Iris didn’t want to think about it.  She didn’t want to think about the last four years and all the mistakes they made along the way.  Mistakes that got them to this point, sure, but mistakes nonetheless.  “We have.  But we’re here now.   That’s all that matters, right?” she asked, using his words.

“That’s all that matters,” he agreed.  “That’s all that’s ever gonna matter, baby.  You and me.”

He leaned in to kiss her, cherishing the feeling of his lips on hers.  He fiercely believed he would never tire of it.  After waiting so long, after being a dumbass, after making so many mistakes, he was finally where he wanted to be.  Where he needed to be.

With Iris.

His thumb and index finger caressed her ring finger.  He looked her in the eyes for a few moments as he continued to rub it.  “My ring’s gonna be on that finger one day.”

“Trevor.”

“I mean it.  I’m not saying it’s gonna happen tomorrow or next month or something, but one day the most beautiful ring you’ll ever see is gonna be on that finger, and it’s gonna be me that gave it to you,” he said.

Iris thought about the implications of what he was saying.  She knew he was the only one for her.  She knew she wanted to marry him one day.  Did they have to wait?  Should they wait?  Or should they just get the inevitable over and done with?

Honestly, she’d be happy with either.  Because at the end of the day, she was finally, truly, wildly, wildly happy.  

@wrestlewriting @wrasslin-x @thegenericluchadora @thewriterformerlytaggedas@fan-fiction-galore @anerdysouthernbelle @spot-of-bother @amaranthine-reign@baleesi @flnnbalor @smuppies @sarahmatthews7 @daintymissdevitt@newjapan @corey-renee @running-ropes @balorsomega @karleedaniels27@kazuchika @ileana0300 @alexahood21 @ohcristimhookedonhavocimsodunne@fembxt @heelturn-timesten @kaitlynwwefan @50shadesofadamcolebaybay@50shadesofkennyomega @chasingeverybreakingwave @thyestean-feast @thecandicej @devittsbalor @sp00kylesley @danahart @sietefinns@kaydee-kayyyy @powerbombshell @swedish-strong-style @blondekel77@irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @nickysmum1909 @houndofjustice-imagines @wwesmutdonedirtcheap @wweximaginesxd @indywrestlinglover-life @mandi512 @kakakatey @ourscratcheddreams @sleeplessandcynical @badame124 @thevixeniris @fabulousrockstar @lunatic-sambrose @caramara3 @crossfitjesusinskinnyjeans @krobinj @heygargano @sxrxndipityy 

[fatedfights-blog]

If i’m being bias as to how we met, I have to say Adam. I was so drawn to him because of how real he felt both kayfabe and non. We made a complete crackship with Saraya work and be the coolest shit. They have a 1 year old, are married, and another on the way. How rad? But you’re also a phenomenal Maryse. I’ve played her 11 years and I’ve never met anyone else who truly captures her essence like you. (aside from me but who’s being egotistical here?) ❤️

zxsdfghj. i love our saraya and austin stuff so much. i never had a big interest in writing kayfabe but i always make an exception for our kids because we put so much work into them! they’re gonna be like 80 one day and we’re still writing them with like 20 grandkids.

i adore maryse and i’m so happy you think i write her well. i’ve always loved her and finding someone who enjoys her as much as me is a blessing. xoxo.

@empiresled. accepting.

[rollinsuniversal]

stars that do not give a damn

prompt fill for this anon!

pairing : seth rollins/dean ambrose (ish)

genre : angst, unrequited love

words : 2k

summary : something went wrong on that monday night. seth needs to know it won’t happen again.

a/n : this is the first ambrollins fic i’ve ever written, so bear with me if there’s any inconsistencies with their characters.

out of respect for Joseph’s real-life diagnosis, i won’t be incorporating any mentions of his leukemia here. i wish him only health and happiness, and hope he takes all the time he needs to recover.

for narrative purposes, in my version of events, roman was attacked backstage by an incensed brick lesnob and was kayfabe hospitalized, leaving seth and dean to capture the titles later that night. the original plan was simply for dean to perform one dirty deeds on seth and then leave the ring. but as we all know, that isn’t what happened.

gravity’s a heartless bitch, and she’s trying her damnedest to bring seth to his knees. if it wasn’t for the aides and medics pulling him onto the gurney, he’d most definitely have passed out by now.  the ringing in his ears paired with the screams from the audience are only making his aches worse, but at least he has something to concentrate on other than the enormous, dean-shaped elephant that’s sat itself right on top of his chest.

fuck, his head hurts. it takes a ridiculous amount of focus for him to center himself once on his back, and his head feels like it weighs 50 pounds. he’s strapped in, shutting his eyes for a moment before he’s being hit on the face, muffled orders from lovell prying them open again. the gurney’s moving quickly, the crowd’s noise gradually melding into one loud roar, and it’s all seth can do to keep his chest moving up and back down again, keep his eyes open, and do everything in his power to keep from screaming his own confusion into the raucous chorus.

***

dean lost the script somewhere between that first kick and driving seth’s head into the concrete ground. as bad as seth wants to think it was a lapse in memory, or even an attempt to really sell their chaotic emotions, he knows it’s something deeper, darker stirring in dean’s head--

***

“keep me updated,” lovell hands seth his backpack, his gear having been sent to the hotel already.

“will do.” seth finishes tying up his hair and sits up on his cot, watching techs scrambling to break everything down for transport. “please tell me i can sleep.”

“sleep’s the best thing i can prescribe for you right now,” lovell assures him. “and i’ve already got you dropped from tomorrow’s card, so take advantage.”

seth nods, fiddling with one of the bag’s straps and watching a tech hustle in for a cart of first aid kits and run it in the direction of the loading docks. he swings his feet back and forth, trying to be casual and failing if the doctor’s raised brow is anything to go by.

“nothing better to prescribe?”

“by better you mean stronger,” lovell corrects, already shaking his head. “keep you up for 18 hours and make you fall over every two minutes stronger. i’ve got nothing for you.”

failing miserably, seth notes with a purse of his lips. he slides off the cot and puts his pack on, grabbing his cap and phone and leaving the doctor with a pat on the shoulder. “thanks again.”

“i don’t have to send anyone after you, do i?” lovell keeps his back turned, though the intent in his voice is serious.

“no sir,” seth responds, not without a bit of bite. “those days are behind me.”

no response. seth mutters expletives under his breath, blood beginning to boil. he zips his jacket up and pulls the hood on, tucking his chin towards his chest and keeping his face blank as he makes his way to the garage.

***

“why do you keep doing this to yourself?” dean’s voice is sharp, though he pitches his concern deep enough so only seth can hear. he keeps his body language hostile to prevent anyone from approaching them and readjusts his hold on seth, hoping it looks more like they’re deep in conversation as opposed to dean being the only thing between seth’s face and the garage’s concrete floor.

“i’m try—“ seth’s head lolls forward, his legs stiffening up so the weight of his entire body is driven onto dean, who catches him with a hissed curse.

there are eyes on them now, and dean glances around hastily, spotting mike talking with his driver by his bus and waving them over.

“what’d he take?” mike’s instantly sliding down to catch seth, helping dean lower seth to the ground and propping seth’s head up on his thigh. he motions for his driver to find a doctor and begins batting at seth’s face until seth comes to and shoves his hands away.

“hydro,” dean huffs, settling beside seth’s legs and feeling for the stiffness so he can start massaging it away.

