fakeplastictrees

I have always been fascinated by the mere existence of MLW 2.0. A failed wrestling promoter builds a podcast empire and then decides to try his hand at pro wrestling again. The sharks were out in the 2000s, but launching a promotion in this climate is even worse. Impact was in a special position just a few years ago where they could have been pioneering, but choose to be the carbon copy of WWE. MLW 2.0 is early Impact shortly after the Dixie buyout where this company needs to decide its identity and ultimate direction. So many moving parts, but its interesting watching Court keep his head above water.

Just messing around. After a week of work kicking my ass, I will have some time this weekend to take a listen.

Or is it?

Apparently all Sonny had to do was get off the couch. Apparently all Rose had to do was get surgery and go through a life changing process to get an AEW contract. The years of work, training, dedication, etc. mean nothing. AEW never made a big deal (or even an announcement of any kind) as to the identities of these individuals and it was all focused on the work they put in. Of course this rubbed a few people the wrong way and the historical discrediting commenced. https://twitter.com/youngbucksclub/status/1093733079443783680

Apparently Impact has sold 40 seats or so for United We Stand. As the card fills out, I am sure they will sell out the NJ venue. I hope Impact takes this time to really try and stand out during Mania weekend and just say "fuck it" and a few more insane first time matches. If Aries/Sami happens, I can see it going down at the Rebel Center PPV and/or United We Stand. However, if Impact wants to do a "Hardcore Legends" show, I am all for Sami vs. Raven. Hell, maybe Raven (and two members of The Flock vs. OvE. An MLW crossover match featuring The Studd Stable w/ Colonel Parker vs. LAX w/Konnan would be interesting as well.

El Gringo Loco is definitely not ready for TV. His self-given nickname of "The Base God" is absolutely terrible. Imagine if Curt Henning gave himself the nickanme "Mr. Pinball" or Ricky Morton thought the fans should know him as "Good Sell" Morton. El Gringo Loco needs a Vince Russo makeover. Russo is historically bad in a million ways, but he has a fairly good track record when it comes to giving personality to vanilla flippity-do guys. I'm not advocating MLW hire or even seek consulting from Russo, but Loco needs something because the current package does zero for me and screams low-rent indie. Outside of that, I still enjoy the overall MLW's "PWG with a TV Deal" aesthetic.

I understand I am in the minority, but Becky is far from sympathetic and has been absolutely awful these past few weeks. Becky adopting the toxic pro wrestling masculinity trope of not seeking medical help and assaulting people who suggest she get the physical help she clearly needs is not something I thought I'd see in 2019.

I know two people who worked the MLW show and I haven't heard any reasons as to why that match was there or even that long. Was it just to have Salina on TV? Martinez/Brazil should have been a 5 minutes showcase for Brazil with Martinez eventually picking up the win.

Black has the best kicks in WWE. He slaps his thigh like everyone else, but he is so lighting fast its amazing.

Stephanie should be as far away from the Mania match as possible. We can't really do anything about the build up unfortunately as Stephanie is going to Stephanie, but at Mania 36, hopefully Stephanie realizes the best place she could be in at The Gorilla Position and not anywhere near the actual ring.

The Rascalz are poster boys for needed character development.

Because of the way MLW contracts are structured, etc. I take each episode of Fusion as a PWG show. Fun matches featuring the hottest acts on the indies. Nothing more. Nothing less. One clean hour of pro wrestling that isn't over scripted or over produced. With Sinclair, WWE, Yukes, and AWE all with pocketbooks open, I think its best for Court to give up the super indy dream and really start focusing on guys no one knows. Having one or two name talent bouncing around MLW is fine, but 95% of the show should feature the next generation of stars. I do not think this will be easy in any way, but Court needs to sit down with a Dylan Hales and really start keeping tabs on SCI, etc.

IIRC, Ziggler signed a new contract not too long ago. I believe the contract was for 2-3 years. If he is really leaving, he may be exercising his out clause? Marie and Mike were a lame act since day one. Not WWE day one, just day one in general. M&M is an act signed by WWE purely for the purpose of that act not going anywhere else and potentially make another company money.

Actually, just spoke to Brandon and he confirmed 30% of Youtube views are from India. Not a surprising number all considering, but wow!

Did Chris or Brandon confirm that? Maybe someone else did? Would be interesting to know.

Flip and Sabin are both out. Sabin isn't a big deal as he is just a body, but Flip is a bigger deal. Definitely an interesting time in ROH. The signing of RUSH is absolutely crazy and I honestly feel that is due to a few DVDVR and PWO posters spreading the good word on Twitter. It will be very interesting to see what ROH does with him. In its history ROH may fuck MLW yet again. Ja Rule, Cam'ron, 50 Cent, and other ended their early 2000's beef. Why won't ROH? In the immortal words of Booker T, "We comin' for you...".

