Coffey

There was a time, when I was a lot younger, where I looked at the WWE the same way that I looked at the NFL or the NBA. It was like the best-of-the-best. The greatest basketball players went to the NBA. The greatest American football players made it to the NFL. The cream of the crop of professional wrestlers went on to then WWF now WWE. "You gotta go to New York." "Vince will make you a star!" How many wrestlers believe that anymore? You make a name for yourself elsewhere? WWE might bring you in & slap you on NXT. Maybe it would work out? But I doubt there's confidence like there used to be. Of course, that wasn't accurate in the first place but at one time, you could make the argument that WWF was where all talent wanted to wind-up. The goal was to be wrestling at Wrestlemania. Like, kids growing up playing football fantasize about the Super Bowl. Little kids on the basketball court in the park aren't thinking about the Euro league or playing in the G League. It wasn't just the Hulk Hogan WWF. Harley Race wrestled there. Ric Flair, Terry Funk, Dusty Rhodes, André the Giant... everyone that was anyone. Nowadays though, the show just feels like it's nothing but jobbers, top to bottom. There aren't any stars. Trying to brand the company as the star, to me, has backfired. WWE developmental turned into another brand instead of developmental, with their own TV show where they basically just try to wrestle like every other WWE show. WWE created multiple divisions, or brands, or shows or whatever the hell you want to call them, to try to create competition... with themselves. RAW Vs. Smackdown. NXT invasions. NXT UK. And none of it works because it's all WWE & everyone knows that. They're not back to trying to have people jump shows again, like that shit matters. It doesn't. I think the Charlotte Flair thread is interesting. Loss made a great point. When WWE does try to make someone special, like Charlotte, it backfires with some of the fans. She's "pushed down our throats" or whatever. But how many clean losses did the big stars of yesteryear take? Of course the business model has changed & there's a lot of hours of programming that need to be filled... but you used to have to PAY to even have a chance to see top stars lose. Now wins & losses & titles reigns don't mean anything. Being a champion doesn't mean anything. Braun Strowman is the world champion for crying out loud. Everyone that's anyone nowadays is like a ten time champion. Can people even name who the midcard champions are anymore? They job people out before trying to build them up & then wonder why they don't catch on when the perception of them is that they're losers. WWE as a whole, top to bottom, needs a revamp & an entire overhaul. I don't mean changing the RAW theme song or the color of the ring ropes. The format needs to change. The direction needs to change. The personnel needs to change. Everything. That is if they care - which if revenue is still coming in & being generated, I don't think they will. But the stars aren't there. The shows feel like they're crumbling. Smackdown had a pretty good number this week, comparatively, but RAW did not. They're doing shows with no fans. Still trying to run PPV. But without live attendance, or live show merch sales, or even PPV buys as they killed off that revenue with the WWE Network. Where is the money coming from? All I see is the TV rights deals from USA & FOX & the Saudi Arabia deal. Which last I heard was now shaky (admittedly I don't know a lot of details there, some kind of pissing contest?) & I don't know how USA & FOX are feeling right now. But I would be surprised to see WWE get huge numbers on their next contracts, whenever that is. So maybe they will try to make changes sometime soon? I get that Vince McMahon feels burned. Hulk Hogan with the steroid trial & then going to WCW (even though they brought him back). Steve Austin refusing the program with Brock & going home (even though they brought him back). The Rock going to Hollywood. Brock going to UFC. Even now with Roman choosing to stay away for health reasons & Becky getting pregnant. Even the people that they tried to make into big stars, that didn't get to that level, still feel like they're "leaving" - so I get why he's trying to make the WWE moniker the draw & not the stars. But that just creates a bunch of apathetic fans without any big stars. What gets the biggest reactions in WWE nowadays? A big return from injury or a superstar from another promotion like AJ Styles showing up, something like that? I don't believe that professional wrestling is cyclical. If it's good, it's up. If it's bad, it's down. Right now, wrestling is pretty bad. Not just WWE but because of the pandemic, as a whole. It's hard to find current stuff to watch & follow. But WWE still seems to dictate the professional wrestling world. When they do new things, or try new ideas, you see those pop-up elsewhere. A good example being the Money in the Bank briefcase. Suddenly there were briefcases everywhere. Even New Japan has one. TNA did it. Small thing, but just an example. You've seen it more recently with the women. Every company has a female division now. Not a coincidence that it's after women main event Wrestlemania & WWE starts using them so much more predominantly. Not that women haven't been working in non-WWE places for a long time, especially in Japan, but now it's EVERYWHERE. Even companies like NWA knew they had to start with a women's division from the jump when they started NWA Power. So when WWE feels lame, when it feels like no one there is special, when it feels like it's a waste of time, people won't watch. They won't spend money on it. Hell, even the discussion on places like here feels like it's dwindling. There's not a lot to talk about. The wrestlers suck, the shows suck, the company stinks. There's occasionally a pearl but for the most part, I think a lot of us that continue to follow due so out of habit more so than anything else. For several years, I continued to follow just so I could be up to date on current events & activities for discussion sake but I even lost interest in that. Anyway, I'm rambling...

Shit like this needs to get the fuck off this forum. We're all grown ass adults. We should act like it. Even if we're arguing over professional wrestling.

If he does come back to have one-more gimmick, post-retirement boxing match, you bet your ass I would watch it. But him just showing up on stuff? Naw. I would watch the hell out of an Iron Mike version of The Last Dance though!

Cornette is the kind of guy where if he were an employee, you would want him working from home & sending in his shit via e-mail so you don't have to deal with him face-to-face & can edit out tangents to still get to the point. But at that point, it's easier to just not work with him. Which is a shame as he is really knowledgeable. But what can ya do?