“call it what it is, dean,” seth slurs, panting and bringing his hands to his face. “vicodin, right? mike, you know, you were there.”

mike grits his teeth, “i helped you. you came to me, remember?”

“i don’t remember you stopping me when i kept coming back.” seth groans and lifts one hand. “lower.”

dean obeys, finding the taut muscles and digging his palms in.

“is he responsive?” lovell’s voice breaks through the tension around them, and he kneels at seth’s side.

“i don’t know, is he?” seth throws his hands up, barely missing mike’s face. “go ahead and assess me, good doctor. 20 bucks says you can’t figure out what it is this time.”

“pay up,” lovell waves a small vial in seth’s face, bright yellow pills rattling around.

“you went on my bus.” seth is staring at the pills, an unreadable look in his eyes. dean tightens his ministrations, pulling seth’s focus onto him briefly. “what the fuck?”

“policy,” lovell supplies, rooting around in his bag for a bottle of water and his radio. “drink this.” he gets to his feet, muttering something into the radio.

seth snatches the bottle, angrily beginning to chug but choking with his haste. mike shoves him to a sitting position, smacking his back a little harder than necessary.

“stop fucking hitting me!” seth lurches away, trying to get to his feet. dean pulls on his leg, keeping him down and holding him still as more medics arrive with a gurney.

“i’ve gotta go,” mike grabs lovell’s arm. “make sure this disappears before it reaches the top.”

“already on it.”

seth’s placed on the gurney. everyone in the garage is accounted for and paid off for their silence. dean eventually texts roman to let him know what’s happened, though his only reaction is to ask if seth’s okay and whether or not they’re still going on the next week.

dean wishes he could be so flippant, just leave seth to his demons and only associate with him in the arenas and forget about him once he heads out.

god, if only it were that easy to forget about seth rollins.

***

“feeling blue, boss?” hugh greets seth the second he swings the bus door open. “heavy stuff.” he motions to his phone screen, where he’s watching a recap of the night.

“yeah,” seth nods, unable to ignore his faithfully jolly driver. “pretty heavy.”

“ambrose is riding with us,” hugh thumbs over his shoulder. “something about his tires being out.”

“he’s here?” seth throws his pack onto the front table, shutting the door.

hugh nods. “he looked pretty ko’d. haven’t heard a peep from him since he got on. he’s probably asleep.”

seth mulls this over, not registering his phone buzzing in his hand until hugh points to it.

“hey, rome.”

“i’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that wasn’t all part of the script.”

“good guess.” seth rubs at his neck, the muscles still smarting. “think he’s just giving the fans the heel they’ve been wanting.”

roman pauses, some indistinct noises coming from his end, then an audible click and it’s silent apart from his breaths.

“you see his face after he did it?”

“yeah.”

seth considers telling roman about his blood running cold when dean stayed on his knees after his first dirty deeds instead of leaving the ring, and the desperation he felt as he repeated assurances and pleas for dean to remember what they’d planned.

“how are you feeling?” he asks instead.

roman’s surprised inhale is enough to reveal his own confusion, but he goes with it. “sore. but i’ll be okay. how soon till you’re cleared?”

“i’ll be good by next week.”

“good.”

neither of them speak. it’s that way between the two of them pretty often now. seth can’t remember exactly when they started drifting this way, but aches as he realizes this space between them isn’t going anywhere soon. with dean switching over, it’ll only make the divide deeper, the silences heavier and all the more noticeable.

“i should go. gotta rest up.”

“yeah,” roman sighs heavily and it turns into a yawn. “me too. talk to you tomorrow?”

“sure. bye.”

“bye, bro.”

***

seth knows he’s being a coward. this is his bus, yet he hasn’t made it past the couch directly behind hugh and they’ve been driving for two hours. by now, he’s figured out that dean’s tucked away in one of the bunks between the communal and private half of the bus because of the occasional shuffling he’ll hear behind the curtain.

seth’s tired, and he wants nothing more than to rush past those bunks, dive into the shower and fall into his bed to pretend that none of this has happened. he sighs, readjusting his cap for the hundredth time before tossing it aside with a huff.

“you need some sleep, boss. you took some real damage tonight.”

“yeah, hugh, i know.”

“not trying to step on your toes—“

“i know.” seth reaches over, patting hugh’s shoulder to take the sting from his words. “i just need a minute.”

hugh nods, lowering his voice. “was i right to let him on?”

seth scratches his thumbnail across the bottom of his chin in thought for a moment. “i wouldn’t want him stranded there.”

he watches the road over hugh’s shoulder for a few moments, taking in the city lights until they blur together, his eyes fluttering open and shut a few times before he pushes himself to his feet with finality.

there’s no reason they can’t talk this out like the grown men they are. dean’s emotions got the best of him, and that’s okay. it happens. seth just needs to hear from him that that’s all it was.

hands in his jacket pockets, he lifts his chin and strides over to the bunks, switching on the light and parking himself in the middle of them before turning to the curtain he’s pretty sure dean’s tucked behind.

“i’m not too good with the long, drawn-out silences. that’s more your thing. so, if you don’t want to talk about it now, that’s okay. i just want to make sure you’re okay.”

there’s no response, and seth’s nodding to himself. “i get it. i’ll see you in the morning.” he squares his shoulders and takes a few steps into his bedroom.

“can’t hear you with your back turned to me.” dean’s voice is gravelly, tired, and coming from the bunk exactly opposite from where seth had been speaking.

the curtain opens with a swish, and seth puts his arm on the door frame, pulling himself back into the bunk space with a small smile that falls when he sees the look on dean’s face. his face is red, eyes irritated and puffy and just sad. he shifts so he’s on his side and seth immediately moves closer, raising a hand to place in that familiar spot just behind dean’s ear, but stopping himself at the last second.

“i know i said i could handle this, and i really thought i could.” dean sniffs, running a quick thumb under the tip of his nose. “but i’ve told you before, it’s just.” he gestures vaguely to his head. “sometimes the pressure just keeps building and i can’t think—“

“—i know.” seth assures him. and i hate seeing you like that. but you need to give yourself credit because you did what you were supposed to do. you did the job, and it’s what the fans wanted. did you hear the pop?”

dean scoffs dryly, keeping his eyes averted from seth. “yeah it was great. you’re not gonna say anything about what i did to you?”

it’s definitely a fair question. throughout their entire run, seth’s been the one focused on the big picture and calling the shots necessary to steer their story in the right direction. but his frustration with tonight’s plan being derailed pales in comparison to his concern for the erratic, pained way dean unloaded on him.

“do you want me to say something about it?”

“just tell me if this changes things between us.” dean mumbles. “if you want to go method and make this real, cut the cord, i don’t blame you.”

seth is already shaking his head and follows his urge this time, cupping dean’s face in his hand and bending so they’re level. dean’s eyes stay cast down, but his mouth trembles a bit, betraying how distraught the thought makes him.

“can you look at me?” seth rubs one of his thumbs over dean’s cheek, hoping to encourage him.

dean sniffs again, exhaling shakily at the touch and slowly bringing his eyes up to finally meet seth’s. seth feels his brows knit together immediately and he crowds himself closer, pressing his forehead to dean’s.

