DMJ

Awkward promo, awkward feud. The next big babyface in the Women's Division is Liv Morgan just as soon as they separate her from Rhea/Dom/Judgment Day, which I assume will be post-Mania. Just like with the men, the age of WWE being able to just choose someone and hope the fans get behind them is loooong over. Today's fans root for the guys and gals that meet a few criteria: - Established catchphrases/personas (usually developed as heels) that become fun for the audience to participate with - History of being on TV for a long time, putting work in, "deserving" a big push - Online/"smart" fans believing they are being "held down" - Over huge as heels, get heat, become "villains you love to hate" - Noticeable in-ring improvement (usually a criticism/opinion made most towards women who fans believed "couldn't wrestle" when they were called up) Liv Morgan is That Girl. She's also been posting lots of pictures of some of the gnarly injuries she's sustained, which have inevitably led to comments and re-tweets with people basically saying that she's the hardest-working woman on the roster. Its right out of the Foley playbook. Its hard to boo a performer who is punishing herself nightly for our enjoyment. Post-Mania, if they run Charlotte/Liv on SmackDown, Liv is going to have huge crowd support. Meanwhile, Tiff, who still has plenty of years to improve and establish herself, was probably too new to really get that grassroots support. Again, look at the criteria above. She doesn't check off many of the boxes.

Keeping the title on Mox any longer is just TK falling for sunk-cost fallacy. Put the title on Swerve. There's a whole bunch of matches that TK can run in various formations that would get over huge with the audience before they even consider putting Mox or Cope in the title picture again. And pull Jay White out of this mix and let him cook with the good workers again. Swerve/MJF Swerve/Ospreay Swerve/Darby Swerve/Kenny The aforementioned Swerve/Page (though, I'd hold off on that). Meanwhile, you've still got Kenny/Ospreay in the works, Kenny/Darby, another Kenny/Page match, plus Kenny/Ricochet, Darby/Ricochet rematch, Jay White should be in the mix, Fletcher needs to continue to be utilized and booked strongly... And what do you do with Mox? To be honest, I think you pull him off TV for a minute. I know Mox does not have many fans here as a worker or as a "wrestling personality" or whatever. I think where they went wrong was venturing too far from what it was that *did* work with Moxley. I think fans want to cheer the guy. Yes, his promos are corny. Yes, the work is loose and sometimes flat out poorly-executed. Yes, he blades too much and his brain seems to be a bad idea factory set to 12 at times...but I think there's a "He's Our Idiot" element to it, a "Say what you will about Moxley, but he did come to AEW and go to Japan and show up at indie shows because he absolutely loves the ugly, messy, crazy side of pro-wrestling and wants to live and do ALL OF IT." And that part of Moxley is the endearing part. He is earnest. And because that's the one element of Jon Moxley that comes across on TV and is actually weirdly enjoyable and engaging, we're deprived of interacting and connecting with him when he comes out and bashes the company as his gimmick. And so he basically has "go away heat" with a significant portion of the audience who hate this storyline, hate this gimmick, and just want good ol' ass-kicking, blade-jobbing Mox to do his shtick somewhere on the card every night and try to top himself with a staple gun or a shard of glass or whatever. Stale bread is edible, dogshit isn't. Get him off TV, let him do some international wrestling if that's what he wants to do or take a vacation, and then, down the line, find a time to re-introduce him as the baby-face and don't overthink an "explanation" for the turn. You don't need to. It's wrestling. And, in this fantasy-booked scenario, I'd push PAC as the new leader and actually give him some serious, high-profile wins. He's not a PPV main eventer and probably never will be, but when your company is built around guys like Omega, Ospreay, Swerve, Darby, OC, Page, etc...PAC is, like, right there, 1000% capable of raining stars on your Observer review (and I'm not trying to be glib). The big hits of the show this weekend were the matches that were just straight-up bonkers with sequences and high-spots and craziness and PAC is very good at that athletic style.

I'm cool with people not liking it and owning it as something they personally find difficult to watch. Is it misogynistic or sexist or whatever...I don't care, I think its okay to just find it "icky." There are worse things people choose to hate that they should be judged on than whether or not they want to see women do blade-jobs. It worked for me because I found it to be very amusingly and absurdly over-the-top in the same way that Toni's Timeless gimmick is. Its like, the Timeless gimmick is soooo heavy-handed and deliberate and extra as the kids say. It is absurd. So, if she's going to do a big, tasteless hardcore match, it has to be equally extra and over-the-top and absurd. Like, a trickle of blood wouldn't work - it needed to be BUCKETS. And it was.

