#suzuki savage

[boanerges20]

Motolove.

[karinta-agogobell-unified]

Five underappreciated anime that I would recommend!

1. Canaan (2009)

This is, from what I understand, an adaptation of a side-story chapter for the visual novel series 428: Shibuya Scramble, guest-written by Nasu Kinoko and guest-illustrated by Takeuchi Takashi. That is to say, the Type-Moon guys — the creators of Tsukihime, Kara no Kyoukai, and the now-legendary Fate/Stay Night. However, Canaan doesn’t take place in the Type-Moon shared universe(s), since it’s for another company’s property.

That being said, the anime adaptation is quite comprehensible on its own terms, likely due to the adaptation being written by the prolific and highly skilled screenwriter Okada Mari (Hanasaku Iroha, O Maidens In Your Savage Season, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Maquia). Her writing imbues the narrative with enough emotional intensity to make up for the occasionally-convoluted nature of the plot, and the backstories of the characters are hinted at just enough so that the viewer can understand their relevance, without taking up too much precious screen time. It can be a little hard to follow at points, but I ended up understanding it decently well anyway.

The production values are very high indeed, due to the anime being produced by P.A. Works, and directed by Andoh Masahiro (Sword of the Stranger, Hanasaku Iroha, O Maidens In Your Savage Season). The action animation is consistently stunning, the characters are beautifully expressive, and the overall look of the show is fantastic.

And the voice acting is an absolute treat, with the lead role of Canaan herself taken by Sawashiro Miyuki, the antagonist role of Alphard taken by Sakamoto Maaya, and Nanjou Yoshino in the role of Oosawa Maria, the POV character for a lot of the story. The supporting voice cast is packed with talent too — Hamada Kenji, Tanaka Rie, Nakata Jouji, Tomatsu Haruka, Hirata Hiroaki, Noto Mamiko, and even Ootsuka Akio in a minor role!

The premise is sort of a science fiction type of thing, but set in the (quasi-)contemporary location of 2000s China, where outside of the sci-fi conceit, the setting is largely realistic. The tone and mood is mostly that of an action thriller, with some nail-biting suspense here and there, but there are some beautifully soft and tender moments as well — often involving Canaan and Maria. Yes, folks, this has yuri in it, although it’s (strongly) subtextual.

Anyway, I would recommend this to people who love Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Kara no Kyoukai, Fate/Zero, and probably also Cowboy Bebop.

2. Tetsuwan Birdy OVAs (1996)

This is distinct from the later adaptation of the original Tetsuwan Birdy (Birdy the Mighty) manga, called Tetsuwan Birdy Decode, which came out in the late 2000s — this one came out in 1996 and was produced by Studio Madhouse in their prime.

The main characters are Senkawa Tsutomu (voiced by Iwanaga Tetsuya), a hapless teenager who gets accidentally killed(!) by an alien spaceship on his way to school one day, and Birdy Cephon Altirra (voiced by Mitsuishi Kotono), a human-looking alien and an intergalactic government agent who saves Tsutomu by merging her body with his. Effectively, they become two people in one body, which can shift between the forms of Birdy and Tsutomu…. except Birdy still needs to deal with all the rogue aliens who threaten the safety of the galaxy, while Tsutomu needs to study for his high school entrance exams. From what I’ve been told, the premise is fairly reminiscent of Ultraman and other classic tokusatsu series.

It’s four tight episodes of classic ‘90s OVA goodness, with a fun and slightly silly sci-fi concept that is nonetheless wrung for some surprisingly effective drama at times. The main thrust of it, though, is action comedy — and it definitely delivers on that front. The fight scenes are superbly animated, including some early-career work from now-legendary animator Suzuki Norimitsu, and the character designs by Takahashi Kumiko (Witch Hunter Robin, Snow White with the Red Hair, Cardcaptor Sakura) are amazingly expressive. Birdy’s striking asymmetrical design is a particular favourite of mine. The direction by Kawajiri Yoshiaki (Cyber City Oedo 808, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D) is solid, and the writing is quite serviceable despite the brevity and premise.

Overall, I wouldn’t say it’s much of an intellectual watch, but if you just want a fun action-comedy ride with an extremely charismatic female protagonist and stunning animation quality, Tetsuwan Birdy is likely to be your jam. I’d recommend it to people who enjoy classic tokusatsu series, the original ‘90s Sailor Moon anime, and the less-depressing parts of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

3. Noir (2001)

This anime series is perhaps not as underappreciated as the others on this list, but I do still feel that not enough people have seen it. It was made by the studio Bee Train, and it’s the first entry in their so-called “Girls with Guns” trilogy (which isn’t actually a coherent trilogy, since they’re three different stories). The series was made right at the end of the cel-anime era, before the transition to digital colouring and compositing, so the masters were shot on film, but it was also made at the beginning of the slow transition to widescreen TV broadcasts, so it’s one of the very rare cel anime that’s in 16:9. This allows for a beautifully detailed look that, IMO, serves to offset the occasionally-limited animation and the frequent re-use of footage.

The premise is basically “secret assassins in France are caught up in weird intrigue and conspiracies”; as such, there’s a lot of very fun gunplay and kickass fight scenes, but also a lot of suspense and mystery. The writing is a little bit slipshod at times, but it ends up holding together, and the characters and (especially) the fantastically moody vibe make the show worth watching.

The characters are imbued with a lot of life and colour, both by their extremely attractive designs and by their voice actors’ wonderful performances. Mireille Bouquet, a young Corsican assassin and one of the two protagonists, is voiced by Mitsuishi Kotono; Yuumura Kirika, the other main protagonist who is a Japanese schoolgirl who has seemingly lost all her memories (but not her exceptional assassin skills), is voiced by Kuwashima Houko; and the mysterious Chloe, who shows up partway through the show, is voiced by Hisakawa Aya. There are definite yuri vibes between Mireille and Kirika, but as with Canaan, it’s all subtextual.

The main draw of the show, though, is its phenomenal soundtrack, courtesy of Kajiura Yuki (.hack//Sign, Kara no Kyoukai, Fate/Zero, Sword Art Online, Demon Slayer) in her very first anime scoring gig. It’s at times propulsive, at times dark and moody, at times beautifully serene, at times melancholy and nostalgic — and it’s utterly memorable.

I would recommend Noir to anyone who likes Canaan, Witch Hunter Robin, Ghost in the Shell, or anyone who just wishes that James Bond were a woman.

4. Flip Flappers (2016)

This anime was produced at Studio 3Hz and directed by Oshiyama Kiyotaka, in a dazzling yet underappreciated directorial debut that was presaged by his impressive animation work on Dennou Coil, Space Dandy, A Letter to Momo, The Secret World of Arietty, and The Wind Rises. Owing to this extremely solid animation background, Oshiyama was able to recruit a lot of prime animation talent for Flip Flappers, and it definitely shows in the stunning sakuga of the wild action sequences that pepper the show’s narrative.

While the fantastic animation is a key draw of this show, the sheer creativity in the worldbuilding, conceptual, and visual design spheres also contribute to its inimitably psychedelic look and feel. The landscapes of the worlds contained in Pure Illusion — the dream-realm that the protagonists enter each episode at the behest of a mysterious scientific organisation — and of the “real” world are whimsical, storybook-like, and slightly “off” in a slightly unsettling but compelling way.

The dreamlike atmosphere pervades the narrative as well — very little about the mechanics of the world is specified out loud, relying heavily on symbolism and visual storytelling to do the heavy lifting for the audience’s understanding. This might be a turn-off for audiences who prefer to have things spelled out for them clearly, but the point of this story is not always to make perfect logical sense, but rather to work on an emotional and metaphorical level. And work, it certainly does.

The episodic structure involving the various worlds of Pure Illusion explores the concept of the Umwelt (the individual sensory “world” of a person or organism), as well as some Jungian concepts and archetypes, in order to express the strange and sometimes-scary developmental stage of adolescence. The characters of Cocona (voiced by Takahashi Minami) and Papika (voiced by Ichimichi Mao) undergo a metaphorical and literal puberty, a coming-of-age similar in some ways to that experienced by the protagonist of FLCL, but with significantly more yuri. In fact, this show has the most outright yuri of any of the anime on this list. But that isn’t very strange for what is essentially a psychedelic magical-girl show: lots of magical-girl anime seem to include homoerotic vibes in some form or another, from Sailor Moon to Nanoha to Madoka.

There are some minor flaws in the storytelling towards the end, IMO, but overall it’s a wonderfully impactful emotional journey to watch Flip Flappers. Plus, the OP and ED are both extraordinarily catchy tunes that I’ve found myself humming on many an occasion.

I’d recommend this anime to anyone who loves weird magical-girl stuff, weird yuri, and/or amazing action animation.

5. Claymore (2007)

An adaptation of the manga by Yagi Norihiro, this anime is considered by many to simply be “basic”, or at least simply “inferior to the manga”. Now. I haven’t read the original Claymore manga (yet! I plan to eventually), but I found this anime to be compelling nonetheless. And if it really is the case that the manga is better, then I definitely look forward to diving in.

Having been produced by Studio Madhouse in the mid-2000s, it’s unsurprising that the vast majority of this anime was outsourced to Korean animation studio DR Movie, a longtime powerhouse subcontractor for both Japanese and American animation alike. That said, the direction of Tanaka Hiroyuki (director of a portion of Hellsing Ultimate and frequent close collaborator of Attack on Titan director Araki Tetsurou) remains sharp, compensating for the sometimes-limited animation with good storyboarding and a strong sense of mood and atmosphere.

Another aspect of Claymore which helps make up for the occasional visual shortcomings is the soundtrack by Takumi Masanori. The compositions are a mix of harder rock and electronic elements with a strong orchestral backbone, as befits a dark-fantasy setting and mood — the faster pieces are edgy and propulsive, very appropriate for the bloody action scenes, and the calmer pieces have a melancholic beauty to them that sticks in one’s memory. I wish the soundtrack were on Spotify, but alas, it is not.

The other sonic element that helps this anime out immensely is its absolutely STACKED voice cast. The main character, Clare, is voiced by Kuwashima Houko, in a fantastic yet understated performance. The other main character, Raki, is voiced by the less-well-known Takagi Motoki, but nearly all the other roles — including many bit parts — are filled with industry legends. Teresa is voiced by Park Romi, Miria is voiced by Inoue Kikuko, Irene is voiced by Takayama Minami, Rubel is voiced by Hirata Hiroaki, Priscilla is voiced by Hisakawa Aya, Ophelia is voiced by Shinohara Emi, and Jean (whom I cannot help but ship with Clare: there’s so much homoerotic tension there!) is voiced by none other than Mitsuishi Kotono. Yes, they got three of the original Sailor Senshi VAs — and I don’t know why that’s funny to me, but it is. And all of the voice actors deliver killer performances.

