El-P

You know we're getting that legit Sammy/Tay sextape leak one of these days, right ? Might as well make it an angle before it even happens. The whole jizz on a belt is SUCH a heel move (and really, it kinda refers to the Paige leaks, which kinda sucks). Vickie Guerrero has been useless in AEW since day one. This angle is WWE level awful and a terrible mistake on how to jumpstart Thunder Rosa's title reign. MJF vs Wardlow still doesn't interest me. Yeah... hum.... Remember when AEW TV was all about the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega having awesome matches every week at Daily's place ? Ok ok, of course I'm focusing on the bad here (the Wardlow angle is not bad per say, just uninteresting to me), but I've endlessly praised all the great stuff before, and really, that wasn't a very good week for Coach Tony K. Maybe trying to book ROH at the same time is not gonna be a very good idea at all.

And I mean, honestly I have no idea about Kross, but on the same show you have Jay Lethal, who may have or may not have sexually harassed Taylor Haendrix, and the Briscoes, who magically gave a truly heart filled apology without ever specifically mentioning why they were apologizing a few weeks before the big ROH redux PPV in which they were supposed to be booked until the rumors got around that some people at WarnerMedia wasn't to happy about the perspective of maybe them getting signed by TK... So, yeah, whatever. And BTW, 30$ on Fite ? That's a 10 more than a AEW or IMPACT PPV.

Well.... he's booked on the NJPW Lone Star Shootout show, against Minoru Suzuki no less, on the same day. So was Bobby Fish, right ? And he said he did not know about Wuertz QAnon bullshit back then.

True. But by this time Heyman was probably already envisioning himself on RAW though...

Exactly this . Snow always came off like a bitter old guy to me. It's not like his work was notably great either. His SMW stuff really isn't that good. His ECW stuff is super hot because of the crazy gimmick but the big Douglas match sucked (ok, Douglas was banged up as hell). His WWE stint is at best okay in a goofy way, at worst pretty bad. The guy never drew a dime indeed. And he's acting like this all-knowing crusty veteran... meanwhile, Tracey Smothers, who actually was a great worker at the very least, was always giving and positive with younger guys if you believe the numerous stories about him. Hey, maybe Al Snow is a good trainer, I dunno...

Too bad they could not debut him April 1st, really..

So, I've finally reached the last Prichard era episode. What a ride. Overall, although the product was much more focused and definitely upgraded in term of production, the creative direction instilled by Prichard was extremely detrimental to the company (not even mentioning the financial aspects of going on the road with no backup plans while hype and ratings were dropping). Basically there has been two phases, the Bobby Roode reign of terror and Aces & Eights. The first was dull, repetitive, marred by tons of shit finishes on big shows. The second was dull, repetitive, never ending, dull, repetitive, stupid, never ending and really by far the worst major angle the company ever ran, if only because of its length. As much as Bully Ray was a nice reinvention in the first months, once he was the leader of Aces & Eights, he got just as unbearable as Bobby Roode the previous year. Also, the company never felt as much like WWE, which shouldn't be surprising. The long-ass promo segments setting up matches, the in-ring style of Roode as a single champion (Randy Orton-like crawl and dullness), the unnerving repetitive booking with people seemingly paired up for EVER, leading to a billion matches together, making even the best pairings boring after a while. Sure, there was some good things here and there (Aries short rise to the top, Jeff Hardy's best work in years, Gail Kim killing it and the Taryn Terell feud, the Joseph Park character which was fun for a while, before at the end all you get is still Abyss in the ring, Brooke Hogan in the stupid wedding angle which was quite surprising honestly) but much less peaks in in-ring work than before (which is kinda ironic since there was a bigger focus on actual wrestling following Russo's departure). And so this was really the beginning of the end for good ol' TNA, with budget cuts galore, AJ Styles soon departing at the end of the year which would be followed by an endless flow of departure, the demotion to smaller and smaller TV stations, the Carter wanting to sell it to Corgan then the GFW fiasco, then another Corgan fiasco, before Anthem would basically save the company with D'Amore & Callis at the helm. Really now, the Hogan era was a disaster for the company on every level, and Prichard seemingly only made it worse (2010 was at least watchable because of the car crash WTF aspect of the TV, while not good it was perversely entertaining sometime, there's no bigger sin in pro-wrestling than to be dull and boring). Last time the company still looked like a pretty cool alternative was 2008. Next time would be what ? The Broken Matt stuff ? And oh yeah, this episode had that Kim vs Terell ladder match. Gail was on fire at this point, she really had been a top worker in the company for a while now, and Terell showed tons of will and potential. Really a surprising bright spot during this time.

