El-P

THIS. A thousand times. I could elaborate endlessly on this point, but really that sums it up in a very amusing (to me) and on the spot way.

Omega leaving was a rather big hit. It's also one reason why Meij was cut, because he was seen as the guy was let Omega leave. When you add the fact he didn't understand what AEW could be and was all about maintaining his relationship with ROH (and CMLL !)... Yikes. A lil wee bit of lack of vision there... I also remember people when AEW was formed going like "Omega meant nothing for NJPW, there's no proof he was a draw for them, they do just as good since he left." But anyway. Just blame Dick Togo. He's the one behind the EVIL push.

Terry Funk would be so proud. In a way.

Miz is not capable of much, and what he's capable of doesn't look very good anyway. It would be interesting (somewhat) to see if his so called "promo ability" would translate outside of WWE, when you're not fed awful WWE verbiage. Maybe he could ad-lib and talk well. Maybe he would come off totally empty and fake (which he already does in WWE btw, but it suits his character there I guess).

The one BIG mistake as far as this PPV goes, is nothing for FTR. Like, really ? They are the most over they've even been, they come off that incredible match against the Briscoes followed by beating the Young Bucks on TV, and... nothing on the PPV ? That's quite a big booking flub, until they get a last minute match after this week, but the card seems full already and a three day "build" is not exactly what you'd want for your most over tag team in the company. Yep, that one I don't get at all, lack of focus really shows here. No team is the three-way is as over as FTR (maybe Keith Lee is ?). Jake Hager is on the PPV by sheer force of being attached to Jericho. Ditto 2.0 (who are fun and all, but....). Ruby Soho, who's pretty cold, is gonna be on the final of the Owen tournament. Fuck, can't they get FTR vs reDragons somewhere quickly ?

One reason (not the only one) the bow and arrow was completely botched is that Miz can't bend worth a shit. Many physical and athletic elements are taken for granted or simply ignored (I blame the "lol mOvEZ" people) but guess what, everything that can help matters. In the many things he can't do well, bending is one of them. He's stiff as hell there. It's also difficult to put it on bigger guys, and I do think Cody did flubbed it before anyway. That being said, what followed is pathetic, it's WWE Diva circa 2005 level of incompetence. The guy has been wrestling for 15 years and looks worse than 6 years old rookies here. Sure, he had some good matches with Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins. Yeah, no shit he had. I could probably have a watchable match with them too. Sure, he's fun when he's interacting with his wife, but working with your super hot wife who also happens to have a great personality will do that to ya. As far as Cody goes, he had it easy thus far working with Seth, who's a workhorse no matter what some people may think. Working with the Miz is not exactly the same as Andrade, Sammy, Darby or big brother, uh ? BTW, saw a pic of Becky. She needs to do the Gangrel entrance now.

I FUCKING WISH !!!! Mia Yim seems elated to be over there. Her point : "It's nice to feel like I'm respected as a human." The sad truth is that Sasha Banks will probably come back eventually as damaged goods. But man, I'd LOVE to see her elsewhere.

Blame Dick Togo.

The same. Before Rumble 99, which killed the WWF fan in me, that Deadly Games PPV is the first one I recall being super disappointed in an entire card. And although at first, when the final swerve, bro, happened, I kinda felt it was brillant, but then I thought about how I did not enjoy the PPV at all, so... So, that's agreeing twice. Plus, I don't think you'd argue much if I said the Briscoes vs FTR is pretty much the most serious MOTYC thus far. That's agreeing a lot in 5 months. BTW, speaking of Russo booking tournaments, show n°2 of TNA in late 2013 when Russo officially got back on the payroll. Heel Dixie (who's hilariously bad) takes the title away from AJ Styles and has a great way to crown a new champ. I was like "she's gonna say a tournament". And she said "an 8 men tournament !". I died. Russo WAS BACK.

It's fascinating how quickly TNA is spiraling down in the fall of 2013 (and that's after two years of Brucie boring the fuck out of me). The heel turn of Dixie Carter is so ironic, as the idea that the Carters did not value AJ Styles was, well, pretty real, as he would refuse a bullshit contract a few months later and leave, all for the best for him. The two matches with Bully Ray (one at Bound for Glory with the infamous canvas removed spot, which Bully had done before, and the following TV show) will be his last real highlights in a company that he carried for so long until he was put on the back-burner once Dixie took control and then Brucie thought he had been there for too long to put him back on top and saw fit to shove colorless Bobby Roode down the throat of the audience (and then one year + of godawful Aces & Eight stuff). Maybe the most hilarious thing of all, especially with the hindsight of Jarrett's podcast telling the stories of Russo always being in the ear of Dixie and the Carters basically wanting control for her daughter to have a job, is that on the day Russo was "officially" back on the payroll (like, just a few weeks after Hogan was finally gone, what a waste of money this was) as a "consultant", heel Dixie Carter was not on one, not on two, not on three, but on FOUR segments of the show, opening and closing it. And that the only new character of note that was gonna be pushed, was a NXT reject (from the very first NXT that everybody has seemingly forgotten) named after... Dixie Carter. The fact *this* guy was the new hot shit was also telling, after years of actual WWE names, for better and often worse, showing up in the company. Standards and financials had definitely dropped (and so many people had been cut or left already). But yeah, Dixie oh Dixie. She's SO BAD it's actually pretty entertaining to watch. At least it's not Aces & Eights anymore, and so bad it's funny will always beat dull & boring bad.