The premise of the show, before I completely forget to explain it, is that of a dark fantasy world where demons called youma ravage human settlements, with only the titular Claymores to protect humanity. They are a guild of platinum-haired and silver-eyed warrior women who possess superhuman fighting abilities, due to the fact that they’ve been fused with youma essence, and wield the massive broadswords that give them their name. Basically, (s)he who fights monsters must become (partly) a monster to do so.

I’ve heard the vibe of Claymore compared to manga like Berserk, and I don’t know how true that is (not having read the latter for myself), but there’s certainly a lot of bleakness and monstrosity in this fantasy tale. However, the Claymore manga was published in none other than Weekly Shounen Jump, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that the story remains resolutely forward-looking, the protagonists’ arcs focussing on the power of grit, determination, true friendship and loyalty, and protection of the weak and downtrodden. It’s never cynical or sarcastic — always straightforward and sincere despite the frequent darkness of the story.

The writing is consistently solid, even through the controversial anime-original ending (the manga continues long past the point where the anime cut things off), so I’m not sure who to point to for that: Yagi Norihiro for writing the original material, or Kobayashi Yuuko (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Attack on Titan s1-3, Kakegurui, Casshern Sins) for adapting it cleanly for the screen? Either way, it made me want to read the manga to experience more of these compelling characters and their travails.

I would recommend this anime to those who enjoy Kill La Kill or RWBY, or just to those who enjoy powerful women hacking at monsters with massive weapons and making lots of blood spray out.

[cuttergauthier]

Hockey Fanfiction Masterlist Part ONE

You can find the Imagine/blurbs/Insta edits i've written for each player under their written below!

Dylan Duke

→Imagine

Teasing 0.9k

→Blurb

→Insta Edits

Dylan Duke x TikToker Girlfriend

Nick Blankenburg

→Imagine

Cuddle Buddy 0.6k

→Blurb

Sick boy 0.4k

→Insta Edits

Nick Blankenburg x Team Mom

Jack Hughes

→Imagine

Lies 5.2k

New Jersey ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR 4.7k

Fresh Start 1.0k

→Blurb

The One Where They Meet 0.1k

The One Where They Become a Couple 0.1k

→Insta Edits

Jack Hughes x Y/n Jenner ONE

Jack Hughes x Y/n Jenner TWO

Jack Hughes x Female Brisson Reader

Jack Hughes x Childhood Crush

Jack Hughes x Female Kelce Reader

Soft launch x Mercer au

National Champions x Mercer au coming soon...

Graduation x Mercer au coming soon...

Trevor Zegras

→Imagine

Fixing my Broken Heart 3.1k

→Blurb

→Insta Edits

Trevor Zegras x Victoria secrets Model

Trevor Zegras x Older girlfriend

Cutter Gauthier

→Imagine

Friends 1.4k

Lake house 1.6k

Stay With Me 1.0k

→Blurb

→Insta Edits

Cutter Gauthier x Hughes sister au

Matthew Knies

→Imagine

Enemies To Lovers 1.8k

New Leaf ONE 1.1k

New Leaf TWO 1.5k

New Leaf THREE

New leaf FOUR

New Leaf FIVE

New Leaf SIX

New Leaf SEVEN

Saviour 1.5k

→Blurb

Things Change 0.5k

→Insta Edits

Matthew knies x zegras sister

Matthew Knies x Matthews sister

Mason McTavish

→Imagine

Doctor 1.0k

→Blurb

→Insta Edits

Mackie Samoskevich

→Imagine

Hurt 0.9k

→Blurb

Christmas Teasing 0.6k

→Insta Edits

Cole McWard

→Imagine

Are You Drunk? 1.0k

Snowstorm 2.3k

I Care About You 0.6k

→Blurb

→Insta Edits

Ryan Leonard

→Imagine

Secret boyfriend 1.3k

→Blurb

→Insta Edits

Ryan Leonard x Female Smith Reader

Mark Estapa

→Imagine

→Blurb

Sleep 0.5k

→Insta Edits

Mark Estapa x Y/n jenner ONE

Mark Estapa x Y/n jenner TWO

Luke Hughes

→Imagine

→Insta Edits

Luke Hughes x Caufield sister

Luke Hughes x Zegras Sister

Luke Hughes x Duke Sister 

Red Savage

→Imagine

→Blurb

Jealous Red

→Insta Edits

Quinn Hughes

→Imagine

Neighbours 3.4k

→Blurb

Meeting her daughter

→Insta Edits

Quinn Hughes x Celebrity’s daughter 

Quinn Hughes x Actress

Jamie Drysdale

→Imagine

→Blurb

From Hate To Hugs 0.4k ONE

From Hugs To Kisses 0.3k TWO

Drunk whispers 

Philadelphia? 0.3k

→Insta Edits

Jamie Drysdale x Zegras sister

Josh Norris

→Imagine

Love Me First, Hate Me Later 6.3k

Thunderstorm 1.1k

→Blurb

Scared 0.5k

Overprotective 0.4k

Secret Pregnancy 0.6k

→Insta Edits

Josh Norris x Tkachuk sister

Frank Nazar

→Imagine

→Blurb

Listen 0.4k

→Insta Edits

Ethan Edwards

→Imagine

→Blurb

Dogs 0.1k

→Insta Edits

Ethan Edwards x Famous  part one

Ethan Edwards x Famous part two

Ethan Edwards x teammate younger sister

Keaton Pehrson

→Imagine

Fake Dating 2.5k

→Blurb

Knight & Shinning Armour 0.4k

→Insta Edits

Luca Fantilli

→Imagine

→Blurb

Period Cramps 0.2k

→Insta Edits

Luca Fantilli x Famous Female Singer

Colton Dach

→Imagine

→Blurb

Hockey Game 0.5k

→Insta Edits

Thomas Bordeleau

→Imagine

→Blurb

→Insta Edits

NHL Debut

Thomas Bordeleau x Famous Singer

Thomas Bordeleau x Ex back together

Thomas Bordeleau x Girlfriend

Brendan Brisson

→Imagine

→Blurb

→Insta Edits

Brendan Brisson x NHL player’s daughter

Brendan Brisson x LA Influencer ONE

Brendan Brisson x LA Influencer TWO

Cole Caufield

→Imagine

→Blurb

→Insta Edits

Cole caufield x Girlfriend

Cole Caulfield x Actress

Nick Suzuki

→Imagine

→Blurb

→Insta Edits

Nick Suzuki x Caufield sister

Johnny Beecher

→Imagine

→Blurb

Nightmares 0.3k

That's Hilarious 0.3k

→Insta Edits

Johnny beecher x Moving to boston

[wrestlingisfake]

AEW Fake Rankings, 10/20/2024

Men's singles division - babyfaces

Will Ospreay

Darby Allin

Ricochet

Jay White

Mark Briscoe (ROH men's world champion)

Daniel Garcia

Orange Cassidy

Kyle O'Reilly

HOOK

Katsuyori Shibata

Men's singles division - heels

Jon Moxley (AEW men's world champion)

Kazuchika Okada (AEW continental champion)

Adam Page

Konosuke Takeshita (AEW international champion)

Christian Cage

Jack Perry (AEW TNT champion)

Chris Jericho

Kyle Fletcher

Shelton Benjamin

Roderick Strong

Unranked: Aaron Solo, Angelico, AR Fox, Atlantis Jr.*, Big Bill, Bryan Keith, Hologram, Jeff Jarrett, Johnny TV, Juice Robinson, Komander, Lio Rush*, Minoru Suzuki*, Nick Wayne, Rocky Romero*, Serpentico/Jon Cruz, The Butcher

Jobbers: Alpha Zo*, BEEF*, Chris Nastyy*, Cody Chhun*, Jack Cartwheel*, Joe Keys*, Marcus Mathers*, Matt Brannigan*, Olumide*, Ryan Clancy*, TJ Crawford

* Not listed on AEW's official roster webpage

Moxley has declared war on the AEW roster (or at least the men's locker room), and it feels like he'll spend at least the next six months clobbering wave after wave of "complacent" midcarders. Darby Allin is clearly being set up as a major destination for this saga, but I'm not certain if he'll be Moxley's first big challenger, or if he'll be saved for the end like Sting in 1997. There's also foreshadowing of Orange Cassidy and Daniel Garcia stepping up, and I think Hook and Kyle O'Reilly would fit in that role as well. But only one guy can get the rub of dethroning Mox, and we'll just have to wait and see who that will be.

Heading into Full Gear on November 23, the other top programs look to be Jay White vs. Adam Page, Ospreay vs. Fletcher, Takeshita vs. Fletcher, Jericho vs. Briscoe, Garcia vs. Perry, Swerve Strickland vs. Shelton Benjamin, and Adam Cole vs. MJF. I expect Hook vs. Christian Cage will be a thing too, but right now it's just an educated guess that Christian is the one who attacked Hook's father.

Men's tag team division - babyfaces

The Acclaimed - Max Caster & Anthony Bowens

FTR - Dax Wheeler & Cash Wheeler

Private Party - Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen

Dustin Rhodes (ROH trios champion) & Sammy Guevara (ROH tag team champions)

The Outrunners - Truth Magnum* & Turbo Floyd*

Men's tag team division - heels

The Young Bucks - Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW tag team champions)

Grizzled Young Veterans - James Drake* & Zack Gibson*

MxM Collection - Mason Madden* & Mansoor*

Matt Taven & Mike Bennett

Brian Cage (ROH men's television champion) & Lance Archer

Iron Savages - Bulk Bronson* & Beefcake Boulder*

* Not listed on AEW's official roster webpage

The state of the tag division is this: The Bucks are heel champions with no one to fight. The Acclaimed haven't ever gotten a clean two-on-two title shot all year, but they don't seem to be in a hurry to get it anymore. FTR and Private Party already lost to the Bucks. The Outrunners, MxM, and the Iron Savages are all cool as hell, but they're comedy acts that can't beat anybody. I don't think GYV have been around since they got upset by the Outrunners, which may be a sign that they aren't going to be back. Rhodes-Guevara and Taven-Bennett are big deals in ROH but off the radar in AEW. Don Callis has put Cage and Archer together to chase the tag title, but I don't see that going anywhere as long as the champions are also heels.

I'd like to see Private Party rack up a big win to get back into the title hunt, but I don't see why that should turn out any differently than the title match they just lost last week. So it feels like the division is going nowhere, marking time until the Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi) are ready to feud with the Bucks. Which, I'd be fine with doing that feud, but not if it means keeping the division in deep freeze for a couple more months.

Men's trios division - babyfaces

Malakai Black & Brody King & Buddy Matthews

Action Andretti & Dante Martin & Darius Martin

Dark Order - Evil Uno & John Silver & Alex Reynolds

Men's trios division - heels

Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta & PAC (AEW trios champions)

La Faccion Ingobernable - Rush & Dralistico & The Beast Mortos

Premier Athletes - Tony Nese & Josh Woods & Ariya Daivari

Moxley's running buddies control the trios title, which works out well since all the undercard scrubs they keep beating up can then demand a match and get clobbered in a trios match. This seems to be giving Dark Order and Action-Darius-Dante something to work with, even if it's not much and they have no hope of winning. I think Daniel Garcia and Private Party would be a stronger trio to go after the title, but they're not done yet with Jack Perry and the Young Bucks.

