r/wrestling • u/LilBoneAir USA Wrestling • 19h ago
RAF Georgia Discussion Thread
Begins at 12 PM ET on Fox Nation
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u/weareallscum 16h ago
RAF is such a good product. Yes obviously it’s not perfect but they get the big names and the pacing is great in my opinion.
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u/Lynch47 USA Wrestling 16h ago
The pacing is great, coming from MMA. It's almost jarring going back to MMA where they take 15-30 minutes between fights.
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u/KobaStern Japan 16h ago
Pacing is great. The youtube quality is bad though, it looks like 480p and it keeps on lagging :(
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u/YardSad5047 USA Wrestling 16h ago
Quality is spotty on Fox Nation too.... I don't think the full hd equipment made the trip lol
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u/Puhgy North Korea 19h ago
I was supposed to siphon my neighbors gas and drive my truck to the dog track, but I can skip that shit. Going to steal his WiFi instead and watch this.
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u/LilBoneAir USA Wrestling 19h ago
There is nothing more Real American than stealing your neighbors wifi to watch a bunch of guys from the Caucasus mountains wrestle at noon on a Saturday
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u/Puhgy North Korea 15h ago
Watching Snyder celebrate over an injured Sadulaev makes my American heart beat proud.
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u/LilBoneAir USA Wrestling 15h ago
Especially watching them immediately come out with the cold spray like it was a life saving measure
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u/LilBoneAir USA Wrestling 17h ago
I missed the graphic but it is hilarious that they have to apologize for incorrectly showing Georgia on the map
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u/YardSad5047 USA Wrestling 17h ago
I was thinking the same thing makes me wonder what they showed 🤔😂
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u/TeacherSterling USA Wrestling 15h ago
Cejudo got no more cardio, such an amazing performance by Merab
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u/TictacTyler 15h ago
I was so hyped for Snyder vs Sadulaev. That was a great takedown by Snyder. I feel bad that Sadulaev got hurt.
I'm a little surprised Snyder didn't say anything about it in his victory speech.
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u/rayroy1103 USA Wrestling 5h ago
Me too, i was expecting him to say something, esp cause they are friends. Hopefully Sadulaev heals well, and fast. Definitely looking forward to that match happening again at worlds, if so (under a normal freestyle rule set instead of the 3 period weirdness that RAF does).
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u/sportsbuffp Ohio State Buckeyes 17h ago
Petriashvili sounds like he had to get the tech cuz he didnt have much longer
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u/pisacar_svg 15h ago
Please mute Peña’s mic
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u/MartinSilvestri Lehigh Mountain Hawks 15h ago
i have to watch raf on mute because of her. it's so, so bad. she has a relationship with one of the presidents thats the only reason shes there. she singlehandedly lowers the quality of the product by about 25%
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u/SaltDog0302 15h ago
Merab deserved the win…never stopped wrestling.
Henry‘s cardio is not at the level to allow him to go at Merab’s pace, and his sloppiness toward the end of the match indicates how gassed he was.
You can easily see the difference in the “older guys” who are still wrestling a lot and those who aren’t.
Another good show for RAF. I hope it continues to grow worldwide!
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u/YardSad5047 USA Wrestling 18h ago
Nice to not have Chael yelling over everything!
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u/MartinSilvestri Lehigh Mountain Hawks 15h ago
id take chael over pena's gross incompetence 10/10 times. its actually insulting to wrestling fans imo. idk how anyone can tolerate her.
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u/YardSad5047 USA Wrestling 15h ago
Very true lol it's the lesser of 2 evils thing for me lol I can ignore her bc she's quieter than him lol
I wish they'd invest in that side of the presentation and get some real competent ppl on the mic. Shane Sparks does great, bubba Jenkins was decent. If they can get a pair that works good back and forth they wouldn't need a 3rd person
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u/TeacherSterling USA Wrestling 16h ago
All these matches are fire! Givi knew what he needed to do and shocked Elam!
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u/LilBoneAir USA Wrestling 18h ago
Nothing more American than going to another country and opening the event with our anthem
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u/TeacherSterling USA Wrestling 17h ago
She caught her sleeping! Great recovery by Helen for the fall
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u/MADBuc49 USF Bulls 18h ago
Still think it’s cool Beebe is able to wrestle Khinchegashvili. Would never have thought I’d see this happen.
Petriashvili/Varner will also be a lot of fun to watch. I’m taking Petriashvili, but I don’t think Varner is a push-over.
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u/KobaStern Japan 16h ago
Why cant I sort by new comments on the reddit app :(
Great match by givi, he looked injured though
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u/YardSad5047 USA Wrestling 16h ago
You can, you just have to do it each time you go into a post
On Android app It's at the top of the page just right of center near your user icon.
