MoS

About to start watching Dynamite, have been unspoiled so far except the fact that WBD did not allow AEW to pay tribute to Jay Briscoe, which is total bullshit.

I haven't watched Dynamite yet, but if WBD refused to allow AEW to air a tribute to Jay, that's absolutely pathetic

I have on so many occasions not worn a seatbelt while driving. I'm just so upset. All Jay was doing was driving his daughters to their practice. This is genuinely heart-breaking, all I can think is just what if the other person had not swerved into his path. Like, she died too, so we can't really blame her or get angry at her for swerving into his path, but just. Such a tragedy. So heartbreaking. Just awful, terrible stuff, man. Really really hope his daughters make a full recovery.

Really REALLY hope both his daughters make a full recovery. Praying for them, as his wife wishes. This just sucks so much, man.

This doesn't mean anything compared to what has happened, but also props to him for one of the most sincere, genuine apologies I have ever seen - https://www.cagesideseats.com/2022/3/16/22981057/jay-briscoe-apologizes-homophobic-tweet-gay-marriage-changed-religious-beliefs-love-everybody There's no blaming others for their reaction, no "I am sorry you feel that way", no attempt to excuse their words, just a genuine apology and explanation of how their views have changed, and perhaps most importantly, actions to show that the apology was not empty words, including putting his money where his mouth was. I mean, how often in wrestling history have we had such unconditional apologies? How many times has WWE put out a statement essentially doubling down and throwing a hissy fit after getting criticism? Jay was a flawed human - like all of us are - but he made a genuine attempt to become a better person, and to make the world better with his actions. I hope everyone who follows pro wrestling and beyond remembers this. Hopefully WBD doesn't try to protest the tributes to him for tomorrow's Dynamite like I am sure TK and the AEW wrestlers are planning on giving him.

Re-watching this after work today

Jesus. RIP to him. One of the best workers of the century, arguably the GOAT tag team. He had some banger singles matches as well, one with his brother stands out. Really hoping that the children are okay. Life is cruel. What awful news to wake up to.

JungleHOOK have to be the next long-term babyface tag team champs, after the Acclaimed are done. That T-bone suplex to Big Bill by HOOK got a gigantic response, even tho the production and shooting of it was a bit sloppy (now that we have an experienced expert in charge of production, hopefully these are just teething problems, to be got solved in the end). JungleHOOK really can be the Acclaimed's successors to the most over and popular tag team. TK, you are supposedly a stickler for long-term booking. Make sure the long-term booking for your shows culminate in JungleHOOK's coronation!! Make this 2023's John Cena v. Big Show (as described below). Oh, and they should also book HOOK v. Big Bill, where HOOK just tosses Big Bill around. This will be like the booking of John Cena and the Big Show in 2003-04. Cena was amazing, but the Big Show had a massive role to play in Cena's overcoming the odds and elevation to the main event. Big Bill can do the same job for HOOK, book them against each other where HOOK keeps hitting Big Bill with his offence!

Great main event on Rampage. The women's division has become so much better since Toni Storm got the belt. I like Rosa but for whatever reason, she was the worst champ in AEW history.

See, I know you hate Hangman, but I love him, but this is weird, cuz I think that Hangman's worst match were the Adam Cole matches, at least the first one, cuz in those matches, he did not behave like an ace at all. He enabled Adam Cole to behave like the true "heir apparent". I understand that Page did not behave like an ace nor worked in that intelligent style when he wrestled Takeshita, but, like, after getting introduced to these fuckers, he did not sabotage his own case lol. A young Takeshita challenging Baba would actually have been such a cool match! (if we got it without excessive deference lol)

Really? I thought he was the least responsible; SRS was the one who reported it (for clicks?) before anyone confirmed it. But he reported this because before this breaking news, before his own admission, he had verified this, except, he apparently was just not right and had nothing favourable (for us hardcores) on record; as there were conflicting reports? So, am I jumping the shark and not waiting, if I say that he reported it cuz it drives his business up? Say what you want about Meltzer and Keller, but they did not report this as news, and, like, if you listen to Meltz's radio, he was not going overboard, just talking about Steph's reaction and what happens to her and HHH. He mentioned the Saudis, but not in any kind of overwhelming way.

