C.S.

I mean, if you're not gonna read my post properly, sure. What I actually said was: the build sucked, the storytelling sucked, the characters suck, Finn does nothing for me, O'Reilly is generic (being a "good rassler" means diddly shit to me when there's little else happening there), so I didn't care about the match and therefore couldn't bring myself to focus on it properly. I never said the match itself wasn't good, as I obviously can't render a verdict either way - I just said I couldn't bring myself to give enough of a shit to find out. Fair enough for you?

Great post, @Coffey. People (not here) are calling Finn Balor vs. Kyle O'Reilly a MOTY contender. I did not care. I DID NOT GIVE A SINGLE FUCK! I barely watched the match, to be honest. I couldn't focus on it. Why? Because there were no characters, there was no story, and there was no reason to care. Finn already doesn't do it for me, and now I'm supposed to muster up the enthusiasm for a generic ex-tag guy I've been given zero reason to give a fuck about before now? Look, I love the idea of new matches, but new doesn't always mean fresh, new doesn't always mean compelling, and it sure as hell didn't in this case. Ditto for Damien Priest vs. Johnny Gargano. Priest is killed dead, DOA, Fang McFrost this motherfucker with such a stupid fucking name. And Gargano is beyond stale in the NXT setting. Bubba argued against a call-up, saying it would be even worse. He's right. But Gargano remaining in NXT a second longer would be death. Bring the guy up, even though he'll inevitably be a jobber on Main Event, and have him return to NXT in two years with a new lease on life, a completely different set of opponents, and a fresh playing field. Same for Ciampa. KUSHIDA vs. Dream...ugh. I don't need to rehash the obvious issues there. KUSHIDA is good though. The Cruiserweight Match seemed fun, and both guys worked their asses off, but I had a hard time maintaining interest, because - guess what - if you treat a title like it means nothing for two years, I'm not going to be able to flip a switch and suddenly care. Santos and Swerve deserve better. Just get rid of the title, because it was killed deader than a doorknob years before it ever got to NXT. Ember as the mystery person, immediately after Toni Storm appeared, was such clunky, clumsy, shitty, WCW levels of timing. I won't say I'm disappointed, even though I wanted Bo or Gable, but I will say the placement of the segment did her zero favors. It felt so forced and rushed, and it didn't need to feel either. Why not save Toni Storm for another time? Why did those two returns have to happen back-to-back? Less is more.

She actually has a Hollywood career though, so I blame that on WWE, not Lana. I still say Lana made the most of that horrific Lashley storyline and going as over-the-top as she did was the only way to play it. Was it good? No. But it would've been even worse if she wasn't trying to chew the scenery. Serious acting would not have helped.

The match happened. The match is over. That's about all I can say, because I was barely able to muster up the interest to focus on it and watch it properly. Finn has never done it for me, and Kyle O'Reilly is a generic indie guy. WTF with this ending though? Who was that throwing Cole toward the ring?

Kyle needs to brush his hair.

It's a change, which is desperately needed. Even if he doesn't work out, he can return to NXT in two years a conquering hero and have dozens of fresh matches waiting for him.

Is he? I said he should (just because he is beyond stale in NXT now), not that he is.

It wasn't BO.

This dumb trope of the ref being blind as a bat really needs to be updated. Made no difference ultimately, but still. Gargano's cartoonish reaction to the kickout was hysterical though.

I have to BO-lieve!

No, I mean, is Adonis the guy they've been hyping in the mystery videos? Kinda disappointing if so, because who the fuck is he?

Was he the big mystery?

Candice LeRae's promo is good. It would be better if she could actually act.

To show solidarity with his hero Michael Jackson.

Don King has joined NXT!

KUSHIDA needs to squash the everloving fuck out of Dream and send him packing to EVOLVE.* *Yes, I'm aware EVOLVE is dead. That's the point.

Yeah, but staying in NXT and getting staler and staler in that setting is also killing them. Time to make a move. They can always return to NXT in a year or two.

Damien Priest has done nothing for me so far. "He is tall" is about all I can really say about him. Remember when Gargano matches were events? Feels like years ago. Gargano and Ciampa are beyond stale in this setting and desperately need a call-up.

Some questions for tonight: - Will "good rassler" Kyle O'Reilly win the title despite never not being a draw at any level? NXT has kind of given up on caring about that stuff. Yes, it's a new match, but new doesn't necessarily mean fresh or compelling. If there's a story-driven element at play with the Undisputed Era, it could get interesting. Otherwise, Zzzz. Jey Uso says people ask him, "Which one are you?" I ask myself that about Kyle O'Reilly. - Why is Velveteen Dream still on the roster? Will KUSHIDA squash his ass and send him packing? - Who will the mystery person be? (Bo Dallas? Ember Moon? Bobby Roode? Chad Gable?) - Most importantly of all: How will NXT surive without the GREAT Mauro Ranallo, especially when he inevitably joins AEW? They should've paid The Voice of a Generation™ that sweet-ass Mauro Money™ to keep him!

Ironically, that's Moolah's own fault, since she always lobbied to be the star attraction.

Politician Andrew Yang isn't happy.

Yang responds to the latest sleazy WWE tactic:

This week's Broken Skull Sessions on the WWE Network is with Kurt Angle, and it's shocking how lax WWE was about concussions as late as the early '00s. Nothing we didn't already know, but seeing the clips and hearing it all laid out really hammers the point home. They also missed/ignored a shitload of warning signs about Eddie Guerrero's heart-related health problems.

The Broken Skull Sessions with Stone Cold interviewing Kurt Angle is heavy. Multiple concussions, handled poorly with a "the show must go on" mentality - which was par for the course back then, but still - eventually ending up with Angle becoming a hot mess of drugs, painkillers, and mental issues. TNA allowing him four DUIs under their watch tells you all you need to know about how incompetent and uncaring Dixie Carter really was. If she wasn't malicious, she was at the very least harmfully naive. Was anyone fooled by her at any point? Kurt's crappy WWE return where he wasn't allowed to wrestle was heartbreaking, ending with a useless retirement match against Baron Corbin. Kurt was understandably hurt that the red carpet wasn't rolled out for him the way it was for Goldberg (who was mentioned by name, but Kurt said he understood why Goldberg was made champ). But considering how Kurt left the company (there's a story I haven't heard before, which I won't spoil), I can connect the dots and understand why Vince would be skittish to go all in on him again. I was reminded of Kurt's WM match with Shawn Michaels, which is somewhat of a forgotten unsung classic - although I'm sure everyone at PWO hates it because of Shawn. The build for that was fantastic, with great nostalgia overload. They also mentioned Benoit several times without ever saying his name, and Guerrero, whose name they obviously did mention.

To be fair, they're probably too dumb to realize what that really is. Wrestlers, by and large, are not intelligent people. We'd like to think they are, but when dumb dodos like Kane are lauded as among the smartest people in the company, that says it all. Any large group who uses "brother" and "daddy" in sentences unironically cannot possibly be intellectual.