El-P

Court Bauer got a shitload of money from the WWE settlement and his company and he's booking Eric Bischoff. That's telling about as much as anyone should know. The good thing is that you can watch it for free on Youtube. The bad thing is that you gonna get your money's worth. I gave them countless chances over the mast year or so. It's just not any good. The only saving grace is when CMLL guys show up, but really you only get lesser-than Arena Mexico matches anyway. TAFKA Dario Cueto is still there, doing sub Z-movie version of Lucha Underground. Everything is a poor redux of stuff from the past, basically. The announcing is awful too, and that is even after Matt Striker got striked for his stupid edgy line about Matt Riddle. Oh yeah, they actually have Matt Riddle as their biggest star. Should have started by this.

Exactly my thoughts. I do enjoy the stuff they do with vignettes and backstage stuff with Renee's interview set (and even, *gasp* the Jericho self-cringe stuff announcing matches). Apart from the useless Battle Royal, whose result was a given, this episode was tons of fun top to bottom.

Wait until Papa Trip's girls want to do pro-wrestling. The nepotism in the next 30 years in this company is gonna be insane. Also, gonna love how Uncle Eric gets some WWE TV spot because he's still grifting on his shitty podcast. Lately on an interview with "journalist" Ariel Helwani, he was talking about AEW was actually dying and that the TV deal was "hospice care". You'd think the TV deal would be humiliating enough for these guys but no. This is Trump level of post-truth, it's insane. The fact WWE rewards these guys shows that the pettiness never stops. Still, WWE is hot as fuck right now and NXT is seen, at least partly (the women side of the roster mostly, from what I get), as cool again. Running the ECW arena was certainly a thing (although so very ironic), but booking Bully Ray or Uncle Eric on your show that is all about youth and cool vibes, just to reward them for being an anti-AEW podcast parasite, I dunno. Leave that for RAW anniversary shows or, ya know, Court Bauer...

WWE may be as hot as ever, at least in term of money-making deals and big shows, but man, reading about it, there's literally *nothing* that would make me want to watch any of it. I have no idea how people aren't bored shitless by the entire Bloodline stuff by now. And Heyman is here talking about how it could go on for years to come. The fact the angle is quite literally based on crass IRL nepotism (I mean, Jacob Fatu would have spent three years in NXT before being brought up to the main roster if he wasn't part of the family, let's be real about it, and that has nothing to do with whatever talent he has) makes it even more hilarious. Like, Tonga Loa is involved in the main event of Survivor Series against Roman Reigns and CM Punk. TONGA LOA.

So yeah. TNA booked Matt Riddle. TNA is SO BACK as TNA.

I mean, you fly in Mistico and you put him with MxM Collection. Coach TK needs some fucking rest and delegate a bit. MxM Collection reeks of the shittiest WWE stuff, which it is actually. Mansour is actually good, but Mace is awful. And the gimmick has no place in AEW. I mean, even WWE thought it was too shitty for NXT, ponder that for a minute. And people wonder why AEW has lost a good chunk of its appeal ? Then on the same show you have the Outrunners vs Iron Savages. Jeeez. What the fuck happened to AEW, really. The Outrunners cult thing was cute for 5 minutes, but they are not nearly as over as people think they are. Cosplaying Hulk Hogan in 2024 is certainly a choice too. The fact is, apart from the gimmicky stuff, they're just not very good. The "shake hand" thingy is also a shameless redux of "scissor me Daddy", and I really hoped we could have moved away from this gimmicky stuff in 2020's wrestling. Obviously not, as demonstrated by LA Knight becoming a star in WWE because he says "YEAH" a lot and Joe Hendry getting over in TNA being the gimmickiest gimmick ever. I guess you can't escape the vortex of suck that is pro-wrestling mentality of old/WWE tropes. AEW needs to fix the lighting/cam issue they have, because some people look disgustingly yellowish/greenish, and apparently it doesn't appear that way live, so it's not just a matter of poorly applied fake tan. CC2 delivered some excellent matches (Kyle vs Mortos, holy shit), and the good stuff is good (Hangman, Mina), you know, but the overall feel is so down, with lots of aimless aspect to it. Hopefully they make changes when they go on MAX, including booking smaller buildings with a better production (and by better I don't like "more like WWE") and atmosphere. It's all a matter of perception, and as long as WWE is hot, they will struggle.

