cm funk

I think Cage and Taz are great together. I wasn't into Taz as a mouthpiece when they did it in TNA years ago, but I think he's great here. I've been a Cage fan for a while and I like they way they've been introducing monsters as challengers for Moxley. First Brodie Lee, now Cage....there's a bit of an old school territory feel to it Nothing on the show blew me away but everything was solid-very good. Jericho is gold on commentary. It does feel like time for a shake up though with Sammy out, Hager and Santana/Ortiz all losing on the show, and Jericho likely losing to Orange Cassidy next week. It almost feels like other than Sammy this was planned to write Jericho out for a few months to tour with Fozzy. I think they can definitely have the Inner Circle kind of go their separate ways for a while and bring them back together down the line to finally do Blood & Guts I loved the Darby video. That last trick was F'n insane!!!!

One more thing, is Toni Storm stuck in NZ?

I will say though, the last person to get a big NXT title win on TV was Rhea.......and we all see how that went Hopefully Lee isn't jobbing to Bray Wyatt or Braun Stroman by the fall I forgot about the Rhea stuff. Seems like a harmless way to keep her busy while she's not after the title. They botched her bad with the Charlotte stuff and need to rebuild her, no problem with this. Robert Stone is really good in this role IMO.

I haven't been a regular NXT (or WWE in general) viewer since empty arena started, but I decided to watch night 1 of NXT: GAB - crowd helps, but AEW is still better at it - Women's 4-way was a decent opener. All 4 girls are good but none of them seem like they're on Io's level right now as a credible challenger. Tegan and Io is an interesting match I guess - Dexter Lumis is no buys with me. I love his theme music, he's still green but not a total stiff, this character just doesn't do it for me. Seems like a natural heel but I guess he's a face? What is he? I get using Strong (and all of UE) to get guys over and help them in the ring.....but they have to have better prospects than this guy. I skipped forward on this match a lot - Loved Thatcher and Lorcan. Thatcher is the best. Just his constant mean mug is enough for me to love the guy. - Damian Priest is a great promo. That combined with decent enough work and the ability to hang with top tier guys makes me a fan of his - Presentation of Escobar and his group was top notch - Karrion Kross video was good. Sounds like he's going for a Christian Bale voice with his delivery - I probably had my expectations set too high for Io and Sasha. Good for a first match, feel they could do a lot better. Was that German where Sasha landed on her head but almost flipped over onto her feet supposed to be a bump or a transition into something? Hard to tell to my eyes. A lot of stuff here that was just a hair off. Liked how they got Asuka involved at the end....legit wasn't expecting that because I'd forgotten about Sasha and Asuka at the "ppv" Easy show to watch overall. I'll watch next week for sure. They did a great job hyping Lee and Cole, excellent hype video, love Cole pointing out that he's the reason Lee got a chance to be at Survivor Series and the Rumble and get over. I fully expect Lee to win next week, and that seems like a fitting end to Cole's run on top

I like Corny's political rants mainly because he is pretty entertaining when he gets unhinged sometimes, it just depends on what it is. If I happen to agree with him on something I get a kick out of it, if I don't care it's meh, and if I disagree with him the absolute venom he often puts behind opinions I think are stone cold wrong drives me nuts and I turn it off. That last one really only happens when he's ranting about modern wrestling, which I find insufferable, even when I agree with him on some of his points. If it's talking about his trips to the post office or the grocery store sometimes it's funny sometimes it's not. Hit and miss, and I need to be in the right mood for it. I'm a progressive who voted for Bernie in the primary. I have some overlapping views with Corny when it comes to a very strong dislike of the same people, and I kind of find it hilarious that he of all people is the stereotype of a raving lunatic liberal. I enjoy his rants like I used to enjoy crazy people leaving voicemails to Stern, or even guys like Alex Jones and Limbaugh when they get fired up. At the very least they're funny as shit. But Corny's the type of person I could never be around in real life and being much younger than him I think our views on life would be largely incompatible. I'm basically the same age as Last and don't know how he puts up with him tbh.

