MoS

Yeah, Austin being the star of the show in 2003 was bad - especially when Goldberg was right there and they should have strapped a rocket to his ass - but him not being able to wrestle means his hijinks were at least an annoying distraction from the main event scene - which of course was being ruined by Hunter cosplaying Ric Flair, Harley Race and Hulk Hogan. In some ways, I think Cena got lucky cuz Austin kept having management issues and would mostly be off-camera after WM 20, and HHH got injured in early 2007 and that got them to build the show around Cena and he became the biggest star since Austin/Rock. That DX face run in 2006 started good and became terrible within 4 skits.

Dude looks like the Incredible Hulk come to life. He has amazing natural charisma and is likeable enough to be sympathetic despite his size. 1980s Vince would have put him in the main event immediately. He does not get talked about much, but I am so over Adam Cole. He's so fucking boring. He's going to be the next Seth Rollins and I'm going to hate him for it.

In hindsight, it's Rock coming back in 2011 that really kickstarted their habit of making current stars look like geeks. He returned in Feb for a guest host role and ratings and house show business shot up immediately. Since then, WWE have basically been trying to capture that lightning in a bottle again, with increasingly worse results.

Dijak is tall so hopefully they don't job him out right away.

I think in kayfabe they were just stunned he suddenly popped up with a completely different personality. It was definitely goofy but I don't see Cornette's argument to be on point about this. He also apparently said a lot of shit about the women's title match, but I don't know any specifics.

The point she is making is not invalid, but like, the absolute worst possible time.

With tone-deaf comments making things about herself even if it's the worst possible time and place to do so, Brandi seems to be taking the Steph comparisons seriously.

Also, I get disliking Stadium Stampede because it's bad comedy, but how is it making a mockery of wrestling? At least in a Russo-like way? There were no obviously choreographed spots; nothing where the participants basically stopped and acknowledged it was a work. Matt Hardy magically changing clothes was not realistic, yes, but it's not as if Memphis/90s WWF did not have supernatural characters.

As far as Stadium Stampede, it's also important imo to keep in mind that we are in a pandemic, where incredible heat is not just impossible, it might also not be what fans are looking for. The entertainment business in general often does not get severely impacted during big crises, but we do have evidence with WM 19 that when people are having real-world problems, they might not be interested in traditional pro wrestling. Cornette said the match was worse than a Russo angle. Come on. For statters, you think Russo would have booked that match without booking 15 minutes of cheerleader spots, including at least one getting put through a table?

I'd rather compare it to MSG and American wrestling, given how mythologised it has been by the dominant American wrestling company. I personally prefer the classic 90s AJPW Budokan atmosphere.

Thanks. One thing is clear from this discussion: they would absolutely sell more tickets back then. I wonder if NJPW will ever have 50k in the building again.

https://www.amazon.com/Eggshells-Pro-Wrestling-Tokyo-Dome-ebook/dp/B07DNG71V1

Was the capacity for wrestling ever 57k legit? Maybe when they started holding shows there, esp with the first couple of shows headlined around Maeda's UWF.

"Burrell choked again and got that Luger guy to choke later too" - MJ, probably

The stage could be bigger now - I don't know, honestly. WWE sets certainly take a lot more space than they used to.

This crossed my mind while reading the excellent Tokyo Dome wrestling history book - sellouts in the Tokyo Dome were announced at higher figures in the late 80s and 90s than they have been for the recent 1/4 NJPW shows. Of course, the earlier figures were worked - 60k is an obvious massive exaggeration - but is the difference explained just by figures being worked back then? Or does NJPW not put as many tickets on sale as they used to back in the day?

What the fuck is he even trying to say. Regardless, wouldn't put it past Vince to give him a mega-push for telling the liberal sjws to suck it

Not a fan of this segment. Seems like a cheap ripoff of an iconic wrestling moment, completely inorganic and lazy. And they could have given Tyson a t-shirt he could have torn off, that was embarrassing.

That match was too long and boring. I do NOT look forward to Kenny going 30 mins of back and forth with these two. It's way too soon to turn Wardlow. Hopefully this is just a tease.

It's funny he thought Young Bucks would not look believable against those teams, cuz I just saw them face off with one of Corny's favourite teams and it was not the Bucks that looked small there.

Eww Jimmy Havoc

Cody is an excellent promo and it makes the decision to not have him cut a promo on the go-home PPV show even more baffling. I admit I popped a bit for that WWE dig.

Shida is a badass and will be a great champ imo.

Jericho-Cassidy will rule so hard.

"A web of evils" Dr Britt Baker is awesome. I dunno about trying to put the face shine on the ref though.