C.S.

Between Ric's appearance last week on SD and now this, are we to assume his lawsuit about "The Man" name has been dropped? Wooooo!

Agreed, but still not too late.

OC is the worst, most awful, biggest geek act I've seen in years. Like their opponents The Viking Experience Raiders, it started with a truly terrible name and went downhill from there.

He can't be done as something he never was.

It's either now or never with Braun IMO.

I am not overly familiar with The Cleaner, TBH - I just meant that a heel turn would probably do him some good, because he has been bland in AEW so far and something has clearly been missing. Starting feuds with NXT undercard talent definitely isn't the solution though.

Becoming "The Cleaner" again is great. Building a feud against Dominick with no possible payoff is pointless. You can say the same for Shane re: Flair/HBK, but at least that positioned ECW as the edgy, irreverent underdog. The difference was, Shane was punching up by going after Flair/HBK and thus making himself and ECW look like the scrappy little guy. Omega is punching down by going after Dominick and only makes himself and AEW look like bullies. My God, it's the easiest thing in the world to make WWE and NXT look like the "big bad" - they already are in so many real ways - but goofy as fuck Mr. Clean can't even accomplish that much. It's not fun or witty or cool or entertaining. It could be, but it's not, because the approach is entirely off. It's just dumb business. Edit: Also, it's not 1996 anymore. Even if Shane was 100% successful in his approach, it wouldn't work today because times have changed.

Too bad about AEW: Evil Dentist vs. Smiley Kylie wrote itself. But I'm glad she's back.

Except, how does this draw money for AEW or build any AEW talent or feuds? Answer: IT DOESN'T! There's a HUGE difference between Omega saying this on Twitter or YouTube and Shane Douglas saying it as his character on a television show designed to make him and ECW look like an edgy alternative. ECW did this right. Omega's bullshit looks like amateur hour. It's terrible.

Omega continues to humiliate himself and make AEW look horrible: Unless they're building to an NXT vs. AEW supercard none of us know about (they're not), this is absolutely pointless and doesn't draw a red cent for AEW. All it does it turn off NXT fans who may have been interested in checking out the AEW product. Transcript Credit: https://www.prowrestlingsheet.com/kenny-omega-dominik-dijakovic-being-elite/ Video:

Luckiest fan ever, and future comedy hall of famer for sure. There are also tons of great comments comparing J.R. and Mauro, as well as fans correctly identifying that Mauro makes Takeover feel even more special. As for Cobin, I think people forget how "young" he is in the business. He hasn't quite put the package together yet, but he's inching closer every year. Mauro calling his matches would make the difference, I feel. (Okay, lol, I'm sorry...I couldn't resist!)

Well, that doesn't really mean anything IMO. Women stay in abusive relationships for years - decades even. I'm not saying that Rich Swann is abusive. But I'm also not saying that he isn't.

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!