MoS

Jericho looks like I did after one month of partying and feasting after graduating right as NYC reopened

It's honestly the Colt thing that would be the biggest worry. From what I understand, both fell out hard. I don't know the details beyond both suing each other for legal fees, but both have IIRC accused each other of hurting them financially. We don't really hear a lot about backstage issues in the AEW locker room beyond some Cody-Elite rumours, but having a toxic backstage atmosphere is the last thing a young upstart promotion needs

I definitely hope there is some motion and churning in the next 6 months or so as far as the main event scene is concerned. Having Bryan and Punk if they are available is a no-brainer, but AEW also has a crop of extremely talented bright young guys and girls, all of whom should be in the main event scene this time next year. So when big-time legends like Bryan and Punk come, they are utilized in a process where they help this elevation, and not delay it or keep the young stars in limbo because of how crowded the main event scene is. There's no point having 15 All-Stars when only 5 can be on the floor. There are only so many open slots. It is why I was nonplussed when I saw people talk about how the Varsity Blonds have the potential to be main eventers soon. Yeah, but like, in place of whom? They already have so many "potential main eventers" on their roster. Whose spot is Griff Garrison is going to take? That's the reality of wrestling. Some really talented ones never make it to the very top. Regardless, this is more of a cautionary note than an epitaph. I think AEW has done a good job elevating some of its wrestlers definitely. Darby and Britt, MJF is clearly a bigger star than he was when the promotion started (and even a year back), Miro has been rehabbed and elevated with the TNT title and God's Favourite Champ gimmick, which is right now my favourite in wrestling. They also did an excellent job saving Hangman after a meh first few months, and then making him a main event star. Hopefully they pull the trigger and make him one of the absolute top guys at All Out. So they do have a good track record. What they should be careful about imo is to not get carried away with "surprises" and new signings and "changing the landscape of wrestling" because all of that is short-term thinking. Instead, just focus on continuing to develop their new stars. Have an idea of which 5-6 wrestlers they want as headliners and faces of the promotion in 1-2 years, and then focus everything on getting them to that position. And when these wrestlers get there, they should be the *only* ones in the main event scene, not sharing the scene with the Elite and Cody and Mox and Jericho. The current faces of the promotion can't be clogging the space. Again, only so many available slots on the floor

I have no idea why they still use this dorkass theme name. Anyway, today's show should be a banger. Mox v. Archer, Britt v. Nyla, Darby v. Yuta should all be great

Probably the name of Ryan Satin's next backstage Fox show

They are no longer shooting Total Bellas, which I imagine has to be a major factor if Bryan has not re-signed with WWE. I don't give a shit about Kross but what message?!?! Vince owns NXT!! It's his property!!

I am willing to give it a chance and see where she is in a couple of months. She is extremely likeable and can make the gimmick work, but it's a gimmick that is designed to be ultimately squashed and fall flat on the ground after crashing hard on the ceiling. Hopefully I am wrong. This, otoh, is 10000% correct:

Imo it devalues the title (to the extent titles on Raw can be devalued) more than elevates Nikki

Since when has fluke title reigns off fluke MitB wins helped elevate a wrestler? Are we just entirely forgetting the history of MitB? Don't get me wrong, I am happy for Nikki and I am glad she is being featured and having fun, but there is no reason she couldn't have done it without this gimmick. We can talk about Mighty Molly, but let's not forget that the shining spot of the 2000s for the women's division, when Trish, Molly Holly, Victoria, Lita, Gail Kim, Mickie James etc were there, involved Molly ditching that gimmick

Yeah I am not saying he was treated like a jobber. But someone with his upside should be protected more than that. I used to say this all the time here, but he is like the Incredible Hulk come to life. Just incredible charisma and presence. Making him look like a midcard guy on his comeback is absolutely not the decision I would have made. Nothing against Lashley but he can beat so many others.

Didn't he lose in 7-8 minutes purely as a setup for Goldberg tho. That doesn't tell me they think he can hang with the top guys. More like a solidly midcard guy like Kofi. That can change subsequently of course. He definitely has the size, and Vince will always like that

Kross being jobbed to Jeff like the dork that he is is the first WWE booking I have completely supported in forever. I can't wait to look at the photos or twitter clips and see how much this supposedly scary menacing giant of a man towers over the guy who got over being a tiny scrawny scrappy kid who was amongst the big boys

If it leads to Becky squashing Charlotte in her big comeback match I am all for it

Really, the Ryker match? Cuz the consensus on Twitter seemed to be that fans stopped caring about this match and it brought down Raw from the huge high of Cena being present. If it was up to me, I would keep Ryker far away from the over acts of the promotion

Are they still chanting her name? Cuz I would. She's truly the man

My heart ❤️ Big E deserves the rocket to the moon push

Given how Cena has been booked in his last few matches, I think it's much likelier that Roman squashes him

10 years after Cena himself did that storyline with Roman's cousin! It does have some poetic symmetry to it

Mox at Double or Nothing 2019 right after leaving WWE is what immediately came to mind. Cena just felt a couple levels above everyone else, including Roman

For Cena? I totally did too! I was singing along with his dumbass entrance music, something I last did in 2005 *before* he moved to Raw haha

Elaborating on this, why would it be planned if the spot was also that Roman kicked out at the last possible second when the ref did get in? I know COle acknowledged the phantom kickout, but they went all in on how "you could have counted to ten" (Cole's exact words) but there was no ref and thus Roman kicked out at the last possible second when the ref did make the ring. It's not as if he did a subsequent move to Roman in between. Why would the first kickout be quicker than the second.

No I really don't. I might be totally wrong of course. This show had some good moments, but overall it felt flat and emblematic of all things strong with modern WWE. The Big E win was amazing, but the entire Charlotte-Rhea match was a headscratcher, with Charlotte working as a total face except for one spot, and the wrong person going over after making the other wrestler look like she did not belong in the ring with her. The main event was totally flat and seemed to go on for 45 minutes. I'm not complaining about watching this event cuz again, there was good stuff, and it's always nice to see Cena back, but it's the same issues that made me stop watching regularly after being a fan for almost my entire life. Also is it me or does Cena look really gaunt? I watched F9 recently and he looked skinny there as well. Like he has dropped at least 10-15 pounds of muscle from even a couple of years back

Holy shit that reaction for Cena. Now THAT is a megastar

LMAO Roman letting ROllins and Edge fight amongst themselves like a couple jobbers. Exactly how he should treat both of them

LMAO Roman sandbagging Edge by kicking out even when there was no ref, ensuring Edge does not get a visual pin. He is finally learning how to politick properly, good for him. No more Hunter destroying his heat with full face antics as a heel