El-P

Ok, now I think we've reached the point where NXT really gets some revisionist history. Fact : for a while, NXT was the hot and cool brand of WWE. The show was the hot topic, the Takeovers were talked about as the best stuff the company was presenting, stealing the shows on Mania & SummerSlam week-ends, with some of the best matches in the history of the company. One of the most anticipated stuff in WWE was "Look who's in the crowd at Takeover !" and "When X or Y from NXT is gonna show up on the main roster ?" and when it did happen, it was always a big deal and those people were mostly received as stars (until they weren't, but that's an upcoming point). NXT absolutely was successful in creating buzz about workers and a coolness aura about its product and the people in it. Now, with times, it became obvious that the incompetence of Vince and his booking basically wasted 90% of the potential that was presented to him coming up from NXT. Some people tried to put the blame on NXT as they were not making "the right kind of workers", which is a completely ass-backward argument that shows that people have been watching WWE for far too long. When something is considered cool and has showed it can get over, you try and capitalize on its strenghts, not make it lesser or something else because that's not what you're used to. Case in point : Adam Cole, who looked like a big star in NXT including in the time when the coolness factor had dwindled down (because of several factors : the tiredness of watching everybody gets wasted on the main roster and being hurt by AEW mostly), was not even considered to be able to be one on the main roster. NXT has showed what he could be and absolutely had built him to that level. And what happens : Cole shows up to AEW and he looks like a star. Ditto Ales... Malakai Black, FTR and I would guess pretty soon a few others. So actually, NXT *was* successful in getting people over and presenting them like stars. The treatment they got in the main roster is what killed the buzz. If all the guys and girls who looked like star in NXT were pushed as such in WWE since 2014, the company would look very very different today. Now, this NXT2.0 may or may not develop talent. The thing is, it's also, and mostly, a weekly TV show, which for the longest time NXT wasn't, as a Network exclusive. As a TV show, it's more designed to actually get ratings, which is why the focus is on hot young women and tall guys, because that's what Vince believes works. And only after a few weeks, it's pretty obvious it doesn't work. Like, at all. As far as developing talent, who the hell knows, since it's not a given any of these people will ever become good working *that* show, working short matches and giving these awful scripted style promos. Sure Bron is pretty much a natural, more power to him in the main roster. But as far as a TV show that tries to attract a younger audience, which is what the program is designed to be about, it's just not working : lowest rating ever, median age 62.

Orange & Ishii vs Blade & Butcher was as WTF in its components as it was great. And of course Okada is not coming to work a mid-card feud if he ever shows up. He's all about Omega/Danielson. The HFO is a fine midcard heel act with a fine working manager, they always deliver the goods at the level they are supposed to. And they got the Bunny aka the Roman Reigns rating killer. But it was a great episode overall anyway, as AEW has been on a ridiculous roll with their TV shows lately. So much seeds for greatness in Punk vs MJF and Danielson vs Dark Order leading to Hangman. And of course the tease of the eventual split of Cole and the rest of the Elite (or Omega alone ?). Lio Rush could be AEW's ReyRey. I like the outfit, it makes him stand out even more. And although he's a natural heel, his work is so exciting and unique that he managed to turn himself babyface to the crowds in a matter of weeks. This guy is a keeper. Anthony Bowens has looked really strong in the past few weeks too. AEW doesn't do a bunch of rematches and that's a good thing. Intertwining feuds makes the whole thing more fresh and less predictable. At some point I guess we'll see Eddie and Punk again, and MJF is eventually gonna challenge Hangman after the Punk stuff but the Darby story isn't over either, and Danielson vs Omega II will eventually happen too. They have so much talent, it's better to mix it up. (I wonder, does Ashley Flair speaks Spanish ? Because Andrade's English really doesn't strike me as super elaborate... I mean, I used to be in a relationship with someone where we spoke English together because we didn't speak each others languages, but... dunno, just wondering)

Skulls.

But... but... but Sunny was the most downloaded personality on AOL god damnit !!! I know he's a corporate guy and all, but I can't imagine Triple H not finding some comfort in the fact NXT 2.0 has basically been a miserable failure after the first few weeks of curiosity... Wait for Motörhead to be heard again once his heart is in better shape.

