Hello, world. I’m MacDara Conroy, and this is my blog.


Tag: wrestling

Still catching up on the wrestling from last weekend. Right now it’s the #JJSB8 Cluster and Veda Scott clearly had a long day at the commentary desk; she sounds like Kathleen Turner #aside

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It’s WrestleMania fringe festival time! This evening I’m watching last night’s STARDOM show; tomorrow it’ll be Supercard of Honor and Joey Janela’s Spring Break #aside

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Yeah, of course Slim J or Anthony Henry or Stu Grayson aren’t going to sell tickets like you know who. But they’re solid, charismatic hands that a promotion needs for a healthy talent-development-focused midcard. Otherwise, in the long run you just get WWE lite #aside

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These AEW cuts are sad. It’s not that long ago there was some pride about that company being the place that honoured contracts for the full term, even if the talent weren’t used to their full potential. But now it’s pretty obvious heads are being cut to pay for certain other wrestlers’ contracts #aside

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Mystery Wrestling 7 was the best laugh I’ve had in ages. Do yourself a favour and throw Evil Uno a few bucks to watch the VOD when it’s posted tomorrow > patreon.com/mysterywrestling #aside

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Was tempted there for a moment to pay for AEW Plus to see the big debut on Dynamite tonight but then I remembered casting the live stream to the Xbox never works #aside

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Something I learned only recently is that Curt Hennig had a WWF run in 1983, more than five years before he became Mr Perfect #aside

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It’s taken me three nights but I’ve finally watched all of AEW Revolution and I’m happy to say it was a satisfying show, especially when I’ve been kind of down on wrestling this year #aside

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Finally got around to watching #ROH Final Battle and what a great show it was, capped by a fantastic main event. Is there anything to be said for Athena vs Billie Starkz in a cage match? #wrestling #aside

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Brian Zane’s thoughts on CM Punk’s stint in #AEW (and recent #WWE return) pretty much echo my own. Not only about the man himself, but everyone else involved in this sorry story in the bullshit business we call #wrestling > YouTube #aside

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Anyway, it’s #wrestling and I’m still not fully convinced the official statement from AEW isn’t part of some elaborate work, which in fairness would be very much in keeping with the ‘Bret in ’97’ thing #aside

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Heartbroken to learn Terry Funk is no longer with us. A genuine #wrestling legend, in many ways shockingly ahead of his time. The Grim Reaper is an egg-sucking dog! #aside

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Catching up on this week’s #AEW action. I was thinking the Yuengling Center looks like a great place for #wrestling, with the close tiered seating — and of course it has been for decades: it’s the Sun Dome under a new name #aside

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After all the recent self-indulgence on #AEW TV, it was refreshing to thoroughly enjoy last Friday’s #ROH #wrestling show; all the matches were good to great #aside

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So the first #AEWCollision was decent: Andrade/Murphy had a MOTY candidate; Kevin Kelly’s expectedly good on commentary; they’re building CM Punk to be a face in Chicago and a heel everywhere else, à la Bret in ’97, it seems? #aside

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Prompted by my shame in never having watched any AJPW, today I started with an engaging video essay series on classic King’s Road matches > YouTube #aside

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Jushin Thunder Liger and Ebessan action figures, boxed for display

Look what I just picked up from the post office @Liger_NJPW @kikutarosan > @MacDara #image

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Weaknotes for m/e 5 October 2019

So I let a month go by. That’s why I went with ‘weaknotes’, after all. Bullet points required here, I think — just the highlights, the most remarkable that I didn’t already tweet or blog. Here we go. More…

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A collage featuring WWE wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura

The ‘dream match’ between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania 34 turned out to be a bit less than what we were sold. But this gallery on WWE.com in the run-up to the event was a nice touch regardless. #image

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WWE Announcers Don’t Think Pro Wrestling Journalism Exists

Which is weird, as there’s an awful lot of good journalism being done about wrestling. Mind you, it’s not really being done by the likes of Dave Meltzer. There’s another question beyond this piece: about wrestling dirtsheets as a branch of entertainment journalism, not sports, and their closer relation to the kind of access and relationships between writers and PR in music and film. But I’d say the same about wrestling as I’d say about issues of potential compromise and conflict of interest in mainstream entertainment: ‘access journalism’ only gets you so far. Look how much it’s ruined political journalism in the US, after all. #link

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What Is WWE Doing In Saudi Arabia?

Here's a good breakdown of tomorrow’s Greatest Royal Rumble (a glorified house show, no matter what people will try to tell me) and what it means, politically speaking. It’s no apologia for ‘cultural differences’, as if that’s some organic social contract and oppression of women and minority groups isn’t a top-down strategy for control. #link

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Roman Reigns Wasn’t Built in a Day

I don’t agree with everything David Shoemaker says here about WrestleMania 34 last weekend (Ronda Rousey grumble mumble) but the central thesis is spot on, and it’s something I’ve felt for the longest time: WrestleMania 31 was the moment to make Reigns, even with such a disastrous set-up, then Vince panicked and broke him. He’s not beyond repair; Reigns more often than not really brings it in the big-match situation, and he’s compatible with more opponents than you might think. But his persona is non grata. Perhaps WWE should take inspiration from Reigns' former Shield teammate Seth Rollins as for what to do with him: redesign, rebuild, reclaim. #link

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Book review — Titan Shattered, by James Dixon

Despite my comments on this book’s predecessor, my distaste for this narrative (and its intermittent misogynist and homophobic sideswipes) grows with my conviction that all of us, the authors included, got worked. Big time. More…

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WWE profiles indie darling, wrestling mega-nerd and NXT returnee Kassius Ohno. Thinking of Ohno as a player-coach, as Johnny Gargano comments here, seems like a perfect fit as this stage of his career. #video

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The Heel Who Flexed: How Jinder Mahal got to the top of WWE

Ahead of tonight’s Backlash PPV, David Shoemaker over-analyses the Jinder Mahal ‘phenomenon’. But it’s strangely fitting, considering the ruckus his push has caused among wrestling Twitter, etc. My take? He’s boring, it won’t last, the end. And if I want to see a real heel in WWE, I need look no further than the conclusion to last night’s NXT TakeOver: a masterful presentation, not just by the wrestlers but the TV production side as well. #link

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