El-P

In the short run, it drew gigantic numbers and was very fun for a *short* while (basically, the Dude Love period, by KORT it had jumped the shark already to me with the stupid Kane victory which was erased the next day, not to mention the streak of AWFUL matches in the fall involving Kane & Taker over and over and over again. 99 was just godawful with the Ministry of Darkness and "It was me all along!" and shit like this). In the long run, for the absolute worse. It gave the McMahons the idea that they had to be at the center of everything (since they were gonna be around forever anyway... I mean, until the 20's of course ) and gave them the idea that everything had to book around an evil authority figure. So, the most important, probably. The best ? Not even close. As far as the AEW new signee, to get back on topic, could be anyone, really. So many people have been released.

This. SummerSlam 98 was officially the end of the actual good era of WWE then. Did not pick up after I guess Russo was gone. 1999 is a record year for WWF, but the product was horrible. It was horrible then and in retrospect it's probably way worse.

Do QAnon people believe Luchasaurus is a shoot ?

This is straight mafia/cult shit. Someone tells me this when handling me a contract, not only do I not sign but I inform the governmental mission on sectarian drifts immediately. Also, her take about how she was already winning a lot of money trough contracts with sponsors and they wanted her to abandon everything and just hand herself over to them asks the question about all those people they "signed" through the college program. There's no way those twin sisters for instance ever sign with the company under these conditions. They don't need WWE, like Jade said she did not either. People who already do shitloads of money through their own means won't just give it up to get a Mania Moment. Between this and the actual brainwashing going on ("Vince loves me but random talent relation, he's the one who hated me", "You won't be able to make a living outside of WWE", "What you did outside of WWE don't matter"), this company really reeks of absolutely toxic work environment. Not that it's new, but it certainly sheds a new light on it.

It's called working, people. Omega vs Ospreay is the dream match of all dream matches. It would probably destroy the universe too. Especially in the Tokyo Dome. 6 Billions stars already. Can the pandemic be over already ?

Isn't he part of the English-speaking community of Montreal too, unlike Kevin Owens who's a French speaking quebecois ? Also, Nia Jaxx was a shit worker and seems to be a shitty human being to boot. Sometimes, it's *not* the halo effect.

The 90's really don't bring much to Fujinami's track records. He had a few really strong performances where he reminds me that he once used to be great, mostly against Hashimoto (who was at his peak) and Tenryu (who was pretty much at his peak too in some ways), some fun tag or multi matches stuff too and some *good* single stuff here and there (but fun and good stuff is pretty irrelevant in this context, which makes it a bit frustrating actually, since I tend to enjoy it less than I would if I wasn't in GWE mode). He also has a bunch of really, really poor matches/performances where he does exactly *nothing* in context that called for the opposite (the Choshu dome show match comes to mind, between this and the extremely rare mediocre Tenryu match in 93, Choshu was out of luck it seems), which was really a staple of bad past prime Fujinami in a very "less is less" fashion. Unlike Choshu, whose 90's are absolutely a continuation of his great 80's, I really feel revisiting the 90's that past-prime Fujinami is about dealing with a huge case of confirmation bias because everytime I see a Fuji match I come in with so much goodwill and the idea that somehow it's gonna be really good, but if I'm perfectly honest, I tend to over-emphasize whenever he does stuff I enjoy (with the exceptions of the few legit great performances). So there. In the end the 90's are a minor for his case, but when compared to his amazing 80's it's actually very , very minor if looked at it without the lens of "He's Fujinami, he used to be the greatest worker in the world at one point therefore he's still great in some ways". Considering what I used to think about his 90's, it's still a positive I guess, but Choshu's 90's murder Fujinami's in pretty ghoulish fashion (to the point I'm actually wondering career vs career if I don't actually take Choshu over Fuji, although Fuji's peak is pretty undeniable). Now that I think of it, Osamu Kido's 90's are probably much better too... I guess the one thing I get from this (comparing Choshu & Fuji's 90's) is that you really make your case with your prime for me. I think. I'm guessing. Or maybe only when it suits me the best. Not sure, infact. It's quite interesting though to see how much Mutoh lifted from him, for better *and* for worse (and then Tanahashi of course, which is following this straight line, only much better in every way).

You know who had a terrific match last week on Strong ? Jay White and Christopher Daniels. And although it did not had the same grand scale as Punk vs MJF of course, in term of pure pro-wrestling and pacing and structuring, it was a whole lot better. Crazy to think that Daniels at 51 had still this one in him. He was having great matches 22 years ago already. Of course, Jay White is one of the most pleasing pro-wrestler to watch, he's just that smart, smooth and displays his great heel personality. So glad he's working IMPACT these days too. After the match he made a reference to his next "challenger", as his running a open challenge series, and it may be Adam Cole. Me salivating now.

