Hello, everyone. I'm Robbie Dorman, and this is A Serial Fanacist, the podcast where we talk about everything. Welcome. Today I'm joined by Eric Zeke Knight to talk about Dominion, the most recent New Japan pro wrestling event.
We run down all the matches, detail our thoughts on the wins, losses, and surprises, and make our predictions for the upcoming G1. We also touch on the future of New Japan and the chances of a partnership with AEW in the future. It's always good talking about some wrestling with Eric. This is no exception.
On to the discussion. Hello, everyone. I'm here with Eric Zeke Knight. We're gonna talk about wrestling.
We never do this. Never. I mean, we generally mostly talk about it on our comic book contest, as is, yeah, just to be inappropriate. Hey, we can talk about whatever we want on our comic book contest.
Sometimes we don't talk about comic books. I was gonna say, generally, it should be centered around the subject matter at hand. Yeah, probably. But we're gonna talk about Dominion.
It was last night or this morning. This morning. It was this morning. I mean, it started at 3 a.m.
Eastern, so that's still nighttime to me. I mean, it's really, it's bridging the gap. It's from, it crossed over, but Dominion 2019 was last night. This plus this morning.
We're gonna talk about that. We're gonna talk about G1 things that news broke in the event. We're gonna talk about probably AEW as well because we were both at Double or Nothing. And of course, Moxley and Jericho are both competing.
So we're gonna talk about wrestling. Wrestling. Dominion was good. I think I was really, like, you know, all the stuff we talked about with them teasing Takahashi coming back and that was a big letdown for me.
I think, like, I often look back at pay-per-views like this and like, yeah, it's really good. But kind of in the moment, I'm so let down by what doesn't happen. I often feel bummed about it. Like, I really wanted, I really wanted to see Jericho win the title.
I thought that'd be a very interesting storyline. But kind of, I'm not, I am not surprised. It just wasn't in the cards. No, I mean, I think if there was ever a chance of that happening, I don't see them, especially now knowing that he is one of the headliners of AEW.
I don't expect them to give. I wouldn't expect them to give him the title. If they gave him the title, that's, like, direct confirmation that them and AEW have some sort of handshake agreement. Yes.
That is, it was a fantasy that they would tip their hat to that. I mean, particularly after Moxley stripped Juice of that belt. But now it seems pretty clear that, you know, before the TV deal goes through, Moxley is gonna lose that title and go back to the United States. I assume that he will be at the G1 finals.
I assume he will be losing the belts back to Juice. I assume Juice and him will be in the same block for the G1, and I assume that they will have one more match in the middle, the G1 match. And then I assume that Moxley will lose the title to Juice at the finals. I hope Juice bites Moxley.
It'll be great. They need a safe word, I think. I assume they have one. But, no, I was, after him who didn't come back at the Best of Super Juniors final, I assumed he would not be coming back here.
Yeah, it really annoyed me when plenty of blogs and stuff picked up that tweet with the date on it. And it was him teasing merch, and I was so pissed when I realized that's what it was. Like, stop playing with my heart, Hiromu. I mean, that's the wrestling.
They gotta sell you garbage. Let me buy a KitKat about it. Yes, no. Would you like a KitKat?
I'll buy you a KitKat. I mean, no, don't buy it. Don't do that. Don't spend $30 and then another $50 to get it to here.
Oh, God, is that really $30? I have no idea. I assumed it was $30. That's the price it would be.
I'm not surprised. I mean, t-shirts cost about $3 to $4 of parts and labor. They pay $30, $40 for them. Darryl's cheaper because you can get rip-offs of him.
He's still expensive, but I guess that's through Amazon, so you don't have to worry about shipping from Japan. So it's only $50. Darryl's $50 on Amazon. That's a lot for Cartoon Cat.
Oh, wait, $41.99. Never mind. That's the best price is $42 with Prime. So, Darryl.
I know you want Darryl. I'll save a Darryl and hold it reserved, and when Hiromu comes back, then I'll give it to you. You should not do that. That's not necessary.
