El-P

Honestly it was kinda bait & switchy, but not *really*, as people were talking before the fact that it was probably gonna be an angle anyway leading to another match. The fact it happened in Korakuen and was on free live streaming was a give-away that it was building to something else. Plus the intai talk of Tam Nakano going on for a while. But yeah, the rematch should be one for the ages, of done right. Probably less frantic than this one, I guess. Blood ? Would be quite the sight to have a bloody Tam saying goodbye. She really has been my gateway to current joshi puroresu.

I really don't give a flying fuck about MMA, but I did watch the Dark Side of the Cage episodes about PRIDE and Ronda Rousey. The PRIDE ones are fascinating. Remember the old "debate" about "Is PRIDE pro-wrestling ?". Well, of course not. But never has a legit MMA promotion was as much linked to pro-wrestling as PRIDE was. Including in term of being a shady-as-fuck company. The fixed Takada matches are evoked, although it's just a blip on the radar. The biggest focus is on the ridiculously dirty yakuza involvements. Also, watching old decrepit Helio Gracie at ringside, it's always a good time to remind people that this guy was actually linked to a fascist Brazilian movement in the 30's. There goes the "great" Gracie family. The Rousey episode was interesting for a newbie like me, although I had basically heard every bit of it through Meltzer during her WWE days. Between her mom being a complete asshole (I am so chocked to learn that a high level athlete raising her child to be a high level athlete is actually a toxic fuckhead, ya know) and her having to develop a particular style because she was already concussed like crazy from her judo years, it certainly puts an interesting twist to her personality. And yeah, again, she was SO pro-wrestling. I have no idea how anyone even tolerates the sigh of Dana White these days, unless you're, ya know...

Which is why this angle is ironic. Because from Dwayne to Cena to Cody, we have the alignement of the most picture perfect of WWE-made corporate champs, both kayfabe wise and in reality. And really, what John Cena's era of WWE represent is the dirt worst idea of pro-wrestling imaginable to me. All of it : the presentation, the in-ring style, the promo-style, everything. Dwayne was the first step. Cody is the last evolution. It's been incredibly successful, like a huge, empty and soulless Hollywood blockbuster is incredibly successful. All three together is like the perfect match for *this* angle at *this* Mania. But if that was all that pro-wrestling had to offer, I would have ceased being a fan a long time ago. (not to mention the contextual stuff that makes WWE unwatchable to me, but that's beside the point) On Sunday night I was watching the latest Mystery Wrestling show (promoted by Evil Uno) on Twitch. And you had Uno and Allie (the Bunny, who looked quite happy) shooting the shit about this and that (some really fun inside stuff, like how a simple bodyslam is the worst bump to take) while some absurd matches are taking place in front of a handful of people in Gatineau, Quebec. And have them mark out at Stu Grayson and Gabe Kidd having a complete banger that would not look out of place on an AEW show or the NJPW G1 Climax. And I was like, "Yeah, this is why pro-wrestling is so fun to me, still to this day".

Getting to watch a major joshi puro match live on Youtube for free is quite something. Korakuen Hall packed and hot as hell. Match was insane and terrific too. By the end there was almost 65K watching the stream, which is quite something.

Strictly speaking about character arc, Cena's heel turn as every bit as big as Hogan's in 1996, if not bigger, since Cena really had never been a heel as a top guy. Much bigger than the Austin one, as Austin had been a heel only 4 years before. As far as business goes, it is nothing like Hogan turning in 1996. Hogan turning was a major shift in the pro-wrestling landscape and was the beginning of a new boom period first for WCW, then for the entire industry, after a ridiculously down period, and switched the power dynamics. Cena's turn means what in the grand scheme of things ? WWE is *already* hot as hell, breaking gates record every other show, filling stadiums like nobody's business. They already are on Netfix (although the drops week to week showed that it had been quite overrated in term of worldwide audience, maybe that Cena angle is gonna fix that for a while though). Mania was gonna be another record breaking event, Cena turning heel or not. Does that makes it even bigger ? Sure. But not *that much* bigger. Cena's retirement year was already gonna make it bigger no matter what. As far as the angle itself, there's SO MANY layers of irony in that it's basically a redux of the entire heel Corporate Champ angle from the Attitude era. (the only thing I actually saw from the event was that clip of Pat MAGAfee being triggered, while Drake was in the background. Which is also an amazingly ironic sequence)

Watched the clip of his intro. Gotta love that his music theme is a super generic cheap-ass version of his AEW theme too.

Great article. Papa Hamada was so awesome as already an older guy in those M-Pro 6 men. And of course, loved him showed up in ARSION to tag with his daughter Ayako. A truly understated but über-influential stylistic figure in pro-wrestling history.

After a very shaky start of the year to say the least, last month or so as been the best batch of AEW weekly shows in forever. Really loving the pacing and the mood of the shows lately. And next PPV looks ridiculous on paper. This is how you "restore the feeling" without having to hammer it. Also, I'm getting Mike Bailey and Josh Alexander aka half the reason TNA had been fun to watch the last few years. Hopefully they don't get *too* lost in the shuffle (which they might), but whatever I can get from them, I'm gladly having.

Whatever results it is, it sucks. Maybe it's time for that Tam Nakano retirement. She really was the gate for me to get into Stardom a few years back when she had the white belt. Hopefully it's not Saya leaving. That would be terrible.

This is less a lawsuit than a fan fiction. But I mean, he's a comedian, and he probably made CM Punk and Tonk Khan laugh at the same time, so from that point of view, that's a win.