Agreed. Both would be exception, although the KOTR93 was really only great when Bret Hart was in the ring. V*Top was awesome also because it was AJW at its 90's peak going to the Dome, and Hokuto having her moment of glory. Tournaments were also one go-to of Vince Russo. He LOVED to book tournaments, because it's a great crutch when you actually don't have any idea, plus you can book of bunch of swerves, bro.

Let's put this out there : straight tournaments in pro-wrestling are never very interesting, because the booking makes a lot of results obvious, without being satisfying because there's not more to them than what they are (since there's no other issue than "win the match", so I guess the only setting in which it can work is pure sports-like context like shoot-style, or something attached to a different gimmick, like Pure Style in ROH, which is akin to modern shoot-style of sorts). They never draw either. A well booked G1 style stuff can be awesome. Straight tournaments *never* deliver. One could have hoped the Owen would have been something different but oh well. I for one have enjoyed most of the matches, and Cole vs Joe as a final really appeals to me. On the other hand, as I said, Ruby Soho getting to the finals against Baker is meh. Unless they pull the upset and make it Toni Storm, which they *should*. Still, in that case Storm vs Riho would have been the banger to go toward.

This is actually the first match I truly identify the debut of Hashimoto's peak with. I thought the Sasaki match at the 94 Dome was even better, and the first true Hash ace performance. Enjoyed both matches a lot.

Miz is a guy who's great at spewing WWE verbiage in medias and looking good and clean doing it. He's only been watchable whenever his wife was at his side and after 15 years can't make anything better than "passable" inside the ring (those kicks, seriously, when it was a troll on Bryan it was at least somewhat acceptable, but for fuck's sake). There's nothing comparable with MJF, who's the best heel promo in pro-wrestling in the last 30 years, and a really good worker inside the ring too. I had to say it, because really now, The Miz is about every reason rolled into why as I can't stand what WWE stands for in term of presentation.

Funniest thing is that it was actually a botch. There was no black mist. It was pretty much a transparent mist that she sold. Maybe they can pretend it was all a dream. Not turning the other week was a complete misfire, rendered worst by the fact the crowd was begging her to bash Varsity Club 1 (or 2) with the chair and unveil her black, rotten, evil eye. She would have got a big-ass pop.

Damn, the ear. Talk about a trauma for the very first episode ! I still miss Lucha Underground sometimes. Brought me back to current pro-wrestling and made me evolve. My first posts about it in late 2014 are full of "bouh indierrific movez flippity flippity flop" boomer takes ! Too bad the company was managed by assholes with unfair contracts, which never ever happens in pro-wrestling, really. But I've gotta say, I don't forget when I get Johnny Elite and Swerve Strickland and have the Lucha Brothers and Thunder Rosa and Luchasaurus (she was his queen and master) getting big push, that I've been following them since the infamous Temple. Wonder what happened to that Prince Puma fellow though, he was ok, had some potential... Heard Matanza was hiding somewhere in Japan too...

No shit. Not to mention the guy spent years reclusive in a tower with a ten years old boy or something... Mu is sus. Can you believe we got this anime in France in 1988. 1988. Two years after Japan. I was twelve and LOVED the hell out of this. Plus, I dunno how it was in Latin America, but the first version was totally unedited, full on gore and violence. That was quite something. And so I only saw the Hades arc like in the mid 00's as an adult, and although obviously the magic was gone and I had been spoiled by research on the Internet at this point, but still really enjoyed it. Makes me think, one of the great thing about pro-wrestling, is that although it's kinda like fiction, they can never do a prequel, or a re-boot. I mean, they can do "re-boot" of angles and factions, but not in the ways TV show or movies can do re-boots and prequels and offshoots. MLW tried to get some of the Lucha Underground elements and failed miserably. For sure. But what's interesting is how they will build it on week to week TV, as they need to do it in a meaningfull way, it's not like they have some other PPV to sell in the same timeframe (like WWE totally no caring about a name show that is close to a Saudi show, because they feel they gotta build the propaganda show).

Ok, I died

Actually, doesn't work the same at all. The cadence was : E-Li DRAKE ! L-A KIGHT ! Cutting the last name in two instead of the first name doesn't have the same effect at all. Especially when it has that French sounding vowel at the end (Dupri comes from French origins, basically Dupré, meaning "from the field"), which doesn't pop like -ake or -ight. Plus HE WAS FUCKING LA KNIGHT ON YOUR OWN FUCKING DEVELOPMENTAL TV SHOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This company...

