MoS

Co-signed with El-P and I would absolutely love both a 4 Pillars project or a Tenryu bio!

He was more than just a body definitely, but the body and his young boyish looks definitely had a big role in his drawing power, which was at its peak from about 1978-84. He wasn't really in any position to actually draw in WWF though, was he?

Meltzer's theory has always been that he stopped being a draw as he got older and stopped looking as good as he did. There's something to that; as good at selling as Steamboat was, his character was never Ricky Morton. I personally also think that the killer WWF 1980s schedule also broke down his body and stopped his physique from being as impressive as it used to be, in an era where that mattered more than ever.

I'm there as @MoS2518 https://twitter.com/MoS25518

It's become worse this year, which made them hotshot to a career-ender gimmick match in the first place. I think at least for a while, they need to stop worrying about anymore signings, give themselves 6 months and a specified number of guys and girls who they want to push and elevate to the next level, and then spend every minute from now until All Out to do exactly that.

I think Loss has said this about a hundred times, but those of us saying AEW is schizophrenic with no sense of identity are not pointing to the lights out thing like an indisputable piece of evidence, and I don't think the point was to compare and contrast every blackout in wrestling history. The point was that this was a tiny example emblematic of a booking philosophy that hasn't quite figured out what it wants to be. A complete sports-oriented build with cameras in locker rooms explained minutely? A proper melodramatic rassling product where everything is in service of popping the fans and starting new angles? A cinematic product which is firmly a 21st century thing? The tension showcased itself in the cinematic match at Revolution too, where they couldn't choose whether they wanted background music or live commentary, so they just decided to go with both

Yeah I think Tony definitely needs his Patt Patterson now.

Like the world's worst Vader-Inoki. Hell, the world's worst Vader-Monsoon

WCW was a buffet as far as in-ring styles are concerned; I am all for that. WCW's booking had an internal consistency and pattern from top to bottom, for good and for bad, during their peak years.

A friend of mine used a good analogy about AEW's booking: it's often like a good but not particularly memorable/logical modern match. It's a lot of spots designed to pop the crowd without necessarily having any logic or consistency to them. I think it's because much like how some wrestlers don't have a coherent gimmick true to themselves, AEW and therefore their booking don't have a coherent identity yet. Being a buffet was fine when they had to get a baseline audience. They have one now and it's time to figure out what they are.

I LOVE long Loss's posts. AEW when it started had a buffet approach where they said they had something for every kind of fan. That's okay when a new promotion is trying to establish a foothold, but 1.5 years later, they have established themselves, they have a core fanbase, and now they need a coherent sense of identity. It's one reason why I feel its booking has been really inconsistent throughout the last few months, since Mox's title reign ended, honestly. As Loss put it, pick a lane and stick to it.

I have never understood this. The worst of Steph is worse than the worst of Shane, but Steph's highs destroys his highs, and 2014-16 run aside, her work was much better as a chickenshit heel in the attitude era than Shane-o-Mac doing his stupid dance steps and going toe-to-toe with Rock

Their viewership was well below what it should have been on the fallout Dynamite from their biggest show ever. There's no denying that the damp squib hurt them. It's about rebuilding now, and they made a good first step yesterday night.

This remains a fantastic thread and here's my contribution to it:

Miz will be Edward won't he

I thought the Darby Allin-Scorpio Sky match was the best, but Fenix-Matt also had a tremendous match. We also need to think about how amazing Kingston is. He managed to explain his actions by telling everyone he had a panic attack, which in the hypermasculine world of professional wrestling, will be thought of as cowardly by so many wrestlers and fans, and somehow not just make it a babyface move, but also normalise it as something everyone has, no matter how strong. My man is destigmatizing mental health issues, and I love him for it

Yeah they balanced out the Christian being the star and Mox and Kingston his openers by putting the focus on MJF (and Sammy really) and destroying Chris Jericho, that obvious crash pad aside. If Christian is a stop-gap feud as they continue to build Omega and his minions v. Mox/Kingston, then fair enough, but this night's booking wasn't a good sign. Otherwise, a really good episode of Dynamite. Showcased some of AEW's greatest strengths and got Mox and King to partially salvage Sunday's debacle.

Mox and Kingston being the prelude to Christian's big slow main event entrance is the most TNA thing about Dynamite I have seen till now. This is not a good look

Should happen every time JR speaks, like earlier today when he forgot the super complicated name "Lucha Bros"

PENTA has such a charismatic presence, it's a shame they had done both Fenix and PENTA a disservice by continuing to pair them up

I might be biased as a King fan, but he somehow semi-salvaged this?! And blaming IMPACT for it was gold. They do need to still finish it nicely though, that promo by itself isn't enough. Moxs' wink after the "If you have a weapon, use it " line is a hopeful sign

This "he didn't hook the leg" is becoming a commentary clutch. Excalibur mentioned it about Fenix's pin on Matt. Fenix didn't hook the legs because he was pinning Matt's further arm and shoulder. It might be picking nits, but it makes the pinning wrestler look sloppy, and doesn't highlight the amazing achievement that kicking out of it was.

Yeah I think the same. Wrestling fans might mock you mercilessly, but they are also forgiving in general if you don't feed them bullshit. ECW managed to recover from two such failed explosions. WCW's biggest moments came AFTER similarly embarrassing misfires like Shockmaster. But they have to not bullshit the fans or insult their intelligence. If you do that for an extended period of time, fans absolutely will leave you, like we saw with WCW and WWE for the last 20 years or so

In fairness to him, I think he was a bigger star than D-Von Dudley so there's that