El-P

Isn't that what they are gonna become anyway ? I mean, we've reached the level of them doing an angle basically as a product placement for a Netflix show. They have their huge grossing week-end with Mania every year, they have their BloodMoney shows... and really nothing else matters.

Agree. And the thing is, WWF in 1999 was hot as hell. But it also fucking sucked. Because Austin was Austin and The Rock was getting to that level, people seem to forget that the TV was actually fucking awful. There was mostly no good wrestling anymore, Russo was all over the place until he left and it really showed, I can't think of one particulary great match or even one great angle during that year (no, "It was me all along" doesn't qualify). I can remember tons of really awful ones (yes, "It was me all along" does qualify, so does Bossman vs Al Snow, so does Test & Stephy are dating, so does Sable turns heel, so does everything involving the Ministry of Darkness, so does Shane-O Mac doing his first idiotic stunt). It slowly got better once Russo left and then Angle & Jericho got on TV and then in 2000 the Radicals showed up and boosted up the average in-ring work level, but man, 1999 WWF TV was garbage. It was hot garbage, it was popular garbage, but it was garbage.

Vince had been the N°1 heel in the company for a good year. He was an integral part of the promotion and a top 5 character still. Not a "worker", of course, but still a key character at this point. Arquette was an actor promoting a shitty movie. There's no comparison whatsoever. That being said, I've told the story a countless times now, Vince winning the Rumble 1999 is what killed the WWF fan in me (which I had been since 1990). So....

Rollins talking shit to the guy while he's being held down by four guys is pretty basic heel work but it does the job.

Prosecute ? I say send that mofo to the Performance Center. He can already do a better spear than most. Plus that's a punition anyway.

Kross & Scarlett could be back there too also. They had quite the act in Mexico and Kross could play giant tossing luchadors around, which was one of his best role.

Kinda surprised they haven't announced Deonna defending the Reinas de Reinas championship either. A cool thing would be a surprise match between her and Taya. Wishfull thinking I know but I'm sure Konnan would book Taya in a heartbeat.

I wonder... If Stephy ever divorces from Trip, will she wish him the best in his futur endeavors ?

No offense to him, but considering what he's bringing to the table (not much, although he's better than he was in WWE) and the talent available, like Jonah who had a great debut doing an Invader III style destruction on Josh Alexander (complete with Alexander coughing up blood, kinda gross), sorry Mr. W but I don't have any desire to see more of you in IMPACT Wrestling. But hey, there's NWA and MLW right there, like, over there where I'm not watching... Moose vs Eddie Edwards was quite the spectacle. Brutal stuff. A bit on the long and slower side, especially since they sold so much (but really who will blame them ?), and although Edwards having a notable match really isn't a surprise, especially in this setting as he's got a Dreamer/Foley will to take punishment, Moose really is the low-key great big match worker of the year. He had great matches against Willie Mack (I believe it was this year, right ?), Rich Swann, Kenny Omega, Tomohiro Ishii, Juice Robinson and now Eddie Edwards. And basically is always delivering. He's also got that awesome presence and has become a really terrific seller. Really a terrific year for Moose. Austin vs Sabin and James vs Martinez were also very good. Ultimate-X women match announced for Hard to Kill (this is gonna get tricky), alongside Mickie James vs Deonna return match. Plus I guess Jonah vs Alexander. And I get the return of Wrestler House on the weekly shows. Damn IMPACT, not many people watch but those who do really get some good shit.

So. Judging from this thread, there was no call-back to Montreal. It was all about the Gobbledy Gooker.

At this point it's damage control. No way he was expecting to get booed out of buildings. Sure, now he has to acknowledge it, he actually has now, but honesty although it is kinda fun to see Cody's matches for that reason, AEW did not need the Cena reaction for who used to be one of their biggest babyface. That only makes things a bit more awkward for straight heels that aren't supposed to get cheered ever.

"Charlotte screwed Charlotte"

It has definitely hurt Cody's relationship with the AEW audience. It's not the only factor (the infamous Ogogo program with the tone death promo was also a factor), but it has hurt him.

Actually it was not, because Darby was all about "I'm just going to out-wrestle you" because MJF said he would beat him with a headlock. So them testing their pro-wrestling technique and doing a classic lucha mirror exchange at the beginning of the match was exactly in tone with what they were going for.

