00:00And once again, we have a counter-programmed weekend in pro wrestling because we get to deal
00:08with a counter-program at WWE with a show that's a little lame against AEW with a concept that
00:17feels like it's kind of dying. So let's talk about a bit of an underwhelming weekend, but still
00:23a head-to-head battle nonetheless. We will start with the AEW side as they go through the forbidden
00:28door once again this weekend.
00:41So we have another fun-filled weekend in professional wrestling as NXT, the mid card, goes up against
00:50AEW with a concept that when it started was groundbreaking and now just kind of feels like
00:55it's hit the ground. Let's take a look at AEW's forbidden door. When you look at it, this card
01:02is cool. Like this is a good card, right? Like you have Hangman against MJF, Blood Feud for the title
01:10at the top, love that. Zack Sabre Jr. against Nigel McGuinness, dream match, love it. But you go on
01:18through, the build for this has felt like just an AEW show, right? Like the timing of it is weird
01:27because it's coming off of the G1. So just by definition, all of the big guys in New Japan
01:34have just wrapped up the most rigorous part of their schedule with the G1 tournament. And now a
01:41week later, we're going to be going to a pay-per-view. So you're not like, A, you can't even do the taped
01:46whatever and have whoever saying, all right, I'm coming for you, whatever. Because you don't want
01:52to give away anything that's happening in the G1. And so if Wrestler X is all of a sudden challenging
01:58for this thing, then maybe that gives away a position or two. And they're focusing right now,
02:02focusing all their attention onto the G1 and trying to mix and match that incredibly difficult math
02:08piece together. So the timing of it is very weird. And you are also doing it at a time where New
02:14Japan's popularity is about as low as it's been in a really long time. And I know that there are some
02:20very hardened New Japan supporters out there. And again, the message of this show has always been
02:26support what you like. And I love staying up at two in the morning watching Japanese wrestling.
02:32There are a lot of talented performers on those shows that I like, but creatively,
02:36it's not an awesome spot right now. There isn't a whole lot of buzz going on at this particular
02:41time. So like, it's just, it has, it's weird timing. And then to Conrad's point, the other
02:46aspect of it, one of the reasons New Japan is in a bit of a load right now is because AEW keeps taking
02:51all the guys. Like at first, this was a really interesting concept because what was it? It was
02:57Okada coming to the States. It was Will Ospreay getting on television in North America for a
03:04pay-per-view cycle. It was those guys getting these opportunities. Now, Okada's on TV calling
03:10someone a bitch every week. Will Ospreay is here every week doing his thing until he's hurt and
03:18then not. But you know what I mean? Like he, these are regular contributors now. So there isn't that
03:23like, oh my gosh, sort of a thing at the top of the, the card right now. And like G1, the winners
03:31from AEW. So there isn't that like a New Japan guy that's like, okay, he, here, here we go. You got
03:38this one. I do like that. They've got creative with it a little bit with a couple of dream matches,
03:44not necessarily of the like, oh my gosh, this is, we're getting Okada Omega because these two
03:50companies can now put the matches together. It's Zack Sabre Jr. against Nigel McGinnis,
03:55just a combination you never thought you'd get for the IWGP world title. I love the utilization of
04:00Hiromu here against Kyle Fletcher for the TNT championship. I think that's a lot of fun. And I
04:07think Hiromu is criminally underutilized right now. I, for the life of me, don't understand how Hiromu
04:14and El Desperado are not just in the heavyweight division now and letting younger stars, um, get
04:20their thing going in the junior heavyweight ranks and breathe some desperately needed life into the
04:28heavyweight division right now in New Japan. So you have that. Um, and then like, honestly,
04:34coming off of the show in Mexico city, I think of the forbidden doors that you can cross into
04:42the CMLL one is the more interesting one right now. Um, you have MJF going over there. He took
04:48Mystico's mask again, um, and just put the American flag over top of him. You have a lot of intriguing
04:54luchadors who were involved in that show grand slam in Mexico city. That's, that's the dream match
05:01thing that I'm more interested in. And the story is being built that I'm more interested in than this
05:06that is happening where Tanahashi is coming over to be in a tag team match. Like that, it's just,
05:13I, I feel like it was awesome at first. It was an awesome concept at first. And as we have gone on,
05:20like this, sorry, uh, someone at New Japan trying to cut me off. Um, this feels just like a, an AEW show
05:30featuring a couple cameos from New Japan people, right? So like, I just, I don't,
05:37the, the concept doesn't do anything for me at this point. And I think if AEW is committed to this,
05:42we've talked about it before. There's a way to do this. There is a way to have, um,
05:48CMLL and New Japan all come together in this whole thing and have this actually feel special,
05:56but it kind of involves AEW being a better teammate than they've been, quite frankly,
06:01instead of just, okay, and we will take you and we will take you and we will take you. And by the
06:05way, our guy's going to go over there and win the G1. Um, I love that he got the opportunity to go over
06:09there and do that. And I love that he is doing it. I want them to feature it heavily on AEW
06:14television now and have him be like this guy who almost like an NWO thing where he is going to come
06:21in and try to just kill New Japan and all of this, although they already have a, you know,
06:25house of torture and all those things, but like to turn this into an actual thing and try to elevate
06:29anyone on the, the New Japan side to any kind of a main event status. And I think if you were to do
06:37that and have had Takeshita just be this monster, like Conrad is saying, and be this dominant
06:42character, have Yodosuji, who I understand got hurt. Um, Shota Umino, uh, maybe not the time right
06:49now, but still like have one of those young guys be, you know what? I'm standing up for the heart and
06:54soul of New Japan. And I'm going to be the one to take that from you. I get you're the,
06:58the, the G1, uh, winner, but you are not taking the IWGP world heavyweight championship with you.
