El-P

Well, the only shitstorm thus far in this thread happened because of his usual gatekeeping and patronizing tone. There was a ton of interesting discussions (not talking about my own posting btw) prior to him quickly going back to his old habits. No reason to be well behaved with this kind of shit, really. Anyway. The GWE is not about this. The podcast is up I see, so I guess it's official now. Well, see ya all in five years or something !

I enjoyed Kross as a character in IMPACT (and to a point in LU), he made for a good psycho heel with his crazy eyes and great look, but it's not like he was ever a great worker or anything. The most fun I had watching an actual match of his was in Bloodsport, he seemed really made for the style. I really haven't watched him in NXT at all, apart from the infamous entrance, so maybe the injury really screwed his work up. Scarlett was tons of fun in IMPACT, but then again, it was because of her character, and I always thought WWE would not get that part.

I just learned that a female NXT UK ref is actually from Bordeaux (which is where I'm basically from too). Hey, good for her. Now, waiting to learn she re-tweeted some very stupid stuff. (sad to say I haven't missed Shanna since I learned about it)

He was accused of physical abuse, not sexual abuse. It's obvious WWE doesn't care/believe in the case (see also : Riddle, Matt).

I mean, hopefully they go deep into the horrific hate talk Warrior was spewing for years before the whitewashing.

It's expected more for NXT since they already have the older viewers, whereas AEW has the younger audience but may not grab that much new viewers in the older demo (because of the style). Who knowns though.

That pissant company won (it was not even a contest, really, it's been a slaughter). First blemish on WWE monopoly since 1998. Well done Vince. It did not even had to happen and NXT would have been better for it.

I guess Nick Gage is the token "freak indy guy" of the season like New Jack was. Zero interest on my part, really. The other 5 all look quite interesting.

As far as who I think gets in and who gets out, IN (without going for the obvious NJ names nor names that had been nominated before and which were pretty much spot on) : _Kenny Omega _Sasha Banks _Devil Masami _Ultimo Guerrero _Chigusa Nagayo OUT (same thing, going for different names) _2 Cold Scorpio _Yoshihiro Tajiri _Bob Backlund _Daisuke Ikeda _Atsushi Onita (as far as lucha libre goes, it's been never easier to watch stuff, it's all over Youtube)

Kurt Angle is a brillant worker. Watching TNA totally changed my perspective on the guy (a few years ago I was pretty much hatin' on the guy for annoying ankle hold reversals and flat german suplexes, that's on me). The lack-of-selling criticism (which is just baffling when you actually watch his stuff) just shows lack of understatement from what he's doing, not lack of anything on his part. Then again, maybe people just watched his WWE stuff, which I had not seen in years (from Angle's own admittance, his best stuff was in TNA). He's one of the guys who made me change my perspective on things, like Ishii. Funny thing, for all the shit Angle got for years on the board, he actually gained 12 spots between 2006 and 2016 (I did not vote for him at all), so maybe people had actually watched the TNA stuff.

Wow. Does that mean Agius/Chereau could be back ?

Hitler was born is what is now Austria. But yeah, I know. I mean, WALTER already had that kind of gimmick in the indies anyway.

Plus, Vince would pretty much make WALTER a German character. I mean, do you really think these people now where Austria is ? (German-speaking Swiss, yeah, forget it for Cesaro)

Doesn't WALTER want to stay in Europe anyways, which is why he's in NXT Uk and not the main NXT brand ?

Historically, blood & guts never drew women. It would be hypocritical to consider that magically, we don't know what's happening in the last few weeks when what used to be household watching turned into 1 unit per household as the big matches really had that heavy ECW style to them.. Meltz never said he did a super-scientific analysis either, so no need for a strawman here. On the other hand, they did their best PPV numbers with Omega vs Mox (all to Mox credit, I'm sure because... well I am and Omega can't apparently be credited for anything ever because he sux) in a historical blood match. So like I said, the issue here is more complex than "who is losing women", but rather, which direction they want to take. It can be risky to go all in blood & guts because you can go for so long without people becoming accustomed to it. Maybe they'll do adjustments, maybe they'll go straight into that direction still. I mean, they'll do that Wargames match in a few weeks, so, that's a hint for the short term at least.

So, per Meltz they showed footage of another black women wrestler during Ethel Johnson induction. Either honest mistake, either... *facepalm facepalm*

Ok great argument. Clap clap clap. I just made fun of Matt Jackson's "acting ability" in my post about the show and have criticized AEW a shitload lately, but whatever. Yeah, he's kinda Shawn Micheals like when he tries to act emotional and shit, not nearly as bad but not exactly very good either. But anyway, this is neither here nor there. The evolution of the promotion into a more ECW-like style (which I don't mind) is what's been seriously talked bout. You wanna just throw out "lol it's Omega and the Bucks because they sukz, Meltz is defending his friendz" line despite evidence in the last few weeks trends, ok, whatever works for you.