The House of Black is remarkably well protected for a group that never figures into any major storylines. Are they being built up to take the belts from Claudio, Pac, and Yuta? Could Julia Hart return to counter Marina Shafir? Who knows.

I stuck LFI in the trios division because I really don't know what those three guys are going to do, now that they're all in the same team with Jake Roberts. I don't think AEW knows either, so that'll probably lead to a bunch of throwaway trios matches. Hopefully they can at least win those matches, which would keep them ahead of Neese-Woods-Daivari.

Women's division - babyfaces

Britt Baker

Willow Nightingale

Jamie Hayter

Kris Statlander

Anna Jay

Queen Aminata

Nyla Rose

Yuka Sakazaki

Lady Frost*

Trish Adora*

Women's division - heels

Mariah May (AEW women's world champion)

Mercedes Mone (AEW TBS champion, STRONG women's champion)

Kamille

Serena Deeb

Taya Valkyrie

Emi Sakura

Harley Cameron

Robyn Renegade*

Jobbers: Amira*, Brooke Havok*, Zoey Lynn*

* Not listed on AEW's official roster webpage

You'd think Marina Shafir would be running rough-shod over the women's division to lock up its top title the way Moxley has with the men. The problem is that moving the world title would disrupt the Mariah May/Toni Storm/Mina Shirakawa storyline. I guess Shafir could crush Mone, but I don't know if that would do either of them any good. Sooner or later, though, it will become clear that Marina is the woman to beat, which will get awkward if there are too many champions that can't beat her.

As it is, the big programs for the women right now are Mariah vs. Anna Jay, Mone and Kamille vs. Statlander, and, uh, Jamie Hayter vs. Penelope Ford? It feels like there should be more going on right now. But I don't know where Britt and Willow are headed, Deonna Purrazzo and Taya Valkyrie keep doing pre-taped promos about nothing, and Toni Storm is still roaming the world pretending she doesn't know who Mariah May is. After five years AEW's women's roster finally has some real depth, but that only gets the division so far when it only gets 3-4 matches per week.

No televised AEW matches in over 30 days: Abadon, Athena (ROH women's world champion), Brandon Cutler, Diamante, Lee Moriarty (ROH pure champion), Marhsall Von Erich* (ROH trios champion), Preston Vance, Red Velvet (ROH women's television champion), Ross Von Erich* (ROH trios champion), Shane Taylor, Shawn Dean

* Not listed on AEW's official roster webpage

Not much new to report about the wrestlers officially signed to AEW but almost exclusively appearing on Ring of Honor. They're on the shows, they're getting work, it's just that almost nobody hears about it. The worst part is most of these names can't even get booked on an ROH pay-per-view.

No televised AEW or ROH matches in over 30 days: Anthony Ogogo, Angelo Parker, Austin Gunn, Bishop Kaun, Bobby Dutch, Colten Gunn, Deonna Purrazzo, Griff Garrison, Hikaru Shida, Jay Lethal, Kip Sabian, Leila Grey, Lee Johnson, Marina Shafir, Matt Menard, Peter Avalon, Swerve Strickland, Thunder Rosa, Toa Liona, Toni Storm, Vincent Marseglia

The bad news is that I don't know why most of these wrestlers haven't been in the ring lately, but the good news is most of them haven't been completely MIA. Some were around in late August/early September, some are on the show right now but not wrestling, and some are booked for the next couple of weeks. That's what I like to see.

No televised AEW or ROH matches in over 90 days: Colt Cabana, Danhausen, Kiera Hogan, Madison Rayne, Mercedes Martinez, Penta El Zero Miedo, Powerhouse Hobbs, Rey Fenix, Ricky Starks

These are the wrestlers I'm worried about. Colt and Madison seem to be transitioning to backstage roles and/or semi-retirement, so that's okay. But I have no idea why Tony Khan would have Danhausen, Starks, Penta, and Fenix on the payroll and not book them. I realize Penta and Fenix are reportedly planning to go to WWE, but that doesn't mean you can use them to do a few jobs on the way out. Hobbs is supposed to be medically cleared, so I don't understand why he wasn't around for the big Don Callis Family promo on October 16. Hogan and Martinez seem to have fallen off the face of the earth.

No televised AEW or ROH matches in 2024: Adam Cole, Kota Ibushi, Michael Nakazawa, Miro, Penelope Ford, Scorpio Sky, Tay Melo

Cole and Ford just got back and should be returning to the ring imminently. Ibushi has already returned to the ring in Japan and I figure he'll be back in an AEW ring soon enough. I've heard Melo is training to return from maternity leave so it's probably just a matter of time. Nakazawa seems to just be a backstage guy at this point. It was recently reported that Miro requested his release, but evidently he hasn't gotten it. AEW was running hype videos for Scorpio a few months ago but then dropped it, so I have no idea.

Part-time/semi-retired: Alex Abrahantes, Karen Jarrett, Luther, Mark Sterling, Nigel McGuinness, Paul Wight, Prince Nana, Rebel, Satnam Singh, Sonjay Dutt, Stokely Hathaway

I suppose I'll have to move Bryan Danielson into this list, once he's gotten his neck issues worked out and if he can still go on a part-time basis.

Inactive

Adam Copeland (left leg - tibia fracture)

Angel Ortiz (right shoulder - pectoralis tear)

Bandido (left arm - wrist fracture)

Bryan Danielson (storyline injuries - probably to set up legit neck surgery)

Chuck Taylor (left ankle - necrosis)

Eddie Kingston (right leg - tibia fracture, ACL/meniscus tear)

Julia Hart (shoulder - unspecified injury)

Keith Lee (undisclosed injury)

Kenny Omega (diverticulitis)

Killswitch (double pneumonia)

Leyla Hirsch (elbow - dislocation)

Mark Davis (left arm - wrist fracture)

Matt Sydal (right foot - malunion fractures)

MJF (filming Happy Gilmore 2)

Nick Comoroto (hip resurfacing)

Riho (work visa delays)

Ruby Soho (pregnant)

Samoa Joe (filming Twisted Metal season 2)

Saraya (storyline - "incapacitated")

Skye Blue (right ankle - fracture)

The Blade (lower back - herniated disc)

Trent Beretta (neck - hardware removal surgery)

Wardlow (knee - unspecified injury)

I haven't heard any significant updates on any of these wrestlers. Lately it seems like a report will come out that so-and-so is medically cleared, and then so-and-so still sits in the twilight zone for months before they come back. So even if there was news I don't think it would help us estimate when a wrestler will return to the ring.

[sisilafami]

2023

Rap:

Sexyy Red - Hood Hottest Princess & (Deluxe)

Veeze - Ganger

Babyface Ray - Summer's Mine

MarijuanaXO & Joe Pablo - 30 Mil No Deal

BabyDrill - MadMan

SME TaxFree - Standin On Bidness / Im Still Industreets / Just Like Brothers (w/Big Homie Dre Cash)

Lil Yachty - 2023 singles

BandGang Lonnie Bands - Bam Bam / Provisions / Can't Ban the Bandman 2

Wizz Havinn - Super Wizz / Super Wizz_ The Sequel

Paco Panama - The Wire Vol. 1 / The Matrix / Faces of the Hill (w/Deemuney)

Armand Hammer - We Buy Diabetic Test Strips

Niontay - Dontay's Inferno / Demon Muppy

ICYTWAT - Siddhi World (Deluxe) / Final Boss / HAVE MERCY ON US /G4ost 2 / 4 tha Troopz

youngfootsoldier - Life Of A Young Soldier / Most Wanted

KP SKYWALKA - GRANDMA HOUSE (DELUXE) / Rhythm N Bip

YT - #STILLSWAGGIN

LUCKI - s_x m_ney dr_gs

Tae Rackzz - Who is Ju

Smoke Chapo - Over The Counter (Deluxe)

Ken Carson - A Great Chaos

YTB Fatt - Who Is Fatt / Foxes Only

Ethan Uno - Bachata Jersey Youtubes 2023

Mariboy Mula Mar - Effortless / Bitty Breaker / No auto mar 2 / Mula ova errthing

2Sdxrt3all - FUCK SCHOOL / Stop Holdin Nuts / gotta be geeked

Mari Montana - Outstanding Member

Lil 2 Dow - 21 Gun Salute

RRB Duck - Half Man Half Dog / Back In Da K / Scrooge McDuck Vol 1 & 2

Glokk40Spaz - Took The Biggest Risk 

Baby Osamaa - Tank Girl

D30 - Sorry 2 My Fans / Trappers & Scammers

WifiGAWD - Been Bout It / BLOCK MUSIC

OsamaSon - Osama Season / Flex Musix

Mike - Burning Desire

TisaKorean - Let Me Update My Status

CEO Trayle - The Collection Vol. 2

Slimesito - Paid N Full / RSG

HM:

454 & SURF GANG - FAST 5

786 Ju - 786 Year

Akai Solo - Verticality/Singularity

Anycia - EXTRA

BabyK turnt - $tack Or Starve / Rich B4 A Deal

Bb Trickz - Trickstar

Bear1Boss - Lil hotsauce / GlacierGuru

Beatking - She Won't Leave Houston

Bigskiis - MR. Ouuweee Scusemee

Billy Woods - Maps

Bucky Malone - DERREN

Cash Cobain - Pretty Girls Love Slizzy / Slizzy Day

Chavo - Chavo's World 3

Che - Crueger / Closed Captions

Chloe Hotline - jouissancé

Chicken P - BussaBrick Vol.3 ReallyRich4eva / Ain’t Lost Shit

Dani Kiyoko - REAL $tREET RUNNA 3

DaeMoney - Slae Season 3

Dai Ballin - 844 pt.3 / 448 Pt. 2

Durkalini - PYRO THE PASTOR

Four50 - DRUNKEN STYLE

Devstacks - Scriptures

Earl Sweatshirt - VOIR DIRE

El Cousteau - Dirty Harry

Funny $money - Dont Talk 2 Much, Vol. 2 / Trap Money (w/ Trap Baby)

HavinMotion - Bang Music

J Billz - Streetz Hottest Young'n

Ju Swipin - #786FreeBro

L5 - Blood on switch st

Lil Gray - Swipe Renaissance

Lil Tony Official - TKEY / Chasin Pape deluxe (w/PCF Jaey)

Lilqua 50 - Only For The Fans

Los - War On Drugs 2

Lucille Ghatti - BLACK BALLED

ManMan Savage - For Players Only

Moh Baretta - Unorthodox

NBA YoungBoy - Don't Try This At Home

NeedNoName - All Off Backendz 2 Deluxe

Popstar Benny - University!