I dunno. For the longest time I was annoyed at what I used to call the Eddielenko aka the infamous Guerrero/Malenko sequence from ECW that they basically lifted from Tiger Mask vs Dynamite anyway, which evolved into RVD vs Jerry Lynn sequence which spawned hundreds imitations/tribute on the indies in the 00's and beyond, but now I see it more like part of the wrestling folk culture, where you're just using some traditional chords and build from there or sing an old folk song in the middle of a set adding your own little twist or style to it, or do a variation on a theme stuff.

Are there really ? I mean, to me if you've reached the point where the only intrigue comes down to try to sell "What are they gonna do now, improvise ?", you're totally creatively bankrupt. To me this is nothing like Bret vs Shawn where the animosity was real but there was no "shoot" aspect to the angle before the actual shoot screwjob or Punk vs Cena which was just a super compelling angle but never a "wink wink this is real" moment. I only mentioned it in jest because indeed that's the only thing even approaching "compelling" about this show, which tells the whole story of how bad the booking is. Plus, there's a good chance they'll have a decent match and do jackshit special about it too.

No hype. Will Charlotte and Becky shoot on each other ? Will this celebrate Montreal 24 years later ? In the end, this is about surviving, like when you get signed to a WWE contract.

On work alone, he should go in. One of the best worker ever. Maybe the best seller ever. Incredible body of work. She was an integral part of the 90's golden age, which of course included the interpromotional shows era. One of the best workers of the 90's. Not at the Hokuto level in term of importance, probably not at the Toyota level either although that's debatable, just not too far either.

There's no way those WWE contracts should be legal anyway. It's completely ridiculous they can freeze you forever but they can also cut you any day they want. Union !

Totally agree, I always defended Cody on the fact he has done nothing but make people during his entire stint. However the Ogogo feud was the first time Cody fell on his face and really was the start of the Codyverse thingy. Hence, Codyed. BTW, what have been the benefits of Rhodes to the Top ? I've heard no hype at all, ratings have not gone up (actually came down but that's the West Coast thing), no apparent mainstream or gain in female viewers either... So, apart from fucking up the image of Cody to the AEW crowd which make things kinda fun in a bizarre way, apparently this was exactly what everybody here said it would be : a bad idea.

I wonder if this period is gonna have some long term effect in the perception of the company by the workers inside the business. From the godawful creative and use of talent to the absolute disdain of just doing mass firing during their most profitable time ever. The question remains the same : who the fuck would want to work for this company now if you can make a living elsewhere ? At some point, the brand is gonna take a hit in term of what it represent to the people inside the industry. Are young workers really dreaming of having a "Mania Moment" in 2021 ? How long is this still gonna be a thing ? And of course, to the general public, pro-wrestling will equal WWE for a long time to come, because they are Coca-Cola, but still, at some point, the luster is gonna go away unless they keep a complete stronghold on the business, which they have failed to do these past three years. Macintosh is still kinda cult-like with his employees and custumers, but a few years removed from the death of its guru visionary businessman, the luster is clearly not the same, as there is no real innovations anymore (whatever they were at the time of Jobs, and hey, I've been using Mac for 10 years now, but strongly want out of the cycle) and it's a lot less cool than it was 15 years ago. Brand don't last forever. Brand die. The WWE is both at its apex financially, and probably at his nadir in term of creative and perception from within the business (of course way too much talent to hit rock bottom in-ring though). How long can this bizarre situation work ? As long as the brand is strong, and it's helluva strong still. But at some point, something's gotta give, right ? When Vince dies, what happens ? Someone actually competent gets in charge and it's a complete rebirth, or we get Disney Star Wars and it's more shitload of money for awful products ? Or the whole thing just crumbles slowly from within without what was the vision Vince had for WWE and his guru-ish tendencies ?

Yeah I know. As a European latin (yeah, French are mostly latin people), it just seems completely ridiculous. So what is actually happening with Taichi & TAKA anyway, what's the dynamic there ?

Kicked out of NJPW for "infidelity" ? Holy shit... Private life people, it should still be a thing. But anyway, not following the thing at all, sounds bizarre to say the least. BTW Taichi is married to the former Ofune, who was one of TAKA's first K-Dojo trainees. NJPW working with other companies in Japan again is long overdue. That could be really really super fun. G1 2022....

I noticed it too. Ogogo definitely got Codyed.

Damn ! Ok fair enough. But really that was not the main point, that's just a guess on my part and you know what, maybe that one is because of following WWE politics for far too long. My main point is that basically it's fine. Nothing coked up about it. If Windham Rotundo would show up and beat Hangman Page, then yeah, the white powder argument would apply.