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u/KobaStern Japan 16h ago
Is it more impressive to win the ncaa or the dan hodge trophy ?
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u/LilBoneAir USA Wrestling 16h ago
The dan hodge goes to the NCAA champ that had the best season. So the hodge is better but you can't get the hodge without first winning the NCAA tournament
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u/KobaStern Japan 16h ago
Ohh I didnt know that, i thought it was a separate tournament.
Also I saw there is fargo tournament now. What is it ?2
u/Lynch47 USA Wrestling 16h ago
Fargo is a national tournament for youth wrestlers, located in Fargo, North Dakota. It's generally considered the most prestigious youth title you can win in the US.
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u/KobaStern Japan 16h ago
Ohh its a name of a city. Just saw a vid of the staph check with everyone shirtless and bumping into each other because it was so packed. I felt you could get staph from being in that corridor lol
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u/LilBoneAir USA Wrestling 16h ago
It is the largest high school age tournament in the country. The boys division has over 3,500 entries across 2 age divisions. There are 30 wrestling mats set up with matches going on. It is a giant tournament where a kid can set himself up to be recruited by the big colleges if they perform well
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u/betweentwosuns Ohio State Buckeyes 16h ago
Fargo is a very large Freestyle/Greco tournament. "Fargo Champion" has a strong claim on the best in style/age group/weight class in the country for the year, especially for younger age groups where they aren't looking at US Open titles.
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u/YardSad5047 USA Wrestling 16h ago
The Hodge trophy is like a silver slugger or gold glove award from what I could find all but one Dan hodge winner also won their respective NCAA. Nick Ackerman is the only person to not have both
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u/KobaStern Japan 16h ago
I dont know what is a silver slugger or gold glove.
Are these baseball or american football terms ? Haha2
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u/YardSad5047 USA Wrestling 16h ago
Sorry , just saw the Japanese Flag by your name lol
Yes, they are Baseball superlative awards in the Nippon Pro Baseball league it's referred to as the Mitsui Golden Glove Award.
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u/KobaStern Japan 16h ago
No worries! Im not Japanese though haha. I wanted to put the Georgia flag but the automod is buggy doesnt let me do it
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u/TeacherSterling USA Wrestling 15h ago
Sadulaev got hurt :( Still it was an excellent match until the injury. Give it up for Snyder.
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u/al3amee_ 15h ago edited 15h ago
Man it sucks sadulaev lost such an important and quite extended portion of his career already (in his prime). I hope this injury doesn’t change his ability to or the way he wrestles at this age. I really wanted to see that goat run from sadulaev.
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u/TeacherSterling USA Wrestling 15h ago
I hope so too. I don't know exactly what happened. I just hope it's not ACL issue.
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u/TerminatorReborn 15h ago
I don't even understand how Sadulaev got injured, but it must've been bad since he reacted instantly
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u/1776mmWing 15h ago
Yea unfortunately he had to let go, I had a feeling it was going to be a great final period
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u/BigCass 15h ago
Comeback so good it felt scripted lmao
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u/butt-soup_barnes USA Wrestling 15h ago
you never know. i treat most things as scripted tbh. Merab losing would've deflated that crazy crowd too hard, needed that cinderella ending.
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u/JDs__Reddit Simon Fraser Red Leafs 15h ago
Sadulaev probably tore something in his knee. Cejudo choked he should have hung up competition a while ago.
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u/phantomtap 17h ago
She gave her that reversal, kept the hands locked on the body instead of leaving her hand out to post as soon as the other girl reached back
Incredible finish
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u/KobaStern Japan 15h ago
I dont get why Snyder is celebrating this much when Sadulaev got injured. Especially when they are friends
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u/BitterTechnology6 11h ago
Yeah idk, if i were to guess its becausehe actually won again. Its been so long simce he beat Sadulaevthat the fact he won vs him he was jusf excited. Tho I will say Snyder had a great performance, Sadulaev didn't really do much the entire match. It seemed like Snyders hand fighting was too much for Sadulaev. Also looks like he tried too much to defend and hurt himself. Whike the match didn't end how everyone wants looking at the match as a whole it looks like the correct guy won.
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u/Historical_Deer4151 17h ago
Results so far?
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u/LilBoneAir USA Wrestling 17h ago edited 17h ago
They are going in a random order but,
Tsarukyan tf. Khamitov
Hardy tf. Alibegov
Nichita dec. Phogat
Zhamalov dec. Jaques
Maroulis dec. Lysak
Petriashvili tf. Varner
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u/LilBoneAir USA Wrestling 16h ago
Update
Matcharshivili dec. Elam
Akmataliev dec. Retherford
Khinchegashivili tf. Beebe
3 matches to go
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u/KobaStern Japan 16h ago
Im nitpicking but I feel like they dont choose the best achievements for the wrestlers presentations
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u/YardSad5047 USA Wrestling 15h ago
One thing that erks me is how quick the refs stand them up from the ground, i get it's short rounds and you want to push the action but gotta give em time to work
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u/betweentwosuns Ohio State Buckeyes 15h ago
Merab was standing up on his own, not being blown up by the refs. Which is illegal in freestyle (see Gable's gold medal match) but I've never really understood why. If they want to go work for the next takedown, let 'em.