“eight years.” he asserts. “we’ve had each other for eight years and i’ve given you plenty of opportunity to leave me behind. i need you to believe me when i say that there’s no chance in hell i’m turning on you now. we’ve got a job to do and i have no idea what’s coming next, but i can’t — i won’t — go forward without you at 100%.” seth can feel his hands beginning to shake and pulls back, praying his feelings are visible.

dean’s mouth is hanging open in ponderous uncertainty, eyes shining. “i’m usually the one doing the worrying around here.”

seth raises a brow and purses his lips in acknowledgment, recalling each time he’d stumbled back from a blow to find dean there to catch him, how many times he’d been a second too slow to stop an oncoming kick or punch that dean would take to give him time to recover.

dean’s always been the punching bag of the group, branded as a lunatic to make up for his penchant for taking the brunt of the shield’s opposition. it’s broken seth’s heart more than once to see him busted up — that fateful backstage attack that left dean’s arm pinned beneath a road case came to mind — but the thought of those wounds going deeper is enough to harden his resolve and strengthen his voice as he leans in once more.

“promise me you won’t let a script make you think i don’t need you.”

“i—“ dean stops as he takes those words in, pulling his bottom lip into his mouth pensively before fixing seth with a steady azure gaze. “can you promise you’ll let me know if i go too far? no matter what it is.”

“no matter what,” seth nods. “you’ve got me and my word.”

“and you’ve got mine.” dean lurches forward, awkwardly wrapping his arms around seth, who instinctively tucks his head into the warm crook of dean’s neck.

if things were different, if the company they represented were a bit more open-minded and a lot more progressive, perhaps this storyline could end with a joyous reunion culminating in the romantic angle execs have been scoffing at since fans first got a whiff of the chemistry between the two of them. and perhaps it could’ve extended beyond the ring, placed an actual ring on seth’s finger that matched the one that felt like a hot brand being pressed into the back of his neck.

it’s wishful thinking, but not at all unwelcome or even unusual in seth’s mind. in fact, it’s been there in the back since that first meeting eight years ago, when they shook hands and seth felt as if every step he’d taken in his life had brought him to that exact spot in a humid Florida parking garage.

it pulls at his head and heart, aching in a way only the worst kinds of torture can and so he smothers it down with a light few slaps to dean’s back. the answering wobbly grunts that come from the other man reveal that he isn’t ready to let go just yet, and seth’s once again in an all-too-familiar predicament.

he won’t let dean go. not now, not ever. but that doesn’t mean he’ll enjoy the pain that comes with holding onto someone destined for another path.

for not the first time tonight, this week, or this year, he shuts his eyes and silently prays for a reprieve from the addictive anguish that is loving dean ambrose.

***

end

[closetofanxiety]

NXT to the Main Roster: A Haphazard Examination, Part 2 (2016)

More wrestlers went from NXT to the main roster(s) in 2016 than in any other year, so I want to examine it separately in my ongoing question to determine whether getting a coveted spot on Raw or Smackdown (or a less coveted spot on 205 Live) likely means stagnation and disappointment. Again, the grades here are for the way these wrestlers have been presented to the WWE audience, not for the wrestlers themselves. Except, I guess, for the F handed out to Big Cass.

Sami Zayn

Call-up date: January 24. The perfect underdog babyface at the top of the card in NXT (a role they’re currently trying to give Johnny Gargano), Zayn has had a respectable but mostly unspectacular run on the big shows. While they were never going to build main event storylines around him the way NXT did, after his initial feud with eternal lifemate Kevin Owens, he kind of drifted around the middle of the pack without a clear character or motivation. Hampered by injuries, his heel turn was initially masterfully handled: by saving Kevin Owens from Shane McMahon, Zayn was, in the immediate aftermath, allowed to seem conflicted, uncertain, and anxious about what he’d done. It looked like there was going to be real character development, and then, in a few months, he was challenging Bobby Lashley to obstacle course races. 

Grade: C

Eva Marie

Call-up date: March 28. WE DIDN’T DESERVE HER. She could have been a sensational, crowd-baiting heel, as she was LOATHED by the super nerds in the WWE audience, who hated that she couldn’t wrestle and was only getting pushed for her looks. I mean, the same was true of Lex Luger ZING. Anyway, it wasn’t too be, and we’re left to wonder what could have been.

Grade: F/Incomplete

Baron Corbin

Call-up date: April 3. Big Banter has grown into the role that is probably the top-dollar best he can hope for in the WWE: a sneering heel near the top of the midcard who can talk well and wrestle well. He’s a plug-and-play guy for babyfaces who are being kept on the stove while the main event picture sorts itself out, and he does great at it. I saw Baron Corbin wrestle Tommy Dreamer at an NXT show in Albany once and thought, “This guy suxxxx.” But he has proved me wrong! Good for Big Breakfast Constable Corbin.

Grade: B+

Enzo Amore

Call-up date: April 4. I’ll go on record as saying he was used well as the shitty heel champion in 205 Live. Everyone hated him, and that was his role. That was probably his ceiling: top hate figure on the ‘C’ show, but we’ll never know.

Grade: F/Incomplete

Big Cass

Call-up date: April 4. His attitude and behavior must have really been something for Vince McMahon, The Big Man Liker, to so quickly part with a big man who could talk and was at least more adept in the ring than, say, the Great Khali. After the split with Enzo, they didn’t really seem to know what they were doing with him, so I’m not entirely sure we missed out on a legendary career or anything.

Grade: F/Incomplete

Apollo Crews

Call-up date: April 4. This decision remains a head scratcher. Crews made his NXT TV debut on August 22, 2015, and in less than eight months, was debuting on Raw. Although he’s an incredibly talented wrestler, I don’t know that his NXT stint was quite the rocket to the top that would justify this. Since his debut, he’s been totally lost in the shuffle and without a discernible character. His most significant match to date was a losing bid for the Intercontinental championship against The Miz on an episode of Smackdown. The Titus Worldwide stuff has helped, but not much.

Grade: C-/D+

Aiden English

Call-up date: April 7. Rusev DAAAAYYYEH. If it weren’t for his alliance with Big Matchka, English would be staring down the barrel of a D+. Initially arrived on the main roster as a tag team with Simon Gotch, the two had an undistinguished run that included Smackdown tag title tournament losses to the Hype Bros and Breezango. Now that he’s the guy who stiffly raps before Rusev comes out, English is basking in his Mizdow Moment. When it ends, though, what will become of the Operatic Superstar?

Grade: C-

Simon Gotch

Call-up date: April 7. His gimmick had a lot of potential: the super old-timey wrestler in a postmodern, post-kayfabe world. It never really got off the ground, though, and while his team with Aiden English worked at Full Sail, Vince’s dim view of tag teams generally, plus the material they were given, meant it didn’t have much of a shot on the big stage. WWE let the trademark on his name expire, which tells you a lot.

Grade: F

Dana Brooke

Call-up date: May 9. After kind of a hot start that I’ve largely forgotten - she was heel Charlotte’s protege, remember? - she quickly settled into the rut of main roster women’s booking, which tends to consist of two women fighting over the title and then everyone else forming an amorphous backdrop, occasionally emerging for random six-person tags involving the main eventers. Dana did eliminate Kairi Sane at the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble, so that’s something, I guess. Since November, she’s been one of the few people in the company with a manager role, as an Alexandra York figure in Titus Worldwide. 

