WingedEagle

Per a commercial during the HOF broadcast, the podcast is coming to the WWE Network. You read that correctly. Ridiculous.

I'd argue Rollins doesn't belong on that list anymore than Papa Shango or Warrior belong for Mania 8.

Hillbilly Jim promos do not make for good television.

Not sure if anyone's watching, but the Dudleys' speeches are very nice. Nothing remarkable or even any really noteworthy or hilarious stories, but its pretty nice to see how great a relationship they have with each other and how much they appreciate a number of folks in the business who helped them along the way, notably Tommy Dreamer. D-Von in particular seems very genuinely nice.

For the last 6 months I've been doing 6 days a week : 4 days of roughly 40mn to 1H routines (I'm mixing it up, keeping the hardest for Friday) and twice the abs-only workout, which is 12 mn. I'm thinking about getting the App to get more diversity now. I've heard good things and have been intrigued, but I'm already running 4-6 miles 3-5x a week and hitting the elliptical the other days. Not sure how much I need to mix it up.

How long is the daily workout?

Three fights cancelled for Saturday's show in the wake of this. I'm not holding my breath on it, but when do they say enough is enough?

You would think they would use tearing his gear apart as part of a particularly brutal match or angle by now, even if just once. I don't buy that its due to concerns about his body, but am not sure why they've avoided going that route at some point.

Perhaps there are other ways about it, but yes, it really can be that simple. No bells or whistles attached to Okada's current reign, just a string of excellent main event title matches. Let the work generate the buzz.

Anything's possible, but after going to the lengths they have throughout the build to babyface Roman and heel Brock on his way out the door, it would seem awfully surprising to take things in the other direction immediately following Mania.

For those that have a Fire Stick, you can watch Stardom World on it via the Silk browser. The quality is phenomenal and a huge upgrade from watching on the computer.

I'd agree, and went even higher on Balor/Rollins. But when WWE puts out 7+ of weekly TV (when factoring in NXT and 205) along with relatively easy access to a host of other promotions, I wonder where even the type of hardcore, compulsive fan who makes his or her way here draws the line. I'm current on WWE and NJPW, but quite behind on Stardom and have a list of recent matches from other promotions I hope to get through, and that's before even mentioning older footage. This is indeed a first world wrestling problem, but a problem nonetheless.

Standards or volume?

Don't lose too much sleep over this one. Rollins/Balor was definitely good and probably the best TV match in some time, but MOTYC is a bit of a stretch. If you had Monday off, you'd be hard pressed to call it match of the weekend. Can certainly check it out in full on YT or the Network when its up. It probably didn't matter much by the end, but it didn't help that they went split screen and muted the match to air a WM hype video before even going to a commercial. I get it, but we've got 2 hours of previews & videos coming on Sunday. But I guess those are the priorities these days.

Strongly agree with this. While I was never as high on Riddle as some, there was (and is) no denying his talent and output for someone so early in their career. But I didn't find his 2017 all that impressive except when paired with Walter, who essentially always delivers when in with anyone talented.

It was actually pretty decent until the finish, but yeah. Not the most inspired go home show we've seen.

Brexit isn't finalized yet, so yes.

Its certainly possible, but I'd be very surprised. Asuka winning both (1) preserves the streak for Rousey to eventually go after, (2) moves her to Smackdown as champion and thus away from Rousey, who can work through the Raw women and that title. It hopefully also open the door to turn Charlotte heel again sooner rather than later.

John Cena is very good at what he does.

That Asuka video was terrific. Curious whether we see it 1, 2 or 3 more times on Sunday, but it was quite the piece of business. They've really got a ton of matches peaking right on time.

Its odd. The writing of all promos in the Hunter/Steph vs. Kurt/Rousey feud has been pretty terrible, but I think everyone has generally done a strong job projecting their characters ahead of the match. Just an odd dynamic where the personalities overcome awful writing, but its worked.