One of the most fascinating aspect of pro-wrestling is its ambivalent relationship to "reality". The idea that there is still a discourse about it being "fake" is amazing in itself, it's like no matter what the ambivalence will always be there despite the fact it should be recognized for what it is (some kind of performance craftmanship/art) for ever now. As far as toning it down, well, it all depends what constitues pro-wrestling in your (in a general way) eyes. There are aspects of it which absolutely constitute some sort of self-sacrificial behaviors (and I'm not just speaking of guys like Foley or Onita), which indeed can seem completely absurd, but what's the difference with workers (I don't mean pro-wrestlers) killing themselves and destroying their bodies and mental health during their entire lives (for much less money that is) through exploitation ? (and yeah, pro-wrestling is part of the entertainment world that makes violence acceptable as a spectacle so social violence doesn't occur and people accept their fate during the week instead of burning shit up until social justice actually occurs) The idea that pro-wrestling is "fake-fighting" is what drives that idea that it's stupid to kill yourself doing it, but pro-wrestling is not really "fake-fighting" (well, it is, but it's more than that). Still, the ambivalence lies somewhere, which is why it is so fascinating.

AL Snow also said that there was only *one pop* during a show, if I remember correctly. The guy who only ever got over in ECW thanks to a styrofoam head and a sexual pun giving advices like he's Yoda or something always cracked me up.

The guy is so fucking cringe now, it's no wonder the mystic was much better when he never talked out of character. Get your HOF ceremony wankfest and go away already. No one wants to hear your stories about travelling with weapons and shit, like it meant anything in term of how the product looked back then. Yeah, those casket matches with Kamala and those Ministry of Darkness skits were gritty as fuck, man. All those guys who have been privileged by booking since day 1 they showed up in the company because they are BIG or/and they look GOOD giving tips on how to get over is the pro-wrestling equivalent of mansplaining. Let's call it alwayspushedsplaining or something...

Nope. I actually wanted to catch up at least the woman's match (because I like all three) and Aldis vs Cardona (mostly because I'm really enjoying Cardona's heel stuff, Aldis' NWA champ fetish to me has jumped the shark a long while ago), but really, the thing is I'm way past the point of looking for an alternative. AEW and IMPACT more than fill my need in current US pro-wrestling now (and I don't even bother watching either Dark shows). Not even sure what I'm gonna cherry pick from Wrestlecon this year (apart from the IMPACT shows at least), probably some GCW stuff. NWA to me is like MLW at this point, I'm sure some if it is pretty good still (Richard Holliday & Alicia Atout as a heel duo sounds pretty fun actually), but I just don't have the will nor need (nor time, really) to look it up anymore. I'm still baffled they actually did a Dusty finish and thought this was a good idea for their big show...

A DQ Dusty finish in 2022, because old-school = good, of course. Corgan's NWA was a nice little cosplay novelty promotion for a few months. Them disappearing from Youtube really killed their groove, the over-saturation of pro-wrestling (and really now, I do think running ROH as a weekly show is not a good idea) makes them pretty irrelevant, as they got no hype whatsoever anymore (Cardona as NWA champ got much less talk than his stint in GCW does). Plus some of the talent they employ is questionnable at best (Tyrus, who brings exactly *nothing* to the table anyway, yet is apparently positioned pretty high in the food chain, for whatever reason). I wonder how long Aldis can carry this thing around.

