Boss Rock

Tough one, ultimately went with Bret. Both guys have undeniable peaks, but personally I think they both have thin great match lists. There's a lot of Cena matches that I don't think have aged super well and Bret had a thinner roster than Cena to work with. But Bret definitely has him beat in terms of selling and execution.

I don't think Jericho is awful and Punk probably wouldn't make a top 100 list for me. But I think Punk's output is quite a bit better.

If the plan is indeed for Tsuji to ultimately win at WK then I'm fine with that. And maybe it is time to move on from the G1 automatically leading to a shot at WK. But if they have to delay Tsuji any longer than that, I honestly think it will be a huge mistake. They desperately need a new ace and he's looked like the biggest star for a year and-a-half now.

Shocked Sabre won, thought for sure Tsuji would. Although it sounds like he actually wants to challenge at KOPW.

There's still a lot more that I have to see, but Kurt always struck me as more inconsistent than downright bad. He absolutely has the ridiculous, finisher spam matches like No Surrender 2010 that make you question the guy's instincts, but sandwiched between those he'll have some really good, more methodical matches like against Nagata in Japan.

I was expecting Shota to miss the tournament but apparently he's still gonna do it. Doesn't seem wise. Although I expected him to win it so maybe that's why they're refusing to pull him.

It took me way too long to realize "Wait, why is he wearing a mask?"

G1 goes back to two blocks thank God. Takeshita the only AEW guy competing. Final two spots to be determined by a tournament, but a G1 without G.O.D, Chase, and Yujiro would be a major step in the right direction.

Ha, it actually looks like Tsuji is going to win. I imagine it was supposed to be him and Finlay in the finals. But a universe where Goto wins a fourth cup only to lose the big one again is also very funny.

Just looking at some of the results of this tournament and this promotion looks COOKED. I mean maybe they'll make me eat my words and have Tsuji win the whole thing, but I'd be very surprised at this point.

I don't really watch Collision all that much anymore, but from what I've seen Schiavone seems to be a decent pbp guy. But honestly it should be Ian now.

I understand going out on your shield and putting someone over on the way out, but it couldn't go any other way than a win for Sting.

Don't really have issue with much of these, but Ospreay winning Thesz/Flair is surprising. I probably shouldn't have expected voters to want to go with Reigns, but not even Cody?

Absolutely dire results today. It baffles me that with Okada and Ospreay gone they think House of Torture and former WWE guys will fix everything. Imagine if they had actually strapped the rocket to Tsuji from the get to.

Yeah I'd put the failure to build new stars squarely on Gedo. It's really quite something that your top star is leaving and you have done next to nothing with this recent crop of new wrestlers. Yota Tsuji has looked to have all the potential in the world to be the next ace and yet guys like Hikuleo are advancing in the G1.

I was actually expecting Okada to job on his way out, but I guess not.

The story that Rock-Roman was the plan even before the Rumble makes Cody's Rumble win all the more bizarre. Why not just put him at number 30 then and win the Rumble?

I find it a bit ironic that a guy who was nearly a victim of the Kliq's politicking in their attempt to try and replace him with Paul at Mania 15 is now taking a Mania main event from someone else.

I'm sure this is all being done out of a sense of professionalism, but how did Cody not threaten to walk over this? The look on his face when he hugged Rock clearly said "I'm not remotely OK with any of this." Not only is his win getting delayed AGAIN, but he was also made to look like the biggest coward and geek in the world for saying "I know I have a guaranteed title shot with you at the biggest stage in the world, but I'm going to give it to this guy instead for no discernible reason."

Part of me thinks this is payback for Cody smashing the throne at Double or Nothing.

Really haven't followed his WWE run super closely. But in the handful of ppv matches I've seen him in, I am genuinely impressed WWE has managed to get him right. He doesn't look as physically imposing as he used to, but largely the same wrestler.

Enjoyed the main event but it was definitely too long. The fact that Max went through with the top rope elbow even after the table had broken was insane. Terrific face performance overall. As for Jay, I personally think he will be fine. Max still needed to use the ring to beat him and the entire feud had been very one-sided in Jay's favor anyway. I was a bit surprised there was no devil appearance, though. The devil costing Jay the match probably makes a little more sense. Haven't seen the entire show, but enjoyed what I saw. Mox-OC definitely fell short of their previous effort but was still a really good sprint. The ladder match was a terrific spotfest as expected. The TBS three-way was solid and Julia winning was a pleasant surprise. Jericho/Kenny-Bucks was in a very disadvantageous position but still delivered (childish heel Bucks are also probably the best Bucks). And the Texas death match, holy hell. The first five minutes were absolutely brutal and they just kept going. I think I'd have Swerve beat OC for the International Title and have him and Page face off one more time in a cage at Revolution. Not sure how I feel with another title even as part of a Triple Crown, but I'm also a sucker for multiple belts representing one championship.

Think that's where I'm at. This recent situation definitely seems like an instance where they had no choice but to fire him. It just never should've gotten to this point to begin with.

FTR-Aussie Open was great, but didn't think it was as good as the Briscoes or Bucks matches.

I won't debate Jericho's efforts to remain relevant haven't involved him shacking up with a hot act (although I'd argue his 2022 is leagues better than his 2021), but I'm also not aware of any stories of him being unprofessional or difficult to work with.