El-P

It's a really interesting point and I have been thinking about that a lot when I watch AEW, the fact the figure of Dusty Rhodes, who was that guy in the polka dots for a generation of WWF fans and then the legendary figure in WCW, the losing brand, is now looming over the brand new, forward thinking exciting promotion, with the young son at the helm, the veteran older son as himself kind of a "legendary" figure of his generation and guys like Arn, Tully showing up, the heritage of WCW being talked about in a positive light again after 20 years of being derided. And in the middle of all of this, Tony Schiavone, as the guy who was calling Dusty's matches in the glory days of Crockett (much more than Ross), being back in the fold, respected and loved by everyone. It's fascinating to me how things work on a very long scale. (one could also talk about the buzz NWA Powerr got by reviving the studio aesthetic which is a direct reference to Dusty's days as the glory days, as opposed to the narrative of WWF being the only pro-wrestling that mattered in the 80's)

Thanks. Yeah, Madison Rayne legit cracked me up during that segment. She's terrific. I should add I have no idea how IMPACT managed to make Swinger, a guy I never ever cared for in any way shape or form, someone I look forward to watch every week. They just have some of the best ideas.

You and your odd takes. Don't. It turned into a total mess. I think the "goofy video-game lover gaijin" definitely had a specific appeal to the Japanese audience. But he's not been pushed as the Man in AEW yet either, so there's time. A few months back, Hangman Page was struggling finding his way. And Britt Baker was not working as a babyface. I just have faith in this company. Maybe because they managed to get so many guys who came from nowhere over and Cody turned himself into a legit main event guy, something that seemed impossible in WWE and even a bit forced when he was working ROH a few years ago. It's not that I agree with every choice they make. Before the shutdown, I was not feeling the Big Swole push one bit for instance. Don't see much at all in her (yet ?). I hope my girl Shanna gets a push when things go back to normal.

They ran an über safe empty taping show last week with everybody wearing masks (at a lucha show) and the announcers being far apart from each others. Only singles match too I believe.

As we say in French, it smells like "fin de règne"...

Holy shit, really ? @C.S., I blame you for this debacle !

I already talked about your strawman before and you responded with a very twitter-like "lol sTrAwMaN" kinda statement. As far as factual inaccuracy, you talked about a jobber "controlling most of the match". Which is not true. He had some burst of offense, but he did not "control most of the match". That's simply not what happened. So there. But honestly, the mere fact you called it Omega's best match in AEW is so totally ridiculous, I have no idea why I even waste my time at his point. And yeah, that jobber was pinned by a secondary (at best, as it's never used as a finisher in a real competitive match) spot. So how does that makes Omega look bad when he did not even bother to use a finisher ? Basic psychology that flies over the head of people I guess. Oh, so you are "the critique". My bad, I did not realize. Well, as far as praise, Charles loved it, for one.

I was bitching about dumb shit about pro-wrestling on the internet in 1999 already. Not that it's something to be proud about... The critique ? Who the hell is "the critique" ? If you knew me a tiny bit you'd know I don't give a flying fuck about what people think about my favourites. I'm a Raven fan (that reference will fly over your head since it's an old personal running gag on this board). The fact is you've only responded by strawmen and factually false statements. So, there. Whatever indeed.

That's what the North said. Hey, could be a pretty unique feature and a way to work around their absence. Tessa on the other hand, is supposedly in Mexico (with Daga I guess), so maybe she will work some AAA shows which could be showed too since they do intergender matches. Not announced of course, just a thought.

Oh I believe it. Dissecting promos leading to the main event (because it was the main event in the eyes of the fans then) of the biggest show of the year that finally had the absolute biggest most over guy since CM Punk against Trip after years of being fucked over doesn't seem like a head scratching issue as opposed to people losing their shit over a meaningless competitive squash on a no-audience show during the most irrelevant period of shows you can dream of.

So like I said I binged-watched S2 during the confinement (why not give it a chance now that MLW fell off my radar) and really enjoyed it. Tons of improvement (and plenty room for more). And just watched the Kamille special, that was certainly super well done. Yeah, Kamille is a star and she looked terrific squashing that poor girl. Hopefully they wait until they can run in front of a crowd again, because the empty studio would not work at all.

A bRaUn, I guess.

Details have been clarified. You don't listen. Or don't get it. Or don't want to get it. I love when someone talks about being within the MAJORITY too, as if that was any kind of argument. I do think the MAJORITY of the AEW audience considers Omega as a star though, considering, well the reaction his big matches get. But what do I know... The "ok boomer" line I would use if I didn't think I was older than most people on this board. (does writing it "sTrAwMaN" makes it kind of an ironic putdown of sorts, like "movez" ? Well, doesn't make the post I was refering to less of a strawman)

Awwww, I stopped reading your post here. How sad. Hey, be glad I did not even expose your cute strawman earlier on (you know, when you pretended I said AEW was the *only company to receive a ton of criticism* when of course I said it was *the only company to receive as much criticism for irrelevant details*, but when you don't have any argument, well, strawman is the way to go). No shit. The funniest thing is that it totally expose people as having a piss poor approach to pro-wrestling psychology, really. Omega beat that jobber WITHOUT EVEN USING A FUCKING FINISHER. That tiny little bit of detail flies over the head of seemingly everyone losing their shit because he gave a young guy some cool offense. Killing the business, I tell you.

