El-P

You realize I can still read your posts, right ? 😂 Jeeez. Like you haven't exposed yourself enough by now.

The Jacob Fatu case is a perfect illustration of how nepotism works. For years, they haven't touched that guy because of his bagage, whatever his talent is. Then, the Bloodline gets hot and then have to bring every family member in to milk it to death. The guy never did anything in pro-wrestling apart from indies. MLW is the biggest place he ever worked for (not even TNA). And he got put straight into main event matches with Roman Reigns. The same guy, with the exact same amount of talent (in-ring, charisma, promo, what have you), not being a part of the family, probably never ever get signed because of his past, and if he does, I swear he spend 2 years in NXT to "learn the style" before getting moved up on the main roster and probably stays on the midcard forever before eventually his talent gets him higher. Classic stuff.

NOAH having an outsider win a belt and just give it away when he leaves without doing a job is good for NOAH ? Ok. I didn't talk about a partnership with Russo era WCW. I mean having a guy just hand a belt over to someone else is WCW Russo level shit booking.

The guy worked 6 matches, won the tag titles, and now he going back to WWE, so he just relinquish his half of the tag titles and gives it to another guy. Way to go NOAH, you don't come off looking like complete fools in the process, and the handling of the tag title is now full Vince Russo era WCW or something. Yeah, that TNA partnership is surely gonna end well too...

And so TNA got Mustafa Ali. Who is awesome. And Mance Warner. Who is not. That's one + and one -. But the hilarious news is that the biggest merch sellers at Genesis and the live IMPACT were Joe Hendry, Hardys and... Tessa Blanchard. Never change pro-wrestling fans... 🙄

On the positive side, I've been enjoying the Toni Storm angle a whole lot. I expect the revelation at the end to be that it was a master acting job by Timeless Toni Storm and that she really never had amnesia at all, and she returns as herself at the Australia show and get the title back. Also, giving Harley Cameron a match with Moné at Grand Prix is the best decision. She needs to break through, and Moné working her magic with her can only help.

Yeah, JTTS is too harsh but whatever. It doesn't change a thing to my point about either of them, really (although when he was at IC/US level, these titles did not mean much anymore). I just hope they actually work a good meaty match against the Hounds of Hell and drop the belts. I mean, that's an upgrade over being thought of at mention of Jinder Mahal or something... The age thing is... last week on Collision there was a Dustin Rhodes "competitive" squash. No promo. No angle. Not leading to anything. Dustin is not even a singles wrestler at this point, he's ROH tag champs with Sammy. So, WHY ? There's no way you're giving 6 minutes of your TV time to 55 years old Dustin Rhodes winning a squash. In 2025. (I won't even get to the fact he's still ROH six-men tag champ alongside the Von Erich dudes despite the fact they haven't been around in like 6 months, whereas the Gunn Club had to vacate trios titles as soon as one guy was injured. It's not like the ROH titles mean anything) What about Christian Cage *still* holding that ridiculous briefcase. It dates from Wembley. I hope they get rid of this WWE-lite angle at the time Mox vs Cope happens. They did not do the whole "can cash in at anytime" before, and it was a whole lot better. One *big* flaw of AEW's booking is that they drag stuff for way too fucking long without any good episodic development. And then they either forget about stuff (remember the awesome Takeshita & Okada tease ?) or do it way too late, without a proper build, because "well we have to do it now" (the bad and heatless Hook vs Cage match last week). There's a clear total escalation of commitment bias/issue going on with Coach TK's booking. It has happened before (lately with MJF vs Adam Cole), it is happening now with the Deathriders, and it hurts the weekly shows.

Considering his style in the ring, let's just say Pierre Carl Oulette doesn't give a single fuck about anything.

Will Ospreay can do any style, and any style better than most everybody ever. He can still do flippy junior stuff better than Ricochet. As demonstrated by the brutal garbage and bloody brawl with Omega, he can do that also. Put him with ZSJ, he can do european submission matwork up his ass. His match with Micheal Oku at Rev Pro last year was a masterpiece of heeling up like a bastard and building an underground babyface sensation like nobody's business. Put him in Arena Mexico and you'll see the result. Not to mention he adapted to US TV wrestling format ridiculously quick, including in term of promo work (he was great in Japan in his own way, but that was very different). And also : Young Bucks are the greatest ever. There is not even a discussion about it. Remember when they had this match with Griff Garrisson and Pillman Jr. and then people were clamoring that these two needed to be pushed as tag champs because they were so good already ? Same thing happened with Private Party. They got them handed out super cold, from being beat down by the Deathriders. They had not been pushed nor featured forever. Matches started cold because of it. And twice, by the end, the crowd was going crazy for Private Party, were invested in them winning. That is called great work. There's a reason why AEW was at his hottest *it itself* (and by that I mean, before the disastrous CM Punk signing) when Omega & the Bucks were finally pushed at the top acts in 2021. AEW was born out of a particular context, at a time when a certain audience at a certain desire. You can't just declare that you will "restore the feeling" magically by pushing this or that guy. Context has changed. The audience has changed. But still, there is an underlying sense of what AEW was build upon. That is what needs to be found again and adapted to what the context is today, if that is even possible. This is why I have lamented that AEW, after a while, became "just another pro-wrestling company". Then again, the great and important things only come in bursts.

