sek69

Angle was pretty good, but a lot of people in the biz were marks for having a legit gold medalist in their ranks.

Not only that, you have to consider pro wrestling's importance to his career. He grew up watching it on TV and that's where he learned that promos are the key to drawing money. He also channeled that into playing the heel role so even the people who didn't like him would pay to see him get beat.

Also I love the idea that former New Japan ace Okada's first rival in AEW is noted All Japan enthusiast Eddie.

Heel Okada is the greatest thing I never knew I wanted. Being a cocky dickhead with the Bucks was a brilliant move.

Bryan's shit eating grin after the finish was amazing, his face was like "yeah we fuckin did that".

Fightful stated folks in WWE weren't happy about Booker doing that, especially involving Punk who everyone is hoping stays on his best behavior.

I kind of feel bad for Bayley that her program is at best the 4th most compelling one on the show despite her doing some of her best work. Also because she almost got her nose Jeff Hardy'd by that moonsault by Io.

Jericho is a key factor in AEW existing since he was a name TV execs remembered from WWE. Without him and JR, they probably don't get a TV deal or at least not one near the level they got with TNT/TBS. As such I'm assuming TK is keeping him around as a sign of gratitude since as stated there's fuck all other reason to.

interchangeably more or less. The Porky name started when he started getting....well....super porky.

Watching on Hulu TV and the whole main event was a blob of distorted video, did that happen to anyone else?

Apparently right after it happened there were fears Mercedes' injury could be career-ending, and now she's opening Dynamite in her home town blowing the roof off the joint. I can't even imagine the levels of emotions she must have been feeling.

To be as fair as I can be, it's believable that some WWE execs knew they were giving Vince's latest girlfriend a no-work job without knowing about the trafficking. Now should they have asked more questions? Probably, but we've known for like 40 years everyone knows their careers are at the mercy of Vince's whims. Plus i think there's levels to the executive class in WWE as well. I 100% believe anyone who made it into Vince's trusted inner circle knew (or at least had a pretty good idea) of what went on, but maybe not so much the assistant VP of legal affairs or someone like that.

Love seeing Brooks Jensen ditching the cowboy gear only to look like an up and coming southern babyface on a studio wrestling show circa 1982 (complete with Ole shirt).

Gonna be interesting that WWE is having Summerslam in the Browns's stadium this year. It's pretty much as close to Lake Erie as you can get without being in it, and depending on the jet stream the winds coming off it can be quite chilly even in the summer.

Also throwing in the stipulation that Cody never gets another title shot if he loses is brilliant since it calls back to when he did it in AEW (and lost).

As dumb as it was I lol'd at the "dead brother" line

Maybe they didn't know names, but even Vince couldn't keep all this under wraps without help. Plus there's no way TKO does a billion dollar deal like this without asking "hey, what's all that money Vince has earmarked for payoffs all about?"

Let's not forget JR's position in the company at the time he was in WWE, there's no way his hands aren't dirty covering this kind of shit up.

Damien was one of the groomsmen

Movies like that really don't try to convert anyone, they're just catnip for people who are already believers. Everything I've ever heard about Kevin Kelly made him seem like a putz at best, and anyone I've seen who's shown any positive feelings about that movie were folks with terrible opinions on everything so it won't take much convincing for me to put 2 and 2 together.

Damian and Rhea at Dom's wedding is peak wholesome content.

Elite vs Eddie/Penta/Pac at Big Business? Yes please! Also glad Pac is back, I missed that angry little gremlin.

I was coming at it more in terms of Ian being by all accounts (that I've seen) the most wholesome IRL babyface and if that guy's talking shit about you, you know you probably fucked up good. I agree with your assesment of 99% of people in the biz, but if anyone was in that 1% it would probably be Ian.

TBH 99.9% of the people praising that movie were q-plled morons and I would wager Ian probably is aware of his political beliefs. Anyone who has those beliefs deserves to be pointed and made fun of so I feel pretty comfortable in saying fuck Kevin Kelly. I mean if Ian goddamn Riccaboni of all people is calling you out on your bullshit that should be a very clear sign you messed up.

I love how the "IWC=NERDS" and "HEEL ROCKY RULES" signs just add to the Attitude Era-ness of everything