El-P

MJF was over as fuck during his entire title reign and totally overdelivered in the ring. AEW had a great year on PPV, which was headlined by MJF title defense. MJF/Adam Cole was the hottest thing in the company for as long as it lasted. The fact his absence is not missed on TV, just like Omega, doesn't reflect on him, it reflects on the fact AEW's main event scene is really hot right now. And yes, speaking strictly personally, I enjoy the current main event scene a whole lot more than MJF's reign, which I did enjoy quite a bit despite some of the stuff (well, the MJF/Cole thingy) not being my alley. Sammy Guevara is becoming more and more a case of what if. Maybe needs a change of scenery. Or attitude. Or both. Jack Perry going to NJPW (as an AEW contracted talent) was an interesting twist. He just joined the House of Torture. So here goes nothing. Him coming back in AEW eventually as a heel will be intriguing though. Darby has been the most compelling of the four, since day one, and still is. The fifth pillar is probably coming back at some point too, and hopefully she regains the edge she had when she was really fun and got over by being a bitch to Tony Schiavone as opposed to being your stereotypical "This is my house" kinda promo. Wardlow is the most overpushed wrestler in AEW's history. It's ridiculous. If half the effort of pushing and protecting him had been given to someone like Hobbs or Archer, you'd have a monster star already. Ricky Starks, oh well, when you actually look back at his run thus far the guy has been wildly inconsistant and was last seen being completely overshadowed by Big Bill. After all these years and despite being regularly featured in big feuds, the guy never really sustained overness nor constant quality (both in promos/in-ring, which varies from terrific, mostly when he's in with great workers, to just ok and sometimes even boring). My verdict after watching him for the last 6 years or so, is that he's been overrated, by myself included. Maybe WWE would suit him better, although at this point it's debatable. They are so hot and so big that anyone being put under the limelights right now is gonna de facto become a whole lot bigger (see also, Jade Cargill, although she really has done jackshit and from what I've seen at the Rumble, she's the exact same worker she was in AEW, an overpushed rookie, not a diss, just a fact), but I'd say, they already have LA Knight, who is the same kind of profile. Plus, now that Dwayne is part of the show, it would make it extra-hard for Starks to stand out for obvious reasons.

Jack Perry shows up in NJPW as an outsider with an anti-AEW gimmick. Eh, that's interesting. Jack Perry debuts in NJPW. Join House of Torture. *facepalm*

This. Also, Will Ospreay. It's just not fair for everyone else. The best wrestler in the world alongside Kenny Omega (when he comes back), Bryan Danielson and possibly Kazuchika Okada. In the same promotion. At the same time. AEW is just ridiculous. Rename it GWEW already. BTW, give me Danielson vs Ospreay, quick, before it's gone. And in the middle of all the main event awesomeness, which was the greatest retirement anyone had in the US ever (and right there at the top with the rest of the world), here's Scotty Riggs. This was wonderfully random. This was clearly one of those peak AEW events. More to come, I'm gessing.

Copeland is hurt already ? Jeez. I mean, I really like Garcia a lot, so him winning the title is fine with me, but this match is out of nowhere. Plus, sorry to say, Christian's "Your father is dead" gimmick has soooo jumped the shark a while ago for me already. He's a one note Bond villain. Great delivery, but totally empty and campy as fuck. I wish they'd do something actually remotely interesting with it. Nick Wayne is who it should be about, because he's the future. Gotta say this also. Flair's involvement in Sting's retirement has totally ruined the fun for me. I have no doubt the match will be awesome, because Young Bucks + Darby + Sting giving everything he has left, but the angles involving Flair are just so cringe and tone deaf, especially in the current context (hopefully he's gone for good after that point). I'm very much looking forward to the 13th show a whole lot more than I am Sting's retirement. Gimme the Moné/Okada/Ospreay AEW already.

Agreed. Oh well. And so now the scrambled eggs match or whatever is Jericho, Hobbs, Archer, Wardlow (sigh), Hook and Brian Cage. Totally unnecessary, totally random, taking up space and time for nothing. Have Willow & Statlander against Skye and a partner of her choosing. At least there's a program going on. Gotta say too, Christian Cage vs Daniel Garcia is just out of nowhere, and I don't even see the point if Garcia doesn't win the title. They need to trigger him to the next level now. Well, at least it's not Cage vs Copeland II I guess.

