C.S.

I don't think Tim Storm is turning heel because they just released Momma Storm merch. https://www.nationalwrestlingalliance.com/shop/official-national-wrestling-alliance-momma-storm-lapel-pin I think the stip is that Storm can't get another shot at the title, period. I don't think that changes if Aldis loses.

I'd honestly prefer the Question Mark to James Storm, and I'm not entirely joking. But it will probably be James Storm. Meh. Even worse is if James Storm wins the title because he's one of the few "top stars" they have. Kinda wish Aaron Stevens and/or Trevor Murdoch had gotten this treatment instead. They're actually stars, unlike Storm. Of course, it could always be worse... Colt "BOOM BOOM" Cabana could get the title shot instead, or *shudder* Mr. Anderson...Ander--Zzz. It's a shame they booked themselves into a corner with that Tim Storm stip, because Aldis vs. Tim Storm would be the best option by a mile. I want to see Tim Storm vs. James Storm, with the loser losing the name Storm, and Tim goes into business for himself, shoots, and knocks out James. (Not wishing any permanent damage. I'd want James to be 100% fine afterward.)

Late to the party… The racist Ethiopia joke was cut but a gas chamber reference and the Austin Idol date rape Kayfabe Cocktail commercial remained. Clearly there’s still serious work to be done. i knew Aldis-Murdoch was going to be disappointingly short so I was prepared for that. Still, I thought it was a good showcase of Murdoch and a fun match for what it was. The finish did seem odd though. Thunder Rosa, Marti Belle, and Melina are stars. The Women’s Champion Allysin Kay and the Tag Team Champions The Wild Cards are not. Anyone else getting Stone Cold cosplay vibes from Eli Drake? Seriously, he speaks and sounds exactly like Austin. WTF was with that main event? Bullshit comedy wrestling is the last thing the NWA should be doing. BTW, Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana sounds like he’s announcing that he has to take a giant shit when he uses that absurd-as-fuck nickname. That idiot James Storm burying Murdoch at the end of the show by calling him someone that doesn’t matter was so fucking stupid and counterproductive. Guess what, James: You’ve never been a star anywhere that matters or drawn any money in your life. Even as a lower midcarder in the WWE, Murdoch has been seen by more, done more, and meant more. James Storm is insufferable. I can see why Al Snow buried the fuck out of him in his book.

It was as stupid as when Tyson Fury did the thing with the pen. I guess other people "got that" and I didn't, but it did him no favors IMO. As for Omega, yeah, that was pointless.

Can't wait to see Lana's segment. As usual, I'm sure she elevated absolute dogshit with her purposely campy style. Lana > Seth in the acting dept.

That definitely helps, but AEW of course cannot rely on that. Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy got over with me sight unseen. Stunt was a head-scratcher until I saw him wrestle. Then I got it. Emi Sakura got over with me immediately. They need to figure out Kenny Omega ASAP because he's not coming across like a star at all.

Not going to post it here, but did Rusev tweet out Corey Graves' phone number? Then we go back to the slippery slope of using Mauro's mental illness to excuse...well, whatever it is people don't like about him, his style, how he reacts to bullying, etc. It goes both ways. What's good for the goose has to be good for the gander as well. Either they both get a free pass or neither of them do.

Even if Corey is 100% right about Mauro (and he isn't, because Mauro is the head commentator and "voice of NXT" so of course he's going to be more prominent - and three-person booths are imbalanced clusterfucks anyway), Corey is 100% wrong to air those views on Twitter, in public, in front of the whole world. Be an ADULT, Corey, and talk to your co-worker and colleague privately backstage. Only teenage children air their shit out on social media. Completely unprofessional behavior by Corey that deserves the strongest possible reprimand (but he won't get it). This. IMO, Corey is far more distracting than Mauro ever was. It's no accident that Saxton and Renee no longer have commentary jobs. (Well, Saxton is doing NXT UK now, I think.) Even though Corey and Renee are supposedly best friends, his shitty and abrasive commentary style did her zero favors. No, she was not great and not a natural, but she might have had more of a chance to grow into the role if Corey wasn't constantly trying to make her 1/2 of a bad comedy duo. And let's not get into the way he sandbagged and sabotaged Saxton constantly - to be fair, probably not intentionally - but that was the result of his shitty Sam Kinison-wannabe style regardless. The irony is, Corey was actually good in NXT. What the hell happened?

Graves continues to put his foot in his mouth. Truly what an obnoxious embarrassment of a human being.