I don't know if we need to go match by match, but I might as well start. Tell me your highlights. Every single match was good to varying degrees. Some were great.
I liked all of them. I think the tag matches were fine. You know, it's... I don't ever need to see Yoshihashi on my screen.
No, Yoshihashi is the worst. Everybody hates Yoshihashi. I mean, he's there. They put him in a match with Liger, and that's the further of the Liger and Suzuki kind of mini-feud that's going on.
The simmering feud that might lead to Wrestle Kingdom match, the last match of Liger's career, I assume. But it was fine. The Taguchi programer match, six-man attacking match was really there just to get these guys, get Hanatashi and Jay White on the card, really. Yeah.
It's fine. The tag team championship match, it was good, but I've seen these guys wrestle so many times at this point, and I really wish that Evil and Sonata, like, I love Evil and I love Sonata, the tag team division in New Japan is, what, nothing? There isn't one. There's, you know, it's not that this match...
I don't care. It's fine. The singles matches were the main event. You know, they were the things I...
I watched all the... You know, the six-man tag, I was just, like, kind of like half-watching. I'm like, okay, right. Moxley beat Shota in a short match, basically a squash match.
But Shota got to do his, you know, his babyface lion-fired up stuff for briefly before Moxley destroyed him. But Shota's a future star, I think. I think most people agree. He's the highlight of the current batch of young lions.
Shota is Red Shoe's son, right? Correct. That is what I thought. And people are already, like...
People are already fantasy booking his father raising his hand when he wins his first championship. That's precious. These people are writing New Japan fan fiction. Absolutely.
But, I mean, the match was fine, but it was short. It's mostly for Moxley to have a match on the card and for him to announce that he was in the G1, which I assume he will be. Oh, yeah. It is interesting that something worthwhile and interesting happened in, you know, basically the first five minutes of the pay-per-view.
Mm-hmm. It was really well-paced. I think the entire show. And it had surprises throughout the show.
First one is, hey, Moxley's in the G1, so both Eric and I will be going to the G1 opener in Dallas, and we'll get to see all... Most of these guys wrestle, which is very exciting. And know we'll get to see Moxley wrestle in the G1 is really cool. Not just him, but he is the first of a multiple G1 teasers, basically.
But Moxley also carried Shota to the back, which I thought was amazing. The crowd loved it. The crowd loved it. I thought it was questionable.
They needed to have him be a little babyface after he... That's what it is. He bit a piece of juice off, and it turned him a little bit good. That's the power of juice's juice.
It's true. And it poisoned juice, and now he's a little bit bad. Oh, no. This is the story that they're gonna tell, that it's like vampirism and reverse vampirism.
Right. But Death Rider. Death Rider. Death Rider.
I like Death Rider. So that is the most Japanese thing they could have fucking named him. And yet, are you ready for your G1 Climax shirt? Oh, God.
That's so bad that I actually love it. I will buy it if they do it. Yeah, I know. Somebody needs to...
I mean, maybe I'll make it for you. I don't know. If someone doesn't do it. Do you want 29 Climax?
Climax. You gotta do it now before it starts. You gotta get those shirts out. Before somebody else does it before we publish this and tweet it at Moxley.
Right. So he doesn't answer. I mean, he tweets. He's tweeting, like, not a lot, but something.
He's, like, actually, like, maybe it's just some, like, intern at some social media company that is randomly tweeting, like, GIFs of wrestling stuff, and, you know, basically any interview that he's done, he has been tweeting links to that stuff. So it's more than he used That's the press release. I like Zack Sabre Jr., and I like Minoru Suzuki. They're both great.
Yoshi-Hashi needs to go fucking heal. Good God. He needs to do something that is not—I did never—he's never retooled his gimmick, except I think he started bringing out the stupid staff like that changes anything. His entrance music is—okay, let's just hate on Yoshi-Hashi for like five minutes, apparently.
His entrance music is too long for him. He doesn't deserve that long of an entrance. He's worse than Ishii. He's worse than Ishii, like, who also takes an eternity to get out into the—out from behind into the make his entrance.
