El-P

Nobody's perfect. In their minds, the Librarian joke is obviously funny. And some people do think it's funny. Hell, people in the audience at Fyter Fest did the "Shhhhhhhhh" gimmick (which sounded kinda like Tenzan throwing the mongolian chop, which is kinda cool). It is a pastiche. Some get it, other don't. Matter of taste. I thought it works well on BTE, didn't think it was that good on the actual show (didn't do Allie any favors either), but then again, not everything is gonna be a hit. Like I said, I don't particulary care one way of another, but people acting like AEW is doing a huuuuuge mistake and will draw people away with these awwwwwwwful pre-shows, while no-selling the terrific tag match and the way it introduced green as grass Private Party and made them look like something special, sounds like gross overstatement and a will to focus on something negative because honestly, thus far, there isn't much negative to talk about... Can't wait for Peter Avalon vs Sonny Kiss...

The thing I stated is that they're no way to know if those 5000 people who left the Youtube stream (if that did happen) would have bought the show or not *anyway*. There's just no way to know. None. So, we're just speculating on something that has zero ground. Wait, are we now at the point where we compare AEW, which like you said has had a grand total of TWO successful shows, with WCW being a sinking ship, all because of…. THE LIBRARIANS ? Sorry but… it's laughable. The success or lack of success of AEW in the upcoming months won't be because of the fucking LIBRARIANS. Chill out people.

What ? I'm not even making argument for anything, I'm just stating facts. Thus far AEW has been a success. The Librarians is a pastiche comedy gimmick on the undercard (thus far, only on BTE and pre-shows) and people are acting like it's the worst thing ever and it's gonna kill the promotion's appeal. There's a complete disconnect between some reactions and what actually is occuring with the promotion thus far. Total overstatement. Really. That being said, it's gonna make for a fun running gag at this point.

Workers be workers. Yeah. Hard to take him seriously now though whenever he'll find a next victim to vent about... Next thing you know, he'll end up in AEW and put the Bucks and Omega over... Only in pro-wrestling.

Well, first off, "a comment on Reddit" isn't exactly a sure source of data. And even if it's true, the fact is the number of live stream they got was apparently way better than what they expected anyway (per Meltz). So, 5000 people leaving Youtube during the pre-show (which also doesn't actually indicate anything about would these people have watched the live stream of the main show anyway, it's just impossible to tell) isn't much compared to the, I dunno, tens of thousand more exceeding their projections. Funny how this Librarian gimmick and how awful it is and how it 'drives people away' seems to get way more focus than it should, really, when you think of the overall success of the promotion (thus far and for its limited scope).

With Sofia Alonso now running the show apparently, it'll be interesting to see if any changes occur in the months to come.

Yep. And a really petty move considering this is a charity event for victims of gun violence... Anyway, this is gonna be that way with the Network.

They are probably trolling Cornette so he gets them free publicity on his podcast. On BTE this week : 5 years booking plan for the librarians. Baron Corbin like push. On Road to : Yet another great promo by Dustin & Cody. That's where they are selling the shows.

So there, that show marks my one year of following current iMPACT. And as I've called Callihan & Tessa the MVP's of the promotion for months and months, I almost took it as personal validation that they would boost their match up to the main event. Ok, in all seriousness, this was awesome. Tessa winning that match would have been too early maybe, but I think the audience would have loved it. Just loved that match. Both are the MVPs of the company, without a doubt. As far as the rest of the show goes, LAX & Johnny leaving would leave a huge gap. I really hope AEW picks up LAX, maybe the Konnan connection can works things out that way. Johnny, well, I can see him show up in MLW but I'd rather have him stay where he is rather than waste his time in Bauer's cosplay promotion (wink wink). I just hope Taya ain't going anywhere, she was terrific in the Monster's Ball, which was one of the most fun match of the card along with Kross vs Eddie. RVD vs Moose was better than I thought it would. Swann vs iMPACT was fine but it really lacked more dynamic between the characters (odd, Johnny usually is better at heeling up) and Elgin vs Cage was as good a bombfest you could ask from those two, but in the end of the day was still just that and has no business being the main event (but hey, it wasn't). Elgin vs Rhino is about the picture perfect of something I wouldn't give a flying fuck about if my life depended on it. Why the hell would you want to sign Rhino when guys like Kross are wanting more money to stay and Scarlett Bordeaux is already gone ? So yeah, hopefully they meat up the undercard, they already are losing too much good talent (I wonder if Kross still wants to leave, that would be terrible at this point). So yeah, some super fun matches, a terrific main event, but the futur looks very uncertain...

