#AND HE'S GOING TO NJPW I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DAY

[likesummerrainn]

In Ali We Trust

[captainshurley]

Baby I'm not alright, but I'm okay (Part 5)

Cash Wheeler x f reader

Previous chapter

A few months later.

The relationship between y/n and Daniel was slowly but surely improving. They texted often, and sometimes called each other. Wheeler often tell y/n some stories, talked about the city they were performing in that week, ask her how she was, how things were going at work, about the weather. They discussed literally everything in the world. Y/n was reluctant to talk about herself. Sensing this, Dan didn't pressurize the girl to get something personal out of her and turned the topic to his plans for the day.

Daniel and David were sitting in the locker room after a match at another Dynamite. They had been traveling around the states with AEW for a few weeks now, occasionally appearing on NJPW shows and shooting promos for various matches.

"Finally, almost a week home" sighed Harwood tiredly. "I've missed my girls. Finley called this morning asking when I was coming over."

"Yeah. A few days off. Paula didn't call me, of course, but I'm sure she missed me too" Daniel smiled a little sadly.

David finished tying the laces on his sneakers, walked over to his friend and patted Dan on the shoulder. "You know you're always welcome at my house and Finley is always happy to see you. I'm not sure about Maria, but Finley sure is."

Wheeler immediately caught David's playful tone and the sadness receded.

After a little thought, he picked up his phone, opened a chat with y/n and started typing.

"Hi, y/n. I'll be back in town tomorrow for a couple days. How about taking a walk?"

y/n was patrolling the city with her partner, discussing the Shotgun Rider band that was coming to town this weekend. As it turned out, they had both bought tickets to the concert.

"NO WAY! I'M A HUGE FAN OF THEM. I DIDN'T KNOW THAT YOU ARE TOO!" marveled Jonathan. "We should go there together. I'll pick you up. No refusal accepted."

y/n laughed and jokingly punched her partner in the shoulder.

"You leave me no choice!"

The girl wanted to say something else but was distracted by the notification of a new text message.

Jonathan noticed that y/n was distracted by the phone.

"Is your celebrity crush texting again? Calling for a date?"

"Stop it. He's not my celebrity crush at all. Just a friend of my best friend, I guess. Yes, we hang out, but it's nothing like that. Just a friendly stuff."

The girl quickly typed a reply and tucked her phone away in her pocket, getting back to work again.

"Yeah, right." Jonathan stated sarcastically and returned his attention back to the road.

Wheeler, having rested a bit after flying halfway across the country, packed up and arrived at y/n's house. Fixing his hair that was slightly disheveled in the wind, he pressed the doorbell.

After a minute, the girl opened the door.

"Oh, shit. I completely forgot we agreed to go out for a walk."

Daniel took a quick look at the girl. His gaze stopped on a t-shirt with a large logo of The Revival on it. He smiled, made a note in his head to be sure to remind y/n about it, and replied, "Don't worry, it's no big deal. Pack up, I'll wait."

The girl stepped aside, letting Dan inside.

"Come on in. I'll be quick."

Y/n ran upstairs and began to change out of her house clothes.

While the girl was getting ready, Wheeler made his way into the living room.

The atmosphere inside was warm. Very minimalistic, no frills. What surprised Daniel a little was the absence of any items that somehow characterized the host. Like pictures, a lipstick forgotten on the coffee table, a magazine, a book or something like that.

"Hey... I'm ready. We can go" said the girl after a few minutes, coming down already dressed in jeans, t-shirt and sneakers.

"Yeah, sure. You look pretty by the way." Wheeler gave the girl a hand, helping her over the last step on the stairs.

The girl's face flushed at the unexpected compliment. She smiled and mumbled a barely audible "thank you".

Y/n and Daniel were strolling through French Broad River Park.

"So, you are "The Revival" fan?” said Dan, recalling to the girl that he had seen her wearing merch.

"Well... I wouldn't call myself a fan. Maria, Finlay and I went to an NXT show once. Truth be told, I only ended up there because Maria called me out. But it wasn't bad. I could even tell that I liked it."

"Wait. You were at the show? I'm surprised we only recently met if you even came to the show."

Wheeler remembered Maria coming a few times with family and friends. But he had never seen y/n among her friends.

"If I'm not mistaken, that was my only visit to NXT. I've also been to Dynamite a couple times, but that was before you and David debuted. Maybe that's why we didn't meet earlier. Besides, I don't really like too much attention on myself, and I was in a relationship with Josh at the time" After mentioning the ex-boyfriend's name y/n fell silent.