Raised Round Bosses - Ain't NuN Better Den A Cracking Phone Vol 2

Reace Sosa - Till I Touch The Ground Again

RealYungPhil - Victory Music

Reed - Downtown Chronicles

Rob Lee - Level Up

Rx Papi - Marlo

Rylo Rodriguez - Been One

SCY Jimm - Trench Baby / Highly Favored

Sérane - SGPM

Shaudy Kash - On The Yeah Side 2

Sideshow - DON’T JUST STAND THERE!

SparkHeem - Survivors Guilt

Starlito - LOVE DRUG

Subiibabii - Subiworld / swagg school / WEBB

Super Throwed Dave - Smacking Fire

Talinwya - BiRDMAN & Deluxe

Teeglazedit - The Blueprint

TrapKane - Free My Team

Tree - FREE TREE

Yung Threat - Se Grim Reaper

Valee - CAR TOONS

Vayda - breeze

Wiki - 14K Figaro

Contemporary : 

Lionel Marchetti - MÉANDRE(S)

Eva-Maria Houben - Toccata et Fuga (celebrating our disorientation)

Ayami Suzuki & Leo Okagawa - while it's warm

Graham Lambkin - No Better No Worse Vol 3

Stephen Yip - By Moonflowers

Jim O'Rourke - Steamroom 61

Atte Elias Kantonen - a path with a name

Natasha Barrett - Reconfiguring the Landscape

Action Pyramid & Jack Greenhalgh - Mardle: Daily Rhythms of a Pond

Véhicule - Aubusson

Antoine Beuger & Anastassis Philippakopoulos - floating by

Mordecoli - Château Mordécoly

Jana Winderen - The Blue Beyond

Kate Carr - on cabbages, salt, bacteria and transformations

MP Hopkins - Misting

Maddalena Comunale Massaro - La Religione Degli Insetti

Zizia - Genera

Sunik Kim - Potential

DDK Trio - A Right to Silence

Damon Smith, Louis Wall & NNN Cook - Fire Point

David Velez - Beta Vulgaris

Digital Beats :

Chuquimamani-Condori - DJ E

Ghost Notes Worldwide with billdifferen_ Funk Special mix 24/08/2023

Nidia - 95 MINDJERES

Tropa do Bruxo - Baile do Bruxo (DELUXE)

Dj Nigga Fox - Gás Natural 2 (Dedicação ao Nagrelha)

Nondi_ - Flood City Trax

Olof Dreijer - Rosa Rugosa EP

jaijiu - SET ULTRARRÁPIDO DE 10 MIN FUNK 260 BPM

DJ Manny - Hypnotized

Maryyx2 - Silent Noise (The Album)

Speaker Music - Techxodus

HiTech - DÉTWAT

Amal - PRESSURE

Emma DJ - g0drm2

DJ Smiley Bobby - Dhol Tasha Drum Exercises from Maharashtra

Dj Wesley Gonzaga - Antidepressivo

R���n’B:

Amaarae - Fountain Baby

Brent Faiyaz - Larger Than Life

Lucille Ghatti - Tears from a clown

Jim Legxacy - homeless n_gga pop music

Vontee the Singer - LOVERS & FRIENDS

Other stuff: 

John T. Gast - SINEAD MEMORY TAPE (2015)

Canva6 - Cco2

Model Home - endless spool / SMMR MMRY / 20 / JuJu MineField

Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Five_ In the garden

Nourished by Time - Erotic Probiotic 2

Jeff Tobias - Music from Milky Way Underground

Aprxel - tapetumlucidum_3

Fever Ray - Radical Romantics

Rắn Cạp Đuôi - *1

Sbatax - Spires

NewJeans - Get Up

Babsy Konate - Tounga

New old :

Black Rob - Life Story 2

Don Cherry & Jean Schwarz - Roundtrip (1977) (Live)

Hiroyuki Onogawa - August in the Water- Music for Film 1995-2005

Jon Hassell - Further Fictions [Rec. 1989]

Lil Kev - Lil Kev Mix 04-18-12 (Full Mixtape) (youtube)

Main Source - The Science

Primetime and Digga - PRIMETIME & DIGGA GREATEST HITS

Various Artists - Unruly Records Anthology - 1991-1995 (The Early Years)

[bikebound]

Savage DNA: 1987 Suzuki LS650 Savage by @ferriswang of San Francisco: "This bike was originally an unrideable cafe racer project with a few RYCA conversions/mods installed on it. I took this on as a home project during the pandemic as I saw tracker DNA in the frame of the bike." This is the 27-y.o.’s first bike branded under the informal name of “Grand Cru Customs.” Thanks for the paint and upholstery goes out to his good friend Luis (@gldysigns) — just 19! Full story today on BikeBound.com! ⚡️Link in Bio⚡️ https://instagr.am/p/CmZC3iiOT4C/

[ponycycle]

question for artists: which of the below motorcycles do you think would be easier for you to draw

Fine print: -Comments/replies are welcome -I'm not planning on asking anybody to draw either, this isn't a trap it's just for science -Answer as if YOU personally were going to make a reasonable* effort to draw either -I want to leave "reasonable" up to the reader, but I guess at minimum I want to say a non-agonizing amount of work. We're definitely not talking about a photorealistic painting

[menstitsillness]

thank you @suzuki-ecstar for the tag!! this is like . two weeks too late im sorry

rules: list the top 5 songs of your 'on repeat playlist'

leglock by shakewell

romantic homicide by d4vd

redrum by 21 savage

jhaag by chaar diwari

kheench maari by raga

tagging anyone who wants to do this <3

[444namesplus]

imjarok church #2

7up Acura Adidas Albuterol Allegra Ambien Amoxicillin Anderson Androgen Apple Ares Arms Aspirin Atmos Audi Bakery Balenciaga Benadryl Benelli Beretta Bersa Blackheart Bone Bordeaux Boutelle Browning Buick Bushmaster Cadbury Cadillac Calbee Calcium Carbonate Carvedilol Cat Caterpillar Chanel Chateau Cheerios Chevrolet Chiappa Chlorthalidone Chrysler Citalopram Citroen Club Cobra Coffee Colt Core Costa Daniel Dasani Defense Destiny Diamondback Digiorno Dior Dippable Discord Dodge Dolby Doritos Estrogen Evian Fanta Fedex Ferrari Fexofenadine Fiat Flakes Fondee Ford Forge Frosted Furosemide Gabapentin Galaxy Gerber Glargine Glock Greggs Gucci Heinz Henry Hermes Hi-Point Hilton Hitachi Honda Honeywell Hydrochlorothiazide Hyundai Infiniti Insulin Iphone Jaguar Jazz Jeep Joullian Kahr Kel-Tec Kia Kimber Kleenex Kodak Lamborghini Lays Lego Lexus Lincoln Lipitor Lisinopril Losartan Louis Maggi Maison Marijuana Marlin Mazda McDonalds Mercedes Metformin Milk Milkybar Mitsubishi Mossberg Muji Naproxen Nescafe Nesquik Nestle Nexium Nike Nintendo Nissan Norvasc Omega Omeprazole Omron Oreo Palmetto Panasonic Paris Party Peugeot Polo Prada Prednisone Prilosec Pringles Progesterone Purina Remington Renault Rossi Ruger Samsung Sauer Savage Scrolls Seiko Sig Simvastatin Size Smith Snickers Sony Springfield Sprite Stag Starbucks State Subaru Suzuki Synthroid Tab Taurus Terbinafine Tesla Testosterone Thyroxine Tisas Toblerone Toshiba Toto Toyota Trident Triiodothyronine Tropicana Tums Twizzlers Uberti Ventolin Versace Vicodin Virgin Vision Volkswagen Vuitton Walther Weaponry Wesson Wii Windham Xanax Zantac Zara Ziploc Zithromax Zocor Zolpidem

[boanerges20]

Motolove.

[boxscorehockey]

2024-25 Forwards Alpha L-Z

Last Updated October 19,2024

L’Heureux Zachary Laferriere Alex (LAK) Lafreniere Alexis Laine Patrik Lambert Brad Landeskog Gabriel Lapierre Hendrix Lardis Nick Larkin Dylan Lekkerimaki Jonathan Leonard Ryan Leschyshyn Jake Letourneau Dean Lindholm Elias Lindstrom Cayden Lombardi Amadeus Luchanko Jett Lucius Chaz Ludwinski Paul Lund Cam Lundell Anton Lysell Fabian Maccelli Matias MacKinnon Nathan Malkin Evgeni Mangiapane Andrew Mantha Anthony Marchand Brad Marchenko Kirill Marchessault Jonathan Marner Mitch Masse' Maxim Matthews Auston Mazur Carter McCann Jared McDavid Connor McGroarty Rutger McMann Bobby McMichael Connor McTavish Mason Meier Timo Mercer Dawson Merkulov Georgi Mesar Filip Michkov Matvei Miettinen Julius Miller J.T. Minten Fraser Miroshnichenko Ivan Mittelstadt Casey Monahan Sean Moore Oliver Musty Quentin Nadeau Bradly Nazar Frank Necas Martin Neighbours Jake Nelson Brock Newhook Alex Nichushkin Valeri Niederreiter Nino Norris Josh Novak Tommy Nugent- Hopkins Ryan Nylander William Nyman Jani Nyquist Gustav O’Connor Drew O’Connor Logan O'Reilly Ryan Ohgren Liam Olausson Oskar Olofsson Victor Ostlund Noah Othmann Brennan Ovechkin Alexander Panarin Artemi Parascak Terik Parssinen Juuso Pastrnak David Pekarcik Juraj Pelletier Jakob Perfetti Cole Perreault Gabriel Perron David Perron Jayden Peterka John- Jason Petrovsky Servac Pettersson Elias Pettersson Lucas Pinto Shane Plante Max Point Brayden Poitras Matthew Poulin Samuel Puustinen Valtteri Quinn Jack Ranta Sampo Rantanen Mikko Rasmussen Michael Raty Aatu Raymond Lucas Rehkopf Carson Reichel Lukas Reinhart Sam Ritchie Calum Ritchie Ryder Robertson Jason Robertson Nick Rodrigues Evan Rosen Isak Roslovic Jack Rossi Marco Rousek Lukas Roy Joshua Rust Bryan Saad Brandon Sale Edouard Samoskevich Mackie Sapovaliv Matyas Savage Redmond Savoie Matthew Schaefer Reid Scheifele Mark Schenn Brayden Schmaltz Nick Seguin Tyler Sennecke Beckett Sherangovich Yegor Sidorov Yegor Sillinger Cole Skinner Jeff Slafkovsky Juraj Smith Reilly Smith Will SJ Snuggerud Jimmy Soderblom Elmer Sprong Daniel Stamkos Steve Stankoven Logan Steel Sam Stenberg Otto Stephenson Chandler Stiga Teddy Stillman Chase Stone Mark Stramel Charlie Strome Dylan Stutzle Tim Surin Yegor Suzuki Nick Svechkov Fedor Svechnikov Andrei Tarasenko Vladimir Tavares John Teravainen Teuvo Terry Troy Thomas Robert Thompson Tage Tippett Owen Tkachuk Brady Tkachuk Matthew Toffoli Tyler Tolvanen Eeli Tomasino Philip Torgersson Daniel Trikozov Gleb Trocheck Vincent Tsyplakov Maxim Tuch Alex Tuch Luke Turcotte Alex Unger-Sorum Felix Vanacker Marek Veleno Joe Verhaeghe Carter Vilardi Gabriel Villeneuve Nathan Voronkov Dmitry Wood Matthew Wright Shane Yager Brayden Yurov Danila Zacha Pavel Zary Connor Zegras Trevor Zellers William Zetterlund Fabian Zibanejad Mika Ziemmer Koehn Zuccarello Mats

[mayhemproduces]

Ever since Bryan Danielson got his hands on the MPW Stardust Championship- hell, since the day Bryan Danielson stepped foot here in MPW, Danielson has demonstrated a combination of raw brutality & absolute disrespect towards the MPW roster. Not only has Danielson refused to show any sort of respect towards any of his opponents here in MPW, he’s actively brutalized them. Riley Ishimori was put on the shelf for months. He tried to make an example out of Jade Suzuki and in the process got disqualified. He made a point of savaging Hangman Page. Where he crossed a line, apparently, was going after Chris Sabin, which has lead to tonight. Alex Shelley is the next to step up and attempt to stop Bryan Danielson’s reign of terror. 

