The Thread Killer

Christian and Copeland used to fantasy book working with FTR when they had that podcast years ago, and I know Copeland is legitimately close friends with both the guys in FTR, to the point where he name dropped them in a promo after he made his comeback in WWE. I have been critical of them using Copeland in a Main Event spot in AEW, but I have to admit I am legitimately curious and cautiously optimistic about an E&C vs FTR program. Does anybody else here feel the same way, or is the general consensus that AEW just needs to get rid of all of the older guys, especially those who became famous in WWE?

So is it true that during or after the Moxley/Copeland match last week, FTR got involved and after it looked like Harwood was angry with Copeland? There is a segment with “Rated FTR” scheduled for tonight and some people are speculating that it will lead to FTR turning on Copeland and maybe even the long rumoured FTR vs E&C angle? That may actually be enough to get me to tune in.

I was going to say…as a fan, the first time I ever saw Kamala was in the Montreal territory, managed by Eddie Creatchman. That was before his second WWF run, but after he’d already been in Memphis, Mid South, World Class, the AWA, and then his first WWF run where he feuded with Andre. If people are going to assign blame for that gimmick, there’s plenty to spread around, probably starting with Jarrett and Lawler in Memphis.

I shudder to think how much worse it’s going to get with Hunter Johnson totally in charge of creative now. He’s terrible.

As I said in the WWE thread, WWE would be stupid not to try and hire Gail Kim at this point. Equally, if Tony Khan is smart, Gail Kim will also be getting a phone call from him. The problem is, if you believe what is reported and the rumors, AEW is a bit chaotic backstage, and TK tends to micromanage. Then again she would make a lot more money with AEW I bet, and up until recently it seemed impossible to get fired from that company. Whereas TKO seems to overwork their management level people and maybe not pay them what they deserve. I hope for her sake, Gail lands on her feet.

Reading more about these firings, it looks like they really took the proverbial broom to management…if I’m not mistaken they seem to have let go at least six people on the management level.

I actually made the colossal mistake of going to Dave Melzer‘s Twitter feed to see what he was reporting about the TNA firings, but of course, aside from one throwaway line, he seems to be far too busy getting into stupid arguments with trolls about AEW vs WWE.

Fightful is reporting it. Anthem let go a bunch of management level people and announced Hunter Johnson aka Delirious as the new Head of Creative.

If WWE has any brains, they will hire Gail Kim as a producer/agent either in NXT or on the main roster for their massive women’s division, now that she has been let go by TNA. And now that Vince is gone, she may actually take the job. Considering the huge amount of female talent they have in NXT, you have to figure Gail Kim would be invaluable as a coach.

So apparently Anthem just cleaned house in TNA on the management side of things, and got rid of a bunch of people, including Gail Kim. They also announced that they have hired Hunter Johnson aka. Delirious as their new Head of Creative, which has to be viewed with some concern if you remember his time in the same position in ROH. Yikes.

Um, I don’t know what you’re talking about? Chad Gable couldn’t wrestle, he was sick. He had a Doctor’s note.

El Grande Americano es Numero Uno. Muy Bueno.

I actually watched SmackDown, but I skipped past that promo. Anything involving Charlotte since her comeback from injury has pretty much been grim death, and as much as I like Tiffany Stratton in the ring, I generally find her promos to be unremarkable at best. I am sure their actual match at Wrestlemania will be decent and it might even end up being really good, but I am opting out of the buildup to it.

I honestly think part of the problem is that NXT has a ridiculous amount of female talent. WWE could literally run a 2-3 hour weekly TV show using just their female talent and they would have more than enough women to fill the time. I really don’t think there is enough room on the main roster to accommodate the amount of talent that they have right now. Jordynne Grace, Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia could all also easily be on the Main Roster right now. There just aren’t enough spots.

I agree. As you and I have both mentioned before, it’s ridiculous that Roxanne is still in NXT at this point. If she isn’t Main Roster ready, then I don’t know who is. If Maxxine Dupree and B-Fab can be on the Main Roster, then by gawd there should be room for Roxanne Perez. As far as Trick Williams, he is another guy who seems to have “can’t miss” written all over him. He has size, athletic ability, charisma, he’s great on the mic, and he even has an annoying catch phrase the fans can chant. He’s been in NXT for what, 4 years now? I know he started from scratch with them, but bottom line is if he’s not ready by now, he probably never will be. I am very interested to see how he does when he finally gets his chance.

I can’t believe Corey Graves just suggested that the new American Luchadore could possibly be Tom Brandi or…Del Wilkes. Now that would be quite the accomplishment.

So…that vignette before the Nakamura vs. Priest match on Smackdown…that was Fenix, right? EDIT: Apparently some intrepid viewers have already replayed the vignette and thanks to judiciously freeze framing at the precisely right moment, were able to identify a couple of tattoos that confirm that it was definitely Fenix, no doubt about it.