Which on paper is good. But then again, Lio Rush and Max Caster are two people who don't need anyone doing the talk for them though. I dunno. They had Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty right there. They're better, they're younger, they're not ex-WWE guys (again, if the Hurt Syndicate leads to better ratings and houses, I guess it was worth it, but let's be real, they'll have zero effect, the issue with AEW is overall perception right now and this kind of signing is not the answer, it's actually part of the problem).

Not only that, but despite winning the TV deal lottery, AEW has never felt so cold. It's a cold promotion with shitty crowds. Despite some stuff that I really enjoy still. As far as being like a RAW episode, well, maybe there's causality here. As years went by, AEW became more and more and more and more like WWE, and not the best version of WWE either. Or TNA. So there, first match of the CC2, fucking Shelton Benjamin beats Mark Briscoe. Ok. I eagerly await Eric Bischoff (oh wait, he'll actually be on NXT next week, that good ole carny leech). Seriously, this is *everything* AEW should not do. Mark was one of the most over guy in the company this year, and not pushed as such. He wins the ROH title and then loses it to Chris Jericho for, uh, reason ? And now he puts over this generation's Brad Armstrong (JTTS 4 Life, declared underrated to the point he's actually grossly overrated, could not figure how to showcase the slightest bit of charisma even after 25 years in the business). Good job. Speaking of Jericho, this Ishii match was absolutely fascinating. It should be showed in every wrestling school. This is how you lose a crowd. Not only they are two years older and it shows (although Ishii is still excellent, he had some great matches this year), not only it's a rehash at a time when the company is now very cold and it shows, but there is this point where they chose to slap the shit out of each other to the point Ishii's cheek gets red. And the crowd doesn't like this. I did not either. It's striking how at this point, they decide this is kinda bullshit and turn against the match. So they kinda try something else, but don't quite manage and when they go back to some slaps, the crowd turns against them AGAIN. Then Ishii tries to be Ishii but Jericho's timing is off, which is very reminiscent of the debacle against Mistico at Arena Mexico. Oh yeah, it was for the ROH title and no one gives a fuck. Apparently Jericho getting it back was in the hopes of getting a TV deal. The idea of Jericho in 2024 being useful to get a TV deal for ROH aside, let's put it like this. Either ROH gets a TV deal, in which case tape it at some smaller venue with a totally separated roster and try make it a cool and different product. Either ROH doesn't get a TV and it has to be done with immediately. Get over it. The ROH "show" is a complete waste of time. It's only good to give workers some reps. There's *zero* effort put into it as a show. Final Battle at Hammerstein will probably be really good because you can thrown enough talent together at the last minute, that doesn't justify this ROH nonsense. Have AEW Ring of Honor at Hammerstein every year and make it a ROH "nostalgia" show if you want. Jeez. But GET OVER IT. Nothing screams "cold promotion" more than Claudio and Ricochet busting their ass only for the crowd to entertain themselves with "bald" chants. As much as I was with them on the slap stuff, this was just sad. Hangman is great, Jay White is great, Deathriders are great, Marina Sharif is OMG Marina Shafir. That Cole vs MJF story is a clear case of escalation of commitment. I really just want them to bring Bobby Fish back so he can ask where the lie is. And don't get me wrong, I like all the people involved here. But this is wretched. Don't tell me they're gonna run Mercedes vs Kamille after that awesome match against Statlander. Mercedes has got her groove back, but she ain't a miracle worker either, and Kamille... Kamille is cool in the heater role. In-ring, sorry to say, she never was that good. Don't try to Jade Cargill her, because she ain't Jade Cargill. She absolutely can contribute positively, and aside from that awful match against Aminata, she's been pretty good, but please, Mercedes deserves opponents against whom she can have bangers, because that's what she does. Mina vs Mariah is great. Brody vs Darby is great. I dunno what is going on with the House of Black, apparently Buddy has signed an extension or something, but it's obvious they are every much contributing big time. Gimme that Brody King single push yesterday.

