Stressful morning, Doom Patrol, NJPW and What We Do In The Shadows

Had a bit of a stressful morning today. I got up early as usual and did my daily walk but then there was no time to relax. Due to a problem with the light in the kitchen not all of the washing up had been done. It was one of those things but there's nothing worse than coming down to some washing up from the previous day. I got all the washing up done and then made Toni's weekly bread supply.

While the bread was cooking I went to the garage and retrieved what I hoped would be a working spare tube light for the kitchen. I hate tube lights at the best if times. I managed to get the cover off and the dodgy bulb removed and had to fight for fifteen minutes to get the new tube in place. It was a tad frustrating but I did finally succeed and then we had a proper working light again. 

After the bread was done I went upstairs for a hug with Toni only to have some messages from work come in and an 'urgent' issue. *sigh* this was something that could have been avoided if proper checks had been done at the end of Friday but that was not the case and here we were. Thankfully there wasn't much to do to resolve things but it was an interruption I could have done without.

By the time I was done I came downstairs to a wonderful big breakfast courtesy of Toni which was most welcome so we enjoyed that while catching up with the latest episode of Doom Patrol. After breakfast it was Toni's time to work so I made coffee and sat back to catch up on thee days worth of NJPW's G1 Climax 31 tournament. Six hours plus of NJPW wrestling, it's all good!

Had a good catch up with Sam via the telling-bone which was nice as we haven't spoken for ages. It's good to talk as the old saying goes. We setup a TV catch up to watch the last three episodes of What We Do In The Shadows together which we did with our dinner.

This season just gets better and better. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't seen it before.

All change on the wrestling front

Well it's all change on the wrestling front in Glitzville. WWE used to be the main promotion of choice with a bit of NJPW thrown in for good measure. We just couldn't get on with AEW any time we tried to watch it. This is no longer the case. WWE are out, We stopped watching RAW and Smackdown ages ago which just left NXT and NXT UK plus the PPVs. NXT started to get stale and then was on a delay in the UK once the program came off of WWE Network and moved onto a regular TV network. 

So we tried out AEW again (before they brought back CM Punk and Bryan Danielson) and found it to be way more entertaining than WWE was. So we watched a few AEW shows and then the All Out PPV and we were hooked. We now watch every AEW show, none of them are boring, all very entertaining. We also now do major NJPW watching too.We've also started taking a load of indie shows too. 

Who needs this sports entertainment rubbish (that's what WWE refer to their product as) when you can have professional wrestling?

The future is bright, the future is with the little men (and women)!

We are currently working our way through the NJPW G1 Climax 31 tournament. Ten days in and it's great fun!

Early morning walk, good day, The Man With Two Brains and Wrestle Kingdom 15 (Night 1)

Yesterday Toni and I discussed our lack of movement of late since all the lockdowns and vowed that we would start going out and walking again to get some fresh air and proper exercise. We were both up at 07:00 this morning and did a walk around the block. Not a lot but we decided to go for little and often and build ourselves back up to doing treks like we used to. It was great as there was nobody about at all. It's amazing how quickly you can get out of shape so I am glad we have committed to doing this. You know you are in trouble when it's a struggle to do your coat up so that needs to be improved on FAST!

It was quite nice getting back and having a cuppa together and some breakfast before I headed to my office to start work.  I feel energised having done it too.

Following the exercise I had a good working day with little stress which was great.

Yummy steak for dinner and The Man With Two Brains.

I decided to dip my toe back in to the wrestling waters and watch New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom 15 (Night 1).

Definitely much more entertaining than WWE or AEW. No bullshit, no crap storylines, just lots of grappling!

Wrestling, brekkie, hockey and The Fall

I was up early this morning as seems to be my regular pattern these days. I took the chance to catch up with some wrestling in the form of AEW Dynamite, WWE NXT and NJPW Strong.

Sam popped out for supplies and then we made a breakfast fit for kings: bacon, sausage, eggs, crusty bread (other dietary options were also available).

It was then time to catch up with the last remaining Round 2 hockey game before we head into the Eastern and Western Conference Finals. This was another winner takes all game seven with New York Islanders v Philadelphia Flyers to see who will face Tampa Bay Lightning. Islanders took an early 1 - 0 lead half way through the first period which they then extended to 2 - 0 five minutes after. The first period ended with the Islanders leading 2 - 0. At the end of the second period things were not looking good for the Flyers with the Islanders lading 3 - 0. Third period ended with the Islanders winning 4 - 0 clinching the series and heading on to face the Tampa Bay Lightning.

So there we have it, all is set for the 2020 Stanley Cup Conference Finals as follows:

Eastern Conference Finals - Tampa Bay Lightning v New York Islanders

Western Conference Finals - Dallas Stars v Vegas Golden Knights

We did a couple of episodes of Million Pound Menu before looking for something new to watch. 

Scanning through Netflix we came across a series called The Fall starring Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan. Metropolitan Police Superintendent Stella Gibson, a senior investigating officer who reviews investigations, is seconded to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to assess the progress of a murder investigation that has remained active for longer than 28 days. When it becomes apparent that a serial killer is on the loose, local detectives must work with Stella to find and capture Paul Spector, who is attacking young professional women in the city of Belfast. As time passes Stella's team works tirelessly to build a case but they are met with complications inside and outside the PSNI.

