The Thread Killer

Agreed. That was pretty much the way this whole situation seemed to be going. I don’t necessarily think there are any clean hands here. If anything, this whole deal reinforced to me (for the millionth time, not that it needed any actual reinforcement) that Social Media is a festering cesspool. I will never understand the compulsive need some people have to air their dirty laundry in public. Back in my day, we used to do horrible, emotionally scarring, heinous shit to each other behind closed doors, away from the prying eyes of the public, and we were all a lot happier for it, dammit. Well…maybe not. But still.

I get that, but much like with pretty much everything else in life, there are the proverbial "shades of grey" (tm Vince McMahon.) To me, a lot of these issues need to be looked at on a case by case basis, not just with the attitude of "you said something stupid 10 years ago, so no more work for you, that policy applies to everybody with no exceptions." Firstly (as I mentioned earlier) the major component is "does the person who said or did the fucked up thing still think that way." People love to complain about The Ultimate Warrior (those people clearly have NO concept of the power of Destrucity, but I digress.) He said a lot of stuff which was viewed as offensive, hurtful, controversial, etc. To the best of my knowledge, Warrior never apologized for anything he said, nor do I think he even thought what he said was particularly wrong. So in that case, I totally get people (except WWE apparently) refusing to give the guy a pass. But as I said, in the case of Jay Briscoe, not only did he apologize repeatedly for what he said...there is fairly compelling evidence to suggest he honestly doesn't feel that way anymore. This is where I have an issue with people who want to hold him to account still, after all this time. People can change. People can grow. Allow me to share with you an example from my own life. When I first began my career in Social Worker back in 1989, we were having a noticeable and concerning surge of racially motivated physical assaults in the Toronto Area, perpetrated by Neo Nazi Skinheads. They would surround somebody (usually a minority) on the subway and do something they called a "swarming" where a group they would push the person to the ground and proceed to kick and stomp, the ever-loving shit out of the victim. There was a huge public outcry, and police quite rightly began rounding up all the Nazi skinheads and throwing the book at them. Eventually, a number of these lovely young citizens ended up serving time as guests of the state, and ended up in my professional neck of the woods. Do you know who ended up being the most effective counsellor I ever saw working with Neo Nazi skinheads? A buddy of mine who was... A reformed Neo Nazi skinhead. Doug had been a member of some sort of "White Power" organization and was also a cocaine dealer. He was addicted to meth (although back in my day, we called it "crank" for some reason.) Doug got caught dealing, got sent away to prison and while there he underwent drug treatment and ended up going through a total personality transplant. He renounced his racist views, and once he got out of jail he had all of his (plentiful) Nazi tattoos either burned off or blacked out...and he dedicated his life to getting kids out of that lifestyle. Doug worked tirelessly to try and teach kids who had fallen sway to those insipid and hateful ideologies to reconsider their behaviour, find out the real reasons they were acting like this...and most importantly to face the impact their behaviour was having on their victims. I personally witnessed this guy save a number of kids from a life that was destined to end up hurting both themselves, and a lot of other innocent people, and put them on the right path. He was a hundred times more effective at helping get kids out of White Nationalism than guys like myself were at the time. I was a 20 year old kid straight out of college who (although well meaning) didn't really know my ass from my elbow. Doug understood exactly what those kids were going through, he knew all the language and how they got sucked into that life...and most importantly, how to get them out and put a stop to the cycle of hate. I can't help but wonder...if Social Media had existed back then, if Doug would have even been allowed to atone for his behaviour and try to make up for the harm he had done? I doubt it. I am guessing it would have been a case of: "Hey, 10 years ago you said Hitler was great and death to the Jews." Which he did say. But then he changed. Not only did he not feel that way anymore, but he was wracked with remorse and that guilt motivated him to achieve great things in the name of undoing the damage he had done to society. If we stop allowing people to apologize for wrongs they have committed and stop letting them atone for their behaviour...where will that leave us? Now granted, people like Hulk Hogan muddy those waters, when they are clearly only sorry they got caught saying something terrible and don't actually regret it. And @sek69 is right...private companies have every right to refuse employment to anybody for any reason. That is one of the many great things about the free enterprise system that makes capitalism so much better than any other system, especially socialism...right @El-P? I just think we should judge each case individually, and not apply the same brush to everybody. We've all said and done stupid shit, to varying degrees. I don't think a person's chance to earn a living should be permanently altered based on things which were said a long time ago, especially if seemingly legitimate remorse has been shown.

