Coffey

Harvey Wimpleman, maybe?

All completely valid questions & to me, a big part of the reason why Wrestlemania is just not appealing at all this year. WWE need to build new stars & then actually elevate them & use them. Instead, when WWE gets new names, they seem to have them trade a lot of wins/losses in the mid-card, or just have them start doing goofy comedy. Hell, half the time they push a new babyface to the main event and then START the comedy there. It's really weird. Bron should be oh the main roster & called Steiner already, in example.

Y'know, now that you mention it, with all the talent that Cody has worked against, it really says a lot about Dustin Rhodes that they had such a good match together. A lot of the other Cody matches, even before AEW when he was on that Indy tour like you mentioned, I remember being really underwhelmed by.

Bivens is great. There's been quite a few good managers over the years that I enjoyed: Prince Nana, Larry Sweeney, Armando Estrada, I liked Dutch too but that shit they gave him with Swagger wasn't great. But yeah, they should go all the way with Bivens.

This really deserves its own thread. This is really big AEW news that shouldn't get lost in a megathread. Anyway we can separate 'em by a mod? It's interesting to me mostly because I'm not sure why Cody would potentially want to go back to WWE. Maybe there's something there that can still entice him, that AEW can not provide, like getting the rights to his dad's stuff or something? Or maybe he thinks due to his stint in AEW he can be a WWE main eventer now & be at the top of a card? I'm not sure. I do know that he has done really well for himself, outside of wrestling, with multiple shows now. So it's not just going to be money. I'm wondering if he really did have a big falling out with the Young Bucks & Omega. Or maybe it was with Tony Khan, who knows? His PPV match against Dustin was great but I won't shed tears over Brandi's departure, that's for sure.

I like MJF, and think he's a pretty good heel, but I don't see him as a top guy. Never have. For what it's worth, I don't see Hangman Page as a top guy either & he seems to be doing pretty well as champion.

Well they brought in Mark Henry & Paul Wight, put them in other roles & they've been fine. I'm not saying Joe needs to wrestle weekly but I wouldn't be against Joe having a faction & his faction feuding with Taz's faction or something like that. He's still a great talker & has an aura about him. Have Joe corrupt Hook away from his father.

How long until Samoa Joe can potentially show up in AEW? I would love to see a reunion of Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson & C.M. Punk. Hell, can they bring in Chris Hero, too?

Man, I'll admit, Danhausen is fuckin' over, for sure.

Maybe they can get Paul London instead. That would be an upgrade anyway.

Even in years past when people would put over Shane it was cause of shit like his match with Kurt Angle where he was taking dumbass bumps through glass. Or being he would do a shitty Van Terminator with a garbage can. Dude has always been the drizzling shits. I'll never forget the awful television that was the Mean Street Posse & them jabrones trying to convince us that Shane McMahon was tough.

Agreed. It makes me think back to my childhood watching WWF in the 80's. What was different? Maybe it's just because I was younger. I know when Hogan was on top, it wasn't like anyone else was going to really get a chance to shine on top. I do however vividly remember liking multiple people on the roster for a lot of different reasons. The Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man, Texas Tornado, Jake the Snake, Tito Santana, Big Bossman, etc. I look at the roster today & not even looking for main eventers, I can't even find anyone likeable. Unless it's like "Oh, well this might be a good match" but ultimately, a good match doesn't matter. During the Rumble, each person that came out just felt like going up another rung on the ladder of disappointment. The only people that really felt fresh to me when coming out were Matt Riddle & Damian Priest. Maybe Rick Boogz but his name & shit is nonsense. WWE is also seemingly continually in the thought process that tomorrow matters more than today. So even when you get to the big shows, like Royal Rumble or Wrestlemania, you're not even getting the payoffs anymore, you're still getting "wait for RAW tomorrow!" Now more than ever as they killed their own PPV model & now focus on TV contract money. But then those TV shows themselves are too long & full of never-ending fluff. I have no idea what the end game is. It literally feels like they're just rolling their wheels until Vince McMahon dies. Even if the goal is to sell WWE to someone.

In my mind, I don't see guys like Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley or Kevin Owens as stars. I don't buy them as main eventers. They come off as b-team to me. That's why when someone like Roman or Brock come out, they feel like such a bigger deal. I think Matt Riddle's goofy ass has more of a shot at being made than McIntyre, Lashley or Owens.

I think a lot of it is just because it ended on such a bad note. Roman/Seth was good. Women's Rumble was fine & Ronda's return was cool. Lesnar/Lashley was fine & did a good job setting up the future. Even the mixed tag had a fun ending couple of minutes. But Becky/Drop & the men's Rumble were both the shits & that's what the crowd goes home with fresh in their minds. That men's Rumble could have really used a few cool return surprises & a lot less filler. I also think it's not a good look when the "big stars" of the match, the people that should get pops, are guys like Big E, Kevin Owens & Drew McIntyre. Those guys are all so far below top guy star level that it makes them look even worse when they come out to a ring full of scrubs.

That was an all-time bad men's Rumble match.

He's the biggest star in there by far.

Good. RIP that stupid Kofi spot shit.

Kevin Owens looks like he's dropped some weight since the last time I saw him.

These entrants are so lackluster it's actually sad. Like I would pop for Nasty Boy Brian Knobbs at this point.

Rough start. Need some star power.

That was a really good near-fall from Miz/Maryse too after the Skull Crushing Finale.

If there ever was a year to have a surprise winner in the men's Royal Rumble match, this is the year. Give me Bron Breakker, Sami Zayn, Gunther... something.

Well.

Apparently Bobby Lashley doesn't know how to take a German Suplex. WTF is he doing? He's going to break his collarbone.