Grade: C-

Mojo Rawley

Call-up date: July 24. Did you know Zack Ryder’s been in the WWE system since 2006? He’s incredible. He’s like one of those NBA guys who you see playing five minutes in a playoff game, years after you assumed they had retired. Anyway, Mojo Rawley. He’s done as well as he’s ever likely to do, destroying Ryder after a heel turn, feuding with No Way Jose, and no longer being hyped. His main roster run hasn’t been disappointing, largely because his NXT run was about the same thing, minus the heel turn.

Grade: C

Nia Jax

Call-up date: July 25. Rock’s cousin or no, she’s managed to remain above the midcard scrum in the women’s division by having a unique look, as the only credible monster in the locker room. She has the problem that all monsters have sooner or later, which is: what do they do after getting beaten? In her case, it was a clumsy face turn in a bullying-themed angle with Alexa Bliss that didn’t do much for either woman. Still, because of her size and ability, she’s always somewhere near the top of the card, something that’s unlikely to change.

Grade: B

Finn Bálor

Call-up date: July 25. To my mind, he’s one of the few wrestlers who’s been better served on the main roster than he was in NXT. He’s the longest-reigning NXT champion so far, but his tenure there seems largely forgettable apart from his Beast in the East match against Kevin Owens and the bloodbath against Samoa Joe at Takeover: Dallas. On the main roster, he’s regularly near the top of the card, with his painted demon character receiving the holy-shit treatment, as we saw at SummerSlam. He’s become one of their most recognizable stars and the company clearly loves him.

Grade: A

Alexa Bliss

Call-up date: July 26. One of the best examples I can think of that demonstrates how a turn can elevate a wrestler, she went from boring, sparkly cheerleader to the top woman in NXT by becoming a heel. Initially the manager of the lookalike midcard tag team of Make and Blurphy, it was clear from the start she was bound for greater things. She’s been the signal success story of the WWE System in developing stars, as opposed to repackaging stars from the indies, Japan, and Mexico: Bliss is, if not quite a mainstream star, one of the most recognizable women in the company, constantly on top of the women’s roster, and winning raves for her incredible microphone work. Nerds who complain she isn’t good at wrestling probably wouldn’t have understood Abdullah the Butcher either.

Grade: A+

Carmella

Call-up date: July 26. OH THE IRONY! When she managed Enzo and Big Cass in NXT, she was despised by the Full Sail nerds, who would chant “you can’t wrestle” at her. Two years later, and here we are: Real1 is making unlistenable hip hop tracks for his Instagram stories, Big Cazz is set to make his indie debut for Big Time Wrestling in Spartanburg, S.C., and Carmella is coming off a 131-day run as Smackdown Women’s Champion, having beaten Asuka in matches on pay-per-view and free TV. She’s not at Alexa’s level as a heel - not many people are - but she’s done a great job of establishing herself in a women’s roster that suffers from way too many bland characters and storylines.

Grade: B+/A-

Jason Jordan

Call-up date: August 2. Listen, Vince hates tag teams. American Alpha was a red-hot team in NXT, where they got over thanks to their phenomenal work inside the ring. But even there, they were kind of bland as individuals. On the main roster, where tag teams rarely last, this spelled trouble. Jordan has been hampered by injuries, but even without that he’s a man adrift, the highlight of his tenure so far being the kayfabe revelation that he’s Kurt Angle’s son, which has mostly been treated as an afterthought. 

Grade: D

Chad Gable

Call-up date: August 2. Second verse, same as the first. They tried to spark some of that American Alpha magic after disbanding American Alpha by pairing Gable with Shelton Benjamin, with predictable results. I don’t think Gable’s been on television since May, and he’s not injured. He apparently feuded with Mike Kanellis on Main Event back in June, to give you some idea. He taped a thing for WWE’s social media channels with amateur wrestling god Dan Gable, which I liked, so there’s that.

Grade: D

Bayley

Call-up date: August 22. I will admit here that I did not “get” her gimmick in NXT. It just always seemed vaguely unsettling, and now we know that it led to the Cult of Izzy. That aside, she had an undeniable connection with the audience, largely thanks to her palpable enthusiasm and tremendous in-ring skill. I never really bought the commonplace line that she could become the female John Cena, mostly because I think that underestimates how much of Cena’s appeal comes from the fact that half the audience hates him. But she’s a true-blue babyface in a company that doesn’t really know what to do with true-blue babyfaces, and so her main roster stint has been something of a disappointment. It’s weirdly fitting that she’s locked into this seemingly endless frenemies storyline with Sasha Banks, another woman who was adored in NXT and who hasn’t really found her footing on the main roster.

Grade: C

Rich Swann

Call-up date: September 19. He had his moments in 205 Live, but it was clear his off-kilter personality and presentation were not what they had in mind as the Face of the Division. They were trying to mold him into what they have with Mustafa Ali or Cedric Alexander, when they would have been better off trying to make Swann the Dean Ambrose of the cruiserweights. Instead, well, we know what happened instead.

Grade: F/Incomplete

Austin Aries

Call-up date: December 18. I have a theory that Vince McMahon thought Austin Aries was Bobby Roode, and that when they hired the real Bobby Roode, Vince immediately said, “Well, then who the fuck is this guy?” 

Grade: F

[ingek73]

Exiting the vampires' palace: The tabloids are angry because Harry revealed how it works

You're not meant to explain how the gossip gets made.

Mic Wright

7 hr ago

The British Royal Family, the Captain Renault in Casablanca of repressed and repressive families, is shocked! shocked! to find out that bad parenting was going on in there. Prince Harry’s decision to talk about parenting — his experience of it and approach to it — on the Armchair Expert podcast has sent the firm and its frenemies in the tabloid press into a frenzy.

But the real issue is not that Harry discussed his relationship with his father or the fact that coldness permeates the parenting style of the royal family from top to bottom, it’s that he continues to unpick the devil’s bargain between the monarchy and tabloid press. It’s a deal that’s epitomised by the headline and sub-deck over pictures of William and Kate in yesterday’s Daily Mail:

Here’s how to do it, Harry!

William and Kate get stuck in with a day of play — and pets — for Mental Health Awareness Week…

On the previous page, the paper castigates Harry for choosing to “broadcast his pain again”. So there’s how you do it to get the approval of the tabloid press:

Don’t actually talk about mental health issues, just goon around for the cameras and make sure you tolerate The Mail on Sunday publishing creepy calendars full of pictures of your children. That’s the deal.

[Twitter avatar for @arusbridger

alan rusbridger

@arusbridger

Sometimes, when Prince Harry says sensible things (eg this morning about parenting), it would be nice if journalists discussed what he said rather than whether he has pissed off the Royals or Meghan put him up to it

May 14th 2021

866 Retweets6,723 Likes]

The quote that’s really angered the newspapers is not one you see plastered in the headlines or dropped into huge pull quotes. It’s the moment early on in the Armchair Expert episode when Harry says:

I used to be fearful of it. Now, it’s almost like the same groups of people that come at it so negatively or try to turn it against you or weaponise it, and therefore prevent so many millions of people from doing so, actually encourages me to speak out more… I’m going to be vulnerable, if I get attacked for it, let’s see who’s actually attacking me and what’s their story? What’s their agenda? Who do they work for?

The tabloids — and I do include The Daily Mail among their number — are particularly aggrieved because Harry is refuting their claim that he was ‘turned’ against them and the monarchy by Meghan. He says he wanted out long before he met her and that the British press was a huge cause of that:

It’s the job, right? Grin and bear it. Get on with it. I was in my early twenties and I was thinking, ‘I don’t want this job. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be doing this. Look what it did to my mum. How am I ever going to settle down and have a wife and family, when I know it’s going to happen again?’ I’ve seen behind the curtain, I’ve seen the business model, and seen how this whole thing works and I don’t want to be a part of this.

