sek69

I think what is especially jarring is that WWE is still trying to do the old "we're a family company" schtick while owned by a company that has made it abundantly clear they don't give a shit about anything like that. One thing they may not be realizing is this is probably speedrunning the end of the "everyone's dream is to go to WWE" era.

Woods establishing the Austin Creed name (outside of TNA sickos) in his gaming and streaming endeavors is looking extra smart now. Apparently a lot of folks in WWE are now thinking if the New Day aren't going to be lifers then no one will be.

The CW and ESPN struck a deal for all of CW's sports (including NXT) to also be on ESPN Unlimited, which is pretty impressive. Also I saw John Cena putting over Will Kroos on social media, so that's surely a sign WWE sees something in him.

I know Stephanie Vaquer requested to start in NXT in order to get used to living in the US without having to deal with the WWE main roster schedule. For international talent it probably is helpful to get your legs under you for a bit.

Also I hear Lizzy Rain was over in the Euro scene but good lord her gimmick looks like something David McClane would come up with for WOW. (and I say that as someone who actually watches WOW every week, she looked very out of place in NXT).

Like I said when his signing was announced, I get the appeal from his point of view to follow Nak on the "collect the bag and surf" tour....I still have no idea why WWE would want him.

It feels wild to type this sentence, but I think Roman may be at that level where you just won't get the fans to boo him at all anymore.

I know a lot of things suck both in wrestling and the world at the current time, but Roxanne getting a win in her hometown and it clearly showing in her face how much it meant to her reminded me why I love this stupid fucked up business.

Ironically "all the noise is from a vocal minority" is a card Hunter's been playing for over a decade now.

I think it does, at the very least its the best Mania match in about 15 years. There's probably a reflex to say it's not since the build to this year's show went off the rails, but I can't think of one in that time frame that even came close.

As someone who's only been somewhat following Joshi, am I wrong to assume Rossy has been around as long as he has more due to him being one of the few people in Japan who gave a shit about women's wrestling enough to promote it instead of him being any good at it? It seems like Stardom success was more in spite of him rather than because of it. Her doing a run there or even in CMLL would be amazing. Since everyone working together seems to be down for sharing talent it's surprising she hasn't gone on any excursions yet.

It would also explain why AEW was so certain he was free and clear of his contract when he (first) came back.

He's someone I would have expected to cause issues but he was fine with doing business. It's tempting to look back and wonder if he wanted to go back to WWE to try to repair things with Charlotte (they divorced within 6 months of him returning). I could see him telling TK he has to go see if he can fix this and then being welcomed back when it didn't work out.

His dad El Fantasma is the head of the Box y Lucha commission which actually has pull in Mexico. If I were to put on my conspiracy theory hat I might think WWE moved Santos to AAA in hopes it would grease the wheels with the commission and maybe pops said no.

Not dismissing any of that, but as a business move it was practically perfect. Also this ladder match has been as bonkers as expected with everyone in it.

That match was exactly what it needed to be, Oba is a made guy after that. I wasn't expecting Brock to do the retirement deal (at least not until he had a match with Gunther), but honestly that was probably the last good use of him.

So clearly WWE isn't a lot of people's jam right now for both in and out of the ring reasons, but there's still some fun things going on. I watched Joey Janela's Spring Break and while GCW is also not everyone's jam (for entirely different reasons), they are extremely good at the fun kind of pro wrestling bullshit. Sandman's last match was just what it should have been and the whole build to Brodie Lee Jr's match was great. Yeah the Effy vs Allie Katch was some peak HBK overwrought nonsense at times but it was the payoff that was supposed to happen last year before Allie went and did a Sid on her leg. Speaking of Effy, watching the Big Gay Brunch and so far it's more entertaining pro wrestling bullshit. For all the jokes wrestling fans have about the homoerotic undertones, it's fun to see a show just drop the pretense and be as gay as humanly possible.

I think Raven would have been smart enough to put something together that would have been pretty great.

The look on that kid's face when she said that had me rolling Speaking of kids, watching the kids in the audience losing their shit when Darby won reminded me of Ron Simmons winning the WCW title. Obviously the contexts were different but that vibe of "my guy did it" was similar.

This is all true but folks shouldn't lose sight of how dire the creative aspect was in the last few Vince years. Even this current panic booking Triple H run is better than having everything being rewritten and/or thrown out at the last minute. Big Macs seem like fine dining after you've spent years eating scraps from the trash can. What kills me about him the most is the unearned arrogance he seems to show at all times. His entire time in the business has been him Forrest Gump'ing from one place to another always able to politic his way to the top. At least when Vince was a smug bastard he earned that shit. Hunter should be giving 10% of his earnings to Mick Foley for him spending the last year of his in ring WWE career doing everything in his power to get him over.

It also shows how little he knows about sports when teams have their seasons crater due to a star player getting hurt all the time. Yeah an NFL team has a backup QB but 90% of the time there's a reason that guy wasn't starting. Ask the Chiefs how it worked out for them when Pat Mahomes' knee exploded last year.

Hey the women's division can use someone who can be something the babyface overcomes on the way up the card.

Heel Okada has been one of the best things to come out of AEW, and I love how he's clearly having the time of his life doing it. Also the Bucks may be the greatest I have ever seen at putting matches together. They just never miss.

Based on New Japan booking, it looks like Callum Newman is going to turn on Will at some point.

So Dynasty was great and all, but it was odd that all the Canadians lost on the PPV in Canada except....... *checks notes* Kyle O'Reily? Jericho I get, he probably wants to show that he can put over the youngins. TK probably has the AEW title booked for the next 7 years so Omega wasn't winning, but I was shocked Cope and Cage didn't win the tag titles.