Come on! You gotta wait for the music to go out for three minutes before you actually—he's not—he's a fine wrestler. Like, mechanically, he's fine. He's not bad.
He's—I mean, last year in the G1, he did fine. He lost most of his matches, which is what I should—that I agree should happen. But he's nothing. He looks afraid.
Every time he comes out, he looks—he's supposed to be a babyface. He's supposed to be chaos, you know, buoyant, kind of generic babyface. And he looks afraid. Every time he comes out, he looks like he is worried that there's someone, like, in the stands with a rifle that is trying to shoot him.
He's, like, worried—like, he looks like he has a look of—he looks like a look of existential dread on his face every time he comes out from behind to do his entrance from behind the backstage area. He looks like he's worried for his life, for the Earth, and they just—Yoshi-Hashi. No thank you. I'm sorry, Liger, that you had to share space with Yoshi-Hashi.
You deserve better. I mean, I would have taken anybody. Give him—give Liger—why is Liger with a juicer or Taguchi or something? Why was— Because they were both with Tanahashi.
I know, but give—give Yoshi—let Yoshi-Hashi be the third guy in the six-man. You know, what it was is Tana. Tana, they did janken-pom for, uh, who was going to get Yoshi-Hashi, and, you know, Liger lost. That's rock, paper, scissors.
I figured it out, I think. Uh, six-man tag, I have nothing to say. I like— I like most of the people. I like the people in this match.
Mm-hmm. It was a match. Except Chase Owens, who's a filthy jobber. I like Chase Owens.
Why? I don't hate him. I don't hate him like I hate Yoshi-Hashi. I mean, that's what I mean.
I like him, like— But, like, why? He's—what—what—what's— What's— I don't know. I don't get him, dude. He's just a dude.
He's fine. He's like— No, exactly. He's like Finlay. He's like, who?
Finlay. Okay. He's nothing. He's fine.
Yeah, exactly. So I like him. So is Yoshi-Hashi. No, Yoshi-Hashi is not fine.
No, no, no, no, no. Yoshi-Hashi is not fine. Chase Owens, fine. Finlay, fine.
And by fine, I mean I like them. Meaning, they're good. They're decent wrestlers. They fulfill a need.
I understand it. That doesn't mean I'm their biggest fan or anything, but I like them in a very bland— like, I like them like I like vanilla ice cream. I would never eat it alone at the—I would never get it at the ice cream store. I'm never going to buy a pint of just vanilla, but I like it.
That's the only ice cream I buy, bud. What? Yeah, I love vanilla ice cream. You're a weirdo.
I don't know what's— Vanilla is great. Why? It tastes perfectly fine, and putting other shit in it does not make it better. I don't—I mean, I don't— It's not like I get vanilla.
I mean, I get—sometimes I get vanilla with other stuff in it. Usually, uh, for chocolate or some variety of chocolate. I want chocolate with brownies. That's shitty vanilla.
That's not fair. Chase Owens. The match is fine. I just am not a fan.
I really don't hate him that much. He's not Yoshi-Hashi. He's a decent wrestler. He fulfills—he's a body.
He fills the Bullet Club-got-out. Even though the Bullet Club is getting very bloated again with all the other guys coming in. They recruited a shitload of B-players. It's nice.
Yeah. I mean, it's mostly juniors at this point. It's, you know, it's the Robbie Eagles and the ELP and the Ishimori, the Bone Soldiers. I do like—Well, I love Taiji Ishimori.
He's fantastic. I like—I liked the ELPS. He was really fun in Super Juniors. Do not care for Mr.
Eagles. Really? You don't like Robbie Eagles? I mean, I have to like him.
He has my name, but— You don't. Yeah. There's only— That man stole your name. You need to… He's not good.
I think I would lose that Highlander. He's much more athletic than I am. With a guy that wears two bandanas. Do you think that guy's going to beat you?