There has been a better presence of women wrestlers on the shows, with more angles going on at the same time, but they still can't put Willow & Statlander vs Julia Hart & Skye Blue on the PPV. Since the cringe Meat Whatever match is off (cringe because of the title, not the match itself, although I could live happily forever never seeing another Wardlow match or segment), why not have *this* one on the show instead of another random match ? They better make this stuff evolve when they get Mercedes. All In is gonna be something else.

Yup. Ah, the good ol' times of Elite haterz back then who acted like Omega leaving meant nothing, that he was overrated and never was a factor, that NJPW was doing exactly the same if not better without him. When you look back at it, NJPW peaked in the 10's with Okada vs Tanahashi, the Naito craze and finally Okada vs Omega. As far as the House of Torture, it's the shittiest, most painfully dumb, boring and ineffective shitbag stuff I've watched in pro-wrestling in years. And I watched NWA Samhain.

What a peculiar career this dude had. Two stints in major promotions at their hottest, as an inside-joke named character. And people think meta was invented in 2014.

Okada caught fire after a few months. We're FOUR years into House of Torture. Gedo is just way too set in his ways and/or listening to the wrong people. The feedback from Uemura vs Tsuji hair match has been pretty underwhelming too. Haven't watched it, won't watch it, but apparently Tsuji did not set the world on fire this time around.

Yep. The "Virtuosa" character doesn't translate well as a babyface. And that also plays into her in-ring style. She's all about slowing the pace down and stomping babyfaces around, putting them in submissions, cutting them off and being an agressive bitch about it. And she's so awesome at it. Her having to sell and get sympathy did not really work that well either in TNA after she de-facto turned babyface at the end of her 4 years stint (basically putting people over on her way out). She also has that super condescending body language, including that damn vocal fry on promos, there's just nothing likable about her. Which is even more amazing when you see her in interviews, as she always comes off so lovable and fun, there's just nothing left of her in-ring character at all, that's quite a testament of how good she is. So yeah, amazing heel, but ok babyface only. She probably ain't beating Toni Storm anyway, so here's a way to have her frustrated and switch to straight heel quickly enough.

Not that I'm overly concerned by stuff like this these days, but I gotta say, they made a mistake by debuting Deonna Purrazzo as a babyface. She's a heel. Her game is being insufferable and arrogant and torturing people on the mat, not working from underneath and making comebacks, which she is not nearly as good at (that was obvious during her last 6 months in TNA when she turned babyface). The debut in her hometown was cool, but the Virtuosa is a heel, period. That's why it's not connecting that great thus far. And then, there's the Timeless Toni Storm issue. She's like Goldust (without the homophobic overtones, of course), the gimmick is unique and making her a bigger star, but it's also being limiting in term of match delivery, and it also kinda makes the entire title picture scene gimmicky. It's no wonder she won best gimmick in the WO Awards but also placed high in worst gimmick. Athena is still by a very wide margin the best women worker in the company. Her 2/3 tables match against Nyla Rose last week is the best match from a major company (because ROH is AEW, come on now) no one is talking about. I would rather have her vs Mercedes than any other program involving the regular AEW crew, with all due respect.

Yeah, I know. Can't argue with that. I would be fine for him being away for a while (or even transitioning to color with only occasional in-ring programs). And there's plenty other guys I would rather have working with CMLL guys. But it does not bother me that he of all people does.

Hey, Nick Kiniski was also "proposed" by Terry Garvin, complained about it to Vince, who did not do anything. So yeah, Vince knew everything about the sexual harassement that was going on in his company. That brings you back to the Ashley Massaro rape. They knew too. This company was rotten to the core since day one Vince Jr. took over. Dark Side of the Ring should just do an entire season on Vince and WWE. No idea how that Netflix show about Vince can see the light of day, especially now that Netflix is in business with TKO.

When true and tried nepotism doesn't work, just make shit up.