The commercial for Swingers' Dungeon legit had my jaw ache from laughing. Not to mention it was introduced by Zicky Dice out of nowhere "Maybe I suck as a wrestler", which really took me by surprise. Between Eddie Edwards vs Rich Swann the previous week and MCMG vs Jay White & Chris Bey this week, IMPACT has delivered big time. Also, PCO vs Jonah II seems on the books, which is really promising. They are on a roll lately with the booking and the new talent coming in (Gisele Shaw has won me over in no time, gotta love the pseudo-Beyonce theme that would make Jimmy Hart proud too).

I don't care at what time it started, with the roster they have, having Max Caster in a main event just doesn't register. The guy just isn't very good at all. They want to make Keith lee look awesome, have Matt Sydal or Tony Neese bump around for him. This was the worst match on AEW TV this week, although Keith Lee is always fun to watch, but really, I'm not far from sharing @KawadaSmile's opinion that Caster is turning into Bowens albatros (yeah, some of his punchlines can be funny especially when they sting really hard, but it only goes so far). I wouldn't mind him as his manager for a while, although he's bigger, which is never a good visual.

Rampage was a nice B-show. Although now that Jericho has turned back heel, the 4 guy announcing team, which is way too much anyway, gets really too awkward with Excalibur surrounded with 3 guys heeling up on the babyface, and Jericho is kinda plugging his new gimmick way too much. Really enjoyed Hirsch vs Velvet. The heel turn did wonders for Leila, I'l digging her tiny tank style, and Velvet is another one who should get more TV time. Darby vs Butcher was very good (Matt Hardy trying to do a run in really shows how banged up he is though). House of Black competitive squash was quite fun and the main event, well, you don't want Max Caster's single match as a main event, sorry. That last segment also screamed of "How dare you call me out Big Swole ?". I totally can get behind a Lee & Swerve vs Hobbs & Starks match, could be excellent.

Not to mention Meltz on his last Raw report was totally like "Yeah, nothing has changed, Cody is gonna be at Mania against Seth". This really is like, to the surprise of no one. Also, as much as I was curious a few weeks back, now I'm like, yeah, whatever.

Yeah, hum... one of those parameters is not like the others !

I dunno, but probably lifted quite a bit, I'm watching the current Osaka basho and the floors are pretty full. Hiromu vs Suzuki sounds like it was quite the spectacle.

Details brought on by Waltman are kinda heartbreaking. Was isolated during the pandemic which started his drinking habits again. Fell on the floor when he broke his hip and couldn't get back up for several days until DDP showed up after being alerted by friends they could not join him. Very, very sad stuff. https://www.f4wonline.com/news/other-wrestling/further-details-on-scott-hall-broken-hip-pandemic-isolation-issues-emerge

To me he's been pretty meh even has a big guy tossing around other people. I was never a fan of Goldy, ever, but when he showed up on Nitro in 1997 and began to kill dudes, he looked unique. The way he moved, the spots he used, the fact he seemingly always came up with some new ways of fucking up people, not to mention the incredible intensity. That was something unseen at the time and it was different from pretty much everything else in wrestling. The one thing that got over with Wardlow is him doing a bunch of powerbombs in a row. Powerbombs. Sid was doing powerbombs as a finisher when I was 14 years old. He's not very interesting to watch on offense when he's not doing a big spot (those throw away suplexes were cool looking), he's not compelling at selling and clearly the crowds really only pops big for his intro and the powerbombs. The most fun part of the act has been Shawn Spears to me, acting like a doofus waiting to get killed. So like I said, I totally get why they are pushing him now and yeah and they absolutely should do it. But I'm waiting for him to show me more. If he gets to good Batista kinda level, I'll be happy about it, but he's not there. I can't think of one really good or really fun single Wardlow match thus far. And yeah, I don't care one bit for his presentation (stick tongue, grab suspenders, this is WAAAAAAAR.... ok).