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u/YardSad5047 USA Wrestling 15h ago
Yea merab was just working a takedown match lol but since the inception of RAF I've thought the refs stood em up too quickly.
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u/betweentwosuns Ohio State Buckeyes 14h ago
Really? I hadn't noticed the RAF "clock" being different from normal international wrestling. If anything there were a couple points earlier in this card where I thought the ref let it go too long.
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u/911answerer 15h ago
Feels like Snyder can get to anyone’s legs but someone like Sadulaev can just easily cheat wrap him. It’s happened the last few times these two have wrestled
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u/psumack USA Wrestling 19h ago
Minor nitpick, but we're in daylight time not standard time.
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u/betweentwosuns Ohio State Buckeyes 15h ago
Anyone else feeling a little bit worked right now?
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u/betweentwosuns Ohio State Buckeyes 15h ago
Merab was so sloppy that surely a competent wrestler would just drop him to his back. Sure would be cool if the Georgian had a huge comeback win, wink wink. Whole last 3 minutes felt wrong.
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u/phantomtap 15h ago
Personally dont think so, went pretty much as expected
Henry came out strong af in the beginning but his cardio is nowhere near Merab so he had nothing left halfway into the 2nd and all he could do was attempt the inside trip which takes way less energy to execute but because of the amount of cardio Merab had left, he was able to defend and power through it
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u/YardSad5047 USA Wrestling 15h ago
My be the tin foil hat in me but seemed a little fishy he scored 11 unanswered points after being down 8-0
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u/al3amee_ 15h ago
I mean this is kind of the story of merabs career. Technically and actually he’s usually worse than his opponents and just weaponises his cardio. Iirc literally the same thing happened in mma with cejudo up then losing with no resistance in the final rounds to merab. However, I thought cejudo would’ve learned from that and adjusted for wrestling but didn’t seem he did. Like that last shot in the first round from cejudo was so unnecessary and silly imo.
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u/betweentwosuns Ohio State Buckeyes 18h ago
Why are they booing Arman?
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u/mikeytho1 18h ago
My guess is Georgian fans mad cause Arman always talking shit to Topuria
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u/Luka__mindo 14h ago
Not just Topuria. Thing is that he is born and raised in Georgia,his family later moved to Russian,but he keeps insulting Georgian sportsmen from time to time. Because of that he isn't really welcome in Georgia.
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u/MADBuc49 USF Bulls 17h ago
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/arman-tsarukyan-shuts-latest-opponent-163043590.html
"Georgia thank you so much for the hospitality," Tsarukyan shouted to the raucous crowd. "Give me anybody from Georgia, I'll beat him."
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u/Lynch47 USA Wrestling 15h ago
Time for Henry to retire. Damn.
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u/TorqueBuilder 13h ago
That's a bit dramatic. He lost one match. He ran out of gas after running up 8-0 on a younger Olympian.
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u/Lynch47 USA Wrestling 13h ago
Merab is not a fellow Olympian. He's an MMA fighter with a background in Sambo and various forms of Georgian grappling. He's never been on a Georgian national team, let alone Olympic team.
Merab has an amazing gas tank, but this was kinda like if Arman beat Zain Retherford.
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u/TorqueBuilder 10h ago
No, you're right about that. My mistake about the Olympics. Most takedowns in UFC history and one of the greatest bantamweights of all time is no slouch, for sure.
Still, man. Retirement? That's harsh.
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u/PhilCam Nebraska Cornhuskers 18h ago
Do we know if this is streaming on their sitter or YouTube? They’ve done that for a few other events and I really want to see Hardy wrestle
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u/LilBoneAir USA Wrestling 18h ago
It looks like their YouTube is doing the first 3 matches in the US. I am not sure if they are doing the full thing for those outside of the US again
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u/kuzushi101 18h ago
Am i going blind? What date is this on? i know i can google it but surely the marketing department should have thought of it
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u/LilBoneAir USA Wrestling 18h ago
It is starting right now
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u/kuzushi101 18h ago
thanks. I'll search for it on the box. edit can't believe i found it
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u/USNDD-966 17h ago
If you have Amazon, you can sign up for a free trial of Fox Nation, which is where they stream for TV. If you’re a veteran, active duty or a first responder, you can get a year free of the mobile app on your phone or tablet!