I doubt TK has the self-actualization to admit where things went wrong, but yeah, it must be at least a little painful. That being said, I don't think CM Punk "worked" in AEW because, as anti-corporate as he might seem, its clear he works best in a place with defined parameters, a clear pecking order, and strong organization. I think Ari Emanual, Nick Khan, Triple H, etc. are all scumbags, but for Punk it seems like he's happier swimming in waters where the sharks don't hide that they're sharks and your status and creativity liberty is attached to your accomplishments. AEW isn't run by saints either; I'm just saying organization/strong central leadership/clear vision are not things AEW has ever been known for. I mean, Otis isn't going to be given a live mic and told to cut a worked shoot promo about The Rock holding a belt he's never earned. LA Knight probably doesn't have the clearance to say "Go Fuck Yourself" on Peacock/Netflix. Its clear who can and cannot do and say what. But over at AEW, Punk took some umbrage with perceived on-screen jabs at him that had nothing to do with his storyline coming from guys he didn't think were high enough on the pecking order to make. I didn't get through all of RAW because, like going back to a bad restaurant that has 1 or 2 great appetizers, somewhere around the 60-minute mark, I gave up. The opening segment was EXCELLENT. Gunther/Otis was...okay, but nothing I'd consider "must see." From there, show felt like it went into cruise control with filler segments and an Ivy Nile/Valkyrie that was also fine but...yeah...two 10-12 minute matches in the first 60 minutes of a wrestling show is not my cup of tea. I mean, I get it, Elimination Chamber recap videos are going to be a big part of the show, but it was just too, too much. Reading the spoilers of the main event, I'm glad they went with a swerve. I'm not sure if the reasoning is to give Rhea a big win at Mania (winning the championship is always treated like a bigger deal than just retaining it) or to actually elevate IYO. Including her certainly doesn't hurt things. Rhea/Bianca is a big time match and big time storyline, but it almost feels rushed because Bianca has spent so much of the past year in tag storylines involving Jade and Naomi and that is clearly her "main" story right now. Making it a three-way gives them some more options with booking and also allows them to escape having Rhea or Bianca get a clean victory over the other. Its pretty insane that they've been kept apart for 5 years (their last 1-on-1 match was on a Takeover in February 2020).

Good segment, but not an all-timer. I think its really hard, post-Bash 96', to really get that huge, seismic heel turn because, post-Bash 96', we as fans are now somewhat trained to believe that even the most heroic of heroes can turn. That being said, Hogan's turn was also bigger and better because it was Hogan's turn as part of Hogan's story. This was John Cena turning heel in service of a multi-year Rock/Cody program. It was more akin to the way Austin turned to join Vince than it was an nWo moment, a turn that was famously abandoned by the end of the year and not remembered fondly by anyone. It also doesn't help that, for all the awful, awful, horrendous things we know the Hulkster for, he did, at the very least, understand symbolism (or at least Kevin Sullivan did?). The segment ended with The Rock whipping him with a belt, not Cena hitting him with an AA, or, even better, hitting him with a You Can't See Me fist-drop, which would've got NUCLEAR heat. In the segment I saw, John Cena was a side character, a lackey, he's Bebop and Travis Scott was ostensibly Rocksteady. And Cena's also balding and pale and Hogan was, to his credit, only one of those things in 96'. I wouldn't call it a total misfire because Cody telling The Rock to fuck himself was huge. But this was not nearly as good as it could've been. It also didn't help that McAfee didn't have the wisdom to not talk until after the turn, which is what Cole did (I'm not even sure Wade Barrett said a word for the last 20 minutes, which was also smart). WWE commentators are important wallpaper and, throughout this show, I felt like McAfee really showed how much he is a podcaster/talking head and not a storyteller, annoyingly bringing up that the fans booed the US national anthem (I know, PWO) apropos of nothing multiple times. The big moments of this show needed less commentary but McAfee didn't get that because he's literally paid millions to talk non-stop for hours a day. EDIT - Oh, and as for Travis Scott throwing "shoot" punches. These guys are pro-wrestlers. I'm sure Cody can handle a few potatoes from a guy that weighs maybe 160 pounds and probably hasn't been in a real fight since grade school. Its like none of you have accidentally hit your head on a low ceiling or slipped on ice. Yeah, things hurt. It doesn't mean the guy who built my house with a low-ass basement was "taking liberties."

I just don't understand, aside from a potential six or seven-figure pay-off, what Nemeth is thinking he might gain here. And, against the Khans' lawyers, I don't even think that pay-off is guaranteed. Meanwhile, his name is now mud in both AEW and the WWE and will have a reputation as someone who will sue you if he thinks you're not booking him enough or meddling in his affairs.

Not sure what's up. I tried catching a replay and its not on MAX nor was it on Hulu yet as of around 8 AM EST. Hoping there's just a delay or something because usually stuff is made available overnight. Anyone have the scoop on why this show isn't up yet?

