C.S.

Reading the Twitter thread, it seems both Moose and Sami Callihan have a history of domestic violence. Fucking scumbags.

Had a moment of weakness and considered changing my forum avatar to Mauro... ...but that moment has passed. However, imagine how much better the biggest hits of the year - Kofimania, etc. - would've been if Mauro had been the one providing the soundtrack.

In case I've killed this thread... (Psst, I wasn't being serious in my last post to @The Thread Killer.)

Mauro's neighbors say he's a polite, well-behaved boy who's a pleasure to be around. Perhaps it is you who is the problem and not Mauro.

I mean, it's certainly possible. But the degree of shittiness is what's in question. We've all heard things about J.R. (drunk, grouchy), Solie (drunk), Heenan (drunk), etc., so this would hardly be a phenomenon unique to Mauro. But there's a difference between "not being the easiest to work with" and (to random women) "you're a f***king c***" (or whatever that weird Cage Dog piece said).

Didn't say all-time. J.R. in his prime still holds that crown (I am too young to have lived through Gordon Solie's heyday, though I've heard him after the fact), and I admittedly have a soft spot for all of my childhood commentators (even the lousy ones). But I do think Mauro is the best currently. You can name your Ian Riccabonis and Vic Josephs all you want, but to me, they're interchangeable and indecipherable voices. When Mauro's making the call, I know it.

No one's ever going to go broke betting on the scumminess of rasslin' personalities, so anything's possible. With that said, I am bit skeptical about an unsourced (and now defunct) gossip blog called "Cage Potato." If there was anything to this, wouldn't someone - anyone - more credible have picked up on it? Again, doesn't mean it's not true, but I am not going to believe it blindly. Then again, rasslin' fans will believe TMZ types who post unverified crap about wrestlers throwing tantrums on floors, so no one's ever going to go broke either betting on the general naivety and stupidity of the so-called "smart" rasslin' audience - especially those on Twitter and website comment sections. As for the Mauro doc, while I certainly liked it a lot, found it eye-opening, and reviewed it positively, I'm sure I was one of many who took his cannabis claims at face value because he said it helped him (and while I have no reason to disbelieve him on that, it's clearly not a one size fits all solution). The fact is, most people watching the doc - thankfully - will never truly be able to comprehend the full extent of his mental illness. I do think he was a lot more open and raw than most people would be, so I give him and the doc a lot of credit for that. He's the best in the business, bar none. No one brings the excitement, creativity, and "big game feel" to wrestling the way he does. No one!

Good catch! Here's the Dave tweet:

I have no idea if any of those are real, but I love them all. In a company so devoid of distinctive personalities at the commentary table, Mauro Ranallo stands head and shoulders above the rest of the industry as a true original. The fact that he's so easily parodied is proof that he has a memorable style.

Kenny Omega embarrassed himself thoroughly in a recent interview: It's one thing to criticize NXT - that's fair game - but going after fellow wrestlers is petty, shitty, and a bad look for both him and AEW. Part of me feels bad for Kenny though. Whatever "cool" he had in Japan has completely evaporated in AEW. He's a geek now, and it's not because of a worked won-loss record that's obviously setting up some kind of angle. I dunno what it is exactly, but something is definitely missing... Video:

It's official: Dynamite is the name.

So, LIO RUSH is back? Awesome news IMO!

Fun main event, but this wasn't the blow away show it needed to be IMO. I no longer have the Network, so the second hour is irrelevant (as it will be to most of the viewing audience watching this on USA). Then again, AEW's first show on paper doesn't look amazing either, so we'll see...

That tweet was awful and in completely poor taste, but I have to admit, it made me laugh out loud. Is that you, @KawadaSmile?

Mauro puts effort into every syllable. JBL phones it in and counts the minutes until happy hour. It's weird, because JBL was much better years ago. But by the end, he was clearly overproduced and didn't give a shit. Legends With JBL was amazing though. It's a shame WWE cut its own nose off by cancelling that, the Stone Cold Podcast, etc.

Mauro > a watered down, phoning it in, slurring his words on commentary JBL though.

What did he say?

If they were hoping to blow anyone away with this show, they haven't succeeded. It's a perfectly serviceable hour of wrestling so far, but no one will be going "wow" by the end of it. That Grimes-Maluta match was a complete waste of airtime and opportunity. Oof! AEW needs capitalize on this and deliver a stunner of a show.

"N-X-T is L-I-V-E on U-S-A." Mauro is the best in the business. Nobody can touch him. Fight me, people!

I don't watch IMPACT, but was the Lucha Bros. stuff presented as stylishly as the AOP vignettes? For all that WWE does wrong (and it's a lot), it was shocking to see them do this so right.

So, is AEW on TNT the official name of the show? If not, it seems absurd not to have a name locked down two weeks before showtime. Is this where WWE got the idea for AOP, or did *gasp* WWE beat AEW to the punch on something for once?

Has Batista acknowledged it at all? If not, there's your answer. No one knows who the hell Killer Kross is (dumbest name ever, BTW), so calling out Batista is in his best interests - even if nothing ever comes of it.

I don't blame Kofi for that one bit though. Look at who his opponents have been: KO (before he found himself again), Dolph Ziggler (lole), Randy Orton (the black hole of wrestling). Going back to Brock the Bore isn't the answer - even if it's just a transition to Roman.

What a lucky coincidence that Shane McMahon just happened to be served legal papers during the two hours of live WWE TV.