In the most bizarre "in retrospect" moment I've watched lately, Taeler Hendrix's Gut Check was interrupted by... Joey Ryan. Which honestly was very well done. Considering how things turned out (Hendrix being an accuser of Jay Lethal and Joey Ryan being... well... ), this sequence is pretty odd to watch now. Also, the Claire Lynch promo the previous week was one of the most hilariously bad shit I've ever seen. Also, Austin Aries may be a douchebag and has turned into an anti-vaxx idiot, but his stuff at the time was pretty awesome, be it in-ring work or promos and connecting with the crowd. A breath of fresh air after the walk-of-death that has been Robert Roode's neverending reign of dullness and awful finishes. Bruce Prichard certainly made TNA a more focused and organized promotion, but damn the booking was still saturated with terrible, terrible ideas. Yeah, you're "telling a story", but that story kinda sucks. Hogan's first year in the company was a mess, but at least it was funny in a car-crash way. As it is, I'd say 2011 and the first half of 2012 were basically worse than 2010, which has been pretty much the pattern since 2008 (apart from those few months in late 2009).

With the Survivor Series being basically ignored by WWE, have they reached the point where, in their current business model, the only things that matter and are gonna get focused on are basically WrestleMania (and by extension and to some extents Royal Rumble) and the Saudi shows ? Survivor Series was quickly the lesser of the Big Four, but it was still historically a very important PPV, that has only gotten ridiculed by the awful brand vs brand supremacy booking in the last decade or so. This year has to be the absolute nadir in term of building to one of their historical Big Four though. I guess it doesn't even matter if people watch it or not anymore as long as the Peacock deal is safe.

Let him debut as the next member of the nWo first though.

A few years ago, WWE would probably have thrown silly money to get the guy to add to their NXT revolving door of already established super workers and to prevent AEW would getting him. Now ? Not too sure they would even consider it. Sure, he's young but by their standards he's also quite small. If I'm White and I look at how they screwed up 99% of the people they got their hands on, unless I get totally stupid money there's no way I step a foot in this toxic waste of a company. My guess is that playing between NJPW (who really doesn't want to lose a guy like him once the restrictions are lifted) and AEW is the way to go.

Oh, ok, I did not get it. Well, it would have taken too much time between her first appearance and the next PPV. Plus since Baker would have won anyway, having a long-ass build to a defeat for Ruby's first big match would not have done her much good probably.

Indeed. But it looks cool. Pro-wrestling is visual. That's what drives me crazy (well, not really but kinda) with all the stupid "lol movez" criticism that should have died sometime in the mid 00's when the meme got old already, back when the DVDVR board was still green. Pro-wrestling is also (and mostly, realistically, as the narratives really are repetitive as fuck and not all that interesting unless you add out of the ring storylines) a visual form, and a dynamic visual form, it's not a painting either. Moves matter. The form of the moves matter. Execution matters. Creativity matters. Inventing new forms of using your body, the body of your opponent, the space you're moving into (inside and outside, and using every element of the space that is the wrestling ring) matters. It's what makes pro-wrestling fun and instills new life into it, always. Of course some move can look too awkward or too stupid, that happens, especially if you don't find good solution to make them look cool (that damn jumping stunner by Cena for instance), but most pro-wrestling moves are stupid in themselves. Who runs into someone's boot and drops to the floor, and who gets hurt by someone breaking his collarbone while he's kinda dropping the back of his knees onto your throat ? Yeah Hogan, I'm looking at your dumbass offense. Despite its more than iffy physics, the Destroyer is a commonly used move now, and not even a finisher anymore (and why should it be unless someone makes it a finisher again, this is a 15 years old move now, bitching about it is like bitching about a superplex in 1990). Anyway. Kinda went off the topic slightly, but that's what I do, I rant. And yeah, the Meltdown is a big part of what made Wrath look like the coollest mofo in the company for a month or two, before Kevin Nash decided that he had to get over good old Adam Bomb before killing off Goldy.