We'd never heard of it before but it was quite good. 

The rest of the evening was spent watching Hannah Gadsby's Douglas show and then we started to watch The Boys.

Early start, NJPW, gardening, hockey and Queen

I was up early today as I forget to turn my alarms off and it's a bank holiday. Despite the early start at least it was an extra day off. Made a cuppa and watched NJPW Summer Struggle 13 and 14 before heading out into the garden to do some pruning. Made good progress out the back and then went and did the front as everything was looking a tad unruly out there. Back lawn also received some much needed love

The cracks are now weed free!

It was back to the hockey catch up today starting with Dallas Stars v Colorado Avalanche. Stars were leading the series 2 - 1 and our hope was that they would extend this. Stars came out all guns blazing and at the end of the first period were leading 3 - 0. Avalanche got back in it for the second and the Stars ended up with a 3 - 2 lead at the end go the second period. Both teams were going for it in the third period. Stars won the game 4 - 3 and extended their series lead to 3 - 1. Some results go my way!

Next up was New York Islanders v Philadelphia Flyers. Islanders were leading this series 2 - 1. It still pains me to support the Flyers but there is no way the Islanders are getting any love from me (what with them being arch rivals of the Rangers). First period ended tied at 0 - 0. Both teams upped their game aft that and the second period ended 1 - 1. Things got a bit frantic at the end but sadly the Islanders emerged as 3 - 2 winners and now lead the series 3 - 1. Boo.

Last game of the night was Vancouver Canucks v Vegas Gold Knights. This Golden Knights were leading this series 2 - 1 so it was fingers crossed that the Canucks could tie things up. Golden Knights were certainly the better team in the first and ended it 2 - 1 ahead. Second period ended with the Canucks leading 3 - 2. Sadly Golden Knight bounced back and won the game 5 - 3 and extended their series lead to 3 - 1. 

We finished our evening off with The Show Must Go On: The Queen & Adam Lambert Story.

Up early, NJPW, Body Fixers, hockey and Star Trek Lower Decks

Toni doesn't always sleep too well these days (either broken sleep it just can't nod off) so I quite often wake up early-is and then then leave her to catch up. Today was no different so it was time to entertain myself. 

I really enjoy wrestling but have become very disappointed with the recent output from both WWE and AEW. I gave up on WWE RAW and Smackdown and NXT and NXT UK were my go to shows. NXT has gone down hill a bit since it moved from WWE Network to USA Network when they started to introduce more storylines in line with RAW and Smackdown; It's strength for me was always good quality wrestling and less bullshit. Due to coronavirus NXT UK has become a recap/greatest matches show (although apparently they are going to start taping new shows soon). I keep dipping into AEW shows but I just can't get on with it.

Today I returned to Japanese wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) taking in an episode of NJPW Strong and working my way through their Summer Struggle 2020 series (I started on day 12). 

NJPW shows have always been entertaining, good quality wrestling and very little bullshit. Silly entrances aside, it's all about the grappling and there is no end of taken in NJPW. I ended up watching a combination of English and Japanese broadcasts. In a way the Japanese ones are better as I don't speak a word so just focus on the in ring action.  If you like a bit of wrestling it is definitely worth trying to get hold of some of the NJPW stuff, don't let the language barrier put you off.

When Toni got up we had breakfast and then embarked on some more episodes of Body Fixers. We finished Season 1 and now are all set for Season 2 to be on Netflix on Tuesday.

I made a chicken curry for dinner (with supervision from Toni). This was delicious!

We caught up with the New York Islanders v Philadelphia Flyers game hoping to see the Islanders get knocked back a bit. There series was tied 1 - 1 so it was fingers crossed that the Flyers could take a lead. Fist person ended with Flyers leading 1 - 0, both teams being a little cautious but there was hope! Second period ended with the Flyers on the wrong end of a 1 - 2 scoreline but still everything to play for. The Flyers certainly tried to play but sadly not well enough and the Islanders won 3 - 1 and went ahead in the series 2 - 1. 

Picking up on something new we checked out Star Trek Lower Decks.This animated series is slightly bonkers and and pretty irreverent but channels that Star Trek aesthetic, If you like Star Trek you'll either love it or hate it!

The evening ended the Vancouver Canucks v Vegas Golden Knights game from last night. My support was for the Canucks in this series that was tied 1 - 1. Five minuted in and the Golden Knights were ahead 2 - 0, Not the start I had hoped for. First period ended with the Golden Knights leading 2 - 0. Second period ended the same with the Golden Knights leading. Golden Knights dominated this game and won 3 - 0 and extended their series lead to 2 - 1. *sigh*

Remember what I said the other day about placing bets on hockey games? That sill stands! LOL 

Shinsuke Nakamura

I posted a while back that Shinsuke Nakamura had resigned from NJPW and the rumour was that he was WWE bound. WWE have now announced his signing and I am so thrilled with this and can't wait to see what he can do for WWE and the NXT brand where he will be making his debut.

Here's a great promo video of him hitting the WWE Performance Centre and some wonderful comments from other WWE stars.

Hopefully WWE will use and market Shinsuke right and the King Of Strong Style will be a great success.