El-P

Come on, you know she isn't working in the company.... that has nothing to do with WWE.... eww... BlackLivesMatter !!!!! .... ewww... Putting smiles on faces ! .... eww.. Fuck. Yeah, of course it should stir up a whole lot more shit, because the other dude is just an ignorant fool, but this is the true face of the family who is working on re-electing a white supremacist maniac. But it won't of course.

Who hasn't ? Everyone loves a dick pic.

Yes, you can get a temporary green card for two years I believe and then ask for its renewal.

Maybe they would. Maybe they would not. Maybe they would but not agree to cut that promo, at least not the bit about "ceasing the opportunity". We don't know. The fact is, he did and did it in a way that emphasize how tasteless and cynical this whole thing is. He's agreed to go all the way. Like I said in my first post : "good for him. Or not." But hey, all of this will be forgotten when they strap Velveteen Dreams with the title...

I don't know and I don't give a fuck. Because what about all the others who got cut ? Apparently it's because they didn't "cease the opportunity". For that comment alone, this guy is on my shitlist. And if I was one of his former co-worker fired at the same time, I would be pissed as fuck all for agreeing to say that stuff and he would have a phone call and ask for an explanation. Well, he obviously has none. What you forget to mention is that this all was used to send a message. Because really, you think WWE gives a flying fuck about Drake Maverick or the cruiserweight tournament ? This is the company who gave Chad Gable the Shorty Gable gimmick. They had him piss his pants before. He's just been a tool to play with people's emotions and manipulate the audience and send a memo to the employees independent contractors : "Be thankfull you have a job. Cry for the opportunity. Be good boys and girls and maybe you'll get your job back if you're of some use to us. Say the corporate things." That's the crux of the whole thing, not the "emotional story of a guy who got his job back" (but... why did he need to have his job back ? Oh, because he was fucking fired, or maybe not, who knows, in which case it's even worse). And that's what should be emphasized here. I don't know Drake Maverick but from what I've seen in these few weeks alone, the cringeworthy promo when he was "allowed" in the tournament and this one, I would not want to know him IRL either, thank you very much. I have zero sympathy for this guy, none whatsoever.

So are they running a subtle joke on WWE with Billy Gunn being called only Billy now. And when he was about to do what I think is a piledriver, which used to be one of his spot, Austin stopped him, because, you know... That Brasilian Girl apparently has been signed ? If so, good, she's got talent and presence. Hope she feuds with Shanna and they cut promos on each other in portuguese that only @KawadaSmile will understand. The Peter Avalon / Brandon Cutler rivalry for won will win one first is the best angle no one talks about. Just great stuff. They have to have this match and end with a draw or a double count out. Also enjoying what they are doing with QT and Allie, that's an interesting development. Allie is a better character than pure worker (although she's pretty solid), so that plays into her strenght. Those squashed by Ortiz & Santana and Butcher & Blade were quite fun. Their tag team division is getting quite loaded, and hopefully when TH2 gets out of Mexico they'll finally get some push.

Oh for fuck's sake, not that "food on the table" bit. What about the other ones BTW, who didn't "cease the opportunity", as Mr. Mop so eloquently said ? They wouldn't have to get their job back if they weren't fucking fired in the first place by the benevolent bosses. The whole "I got fired but I'm gonna prove I'm worth working for those who fired me and get back in their good graces with tears of joy" thing is atrocious. How can anyone rationalize this shit ? No. Defending this *is* being stuck in the bubble. This whole thing is godawful and Drake Maverick should be fucking ashamed of agreeing to go along and cut THAT fucking promo while people, not meaning just people from WWE but people in the real world, lost their jobs. But like I said, his dream job had him pissing his pants on TV, so yeah that was worth crying like a little bitch when your boss "allows you" the "opportunity" to "win the heart" of the Brand, after releasing you during a fucking pandemic (while NO OTHER pro-wrestling company did it, not even NWA or IMPACT, those juggernauts). Fuck that managerial bullshit. Fuck Drake Maverick for playing along (to remain polite) and fuck this company seven ways to Sunday. There's no defending that shit.

