The Thread Killer

Can you imagine the fired up promo we are going to get from Brian Pilman Jr. in response to this?!

Well, I for one did not see that coming

The only criticism I have (and I know it’s kind of goofy) is with the HOB. They have scary, intimidating music. They have scary, intimidating costumes. Two of their members have scary, intimidating names. The other one is named…”Buddy.”

Man, when PAC is on, he is ON.

Let’s hope Athena gets the respect she deserves, finally.

Why did Jade deliberately sit-out into a choke?!

That’s a good point, and I guess it applies to both of them. They need to stop trying to wrestle like it’s 1998. They are older, have injuries and need to adjust, and they could still be interesting. They could even lean into all that Broken Universe stuff as part of the process. More brawling, less high flying.

It started off pretty rough, but to their credit they managed to pick it up. Considering the fact that Jeff lost his boot, and both of the Hardys have lost a step, that was probably better than it had any right to be.

Matt seems to be starting to get a bald spot which is not a good look when you have your hair like that. I was not expecting that finish.

Exactly my thought. If this is a work, it’s the dumbest work ever. I’m no professional, but it is my understanding the whole point of angles is to make people people buy tickets or order a PPV, not to discourage them from doing so.

Same. I was going to order this show for sure, now I am on the fence. $50 is a lot of money, and the only two matches I really wanted to see badly are MJF/Wardlow and Punk/Page. All this uncertainty about MJF showing up combined with no FTR might make this show a pass for me.

Did a bit of digging, turns out the Regal pod will be permanently cohosted by Matt Koon. Conrad is cohosting the first Foley pod for sure. Jon Alba is now cohosting DDP Snakepit.

It looks like Conrad is starting to hand off some of his hosting duties. He still technically cohosts the Prichard podcast, but I heard they just taped a ton of those in advance because Brucie is very rarely available. But I would imagine Conrad will continue to host that show if at all possible, considering it is pretty much his flagship podcast. Conrad still does the weekly watch along podcast with Tony Schiavone, as far as I can tell. Ditto 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff. I think he continues to do those shows because 83 Weeks has also pretty much moved to an all watch along format. I would imagine Conrad does not need to do much preparation or research to simply sit there and comment during a watch along. Paul Bromwell is a friend of Conrad’s who did business with him, and when Ad Free Shows got off the ground Conrad hired him to help run it. He has slowly started filling in for Conrad when needed, but to be honest it seems like he has pretty much taken over as the permanent cohost of JR, Kurt Angle and Arn’s shows. A lot of fans seem to hate this guy. He does have a voice like a bad FM radio DJ…he sounds kind of smarmy and disingenuous, so I can see why people don’t like him, and prefer Conrad. I don’t know if it is true, but I get the impression he doesn’t know anything about pro wrestling. JR and Arn’s shows have gotten beyond stale anyhow. Neither of them sound like they even want to be there, at least they haven’t the last few times I have checked in and tried to listen. And Bromwell being the cohost sure ain’t helping things. Conrad seems to be sticking to co-hosting Jeff Jarrett’s shows and the DDP/Jake Roberts show as well. And of course, Conrad is doing the Ric Flair podcast as well. He can’t pawn his Father-in-Law off on Paul Bromwell. Even though I bet he would like to. Conrad has hired an indie announcer named Jon Alba to co-host Matt Hardy’s podcast. Alba is pretty good. He at least sounds like a professional. Conrad has hired him to do a couple of other exclusive interviews and one shot podcasts for AFS. Road Dogg now has a podcast and it is co-hosted by some guy named Ryan Katz or something like that. That dude is awful. I guess he used to wrestle in XPW and worked behind the scenes in NXT later. I don’t really have any desire to listen to a Brian James podcast, but even if I did I could never listen to it with this guy as the cohost. I assumed that Conrad would be cohosting the two new shows but I don’t think he will be. It sounds like Matt Koon is going to be co-hosting the Regal pod. So I guess he and Conrad are working together again. I know he used to work for him back in the very early days of STW, but then he left. Koon isn’t bad as a cohost. I think his background is in advertising and music but he seems to know a bit about broadcasting. I don’t know who will be cohosting the Foley pod, but I sure hope it’s somebody good and not Bromwell or Katz. Bottom line is, the AFS lineup is now: Something To Wrestle 83 Weeks Grilling JR My World with Jeff Jarrett What Happened When ARN The Kurt Angle Show DDP Snake Pit To Be The Man Oh...You Didn't Know The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy The Gentleman Villain Foley is Pod Kliq This with Kevin Nash

I remember back then, they announced that Superfly Snuka’s cousin was coming in, and I was super excited because I had been a huge Superfly mark (in my defence I was just a kid and didn’t know Snuka was a coked up murderer at the time.) Then “Superfly Afi” made his debut and after seeing him wrestle I was decidedly less excited. Then they changed Sivi Afi’s gimmick to “High Chief Afi” and put him with The Islanders and I still wasn’t excited. Then Tama left and they decided Haku was King Haku and put a crown on him, and I was confused more than anything. EDIT: Here is Afi’s debut with Haku and Tama against Brady Boone, Outback Jack and…Steve Blackman?!

It’s official… The new Conrad/Regal podcast debuts next Thursday, and the new Conrad/Foley podcast debuts next Friday.

yeah but EC3 is better because he controls his narrative

I’m sorry I was reliably informed by Vince McMahon that the UFC is not competition for WWE because they are not sustainable, since UFC can’t control the outcomes and big stars can lose at any time.