Tessa is in WOW and her gimmick is that she is a 3rd generation badass. She honestly needs to past that. Orton and Rock both moved pass the 3rd generation label and I would like to see Tessa move past that. The women's division can easily be the best outside of WWE without question. With EVE, WSU, Stardom, and others floating around, it's a no brainer. I have some thoughts on AEW, but I guess the biggest thing is for them to avoid being WWE/Impact lite. Everyone who wants to jump should not automatically be accepted. I would hate for AEW to turn into an episode of WWE Superstars. There has to be a line. Excepting Zack Ryder and The Revival are fine, but I would hate if AEW took a page out of the WCW and Impact playbook and just accepted everyone who had a cup of coffee in WWE.

If we read between the lines of one of Court's tweets, this isn't the first time ROH tried to poach talent within the last 6 months. The ROH and MLW shoot feud from the early 2000's is alive and well. MLW has bigger backing now, but it looks like the one million dollar investment isn't going to be enough to keep Sinclair, AEW, Yukes, or WWE at bay. I am not sure where Anthem is right now, but if Jericho's recent interview is any indication, they will open the pocket book when needed.

I'm not trying to be the uncool dad in the thread telling everyone not to drink and smoke doobies, but what's the deal with the Alexa Bliss segment? It's completely weird to see something like this on WWE TV in the midst of the Evolution/shoot nude photos leak era? I am not sure what purpose it served? Has WWE ever cut to the back while Baron Corbin is putting on his pants? What about Shane McMahon in mid zip-up and adjusting himself? Two steps forward and one step back. Seth no-sold The Doomsday Device! He 'rolled' on his shoulder and immediately went on the attack. The *checks notes* shoulder roll was met with crowd confusion and not a big babyface pop. Hopefully the we have reached the end of the era of Lashley bending over and spanking his ass. The man is vanilla, but has a ton of talent. Maybe this IC title run is exactly what he needs. Bobby Lashley is the 9th African-American Intercontinental champion.

To be fair, I did ask. So apologizes all around.

Never heard this one. I thought Gene was highly thought of much like Monsoon, Heenan, and Dusty. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Once upon a time, Dave was on WWE payroll. I am not sure why people are surprised that he is potentially on the AEW payroll in some capacity.

I am right there with you. I was never high on Konnan the worker, but his promos and backstage contributions cannot be denied. Perhaps I am being too hard on MLW and they are doing the best with what they have. Overall, MLW has positioned itself in a good way leading into 2019.

I have no problem that it was done, I have a problem with how it was done. It was too easy and too clean. Konnan getting the business in the ring should have been after a massive and believable clearing of the ring by the heels. Pentagon, Fenix, MLW officials, and refs storm the ring only to get taken out violently by the leading heel faction. This would require everyone to turn it up to 100 and stay there. Konnan is then stabbed, the commentators are completely disgusted and outraged, the lead heel factions quickly leaves the ring (bodies laid out all around them) as venue security, court bauer, and the person who is going to get revenge for Konnan (and eventually take the title from Low Ki) tend to the fallen Miami native. Doing something 'real' and not making it feel 'real' is the same issue Impact ran into earlier this year with the hit-n-run angle. Good idea, poorly executed. Same here. Both angles involved Konnan and his finger prints are all over both. MLW finds itself in this interesting position where they raise the stakes (ICE, Stabbings, etc.), but yet are bat shit scared to do it in a way where the consequences feel heavy and real.If this was a shoot? How would the aftermath play out? First, we need to answer the big question. Why weren't the cops called and charges filed. Simple, the cops did come as they reviewed calls from concerned viewers and audience members. However, Konnan denies pressing charges and tells Court to take no legal action as that's not how things are handled where he's from (this all of course is relayed to the audience by the commentators and online statements). Konnan getting stabbed in the kidneys should write him off of MLW for at least 6 months at this point. Low Ki should be fined, stripped of the title, and suspended without pay pending board review. For their contributions to the non-sense El Hijo and Martinez, Court is thinking about firing them, but instead suspends them and books them in a *insert gimmick match here* due to the constant petitioning of Fenix and Pentagon as they want to avenge Konnan and take these guys out. During all of this Salina is MIA. MLW officials go to her house, and its all cleaned out. Phone numbers have been disconnected or go straight to voicemail, etc. Salina is officially laying low (this of course is an angle all within itself).

WWE Christmas shows, for the most part, are lame duck shows. I can understand them using this time to add some buzz to the product going into the new year. Despite all the talk from last week about 'listening to the fans', its weird WWE rewarded the fans ,who sat in the arena for five hours, with a Baron Corbin vs. Seth Rollins main event. Lio getting egg nog'd was awesome and Lashley still, more than ever, needs to have Lex Luger's WCW 2000 theme and entrance stat (minus the butt stuff). I avoided the Natalya vs. Rousey match for various reasons. Is it worth checking out?