sek69

Also the Viking Raiders should be killing fools in New Japan, or AEW, or anywhere else instead of doing this silly nonsense.

It's just so weird how they have her be crazy Sanity Nikki when she's by herself but a puppy dog happy to have a friend when Alexa is around.

Corbin's underrated? Dude's been a black hole of suck for a while now. He has decent heel charisma but his matches are god-awful.

They were promised a long run to give the title credibility, then it was decided they would drop them to a comedy team at Mania. Sasha being upset at being lied to got turned into her having a fit because of that silly Ryan Satin tweet (that was obviously fed by someone pissed at her in the company) saying her and Bayley were having full on toddler tantrums over it.

Yeah I think it still counts, and I'd agree he probably doesn't mind.

Boxers taking dives are (in theory) the exception rather than the rule. Calling wrestling a sport implies it's a legit contest, I'd say it's more like a Harlem Globetrotters game where the folks involved undoubtedly have athletic abilities but it's not an actual competition. Apologies if that breaks some kind of basketball kayfabe, btw. IMO it's just a matter of the current generation seeing pro wrestling for what it is, and the older generation (and their fanboys) are still clinging to some kind of IT'S STILL REAL TO ME nonsense and get mad when someone says differently.

I think a lot of the goodwill was because people were mad that WWE was going to turn around and make Enzo the face of 205 after the "Neville: King of the Cruiserweights" run that a lot of folks liked. Didn't matter that Enzo actually popped ratings (and I say that as someone who can't stand the guy but facts is facts). I think he lost his luster with the whole kerfluffle over coming in to AEW hot then disappearing due to visa/not wanting to job while DG champ drama. I get the dude was probably just enjoying his job for the first time in forever, but he came off as kind of a dick over it. I do appreciate the symmetry of him being the one to step in to fill in on this show after them having to rebook DON because of him.

Somehow Dave mentioning that Roman's cameo in the Hobbs and Shaw movie got no recognizable reaction ended up with UK people trying to educate him on the proper etiquette of British Cinema. *shrugs* Twitter, man.

So looking at the available tickets on Ticketmaster, looks like the only seats left for the Pittsburgh show are mainly one corner of the upper deck. I would expect it to be a sellout probably in a day or two.

The Attitude Era had JR and Lawler were a combined 90 or so and DX was cutting edge for the time. It's what's presented in the ring that attracts the fresh alternative. Plus having an older voice to call the action is a staple of the type of wrestling AEW is going for. You had Gordon Solie, Bob Caudle, Lance Russell, and so forth being the ones telling the audience what was going on in a manner that wasn't dumbed down or presented in a way that presumed the viewers were all victims of a traumatic brain injury. Besides, so far we've had far more of the Mid South/JCP/WCW era Jim Ross rather than the WWE "BAH GAWD" style.

Just snagged a ticket for the Pittsburgh show, pretty jazzed to get to see it live.

To be fair Main Event was designed to be a show on WGN America until it got canceled and it became a weird vestigial organ designed to fulfill international TV commitments.

Regal on NXT is basically Britsh Jack Tunney at this point anyway.

Heyman can absolutely be a babyface, people love him now and he's the mouthpiece of the moody champ who kills people. Bischoff is just so naturally heelish even trying to babyface him would be weird. His sleazy demeanor and his punchable face would not translate well.

Yeah he was the cornerstone of the whole Cruiserweight division when that still sorta meant something. His run in DG was a boost for the company but a step down for him.

There's more people than you may think that notice how WWE books minorities, like how nearly black guy is some variation of "smiling babyface", and every Mexican not Rey is doing shit like carrying pinatas to the ring.

The brilliance of the Austin-Vince storyline was Vince didn't want to fire Austin because he made money for the company. Imagine portraying folks as valuable parts of the company and not faceless cogs that can be easily replaced at the boss's whim.

Yes. There's many reasons why no one's seen as a star in WWE, but everyone being portrayed as beholden to the company and unable to survive without the benevolence of the company continuing employment is a major one.

I know I keep banging on it, but lets not forget there was a whole generation of fans who grew up watching and liking non WWF/E wrestling and they didn't just cease to exist when WCW went away.

Best response I saw to those team names was "they have a strong sense of 'I forgot the assignment was due tomorrow' about them".

Also Bayley's still an asshole who's supposed to be a babyface. Dumping Charlotte out of her chair was such a dick move that made her look like a bigger bad guy than half the actual heel roster.

I mean, it's not hard to gauge what their audience is there for. It's why Cody did the throne smashing bit, it's why they do references to Vince's out of touch mindset on Being the Elite. It's why Cody has been doing everything to shape AEW as a modern-day update of NWA territorial wrestling. He would know better than most there were millions of wrestling fans in the past who weren't into the WWF/E product. He knows (and the ratings bear out) more and more people are tiring of current WWE. Obviously they weren't the first group to try to tap that market, but the stars aligned for them to be in the right place at the right time with a financial backer equal to Vince who actually has an understanding of the business.

It was a follow up to Shane fining him $100,000 for attacking an official (Elias), and KO was trying to reason with him to reconsider.

To be fair, I never thought the problem with Mike was his ability to have a good match. Dude just has the personality of a bag full of hammers.

As soon as NXT loses head to head, Vince is going to blame the small crowds (or anything but the obvious) and change everything he can.