sek69

I just assumed he had one of those WCW deals where they would just forget they signed someone and he just sat at home cashing checks.

Be a shame if the heavily promoted match with Orange gets cancelled because Jericho gets popped on a covid test.

Don't forget early on, they did an angle where the Bellas (ironically enough) kept thinking Bryan was a virgin because he said he was vegan.

I think the answer is yes to both. It definitely came off as "ANTIFA as imagined by someone who's brain has been addled by Fox News". The Braun stuff was indeed gross as well. They've been playing him and Alexa as a Beauty and the Beast duo off and on, so him just being all "GRR ME NO LIKE HER" just ignored years of backstory as well as being icky on many other levels.

That is true, but in These Uncertain Times, there's unlikely going to be anything getting better ratings than AEW so they will probably be okay for the foreseeable future.

No one is arguing Hogan was a worldwide phenomenon because of Rocky II and New Japan. I'm saying the WWE Narrative that Vince built Hulkamania is patently false since it existed prior to him arriving in the WWF. Vince gave him a national platform and was smart enough to get out of the way and let Hulk be Hulk. If he went to Crockett in 1983 instead it could have been a Road Warriors type situation where he would be one of the NWA's top stars while doing Japan tours (I know politics at the time would have got in the way since All Japan was the NWA affiliate at the time, but I'm fantasy booking here).

I would assume that AEW is in good shape as long as the 18-49 ratings are where TNT wants them, Unless the next person in charge has a hate boner for wrestling, they should be alright.

With Austin and Rock it was their promo ability that made them superstars. Austin had his "Austin 3:16" and Rock was able to channel his anger at the fans that shit on his babyface run when he joined the Nation. It's unlikely either one would have had the same chance in today's highly scripted and highly regimented WWE style. I suppose Rock might have still had a chance because that level of charisma can overcome nearly anything, but the current system makes it very difficult to ever create a star of that magnitude again. Which seems to be how it is intended to work.

I think a lot of it was bad timing, having a safe place for women to hang out and discuss the rasslin' on the heels ( no pun intended) of #SpeakingOut rubbed a lot of people the wrong way and made it sound like AEW was saying women should pay them to avoid the creepers. Which clearly wasn't their intent I don't believe, but shit happens and apparently Brandi can't keep from showing her Steph-like tendencies when facing criticism,

It really is kind of amazing how many of WWE's ideas end up turning into "this probably would be pretty decent if anyone but WWE was doing it".

Not trying to call you out specifically, but this comment just reminded me of how being a monopoly for a generation has really solidified in the public conscious that pro wrestling = WWE. I mean, it was always Vince's goal but when I hear anyone (either online or IRL) say pro wrestling is embarrassing and/or awful it's 99.999% some stupid shit WWE did. Even when I was a kid, if someone was trying to give me shit about liking wrestling it was *always* about some cartoon gimmick in the WWF. No one ever teased me for liking the Horsemen or the Midnights. There is plenty of great wrestling out there (well maybe not now, but pre-pandemic) if WWE isn't your bag. AAA shows on Twitch were a blast to watch, CMLL Friday shows are like the wrestling version of going to church in a famous cathedral. Impact has made strides to dig themselves out of the hole Dixie left them. New Japan has been consistently the best wrestling in the world for years. All companies are taking their lumps with the pandemic, as we've seen New Japan and AEW's women's division suffer because key folks are not able to travel and the little or no fans shows are weird to get used to and not everyone can get into them. Personally I think AEW has done the best job adapting as Daily Plaza is at least a unique looking environment, and their shows are the most "normal" looking ones in the US at the moment. It was hard to watch the Impact PPV with no fans after adjusting to the "crowds" in WWE/AEW, so I get the folks who just can't watch in this new weird world. But wrestling is not awful or embarrassing.

The problem with Raw Underground (well, one of them anyway) is no matter how well done it is, it's the type of thing Vince will get bored of quickly. WWE overall is at a place where they need to put all their effort in to long term building and planning to try to improve business overall, while being led by a guy who has all the attention span of a toddler with ADHD. He can't give guys more than 3 weeks without giving up on them, shows get rewritten at the drop of a hat, and then they're left puzzled why no one wants to spend three goddamn hours watching the mess that is left behind.

She started basically a fan group for women called AEW Heels with the stated goal of being a place for women to talk about wresting and be inclusive and whatnot, which is cool but they were charging $50 for it and that rubbed people the wrong way. I suppose she got so much criticism over it she shut her Twitter down.

Hulk's main income was Japan, so I could see an alternate universe where he becomes like Stan Hansen where he's a big star in Japan and occasionally comes to the US for short trips between tours.

WWE Revisionist History *really* wants people to forget that Hogan was a huge star in the AWA and from Rocky III before his big run. You can make the argument that Vince has never been able to build a major star, and it took people having the highest levels of undeniable star power (Austin/Rock/Cena) to overcome it.

Yeah the NHL and NBA are running a tight ship and anyone in a risk group competing there is going to be way safer than anyone in the Covid Pit.

I must say it's more than a little disconcerting to see Kyle O'Reilly back in action since to the best of my knowledge neither COVID or Diabetes have been cured yet.

Cole still doesn't deserved to be geeked out because his bosses are horny for mainstream acceptance.

Say what you will about Adam Cole, but even he doesn't deserve to be laid out like a geek by a retired punter.

Eric Bischoff looks like a guy you would cast to play the President in a made for TV movie.

Interesting no Excalibur again (just started watching now so if something changes I guess I look silly).

So WWE hired the guy who brokered their TV deal to be the new Chief Financial Officer, which seems like a pretty strong move.

Amazing that he could make a post with such blatant homophobia and racism, but somehow mentioning that part would be burying the lede in a big way.

I don't want to speak for everyone here but I would wager that was more due to people tiring of Brock (or wanting someone other than Roman beating him) than anything Seth brought to the table. I've been pretty vocal in my opinion that Seth is a great tag wrestler miscast as a top singles guy. The structure of most WWE tag matches means he has to tone down his bullshit enough to have good performances.

It would also make WWE sense that a guy who was featured prominently on NXT would join a group of people looking to wreak CHAOS on the main roster, because reasons.