sek69

Melo vs Vinci was a banger, the swerve teasing Diamond Mine imploding leading into Gallus was unexpected, and once again Roxanne Perez made Jade look like a million bucks,. NXT hitting on all cylinders tonight.

Also someone like Hunter has a vested interest in keeping the image of Saint Vincent the Great intact, lest people keep digging and look into things like Trips turning a blind eye to his boy Hugh Morrus doing weird shit in NXT training camps.

Not denying the cult aspect, but there is a business aspect in not burying Vince on the way out to people who only put their money in because they believed he was the be all and end all of pro wrestling. They desperately want to convey to investors that everything is fine and it's business as usual without him, when it's already clear to regular viewers that things are different than they used to be.

Have to say so far the post Vince era has been a breath of fresh air. We may not be getting everything changed that we would like, but right now WWE programming fresher than it's been in ages. Everyone seems to have new life breathed into them and it's nice to see people who don't look and sound like they had all the joy berated out of them. Also all the effort being put into rehabbing the secondary titles makes me wonder if the plan should be to make them the top titles of each show, the US title for USA and the IC title for Fox, and then they can be like the top territory title when the world champ isn't around. That way they can stay with the single world champ and not have the silly dueling WWE/Universal champions.

I think its less fellating Vince than them covering their ass in case the whole thing falls apart without him, so they can point to that line and tell the investors "well we said this might happen".

Evil Soccer Mom Bayley is amazing

That had to have happened in TNA at one point, right?

KO/Drew was money from the promos to the match.

It's always funny when Damien Priest's NEW YAWK-ness peeks out like when he just said he'd put Edge in a CAWFIN.

I clearly remember part of the segment was DX talking to WCW fans waiting in line and more or less getting them to say they would rather be going to Raw. Plus it was clearly taped earlier in the day prior to Nitro starting. Bischoff probably has pulled a Hogan on this and has told the lie so often he probably legit believes that's how it happened.

WCW had so much TV in the mid to late 90s since there was still the remnants of syndication (Saturday Night, Main Event, Pro, Worldwide) that was winding down while Nitro and Thunder were kicking off. As a result there's a near endless supply of "I never knew that happened" moments that always will grab you out of nowhere.

It really was an amazing time when both major promotions were being headlined by folks completely high on their own farts.

I find it interesting that when folks talk about AEW ratings stagnating and/or slightly dropping no one mentions that they've lost big names like Omega, Punk, and Cole for various lengths of time and those were probably their top three most popular people. I expect the people who are in different camps in the silly tribal wars to ignore it, but I don't think I've seen anyone mentioning it as a reason why they weren't at the same heights they were. Not only were Omega and Punk big draws, they were focal points creatively as well. It's clear Coach Tony K is bound and determined to make the matches he wants happen, so if injuries get in the way he usually just holds it off. I would say the big reason AEW sometimes seemed to be running in place is because they were. Part of it was shit luck having so many big names go down one after another, but then again they were the ones pushing their luck by having a guy who was being held together with duct tape and chewing gum like Kenny be the centerpiece of your promotion.

It was cool to see something unexpected happen on Rampage, made the show feel like something worth watching instead of the way its been recently where you don't miss anything if you skip it.

A Sonny Kiss heel turn? Alright Tony, I didn't see that one coming. Heel Sonny seems like something that should have some real fun possibilities.

Also I love seeing the IC title getting the treatment the US title did on Raw. One advantage to Hunter being in charge is he'll try to make the secondary titles mean something again. You know young Hunter growing up in New England watched them Boston Garden shows where the IC title match was the second most important thing on the card.

B-Fab too, IMO. Ashante is pretty charismatic and at the very least he can be the Buddy Roberts guy who's entertaining and there to take the fall.

Sammy and Tay defending the mixed tag titles made me realize AEW has probably more AAA title matches on its TV than AAA does.

Not gonna lie, I marked out for their return. Yeah not having Swerve is a loss, but the others all have a lot of potential. Plus they got done so dirty the last time that it felt good seeing them get a real chance to shine.

His biggest issue is that he's not going to be that physically impressive next to WWE level hosses, which is going to hurt his whole "big bad monster" deal.

I might be on an island here, but I didn't have a problem with Kross's gimmick/presentation in NXT. The issue was how he was pushed by demolishing everyone and causing a Roman/Cena type backlash.

It is, which is why it shouldn't be on national TV in this incarnation. It's hard enough to learn to be a wrestler without having your missteps being shown to the whole world.

My personal theory is Inoki thought he could lure Ali to Japan by promising a worked match but having it be real in the ring, but quickly realized even half washed 1976 Ali would still starch him with ease. Ali's camp was afraid he was going to shoot in the match, which would explain having someone who could handle business as a ref in case that happened.

I never knew he was the ref in the Ali-Inoki match, I suppose he'd be the best guy to have in there if shit went down.

Mox-Jericho was a blast. Yeah Chris can't go like it's 1996 anymore but he gave all the effort he could. Two guys who are great workers in the sense not of technical know how, but to get the most out of everything they do. Also Mox-Punk is going to to stupid numbers.