07:03You just, we are keeping that here. That is ours. The days of you AEW stealing from us are over. Um,
07:10I think there's a way to do that still and have it be very effective, but like there are so many
07:15talents in AEW that are underutilized right now. I would love for a couple of them to go to,
07:20uh, to, to New Japan for a cycle, a couple go to CMLL for a cycle, a couple CMLL come here. Like
07:26you just, you can bounce around and keep everything fresh, but right now it is very AEW heavy and it
07:33doesn't bet like it, it kind of benefits AEW because having, um, Takeshita win is kind of neat, but
07:39then you do, you, you still do things like this and it's not like, this is an AEW pay-per-view and
07:46it's cool that Zack Sabre Jr. against Nigel McGinnis is happening. I, I, I have zero doubts
07:52of how that match is going to go. Same thing with Kyle Fletcher against, um, Hiromu. I don't,
07:57I don't think that they built up Kyle Fletcher and had him stab a screwdriver through the leg of
08:03Dustin Rhodes to have him lose to Hiromu in England. So I, I just, the concept to me, I think has kind of
08:10run its course a little bit, unless you are going to do it dramatically differently going
08:16forward. Uh, Conrad in the chat, is ELP on the card? He is not, uh, to the best of my knowledge
08:20right now, um, El Phantasmo not featured on the card. This is what we have so far according to
08:24Wikipedia. Uh, Golden Lovers, Darby Allen, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Will Ospreay against Claudio Mox and
08:30Gabe Kidd of the Deathriders and, uh, the Young Bucks. You have the Hurt Syndicate against the
08:35Eliminator Tournament winners. Um, Okada against Swerve for the frustratingly named Unified title.
08:43Um, you have Toni Storm against Athena for the Women's World Championship. Mercedes Monet against
08:48Alex Windsor against, uh, Persephone from CMLL and against a stardom rep to be determined, I suppose,
08:55um, for the TNT Championship. Cope and Cage against Kip Sabian and Nick Wayne in just a tag match.
09:01And then, the aforementioned, Kyle Fletcher against Hiromu Takahashi for the AEW TNT Championship.
09:07Um, Zack Sabre Jr. against Nigel McGinnis for the IWGP World Heavyweight title. And Hangman Adam
09:11Page against MJF for the AEW World Championship. So, we'll talk about this one throughout the week.
09:18Match-wise, like, this is gonna be great, still. Right? Like, this is gonna be a good card. And,
09:22honestly, like, I feel bad shitting on it, because it's just, it's, again, a guy who talks about WWE
09:26also shitting on AEW. Um, but, it's been a pretty well-built card. It's just the concept that I think
09:35has kind of frustrated me, uh, a little bit now, going forward. But we're gonna have a lot more
09:39Forbidden Door coverage throughout the week here on Couch Potato Diary, and on, uh, it's come up a
09:45couple of times, uh, Living Room Lariat, the new wrestling podcast from Couch Potato Diary. If you come
09:50here just for the wrestling, um, that is where all the wrestling content lives. It's still pieced in
09:56on Couch Potato Diary, of course, but if you don't want to sit through the football and the UFC and all
10:01that other stuff, and you just want the wrestling, Living Room Lariat is where it is at. Uh, again,
10:06you can subscribe to this one on Spotify, as well as on Apple Podcasts. Um, not only is there the stuff
10:13from Couch Potato just over there, uh, there's also gonna be original stuff that doesn't make it onto
10:17the flagship podcast, uh, that we will still do here on the live streams. So, uh, check that out
10:22over, uh, wherever you get your podcasts.
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