Two of the best grapplers in professional wrestling history, and pinfalls are absolutely off the table. The only way to win is by submission in this one, one of these men will be forced to tap out tonight, it’s the only way one of these men are leaving with the MPW Stardust title tonight. Referee Bryce Rhemsberg in charge of this one, as per usual with MPW ppv matches, a 60-minute time limit in play here. We’ll be here as long as it takes. 

The referee called for the bell, and our MPW Stardust Title match is underway! Shelley and Danielson lock up, and after a few moments of jockeying for position, the advantage goes to Danielson, who manages to trap Shelley’s arm, before pulling him in and trapping Shelley’s head and neck in a cravate. Shelley tried to pick at Danielson’s fingers to release the hold, but Danielson kept his hands locked, and continued to increase the torque. Shelley tried to bring his hands down on Danielson’s arms to break the hold, but Danielson actually released the hold momentarily to dodge the swipe from Shelley, before locking the hold back on. Shelley then attempted to roll out of it, but Danielson rolled with him, and now Danielson had Shelley trapped in a seated position with the cravate still on, Danielson up on a knee to increase his leverage and continue to twist down on Shelley’s neck. Shelley managed to pull himself up to a knee, and then picked Danielson’s fingers again, successfully getting him to release the hold, before twisting Danielson’s arm back into a hammerlock, and then transitioning that into a cravate of his own! Shelley is now the one applying pressure to Danielson’s neck!

Danielson dropped down, forcing Shelley to transition the cravate into a front facelock, which allowed Danielson to then pick Shelley’s arm and trap him in a fujiwara armbar for a second, before Shelley managed to roll through and trap Danielson with a heel hold! Shelley twisted Danielson’s ankle, before flipping him over and tying up his legs. Shelley tried to lock in some sort of modified STF, but Danielson wasn’t having any of it, so instead Shelley released his legs and picked an arm, trying to lock in some sort of armbar, or maybe somehow slip into the Border City Stretch, but Danielson escaped that too, catching Shelley with a boot before getting back to his feet. Shelley shook the kick off and got back to his feet as well, charging Danielson and taking him down with a shoulder tackle, but Danielson used the momentum and rolled backwards and up to his feet, before picking Shelley’s legs and taking him down! Danielson tried to lock in a figure four, but Shelley kicked him off and slid into a drop down position as Danielson hit the ropes, Danielson leaping over Shelley as he came back, and as Alex Shelley got up, rolled over his back and landed on his feet. Danielson shoved Shelley into the ropes, and on the rebound caught Shelley with a dropkick right to the face, taking him down! 

Shelley crawled to the corner, and Danielson measured him before charging Shelley, but Shelley managed to dodge, slipping behind Danielson before catching him with an enziguri to the back of the head! Danielson was stunned, and Shelley grabbed his head, before using the ropes to plant Danielson with a Tornado DDT! Danielson was spiked on the top of his head, before rolling out onto the apron to recover. Shelley followed him out there, and tried to lift Danielson back up to his feet, but Danielson caught Shelley with a shot to the gut, before standing up and nailing Shelley with a stiff looking forearm. The shots from Danielson kept coming, before Danielson took a few steps back and attempted a rolling elbow on Shelley, but Shelley ducked it, and wrapped his arms around Danielson’s waist, before charging forward and driving Danielson into the ring post! Danielson was stunned, and Shelley used the opportunity to turn Danielson back around, and drop him with a DDT on the apron! Danielson crashed head first down onto the hardest part of the ring, and then down to the floor on the outside!

Shelley went for a walk around the ring to compose himself and catch his breath for a second, as Danielson was still laid out on the outside. The ref, Bryce Remsburg for this match, told Shelley to bring it back into the ring, and Shelley obliged, tossing Danielson back into the ring before sliding back in himself. Shelley watched and measured Danielson as he used the corner to pull himself back up, before charging at Danielson. Danielson got out of the way, and tried to nail Shelley with a big forearm, but Shelley caught Danielson, trying to drive him into the turnbuckles with a flatliner, but Danielson caught Shelley with several hard elbows, breaking Shelley’s grip on him. Shelley stumbled back, holding his head, perhaps his equilibrium a little thrown off by those shots to the ear.

Danielson smirks as Shelley stumbles away, before Danielson measures and catches Shelley right on the arm with a stiff kick! Shelley groans in pain, and stumbles away, a chuckle escaping Danielson as he measured and did it again, catching Shelley right on the upper bicep! Shelley tries to get away from Danielson, only for Danielson to grab the arm again, and twist it around, looking to lock in a hammerlock, but Shelley quickly escapes and catches Danielson in a snapmare, dropping him and transitioning into a neck crank. Danielson tries to pick at Shelley’s arm, but Shelley continues to crank on the hold, Danielson instead going after Shelley’s fingers, breaking the hold and twisting Shelley’s arm around, extending it as Danielson still had Shelley by the fingers, before he launches a kick at Shelley’s tricep, almost catching him right under the elbow! Ouch!

Danielson grabs Shelley again and pulls him once again into a hammerlock. Danielson reached around and tried to trap Shelley in a headlock, but Alex wrenched the arm, preventing anything of the sort from happening. When that angle didn’t work, Danielson went about twisting out of the hammerlock, and trapping Shelley with a hammerlock of his own, but it didn’t last long before Shelley twisted out of that hold, wrung Daniel’s arm, and trapped him in a wrist lock. Danielson dropped down to a knee as Shelley applied pressure, but Danielson was quickly back up to his feet, before executing a forward roll, followed by a cartwheel, smacking Shelley’s wrist to release the wrist lock, tossing Shelley with an arm drag, before locking in an arm bar! 

Danielson tried to keep Shelley down with a knee placed on Shelley’s head, using it to create more torque on the arm, but Shelley managed to get out from under Danielson, and back to his feet. Shelley sent Danielson off the ropes and dropped down, but Danielson rolled over Shelley, getting back up, before catching Shelley with another arm drag, and then right back into the arm bar! Shelley managed to get back up, tossing Danielson with an arm drag of his own, but Danielson rolled through, continuing the momentum and tossing Shelley with an armdrag back into the armbar!

Shelley once again got back to his feet, this time electing to pull Bryan Danielson’s hair and back him into the corner to get Danielson to release the hold! The ref was quick to get on Shelley about staying off Danielson’s hair, and he relented, putting his hands up as he leaned against the ropes, taking a quick breather to refocus. “If he has until five, so do I!” Shelley argues back, a cheeky little side comment from Alex Shelley. Shelley grabbed Danielson again and pressed a forearm to his throat in some version of a choke in the corner, the ref counting for Shelley to break the hold. He did so at three, once again, raising his arms and proclaiming his innocence. However, that may have been a fakeout, as he launched for a chop to Daniel’s chest, but Danielson ducked and moved out of the corner, pushing Shelley into the corner, and catching Shelley with a chop of his own! The first one didn’t seem to phase Shelley much, but Danielson followed it up with a second, and then a third chop, each one the pain in Shelley’s face becoming more and more evident. Danielson tried to fire away with a fourth, but Shelley once again grabbed a handful of Daniel’s hair and forced him into the corner, before beginning to fire away with rapid fire machine gun chops to Bryan Danielson! Each one as loud as a gunshot throughout the venue, and punctuated by one final, brutal chop that dropped Danielson to his knees! Danielson clutched his chest, and began to crawl away from Shelley, trying to create a little separation. Shelley responded by catching Danielson with a boot to the face. 

Danielson tried to use the ropes to pull himself up,and Shelley ran off the ropes to try and nail him with something, but Danielson managed to catch Shelley with a drop toehold, sending Shelley down into the ropes, before kicking the rope up into Shelley’s throat, kicking Shelley in the head, and pulling on the rope and sending Shelley rolling backwards, Danielson rolling back with him. Shelley rolled up to his knees, and Danielson sprang up, before nailing Shelley with a big beautiful dropkick right to the back of the head! Shelley held the back of his head, rolling out of the ring to recover! Danielson quickly got back to his feet and measured, before diving through the ropes, crashing into Alex Shelley with a tope suicida, both men crashing into the guardrail! Danielson rolled back into the ring and looked to be going for another one, but Shelley quickly bailed out of the way to another side of the ring, but Danielson managed to stop, slide, change direction, and dive out of that side of the ring! Danielson catches Shelley with ANOTHER suicide dive! 

Danielson picks up Shelley again, trapping Alex Shelley’s arm behind his back into a hammerlock again, but this time, Danielson grabs Shelley and throws him into the steel guardrail, arm first, driving Shelley’s shoulder into the steel guardrail! That can lead to a separated shoulder! 

Danielson gets back up and smirks at the fans in the front row, actively booing him. The loud booing seems to just amuse Danielson, who gets right into the faces of the fans sitting front row here tonight. 

“You’re only here because none of you can afford a ticket to AEW!” 

Ouch. Tell us how you really feel, Bryan. 

Danielson stops messing with our fans, and turns around, only to eat a forearm from Alex Shelley! Shelley pops Danielson again, and again, and again, practically forcefeeding Danielson forearm shots, dizzying the MPW Stardust Champion! Shelley then traps Danielson against the guardrail, and stuns him with a chop, before grabbing his head, flipping over Bryan Danielson, and driving Danielson’s back and spine down on the top of the guardrail with a modification on Sliced Bread! Danielson stumbles away, clutching at his back, as Shelley grabs a chair on the outside. Shelley places it down, and sets it up, before Shelley takes a few steps back, before charging, launching himself over the guardrail, and taking out Danielson with a flying cross body! 