It’s those words that are driving the tabloids even more deranged than usual. The business of celebrity gossip — and royal reporting is just celebrity gossip about one family — requires the people playing the game to pretend there is no game.

In the most privileged professional wrestling ever, Prince Harry has broken kayfabe; he is consistently choosing to tell the story behind the story, to point at the paparazzi, the columnists, the palace flunkies, and the press barons and say, “Who are they working for? And what is their agenda?”

It’s one of the things a prince is categorically not allowed to do.

That’s why a softly spoken line about how he’s trying to be a different kind of parent than his own parents and grandparents becomes “a broadside”, “a bitter attack” and “a parenting bombshell” in the hands of the tabloids.

[Twitter avatar for @nazirafzal

nazir afzal

@nazirafzal

Having listened to Prince Harry on @ArmchairExpPod I urge you to ignore the faux Royalists (some might say Racists) who want to criticise him & through him their real target, Meghan

This is a man comfortable taking about mental health, masculinity & parenting

Essential listening Image

May 14th 2021

352 Retweets1,799 Likes]

Just look at how Harry’s words were trailed in yesterday’s Daily Mail:

Prince Harry yesterday launched another broadside at the Royal Family in which he appeared to suggest both his father and the Queen failed as parents.

But what did Prince Harry actually say? Well, substantial quotes — even then partial and cherry-picked — didn’t feature on the front page of the paper. You had to go digging inside to find them. Harry said:

“Isn’t life about breaking the cycle? there’s no blame. I don’t think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody. But…when it comes to parenting, I’ve experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered…

… For me it comes down to awareness like I never, I never saw it, I never knew about it, and then suddenly I started to piece it all together and go, okay, so this is where he went to school, this is what happened, I know this bit about his life. I also know that’s connected to his parents, so that means that he’s treating me this way that he was treated which means, how can I change that for my own kids? And, well, here I am.”

It hardly reads as a broadside or a condemnation of his parents or grandparents. It comes across even less like that if you listen to the podcast to hear the tone of Harry’s words and place them within the context of the conversation. But context isn’t king for the tabloids, it’s not even allowed into the palace. Context lives out the back, milks the cows, and waits for a regime change.

In 1994, when Prince Charles was 46, 10 years old than Prince Harry is now, he spoke to Jonathan Dimbleby for an authorised biography and a notorious documentary. As The Independent reported at the time:

It is abundantly clear that Prince Charles did not feel the affect of a loving father and mother, and that he considers his parents, in the words of the child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, to have been not 'good enough'.

Dimbleby, with Prince Charles's approval, accuses the Queen of being physically and emotionally distant. But his deepest anger is reserved for the Duke of Edinburgh, who is described as 'harsh', 'hectoring' and deeply irked by his son's solemn and over-sensitive nature.

Prince Charles blames his father for sending him to Gordonstoun, the Scottish public school, where he was beaten up, bullied and abused, and he accuses Prince Philip of forcing him into marriage with a woman he scarcely knew and never loved.

But with Prince Philip now dead, the Queen in her final years, and Prince Charles set to succeed her as King Charles, all that stuff is meant to be stuffed back into the wardrobe. The story is that Harry and Meghan are bad and William and Kate are good and anything that complicates that picture is ignored.

[Twitter avatar for @KaindeB

Resilient

@KaindeB

@brokenbottleboy This is Penny talking about Philip bullying Charles. 😳 Image

May 14th 2021

5 Retweets16 Likes]

So instead we get stories about how shocking! Prince Harry’s mild comments actually are and outraged stories from places like The Sun about swearing:

TURN THE HEIR BLUE

Prince Harry SWEARS on podcast as he asks Dax Shepard about ‘s*** load of drugs’ and ‘getting s*** done’

Yes, The Sun that leers over women daily and writes lasciviously about “romps” is too chickens*** to write the word “shit” out in full and pretends that the Royal Family themselves don’t swear like navvies when they’re in private.

Meanwhile, in The Daily Telegraph, Royal Family sources — the same family who forced Prince Harry to walk in public beside his mother’s coffin when he was just 12, remember — decry him for his “woeful lack of compassion”. And, of course, the issue of swearing is brought up:

And aside from the highly personal content, royal sources suggested that the family was disappointed by the foul language used during the expletive-strewn 90-minute interview.

There’s nothing but compassion in the interview, but focusing on the ‘rude’ words and implying criticisms that simply aren’t there is just part of the tabloid game. They are livid with Prince Harry for making it clear that the dirty deal with the press was a huge part of what made him leave.

It’s not that Prince Harry is talking that so angers the tabloids, but that he is talking about them and the things they do; that one of his examples of times he felt helpless is being in a car with his mother and being chased by paparazzi. Royals saying quotable things is part of “the business model” but royals talking frankly about the poisonous role of the British press in public life is not.

[Twitter avatar for @Jasamgurlie

BLACKLIVESMATTER

@Jasamgurlie

Yep, Meghan, The Duchess Of Sussex made him say it all. 😂

The way I can keep pulling out these clips… Image

May 14th 2021

71 Retweets304 Likes]

Sarah Vine, deploying the industrial-strength feigned ignorance which is one of her great superpowers as a columnist, wrote in The Daily Mail yesterday:

It’s clear now that Harry is someone who, for whatever reason, has come to loathe the very fabric of royal life and managed to convince himself, for all the privilege and status afforded him, his upbringing was a prolonged torture. And that is very sad and destructive…

… Far from exorcising his demons, Harry’s newfound freedom seems only to be feeding the monsters. He talks about his shoulders dropping and a weight lifting since he moved to America; but all the evidence seems to point to him becoming more, not less, unhappy.

As ever, it’s The Daily Mail delighting in gaslighting and a partial retelling of the facts, cutting itself and its rivals from the frame. What could possibly have made Prince Harry feel he was trapped in a golden cage? The media looks around and conveniently spies no mirrors. And, even if it was a cage, Sarah Vine argues, this songbird should have been grateful for the accommodation.

Curiously Vine and The Mail don’t include the section about it taking pictures of people’s children or when Prince Harry says…

…because of the way the UK media are they feel an ownership over you. Literally, a full-on ownership, and then they give an impression to… most of their readers that that is the case.

… your saying that the moment we step out of our house that it’s open season and free game, what because of public interest? There’s no public interest in you taking your kids for a walk down the beach.

… it’s this rabid feeding frenzy.

[Twitter avatar for @MsAlishia83

Alishia A

@MsAlishia83

Help me to understand why some of you all act like Prince Harry broke up with you personally.

May 13th 2021

309 Retweets2,793 Likes]

I’m a republican — I don’t believe the UK should have a monarchy at all — so I don’t believe the golden cage should exist. But while it does, the tabloids benefit from it and they cannot allow anyone to get away with disparaging the system. They exist not to criticise it but to defend it and feed on it.

Prince Harry cannot ‘be normal’ now or simply shut up because even if he did, the tabloid press would not respect that silence. They would tell their own stories of why he wasn’t speaking, filling the void with fictions and half-truths. In talking about parenting and pain — even from the extraordinarily unusual situation he finds himself in — Harry will help others.