early into the latest WOR with Dave & Garrett and Dave says Tessa had made it clear to Impact that she wasn't going to travel during COVID because she's worried about being able to get back into Mexico where she currently lives. Impact was fully aware of this, yet was continuing to advertise her for this upcoming show. Also, her contract was up before the show, which they were also fully aware of. So they knew all along she was never going to be there basically, and Dave hasn't heard anything that she did wrong other than not sending in promos FOR A SHOW SHE WAS NEVER GOING TO BE ON IN THE FIRST PLACE So yea, in light of all this new information man, I've gotta ride with Tessa on this And every time people tell me Impact is finally getting it's act together, you get a story like this...... WWE, if AEW isn't going to sign Tessa, get it done. I don't care if she doesn't play well with others backstage. She's an alpha, and wrestling needs more of them

smdh @ Low-Ki why do so many pro-wrestlers I'm a fan of turn out to be idiots/assholes/lunatics/scumbags etc. etc. ?!!!? Heck, he's got the VKM mindset, maybe he's angling for another WWE gig? Maybe Lince wants a push?

I'd say Renee should have jumped to ESPN when they were after her, but they don't necessarily treat their employees much better than WWE in many cases We all thought them going forward with WM and tapings was insane. I thought Florida and Texas etc., Trump, Republicans were all insane the last several months. Now that they've actually opened back up in Florida basically full scale.....I mean, none of this is surprising to me, the spikes. But with WWE......they haven't even been testing until now. I could go on such a F'n rant about this but everyone here would just echo what I say about this so it's a waste of keystrokes I live in Western Ma where we had initial spikes in March, partly due to bordering NY and CT and the travel and residences etc, but we've actually got it under control and haven't seen the recent spikes that some of the eastern parts of the state have seen. I'll admit to loosening up a bit more personally the last several weeks, but I'm still hyper vigilant and not even close to where a lot of people have been mentally for months in other parts of the country. Still haven't stepped foot in a bar or restaurant or anything like that, don't see myself doing it anytime soon. Sadly it's going to take reality slapping people in the face and even more people dying for some people to finally take this seriously. Some probably never will. Donald Trump hasn't. Vince McMahon clearly hasn't.

I have a tough time with the Tessa stuff on a few levels - I've always loved and respected rebels in life and in pro wrestling who march by the beat of their own drummer. She absolutely sounds like one of those - There is 100% a double edged sword when it comes to that attitude. You need to pick your battles and your hills to die on. Sending in promo tapes doesn't seem like one of them. - Dropping a title belt doesn't seem like one of them. But then again, if her contract was already up, that's on them. I'll never hate on independent contractors making promoters pay for fucking up. My guess is due to COVID the contract she was expecting to get wasn't coming to fruition, so she used her leverage, and TNA said fuck it you're not worth the trouble. I appreciate her old school independent contractor outlaw attitude of looking out for herself here, but I also don't fault TNA for doing what they did - I'm a big fan of Tessa Blanchard. I was also a big fan of Low-Ki and Teddy Hart. Before any of them were on the scene I was a fan of guys like Foley and Sabu who charted their own courses out there. Brody is more or less before my time, but the stories of him, especially from his buddy Robley, are legendary and I love them. So I'm half in on the outlaw, half in on you need to be a smart one and not burn too many bridges - I hope Tessa hasn't burnt all her bridges. She's so talented, and still super young, she should be one of the top North American wrestling stars for the next 15 years. She needs to find a way to keep her edge but get her attitude a bit more in check at this point. TNA stuck with her and put their top title on her thru all the bullying and racism allegations. She kind of owed them a solid. If she didn't get that by now, maybe she never will. Her dad didn't have the best track record. I hope for everyone's sake she has some big national runs in the USA (I really don't count TNA, sorry) before all is said and done. But given the track record it's hard to see it happening right now. It would be a shame if she ends up the female Teddy Hart who's too much of a toxic headache for major promotions, but talented enough to keep blowing chance after chance by smaller ones

