cm funk

Where I am the basic cable provider is Spectrum (formerly Time Warner, formerly Adelphia...etc etc). You get TBS with the most basic cable package. TNT is the next tier up, mainly due to the NBA (ESPN is on this tier, so is USA). So yeah, at least where I'm at it's a thing....

That's what's so fucking mental about it. The money might be better than calling college sports or whatever, but what self respecting broadcaster would look at the WWE product, think it's good, and think, "I can sell that to the public and not rapidly spiral into alcoholism and depression!"

Cena story got mainstream traction from NYPost and Daily Mail, it was a top story on both websites for much of the day. Curious to see how much backlash he gets at the end of the day. He misspoke and didn't make it political. Pandering to China is standard now for Hollywood and the NBA, but with the Wuhan lab theory gaining major traction now we might be about to see a lot more backlash against China in the US The Virk news is so unsurprising. I didn't watch any of the shows he called, but when do people with zero product knowledge ever have success in that role? I'm a fan of the old school radio/TV sports guys doing wrestling (I love Rod Trongard, leave me alone!) but WWE is barely wrestling, it's definitely not sports, and it's an absolutely mental work environment. I don't care who hired the guy, WWE has been down this road before and yet they never learn

Bryan was hinting at it before Dave did. I think it's possible that one or both of them is talking directly to Will. Bryan talks to Romero at the very least, and I'm sure some others. They're not without NJPW sources I thought the way things went down with Bea was really odd. They debut this new stable, his real life girlfriend is a featured part of it, then he turns on her and she's gone from the company. I know the story was she was finishing up and planning on going back to the UK anyway, but the timing seemed really odd to me and I figured there had to be more to the story. It wouldn't shock me if they were expecting her to be signed to a new contract, NJPW balked due to the pandemic, and Will not being happy about it What are the downside guarantees like in NJPW? I could see talent being pissed if they turned down bigger guarantees elsewhere to be in NJPW with the possibility of making more, and their money taking a big hit right now with the small crowds and cancellations. Dave has also been saying repeatedly that the product is really cold over there right now, and merch is way down, which I'm sure he's getting directly from Fumi who's on the ground

tldr version: I actually listened and I don't like Bruce. He had a chance with a big platform to redeem himself and did a shit job of it. Lots of "woke" people didn't even give him a chance to explain himself, and that's hella lame. You can't preach tolerance if you can't actually handle practicing it. Peace

I like everyone involved except for Bruce! I want to be fair, because I actually listened to the podcast a bit after it dropped without knowing of any firestorm (though when I was done listening I expected there would be one) I really dislike Mitchell. I also quite like Dave and regularly defend him. Old posts of mine here are consistent in both of those stances. I was surprised to see it at all because I thought Mitchell was generally still persona non grata these days. That said, it was mostly talking about the rasslin documentaries (which is a whole other topic....), and he's a historian who's friends with Dave so whatever. When I knew it was a bad idea is when they shifted to cover the controversy. I knew they would, and I wanted to see what Bruce had to say with the benefit of hindsight. Instead he basically just doubled down again more or less, talked about cancel culture, focused on the people who put words in his mouth rather than read his article, and generally just defended the article. So.......where to begin.... I felt bad for Dave in the middle of this part of interview because I think he started to realize what a mistake he'd made giving his old friend this platform, and tried to kind of agree with Bruce with his own stories of "catching heat online" while not actually defending Bruce....but also not challenging him at all. And then it kinda goes downhill from there and ends with Bruce plugging his new podcast which I guarantee you I will never listen to....and here we are. I knew as soon as it was over that Dave would regret....not so much recording it....but putting it up for public consumption. Dave has a blind spot here and needed someone be it Bryan or Garrett to proofread and listen to the show before it went up....or just tell him the timing wasn't right. But at the same time I REALLY want to defend a larger point, and this is me in general, just not the Dave stan: Why shouldn't Bruce Mitchell be allowed to do a show with his old friend Dave Meltzer? I, with none of Bruce's experience, could have told Mitchell not to publish that column when he did. It was insanely insensitive timing wise. If he wanted to write about the risks to performers during the pandemic and promotions maybe not being super responsible it's one thing, but to tie that into wild speculation when a young man with a family died was just insanely poor judgement on his part. I'm not sure if he's just an idiot (and having read some articles and heard him for years off and on I genuinely think he's really just an idiot) or if it was for clicks/controversy.....but if he didn't see the reaction he got coming wtf But all that said....I wrote off Mitchell years ago based on my own judgements of his writing and his opinions. I don't think he or anyone should be "canceled" for one poorly timed, inarticulately conceived column. And that's the bottom line for me. Cancel culture and the woke mob can go fuck themselves, that's one thing I agree with Bruce on. I don't think Dave expected the backlash because quite frankly it's beyond outsized to the perceived offense almost every single time. Based on this thread F4W subscribers were freaking out and threatening to cancel without even listening?!?!?! I thought we were all about tolerance and second chances??? What did Bruce do exactly that was so unforgivable? I actively dislike the man but I can't ever allow myself to be that "enlightened".....

