El-P

The fact wrestlers still have to rent cars by themselves is completely ridiculous. How many billions WWE made last year ?

I wonder why he doesn't go by his real name. I mean, Émile Charles Baillargeon-Laberge, easy for you English-speaking folks to say. Just discovered him in IMPACT. He's surely one of a kind (in a very RVD way in that he looks unique). Very interesting guy to watch.

Depends what you call impacting the rest of the match. To me the injured knee of Sammy did impact the match, in the way it flowed. On the other hand, if you spend 15 straight minutes working the leg and then the guy gets back on offense and basically no-sells it (yeah, I've been watching some Koji Kanemoto matches lately), I agree, it's a waste of time and a cop out. Just JIP then for the good parts (wait, that's why NJ matches in the 90's did this !). That being said, I was thinking another thing about this lately : if you know the guy you're working against/with is not interested in (or suck at) doing that kind of sell job and you still insist on going into the "I'm gonna work on a limb" route, then it's on you. The guy is a shit seller (hi Koji Kanemoto !) ? Let's approach this a different way then. To me there's shared responsibilities here. It's a dance. If you know your dance partner can't or is never interested in doing a tango, go for a waltz instead.

KAIRI back to Stardom. A much more exciting and promising news in term of actual content than Cody back in the E.

Great show (only the Warldow segment was meh to me, but although I get why it works for he audience, Wardlow is just meh to me for now) They are setting up one hell of a PPV. Mox vs Danielson, Adam vs Adam (that only would get Vince totally insane), Rosa vs Baker, Punk vs MJF in a dog collar, a three way tag team clusterfuck, a hoss ladder match clusterfuck, Jericho vs Kingston, surely some variation of Sammy vs Andrade vs Darby. Only having 4 PPV's a year is a huge plus, because they can stack the cards and really make every match look big time. The issue is that pro-wrestling today requires a lot more than 20 or 30 years ago. It was okay to sell the shit out of your leg all the time when the biggest offensive move you had to do was a cross body or a fucking discuss punch, but modern pro-wrestling has way past that point. Also, the idea that you can't perform a move because your a limb is damaged is overrated. It very seldom happens, and not just in "modern" (whatever that means, is that the last 10 years, 20 years, 30 years ?) pro-wrestling. Also, if everybody was doing it, at some point every match would look like Ole & Gene working the arm for 30 minutes, and that shit was already boring as fuck in the 70s. Pro-wrestling is a spectacle, big spots (and in this case, finishers) are the hits and the pops, and if the narratives always prevents the players from playing the hits and getting the pops, especially in an important setting like a big TV championship match, then it's simply bad narrative. Which is why when I hear about some case of "smart" pro-wrestling, I kinda roll my eyes because the point is being missed in term of what actual pro-wrestling psychology means. It's *mostly* a relationship between what is produced in the ring (really, a bunch of signs, at a certain pacing, under a certain form) and the audience, way more than an inner narrative dictated by a physiological logic, which itself is completely skewed (because nothing in pro-wrestling makes actual sense, even UWF style was not "realistic", as showed by what actual MMA is). And sure, sometimes body work actually preventing the expected action from taking place is great psychology, and the failed or non-happening spot is actually *the spot* (a negative spot, of sorts), but it should also be reserved from some token moments, making those occurrences even more striking and dramatic. Plus, let's be real, having a body part hurt does not prevent you from using it. Especially if you consider the adrenaline flowing in a context of major championship match. Pain, like fatigue, comes and goes. Sometime, 5 minutes after feeling my knees hurt when I'm training, I feel perfectly fine and even better than before actually. Then I get tired and some body parts shake, then I fell stronger when I do the same routine on the other side a few minutes later. The idea that "leg hurt = can't do this" / "too tired = must long-term sell = can't jump back up" is just not realistic to begin with.