This probably isn't the right thread for it, but what's crazy to me about Starks is just how "pick me" its all coming across. Like, dude, you are setting up yourself like Sting begging to be Ric Flair's tag partner or something. I know things are different because Vince isn't in charge anymore, but I don't see Triple H feeling much differently about Starks than his father-in-law - specifically that Starks hasn't actually accomplished all that much, his gimmick isn't super unique, he has charisma but so do lots of people, he's a generous 6'0'' at most, and, most importantly, he burned his AEW bridge and now that WWE and TNA are working together, they're the only other game in town. He's played the opposite of "hard to get." They are going to lowball him and then put him on NXT, which is probably the right thing for his growth, but certainly isn't the "slam dunk" career-wise I think he should've been working towards. From there, I don't think its guaranteed that he's going to get a big push or anything. I think they already "made a point" with Ethan Page and they don't need to re-make it with Starks. But, personally, if I were him, I'd see if TNA were interested in a shorter term deal. To me, Starks still has to prove he can be a top-top guy in a much smaller pool before I see him as even close to a big deal in a company like the WWE.

I also watched most of Raw for the first time since the Netflix show and, before that, many years. I had the day off work and had f-all to do this morning. I skipped through it a bit, but thought what I saw was mostly okay-to-good. - I'm not a fan, but Jey has to beat GUNTHER at Mania. I'm a far bigger GUNTHER fan, but it is what it is. GUNTHER will be fine. He's in the best shape of his life, over as a heel (which means, he'll soon be over huge as a face), and works a hard-hitting but manageable style on a relatively lighter schedule than the superstars of 10 years ago. Jey is really over with the WWE live audiences, though, and needs to get the W if they see him - and we have every reason to believe they do - as being a top babyface for the next few years. 39 isn't super young, but it isn't super old either. What's kinda crazy is that Seth Rollins is a year younger than him, but has been a main eventer for coming on a decade so he feels like he's from a previous generation. - Speaking of Rollins, much to my surprise, I have found myself enjoying his segments more now that he's separated from the championship picture. It took working with Punk and Zayn and Drew this past year and not appearing on every show, every week for me to actually care about his character. This wasn't his best work, but I disliked it less than others it seems. - Was glad to see they're going heel with Charlotte. It did not take the audience long to react negatively towards her and I'll give her some credit: if this promo was at all going to be a litmus test for how to move forward, she 86'd the compassionate plea for fan acceptance fairly quickly and went right into heeling it up. My question is whether she can really "go" anymore after all the injuries and time off. She looked pretty rusty at the Rumble (which could be expected) and she was never super smooth. That being said, I think she delivers in big matches and am probably a bigger fan than others. Lastly, I know its really wrong to say this but I'm a little worried if her ability to express emotion is going to be hindered a bit by her...uh...cosmetic choices in the face department? I'm probably in the minority, but I thought her expressions used to be awesome, whether it was the obnoxious, arrogant smirks and eye-rolls or when she'd "Hulk Up" and get super-pissed like in the Rousey match. - Was Liv vs. IYO the best actual match of Liv's career? I know in terms of audience interest and stakes and all that, Liv's feud with Rhea was much more heated, but I thought they tore the house down and I liked the finish and how it could lead to Rhea/IYO squaring off in the future. I don't expect IYO to win the title or anything, but a Rhea/IYO match sounds like good TV. - Liked Zayn/Punk a good deal too. Finish never felt like it was really in question, but there were still some cool sequences and the drama was there. Zayn is so, so good at being the underdog and I liked that Punk inserted a little bit of his trademark asshole-ishness at times. If Punk ever does go heel (and I'm not sure he really will or even could as so much of the audience is just dyed-in-the-wool Punk fans), I'd love to see Zayn be the guy he worked with because the chemistry was there and I think the promos would be fire too.

