El-P

Mania pop. Fresh out of AEW. See ya in 6 months after usual WWE booking.

Which is why it's so great when something so obviously goes wrong and they manage to work around it and make it part of the match. The most famous occurence maybe the infamous Sasuke botch during J-Cup where Liger doesn't even bat an eye and goes "LOL you dumbass". With pro-wrestling getting more and more complex in term of moves and sequences, and more and more agented too, it's becoming even more difficult for them to be good at it, but sometime it still happens. And of course there are also probably times where we actually don't realize they changed something on the fly too because we don't see what went wrong.

He's just not a pro-wrestler so he doesn't think like one. Not a matter of "more clear head", just a matter of not being caught in certain kind of automatisms.

All jokes aside, so they have murdered their entire roster for this fake-ass dream match that was only the third time it had happened, always the same stuff, and now Roman Reigns as a heel is the ultimate world champion of the universe who has killed yet again the guy who was the ultimate killer and the only real plan is an hypothetical match against The Rock at Mania next year. So compelling (no). I really wonder what Mania will look like in a few years. They gotta get John Cena back to work some big ass nostalgia matches and more celebrities willing to do stuff. And maybe try to sign people away (or back) from AEW to freshen things up. Otherwise, they are making zilch in term of going forward. This year in particular was stunning on that level. Apart from Bianca Belair (which was also the most lauded match) and Kevin Owens to a degree (although I'm not sure it will mean anything more than it was in the grand scheme of things, a moment, plus Owens has already been there for years now and was already established as a main event guys for a while).

Lone Star Shootout show was super easy and digestible (a nice quality during this week-end), capped off by two legit great matches in Jay White vs Mike Bailey (interesting to see Bailey excel too in this different setting of strict heel/face dynamic and slower style) and Ishii vs Dickinson (just what anyone could expect from these two). Suzuki vs Kross was good and really Kross is the most at ease in that kind of style. Much easier to watch than a regular NJPW Japan show and the second best show of the Mania week-end to me (haven't watched the IMPACT show yet though).

The benevolent NXT "Can't wait until HHH takes over when Vince is done" Godfather of Real Pro-wrestling was a carny con-job, and although it changed the perception of his character for a while, it had been exposed pretty badly in the last years. People being driven by emotions, of course right now there's this temptation of looking back and go "Oh, but it wasn't that bad". Live through those years again people, and let's talk about it then.

Just seen the gif from Vince taking the stunner.

The main event sounds like the usual boring finisher spamming Lesnar match that has been boring for ever now. So, how many times has poor Roman being crowned at Mania already now ? All this and now you've got a year of useless booking coming up until they get to Mania season at Hollywood so they can have The Rock. Mania truly has turned into a variety show geared toward celebrity stunts and nostalgia. Which, if it works for its audience, is perfectly fine and all. Reading the reactions though, there's nothing from day 2 I'd want to watch (as AJ vs Edge apparently was pretty underwhelming). Still probably gonna check the best stuff from day 1.

Yeah, the best heel promo of the year. Most disgusting is still putting on two shows a year to promote MBS's regime BTW. Nothing gets even close.

Every time I hear the "He has a family" argument (about him or anyone else) I fucking cringe. Like with the money he would have made in AEW, his family would not have been secured or whatever. Sure... I'd rather have someone be frank and talk about just making the most money like Lesnar. A least it's honest. But anyway, that was never the most cringe thing about his fatherhood, the worst (well apart from *that* promo) was always his thing about not wanting to turn heel because he would not want his daughter watch him do bad things. What a markish attitude and honestly what a slap in the face of every heel wrestler who had kids ever. I always found it utterly ridiculous. Plus, let's be real, as much as Cody's debut was a success, it would have been a thousand times better if he had come out full fledge invading dirtbag cutting a promo on HHH like : "Hey you might have seen me destroy a throne some time back, now I'm here to claim the whole kingdom. You heard it right King of Kings. I would gladly rip your heart out but woopsie, apparently life and karma has already taken care of that piece of business." Now THAT would be a Mania Moment tm. So bubba, what's your take ? Lesnar or Roman ? I know you'll enjoy the thing anyway so !

Not gonna lie, all the "Wow, Cody in WWE is so awesome, he' such a star, such a huge loss for AEW" from the same people who were going "Cody was a midcarder in WWE and is a midcarder for life" is really fucking ironic. Won't even mention the whole music thingy (cf Hardies & Punk debacles). Really now, it's a matter of choice. Of course he would get a huge pop at Mania. Will he sustain it ? Will the booking sustain it ? If Vince wants to send a message to guys he might want to get like MJF, he sure needs to keep Cody in the top spots forever, and Cody has to know this. Now, is he right to think that way (because Vince making sense is an irrational bet at this point), only time will tell. But hey, he got "an absurd amount of money" (I think we got that point), which also validates AEW as serious competition, so good for him for playing his cards. Now, in the long-term, who the hell knows.