I agree. I don’t hate The Dark Order as much as I used to, but the fact is they’re essentially enhancement talent at this point, and having them as his wacky comedy sidekicks really didn’t do anything to help Hangman Page establish his character.

I agree with you again. We’ve been agreeing a lot more lately. Maybe we should reconsider our relationship, maybe we could get a place together or something, I dunno I’m just throwing it out there. In all seriousness…yes. FTR are red hot right now, it’s kind of crazy to me that as of today at least, they’re not on this PPV. I know a lot of people are speculating that Kyle O’Reilly might actually make it into the finals of the Owen tournament, so I can see why they are not going to book FTR vs. ReDragon. If they are going to do that match, I would like to see it built up properly and maybe even be an ongoing angle. But I don’t see why they couldn’t run the FTR versus Roppongi Vice match on the PPV. Or hell, at the very least throw them into the world tag team title match and make it a fatal four-way. As much as I generally loathe multi-team tag matches…At least give FTR something. They are too good and too hot right now to be left off a major pay-per-view. In the overall picture, I have a bit of an issue with the way the Tag Team division has been booked in AEW. I love that they treat the titles with respect and give the matches the amount of time and attention they deserve. Much better than any other league I know of. But on the flipside, they have a ton of great talent that never gets showcased properly. Seriously, when was the last time Santana & Ortiz had a normal tag team match on TV? Private Party have been stuck with Matt Hardy and Andrade for way too long. They have a ton of talent that barely ever gets to wrestle on TV and that is a real shame. I am really hoping that ROH ends up getting a TV deal somewhere and that a lot of this AEW talent who isn’t getting the time they need and up there.

Ugh, I still have nightmares about that god awful Survivor Series “Deadly Games” tournament he booked, or even worse that WCW World Title tournament. SO. SHITTY.

I seem to make it a point to only agree with @El-P about twice a year, since we seem to have totally divergent opinions on pretty much all things related to Pro Wrestling. This appears to be one of the rare occasions I couldn’t agree with him more. When the man is right, he’s right. Seriously. The Miz is infinitely inferior to MJF by pretty much every measurable metric. It’s not even close, really. Sure, Miz might be one of the best at cutting scripted, Vince language, approved verbiage, WWE style heel promos. But if you put him in the ring across from MJF with a microphone in his hand and no script? MJF would eat his lunch. And in the ring, MJF just keeps getting better and better. MJF has had better matches in AEW over the past 12 months than Miz has had his entire career. Miz can’t even master throwing a goddamn worked kick. Honestly, he’s the shits. People really need to stop comparing the two of them because it’s not even close. Miz reminds me more of Peter Avalon than he does of MJF.

via 411: Big Sexy is set to join the world of podcasting. CuCommunications and Podcast Heat have announced that Kevin Nash will launch his own podcast this summer. ‘Kliq This: The Kevin Nash Podcast’ will launch on July 11 and be co-hosted by Sean Oliver. Here’s a press release: “Kliq This: The Kevin Nash Podcast” Set to Join Podcast Heat Kevin Nash and Sean Oliver team up for weekly podcast Former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) heavyweight champion, original New World Order (NWO) member, and WWE Hall of Famer, “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash is set to jack-knife power bomb the podcast world with the launch of “Kliq This: The Kevin Nash Podcast.” Starting on July 11, Nash, along with co-host Sean Oliver (Kayfabe Commentaries), will bring their uncensored and unfiltered conversations to Podcast Heat, with new episodes dropping every Monday on both audio and video podcast outlets. “Kliq This listeners will get a magical mystery tour into all aspect of life,” said Nash. “No topic is off limits or out of bounds. We will be pop culture driven, but not too timid to attack today’s current cancel culture.” “Kliq This will be the best of what fans loved about our shoot interviews together, just on a much broader scale,” added Oliver. “Fans will slide up to the bar next to Kevin and me for banter and guests ranging from the stars of wrestling, to entertainment, to music and Lord knows what else.” “Before podcasting became common place for professional wrestling, Sean Oliver and his Kayfabe Commentaries shoot interviews were the fans ‘go-to’ for behind-the-scenes stories and information,” said Podcast Heat founder Dave Greene. “And of all his interviews, Sean’s conversations with Kevin Nash were can’t miss. I can’t wait to hear what these guys have in store when the conversations can extend beyond just professional wrestling.” To interact with “Kliq This: The Kevin Nash Podcast” on Twitter, follow @KliqThisPodcast.

Are the Hardys really that much bigger than the Bucks? I always assumed they were pretty much the same size.

I hadn’t even thought of that, but you are right Johnny Dynamite would’ve been a much better name. Oh and Joe’s still got it, dammit. He has looked a lot better in AEW that he did the last time I saw him in NXT. He is hardly in his prime anymore but I think he can still go if given the chance.

I had heard that as well, that it was a large venue. That makes very little business sense to me. Due to my background in charity fundraising I know how much it costs to rent and run a venue of that size and it is not an insignificant number. They are going to be in the red from renting that venue alone, never mind what they are probably paying all that talent. I can’t imagine that Stroman or Overeem are coming cheap. I suppose it is possible they are getting a percentage of the gate and not a huge upfront guarantee, but I doubt that. Then, as you said… There is the ridiculous lack of leadtime going into this event. Less than a month to promote it does not give them much chance of getting a decent crowd out. I think those guys are going to be sorely disappointed with how this works out. And that’s not even getting into the actual quality of some of those potential matches. The odds of them making any money on this event are pretty much infinitesimal.