El-P

Considering the (incredible, as usual) emotional promo he did on BTE this week, yeah, this guy is gonna end up a huge babyface and win the title one day, I don't see why they wouldn't do it. And the day it happens, it will be one of those special moments of "truth" that sometimes happen in pro-wrestling.

That's fair enough. To me it's more of a case of being tired of social medias going crazy for little things and really having zero effect on reality. In that case, I honestly don't think Alexa Bliss said anything outbloodyrageous, she's being a good little soldier and I've heard a lot worse. So, if there's a huge backlash for *this* from a crowd of people (again, I'm talking about social media in general, certainly not pointing fingers to anyone on this board) who on the other hand don't actually do shit about anything (because that's how social media work, every week, hell, every day you have your outrage about this or that, sometimes about real bad stuff, sometimes about real insignificant stuff), I think it's bullshit. It's not "don't criticize" (I mean, coming from me, yeah, that would be bullshit !) but rather "ok, let's stop being ridiculous here, this doesn't warrant a social media backlash and outrage, because you're *not* really that outraged about the independent contractor issue IRL".

Or, I dunno, do White on the first night and do an angle with the winner *then* challenging Ibushi coming off a big win earlier on the card. It would have make it less of a cop out. Two nights at Tokyo Dome during those circumstances don't seem right anyway, honestly.

Yeah, and honestly, I'm not a big fan of the board becoming repost of stupid shit from Twitter, but that's what it's turning into sadly. As far as no one enjoying the product, well, that was a funny line but come on, there are still more replies and discussion about WWE here than about AEW or any other promotions. Wow, that's pretty rich, really. The issue here is this. For a time (long time ago) I wasn't really watching anymore yet still trashing the promotion because I really didn't enjoy it anytime I was trying it for 5 minutes. So yeah, people were angry at me. Fair game. Then, I wouldn't know when exactly, I did actually watch back a bit, I believe around the time Daniel Bryan got pushed and mostly when the women movement got traction, and then from 2016 on I was actually doing the PPV watch-alongs because it was shown live on free TV where I was living. At that time, I did pimp what I enjoyed and trashed the company for its awful booking and stupid shit. Then people had all the right to disagree with me, but I was mostly talking about the *product*, and I did enjoy some of it. Then things got kinda really embarrassing with the Saudi Shows, around then I kinda stopped watching altogether because I was disgusted with the whole thing and only came back to check out that women only PPV (and yeah, there was one infamous troll on the board who would bug me about that one, but he was *always* a useless troll). Then the free live PPV's have been cancelled in France anyway, but by that point I had basically quit. Anyway, the only things I actually watched in eons, apart from short clips of stupid shit on social medias have been the Taker/AJ Styles match and the Staircase to Hell thingy I believe. So, yeah, bullshit moral posturing my ass, because I did quit watching (and was never a subscriber to the Network anyway). However giving shit to Bliss about such nothing is total bullshit moral posturing indeed. Can't believe I'm actually *defending* Alexa Bliss being a model WWE employee here.

What do you expect her to say ? "Oh yeah, this independent contractors deal are complete jokes, these people are assholes." I mean, the other day Whatever-his-name-is (not a dig, I litteraly don't remember that guy's name because I don't watch WWE) made kind of a rather hypocritical (for reasons already explained the other day) tweet about Jericho and all the fake outrage crowd was acting like he was some hero of the French Resistance. And there Alexa Bliss, who's always been a good little WWE soldier acts, well, like a good little WWE soldier but really doesn't say anything extraordinary either and she gets shit on ? Yeah. This : Indeed. And again, people are getting angry at Bliss ? Why not get angry at the company and actually act out about it ? Why ? Because it would take to *actually do something* that would cost them, like, stop watching a program they probably still enjoy, which is why it's much easier to make a bunch of angry tweets directed at a peon, it takes them two minutes and then they can go back posting gifs of their favourite matches on Smackdown...

She really did not address the independent contractors status at all, she said they were being taken care off when something happens to them inside the ring and that she was never pressured to work injured. If crowd favourite Steven Regal says the same thing about his many rehabs while asked the same question, I doubt people will get angry at him, for instance... The "cancel culture" line is totally misplaced indeed because the question has nothing to do with this at all, but honestly she's absolutely not wrong on the matter, people are just getting "outraged" for five minutes the time it takes to do a # and tweet some "socially conscious" shit then move on to the next thing and feel like they are such great militant of the cause, whatever the cause be. That's the reality of things. Are people getting angry at Alexa Bliss gonna stop watching WWE as a protest because this company is so awful and filled with so many awful and stupid people ? Probably not. They haven't yet, despite propaganda shows for Saudi Arabia, among many other things. And it's not like there's no alternative either... So there... Alexa Bliss is a good little soldier, but really, I don't see what the fuss is all about here. (compared to say, the conspirationist nest in NXT)