And while he’s a little too fond of Californian therapy speak, the fact that he’s talking about how we can parent differently to the way our parents or grandparents did it is an unquestionably good thing.

If you only read his words pushed through the prism of the tabloid press, you’ll think he was ranting and raving about his families failings but actually, he’s saying — he knows they did their best but he wants to do better for his own children. In the abnormal world of the royals, that’s one of the most normal things anyone has said in ages…

[some-sort-of-sidewalk-slam]

The Big Wrestle Kingdom 12 Thoughts Post

Some spoiler-free thoughts before we get into specifics under the cut. I thought it was an overall excellent show. This is the second Wrestle Kingdom I've ever watched, and while I thought 11 was better, I still think this is probably going to be the best wrestling show of the year, and I feel sorry for the Royal Rumble having to follow it later this month. I thought the undercard matches, especially the various tag matches, were better than 11's, but the major singles bouts were not quite as good. I did like the end of the main event because it makes me curious and interested for the future, and it was also just a fantastic match to boot. The Junior Heavyweight Championship four-way match was probably my favorite of the night, though the NEVER Openweight Championship and United States Championship came damn close to being my favorites. I wouldn't say there were any bad matches on the card per se, but a couple of them were disappointing for various reasons, which I'll get into in the spoilery section. Considering this was a four hour show (five if you include the pre-show rumble, which I didn't watch), I was entertained the whole way through, which is no small feat. Get New Japan World and watch this show.

I'm going to go through this match-by-match, and give a sort of general summary at the end.

Match 1: Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships- Roppongi 3K vs The Young Bucks

I should note that I'm generally not a fan of the Bucks, but they really impressed me here. Sho and Yo are a team I'm not super familiar with but I saw two of their matches before this and I was on board with them almost immediately. So I was expecting this match to be like... fine. Not great, but not bad. Just fine. But color me surprised, this is probably the best Young Bucks match I've ever seen. They set up a storyline pretty early in the match where one member of each team had a back injury and they would struggle with doing certain moves that require a lot of lifting. It's simple stuff but it's effective nonetheless. The only downside I found is the result. I'm not sure The Young Bucks needed a 7th run with the belts this soon, and I feel like they were wasting some of the momentum that Roppongi 3K had built from their strong debut. I only hope that this is the start of a larger feud that sees Sho and Yoh reclaiming the belts.

Match 2: NEVER Openweight Six-man Tag Team Championship Gauntlet Match 

This match was a mess, but a fun one. It's still one my least favorite matches on the card, mostly because it doesn't feel like a lot of care went into the booking. Trent getting the pin was a good for him and a good sign that his transition into the heavyweight division is going to go pretty well, but he didn't actually do a lot of wrestling. I mostly remember him breaking up a lot of pins. It was nice to see War Machine again, especially considering it's rumored that this is their last match with New Japan. Wasn't crazy about them teaming with Elgin, though. Like, visually it makes sense but ever since I read the news that he's a dong in real life, I've gotten real hesitant to watch him. I also don't feel like Suzuki-Gun brought their A-game. Aside from finding Zack Sabre Jr. a boring wrestler, I feel like they should have maybe replaced Iizuka with El Desperado or something to have some more athleticism. Also a side note: in the graphic for Taguchi's team, it said David Finlay was on the team, whereas it was actually Juice Robinson in that spot.

Match 3: Cody vs Kota Ibushi Special Match

I think this is my least favorite match on the card, which kind of hurt because Kota Ibushi is in it. I put this mostly on Cody's shoulders, who has slowly started to become one of the most embarrassing acts on the indies. He left WWE with all the hype in the world, and everyone was so excited to see the creativity and in-ring prowess that he wasn't allowed to show. But then he just sort of became a cog in the Bullet Club machine, who is a shockingly average wrestler, and gets pissy at Roman Reigns on Twitter. Brandi calling everyone who doesn't think she's the most attractive woman in wrestling “marks” while on the way to the ring really set the scene for this slightly mediocre match with an admittedly impressive Cross Rhodes off the apron onto the floor. If you can't have a good match with Kota frigging Ibushi at goddamn Wrestle Kingdom, you might not be as good as you say you are, Cody.

Match 4: IWGP Tag Team Championship- Killer Elite Squad vs EVIL and SANADA

I wasn't super hot for this match in the beginning. Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr. are both really big dudes who are excellent at being dominant powerhouses, which was definitely the case in this match. I do admit to being slightly annoyed at how long SANADA spent on his back while Archer and Davey Boy kicked the hell out of him. SANADA and EVIL's strengths are sudden explosions of athleticism, which was good counter to KES's slow style. SANADA and EVIL didn't get to do as much as I would have liked in this match, but they got some great moments to shine, and I think putting the title on them was a good move.

Match 5: NEVER Openweight Championship Hair vs Hair Match- Minoru Suzuki vs Hirooki Goto

This match was rad from start to finish. There wasn't a lot of flashy stuff in it, but flashy is not the strong suit of either of these guys. This was an old-fashioned, no-nonsense fight. Minoru Suzuki looked like the monster he is, coming out of most exchanges on top. But slowly but surely, Goto managed to make comeback after comeback. It's a pretty simple story of an underdog overcoming a powerful adversary, but as I said before, simple storytelling works. The whole match was stiff and powerful, as expected, and they told a hell of a story through the match. It built to an excellent crescendo of Goto hitting a backwards and then a proper GTR for a well-earned victory. I also very much enjoyed the moment where Suzuki walked away from his faction to shave his own hair. It's a character-defining moment that shows that even sadistic heels like Minoru Suzuki still have a sense of honor.

Match 6: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Four-Way Match- Marty Scurl vs Will Ospreay vs KUSHIDA vs Hiromu Takahashi

This is probably my favorite match of the night. It was fast-paced, exciting, full of storytelling, and had some frankly ridiculous spots. I loved watching the storylines between KUSHIDA and Hiromu, Ospreay and Scurl, and even Ospreay and Kushida, all woven through this match, with a sprinkling of excellently devious heel tactics from Scurl. Seeing what he's capable of, I refuse to believe that Will Ospreay is a human being. He has to be some sort of human/cat hybrid or something. Seeing KUSHIDA incorporate some of Hiromu's moves into his own is a great callback to their feud. Probably my favorite moment was the brief unspoken alliance between Ospreay and Scurl. I think I would have preferred Scurl to retain here, but I would have been 100% fine with anyone winning this match, and I think this way Opsreay and Scurl can continue to have a one-on-one feud, which is always exciting.

Match 7: IWGP Intercontinental Championship- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Switchblade Jay White

I missed the build to this match but the video package did a decent job explaining the kayfabe reason for this match. What I can't understand is the out-of-kayfabe reason for it. His character is supposed to be an assassin of some kind? Or at least some sort of violent dude with a knife fetish. I do like that he's not part of any factions. It helps sell the lone wolf thing he's got going on. But once he takes off the leather coat and knife necklace, he just sort of looks like a scrawny dweeb. He just doesn't have the experience to carry a big feud like this yet. They want to make Jay White a big deal right off the bat by putting him up against Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom but I had a really hard time believing it. He's a pretty good in-ring worker, and he had some pretty good smack-talk in the ring, but this was not a Wrestle Kingdom-worthy performance.

