El-P

Rousey doesn't need to be in the Rumble, but the Rumble badly needs Ronda to be in it. I would totally throw Bron in the Rumble and give him the monster push there. Odds on some guy who was in AEW showing up and the WWE fanboys going crazy about it ("lul AEW iz dead" and the likes) ?

I've seen the interview he did on Twitch the other week, he looked to be doing fine and pretty happy to do his music stuff. Came off really well and likable too in that more intimate setting (he was with Reba & Matt). Yeah, his past played against him it seems (which is understandable too). As far as getting a Hardy reunion in AEW, why the hell not at this point. That Danhauser stuff gives me Andy Kaufman vibes. This PWO regular approves Danhauser already (now let's see him in the ring).

Yeah, this really has been my take from what I saw of his TNA stint as the lead of creative (6 months left, won't get better now). Amazing that he has been able to convince people he was more than a useless yes-man during the first years of his podcast because he's (was) a good storyteller. His comeback to WWE (and his MLW stint where apparently the workers there thought Corny got modern wrestling more than he did, ponder that for a second) really has exposed him completely too.

On this week's IMPACT, Dan Lambert was showed in the crowd (referred to as an "AEW star") during the Jonah squash of Swinger. Now, since Jonah is only short-time with IMPACT, could that mean Lambert could bring Jonah in AEW eventually ?

Mickie James talking about winning the Royal Rumble and going to Mania for a title vs title match on IMPACT was pretty surreal. Of course this is not happening and D'Amore not being an idiot, the segment did not end on that note but instead planted the seeds for many upcoming title defenses, including Tasha Steelz and maybe Chelsea Green (I can sense a hell turn in the futur maybe). Still, between this, the ROH invasion and Gresham having killer matches on the show, this is quite the interesting beginning of the year.

Not only have I never seen Danhauser, but I have none of those ref either. So, if I ever get that guy (no idea), everyone can.

Yeah, Roode was certainly the most solid in-ring talent, but he was a mediocre promo and had no charisma at all (the "intense" shit he was pulling when he attacked Dixie was hilariously laughable). Plus, it seems like Brucie told him to work like a dull 00's WWE guy, stripping him of everything that made hin good before. He was a great feeding and bumping heel and dynamic offensive babyface. And now here's there working at a snail pace, putting people to sleep with prolonged rest-holds, working as dull-as-dirt as possible. Very few times would he display his former spirited self. And the cheap, shit finish in *every* main event because Brucie's idea was that Roode was lucky (not getting that at this point, people would just annoyed by the booking). Awful stuff that goes for months and months and months and NEVER FUCKING ENDS. The audience was SO ready for Storm to win at Lockdown and they had this typical WWE idiotic shit finish. After that point it's obvious they don't have any plans and just want to have Roode on top until Jeff Hardy takes it, Aries almost looks like an accident. Final Battle is ROH. Yes, after they have this great blow-off match at Bound for Glory (only Storm coud get it out of his former partner), they put them back against each other like the following week (how dumb is that ?), Storm wins the three way at Turning Point, but then they put them BACK AGAINST EACH OTHER AGAIN on TV with the title shot on the line and Roode wins, because of course he does, leading to yet another super boring PPV main event with a shit finish involving Aces & Eights (especially since they have to follow AJ vs Daniels tearing it up again for the 1000th times). And the first PPV of 2013 is a three-way with Aries and ROODE, AGAIN. Now I get why people totally crapped on his NXT run. The "It Factor" tights never get old in its ridiculousness, because if there's something that Bobby Roode never had, it's the It Factor, whatever that is. Super solid hand for sure and excellent tag team wrestler. Single main eventer ? Fuck no, not even as a big fish in a small pond.

Agreed. They should replay that shit endlessly and make it a staple, cult moment of the promotion for the ages. I replayed it quite a few times. In AWE.

