C.S.

Exactly how Christian and Mauro must feel.

One person. My GPS points to somewhere in France. No one else nowhere else. I assume Melo will do double duty until the NXT show on WrestleMania weekend and put Trick over strong there.

Okay, Vince invented an ancient Japanese proverb, along with the internet and bitcoin.

I think you're reading into this too much, honestly. Everything can evoke Vince if you think about it hard enough. This is a Japanese proverb, and Vince had to be convinced that Asian women could be hot and Asian porn was a thing. Everyone is expecting Okada, but I'll laugh when it's a revamped Akira Tozawa or *shudder* The Good Brothers.

Okada?

I'm not watching, but a friend says the fans are hijacking the show with "We want Cody!" chants.

Photo Credit - u/Honkmaster on r/Wreddit

Bro!

That's Georgia and Rick Steiner.

The possibility at least has to be considered.

Hope he gets 25 to life.

Cody Rhodes: "At a little show in 1990 known as the Survivor Series, my dad (starts tearing up) The American Dream (crying) Dusty Rhodes (full-blown sobbing) faced a debuting Phenom, The Undertaker, and now I'm calling him out. Come out of retirement. I want to do with my dad was never able to do. I want to Finish. The. Story. I want to be the 3 in 26-3."

The Rock: "Don't worry, little buddy, I'll challenge Roman at WrestleMania instead." Flashbacks of Bret losing the title at WrestleMania 9 and telling Hogan to go after Yokozuna right after the match.

Finish the story LATER maybe. *SIGH*

Logan Paul just took shots at CM Punk. Another bleached blond "empty-headed dumb fuck." Is this what Punk will stew over for the next six months?

Orton was mentored by Trips, so it ain't him.

Foley is Pod is ending. https://www.wrestlezone.com/news/1441576-conrad-thompson-explains-why-mick-foley-is-ending-his-podcast

I assume you're under the false impression that I hate The Bucks (and Kenny?). That's actually not true. While neither of them wrestle my preferred "house style," if you we-ill, I can recognize and acknowledge that they put on damn good matches even with a style and characters that aren't my preference. What I do blame The Bucks and Kenny for is not putting business ahead of their own issues. Is CM Punk blameless? Of course not, and I'd never say he was. He deserves tons of blame. But shit happened, and they could've all made a boatload of money after - not only for themselves but also for the company. The Elite vs. CM Punk and FTR was the hottest possible match they could've had, not to mention another year or two of various combinations. If that was never going to happen, Punk should have been fired right after the scrum. He wasn't - which I realize was never the Bucks/Kenny's call - but at that point, they should have been made to do business or gotten fired themselves (or at least paid to stay at home if that was the legally preferable option). Instead, The Bucks and Kenny put themselves ahead of AEW. The dwindling crowds prove it. They aren't entirely to blame, obviously. AEW losing its three biggest stars - Cody, Punk, and Jade - also hurt tremendously. But this is a TNA thread, so I'll stop here. As weird as it is to say because the pandemic was completely awful and traumatic in those early days, I loved all of the creative workarounds all of the wrestling promotions were trying. Not everything worked, but damn it, at least we were seeing concepts that were fresh and outside the box. Even dogshit like Raw Underground was cool - for a minute anyway - because it was different. I'd almost rather see a bunch of near-misses like that instead of "just pro wrestling" because I'd finally be seeing something new.

I've honestly never understood the appeal of Black. Okay, I do understand it. Big guy, decent worker, etc. But his character is not interesting, his personality does not exactly keep me glued to the screen, and his matches are just okay. Buddy is never gonna be a top guy or even upper midcard, so he may as well go get more money from WWE to be with his wife. I'd make him strictly a tag team guy again. That's a role he can shine in. He'd even be a better version of the useless, never gonna get over, sex pest, re-evaluate HBK's eye for talent J.D. McDonagh for Judgment Day.

Just let Priest cash-in. Priest vs. Truth at Mania. It would be another Yes Movement/Kofimania feel good story. Don't @ at me about how Truth would devalue the belt (newsflash: it has no value) when he's a damn good wrestler.

