fakeplastictrees

The Reigns match at Extreme Rules safely cracks into Bobby's top 20 matches, not sure it slips into Reigns' top 50. I don't see 50/50 booking helping Lashley at all. Lashley wins at Extreme Rules setup a few promising things. Reigns' win on Raw sets us right back to where we were prior to GRR. And all for what? So the Brooklyn fans at best give a luke warm reaction for both Lesnar and Reigns as Lesnar walks through another "Suplex City" match? At worse the main event will be hijacked yet again. Let's be clear, Impact just put on one of the best shows of the summer and the year. Solid no nonsense booking, fresh match ups, characters with motivation, wrestlers with actual character traits, stakes defined and outlined very clearly before, during, and after matches.This is pro wrestling 101 and the biggest wrestling company is the world is gearing up for a show that will feature, for the most part, none of this. Forget the Political Hit Theory, WWE is flat out trolling.

This was a good show from start to finish. Everyone worked hard and the stakes were clear. Every match had some sort of story and purpose. The past few months of Impact have been enjoyable and solid. With Slammiversary 2018, Impact has finally moved past the LOLTNA era. A lot of good happened post Hogan, but it took Dixie being knocked down to 5% and Jarrett being booted outright. I was worried about 5150, HOH, and the mask vs. hair match all featuring the same spots and being a bit too identical. That was not the case and its really a complicated to the entire team to ensure the crowd didn't get tired of the violence by the second or third match.

The rumors have been put to bed. WWE's first ever women's PPV is happening in late October 2018. With Ember Moon, Asuka, Io, Rousey, The Four Horse Women, Belair, Naomi, and Storm on the active roster, WWE will pretty much need to go out of its own way to ensure this card doesn't deliver. Extreme Rules and other WWE PPV this year, and on average, have set the bar extremely low. Evolution just needs to be better than Backlash 2018 and it will already be a contender for SOTY.

Yeah, I think TNA turned the corner some time ago. The company deserves its own catch-all thread with a decent title. . As for Slammiversary is continuing the trend of good summer shows outside of WWE. While WWE is presented Extreme Rules with a straight face, Impact is delivering Slammiversary. Toss in the G1, Lost In New York, and Takeover Brooklyn, and I would be surprised if SummerSlam even makes the top ten wrestling shows of the summer. Slammiversary is stacked and I will be watching.

After Lio Rush made his Emma "joke" and wasn't fire, Lufisto took to Twitter to tweet how unfair it is that some people (Jessica Havok) are fired/not allowed certain opportunities for telling "bad jokes" (aka consistently using overtly racial slurs) on Twitter while others (Lio) get a slap on the writst. Lufisto used her spare time to help normalize racism to her thousands of followers on Twitter.

You are right in that WWE events are more about having a fun 'outing'. WWE has advertised that for years. Its not about seeing the best wrestlers in the world, its about being part of an experience. Being in the crowd when corporate history is made has been the focal point of many shows. "Creating memories" is always used in WM promo videos. WWE has been telling us for years that the most important thing going on isn't happening in the ring, its happening in the stands. People have taken that and run with it in some of the most understandably absurd ways.

For the most part, WWE has done a really bad job at listening to its fans. Michelle McCool coming out to crickets means given her another title run. Sheamus getting lukewarm reactions after accomplishing everything there is to accomplish in WWE means give him more TV time. JJ being booed during his NWA revival angle wasn't due to him being an awesome heel and working the marks, people were bored and wanted him off TV. Albert Del Rio getting over in large part due to his entrances means its time to take it away. People sitting on their hands during Bray Wyatt matches means the matches will go longer. Booing didn't work. Silence didn't work. Apathy didn't and doesn't work. Instead of taking cues from the crowd and making changes accordingly, WWE stuck to its guns and just called a difficult crowd "Bizarro World". Cena's getting mixed reactions? No worries, he is just "controversial". The fans are not into a match that didn't ask for and made very clear they didn't want to see? Send Charles Robinson to Tweeter to admonish the fans instead of everyone in WWE corporate taking five minutes to reflect on if running Mahal vs. Reigns was even a smart move to begin with. WWE ignored the traditional sights and sounds and spun it as marks being marks. Well now the marks have a new form of expression. And still, for the most part, WWE still isn't listening.

Let's be honest, if Hogan was quietly added back to the website, continued to appear as a talking head on WWE documentaries, and still had merch come out every now-and-then, would anyone be upset with him not coming back? I just don't see what a Hogan appearance brings to 2018 WWE aside from emboldening Jessica Havok, Lufisto, Seth Rollin's old girlfriend, and others' beliefs that racial slurs aren't all that bad. With WWE being 100% cool with Trump, its not surprising. Just disappointing.

