Coffey

I feel like the biggest stars NWA had, that I could see going elsewhere, especially now that Ricky Starks already left, are Kamille, Allysin Kay & Nick Aldis. Tim Storm is a great babyface but he's not exactly a spring chicken. Stu Bennett was awesome as a color commentator too. I also really liked David Marquez. If I were running a promotion, the people in wrestling I would have my eye on would be Alex Hammerstone & Salina de la Renta from MLW before anyone from NWA. I would also try to get Dario Cuerto from Lucha Underground & I would see about Marquez from NWA.

I would be all aboard any train that would lead to Meltzer's voice disappearing from the wrestling scene entirely, to be honest. All of his bullshit reviews, ratings & opinions going with him. Um, oh, y'know, I mean... just, y'know, I dunno.

I feel like they're afraid to do this. For more reasons than one. Like what happens if that show gets worse ratings? What happens when the women getting featured now on RAW & Smackdown suddenly start getting put just on that show instead? I think it would be a step backwards. Like giving the Cruiserweights their own show instead of featuring them on the main shows. Did anyone care about 205 Live?

Did C.M. Punk want more money than Christopher Daniels, Chuck Taylor, Colt Cabana, Frankie Kazarian, The Dark Order, Jimmy Havoc, Joey Janella, Matt Hardy, Shawn Spears, Trent, The Butcher & The Blade combined? Because he would have been a better investment. Granted that's not to say that none of those people have any worth or lack talent but they all just kind of take up space.

I have no problems whatsoever with Kevin Owens the man. By all accounts, he seems like a really good dude & nice family man with some pretty good morals. I'm just not personally a fan of his in-ring style, but that's not a knock against him as it pertains to real life, outside-of-wrestling circumstances or anything. That's just a personal preference to knowing what I enjoy in wrestling. Unlike, say, Seth Rollins, whom I'm not a fan of in-ring & seems like a cue ball outside of it as well, at least KO seems to have some sense. You can tell at least, regardless of how I personally feel about his style - or that whole later 2000s ROH style in general - that KO was a huge pro-wrestling fan growing up. There's an audience for that style. The AEW style. The Indieriffic style. The HBK/Taker false finish style. I don't even know what you call it - but when the match is worked around doing everything & kicking out of it all, it loses me. I know a lot of people, in example, love The Young Bucks. I've never "got" it. I guess I just like the more 1. storyline driven work and 2. plodding style I guess you call it? A good false finish is a great thing & can definitely lead to some awesome reactions but when they're expected, I think a match loses a lot of its charm & appeal. I honestly think a lot of it is just some people, such as myself, never really outgrow the style that we grew up watching. Other people, such as Dave Meltzer or apparently Ricky Morton, can. I can still put on like 1992 WCW or 1994 WWF & be endlessly entertained even by the undercard. I can put on old Nitros & love matches featuring Wrath, Meng, Bigelow, etc. But modern WWE or AEW, they trot out like Dolph Ziggler, Best Friends or KO & I just can't make myself care. I don't have any emotional connection to any of them. I don't have any nostalgia to them. I don't have any intrigue to any of them, their characters or their angles. It just all feels like... killing time because they have time that needs filled. They don't draw me in & I don't know what's missing other than I've just gotten older & I'm stuck in my ways while they're appealing to a different demographic.

Also immediately reminds me of when everyone when in on Dave Meltzer over his Peyton Royce comments again. It would be just like that all over again whenever anyone tries to bring it up. See also: Paige.

Or even Shingo would make more sense. This to me is like if WCW strapped Disco Inferno in 1998. That's how far removed from the main event EVIL feels like to me.

Feels weird to strap EVIL, mostly because he's just not very good. Definitely was unexpected though, so they have that going for them, I guess? Weird booking decision IMO.

I have liked Josef Samael in MLW as the manager/mouth piece of CONTRA. He's a lot better in that role than in a wrestling one. He's 46, which isn't young really but he can still bump.

If it's done correctly - feels like that's the one consistent with pro-wrestling, regardless of decade or promotion. That whole if. Like, I mean, Rick Rude & Curt Hennig didn't NEED a manager. Neither did Arn Anderson... but it didn't hurt them. A guy like The Warlord? Yeah, he needed some help. I don't think Cody Rhodes needs Arn Anderson but it hasn't hurt him & it might set something up down the road.

Yeah, Vickie Guerrero was awesome in her role in WWE. Not just at getting heat but every time she had to do anything, pretty much. I can't understand not wanting AEW to use more managers, either. That's one thing that WWE doesn't do well anymore that AEW can do to set themselves apart. Much like not using authority figures & focusing more on tag team wrestling. Arn, Tully & Jake have all been tremendous. Growing up as a WWF fan, a lot of the most memorable characters were managers or valets. How many is too many? WWF had Bobby Heenan, Slick, Capt. Lou Albano, Mr. Fuji, Sensational Sherri, Jimmy Hart, Miss Elizabeth, Classy Freddie Blassie, Paul Bearer & Frenchie Martin that I can all remember off the top of my head. No way AEW is anywhere close to that many and it didn't feel like WWF had too many back then.