Match 8: IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship No Disqualification Match- Kenny Omega vs Chris Jericho

This was probably the biggest draw for most of us Western fans. To see Chris Jericho in a New Japan Pro Wrestling ring, and wrestling one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, was something we all wanted to see. And... I wish I liked it more than I did. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was very good, and the biggest reason that I wasn't a fan of it wasn't the fault of the performers or the match. I'm just generally not a fan of weapons and hardcore brawls, which the first part of this match definitely was. I understand that it was an important part of the match's story that needed to happen. It's Jericho's American brawling style contrasted with the second half of the match, which was done in Omega's cleaner Japanese style. Despite the stuff I didn't like about it, it was still a phenomenal match that told an awesome story.

Match 9: IWGP Heavyweight Championship- Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito

The one for all the marbles. This match had a lot to live up to, having to not only follow last year's 6-star main event, but also the four-year build of the Tetsuya Naito storyline development. This one was a conflicting one.  First thing's first: it was not better than last year's main event, but that was going to be hard to top so I'm not holding that against it. The match was excellent in its own right. I watched it in stunned silence as it built to its crescendo, watch two of the best wrestlers in the world go at each other. But the finish was conflicting. On one hand, it felt like it made narrative sense for Naito to finally win the belt at Wrestle Kingdom, as a glorious payoff for a four-year storyline, and having Okada retain instead feels kind of like wasted potential. On the other hand, the impression I get from the promo Okada gave after the match, and the way Naito smiled as he walked away from the match is that this story is not over. I, personally, thought the ending was fine. If nothing else, it intrigued me for what's coming next.

Wrap up

Wrestle Kingdom 12 was a spectacular show. It had some hiccups, as all wrestling shows generally do. I enjoyed 11 more because I liked its last three matches better. But 12 had better undercard matches, and I understood more of the stories going into it because I've actually been watching some of the stuff leading up to it. If nothing else, this confirms to me without a doubt that New Japan is the best wrestling in the world. The match quality is so high, the stories so effectively told, even in a language that I don't speak. Pro wrestling is so goddamn cool, and New Japan is the best place to watch it. If there was anything you wanted to convince you, let this be it. Start watching New Japan Pro Wrestling. It's so worth your time.

[breadclubrising]

Why do you believe another gl reunion would make Ibushi fulfilled? Bc last time he seemed pretty annoyed by the end of it, saying he was just being tossed aside as "Kenny's replacement" and "I have nothing else to do in this tournament" and ofc the "I've always been alone". Why would it be different now?

wellllllllllll because the GL story has a surprising amount of nuance for a wrestling storyline, and has kind of deliberately mixed kayfabe with real life in such a way that you can’t talk about them separately a lot of the time.

i DEFINITELY didn’t say he ‘needs’ it to be ‘fulfilled’, because that is a thing that would give me hives to say. i have many times said he doesn’t need Kenny and that’s been the point, is that they both totally can be great without each other, but they keep choosing each other and even if they’re successful in their careers, they are unhappy when they’re apart. if you find that disagreeable, please email kota (i know for a fact he does not check his email because of course he doesn’t). What I said was: it is how their careers will play out because they literally say that will happen and they have gone to LENGTHS in real life to make it happen.

i saw someone on twitter who bothered to take a screenshot of some galaxy brain on reddit finally figuring out that ibushi and omega see each other as endgame, and captioned it something like ‘golden lovers is the worst story in wrestling please stop.’ which is totally an opinion you are welcome to have but also, the part about them being each other’s endgame is a thing they both have said and kenny in particular will never let anyone forget. i do not understand why people give it the ‘lol shut up fangirl shippers’ treatment when it’s a thing that has been telegraphed since the beginning of time, unless you are calling ibushi and omega fangirl shippers, which you actually probably should bc no one ships GL more. anyway, i actually completely get why people who don’t like the storyline, or don’t like kenny, or whatever, have a different reading of the actual events that took place. but it means that you asking me this question isn’t going to get you a satisfying answer, and that makes me feel like you’re just asking me this to make me feel bad for liking a thing incorrectly. 

but you did ask, which is totally on you, so: Ibushi said (explicitly, in interviews, and on twitter) that he was frustrated with himself for not Reaching His Potential. He never expressed frustration with Kenny, or even with NJPW’s booking. He wasn’t even officially signed until a couple months after Kenny left. 

It was like this: he was an outsider in the company. He was always paired with the guy who is like, certified by the belt to be The Best Wrestler In The World. That guy had a problem like the bus in Speed, except instead of having to maintain a speed of 60mph to avoid exploding, the bus has to constantly say its boyfriend is the coolest. So Kenny, the best wrestler in the world according to kayfabe, is like ‘actually my mans here is the best wrestler in the world’ and kota’s like ‘thanks i love you too but i’m pretty sure you’re the one with the belt and the pwi cover and 437 meltzer stars you fucking labradoodle.’ (I’d bet money Kota does not know what a labradoodle is.) Kenny’s stanning was sweet and well-intentioned but to Kota it only highlighted the achievement gulf between them. And it did not help that his mentor Tanahashi was like ‘allow me to highlight the achievement gulf between you and your genetically inferior labradoodle boyfriend, whomst i don’t like for Reasons.’

And that made Ibushi be like ‘i’m 36 (at the time) years old and I have every muscle and yet, no accolades. the fact that i have not yet managed to be the unequivocal best and that i foolishly had a body and feelings is shameful and weak.’

That’s how he is: he beats himself up about stuff like goddamn taking time off to heal from neck surgery and a mental breakdown, and the unforgivable sin of not being quite sure what direction he wanted to take his career. It felt really bad! It deffos did! But his frustration was not directed where you think it was! But that’s the part I said you’re not going to agree with me on, so!

There was so much going ON in this story and it was really GOOD! Like all the stuff with Tanahashi was incredible and heart-wrenching and you just wanted to both smack and hug all three of them and it was a really good story! 

Sometimes I just need to remind myself of that bc people who dislike the Golden Lovers are very reductive about why they assume people like the thing they do not like. But yes, it actually is a good story, now that I type a tiny part of it out like that; not my fault some people seem to have missed the epic heroes’ journeys forest for the gay love story trees. Not that there’s anything wrong with gay love story trees; also very much part of the forest.

Anyway Anon, part of the reason earlier on I speculated that you just came to my inbox to try to make me feel sad for liking things in a way you did not was that... honestly. HOW did ANYONE watch Ibushi say “I was always alone, before” after he won the 2019 G1 and go “king said ‘new career who dis’ and deleted kenneth’s number from his phone! 👏always 👏alone 👏before 👏!!!’ 

Like yeah those are the words he said but, you know, words can mean a lot of things! and personally, I think it’s relevant that those words were enveloped by a heartbreakingly pained smile that says ‘GREAT question Tokyo Sports, i WILL cry RIGHT here at this FUCKING folding table if you do not IMMEDIATELY pretend along with me that my existence began earlier this evening when I entered this arena. thanks in advance!’ Like!

Yep, look at that smug fuck pretending not to know who his shitty ex is! Prolly thinking of some good labradoodle jokes.

(On the real i know that not everyone is good at ascertaining emotion from facial expressions. I get that, and I’m not gonna dog on anyone for it, because I myself am often not great at it. And honestly? If he meant this in the “I don’t know her” sense, I would probably have loved it, bc I am a Kota Ibushi fan first, a human second, an antifa supersoldier third, and then a Golden Lovers Scholar like somewhere in the low 20s. But... I can’t even pretend that reading works for me. I hate looking at these gifs. That’s how much this reads to me as Having A Bad Time, like this man’s face is among my favorite things to view on this horrible planet and my heart feels like it’s being poked with a broken toothpick every time these gifs loop.)

