Embrodak

I’m so conflicted because what Punk did was not strictly speaking legal and could really cost him in a lawsuit, but I can’t say I disagree with it. Knock the phone out of the guy’s hand, show him your pissed off face, get held back, leave. Elegant solution to a societal nuisance.

It is genuinely astonishing how TKO have completely pissed away the good will and popularity that had been built up around WWE a few years ago. This thread title became ironic for a few years, but now it feels unironically relevant again. TKO are worse than Vince ever was when it comes to putting on big events where the actual wrestling is a total afterthought compared to the pageantry and sponsorships. Vince at least liked certain wrestlers and knew when he needed to give stuff time to breathe. Ari Emanuel and Nick Khan couldn’t care less about any of it! Punk complained back in the day about nobody but Brock being allowed to make a little extra money and have personal sponsorships on their ring gear, but it seems pretty clear that the monkey’s paw has curled and that whatever worry Vince had around that was, if anything, understated. I think the extent to which right-wing politics actually factor in to the daily operations of WWE has been blown out of proportion, but the whole affair has just become *structurally* right-wing. Like the UFC, it’s becoming a place for influencers and rich douchebags to flex their wealth and be seen.

Being incensed by wrestlers’ political views continues to be a bit bizarre to me, like if anybody gets a “could not care less” pass in my book it’s the technically-petit-bourgeois dudes and dudettes who get dropped on their heads for a living. Obviously an avowed white supremacist or incel or whoever would be the exceptions to this, but vanilla MAGA/pro-cop/anti-mask/whatever? Eh.

Isn’t Cena an actor? I’m not opposed in theory to him doing the “I’m washed, it’s over, I don’t have to go out on top because I’ve proven everything I need to prove and this guy really is better than me” schtick, but how is that the facial expression you go with?

I think they probably blame Vince and his coterie for the problems.

I didn’t say it couldn’t be a hot storyline, I was just saying it doesn’t interest me very much. Even if you think WWE women’s wrestling is graded on a curve, Becky Lynch is still a formidable talent and was, for a short time, perhaps *the* hottest attraction in wrestling, something I’m not sure any other woman has a realistic claim to. AJ Lee is significantly smaller than her and never had remotely her credibility as a star or in-ring talent, and I don’t at all buy that Becky would be intimidated by her.

Hard to imagine a less exciting return than AJ Lee. Hey remember the gangly scrawny girl who botched all the time? She’s back, and she’s going to be beating up probably the most important women’s wrestler of the last decade.

I can’t explain why, but I really do think WWE is heading for an early 90s-style contraction in the next decade. They’ve bet big on being able to maintain the hot streak they’ve been on, but they haven’t proven they can carry over their success to streaming and are never going to get TV rights as good as the ones they used to get again. They also got in bed with a shitty right-wing media organization that, by all accounts, ruined MMA as a watchable product and is clearly on track to do so with WWE as well. Bad vibes. Evil as Vince was, he always made decisions with the preservation of WWE as a going concern at the forefront of his mind. Ari Emanuel and his coterie of corporate demons aren’t that sentimental, they’ll sell WWE for parts the second it becomes a hindrance.

Brock is not the worst offender in the Vince mess by far, but when your septuagenarian billionaire boss offers to let you fuck some random lady amidst contract negotiations, you as a married father with more than enough walking away money should probably have questions and decline the offer, not immediately “Yes and” the situation. Honestly, this seems like kind of an admission that the product is floundering and needs a shot in the arm. Shame it was a tainted B12 shot!

This in the same week Triple H stood behind Trump while he answered at least one Epstein question has to be among WWE’s all-time low points. At least with Vince there was an odd Freudian pathos when he would commit to harmful, bonkers bullshit, Triple H has to be one of the more bloodless head bookers in wrestling history, just pure smugness and cynicism. “I booked NXT Black and Gold, I’m untouchable forever” is deeply pathetic.

Bringing back Brock is nuts, and the pop was fucking shameful. Dude was absent because he participated in Vince’s weird, rapey pimp fetish for fuck’s sake.

Wrestling is one of the few industries where nepo kids seem to be better than average, not worse, imo. Would be funny if Bron’s cousin ends up being clumsy and boring, but goddamn would an Actually Good Steiners 2.0 vs Actually Seasoned And Competent Creed Brothers match rock. lol @ Punk going to Saudi Arabia. I have zero investment in his public self-presentation, simply enjoy his work, but for those that do, this has to sting.

Say what you will, I don’t think anybody predicted R-Truth being a significant facet of Cena’s last run. Whether it was an audible or a genuine “we tricked the dirtsheets” swerve, it’s kinda fun!

Bron Breakker has to be the most natural talent since Brock Lesnar.

Starks as a big fish in the smaller NXT pond makes more sense, honestly. You can't immediately sell masks and toys of him the way you can Penta, and NXT is somewhere he can be on TV every/almost every week and establish himself as a bigger deal in the eyes of the WWE fans before moving up to the main roster. AJ Styles was a main eventer in TNA for nearly a decade and had just come off the most critically acclaimed run of his career in Japan, him you can start right on the main roster. Ricky Starks not so much.