I think Keith Lee will be OK. They should have struck while the iron was hot instead of cooling him back down, but they don't let you go toe-to-toe with both Roman Reigns & Brock Lesnar, while you're still in NXT purgatory, without having faith in your future in WWE. I would certainly prefer a future of WWE with someone like Keith Lee getting pushed on top than the likes of Adam Cole & Johnny Gargano.

...that would be really good, actually. I would be down for that pairing, for sure.

Seth Rollins is going to win & Rey Mysterio will become Rey Mystero. Much like when Booker lost his T, Rey is going to lose his I.

In the United States of America, which I'm sure you're fully aware of as I imagine a lot of it makes national news, we have been such a ridiculous shit show for over three years now that it's hard to keep reading new daily headlines without losing your shit. We have lost any respect we had with other nations, due to our current President. On top of that, because Donald Trump is such a monumental sexist, racist, imbecile & fuck-up, pieces of shit like Mitch McConnell, Betsy DeVos, William Barr & Brett Kavanaugh basically go unnoticed & unseen. If you ever want to go down a wormhole of despair & sorrow, read about our politics over the last few years. It makes our handling (or lack there of) of the Coronavirus & the Black Lives Matter protests look trivial in comparison. That's without even getting into other things like Jeffrey Epstein, Russia & Putin, China, impeachment, the Mueller Report, James Comey, Michael Flynn, the daily briefings, the tweets, the attempt to discredit all news media, using our military against our own citizens to set-up a photo op, windmills causing cancer, injecting bleach, Donald Trump Jr. & Ivanka Trump, Stormy Daniels, neo-Nazis, the border wall & detention camps. Just to name a few things that happen & then get forgotten about a day or two later as some new scandal & ridiculous claim inevitably pops up. Our POTUS has multiple sexual allegations against him, with multiple women coming forward & is even on tape talking about sexually assaulting women ("grab 'em by the pussy!") & no one seems to give a fuck. It's lunacy. Things that would make people gasp in their hideousness happen on a damn near daily basis with this piece of shit. If you follow along with his antics daily, it will drive you mad. Meanwhile, no matter what he does, how many crimes he commits, the Republicans will protect him at any & all cost. Despite the fact that Trump himself has shown that he has zero loyalty to anyone & will not hesitate to fire people & throw them under the bus at the drop of a dime.

I was watching Supermarket Sweep last night & a female contestant referred to herself as a "domestic engineer." She was a housewife. Kind of genius, really.

Yeah, I don't really get this criticism either & never really have. I guess it's sort of an ego thing, where one professional wants to be able to have something to lord over another: "I called it in the ring." Like when Flair during an interview would say something like "Steamboat never worked heel." It's like, so? If you're good at something, why potentially mess it up? If the end goal is to provide the best form of your work as possible, I don't think it matters how you get there as long as you accomplish that goal. It would be like complaining about a drawing because the artist used a mechanical pencil instead of a number two.

Honestly, if Alex Hammerstone, Jacob Fatu, Mance Warner & Salina de la Renta all left MLW, they would have nothing left.

I really liked the SHO Vs. Shingo match from night, I think 3? Impressed me. I would be down with a SHO singles run now that YOH is hurt.

I actually like when someone has a differing opinion than the majority. It makes for more interesting discussion.

Eh, I don't know. I feel like if we were to get shoot interviews from a lot of the current crop of female talent, if they weren't still currently employed by WWE, or had nothing to lose, we would still get some whoppers today from WWE. Like, I can't imagine that women like Liv or Mandy Rose or Sasha Banks aren't getting sexually harassed on the daily, at a minimum. I imagine it's still a lot worse than most of us would like to readily admit. As long as motherfuckers like Michael P.S. Hayes are still gainfully employed, I refuse to believe that the culture has improved behind the scenes.

I also like Jericho on commentary but having four people out there, there were a lot of times where they were talking over each other. In that regard, Jericho reminded me of the one family member at Thanksgiving that won't let others get a word in by just getting louder. I already think a 3-man team is kind of rough. Four is way too many. But I do like Jericho on color.

The biggest difference between NXT & AEW to me, from flipping back-and-forth tonight, is that in NXT, not very many people feel special or like stars. Like that opening women's four way is just a nothing match. Meanwhile, in AEW, so far each match has felt like the people in the match were stars. Io/Sasha on NXT I'm sure will be different but their card is not something that looks like they're too concerned with trying to "fight" against AEW on Wednesday.

I won't be able to watch the whole show as I have to leave for work in an hour but this is the first time I've turned on AEW in a few weeks. It's honestly been quite entertaining so far. I don't regret it.

Jericho name-dropping the band Anvil popped me. MJF calling Jack Perry "Jungle Jabroni" got me too. "You ever have pyro, you masked idiot!?" Match has been entertaining too. Good start.