"Josh? You didn't tell me about him" gently asked Daniel.

The girl's facial expression changed from cheerful and relaxed to sad and regretful.

"There's not much to tell to be honest. We dated for a long time. But because of me, that relationship ended."

Y/n suddenly felt goosebumps run down her skin. Whether it was the cool breeze that came out of nowhere or the memories of a relationship ruined by her problems. She shuddered and clenched her body. The man noticed this, took off his jacket and threw it over the girl's shoulders.

Dan's jacket was imbued with the pleasant scent of men's cologne. The scent was soothing and relaxing y/n.

"Whatever happened there, it's not your fault. All problems and misunderstandings in a relationship are always both parties' fault."

It was noticeable by y/n that even though the jacket kept her warm, she still didn't feel comfortable.

"My last relationship didn't end well either... So, I understand how you feel."

Unexpectedly to herself, y/n hugged Daniel's hand, which he kept in his pocket. The warmth of man's body warmed y/n pleasantly.

"Thank you... You, it turns out, know how to be nice, not just wildly vulgar and weird."

Wheeler covered the girl's hand with his own and smiled softly.

"Yeah... Sorry about that. I sometimes act like an idiot when I don't know what to do. And for the past few months in my interactions with girls, this has been happening a lot. But sometimes even acting like an idiot works out."

The phone in y/n's pocket vibrated, notifying her of a new incoming message. The girl pulled out her phone.

"Maria just texted me and asked if I wanted to come over and chat with her."

Dan stopped and now looked at y/n seriously and a little frustrated from top to bottom.

"If you want, I'll walk you to David and Maria's house. We can take a walk some other time."

"Nah, I'm good. I'll text her that I'm busy right now."

The y/n's reply couldn't help but make the man happy. It warmed his heart that she had chosen him over spending time with her best friend.

Maria: "Yeah? Maybe you hang out with Dan? 🤣 Come on, get out of the house and I'll be waiting for you."

Y/n: "Actually, I really am."

Maria: "NO WAY! Don't fool me👀"

The girl grinned and shifted her gaze from her phone to Daniel.

"I told Maria I'm with you and she doesn't believe me." She was about to put her phone away but suddenly an idea hit her. "I want to take a picture and send it to Maria. Are you okay with that?"

"Sure" replied y/n Daniel and put his arm around her shoulders. Y/n took the picture and pressed send.

"I'll be expecting a message from David now" joked the man and gently took the girl's hand. "Let’s go?"

For a while they walked in silence. The silence was not heavy. They were comfortable in each other's company. They could talk, discussing everything, or they could remain silent, taking in each other's non-verbal cues. Before they noticed, the sky had clouded over and a light rain began to fall.

"I think it's time to go home," Willer suggested. He lifted his head and looked up at the sky "and hurry up. It looks like it's about to start raining in earnest."

The girl nodded and they quickly headed towards y/n's house.

As they literally ran to the house the downpour started and both were soaked from head to toe. Y/n opened the door and stepped inside.

"Well... I'll be off then. Had a good time. See you next time, I guess. Of course, if you want to." Daniel said uncertainly and was about to leave, but y/n stopped him by taking his hand.

"Don't be silly. You're all wet, and it's still raining and windy outside. Come on in. You’ll get warm, and I'll find you some dry clothes and make us some dinner. Then you can decide what you want to do next."

Dan wasn't sure if she really wanted him to stay right now or if she was just being polite, so he stood there for a few seconds deciding.

"Are you sure?" he wanted to make sure. "If it's going to be an inconvenience, I'd better go”

"It's okay. Come on in. You're welcome here."

Next chapter

[renee-ckstrong]

THIS MATCH MAKES ME VERY EXITED, HERE'S WHY

I can't wait for Bound For Glory, the main event is set. The Challenger is, The Walking Weapon Josh Alexander Vs one half of the Motor City Machine Guns and current IMPACT World Champion Alex Shelley. Let's talk about it.

Now I'm not that big of an impact girlie. I was, when I was younger in the UK I couldn't get WWE on TV but I had access to TNA/IMPACT so that was the wrestling I watched in my youth and actually kept watching it for a while. In fact I'm going to go to see IMPACT live in the UK with my dad soon, which is brilliant remembering the time we spent watching IMPACT before. We're going to have such a good time.