I don't think so. He's a sniper in disguise, sir. That is a—like, just add—add of disguise to anything if you jump off of stuff. You know, they're gonna call—They're gonna—Sonata's gonna become Cult Skull.
Of the sky. Captain of the skies. I mean, I—I figured it out. I think.
Uh, six-man tag, I have nothing to say. I like— I like most of the people. I like the people in this match. Mm-hmm.
It was a match. Except Chase Owens, who's a filthy jobber. I like Chase Owens. Why?
I don't hate him. I don't hate him like I hate Yoshi-Hashi. I mean, that's what I mean. I like him.
Like, but, like, why? He's—what—what—what's— He's— I don't know. I don't get him, dude. He's just a dude.
He's fine. He's— No, exactly. He's like Finlay. He's like, who?
Finlay. Okay. He's nothing. He's fine.
Yeah, exactly. So I like him. So is Yoshi-Hashi. No, Yoshi-Hashi is not fine.
No, no, no, no, no. Yoshi-Hashi is not fine. Chase Owens, fine. Finlay, fine.
And by fine, I mean, I like them. Meaning, they're good. They're decent wrestlers. They fulfill a need.
I understand it. And it doesn't mean I'm their biggest fan or anything, but I like them in a very bland— I like them like I like vanilla ice cream. I would never eat it alone at the—I would never get it at the ice cream store. I'm never gonna buy a pint of just vanilla.
But I like it. That's the only ice cream I buy, bud. What? Yeah, I love vanilla ice cream.
You're a weirdo. I don't know what's— Vanilla is great. Why? It tastes perfectly fine, and putting other shit in it does not make it better.
I don't—I mean, I don't— It's not like I get vanilla. I mean, I get—Sometimes I get vanilla with other stuff in it, usually after chocolate or some variety of chocolate. I want chocolate with brownies. That's shitty vanilla.
That's not fair. Chase Owens. The match is fine. I just am not a fan.
I really don't hate him that much. He's not Yoshi-Hashi. He's a decent wrestler. He fills—he's a body.
He fills the Bullet Club roster out, even though Bullet Club is getting very bloated again with all the other—the guys coming in. They recruited a shitload of B-players. It's nice. Yeah.
I mean, it's mostly juniors at this point. It's, you know, it's the Robbie Eagles and the—and the ELP and the Ishimori, the Bone Soldiers. I do like—Well, I mean, I love—Taiji Ishimori's fantastic. I like—I liked the ELPS.
He was really fun in Super Juniors. Do not care for Mr. Eagles. Really?
You don't like Robbie Eagles? I mean, I have to like him. He has my name, but— You don't. Yeah.
There's only— That man stole your name. You need to Highlander his ass. I think I would lose that Highlander. He's much more athletic than I am.
With a guy that wears two bandanas, you think that guy's gonna beat you? I don't think so. He's the—he's a sniper in disguise, sir. That is a—like, just add—add of disguise to anything if you jump off of stuff.
You know, they're gonna call—they're gonna—Sonata's gonna become, uh, Cold Skull of the Skies. Captain of the Skies. I mean, I— That was his captain. I would totally believe that's what they did.
Yeah. It just feels like Robbie Eagles did just actually, like, totally seal. Um, he's basically like, like, Australian Will Ospreay. Yeah, it doesn't feel very— but I mean, that's—that's a good And not because he was an XC.
Not because he was an XC. They were in the next take. I'll take over. And it was also Shibata's finisher.
It was called Takeover. But that's exciting news. That's Mox, Shingo, and Kenta in G1, along with, presumably, you know, the normal Okada, Ibushi, Naito, Tanahashi, I assume, Sonata, Evil, Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., hopefully Ospreay. He didn't say anything about it, did he?
He didn't, but I would think probably Taichi, probably Ichi. That's an incredible lineup. That's an incredible, incredible lineup of wrestlers. And all of them saying you wrestle each other is insane to me.
Then we got the trio of the main events, I would call them, the championship matches. We have the junior title match with Ospreay versus Dragon Lee, which is, again, amazing. It was a fucking banger. These dudes, I don't, they were both trying to out-Ospreay each other.