There's been stories about Stacey being a bit "eccentric" for decades now. The open relationship/swinger stuff was pretty well known I thought....at least I've known it to be strongly rumored to be true for a long, long time. And for me it's totally in the "to each their own" category. If that's what you're into, whatever floats your boat. I don't really get how a self-proclaimed germaphobe slices that onion mentally, but whatever, Jim is a F'n weird dude As far as the allegations go, who the fuck knows. With the power dynamics in play in wrestling it's entirely possible Stacey used it back in the days when Jim was a major player in OVW (or TNA, or ROH) to imply it would be in that individuals best interests behind Jim's back. I don't find that at all far fetched. I also don't find it far fetched that she went a bit crazy after a guy cut her off which is the story that is out there now. It's entirely possible that he used and abused his power in that particular way.....but I'm definitely of the school of thought that we'd be hearing a lot more stories about it given how widely hated Jim is by a whole generation of wrestlers. From what I know I have to think this is more on her probably. And given the risk taken when having a lifestyle like this, the trust involved for it to work, bad outcomes are unsurprising. But this sounds more like a jilted lover story involving swingers in the wrestling business than anything to rake Cornette over the coals for, at least at this point As far as the shows go, I can still listen to Corny's shows and mostly enjoy them....but I definitely have to skip thru a lot more than I used to. I'm an AEW fan so as soon as he goes on his childish name-calling rants about AEW I turn it off and might revisit later on FF to try to find something I can tolerate. It's funny to me that his numbers have apparently skyrocketed in the last year as he's been more controversial.....I've been listening less and less and have to skip more and more. I don't get off on hate listening or listening to a miserable old prick rant and rave about the shit he hates. Life is too short for that, I've got better things to do with my time I happen to agree with him when it comes to Republicans and the religious right, NRA etc. etc. though, so I enjoy those rants

I was a big Chikara fan back in 03-06 or so, bought several of their DVDs. I enjoyed the silly characters mixed with a few more serious ones, the style of mat wrestling mixed with lucha, and the intimate feel to their shows. This was a time period I was the most interested in indies I've ever been, early 20's with a lot of free time and disposable income, and WWE and TNA weren't lighting the world on fire. Chikara, ROH, JAPW, CZW, IWA-MS and early PWG helped fill that void, as they all had something unique to offer. Really fell off following them in the later part of that decade. The whole shutdown and re-boot I sort of followed from afar and it seemed like a total cluster. I don't know enough about the allegations or the people involved to really comment. Sad if this is really the end.

And reading the thread now....I saw a Stern comparison. I'm sure he was a Stern fan, he referenced it in his recaps IIRC. I always read his recaps in the Scott Ferrell voice LOL

Before I read anything in the thread.....this is the first I've heard of this, and I haven't been on a total internet blackout, and that pisses me off I'm 38 and first got a PC and dial up internet at home in 94-95ish. Teenage me loved Hyatte's Nitro and RAW recaps. I'm not sure if he influenced me or his sense of humour just aligned with mine, but for a few years in the 90's his recaps were must read for me. RIP sweet prince

I haven't seen that hot take yet, but I always love it when super deep in the bubble rasslin folks think all sports is a work Anyway, I love baseball, this season is gonna be total horseshit, tons of players will get injured, 16 playoff teams is a joke, we're gonna have a labor stoppage soon Did Russo book this shot? Anyway, I'm a Yankees fan and I'm pissed

Probably belongs somewhere else, but KawadaSmile pissed me off I was never a big fan of Kawada compared to his contemporaries. I actually liked him more when he was old and immobile and mean. In his "prime" he bored the piss out of me. Is that a hot take?

Edge started really getting over with me in 04 when they brought him back on RAW and his big face return flopped and they did a really good job gradually turning him heel. I was still watching pretty religiously back then so I remember the gradual shift and progression. Benoit was a huge part of it, it started with them teaming and Edge going tweener. I believe Edge himself has spoken on that and said it was kind of an on the fly change because he wasn't getting over as a face, and it totally worked and transitioned into the Foley thing, Lita, Rated R etc....but it all started with that failed face comeback that thankfully they adjusted to Before that he was really getting over on SD as a babyface, which is why they brought him back on RAW as one, it just didn't click I've always been a bigger Christian fan though. Always better on the mic, always the better worker (IMO), really shined when given a chance to work singles. Shit, I know his TNA run is largely forgotten, but go back and watch a lot of that stuff, he was frickin great and other than AJ Styles got the best matches out of Abyss and Sting during that time period. The biggest difference is, as much as I love Christian, Edge had an intangible "TOP GUY" to him that Christian didn't. Christian could be one of the guys in the top mix, a top guy in his own right, and could have been booked so much better over the years in WWE than he actually was.....Edge had the booking and big matches, but he also delivered in those spots, and he could have been a big star in ECW, WCW, NJPW......same with Christian, but ya know