I'll call him "Corporate Mop" from now on. Pass the bucket so I can watch that promo again and vomit. And he was most known in WWE before that point for the "pissing himself" angle. So, the "not exploitable" and "very intelligent" argument don't fly. No pride and no dignity however, yes indeed.

On a purely pro-wrestling side, this also is the perfect picture of why his company can't make any stars. Because they are all painted as corporate dolts, who just want to have Mania Moments tm, and are petrified at the idea of not working for the company (because no one makes a living out of WWE of course). And you wonder why WWE's audience has been shrinking without fail forever now ?

Oh and BTW, the whole bit about "people who don't cease opportunity" is the most disgusting part. This promo is actual propaganda for the most brutal über capitalism and tells that if you get fired, it's pretty much your fault because you did not "cease the opportunity". While in the middle of a pandemic where people lost their jobs and are in very precarious situation because of it. The message this whole deal and this promo sends is amazingly disgusting and disturbing : be glad if you boss allows you to work. I hope for his sake Drake Maverick sleeps well at night, because he just cut one of the most historically disgusting promo ever. I hope this guy gets a job for life with them for being the corporate mop that he is.

One thing is for sure, as long as workers will have that kind of mentality, the concept of a union is not even thinkable. They get fucked and ask for more and say thanks when their employers "make their dream" by allowing them to have a job. Clap clap clap.

Drake Maverick has about as much pride as a mop. Good for him, being the good little soldier allowing his disgusting company to have an "emotional" angle and cutting a promo about "keeping your dreams" and other managerial/positive thinking bullshit when people actually got cut during a pandemic. Just watched that promo he cut, and I legit feel ashamed for this guy. That's something I guess...