That's up there with the John Cena "...nice speech."

Oh my god, Carnyland is amazing.

This is tough because, like John Cena, Charlotte is good. Is it overpushed if the person being pushed works? Baron Corbin doesn't always work. But I also don't think he's been around long enough for his name to even register with me. Edge comes to mind as well. Probably not over Triple H though.

I actually hadn't thought about it in that way - and that's on me being white & naive - but that's very enlightening. Like, the whole "paying your dues" shit probably would take on a completely different meaning to black people if they're being ordered around by white people in power to do shit like carrying their bags. And there's a reason Michael Hayes would pull that shit on someone like Mark Henry & not someone like Ron "unfuckwithable" Simmons. Hayes should have been fired eons ago anyway.

I think he would also need to draw. Dusty was a megadraw. Otis is just a cog in a machine being slotting in a spot during a time when there's no crowd.

I'll admit that, to me, one of the big positives for AEW thus far has been their ability to fine-tune things. Britt Baker is a great example. She went from being easily one of the weakest parts of the show to becoming one of the most entertaining. Just by tweaking her character. She's still not great in the ring but like her interactions with Tony Schiavone are great & leaning into the Doctor Dentist stuff for heat is great. At the same time, maybe it ties-in with that positive, is that sometimes they're very unwilling to give up on things when they stink. Especially if it involves people from The Elite or friends of people in The Elite.

Even just semi-recently, I remember a lot of people in wrestling on Twitter going off on Peyton Royce when she got new breasts. I also seem to recall that it was a misunderstanding in some way but I don't remember the details. EDIT: Correction, going off on Dave Meltzer over something he said about Peyton after she got surgery.

Sounds like he didn't sign a new contract & his old one expired. Weird WWE would be using him like that this couple of months without him getting a contract extension first. Going out on a high now getting to main event Smackdown with Daniel Bryan though. Maybe he will still re-sign? Definitely caught me off guard & came out of left field. I really like Gulak. There's quite a few other talented people in WWE, like Jack Gallagher, that I wouldn't mind seeing take their craft elsewhere. Here's to hoping Rusev does when his 90-days are up.

We also shouldn't glance over that as popular as Becky is, as big as a star as she became, her main eventing Wrestlemania as the top woman (with Ronda & Charlotte)... was all because the crowd refused to let her be turned heel by WWE. Because they wanted to turn another great babyface heel for... reasons.

Regardless of how I feel about Seth Rollins professionally, it is pretty hard in my mind to justify dating/marrying/having a baby with an adulterer that cheated on his wife with a Nazi. But, whatever, it's their life to live.

How long until Otis uses the briefcase as a lunch box to store food in?

This irks the shit out of me, too. She's so good. We still gotta see Konnan's jobber ass but Salina is MIA. I guess that's better than Vampiro being around. "Bro, I don't remember, bro. I forgot 92% of my memories. I slept with at least 10,000 chicks though, bro. I was like the Beatles." Another thing, why the hell hasn't anyone brought in Dario? I don't know what he's doing or if he's even interested but he was super good in Lucha Underground. There's still a huge void for targeting the Latin market in U.S. wrestling. Someone needs to capitalize on it. I thought AEW would go more in that direction with the AAA affiliation & bringing in the Lucha Bros. but, welp, I guess not. MLW has some acts that I really like (Hammerstone, Warner) & some I really don't (InJustice) but I still like it more than I dislike it, so I'll continue to follow it. But it hasn't been stellar lately with these Super Series taped shows. Thank goodness for the Dynasty segments because if it were just those matches they've been airing, woof. I love fat, old man L.A. Park though.

I don't even think having a good match with the current champion even matters. Usually the cash-in is some 30 second, non-match spot anyway. Like the Fiend will show up & put him out with the Mandible Claw then Otis will Worm him & pin him or some shit.

I thought the same thing & I don't think that about a lot of people. Kind of made me feel like The Miz is more of an unsung hero than maybe I give him credit for. He even made me care about Alex Riley for a bit... Sandow now, especially when he was making a point to say "belt!" a dozen times just comes off as bitter... and the comedy doesn't fit in NWA at all. The Mama Storm didn't work. The Question Mark doesn't work. Him being his old Mizdow in a Karate Gi doesn't work. It just all feels really forced & definitely not funny.

My god, catching up on the show from this past Saturday and this Los Parks 6-man just will not end.

My first thought was actually that I hope the Powers the Be: Prichard, Vince, whomever, don't try to use this as a catalyst to decide that the women are undependable at the top.

Grats to Becky & Seth. That was an all-time run for Becky too. Good for her. Asuka getting another reign is a-ok by me!

Maybe she didn't know the winning briefcase was on the roof either, like Dana Brooke, despite them constantly telling us it ended on the roof. Also, it's a sensitive subject & I understand that, but did Nia get bigger during her time away injured? If not, that body suit is not doing her any favors.

I'm happy with the winners. Otis winning is really unexpected to me. I would also have been OK with Dana Brooke winning. WWE have given loyalty reigns before & it would certainly be better than another Nia Jax push or randomly slapping Tamina on PPV shows but whatever. Asuka is great. I wouldn't be surprised to see Otis lose the briefcase in a match to someone though. But since it's WWE, he'll probably cash it in for the tag titles & his teammate will turn on him.

Going full Lucha Underground. I'm here for it. If you're gonna be cheesy, go all the way, right?

I will say that Seth Rollins has a fantastic Frog Splash & there's no reason that shouldn't be his finish.