Shelley is running hot now, pumping the crowd up as he gets back to his feet! Shelley grabs Danielson again, and places him against the ring post, before Shelley spins, looking for a Rolling Elbow, but Danielson moves, and Shelley hits the ring post! Shelley lets out a cry of agony, clutching at his arm, that’s gotta hurt! Danielson looks to capitalize, grabbing Shelley’s arm, and using it to pull him right into the ring post, shoulder first! Danielson continues to absolutely pick apart Shelley’s arm! 

Danielson throws Shelley back into the ring once again, before sliding in after him, hooking Shelley’s arms, and floating over, trapping Alex Shelley in the Cattle Mutilation! Shelley cries out in agony, as Danielson continues to wrench down on the hold, trying to force Alex Shelley to submit! Shelley continues to cry out in agony, but he does manage to start rocking, and as Shelley continues to rock back and forth, not helping the fact that his shoulders were practically being ripped apart, but Shelley does manage to rock enough to get Danielson to lose his grip, and Shelley manages to escape the hold, rolling out to the outside to try and recover for the time being. 

Danielson follows him out of the ring once again, grabbing Shelley and throwing him back into the ring, and slid in after him, charging after him and trying to jump up onto Shelley, and twist around him, looking for the Octopus Hold, but Shelley managed to shove Danielson down off of him. Shelley charged the Champion, attempting a clothesline, but Danielson caught the arm and tossed Shelley with an arm drag. Shelley rolled and came to a stop in the corner, Danielson charged in and caught Shelley with a boot, before grabbing Shelley, planting him into the mat with a Northern Lights Suplex, before flipping back, jumping up, and driving both feet into Shelley’s chest with a brutal double stomp!

Danielson quickly got back to his feet, grabbing Shelley and trying to flip him into a Boston Crab, but Shelley managed to kick Danielson off, and trap one of his legs with his own, tripping Danielson down to the mat, before trying to get control of Danielson’s arm, attempting to lock in a Fujiwara Armbar, but Danielson managed to roll out of it, catching Shelley with a boot to get him off. Shelley got up to his feet, still holding his face from that kick, so that he didn’t see the superkick from Danielson coming! The kick landed flush, and knocked Shelley right through the ropes and to the floor! Shelley landed on his feet and tried to shake off the cobwebs and reset his jaw, but he turned right around into a Tope Con Hilo from Danielson, crashing down onto the world traveled vet! Shelley held his head as he fell to the floor, and Danielson was quickly back to his feet, hoping up onto the rail to interact with the fans a bit, before going back across it to continue his assault on Shelley. He caught Shelley with a few forearms to the back, before lifting him back up, and trying to whip Shelley into the guardrail. Shelley, however, showing an amazing display of athleticism and balance, jumps up onto the rail, sticking the landing, before backflipping over Danielson, landing behind him, and catching Danielson with a kick to the back of the leg, trembling Danielson, before catching Danielson in the back with a rolling forearm. Danielson hunched over in pain, before Shelley throws Danielson spine first into the guardrail! Danielson let out a cry of pain as he walked away holding his back. Shelley then grabbed Danielson, and tossed him into the ring, before climbing up onto the apron, up to the top rope, and crashing down on Danielson with another diving crossbody!

Shelley pulled himself up to a knee and brushed some of his hair out of his face, before standing up and grabbing Danielson by his hair. Shelley caught Danielson with a knife edge chop to the chest, before dropping him down to a seated position with a snapmare, and running off the ropes, catching Danielson with a sharp penalty kick to the back, before dropping down and trapping Danielson in a chin lock. Shelley continued to drive his knee right into Danielson Danielson’s spine, using it as a focal point to apply pressure. Danielson first tried to reach for the ropes, but when he realized he wasn’t going anywhere, he began to pick at Shelley’s fingers, eventually managing to pry Shelley off of him, before catching Shelley with a back elbow, staggering him, before getting up, running off the ropes, and trying for a Frankensteiner, which Shelley caught and turned into a powerbomb! Shelley planted Danielson down to the mat, before grabbing control of the legs, and twisting them together, turning Danielson over and locking in a brutal and deep looking Cloverleaf! Danielson cried out in pain, and tried desperately to reach out for the ropes! Shelley sat all the way down, but kept an eye on Danielson, making sure he wasn’t drawing too close to the ropes. While Danielson wasn’t going anywhere, Shelley did notice what he thought to be an opening. Shelley released the hold and quickly tried to transition into a Border City Stretch, but Danielson manages to escape, rolling through, and rolling back to his feet. 

Shelley gets back to his feet, as Danielson charges in, looking for a Busaiku Knee, but Shelley evades it, and as Danielson gets back up, Danielson gets grabbed by Shelley, who drives Danielson into the mat with a BIG Shell Shock! Danielson gets planted into the mat head first! Both men down now!

If this match included pinfalls, Alex Shelly might be your new Stardust champion. But alas, Shelly can feel the advantage in his hands now. and he immediately targets the leg with a big drop kick to the back of the knee. He takes the leg and slams it into the mat, before twisting it into his own, and snapping it back to the mat! Targeting the left leg of Danielson, before he turns Danielson onto his stomach, twisting his legs up, and locking him into an inside toe hold leglock! pushing his foot down onto Danielson's ankle to get that extra leverage in there, trying to pick apart the leg while he has the advantage. Danielson tries to bridge and relieve some of the pressure. Maybe even find a way to counter out of this, but Shelley isn’t letting this slip by him. He rolls, flattening Danielson on his back, and shifting right into a rolling Deathlock! Danielson pitches up on his forearms, his face contorting in agony as Shelley glares back at him, almost trying to will him to tap. But instead, Danielson reaches up, and digs his nails into Shelley’s eyes! He’s trying to make Shelley give up this hold or risk losing an eyeball, but just when it looks like Alex just might - he doubles down! He tricks Danielson and wrenches even deeper on the submission! A sudden cry bursts from Danielson before he leans back, hands in his hair, as he stares up at the lights. Remsburg asks if he wants to quit, if he needs to give up, but Danielson shakes his head and sits up, slapping Shelley across the face! Shelley slaps him back, and, to be blunt, they’re slapping the shit out of each other!

Eventually, their chop fest turns too violent for the hold to sustain, and they wind up with Danielson on top of Shelley, punching him in the face. He gets in a few shots before Shelley turns them over, hanging over Danielson and laying down right hands. Danielson’s able to throw him off. He scurries to his feet, trying to retreat, but Shelley’s right on his tail, and nails him with a forearm! Shelley whips Danielson across the ring, trying to send him to the corner while staying on his heels. But Danielson climbs the turnbuckles and backflips over Shelley, landing on his feet and running the ropes. Shelley turns around, and gets flipped inside out by a flying clothesline! Shelley lands face first on the mat! Danielson sits on a knee, slowly rising as he pushes his hair back, looking out at the crowd. He stands up, pointing at Shelley, and shouting out.

“It’s time to kick,” and with the whole crowd behind him, “HIS FUCKING HEAD IN!”

Grabbing both wrists, Danielson does as promised and tries to kick Shelley’s head in, raining down vicious, ferocious stomps! Shelley looks lifeless when Danielson turns him over, trying to lock in the LeBell Lock, but Shelley fights it off! There's still some life left in the veteran, as he's able to roll out of the LeBell and back to his feet. But Danielson stuns him with a HUGE kick to the chest! The shot sends Shelley into the corner, clutching his chest, and Danielson lights him up with a chop. He follows it up with another firm kick, landing this one high, aiming for the targeted shoulder. Switching between chops and kicks, Bryan’s got full control of Shelley now. Following up this onslaught with an arm-trapped suplex, Danielson holds onto the trapped arm and rolls Alex onto his stomach, trying to float into the Cattle Mutilation, but Shelley evades. He rolls them back to their feet, breaks Danielson's grip - but Bryan trips him up! He grabs the legs, tucking his feet at the back of the knees as he starts to prepare Shelley for the Romero Special. But Danielson stops halfway, watching as Shelley reaches for the ropes, and starts to almost encourage him. "Grab the rope," but it's more of an order. Hands on his hips as he glares down at Shelley. So judgemental. So condescending. "Grab the rope." And Shelley is trying to get there, lest his shoulder take more punishment in the Romero Special. It may be a "cop out" to someone like Bryan, but forcing a rope break could be the only way to save Alex's shoulder in the long run. Once Shelley comes within inches of the ropes. Danielson releases his legs, and kicks the hand away! Danielson takes a short victory lap, smirking wide as the crowd boos him some more, before grabbing Shelley and trying to lock him into a Juji Gatame. Shelley attempts to keep his fingers clasped together, doing everything he can to block it, but Danielson breaks the grip, snapping back into a full Juji Gatame!

A cry erupts from Shelley as Bryan fully wrenches it in, and Shelley makes a dash towards the ropes. Using his hips to scoot himself there, but before he can find purchase, Danielson rolls them away from the ropes. He rolls Shelley into a seated position, pulling Shelley to his chest and raining down those patented hammer and anvil elbow strikes, battering Shelley with them, and targeting the shoulder as much as he can. When Danielson decides enough is enough, Danielson rolls him back onto his stomach, locking Shelley into a seated Fujiwara armbar! It looks like Danielson wants to try and disarm him, and Shelley cries out from the pain! Danielson is intent on tearing the shoulder straight out of the socket, but Shelley refuses to give up! Remsburg is always ready to make the call, checking in frequently with Shelley, but he shakes his head, trying to claw his way to the ropes. Danielson looks over his shoulder and sees Shelley getting too close to that coveted rope, so Danielson instead shifts into a regular Fujiwara, but he grabs the arm that’s reaching towards the ropes, and pulls it into it as well! Double Fujiwara armbar on Alex Shelley! He wails at the unexpected agony shooting through both his arms, but he’s shaking his head! One of them WILL tap tonight, but Alex says it’s not gonna be him. Not now, maybe not ever! Using his hips to rotate, Shelley pivots his legs towards the ropes. Danielson doesn’t have a free hand to stop him now, so, eventually, Shelley is able to find ground, and he puts his foot on the ropes! But Bryan holds on! Resmburg shouts at him, but Bryan lets go at the last second, telling Bryce, “I have until five, referee,” in the most deadpanned tone he can muster. Trying to follow up with a chicken wing, Danielson can't quite get it in before Shelley pulls them to the mat, trying to put Danielson in the Border City Stretch. Bryan immediately gets out of it, knowing he can't get caught in it, but as they stand, Shelley lands an enzuigiri! Danielson wobbles and Shelley grabs him by the head. Shelley pushes off the ropes, spikes Danielson with a tornado DDT, and rolls straight back into a Guillotine Choke! Doing anything and everything he can just to wear down the Dragon, but Danielson is eventually able to get to the ropes, forcing the break. Shelley picks him up, grabbing him by the head. He goes to the ropes, trying to plant Danielson with Sliced Bread #2, but Danielson throws him off. Shelley lands on his feet, and pops off a superkick! Shelley snaps Danielson to the mat, and pulls him right into the Border City Stretch! Danielson screams out as he makes a mad dash to the ropes, clinging onto them as if his life depended on it, and Shelley ultimately has to let go. You can see the disappointment in his body language, but Alex knows he has to keep bringing the fight. He gets to his feet, holding his arm gingerly, trying to shake some feeling back into it. He grabs Danielson’s ankle and flips him back, twisting him up - into a Lightning Lock Beta! Holy shit! Shelley is digging deep into his bag of tricks just to try and put Danielson away! And with the way his face is contorting in deep agony, he just might!