If I look back at TNA 2010 now that I'm done with it, I'd say overall it wasn't as bad as most of 2009. Well, it was sometimes as bad, but not as boring because of the Hogan/Bischoff factor. There wasn't any super fun stretch like the final run of 2009 though. And although 2009 was bad, it was a still a year where the company grew, for whatever reason (can we credit Foley although his stint had been mostly awful ?), and I believe by the end of 2010, the company was actually declining thanks to the genius idea of the Monday Night Wars redux. Really, Hogan coming in did nothing positive for the product in the end. Bischoff is always a good performer, so when he's not fed bullshit, he can be entertaining. Of course he overseas the bullshit he was fed, so all the blame goes to him anyway. If there was an MVP, it's still Kurt Angle. Great worker, had the MOTY for the promotion with Anderson in the cage, terrific promo and angle worker too, works perfect in every role you put him in. The guy has been amazing since he showed up and his work in TNA by far surpasses his WWE stuff to me. His "climbing the top ten" angle leading to a great three-way (which in itself is amazing considering I don't like that formula) with Anderson (again) and Jeff Hardy (who never looked better than against Angle... wonder why) was quite the compelling stuff. Speaking of Mr. Anderson, he was a good surprise in the end after a bad first impression. I was not familiar at all with his WWE stuff (or I forgot the very few I had seen back then if I ever). Not a great worker, but he sure works his ass off. Not that much of a Rock/Austin clone (not to the ridiculous level of Eli Drake), although he's definitely influenced by them, and why not. Terrific mic worker, easily the best in the company in term of charismatic promos and a bunch of solid matches and eventually more than that when put in with really strong ones. Doug Williams was also a highlight of the year, working strong TV and PPV matches for the forgotten X-div title and the brand new TV title (because when you fuck up your secondary title, what you need is add another one). On the tag team front, Motor CIty MachineGuns vs Young BucksMe was clearly one of the peak of the company for this year, with two great matches, including one you would call MOTYC if it happened today (not the ladder match, the straight one). Insane to think the Bucks were in TNA ten years ago and already so fucking good too (and terrific heel workers). This was clearly the style of the upcoming decade. The women's division was sad, because of course the booking did them zero favors. Not to mention Awesome Kong getting fired because of racist piece of shit Bubba the Love Sponge. Sarita and Taylor Wilde (the forgotten super strong worker of the era) really carried the load. Way too much emphasis on the Beautiful People catty stuff, which got really terrible when they turned babyface, which doesn't work at all to me. On the more positive side, great signing of Mickie James who had quite a terrific brawl with Tara (the first time I ever really enjoyed a Tara match) toward the end of the year. And the rise of Madison Rayne, whom I became a fan of really this year on IMPACT, but now I can see she was already quite the terrific heel character by the second half of 2010, once she got away from the BP. But really, the women division still is not out of the trappings of the awful Russo booking yet. Long gone are the glory days of Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong... Tons of wasted guys too of course. A.J Styles turned into a Nature Boy and soon relegated in the mid-card, to make space for the former WWE guys. Ditto Samoa Joe, who at least ditched the stupid face tattoo but was even more of an afterthought. Pope for a moment looked like a legit star but then got injured and never got the momentum again. They had Desmond Wolfe and had him in a stupid angle with Abyss.... The talent level was ridiculous, and yet... Yeah, Abyss. Clear lowlight all year long, including the eye gouging Abyss-a-mania angle, a Evad Sullivan Redux legit main event push. Stupid beauty and the beast angle with Chelsea, who not only was hot as fuck but displayed some potential to be a cool character (as opposed to, say, Miss Tessmacher, your typical Russo bullshit Attitude Era/WCW redux). Dumb as fuck "THEY" angle followed by a swerve and more nWo redux (only the second one this year mind you)... Yeah, Russo and Hogan in the same company... yikes... Fast-forward worker of the year : Eric Young. From the last days of his lame stable to his involvement with Da Band to his GODFUCKINGAWFUL tag team with totally useless Orlando Jordan doing the worst Goldust ever, poor Eric Young had easily his worst year yet. That's saying something. Best show of the year : the ECW reunion show and angle. Not even close. The only legit great moment of the year in TNA. Loved the two main event of Dreamer vs Raven and RVD vs Sabu. Fucked-up angle/match that I liked despite... whatever good taste I have left : Mick Foley vs Ric Flair. The promo segment itself was insane, both were totally out of control. The match was disgustingly entertaining. As a matter of fact, I have mostly enjoyed Flair as the old, out of his mind manager, he also had a good match with Jay Lethal, whoever he is. Oh, and of course, the infamous Benny Hill moment... WCW Highway to Hell level hilarity. The concussion angle at the end of the year was the closest thing approaching to smart and relevant this company has probably ever done in term of dealing with a real life issue. But sadly, Matt Morgan on top doesn't work. He's just too nice to be a pro-wrestler, that's the way he comes off to me. And Jeff Hardy doing third rate Raven-like promo doesn't work either. I don't feel his heel work at all. His heel theme song is great though... Anyway. It took me a long time to go through that one. Probably because now I have much more interest in current companies, including IMPACT. Hey, I was warned it was terrible and it mostly was, really. One day I'll probably watch those supposedly "last glory years" of 2011-2013. As of yet, only 2005, half of 2006 and then 2008 were really good. That's 2,5 out of 7,5... Yeah... TNA.

Honestly, the only one that matters here is Rusev. Now that is a coup for them if it's confirmed Eric Young going back to IMPACT seemed like a given, for better or worse. But anyway, IMPACT has made me care about Johnny Swinger in 2020 and has reinvented RVD into a great middle-aged character, so whoever they get at this point, I'm interested in because they know how to get the most out of whatever they got.

Mental gymnastics indeed...

Meanwhile

Where do i "justify" it ? I point this out because Meltz is often accused by AEW haterz of this or that but him mentioning this fact was pretty interesting to me. Of course it's shitty that billionaires are founding other shithead billionaires political campaigns. Only, in this case, Vince works on a whole other level.

