sek69

My understanding is a lot of the folks on Dark/Dark Elevation are working on per date deals anyway so it's not like they have a ton of people under contract, I would not be surprised to find out more deals will be allowed to run out since Tony wanted AEW to be a place where folks could get work during COVID and they really haven't released anyone who wasn't first being a shithead.

Kong and Shanna seem to have proven my theory that AEW is just going to let a lot of contracts expire without being renewed. That way they don't have to be the bad guys and proactively cut people, and they can let the roster bloat issue solve itself.

NXT UK puzzles me. Like, I don't want to see anyone lose their jobs but the whole reason NXT UK even exists is because WWE wanted to kill the World of Sport reboot before it could get off the ground. They succeeded in that and now the brand is like some sort of weird zombie shuffling around with no purpose.

WWE contracts historically have been hilariously one sided, and the only time anyone ever challenged them on it (Brock, when they tried to enforce their non compete world wide to keep him out of New Japan) the company backed down quickly.

Vega apparently never officially signed back. Also Brandon Thurston made the point that most if not all of the cuts made since last year were people who signed big "don't go to AEW" deals and this is probably less about a potential sale and more the company realizing that talent was getting negotiating power that had to be nipped in the bud. Gonna be harder for non main event level folks to ask for raises if they instill a fear that doing so will move you up the list when cuts come.

Interesting they would cut a guy like Braun, who seems to be everything WWE looks for in a wrestler, and also the biggest star fully created by the current development system.

WWE hired Jamie Horowitz to be a VP, a guy previously known for ruining ESPN by turning all their shows into Fox News style shouty heads and also for being accused of sexual harassment while working for Fox Sports. I guess he won't be assisting Steph with creating feminism.

Main events/ title matches warrant 20+ minute time limits, there really isn't much else that would warrant that much time. Dave was talking about how everyone in AEW is out to have the best match on every show, which on paper is good, but sometimes it leads to over-long matches because both parties are trying to get all their AJPW 90s homage spots in.

I'm OK with it if it's a manager or a bumbling second doing it, but yeah wrestlers doing it makes them all look like goofs and not in the "dastardly heel gets their comeuppance" way.

Yeah as much as I wanted to see her get one last shot in the big leagues it was clear she had nothing left in the tank. Hopefully her performance in GLOW opens the door to more acting gigs since she was really good on that show.

Once you realize all the "serious" promos in WWE sound like someone doing a bad WIlliam Shatner impression, you won't be able to unhear it.

"This is awesome" is normally okay by me as long as something awesome is actually going on, what I can't stand is the "fight for ever" and ESPECIALLY the "both these guys" chants.

Holy shit, that giant swing into a DDT by Drew!

I want to see Reggie and Montez have a contest to see who can leap off the top rope the highest.

Lana is still so comically bad at wrestling it boggles the mind. She does put in the work, she moved closer to the PC and is spending all her time training, and still she looks worse in the ring than some rando they could pull out of the (currently not existing) crowd.

Tony and Britt as the foes who become BFFs was heartwarming, and Tony said if Britt won the title he's give her a hug...which everyone (well at least I did) assumed was just him playfully keeping their faux antagonism going.... then he actually did it!

Bryan wanted to spend his time putting over guys he felt deserved some wins/get a better look by the company, then they suddenly wanted him in the main event of Mania, which is why it was such a whiplash push running up to the show.

Also everyone just kind of assumed Mark Henry was still under some kind of WWE deal (I know I did) and when it turned out he wasn't they just made him an offer. He's apparently a good scout of talent as well, so it looks like it's a good signing for them.

Per Dave, Lio Rush actually signed with New Japan, but they are cool with him working in AEW for now since going to Japan is still a pain in the ass right now.

Tully being dressed to fight popped me good.

He was signed to be an announcer for the new show and to be a coach. It's fine.

Wow, Mark Henry! I thought he was a ride or die WWE guy.

Cody looking like he took one of Sting's old ring jackets.

You were right!

Lio Rush! That's a good get.