Dav'oh

Or if it happened at all. Footage came out of the Chimaev/Holland/Diaz brouhaha. Why? Because this generation films everything. As to the, "in what other industry would Punk get away with it?" - what other industry runs angles?

Everyone's acting like there'll be no Punk vs Omega... Is the working theory, "everyone involved is allergic to money"?

Twelve rows from the back of the top tier at the 100,000 seat MCG, and the wrestlers were smaller than my thumbnail. I watched the whole show on the video screens. So, great for saying, "I was there", not so great as a viewing experience.

We've filled sixteen pages based on unverified, unsubstantiated stories from third-, fourth-, fifth-sixth-seventh-hand parties. I think we can take a bow there, ourselves

Random thoughts: Dropping it at 'Mania means a 940-day reign. Do they stretch it out to SummerSlam to reach four figures? Is Cody the next best choice as the face of the WWE? Seems like he didn't even win many people over as the face of the Codyverse. Gunther would be problematic. Him and Ludwig Kaiser on the Today show at 7:18 of a Tuesday morning? Drew's not completely damaged goods, yet. Big E's return culminating in a victory over Roman would be a heck of a tale. Won't be Sami, KO or AJ. Unlikely to be Riddle. Could easily reheat the wily veteran Orton and I'd buy it as a Last Stand.

“Everyone agrees Punk punched Matt, maybe several times.” Seems unanimous… (This guy and his “uh…legal people” mate are the top sources? “Everyone agrees on a maybe”? Top, top shelf stuff right there.) Questioning the validity of stuff that goes on in fucking pro-wrestling makes me a flat-earthier type? Just the opposite, I’d suggest.

Same people who take photos of their chest when they get slapped. Pro-wrestlers Um...yes? It wouldn't be finance journalists. lmao Unless they speak on "condition of anonymity", as they usually do. You act like they were the only two others in the building, after a loaded PPV. There was a before, a during, and an after to the "altercation", across multiple rooms it seems - not a cellphone in sight while #omgicantbelievewhatpunksaid #shitsabouttogetreal #shitjustgotreal went down. From this generation? These are just questions I have.

Per Alvarez and Meltzer, not per Law Enforcement. They said nobody's talking due to "pending legal issues" and "legal people" are now involved. I'll wait.

Seriously. No-one was texting or tweeting or receiving texts and reading tweets after Punk's interview, so no-one had their phones out? No security cameras in the hallways of a modern, major arena to show Kenny and Pals stomping aggrieved to Punk's locker room? Down presumably empty hallways, devoid of people and phones. The guy that got knocked unconscious by a chair? Well, you'd presume he went to hospital, right? Which one? No photos of CT Scanners (or blackened eyes) from unadulterated, unabashed social-media whores? It's 2022. People are glued to their fucking phones. Except when there's "tension in the air" and the biggest star in the company "blistered" the EVPs in the planned epilogue of a scripted wrestling show? Yeah, nah, as we say around here.

heh heh heh...a room full of video gamers, tiktockers, instagrammers and twankers, and no-one thought to take a photo of or video all these backstage altercations, Everyone must've forgotten their phones. Weird, hey?

Well, you don't have to like your opponent, you just have to be able to trust them with your body. So it's just a question of getting people to lay down for people they hate.

The endgame might be a number. 1000 looks and sounds better than 831 or wherever it would land.

The ropes, the referee, the ring, the rules, the titles, the intros are all part of that pretense. Take stuff like that away and it's just free-form gymnastics. Walter vs Seamus is not fundamentally impossible, either. The pretense is in the very name, "Pro-Wrestling".

It's 5:42am here; this better kick serious arse.

I'm pretty sure that's the only Liv Morgan match I'll ever watch in my lifetime. Shayna's great though

Need a "Chops Thrown/Chops Landed" statistic

I hope there's a Welsh announcer's table and one of the commentators is Rob Brydon

No protests about WWE taking Welsh Coal Blood Money and serving as propagandists for PM Mark Drakeford?

I'm sure it's occured to old-school NWA fan HHH, to crown Drew in Cardiff (due to Sami's shenanigans backfiring) and overturn it on RAW (due to said shenanigans).

Floyd and Conor are chiseled Adonises, and have both benefitted from a dearth of charismatic heavyweights. I was around when the Four Kings (amazing boxers, all of them) and some Mexicans were the hottest things in boxing...then Mike Tyson came along and all bets were off. Of course I'm stuck on wanting the people portraying ass-kickers to be physically intimidating. Lighter-weights in pro-wrestling (how did MMA and boxing enter a conversation about a fictional sport?) have always been gimmick matches - you had your heavyweights and then either a midget or ladies or lighterweight or tag-team or wrestling bear match to break it up. I don't think Vince brainwashed anyone - pro-wrestling has always had an emphasis on size, strength and physique. It's escapism. Hogan v Andre is two Gods clashing; ReyRey vs Dante is two kids in the playground. Two amazing kids, but two kids I could punt forty yards with either foot.

Bodybuilder-types aren't a Vince invention, though. Hackenschmidt and Londos were famed for their physiques - the Adonis has always been a template for pro-wrestling. They were the Chippendales of the 1950s. Wrestlers were always bigger/stronger/meaner/crazier than your average Joe...until now. I've known grandmas who would smack the fuck out of a Dante Martin-type (you probably have, too). "Larger than life" is no longer fully applicable to pro-wrestlers, and I'm not sure that's a good thing.

He's asked questions constantly by an incredibly gossip- sorry, inquisitive - fanbase, across a range of forums. He seems to answer honestly and openly. He has a dialogue with the fans. Tony is not beholden to shareholders. He's beholden to the fans and his coke dealer (sorry, couldn't resist). Through his booking. He can't hide the ratings, he can't hide Swole's release or initial comments. I don't think there should be a middle-ground between forthrightness and corporate gobbledygook. He's asked why the ground is wet and he says because it's raining. Anything else would be insulting. Pissing on the ground and saying it's raining is WWE's way.

We're not blind. TK didn't put those facts out there, they were already there for all to see. If he said Swole was a good wrestler or Rosa was a draw, I could see a problem. I don't have a problem with honesty. It's especially refreshing to hear it from someone in power - I really don't want Tony to hire a spin-doctor with empty weasel-words, fudging and obfuscating.

Shoutout to WrestlingTravel for refunding my $3500 WrestleMania 39 downpayment, unprompted and in full. Turns out selling packages two years out can be royally fucked up by 10+% global inflation. Looks like they're not offering any packages at all. So full credit to them. In such a shitty industry full of conmen and carnies, it's good to know there's still some good guys floating around.

That match wouldn't've closed out Rampage. Having people so green in the "main event" of the biggest wrestling company in the world's flagship show, after Ziggler/Theory closed the show t'other week? Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're not fussed about hour three anymore (again).