I grew up watching his son on TV. And I love his grand-daughter (who's an actress and TV personality). Interesting, in this interview https://www.vice.com/fr/article/bm9e3m/quand-le-catch-francais-vivait-ses-heures-de-gloire the author remarks that May 68 did hurt pro-wrestling as society really changed afterward and also more different kind of entertainment emerged. I would add that probably, porn movies showing up on theatre screens in 1969 and being the brand new things for adult entertainment probably didn't help that old wrestling which was an inheritance of the old world, the post-war/pre-sexual-revolution period.

If that's the crew they had for Rebellion, they'll probably be ok, since they are the best at making the most out of the least. Still, those empty arena match can be sad to watch. Mack winning the X-division title under those circumstances is quite anticlimatic (much like the first TNT champ coronation will be). On the other hand I thought Kylie Ray (what a catch for IMPACT btw) vs Kiera Hogan came out really good. Hogan has improved a whole lot in two years. And they really made the best possible out of Sami vs Shamrock, in what basically was a backstage brawl with music added. Sami is just so great, he refuses to have anything that appears meaningless. I guess this is the foreshadowing of some sort of Sami "babyface" turn (a la Austin). Also, I must say, Madison Rayne has been really fun in her announcing role. Great (and safe) idea from IMPACT to have the couple announce together. It's obvious Matthews has too much fun being berated by this bitchy girl who wouldn't give him the time of day IRL... And the Locker Room Talk the previous week was gold.

Flair in WWF in 88 ? Jobs to Hogan if he's lucky, then IC champ and feud with Beefcake.

Based on ? He's over as fuck in front of the AEW audience, he arguably was part of one of the greatest matches ever at the last PPV (along with the guy who would never get over and the guys who are awaiting for the Revival for tips on how to work apparently...). People are just mixing their own opinion with facts, Omega is one of the most over guy in AEW with Cody, Jericho, the Bucks & Darby. And the idea that he "shouldn't give an unsigned jobber" so much, again, is based on what ? People know the exact effect of a guy, who's apparently quite a decent worker on his own right, kicking out of a "spot" (and nowhere near a finisher) during a no-audience show on the psyche of the overall AEW audience at home ? Again, this is pure projections of personal dislikes and trying to objectifying it bu making up "consequences" which don't actually exists. And as say that as I, myself, thought he was giving him a bit much, but that didn't even cross my mind it would be a "story". The fact is with this "story", is that there is no story. I'm amazed people are still talking about it three days later. In another promotion, people would actually talking about how Angels looked really good, but since it's AEW and especially Omega, haters gotta hate, for some reason. I mean, the Mox vs Hager 30 mn match was not very good at all and Ross announcing legit kill any sense of fun the show had the previous week. But since it was Mox and JR, almost nothing was talked about this match online. The Kip match was alright. But yeah, not very good either. Overall, I find it really hard in front of no crowd for acts like his, where the Penelope spots are the highlights and heat-getting moments, to work in a void. But as of now he absolutely got that Lance Storm vibe, in that he's solid but not engaging, and the girl is the one getting the big pops (she's great at her thing too). Ryan Satin, a journalist ?

The revisionism and crocodile tears when he dies are gonna be spectacular.

The PAC match opened a lot of eyes I think, especially those who thought he was just a gimmick. There's a moment in the match where you can almost see PAC is surprised by the reaction they were getting.

Macron is terrible, but you are so fucked.

He is over because of his character, really. The fact he's also good at selling in an actual match just helps his character. And then you remember people bitching when they signed him because "Oh, this comedy shit is killing the business" and stuff... Yep. The result is, though, that people are talking about this match, when in fact it was supposed to be a nothing segment on the show. Guess who wins ?

What's interesting since we're speaking about Jim Cornette, is that that's exactly how Jim Cornette himself perceived his SMW audience, as Meltz mentioned after the New Jack episode of Dark Side. The fact Corny played on his audience supposed (actual, I guess) racism with the Gangstas really showed the disdain he had for the people he was selling his shit too. What Corny hates about the Young Bucks, Omega and the bunch, is that they and their fans are one and the same. They know. They are aware and they are smart enough to play off of that. This is what the whole "killing the business" comes from. Corny longs for the days when pro-wrestling fans were actually "uneducated Southern rednecks".

I honestly don't really know, as I have had zero contact with the french pro-wrestling crowd. It (meaning, WWE) has been pretty popular with youngsters during the big Cena days, even my nephews at that point watched it, but apart from that. I feel like the perception is still pretty outdated though when it pops up in the media. There was this wave of lucha libre being cool at one point, which I never got since it was never showed here, but you had a lucha libre bar in Paris for instance. And also a few mainstream movies with wrestling references. As far as the cliché of the average pro-wrestling crowd, no idea really.

More than any other over stupid details with no importance, yes. Remember during the beginnings, the outrage for weeks over how the Librarians on the pre-PPV shows were gonna run people away in mass and shit. Just ridiculous stuff. Yeah, Omega gave a jobber a lot, even I thought it was too much. Big freaking deal. People are acting on Twitter like the guy kicked out of the One Winged Angel after a 15 minute match. They worked what, 5, 7 minutes ? He kicked out a V-Trigger which is a just a *spot* of Omega's repertoire, which he does over and over again in big matches because it works on accumulated damages. It's like complaining because a jobber would have kicked out of a Flair chop, really. This is such a nothing.