Yeah. Except it was the wrong guy. No charisma, dreadful boring sub-Randy Orton-like long-ass matches with shit finish *every time*. Bobby Roode was never a main-eventer. The charismatic guy in Blood Money, the guy who could cut a promo and connect was James Storm. Fans were ready for Storm and then they decided to not do the switch for whatever reason, because it's obvious Aries wasn't designed to be the guy at all to finally get the belt off Roode. They just noticed he was getting over as fuck all despite being a heel so they actually gave the him belt, then he had an afterthought of a reign because Aces & Eights was the focus and gotta pass that belt to the ex-WWE guy. The fact Brucie told in his podcast back in 96 or so that Roode was gonna be a huge star in WWE (he just made the jump to NXT) shows how delusional and out of touch he was. And is, obviously. Damn. I know I was pretty much out of the game back then apart from watching the yearly Mania big matches and I don't remember anything from that period, but it looks deadfull indeed. Kinda crazy when you put things in perspective that TNA was under Brucie and ROH under Corny in the *early 10's* and I wonder why it did not work (yeah, those Young Bucks suck and will never make it, uh Corny) ? As far as pre-Shield WWE, the less said the better I guess. Lord Tensai, Alberto Del Rio... Holy shit. The Shield saved that company quality-wise for a few years.

Nothing is creepier and scarier than a dressed up clown though. Wardlow looks like a meathead who does a lot of push ups and lifts heavy, not a monster. A clown scares the fuck out of children, adults and any reasonable human being. Dressed up clowns are the most traumatic monsters.

Yeah, I saw those. But nothing come close to the ladder match with Jeff Hardy later in the year though. Just unbelievable stuff. As far as TNA being any good in 2012... well my thoughts are in the classics TNA thread already and... But yes, those few weeks when Aries got the major push was the only time where you could see the light and maybe the prospect of a positive change before, oh well... I absolutely consider Aries. He may be a douchebag and an anti-vaxx idiot, but that's a whole lot less bad than tons of people who are being talked about. I would need to watch the rest of his TNA runs (I mean, I've seen the ending of his last one, pretty hilarious stuff in term of douchebagery) and also some ROH to be quite sure, but yeah, the guy was just too good.

Probably Tanahashi, yes, but damn if Austin Aries doesn't have a case. Awesome all year long in a very non-favorable environment (TNA) to the point he legit looks like the greatest worker anywhere.

Aksana ? The only thing I can think about is this : Christophe Agius checking out her ass, she remarks it and he's embarrassed. The way he told the story is his podcast was hilarious. Was she even a notable name at an point during the Divas era ?

Maybe the worst major TNA angle. No, it has to be, considering there's still almost ONE YEAR of this shit. The good thing is that I can fast forward through shitloads of stuff coming up (let's be real, I'm speedrunning now). It's interesting in hindsight, when Brucie is the head of creative for the worst era of WWE ever in term of creative to see that indeed, he was shit 10 years before in TNA already. Sure, he made the promotion more focused. The issue is that his ideas are bad, dated and boring. The Bobby Roode (WHY ?) never-ending stretch of main events is unbearable. And then Aces & Eights is lame as fuck and soon begins to be unbearable too as they take more and more importance and time on the shows. In a way it's worse than Russo's last few years because Russo's stuff could have car crash, so-stupid-it's-funny appeal (like Zombi Angelina Love), plus nothing lasted too long. Brucie likes to drag his stuff for ever and repeats the same matches and combination again and again and again and again, with regular shit finishes. Strikes a bell ? When Austin Aries got over like crazy as a babyface, it seemed like the company could get interesting, but in a month he had to turn back heel and pass the belt to Jeff Hardy because of course he had, and then all the momentum was lost and we're back to fucking Bobby Roode in main events by the end of the year. Meanwhile, you had AJ Styles & Chris Daniels slithering through shit booking (the Claire Lynch botched angle which was so stupid it's funny, in that case, but wasn't Brucie's idea apparently) to having yet another bunch of terrific matches. And Gail Kim carrying the mostly thrashed women division when called upon it. Joseph Park was the best stuff Abyss ever did, not that it translated into good matches. No wonder the company finally kinda collapsed in 2013, "carried" (down the gutter) by months of Aces & Eights bullshit and ill-advised "go on the road with a cold product" move. So yeah, Brucie's booking of TNA in 2012 = BAD. And the same guy is running WWE creative in 2022 under Vince. Yup...