Mortos, for sure. Hologram was doing fine when working against other luchadors. But the reality is that he's not as good as Komander, who gets over despite never winning a match. Hologram also has a really lame third-tier luchador outfit and mask. Of course he got a big reaction. Anyone coming from WWE does at first. The reality is that it means nothing in the grand scheme of things. People already in the building popping for someone who is not drawing is a forever thing. Sid was the same way. People popped huge for him, he never drew jackshit. The reality is that I would not have hired Benjamin to begin with. MVP basically being the most valuable in the long run as he's an awesome promo and can even bump as a manager, he can help get talent over. Lashley, who knows. If he's coming in with the Adam Copeland mentality of working, cool. Still. There's way too many 50 years old ex-WWE guy on this roster. One reason NXT is hot again is because they built around young people. Really young people. That's what AEW need to do too. Kyle Fletcher is exactly what they should be aiming at. There are steps in the right directions, but to me thus far the Hurt Syndicate on TV reeks of TNA circa 2011. Which is funny, because the MVP/Lashley stable is actually a TNA thing if I remember right. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt both in term of how they are booked and how they deliver in the ring, but I can't say that when you think "alternative", you think of 50 years old guys who come there to "end their career", as MVP puts it (likewise what Adam Copeland said). There's plenty of things AEW can and would want to be. The retirement home for ex-WWE guys isn't one of them.

Actually, Jack Perry is facing Yota Tsuji. Athena better fucking be there. She's been working in front of empty ROH tapings for two years while *never* showing up on Dynamite or Collision or the PPV's while being easily a top 10 worker all around in the company (I would *love* to get the reasoning behind this, because it's ridiculous). If anyone deserves anything, that's Athena going to the Tokyo Dome. Gotta have Mistico somewhere too.

Say his name and he appears ! I wonder if the MLP shows in 2025, whatever they will be, will keep on bringing him. He and Callis together sure brought credibility and professionalism to the booth. Callis seemingly can work with *anyone* and make it work.

Sure. He should be in the Chris Daniels spot of they really want him. But putting a 49 years old WWE JTTS for life over guys like Sammy Guevara, Komander and especially Lio Rush is absurd. I understand it was a way to build him to lose to Swerve (so Swerve could lose clean to Lashley, don't get me started on that one), but there's plenty of people whom he could beat. Komander had that stellar performance against Kyle Fletcher where he got over so big, and it leads to zero (I've giving up on expecting anything for poor Komander, the guy should get the Hologram push really, and while I'm at it, Fénix should have received that single push at some point, but that's neither here nor there). Lio Rush should be pushed as the singular talent he is. Not to mention, I have been very underwhelmed by Benjamin in his three matches, which were all made at 90% by their opponents bumping around his slow-as-snail ass. Maybe he'll find his groove in the C2, hopefully he will, but thus far he strikes me as a waste of time and money and counterproductive push on TV.

Actually, both Dome shows are shaping up to be pretty fun. Business wise, dunno and don't care. But pretty fun and fresh, at the very least (well, apart from anything House of Torture related, of course). I was thinking about going to Tokyo for that first week and go to some shows. Then I checked the plane tickets prices. Oh well.

So basically. Lauderdale complains about AEW booking the Hammerstein. Ricky Starks gets up his ass to work GCW and cuts a promo basically bashing AEW. Effy makes public a clip from his Patreon Podcast (who the fuck is paying to listen to a podcast ?) where he basically says Shad Khan is paying Tony to stay away from his business. AEW pulls Ricky Starks from woking GCW. Lauderdale is like "uh, oh I don't understand, this isn't ideal, we promised our fan something we can't deliver now, why are we punished ?" The most hilarious parts is all those people who are so very concerned by "workers rights" and against "billionaires" suddenly and very specifically. I guess they boycott anything related to TKO then... What a dumpster fire. Like I said before, since now everything is about how AEW is soooo bad, they should go straight into rogue don't give a fuck mode. The guy is indeed a billionaire's son and can waste money up the wazoo. With the TV deal secured for at least three years, if I were him I'd go "Yeah, ya know, this is getting tedious, I'm gonna be a piece of shit now."