- Not sure I watched the same Women's Rumble as everyone else. It was wrestled better, but the booking was all over the place. The only two who got to come in and really eliminate anybody were Nia and Flair. Roxanne Perez beating Bayley's record was...okay....I guess...but if you're on-screen for 60+ minutes and I can't think of a single thing you did in that time, its meaningless anyway. Last year, Tiffany Stratton came in and turned heads. That's what this match needed from the "future stars of the division." The only newcomers who really shined were Lash Legend, but mostly because she is so physically impressive, and Jordynne Grace, who should've had more eliminations. Did she have any? - Speaking of Grace, she got a huge response, but not as big as Alexa, who seemed like she got the loudest pop of the match. I wasn't surprised. Bliss' return might have been predicted by many(despite the "dirtsheet" rumors of her not re-signing), but it still felt "feel good" and special because Bliss has that star power "It" factor and has been off-screen for so long. - I also wasn't surprised by the tepid response to Nikki Bella at #30. For starters, I think many fans were hoping for Becky Lynch, especially after watching Charlotte's return and the way the match proceeded with her overtly being made to look leagues above everyone else. Becky being "the Charlotte Slayer" would've been a moment. But its also worth mentioning that Bella was a star for the company in the mid-2010s, an era that hasn't quite come around yet in terms of real "nostalgia factor." And, even back then, while there were pockets of the IWC that eventually came around to respecting Nikki's improvement as a worker, its not like she was ever universally loved. She also spent most of her career as a heel, which means you're not going to get that same response that you might if, say, the IIconics showed up (who were heels, but comedically appreciated). Nikki was never a "fan surrogate" type and that's a critical piece for getting over as a babyface these days, it seems. - How many returns does it take for someone to just be considered part-time? Should Trish Stratus appearing at a Rumble even count as a surprise anymore? Without checking the numbers, I feel like she's been around for a few of these by now. - I get wanting to present Vaquer and Giulia to the widest audience possible...but Rumbles probably don't play to their strengths in terms of getting to show off what they can do. Filling 30 spots means you kinda need to put anybody you possible can in there (and given their respective experience level, they are obviously among your best options of actually being able to perform without fucking up), but this is also where cramming people you want to make look "special" into matches where they have almost no chance of looking special is a bad idea and how you get to folks like Zoey Stark, Lyra Valkyria, Sonya Deville, Baszler, Candice, Michin, and others looking just like "bodies." - As for the Men's Rumble, what else is there to say? This one was booked so damn well. Unlike the Women's Rumble, it felt like the producers went in with a clear plan to *make* some people and have them leave impressions, most notably Penta (40+ minues), Bron Breakker (that spear on the YouTube guy was vicious), and Jacob Fatu (multiple great moments with him). I'd also say that, in terms of star power, this one really rivals the early 90s Rumbles with a murderer's row of ex-champions in Roman, Rollins, Punk, Rey, Cena, Sheamus, AJ, Finn... - I smirked a little when Michael Cole mentioned that Andrade had returned to the WWE at last year's Rumble. I don't think Andrade would be doing all that much better over in AEW right now, but if the plan was to come to WWE and become a much bigger star, the plan has definitely not worked. - That stomp on the floor from Rollins to Reigns looked brutal and like he stomped him with both feet. - Loved Braun eliminating Fatu in a rather "quiet," unexpected fashion and then, within 60 seconds, John Cena showing up. It is that kind of attention-to-detail that I thought really helped this Rumble because it was a very effective way of "hiding" Fatu's elimination after allowing him to shine for so much of it. If Fatu stays in the match too long, you kinda risk him "stealing" the match when, for now at least, there is clearly still going to be more focus put on Cena, Punks, Rollins, Roman, and, now, Jey Uso. - Speaking of Jey Uso, I was not expecting him to win, but I get it. Speaking to a buddy who attended the show, he said that, the whole weekend, every restaurant he went to, every street he walked, he saw wrestling fans and those wrestling fans were wearing Yeet gear. Even at the school I work at, though you don't see much wrestling gear being worn, this year, when I have seen a kid wearing a wrestling shirt, it's been a Jey Uso one. Ultimately, the WWE has the numbers and they know who is moving merch and Jey Uso is that guy (even if I'm not personally sold on him as a singles main eventer). Someone else commented that they don't think they'll run GUNTHER/Jey again but I think that's the plan. On a WrestleMania card that will likely be loaded (Rollins vs. Punk vs. Roman? Cody vs. Cena? Logan Paul vs. AJ Styles?), I don't think its not a "big enough" match. It won't close a night, but it will fill time. My main issue with it is that it will be the second year where "the story" seems near-identical to GUNTHER's last WrestleMania build.

I'm excited for the show. DIY/MCMG should be good and maybe even great. I'm not sure it needed to be 2-out-of-3 falls, but I don't watch the weekly TV so maybe that stipulation has something to do with the rivalry. I just like the idea of an old school tag match between two seasoned, "real" tag teams being featured on the show. Rockers/Orient Express vibes. I think the Men's Rumble is a bit of a toss-up and I like that. I can see Cena winning and us getting GUNTHER/Cena at Mania, but I can also see a screwy finish involving Seth and Punk (and maybe even Drew) that leads to some sort of multi-man at Mania. Then there's Roman and The Rock and the cliffhanger with Heyman owing Punk a favor and you'd have to imagine that this story might also include Cody...but, then again, I can see them maybe wanting to distance Cody from The Bloodline after that being the focus of the past 2 Mania shows already (in which case, going back to Cena, do we get Cena/Cody instead?). Then there's also the idea that there is so, so, so much time between now and Mania that GUNTHER holding onto the belt that whole time might not be guaranteed. Some years, you have a clear winner or maybe its between two...this year, I feel like Cena, Roman, Rollins, and Punk are all possible winners with some "longshots" like Randy Orton (Cody vs. Orton at Mania wouldn't be out of place on a stacked card), Logan Paul (there's a lot of time between now and Mania to build around the massive heat him winning would generate and move some pieces on the board to get to Paul vs. Babyface Champion), and The Rock (Cody/Rock is always there, but so is Rock/Roman and so is Cody/Roman/Rock in a 3-way).