This. The whole "MJF is frustrated and probably won't re-sign" has been debunked already. But yeah, of course not everybody is gonna be happy. It's not the honeymoon period anymore, so much talent competing for spots now. And really, Coach TK will have to settle the fuck down and delegate some if he doesn't wan't to drive himself insane. It's only human. The idea of running ROH honestly I never thought was a good idea, and seems even less of a good idea with weeks passing by. Two many belts that don't mean anything, too many talents and shows to handle, and the AEW brand should be the absolute priority. As far as some people being frustrated, it seems pretty obvious. The Julia Hart angle has been a mess, should have been done in three weeks. Reveal Julie Hart as a member of House of Black already ! The Men of the Year vs Sammy & Tay angle is spiraling down a Kevin Sullivanesque vortex of insanity that needs to be stopped tomorrow. Do the mixed tag match already ! Some stuff don't get addressed like Anna Jay losing her BFF, that's a feud for Tay that writes itself. Tons of stuff could be better, for sure, and it doesn't seem illogical that some people are unhappy and frustrated. But "every single of us" ? Come on now... AEW needs a Scott D'Amore. Best week-to-week-to-PPV guy of the last 20 years. I've just said it.

Which never made any sense to me ! I mean so we're told he's keeping his eyes close so with one sense not working he can focus more of his energy but then again when he opens his eyes then he's getting even more powerful except Ikki forced him to open his eyes so now Shaka is vulnerable ok WTF ?!?! I mean, Shaka was still the coolest this side of Saga, but still, that shit made no sense whatsoever. He was probably an anti-vaxx naturopath at heart too, with all the new-age bullshit in his house. And yet, it should not, because you don't squash a main event star like MJF. So yeah, it's tricky. Totally agree. Although I must say, he does not come off as big of a figure as Omega did, but that was to be expected. It's still his first reign and he was unproven before. The guy is still growing. But he has totally succeeded as a World Champ in match quality, promos and staying over after the chase was done. Rampage definitely was a B show, but that main event was excellent, as it should have been. Regal did call Jericho "sunshine". Ruby Soho is gonna get to the finals, and honestly this choice is meh. Yes, the Riho match was very good and by far her best match in AEW but guess what, Riho does that with everybody. Statlander ain't winning. Enjoyed the match with Red Velvet though, I liked the focus on big power moves by Statlander, that's a good game for her, and Velvet is even more fun as a heel. Poor Anna Jay not even acknowledging her BFF becoming an annoying bitch and now is gonna be served to Jade on the pre-show. Damn, girl. She can't even slap Stu Grayson around anymore. Hopefully she gets a bit of focus after that point. The Men of the Year / Sammy & Tay feud needs to end. They have obviously booked themselves in a hole, and I say that having enjoyed the matches and promos a lot. But this is soooo confusing now, it's like a Kevin Sullivan angle from 96 with heels vs heels and heels acting babyface before acting heels again.The fact the belt really could not be broken and then Kazarian shows up... with the heels, was the icing on the cake. Yeah, so WCW, it was funny as hell. Do the mixed tag with Ethan & PVZ vs Sammy & Tay and move on ! The PPV will probably have lots of great stuff, but yeah, the global build to me as been the weakest. It will take *a lot* from the Bucks to have that great match they want to have, but then again, they are the Bucks. Very interested in what approach they will have wth this one. Deeb vs Rosa should be very good but could also be kinda heatless. Ruby Soho in the final of the Owen is not something I wanted to see, she has been quite underwhelming to me, and Baker is not gonna carry like Riho did. The NJPW PPV build is gonna be super interesting, because NJPW doesn't build their major card the same way a US company would, and I doubt the NJPW crew will appear every week to build the thing.

Nick Khan is taking over this company like there's no tomorrow. Do you smell what he's cooking ? Speaking of cooking, couldn't they hire Brandi Rhodes for the role ? That would be some high powered trolling.

Well, now let's be fair. Kyle O'Reilly is an excellent pro-wrestler. Kurt Angle and Bryan Danielson are two of the greatest pro-wrestlers ever. Comparison = not fair.

She should have tweeted that one during RAW newt week. Like "Hey, I'm going home !". For the lulz, you see.

But in the end, O'Reilly does kick the fuck out of people and make them tap out, so where's the issue ? Not everybody has to behave like "serious ass-kicker", and that includes red-head in kick pads who come from the indies. What's funny to me is that calling this kind of guy a dork is exactly what WWE did with Bryan. Hell, Jericho in sports-entertainer mode just called him a nerd. O'Reilly has that goofy attitude while Fish is more serious, which makes a good contrast for what essentially is a team of ass-kickers. Their maneurisms as they pause is straight out of Street Fighter 2 or Street of Rage and that's a good thing, it's cool video game nerd shit. The same.