The hate you're looking for right now is between Omega and Cody. Lovers/Bucks was built entirely as an issue of respect and somewhat around who's the best tag team, with the Bucks making the jump to heavyweight. No strong personal issues between them and Omega at this point. I was talking about the Lovers vs Cody and Page match in particular.... Oh. I see the point there, but as you noted they are building to the singles match on ROH's PPV and I just didn't expect a whole lot of fireworks in advance of that match. As I noted, its curious that a NJPW semi is being used to further a storyline with its next big match in another promotion, but it certainly met expectations given that.

The hate you're looking for right now is between Omega and Cody. Lovers/Bucks was built entirely as an issue of respect and somewhat around who's the best tag team, with the Bucks making the jump to heavyweight. No strong personal issues between them and Omega at this point.

Is this one any good?

I mean, they could touch on that but Ospreay and Scurll went 30 minutes and the Bucks vs Lovers tag went 40 so I think it's just the house style now Agreed. It's all about excess now. Too many dangerous spot, too many moves, too many finisher kick-outs, too many minutes. It's the Pornhub generation of pro-wrestling, they can't just have fun sex for 15 minutes, they need a giant gang-bang that lasts an hour with a hundred money shots and double anals and whatnot to be able to come, or so they seem to think. As much as that cracks me up, I don't think Okada/ZSJ fits that profile other than length. I don't recall any particularly dangerous spots. There was certainly some work down the stretch around countering finishers, given Sabre's run in the NJ Cup getting so many submissions via arm work that was exactly the right direction. I'm unabashedly a fan of the style at the top of the card so while I don't necessarily agree with some of the criticisms of the main event picture, I can certainly understand where its coming from as they're now routinely 30+ minute affairs and often do feature a plethora of double anal spots along the way. Just not on this night. This match seemed very logical and compact in that you had an opening segment with Sabre using his work on the mat against the champ to seek out an opening, a middle portion that focused on arm work to raise doubt about the Rainmaker, and a finishing stretch with ZSJ looking for the kill while answering the question about whether Okada could still end things with the Rainmaker. Other thoughts on the show: I'm usually a fan of the Bucks when they work Japan and almost never a fan when they work domestically. That was the case here, as even against Yujiro (who may not be awful, but brings absolutely nothing to the table) and Chase Owens they worked a solid tag to continue establishing them as heavyweights. What a horrific waste of Tomohiro Ishii. I know any kind of meaningful push is unlikely and I'm not clamoring for it. But unless you tell me these outings are necessary to preserve his body its just a tease. The Tanahashi and Naito/Suzuki 6 man tags were solid and brisk, even if I thought both iterations of these multi-man matches from Korakuen were better. But they did good job furthering feuds building for the upcoming round of shows, and Tana winning should've been a sign that his match was coming sooner than Dominion. Junior tag titles was a waste. It seems like all 3 teams could be put to better use. It looks like these feuds will be more focused on the April/May shows, so hopefully that's borne out in the ring. I'm not a Will Ospreay guy. At all. Its also not clear if I care less for him or Marty Scurll. But this match was fantastic. Marty's work on the neck was vicious and focused, while Will's selling was consistent and meaningful. He even seemed to curb down the screaming and cursing that are usually staples of his act. There was also less flying to reflect how they were working and as a result the big spots meant even more. The Spanish Fly off the apron was absolutely bonkers and the botch & resulting blood made the finish that much stronger. Golden Lovers vs. Cody & Page was solid. Its amazing to see how effective a heel Cody has become on this run, as well as how NJPW big matches are booked to further an ROH PPV main event. Strong booking here with the Bucks showing up but keeping a slow burn and saving big angles to play out down the road. I'm curious where this eventually leads. It seems like they're subtly teasing a Bucks split, and while I could see that happening for purposes of a short term angle or match, there's no way that's a result of this feud. Presumably Omega/Ibushi in a big singles outing is an eventual destination, but I'm not sure what other matches are interim goals. I loved Ospreay/Scurll and Okada/Sabre and had both at ****1/2. No complaints about a show that top heavy. The lineups for end of April/early May look pretty great. I thought they'd load up the Naito/Suzuki and Okada/Tana shows, but are putting NEVER and US Title matches on Korakuens. Should be fun.