Coffey

That Jimmy Redman post is tremendous. There are some exceptionally well written people here on PWO. Thank you for that post.

There's a lot of places in the USA, especially here in the Midwest, where many aren't taking it as seriously as they should. Many people can't afford to miss work & if the company they work for hasn't closed themselves, they're still going to work everyday. Walmart is always busy. Fucking Starbucks is busy. That's the scariest thing about this pandemic to me. Human stupidity makes it worse & the average person is really stupid. Especially in the bible belt where people are congregating in large groups at church still... trying to pray away the virus. You can't make this shit up. Meanwhile our president, which most agree is an absolute fucking idiot, keeps trying to blame-shift to everyone else & only cares about "opening the country back up" because he's worried about the economy. All he's really doing is getting more people sick/killed. And he's doing a daily press conference, which he's now basically using as tax-funded campaign re-election air time. We're getting one-time $1,200 stimulus checks which right now, for those that don't have direct deposit, are being held-up because President Trump wanted his name, his signature, literally on the check... because he thinks it'll help him come re-election. Our postal service is also on the verge of collapse & Trump & the Republicans are trying to make it so people can't vote via mail, like they just did in Wisconsin. It's almost like they want more poor people to get sick & die... Guess what all those poor, broke people are going to do as soon as they get those stimulus checks? Yeah. Sorry, I know this isn't pro-wrestling only, but it's not all sunshine in the United States, believe me.

The irony of Jim Cornette getting fired from NWA for making a racist comment on commentary defending Jerry Lawler for making a racist "joke" on commentary is not lost on me. Maybe that's the point? At this point, honestly, Cornette is no better than Russo & might even be worse. Like, I get that Russo is shit as it pertains to pro-wrestling but Cornette is now approaching just being a shit human all around every time he opens his mouth. Regardless of if he's doing it for clicks, says he's just working or whatever, it's a bad look. And that includes every time Brian Last tries to defend him as well. Also because new stories like this keep popping up about Cornette like every week where as I only hear anything about Russo... when someone brings up Cornette. People getting upset at racist jokes is not them being snowflakes, or soft, or whatever-in-the-fuck, it's them wanting people to get called out on shit instead of everyone smiling, acting like it's OK & encouraging that shit to continue. If people gave Lawler a free pass in 2020 for a commentary remark like that, guess what he'll do the next week? He'll have another one. So yeah, call people out when they do inappropriate shit & make them face the consequences of their actions. I was watching an old NBA dunk contest on ESPN Classic. It was the Jordan/Dominique showdown, I think 1989? Michael Jordan does his infamous "kiss the rim" dunk from the side of the basket. The commentator says "he calls that that Chinese Superman... because it's slanted!" My first thought was 1. that was super inappropriate and 2. if he was on the air today, he would be fired before the dunk contest finished. Just like the newspaper writer that titled his story "A Chink in the Armor" when writing about Jeremy Lin. In both circumstances I 100% believe Jim Cornette would have tried to defend those people. Both cases, just like with the Lawler defense, he would come off as out of touch & inappropriate in the world we live in. He's just not relevant anymore & he's gathering an army of imbeciles that "defend his honor" no matter how ridiculous his hate speech rhetoric gets. Like, it's OK to admit that you were wrong & change with the times. Become a better person. Eddie Murphy isn't going around making his anti-gay jokes like he told in his 1980's stand-ups anymore. So why is Cornette still trying to defend this crap?

I don't even think it's the scummiest thing they've done THIS WEEK. They just announced that during said pandemic they're going to continue carrying on with three live shows a week - that the talent has to work & risk their health, more so than usual. You lump all the shit together that WWE has done, including the deal with Saudi Arabia & I can't see anyone feeling sorry for the brand, the company or the McMahon family. The people they employ, especially those losing their jobs today, for sure. That's without even getting into the hair of the damn Super PAC headed by Linda McMahon & Florida deeming WWE an "essential business" while money gets funneled into the state.

I have been pining & clamoring for a return to the American Bad Ass for The Undertaker since probably a year after he returned to the deadman. That match last night with A.J. Styles was so much more fun & entertaining than I was expecting it to be. It was a real highlight of the night & I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was just campy, cheesy fun which helped me escape reality for awhile & as a fan, that's all you can ask for. Looking forward to the show tonight too but the bar was set pretty high!

They're not. Guaranteed. It's hard as hell to even get a test in most places right now. Unless you're an NBA team.

