AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com
Why do we need Pride Month?
Jonathan Joss, the voice actor for John Redcorn on "King of
the Hill", and as Chief Ken Hotate in Parks and Recreation,
was murdered, in a hate crime outside his former home in San
Antonio, TX.
His husband Tristan Kern de Gonzales described what
happened:
"...My husband Jonathan Joss and I were involved in a
shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former
home. That home was burned down after over two years of
threats from people in the area who repeatedly told us they
would set it on fire. We reported these threats to law
enforcement multiple times and nothing was done.
Throughout that time, we were harassed regularly by
individuals who made it clear they did not accept our
relationship. Much of the harassment was openly homophobic.
When we returned to the site to check our mail, we
discovered the skull of one of our dogs and its harness
placed in clear view. This caused both of us severe
emotional distress. We began yelling and crying in response
to the pain of what we saw.
While we were doing this a man approached us. He started
yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. He then raised a gun
from his lap and fired.
Jonathan and I had no weapons. We were not threatening
anyone. We were grieving. We were standing side by side.
When the man fired Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He
saved my life.
Jonathan is my husband. He gave me more love in our time
together than most people ever get. We were newlyweds. We
picked Valentines Day. We were in the process of looking for
a trailer and planning our future.
He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of
two men loving each other.
I was with him when he passed. I told him how much he was
loved.
To everyone who supported him, his fans, his friends, know
that he valued you deeply. He saw you as family.
My focus now is on protecting Jonathan’s legacy and honoring
the life we built together.
If your concern is how someone coped with trauma or how
loudly they speak when recounting injustice and being
ignored by authorities then you never truly cared about my
husband. Jonathan saved my life. I will carry that forward.
I will protect what he built."
That's why Pride Month is needed.
The May 31/June 1 late night AEW Collision, which went from
11:43 pm May 31 to 1:43 am; had 504,000 viewers (up 151,000
viewers) from the preceding week's Collision; with an 0.18
18-49 rating (up .10 from the preceding week), finishing #8
for the day. It held normal Collision numbers all quarters
EVEN THOUGH ENDING AT 1:43 AM.
Collision had the lead-in from the NBA playoff game between
the Knicks and Pacers followed by Inside the NBA on TNT. The
game broadcast averaged 6,913,000 viewers and a 2.12 P18-49
rating. An hour-long Inside the NBA (the last on TNT)
followed the game and immediately preceded Collision. Inside
the NBA averaged 3,032,000 and a 0.95 P18-49 rating. UFC
Fight Night starting at 9:09 pm on ESPN averaged 578,000
viewers and a 0.19 P18-49 rating.
The schedule for the next several weeks will see the hottest
month in AEW's history
* AEW Summer Blockbuster Four hour special, June 11, in
Portland, OR
* AEW Grand Slam: Mexico: June 18, AEW's debut in Mexico,
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, MX
* AEW Dynamite/Collision: A joint taping on June 25 in Kent,
WA
* AEW Dynamite 300 and Collision 100: A joint taping and
celebratory event on July 2, in Ontario, CA
* ROH Supercard of Honor 2025: Also happening on July 11, in
Arlington, TX
* AEW All In Texas: A major pay-per-view event on July 12,
at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX
* Starrcast: Texas: A fan convention held in conjunction
with All In Texas, taking place on July 11-12 in Arlington,
TX
Possibly most notable from within that list, late in the
marathon Fyter Fest show, was the official announcement by
Tony Schiavone from Tony Khan that the long-rumored match
for ALL IN Texas was now confirmed: chapter five of one of
this generation's greatest series of matches as
International Champion Kenny Omega vs. Continental Champion
Kazuchika Okada is official; with the match being Title for
title, winner takes all. The contract signing will be taking
place as part of the Summer Blockbuster four hour special
this Wednesday.
Their series of classic matches between the two played out
at New Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 11 (2017),
Dominion 2017, G1 Climax 27 (2017), and Dominion 2018. The
Okada-Omega 2 out of 3 falls match, where Omega defeated
Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at NJPW
Dominion 2018. The match has been termed by many to be the
best match in wrestling history.
Some have compared the fantasy element of the rivalry to
Flair vs. Hogan as a fantasy match that eventually became
real back in the day, and as a rivalry with a work rate like
Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat rolled into one. Flair and Hogan
were the top two names in the wrestling world back then.
Flair-Hogan was fantasized about for years. As for Flair and
Steamboat, they wrestled hundreds of matches, some of the
best never taped for TV and simply worked at house shows
along the Jim Crockett Promotions tour schedule.
But the series of three Flair-Steamboat matches in 1989, is
what many knew for decades as the greatest in professional
wrestling history, taking place at Chi-Town Rumble, Clash of
the Champions VI, and WrestleWar; praised for its intensity,
storytelling, and the contrasting styles of these two.
Fast forward years later, the Omega-Okada series is the
newest Holy Grail of wrestling matches for puroresu fans and
those of us terminally online. But among a larger portion of
the wrestling fanbase, they don't fully appreciate this
series of matches. This is a co-main event level match for
ALL IN that too many never got to see in the past because
AXS TV wasn't on in a lot of homes.
Further, Okada working as a comedy character in recent
months has taken away from fully understanding the
significance of the match at ALL IN.
A video package needs to be done to remind fans of the
greatness of this rivalry, and one is scheduled for this
week's Summer Blockbuster Dynamite/Collision. It doesn't
need to be a full match. But it wouldn't hurt if each show
going forward to ALL IN had a video feature on the Omega-
Okada series to drive home its importance. AEW needs to sell
tickets with it each show. The match is likely to be part of
a triple main event (with the Men's and Women's World Title
matches). So it needs to be pushed...hard.
Finaĺly, the counter-programming of ALL IN weekend continues
with WWE attempting to flood the market during ALL IN
weekend with the three shows in Atlanta, and now two house
shows in Texas the week after ALL IN with house shows in
Corpus Christi, TX on July 18 and Edinburg, TX on July 19.
WWE runs no house shows outside of international tours or
the Holiday season. But NOW they suddenly decide to run two
house shows, with the Corpus Christi, TX show termed a
"super-show"?
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