Ridiculous things. It's just a, it's breakneck pace for 20 minutes. Just insane levels of acrobatics and athleticism. I'm surprised that Ospreay won, sort of, because I think they'd want Dragon Lee to have the championship belt when Hiromu comes back so that Hiromu could challenge him for the title, but Ospreay is definitely the junior ace at this point, at least until Hiromu comes back.
So I can't be too surprised that Ospreay beats Dragon Lee. Well, I don't know, we've not talked about it here, but you know how he talked about how he's moving to Japan and they're, you know, going out of their way to reward him, it seems like. You know, he's going out of his way to show loyalty. I will say that he needs to go back to whatever flea market he got that sword from and return it because he looks like a, dare I say, an edge lord.
Eric, will you, will you, you know, record a podcast about comic books? He studied the blade. It's true. He was, he studied the hidden blade.
Yeah, it's true. He studied flippy wrestling, is what he studied. I'm still, I, every time you use the hidden blade, I am terrified he's going to murder somebody. He is gonna scramble someone's brains.
Oh my God, speaking of brain scrambling, is Kota Ibushi fucking alive? He tweeted afterwards, so I assume he's okay. Did I make a lot of misspellings? No, I mean, it's Japanese, so I have no idea.
I saw a translation. How do you tweet with a speech impediment in Japanese? Yeah, Naito and Ibushi, I was a little upset at Naito for fucking, like, it looked like his goddamn head was going to come off the way he hit that apron. I was upset.
Those gentlemen, these two maniacs, are, neither of them value their own lives a lot. Yeah. They are, it's competitive neck dropping. That is what, that is what this match was.
I enjoyed it because they're both amazing. They're like, two of the best performers on earth. It's like, I don't know. They're as good as, like, fucking Kenny Omega.
Every time you get one of these guys in a match, it's incredible. And then they're facing each other. They have, you know, they're friends IRL. They like each other.
As you can witness if you go watch them riding a roller coaster together. So this is really breaking my immersion. But they are, neither of them like wrestling more than their own necks. So they are quite willing to just do just insane things to themselves.
And at a certain point, it gets kind of uncomfortable. It really did bother me so much. I don't like it. That was a great tweet that I saw during Dominion.
Was like, your first time seeing Kota Ibushi, you're like, oh my God, I have to watch all of this wonderful man's matches. And then every other match, you're just like, oh my God, I'm slowly watching this beautiful man kill himself. Fucking Kota. Yeah, the match was amazing, though.
I will say, I'm curious what it means giving Naito the belt. Because, you know, the theory is, you know, that I think people have been fancying looking ever since last WrestleKingdom is, you know, the next one will be Naito versus Okada again. Headlining. They're doing two nights in the Tokyo Dome.
That seems like an easy headliner for one of the nights, is Naito versus Okada. And will he still be intercontinental champion at WrestleKingdom? Probably not, but it feels like that this is interesting. I'm curious what this means for Kota as well, because does this mean Kota's gonna win the G1 and challenge for the championship at WrestleKingdom?
Did you see the video of, no, I'll just watch it again. Did you see the video of Kenny talking about not asking Kota to come to AEW and how emotionally he got? Yes, he cried. Yeah, I didn't, yes.
I don't know, the thing that I always, that I took away from it is him saying it's his time. And that's, I don't know, that's been the rumor. That at WrestleKingdom, it's the year of LIJ. And Kenny's like, it's Kota's time.
So who knows? I think that two people that could not have possibly earned it more. Yeah, it's, I, you know, it's like, I certainly have thoughts and feelings and fantasies about, this is who I want to wrestle for this story, and this is my, but New Japan is so good, and it's usually, and the guys and the wrestlers are so good. And I'm never really disappointed by what we actually get, generally.
Like, whoever Ibushi is wrestling at WrestleKingdom, whoever Naito is wrestling at WrestleKingdom, it's destined to be a fucking banger. Yeah, it won't matter. Like, I'll still be like, this is also good. You know, it's not what I expected, but it is also so great.
