C.S.

Bayley and Sasha are genuinely annoying, which I guess is a good thing. I just can't care, because the Horsewomen are so fucking overexposed and stale at this point.

While I don't necessarily believe the story and think The Good Brothers and especially AJ Styles come across as excessively naive, one plausible explanation would be if Heyman was able to save two of his favorites - whoever that would be, let the speculation begin - by presenting Anderson and Gallows as better options for the chopping block instead. Their inflated contracts were probably no secret within the company.

Would love for him to return with a new look, new gear...ditch that riot squad shit finally.

Isn't Ospreay autistic? I am not equating that to what you said about him being dumb - and I know that's not how you meant it either - I am just saying it might explain his "one-dimensional" viewpoint.

Clearly no one in this thread actually read the article, besides us, so I'll quote some of it below: Lack of Tag Ropes and Rules - "We don't have tag ropes anymore because some in our crew thinks it's lame. I think that's bulls--t. "Heels need rules to break. They need shortcuts. It's just common sense. It's basic human instincts. The villains, when they get outwrestled, they cheat. It's never changed. It's not going to change. Most of them listen and are appreciative." Young Wrestlers Thinking They Know Better Than Dean Malenko and Jerry Lynn - "I think some of our coaches are taking more ownership," Ross said. "I'm always impressed with the knowledge that a guy like Dean Malenko or Jerry Lynn share with the talent because they're good communicators. They're not heavy-handed. They can be frustrated as well. Some guys, unless they think of it or if it's their own philosophy, don't believe you're accurate. How can you not take advice from a guy like Jerry Lynn or Dean Malenko on psychology, pacing and timing?" Psychology - "I tell young guys your job is a lot like being a stand-up comedian," Ross stated. "Stand-up comedian takes the stage. He tells a joke, and then the good ones wait for the laughter to let the audience process the joke. Slow down. Let them process. I think some guys just don't have the confidence in their game to work a hold, put them in a predicament, let them work out of it and let them work back into it. It's basic psychology." Young Wrestlers Claiming They've "Reinvented the Business" - "I was talking to Jerry Lawler late last night, and we were laughing about how some younger talents want to make the business, but [say] we reinvented the business. It's the new style of wrestling," Ross recalled. "To that I say bulls--t. Double bulls--t. We play on human emotions. I don't believe the business has changed so much. Now some of the athleticism, the pace, that's changed a little bit. Sometimes for the better. Sometimes not, but the basic foundation and fundamentals of wrestling are not gonna change." What he actually said about Brian Cage and Taz: - "We had some camera work that we need to be more aware of. Taz does not need to be standing in front of Brian Cage," Ross pointed out. "I'm not knocking Taz. He'll probably take it that way, but so be it. Nonetheless, we have to have better positioning in that regard. Taz has cut some damn good promos. I really enjoyed those quite frankly." - "When Brian got the FTW belt, he didn't register it one bit. He was nonplussed," Ross noted. "So, if it didn't mean sh-t to him, then why should it mean sh-t to me or you or the fans? There's been a lot of good things in that build. I like Taz's heel work. His promo work is as good as anybody we have right now, quite frankly, but Cage has got to show more personality. He is a hell of an athlete and sometimes he works like a babyface with all the flying stuff and that might need to be addressed. It's a learning process." https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2020/07/jim-ross-says-brian-cage-doesnt-need-taz-672530/

Jim Ross definitely isn't a company shill for AEW the way he was for WWE. Hard to argue against any of his points though... https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2020/07/jim-ross-says-brian-cage-doesnt-need-taz-672530/

On the contrary, I don't consider loyalty to be ridiculous in the slightest. It's a lost art. Of course no one expects Aldis to wait around forever, but if the NWA does open back up soon and start running shows again (when it's feasible to do so), he ain't going anywhere.

I read somewhere (maybe here, maybe elsewhere?) that Prichard buried Aldis on a podcast a few weeks ago. Anyone know anything about this? In any case, Aldis seems like an NWA "lifer" willing to go down with the ship. Good for him, because he's a great champion!

Kudos to your Fresh Prince reference.

Roman Reigns lives on the same planet.

Iron Mike Sharpe is the greatest Canadian wrestler of all time, period.