Not an excitable response at all. Just putting things back into perspective. I guess I'm invested because I find the situation pretty fascinating ! Fun times really. There it is. I'm actually not defending anyone, because there's no one to defend, there's no bad guy here, neither Cody nor TK. Seems to me like a bittersweet separation because interests have gone into different directions. As far as "All profits goes to the boss", wait, what ? Just the fact AEW exists is a huge benefit for the entire landscape of pro-wrestling. It's better for the workers who can get paid more than when there's only TNA and ROH in the 00's, not to mention the fact now guys can play both sides to get more money. It's not a matter of being a benefactor offering salaries, it's a matter of actually building a company that stays sustainable in the long haul. Meltz mentioned that TK was adamant since day one that 100% of the promotion was his and that it wasn't a discussion (I mean, he's a capitalist entrepreneur, I love AEW but I'm not wearing rose-colored glass either). Also, it's easier to say they should have battled for equity now with hindsight, but when it started no one knew it would be as successful as it is. Also, I remember Cody's line against unionization, so there's this in term of "defending the boss" stuff. There's plenty of things we don't know, first being why TK did not roll over Cody's contract. Was that because of a money issue ? Because of Cody not being happy because of the booking ? How much Brandi's situation weigh in this ? We just don't know. You're trying to paint the picture of good ol' Cody seeing the picture on the wall (what picture exactly ?) wanting to go out because the "outsider" owner (who from inside had the financials and the contacts to put that operation moving in 2018 exactly ?) has robbed the Elite of whatever booking duties they really never had to begin with, when the situation is a bit more complex than this. Fact : Cody's stint had turned into a complete mess in the last year or so (although he redeemed himself lately with really good performances) while the company was growing due to Omega & the Bucks (those other EVPs who seem quite happy and aren't going anywhere) and bigger profiles (which has a cost) showing up, making Cody less of a focus in the company and for good reasons. In the end, I pretty much agree with this :

Yeah, it's huge for the Spanish speaking fans. Can't even think what the reaction would be if WWE would not use Christophe Agius anymore (he's been doing it for almost 20 years now). I think this would legit hurt them a lot in France (not that they care that much probably considering the market, but still).

The most fascinating thing to me, and probably the most important, is that TK simply did not pick up Cody's option. He picked up all the other ones from the first signees, but not Cody's. So that basically means that if Cody wanted out for whatever reason, TK agreed to let him go, knowing he would be a catch for the opposition.

When did I say "without Khan it's nothing" ? Oh yeah, I did not say that at all actually. I said "Without Khan it does not happen". And without the Elite making waves on the indies and *mostly* Jericho vs Omega in NJPW, it does not happen either. It's the right people at the right time under the right circumstances. But to say that it could have been anyone else, well, ok then, but that's pure conjecture on hypothetical stuff that did not happen. And Khan isn't just a "rich Internet poster", you make it sound like he's a random money mark. He's a long time fan who has studied the business, including the mistakes of the past, and had been thinking for a while about it. Who are the other potential people who could have made it happen ? It's not like no one had tried since WCW collapsed. Jarrett and the Carters have tried, and failed miserably. ROH never reached the mainstream. Still waiting for that Shane Douglas promotion that gives pensions and all... So no, TK did not "take all their momentum and squirrels it off for himself, cuts the head off any individual promotions momentum & makes it about "his" brand.", that's simply not factual at all and really paints him as some carny leeching off of the Elite, which is ridiculous honestly, especially considering how successful they have been thus far. To realize what exactly ? That the company wasn't about him chasing his dad's legacy ? Sure. It never was. The guy managed to turn an audience who absolutely loved him to death against him because of his tone-deaf obsession, really, and it made the product awkward to watch at times. Hell, PWO is the best instance of it, most people here were much more into Cody than they ever were into any other member of the Elite, but by the end the threads were all about making fun of the Codyverse and how awful all that stuff was. And considering he spent the last 5 years talking about making a Revolution and money was not all that mattered and breaking throne and shit, well, he sure gonna get a ridiculous payday (hopefully for him), but his character kinda looks fickle as hell now. Not to mention how he's gonna be booked (come on people, WWE, 2022).

You realize that the promotion just doesn't happen if there is no one with actual money and contacts to make it happen, right ? TK did not cut the head of anything, he made the thing happen. As much as All In was a success, it could not become an actual meaningful promotion without serious financial backing and TV contracts. If TK doesn't make it happen, maybe we get another All In show if ROH is willing to helps again, but probably the Elite signs with WWE, who was throwing big-ass money at Omega. The Khan family put 100% of the money. It was never gonna be anything but their promotion. Everybody knew this from the start. EVP is a job and a title, not an ownership stamps.