I haven't read the thread yet, but I want to add my own personal anecdote: I signed up for the Peacock 4/9.99 deal right before Mania. I totally forgot this show was yesterday until literally the day before. I tuned in near the end of the pre-show and I hate WWE's presentation so bad that I couldn't make it thru the opening video package Sounds like there were a few good matches, but I've already paid for it and don't want to watch it. In fact, it sparked me to remember to cancel Peacock (I would have remembered before the 4 months were up, but thanks for the impetus WWE) So yea.....money well spent NBCUniversal!! More Zombies plz WWE!!! fuck...

I feel like I've already wasted enough of my mental energy on this, but it's kind of emblematic of a larger problem I already got my first shot (zero side effects), and looking forward to getting my 2nd so I can turbo charge my already kinda rad immune system. And this is why I don't get all this fugazi tough guys with their bullshit. what the fuck you fraid of? the way I read it is they're all bullies trying to bully the majority into their way of thinking. They have zero faith and confidence in the awesomeness of science, way I see it, and fuck em. Morons. Don't need em. I'm on team Human.

and I need to add that I agree with C.S. post in general we live in a free country, and people like Drake whatever over here are to me, a free thinking independent American, fucking abusing their privileges as a member of a normal society. There is a fucking difference between using your first amendment rights and abusing them. this man is unhinged, and he doesn't know the difference between reality and fantasy. The only people that will be coming for his children will be people looking out for their safety. If I encountered someone like this in real life I'd have a serious negative reaction to them, but at the same time I'm cool with dealing with weirdos and creeps, I've been doing it for a long time, and I'm full of empathy and love. I certainly don't go out of my way to hang out with/employ them tho, that's for damn sure, and if this dude was my friend I'd be seriously concerned And I also really hate to judge a man without knowing where they left their shoes or where they slept last night, but ya know....this one is obvious, dude has lost the plot

I don't want to weigh into this deep water too far, but I feel the need to add one man's perspective this dude needs help. thanks, I'll be back when my microchip goes rogue in a few weeks fuck WWE. just wtf

That was my thought, yes. That his memory isn't so great and he needs to prepare rather than shoot off the cuff, probably moreso than others. It's understandable in his case.

He's a journalist, but so was Hunter Thompson. Milage varies, and at the end of the day he covers a fucking carny business, what do people expect?

I didn't see a thread for Angle's pod but the one with Orton was great. I'm an Orton fan, and he never does shit like this, so that alone had me hooked That said, I've tried listened to some of the other shows and they were hard to get thru due to the clearly rehearsed nature of them. I can understand that working for Angle, but I listen to a LOT of podcasts on all sorts of topics and that approach simply doesn't cut it for me if they want to make it into my already bloated rotation Angle sounded so much more natural with Randy there to back and forth with rather than the pre-approved question and answer style him and Conrad seemed to be doing