There's reasons to despise Jericho, out of pro-wrestling reasons mostly. But as far as this, Jericho being a part of the CMLL thingy makes all the sense in the world, more than anyone else in the company really when you think of it, considering he actually went over there to learn lucha when he was young, and his feud with Ultimo Dragon in WAR and his stuff in WCW were very instrumental in pushing lucha (through Japan also) influence in modern pro-wrestling. So yeah, PWO be like "hates everything Jericho" (sometimes to a laughable degree), but there's nothing wrong at all with this. This CMLL working agreement as also been a hundred times better than anything AAA related (and well, CMLL when it's good is a hundred times better than AAA anyway). The main thing to me is Will Ospreay making his debut as an AEW talent. The guy is the greatest in the world right now and one of the greatest ever alongside Omega and Danielson (and they all are working in the same company now, it's mind blowing). And because of the overall mood, I'm not nearly as happy as I should have been. Oh well. I'm still getting Will Ospreay for a few years more. Plus Mercedes soon. Plus probably Okada (also one of the greatest ever, the roster is gonna get completely ridiculous). If it's gotta take as much, might as well be now.

It would be ridiculous. Okada (following Tana's momentum) got NJPW his best era since the 90's. Gedo is to blame for becoming a shitty booker, not building up the next generation fast enough, putting all his eggs on foreigners whom, in a global context, would be grabbed up by WWE, then AEW too, pushing scrubs like EVIL and SANADA to main event spots and so on. And yeah, not having his boy do jobs on the ay out. Because that part is indeed pretty fucking funny, don't get me wrong. "Hey, bye NJPW, I'll never come back". The truth is that NJPW has been cold for awhile now. Okada did not change anything to this fact. But Okada workin' Jumbo style against the Young Generation would have been awesome. The issue with this is, it was a fantasy. Nothing indicates that's where it was gonna go, considering Gedo's shithead booking of this last year. Kinda feel bad for Naito. Not only he is getting a lame-ass reign with rematch with SANADA and fucking SHO next, but the pressure is basically now on him alone, and he's way past his physical prime. David Finlay is a fine higher mid-card wrestler. He's not AJ Styles, nor Omega, nor Jay White, nor Ospreay, by any metrics (and yeah, the comparison is just ridiculously unfair, but there it is). ZSJ should probably be given a reign as IWGP champ. If anything, it would be glorious to see, even though I'm not sure he would get over at that level like Ospreay was.

They settled with MLW. Doubt Bauer can just cash out. Plus, the guy re-started his promotion after 15 years, he's a lifer or something. I mean, if the money is well spent, good for them.

Court Bauer : 20M William Corgan : ZERO (see what I did ?)

Dunno where TNA is going, but at the very least, No Surrender had a killer main event in Chris Sabin vs Mustafa Ali. And Alex Shelley vs Moose was also terrific in a very different way. Overall, the show was quite good (despite a single Kon match, what the fuck were they thinking ?), but those two matches really gave it a big time feel. ABC vs Grizzled Young Vets was also pretty damn good, with a terrific ending stretch.

I did not even realize before Meltz mentioned it that it means it's Naito vs fucking SHO at the 52 Anniversary show. Instead of Naito vs Despy, which actually was quite compelling and would probably been at worst excellent. Instead, fucking SHO from House of Torture. What a pathetic main event. Poor Naito. This guy can never get a decent title run.

It is. But for Court Bauer though. Jeez, Billy Corgan must be so jealous.

So WWE settled with MLW for 20 millions dollars. How scared of what could come public must you be to give ML fucking W twenty millions dollars...

The original old man yelling at clouds. These days, really a venial sin. Salty as fuck, overrated booker, kinda boring in a good way, awesome promo. Hated both Vince and Flair, so that's that.

It is. And it's also one of the few things that gets me legit joy out of watching pro-wrestling these days. Danielson's happiness is so obvious and contagious too. This is everything great about pro-wrestling as a craft.

Both Haku and The Barbarian did sumo too. As a sumo fan, I always loved workers with a sumo background. This seems to be more a thing of the past though. Not so many, if any at all, are making that transition these days. And hell, Hakuho, the GOAT, got fucking demoted as a coach because he did not report one of his students (the awful Hokuseiho) abusing young boys with slaps and wooden stick shots. Yeah, sumo is a wonderful tradition too. Oh well, at least I won't be suffering though Hokuseiho's borefest fights anymore since he retired, as they say. How long before this fellow ends up in wrestling ? I mean, he's tall as fuck for a Japanese (like almost seven feet). He could be the next Kitao or something (yeah, that's sarcasm). Considering all that is happening lately, this season of Dark Side is gonna look extra tame. Still gonna watch it because they mostly do a good job, but, oh well.