MoS

It is Sunday afternoon here in India and I am saving the viewing of the 2nd night for today evening, and hoping against hope I do not get spoiled as far as the main singles matches are concerned. Any idea what the 2nd night attendance is? I know they did not sell out the 2nd night, at least as of Thursday, but the ticket sales were reportedly very good. Overall, would this 2-night show be the biggest money-maker for NJPW this century? Certainly since the bottom fell out in the mid-2000s.

Ordinarily the no-selling might have annoyed me, but Ibushi no-selling a dropkick and getting right back on his feet right after he had snapped was an awesome awesome moment. It made sense in the context and Ibushi was the perfect guy to do it.

Something related to this I have been thinking about - is Okada the first Japanese star to sell out MSG? The 2018 NJPW/ROH MSG crowd was clearly there to see a New Japan show, and Okada was by some distance the star of the night. I know Japanese wrestlers have been in headlining positions in sold-out Garden shows, but I don't know if any Japanese star has actually sold out the Garden on their drawing power before Okada.

I also want to say that Jon Moxley is already a contender for wrestler of the year 2020 for Orange Cassidy-ing Orange Cassidy.

Maybe I was watching this with a new year hangover - happy 2020 everyone! - but I thought this was one of the best Dynamite episodes in a long time. Certainly the best since Full Gear. Baker turning heel is clearly the only road forward for her - same with Page. That pop Cody got in his match was insane - unless they fuck it up really badly, Cody-MJF will be awesome.

Didn't Shahid Khan say recently that he was "blown away" by how much money AEW was making? And while they have def made some mistakes, they seem financially responsible. They are not going anywhere anytime soon.

If the Liv thing had ended with her being blindsided and disappearing after basically a sneak attack by Lana, it would have left a bad taste in the mouth for me. But she and Rusev ended the segment standing tall, with the crowd cheering them. I am just glad that WWE, which is usually about 10 years behind the current mentality, knows that you can book a gay person professing her love as a babyface.

I came here literally to say just this.

Just switched on Raw to see Charlotte cut one of the most generic paint-by-numbers promos ever. It's weird how right when they are pushing her as one of the GOATs, she has never felt more irrelevant and "just there" in WWE. Becky replaced her as the ace, is doing a brilliant job at it, and the last angle Charlotte was in, she was playing third fiddle to Becky and Asuka, the woman whose undefeated steak she ended at Wrestlemania. And now she is wrestling Natalya for like, the 573858th time.

I would agree normally. I just think that at this point, the Elite have been selfless to the extent it is probably harming them and the company, and I would rather they not be booked to lose except in rare circumstances.

That's pretty funny yeah.

I don't think Cody should be eating any pins unless there is a very good reason for it. He has already been beaten down on far too many occasions. I think a well-fought match with Cody going over will be the best way to book this. Darby can keep getting elevated in losses while the biggest stars in the promotion actually feel like the biggest stars.

As far as that Twitter video about those guys wrestling, I have not followed the controversy, but I saw a tweet from Cornette "apologising" and saying he was wrong cuz he did not see the video with the audio. Was he being genuine or was it sarcasm? As far as criticism of the current product, look, I don't much like Omega, I think he is a bit of a dork - which is different from geek in my millennial mind - but whatever reasonable criticisms Cornette has of the product is drowned out by the sheer volume of over-the-top, ridiculous ranting about the "outlaw mud-show wrestling" that inevitably accompanies the criticism. I also think it is naive to say that Cornette does not "want" to he relevant to modern wrestling; he might hate it but at this point it is earning him money. However, when the messenger makes it about himself as much as the message, then he cannot complain about people targeting him instead of focusing on the message. You can't have your cake and eat it too. If you are going to turn it into a gimmick, well no shit, people will react that way. And if that means they stop valuing what you say, then you really can't cry foul. And Cornette does cry foul on way too many occasions. He decries every match Riho is in as outlaw mudshow wrestling, and says that Britt Baker is the one with most potential. This is despite solid empirical evidence that Riho matches increase viewership amongst their targeted demographic on TV every time, while Baker matches and segments do the exact opposite. But he does not stop there. He basically implies that the only reason Riho has a job is because Omega is sleeping with her. It does not matter how correct he is about Omega or Joey Janela if he buries his own valid points under a pile of his own bullshit.

My Christmas wish is that Vince loses his crush on Corbin and later laughs it off as an embarrassing phase

I think the reaction and the ratings show that in the present world, it is impossible for a completely new promotion to get off the ground and sustain interest for a long period just by being "good". AEW has made mistakes but I have still enjoyed every AEW show so far. They get things right far more than they get things wrong. And if we were to analyse any promotion's booking, even in their hot periods, I am sure we would find stupid things there as well. But in today's age, a new promotion or any new product really, can't be just "good" because there is so much "good" content out there. I am also putting good in quotes because while I find many of today's most hyped shows to be overrated, the fact is we are told again and again that we live in a golden age where never before has so much good content been available so easily. And to a large extent, it is true. WWE can get away with mediocre content because at this point they are a worldwide institution. AEW don't just need good angles; they need really hot angles to even sustain interest.