The Deathriders stuff is not *bad* per say. It's just not clicking because it has started as super compelling and petered out as generic heel faction doing generic heel things. I really like all of them too, PAC as the killer, Claudio as the gatekeeper, Marina as the silent bodyguard and Wheeler as a despicable little shit (he's been awesome, really). But the compelling part has vanished after the Orange Cassidy match, and it just isn't getting over. Copeland being next in line (and already way too much time, and hopefully it is the Australia match and not the next PPV) has made it worse, really, because it was about Mox and the original spirit of AEW (which is why Orange & Darby were perfect).

PAC is awesome and has nothing but bangers. He could have a great match with a corpse. I could watch PAC have a match on every show for the next 10 years. This was the worst PAC match I can even remember. So no, not a good look at all. Hangman, Omega and Ospreay are the only guys who should beat Mox right now. AEW wants to restore the feeling ? FOCUS ON WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE.

No one here is arguing that they should have beat Hurt Syndicate in the current context. The Private Party AEW tag champs stint was doomed from the start and they have done jackshit with them after then won the titles. It is not about Private Party. It's about the Hurt Syndicate being a symptom of a lot that is wrong about AEW right now. Hopefully their run ends up being about *making* younger and better tag team important. I have no faith this will happen. Honestly, I would just have them lose to Buddy & Brody really soon, then have Swerve beat Lashley to a pulp. And then move Shelton to ROH or something and do whatever with Lashley. Also, speaking about too many 50 years old ex-WWE guys getting pushed, Cope looked *old* and out of breath for the first time since he's been in AEW. Having a boring match with *PAC* is not a good look. Overall, this episode was mostly enjoyable, really, glaring issues aside Chris Daniels retiring without much flair at all but in a last great match is the definition of his career. Underrated and understated how great and influential he has been for 30 years. Respect to the Fallen Angel.

Whatever one thinks about Britt Baker as a performer (she is not nearly as over as she used to and hasn't look very good at all during her latest comebacks), this is turning into a straight harassment and hate campaign though. There's nothing *concrete* about what's been said about her in term of how much she's liked or not backstage, despite some obvious issues (her suspension a few months back). This is going so far now as some dumb fuck pseudo "insider" spreading shitty rumors about her personal life, and of course Konnan jumping on it and spreading it even further, to the point she felt she had to address it publicly. Konnan is such an old piece of fucking shit, really.

After arguably originating (or popularizing) the "This is awesome" chant, the TNA audience comes up with another unique one. A pretty sadly ironic one considering it happened one day before Trump coming back to power with his click of fascists billionaires. But hey, I guess the Tessa experiment went bad pretty fast. Also, the two best matches involved two people who are leaving. I could not possibly give a flying fuck about Joe Hendry. I was tired of his act *before* he went viral. Him in 20 minutes main events on every big show is just a torturous thought. And then, there's the WWE relationship, where basically everything in TNA is about who is showing up in NXT next (see what I did ?). And when you don't want to hear about WWE nor watch any of it, well, it kinda ruins the entire deal. I will surely miss the days of IMPACT wrestling being this cool little small pond alternative with bizarre backstage angles and goofy fun stuff, and workers not so fit for the other bigger company finding a place there.

And your tag champs are now two 50 years old ex-WWE guy, one of which being a JTTS 4 Life. Wonderful. It was obvious it was happening but still. Private Party have been done dirty. Never pushed forever, they got the title without any build, Young Bucks working their magic made it seems they actually got over in two great matches, then squashed by the Hurt AEW Syndicate essentially. How low has this sunk since the days of Young Bucks / FTR / Lucha Brothers... This. His entire arc in AEW is some of the most compelling pro-wrestling character work ever in pro-wrestling. Oh yes. And I'm glad I still get this kinda shit in AEW, because right now, that's the only kinda thing that keeps me watching, as I'm totally disinvested from the promotion as a whole. At a point where TNA is becoming yet another WWE-adjacent product, it would be nice if AEW would pick up their game.