I definitely do want Naito to beat Okada for the belt at the heavyweight title at WrestleKingdom next year. But if it doesn't happen, I'm not gonna, you know, cry and go home. I think it's most, I'll still be happy. You know, I'm not, I don't know.
The main event, Okada, the Rainmaker, versus Jericho, the Painmaker. The Painmaker. He's very good with coming up with his stupid riffs on things. I mean, it's no Y2HJ.
It is no Y2HJ. What do you think about this match? I really like Okada matches. Okada is fabulous.
I don't know. Had a good time. I mean, I don't know. It's not, it was not, it was not the Jericho-Kenny.
I feel like I hadn't watched an Okada match in a minute, and I don't, I don't know. No complaints. It left me a little bit cold. I really wanted that story of Jericho winning that title.
I think I was too invested in that. I don't ever, at the point, I'm at the point where I'd never expect anyone to lose to Okada. I mean, for anyone to win, for anyone to beat Okada? Yeah, that's what I meant to say.
I don't ever expect anyone to beat Okada. When it happens, it is like a special unicorn that you cherish. Like last Dominion, where Kenny beats him. It's special because no one ever, ever beats Okada, and Okada's the best.
And I thought this match was good. I wouldn't call it great. Elmo. I think the ending was a little awkward.
It felt... I mean, I don't know. It felt like a political maneuvering, almost, that Jericho's on this hot streak. He beat Kenny Omega, and he can't just have Okada just outright beat him.
It makes him look weak. So it's just convoluted shit that, oh, tricky Okada. He rolls him up and counts him out. And then Jericho loses his shit and beats the crap out of him, and Tana has to save him.
Yeah, I don't mind that, really. It's not the idea of it. I mind the execution of it. I don't mind the flash pin.
I think flash pin makes perfect sense. I think, because Okada's, you used that same exact pin against Kenny in last year's Dominion match. It was the second fall. It was, he did a flash pin against Kenny, and it's the same one.
And I think so. Yeah, he's used it before. It makes perfect sense. It makes sense in that you can't always just have Okada do dropkick, tombstone, Rainmaker, three count.
Like, you can't have every match end like that, because then you get predictable and stale, and, you know, the match endings eventually, you're just like, okay, it's the same formula over and over and over again, so you have to break it up. It makes perfect sense. I think my problem was the flash pin wasn't flash pin enough. Like, I feel like it just, it felt too slow.
It felt a little bit, I don't, I don't feel like Chris, I don't, I think Jericho didn't sell it enough. I don't think, it kind of was like, I went at right after he got pinned, he was just kind of laying there for a bit, and then he started beating up Okada. I really wish he would have just, I wish there was a little bit more immediate surprise and a little bit more reaction from him It's still hard to say. I kind of hope it's not Tana again.
I don't know. I'm not Tana's not gonna win. Yeah. Tana's not gonna.
I think Tana's gonna struggle. Yeah. I think that's the story for Tana this year. Put over some guys.
Although he's been he's been he's moving. He's been moving a lot better. I think recently, it seems like a little more agile, more spry. I think he said that time off to heal actually helped him significantly.
He seems he seems faster, quicker. Looks good. Yeah, he does. Of course, he always looks good.
But I don't I don't think Tan is not going to be the magnet. No, he can't. I don't think Tana is going to win. I think it's I, I'm picking Naito.
I'm sticking with Naito. Well, I'm picking, I would say Naito and the... It seems weird that it wouldn't be Naito or Ibushi. I would say there is a distinct third possibility, Okada.
Okada wins as champion, picks his own opponent for Wrestle Kingdom and picks one of those two guys. Any one of those narratives would be very interesting. But I assume it's gonna be one of those three. Of course, that doesn't mean anything because Gato seems like sometimes delights in doing things that aren't, that make sense but aren't what you expected.
And that's, you know, that's why New Japan is so fun to follow, is because looking back, you go, oh, that makes sense. They laid that out. It worked really well and you don't, don't mind that it's not what you want. It's just, it's something you want, but it's not, that's not what you expect.