Answer : no. A bunch of haphazard taping from Mexico dating back from last December with half-assed vignettes with crappy pretend LU production. The fact they called it "Azteca Underground mini-series" when really it's a bunch of two months old tapings at Crash shows speaks volume of how cheap and carny this company is. What a waste of Cesar Duran and Karlee Perez's characters (not to mention Alicia Atout, who was supposed to work for AEW when they debuted). I did not know MSL was the booker, but I guess this explains that. And they have enough money to pay for those big-ass lawyers to sue WWE ? Something doesn't register here.

Never saw Danhausen, don't have the slightest idea of whom he is. But two important things happened when he showed up : 1/ crowd popped pretty big and chanted his name. 2/ announcers popped and recognized him and made him seem like he was someone. So, going by perception only, I was like : ok, I have no idea who this guy is, but he must be someone, cool. On the other hand, I have no idea why Private Party are the n°1 contender when they haven't been on TV for ever. I know it's probably Dark, but the idea that packing victories against JTTS makes you n°1 contender is pretty ridiculous to me. That's the random WCW charm aspect of AEW I guess. I also have no idea why Britt Baker cuts a (entertaining, although all the sports ref flew high over my head obviously) long-ass promo about nothing and no angle nor new feud comes out of it. No idea why Mox & Danielson weren't around on Beach Break. I did enjoy Cody & Sammy having a ridiculously brutal and spectacular ladder match and Cole & Orange having a slow-burn garbage match. Leila & Velvet was also a cool little match, I enjoy those two. When is Vickie's contract getting to its end ? I mean, really now... MJF vs Punk is certainly a super hot angle. Match should deliver. Pretty intrigued about the finish of that one too.

Gory self-mutilation of a citrus. Cody trying to die again in a gimmick match. More CM Punk & MJF promos. Sounds good to me.

Lady of Silence indeed. Holy fuck. The question is, does anyone has some hidden gems to ponder her case for the GWE.

Vince probably thinks Sami looks Irish. That's WWE track record for you, since most of the time, it's actually what they do, when they actually don't do even dumber (just last week with Gunther. A simple Google search before trademarking it would have done the job)

Wait, the idea that WWE would propose a stereotypical gimmick to a muslim named Mustafa Ali is a stretch now ? Of course we don't know, but come on, it's at the very least a very believable possibility. Speaking of guys asking for their release, Brian Kendrick has asked for his too.

Jeez. Dire indeed. Wait until she gets thrown out in 5 minutes because they don't want to put the focus on the IMPACT champion. I wonder if they'll let her come out to her IMPACT theme, which she has said she wants to. Wait, so no Sasha and Bailey either ? Yikes.

Really ? Why do you think so, comparatively to some of the really dull, uneventful Rumbles that have be common in the last few years on the men's side ? Also, who the hell in winning since basically Roman vs Lesnar is a lock for Mania ? Doesn't it make for a secondary Rumble by default ? BTW, the women's Rumble is pretty hilarious considering they have to dig up in the past to get to 30 after they fired so many people. The IInspiration actually said they would not appear. Getting some of the people you just fired to fill up spots in really telling of how unprepared they are. There is gonna be some bad "legends" and some green-ass girls from NXT too. Sounds like a car wreck to me. Of course none of this matters if Rousey just shows up and wins.

The same. I would enjoy a team of big maulers to be pushed, plus they look different. Funny how after that match with the Young Bucks, you had people going about how the Varsity Club should be pushed and given the belts, as they looked like stars and how their work had improved so much... totally not seeing the obvious reason why. I still think they have potential, although Pillman has not looked very good lately, but that one occurence where they looked a hundred times better than they actually are was all the Young Bucks being the greatest US tag team ever and working their magic. Like, it was so obvious.

This show had Jarrett, PCO, Waltman, all of whom where favorites of mine when I was watching WWF Superstars in 1993, so yeah...

Yeah, I always thought the Stroke looked bad 90% of the times (only guys like AJ Styles could make it look really good), but this one looked terrific and really brutal. I loved the ominous remix of his classic TNA theme too, really fitting the character.