Fightful is reporting that Jeff Cobb either has signed, or is about to sign with WWE. I remember reading that he was one of those guys that Vince had no interest in, for some reason. Considering the AEW/New Japan relationship, I always figured he’d end up in AEW, but I guess we’ll see how this shakes out. 42 seems a little bit old to be making the jump, even considering the average age of the WWE Main Event level guys now, as well. Then again…Cobb vs. Jacob Fatu? Or Solo? Or Bronson Reed? Yes please.

Come on, man. Bloodsport > Kickboxer by every definable metric.

I gave this question some thought after reading @flyonthewall2983's original post, and I came to an interesting realization about myself as a Pro Wrestling fan. Apparently, face turns seem to leave a more lasting impression on me than heel turns do. Right off the top of my head, I could think of a bunch of memorable face turns, but I really had to probe my own memory banks for memorable heel turns, and I have over 40 years of Pro Wrestling fandom to mine for content. (For example, even though I thought he was pretty much useless, one of my all time favorite face turns of all time was when Jimmy Garvin turned face after The Midnight Express burned Ronnie Garvin. That was freaking awesome, and pretty much out of nowhere.) I think part of the problem is that a lot of times, heel turns get telegraphed so badly for the weeks leading up to the actual turn. Where there is no surprise, there is no drama. Also, one of the many reasons I would love to choke Vince Russo is that he overdid turns so much as a booker, that they became essentially meaningless. When people are switching from heel to face and back willy-nilly, it doesn't have as much impact. One of the main reasons Hogan's turn was so huge was because he had been a babyface for so long, and not only that, he had been "the" babyface. I was a WWF fan who watched their weekly TV religiously every Saturday morning, so when Mr. Wonderful turned on Hulk Hogan, it certainly left a huge impression on me. Even at the time, I saw it coming from a million miles away...the whole deal with Hogan ignoring Orndorff's phone call, and then Orndorff ignoring him after the match with The Moondogs...we all knew it was coming, but it was still shocking somehow when it happened. One heel turn which I remember being absolutely flummoxed by, was when The Powers of Pain turned heel and Mr. Fuji turned heel on Demolition. I distinctly remember saying to my friends at the time: "So let me get this straight...Mr. Fuji manages Demoltion, who are the Tag Team Champions, and he turns on them to manage The Powers of Pain...who aren't the champions?" (And they never would be.) I could have almost seen it, if Mr. Fuji had turned on Demoltion and cost them the titles, and THEN he joined up with The Powers of Pain...but he didn't, he just switched sides for no readily apparent reason, so he could manage the team that weren't the champions. I guess from a booking standpoint, Vince did it because the fans were cheering for Demolition, and they didn't need Fuji as a mouthpiece, because they could cut promos, whereas The Powers of Pain couldn't...but it still made zero sense to me at the time. Dumbest heel turn ever.