Some people (not me) hate 70s Jumbo so that does check out

Also, am I the only one here who doesn't see the big deal about Takeshita? Like, he is good, quite good, but he isn't like some incredibly prodigious talent, can't-miss superstar or anything. I dunno. I have been trying to give him a fair chance and see what I am missing.

Fuck match 7 of this tired ass series, but otherwise, I am really really looking forward to this show. As someone who is a huge fanboy of Sasha and has been marking out for her on this forum for the past 8 years, I will absolutely mark out and lose my shit if she debuts, so you are all hereby warned

Also, like, being employed by CNBC isn't particularly better as far as credibility is concerned. Again, the MMA media was right about UFC being sold, even while they were mocked for even entertaining that idea. We should not forget history.

The way the denials took so much time and have been worded makes me think that while the sale to Saudi is not closed, it definitely is going to happen. There's so much emphasis on "this point in time" and "lawyers and bankers will meet each other", as someone who reviews denials, official statements, public releases, contracts and legal agreements for a living, it makes me think that the two parties are definitely negotiating, and there is absolutely a meeting of the minds that WWE will be sold to Saudi Arabia, but the terms have not been finalised yet. If there was nothing to these rumours, the denial would have come out much earlier - we know better than to act like Vince McMahon goes to sleep at 10 PM and forgets about work - and would have been much more sweeping and unequivocal. Not so much of "we are exploring all options, nothing has been finalised, at this point in time there is no deal in place" etc. It reminds me of when UFC got sold. For months and months, there were rumours about the sale, but the Fertitas and Dana vehemently, repeatedly and consistently denied the sale was happening...right until they sent a press release about the sale. Even Sasha's contract last year for that matter. I do think some of the worrying in this thread is a bit overboard. Saudi has invested in Premier League teams and a lot of other places, and they have certainly not removed the women in power there or the Jewish/Syrian people working in such companies. Look at Newcastle. They allowed women's matches to happen in Riyadh. The entire aim is to sportswash their evil empire, so they will not make any massive PR blunders like firing the women's division or Sami when he is in the middle of his career highlight. MBS wouldn't want the negative publicity emanating from that, especially after the nosedive his so-called progressive regime took after the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi. I don't want the Saudis to purchase WWE for a different reason. Not cuz it will hurt WWE's bottom line or record revenue or modus operandi - stock price actually jumped a couple of bucks after these rumours came to light - or because fans will boycott WWE - the promotion and its owners have already done many terrible things, and not only do many fans not get bothered by it, they actually idolise these people and make excuses for them - but because as rich as Vince is, MBS is 1000 times richer, and he is not hesitant about spending money. There is a great chance that he offers pretty much every talented wrestler and useful veteran like, generational wealth, tens of millions of dollars per year, just to remain contracted with WWE and not work anyplace else. Think of WWE's strategy from 2018-2020, except on steroids. That would really kill all alternatives to WWE, including even AEW perhaps, or make them utterly meaningless. Very few wrestlers would refuse that kind of money. We have seen that it was enough to get Shawn Michaels, for instance, to come out of retirement, to get Goldberg to work Saudi Arabia. Some people like Sami and Cena might refuse, but most would not. If I am Tony Khan, I really hope and pray that these rumours are not true. I believe it is, though.

Say what you want about her promo, she is definitely a draw

Same here. Tbh I want someone to come out to popular Bollywood music. You can't tell me that this song won't bang hard as a theme song -

Ratings will get back up when the build for Revolution gets in its proper full swing. AEW's TV audience have been shown to stop watching for a bit when there are other big things happening in the world - like Christmas and New Year. I would think it's because watching AEW has not become a part of life after several decades of TV shows, unlike with many WWE shows. AEW also gets more affected than WWE during times like Thanksgiving and elections, I suspect for the same reasons as noted.

Historical in comparison to his career, yeah. Just shows his career was never all that successful.

The world's best possible HHH, and that's not a compliment imo. Lots of good things about him, just absolutely not a top guy in any shape or form, no matter how much he tries. A midcarder through and through. Personally, I have no interest in seeing him do his tired shtick for the 300000000th time in 2023. Who had that line about breaking 1000 guitars and never drawing a single dime? IIRC, he guy who said it wasn't a money draw himself, but ignoring the messenger, can't argue with the message.

Darby and Joe with two TV matches of the year contenders either side of the new year

lol Danielson really is the GOAT

I am sorry but Sanjay Dutt and Satnam Singh are great

What were they chanting? I couldn't make out