That was a legitimately great wrestling show, despite the dire circumstances surrounding everything. Lancer Archer is there & paired with Jake the Snake. They debut Brodie Lee. They debut Matt Hardy. Most of the wrestling was good. The wrestlers in the crowd were having fun. The commentators were having fun. It was just a fun night overall & played a great distraction for a couple of hours. I really love that AEW is embracing the role of the manager, too. You got Tully, you got Arn, you got Jake... even Wardlow as like a bodyguard. It feels different because WWE has stepped away from it for so long. Which is crazy because when WWF first blew up with cable TV, they had managers everywhere! Heenan, Slick, Fuji, Jimmy Hart, Albano, etc. Brandi did a good job filling in on announcing for Justin Roberts. Dare I say I liked her more. Feels like Roberts is trying to get himself over too much. It is a shame we didn't get live audience reactions from the new debuts but the fact we got them at all is pretty nutty.

Along the same lines of something TTK mentioned: Terry Funk in the old ECW worked because he was like the only older Legend on the roster, so he stood out. That works with Tim Storm in NWA as well... but when you're bringing in George South & The Rock 'N Roll Express & what not, yeah. It's the whole redhead in a room full of blondes analogy. If there's multiple redheads... Now, George South as a mouthpiece manager? I'd be all aboard that train.

I was thinking this too. It was Wrestle Kingdom for me. But in the U.S.? Pretty great feeling. Excited! The card looks good & the build has been strong.

Not as old as you trying to defend his jobber-ass. He's like Mike Adamle levels of bad. I'm talking all-time bad. I have no earthly idea what you see in that jabrone.

This feels better in every way, honestly. Orton/Edge, Goldberg/Roman, Cena/Fiend is a pretty enticing card. At least from what they can do nowadays.

When they used to have fan interaction during the intro before Power started, I was all for that. People being positive in Tweets & whatnot. This feels too far in the other direction for my tastes.

Well damn, I guess The Circle Squared is only half an hour long. Also, the inclusion of people's "live" reactions - nobodies from Twitch/YouTube - is a big miss for me. I don't give a fuck about their thoughts. Just show the talent & let us "vote" via Twitter or whatever, don't make people a part of the show like that. I don't like that at all.

Everyone's got a price!

I'm more confused by WWE's selective choices for non-WWE talent. Like, Liger is going in based on what he's done in pro-wrestling but in WWE he did what, one NXT match against Tyler Breeze? And Abdullah the Butcher is in & I don't think he ever made an appearance for WWF/WWE. Maybe when it was Vince, Sr. in WWWF, but I don't remember. So if Liger can go in - he did work a lot in the States, especially WCW - what does that mean for other Japanese talents? Do they have to have had a good run in the States, so Muta can go in? Or is it just greats, like Misawa & Kawada can go in now, too? They put in Antonio Inoki. They just put in Tatsumi Fujinami in 2015. Now they have this "Legacy Division" bullshit & put Rikidozan in there. Which is also apparently where Lou Thesz, Strangler Lewis, Pat O'Connor, Frank Gotch, El Santo & George Hackenschmidt are. So, do they not count as WWE Hall of Fame main division guys? It's all so confusing. It's like they want it to be both credible & kayfabe at the same time. So I assume they can put in Jumbo but he'll go in the Legacy division? Or does he not go into the Legacy part because he wrestled Flair? Are all the divisions supposed to be treated equally, so being in the Legacy division doesn't matter? Or maybe we should only ignore the celebrity division, because otherwise Drew Caray & Rikidozan are on equal footing...

I agree with this post. I do still really like Keith Lee, but sometimes you want a big guy to fight like a big guy & not be a big guy that's "deceptively agile for his size!" More One Man Gang, less Mike Awesome doing suicide dives & frog splashes. Like, yeah, Vader could do a Moonsault but he didn't NEED to do it, ya know? Totally get where you're coming from. One thing that I love about Keith Lee though is that he's incorporated The Pounce into his moveset. He's not the only one. I love how despite having a short run in wrestling, Monty Brown left his mark. I've seen several black wrestlers use it & I love the homage.

Do they have a kid that can choose Ciampa over Gargano too? "Ciampa is my dad now." They already chant here comes daddy at him!

Finn Balor turns heel on Johnny Gargano. Johnny Gargano turns heel on *checks notes* Tomasso Ciampa. Wut.

There was a period in ECW there in like '99-'00 or so, where the best matches on the show frequently involved Super Crazy, Little Guido or Tajiri.

Balor has always been overrated to me. Even when he was in New Japan as Devitt, I never really got the appeal. It was a cool visual when he would come out on the shoulders of Fale, I guess, but I saw that shit with Big Sal & Little Guido in ECW first. I will admit some of the Demon entrances are pretty sweet though.

When Tegan put the chair over Dakota's neck on the table at the end there, I legit got bug-eyed for a second. That would have been something I've never seen before, for sure.

I thought it was Sonya Deville at first and I was SUPER confused.

That was a really good Shining Wizard.

OK, that Spirit Bomb kickout was nuts. This match has been a ton of fun.

I'll be honest, I completely forgot about Mauro's involvement with NXT & his entrance just took all the wind out of my sails.