Loss

This was from one of their first press releases: "Focused on producing fast-paced, high-impact competitions, AEW Offers fans less scripted, soapy drama, and more athleticism and real sports analytics, bringing [a] legitimacy to wrestling that it has not previously had. Wrestlers will also be given more freedom to explore their characters and highlight their athletic abilities. Introducing statistics to wrestling for the first time ever, AEW will raise the stakes for its matches and deepen fan engagement by tracking each competitor’s wins and losses as the wrestlers pursue championships, analyzing their moves, assessing damage to their opponents, and providing insights into their winning streaks."

In the same way Cornette is mad at Jim Ross because he feels like he should have walked out on AEW over Stadium Stampede (seriously!), I'm mad at Cornette for having become impossible to defend.

He said he wouldn't say anything about him out of respect for his family.

Fine with him going to Smackdown but I worry about them putting him against opponents that can't get over his strengths. His ideal first opponent would be Cesaro for that reason.

Vince. "Creative has nothing for you" is just code for "Vince isn't high on you", but they avoid that language to protect him and make someone else the fall guy.

WWE is trying a crowd. But it's just not working for me. I guess it's better than not having it, but I think the problem is that it's more a consistent faint noise instead of reacting to what's happening in the ring, or at least it comes across that way. They are much closer to the action on AEW shows and behave like rowdy wrestling fans. You see the movement in the background to go with the noise. I don't really get that here.

I have definitely enjoyed parts of The Last Ride, but it all felt very same-y after a while. He's in a lot of pain, but wants a classic match to go out on. That point is made, and made, and made ... and made. When they move past that, they make that point some more. It's fascinating for all the behind the scenes clips, though.

I think it's difficult to push guys under 25 in a non-territory system because they are usually stale long before they turn 30, even if they have more good years in the ring. They end up needing a change in scenery to stay fresh at that point. On the flip side, if you go too slow, you teach fans not to see the young guys at that level before pulling the trigger. It's a really tough thing to do now I think, especially when a good WWE run used to last 3-4 years and now a good WWE run lasts 10-12 years or more. Thinking about Orton and his age correlating to his push, he turned 30 in 2010 and still had some years on top ahead of him, but it seemed even by then that his best years were behind him.

The idea behind that was that they'd be able to claim for years to come that two women -- two who were going to be around for a long time -- could be promoted as the first-ever woman to headline Wrestlemania instead of just having one star at that level. The other stuff about Charlotte changing finishes I have never seen reported anywhere except this thread.

There will always be wrestlers for whom it's the right decision to go to WWE, depending on what they are seeking, much like in the 90s, when it made sense for some to go to WCW and for others to go to the WWF. The difference is that WWE used to be the best place to go if you were young and willing to work a busy schedule, because you'd easily exceed your downside guarantee and usually get a real shot at stardom. Now, I think it makes more sense for people like Styles and Nakamura who have put in so much time without ever making big money to sign as their bodies are breaking down. That used to be the type of wrestler better off in WCW.

Probably the big difference between her and Hunter is that this isn't her own doing.

I'm not sure I understand the criticism that WWE is booking someone to be clearly better than others. Isn't that the thing we want? Isn't the common criticism that WWE has too much parity, which creates a situation where everyone runs together? They put her in high heels because she's physically impressive and it helps accentuate that. Should they be downplaying that so that she doesn't come across as special? What is the ideal here that they aren't hitting with her that they should be hitting? Again, I think the idea is not that she's overpushed. It's that others are underpushed. The goal shouldn't be to bring her down to the level of others, but rather to bring others up to her level.

The conversation is happening in two different ways, I think. Dave would defend Edge above Christian by saying his matches were more heated.

He's also a big fan of Bobby Roode and in fairness, guys like that -- the fundamentally solid types who hit everything cleanly and were always where they were supposed to be in the ring -- have typically been considered the "great workers" in wrestling until recent years, when it's become more about who has the coolest moves.

The important thing in this story is that in the end, Owen's kids had the life Owen wanted for them. They turned out like he hoped they would. The reason for that is that Martha fought for it and refused to let a terrible tragedy destroy the family they had built. People have referred to Martha as "holding a grudge" but it's very much possible to not hold a grudge while also acknowledging that there cannot be a relationship moving forward because the trust was broken. You can make clear that's unacceptable and has consequences while still moving on with your life, which is what she has done. I can't think of anyone who could navigate something like that without making any mistakes at all, and I'm sure Martha made her share like anyone would, but she had her priorities in order.

I agree. When I saw that Brian Last presented him with a listener question asking if Otis was the modern Dusty Rhodes, all I could think was, "Please stop trolling."

I tend to think both Bret and Martha are telling the truth about their falling out. Sometimes, good people have rifts and they are both still good people, and I think that's what this is. They probably both had points of merit, and I hope they reconcile one day, because almost everyone that Bret can share the great memories he has of his life and career with has died, and I'm sure it's a lonely place.

Deserves to be repeated. It's rare that I find someone involved in wrestling even peripherally that I admire on that level. There are lots of people in wrestling that I respect, or that I see good qualities in, but not really in a way where I see their good qualities as transcending this hobby most of the time. Martha Hart is an inspiration to me as a parent -- the idea that no matter what happens, good or bad, you want your children to be smarter, kinder and better off than you ever were. She had the respect for them even as small children to tell them the truth and relentlessly pursue the truth that they couldn't access. It's powerful. It's a ray of hope in an otherwise terrible story.

100%. I would love if his podcast was just his honest take on wrestling history without the gimmick, but the gimmick is what too many of his listeners want, I guess.

Martha Hart is one strong and inspirational woman. It's not just the determination to pursue the truth, but it's also the goodness that just exudes from both of her children. The story is an incredibly tragic (and needless) one, but I have to think Owen would be beyond proud of his family. That was my takeaway from tonight.

I think the biggest issue isn't her being overpushed. It's that they haven't created enough stars in the division.

Not at all. It's a rare case where they've booked her to be a star with little to no funny business and she has become one. It somehow seems unjust because of all the talent we've seen squandered, but this is how it's supposed to work.

I should add that I'm not even really a fan of Omega and that I think the bar is pretty low for being a star now. But he has been a difference maker too many times to ignore. I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth, but there's almost an unspoken thing I'm picking up on of if something doesn't happen in WWE, it doesn't count.

Kenny Omega is a star in the U.S., though. Jericho-Omega did the best AEW buyrate so far and drew a sellout crowd. ROH attendance was always up when he was on the card as well. NJPW sold out the Cow Palace with him on top.

Case in point: Undertaker is still going in part because despite making more all but a small handful of wrestlers in history, he has had financial problems for years because of divorces and bad investments.