I've been catching up on pods and just listened to the first one earlier today. I loved it. I think it's generally honest with a healthy load of what you'd expect from someone like Jeff. That said, I found it fascinating, and Conrad was really good because this era is totally his wheelhouse. Jeff is an AMAZING get for Conrad considering all the ground he can cover from growing up in the business, to working his way up, to everything in the 90's, to TNA and beyond. There's so much fucking shit he can talk about, and as a worker who worked with everybody, who was also a promoter, who also grew up in the business I feel he's got a really fucking unique perspective that guys like JR and Bruce simply can't have And, I've always had a special place in my heart for Ol' JJ due to his first WWF run coinciding with the time period that made me a lifelong fan oddly enough, even though I'm old enough to remember rock n wrestling and the mid 90's pre-Nitro are considered by many to be the worst time in the modern business. That's always so fucking funny to me because I oddly enough got really hooked in like 92-95 Anyway, I don't want to spoil anything from the first ep, but definitely check it out if you're into this era. It's long, but it's worth it

If anyone hasn't checked it out yet the "interview" Dave & Garrett did with Kim Wood re: Pillman (and it goes all over the place including some great Stu Hart stuff) gets my highest rec I'd heard Dave talk about him for years, and read up on him a little (my dad was into Nautilus machines and introduced me them at the YMCA as a kid, so that aspect of his life fascinates me), but never heard him shoot the shit like this before. What a f'n character

Man, when I saw the thread title I thought this was new and got SO excited for a Marco Corleone twitter beefing with the Flairs in 2021 for no particular reason

Yeah, I listened, Meltz said he thought it would be Page and Omega at the PPV, but he didn't know anything for sure It feels too early because I assumed all along he'd be the one to eventually beat Omega based on all the backstory they've done with them, and it seems too early to take the belt off of Omega. That said, they have started pushing that Page is the #1 ranked contender on TV, so it's probably leading somewhere. They could do match 2 and Page loses again, this time due to chicanery, playing into a longer chase. Or It might just be leading to him losing his #1 contender spot to someone in a match, perhaps due to The Elite, putting more slow burn on the rematch. Or, maybe they've decided that a month or so with Kenny holding his triple (quadruple?) crown is enough and they want to get the AEW belt off of him before he drops the other ones.....

Donald Trump is famous for stiffing contractors. The city of Albuquerqe, NM is sending a collection agency after him for a $200k campaign rally bill https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/city-of-albuquerque-refers-trump-campaign-bill-to-collection-agency/6083948/ Rich assholes are some of the cheapest motherfuckers out there

I actually came to post that, considering it was one of the reasons she left in the first place and I had just seen people speculating recently (based on nothing apparently) that she may be on the verge of returning Happy for her personally because it's clearly something she wanted, and happy for her professionally as it keeps her away from the dumpster fire that is modern WWE

That's what I'm saying. I can't recall a situation like this where a network like TNT is competing against their top sports programming, with "sports entertainment" against their sport on a partner network on another night just interesting is all

It had Mike freakin' Tyson..... Damn impressive #. #2 on cable IIRC and beat the NBA games. When Dave & Bryan were speculating earlier in the week neither of them were convinced it would even hit a million due to the audience declining recently and the product cooling off a bit Too early after one week, but it will be interesting to see the politics if they start consistently beating the NBA on Wednesday nights, given Turner's longstanding relationship with the league and the league booking the schedule to make Thursday the marquee night for the league. They cross promote....but it is kind of weird to be competing against ESPN/NBA on one night and it being your marquee programming the next

As if we needed more examples: WWE puts Priest in a what is supposed to be a star making WM performance with Bad Bunny. Seemingly because they see star potential with him. They follow it up the next night by having him lose to the F'n Miz of all people. I know their logic, it doesn't hurt him because it was 2 on 1 and Maryse was there. And that's fine in certain situations. Not this one. Priest shouldn't be losing at all right now, and shit like this is why nobody ever gains momentum WWE booking 101 everybody

Yeah, and that's one of the reasons I love the internet. Our commercials are kinda dogshit for the most part, and our country is totally fucking bonkers if you look at it objectively. TBF tho, I've seen UK commercials on various bootleg streams, I've seen Indian commercials.....they're not much better. But on average Sky UK def has better commercials during WWE than USA, or at least used to

I'm not watching but Viking Raiders back legit makes me excited. Still hate the name tho Also, co-sign on Joe going to SD to attempt to sit at the head of table. Fuck yes we need to see that. And if he loses and joins with Roman....and Jimmy comes back.....hot damn son that is a sick as fuck stable. AEW loves their stables, and I love Inner Circle.....but that's some legit shit