joeg

Come on that's not fair.... in 2002 OVW who in their right mind wouldn't look at Matt Morgan and not think he could be top guy

I just cancelled just now for that same reason. Already have peacock and don't feel like paying twice.

Ehhh I dunno if Mark Henry ever fully bounced back from the Sexual Chocolate storyline... And I'd estimate its easier to bounce back from being The World's Strongest Man with a sex addiction than it is to bounce back from being painted as a fat guy who loses all the time. I also don't know if its fair to compare the two because most of Henry's bad comedy storylines and bad gimmicks happened before he was a finished product, Keith Lee has been ready to be a top guy for a few years now.

No he's deader than Dillinger. They put him in a singlet that made him look like he had tits, had him job on tv for guys half his size multiple weeks in a row, and had him lose to Braun Strowman after a kick in the balls. He's done. Dead. Not recovering anytime soon. Any chance he ever had of making money for them, dead. Gone. Remember when Matt Bloom returned in 2012 with a Great Muta knock off gimmick? Yeah that level of dead.

Exactly. The idea that for awhile they were only signing guys to developmental who were under 29 years old, between 6'2" and 6'6" and between 225 and 275 pounds was fucking insane to me. This was at the same time where probably the 3 best workers in the US were Danielson, Low Ki, and Joe. None of whom matched that criteria. But guys like Rob Conway and Rene Dupree did. I think thats part of the problem with modern wrestling in general. Nobody stands out in AEW because they are all average sized guys, no fat guys, not many tall guys, not many big muscle guys. Just a lot of guys who are 5'10" 190 with dad bods. In WWE its all dudes who look like they stepped out of a Calvin Klein ad.

Exactly my point... to draw as wide a variety of fans as possible its important to have as wide a variety of stars as possible.

I said WWE is doing an ok job appealing to women lately. OK not good. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins are some nice eye candy when on the babyface side and they've pushed the women's division as something other than objects of preteen lust. Its a start. And no its not an outdated and patronizing way of promoting and promoting stars. If it were outdated UFC, Bellator, Golden Boy, Premiere Championship Boxing, and Top Rank wouldn't still be promoting ethnic champions to a specific demographic. The top PPV draws of the past 20 years are Oscar Dela Hoya, Canelo Alvarez, Conor McGregor, and Floyd Mayweather. All of whom had or have a a following largely made up of people from the same ethnic heritage.

You look at American wrestling in general since WCW and ECW died and there hasn't been a lot done to appeal to young fans, Hispanic fans, African American fans, or female fans. Cornette is right when he says that wrestling is best when it casts as wide a net as possible. The last time a promotion on a major TV network pushed an African American as a top guy was in the late 90s when WWF pushed the Rock and WCW pushed Booker T. There are so guys that should have been that top African American star over the last 20 years- Shelton Benjamin, Mark Henry, Bobby Lashley, Monty Brown (who both WWE and TNA missed the boat on), Big E, Keith Lee. But nope. The last time somebody under 25 was pushed as a top guy on American TV was 2004-2005ish when WWE pushed John Cena and Randy Orton and TNA pushed AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. The last time a wrestler of hispanic heritage was pushed as a top guy was Rey Mysterio in 2006. I'll admit that WWE has done an ok job trying to appeal to a female fan base the past few years. I thought with AEW, Tony Khan would be smart enough to shake thing up some you know? That it wouldn't be more of the same that we've seen the last 15 to 20 years. He talked about being a fan of Mid South and Bill Watts. Nobody did a better job appealing to as many different types of fans from as many different backgrounds as Watts. But nope. The top 4 guys in AEW are Omega, Moxley and the Bucks. 4 pasty, nerdy, white guys. So of course the only demo that they are going to draw is that nerdy single white guy demo (ie me and most of us here) that wrestling and comic books have already had locked down for the last 10 to 20 years. When Cornette rants about these things he may seem outdated or racially insensitive but he's 100% right about who and what today's fanbase is and why.

Yep. The NBA fanbase skews younger than any major American sport. It also skews more liberal than any major American sport. It also skews more African American than any major American sport.... What has wrestling done in the last 20 years to appeal to young African Americans? Anything? Does any here know any black guy under 35 who watches wrestling? I don't but I know plenty who grew up watching it and can talk about the good old days when they were a kid and there were characters they could relate to. Maybe they should try a crossover with MLB... their fanbase is most 30 to 50 something white guys too....

I'll make sure to check some recent Zayn out... anything you specific you'd recommend?

