El-P

Ok, he had two *good* matches with Naito & Tanahashi. It's akin to having two *good* matches against Misawa and Kawada. Or Flair and Steamboat. There's nothing to write home about. Lex Luger, who got shit on for years and years for being a nothing worker, had two *great* matches against Steamboat & Flair in 89/90. O-Khan is a joke, the gimmick is trash, whenever he's on offense I die a little inside (the fucking claw on the knee, pleaaaaaaaaaase), that's 0-2 for Gedo after the disastrous EVIL main event push. Where the hell are Ren Narita and Shota Umino already ? And please don't give them stupid-ass gimmick either. Okada should definitely take some time off and come back fresh.

It's like fining people for punch stomps in the 80's. Dumb as fuck. Is Orton getting power ?

Hey, I would love for you to be right about this. I just can't picture it happening (but honestly, I can't picture Cena or Lesnar or Batista showing up instead so I guess I got my hopes to a lesser level already). Totally agree about Christian like I said before. Just, no.

No way. AEW ain't signing the current NJPW champ, come on. (yes, of course, it would just blow my mind) I'm almost surprised no one dropped the "nZo & Cass" joke yet. And so I do. If anything, it's fun to play the guess game. That's something that AEW has brought back which was part of the fun 25 (and now I'm gonna be depressed because I'm old AF) years ago. You know, "Yokozuna is gonna join the nWo" and such. TNA's years of "we know who that is" a week after some guy got fired was not nearly as fun.

Also, the "world of wrestling" makes me think it could also be not-a-worker. Why not ? Honestly, I'd take Jim Johnston, because a lot of the music themes of AEW needs a revamp *badly*, especially most of the new ones (Sting is cool, Team Taz is cool, but most sound exactly the same and have no personality whatsoever).

Spot on.

Batista, Rousey, or some very top NJ guy. Apart from those, yeah, a "huge huge star" I don't see. I mean, fucking Becky Lynch showing up with her baby would be a Lex Luger moment for sure but the odds of this happening are zilch (not that I believe any of those previous 5 are gonna show up either).

Damn, I would give you soooo much shit for that one if we had not done this podcast thingy and I knew you're a cool guy indeed. Come on now ! Open your eyes to the greatness that is Riho !!! Prediction : half of the people on this board will be a bit disappointed. There, you can quote me. Also, if I never hear anyone talk about AEW should do this or that to reach a wider/mainstream audience ever again, it'd be too soon at this point. I'm already watching. Book for me already.

The reference went straight above your head I see. It's not what the AEW roster thinks about Christian as a worker. I like Christian as a worker a lot. But the perception of Christian is absolutely not "HOF worthy big time superstar". 47 years old Christian sold by AEW as an all-time legend would be TNA level shit, and even more because he's actually been through this in TNA when his midcard ass was put over all the main event TNA talent then.

Christian is a mid-card worker from WWE who never ever reached main event superstar status. He's also and most of all in this context the posterboy for the kind of TNA booking that AEW has to avoid at all cost. Although he would be a *decent at best* addition to the roster (but really, there are already better, younger, fresher workers who don't even get on AEW TV each week), Christian would indeed be a Savio Vega level letdown after going HOF worthy announcement.

Easy to watch, undercard matches were fun but nothing special. Kojima vs Cobb was very good indeed, you watch this and there's no way Kojima is 50 years old. Best match of the show to me. Great O-Khan is better than sleeping pills, he's the death of every form of joy whenever he's on offense. Knee Claw ladies and gentlemen, that's next level godawful offense for 2021. The lesser said about the result the better. I shudder to think this guy is gonna be in the G1... Ibushi's performance in the main event was great, as he had a very good match with Desperado, who's really nothing special at all. Desperado was game, but it was totally the Ibushi show in term of trying to make the most out of a match with zero doubt as far as what the result would be. Plus, it was basically the same dynamic as the previous match with work on the knee to try and get a submission, so the difference was really striking and not in favor of O-Khan at all but it also came off repetitive in a way... So really, for a Budokan show, I'd say it was pretty underwhelming. Running two stadium shows in May sounds like complete insanity in this context.

It doesn't matter anyway because it's obviously gonna be Dwayne Johnson.

People would bitch because they would not introduce him to the mainstream audience. Who cares what the mainstream audience understands or not, fuck them. This is hardcore pro-wrestling shit. Everybody should know who Volk Han is anyway.

