Slasher

You said Meltzer's relationship with Cody and the likes gives you less confidence that he'd give it more than three lines. How does that not imply what El-P thinks you are implying? If you don't understand English, and how words and their arrangement, placement, choice thereof, etc informs the context of the message, then no you don't seem to know what you are saying. Furthermore, you made an impression here and on twitter of appearing to know the situation with her and why she had to make the decision. AFTER doing so, you then "wondered" if bullying was part of the problem. This implies, with the premise that you know the truth, that the problem was bullying. Then when called out, you tried backing away from your statements. No, you don't get to do that, not if you want to maintain any sense of credibility.

This thread would seem to indicate to the contrary.

Had someone ask me where in US was NJPW operating out of. Seriously.

Win or loss, it is bad. The Fiend shouldn't be going after titles like a regular wrestler. And it is just way too soon if they want to go that direction at all. As a character he is best as an incoming threat, not as the champion with people gunning for the belt. The only way this works is if they think outside the box and have contenders look to each other after he wins, "You know, I think YOU were the #1 contender..."

Well it was fun while it lasted...

If Brock showed up to F5 everybody in NXT, because what else would he do, it would be simultaneously the greatest and worst thing that could happen.

People like him because he is good on the mic and he has that enormous wealth of goodwill from the fans for his contributions on the creative side of wrestling. He COULD work as a babyface authority but only for the short term. There is a reason why he has never really been a babyface for too long at any time in his career, assuming he was a babyface at all (can't recall a good babyface run from him). That said, again, how about they just stop doing authority related angles? Stop creating stories that requires a boss getting involved.

Well yeah, both Heyman and Bischoff are slimy by nature. Who would want them to be babyface authority figures? If it has to be them, yes, they have to be heels.

Agreed. Or no onscreen authority at all. Put a little more effort in booking shows without relying on that crutch.

The problem is, KO, as defined by his WWE career, is not Stone Cold. He would and should not act like Stone Cold. Austin never made a deal out of providing for someone at home or having motivations for wrestling be tied to something else. Austin just liked to drink beer and kick ass. That is why it made sense he would always be a thorn in McMahon's side (well until the heel turn, that is). KO has nothing like that. It is easy to act like a tough guy when you don't think your job is at risk. He was a heel working for heel bosses. This is the first real babyface run for KO in the WWE. I don't like the storyline to begin with. I am tired of authority vs wrestler angles, tired of McMahon in general, and they are executing it badly but I think KO apologizing fit his character. Just a shame that they had to go there.

He was also trying to get Shane to do the same. So logically you assume that was KO's goal in the first place when he put his career up on the line. Of course, they screwed that up too.

Is it? A lot of people have a false bravado until someone with more power threatens them and more often than not, people cave in.

That's terrific that now there's truly something for everybody now.

Interesting. As sarcastic as I sounded, I was genuinely curious about this. Thanks. I was thinking there would be some bored WWE fans who might catch AEW on TV, but the more I think about it, it isn't likely. The fanbases have done a good job, I think, of alienating the other, and so AEW will have their fans and WWE theirs.

El-P, I did not realize you took polls and had focus groups that confirmed what the core of AEW's audience is made of. Any chance you can share?

Can't disagree with that.

Because he is operating under the premise that you can only watch one thing at a time. If he can pull 1 out of the 10 people that was going to watch AEW out of curiosity on Wednesdays, that is worth it to him. Will it work in the long run? Eh he won't be putting AEW out of business this way, but actually developing NXT as a third brand to make serious cash on? Maybe. I mean, I assume that was the intent when he made it live. That restricts the fans' ability to watch AEW and catching NXT later that night on the Network. He is forcing them to make that choice. And I can't picture AEW winning that battle in EVERY home.

I don't necessarily agree with Herodes about the state of pro wrestling, but when I look at Rollins, I get it.

I'd assume the fact Super Smash Bros is trademarked by Nintendo.

It was a joke related to what Adam Cole said.

Wouldn't have happened if she trained at a more professional school than the one Gargano trained at.

You guys have seen Cyborg, right? By Vince's apparent standards, the other less attractive girls in the WWE are beauty queens in comparison to Cyborg. No way Vince lets this woman on television, especially with the baggage she brings along.

Not for me. Kept freezing throughout the night. My connection isn't great so that is more to blame for it than anything but the other services aren't that bad with the same connection.

No, but why make mistakes now when they have had a grand total of three shows? Why not commit to presenting the best product from top to BOTTOM, which is the pre-show? Joking about pushing the Librarians like Baron Corbin shows enough self awareness that they should realize they need to move away from it already but will they? Probably not.

Handwaving potential fan discontent with "But they did better than expected!" is very much in line with the thinking of WCW as the ship was about to hit the iceberg. They have had a grand total of three shows (if you count their unofficial PPV, All In). Now is not the time to be resting on laurels or pushing back on fan discontent.