But I'm going to, I'm going to go with my heart and say Naito, even though my head says Ibushi, because I want Naito to win again. because I want Naito to beat Okada in the dome for his title, finally. I want it to happen. I don't expect it to happen because that seems foolish, whatever I predict, anything to happen.
I know I've literally never been right, so. I've occasionally been right. Very occasionally. I guess that's the, that's the, that's the gag.
You want to make it to where you don't quite guess it. Right. I'm super excited for the G1. You're going to be going to both Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen, right?
Both of those. Should be exciting. Awesome. Oh Lord.
Yeah. It's gonna be a lot. It's a lot of wrestling. Hey man, we chase what we chase.
I mean, the world's ending. We might as well see as much good wrestling as we can. I mean, it's true. Before it ends.
But you're gonna, you're gonna be at both Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen. And the G1 will be happening all that time. Moxley's gonna be tired. Well, he gets to wrestle now.
I guess that's true. He'll get his energy back, you know, it recovers your hit points when you, when you bite, when you eat people. You just take another chunk off the juice. Is that why he took Shota?
Yeah, he's just, he's just gonna. Shota is just thrall. He's just, you know, give me some of your youth. Yeah.
I'm an international purveyor of violence. The, uh, he did say that. It's just, I like the rhythm of it. Did you hear the crowd what he said from Cincinnati, Ohio, and they all went Ohio back.
What? He said he's, you know, from Cincinnati, Ohio. That's where he's from. But when he said Ohio, they didn't think of the state.
They thought. They made up the morning. Yes. And they all said Ohio back to him.
That's really cute. Bless you, Japanese people. Ohio. That's so precious.
No, I did not notice that. I didn't watch that match very closely because it was very early in the morning. I watched it when I woke up, so I was, I was more. Oh, I was, I was fully falling asleep during those first matches.
I was in and out. I had to, I had to rewatch the early ones, but they were very brief. I was editing a podcast while I watched. Cheers.
That is my way of life. Um, but I'm really excited for New Japan. I'm, we were talking about this in our, our, our text messaging is, is there an AEW and New Japan partnership in the future? And it's, I don't know if it's just because it seems the most obvious thing in the world that it should happen.
It feels like it will because it feels so obvious. But I'm not sure because New Japan. I don't know. Does it happen, Eric?
That is, that is a good question. And, you know, that's, that's what we texted about. It, it, it, it, it seems to make a lot of sense, at least from us from a plan perspective. It doesn't necessarily mean anything on the inside makes sense.
It doesn't mean that the personalities, the people that are going to be doing the business side of things that it's going to make sense. It doesn't mean that New Japan is not going to be anxious about a company like AEW. There's a lot of unknown things. And, you know, like I said in the text message, like, the whole thing could be a friggin work because it's fucking wrestling and lying to you is just part of the part of the deal.
So who, who, who knows? In, in my heart of hearts, yes, I would love it because there was, I, I feel like New Japan has lost some magic when the elite left. I thought that it was really something special and it's still amazing. But it's not quite as transcendent as it was.
And it would, I think it would be great. It'd be better than the sum of all its parts, you know, to bring all those things back together for AEW to be part of the, the face of New Japan for the Americas and vice versa. I mean, it's, it's simply a matter of like looking at what Ring of Honor gives them, which is less and less every day. Like they give them, Ring of Honor television as they, Sinclair, regardless of what their terrible politics, they aren't investing.
They don't, they don't care about making Ring of Honor look good or making it competitive. They just want it to fill airtime. So they don't upgrade any of how the television looks, how the production looks, and they certainly aren't going to give enough, big enough contracts to wrestlers to bring in Kenny Omega, to bring in a Moxley, a Chris Jericho. It's not happening.
And there are certainly talented wrestlers in Ring of Honor, but Ring of Honor champion is Matt Haven for God's sakes. Sounds about right. And you hear, you had the, their disastrous stuff that happened at Madison Square Garden where the, the first show, their sold out show in Madison Square Garden, WrestleMania weekend. And you get the terrible Enzo and casting that happened that they don't even tell the, you know, the New Japan guys about.