Worthy of HOF is pretty subjective, honestly... I mean, with all due respect, Koko B Ware is in the HOF... I guess the rumors are gonna be about Lesnar now, since he has basically vanished from the surface of this Earth for so long now. Come on people, bitch about that one and then it doesn't happen anyway.

That would be all kind of awesome, but I don't believe it for even a second. I'd take Dario Cueto...

Of course it's not Punk. The "It's not who you think it is" was clearly a way to immediately deflate that balloon. Ok, I don't care, we're gonna reach ridiculous status now : Ronda Rousey.

To be fair about BTE, they really don't do much angles at all. It's really goofy parallel stuff. I'd say about 10% of it really relates to the actual storylines in a "canon" way (like, I don't think the Good Brothers giving Cutler some viagra while he's sleeping at the hospital can be considered "canon", you see). But those 10% are indeed fun for those who watch, because it can be teases of things that are to come. It's mostly goofing around though, but it for sure allows some people to showcase their personality. That's how John Silver got himself over. To which audience exactly, I don't know, but Silver for sure is where he is know because he was so damn funny on those Dark Order bits on BTE.

If one of them has to be a bit of a disappointment, might as well be Savio Vega. I'd take Raven in a heartbeat. Total HOF worthy.

Nope, they are two different people apparently. Also, having seen RVD in IMPACT last year (where he was pretty fun having his middle-life crisis and being a total douchebag with his stripper IRL girlfriend), he better not be the guy for the ladder match.

This. This is exactly what happened when WCW got hot. People popping on Nitro all came from WWF. The feeling was not "they are WWF products", the feeling was "WCW is the place to be". Right now, AEW is the cool place to be. WWE cast-off feel totally affected TNA in the wrong way because whoever was fired from WWE then showed up and was automatically put over the TNA guys as much bigger stars, even when they were nothing but midcarders in WWE (Christian). The only guy who actually brought something positive to TNA was, ironically enough, Kurt Angle. Agreed. After a 20 years monopoly, anyone that is already "made" on the US scene had to be made by WWE (although like I said Angle's best work actually happened in TNA but that doesn't count for any HOF). Like I said, I could see Bully Ray showing up, that would be cool, he really never was a WWE guy since he re-invented himself totally in TNA and when him and D-Von had a "legend" stint in WWE of course they were the Dudleys again... You're right, he said "a HOF worthy talent". Good job, we all are conjecturing about how Angle would not be a good idea and all and it's Coach Tony K just trolling us with his fake spoil and having a laugh...

AEW don't need another ex WWE (well, more TNA actually since he made most of his career there and had his best years there too) guy in his 50s, especially one who can't work anymore. Angle was great but I don't see what he could bring to the game at this point. As far as older guys go, I was thinking about Bully Ray... And so there's also a surprise guy for the ladder match.

Maybe it is, but personally I don't care because I do watch BTE and I enjoy all the small detail they put into their stuff. It's not like it makes the angles unreadable in the grand scheme of things. You get the big picture, cool. But if you are a longtime follower and watch BTE, you're gonna get more out of it, which is really cool because it rewards the faithfuls. I thought that particular line against Jericho was a complete misfire as an insult (although the sentiment was pretty much a putdown in a "You suck !" way and that's it). But the thing is it was just one line in a long promo that had them talked in lenght about their father in a very pissed-off way, so it's just not fair to say they reacted to the angle of their dad getting beat up and bloodied by making a cute line about WWE. That was not the case. Again, that line did not work for me either, but really it was just a one-line insult, it was not the crux of the promo at all.