I decided to check this out, since I had nothing better to do and I haven't seen any AEW in ages. I've been following the weekly TV results from the PW Newz sites, but I have seen very little actual action from them aside from the odd YouTube clip here and there. -> I thought MJF vs. Hangman was alright. Bias alert: I don't much care for Hangman in general, and I'm over MJF at this point. There was a time that I honestly believed he was going to be an all timer, but his entire act is getting stale to me. This match was good, but I wouldn't say it was great. It was a lot slower paced than I had been expecting. I was kind of surprised to see MJF do a clean job. It was what it was, but to be honest that might not be a fair assessment on my part. Both of these guys would have to go pretty damn far to impress me, because I'm really soured on both of them. -> Mone vs. Watanabe. One of my recurring issues with this show (and with AEW in general) is that I find it hard to enjoy matches when the winner isn't really in doubt. I'm not at all familiar with Watanabe but I certainly didn't expect her to win this match...and she didn't. I didn't think the match itself was anything to write home about, which was apparently due a foot/ankle injury that Watanabe suffered during the match. To me, this was the very definition of "meh." I am also very tempted to make a comment about Watanabe's ring gear...but it probably won't be taken particularly well. All I will say is that perhaps when it comes to picking out ring gear, Watanabe should apply the Latin moto "Nosce te ipsum." ->Swerve vs. Ricochet. I've never been a fan of Ricochet. To me, he's always been just another flippy guy, but with the added caveat that he didn't seem to have a convincing personality and couldn't cut a decent or believable promo. Much to my delight, that was one of the first things Tony Khan addressed when he signed Ricochet to AEW, so full marks to him for that. But at the end of the day, Swerve is a Main Event guy and Ricochet just isn't, I don't care how you dress him up. I didn't see Ricochet winning this match...and he didn't. Much like the first two matches, this wasn't a bad match...but I wouldn't say it was great. They definitely kicked it up a notch for the finishing sequence though...that was excellent. And thankfully, this result means that Swerve is going back to the Main Event where he clearly belongs. -> Okada vs. Brody King. Not going to lie, I was expecting more from this match. When I stopped watching AEW, Brody King seemed like he was just on the verge of breaking through, and based on this match he really hasn't done it yet. I freely admit I am not a New Japan guy. I saw those matches with Omega and a couple of excellent matches with Naito, but I never saw most of the matches which supposedly made Okada the legend people say he is. To me, in AEW he is presented as just a guy and this was just a match. Much like everything else on this card so far, this was good...but this match would not have been out of place on TV. -> The Tag Team Title match was the first match I had a serious issue with. I have a friend who is a huge AEW fan and loves The Outrunners. He was actually hyped about this match, for some reason and was trying to convince me that I don't "get" The Outrunners. I am familiar with them, I saw them in OVW and I'm pretty sure I saw them in Billy Corgan's NWA as well. I guess they are a comedy act, and supposedly they move a lot of merchandise (for AEW.) Here's my problem. AEW has, by my estimation: The Undisputed Kingdom, 2.0, The Gunns, Big Bill & Brian Keith, The Gates of Agony, Top Flight, Lio Rush & Action Andretti, The Righteous , Private Party, The Von Erichs, MxM Collection, The Young Bucks, Shane Taylor Promotions, about a million combinations of different Luchadores and...oh yeah...FTR, who are the greatest Tag Team in Pro Wrestling right now, and maybe of all time. And I know I'm missing other teams on top of these I just listed. And of all of those different options, AEW decides to put The Hurt Syndicate vs. The Outrunners on PPV? Come on. When you have a Tag Team division that is as stacked as theirs, if you don't use it...that's just shitty booking. And this match was basically just a glorified squash, so I'm not really sure what the point was. -> Toni Storm vs. Mariah May. So I know from reading the reactions online that this was the match that made this show for everybody. I've seen people saying it is an all time classic, that it should have been the Main Event, etc. etc. etc., and all that. Problem is that I haven't been following the weekly TV so I wasn't really caught up in the ongoing story/angle/feud. The other issue is, I don't really like garbage matches and I especially don't enjoy them when it's Women's Wrestling. This match wasn't bad and I'd never say it was boring, but the best way to describe it would be to say that it wasn't for me. It didn't appeal to me, and it that makes me out of touch, I can live with that. -> Omega vs. Takeshita. This match and the cage match were basically the whole reason I watched this show. I thought this match was hands down the best match on the show, and overall I think it was outstanding. My biggest complaints about Kenny Omega are that his matches are too long, there are too many damn false finishes, and he doesn't sell. This match was on the long side, but it didn't bother me any. There were a ton of false finishes, but I think that was pretty much appropriate to the match...and the psychology was outstanding. The announcers did an excellent job of selling how dangerous this match was for Omega due to his recent surgery, and Takeshita and Omega did an excellent job of focusing on that. The spot where Takeshita dropped Omega gut first across the chair was executed to perfection. This was one of the best matches I have seen in a long time. If AEW was stuff like this, I'd still be watching every week. Just outstanding stuff. -> Fletcher vs. Ospreay. On the positive side, I really have to give it to TK and AEW. The last time I was watching AEW with any regularity, Kyle Fletcher was a skinny geek who certainly had a ton of potential, but that was about it. Dude looks like a legit superstar now. It's been a pretty amazing transformation, and TK and Fletcher deserve a ton of credit for it. THIS is how you develop original talent, and that way you don't have to depend on 50 year old WWE hand-me-downs. And as annoying as I find him, Ospreay is probably one of five best Pro Wrestlers active in the World today. As far as the match goes...my feelings are mixed. As I stated earlier, I don't like garbage matches. They have been overdone to the point where they just don't mean anything anymore. I used to be an FMW/ECW fan, and now I'm at the point where if I never saw another table spot, barbed wire bat, or thumbtack again, I'd be perfectly happy with that. And if you absolutely have to do that kind of stuff...you do it ONCE per PPV. Toni Storm and Mariah May already did the hardcore crap earlier, so to me, this was just gratuitous and unnecessary. I was kind of hoping we were going to see two great wrestlers have a wrestling match in a cage, but of course we didn't. Honestly, I don't see the upside in matches like this. These guys don't need props, it kills the crowd, and you run the risk of guys getting injured...and for what? I get that this was a blood feud or whatever, but I was honestly disappointed with this match. -> Cope vs. Moxley. Here's the thing...one of the reasons I quit watching AEW was because I fucking loathe Jon Moxley. There is literally nothing about him that I like. There might be somebody in Pro Wrestling who is more overrated than he is, but I can't think of who. People like to bag on LA Knight as a Stone Cold/Rock ripoff, but to me Moxley is like a hybrid Mick Foley/Stone Cold ripoff, without any skill or charisma. For a supposed brawler, his offense is laughably bad. His promos are unconvincing and comically corny, and on top of all that, I am pretty sure that he's just a legitimately stupid human being, based on every interview I have ever seen with him. I don't hate Adam Copeland, but he has no business being anywhere near the Main Event scene at this point in his career. And if you go to Cagematch and check his Won/Loss record since coming back from his injury in 2020, it becomes glaringly obvious that dude does NOT like doing jobs. I have seen interviews with him (especially after he signed with AEW) where he talked about working with younger talent, and I know he is close buddies with FTR and he hinted that at some point that he and Christian wanted to work a program with them. YES PLEASE. Give me Copeland and Christian vs. FTR. Hell, make it for the Tag Team Titles, it's not like it could be any worse than what is happening in the AEW Tag Title scene right now. But if Copeland really does want to start helping younger talent, he needs to get on with it, because he's starting to look his age. Let's be honest...this match was awful. I didn't love this PPV, but up until the Main Event you can't honestly say there had been anything resembling a "bad" match on this show. Not all of them were to my taste, but everybody worked hard, the crowd was into it, and the show had momentum, until this match sucked all that right out of the building. A great way to tell if a match sucks is if the commentators have to make some excuse why the crowd is being so quiet...and very early into this match, Excalibur did just that. On top of everything else, this match managed to make Christian look like a geek, so good job TK. Here's what needs to be done: - Copeland needs to go to the midcard where he belongs, working with younger talent and actually putting them over. - Swerve needs to beat Jon Moxley for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship, and go on to face Omega, Ospreay, Fletcher, Okada, Hobbs, or one of the other countless AEW guys who deserve the spot. - Jon Moxley needs to be strapped to a rocket which is then shot directly into the sun. Problem solved. Overall, this was a really good show. I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as a lot of people did because I don't like garbage matches, but if you can't watch a match like Omega vs. Takeshita, then I don't know what to tell you. Bottom line is, shows like this generally aren't aimed at fans like me but I managed to find stuff to enjoy anyhow. If Tony Khan clears the crap out of the Main Event scene, I might actually go back to watching AEW TV again...especially since because thanks to their new Canadian TV deal, I don't have to pay to watch it anymore.

