Most of the time, the complaints about just expecting people to know who a talent is real nitpicky bullshit. However, I have seen Aussie Open matches and still had no idea who the fuck that guy was.
A lot of the GOATs in pro wrestling are nepo babies, though.
In regards to Angelo Poffo, he's definitely on the Lanny side, and not even as good as Lanny was, who himself was multitudes below Randy. There's a bunch of NWA Chicago matches of his online and dude is just bleh as hell. You'd never believe that guy had one of the most charismatic sons of all time.
Starks vs White-O is gonna bang
Cole vs Jericho is gonna be terrible. I can already see Jericho wanting to show he can do a Cole/Gargano match, on top of the Cole HBK drama.
It's only a story because it's Punk. The talent pool for pro wrestlers on that level is pretty small and they all know each other. AEW/NJ talent pops up backstage at WWE shows when they're in the same area, plenty of WWE people have been backstage and doing dinners with AEW talent.
The real sus part is that he was visiting "friends".
I could understand Chavo being miffed that Eddie/Rey is more of the association than Eddie/Chavo, but "Rey is lining his pockets" is the weirdest angle to take considering Rey is a bigger star than Eddie ever was. I would also imagine merch money goes to Eddie's estate, not to Rey.
Sammy has been overpushed and overhyped by the company literally since day one. He's never been over to the extent that he's been pushed, he's just not likeable, his promos suck, and there are probably literally 80 guys working for AEW that can do everything he does in the ring as good or better. I do not understand why Tony (and Excalibur) love him so much.
Jungle Boy really should have dropped all "jungle" stuff a while ago, but definitely after the Christian feud. JR had been trying to transition to Jack Perry since day one and it is well past time to "mature" the gimmick. Personally I think he should switch to tights and perhaps actual boots as part of a glow up. At least just move to Jungle Jack Perry and switch up the gear.
Doing legit sell outs for house shows all around the country and stadiums internationally would suggest rats are jumping on the ship instead of going down with it.
My step-grandpa used to bring up how he went to WWA Indianapolis shows a lot in his younger days and would always bring up Dick The Bruiser and Bobby Heenan when I'd rent wrestling tapes with him.
Wish Bruno/Hansen could have been revisited post 1980. A quick look at cagematch shows there actually was a bit of a run in 1981, including another cage match in Boston. Wonder if that exists on tape anywhere, because Stan Hansen in 1981 is a completely different guy than Stan Hansen in 1976.
I feel like there's been something of a "soft brand split" for most of Rampage's run, in the same way that Smackdown had a group of guys that got a lot more time on SD than Raw in 1999/2000.
Also Punk is not the deciding factor of in the red or in the black. AEW is making a profit. WBD is pleased with their ratings. Punk is not a necessity at this stage. He would just be icing on top, but you know, perhaps AEW doesn't need the extra calories.
This is all so stupid. There's still so much drama around Punk and he's not even been in the locker room for 6 months. Why would things be any better with him actually there being his normal self? Guy is clearly not worth the hassle, nor can you trust his body not to immediately fall apart again.
Really wish someone would ban Dax from the internet for a few months, too.