El-P

It was him. It was him all along...

So, they actually had that racist "comedian" doing guest announcing. It's amazing how the MAGA-ization of WWE is already totally normalized.

The Young Bucks still triggering people in 2025 is a beautiful thing. I would have ended Mox there, but the whole Hangman Page and Young Bucks thrown into the mix I gladly take now that it's obvious Mox is losing at All In (especially looking back at the few interactions the Deathriders and the Elite had months ago. "You're a sweet kid" line to Jack Perry and all...). Some chaotic multi-men fuckery at Double or Nothing ? Hangman vs Swerve for the last time at All In ? Omega vs Ricochet vs Speedball was ridiculously awesome. Part of the fun was watching an audience who were not all familiar with Bailey react to what he was doing (and seeing it coming). Omega vs Okada is obvious now. Speedball vs Ricochet at Double or Nothing ? Mercedes did an excellent job with Julia (the way she saved that fuck-up shows how great her instincts are). Timeless Toni did an excellent job with Bayne (she also told a dirty story at the press conference about a Man From Nantucket. Toni Storm being the crassiest promo ever is hilarious) Fletcher vs Briscoe was awesome. Ospreay vs Knight did a great job showcasing Knight considering he was just a placeholder for an injured Jay White (and he's spending the next few weeks in the NJPW Super Junior tournament alongside Nick Wayne). Deathriders vs FTR & Cope was terrific (sneaky little shit Yuta rules). Excellent angle at the end. I'm guessing FTR vs Cope & Christian. And then, maybe we can have FTR in the tag title picture ? Pretty please. Cole vs Danny was very good (although I enjoyed their last TV match more I think), nice to see Garcia getting more like old Red Death in term of style. Let's see what Cole can do with it now. Hopefully Garcia is not forgotten. Jericho's mind is still there, but his body shows his age (he can still do a few impressive shit like that reverse rana), it has really shown this last year or so. It has to be near the end of the road. Bandido sure has the potential to be something, but the ROH title means nothing right now unless your name is Athena. Have him work with guys who actually can go against him, there are plenty on the roster. Anthony Bowens did the perfect comeback. Hopefully he's getting a good push. Hurt Syndicate are still the piss-break match. Lashley is legit stealing money at this point. End this shit yesterday the tag titles have been dead for too long now. (and really, I take what I said before back, I would only have signed Benjamin out of the two, he at least puts in some effort) Show was long and yet the crowd was into it at the end. Therefore show wasn't too long. Now I can have the build to the two big shows, leading into G1 Climax season. Bring out Josh Alexander. Bring back Jack Perry. There.

Parts of me wants Britt Baker to show up in WWE just to have a promo battle with Charlotte...

Coming off the last PPV, this one does feel like a B-PPV on the ways to both majors shows coming up. Having Swerve win the title again is the one thing that gives it its importance (if it does happen). The mixed-match and the closing angle were really excellent. The big one though is the stuff with Hangman (who really is and had been the main character of AEW overall). Hangman vs Swerve again at All In for the title with Hangman winning and shaking ends with Swerve would be something else. Then again, that would be Swerve losing twice in a row at All In, but it can also be a new twist in his personal arc. Jay White injured again at this time sucks, and it throws off the Owen a bit. Kevin Knight sure gets one hell of a jumpstart from it though.

Since there was talk about it online, I watched the whole Charlotte / Tiffany promo segment. Holy shit, talk about awfully awkward stuff.

The fact WWE is now getting all the AEW malcontents, some of which were previously WWE malcontents, is pretty ironic indeed.

He was last seen doing a job for Alberto el Rapist in Quatar. So really, fuck him. (fuck Jeff Jarrett for showing up in AAA and working with the guy too btw)

The name change (which basically no one gets these days anymore unless you're a scrub like Pillman) may be a sign of this. "Hey, we'll give you a stupid last name. Ok with that Ricky ?"

So, Tony Halme was basically a loser asshole. It's hard to have empathy for such a hateful fuck. The "exit only" tattoo story as told by Corny had me rolling though. I did not know he ended up such a big name in Finland (I knew he had been elected at the chamber, not that he actually was a TV star, which basically is why he had been elected). The most interesting part is that basically a airhead showman spewing hateful speech could get to a position of political power, which is very much 2025 compatible. (maybe a WWE Hall of Fame nomination next year ? I mean, they currently are employing Logan Paul and Pat McAfee) So yeah, all in all, a very decent episode on a not so interesting topic, especially wrestling wise. Vader next week.

Remember the discourse about Ricky Starks showing up in WWE and immediately becoming a huge-ass star because of his friendship with Cody ? Penta & Rey Fénix show up straight into the main roster, will probably be involved at Mania in a multi-men match for the IC title (well, Penta at the very least). Get to keep their names too. Meanwhile, Ricky gets a stupid last name and is feuding with Shawn Spears and Ethan Page (who both kept their name too) over a secondary title in NXT. (funny how the defense is always "gotta learn the WWE style", like it was an actual thing. But luchadors like Penta & Fénix don't apparently)

This is definitely the way. Copeland is gonna get it from FTR. Nick Wayne is gonna "kill his father". I hope they won't make the reunion too awkward. I also hope they won't make it a full-fledge nostalgia run a-la Hardies, because I for one don't want to be reminded of WWE of 25 years ago. One match with FTR. One match with the Young Bucks. Retirement at 52 on a high note. They can (they should) make it a big event in Canada.