This doesn't stop me from being VERY excited about this match. I've still been aware of the product even while I haven't been watching and I watched IMPACT 1000, saw their segment and WOW it was good.

Let's start with Alex Shelley, my little Motor City Blorbo, Shelley was brought into IMPACT using their old business strategy of 'Sign ultra talented ROH guys' that got them Styles, Sabin, Joe and Daniels. From 2004 to 2007 he would be a exciting feature of the X Division winning said title once. His true success would come between 2007 and 2012 in the team known as 'The Motor City Machine Guns' Shelley and partner Chris Sabin became on of the most influential and defining teams in IMPACT history before Shelley left IMPACT to work for ROH and NJPW.

On the other hand Josh Alexander came into IMPACT in 2019 (annoying just after I stopped watching so I missed out) also in the tag division having a lengthy singles run with Ethan Page as 'The North' who, despite being in a company that doesn't usually get considered for being the best, were considered to be one of the best tag teams in the world. And to stress, this was at the same time as The New Day, The Usos, The Young Bucks and FTR so being considered one of the best teams in this time is saying something. When Page departed the company Alexander got the big push, winning the X Division title then cashing in option C to become IMPACT World Champion. Then Moose beat him and ran him out of impact. But upon Alexander's return he reclaimed the title and became the longest reigning IMPACT World Champion of all time. A near year long reign that ended with Alexander having to relinquish the title because of a triceps tear.

Here in lies our conflict. Alexander wants to reclaim his title but he is also exited to wrestle Alex Shelley as he says "No one is a bigger fan of Alex Shelley than I am." or something like that. But Shelley wants to keep this belt at all costs. That's why he belittled Alexander at IMPACT 1000, because Alexander is trying to take away the biggest achievement of his life. An achievement that Alexander has had twice, but in his long career this is Shelley's first IMPACT World Championship reign. And one more detail in this story, that I only realised while writing this, is that while Alex Shelley is the tag partner who left (and then came back) out of him and Chris Sabin, Josh Alexander is the tag partner who stayed out of him and Ethan Page. As much of and IMPACT guy as Shelley wants to claim he is, Josh Alexander stayed and became one of the faces of IMPACT during it's resurgence and continued to be a defining 'IMPACT guy' during the pandemic. As much as I personally love Alex Shelley, there are lots of reasons to cheer Josh Alexander come the 21st.

And I think that's a large part of it. I used to watch IMPACT. I am nostalgic for IMPACT's past, people like Alex Shelley. But presently Josh Alexander is the guy. Alexander doesn't want this to be personal, but Shelley desperately wants to be the guy.

They are the past and present of IMPACT fighting for it's future.

Goddamn I deserve a job backstage working on hype packages.

And I have no idea who's going to win. Maybe people who watch more IMPACT have an idea but I don't. And that's exciting. I am so hyped for this match thank you for listening. I'm so excited to be an IMPACT fan again.

[danwhobrowses]

My Highlights of AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023

Well it's time to open the door again as AEW and NJPW put on another big card PPV

Last year it was perhaps one of the best PPVs of the year, let's see how this one holds up

Spoilers for the Show

Zero Hour

Despy reluctant to participate in Chaos' Best Friendsery, including the hug

As much as I'd have loved it on the main card, it's such a big deal that AEW put Billie Starkz on a PPV show match, for a tournament, against Athena! And she held her ground

Also if you haven't been watching Athena on ROH, fix that she is practically the company's Ace

ELP's LED J A C K E T

It goes understated just how crisp both Stu and ELP are respectively, Stu never got much time because Dark Order are always set to lose while ELP is best known now for his chicanery but they are very good at the wrestling

BUSHI with the Venom half-mask

Hiromu and Cobb had a fun little mini-feud going in their match

Main Card

That fan's reaction from receiving a fistbump from Tanahashi

MJF's 'New Japan is an Indie' on his robes

The callback of using 'Coward' to goad Max against running away

And brothers, sisters and every other pronoun you declare; we ain't in Kansas, and we ain't in Chicago anymore Toto

I have my opinions on Punk, not all of them good, but I also know that AEW right now are sitting on a gold mine with these reactions to ol' CM Trunks

Also appreciate the Kojima lore to validate him being in the Owen, training in the Hart Dungeon is a good feather in your cap to use

The chop sell on the Barricade

For a man who quotes The Thing's catchphrase that's sure a lot of Hulk-isms there, brother

I am just gonna stop here and just win the whole lot of shithousery Punk is doing

Also a Stan Hansen reference in commentary, nice

Since they mentioned All Out I gotta gush about the fact that I got All In tickets, also I am intrigued with how they intend to book 2 PPVs on back to back weeks

Also how fucking lucky are we seeing Shibata in a wrestling ring this past year?

