Coffey

Yeah, I wouldn't say phoniness. Phoniness to me, in pro wrestling, is more like when someone is super green, doesn't know what they're doing & keep fucking up. Happened a lot in the Divas era of WWF. Shit that just would make the crowd groan. Constantly pulling back the curtain, unintentionally. I think "meta" is a good word for the Omega distinction because I can't think of any better way to describe it myself, but I know exactly what you three (you along w/ Matt D & Kad) are talking about & it's been something brought up in other corners of the internet for awhile too. I know people take shots at Omega a lot, especially the likes of Jim Cornette, and a lot of the time it's for stuff he did much earlier in his career. But ever since he went to New Japan & turned himself into a top worker, some of his early quirks remained. But even after vastly improving, some people will always hold his old stuff against him. My issue isn't about the old stuff. It's about the bad habits he learned that remained along the way. For what it's worth, I was never a big fan of the Flair Flop either but I get that sometimes, regardless of era, different guys will have different go-to moves/spots whatever & they're not always offensive moves. Like DiBiase doing the flip bump off the punch to the stomach, or Rick Rude selling Atomic Drops. I just think that most of that stuff was purposely silly & a lot of the stuff that Omega does comes off as silly even when it's not necessarily supposed to be the purposely silly shit. He runs the ropes the same way A.J. Lee used too. Like he's having to rev up & get a jump start. It's... odd. More often than not though, I think his V-Trigger looks like death & I wish he didn't do so many so it would be more impactful.

For what it's worth, I feel this way too & I get what you're trying to say. Instead of presenting wrestling as if it were real, in a post kayfabe world, he's presenting himself as the best worker/athlete in the atmosphere where everyone knows it's a work. So when you grew up on guys like Harley Race or Terry Funk, it's a pretty big disconnect. That's not to say that those guys didn't have their quirks too, like Funk's spaghetti legs sell, or Harley doing the rope spot & what not. With Omega it's just like... everything. Like even the way he starts to run before hitting the ropes. It's theater & being projected for the very back rows of seats. And that's not to say I don't think Omega is an amazing talent as he very obviously is. His matches with Okada are all-time great classics. But to me, it's just different generations & seeing the new generation that grew up with a different group of wrestlers influencing them. You look at wrestling today & you see Shawn Michaels & Rob Van Dam & Kurt Angle in a lot of the current talent.

I wish AEW had a different ring announcer than Justin Roberts.

I don't think they can have Bryan lose his first match in AEW, even if there's a bunch of fuckery. I also think that Brian Pillman has a lot of potential as a babyface but he can't lose all the time.

I've watched a lot of goofy game shows/contests, so it could be fun. Some of those SyFy shows that never make it to a second season, like Total Blackout, or the Soska Twins show that was on Netflix for awhile, Hellevator, can be pretty entertaining. Mostly just from seeing the people freak out, but you never know, New Day can be pretty endearing when they're cutting up & going full ham.

Gordi, that jacket is sick!

Honestly, it might be the best thing they can do. At least in trying to distance NXT from RAW/Smackdown. I mean, I assume it doesn't mean chairshots to the head & an upskirt cam like ECW. But even what female wrestlers like Skye Blue or Kierra Hogan are currently wearing seem like they would be pretty edgy on WWE TV.

He's been there before! Don't see why not.

She would be a great valet.

and he was in a current position of power.

All he had to do was say "I'm sorry" instead of "I apologize to anyone I offended." This isn't hard.

El-P's premature countdown be damned, this is going to look like an "I'm sorry you got offended" apology to most. Which would be the thing you're not supposed to do during an apology, to go with the two things you weren't supposed to do as it pertains to the victim. So at least he's consistent with being an oaf.

I just wanted to post Dreamer's actual quotes from the show: "If that's how she felt, maybe she should have not taken a payout and went to the fullest extent of the law.. (sarcastic tone) to then put this truly heinous person in jail" "I feel this is trying to portray someone as a sexual predator, and it's not. It's a joke, it's a gag..." "I've hung out with Ric Flair. I've never seen him try to force his will against anybody." He literally did the two things you're not supposed to do: blamed the victim & then used his experiences to discredit theirs.

Man, I tell you what, I would be pretty stoked if they could get Jay White, I won't even front.

She doesn't need to wrestle. She would be perfectly acceptable in a role as just a valet. Even a valet that doesn't speak, like Miss Elizabeth, or more modern, Pieter from New Japan. She even wears bunny ears sometimes too! I know Allie had a run in Impact & honestly, the stuff with Su-Yung got over... but it was a lot non-wrestling stuff. It was basically the Matt Hardy style cinematic stuff pre-pandemic. Like b-level horror movie stuff. It was fun but that's not a well you can exactly keep going to. I think The Bunny being with The Butcher & The Blade could be a perfectly serviceable addition to the tag team scene. It would be quite easy to heat them up & then use them as the tag division gate keepers. Can't deny, The Butcher has a great look & Allie is an attractive woman.

Internet discourse summed up.

Admittedly, the NXT 2.0 #InDex wedding angle was pretty good/entertaining. So kudos to them for that. Dexter got a big pop for literally saying two words.

We should talk more about this, to be honest. Not just in WWE but in all of professional wrestling. When did it become OK to "reward" someone a championship title as a "thank you" like it's an honor role ribbon? The titles should go to the best & top guys & wrestling getting away from that, honestly, is part of the problem. In WWE, especially, fucking EVERYONE has been a champion, so no one feels special. And they even made their title just a giant ass logo so the champion is walking around carrying a commercial. It's embarrassing. If you go back to the Hulk Hogan days, a ton of talent like Perfect, Rude, DiBiase, Steamboat, etc. didn't get a run. Nowadays, even fucking Jinder Mahal, Great Khali & Jack Swagger are former world champions. The Money in the Bank briefcase is honestly a flawed concept. And I love Big E. & I'm happy for him... but if WWE got rid of Money in the Bank entirely, I certainly wouldn't shed any tears. They could get rid of half their titles too.

"Well goddamn, pal, he cried at the Owen Memorial Tribute Show!"

I did like how excited he got for John Cena's SummerSlam return. Like it genuinely shocked him & he was marking out.

Wait, what? You think Michael Cole is not only good... but one of the best? I think that's the biggest opposite opinion from me I've ever seen on this board! Michael Cole has sucked for twenty years & is one of the all-time worst commentators to me. It's really interesting to see how varied wrestling opinions can be. One of the coolest things about it as a hobby, I reckon.

Am I wrong in thinking that he might just retire?

I thought I was overreacting when I read this on my phone earlier at work as well. I went from excited to disappointed just like that. I know some people want to pretend that a name doesn't mean that much but in pro wrestling, a name is everything. And WWE are fucking terrible at it.

This is it exactly. And it makes for a feel good moment, for sure - who the hell doesn't love Big E.? He's great. But it's short sighted because it was just WWE trying to hot shot again.

If Samoa Joe really got injured/hurt again, then it's time for him to retire from in-ring competition, I think. It took him forever to get cleared again & then after what, one match? He got hurt again. Dude is cursed. It's not worth it to keep trying to go & keep risking it. I know he's in his early forties, but not every wrestler has to keep going like The Undertaker did.