Yes, yes and yes. Lashley & Shelton both make Tim Horner look like Dusty Rhodes. They are also 50. The theme song is absolutely a crutch to make them seem more over than they actually are. The tag-team scene has never been deader. Even Private Party was much better, because they actually had these two awesome matches with the Young Bucks leading to their title win. Get the title off these two fossils, get MVP up with the program and feed Lashley to Swerve in a 10 minutes match. That's the last time I'm gonna repeat it Coach TK ! You want an AEW-cred "Hurt Syndicate" with actual great workers (and one guy who can talk his ass off too) ? Shane Taylor Promotion is right there. Fuck yes. I LOVE seeing Athena & Billie on AEW TV finally. Considering both Athena & Mercedes are entering the Owen, I could see them in the finals. Then Mercedes vs Timeless Toni at All In (it makes the most sense to have their biggest match possible at their biggest show). Athena needs a big match there too. The long-term booking has been really good lately, apart from a few spots (you know which ones). Love the fact a bunch of big names declare themselves for the tournament, making it important from the get-go, then they announce the brackets, then the tournament begins after Dynasty, leading to Double or Nothing, leading to All In. Booking more like NJPW is a good thing (overall). Loving the Cole/Garcia series. Loving the FTR angle. Toni Storm is doing an awesome job with Megan Bayne. Also, Great thing AEW actually signed Kevin Knight. Rumors about WWE having interest in him in the wakes of him being done with NJPW had me fear AEW had not learned its lessons by putting a freelancer on TV without securing a contract (remember Dragon Lee ?). Jay White surely made him shine.

Yeah, after a point, you can see he's working basically only tag and trios matches. And he never took a pin in those either. 😂

For the heck of it as I'm chilling on a Saturday morning, I checked the record of this particular bunch of people for singles matches. Malakai Black : 15 matches. 3 L to Cody Rhodes, Adam Copeland, Adam Cole Miro : 27 matches. 3 L to Sammy Guevarra, Orange Cassidy, Bryan Danielson (in 2021 and nothing after that point) Andrade : 31 matches. 9 L to PAC, Cody Rhodes, Sammy Guevarra, Darby Allin, Jay White, Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castignoli, Eddie Kingston, Miro Christian Cage : 27 matches.9 L to : Kenny Omega, Adam Cole, Jack Perry, Warldow, Darby Allin, Adam Copeland (twice), Swerve Strickland, Hook Adam Copeland : 20 matches. 3 L to : Christian Cage (twice, including the 12' "match"), Jon Moxley Claudio Castignoli : 45 matches. 12 L to Chris Jericho, Eddie Kingston, Orange Cassidy, Brody King, Eddie Kingston, Hangman Page, Will Ospreay, Swerve Strickland, PAC, Will Ospreay, Kommander, Shota Umino (Tokyo Dome joint show) Yeah, Malakai and Miro totally never refused to put people over 😎. Interesting to see the track record of Andrade and how he excited the company on a relatively high point, going to Arena Mexico and being a part of the CC. And yeah, Copeland needs to put guys over now. I know the argument is Sting never lost a match, but Copeland ain't Sting.

Blake Christian is terrific and is definitely someone they should develop and push eventually. Great in-ring worker and great slimy heel. MVP murdered the poor guy, really. I don't think interrupting him was very fair, but then again, if you wanna make your promos more organic than two guys doing monologues for 35 minutes, there you go. But yeah, at one point it became kinda awkward and really buried Bill & Keith, which in the end is counterproductive. AEW has been mostly great, but overall, the Hurt Syndicate are *still* a negative thus far. I have no idea how the MJF stuff is gonna go. Hopefully well... (but yes, there is also potential for a train wreck here) I wonder if they aren't slowly building to E&C vs FTR at All In. Which I would be perfectly ok with, considering the context. (every time I see Luther behind Timeless Toni, I remind myself that this guy was doing garbage matches in FMW during the Onita years. This has to be one of the most bizarre career arc ever. Even more bizarre when you consider he first did some kind of butler in the ill fated Brandi stable early on, if I remember correctly. How thing come together...)