Quite honestly, if Tony Khan gets a TV deal for ROH, I would be fine with the Briscoes staying there. You would have to imagine they will now be paid a lot better than they have been in previous years. And maybe that would be the best place for them.

You will get no argument from me whatsoever. I think it’s pretty much criminal that those guys are not signed somewhere big right now, whether it be AEW preferably or even NXT/WWE. From a selfish standpoint I would much prefer to see them in AEW. This past weekend just confirmed what I already knew and that is they are still one of the best teams out there. I know there is still some residual heat on them for that tweet by Jay nine years ago, but they have apologized multiple times since then, I don’t know what else they need to do to get past it. It’s not like it is an ongoing issue. An authority no less than EFFY has said that they are “changed men” and are a welcome presence in the locker room. It would be a whole different story if they were still saying stuff like that to this day, but they have been contrite about this whole issue for nine years now, I honestly think it’s time to let that go.

I am most curious to see how they handle FTR vs. The Young Bucks Part Deux, from a booking perspective. There have been a lot of rumblings and rumours that The Bucks are not fond of FTR IRL and have wanted to, or tried to, basically bury them. Dax Harwood went so far as to joke about it in one of his promos leading up to their match with The Briscoes. He encouraged Dem Boys to sign with AEW, so they could job to the “EVP’s” and get buried like FTR had - and then The Briscoes and FTR could get on with having their match. Of course, you can look at that two ways… Dax could have been saying it tongue-in-cheek and was just having fun with the online rumours, or he could have really been sniping at The Bucks. Cody had said in an interview way back when that The Bucks were offended that people used to say The Revival are the best Tag Team in Pro Wrestling when they were with WWE, when The Bucks clearly think they are. I would say that even the most ardent Bucks fans would have to admit they are notoriously sensitive and thin skinned when it comes to people criticizing them in any way or questioning their status as the so-called “Best in the Business.” Regardless of whether or not you believe it is just a stupid online rumor, a joke, or is there some truth to it, the way the initial match between the two teams was booked was a little strange if you ask me. There was so much hype around those two teams finally meeting that they had a custom T-shirt printed up for “The Dream Match.” They match up once (in front of next to no fans due to the pandemic) and The Bucks go over and then…that’s it. Rivalry finished! It might not be a burial, but it sure has all the signs of one. An argument can be made that The Bucks just wanted to get their win, make their statement and then disengage. Even if you don’t believe the conspiracy theories about a burial, I don’t know why that was never turned into a full-time feud or angle. It seem to me to be a wasted opportunity at the very least. It’s a fact that CM Punk held off debuting with AEW until after the pandemic because he didn’t want to waste that opportunity by having it happen in front of no fans. I obviously don’t think that TK should have held off debuting FTR due to the pandemic, but he certainly could have kept those two teams apart until the fans came back. In fact, that was a golden opportunity to build up suspense and momentum for when they eventually did face off in front of fans, really build up the hype. Instead it was one and done and kind of unremarkable the way it was booked. The Bucks are no longer booking the AEW Tag Division but they certainly have Tony Khan’s ear. I for one am not a fan of how FTR have been booked so far during their time with AEW. AEW has a much deeper Tag Division than NXT/WWE had (plus AEW actually treats Tag Team Wrestling seriously and not like an afterthought) but FTR’s greatest matches came in NXT despite all the potential matches they could and should have had so far in AEW. And that’s booking. They ended up jobbing to Sting and Darby, they lost to Moxley and Punk who aren’t even a team FFS. It’s hard not to wonder if somebody is trying to hamstring them. Now we finally get to see the rematch tonight. All I can say is that if FTR ends up doing a clean job again, you are going to have a hard time convincing me that there is no truth to the rumors.

