C.S.

This is the absolute best.

Unfortunately, you have people like Mark Henry - who really should know better but clearly suffers from severe Stockholm Syndrome - stooging for the office. I won't say Henry is entirely wrong - he makes a couple of good points - but man, it's kind of sad to read. Henry's accusation that Lio told "a blatant lie to my face" is probably the worst take of all, when it's obvious to me that Lio didn't want get heat on himself, stooge out anyone else, or sound like a "problem child" in front of Henry. To me, Henry airing all of this out makes him 100x more unprofessional than Lio - especially when there's a clear power imbalance there, which is something you'd think Henry would be more conscious of. Lio would definitely get fired if he said all of the things Henry said, and may get fired for what he actually did say, but Henry's job isn't in any danger. Don't get me wrong: I love me some Mark Henry, but he's wrong here. https://prowrestlingstories.com/news/mark-henry-on-the-recent-lio-rush-backstage-heat-he-lied-to-me/ Edit: Hoo boy! For all of the shit Lio is supposedly getting about his wife, Matt Hardy might want to start worrying too... Now I'm wondering if Matt is the "ROH guy" Lio accused of spreading false rumors about him.

They're kinda, sorta doing something similar with Aleister Black now, and it isn't really working for me. I think Harper is much better than Black in every way though.

FECK U, JABRONI! I MAKE YOU HUMBLE. Also, this: I agree with you about the Emma tweet though. In that instance, he was just being a dumb, immature kid. But that stupid, inconsiderate, assholish mistake doesn't make him wrong now.

Lio Rush addresses the rumors: https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/exclusives/exclusive-lio-rush-gives-fightful-his-side-wwe-heat-rumors I guess he doesn't give a fuck if WWE fires him. With that said, I'm on his side all the way.

Impact's new streaming service, Impact Plus, launched today. $7.99 a month (or $71.99 per year). 30-day free trial. Cash For Gold GWN subscribers are automatically migrated over but need to do a password reset to access the new service. PPVs are not included, but buying one gets you three free months added to your subscription. CagesideSeats.com says you don't need to be a subscriber, just a registered user, to get the weekly shows for free. Not sure if that's true or if they're confused. Smart on Impact's part if true. Link: plus.impactwrestling.com

AEW? Not sure who else would have the budget to produce something so cinematic? I guess Dean could have paid for it himself, or secretly tapped WWE resources while he was still there, but I doubt it.

The problem is, more compelling matches for Roman's first SD feud - let's say, for the sake of argument, Roman vs. Andrade, Roman vs. Zayn, or even Roman vs. Lars - would all have to end with Roman winning against fresh faces that really can't afford the loss right now. Roman vs. Elias, while hardly earth-shattering, gives Roman someone he can beat against a heel who can easily get his heat back. I'm not exactly bowling over with excitement, but I get it. Ironically, Roman vs. Shane would have been an interesting pairing - especially with Shane recently getting a big win under his belt - but that doesn't look to be happening. Instead, Shane will lose to Miz (which he should), making him a much less interesting and credible opponent for Roman after that, so why bother? That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if we get Roman vs. Shane at SummerSlam anyway.

Two absolutely boring, nothing-happening shows this week. Zzzz...

Seeing Axel do the Perfect-Plex makes me sad for him, because while he may be "a good hand" and I do like him, he simply doesn't have whatever intangible his father did.

The only thing making Lio seem like a "heel" to internet fans is the rumor of heat with "the nicest guy in the locker room" Finn Balor. Now, maybe that is true about Finn, but is a guy that handsome and chiseled really as nice as his rep? Who knows. History usually says otherwise when it comes to guys who look like Finn. But it would be unfair to speculate either way. AJ has a similar rep, but then we heard homophobic rumors about him, so you never can tell. I'd give other examples, but that would be opening up a huge can of worms that I don't want to get into now.

RVD?

Speaking of dirt sheet bullshit, WTF is this? Kudos to this guy for somehow snagging @ProWrestling on Twitter though.

Lio Rush is going on a Twitter spree and addressing rumors. Way too much to embed here. https://twitter.com/itsLioRush I'm on his side, personally.

If they have Becky main event Mania only to turn around and lose to Lacey fucking Evans, that's a massive creative failure. Yes, Lacey has been excellent, but that doesn't mean she has to win her first major title match. And yes, before you point it out, booking her to lose her first major title match is also problematic. So, maybe WWE shouldn't have rushed this match so soon. It's almost like they've forgotten how to book.

Agreed. I actually had to remind myself that Miz was the face and Lashley was the heel. It was so bad that I was wondering if we were witnessing a turn.

What was the coded language? I was too bored by the segment and taken aback by Lashley's lack of mic skills to notice anything amiss.

These forced catchphrases from Seth and AJ are cringe-worthy.

Joe should have shouted "NON-TITLE, PIPER!" If there's ever a trend I wish would disappear forever, it's useless, meaningless non-title matches.

This can't be a good sign: Man Of The Hour ⌛️ @itsLioRush Business Inquiries- [email protected] https://twitter.com/itsLioRush

Zayn is on fire. And yeah, Vince seems to have his hand all over this with the "quitting" stuff. Zero stakes and predictable result. A "great match" means nothing to me if I'm given no reason to care

Tonight they are. This show has been brutally bad for promos and segments. When the "highlight" of tonight's Raw is a back hair shaving segment, well, that tells you all you need to know about the overall quality of the show.

On a show with horrid MITB segments for both the men and women, Bobby Lashley proving that he's DOA on the microphone without Lio Rush as his mouthpiece, and other boring garbage I've already forgotten about, your big objection is Becky actually sounding natural and showing fire and charisma? She ain't The Rock, but she was easily the best speaker on this show.

Question about FITE: Do you only pay for the live feed, or do you get to keep it afterward?

When is Dominic going to turn on Rey and/or get involved in a major angle? His inclusion seems so random otherwise.