C.S.

Ahmed Johnson joining the Nation, only for them to turn on him within weeks. Two turns from the same guy in the span of a month or so. Just awful. Miz turning face years after that was a good idea. Alberto turning face. Eddie Guerrero's heel turn on Tajiri sucked and didn't stick. Buff Bagwell turning or remaining heel after coming back from a career-ending injury by aligning or re-aligning with Scot Steiner (I can't remember the details). Austin's heel turn. Other than some memorable Alliance burial segments, it sucked.

Agreed. Too many people, especially here, think "good rasslin'" is all you need to be a top draw, company ace, etc. If that were the case, ROH would have been the #1 promotion in the world 15 years ago. I'm in the same minority then. Wrestling is, was, and always will be character-driven. I actually like Seth more than you, but you're right, what's his character? A wrestler that isn't a character is pointless to me. "Movez" don't mean shit. Context does. Caring about the people in the ring, knowing who they are, what they're about - that's what matters in wrestling. Everyone raved about Miz vs. Seth last night, but I couldn't care less. Why? Because the match had no real purpose, I didn't want to see it, and I knew what the outcome would be. The guy I was rooting for and cared about - The Miz - wasn't ever going to win. About the only benefit I see is that these kinds of matches will give The Miz credibility with the movez/rasslin'/ROH bingo hall types, which will help when he's eventually (hopefully) elevated back up the card.

What's wrong with a suspended poster coming back in a mask? That's Rasslin' 101, baby!

What's the story here? I've never heard this before. Didn't Hayes approach Henry at the post-WrestleMania party and claim to be the "bigger n-word" between the two? I think that's what I remember hearing.

They will never do it, because Balor can't be gay everywhere. WWE is decades away from doing a legitimate - i.e. tasteful - gay angle. They're decades behind the curve, as usual. They just discovered "don't ask, don't tell."

Because the Jax interview rang absolutely false and sounded like pandering bullshit. If she has in fact been bullied, she did a terrible job of coming across as genuine. It reeked of bad actor syndrome. That's probably because the interview was scripted and she is a bad actor.

I'm not sure if you think people would react better or worse to an anti-Semitic slur. I think both are equally as serious and would garner pretty much the same reaction. You might not get the ridiculousness of Mark Henry claiming there's a secret "delegation" formed to combat racism, but perhaps Goldberg gets offended and never returns? Maybe other Jewish wrestlers - whoever they are - make a major issue of it. It would certainly be a big deal with the fans and definitely sponsors, advertisers, networks, etc.

I was too tired to fully pay attention to it, but what I caught was great stuff. It always is with The Miz.

Because Joe has been in WWE two years now with very little that I've personally found memorable. How long is he going to get to coast on his "greatest hits"? He had a good run in ROH 15 years ago but was hit-or-miss in TNA. It's a valid question, because I don't get the hype either. Does anyone get excited about a Haley Joel Osment movie because he was great in The Sixth Sense, A.I., and Secondhand Lions? If people were still hyping him up now, I'd question it. (And yes, he's been in movies since then - just nothing anyone has seen.)

It's not even the worst big WWE PPV of the last 2 weeks, let's be real here. LOL. A fair point. But at least GRR had spectacle working for it. Everyone's jaws were on the floor at the blatant propaganda on display. It was more "memorable" - maybe not in a good way, but it was.

It means a lot. I'm not saying otherwise. It means nothing to what I'm watching now. Joe hasn't had a classic match in WWE, period. The greatest hits are there to enjoy, but they don't make Backlash a better show. Who are you even talking to? Is there someone here insinuating any of those points you just brought up? My bad. I thought you were responding to my post about not giving shit what Joe and Low Ki did 15 years ago because it has no bearing on the Joe that showed up tonight. If not, my apologies for the confusion.

I don't watch TV, so I can only comment on this Joe-Reigns match, which sucked. You liked the Finn-Joe series more than I did, but we're both in agreement on Finn at least. I praised the Lesnar stuff, but that's it. It's something because Lesnar has been a shithouse for years now. Joe frustrates me. He shows bursts of something awesome, but that's all it ever is.

It means a lot. I'm not saying otherwise. It means nothing to what I'm watching now. Joe hasn't had a classic match in WWE, period. The greatest hits are there to enjoy, but they don't make Backlash a better show.

Have you seen a lot of his pre WWE matches? His RoH match with Low Ki is on YouTube. This is what's so frustrating about Joe's fans. No one gives a fuck what he did 15 years ago, especially against a never-was like Low Ki. (Low Ki is someone who has pissed away opportunity after opportunity to the point where you'd have to be psychotic to get excited about anything he does, because it never lasts. Joe, at least, has been popular and successful everywhere he's gone. I can respect that, even if he's not my cup of tea.) What has Joe done in WWE though? I'm struggling to name one classic match. Sorry, his "epic series of matches" with Finn and Nak in NXT bored the shit out of me - for which they get equal blame, believe me. Joe overachieved against a lazy Brock Lesnar, so there's that, I guess.

Now, this is the Joe I know and hate - slow, sloppy, and boring as shit.

I hate Joe, but this has been awesome. Credit where credit is due.

Until they don't... Until they don't.

Nut shots really do make a match better.

This show has been a total slog. I don't care if Miz vs. Seth was a five-star match or whatever - I'm sick of seeing them wrestle each other and had no investment in the inevitable outcome of Seth's victory. Bryan vs. Cass sucked in every possible way. Cass is useless.

Bryan's lips look like he just swallowed a shit.

Uh oh, they're giving Rusev terrible Vince lines.

Bryan vs. Miz is official? When did that happen? Tonight? (Forgive me, I've basically zoned out the putrid commentary and endless video packages.)

If they're building toward Miz vs. Bryan, this is a weird way to do it. Maybe Cass does win tonight? :|

Nakamura has been a crippling disappointment since his NXT debut against Sami Zayn. I'd say this is probably his last chance to prove he can have a really good match, but who am I kidding? He'll probably win the World Title tonight, regardless. I don't see Big Cass winning. I think this sets up Miz somehow.

Conrad's approach sounds to me like Gordon Ramsay. By that I mean he's playing a character version of himself and adjusts the dial tone up or down depending on the show.