To be fair, although All In did play a part, the real kickstarter was Omega vs Jericho in NJPW. This is where TK saw that there was subscription boom in the US. There's a reason why the three guys TK wanted to build AEW around were Jericho, Omega and Punk. Which, in the end, he's been doing. Plus, All In was not all about Cody, at all. The NWA match with Aldis did have traction, but Omega & the Bucks were the bigger stars on the indie scene, ROH and NJPW, which basically was the All In audience. And you had that Okada fellow on the card too... There's a very high possibility of this, indeed. And really, he's not gonna have the same creative input as he had in AEW, for better (the first two years) or worse (ya know...), he's not gonna be seen as the "Head of the revolution" but a guy who crept back to good ol' WWE Universe after being unable to come to term with the hot new promotion he helped create and which is bringing fresh guys WWE was stupid enough to let go (Cole, Keith). Like I said, some people are going to paint it as a major "victory" for Vince, but in reality, it must just be bittersweet for Cody. If he thinks he's gonna take HHH's place on the broken throne, he's quite delusional.

Okada had a great match (I know, shocking) with him just after he left WWE. I dunno, he seems to be really good but at the same time, there are several guys like him already in AEW aka really excellent mechanically but not earth-shattering in term of charisma (Neese, Lethal).

Let's be real, it must be pretty bittersweet for him. I don't think after all this he visualized himself leaving the company he helped build to go back to Vince, 6 years after he left.

Back in AEW in three years on commentary, talking about going to the pay window and the mothership. In 2028 he'll turn heel and join the Bullet Club.

Well, apparently now the word is that Cody is going to WWE, but without Brandi. Plot thickens. Of course, rumors...

I jokingly talked about Cody getting the creative of NXT2.0, but objectively, he may have this on the back of his mind in the never ending quest of chasing his father's shadow. After all, who was more instrumental in developing the best (of you believe the hype) years of NXT than Dusty ? The issue is, as always, is that whatever you did outside of WWE doesn't really count. I mean, it does, but it doesn't. Also, for as much as Cody was a positive influence backstage in AEW in term of working with younger talent, he was never the booker. The idea that everybody was doing the booking has been debunked a long time ago, TK always was the man in charge in the end. Maybe they others EVP had more leeways before the infamous Dark Order beatdown episode (the worst Dynamite finish ever), but it was never a booking committee of sorts. No idea how Brandi fits into this either. She wants to be a worker again, but she always shines the best as a heel valet, she's actually great at it. Her AEW stint really has been a miss for the most part, when you look back at it, in term of in-front of the camera stuff. I gave her the benefit of the doubt over and over again, but there's no two ways about it. In WWE she'd be Maria Kanellis, basically.

I totally can see Jericho going back to end his career. Mox ? Doesn't seem likely at all.

Also, it's kinda fascinating that people act like now everybody will want to jump. Wait, because Cody was unhappy after a year of screwing up his own character and being overshadowed by everybody in the Elite and newcomers, that invalidates everything that has been said about WWE's management of talent for the last years and AEW's success ? Like, really now ? Wow...

Well, Jade did not go for the "We're your family now" cult sell-job, MJF has still time on his contract and it will be a very different deal then. WWE can take Wardlow any day.

It won't change the incompetent booking one iota. Like I said before. Cody was a nobody in an unsuccessful promotion, but now that he's gonna jump all of a sudden it's a huge deal and a game changer (wait, I thought AEW wasn't a success anyway, so how does it change the game ?) .

You mean 2020 ? Ok, it works. Seriously though, I think some people are way overestimating what Cody back to WWE would mean. In 6 months he's just another guy.

Which is ?

Even without the shots, WWE is incompetent at booking anyone not made by them. And it's nothing new. Cody was lost in the last year of AEW already, I have no idea how anyone would think Vince in 2022 would make the most out of this guy. He's the one who released Adam Cole and Keith Lee.

Steve Austin : I may do Mania this year. How about this for headlines ? Cody Rhodes : hold my beer.