Don't get me wrong, apart from the initial angle with Christian Cage, I think Copeland's stint thus far in term of matches and how he carries himself has been really fun. In term of in-ring, he absolutely came in with the right mindset. Now it would be nice if he actually put people over too. And not just guys like Mox, who don't need it. I totally agree on this. The Lashley case thus far has been terrible to me. But it's not too late to make it interesting if he's actually willing to, ya know, work. The angle with MJF this week is the first thing that is halfway compelling about him. Speaking of which, I really hope Bill & Keith win the tag titles. A Big Bill push is long overdue (talk about a guy who has totally flipped the former perception on its ass, as well as turned his life around), and Keith is really fucking good. Then they can go into maybe aa actual MJF vs Lashley feud, ya know (before Swerve gets his win back, maybe as champ, maybe that's a way to milk the Lashley signing), while Benjamin puts people over on ROH.

Adam Copeland is a 50 years old guy who spent his *entire career* in WWE. He's 100% a WWE guy in term of perception. Swerve & Toni Storm are not old. And, they only had a cup of coffee in WWE (3-4 years in a 15 years career for both, more or less), where they never became stars. So, totally not comparable cases at all (not the same age, not the same career arc, not the same status). Claudio ? Sure, he spent a long-ass time in WWE. He also had a strong indy cred before that. He was never a big star in WWE, but still, the most important point is : what has been his mindset ? Well, his mindset has been : work his ass off, have great matches and put people over. This is the difference between this and guys like Malakai Black or Miro (who were not *old* either), who did not want to put anyone over, as their single record attest. Billy Gunn was a gimmick add-on to a tag-team. Nobody will mix him up with being a legit star in AEW (like no one would pretend Hacksaw Duggan was a huge star in WCW). Plus, his match with Jay White remains to this day one of the worst thing ever on AEW TV. If Jericho had retired 20 years ago, there would not have been an AEW. (that is a fact, TK doesn't launch AEW with just the Elite, and CM Punk was too much of a chicken to take part in jumpstarting the promotion). And whatever people think about Jericho, he put over a shitload of people during his stint. Followups weren't always the best (understatement) but that's not his doing. In term of "don't sign old ex-WWE guys", Lashley is thus far the biggest waste of money in AEW history (Benjamin at least is putting some effort). He's 50 and he's been protected (shit, him getting a quick win on Swerve is some of the worse booking in AEW history) despite producing jackshit. So yeah this :

😂

Mostly this. I don't mind the angle of FTR turning on Copeland, but the less older WWE guy on AEW TV, the better. AEW has been really fucking good lately, and that's since they pivoted from the disastrous first shows of the year with all the older guys. Copeland can be useful, but he needs to stay the fuck away from the main event scene. A E&C double retirement match, I have no issue with. And so yeah, Brody King vs Kyle Fletcher is gonna murder too.

She was still under contract with Stardom (ends with them in April). She just worked a lot in the US last year. Yeah, that's awesome she's coming over. Also, Saraya is gone. Mutual and amicable apparently. Not surprised in the least. Her best stuff was being fun with Harley, basically. The Outcasts was the dirt worst, but at least it gave the jumpstart for Timeless Toni. Ironically her best match by far (not that hard) in the company was her last one, a garbage brawl with Hayter months ago. She had her moment in Wembley. So yeah, Saraya out and Mina in is a ++

FTR are absolutely turning heel. It's been a slow burn for the last few weeks. Nick Wayne basically cost Copeland the match. And Nick wayne is absolutely splitting from Christian soon. So yeah, could be Christian & Copeland getting their last stand together before retiring. But really. Kenny Omega vs Blake Christian is gonna murder.

So there you go. Dark Side is back. Thankfully it was less a super detailed look into Hell in a Cell but rather a study of Foley's psyche, of sorts. The cage stuff, I heard the story a zillion times. Still learned something though (or at least I think), is that the roof was attached with fucking zipties. Knowing two almost 300lbs guys were gonna strut and bump on it ? It has to be put in perspective with what happened not a year later with Owen in term of the company being completely irresponsible with the safety of their workers. Second thing I learned is that, well, Colette and Mick had their children watch it on TV. So yeah, the Rumble match was not the first case of them being terrible parents. Noelle stating the has*zero* recollection of her father wrestling because of the traumas, probably says a whole fucking lot. They actually talked about that awful Rumble match too. Dwayne was so totally irresponsible back then too. Also, maybe we did not know as much about concussion in term of long-term effects, but I feel there's a bit of hypocrisy about it too when this line is thrown. Everybody knew this shit was *bad*. The bittersweet conclusion of the episode (Foley worrying everyday about what is gonna happen to him in the next years) certainly was a right way to end this totally filler episode in the series. JR being part of it certainly was a surprise. Next week, a very fitting topic considering the times : a nazi.

Mina Shirakawa probably to AEW soon. Which is the least surprising news this side of Ricky Staaints going to WWE. She really wasn't gonna get pushed higher than she ever was in Stardom at this point, she really already worked a good chunk of last year in the US. And she is also 37, so it's now or never.

I like Finlay as a worker a lot. But Finlay IWGP World champ ? No way. Not after ZSJ and Goto's happy endings. My take : ZSJ wins the title back eventually during the year. Uemura or Tsuji win G1. (btw, Hikuleo has signed with WWE in Juy of last year. he has not worked a single match for them yet)