What people seem to forget is that when he was thrown on TV, he was basically a rookie. A 39 years old rookie banged-up from a pro-football career. Of course he wasn't gonna be good. Unless your name is Kurt Angle, Owen Hart, Jun Akiyama or Mika Akino (remember her people ?), which were pretty much great from day 1, chances are you're not gonna be good at all whe you debut. At his age, he had no shot. But all things considered, I think he fit the Horsemen very well with Debra at his side, he had a charisma and star power to him that made it work. Plus when he was hidden in tag match and only came for a spot or two, it was ok. Considering some awful workers who spent decades of sucking despite beginning young and healthy, having hundreds and hundreds of long boring matches on top of the cards, really the one year and a half/two years of rookie Mongo not being good doesn't seem that bad considering he was mostly a fun character during some of the hottest years of pro-wrestling of the last 30 years. What I'm saying basically, is that I'd rather watch a Horsemen tag match with Mongo from Nitro anyday over, I dunno, a Kane or a Baron Corbin match. That Twitter account is hilarious. That spot with Davey Boy had me rolling.

Yeah, and his boys the Harris Twins are big KiSS fans.

Yeah, pretty much, in the current context, what could be seen as purely an disappointing anecdote will flash on the screen as telling a whole other story. I wonder if there will be more reactions now like you say. She's big and tall. And samoan. That's it. She has exactly jackshit in term of aura and presence. She was never able to convey any sense of dangerosity, which is pretty ironic. And really, I don't remember people reacting to her very much when I was following the product. I remember I was coming off watching the Amazing Kong run in TNA, and even without talking about her actual work, which was subpar for a monster character anyway, she always came off completely pathetic and empty to me in term of aura and presence. Like, Crusher Maedomari suckitude level. And really, it's one thing to be green and sloppy when you're one or two years in the biz (although that tells a lot of how "good" the Performance Center is), but she's 6 years in and apparently unable to work properly still. If I'm Kairi, I get the fuck out of there when my contract runs up.

Depending for whom... What good would that do anyway ? He's wearing the shit and everyone watching the doc can see it now. People are bitching when someone doesn't make the right # on Twitter or doesn't say exactly "the right thing", but really now, isn't this a whole lot worse ?

I agree completely. Someone mentioned the mental gymnastics earlier, it's gonna get really crazy for some of those guys who work for a billionaire who was one of the biggest donator to Trump's campaign and who's wife is running the super Pac for his re-election too. I know that basically every big company donates to pretty much everyone because that's how it works (and why it actually *doesn't work*, but that's another issue), but there's a difference between Shad Khan who donated to Trump's campaign too (as Meltz mentioned on his last podcast BTW), as any super rich guy would, and working for one of his biggest active supporter. Unless you're David Starr (and from the little I know of him, more power to the guy), you're gonna work for some not-so-good people anyway if you're in the entertainment industry, but it reaches the point where maybe you should have to take a stance...

Nia is a liability. Always has been. She's totally careless, as showed by the clip. Gotta love that "no one is blaming Nia" in the company (which is why Meltz first said wait and watch). No shit. For whatever reason (wink wink) she gets a free pass despite her terrible track record.

In any other era, you KNOW Vince would have a heel-team named the Antifas. You know it would happen and most of the audience would have no issue about it. Interesting period from pro-wrestling as staying PWO seem to be quite complicated even in the locker-room these days. (I wonder what the reaction would have been if, say, Taker had twitted the same shit though)

Interesting booking twist with Trey vs Elgin, which was one hell of a match. They have slowly built Ace Austin to eventually be a top guy and have made a really good job of it too, and I like the fact they're pushing Trey as a single it seems, although still part of the Rascalz. Kimber Lee and Havoc beating the shit out of each other was pretty enjoyable. So many new enjoyable female workers during these tapings. The North at the Deaners Compound was pretty fun. After Stadium Stampede though, it came off tame as shit, but still pretty ok with a few legit fun stuff. They have made a really good job working around the fact they don't have most of their champs on these tapings. That "slut" line by Rosemary was the best of the show though. Yeah, selling your soul on the first date, come on...