Steenalized

Yeah I think that makes sense and there is something to it, though it happening in 2013 and immediately getting a backlash at least shows the culture is changing. In 1993 or even 2003 it probably goes without comment at best

Yes, but me drawing a different line then you, or you drawing a different line than a third person, don't require cognitive dissonance on anyone's part. Different moral standards across people or groups isn't cognitive dissonance, different moral standards held by the same person can be - emphasis on can, since I think it's odd to presume the mental state of literally everyone who watches wrestling. Benoit's a particular case given his wrestling and wrestling style draws a pretty clear line to his mental decline and ultimately what he did, which has been discussed here before. Not that I expect you to go hunting old posts on the topic, just saying that Benoit is an exceptional case for the heinousness of the action and how clearly his in-ring work connects to it. Right, that sounds like it could be dissonance, just making sure we're talking about the same thing. I think we're prone to saying "it's cognitive dissonance!" when someone makes an apparently contradictory stance or/action, but we're reading it from our outside perspective, presuming some sort of hypocrisy, then prescribing a mental state.

I see people say this here pretty regularly but it's just not true. It's only true if I expected or in some way need wrestlers (or other entertainers) to be morally upright people. It's not cognitive dissonance to say "huh that guy sucks and did something bad but I'll still watch him wrestle/listen to a song/enjoy his movie/etc." Inevitably there are certain lines that have a point of no return - I'm pretty sure I haven't watched a Benoit match since his crimes and death and don't intend to - but if I decided to rewatch something it wouldn't be cognitive dissonance because I wouldn't be watching Benoit, or Jay Briscoe who I also haven't seen in years, to be morally righteous and that to be relevant to the match.

Haha yeah that part is ridiculous. Actually I've always wondered what the corporate and governance structures are at Sinclair, namely how small is it despite the big market cap. They own lots of TV stations but predominantly smaller markets and it's clearly based on on going relationships with other huge media companies, which might . Basically I imagine it's wide but shallow and shoe string all around but that's conjecture on my part.

It's no doubt embarrassing and hurt the bottom line to get hit by ransomware but it's also not really a sign of amateur hour given major insurers, health care, law firms, etc. get hit with these things too.

I'm presuming it's an ambiguous phrasing unless ROH has kept everything from before then shut away.

From the Fightful article linked above. Poor writing or does Sinclair only own the video library of anything since they time that they bought ROH?

Woof yeah that's gotta be the all but official deathknell for ROH. Maybe SBG brings back wrestling in some form but if they're selling the library they're cutting ties to the ROH name.

Looking at the card I thought they were going to flip the titles every time just to get an entirely fresh start, then they withheld the change on the most obvious/pressing on. Feels very WWE

Sad if it's the end of an era with a real whimper but I'll presume they do have a plan to bring them back in the future. I think joeg's right that ROH is a good deal for Sinclair given the ratings/cost/time. Actually kinda nuts to think ROH made it almost 20 years.

Wasn't Liger the one who absolutely loved Cheeseburger?

People get cuts along the eyes in boxing because the bones around the eyes where the padded glove can still press the skin hard enough to force a cut plus you get the rare shot where the seem of a glove just catches someone right. Bare knuckle is a totally different story and you can bleed pretty easily crimson mask style getting hit in the head with an object. Yeah, because people know pro wrestling is fake, so the the thought is why would actors in a fake sport really be bleeding. No one thinks "oh he's bleeding from the forehead, that's totally impossible despite the ubiquitous presence of kids at urgent care with random head wounds, must be a blood capsule"

It's true. Hockey fans are real rabid about their particular teams and the sport at large, but there's just not that many of them compared to the other big four sports in the US. But I imagine the ad rates are better than wrestling.

I can't add much more than what's already been said. It's an unbelievably good performance for a debut match, maybe the best ever? Yeah Kobashi is still clearly the better one in there, both kayfabe and for critiquing performances, but Akiyama looks like he's been at this for years. That German is a thing of beauty for a rookie, Akiyama pays of it afterwards but it's a good shining moment for him. *** range, what an open to a legendary career.

Oh dang, fantastic match in a tidy little box. Like a heavyweight title fight that stops in the 2nd round after a couple knockdowns. Akiyama's offense looks so heavy, Funaki gets right back at him with those strong kicks and I actually love the ending strike exchange because they don't dwell on it. Akiyama gets in too deep, gets rocked, Funaki sees his opening and ends it. ****

I'd say Danielson's matches are better in that I give them more precious stars even if not as many stars as others do but I enjoy Punk's matches more. Part of that is the sheer joy of seeing Punk, probably my all time favorite, back and enjoying himself and working smartly to get back into things.

I'm an absolute sucker for Stan Hansen jumping the bell to start the beat down. Like his thrashing Terry Funk (I think in 83?), I don't even know how this is a match. Hansen comes out in such a blaze that not only can the ref not stop him, he has to dispose of the ref to really get going. Colon is fire here when he gets a chance to shoot back at the big man, usually looking desperate to get a breath in edgewise. There are things I can nitpick, like both guys veering too close to cartoonish in selling, but those are tiny gripes. The loaded lariat ending and Colon dropping like a bag of bricks finishes off an excellent brawl. ****

Right, which is why it's hard to imagine anyone making the jump. They'll probably have to not shoot their own talent in the foot first to build some trust that yes, the WWE can be the preferable place to work. Or someone has to really take a chance on the promise of getting paid a lot more than AEW is. But it all feels so doubtful because the WWE seems so set in its way and used to being able to say its our way or the highway.

Oh it'll happen eventually and it will probably be for the best, I'm just wondering how long it will take WWE to build enough trust to deliver on promises or pay crazy big money with more guarantee that they can't just future endeavor you on a whim.

One of the interesting things is at least as it stands right now, I wonder who will/would be willing to jump from AEW to WWE for presumably a bigger paycheck if WWE opens the wallet given how creatively bereft they've been and talent seems so over it. In the 90s it felt like one or the other always had at least one going for them (paycheck or creative) to entice guys over.

Can someone give me a crash course on what the Codyverse is? Is it the extra kayfabe level to his new show, like Total Bellas was to Raw/Smackdown? Is it just his specific angles and stories that don't really interact with AEW at large?

He's coming back from a nearly decade long layoff and when he was active before that he was in ill health and burned out. AEW has plenty going on at the top of the card and Punk will draw and get attention without being in the title chase. There is no need to rush this because a guy coming into a promotion with a push in the territory days would have been gunning for the belt.

Yeah I've posted on this forum coming on 900 times without watching a match, you got me. I honestly don't remember him ever saying it nor does JR saying it weekly for 30 years actually make it true.

Zero hundreds. Zero times til now. AEW has a bounty of riches between Danielson joining right after Punk, Page coming back, seems like they're moving Miro that way, etc. Punk going for the title clutters it up more and probably requires more juggling of long term plans. He's fine waiting his turn and he'll still be over huge when it's his turn. Or if he somehow isn't over he'll get over.

Really good explanation, funk. I'd be willing to hear a good counterargument about why that's not the explanation but it makes sense to me. I think MoS is right about the matwork being better than the strike exchanges too and that hurt the match to me since I got the vibe early on that everyone in the crowd and them in the ring are just biding time til they can trade strikes. Probably would have liked it more if they started with the hard strike exchanges, then one of them (probably Danielson) realizes they're getting the worst of it and takes it the mat out of desperation or self preservation. Good match but I'm not in love.