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Also my goodness does Dr. Wagner's "I'm growing my hair out for the big hair vs mask match" hairstyle look ridiculous.

Lucha Bros won the titles back in a great match. Fans didn't seem to know/care about the Bucks at first (I did see one guy in a Young Bucks shirt when they brawled in the crowd), but they got 100% into it by the end with the finish getting a monster pop. Money was even thrown in after the match.

Plus they just did their big post-Elite rebuild around Lifeblood, and since then Teneille left and Juice reportedly told New Japan he doesn't want to go back to ROH since it diminishes the folks that are there.

He said on the radio show with Bryan that he thought it was a good match other than the horrifying head/neck bump spot, but he didn't want to give the match a rating and encourage anyone to copy it and/or do something worse. Also it happening around the anniversary of Misawa's death hit a nerve with him how Japanese promotions are starting to forget the lessons 90s All Japan taught.

They were always there, no one ever really made a full court press to get them back until now. Wrestling was able to support numerous territories and promotions for decades, yet when WCW died TV executives apparently believed all their fans got Thanos snapped out of existence.

They do, but then it comes off like some weird form of gaslighting when the talent is all "I chose my weird WWE name, the company didn't do it!" Yeah, but they asked you to change it in the first place though. Plus look at the way new signees react when people point out how silly their new names are on social media, the replies are so similar there's almost certainly a pat response they are expected to give. It completely sidesteps the point that in most cases, people are expected to stop using the name they built up on the indies (and presumably part of what got WWE's attention in the first place). It's OK though, one of Steph's talking points in her rally the troops speeches is how WWE is a place where you're able to really own your own brand!

If WWE decided to stop hoarding, the guys who didn't land in AEW would be bolstering places like ROH and MLW I'm sure. A lot of the lucha guys being wasted would go back to CMLL and/or AAA. Having a strong #2 promotion is a tide that rises all boats most of the time.

I don't know how much is true, but the word was after he did the one Saudi show his Hollywood people basically told him to cut that shit out since it could affect his movie career. Timeline wise it seems to fit since it appears that WWE cooled on him around that same time. They'll probably never fully cut ties with him because he's still a reliable company robot for them plus he's a Make-a-Wish legend, but it's clear there's at least some bruised feelings on WWE's part since he's no longer their go to guy.

Reading this post, I didn't "get" the H. Ivy Thomsen one until I said it out loud and I'm torn between how awful it is and my love of terrible puns.

WWE fanboys will probably be even extra saltier considering this happens the same week WWE can't seem to give tickets away for Stomping Ground.

Here's what I don't get: Jim's a smart guy, he knows most of what goes on in wrestling now isn't his cup of tea, why does he spend so much time upset about it? It's not like someone in WWE is going to be like "oh shit, Jim Cornette didn't like our last show, we better get on that", and he knows that. It seems like his podcast is an audio version of Dave engaging with Twitter randos, wasting the time of someone with tons of expertise that could be better utilized elsewhere.

Vince is also the guy who would try to convince talent to take out large mortgages (even offering to co sign on them) in order to keep guys financially beholden to him. I would imagine there's nothing that upsets him more than someone he views as "his" telling him he no longer is needed. That's why he always had a hard on for guys who badmouth WWE the most to come crawling with him, and never offered someone like Bobby Heenan a gig after WCW.

There are reasons: WWE doesn't want anyone to stand out, it's Brand Uber Alles. Their biggest fear is someone becoming another Rock or Batista and becoming a big star who doesn't need them anymore. Their need to have 100% control on every aspect makes anyone who has an Enzo like level charisma unable or unwilling to stand out. For all his faults, the main reason he got over so big despite being in a role most people struggle in is that he clearly gave zero F's who's feathers he ruffled along the way. The WWE system has been finely curated to eliminate any chance of that happening again anytime soon. Anyone coming along who could potentially be another Enzo would most likely be either jobbed to oblivion until their confidence is shattered, or sent off to the phantom zone never to be seen again. The only reason Enzo got the chances he did was because he was part of a package with a 7 foot jacked guy designed to press all the right buttons with Vince.

WWE is in full "you're nothing if you leave us" mode, based on reports of the pep talks guys here and on the main roster are getting. The funny thing is, all giving people random names accomplishes is that they can go back to using their more familiar names if/when they leave. I don't understand why some of these guys signed though. Unless they got some life changing money offers just to be in NXT, I don't get why someone like Trevor Lee would sign with them. I know he's got connections with the North Carolina crew, but Vince is going to take one look at him with his "Geico caveman dressed like a New Japan young lion" getup and ask who the fuck hired that guy.

Plus he's gone full circle with his AEW gimmick of basically going back to the Natural with faux-Goldust facepaint. Speaking of, Cody going from little-brother-cosplaying-big-brother to suit-wearing-company-Exec was a pretty big one. No one would have suspected Stardust would end up changing the game like this.

The Sandman going from a dork in a wetsuit to a guy in a T-shirt and Zubaz pants ended up creating one of the most iconic characters in a promotion that tended to generate a lot of those.

That's all true, but unfortunately Enzo is a toxic piece of shit and future PR nightmare waiting to happen if signed to a major company. Boosting the crusierweight division wouldn't be worth the extra baggage.

Queering may not make the world work, but apparently empty PR stunts do.

They do that during football season too, they tend to disappear when it's clear a show is going to be low rated.

I really hope someone calls them out for continuing to conflate the "this is hope" chants from the Dubai match with having women wrestle in Saudi Arabia. Dubai is in the UAE, which is nowhere near as strict on women. WWE makes it sound like the while Middle East is one giant country with the exact same rules and restrictions, instead of many different countries that have different laws. Most countries in the region would allow something like women's wrestling to take place as long as the participants had appropriate attire, which is something that I really don't see happening in Saudi Arabia anytime soon. I know Dave keeps talking about the Russian circus that performed there that included women, but he never mentions (or maybe he doesn't know) that it led to government officials being fired for allowing it to happen.

As far as Taker goes, most people have enough awareness not to wear clothes that have SS insignias on them if they aren't down with what that symbolizes. The KISS comparison is weak, as there was never any indication that the S's in their logo were meant to be a Nazi reference. The logo on the shirt Taker is wearing was clearly Nazi related, and someone of his celebrity status not seeing anything wrong with having a photo taken of him wearing it speaks volumes.

What was going to happen to him? I don't think he's untouchable status in WWE, so there was a chance the company would get upset at him for doing that and possibly upsetting a large source of income for them. Not to mention the inherent risks of doing anything pro LGBT while actually *in* Saudi Arabia. It wouldn't shock me to see Finn on the "not allowed" list for the next Saudi show, which might have been his plan all along.

Finn posted a photo on Twitter of him in an Equality for All shirt prior to the show with the caption "Happy Pride Month from Saudi Arabia". I know there's been jokes about the size of his unit, but he undoubtedly has the biggest balls in wrestling for that.

It's a shame this new era of Impact being a quality product happened when they have their worst possible TV coverage. Yet they keep bringing people like TJP back and signing folks to contracts. Is their India deal that lucrative? Is Anthem more willing to take more of a bath on this than anticipated? Every time I read about another Impact signing or PPV event, I have a Joe Swanson-like "how can you afford this?" moment.

The thing about it is, Eric's a tremendous storyteller but it's difficult for me to believe anything he says anymore. The combination of poor memory and outright bullshittery makes a convenient cover for anyone to pick and choose the parts they want to believe is true.