- Ospreay turning on Omega would probably be my final AEW straw. - Hobbs feuding with the Learning Tree is fine for TV, I guess, but I kinda liked Hobbs vs. Death Riders way, way more because it actually made Hobbs seem like he mattered. Hobbs in an extended program with Claudio would probably do him a ton of good and unless the match was particularly bad, I'd be up for 2-3 battles with Hobbs getting more and more competitive with each successive match. They don't need to be 20 minutes. Give me an 8, a 10, and a 14. - Speaking of Death Riders, I thought the segment with Renee was interesting in the sense that they played it very straight and didn't really mention the elephant-in-the-room (Mox and Renee's marriage). I tend to veer on the "less is more" side, but this might have been too little of an acknowledgement. I kinda wish Mox had at least said something like, "We've talked about this, Renee..." or "You know me better than anyone so when I say..." or "Renee, you know what I'm trying to do here, but its all these blah blah blahs who don't understand what we are trying to do..." - So glad MJF didn't help Jarrett win, which I thought would be the finish after Mox's interference (and lead to an MJF/Mox match that I don't think should happen yet). MJF/Jarrett is another feud that is fine for TV, but I don't really need it explored for weeks and weeks much longer. I don't think Jarrett will truly retire anytime soon, but why not run the match as a retirement match anyway? Its pro-wrestling. How many retirement matches did Funk have? Flair had at least two and supposedly wants another. Jarrett should have at least 3-4 before he really hangs them up and the first being against MJF would be cool with me.

I don't want to get back into the same debate every week, but some of the Private Party talk reminds me of that joke about the bad soup. I'm going to butcher it but it goes something like this: A husband and wife go out to dinner. The husband orders a soup. After the meal, the wife asks him, "How was your soup?" and he says, "It tasted lousy and the portion was too small." It's like, people recognize that Private Party aren't remotely over, are nothing special in the ring, have a lame gimmick (wearing a mesh tanktop in 2025 is...yikes) but then still complain that they should've beat the Hurt Syndicate. They need a full repackage before they should even be on TV again. I know Hurt Syndicate aren't popular around these parts and I'm certainly not advocating for them to hold the titles forever...but given the options, the AEW tag team division is in total disarray and at least the Syndicate are "names" with a solid manager and, IMO, the ability to be good, strong heels that give the titles some stability while TK finds a suitable babyface team to beat them (its going to the Bucks, isn't it? Ugggh...). Again, personally, I'd have put the titles on "Claudio & Anybody" but I don't make the calls.

Add me to the list of Jey Uso critics. He's a good-never-great singles wrestler with a catchphrase who had the benefit of being on-screen probably more than anyone else involved in the years-long Bloodline story. (Partially because he only one DUI on his record and his brother has 2?) He's like McDonald's. Nobody is saying its great food, but its there. Its always there. Dependable. Enjoyable even, at times. I respect his consistency, but I don't think he's special really. He's shit the bed a couple times on big shows - the Mania match against Jimmy, the forgettable SummerSlam match against Roman - and, on the Netflix debut, I felt like you could hear the audience lose interest midway through his match with Drew (which was also underwhelming). Again, to go back to the McDonald's metaphor, the few times where he's needed to deliver an unforgettable experience, its still just McDonald's. People talk about great wrestlers "maximizing their minutes." Jey Uso has had the maximum number of minutes on TV possible over the past 3 years and I've never once felt like he had "main eventer" energy.

I was curious, if the WWE were to actually move their headquarters to Saudi Arabia, at least "on paper," how would that affect their bottom line? Less taxes? More taxes? I'm just curious because it seems like that's the direction they're headed in and the Saudi government would probably love to be "the World Headquarters of the WWE," even if they basically just kept everything the way it is. Like, I wouldn't expect Triple H and Stephanie to move to Riyadh, but what would be the legal, financial ramifications of some sort of nominal agreement whereby the company "moved" to Saudi Arabia? Or is that just straight illegal?