So yeah, Ibushi lost his briefcase (which is a gimmick I can't stand) but still gets the title shot at the Tokyo Dome. Which makes the whole briefcase matches completely useless. Funny that both Dave & Bryan were wrong arguing about it the other day : the story does makes sense but it still doesn't mean it's any good; and it doesn't make the *G1* useless, but the *defending of the briefcase* totally comes off useless now. So yeah, the booking makes sense, but it's still a terrible cop out to get two titles matches on the Dome show, with the second night being by far the lesser of the two on top of things. So no, not good booking by Gedo on this one. I get the feeling these shows are gonna be rough without the special attractions...

And then you have Linda McMahon.

I marked out as soon as Don Callis was in sight. Omega vs Page was just awesome, with the right finish, just. Best opener of the year easily and probably best opener in AEW PPV history yet Both looked incredible. Silver vs Orange was pretty damn good and a good way to showcase Silver. Nyla vs Shida was good although went too long after the spot where Shida picked up Nyla. And Vickie is useless as a manager, I was hoping Nyla would kill her postmatch and that would be the end. Darby vs Cody Rhodes (sounds off almost) was terrific and exactly what it should have been, loved pretty much everything about it, including the cool post-match attack. Taz is soooo good in his manager role, it's so cool to hear Taz cut promos like it's 1997 again. Then, holy shit, Young Bucks vs FTR was all kind of awesome in every way. What's crazy is that this year it's not the definitive MOTY yet (not sure it was as great as the Page/Omega match, but maybe it was), but it was just a masterpiece. It's insane they they lived up to the hype these two teams meeting up garnered. Classic finish, perfect match. And then there was no way anyone could follow that one, I mean really, you're fucked seven ways to Sunday trying to follow this, which is why the Deletion insanity was perfect in this spot. The ending stuff in the garage got kinda grim I thought, but one hell of a spectacle with some crazy cameos. Fucking Gangrel... The "mud show" line killed me. In some ways, I thought Jericho vs MJF was kinda underwhelming. And Jericho looked better than MJF I thought, who did look, well, kinda "soft". Not near his matches against Jungle Boy or Moxley. Fun finish though, but to me the match was kinda there. Moxley vs Eddie (between the Misawa colored outfit, which was indeed kind of an odd choice for this kind of match but still, and the Tracy Smothers tribute T-shirt... damn that guy adds so much great touches) was excellent for what it was. Hard to ask more than what they delivered, and they could not follow Omega/Page nor FTR/YB if they tried to wrestle, so that was like the best Abyss match ever or something. Yeah, great show with two or even three legit great matches and good booking all over.

Yeah, that's the Tequila Sunrise. Honestly Id love Konnan to show up in AEW eventually and reunite with Santana & Ortiz... And either DIamanté & Ivelisse or Thunder Rosa when she eventually makes the move (come on now, eventually she will). I would not bet on Eddie to win (would love it) but I *believe* he can, which makes the match. I absolutely believe Darby wins tonight. Yeah, honestly, there's something in the air tonight as far as big PPV feel, I'm legit excited. Gotta watch it tomorrow morning though. (oh Allie )

That video package for the main event... They really are selling me on the fact Eddie could win the title.

I thought about that too. I don't think they will, but even a one month reign before a rematch (with a gimmick like a cage or something) would be really cool.

Plus, Jericho is going to do the job twice today. BTW, isn't Cody a Trump guy too ?