And finally, because of the thing I said in the first paragraph that I wrote when I was like “i’m just gonna write a quick answer to this ask” like some kind of fucking fool who has never seen my own blog: it would not “be different now”, it has always been this story, and both Kenny and Kota say that when they are able to. It mixes kayfabe with real life, and in real life it’s really clear that it’s endgame for both of them, and I’m very sorry to GL haters but please direct your displeasure with the narrative to the two nerds who are determined to continue it across decades and oceans.

[kiraririn]

ok u know what I will talk about my OCs. Old goofy pic because I have no motivation to draw. They're both siblings. The older sister is Veronica, and the younger brother adopted a moniker. They're both the children of a famous retired wrestler. Not to the point of a household name like Hogan, but he's well respected by his peers and dedicated fans. I haven't really thought about how to characterize him, but I'm thinking of drawing influence from Roddy Piper because I love him, and maybe a couple of other wrestlers from that time. Veronica keeps her relation to her father a secret because she doesn't want to give people the idea that she rose to success due to nepotism. Women's wrestling is still recovering from a time when it was in a sorry state (I'm thinking of a combination of Moolah pimping her girls out type of stuff and Attitude Era levels of misogyny). A lot of the current generation of women's wrestlers are determined to make a name for themselves and salvage the tarnished rubbles of women's wrestling. Quite a number of them are cutthroat. I guess I haven't thought too hard about the brother. I was thinking of putting him in a tag team with a unromanceable character, but it's subject to change. The deal with them both is that their father was gone a lot of the time. Veronica grew up idolizing her father and was eager to follow his footsteps. A lot of the precious time spent with him involved being coached by him, pushed toward the right path, and when he was gone, she spent a lot of time practicing his moves on their parents' queen sized bed when she was especially young. The brother on the other hand, wasn't as fixated on pro wrestling as his sister. To her it was her calling, but to him it was the only thing he could use to become closer to his dad. He didn't receive as much affection from the father, and it profoundly affected him. It certainly wasn't to the point of neglect, but he couldn't help but feel left out. So the brother's motivation is similar to the sister's, but with a different twist, I guess. The sister wants to sort of be the embodiment of her idol, while the brother just wants some of that nice ol' approval. As for the conflict, I was thinking of either having the father die (fifty-something) or having the father not be as he seemed, that his true character betrays their sacred childhood memories. That's a bit dark, so I think I'll stick with having him die (also it hits too close to home lmao). Okay, so the father dies and affects them greatly. Veronica's idolization aside, she was always self-motivated. Since at a young age, she knew she wanted this, but seeing the look on her father's face when she achieved her goal was always thought as the cherry on top. She's in a state of grieving, and word gets out about her relation to him. Some of the women dying to prove themselves are not happy. She even loses a close friend who is another romanceable character. The brother loses motivation because now he has no one to impress. Haven't really developed him much yet, but I guess he finds salvation by reinventing himself or something. That's about it. I only got the premise sorted out. I'll probably give the guy's design a massive overhaul because I was waaaaay too indulgent in this one. I want the hypothetical VN to be on the more dramatic side. Kayfabe is real in this world. Otherwise it would be pretty boring, and I don't know enough about the business anyway. I'm not sure why I'm making a wrasslin' story so psychological either.

[markoutmania]

Progress 87 Thoughts

Chapter 87: Breadknife Show date: 31st March 2019

Do Not Resuscitate address the Electric Ballroom -Long promo & angle to set up a big 8 man tag for SSS16: DNR vs Mark Andrews, Jimmy Havoc, Mark Haskins & El Ligero (who is replacing Eddie Dennis). Wasn't a bad angle/promo but a bit long. Would have preferred the show to start off with a match. But that should be a good 8 man tag match, under Streetfight rules too.

David Starr vs Connor Mills - SSS16 Qualifier -HOLY MOLY! What a KICK ASS little match! STIFF as FUCK hard hitting back & forth fight for a spot on the SSS16. When I first saw Mills I kind of laughed since he was so skinny &  lanky and looks like a teenager but man, he really impressed me. Especially his kicks, he needs to do more with his kicks cos his long legs make the kicks look great. Starr is SOOO STIFF! His chops, his Stan Hansen lariats.. I kind of want to see him & Walter just chop each other into oblivion now! Starr also had a great cartwheel kick early in the match that got a pop from me. Mills has some great high flying too btw, to go along w/ his kicks. Really fun stiff hard fought match, I enjoyed it! 3 stars!

Kasey Owens vs Nina Samuels - Nina's title shot on the line -Wow! Shockingly decent match! The best match I've seen involving Nina Samuels! It was a hard fought competitive match with both ladies showing a good accounting of themselves. I'm really surprised since I haven't been high on Samuels at all up to this point. Glad to be wrong here. Fun match! 2.5 stars!

CCK vs LAX -OMG!! This was SO MUCH FUN!!! Good comedy, great fun, great action, great double team sequences, hilarious scenes.. This was just so much fun! The crowd hated the count out finish but it works for setting up yet another match between these teams and it's such a heel way of doing it by CCK. Nothing but love from me for this match, so much fun, I dug the heck out of it! 3.25 stars!

TK Cooper vs Angelico -Result & finish aside, this was a pretty decent match. Angelico got to show off his llaves in the 1st half of the match and was great at bumping to make Cooper's offense look good and of course selling the damage. Cooper did some things well, he definitely is up for bumping & putting over offense, even if he goes a bit cartoonish with it. TK also has some good athleticism but he is still a bit awkward & rough in execution and seems in a rush to scramble from one spot to the next. The match layout was formulaic but it worked for what they were going for. All in all, a decent match though I wish Angelico had gotten a better send off in Progress than this. 2.5 stars.

Lucky Kid vs Tristan Archer - SSS16 Qualifier -This was alright. There was some good action & it was meant to be competitive but GOOD GAWD.. Lucky Kid no sells so much stuff. He's popping up out of superplexes, super stiff shots & moves and doing just really silly kayfabe smashing no sells. I was not a fan of that at all. But it was alright. 2 stars.

Trent Seven interview -AMAZING promo from Trent Seven. The set up was a little silly but it paid off by the end and what a strong promo he delivered here. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE TRENT-WALTER!!!!!

Swords of Essex (c) vs Aussie Open - Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the PROGRESS Tag Team Titles -OMG!!! WILD CARNAGE SPECTACLE FEST! They sure used everything: Tables, ladders & chairs! Crazy spots like that almost GANSO BOMB piledriver off the ladder through a ladder by Davis onto Robinson.. NUTS! Ospreay had some moments of overacting, the wide eyed "Oh Shit I'm In Trouble" look got a bit over used, but otherwise he was really great in this match. Some of the athletic stuff like being thrown off a ladder, landing on the ropes and springing off for an Os-Cutter is just mind blowing! Aside from the crazy spots I found the match a little lacking. It played off their other 2 matches, yes, so I can't say there was no story involved but it just became a setting up of crazy spots and doing crazy spots, recover, repeat at some point. I guess these kinds of matches often do turn into that in many ways. Oh well, I was engrossed in it. Very FUN carnage spectacle! Good stuff! 3.5 stars!

Overall: Really good episode, some quality matches throughout and DANG I am SOOOOOOOO ready for SSS16!!!! Gotta' start on that soon!