Wait until I begin to pimp BOTH Young Bucks for my top tier.

I honesty don't care one bit about ratings (I mean, I'm an IMPACT fan), but I'm always curious to see what worked and what didn't (not taking in account the competition of course, which I have zero notion of for obvious reasons), not that it impacts what I enjoy or not in any way shape or form of course. Of course people are already blaming it on the Brandi segment .

Same thing for Christian in TNA, which basically sparked the fact he was pushed in WWECW when he came back. He had a lot of very good stuff, but even against AJ Styles he never had those great defining matches (and TONS of people have had great matches with AJ in TNA, including Abyss).

I'd say that's been a good 15 years, yes, although it only got real worse in the last decade or so, and completely ridiculous since the Reigns era began. Basically got worse with the Network era and is now at his apex because they get idiot proof money from TV deals and Saudis, and as the structure of the company changed toward more and more of the Brand over all.

The use of "workrate" has been so bastardized in the last few years it's not even funny. Bret Hart was 100% a workrate guy in his era. The fact Punk is pretty much the only one who works this kind of "old-school workrate" (yes, absolutely) match is what makes him stand out. If everybody would do it in 2022, it wouldn't be so compelling anymore. Gotta say this though, as a huge Bret Hart fan, I'm glad his influence is palpable in today's wrestling, as at one point he seemed to be forgotten/underrated quite a bit.

Almost 30 years old reference and still funny. The Bret Hart tribute spots have been a fascinating part of Punk's AEW run, thanks for keeping up with it.

I was watching PAC this week on Dynamite and it struck me that he's been one of their best workers since the start of the promotion, and that's saying something considering Omega (GOAT contender) and the Young Bucks (GOAT tag team contenders) are right there. I haven't seen much of him elsewhere (seen some NXT stuff, which was already great), but from this sample of the last three years alone, I can't think why he's not making it. Let's be real, transpose him in WCW in the mid to late 90's, and he's talked about to this day as the very elite of the company along with Eddie, Rey and you-know-who. Considering he's not done at all and he had quite a few years of being just as great before, yeah, PAC probably ends up on the list when all is said and done.

It's all a matter of perception. When I say it's on them, I'm not saying people are wrong for getting bored, but that basically what was great 7 years ago is still just as great today, only indeed there isn't that much variation and after a point, it's only natural some people would get bored especially if they would like something else out of Okada. It's even more true when it's been watched in real time, with a real-life timeframe, as opposed to jumping into a back catalogue and watching stuff not as they happen but however the viewer construct his own relationship to the body of work of worker X or Y. In real time, when, at some point maybe you want something else. Plus there's no hindsight (which also changes the perception of watching a past body of work, when you know this period is supposed to be "bad" and the next is supposed to be "better" or "different" etc...). So if you actively want something *else* and it doesn't happen, and even if it's pretty much the same kind of stuff that was considered great a few years back, you're gonna get bored by it. But whenever someone says "It's not what I wanted" about anything, it is absolutely on them, because the perception is completely biased by expectations, including expectations of something that was never promised or even teased or showed by the outside source. Not a moral judgement nor a criticism, just a fact of life. And since : Well, I understand why you'd say you're bored. But my point is that really he's still as great as he was before when he wants to be. It's not like his work has collapsed, it has just not happened as demonstrated by the WK matches, which to me where out of this world great. Of course we can agree to disagree about that too. Even I at points I've been "Okay, another Okada match basically" at the beginnings, then during the finishing stretch and by the ending I was blown away and like "That guy is undeniable.". Probably because he's a slow burn worker and yes, doesn't deviate a lot. He's a variation on a theme guy, and it's fine. One reason I think so highly of him actually comes from the fact I feel he's just *too great* even when I'm not going in very excited about his matches.