I assume you mean Saed and not Ali. Either way, the reference is lost on me because I barely saw The Gangstas in their prime. I never got SMW and finding ECW on TV was spotty at best for me. (I was lucky enough to see the Sandman-Dreamer caning angle and Shane Douglas throwing down the NWA belt. I also saw the New Jack-Vic Grimes scaffold match live, which was insane.) I wasn't referring to their NWA booking, which is weirdly cautious about going all the way with them, but rather Kingston himself and what he brings to the table in general. With that said, they had to tape eight weeks of shows in two days, so you're inevitably going to get situations like Kingston, Murdoch, etc. not being used to full advantage as momentum builds because there's no way to gauge that in two days. I hope Billy and goofy Dave "Nick Aldis was the NWA's third choice" Lagana figure out what they have in Kingston. Good point here. I guess it's a personal opinion. Outside of SCU and Lucha/Jungle/Stunt, none of the other AEW teams have really caught on with me. The Bucks are understandably being used to put others over, but I hope they and Omega are eventually allowed to be the stars they're supposed to be. That's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation though, because if they're pushed too much, everyone will jump on them because they're EVPs.

Dark Order is an awful gimmick, but the vignette last week was amazing. Unfortunately, sometimes great vignettes don't translate into great characters, or there's a disconnect somewhere. Right now, there's a disconnect. Hopefully the two can somehow mesh together Santana and Ortiz come across as goofs with zero mystique. Kingston and Homicide in the NWA are 100x better and convey actual danger. Well, at least Kingston does. I can take or leave Homicide, TBH. Private Party hasn't connected because their push was forced instead of earned and not followed up on. They shouldn't have beaten the Bucks if they weren't winning the tournament. I can understand the logic - make two teams, PP and SCU, instead of one with the way they booked it - but it backfired. PP isn't a lost cause by any means though. I think they'll get there. For all of the emphasis AEW has placed on tag team wrestling, the entire division seems like kind of a disjointed mess. The most exciting thing anyone is the tag team division has done is when 1/2 (1/3?) of the AEW World Tag Team Champions called Chris Jericho "Le Bitch" and challenged him to a singles World Title match.

So, AEW doesn't just give Kylie Rae time off to deal with mental issue? Instead, they release her outright? Something isn't adding up. Unless AEW is on a tight budget and couldn't afford to pay someone who was going to be out for what could've been indefinitely, but even that sounds flimsy.

Apples and oranges. America isn't a company (even if he treats it like a poorly run one) and they are trying to impeach him (won't work, but it's more of a reprimand than Corey Graves is getting). I'll leave it at that, as the P in PWO doesn't stand for Politics. Twitter is garbage, but that isn't an excuse for Corey Graves' behavior. Not very punk rock of him. More like punk bitch.

Corey apparently forgot the first rule of punk rock - don't act like a complete unprofessional bitch to your coworkers.

Holy shit!

Did Roman turn?! (I'm not watching the show.)

This isn't the school cafeteria - it's a fucking professional corporate environment. Graves should not be criticizing his co-worker in public for any reason. If he's speaking on behalf of feelings Nigel and/or Beth may have (which I doubt), they need to come to Mauro themselves. If he's speaking for himself (which is my guess), it should have been done privately. Even without Mauro's mental health issues, this would have been a fireable offense in literally any other company. Outside of WWE, Graves would not have a job right now - period.

Yes I do. I was about to start a thread about this (because the Mauro-JBL thread from a couple of years ago lasted several pages), until I realized the last few pages of this thread have been about Mauro. This is what I was going to say: I know many of you strongly dislike Mauro and may even agree with what Graves said. As some of you know, I am in the minority here on PWO and think Mauro is one of the best in the business right now. Regardless of where we are on the Mauro-meter, I think Graves acted like a smug jerk and was way out of line - especially in light of Mauro's well-documented mental health issues. No, that doesn't give Mauro a free pass, but it should entitle him to some understanding. As of now, Mauro deleted his Twitter account. To add to that: I think it's one thing for fans to criticize Mauro's commentary - that's fair game - but it should not ever fucking happen from a co-worker in public. Corey Graves is an unprofessional douchebag who needs to be fired immediately and/or (and I don't normally advocate violence) get punched in the face by Frank Shamrock. Both would be fine with me. In any other type of work or corporate environment, there's no way Graves would have a job after that. But because this is the sleazy, slimy, garbage rasslin' business, he'll probably get promoted or given a raise. I hope Mauro comes back to work on Wednesday - regardless of whatever any of you may think of him - because everyone is entitled to do what they love without being bullied for it.

Dave Lagana looks worse and fucking worse every time he says something. Just shut the fuck up, Dave!

At first I was excited for this weekend's NXT and WWE PPVs - they will deliver in-ring, if nothing else - but now I can't even be motivated to drive to Dollar General to buy a $10 WWE Network gift card (I know there are a million other ways to pay, but I like the idea of pumping $10 for the month and that's it).

Is this on YouTube? I couldn't find anything. I'd love to watch it.

Lagana should just stop talking. The more he opens his mouth, the less credible he sounds.

Cornette's side of the story: https://www.mandatory.com/wrestlezone/news/1154413-jim-cornette-addresses-nwa-resignation-controversial-nwa-powerrr-line He's still wrong, but he's not the only one. Like I said earlier in this thread: Cornette makes a very good point about Lagana IMO.

Even by May, the momentum for AEW's debut was building up to a fever pitch.

Was Jim hired a year ago though? He was still in MLW then, and the idea of the NWA running a weekly show was probably only something written in a notebook at that point.