Actually, MLP delivered two absolutely awesome main events (much, much better than the Takeshita match against Ricochet at Full gear). The cards had its ups and downs (TAFKA Jinder Mahal was *GODAWFUL*, seriously I don't think I've seen someone so bad in an eternity), but mostly pretty entertaining. The mix of talents from everywhere surely added a lot. Sadly this was the last time to see El-Phantasmo before he announced he had cancer. Hopefully things turn out good for the guy. The elephant in the room here is of course Mauro's announcing. It's funny. The first night, I thought, "Well, he really isn't as loud or annoying as I remembered him to be", and the good things about his game still wer every much in effect. And then the second night, after a few match, I was like "Damn, he's beginning to annoy the hell out of me".

OK, we get it. YOU BELIEVE.

The previous era was using no old-WWE guy as it's top stars. That was not D'Amore's approach. That's called "shitty booking", that's how it's called, actually. I'm guessing they're going for the exciting Nemeth heel turn with... *yuck* JBL at his side. Awful stuff.

What has plagued TNA during their "glory" days was that they always put ex-WWE guys above their own talent. They had moved past that point in the last few years as IMPACT became that place where people like Sami Callihan, Moose, Tessa Blanchard, Josh Alexander, Eddie Edwards could have nice runs as big fish in small pond. It was a welcome change of booking, it gave the promotion its own identity. It was a lot more interesting. He's been a totally dreadful character. People have argued for years he was one of those "underutilized" WWE talent, but what I've seen in TNA is the same old Shawn Michaels X Billy Gunn dude with no personality apart from having a Sunset Strip fetish or something. The fact he's been doing the rounds in AAA with Alberto el Rapist doesn't exactly endears him to me either, but that's another thing. The Hardys are actually at the exact right spot in TNA. They are a nostalgia act looking every bit of their age, as demonstrated by the absolute clusterfuck that was the BFG main event. I'm not sure they would even fit right in current WWE at this point, they already got their nostalgia run there in 2017. I mean, I take anything over Bryan Myers. Them being tag team champ for a while is not an issue in itself. The Hardys/Nemeth on top combo paints a different landscape though. Sorry what ? I don't *get* Joe Hendry ? There's nothing to *get*. He's a meme. He got over on social media as a meme. He's an empty shell. There's nothing to it and his work is nothing to write home about. Overrated promo, overrated worker (well, he's not really rated anyway). Probably a nice guy though, and good for him. They don't tell any "longer story". The JBL angle is complete shit and has had zero development since last June. The Kaz "cashing in" stuff is already overplayed and the execution at BFG was contrived and pretty dumb. Genesis doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Bound for Glory is their biggest show of the year and it apparently still did not do as well as Hard to Kill. Now they are stalling with Joe Hendry being put in the Turkey-suit match at Turning Point. The main event scene has been dreadful ever since Nemeth got the title, and really the Moose reign earlier this year was a chore. Booking was simple : Hendry is over, Hendry beats every name on the way, Hendry wins the title at their biggest show of the year while he's hot. As far as "building a replacement", guess what, there's none. Joe Hendry is a fluke algorithmic happening. Before his theme got pushed by Spotify, he was on the pre-shows working lame 5 minutes matches for the Digital Championship and no one was clamoring for a bigger push. They did not "make him a star". They just rode the wave of the meme hype, as they should have done. Hey, if they do their biggest number at Genesis and the guy shows up at the Rumble as TNA champ and they get bigger while they get to Slammiversary next year, good for them.