I can't be the only one thinking about Regal as the mentor when Danielson made his pitch to Mox. Quite the interesting turn of events. Much more interesting than just "Let's have a match". Danhauser is already over. Ah ! I don't care what anyone says, I love heel Brandi on the mic and Lambert is gold. Even if this has car-crash appeal because of bizarre dynamics. Of course PVZ. Glad she's back, she's a natural pro-wrestling character. Can't be much worse than Rousey's stuff last week on RAW anyway. Yeah, Ruby Soho just isn't it, sorry. She lacks so much ooomph in her work. Glad Nyla won. Match was ok. Knights of the Dark Throne really are a cool tag team, although I liked Black's solo music better. PAC is low-key one of the greatest worker in AEW and has been since the start, always a pleasure to watch. Those mexican fans doing the homophobic lucha chants "culero" and "puto" on the first row during this match on the other hand... That really should not be encouraged. I know it's a staple in Mexico still, sadly, but come on now, it's still homophobic bullshit. Main event certainly was something else. I understand why some would think it went too long, and maybe it did, but CM Punk was super compelling and MJF too, really, the guy has improved a lot in the last few years. Gotta love the fake "fuck finish" at first to actually end with another fuck finish, but in the grand scheme of things it's actually really smart. They are building new stars here. And Punk is still protected as MJF cheated. And it's another important step in the Wardlow/MJF storyline. Since they never had someone lose in their hometown before, it's actually more shocking and notable that this happened in this match, to CM Punk of all people. It was the right time with the right guys. At this point MJF really feels like a guy who's totally ready for the AEW title. Took them three years, as the guy was an indie name and was working MLW then. Now he's a legit main-eventer with credibility to boot. Job well done.

Not really. During the two strongest era in modern WWE history (speaking of Vince JR.), the undercard and mid-card was absolutely not sacrified to make the big star look bigger. On the contrary. There was an effort to make the most people look like star. The IC title guy was a star. The Tag Team champs were stars. Some characters like Hacksaw Duggan or Jake Roberts who never won belts were stars. There absolutely was a concerted effort in getting the most guys over, and the focus was not solely on the two/three top guys. Sure, but the huge difference is between then and now, is that when they saw that the Godfather, Kama fucking Mustafa Shango, was getting more and more reactions simply because he looked cool coming out with sexy women, what did they do ? They got him more and more TV time, got the girls to slut it up a notch and before you know it, the guy was getting some of the biggest pops of the shows. Same for the New Age Outlaws. Weren't supposed to get over. Got over. So they got pushed and got more over. So they got pushed even more until they became big stars on the show. Today ? Rusev gets the Rusev Day chants ? Nope, not gonna push him. Adam Cole gets over as fuck in NXT ? Not planning on pushing him on the main roster because "not tall enough". And even worse, people who are over and who are pushed to the "top", like Big E., get a shitty title reign where they look like crap and second fiddle, because you are not allowed to look like a star as it would hurt the perception that there is only Reigns and Lesnar. So it's actually very different and it's not just because they suck at booking (which they do), it's deliberate.

As long as Shane-O Mac is not the replacement, I'm fine with anyone else.

He isn't going to be on TV at all. I mean, at *very best*, he was in character but it's still way fucking stupid to say shit like this on video and it would take some real explaining to do. Any lesser than this and it's a no-no. Let's be real, this is high-as-a-kite-nazi level insanity.

He was *not afraid* of facing Taker in a Hell in a Cell match. Even Brock sold the fear of Taker at Mania. Shane-O did not.

This is from 2011. The guy was then working for TNA and NJPW. Then was employed for 9 years by WWE. And someone posts it on Twitter JUST NOW. Of course what he says is unbelievably dumb not to mention 100% antisemitic. You gotta love the timing of re-posting that shit on Twitter just *now* though (you even get an idiot saying "AEW fans are gonna look out for excuses"). Maybe it's just the guy finding out something that was "known" (but apparently not talked about publicly) because his name popped up in the news. Why was stuff like this not public knowledge though ? I mean, it's some wicked shit. Now, some old comments on the Youtube video say he actually was in character, which of course was insane new-age guru, so who knows. Doesn't make it less stupid and offensive to say shit like this even if he was in character. Internet cookie points getter are gonna have a field day with this, for sure. So, who faces Mox tomorrow ?

Plus, it was no miracle or proof that Shane-O was any good. AJ Styles is simply that great at pro-wrestling. I'm almost at the end of his TNA stint, and I'm pretty much convinced he's a top 10 pro-wrestler ever, at worst.

That's been the strategy of the promotion, which is brand oriented. Let's focus on one or two HUGE names that we are sure are gonna be locked 4 Life with us because of the absurd money we pay then and give them the overpush of overpushes for years and years. Meanwhile, let's make sure no one else looks like anything special to make those two even bigger than they are. So instead of building a strong foundation with even stronger people on top, they are banking on the difference of perception between the two or three top people and a valley of peons, which means sacrifying pretty much everybody (while also making sure they they never get too much personal value, especially now that there is a legit competition). It makes for a completely useless and dire environment and dull as dirt long-term planning, since the only clear goal is that big match at Mania for the 2 or 3 same people on top. I mean, we're already talking about how Ronda vs Lynch is the plan for Mania *next year*. Ok then...

If true, it's really, REALLY funny as hell.