I am with you. The guy works hard. The Tanahashi match was the pits. The next big match I saw featuring White was him against Hangman Page were both guys were trying to kill themselves and each other in front of a San Francisco crowd that couldn't care less. Both guys, who I was never high on, earned my respect that night. White then took it home in his G1 Special build up and match against Juice. I'm surprised he went from 'fire this guy' status to top ten NJPW attraction in my book.

Tell me what episode and it shall be yours.

I have seen too much of ROH vs NJPW over the last 5 years or so. NJPW and Stardom performers being on ROH shows is pretty much accepted at this point. ROH vs. NJPW doesn't get me excited. What is this MSG show a random TV taping? Been there, done that. With that said, I will be going to this show, so they already got my money, but I would love for them to bring in Impact, Dragon's Gate, Lucha Underground, AAA, and an Ireland/UK promotion that isn't scared to piss of WWE and potentially be blackballed going forward. I would love to see this super show featuring the top ten guys from each of the top ten companies outside of WWE. Its not going to happen, but ROH could easily have the show of the weekend just based on the overall craziness of the card and all of the first time matchups occurring.

Yep. The card looks amazing. If they toss in OG LAX vs. New LAX and maybe one more match, Slammiversary can easily be the best card Impact has laid out this year. Saying that the company has gotten its shit together is an understatement.

1. DC is not a draw at that level and I don't think Dana is trying to make DC that level of a draw as DC has stated on more than one occasion that he is retiring in March 2019. DC, Dana, and Brock are all trying to get paid. Nothing more. Nothing less. 2. Vince will bust the biggest nut in his life if he gets to walk into any room around the world and say that the biggest PPV draw outside of Mayweather and McGregor works for him. With both Rousey and Lesnar under contract, and Lesnar with a title, it will only help. 3. Lesnar will make it work. If Vince is pulling the strings, UFC will be beholden to WWE. There will be co-promotion and this may even include Dana eating shit and having a UFC WHC defended at WM. The bout would be completely legit, etc. but it will be featured on a card with Wyatt, Ziggler, Rollins, and some other terrible people.

Buddy is making the most of his 205 run and its working out well for him. He is one of the best on the 205 roster and currently sits in my personal top three. Its obviously a lot of the 205 guys are hungry, but I think Buddy is working under the assumption that if he doesn't produce on 205 Live, then that's it for him in WWE. Maybe I'm getting worked, but there is a real urgency to his work. Love it.

This should be fun. I agree with Grim, if there is enough bandwidth for a podcast, it should be done.

Sorry, I was thinking of Aries (and Low Ki) when I wrote that about Cass.

When was the last time WWE just gave someone a cold release? As others mentioned, the lack of "WWE wishes Cass the best in all of his future endeavors.", indicates Cass must be on the banned list. If this was 2008, they duo would be a lock for an Impact Wrestling contract.

Going to be honest. I did not watch the women's match at all as I have no interest in either of the ladies. Everything else was really enjoyable and I wish The Revival were still stomping around NXT to give the nerds in the Undisputed Era good dancing partners. With that said, tonight's match was fun and the right choice as an opener.

Gargano and Ciampa deliver another MOTYC. I give it 8 stars!

I am not sure who is worse at this point, The IIconics or Seth Rollins.

Quentin is back! Wanted to bump this thread for him as his latest one is a good listen (as the majority of his stuff tends to be). Sounds like he went through a rough patch, so we should send good vibes his way. Enjoyed this one and its good to have him back on 'the air'. If Dave Meltzer is Rolling Stone magazine, I consider Quentin, Brock, and a few others the pro wrestling equivalent of Pitchfork. Definitely not a back-handed compliment as I love Pitchfork and value that insight into music more than anything appearing in Rolling Stone. https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/psychology-is-dead-the-art-of-influence

This was good. Really enjoyed this one. Always a fun listen.

WWE is silly at times, but they can't be THIS silly!? The crowd took a big dump on Roman/Brock at WRESTLEMANIA. What does WWE think is going to happen in ultra-smarky Brooklyn at SummerSlam? Hopefully this is all 'fake news' put out by WWE to set expectations low so no one will be disappointed when the mainevent is The Miz vs. a returning Bob Holly. And now that I type it out, I realize that I am not opposed to one last Hardcore Holly run in WWE.

As mentioned earlier, I will check around August for tickets and I don't do the whole 'watching wrestling by myself' live thing. So I will purchase 2-4 tickets and if someone wants to venmo me or just buy me a drink that would be cool. But, again, we shall see.