I mean, from this day on, it's gonna be hard to argue that one is much worse than the other. Nazi salutes on day one, uh ?

CM Punk using a very serious real-life issue (ya know, fascism) to get a cheap-ass rasslin' pop while working for TKO Entertainment is rich. He's such a rebel, you know...

PCO at 57 not giving a flying fuck. 😂 Since AEW is all about those older guys ending their career there, just sign him and have him and Darby go batshit crazy.

Goto going strong in the G1 this year and trying to win it for his kids actually got over big time, and the story of him losing in front of his kids (thanks to Finlay, who was an amazing dick about it and made the little girl cry) was heartbreaking. Goto has not challenged in 9 years, he never won the IWGP title (which considering both EVIL and SANADA did, is amazing), the arc story of the summer got over big. So, that's actually called good booking when it ends up drawing to boot. The story has connected.

As far as positives go, I loved the venue. Smaller places with character is the way to go. Hopefully they go back and focus on these kind of venues. Yes, it feels smaller. Well, I always enjoyed smaller venues much better. It's human sized, it's more intimate, it makes for a better atmopshere and cooler look. Enjoyed the opener and the main event a lot. Gotta love Mox going for the old Terry Funk "I'll blade my ear and it will be gory as fuck" vibe. The women gauntlet was tons of fun, maybe a bit on the short side though. The Megan Bayne debut was a success (an hopefully that means Kamille is done), she was rumored to be part of AEW for so long, dating back from when she was in Stardom. Mariah announcing is a hoot. On a sidenote, I would have really enjoyed if Nyla Rose was involved, ya know. Take a stand, Coach TK. It's gonna be time. The Ricochet & Swerve Strickland angle was great, once again. Swerve can't miss it seems and Ricochet as a heel is totally a step above is babyface stuff thus far. Enjoyed the various vignettes they did. That was cool. Then, Hurt Syndicate had a good match with Briscoe and Private Party. It's funny how MVP is just world ahead of his comrade in term of charisma, promo skills (well, they have none, of either) and at his peak was also the best worker. BUT. Private Party are officially geeks. They just got beat. Clean. Quickly. Again, this stuff is not doing any good. And the bloom is already off the rose, Hurt Syndicate don't get big reactions anymore. They are *there*. Joe coming back was great. I'm so glad. He saved that segment. Because really, it's time to be real : Hook is an overpushed nepobaby rookie who isn't over anymore. He did not look good at all here. Christian was having a match with himself almost. It was cute when people chanted "We want Hook" even before he debuted. He's been exposed. He needs tons of work from the basics up. Again, Nick Wayne is right there. He's already fucking terrific. And then, boy oh boy, that MJF / Jarrett segment. My soft spot for Jarrett wanna not be too harsh, and I do appreciate the fact he's still working hard at this point and has been lots of fun in AEW. But this ain't it. Yeah, the entire "Your wife used to fuck Kurt Angle" / "Your girlfriend likes to gangbang in the parking lot" was cringe as hell. Segment went three times as long as it needed to go to. The Owen stuff doesn't bother me 25 years later. I sure hope they asked Martha Hart's permission though. Considering Jarrett was so close, I would guess so. The fun fact of MJF wearing a blue blazer went straight over my head. I dunno, it was a mix of really good stuff and delivery on MJF part, and some really dated edgelord stuff, also typical of MJF. But yeah, the whole slut shaming shit was so tacky in 2025 (not that it would have been better 20 years ago, but it used to be the norm). BTW, speaking about Alicia Atout, does she ever work ? She has appeared liked once or twice on Rampage or Collision, never to been seen again. They already have Renee and Lexy, who are great at this, both of them, I don't know where Atout fits (obviously nowhere thus far). Maybe make her a manager like she used to do in MLW when she was with RIchard Holliday. Last thing that struck me. This can't be ignored. There was this succession of segments with : The Hurt Syndicate (48, 49, 51), Jeff Jarrett (57), Christian Cage (51), and then the show ended with the run in of FTR and Copeland (51). We have a real issue right there. Remember at the start of AEW when the average age of the roster was so much younger than WWE's ? This show felt like old guys after old guys. And then on Collision you have a match with Chris Daniels (whom I love and will probably enjoy a lot) 54, and the the multi-men with Jericho (54) and Copeland again. To make a puroresu analogy, AEW feels more like NOAH of a few years back (dunno if it's still the case) than NJPW.