I'd be remiss if I did not make that post about TNA, which never stops being fascinating. So after all this time, they bring the TNA brand, D'Amore gets fired, hype dies down, workers want out. And then Joe Hendry gets viral because algorithm, then WWE wants to play nice because "let's not get a UFC-like monopoly lawsuit" and TNA is doing the best they've been in more than a decade. Which doesn't mean it's the best it's been in a decade either. Quite the contrary. Although the first part of the year had some serious issues with a boring-ass heel faction dominating the program, there was enough great workers and stuff like the MCMG and Mustafa Ali killing it every week. But since this summer, TNA looks more *TNA* than it has in more than a decade, with heavy focus on ex-WWE guys on top (Nemeth, Hardys), booking both dull and crappy, especially that godforsaken "JBL shows up and lariats someone in the main event then disappears and there's zero development about it ever" angle, which should be renaimed "JBL shows up" anyway. Who the fuck wants to see his old bully ass anywhere in 2024 ? Nick Nemeth is "really good by 2010 WWE standard" but also a completely dreadful character. The main heel faction is still the same, and it includes Brian Myers and TAFKA Fandango. And Aleisha Edwards, who's ideas of a heel promo is lifting up the most annoying trait of Vicky Guerrero. The women's division has been in dire straits all year long. Sure, Jordynne Grace is great, but her entire character has been "Hey, look, she's been on NXT last week, she'll be on NXT PLE next week !". I mean, sign with WWE already (which she is doing first thing next year). She had zero notable matches before finally the Masha feud to drop the title (apart from the Roxanne Perez match... on NXT). And really now, that NXT stuff is hilarious. Sure, it may have helped the rise of attendance and PPV numbers (getting back to this though), but the upswing was already on when Joe Hendry got viral. But it surely has helped, including perception (somewhat). Still. The deal is NXT getting Grace, Hendry, the Rascalz and getting them over to their audience, while pretty much insuring they'll get them when they leave TNA, while TNA mostly gets a bunch of jobbers. Oh yeah, for TNA's biggest show of the year, NXT sent... Wendy Choo. To tag-team with Rosemary. Meanwhile, they had Grace vs Perez and Hendry vs Ethan Page on their own PLEs. Honestly a brillant move by WWE, it totally helps NXT's perception and atmosphere, it surely is awesome for the talent that get to go there and short term, it probably has helped TNA a little bit. Still, it's far from what TNA fanboys thinks it is (let's not even mention the "AEW relationship was so bad" idiocy, yeah, AEW sent Kenny Omega during the pandemic and had Christian Cage drop the title to Josh Alexander in the main event of Bound for Glory, that's pathetic compared to getting Wendy Choo and Sol Ruca) And of course, the Joe Hendry craze. Which is pretty unexplicable if you look behind the hype. The guy is objectively a very, VERY mid worker and really has not stepped up at all in big matches. His promos are redondant and gimmicky. His entire character is actually a heel (bullshit motivational speaker with intentionally cringe music theme). His songs are not nearly as funny as he thinks they are (the "Edge's bitch" about Cardonna is the only one I can remember as legit funny). But the guy got viral because of Spotify algorithm or something and became a meme. And so he's a legit draw for TNA it seems like. So what TNA do at Slammiversary after months of building him up and him beating pretty much every "big" name they have ? Well, they have him lose in a clusterfuck including fucking JBL. TNA be more like TNA, like I said. So what do they do now ? They have two "big" events : BFG and Slammiversary. They have to wait 6 months now to crown him as they should (doesn't matter what I think of his work, he's over, he's drawing) ? If they make him the champ at any other PPV before Slammiversary it won't be as important. And will he sustain his meme hype for that long ? Maybe if he show up at the Rumble (like he probably will, I mean I'm guessing) he will. Then again, if he does, that means that by the end of the year, WWE snatches him, so TNA would have fucked it up anyway by wasting 6 good months of him not being their drawing champ. And then again, there's something to be said about TNA doing much better (and they are). No PPV, despite the NXT relationship and Joe Hendry being over, has apparently done close to as good as Hard to Kill did at the start of the year. So there's this. Also, at the start of next year, TNA will have lost Mike Bailey, Josh Alexander (can't see him staying further) and Jordynne Grace, basically their three ace workers and 2 of their biggest names. Dunno how long the Rascalz are under contract, but they are NXT bound either way. So is Joe Hendry at the end of next year. So there. What's next (see what I did ?) for TNA ? No idea. TNA is back looking like old TNA, with old WWE guys on top. World champ : Nemeth. Tag champs : Hardys. So yeah, the IMPACT years under D'Amore will end up being the best and most interesting ones, as TNA seems to be back. As in, TNA, ya know.

Bischoff showing up at NXT next week. It pays off to be an anti-AEW podcast leech. He's also book on the next "Eric Bischoff promoted" MLW show. That's carny.