Danielson screams out, hands pulling at his hair, as Shelley wrenches the hold in as deep as he can get it! Bryan can feel the Stardust title slipping out of his fingers! He starts to scratch, crawl, and cry his way to the ropes, but before grabbing a hold can become a reality, Shelley scoots them back toward the center of the ring. Quite easily, too, as this position leaves him with ultimatum freedom to do as he pleases, so long as he keeps up the torque on the legs. Bryan knows this is going to hinder him in the long run, and instead tries to turn himself over. Shelley tries to maintain control, but Bryan finds purchase on his back just enough for him to kick Shelley off. He gets to his feet, moving gingerly, and nails Shelley with a body shot, then an uppercut, dropping Alex to his knees. He sits up, facing contorting in pain, before Danielson fires off the first kick, followed by a resounding, "YES!" "YES!" YES!" Danielson connects with a fourth kick before he falls back, setting up for the buzzsaw - and it connects flush against the skull! Shelley drops face first to the mat, and he may be out cold! Instead of going for another attempt at a submission. Danielson wants to inflict more punishment. And he wants to do so with a superplex. As Danielson tries to climb up, Shelley finds a second wind and powers out, knocking Danielson to the mat! Shelley shifts his footing, takes to the skies, and crushes Bryan with a HUGE Frog Splash! Shelley hits hard enough that he almost bounces off Danielson, but he's able to grab the right arm, rolls Bryan over, and lock him into the Border City Stretch! It's in, middle of the ring! - But Bryan rolls Shelley onto his back, raining down VICIOUS elbows! Trying to crush Shelley's larynx with these, until Alex's arms flop to his sides, his body going limp. Bryan kneels on top of him, flicking his hair back - but Shelley pulls him into a triangle choke! Or, so he tries, as Danielson sees it coming and immediately rolls Shelley over, flipping straight into the Cattle Mutilation! But Shelley rolls with the momentum, bringing Danielson up, and pushing out of his grip with a back elbow.

Alex gets out of Bryan’s reach as the champion stumbles back, checking his nose, and pulling his hand back to see the first bits of blood spilled in this matchup. And seeing it just pisses Bryan off even more. “You couldn’t beat me in the prime of your career, but now that you’re just an old, washed up indie attraction you still think you have a chance?” Bryan spits at Alex, “You’ve stayed at the bottom because that’s where you belong.” And Alex nails him with a HUGE Forearm! Shelley rocks the champion, but Danielson powers back with a forearm in kind. And we’ve got a slugfest on our hands! They’re putting their all behind every spot. Until Danielson lands a wicked rolling elbow, spinning Shelley around - and Alex lands a Superkick! Bryan's rocked, and Shelley scooped him by the back of the head, guiding them towards the ropes, finally wanting to hit Sliced Bread #2! And he's going to - but Danielson overrotates! Somehow, he's able to land on his feet, practically landing on top of Shelley, and he jumps right into the LeBell Lock! It’s locked in DEEP! Thankfully, since the Sliced Bread brought them into the corner, the ropes are within reach for Shelley, but he still has a way to go before he can grab on. And after all the shoulder has been through tonight, that may be easier said than done. But still, Shelley wants to fight. Needs to fight. And he’s going to until his last breath. Clawing with his free hand, Shelley pulls himself closer, and closer to the ropes. Coming within fingertips of freedom - but Danielson rolls them away! He gets them smack dab in the center of the ring, and he throws Shelley’s injured arm over his shoulder, locking in the Border City Stretch!! Danielson’s stealing Shelley’s own move! It seems to ignite a fire in Shelley, but it’s overcome by the pain. The LeBell Lock wasn’t as bad for his shoulder, but this. This is pure agony for him, but Shelley doesn’t want it to end like this. He can’t let it end like this. He came so far and fought so hard. For himself, for everyone watching, for everyone in the back. Alex needed to end this reign of terror tonight, but moving is pure anguish. He’s not going to be able to get to the ropes like this, and Danielson is wrenching it back as deeply as he can get it… AND SHELLEY TAPS! IT’S OVER!

“Here is your winner, and STILL the MPW Stardust Champion, the American Dragon, Bryan Danielson!”

As if tapping Shelley out with his own hold wasn’t bad enough, Bryan’s refusing to let go! Shelley is frantically tapping out against Bryan’s arm, trying to get him to let go, as Remsburg tries to pull them apart, but Bryan will not let go for ANYTHING. He’s not going to stop until he pulls Alex’s shoulder clean out of its socket!

With a few referees and some familiar faces in polo shirts - notably the recently returned Chris Hero, Jimmy Jacobs, and the ECW legend himself, Colin Delaney - rush down to the ring, and they’re finally able to get Bryan to let go. He backs up into the corner, smirking widely, as Jimmy tries to talk some sense into Bryan. He won the match, it was already over, he didn’t need to do it. But Bryan just laughs in his face. Hero and Colin try to check on Alex, to see if he needs a doctor. But it looks like he may be okay. Shelley waves Hero off as Colin makes sure he’s able to sit up, trying to feel out for any broken bones, check on some pressure points, when Bryan suddenly says rather loudly towards Jimmy,

“You’re not that guy anymore. Go back to gorilla before you get hurt.”

Oh shit.

Those be fightin' words, but as an agent, Jimmy can’t get physical with the talent and maintains his composure. He just smiles, trying to turn away from Bryan - but Bryan just grabs him by the face, and shoves him away! Jimmy freezes for a moment as Bryan collects his title - and Jacobs punches him in the face! Jimmy Jacobs is swinging on the Stardust Champion! Holy shit!

The refs go after Jimmy, pulling him back, as Chris blocks off Bryan, telling him to, “Get your ass to the back.” Surprisingly, Bryan actually does it, putting his hands up and reminding us that he didn’t do anything - which, sure. Yeah. But as cooler heads try to prevail, and hopefully we get Alex to a doctor, we have to get ready for our next match!

[wrestlingisfake]

AEW Fake Rankings, 7/15/2024

Men's singles division - babyfaces

Swerve Strickland (AEW men's world champion)

Jon Moxley

Bryan Danielson

Will Ospreay (AEW international champion)

Mark Briscoe (ROH men's world champion)

Orange Cassidy

PAC

Kyle O'Reilly

Katsuyori Shibata

Tomohiro Ishii*

Men's singles division - heels

MJF

Adam Page

Kazuchika Okada (AEW continental champion)

Jack Perry (AEW TNT champion)

Chris Jericho (FTW champion)

Konosuke Takeshita

Roderick Strong

Kyle Fletcher

Big Bill

Rush

Unranked: Angelico, Anthony Henry*, AR Fox, Dalton Castle*, Jeff Jarrett, Marko Stunt*, Matt Menard, Rocky Romero*, Serpentico, The Beast Mortos*, The Butcher, Tommy Billington*

Jobbers: Ben Bishop*, GPA*, Kevin Blackwood*, London Lightning*, LSG*, Michael Allen Richard Clark*, MSG*, Rhett Titus*, Shaun Moore*

* - Not listed on the AEW's official roster

Right now the main storylines in this division appear to be: Strickland vs. Danielson; MJF vs. Garcia; Ospreay or MJF vs. PAC; Perry vs. a returning Darby Allin; and Briscoe, Cassidy, and O'Reilly against Strong, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett. I'm confident Jericho, Big Bill, and Bryan Keith will continue feuding with HOOK, Samoa Joe, and Shibata, but that seems to be on hold (possibly creating room for the teased Jericho vs. Minoru Suzuki program).

Okada and Page seem a bit lost in the shuffle for now, even though they're both in the "blood & guts" double cage match on 7/24, and Okada has a non-title match with Strickland this week. Both men could be set up as challengers for Swerve, but not right away. My guess is they'll just be squashing a lot of undercard guys over the next six weeks.

The Don Callis Family is in a bit of disarray, what with Powerhouse Hobbs and Trent Beretta getting injured, Ospreay leaving the group, and Takeshita about to tour Japan for a month. On 7/13 Callis started an issue with Billington, Cash Wheeler, and Dax Harwood, but as it stands he won't have anybody to back him up against those guys except Kyle Fletcher. So I expect some big moves from Callis, and it'll take more than simply trying to recruit Rush.

Men's tag team division - babyfaces

The Acclaimed - Max Caster & Anthony Bowens

Lucha Bros. - Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero Miedo

Wheeler Yuta (ROH pure champion) & Claudio Castagnoli

Private Party - Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen

Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo*

Komander (AAA cruiserweight champion) & Metalik*

The Outrunners - Truth Magnum* & Turbo Floyd*

Men's tag team division - heels

The Young Bucks - Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW tag team champions)

Matt Taven & Mike Bennett (ROH tag team champions)

* - Not listed on the AEW's official roster

The tag division is pretty lopsided, although that doesn't have to be a problem if you're keeping both sets of belts on the two heel teams. But if, for example, the Acclaimed actually dethrone the Young Bucks soon, they're gonna need a mess of heel teams to work with in a hurry. (In theory you could just cannibalize the trios division to fill the void, but I'm not a fan of doing that.)

Five months into AEW's alliance with CMLL, Kommander seems to be the only luchador left in AEW that hasn't severed all ties with CMLL's rival, AAA. I expect he'll either drop the title and stop working for AAA, or he'll gradually get phased out of AEW (which would be a huge mistake in my opinion).

Men's trios division - babyfaces

Juice Robinson & Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn

Malakai Black & Brody King & Buddy Matthews

Darius Martin & Dante Martin & Action Andretti

Men's trios division - heels

The Patriarchy - Christian Cage & Killswitch & Nick Wayne

Cage of Agony - Brian Cage & Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun

Shane Taylor Promotions - Shane Taylor & Anthony Ogogo & Lee Moriarty

Premier Athletes - Josh Woods & Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari

Iron Savages - Boulder* & Bronson* & Jacked Jameson*

* - Not listed on the AEW's official roster

The trios division has been kinda wild lately because a lot of the bigger acts, like Chris Jericho's Learning Tree or Mark Briscoe's Conglomeration, have been nowhere near the trios title. Instead we've had two heel teams--the Patriarchy and the House of Black--chasing a third--Jay White and the Gunns--and two of those three teams are now down a man, so now it's Patriarchy vs. Robinson and the Gunns vying for the vacant title. I'm not even sure if AEW is trying to turn House of Black or the Bang Bang Gang babyface, but it's clearly happening one way or another.

(Technically, Buddy Matthews is out with a storyline injury and has yet to return. But since that was to cover for his legit honeymoon, and since WWE is heavily promoting the return of his wife Rhea Ripley for tonight, I assume Buddy doesn't have anything better to do this week than to stage his own return.)