It just is there. You have the story that I don't know if you've heard about this for the past week or two, where there was some fan that was heckling people at a show and Bully took him backstage to talk to him, which I don't, I'm not going to say that the fan was probably, he was probably being an asshole, but you just have security. You don't, I said the same thing. It's so stupid.
Like if someone is being a big asshole, you don't have the talent lecture him. It doesn't matter who he is. If he, if it's unacceptable, that's what you have security for. It's really, I mean, he was heckling Bully's girlfriend, which is why I believe and Delirious' girlfriend, who is the head booker of Ring of Honor.
And apparently Bully is also sharing booking duties at this point. And they're both, their girlfriends are in a bad rip off of a TNA group from 10 years ago. That does not belong in Ring of Honor in any way, shape or form. And so they brought him back there and went, be a fan.
Don't yell at. And yet Bully, and it's from the worst source because Bully Ray has said probably the most offensive things that any wrestler has ever said recorded to fans. You watch his old ECW stuff. He would say the filthiest things to people just to get some heat.
And now, and now he's like, no, don't call her. I believe the, what people have said is that the fan called them team trans stamp and team, I don't know. They're, I mean, that's their gimmick. I don't know what they want.
It's not like he was, and they spit on him, which that is assault. That's not, that's not debatable. If you get spit on, that's assault. Um, regardless, it just makes them look embarrassing.
It's just embarrassing. Like this is a supposedly a professional company and this is what, this is what you have the head booker like bringing people to the back to give them a talking to. Like, what are you doing? You, this is like, this is like a, like a low-rate indie promotion does that kind of stupid stuff.
Mm-hmm. I definitely lost a lot of respect for Bully. Yeah. You can do better, New Japan.
You can, AEW one has a, well, have a television deal on TNT. Ring of Honor is not broadcast anywhere regularly. Trying to find them on television is impossible on a regular basis. Unless you want, or you can spend a billion dollars It didn't better than what I think about it now.
I think largely the ending deflated the overall feeling of the night a little bit, but it was action-packed, lots of really good matches. None of the matches were too long either. There were no stinkers and there were no matches that went on for 35 minutes or 45 minutes that didn't need the time. It felt like everything was pretty well-paced and it had a lot of really interesting surprises.
We got Moxley, we got Shingo, we got Kenta. That alone would be memorable. So I'm happy. I enjoyed my time with the show.
I'm excited for the G1. Always be excited for the G1. It's just, the only problem with G1 is just like, it's too much. Like I don't have to watch like five hours.
I mean, even if I just watched singles matches, that's still like multiple hours. Like it's like 10 hours, 10 hours a week of just, if you're just watching singles matches, that's not even the tag, which I assume I watched some of them. I don't know, but I'm excited. Naito, Eric, Naito, go Naito.
I mean, you don't have to try too hard to convince me of that. Most single monopolies. They help on. Anything else you want to add before we go?
My favorite part of the pay-per-view is this little tiny girl dressed like Evil. I didn't see that. Oh, it's the end. During when Milano and all them just jabber about whatever in the hell.
She's in the background and it's precious. That's not really my favorite part, but it's noteworthy. And her dad is wearing a paintmaker shirt. I feel like that is also notable.
That feels like a dad thing. Mm-hmm. Wrestling's good. Wrestling's good.
Eric, what are things people should check out? Where can they find you and your things online? Oh, word. You can see my portfolio by going to freewheelunlimited.com as well as all the other things I get up to at ericcgoodnight.com.
That includes my Instagram and my Twitter. I am known on both services as EasyGoodnight. Well, that'll do it for us. Tranquilo.
Tranquilo. Thanks again to Eric for joining me. You can find me on Twitter at RobbieDorman and my website is RobbieDorman.com. You'll find links to all my other podcasts there and a link to buy my debut hard novel, Conquest, available now.
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