Nothing is illegal for shitty corporation like Amazon, Starbuck, Meta and the likes. I'm sure TKO would get away with pretty much anything. Especially with the fascistoid masculinists cryptobro oligarchy taking over the country in a few day. In other news, WWE is doing PLE in Germany and France again. They should try Hogan again there. Racists are in-vogue there. Very much so.

And this is how TNA is gonna end up : The funny part (because there is one) is people fired from NXT/WWE who are on TNA's roster talking about "are we back now ?" Genesis is probably the best card they can present with their current roster (for better and worse). I would be very surprised if the "deal" ended well for TNA in the long run. Of course, monopoly simps are elated. I guess we are officially entering into the next phase of TNA, NXTNA. The last one ? (and maybe it will be no different than what happened the last 6 months, NXT getting TNA's most over and talented people, and sending scraps to TNA, and when the novelty wears off they will just forget about it)

No one being a draw in AEW right now is actually an extra reason not to showcase 50 years old ex-WWE guys and put them over younger, fresher homegrown talent. Since you're not drawing well now, build for the future and make people connect with what should be your own identity. Lashley *could* have a value. Maybe. Unless he's another Miro-type (without forgetting that Miro was also younger and a better worker, with a lot more charisma, which isn't very hard). Thus far, his booking has been nothing but damaging. Maybe him and Shelton winning the tag belts and having a run as monsters building to a younger team actually dethroning them could work. That is, if they don't run over half of the roster, making AEW talent look like crap, and actually deliver great matches, which is a requisite in the company if you want to amount to anything (remember how Warldow petered out after a while because doing a bunch of powerbombs in a row only gets your so far in front of that audience). But I don't get any good vibes out of the Hurt Syndicate, at all. Also, Swerve needs to beat his dumbass Vince McMahon's praising ass decisively, and do it sooner than later. Coach TK needs to get his head out of his ass and not book like he's working for Dixie Carter. As far as Cope/Mox getting lots of plays on social media, it's nice for AEW, but social media views have never meant jackshit in the real world. WWE used to push their social medias views like crazy while they were losing popularity. I don't care about this pairing, I also don't doubt they can have a really excellent main-event match, as Copeland's work ethic in AEW has been evident.

So Masha Slamovitch, TNA women's champ, was at NXT in the crowd. Really, in term of adding something fresh and exciting about their product, this TNA deal, on WWE's side, as been really smart. It would be nice if that was reflected in what TNA actually gets on their side (because apart from a Rascalz reunion, which was really cool, TNA got low-tier names and talents only while NXT featured Joe Hendry and Jordynne Grace, and the Rascalz, in big matches. TNA got Wendy Choo in a tag match at BFG...). Wait until Joe Hendry gets one of the biggest reaction at the Rumble too (again, because of the dynamics at hand). Speaking about why AEW's existence has benefited WWE in the long run, well, WWE would never do that kind of stuff if AEW had not opened the so-called Forbidden Door and made it part of their appeal (which really had been closed by WWE itself, remember back in the late 90's where you could have a MPro show headlined by Taker vs Hakushi or Vader working the AJPW dome show, and of course sending workers to SMW and ECW).

Nah, I wanted to edit my post, and I deleted it instead. 😅 So I basically requoted you as I re-wrote it. Well, to say the fucking least. I'd say it's a mix of context, timing, and of course the talent itself and their mindset. BUT of course, AEW's presentation also played a part. Andrade's debut, which could have been awesome, was marred by being paired with Vickie Guerrero (it almost seems absurd she was even in AEW when you think back at it). Miro I thought they had a super clever idea, and obviously they dit not, before they redeemed (see what I did ?) themselves with the presentation for a while (until it got obvious Miro was just a pain in the ass to deal with). As far as talent goes, I disagree for both. Miro was terrific as the Redeemer, but when you don't want to do a job for fucking Hangman Page... Malakai's issue is pretty much the same it has been with every spooky gimmick since Bray Wyatt. All aesthetic, no depth at all. In the ring, he was a terrific and unique kind of worker with a great presence. But apart from the fact he's also one of those guy who was hard to deal with apparently (and look at his track record in term of single matches), he also got badly injured and his back is gone. He's not the same guy now he was in NXT a few years back. Andrade, well. Awesome worker, but he peaked in NXT (again) when he was paired with Miss Unionization. I think for the three of them, the mindset played a big part in why it did not work. Although Andrade obviously went on his way gracefully at the end (and honestly, Malakai too). Like *I* of all people would criticize anyone else for rambling. 🙂