It should be scientifically studied how Garcia got that stupid dance over

Shibata and OC's handshake is meme potential I can see it

Red Shoes chant

JB finally snaps with the heel turn, that was a nasty lariat too

Eddie bringing back the 'Redeem Deez Nuts' shirt

Eddie vs Mox is still THAT FEUD

Claudio's opportunistic heel work was good here with him ducking Eddie, and taking cheap shots in front of Mox - who seems pretty reluctant about that

The Cinnabon Gone Bad being able to floor Ishii with a forearm, he knocked out ISHII, the stone pitbull, the man with no neck, the G1 bane of Kenneth Jerome Omega, and the mans just fucking decked him, I had to rewind just to watch that again like in the best way possible what the fuck?

And Hangman is still the top babyface of the company

I did not expect Eddie to save Mox from the Superkicks, that's muscle memory there

Super surprised that BCC, Shooter and Takeshita lost but it was kinda nice that Ishii got the pin

Excalibur vs Despy when?

Meaty DVD on the apron by Willow

Every time I hear it, I fucking love Elevated, top 10 modern entrance themes

It's been a hot minute since I've seen Ospreay whip out the shooting star while their opponent was on the ropes

I feel like Ospreay licking blood of his bicep was purely for his wife and the Ao3 community

Kenny empowered by the Canadian flag

The rope break unglued the crowd

OWA at 1!

Tiger Driver 91 Fucker Me!

KAZE NI NARE

Sammy has 'Brodie Forever' on his jacket which is nice

Joker Sting!?

You know, I would take a feud between Darby and Suzuki, you've got the daredevil and the man who dares the devil

Jericho 'tag me' Suzuki 'no'

Suzuki with the pose, man does what he wants

They went and got the Final Countdown for Bryan, Mr Tempest is going to the bank for this one

One of these days Okada's just gonna come out wearing Nick Jackson's attire that he's stolen and I wait for that day

Knowing in advance that Bryan fractured his right arm during this match gives me a lot more respect towards how much he did without it

Okada's dropkicks are absolutely picture perfect

Not only did Bryan beat Okada, he submitted Okada! Don't think anyone expected that

Conclusion

There were high expectations going into Forbidden Door, but if anyone tries to tell you that it's a 'two match card' feel free to slap them, because they'd probably jizz over the one Bloodline match per PPV and call it the best thing ever. This PPV had its downsides for sure, a lot of weak finishes - a couple maybe done due to injuries or Sting feeling a little loopy - so it didn't come out to its full potential, but it was still a really good night for wrestling.

I would still say in spite of everything it was still a success, but I also feel like AEW and New Japan need to consider making it a 2-Day event to fit more talent on the show, we still lacked names on AEW's side like FTR, HoB, Acclaimed, BCG (if they wanted to come on I'm not sure how Jay feels about using FD as a loophole), Miro, Ethan, Dark Order, PAC, Keith Lee, TNT Champion Christian I mean Luchasaurus, Wardlow, Samoa Joe, and names on NJPW's side like Bullet Club, GoD, Alex Zayne, Nagata, Team Filthy, Bishamon, Great O Khan, Toru Yano (let Yano and Mox face off you cowards!), Master Wato, and KUSHIDA, and this is not even bringing up all the women we could've used - which frankly, we should try to schedule an All-Women's crossover PPV with Stardom featuring DDT/TJPW, AEW/ROH and maybe even other companies' talents.

But I digress, a lot of match finishes were poor but a lot of the wrestling in matches were enjoyable, I had fun and we set up some new directions and potential rematches down the line.

Match of the Night: This is probably gonna be controversial to some but I felt that the 10 Man Tag was the best of the night. Omega/Ospreay and Okada/Danielson were really good, but they also took time to get going, and I do prefer a high-energy wrestling match to a slower technical bout. Best Attire: Tetsuya Naito, man looks like he stepped out of a masquerade party and since SANADA is just his 'regular guy' persona rather than the cold skull and we had no extended Omega attire he's really the only choice. Best Performance: I want to give it to Eddie for carrying the emotional weight of the 10-man, I also want to give it to Punk for being a proper shithouse to a mixed crowd, I also really want to give it to Danielson for wrestling a clinic with a fractured arm, but I do have to give it to Omega and Ospreay as a tie they wrestled their butts off Spot of the Night: As much as I still love Takeshita decking Ishii, it's Omega kicking out of the OWA at 1

[wrestlingisfake]

Battle in the Valley preview

This show is happening in San Jose, California. So while most New Japan shows air in the middle of the night in the Americas, this one starts at 9:20pm EST.