That is what I was worried about going into the pay-per-view. I was worried that I had such high expectations, no matter what happened it would end up being a disappointment. Luckily the match lived up to my expectations and the hype. If you have enjoyed other FTR matches, I would say this one ranks right up there with their absolute best. I enjoyed this as much as the matches with American Alpha, or even the 2/3 Falls with DIY, which is one of the all time great tag matches, IMO.

This. I can’t. I just…can’t. Life is too short to subject myself to hours of nauseating quick cuts peppered with Michael Cole bleating out WWE robocorporatespeak at the top of his lungs. I don’t know what the hell WWE has turned into but it sure isn’t Pro Wrestling anymore. I used to enjoy these PWO watch along threads but even that isn’t enough anymore to get me to watch this shit.

That was a damn good show. I thought the women’s match was a little clunky, but aside from that there really wasn’t a bad match on that show. The main event was outstanding. I liked the surprise at the end, even if Joe is really starting to show his age. I am really looking forward to see where ROH goes from here.

I was so hyped up about this match for so long, but yet it still did not disappoint. One of the rare occasions where something lives up to the hype. I certainly hope we get to see a rematch at some point.

Yeah, sending Cage to ROH for a reboot makes sense, too. He and Tully are a good pairing.

OMG KWANG!

Holy crap…Swerve/Zayne was a perfect opener. Crazy spots, high energy and didn’t overstay it’s welcome. Swerve is awesome. Yet another entry on the “why the hell did WWE release this guy“ list.

I am watching the show as we speak. I was there the minute they announced Briscoes/FTR, and Tony Khan has been building this card all week. It’s a great show on paper, and Tony Khan is promising a surprise as well.

AEW PPV’s are $40.00 on FITE in North America (or Canada at least for sure). They are $50.00 on traditional PPV. I know the last NWA Crockett Cup show was $20 per night or $30 for both shows. On FITE. ROH used to be available on traditional PPV here but they no longer are, and the NWA has never been. I have no idea how much Impact shows cost because…c’mon. If I ever get to the point where I am seriously considering paying money to watch Impact, then that will be the sign it is time to seriously reconsider all my life choices. I am going to be watching that ROH pay-per-view with a couple of my friends and we will be splitting the cost three ways, which basically means I will be paying 10 bucks. I would pay $10 to watch the Briscoes fight FTR all day long. That’s a deal as far as I am concerned.

The last few times I used FITE to order NWA and AEW shows it actually worked out okay for me, so that is probably how I will check it out.

Hell yeah! I posted about this in the AEW thread but this is such big news it calls for a cross-post…

FTR just announced on Twitter that they will be the ones challenging The Briscoes on April 1 at Supercard of Honor for the ROH Tag Titles. FUCK. YES. Finally. It would have been better in AEW PPV but I will take it where I can get it. I’m buying that sumbitch.

Uh…what? Please tell me that you mean 90% of books written ABOUT capitalism are bullshit, and not that you mean because capitalism exists in and of itself as a system, that thereby means that 90% of all books about all topics are therefore bullshit.

Listen, if you can watch the Sharmell vs. Jenna Morasca 7* classic from TNA Victory Road 2009, and then turn around and say that Sharmell doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame…then I just don’t know what to tell you. Maybe you aren’t really a wrestling fan. Never mind the pointless WWE Hall of Fame. Why is this woman not in the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame? And The Observer?

I assume that is leading to a match between them at the PPV? I trust Danielson to get a good actual wrestling match out of Moxley and help reign in some of his more excessive tendencies. In this case, there need not be mouse traps, pizza cutters or sparklers. Those two have what it takes to have a good old fashioned rasslin match.

Yeah, and he is pretty much my all time favourite and my choice for GOAT. But I have a really hard time watching his matches now.

Not a huge fan of FTR losing a match to a couple of guys who have never teamed up in AEW before…but it’s hard to find fault with the quality of the match, and Punk pretty much had to win for the MJF feud to continue, so it is what it is, I guess. I am starting to fear the Briscoes are not getting signed, and the dream match is going to end up being in ROH, if it happens at all.

You said it. This is outstanding.

Somebody please inform Jake Hager that the flood is over.

They really need to bring the Briscoes in. I want that damn FTR/Briscoes match, dammit…and I prefer it to happen in AEW.