I like Edge a lot, but c'mon, Christian > Edge in basically everything but WWE look and favored booking

Such a sad story, but he died a hero by all accounts. I feel horrible for his son. I also liked that strap match after the Cryme Tyme breakup, but they never did anything with either of them after that. Yet another team with potential that WWE squandered by their refusal to take tag team wrestling seriously. I remember them being quite over for a bit, solid enough in ring for a young WWE team, they were paired with Cena briefly on TV but it didn't go anywhere, then nothing. I don't even remember if they ever held the titles, at a time when every random team would hold them and it never really meant anything. Definitely a case of wasted potential, and damn, he was younger than me which means he's was in his 20's when he had his run. Sounds like after WWE didn't work out he basically stopped trying to make it in wrestling. I'm going to put this in spoilers because it might come off a bit insensitive

I used to post on the old 411 forums where Larry was a regular. Had a lot of interaction and rasslin talk with him back in 03-06 or so. We were both regular TNA watchers at the time. Good guy. Was amazed a number of years back to see he was still around and reviewing shows. Very sad. RIP

Wasn't sure where to put this, but Shad Gaspard is missing after being pulled out to sea on Sunday afternoon. Doesn't sound good https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8331477/Former-WWE-star-Shad-Gaspard-goes-missing-pulled-sea-Venice-Beach.html

I like Mark Henry a lot.....but I can't argue with anything you said there. I do get where he's coming from, having earned his keep in WWE despite all the obstacles thrown in his way. Yes, he had the big money/expectations out of the gate....but a lesser man wouldn't have survived the type of crap he had to endure from all sides for years. The wrestling business has run so many "outsiders" off for all kinds of reasons, he was a survivor. I respect the man for turning a negative into a positive, and for turning into a damn good pro-wrestler along the way. Times are definitely different now than they were almost 25 years ago when he broke in though. This isn't the days of JBL and Bob Holly any more. And it's hard to be a "locker room leader" when you're a retired MARK HENRY.....who other than being black probably has very little in common with Lio. As far as Lio goes, I like him too. He's super talented. From the outside looking in it seems like he may have caused and or/exacerbated a lot of his problems. But then again I don't have a problem with him having a problem with any of the things he allegedly had problems with

The best actual cash in match was Sandow and Cena IIRC

There was a way to acknowledge Seth and Becky as having gotten married and do some "wink wink" subtle interaction between them on-screen here and there, references from heels in promos etc, without linking them on screen too much. It's really not that hard, but WWE rarely does reserved, subtle storytelling well anymore. The way they did it was the exact opposite way to do it. They put them all over TV as a couple, in bad backstage skits, bad angles and bad mixed tag matches against bad opponents. It was dire. I ended up hating both of them and skipping their segments....they both got under.....I'm guessing that wasn't the reaction they were looking for coming out of Mania with their top babyface champions Now that the genie is out of the bottle and Becky won't be on TV I actually love the idea of Seth's "Messiah" character morphing into him losing his mind over the stress of becoming a father. IF they do it well they might actually be able to turn him face again and get him back over the way he was when he beat Brock for the title before they buried him with shitty booking (and he simultaneously buried himself acting like a douche online)

no RAW notes from me, I just can't do these empty arena WWE shows......but The Last Dance has been a great doc. As someone who's 38...39 later this year......who's favorite sport to both play and watch was basketball, who wanted to Be Like Mike but also had a love/hate relationship with him in the 90's due to me being a diehard Knickerbockers fan.....I love this shit. I lived through all of this....I know the outlines of everything, the stories real and imagined, some stuff is being colored in a little more, the only new info I'm gleaning is minor and antecdotal (but still great)....but the best part has been all the footage that's never seen the light of day before and the current day interviews with people, especially MJ himself. It's fucking great. Oh yeah, pWo. AJ is back!!! And he's alive!!! That at least makes the MITB at Titan Towers more interesting to me....but tbh I'm definitely already hyped to see how they pull this off. Doesn't mean I'm going to spend 5 hrs a week watching their tv....