To get English commentary, you'll need to order it on Fite for $19.99. You can watch on NJPW World, but you'll have to pay about $22.30 on top of the usual monthly subscription fee, and it'll only be Japanese commentary. I don't get why they make it so complicated, but I've given up asking those kinds of questions about this company.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - Okada is defending the IWGP world heavyweight title, and Tana is his hand-picked challenger. It's always a special occasion when these two square off, so I'm a little surprised they gave this match away on a show that sold out weeks ago, and was already guaranteed to sell PPV buys off the other main event.

Tanahashi was The Man in NJPW until Okada defeated him in 2012, kicking off a historic rivalry. In their fifteen one-on-one encounters, Okada leads the series 7-5 with three 30-minute draws. But frankly, there's not much left to say about this series, and almost no chance Okada will lose, and this shouldn't be headlining the show.

KAIRI vs. Mercedes Mone - Kairi is defending the IWGP women's championship in Mone's first match with the promotion. Mone, formerly Sasha Banks, debuted with New Japan on January 4 to attack Kairi and challenge her for the belt. With all due respect to Okada and Tanahashi, this is the real main event.

Mone has been under the microscope ever since she walked out of WWE in May 2022. Her first appearance in NJPW was heavily scrutinized, and there's still a ton of speculation about whether she'll stick around or go back to WWE or show up in other promotions. Everyone is waiting to find out her next move, and everyone is watching closely to see if she'll succeed or fail.

Fans who were somehow preoccupied with the size of Mone's pop at the Tokyo Dome are going to be even more confused by this show, in a dinky 3000-seat arena. You'll have to make peace with the face that Mercedes doesn't need to be immersed in the WWE big-stage experience as much as some of her fans need her to be. If you can handle that, you'll have a good time.

My hunch is that Mercedes will win the title here and go on to defend it at STARDOM's big Yokohama Arena show on April 23. The only question in my mind is whether Kairi can prove she's not an afterthought in her own title defense, and make anyone believe she's got a chance to retain.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Clark Connors - This is for Sabre's NJPW World television title, so the match will have a fifteen-minute time limit. Sabre wants to face fresh young competitors; Connors, who was a young boy just a couple of years ago, is stepping up. I'm not expecting Connors to seriously threaten Sabre's title reign. This will mostly be about seeing him put up a valiant fight before Sabre out-wrestles him.

Tom Lawlor vs. Homicide - This is billed as a "filfthy rules" match--no count-outs, no disqualifications, no rope breaks, and no ring ropes at all for that matter. It's a plain old fight between two bitter rivals who've been feuding for months. All you really need to know is that Homicide keeps trying to stab Lawlor with a fork, and this time it's perfectly legal. I'm expecting Lawlor to win, but I haven't been following the weekly STRONG shows so I wouldn't have a clue where the story is headed.

Jay White vs. Eddie Kingston - A couple of days ago, on Wrestling Observer Live of all places, these two agreed that the loser of this match must leave NJPW. White is already reeling from a huge defeat in a "loser leaves Japan" match last week, which exiled him from NJPW's home territory. If he wins, he can try to rebuild in the US by dominating the STRONG brand, but it's hard to believe that's the long-term plan here. It's also hard to believe AEW regular Eddie is going to be barred from working for AEW's top partner. So it's feeling more and more like Jay is finishing up on his way to WWE.

Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs - The West Coast Wrecking Crew (Nelson and Isaacs) are challenging for the STRONG tag team title on the line. Sabin and Shelley (the Motor City Machine Guns) are also the Impact men's tag team champions, but those belts aren't at stake here. I don't think it makes much difference who wins here, so I'll flip a coin and go with the Machine Guns.

Fred Rosser vs. KENTA - Rosser is the STRONG openweight champion, which is supposed to be the top title on this brand. But he's in the second match of the main show and his challenger got beat by Hiroshi Tanahashi last week. To make matters worse, I don't think anyone buys Rosser as being in Kenta's league. Fred needs a big win to change that perception, but I don't think he's getting it tonight.