"I had to come back to accomplish my true dreaaaaaaaaaams"

Actually, it's just a matter of context. 5-6 years ago, NXT was the hot product in the US pro-wrestling landscape. Of course AEW has changed the perception since there was no other alternative back then, and WWE had produced its own alternative of sorts (which was great). Sure it is. Especially after the last few years. It's just interesting how after years of Mania being perceived as this slog of a show and NXT was the hot shit, this year's Mania was very well received (although let's be honest, it's been talked about as a 3 matches show, and that's including the Austin stuff which is strictly nostalgia). But, NXT on the other hand went from a hot brand name to an after thought (putting it on the same day pretty much tells the whole story too). And yeah, I know they have changed the philosophy behind it, but they also have lost the hype that used to go along.

Funny (not really, actually predictable) how Mania thus far has been very well received while there is exactly zero hype about NXT's show. Remember a few years ago when the Takeover before Mania was always the peak of the week-end and everybody was going crazy about it ? Of course it was also before AEW existed, but still.

Nick is indeed better than Matt. But both are awesome pro-wrestlers in their own way. And together they are the greatest tag-team ever (encompassing all styles) and really genius minds at work. Some aspects of their work will still look ahead of their time in 20 years probably (including the subtle or non-subtle, depending on the context, play on tropes and meta stuff). Having them in my weekly TV pro-wrestling diet has been the greatest thing, really. I could not be a happier pro-wrestling fan. That FTR match with a new dynamic will be quite the match. And yeah, that Top Flight match already, holy shit... And the reDragon matches coming up. Really now. Their tag team scene is ridiculous (just get the Acclaimed, Varsity Blondes and Gunn Club out of the way now, please, no offense). Well, D-Von kinda did. But yeah, Hobbs would be pretty cool doing it.

Meanwhile : Funny mofos.

Pretty much exactly where I am. I honestly wasn't *that* hyped up about the whole show because I had no idea where this would go. But holy shit. FTR vs Briscoes was a legit MOTYC. Just ridiculously great match, maybe the best FTR ever had. Gresham vs Bandido was great as well. Man Gresham is such an awesome and unique talent, kinda like ZSJ I feel I'll never get bored watching him. Joe sure looks his age, but still in the ROH context his presence takes another meaning, and it's really a cool arc. When you think last year he was under the rain at Mania just before getting fired ! The undercard was also really fucking good, top to bottom, apart from the woman's match, I was not overly impressed by Willow, who was kinda sloppy at points. Mercedez vs Deonna should be really good though. Suzuki's match was nothing special either really, but the old guy already had a few wars in the last day or so, and the fact he won is just terrific. The Jay Lethal heel turn was wonderfully done, and once again I've been super impressed by him. Seems like I was sleeping on this guy because of his kinda underwhelming TNA stuff (he does have the last really good Flair match though, so he was coming around just before he left for ROH). The Brian Cage squash was pretty great too, interesting way of giving him a fresh start (if you're gonna resign him, might as well get your money's worth). Yuta winning is a clear sign he's gonna get a push in AEW under Regal too. All in all, now I'm interested in ROH. Damnit.

From the feedback, I would watch the two women matches (one for the hype, the other for the lulz) and Austin vs Owens. The Cody debut, some people are acting like it's that awesome surprise when it's been in the books literally for weeks now, just odd. Plus, apparently they forgot where he was when he left AEW. The idea that AEW letting him go is a mistake is just head-scratching. Sure he got the huge Mania entrance. See ya in 6 months though. He's still Cody Rhodes, people, and I say that as someone who really enjoyed his work in his last 6 months in AEW a lot, but I haven't forgot the Codyverse either. And also, and even more importantly, it's still the WWE in 2022.... What did you expect ? Honestly that's a really good promo for his WWE debut.

That's actually hilarious.

Until the main event, which displayed one again why Low Ki could never stay employed anywhere in a legit company, as he managed to waste everybody's time getting annoyed with a fan at ringside, to the point Veda Scott was irked enough to mention on commentary that the match was against the Briscoes and the the fan and that he should focus (which clearly was a kayfabe way of pointing out he was being unprofessional). Also, during the match, Jay actually got the cookie plate the guy was carrying to bash Low Ki's head with it (which was pretty funny), and gave a high five and a friendly tap to said fan after the match. But Low-Ki's bullshit actually kinda killed the mood of what had been a good spirited, fun-oriented show until then. What a fucking dweeb this guy is.

"I feel your pain" Raven (sometime in the 90's)

Let me guess. Ziggler beat Bron ?

I know he did. Still did a Canadian Destroyer though, because of course. But really, I wasn't putting the blame on him, honestly... (and I have enjoyed some of Janela's clusterfucks in the past). Waltman actually apologized after the match, so that tells a lot about him too.

From what I've seen in NXT2.0 and dating back to his IMPACT days, he's pretty much exactly what he has always been. I don't see any difference at all, apart from the name (which obviously has changed his gimmick promo too).

Joey Janela's Spring Break (night1) clearly isn't what it used to be. The chaotic charm is kinda gone honestly. Mickie James vs Allie was quite good (says a lot about Mickie too, as the Ruby Soho match wasn't), AR Fox vs Blake Christian was a cool indie spotfest. X-Pac vs Janela was.... not very good, let's be real here. Mox garbage match was kind of a waste of time too against a guy who clearly belongs in GCW... The Wrestlecon show on the other hand... Tons of great and fun stuff.