Yes and no. I think a more suitable analogy would be outing Kevin Spacey as a predator when his real name is Kevin Fowler. Everyone knows him as Spacey, so outing him by using his real name would have been less effective IMO. Kind of the same deal here. Joey Ryan and David Starr are their stage names, just as Kevin Spacey is Kevin Fowler's stage name. (Well, Spacey is apparently his middle name, but you get the point.) No one knows who Kevin Fowler, Joseph Meeham, and Max Barsky are, but everyone knows who Kevin Spacey, Joey Ryan, and David Starr are.

Another under-the-radar wrestling book: Women Love Wrestling: An anthology on women & professional wrestling - by Jason Norris Review here (not by me - I haven't read it): http://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2020/07/05/anthology-proves-women-love-wrestling-too/ Only $5 on Kindle

Well, to be fair, I think Mauro is the best current commentator - not of all time. As for Asuka, while it's not her fault, long winning streaks and "I'm the champion" were her entire character for a long time. But she's far from the only one WWE has booked in such a mind-numbingly boring way. They repeated the formula more or less, much less successfully, with Shayna Baszler later. They also did that with Seth Rollins and too many others to count, where the entire character is, "I have a title." Asuka is far more entertaining now as a character and act, and she's even once again the champion and once again dominant, but it works so much better for me because she has become much more endearing IMO. This is a great point, but the vest is so boring and black. If it had splashes of color, like a Spider-Man costume, now we're talking! (I realize the logo is sometimes blood red or some other color, but it's still dull.)

Is this really necessary? I've had "hotter" hot takes than @SmoothS and no one has tried to run me off the board. They've argued passionately with me, probably thought "You're cray cray, Bubba," the whole nine yards, but they've never tried to run me off. I thought Gulak was boring at first too, but he has won me over recently. Then again, that could just be the Bryan Effect, as even Big Cass seemed like a competent worker with untapped potential when paired against Bryan. I do recognize Gulak's skills, obviously, compared to Cass though. I wasn't on PWO at the time, but I would've defended Shield-era Seth Rollins and even Authority Seth with the World Title. Somehow, somewhere along the way, it went downhill for Seth. I find him insufferable now. When he was in the I-C division, he was considered a "great worker" and having "workrate" and "movez" matches that did nothing for me and got volleyballs thrown around by the audience. When he returned to the World Title scene after that, it was only as Roman's replacement, and it didn't really work. If he was in more of a midcard or tag team role, I'd probably enjoy him again. I think Roman is awesome, underrated, and gets piled on way too much (outside of PWO anyway). However, SmoothS has a point when he says Roman comes across as a bodyguard. He's not wrong. Not evolving Roman past the Shield gear was and continues to be a massive mistake IMO, and it's one of those "little things" WWE used to do so well but no longer does, and it limits him.

To be fair, that was probably necessary for a Warrior match. Didn't Pat Patterson meticulously lay out Hogan vs. Warrior anyway?

Either Ric thinks he's bulletproof - and who can blame him? - or he's already had Covid and it was kept quiet.

Dave just destroyed Aries. When even an impartial journalist can't feign respect, you know it's bad.

Just stumbled upon this: The Chronicles of Mad Maxine - $5.99 on Kindle It's a fictional account of Mad Maxine's brief tenure in wrestling. Her reason for that (transcript courtesy of ProWrestlingStories.com): I haven't bought it or read it, but I'll check out and sample and decide if it's something I'd enjoy.

Neither of them are even remotely believable to me in "tough guy" roles, but Joe is better at it than Taz for sure.

Is this a website, a YouTube or Dailymotion page, a paid streaming service, or what?

I have never, ever respected Low-Ki and Austin Aries as wrestlers, performers, businessmen, and human beings. Glad to see they're "living up" to their reputations.

My bad - I thought he was the married one. But no, he should not be lumped in with sewage like Joey Ryan, etc. Not at all. With that said, being a cheating spouse and breaking apart a marriage and family just to get your rocks off is not something that should be so casually discarded as "Puritanism" when it's rightly criticized. It does real damage and lasting damage. However, Bate should not be fired for it or scapegoated in the same sentence with rapists and abusers. That is ridiculous. Edit: Turns out there's a lot more with Bate than I realized (see posts below), so fuck him.

Being an unfaithful scumbag isn't a fireable offense, but WWE better hope that's the extent of it.