I hope this Corey Graves stuff is legit because while this absolutely sucks for him and he seems like an okay guy and I think he's a decent enough commentator, I absolutely hate "announcer storylines." The fact that this one is also "worked shoot" territory playing out on X is just...not my thing. I have no interest in Pat McAfee vs. Corey Graves at WrestleMania just like I had no interest in Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler or in the various times JR was pulled into storylines or turned heel (once for the Fake Deisel and Fake Razor storyline and I believe a second time when he was briefly managing "Dr. Death"?).

Different strokes, I guess. The redneck kung-fu stuff is goofy to me. His promos also feel at least half-comedic even when he's in a blood feud (like the one with Jericho, for example). I also totally agree with most of the points brought up in the above posts...except about Lashley being "too old" or having no value. And pointing to ratings or attendance doesn't really mean much to me because, well, it's AEW. Is there anyone that is really drawing for them right now? And when we do look at things like YouTube views, lo and behold, the Copeland/Moxley segment from the last PPV got loads and loads of views despite it being wildly unpopular among many of us.

I actually like Lashley and think the feud with Swerve would've been fine...if it had led to a rematch. To me, the booking with Lashley has been silly because I'm not sure why he's not immediately inserting himself into the World Title picture. I think his presence there would actually add to the Death Riders story quite well as, when this whole Death Riders angle started, it seemed to be all about Moxley not being happy that the "AEW Originals" weren't stepping up. Well, now Mox would not only have to deal with the "originals," but he's also getting challenged by a guy who has even less loyalty to the company than he does. I also think Lashley going over Mark Briscoe was the perfect booking of him. I know people love Mark Briscoe and all, but he's totally fine being used as almost the modern day equivalent of "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. He absolutely deserves to be on TV and he's dependable for multi-mans and tournaments and whatnot, but he's not a main event guy. He's exactly the kind of credible fan favorite that you want your heels to beat on their way up the ladder, whether its Lashley or MJF or Takeshita or Fletcher. As for Shelton, I think where they went wrong with him is that his role became redundant once Lashley came in. Lashley is the big Hurt Syndicate "boss" and Shelton is basically his subordinate/henchman, which works in WWE because Shelton was treated like a midcarder for decades so that made perfect sense. In AEW, its awkward because they basically cut his legs out from under him within the first month of his arrival while still trying to promote him as a major signing/serious threat. And it isn't the first time they've done this. Look at Claudio Castagnoli. He suffered the same fate where he came in as a guy that was being "held back" and was finally going to get his opportunity to be a main eventer, but then, like, within a few weeks, it was clear he was going to be at the exact same position in AEW as he was in WWE (if not, arguably, worse). Midcard there, midcard here.

I'm thinking Sami Zayn climbs high and may even be the "highest climber" since 2016. I've begun doing my statistical analysis - nothing special, just using scores from my database to find the average match score for various wrestlers - and while it is a very limited sample that does not capture the breadth of a career like Sami's (its probably over 90% just his NXT and WWE career), he has a pretty staggering average score of 3.29-out-of-5 with 43 matches reviewed. And that includes none of his TV matches, just his Takeover/PLE/PPV output. As a TV wrestler, I think he's consistently good-to-great too. I've heard people mention "random match theory" and I'm guessing he'd rate highly there too. I don't think I've ever seen him half-ass it. He's either going balls-to-the-wall or he's at least doing great character shtick to engage the audience. That score is higher than Shawn Michaels (3.2 in 66 matches reviewed), John Cena (3.13 in 94 matches reviewed), Randy Savage (2.8 in 59 matches reviewed), and Ric Flair (2.86 in 111 matches reviewed). Now, that doesn't mean he automatically is going to rank higher on my list than those four because average match score is not my sole judging criteria (it doesn't speak at all to promos or historical importance or innovation or character work)...but, yeah, I think in 2016, if you had said that Sami Zayn is a better wrestler than Arn Anderson or Curt Hennig around these parts, you'd get laughed at or accused of being an "indie nerd" with recency bias. But, since 2016, its not like we've seen a treasure trove of new footage to show us sides of The Enforcer or Mr. Perfect that we'd never seen before. Long retired or dead, some guys are kinda stuck, unable to climb any higher. Their legacies are the same as they were in 2016. Sami Zayn, meanwhile, has only added to his resume and has basically become this generation's Mick Foley in that you can insert him practically anywhere on the card, heel or face or somewhere in between, mixing him up with your midcard or your main eventers, and he's scoring runs for you. Look at the list of matches and feuds he's had and find a stinker - the Braun Strowman stuff, the Artist Collective and feud with Daniel Bryan, the random feuds/matches with vets like Jeff Hardy and AJ and Bobby Lashley that were solid, the countless multi-mans he's been thrown in that he shined in (I'm talking ladder matches and Chambers and War Games), obviously the Bloodline stuff and the never-ending merry-go-round of stuff with Kevin Owens, the Johnny Knoxville feud, the GUNTHER story and then the Bron Breakker work. So if Sami was already in your top 100, I don't see how he doesn't leapfrog a few dozen spots this time around. If he wasn't in your top 100 and you're at all a fan of modern WWE, I don't see how he doesn't make your list now.