Really now you're just working on your own confirmation bias here because you hate Omega and the Bucks angle, which you repeat each and every week over and over again. But there's exactly zero sign that there's a correlation between Omega at the top and the Bucks storyline which has been going on for months now and the current evolution. Like none. Metz went in details about how things have clearly evolved *in the last few weeks* and how the violence & gimmicks have been basically driven away the other viewers in the house (ie the women and teenagers). On the other hand, the ultra-violence promise of the barb-wire did draw their best PPV number. There was nowhere near the same level of gimmick & violence and blood even during Mox & Kingston feud. Not even close. Same for Cody when he was doing the TV title reign, yeah, he bled from time to time, but it was not an orgy of gimmick shots and spots & bloods like it's been lately. Baker vs Rosa was a terrific match. It was also clearly a defining moment in which the audience kinda switched, much like with the promise of barb-wire. This is a matter of direction they want to follow or not. And I mean, we get it people, you don't like the Omega & Bucks storyline. Well, though shit because that's what's the top of the card is gonna look like for a long time because that's the kind of stuff these guys have been working for years (Cody leaving the Elite, the Ibushi reltationship etc...). And they will remain the top/near-the-top guys because, well, they are the best workers having the best matches and that's what AEW's core audience wants (yeah, I know, let's not go into the whole "core fans don't matter" argument again). This is not the issue here. The one other issue that was interesting in Meltz long-ass analysis about some charts he got from whomever, is the number of people on Dynamite in the last few months. It's huge (like, 92 people !). And it has really affected the focus and time allotted to the main event guys and the young guys they need to push. That's a much bigger issue in term of getting people over and that's coming back to the "faction" issue, there's too many people on TV. Do we really need Max Caster and JD Drake on long single matches when Brian Cage, Ricky Starks, the guys from the Inner Circle & the Pinnacle are not getting matches ? No we don't. They absolutely need to choose their core 20 people they want to focus and and, well, focus on them. I wonder how long the bullshit "Meltz is defending his AEW friends" line of thinking is gonna keep on though, as he's been super critical on a lot of things AEW lately, meanwhile, he gave absolute praise to the NXT show. And really now, people bitching about drama, this damn promotion started with "I want my brother" with cries and shit. I guess that was "good drama", but honestly it was the same kind of pro-wrestling heavy handed pathos as what the Bucks are doing. Only, these were Dusty's kids, so it had to be great... (hey, I loved it too, but let's not act like this was Academy Award acting either)

*facepalm* Those damn WWE fans almost put WWE out of business...

If Tessa had not vanished from the radar, she would have been a given for me. I miss watching her work for sure.

Yep. Blood & guts indeed.

Yeah, I really completely fail to see why they even get TV time. To have a so-so match with Hangman Page at this point, with sloppy spots, poor bumping, boring offense and timing, yuck... I know the guy is green, but I don't see any potential whatsoever. He's a better rapper than a worker, and yet that doesn't say anything. Omega ain't losing the title. He's gonna collect more belts and that is gonna be awesome. As far as the dorama goes, well, I don't care as long as the matches are awesome, and they mostly are. Omega & Callis are just awesome at everything right now. Matt Jackson is better than Shawn Micheals at acting (yes, that is a backhanded compliment). The Bucks & Omega stuff is compelling on a very long term scale, they're not gonna do basic heel/face stuff, they're acting more like actual human beings with contradictory actions and feelings, and I do enjoy that (it helps they are just the best workers too). Bear Country I want more, but damn, Luchasaurus is not looking good at all, they really need to give Jungle Boy momentum now. A fun thing about this week is it shows how aware they are of their criticism. The whole Death Triangle/Best Friend (which should be terrific) segment almost was a direct response to Meltz criticism of them not doing follow-ups. Also, I got a kick ouf of Jake Roberts actually pointing the running gag of the Sting segments being him not saying anything and being interrupted. Archer also basically blasted the lack of focus in the way he's being booked... I like the QT Marshall group. I understand the whole -1 thing, but I really don't want to see much more of this. Not because it makes me uneasy, but because I don't want to see a kid around my pro-wrestling stuff, thank you. I mean, maybe in ten years he'll debut as an actual pro-wrestler and he'll be awesome because of this experience, so who knows, but I don't really like it now. So true. He's having a thing for Tay Conti already. Too soon young padawan. I mean, I expected a nothing show and I got an angle with Mike Tyson. Gonna tank in the ratings still but hey, they are not lazy. Love the Bunny back in the ring. I just love that girl. Greatest annoying laugh ever.

Nick & Matt Jackson. Well, I don't exactly "look forward" to it because they get so much unwarranted hate around this place, but there you go. The real question for me will be to determine who is the better one of the two. And once I get to it, the French Catch guys and the women that were either forgotten last time or just weren't around for long enough.

Have you seen his TNA stuff ? I can't really recommend anything specific, but he showed up in late 2011 (along with Aries) and from the few weeks of TV I've seen, he was really really good as a grumpy bitter veteran. Best version of Kid Kash I've seen.

No I don't. I mean, I'm not gonna argue endlessly like I did in the past to "defend" my picks and tastes, I don't feel I have to anymore. If someone gets something, anything, out of whatever I put the focus on, good for that person. I'm glad I was able to share the love. I also don't think I'm able to express myself as well I'd want to sometimes in term of explaining why this or that. And I probably don't have the energy anymore either honestly, although I still get bursts of posting like a maniac (which is never a very good sign in term of what it says about my mental state at that time, really ) ! Like I said, I don't intend on doing any negative posting in the context of the next GWE. And I won't feel obligated to do anything really. It has to be fun, and that's about it.