C.S.

J.R. was right. Taz is an indie rassler who never learned how to be big time. It's even worse now because Taz only knows how to put over Taz, which doesn't work in a managerial role. Is he entertaining on the mic? Sure. Who has that helped? Taz. No one buzzes about Brian Cage. It's always, "Man, Taz was awesome this week! Fuck that grumpy ol' J.R. for understanding the biz, BRO!" AEW bringing in Ariane Andrews/Cameron as Nyla's partner is tone deaf - assuming it's more than just a "fun" once-off. Nyla needs to be paired with someone who has experience and seasoning - not a person who was horrible in the ring, awful on the mic, irritating on Total Divas, not over at all with anyone, and most known for Kamala-like pins and citing Melina vs. Alicia Fox as her favorite match (the rare example of WWE comedy that was actually funny). How did this happen anyway? Are Cameron and Brandi good friends from their WWE days or something? Only way to explain such an inexplicable hiring decision.

I don't believe this for a second... I expect Miro to show up in AEW, especially after Cody named him and Matt Cardona (Zack Ryder) as the two people he wanted to sign), and Cardona showed up this week. Plus, Miro has already been banned from Twitch.

Great line!

Came in here to post this. The Balor, Joe, and Nakamura reigns were all epic slogs. Nakamura has had one good match his entire time in NXT/WWE, and that was his debut against Sami Zayn. Things picked up a bit with the original Gargano-Ciampa feud, but good Lord, they ran that shit right into the ground, shoveled it in, dug it back up, and went for several more unnecessary rounds. Lackluster champions like Drew (sorry) and Roode didn't help matters any during this period either.

I'll focus on this part of what you said, Bubba: WWE is high on New Day as a whole, yes, but I've never gotten the sense that they're high on each member individually. Kofi, yes, of course they're high on him - and even then, only to a point (6-second squash to Lesnar, anyone?). Big E, I'm not so sure. Xavier, even less sure. Even at the height of New Day, Kofi was consistently the only one on the big trucks and other promotional material and the only one with a consistent (albeit midcard) push. In contrast: Big E came as a bodyguard and third wheel for - guess who - Ziggler. So, to say that WWE is automatically higher on Big E than Ziggler is a stretch. After that inevitably ran its course, WWE spun its wheels with Big E until New Day, where he's been consistently pushed as a midcard/tag team act, with not even a hint of a main event spot. Xavier was squashed and kaboshed on the Network's first live NXT show and did little of note when he was finally called up to the main roster, before breaking out with New Day and achieving a similar push to Big E. At best, I could see E maybe getting a three-month Mark Henry run on top down the road. I am not nearly as optimistic about Xavier's chances, even though he's solid in the ring, good on the mic, charismatic as can be, and smart as hell. In a just world, all three would be former World Champions by the time they're inducted into the HOF, but I'm not sure that will ever happen.

Would you want him to lose ten straight though? Double-edged sword, Bubba.

Nick Aldis went to town on "full of shit," "asleep," "half-baked," "hasn't been paying attention" Bruce Prichard! https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/nick-aldis-calls-out-bruce-prichard-not-paying-attention-over-lacking-it-factor-comments

Fair enough. Did Enzo end up being innocent, or was the case just dropped?

This is why Enzo would have been an absolute fucking legend in another era. He was all about himself, got over as himself, and was more over then than 99% of the current roster is now. I laughed when the idiotic ROH fans bitched up a storm about that Enzo-Cass surprise appearance. It's still the most that slowly dying company has been talked about in two years. People will quote and @ me to tell me how wrong I am, but I'm not. How ya doin'?!

Sexual Chocolate was still entertaining though. Baron Corbin - bless his heart - is not. You could at least see Henry's potential and versatility with the Sexual Chocolate gimmick. I'm not sure what we're supposed to see with Corbin's bland character. And I don't even hate the guy - I think there's untapped something there, but it may never get out in the broken WWE system.

Just like Raw in Heyman's first few weeks, even though the show was still disorganized, scattershot garbage.

Pete Gas's book is also free I bought it a couple of years ago and it's a decent read. Wish I had waited, just because it's now free, but it was worth the money IMO.

The Tessa rumor was either false or she has been suitably shamed (or possibly pressured by her future employer IMO) to do the right thing and send back the belt. https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/tessa-blanchard-sending-impact-title-back

This is currently FREE on Kindle: Wrestling's New Golden Age: How Independent Promotions Have Revolutionized One of America's Favorite Sports by Ronald Snyder It looks interesting, and you certainly can't beat the price.

I probably should've prefaced my statement by saying I haven't been very active on Twitter for months now. A year or so ago, he was posting some pretty good stuff - or at least "deeper" than you'd expect from a pro wrestler with a stoned redneck character. Cena was also quite good around that time too. Cognitive dissonance. He probably doesn't believe the Dream rumors are true, or doesn't want to believe them, and the Lawler stuff was so long ago that it's "out of sight, out of mind." (I'm pretty sure he didn't read that Bix expose from a year or two ago - and neither did anyone else from WWE, probably.) I'm not defending that, mind you, just pointing it out as a reason for the man's rationale or lack thereof.

Well, that's disappointing. Road Dogg is actually a great follow on Twitter. I guess not so much on Facebook. The FB account is verified to be him, right?

Who wants to place bets on which fed will be dumb enough to sign The Female Austin Aries despite her obvious baggage, vile racism, and legendary douchebaggery? AEW certainly needs her for their women's division, but WWE might ignore the warning signs because they only see dollar signs. Either way, she'll be an afterthought in five years if she keeps up her current trajectory.

Wait... You do realize that more than one person posted about the movie, right? My original response was directed at more than just you. Like this fella here, who - wait for it - commented on the recent news about the Knights. But we can sit here and pretend this is The El-P Show if you want.

Sorry, @El-P, my bad. In the future, I'll be sure to obsessively read every single syllable you've posted before I dare respond.

In today's "Tessa is a bad person" news...

I think all of the recent issues with the Knights are coloring your perception of the movie (and understandably so). I saw it theatrically, long before all of this came to light, and I thought it was heartfelt and hilarious. Definitely one of the best pro wrestling movies ever (not that there's exactly major competition in that arena). My sister, who has never watched a wrestling match in her life, absolutely loved it. Of course, certain aspects of the story were embellished, and there were some fictional characters and situations, but that's the case with pretty much every biopic (wrestling or otherwise). It was still more factual than most biopics. I thought it was great! BTW, it's based on this documentary, which I haven't seen.

Made this same point to a friend today or yesterday about Cesaro. Absolutely! The sheer variety of partners and consistent excellence throughout puts Cesaro over the top for me. Think of your least favorite current wrestler - whoever that is - and you're still guaranteed a great or at least compelling team if Cesaro is in it. BTW, I assume the thread title was something else/misleading at first? Because Eaton certainly wasn't a major player this century.

Tales from the Deadman was a quick and fun 20+ minutes. It was formatted sort of like those WWE Story Time shows, with a story being told as an animation played out. There was also archival footage and talking head segments with Undertaker, Bruce Prichard, etc. Timothy Olyphant narrated it. Did he also narrate The Last Ride? I can't remember.

My guess is they are saying they can't sign Rey to a major money deal until after Covid is over, and Rey is working on a handshake deal until then. Purely speculation on my part, and dumb on Rey's part if there's anything to that, but he could be making bad decisions because he wants to look out for Dominic's welfare long-term. Again, I am 100% guessing here.

If Rey was being written out, why bother having Dominic at the end? Unless Dom is staying and Rey is going, which seems unlikely to me.