WrestleMania XXVIII (2012) – Undertaker vs Triple H « But I waaaaaaaaaaant my second epic match with Taker at Maniaaaaaaa !!!!!! » Ok, now you really have zero chance to follow it up, so you should probably not do it. I mean, they kicked out of their respective finishers GALORE already. So what’s next, what is the next level ? Well, more gimmicks. The Hell in the Cell, which had been given a horrible name in that context after the WM 15 debacle. And a special referee in the person of Shawn Micheals, whom Taker retired, with the question being : will he screw his old rival for the benefit of his old friend ? That’s a lot of potential gimmickry even before the match starts. But honestly, that’s not where we are going. We are going somewhere fun. And by fun I mean : a fucking clown show. And by this I don’t mean Taker’s shaved head with a semi-mohawk, the last evolution of Taker, I guess. The mere fact they use the Hell in the Cell gimmick is really the first comical element because apart from the very beginning of the match, which is somewhat solid, typical HitC work (you know the drill, bumping into the cage and whatnot), they basically don’t use the Cell *at all*. Like, they don’t even touch it. JR going on about how HitC changes lives later in the match absolutely makes him sound like a total goof. But anyway, after these pretty solid beginnings, although the lack of blood is pretty striking in a negative way, there’s this huge spinebuster spot on the stairs, which looks awesome and brutal. Soon enough they go into full callback mode with Trip bashing Taker repeatedly with the chair, the strategy which got him the upper hands the previous year. It’s not any different mind you since it was already legal then. But then, oh joy, we move into real clown show time, as apparently since they have exhausted the pro-wrestling aspect of the drama in the last three matches, the solution now is to do *verbal spots*. AKA piss poor high-school drama class acting and dialogues between Shawn and the other two, as the former sexy boy wants Trip to stop and Taker to give up (the « It’s only one match !» line is absolutely hilarious, as it totally negates what they have been working toward the last three years, the build of the absolute Myth. It's not "only one match" you dumb fuck, it's the fucking LEGENDARY STREAK at stake !). Since chairs aren’t enough, we get the sledgehammer and this time Taker eventually gets bashed straight in the face with the hammer part, yet this is not enough to get the pinfall. Ok. So, we’ve basically establish that a shot in the face with a weapon who would kill someone is not enough. Welcome to random-as-fuck clown show now, as really nothing else matters (hey, BTW, the cage got its own entrance music by Metallica, how cool is that ? This useless cage got a better production than probably most guys from the following generation will ever get) anymore. More DORAMA (as they would say in the Tokyo Dome where this match would get 5* stars apparently) ensues when Shawn grabs the hammer away from Trip as he tries to murder Taker. Then Taker puts Shawn into the Hell’s Gate, which makes no sense whatsoever because Shawn wasn’t about to ring the bell or anything, and now they re-do last year’s finish but there’s no ref (doh!). Taker is officially dumb. Charles Robinson does his hilarious awkward run on the ramp for a nearfall after a chokeslam (to an unconscious Triple H mind you, guess it woke him up or something). Taker ain’t happy so he chokeslams the second ref. Yeah, Taker is in fact dumb. Then they do the only real spot that works well and makes sense, as Shawn, now pissed off, hits the superkick and Trip follows with the Pedigree for a great nearfall. But then, I guess he feels remorseful or whatever as he pleads Trip again to not use the hammer, so now Trip throws him outside. Ok, whatever, this has no rhyme or reason, really. After that point Taker does the Tombstone and Shawn counts, because he’s been pushed around so he’s pissed again. Of course it’s not enough because it’s been established the previous year that it wasn’t enough and the Tombstone is now Open Bar for everyone to be kicked out of. Let’s kick-out of a Pedigree too, because our finishers are kinda useless to ourselves now... And now Shawn looks depressed, maybe being involved in this debacle after his awesome send-off, not too sure. Depressed Shawn would have made a great meme. Semi-smart callback to the previous match with Taker using a chair to bash Triple H, that’s the payback he asked for. Of course Shawn tells him to stop. Damn, it really looks like a threesome where one participant just isn’t getting any and complains to the other two now. Speaking of which, Triple H tells Taker to suck it, so Taker gives him the big hammer while Shawn refuses to watch. Don’t be like that Shawn, you had your fun. Plus Triple H is now paying you homage, or stealing your stuff, not sure, by doing the exact same slow climbing up Taker’s leg before the Tombstone and the finish. Yeah, that certainly was the End of an Era, the Era of the great epic Taker matches we had the last few years. This was a complete mess of an attempt at drama through nonsensical spots and laughable acting, but at least it was *always fun* to watch. I’m sure this was not the intent, but it’s like a great bad movie you enjoy because it’s so ridiculous and stupid, with one legit great moment (the double finisher spot on Taker, legit great nearfall). It could also be read as « the End of an Era » as the three guys left together in a show of respect, as the new generation of workers who will never be as big of stars and will never know how to work proper are now on top for good. We know where that mentality led them. So, this was a failure, but it was a very entertaining one. So bad overall that it was actually good. A legit nanar as we say in French to call bad movies that are really fun to watch. 11-9

Come on now, you know the very first supercard on PPV was WrestleMania. Starrcade was some regional show in a smoke filled southern arena.

That was to be expected considering the news. I guess we'll have some kind of tribute next week on AEW from Schiavone.