I wonder if someone is trying to get a sweet WWEID contract, uh Effy ? I mean, AEW just had Mox, Marina and MVP at Bloodsport. Hell, MVP main-evented Bloodsport. GCW has booked tons of AEW over the years. But the new thing is "WWE is helping the indies now" so we're gonna see more and more of this. How could this turn poorly ? The hilarious part is Starks in the middle. The guy is now the martyr of all things "TK is as bad as Vince". The cesspool known as r/squaredcircle is gonna explode over this. The most absurd part of it is that the guy, for all we know, is *not even asking for his release*. Meanwhile, Cardona is being hilarious about it.

Not only that, but you had Lauderdale whining about AEW booking the Hammerstein "too close" from his own show and how they could have booked it at any time. That's ignoring it's not just for a show but for ROH "flagship" (whatever that means, although there is some hope it might be a jumpstart for some kind of TV deal this time around) show. And really, now Lauderdale ? GCW booked the Hammerstein Ballroom a few years back at the peak of GCW's hype, there was talk about how it could be like the 3rd company in the country at the time, and guess what, they delivered a shit show. And it was never the same after that point. As far as the Ricky Starks promo, it's funny on two aspects. First, the GCW date had to be approved by AEW (he also was at Full Gear backstage, not that it means anything). Second and quite funny to me, it's the *same fucking promo* he was cutting every two months on AEW TV for the last year he was appearing there. "I'm a generational talent, booo I'm not being given the respect booo". But yeah, the thing is now, WWE is the friend of the indies you see. *wink wink nudge nudge*. And the comparison with the original ECW is indeed fitting. Speaking of which also, that NXT at "ECW" Arena was quite something. Way to pay hommage to the freak-show outlaw promotion when you're a billion dollar conglomerate working with the Saudi government for a few millions a show and shit. Totally the spirit of the original. I'm guessing most of the people currently watching NXT would be horrified by the actual ECW product of the time. I mean, this is where you chanted "She's a crack whore !" at Francine, not a place where you carried "I hope both wrestlers have fun" cringe sign...

It's 100% this and drying up the access to indie talent to other promotions (as in : AEW). I mean, Kylie Ray ? She's not an upcoming young prospect. She's a 32 years old veteran who is already better than 90% of the NXT roster and probably quite a bit of the main roster division as well. If they don't trust her because of her past issue, why even bother ? But since she's been on MLP shows alongside some AEW people, she's back under everyone's radar (would she even go back to AEW though if she had a bad experience there ?), so there you go. If they want her, they could sign her tomorrow. Even as a coach, while letting her work indies, since they are so "indies-friendly" now. It's a brillant move though, just like the TNA partnership, which has totally mindfucked the TNA fanbase.

Coming off weeks of very much hit and miss weekly TV (hit : Deathriders angle / Ospreay/Kyle /Moné/Statlander ; miss : Cole/MJF, stable of 50 years old ex-WWE guys) and a mostly great PPV, I was really looking forward to the CC2. On paper, Gold League looks awesome from top to bottom. Blue League looks obvious but really good, that is unless Mortos is there to eat pins (like he's probably there to) and Shelton is not there to hit pins (like he should considering his age, his career status and the fact he's been a gigantic LOLTNA moment thus far on AEW TV), and really he should not be in this thing at all with all the *young* and *fresh* talent that would benefit from this instead. Obviously the final should be Ospreay vs Okada at Wrestle Dynasty, ya know, but I guess it also could (and probably will) be Ospreay vs Fletcher II at World's End Kinda surprised to see Darby there though, since I expected him (still do) to win the title from Mox. I wonder when Eddie is gonna be back. He fit right there with the current direction and Mox as main heel character. At this point, with the lottery TV rights, Rampage going away (thankfully, it had really turned into a completely useless show), hopefully a ROH TV show that would look actually *different*, Coach TK should just not give two fuck and do whatever he wants and tell everyone in Da Business to go fuck themselves. When you see the amount of ridiculous hatred toward AEW (every Youtube channel and podcast is seemingly a "dump on AEW" gimmick it seems), it's just not even worth listening to any of the noise. There's plenty to criticize, but really now, just be not-WWE (and not-TNA, uh ?), have great PPVs and I'll be fine with it.

Maybe he can have Logan Paul, legit crypto-crook, has his big Mania match. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cze386d3enpo