FMKK

AEW don’t need to replace Ross. I mean, I would take him off television for this unprofessional bullshit but they can have Excalibur and Tony commentate just fine and rotate Taz, Jericho and Callis in the third seat if they want someone for that spot.

Excellent match. I was enjoying it without full investment for a while because I didn’t believe in Despy winning, so the first half felt a little long. But once the mask ripping started and they kicked the intensity up a notch, this was really next level stuff. Despy showed a new level of fire and I honestly think he should dispense with the mask now. Hiromu’s reversal of the stretch muffler into a Canadian destroyer was breathtaking as well. Watch this. ****1/2

I was liking but not loving it because I didn't buy that Despy had a shot but then they started the mask tearing spots and it kicked into a whole new gear.

BOSJ final between Hiromu and Despy is worth watching. Hiromu challenged the winner of the Super J Cup so presumably they're doing a two night deal at the Dome with the winner of that match vs Ishimori for the title.

Charlotte and Ronda were both necessary components of Becky's rise to the top, partially because Charlotte is protected as fuck so wins against her are valuable and partially because the fans were sick of her being pushed and ready to turn on her, which help boost Becky's popularity. That feud is one of the few times in recent years when WWE course corrected a bad idea (Becky as heel and Charlotte as face) and actually ran with it, although Charlotte did manage to kill Becky's heat in the end by getting shoehorned into the Mania feud when everyone just wanted a singles with Ronda.

Hurt his ankle is what I heard

And SHAQ

This may seem harsh or whatever but aesthetically, so many people on that Impact show look as if they should be nowhere near a major league promotion. There's a hell of a lot of sleazy looking Forgotten Sons looking guys with beards and ugly tattoos on that roster.

The Randy Orton debate: Wrestling Observer Radio - YouTube It's hilarious that the penny finally dropped for Dave that Orton kinda stinks after about 15 years of hyping him up so much

Dave was basically saying that Ronda elevated the women's division as a whole and that Vince probably wouldn't have gone with them as a Mania main event if she hadn't been there. That seems fair to me.

Going from watching that Go Shiozaki title defence to seeing those Fiend bits from Raw is like the greatest indicator imaginable that this company is pro-wrestling in name only.

This was fucking brutal. The story of Go's title reign is that his body is held together by tape and it could all unravel at any moment. But he also has more guts and fighting spirit than anyone alive to drag his carcass through these massacres and keep his reign alive. Suguira did target the arm in the first third of this match with some submission work and strikes but he mostly worked as a battering ram, beating the ever loving fuck out of Go with about ten thousand hard forearms and even a few closed fists when desperation got the better of him. A couple of Olympic slams right onto Go's head and a sick twisting neckbreaker from the apron to the exposed floor helped him in her pursuit to pummel the champion into dust. For his part, Shiozaki, despite his arm being fucked, absolutely destroyed Suguira with the nastiest, loudest, hardest chops I've seen in 20+ years of watching wrestling. Suguira's chest had blood beginning to show within abut 15 minutes of the massive runtime of this match. As brutal as the hitting was and as high impact as some of the top rope bumps were, the selling in this match was next level. Suguira's screams grew increasingly desperate and high pitches as his body underwent more punishment and his wobbly selling in the closing stretch really sold how close he was to just collapsing in a heap. As for Go Shiozaki, if ever someone captured the facial expression of a dying man walking towards the light, it was him in this match. His desperate, pathetic kickouts really told the story of a broken champion running on fumes and the way he steeled himself before throwing each chop and took a long pause before dropping Suguira with a powerbomb let us know how much of a toll this was taking on him and how each move he did came at tremendous sacrifice. I'll not describe every spot because this thing was like 53 minutes but the best compliment I can pay is that it didn't feel like it overstayed its welcome even by a minute. One of the best matches of the year and would have been full marks if only they could have a crowd to cheer it properly. ****3/4

I think the grand scheme of things the people who are down on Omega's work are outliers. It's definitely not some sort of 50/50 thing. He's always incredibly well represented in any match of the year or wrestler of the year type poll over the last five years. He's certainly less divisive than Cena or RVD. Angle might be a more apt comparison because they're both offence and cardio monsters and enough people are down on that style for them to have detractors. But honestly, the only place I've ever seen people not like Kurt Angle is here. But that's besides the point. I think you can easily make the argument for Omega and Ibushi right now but considering that both are going to spend a significant amount of 2021 as world champions in major promotions, I understand why you'd want to wait as well.

It's the package of the New Japan, the work, DDT and AEW presumably. Because of DDT is the main factor then I'd love to hear from the people who voted Kenny but didn't vote Kota.

What is there to 'let' happen? If Callis doesn't resign then they can't really force him. I'm sure they'll make a play and maybe he likes being a power broken but it's a much easier job to hang out with his buddy Kenny than to try and run a promotion. Could be he's doing them a favour by getting them some huge buzz on his way out the door.

Exclusive: Backstage News On Plans For Crossover AEW - Impact Wrestling Match, Don Callis' Future - Wrestling Inc. I'm praying this is accurate re the Impact thing. Callis as Omega's manager, a Good Brothers match with The Bucks and idk, Darby over TJP for the TNT title on TV is about as much as I need to see. And even then, I'd prefer MCMG to Good Brothers.

I have to say, it is kind of amusing that HHH's twenty year long-game to take over wrestling has completely run aground because of some smark with money, Dusty Rhodes sun and three gamer nerds.

If the main event finish was just to establish Callis as Omega's manager/hype man and set up a PPV rematch with Moxley, then I'm cool with it, even if I wanted a clean finish. But it's the Impact shit that I'm highly sceptical of. What does AEW stand to gain from that? Some nice wrestlers for the women's division and maybe MCMG vs The Bucks on a PPV would be cool, as would having a feeder league to send green guys or people who are out of the booking loop. Private Party getting some reps and FTR and Spears as a heel trio? Cool. But centring your main event angle around Impact, I don't know man. Not feeling that.

I don't care about Impact and have zero interest in it mingling with a promotion that I do care about

Kazarian is a really solid veteran wrestler who can get a good match out of anyone and be credible enough without having to be pushed overly hard. Every roster should have guys like that.

Fucking Bruce and Kevin Dunne as the last men standing.

How could I forget?

Am I correct in saying that the Observer was reporting that HHH and Stephanie were trying to manoeuvre Patterson out of the inner circle in like the early 00s? I'd be interested to know when his influence really waned and if that could be felt in the product. I'm sure Vince has been in touch with him on and off for advice even when he wasn't there all the time. Is Bruce the only once left from Vince's inner circle?

Lots of people who are trying to be worker than woke completely uncritically accusing one of the only out gay men of being a pedophile without doing the slightest bit of research.

Triple H stinks and he can't book for shit anymore (if he ever actually could) so the only way he knows how to pop a rating is to throw stips and gimmicks at everything last minute.