Surprised to see the love for this week's episode, though I only watched the first hour. Starting the show off with a heel/heel match was...a choice. The crowd was hot, but that match probably would've died if it had happened in one of the larger, mostly empty venues they were booking up until a few weeks ago. The smaller venue plan is a good one, but I just don't know why TK would think that kicking off the show with Shelton Benjamin and Kyle Fletcher was a good idea. Especially when you have White/PAC and Swerve/Caster on the same show. If your wrestling show starts with 30 minutes and the crowd has nobody to cheer for, there's something wrong with your card. It also doesn't help either guy to become "the de facto babyface" even for one night if the long-term plan is to have them as viable heels. The battle royale was bad in every way and almost felt like TK trolling the audience. Cole is the only guy to get an entrance? I mean, we all knew he'd be one of the winners but why not at least pretend? Speaking of pretend, the finish was just insulting and I felt bad for Archer and The Butcher (I think?) for having to pretend like two dudes the size of Cole and O'Reilly could eliminate them. Again, feels almost like trolling with how they're pushing Cole. HOOK's promo would've sounded amateurish at your local armory promotion being put on by trainees. Woeful stuff there. Swerve/Caster should've been even more one-sided. I also didn't actually like the post-match attack - not because Caster didn't deserve it or it made Swerve look too heelish, but because the double-stomp takes participation from the guy on the receiving end so you had Caster, who was lifeless as Swerve was climbing on the rope, have to sit up to "take" the move. Would've preferred him ending the match with the Stomp and then just House Call'ing him during the post-match or, hell, just House Call'ing him repeatedly until a bunch of officials have to stop him. Silly little things, but right now, I feel like AEW's "coldness" is real "death by a million cuts."

Not alone there. To me, it was a tale of two matches. First half was not very good at all. Nia, who I'm often higher on than most and have been for years, just looked awful out there. Not sure if it was just the environment, the pressure, or what, but there were multiple sequences that looked like they were happening in slow-mo or were painfully telegraphed. At a certain point, I think they just needed to take the camera off whatever she was doing. But then the match steadily got better and better until it was a total blast. These matches have become formulaic and built around overly choreographed spots, but the sequence where all the women hit a signature move in rapid succession was really well done. Plus, as others have noted, the match was all about Rhea and Liv and both were spotlighted well. To be honest, I know it was probably either a hollow bat or a plastic one, but the baseball bat shots from Liv looked great to my eyes. I also liked the Tiffany cash-in tease as I'm not sure we've seen that before in the middle of a War Games or even a standard Survivors match. The Men's match started slow and then just kinda stayed at that pace. Once again, Jacob Fatu was the New Bloodline's MVP but that was to be expected when it is so painfully clear that nobody else in the stable has a fraction of his charisma or athleticism. The Tonga guys are mediocre at best and Solo is good-not-great from what I've seen. Meanwhile, I'll continue to say that Jimmy and Jey have an unfortunate habit of shrinking in the spotlight a bit as singles too and the Men's Match didn't pick up till Sami came in. As for Ludwig Kaiser, I guess I'm in the minority here too. I think he's great. Loved everything he did in that match and didn't find his presence to be superfluous at all. If anything, I thought he was - from a character perspective - holding the whole thing together for its first 2/3rds. Bron is somewhat of a "tweener" in that his mannerisms and attitude all say heel, but then the fans are cheering for the guy anyway. Sheamus is a beloved babyface at this point. Kaiser was the guy they could both beat up, but who also could play the spoiler as needed (and I thought he did an awesome job in that role). I also loved the psychology behind his immediate attempt to use a chair - I mean, it is 100% legal so why wouldn't he against two monsters? - and how it became the "Chekhov's Gun" element of the match. I thought, beginning to end, that was the clear match of the night and maybe even a sneaky Top 10 Match of the Year for WWE. More than any other match, it was the one where I said, "Now I want to see Kaiser vs. Bron and Kaiser vs. Sheamus and Sheamus vs. Bron."

