Coffey

They're just as boring as ever. It's one of the more perplexing rehires I can remember. It's like if WWE were to rehire Ahmed Johnson, it just doesn't make any damn sense whatsoever. At least Ahmed was over...

...and they fucking follow it up with Gallows & Anderson. Fucking Christ.

OK, that open was great. Kicking things off hot with the quick start, too. Big stars doing big things. Let's fucking go!

I signed up for Peacock Premium Plus solely so I could watch old WCW Monday Nitro episodes commercial free. Halloween Ends being on there is a cool bonus, but I haven't had WWE Network since they switched to Peacock. So it'll be cool to re-watch old stuff again.

I have no idea how WWE feel comfortable putting Top Dolla on TV. My goodness he is awful. How did he even play football? Did he get injured or something? He's the most unathletic wrestlers I've seen try to work in a long, long time. Total bucket of slop.

Karrion Kross, much like Luke Gallows, is a guy where everyone always talks about how much charisma & personality he has... but it never shows on TV. Like his Jesse Ventura impression in the weight room is literally better than anything he's ever done on TV in any company. Even Scarlett doesn't make him interesting. I don't think his hair being back hinders him any - although I do think Scarlett brought more to the table as a redhead than just another blonde. I just don't know what Kross is missing. You can't take him seriously. It's too over-the-top, gimmicky & cartoony. I don't think him being a dark arts gimmick works. He's very miscast, like when Christopher Daniels was trying to be "The Fallen Angel" in Ring of Honor. Shit is just cringe. I think he's fine, work wise. I think he's fine, look wise. I think the leather jacket even fits him well. I have no issue with his pairing with Scarlett. But the entrance & shit, it doesn't work. He'd be better off trying to be The Berserker instead of The Undertaker.

The first that comes to mind are all the wrestling characters - like Demolition & Lord Humongous - based off of the bad guy from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.

We've always heard the talk of wrestling being cyclical. What if it's not in regards to popularity but cyclical in other ways? In the 80's there were a lot of great workers but they didn't have to work like they work today. "Less is more" so they say. Hulk Hogan was on top & frequently got a ton of mileage out of a bearhug spot, or the knuckle lock, and always finished with a normal body slam & a leg drop. Sure on the same shows you had guys like Savage doing top rope elbows & what not but the shows were filled with guys like Greg Valentine or Warlord or Akeem not doing much in-ring. In the 90's, especially during crash TV, there was a lot of in-ring drek. There were still plenty of talented guys, like Bret Hart or Chris Benoit or Eddy Guerrero doing crazy things in-ring & I think wrestlers like them - and later guys like Kurt Angle - really made a lot of fans start to care more about in-ring style. Not just the puro tape traders. You still had some crazy, different things with like ECW too. In the early 2000s, even guys like The Undertaker were starting to try to have in-ring bangers. Ring of Honor pretty much replaced ECW but their product was almost 100% about just the in-ring. Everyone every night everywhere on the card was trying to win the Match of the Year award or whatever. Now with AEW, you even have people on the active roster, like Brit Baker after her hardcore match, saying things like "I hope Meltzer gives that five stars!" Maybe it's just come full circle & people want less is more again. Not more 450 Spike Tombstones or top rope dragon suplexes. Maybe just more spooky, goofy shit, like Bray Wyatt cosplaying as fat Rob Zombie. Wrestling has never been about just the in-ring. Wrestling will never be about just the in-ring. And you can certainly thrive even if you're the drizzling shits in-ring. Danhausen is over and doesn't even have to wrestle. Pro-wrestling is still just a show. It's just storytelling.

I'll admit, Josh Alexander doing the Rolling German Suplexes Chris Benoit spot - with a twist - was pretty cool. Two rolling Germans then Eddie Edwards gets to the ropes. So then Alexander - while never breaking hold of the waist - takes him to the ring apron & hits a third... then STILL HOLDS ON as they fall to the floor. Hits a fourth on the floor. Then a fifth on the ramp to the ring. Crazy spot. Super cool. EDIT: Here's a clip from Twitter posted by Alexander himself:

Oh, one more thing: I hated Michael Cole, for a long, long time. I couldn't understand why he was employed by WWE for so long & I rolled my eyes when others would say that he's a good commentator. He's been great lately. I don't know how much of it is Vince McMahon leaving, or how much of it was him having fun again when he was with McAfee. But Cole has been on his game lately.

Let's hope he doesn't say he wants to rape her like he said about Sasha...

Somewhere, Dusty Rhodes is saying "we're making movies, baby!"

I didn't love the fake out with the tap out in the Gunther/Sheamus match but the shillelagh finish on the clothesline, the sound it made, was awesome!

It's so frustrating to have favorites on the roster & watch them struggle to even make the shows when people you think suck get featured damn near every week. Gotta make room for people like Jay Lethal & Sammy Guevara... And yes, Sammy fucking sucks. Even before all this backstage nonsense.

You’re a lot more optimistic than me. I hope you’re right & you enjoy the show but I’ll be skipping this week. None of that, on paper, appeals to me. I’m just thankful that AEW continues to put out a show card before hand. AEW no longer gets a free pass from me for previous goodwill. They have squandered that. I can’t give them the benefit of the doubt anymore & I won’t keep making excuses to myself to try to justify tuning in when I know I could do something else with my time. Just like last week when I shut it off early. I missed nothing.

Everything on this card looks super boring to me. More Yuta. More Garcia. Brian Cage again for... reasons. Another piss break 9 o'clock women's match that means nothing. More Jay Lethal. More Luchasaurus/Christian bullshit. What the fuck?

This really puts it into perspective.

I just find it hilarious that Sammy Guevara of all people is calling anyone a jobber. LMFAO.

Watching Smackdown on Hulu & man, Natalya has put on a lot of weight since the last time I saw her.

Yeah, what the fuck? Why are people suggesting AEW does shit that we already lambast WWE for? MORE TV time? A fucking brand split? What the hell? It's bad enough they turned the stupid giant poker chip into a Money in the Bank briefcase. At this point, AEW is looking really bad, they don't need to make themselves look more like a generic WWE rip off. What's next, a 24/7 hardcore title? Focus on your homegrown stars. Stop trying to force ROH onto Dynamite. Stop using people just because they came from WWE. Push people that have charisma. Don't do cold matches just because you have to "kill" TV time. Build up characters & angles & pay them off on PPV. This isn't hard.

Paige/Saraya's segment was miserably bad but she's making shit worse with her social media posting.

Add to this not putting the tag titles on the Acclaimed at the PPV & the never-ending Christian/Jungle Boy/Luchasaurus bullshit. How many times can Christian come out to promo only for Jungle Boy to get attacked from behind?

Well, I don’t need to watch another twenty minute Jericho match in 2022 so I’m going back to Alone on Hulu. Congratulations to Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees hitting his 61st home run though!

This has definitely not been a good show. I don’t know if it’s because of the hurricane but this has been about as exciting as watching late era Sunday Night Heat.

Already over Saraya in AEW.