The Dark Order push is a complete mystery to me. AEW have been really good at learning from their mistakes and listening to the fans.....except for the Dark Order. They have never been over. They have always been the weakest thing about every AEW show they have appeared in. The final image of AEW in 2019 being a bunch of jokers beating up Cody, Dustin, the tag champs, Omega and the Bucks....yeesh, who on Earth thought it was a good idea? I also feel the Bucks need to protect themselves more. If they keep losing and getting beaten up like this, pretty soon they will just be a midcard team with a bunch of high spots. And when every match has a bunch of high spots, you need more to stand out.

Rewatching the main event, and Rhea grabbing the referee with a maniacal look on her face so he doesn't ring the bell was incredible. Shawn Michaels being in charge in developmental means a lot of melodramatic contrived bullshit, but it also means brilliance when they do get it right.

Russo being on Jericho's podcast is not a good sign. Listening to WOR, Meltzer also hated the post-match angle and said it was straight out of bad WCW booking. He said yesterday night felt like a turning point in the war, with NXT gaining momentum and AEW losing it. That might be over-the-top, but seriously, who is clamouring for a Dark Order main event angle against all the stars in the company? I don't think even the few people who like the Dark Order want them featured in such a prominent storyline. I get showing faith in your booking and your acts, but come on. The Elite being beaten up by a bunch of jobbers was a legit turn-off.

Triple H knows how a big-time star should be put over. Unfortunately, he was never good enough to truly feel like a megastar no matter how many times he was coronated. Rhea Ripley does not have that problem. She is an absolute superstar. I am so glad they pulled the trigger on her. If NXT 2020 features badass Rhea Ripley and Keith Lee title runs, it will be my favourite show to watch.

Dark Order and Nightmare Collective are too much heel recruiting. I don't like Dark Order, so the show ended on a flat note for me. I did like how they used it to further the Page-Omega-Elite story. I don't think it's a co-incidence that they had major faces coming out to help the Bucks a few days after no one came out to help Roman when he was getting beaten down. I like SCU, but I wanted the Young Bucks to win. I am not even a big fan, but they clearly have a connection with fans and so far they have really not been treated like major stars on TV. They have been too selfless with the number of jobs they have done. Becoming the literal anthithesis of WCW is not a great idea either. I liked Cody getting a definitive win, and I really like them using commentary to push angles more. I think they are becoming more focused, and also getting the balance between wrestling and angles right. They are not perfect by any means, but they are getting better. Brandi is so miscast though. Yes, she is a great heel manager, but she is also an excellent babyface promo. She is Cody's wife, fans clearly want to cheer for her, just go with it. I would much rather she welcome someone like Statlander - whom I love, she seems great - into the Elite and could be a babyface manager who occasionally gets in the ring. I know she wants to do her own thing, but this Nightmare Collective seems so unnecessary. It just feels like a waste of time. Jericho-Jungle Boy was amazing. Every second of it. And then Jericho came out and continued his storyline with Mox as well, while leaving the door open for the Jungle Boy story to continue. It's basic storytelling, which somehow feels refreshing because WWE, after almost 40 years of being amazing at it, seems to have forgotten it. I am guessing they are waiting for Luchasaurus to get fully healthy and Hager's fight schedule to be more clear before pulling the trigger on that match. But I love how they are building to it every week. Overall, I thought this was a really strong show. There was focus, things seem more streamlined now, and logical week-to-week booking. It's going to get killed in the ratings though. That NXT main event was 100 kinds of awesome.

I don't care how much Corbin has improved; the fact that someone looked at him and said "Yeah, it's a good idea to let this guy pin Roman multiple times" is honestly mind-boggling to me.

Becky tweeted about how Kairi is a warrior. On WOR, Meltzer said he found it "interesting" that no one had updated him about the Kairi situation, when in such cases they usually do so. I thought Charlotte hurt herself in the final bump she took as well. Really hope everyone is okay.

Did Charlotte land badly on the floor? She clutched the back of her head immediately. Hopefully both Kairi and she are okay.

I was reading the results as I was working out and just came back, took a shower and as soon as I switched on the TV, I saw Roman fight fucking Corbin backstage amongst a bunch of other wrestlers doing the exact same. Never ever has someone they want to be pushed as the top guy booked more like just another dude on the roster. It's honestly cruel to Roman. I can't believe he lost. Reading the description does not sound as if it was good on screen either.

I don't think he has completely recovered from his injury either. Yeah, it's one of those things which are much better worked out when you have house show matches to get you in ring shape and rhythm.