I'm luke warm on both guys. They both go, go, go never allowing for things to breath or register. As such I think they both are capable of stealing a show when put in the right spot but can be unwatchable when put in the wrong spot. What I will say is the break up of their tag team and subsequent feud is one of the most brilliant things I've seen in wrestling in a long time. Running an angle in ROH, having it posted to youtube and then going around the country and having a blow off in every single indie company in incredibly innovative and forward thinking. Those guys were a decade ahead of the curve in promoting themselves.

Did you see the Daniel Bryan vs Drew Gulak matches from last year? Not super slick and nifty like Makabe. More violent and vicious like BattleArtsesque. The Josh Barnett BloodSport shows have all had a lot of shootstyle catch inspired matwork that you'd probably dig.

Sami Zayn is where I completely disagree with Corny. Corny gives him the backhanded compliment of being a talented worker but having a gimmick that limited him. I disagree on both points. The El Generico fake Mexican luchador gimmick was gold! Sami Zayn is the that's limited to mid card.

Oh absolutely... Like the Bucks vs Omega & Page match last year. That was a potential match of the year, yet it had 3 guys who Cornette has personal issues with so he still managed to find things wrong with it.

My opinion on Omega after watching him for the past decade is this. If he is being properly booked and is working a great worker he comes off as one of the best in the business. However if he isn't working with a top guy or there isn't somebody around like Gedo or Don Callis to paint him in the best light, it can be difficult to watch and cringe inducing. He's not like a Daniel Bryan or Mick Foley who have the wrestling mind and skills to turn even dumbest shit into gold. So I'd put him more in the same bag as like a Kevin Owens who came across like a rebel and a badass when Cornette was booking ROH and looked like a million bucks against Reigns and Cena but can be a chore to watch much of the time.

Question, is O-Khan just really green so we haven't seen what he's capable of yet ala Jay White in 2017 or Nakamura in 2003? Or is he limited yet capable of shining in situations that play to his strengths like Evil or Makabe or Fale? Or is he just bad like, hopelessly bad like Captain New Japan or Chase Owens?

I'm not one that judges others or gets easily offended which is why I think I defend Corny so much here. But to me you can't rant about how your personal predilections are your business and nobody else's so don't judge and then turn around and mock somebody else for their own personal preferences.

Exactly.... but I think the smug asshole thing is an act (for both of them) to get attention. If Cornette acted like a normal human being what would separate him from the 30 other podcasts by former wrestlers? Also does Cornette have any room to talk when it comes to fetishes and alternative life styles? I'm not one to judge. But hey come on now. You can't say on your podcast that what goes on between a man, his wife, their friend, their other friend, and their other friend in a hot tub is nothing but consensual fun then a month later call somebody twinkletoes and fetishist....

Look's like Terry Funk's health issues have continued to deteriorate. He posted a video the other day asking fans to stop sending fan mail and Dustin Rhodes just posted something today to pray for him.... not good.

OMG I was going to say the exact same thing but I didn't know if Mos would get the reference..... Everything Cornette says is spot on, but he's such an asshole about it. Buuut him being an asshole is what makes him entertaining in the same way most of the best jokes in Lebowski came from Walter being grossly offensive. If Cornette were polite and well mannered I don't think he'd have the following that he does. He often seems to say offensive things just to draw attention.

I was trying to make the point that I agree with Cornette's sentiment even if he was somewhat offensive in the way he said it. Actually that's how I feel about most things Cornette says. I had no intention of offending.

I 100% agree Corny's assessment. Cargill has elite D1 athleticism and looks the part of a pro athlete. None of the women and very few of the men in AEW can say those things. But she's been in the wrestling business less than 6 months and is nowhere near ready to be on TV but she's got some potential. Nowadays people will get super offended if you say that somebody who lacks the required experience for a job must have slept with somebody to get to it, but I can understand his sentiment because as of now she is not good.

I just love that Goldberg was so delusional that he thought he would take SCOTT STEINER in a legit contest... The wrestling business has a way of warping people's perceptions but christ almighty....

So I re-subscribed to the network last week so me and some buddies could watch Royal Rumble. I've really been enjoying going through some of the AWA and Mid South I hadn't seen before. What happens to that when the WWE network moves to Peacock?

Yeah Goldberg doesn't fit here... the story of Goldberg telling Vince Russo he shouldn't put over Scott Steiner because Steiner could never beat him if wrestling were a shoot and Russo responding that Goldberg should go tell Steiner that himself is priceless. But not what I would call unselfish.