WWE not celebrating Black History Month as they used to do is certainly telling of *something*. But of course, there's no politics in WWE, ya know... Also, WWE employees morale going down as they get jack shit as raises while stockholders are making all the profits is actually hilarious. I'm sure they love the current public discourse about WWE being hotter than ever and Netflix money stadium sellouts and shit. Can't believe it's already Mania 88. Time flies.

Considering how much of a clusterfuck the preparation of the whole thing had been, this was a hell of a fun show. Not a PPV, but certainly not a Collision either. Mercedes is so fucking great. It would have been too soon for Harley in term of a follow-up considering her experience, so that was the right result. Super fun match. Cope getting emotional by the crowd chanting his theme was pretty cool. Match was excellent. Result was certainly interesting. I can see why they did it too, but that was kind of a downer again. Buddy hurting his ankle probably hurt the match. It was good, but it was not on par with the best weekly CC Okada matches. Main event was exactly what it needed to be. Storm winning the title back using her infamous rookie hold was the cherry on the cake. Need I say anything about that tag match ? This. Big time Kawada/Taue vibe to it. AEW has been on a roll. Revolution on paper already looks stacked as hell. Ospreay vs Kyle in a cage ? Omega vs Takeshita ? Maybe Mercedes vs Momo ? Make me happy AEW !

Too early for the NXT GM ? Yeah, too early. Next year maybe. Maybe they can put Col. De Beers in. For the gimmick, you know.

Shawn Spears. Ethan Page. Stephanie Vaquer. Giulia. PENTA Ricky Sta Saints. 😂

Finally, the news from Chris Bey https://www.instagram.com/p/DGBuxK5zi-s/?igsh=MXZ2bmZ3NXdlZ3BndQ%3D%3D&img_index=1

Shane was alongside his father and Taker at the Superbowl (where Taylor Swift was a heel apparently). So much for Shane being the good guy of the family. Also, it's hilarious to me that Taker's public praise of Ricky Starks is not an immediate kiss of death in this context. You can see in this pic that Trip is just boiling inside and wants to cut a promo about the gate or something. The whole thing about loving Iron Crosses on his tights was not a work, either.

So many jokes writing themselves...

Yes. Funny. I'm like, "oh, my interest is drifting away". Then AEW delivers a bunch of great TV show in a row leading to the Australia show which should be terrific and *fun*. Last Stardom Korakuen show was terrific. The Fridays at Arena Mexico are tons of fun. NJPW just delivered a classic. Damn pro-wrestling.

I guess it's back to *that* thread, uh. Now office people are leaving. Josh Matthews, Christy Hemme, who are historical figures of the company, are gone. And the Anthem guy who replaced D'Amore last year is already gone too. All replaced by other Anthem people. Writing on the wall... Creatively, it seems nothing has happened since Joe Hendry "wonderful" showing at the Rumble. They are running a Nemeth vs Nemeth feud... (honestly at this point I would not be surprised if they run a big NXT-lite show at Slammiversary and after that point, WWE just gobbles up the entire promotion)

A bit too soon for Harley. But she's growing fast. She's hilarious, she's multi-talented, she's quite good for her experience level in-ring already. She has all the potential to be a big homegrown star. But winning here and now is not needed. Mercedes can make her look better than she ever had before and raise her status in the process. I won't matter since the huge feel good moment is happening anyway with Toni Storm beating Mariah May and getting her title back. Of course they could still do it for the fuck of it, but the follow-up would be very tricky. If there wasn't a Toni vs Mariah match on the same card, yeah, do it anyway.

And in news that actually matter (yeah, sorry about that (well, not really)), the federal investigation on Vince is apparently everything but dropped. Expected, but still *vomit* Also, Taker spending the night at the Superbowl alongside Das Rapist says everything you need to know, if you didn't before (or if you are still pretending).

Damn. They really got me on this one. I kinda felt it was happening, but watching it happen is just another level. Just wonderful.

Bea Priestley yes, for sure. Ellering for fuck's sake no. This guy was last relevant in pro-wrestling around 1987 or something. He brings zero to the table. And his daughter is a middle of the card worker in ROH and that's pretty much where she belongs. She's perfectly fine, but there's nothing more there.

It should absolutely be irrelevant, but it's tricky because of the "independent contractor" status. Plus, he's in a wrestling war. You're not gonna fire people so that they can go directly to the opposition. Especially if that what they want. And suing independent contractors or suspending them without pay is ridiculous. It would be disastrous in term of perception, way worse than just not using them. And it would be an extremely shitty thing to do, really. For all the "workers' right" thrown by WWE fanboys when it suits them, let's be real, Fénix is currently siting at home earning 6 figures. It's ok. And likewise Starks, he can do indies if he wants. But yeah, it's ridiculous for them to just refuse doing business and there's nothing else to to do not use them. If there's no wrestling war, then the solution is easy. And really now, TK finally releasing them makes no difference to the current balance of power. None of them will make an inch of difference in WWE, which already way too big and hot anyway.

Damn. Did they do the "You know who that is ! He's in the NXT Zone !" ? They really take that TNA relationship at heart... Exactly what I said though. Penta debuted on Netflix. Starks debuts on NXT. And it's not like he needs to. Although you can say the same for Jordynne Grace, and maybe Starks is only gonna spend a few months there anyway. Being friends with Cody is his best card, but let's be real, Cody is not *the* man. Paul Lesveque is. And Dwayne is above him. At least this narrative about how Ricky Starks is held hostage and his constant whining is gonna stop now. Well, maybe not the whining since that was 90% of his character for his last active year in AEW.