El-P

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)

Female talents are *not happy*. People who have signed a long term contract with TNA not too long ago must scratch their head about what's coming next. Ace Austin and Gia Miller should get the fuck away and show up in AEW. (yeah, that's just me throwing wishfull thinking, I now)

Yeah, I saw that. No, I meant, why do you think they fired her ? WWE is taking control. Whether it's for a buy-in at one point or just use it as a way to show how much they're not going for a monopoly *wink wink nudge nudge* and just keep it as a "friendly" promotion they can use, they are taking control. Which is why I would be shocked if Gail Kim ended up in WWE after this. Delirious had been in creative for a while, but I think he was just part of the creative team. Booking has sucked all year long last year, and has been especially shitty since last Summer. Which is another case of actual good product having zero to do with popularity. Anywoo, this sucks for the landscape. BTW, have you seen GCW is running a WWEID tournament during Mania week. Lauderdale and Effy sure got the most out of trashing AEW and TK. Well, their cred as "outlaw promotion" is completely shot, but there you go.

Was about to post in the other thread, which is much more designated at this point. TNA is being gutted from the inside. All the people who actually contributed to redeem its image and make it a good place for people to get work, and actually built to the rebranding last year which had tons of hype, have been fired. Last episode I watched was the departure of Josh Alexander, which I thought was a good point to stop. They can talk as much as they want about bigger houses and shit, but the product itself has been the worse in forever in the last 8 months. The new audience is WWE fans wanting to see the Hardies do their nostalgia tour and play the hits. You can hear "Yeah" and "Yeet" and other stupid WWE chants during cold matches. They still get NXT scrubs while NXT is getting their biggest names. Joe Hendry was already annoying and dull for a long while now, but as a champ, the first week were downright appalling. I see they signed fucking Elijah and the Colons. The last big angle is Nick Nemeth and his idiotic brother turning on Matt Hardy. It's back to the old ways of basically being all about old WWE guys and rejects + now filling spots with underneath NXT people. They actually play into the IRL heat of Tessa Blanchard, which is certainly an idea. I have zero regret dropping them off my viewing routine. Gail would probably be a good add to AEW's backstage environment. Considering her history with WWE and the fact she got axed while WWE is basically taking control (Dreamer is 100% WWE compatible), I would be shocked if she ended up anywhere close. Maybe D'Amore will hired her for his MLP project, since it's all about Canadians.

Why do you think TNA fired her ?

Damn, you got me good with that one. 😂 The induction of Kamala *now* would be in itself another case of "jokes write themselves at this point". I was joking about how they should induct Col. DeBeers, but really in term of incredibly racist gimmick, Kamala was up there, especially since he actually had a run on top against Hogan. The fact the guy spoke ill of the company for being financially exploited and they would induct him after his death would be an amazing 1-2 punch of whitewashing *and* putting focus on a black guy being portrayed in the most racist way imaginable this side of Saba Simba. Like I said, jokes are writing themselves these days, it's not even funny.

Pretty much this. And Mercedes Moné vs Athena. Maybe they'll do it sooner than All In, since maybe it'll be hard to keep them apart until July, but this match is absolutely happening and this is everything I ever wanted. It's possible they do Mercedes vs Toni at All In for all the marbles. The best worker vs the biggest star. Would make sense.

This vignette is... so perfect for 2025 WWE. And I'll leave it at that. 😇 (it's also incredibly terrible for reasons that should be obvious to anyone)

They don't even pretend anymore. Soon enough they'll have the Tate brothers in the audience. I'm sorry for anyone still genuinely enjoying the product despite its political agenda, but WWE (well TKO as a whole) are a full-on fascism supporting company at this point. Pro-wrestling of course is a just a blip on the radar, but this is just the worst timeline...

And Nagata going for the title against Goto at 56 was indeed beautiful. But not as beautiful as Taichi's emotional match against his best friend ZSJ. I'm guessing David Finlay wins it all. Shota Umino doesn't feel like the right move now despite the so-called "redemption road", with him going bald and bland. Unless Finlay manages to get him over big by being a dick, which he's really good at.

Football (soccer for ya 'mericans) culture probably. I read the results/reports. Wow. Going to Brüssel (which is an awesome city BTW) to do *that* show ? Considering how expensive tickets are, I understand the crowd wanting to at least entertain themselves...

Also, if Nakamura is done soon, like it seems to be the case, what's next ? The guy had exactly ONE great match when he debuted in 2016, against Sami Zayn, then apparently coasted for his entire WWE career (I mean, he had two disappointing matches with AJ Styles and that was like 8 years ago). Last time I saw him was against Mutoh in NOAH and he looked completely toasted. If anything, that makes one last Tanahashi vs Nakamura match possible, which probably would be quite the event (also possibly quite sad to watch, despite Tana just having a great match against Goto). AEW ? Don't think so. Unless Nak actually wants to have a last ride in the sunset working his ass off one last time, which I really don't think is credible at this point. He always was a "big match only" kinda guy anyway. Okada vs Nakamura grimacing their way into a comedy match in 2026 would certainly be *something*. Not sure anyone really wants to see that though.

Well, you sure jinxed it for everyone, now, did you ? Going from Takeshita vs Mike Bailey/Josh Alexander to TAFKA Baron Corbin vs Thom fucking Latimer for the NWA title is not even a drop, it's straight into the abyss shit. It sure started well. And I sure have zero interest in *those* cards now.

Cobb is still announced for NJPW Chicago show in April. And he doesn't have any title to not drop (like Vaquer and Ricky Saints. BTW, Omos never made his way back on TV, so him not dropping the NOAH title was just typical WWE fuckery) so he should probably finish his dates. I will sure miss him on NJPW cards. I was always surprised he wasn't pushed a bit stronger than he was. At 42, it's now or never to get a contract in a major US company. He would have fit better in AEW stylistically. I guess WWE thinks anyone from an island can be put in the Bloodline or something.... Hey, it was fun, from Matanza Cueto to a bunch of great G1 Climax. Fénix, I don't see it happening. They have done jackshit with Dragon Lee (and no, Speed doesn't count, who the fuck cares about working 2 minutes matches on the nazi network ?) and he's younger (and at this point better) than Fénix. Putting him with Penta makes them the old Lucha Brothers, and in WWE they are going nowhere great. In single, he'll probably have a 6 months honeymoon period, but after that point, it probably gonna be a nothing special run. I most probably have seen the best of them for the last ten years. Damn, LU was a long ass time ago.