If he wasn’t a massive choad, I would almost feel bad for Braun Strowman (but he is, so I don’t.) I got the distinct impression that he was meant to be the sympathetic character when they did that angle on Saturday Night’s Main Event with Jacob Fatu brutalizing him…but I’m pretty sure the fans really aren’t supposed to be chanting “One More Time!” when a heel repeatedly attacks you. And in pretty much every interaction the two of them have had since, the fans seem clearly on the side of Fatu. It’s not even that they don’t like Strowman as much as it just seems to be that Jacob Fatu is too exciting to boo. The fans were even chanting Fatu’s name when he squared off with Cody, FFS. If you-know-who was still in charge, I’m sure this would all be ignored, but hopefully the current creative team is smart enough to realize what’s happening here and capitalize on it. Because Jacob Fatu is freaking awesome and they need to push him to the moon. They have already laid the groundwork of problems between Solo and Fatu, and Lord knows the fans hate Solo, so I hope they continue in the direction they are going and we get to see them fight soon.

I’m kind of hoping for a continuation of the relationship breakdown between Jacob Fatu and Solo, with those two guys facing off at Wrestlemania. With the continued loud positive crowd reactions Fatu is getting, you have to assume they will pretty much have to turn him face sooner rather than later.

Yeah, that was a hell of a promo from Orton, and I usually find his mic work kind of underwhelming. Between Orton and the aforementioned Cody promo, ‘twas a great night for pissed off babyfaces.

I’m very glad LA Knight won the United States Championship back tonight. I don’t know what the hell they had been planning on doing creatively when they took the belt off Knight and put it on Nakamura at Survivor Series, but whatever the plans were, they clearly abandoned them. Nakamura beat Knight in November and had only defended the title once since then (against Knight, which ended in a DQ when the New Bloodline interfered.) That’s one (unsuccessful) US Title defense in almost 4 months. They either kept Nakamura off TV or had him lurking around backstage and cutting spooky promos. I was the first one to applaud when they changed up Nakamura’s character and direction, but bottom line is they never followed through at all. At least when Knight was US Champ he had decent TV defenses against Hayes, Andrade and Escobar. I saw speculation on Twitter that Nakamura might actually be finishing up with WWE. Maybe it’s time. Let’s be honest, dude has been in WWE for 9 years and for the most part he has accomplished a whole lot of nothing. I hope they can find a decent feud/angle/opponent for Knight so there is a US Title Match at Wrestlemania this year, at least.