Women's division - babyfaces

Toni Storm (AEW women's world champion)

Willow Nightingale (CMLL women's world champion)

Thunder Rosa

Hikaru Shida

Queen Aminata

Lady Frost*

Trish Adora*

Leyla Hirsch

Rachael Ellering*

Women's division - heels

Mercedes Mone (AEW TBS champion, STRONG women's champion)

Mariah May

Kris Statlander

Deonna Purrazzo

Skye Blue

Nyla Rose

Saraya

Serena Deeb

Harley Cameron

Anna Jay

Jobbers: Ava Lawless*, Kelly Madan*

* - Not listed on the AEW's official roster

It feels like the women's division is firing on all cylinders lately. We've got four key feuds--Storm vs. May, Mone vs. Britt Baker, Nightingale vs. Statlander, and Rosa vs. Purrazzo--not to mention Athena vs. Aminata and Billie Starkz vs. Red Velvet over in ROH. It also seems like Shida, Nyla, and Skye are being primed to step up when the time comes. This is really good--it feels like a division, and not just the same six women endlessly wrestling each other.

No televised AEW matches in over 30 days: Aaron Solo, Alex Reynolds, Angelo Parker, Bobby Dutch, Brandon Cutler, Diamante, Evil Uno, Griff Garrison, John Silver, Lance Archer, Lee Johnson, Marina Shafir, Taya Valkyrie, Vincent Marseglia

Everybody here is mainly working midcard matches for the ROH tapings. Right now I can't even tell that any of them are being set up for matches in the Death Before Dishonor show on 7/28, which seems like a waste. But all of them are still working regularly, even if you haven't seen them around lately.

No televised AEW or ROH matches in over 30 days: Abadon, Athena (ROH women's world champion), Billy Gunn, Britt Baker, Bryan Keith, Cash Wheeler, Colt Cabana, Danhausen, Darby Allin, Dax Harwood, Dustin Rhodes, Emi Sakura, Jay Lethal, Johnny TV, Kiera Hogan, Kip Sabian, Leila Grey, Madison Rayne, Mercedes Martinez, Nick Comoroto, Peter Avalon, Preston Vance, Red Velvet, Ricky Starks, Sammy Guevara, Satnam Singh, Scorpio Sky, Wardlow

Baker, Harwood, Wheeler, and Allin all just came back to TV. Lethal and Singh have been on-screen supporting Jeff Jarrett, but that's about it. (Singh was recently moved out of the official roster's wrestlers' section to the broadcasters' section, for whatever that's worth.) Athena is doing an angle on ROH where she says she can't wrestle but she has a title match scheduled. Velvet is also booked for the ROH PPV. The Patriarchy clobbered Sabian on TV the other day, but I'm not sure whether that means he'll be doing anything in the near future.

The last I heard about Guevara is that his suspension was lifted some time ago, so I can only assume they haven't come up with a story to bring him back, or they're holding off so he can return alongside Tay Melo. Scorpio has been doing some weird vignettes to set up his return, although I can't remember seeing one in a while. I'm starting to wonder what's up with Wardlow, Starks, and Vance, and at this point I've given up hope Danhausen will ever be back.

No televised AEW or ROH matches in 2024: Dralistico, Luther, Mark Sterling, Michael Nakazawa, Mother Wayne, Paul Wight, Penelope Ford, Prince Nana, Rebel, Sonjay Dutt, Stokely Hathaway

Dralistico and Ford are the only ones on this list that I would expect to see wrestling regularly. Wight is clearly semi-retired, if not retired altogether. Luther, Sterling, Nana, Dutt, and Stokely could wrestle, but they're firmly established as seconds. I can't even remember the last time I saw Nakazawa or Rebel. Shayna Wayne, to my knowledge, has never been a pro wrestler, but I suppose sooner or later the Patriarchy will do a comedy mixed tag match.

Inactive

Adam Cole (left leg - ankle fracture)

Adam Copeland (left leg - tibia fracture)

Angel Ortiz (right shoulder - pectoralis tear)

Bandido (left arm - wrist fracture)

Chuck Taylor (left ankle - necrosis)

Daniel Garcia (storyline - "cervical injuries")

Eddie Kingston (right leg - tibia fracture, ACL/meniscus tear)

HOOK (storyline - fireball to the face)

Jamie Hayter (right shoulder - unspecified injury)

Jay White (storyline - unspecified injury)

Julia Hart (unspecified injury)

Keith Lee (unspecified injury)

Kenny Omega (diverticulitis)

Kota Ibushi (right ankle - multiple ligament tears)

Mark Davis (left arm - wrist fracture)

Matt Sydal (right foot - reconstructive surgery)

Miro (unspecified injury)

Powerhouse Hobbs (right knee - unspecified injury)

Riho (right arm - unspecified fracture)

Ruby Soho (pregnancy)

Samoa Joe (on leave - filming Twisted Metal TV show)

Tay Melo (maternity leave)

Trent Beretta (unspecified injury)

The Blade (lower back - unspecified injury)

Yuka Sakazaki (left leg - unspecified injury)

I don't expect Hook, Jay White, or Garcia to be gone for very long--ideally all three should return to set up grudge matches at Wembley Stadium. I'd say the same for Joe, except I don't know how long it will take to wrap up his filming schedule.

I don't know when Adam Cole will be back, but the fact he took a brainbuster from MJF in May suggests he's coming along pretty well. The big question is what there is for him to return to, now that the guy he turned heel on has also turned heel, and has moved on to new business. So there may be no rush to get him back on-screen, unless they have a story in mind.

Ortiz expects to be back around August. Melo is training for her in-ring return, but I wouldn't know how long that will take. I heard recently that Bandido is getting his wrist re-evaluated, but it's been a tough recovery so I won't be surprised if he's not back soon. I never heard of Copeland tearing any ligaments, so if he just had a broken bone that may not take much longer to recover from, although at his age I think he should take his time.

Everybody else on this list is a total question mark as far as I know. And I think it's worth remembering what Britt Baker recently said about suffering a mini-stroke during her time away. There are a lot of injury reports floating around online, but we never really know everything the wrestlers are going through when they're not on-screen.

[monterplant]

Street King: A savage Suzuki GSX-R1100 from France

Few motorcycles can boast the cult following that the Suzuki GSX-R has. The mighty Gixxer in all of its forms has amassed legions of fans over the years. And each of those fans will tell you, with unbridled zeal, why their favorite GSX-R model rules the roost. There’s a strong case to be made for the 1992 Suzuki GSX-R1100. Officially designated the GSX-R1100N, it was noticeable for being the last…

[parkerbombshell]

Rules Free Radio Feb 20

Tuesdays 2pm - 5pm  EST Rules Free Radio With Steve  Caplan bombshellradio.com On this week's Rules Free Radio with Steve Caplan, we’ll hear several new and recent releases in Rock, Jazz, and singer-songwriters. We’ll hear The Woods, remastered music by The Replacements, The American Analog Set, and Nirvana. New music by Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, The Umbrellas, Goat Girl, former Doors guitarist Robby Krieger & The Soul Savages, Ducks, Ltd., Butcher Brown, Vera Sola, Madi Diaz, Helado Negro, Itasca and a few more. In the second hour we’ll do an album spotlight on the new one by Jazz Funk multi-instrumentalist DJ Harrison, and we’ll hear a few remembering the late Damo Suzuki, who is best known as the vocalist from the Kraut Rock band Can. Classics and others by Flamin’ Groovies, Chime School, R.E.M., Simon & Garfunkel, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa, Dead Can Dance, Joni Mitchell, and more. Ducks, Ltd. - The Main Thing Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Falling Thunder Flamin' Groovies - Please Please girl The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness - Old Pictures of Ourselves Chime School - Taking Time to Tell You The Umbrellas - When You Find Out The Woods - Miracles Tonight The Laughing Chimes - Ice Cream Skies The Replacements - Left of the Dial Nirvana - Come As You Are The American Analog Set - The Only Living Boy Around R.E.M. - Man on the Moon The Chocolate Watch Band - I'm Not Like Everybody Else Kim Gordon - I'm A Man Goat Girl - Ride Around Margaret Glaspy - Act Natural DJ Harrison - Contusion Jeff Beck - Scatterbrain Frank Zappa - Peaches En Regalia DJ Harrison - Galaxy Can - Bring Me Coffee or Tea Dead Can Dance - Desert Song DJ Harrison - Tomorrow Never Knows Can - Spoon Damo Suzuki Band - Ballad of Diver Butcher Brown - Espionage Robby Krieger & The Soul Savages - Never Say Never Quincy Jones - Body Heat Joel Ross - Chant Vera Sola - Is That You Jennifer Warnes - Famous Blue Raincoat Madi Diaz - For Months Now Cinder Well - Crow Joni Mitchell - Marcie Father John Misty - Real Love Baby Itasca - Under Gates of Cobalt Blue Simon & Garfunkel - Homeward Bound Vashti Bunyan & Gareth Dickson - Thoughts Of Mary Jane Helado Negro - Flores Terry Callier - What Color Is Love Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, Tyshawn Sorey - Panegyric Read the full article

[basedkikuenjoyer]

And now, our finale. Part 8, Execution of Duty. We've watched Oryu the Red Peony grow through her initial trilogy as the film series grew into a defined, wicked cool tone. Parts 4 & 5 expanded the idea of what her story could be as an actual Yakuza leader. 6 & 7 meandered about taking more inspiration from the always present theme of industrialization, feeling more like an American Western. For Part 8, we're at the end. New writer, new director though the series has had a few of those. The consistent creator was the writer & director for #2 Norifumi Suzuki. All but this one...you know how that goes.

Yeah...Execution of Duty is easily my favorite. Best one by a mile. The story, centered around the succession of an old female family head Oryu admires, allows Junko Fuji to show a much softer side of the character for the early movie. It being one of her best performances in the role helps. Which makes it all the more awesome when the fight lets her be so much more savage than the rest. This time the hair stick dart goes in a dude's eye! Be warned, this one is more violent than the others but no SA really. No one's threatened with being sold to a brothel. Some primo shot choices too, love this little one in the battle where they just focus on Oryu's graceful footwork as she offs a bunch of mooks. There's also a great one for the lil traitor that goes out with a redemption. He gets the jump on Oryu, she spins and stabs him...then sees he was using the back of the blade. Beauty.

What a friggin swan song. I wanna talk about this concept more tomorrow, because it comes up somewhere else, but for an ending...I love it. We could have had a 9th part from here, after the first ones they're pretty episodic. Oryu's fine, no one died except the potential husbando but he always does. What I love though is we get this classic "walk into the sunset" moment. The local big boss has his men flank the streets so she can leave town peacefully. Big shot of how Oryu's commanding respect as her leitmotif plays...then the bloodied Oryu stumbles and falls for a moment. Having to protect her pride, get up and still walk onward. Such good stuff. What a ride.