El-P

The same. And although I did love some of the segments and promos, I must say that as a "feud", the whole Mox vs MJF thing has kinda felt thrown together at the last moment and is not very compelling, honestly. The "issue" I have with MJF is that he's almost *too* old-school. Some people have mentionned how they didn't buy his heel act and although it's not the case for me, there's still something to that... in that I don't really buy MJF as this rich kid character. It's almost like his gimmick is not "Despicable rich kid" but rather "Old-school heel wrestler with a despicable rich kid gimmick", but since he's playing it straight, well, at some point there's almost a disconnect. To me it would be better if it was more meta actually. The whole presidential gimmick stuff worked on its own because the promos were great as exemples of great old-school style stuff, but really when you think about the whole MJF/Mox angle, it really did not click on a broader level. Whereas Jericho vs Orange has been awesome from start to finish. I dunno, but clearly Mox vs MJF, although is very interesting and amazing to have MJF already main-eventing a PPV and feeling it's not a miscast, still doesn't interests me nearly as much as a feud as Jericho vs Orange, Omega/Page vs FTS or even Dark Order vs Cody's family (not to mention Darby vs Team Taz).

UNIONIZE BITCHES !

Who would listen to this ? Yeah, people on PWO, I know, but really, what is the mainstream appeal of a SMW podcast ? Especially when Corny has been doing SMW episodes on his own and no one will ever beat Corny on the matter (even worse considering Conrad is probably totally clueless about it).

The irony when you think Rusev quit and became basically a pro streamer...

Who can work somewhere else. And really, a low-carder in WWE doesn't seem to make *that* much money anyway. With AEW around and other company having been rather agressive as far as getting talent (*IMPACT* signed quit a bit of people during the pandemic), it's not like being fired from that pit that is WWE is the end of the world (that's what WWE want its workers to think i.e the insane cultish speech that Trip does to the people who don't want to re-sign "We're a family, we'll always be there, who know is AEW will still be there in a year..."). The Batista re-tweet is something.

Peter Avalon challenged Brandon Cutler to a match. Shit's really on now. I hope they do a 20 mn draw.

Most famous for being the place of a concentration camp nickamed "the antechamber of death", as it was the gateway for the Auschwitz extermination camp during the 40's. Yep, that's what the name Drancy first evokes to most adult French people. That was the cultural tidbit fo the day...

*wink wink nudge nudge*

Ok, who wants to work for this company in 2020 ? I mean, really ? Apart from kool-aid drinking conspis and washed-up MAGAs ?

Talk about guys who were pushed like killers in NXT and "da future of da buziness" and did jackshit once they left Full Sail... Yet another casualties.

Is Matt Riddle listed ? "Matt Riddle. Former MMA star. Made waves in NXT then shows a lot of promises in the main roster. May or may not have raped an ex-lover." What about Velveteen Dream ? "Velveteen Dream. Came back form injury, did not show much improvement. But he did show his dick to some underage boys." (EDIT : damn, a few seconds too late !)

We really don't know what he was *supposed* to do. It's a long term story that has evolved organically. And yeah, he did get over when he began to drink and not give a fuck (on the surface), and even before he showed signs of badasserie (as we say in French ). But to me the current stuff is just adding another layer to the story, it doesn't detract from his character at all. He never really completely got back to the Elite. So it's not "going back to the initial insecurity", because it never really went away, it was just hidden for a while. To me Page did not come off like an idiot like cartoony Sting would, he just got manipulated by bad people who used his one big weakeness, and the kinda strained-already relationship just blew off because of it, at least with the Bucks. I can see at one point the Bucks & Omega going full fledge heel eventually, because they, especially the Bucks, are awesome at it.

That's where you got it wrong. Page wasn't Steve Austin. Page drank beer and basically became the Sandman because he was insecure within his own relationship to the Elite. Yeah, for a while it worked after a very shaky start when him and Omega won the tag team titles despite him wanting out of the Elite, but FTR using the insecurity that was *always* there to screw the Bucks just made a crack in what seemed to be a unit but really was never one. The on/off chemistry with Omega, with him growing frustrated and slowly showing signs of the Cleaner character coming back is what will eventually lead to the split, the feud and Omega, I guess, putting Page over at the very end. I love how they make Page kind of a tragic figure on his way to the top.

Seriously now, did Brucie bought his entire roster at Complotists'R'Us ?

So, Big Swole vs Britt Baker will be a cinematic match from Baker's "office". If they manage to make something good out of this mostly terrible angle (and with Baker involved, they may be able to), I'll never question AEW again because that's really making chicken salad out of chicken shit. It's also probably a good idea on paper considering Swole really is not gonna have a good match at all with Baker anyway inside the ring. Would love some surprise for the Battle Royal. And no, I don't mean Lesnar.