That show was a reminder of how much Ospreay & White have been missed on NJPW shows. Ishii vs White was awesome. I have no idea how Ishii keeps on going on like that, he legit looks like an old guy when he walks to the ring. It's gonna be striking on Dynamite how small he actually is too. Okada vs Buddy Matthews, Ospreay vs Narita and Moose vs Robinson were all excellent matches in their own way. Narita is gonna be so great, hopefully not given a stupid gimmick though. Robinson's contract is ending soon I believe, maybe it's time for him to seek other options, I don't see him get much further in NJ. That being said, way too many people in AEW already, and WWE is just cursed. Matthews certainly did himself good for getting a high profile match like that. I guess NJ is the way to go, he doesn't have the WWE style stench like some did when they left (Cardonna at first). Alexander vs Uemura was a very good opener, as expected. Alexander is one of the wrestlers of the year to me, just terrific every time around. Did not watch the rest. I'm already way oversaturated now. Too much wrestling available, and too much really good pro-wrestling to boot. Gotta take a rest. Production sucked though. The sound quality was about as good as listing to a podcast on Winamp or Realplayer, and during the main event the announcing just disappeared for a while. For such a huge company as NJPW, this was pretty amateurish. Shingo vs Okada and then whoever wins against Ospreay, well you can't complain about those WK main events.

A 1-2 punch of Danielson/Punk would indeed be pretty great for establishing Hangman. Omega will probably take some time off, as he's been working on a very banged up body for a while now and he's been killing it all year long. And when he comes back, Danielson II has to happen. I agree with the idea Hangman's reign probably won't be a super long one like we've seen with Omega, it doesn't need to be. MJF would absolutely make sense to me too as the next guy getting the title and the first pillar to do it. Also, at some point, you know we'll get that Wardlow "Batista" turn and babyface push against his former boss, and he could be the first hoss worker to get the title (Miro & Keith Lee, if he signs and his health allows it, have a shot to). The one thing about the AEW title, is that it's not gonna be bounced around for the sake of it or because "you deserve it !", so the people getting it must be very meaningfull.

Yeah, I got a very Austin vs Bret or even Bret vs Micheals 97 feel with the promos. It was fascinating to see how the crowd got with one of the other during the match too. Now, we finally got Hangman as the champ, and he's really the first AEW original main-eventer. One thing great about AEW and their world title reigns is that they all have been very distinct. Jericho's was very different from Mox's, which was very different from Omega's. And as Jericho was the Terry Funk of sorts, with a heavy WWE background and Mox was the WWE outcast/rebel, Omega was the first former non-WWE main eventer getting to the position and now we got to the point of having a guy who has never been in the top spot before. The next step I guess will be one of the pillars, although at some points I could see either Danielson or Punk getting a title reign (although that doesn't seem needed). What will Hangman's reign be like ? Was the chase better than the catch ? There's plenty of heel they can line-up to build a strong reign, Miro, Andrade, Black, Cole, MJF. The dynamic is gonna change drastically and I'm pretty excited about it, although I won't lie, I'm gonna miss Omega & the Bucks on top, as the Elite's reign of terror in 2021 as been my favorite thing in pro-wrestling in decades (probably since 1997).

It did not *distract* from the finish and wasn't unnecessary. It was the main spot that *led* to the finish. It was not just a neat callback spot, the entire story of the Hangman splitting for real with his friends came from that key moment. Also, the Bucks were pretty much perfect here, they absolutely did not overact, let's not pretend it was a "Sorry I love you" heavy handed spot, because it was just not. At some point, it's like we're you're watching a show from Season 2 or 3, yeah you won't have all of the details and that's ok but frankly, that's not on the show to make it simplistic for everyone to get everything. The Elite stuff is all about depths, like the subtle Ibushi reference that was made by Hangman. Depths is a good thing. It's what made Hangman's win so much better in the grand scheme of things and it keeps on pushing the story of the Elite further. Like it's been said, the big apex is gonna be one day all of those guys together again as babyfaces. Now we get Hangman vs Danielson. Can't wait. Because they did not want to beat Ruby again. And they do not want to take the belt off Baker yet. Basic. Quite frankly, as much as I've enjoyed Soho, to me she hasn't exactly set the world on fire as far as in-ring goes and having a catchy song will only go so far as far as getting over with this kind of hardcore audience. The one who should beat Baker is Thunder Rosa, really. She's one if not their best women worker (maybe it's Deeb) and she's one of the most over too. And she beat Baker in that "unsanctioned" match. She has to be the next champ. The issue with the women's matches is that, apart from a few select times (Baker vs Rosa brawl, Shida vs Deeb II, some early Riho matches), they absolutely can't follow the average level of the work. I mean, I had watched the Stardom Kawasaki Wars show a few days before, and holly hell the gap is still *huge* on average (I've been really really impressed by the average level of the promotion, and the peaks are really high too). I really like Conti, but as shown here she's still green. Ditto Anna Jay, who has come back from the injury seemingly hesitant. Soho is not the answer either. They need more super solid veteran women to work with the younger ones and more women with strong characters and personality to get over. Taya Valkyrie is soon available...