I assume we aren't talking about actual desserts here?

Wrestlers are not going to be open about anything, ever. They're taught not to be. Remember when Marc Mero opened up about drugs in wrestling on a news show after Benoit? He was castigated and blackballed for speaking out against "da bidness."

Bryan is apparently a massive weirdo himself, and there was a very bizarre episode of Total Divas or Total Bellas where he wanted to start composting their own shit. Am I comparing him to Vince or saying he knew anything or shares any of Vince's fetishes? No, of course not. I'm simply pointing out that wrestlers have already spoken openly about Bryan's strange comments and jokes in the AEW locker room. It's all framed lovingly in the usual "boys will be boys" way, and I hope that's all it is, but Bryan is definitely a unique cat to put it charitably. I mean, this is the same culture that praised Kane for being so smart and nice because "he reads books."

I was also talking about Vince and Tony, which you missed in your wanton lust to defend TNA no matter what. Seriously though, your other points are good ones, and a good defense of your favorite promotion. BUT was TNA's stock raised after AEW packed up and left? Did they get more viewers? Genuine question, since you know the numbers. As for AEW getting The Good Brothers, well, you won't get any arguments from me that AEW didn't exactly benefit much (or at all) from that. However, I get the sense that Tony - or at least the EVPs - thought much more highly of that particular crossover than we did. Which I'd argue is one of the major, major problems with pro wrestling. (Note: I'm talking about WWE, AEW, etc. too). It's stuck in the past presentation-wise. If a documentary can make Shera a star, why can't a pro wrestling company apply some of the same principles and presentation to do the same? Forget about Shera for a second. You don't like him, "he's not any good," etc. But imagine it for someone you do like. I realize my point is a bit disjointed and probably requires further explanation (outside of this thread), but hopefully you get what I'm trying to say. Was that during the DeMott era? Because I'm personally inclined to give everyone released then a free pass or at least a second look.

Thoughts on WWE's partnership with TNA vs. AEW's? With AEW, only they - and not TNA - really benefited. Christian and Omega - AEW wrestlers - traded the TNA World Title. Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone played heel characters and buried TNA (I realize they were emulating Vince in Memphs, but still). I don't see how AEW did TNA any major favors. With WWE, Mickie James was in the Royal Rumble and announced as TNA Knockouts Champion last year, ditto for Jordynne Grace this year, and Grace was arguably the STAR of the match. It seems like AEW was insecure and gave TNA very little, whereas WWE is obviously very secure in their position and has no problem making TNA look good. It's a mutually beneficial partnership for both sides, and I hope there's more of it. Ironically, Christian has been used as a crossover wrestler for TNA by both WWE (for a TNA Hall of Fame segment with Sting) and AEW (as the TNA World Champion) and of course had a lengthy TNA stint of his own. And yet, he came across as a massive, massive star on the OVW Netflix documentary "The Wrestlers" and someone worth rooting for. What is TNA missing? "Being good at the rasslin'" is such a small part of the overall picture. Maybe he's just a big fish in a small pond type, and fair enough, but I feel more can be done with him. I can't even say WWE would use him better, because we've seen otherwise for anyone not named Jinder. WWE has one of the main characters of a Disney movie on their roster - "Million Dollar Arm" was based on Veer - and that has never once been mentioned. Even if "Million Dollar Arm" isn't exactly as big as "Fantasia" (or whatever) in the Disney universe, it was still seen and is known on a massively wider scale than WWE ever has been or ever will be. Ditto for Adam Copeland appearing on "Percy Jackson" for Disney+ the week Tony Khan idiotically decided to focus on Jinder instead, Sasha in "The Mandalorian" (WWE is a nothing Walmart bin DVD in comparison to "Star Wars"), etc. Well, I went off on a tangent there about small-time rasslin' promoters being too fucking dumb and in the bubble to take advantage of huge crossovers that fall into their laps. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.