The Page/Omega/Young Bucks storyline is the best stuff going on in pro-wrestling, has been for a long while. Because they are real human beings with real complex emotions you can relate to, as opposed to "bad guys vs good guys" or gimmicks. And they are all so good with little details, like Page looking like he has not been sleeping in days, Bucks not doing their usual pose during their intro and basically acting pissed and frustrated. It's so above anything else in term of long-term storytelling, it's ridiculous. The match with FTR has MOTYC written all over it on paper, to the point anything less would be a disappointment. The "lawyer" is a pro-wrestler, right ? I mean, he was really good. And yeah, total Cornette outfit. Total Cornette act, really. Thunder Rosa vs Serena Deeb was excellent. As expected, Rosa came off looking like a star like she did in NWA, and Deeb looked better than 90% of the women roster. They sure should signe her, as she must have been a pretty decent coach too. But keep in on TV working with the girls. The shape she's in too... The whole thing gives NWA some great visibility, but honestly I wish AEW would just get Thunder Rosa. Can we get Kamille to show up also ? Yeah, Britt better win that feud and move on, this is really not good at all. So Matt Hardy gone already (Sammy would need to win a big one) ? And coming back as another schyzophrenic incarnation ? The "battle royal" clearly had no direction whatsoever to the point it was almost comical Like, ok, how to get those people out of the ring ? Meanwhile, that show lacked a Dark Order in-ring segment. Yeah, that's how far the gimmick has come to me. JR's line of the week : "These women aren't afraid to break a nail." Yeah, that's how you put the women division over, JR... PPV looks terrific on paper with the three title matches, Jericho vs Orange, Sammy vs Matt in a blood feud match, a cool multi-match with Dark Order vs Cody's "family" and Young Bucks vs Jurassik Express (or Lucha Express if you listen to JR) which could be the sleeper.

Oh for the fans who want to watch both live, sure, it's a win/win.

Well, not really, since the only reason NXT was put in front or AEW was to hurt them and prevent them from finding an audience. They don't want *everyone* to win. This move shows that they have actually lost and this is them registering that loss, although of course they'll try to twist it into some sort of bold positive move... The beauty of it is that Impact is so under the radar that I don't think he can be hurt anymore. But yeah, if you look at it that way, it's hilarious. They tried to compete with AEW and now revert to "counter-program" Impact !

There's no problem with Mox. He's great. Terrific worker, great promo. There you go, don't search no further. I do and I can totally connect with Moxley. I love the fact he's got a bit of Terry Funk and Bret Hart in him, as they were two of my all-time favourites. It always amused me the way some people just did not get Raven *at all* for instance. Not on any level (which included the more humorous side of his later on). Maybe you gotta have the same ridiculously high IQ to really enjoy it, I dunno... To me that sentence has become an overused cliché lately. It certainly has a part of truth in it (tons of great exemples in the greatest stars like Austin, Flair, Rock, Bruno), but I see it thrown around a lot as some kind of authority argument, usually to criticize contemporary wrestlers or guy who never clicked for whatever reasons. And sometimes, it's just plain wrong, either way you look at it. Brucie's rant on Nick Aldis for instance, is a total case of not getting it at all. Yeah, he is "cosplaying" the old NWA champion. But he's doing this routine better than anyone since, well, Flair in the 80's. On the other end of the spectrum, the Undertaker is probably the most successful gimmick of all time (and I'm not talking about the MAGA Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' version of it), but I don't think Mark Callaway has anything about him that's about being a living dead who build caskets and buries people alive and doesn't feel pain. Also, that famous sentence is always convenient but strangely never seem to apply in the multiple cases of "the guy did not put all his energy into the gimmick that was given to him, that's why it did not work". And really, if you listen to Mox in interviews, he's really not that far off the guy he portrays in the ring, so I for one would think that definition actually works pretty decently in this case.

Yes. There's no reason why AEW would throw out silly money. They ain't WCW. (why is this thread not in the AEW folder ?)

WCW 2000 level. I WOULD watch NXT sometime now that Mauro is gone, but I WON'T try this week.

Wonderful !

Mike Rapada wasn't available after all ? Damn.

So, Excalibur is back on Dark this week. Good.

John Silver on BTE is a riot. The Dark Order have been stealing the shows for weeks now. Also, the very last shot of this week's episode is another tease in the long road to Omega becoming the Cleaner again (or maybe something else ?). Yes, I am excited for what's to come.