Josh Alexander & Rocky Romero & Adrian Quest & Mascara Dorada vs. KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight & The DKC & Volador Jr. - Alexander is the Impact men's world champion. Rocky is pretty much the point man for New Japan's American business. Kushida and Knight have been working in Impact lately. The other four guys are basically undercard guys on the weekly STRONG show. I'm thinking Alexander's team should win, unless Kushida is getting a title shot soon.

David Finlay vs. Bobby Fish - This is scheduled for the pre-show. If you're an NXT or AEW fan wondering why Fish fell off the face of the earth, well, now you know where he's been. I'm more of a Finlay guy, so I've been wondering why he fell of the face of the Earth after getting a decent push over in Japan last year. I guess the winner gets to crawl back out of obscurity. That's probably good news for Finlay, not Fish.

Alex Coughlin vs. JR Kratos - Another pre-show match. Coughlin graduated from being a young boy when he defeated Kratos in December 2021. Which, um, doesn't seem to mean much considering both guys are working in the pre-show opener, but oh well. I assume Coughlin wins.

[gaywatch]

i've been meaning to message you for months with some Golden Lovers updates, haha, but i was waiting for something more concrete, and boy howdy did we get it. there is way, way too much to explain in just this one message (i'm working on a gifset that goes into more detail, but it's hard to put time into that and also do NaNoWriMo, so it might get done in december), since it covers years of history and spans at least four/five companies as well as some dramatic shifts in the industry, but i'll try my best.

basically, AEW just wrapped up their biggest story yet, which they've been building up to since the start of the company in 2019. Kenny Omega was an essential piece of it, and right before the long-awaited climax, they revealed that his story in AEW since the literal beginning has been about his unresolved feelings toward Kota Ibushi this entire time. if you're a subtext reader like me, this has been obvious, but it's still absolutely incredible to hear that confirmed directly in the canon after i spent years pointing out individual details and looking like a conspiracy theorist. essentially what happened is that right before Kenny defended his title against his ex-partner, Hangman Page said "if i remember, you once had another tag team partner who maybe you felt like you didn't measure up to, either" (Kota liked a gif of this line on twitter, btw, akjfgdhgk). i SCREAMED

i'm going to link this other post that i made instead of going into too much more detail on that, but the whole segment was Hangman basically realizing that everything that Kenny had done to him was because he was projecting his own hurt and insecurity after Kota left him again, and it wasn't Hangman's own fault, which thus freed Hangman from his own cycle of doubt and insecurity and meant that nothing Kenny could say to him had any power over him anymore.

a few days later, Hangman faces Kenny with the AEW title on the line. there's a great moment at the beginning of the match where a fan (later revealed to be Anthony Burch, haha, who writes for Borderlands, and whose sister Ashly Burch voiced Chloe in Life Is Strange lol) brings out a sign that says "what would Kota think?" and Kenny stops and stares at it for like ten seconds.

Kenny loses the match and drops the title to Hangman (as we all expected). a lot of us Golden Lovers fans had been terrified going into the match that Hangman would become the second person ever to kick out of Kenny's finisher, the one winged angel, since they'd been talking that up again recently, but we needn't have worried. it's still the most protected move in the business, and the only person who's kicked out of it other than Kenny himself is the love of his life.

as far as where the Golden Lovers story is going to go next... well, the immediate next step for both of them is rest and recovery, because both of them are unfortunately injured at the moment. Kota dislocated his shoulder after failing to hit a phoenix splash on Okada in the G1 tournament finals in NJPW, so he's healing from that, and Kenny's been running his body so hard for the past 3+ years, he needs a ridiculous number of (thankfully minor) surgeries.

after that... well, no one really knows where either Kenny's or Kota's story will go, but i can say that in the 2.5 years that i've been following it, this is the most optimistic i've been that we're actually heading toward a reunion. the Kenny & Hangman story wrapping up in AEW is a great opportunity for Kenny to finally start that final chapter of the Golden Lovers story that he's been wanting them to have since 2019.

there will probably be fans writing various explainers summing up Kenny's AEW story as seen through a GL lens, but i don't have any to link at the moment, and the one i'm working on will take a long time to complete, because i want it to be comprehensive. sorry for giving such an incomplete description!

i'm not sure how much you actually care about all of this, haha, but this is enough for one message, i think

These updates are AMAZING as always like I may not go here but I am full on Tyra Banks ROOTING FOR Y'ALL ❤️❤️❤️