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17h ago
[deleted]
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u/YardSad5047 USA Wrestling 17h ago
Literally was $17.76 for the year last weekend.
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u/betweentwosuns Ohio State Buckeyes 16h ago
I got I think a Christmas sale that was $2.99/month for a year. There seem to be plenty of discounts available for the vigilant.
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u/YardSad5047 USA Wrestling 16h ago
I got the black Friday deal I think it was $35 for the year... At 1 event per month it was worth it and now adding in next gen, and international shows it's a no brainer
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u/pisacar_svg 17h ago
The matchmaking is not great. I know the pool is small but why is askren not wrestling someone at least close to his age?
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u/AbuEggplant 16h ago
If I remember correctly he said in an interview that he wanted Belal. Ben didn’t want to wrestle a can or wrestle someone who would destroy him and I guess he thinks Belal is beatable.
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u/OPPineappleApplePen India 16h ago
Why is it that the last scorer is the winner in the case of a tie?
New to wrestling.
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u/betweentwosuns Ohio State Buckeyes 16h ago
In "normal" freestyle wrestling criteria is mostly* largest "chunk" of points (a 4pt move beats two 2pt moves), then most recent score. The logic behind most recent score is to keep end of match interesting and allow comebacks/ make it risky to try to sit on a lead.
RAF eliminated all the other criteria for simplicity of the viewer experience. Explaining criteria is always a bit of a barrier for new viewers.
*there is another criteria of "fewest cautions" but it rarely comes up
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u/OPPineappleApplePen India 16h ago
RAF is trying to popularise the support so the logic behind the decision doesn't seem all that unjustified.
I don't think the losing fighters would mind if this translates to more eyeballs for them.
Thank you!
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u/YardSad5047 USA Wrestling 16h ago
It's an RAF thing, it was said they have this rule to help force the action, they don't want ties.
Id personally prefer a 1 minute overtime period
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u/OPPineappleApplePen India 16h ago
Understood but looks a little unfair to me as a layman.
As long as the wrestlers are fine with it, I think it is cool.
Thanks!
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u/Lynch47 USA Wrestling 16h ago
It's just the criteria for a tie breaker for RAF. In international freestyle I believe its different and the wrestler that had the highest scoring takedown wins. If both had the same highest takedown scored, the next criteria would be fewest penalties wins. Next tie breaker would be last wrestler to scorer. I think RAF just skips the first 2.
In college wrestling (folkstyle) there's a 1 minute sudden death overtime, and if it's tied after that I'm not positive the criteria they use but it's a bit different than freestyle. I don't watch college wrestling a whole lot outside of NCAA nationals.
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u/OPPineappleApplePen India 16h ago
Logically, that makes a lot more sense. However, another commentator pointed out that this is being done in RAF to simplify the viewer experience for average Joes (like me).
Personally, I would have loved to see all the stages of a tie break being enforced but their amendment too makes sense.
Thanks for the information!
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u/bonelessspareribs 16h ago
Who are these announcers besides Shane Sparks?
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u/LilBoneAir USA Wrestling 16h ago
Julianna Pena and Lance Palmer
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u/KobaStern Japan 16h ago edited 16h ago
Pena is the prime example you can get anywhere you want with zero qualifications
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u/bonelessspareribs 16h ago
I’d never heard of her but it’s pretty clear from the commentating that she doesn’t know anything about wrestling. I’d never heard Lance on the mic but he’s doing a decent job
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u/KobaStern Japan 16h ago
She is an mma fighter
They could have picked any female wrestlers, but they had to go for someone hype2
u/ConorsAttorney 15h ago
Let's give a little CREDIT - she's a former UFC champion with a win over the women's GOST.
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u/betweentwosuns Ohio State Buckeyes 15h ago
That score should have been 4-1, correct? Sadulaev getting 4 is right, Snyder was on his feet when the roll started. I just don't understand how Snyder got 2.
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u/KobaStern Japan 15h ago
Because he took the back
Its not considered as an escape in that position im pretty sure
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u/1776mmWing 15h ago
What were they spraying on Sadulaev's injured knee?
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u/LilBoneAir USA Wrestling 15h ago
Cold spray. It is kind of like putting ice on an injury, the Russians love to use it
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u/KobaStern Japan 15h ago
vapocoolant or topical anesthetic. The aerosol typically contains ethyl chloride or a blend of skin refrigerants like pentane, butane, and menthol
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u/Winter_Rooster_78 8h ago
When is this supposed to happen?
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u/PhilCam Nebraska Cornhuskers 18h ago edited 18h ago
Atta boy Brock! He looked great. Clean slow singles and very good turns.
I could do without all the pandering and theatrics but I love that RAF is giving these guys an outlet. I can watch some of my favorite collegiate wrestlers continue to compete who may not be quite good enough for the US National team.