I have Ospreay on my list currently and I don't see him leaving, though he's not necessarily ranked all that high. He's hovering in the 80s right now. I'm a very US-centric, WWE/WCW 80s-to-today viewer, though. That's what I've seen. That's what I know. Those are the storylines I'm familiar with. It makes my ballot look goofy at times because while I've been watching more and more AJPW from the 90s and lucha stuff and other things, I'm watching "random" matches void of any context. So, yeah, I just watched Misawa vs. Taue and I dug it, but I had to do some post-viewing research to even understand why Taue going after Misawa's eye was brilliant rather than just your standard great heel work. There are layers to these matches I'm completely missing. But that's also why I think Ospreay is that good. You can go into his matches cold and he's still doing something "cutting edge" in almost every match. Sure, if you scour the indies and are super knowledgeable of that realm, Ospreay's innovative sequences might not seem all that innovative. But, to me, he's stupendous. I wouldn't quite put him up there with Rey or AJ Styles (who, in TNA, was also basically doing at least one sequence or counter or high spot that would blow your mind in nearly every single high-profile match), but damn, Ospreay's ability to blow people's minds in 2024 is almost more impressive because the envelope has been pushed so very far. If you hate this style, you're not going to see an Ospreay match that will change your outlook. It is undeniably a "performance." It is undeniably "showy." To be honest, it is not my preferred genre of wrestling. But, within its genre, he is at the pinnacle. I'd much rather watch an Ospreay match, willfully going into it expecting to be blown away by a bunch of convoluted spots designed for the sole purpose of "popping" the crowd, than, say, watch a Seth Rollins match where he'll try to do the same thing but get nowhere close because (a) his offense isn't nearly as exciting and (b) if you're going to just not sell, its almost better to just not sell the whole match. Ospreay is a maximalist and, if you're going to be that, if you're just going to do superhero wrestling where almost nothing matters because everything is going to get a 2.9 count, well, you have to really, really blow the audience away with your stuff. If its going to be a fireworks show, you can't have any misfires. Ospreay does it better than anyone else I've seen in the past decade.

One question will be just how much juice this story has and if the intention is it for it to absolutely be the "A" story for the next 3 months, 6 months, 12 months. I'd argue that the nWo storyline was good-to-excellent - if we start with the Hogan turn - an unbelievable 18 months from Bash 96' to Starrcade 97' and I could see the argument, especially in terms of ratings, profitability, etc., it was still working after Sting's big victory. (I wasn't into the Wolfpack and Hollywood split, but it does have its fans and its fans bought a bunch of merch and PPVs in 98'). If the intention is to make this angle be "The Show" for the next year, I think the challenge will be how to book enough swerves and twists to make it engaging - something TK and the Bucks ultimately failed to do with the EVP storyline. I mean, I'm not saying its any real barometer of relevancy, but on the Bucks' wiki page, the last entry related to the EVP is from July 24th. That's a 3-month gap since they've done anything resembling a major or important angle (aside, of course, walking away from Mox and Co.).

Woah now. I get disliking Shawn, but that first Hell in a Cell is an all-timer. And I'd argue that the Mankind/Taker one is equally awesome, even if what it spawned could be considered a net negative. That match was more than just stunts and is an incredibly engrossing and legitimately shocking and tremendous presentation. Punk/Drew was a very good match, one that I'd recommend and would consider a potential MOTY for WWE, and probably among the top 5 Hell in a Cell matches ever. But Shawn/Taker and Foley/Taker are probably in the top 25-50 matches in company history. I don't think Punk/Drew got there.

Listening to Eric Young's podcast on the Chris Van Vliet show, I was curious about a recurring talking point that EY has brought up. Maybe someone here as more insight. So the timeline goes that Young came to NXT and did the Sanity thing, then had a bad experience on the main roster, left for TNA, got rehired by Triple H some time after but never actually appeared on TV (possibly to be in an earlier version of the Wyatt Sicks), Vince came back into power and Young immediately asked for his release...and had to sign an NDA. I guess I'm just curious about why he had to sign the NDA. That implies that he was privy to some sort of event or incident that would be damaging to Vince. Was he included on a text chain detailing one of Vince's sexual conquests? Did he have first-hand knowledge and evidence of something nefarious? Did he confront Vince about an allegation? If Eric Young, a guy who basically had a cup of coffee in the company, was so disgusted with the toxic culture under Vince (a culture he experienced for like a year or two?), I'm really curious how much other bigger stars with much longer tenure were aware of involving Vince. Does everyone who leaves the company have to sign an NDA? I mean, are you telling me that Dolph Ziggler, for all the time he spent there, doesn't have any crazy Vince stories? Just seems weird to me that Eric Young learned about/witnessed something so absolutely stomach-turning about Vince McMahon that he was like "Nope, I'm out if he's here" while everyone else has been able to compartmentalize the various "lives" of Vince McMahon. When Vince briefly came back into power, I don't remember the roster going on strike. Is it just EY virtue signaling? Or is there something more to the story that sets what he experienced apart from, say, what someone like Kevin Owens or Seth Rollins or Bobby Lashley or whoever experienced?