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Eddie/Dean series in ECW is dry and boring as hell for sure. They have much better and entertaining work against each other in WCW than they ever did in ECW, where 30 minutes of chain wrestling was sold to the mutants as incredible workrate that only true smart fans appreciate so if you want to be a smart fan, you have to love this. And it worked because Paul E. had that sway to convince those fans of just about anything being great.

I would say a bigger problem than people being unable to get over organically is that people will get over exactly how WWE intends, and then they're inexplicably kneecapped and never recover. It's really not that WWE can't create new stars or that talent can't get over, it's that WWE intentionally sabotages their own talent. And often then punishes them for it.

I'm wondering what is gained from whoever wins Brock vs Roman? Both are long established completely dominant forces who have run through the entire roster twice over, including each other, with heel and face role being swapped as well Neither can possibly be elevated any higher by defeating the other Both will never be in anything but the title scene, so either dropping the title to the other means nothing because they'll just win the title back Brock being the one to end Roman's record breaking streak would be lol as hell Roman beating Brock again really does nothing for him at this stage either. He already has the most dominant reign in 35 years, he's already beaten Brock in this reign, he's completely dominated the entire roster top to bottom, including returning legends. I would argue that anyone beating Brock doesn't mean anything because the next time Brock pops up, he wins the title every time anyway. They've really gone out of their way to make everyone look completely unimportant to make Brock and Roman look as dominant as possible, yet there's no outcome where either guy actually gets anything out of a win or a loss. It does not appear there is anyone on the backburner to be elevated to take the title from either guy, if the plans are to do Rock vs Roman next year....well then what there, too? Have 50 year old Rock be the one to end Roman's 2 year title reign? Have Roman smash another legend and continue the reign?

Playing with house money is a weirdly specific phrase to use 5 times on a show

White-O vs Bryan would be a delight in smug dickhead heeling

I guess I'm just tired of LOOK AT ME I'M SELLING, PSYCHOLOGY!!! stuff that doesn't actually mean shit in the match and doesn't impact moves or spots in anyway other than a pause to wince and telegraph a kick out after a finisher.

I just find it lazy. If you're going to do a whole match around limb work but none of it impacts the rest of the match, why even bother? Just do your spots without making me feel like you're wasting my time. There's near endless creativity when it comes to move set ups and sequences, but so rarely will people just do something as simple as not hit their big moves or modify them or just hit some other random thing that makes more sense in the moment. But again, that's about as old as time in pro wrestling, it's just something that has been annoying me more as I get older.

It's one of my biggest pet peeves in wrestling today, although it's been prevalent since at least the 50s and by many of the greats in all eras. If you're going to have a match structured around limb work to prevent key moves from being done, at least have the tact to do modified versions. You don't have to do your spots or signature moves in every match. It's okay to use random moves that you might never use again when it makes more sense in the match you're working than doing your big move but wincing or limping before/during/after. Dudes want to get so creative with moves and sequences but not structure.

I think Cody played himself. He should have seen being able to bring Bryan and Punk in as a benefit for everyone instead of as a threat to him. I'm sure he'll secure the bag with WWE, but he's going to be working a lot more and be miserable. AEW would almost assuredly not exist without Cody spearheading All In, so that he saw things in terms of "am I the top fucking guy or not" instead of looking at the bigger picture of the growth of the company is showing the whole thing was an ego thing for him from the start. For a guy who is young but talks about "legacy" all the fucking time, he's not painting himself in a great light jumping back to WWE after not getting paid the most of anyone in the company.

Not a fan of that finish. Also not a fan of doing leg work the whole match but Sammy still hit all of his jumpy, flippy, and knee strike based offense anyway. That's not really a criticism of Sammy as much as the idea of what psychology is in most of wrestling. People don't have the courage to not do their signature spots.

Can't imagine Eddie vs Jericho would be a good match unless it's a very short brawl that ends in a KO shot or something

Keith Lee, Wardlow in the ladder match, Hobbs in a qualifier, would be pretty rad if they do a hoss battle ladder match. I'm not really sure what other big meaty men are on the roster off the top of my head, but they should just put them all in there.

I think this is the first time Jericho hasn't looked like a bloated middle aged drunk in 4-5 years now

Once it was pointed out to me, Adam Cole's verbal tic is driving me insane

You know what this show is really missing? Cody Rhodes.

Brandi is definitely not good in the ring at all and it seems like promotors never wanted to just tell her that due to her being a package deal with Cody. I think she does have value as an on screen character, but in ring it's like if Stephanie McMahon decided she was going to be a full time in ring talent. Anyway, I feel like a Cody return to WWE is going to be 2 months of decent booking and big matches and as soon as the hype of the jump from AEW dies down, he'll be a slightly better booked Bobby Roode for the rest of his run.

Seems like that's something that should have been discussed and put on paper before the company even started up. But also lol to literally all of that.

Can't wait for the Cody tweets and interviews about how he'll always love AEW but WWE is the home of him and his family's legacy and other such bullshit

Buzz Sawyer's catching powerslam was so much better than Rick Steiner's. Ricky should be ashamed at his weak ass tribute.

What are you talking about? WWE continues to influence the world, breh.

No. I mean he peaked in WWE in 2011.

Bring back an old, established star who peaked in a previous decade

Well Cody walked away from WWE and is an EVP for AEW and he's seemingly going back so they could probably shoot for the stars for anyone except probably Punk and Moxley.

So his response is to leave and go back to WWE where he'll have no input at all. Makes sense.

I would probably want the place where I had control of my presentation, promos, matches, and input on the rest of the company as well.