MJF vs Darby was great. Overachieved a great deal, MJF was terrific. Miro vs Danielson was great. Really smart to have Danielson win so as to add a bit more doubt to the main event. FTR vs Lucha Brothers was great. They finally found a way to mesh up together. Cole & Bucks vs Cage & Jurassik was great. As expected in creative ways. Christian is still kinda crazy. Kingston vs CM Punk was great and insanely intense (the Cena spot had me dying too). Omega vs Hangman was great (and that long time storytelling has been the best thing in pro-wrestling in the last two years). Those alone make it an all-time great PPV. Andrade & Black vs Cody & PAC was fun because of the interesting dynamic, and it had some great moments, but Cody's booking is gonna be a headcase. Baker vs Conti was pretty good overall, they obviously still are learning, both of them. The 10 men clusterfuck had some crazy moments and enough fun shit (the only time ever I enjoyed a claw spot) for a car crash. I wish PVZ would have been there to fuck up some Inner Circle jerks though. Even without the allegations, Jay..... (WHITE WHITE WHITE !!!!!! oh.... ok) Lethal would have been meh and deflating considering who's out there. The fact the first thing he did was a Ric Flair impersonation was hilarious in the wrongest way possible. Ishii on Dynamite ? I'm fucking there. Really an awesome PPV overall. The Hangman final, between the Bucks not doing the leg grab (that's storytelling people) and the Dark Order celebration (with Hangman throwing the beer away) was pretty much pro-wrestling perfection. (and no, I don't mind a 4 hour PPV considering they are only doing four a year and they have been mostly great thus far. Plus I don't watch it live anyway, FITE works great, just made a one hour pause in the middle, got me through a gloomy Sunday afternoon, just perfect. I did not realize that November 13 was Eddie's death anniversary, although I finally got it when Jericho did his tribute, as November 13 in France is the anniversary of a whole other very tragic event)

That line-up is sick. Just sick. Something for everyone. Great matches galore on paper. And the perspective of what it can open following it up is mind expanding. I would watch it live if I wasn't feeling sleepy before midnight these days. Gonna make a gloomy Sunday a perfect day, hopefully.

Eddie Kingston is awesome.

Shingo Takagi's title reign really has been the saving grace of NJPW this year. That ZSJ match was next level great. With Okada getting back into the groove of being the GOAT (yeah, him too, that's too many for one GOAT spot I know), the WK match could be one for the ages. I would not object Okada bringing back the old belt he's carrying around if he won the title, which he probably will. I mean, that World Title belt has been cursed. Can't wait until Danielson finally gets to do those NJPW shows, hopefully in a not so far futur. So many dream matches to do, but Takagi and ZSJ maybe are the ones I look forward to the most. Hopefully they eventually happen.

24 years ago ! 24 ! Way to make you feel old as fuck.

They really missed they opportunity to call John Cena "John" back in the days. Would have been money.

Former WCW tag team champion Judy Bagwell passed away.

Actually, it is not at all, for several reasons. First, it is not 2010 anymore, and IMPACT is not trying to position itself as an alternative to WWE. They are a small company and they know exactly where they are on the landscape, they are the equivalent of a small territory from back in the days. They are a big fish in a small pond company and are happily functioning that way. Second, the women tag team championship, although have been made important in the company's lore, are still the lowest in the totem pole. IMPACT World Title > Knockout's World Title > X Division title > Tag Team Titles > Knockout's Tag Team Titles. Plus, the introductory angle was that they basically did not deserve a title shot because they were not even in the company, but they came in like stars (as their intro showed). But it's not like if Eva Marie showed up and defeated Deonna Purrazzo, not at all. I absolutely did not see the Moose thing coming, and I was shocked like crazy when it happened, and I was glad I was because after 31 years of watching pro-wrestling I can still get tricked in the best way. Totally made sense if you watched Moose's entire arc since the ECW3 feud where he has become that über-focused killer and opportunist with no conscience whatsoever. Just amazingly well done too. Christian vs Alexander was excellent too (although Alexander had better matches this year honestly). And now we get Suzuki trading shots with Alexander and soon Mickie James vs Mercedes Martinez. Fuck yes.