The EVIL push has been nothing less than a disaster. The main event was probably the most unbearable match I've seen all year. Fucking goes 20 minutes before two ref bumps, a hundred run-ins, a *swerve-bro* tease, ball shots galore, a ref that NEVER FUCKING DQ's anyone for ten minutes of complete bullshit to cap off a super tedious match. Fucking awful. This is HHH era boring with terrible Attitude Era clusterfuck booking. If I never ever see an EVIL long-ass match it'll be too soon. Great'O Khan straight to the undercard 4 Life. Match against Okada was nothing, as Okada was cruising through a match whose ending was never ever in doubt against a mediocre worker whose presentation is gimmicky as fuck. Ospreay channeling Ric Flair in a post-match promo made me rethink that his heel turn was a good idea. These two will still have a great match anyway. In other news, Jay White vs Ibushi was really good until a finish that, well, was surprising enough I guess. Still, this is doom & gloom booking, which I don't think anyone needs right now. KENTA vs Tanahashi was really good but nothing special. The briefcase bullshit is stupid and Marty Asami being a legit bad referee makes it unintentionaly comical (like, worst timing ever to turn his head away for no reason other than not seeing the briefcase shot, good ol' crappy Marty Asami). Best match by a wide, wide margin was Suzuki vs Takagi beating the shit out of each other like they do. Not their best match or anything, but got great at the end. Yano vs ZSJ was a complete waste of time and not very funny, and I like Yano (although he kinda got on my nerves this year in the G1 as his stuff was less funny and more grating). Jeez, talk about making me not care at all about Wrestling Kingdom. I have no idea how they think they can do *two* nights with their current booking. Way too much straight heel vs babyface stuff with bullshit happening outside and ref bumps and run-ins, it's so tired. I wish Gedo was more a fan of 80's NJPW and less of 80's US territories, because although the guy can be brillant, when he's not his stuff can be brutally repetitive and tired, like a Dusty booked promotion in the late 80's. Apart from the G1, well, half of the G1 really, NJPW has been a total disappointment this year, with the godawful EVIL push, two newbies coming back with over gimmicked character and unimpressive work, Okada on total cruise control and insisting on trying to get his damn boring Money Clip over... See ya at the Dome I guess, but my interest has never been so low for the promotion since I got back on track in the mid 2010's, and I can't say this year has been any good in the grand scheme of things, too much boring bullshit at the top.

Of course they will. Also, you know that *something* will ruin AEW forever on this PPV, as something does every week. On paper, this is the best AEW PPV as far as pairings go. The long-term build of Omega and Page has been the best thing in pro-wrestling and exactly what I want from AEW. Kingston & Mox are probably gonna kill it, and themselves. Bucks vs FTR, despite a build that has been kinda odd at times, as MOTYC written all over it (let's be real).

Plus, the whole "lolMeltzer loves Japan/would be a billion stars at the Tokyo Dome" thingy is so old and tired, really. A few years ago he was all about how CMLL Friday shows were his favorite pro-wrestling in the entire world.

I've heard Dave countless times acknowledging El Santo as a cultural icon and one of the most important pro-wrestler ever. Yeah, Hogan by himself is more important that the guy who basically jumpstarted pro-wrestling in Japan, the guy who founded NJPW, El fucking Santo all put together.... for sure... Being "famous" doesn't mean you're more *important*. Yeah, Hogan is more famous worldwide for obvious reasons.

...or expect a pandemic, then you can get fired.

Well, yes, there is that too.

It's not about "whataboustism" (which honestly is a rethorical trick that is totally overused to DQ any kind of criticism during an argument). It's about being kind of a hypocrite on the subject matter. When you *work* for Vince McMahon, you probably don't need to make fun of someone for being a Trump supporter. Zayn does raise some good points about dissonance (gotta love the line "I live in the United States, you know what I mean ?"), but also I don't remember Sami Zayn acting houlier than thou on social media and/or pointing fingers. The guy is probably smarter than most guys there.

I mean, he debuted 30 years ago at Survivor Series. That would be a fitting end. They can dress up Brucie as Brother Love one last time too... He clearly is a guy who have overstayed its welcome by a number of appearance now, teasing a Final Farewell and having him show up yet again would be really ridiculous, but then again, pro-wresting retirements... He's not gonna get anything nearly as good as the AJ Styles "match" this year, so he could leave on a good (actually great) note. Sounds about right to me.

So a Vince McMahon employed guy is making fun of Jericho for being a Trump supporter. Ok. Whatever. I mean, calling out Jericho for being an idiot is one thing, but when you're getting your paycheck from the N°1 supporters of Trump themselves (and whose money also comes from that great humanitarian MBS), you should probably just shut the fuck up, really. Because it makes you a weeeee bit of a hypocrite.

Allysin Kay not being under contract with the NWA anymore makes this even more intriguing to me. Hopefully Kay looks good and gets a contract from AEW. This NWA thingy is dead in the water (like this new Smashing... ok, you know).

He's talking about *pro-wrestling history* (yeah, I know, the grade school line is kinda ridiculous). In this context, Rikidozan is more important than Hulk Hogan. It's not even a debate. Without Hulk Hogan, well, there was already pro-wrestling in the US, for about a century, there was already stadium shows being sold out, pro-wrestling on TV, pro-wrestlers in movies and whatnot... But some people in the US seem to believe the US equals the World, then WWE equals US pro-wrestling, then WWE began in 1984...

Yeah, it's way to much of the same thing, and although it's a good deal for talent who can get to work, it gets tedious to watch. The announcing crew is much more fun that the Dynamite one though (because, well, no JR). The highlight of this week's show was Pretty Peter Avalon's vignette. So, the Librarians seems to be done. Hopefully Avalon gets featured more in the future, he's a super solid worker and a good character.