The issue I have with this is that why should there be *specific* reasons for women to care about Thunder Rosa (as a woman performer I think), or anyone else really, apart from "being a pro-wrestling fan" (unless you're making it strictly a feminism issue, which is an entire other story)? If we're talking about casual fans, fine, but I don't care about what casual fans think in those instance (which is why I did not care about Cody's attempt to lure this audience by doing celebrity matches and such). At heart, AEW is still very much a hardcore pro-wrestling promotion (which is why I wonder how sustainable a guy like Wardlow can be after the MJF feud, if the biggest selling point of the guy is doing four powerbombs in a row). There's a very gendered way of thinking behind all of this too, with the whole "women are more about the emotions" and whatnot. Which is not untrue BTW, specifically because that's what they have been geared toward to by patriarcal society (the whole "care" stuff). There is probably so much that could be said about the whole thing, but again I guess sociology would be more adept to study this kind of subject.

Yes indeed. Because it's all about selling stupid shit to people, including bad literature, which is the one which sells the most by a wide margin. (So I guess it's not 90% of the books, but 90% of what's sold the most... anyway, it was not supposed to be any kind of realistic figure either, I just wanted to underline the fact that "reading books" doesn't mean jackshit in the grand scheme of things if all you're reading is stupid shit)

As I said before, the IMPACT women roster is much more fun to follow, and that includes people who aren't very good workers at all (I mean, the IInspiration, please). They are doing a much better job making everyone seem important on their own level. But it's also easier in a much smaller roster with not a ridiculously stacked male roster of all-time greats too. That's the reality of things that I think many people aren't willing to hear about AEW's roster. The last PPV was really telling. They just don't have a Sasha Banks on their roster, nor a Utami Hayashishita, nor a Syuri, nor a Deonna Purrazzo. Their best female workers like Rosa are very good (Riho actually may be better than very good honestly, but she's hurt). They have some really solid veterans workers too (The Bunny, who should get way more time as a character). Some would argue Mercedes Martinez, who has a rep on the indies, but although I've seen her look really good on many, many occasions, I have not seen her look *great* either (granted I have not seen a lot of her work). And they have plenty of workers who are still green and look like it in-ring (Conti, Jay, Hirsch, Cargill, Velvet, Statlander). Ruby Soho has been a miss to me. Came off looking like a star because she was at the right spot at the right time, but she really has been underwhelming in the ring. Serena Deeb at this time is without a doubt the best of all, hopefully they have her do something meaningful beyond feuding with Shida (who's also good/very good). On the other hand, they do give time to Wardlow, who's neither a great worker nor a great promo nor a great character. Then again, it's a first occurence of me not caring about a major AEW angle also (I guess the worst was still Baker vs Swole, which legit sucked because of you know who). When you consider that a major main event between two women (the biggest they have in that division, and a legit big moment in the company period) doesn't draw women, well...

Total Bellas had really nothing to do with pro-wrestling. It's the format of the show that drew women to watch them on WWE shows. Cody tried for AEW. (where's my Kappa emote ????!!!) The 4 Horsewoman, I dunno, maybe for a while. But in the long term it hasn't really paid off. The all-female PPV really did not work that well either. WWE surely has way more of a women audience still, despite Alexa Bliss vomiting black goo and cosplaying creepy fetish, so what do we know ?

Wasn't Kane supposed to be intelligent because he "red books" ? And I mean, I mean, 90% of books sold in this capitalistic economy are full of bullshit, really, it's not like there's a Kafka on every corner. It's like Val Venis, who was thought of being a super smart guy. Except reading Ayn Rand pseudo-philosophical trite doesn't make you any kind of a smart guy, ya know