Plenty of people have been doing that spot for decades. I think the first guy I saw do that one, or the equivalent, was Owen Hart (who actually was doing a kneedrop, which looked wicked). Yeah, I agree this kind of spot looks stupid (yeah, get your arm away already), but then again most pro-wrestling does. I mean, once an irish whip is ok... Speaking of which, it always strikes me as an amazing case of cognitive dissonance (that's the technical term for "people being full of shit" too sometimes) when Christian Cage is praised for being this awesome pro-wrestler with the greatest knack for small details and shit (which he is, to a point), yet his finisher is one of the most obviously and awkwardly cooperative shit you can think of, especially the way he sets it off with this really completely physically illogical way that kinda looks like an old NWA title match strenght test reversal where the guy who is actually losing is controlling the body of the guy who's winning to the point he's basically dropping his head down... Just, complete nonsense. I mean, Tommy Rogers used to do it but would basically hook the arms and work a super quick reverse and drop down, which looked way better (quite more dangerous probably, although I don't think he ever injured anyone), but the way Christian (or Chelsea Green) does it always look awkward as all hell and physically, well, completely impossible if the other guy just doesn't go for it all the way.

Catching up with the bullshit (and the great and fun pro-wrestling, but that's not in this thread), I hate to tell you people I told you so, but I told you so. Referring to at least two people I used to care about in other places, namely Scarlett Bordeaux and Taya Valkyrie. When Scarlett signed two years ago (TWO years ago, amazing), I pretty much said WWE would not get her character and waste her. I was still way off in how much they would. TWO years and they did absolutely *nothing* with her. She was coming off an IMPACT/indy stint where she was quite a hot (pun intended) character, and they reduced her to basically an animatronic for her boyfriend's entrance. When you add the fact the boyfriend in question's stint has been a miserable failure in every way (when even IMPACT never used him as a main event player, you know there was a disconnect here), it gets even worse. And know here she goes, having wasted two years of her career basically in term of visibility (yeah, I realize she was in WWE, but she was doing nothing apart from being associated for the guy who will forever be linked to the death of the formerly hot brand). How about Taya, who was a total star in IMPACT, she had everything going on, a great look, promo ability, tons of character, could work heel or babyface, a veteran worker. At 38 years old, I pretty much figured she was "too old" for the WWE. And after another dumb renaming, she's gone in a bunch of months after apparently having been lied to about opportunities. If I'm AEW, I jump on her, because as showed by some of the latest TV matches, they still badly need workers like her (I mean, I like Soho and all, but she hasn't set the world on fire as far as in-ring work goes to me, and Anna Jay & Tay Conti are still green as grass, not to mention Jade) and she has that total star potential as far as her character goes. I'd love to see her get that big mainstream stint after she was so good (and got better and better) in both LU and IMPACT. That whole "don't sign girls older that 25 years old" is pretty rich coming from the company who has marketed a "woman's revolution", as pretty clearly the thing in NXT2.0 is pushing hot young women to try and attract a younger male audience. Meanwhile, Mickie James has been killing it in IMPACT and her next challenger is Mercedes Martinez, and both are past 40 years old and they are gonna have probably a terrific match on the next special. I guess in WWE, you're a star if you're a 50 year old dude from a previous era, but you can't hire girls older than 25... Yeah, talent relation really sounds at a great point. Agism is only about women I guess. Keith Lee. Well, I have no idea why people gave WWE the benefit of the doubt each and every time they fucked up with him. The latest of which was giving him the old Bearcat name. Keith Lee never had a chance in WWE because they would not let him be Keith Lee and work like Keith Lee. Hopefully he's another guy who shows up in AEW and demonstrate how incompetent WWE is. With ROH basically becoming a glorified indie, it's not the best of time to get released, but I guess we'll see a new influx for the indie scene, as not everyone will get picked up by AEW or IMPACT. But hey, thanks to Peacock and the Saudi money, they are idiot proof. Just sell this shit to Disney already, can't be much worse (and then I think about the last Star Wars trilogy, oh yeah, sure it can !)

Well, maybe we'll end up having this Charlotte Flair vs Tessa Blanchard match after all...