Who the fuck goes to a Blink-182 or Lil Wayne concert anyway ? Wait. Blink-182 and Lil Wayne share the same stage ? WTF ?

Awww, come one now. Last week everyone was "It's suuuuuuuuuch a Heyman show" and now the reboot hasn't happened ? Come the fuck on. Most hype from last week's show was Maria Kanellis anyway, so it's not like it was a great indication that things were gonna turn around, but are we pretending last week's reactions to the show did not happen ? And as far as Smackdown goes, come on, Bischoff ain't shit.

Reading the comments on this thread, is this the shortest post-reboot honeymoon ever ? I mean, jeez...

Jacob Fatu vs Tom Lawlor was a completely "meh" match. Fatu looks great doing his signature spots, but really, as a match it was "ok", at best. MLW keeps on being the anti-epic. Highlight of the show was Konnan coming back to confront Salina in a segment that was called the Jim Cornette Experience in the most transparent plug-for-a-podcast ever.

Not a large crowd, but a great crowd. I'm pumped as all fuck for Ishii vs Cobb. All the G1 matches delivered in a big way. Ospreay is so great at using the space of the ring in unusual yet interesting ways, like this crazy counter to the first pounce. The one issue with that match is that Archer's G1 has peaked. Watching Ospreay take on this different guys is gonna be so much fun. I'm not as down on Bad Luck Fale as others, he's a decent big man worker (his finisher is the pits though) but he's really taking space in G1 at this point, especially since he wins so much. Does he has a sextape of Gedo of something ? EVIL looked pretty damn good though, and I'm usually pretty mixed on him. SANADA vs SZJ was great. Total technical clinic, Sabre is the greatest dickhead, SANADA is displaying more charisma and he seemingly can do anything. KENTA vs Ibushi delivered in a big way. KENTA works exactly like he should. People expecting him to fly around are gonna be disappointed because he won't do that anymore. Ibushi looks like a freak, really, he's almost scary. The right guy won. I thought Okada vs Tanahashi still was the best match of the night, they can have a MOTYC in their sleep it seems. Tana also looked to move way better than at Dominion, which is a good thing, although I have no idea for how long it will remain that way. I wasn't too keen on the idea of beginning the G1 in the US, especially on a show that would not sold out (they should really promote better by announcing matches in advance), but it was a complete success. Great, great show with a terrific atmosphere.

Well, cool. And good for them. She can be the ace of the show (in a way she already is). If so, I hope they go all batshit insane and have Eddie legit kill him. We had the Bunny die already (and Luchasaurus also, as an extra). Keep the bodycount alive !

Losing LAX would be a huge blow to iMPACT indeed and a big gain to whoever gets them (unless they get wasted, if you know what I mean...). It makes the match against the Rascals less important too. Maybe the idea is to get some buzz for their joint shows on Twitch, like the old "a title can switch on a house show" deal. They really have done an excellent job building the card up and down again, with several matches I really look forward to (Swann vs Johnny, RVD vs Moose, Tessa vs Callihan, the four way Monsters Ball, Kross vs Edwards). With no angle or promo about the main event this week, I wonder if Cage really is cleared at all. Hopefully they don't put the title on Elgin, that would be a big mistake to have the guy with the charisma of a dead fish and the self-conscious work to build around the main feuds. TJP, I'm pretty indifferent. Both the name and the look scream indy geek, despite his long career. I dunno why they jobbed Ace Austin, who's got potential and character, twice to this guy already, although their booking usually makes sense and leads somewhere. The Tessa little doc on Youtube was quite cool (she told most of these stories on the Jericho podcast). Her interest in doing intergender match pretty much closes the door on her going to AEW for now (that is, assuming she isn't locked with iMPACT anyway), hopefully the AXS deal makes iMPACT stronger because I need my little promotion who isn't afraid to go all freaky Lucha Underground style from time to time (as showed by the final angle on the show).

Fuck me, that match... It's like the two greatest young wrestlers ever against each other. The whole 5-5 match is great, but they stole the show that day. Yatsu was awesome up until 86.

You mean the booking that had him interrupt Bret Hart at Double or Nothing to showcase his great promo ability ? As far as the matches go, they are still in the process of introducing their roster, they can't book a bunch of 1-1 matches up and down the cards yet.

Is there a show in Parts Unknown tomorrow or something. Anyway, they sure know how to capture the imagination of the current audience by going back 20 years straight...

Yep. Cody vs Dustin feud : one promo each on Youtube a few weeks before Double or Nothing. It kinda worked out allright. Until they have TV, that's how AEW will operate. Some big angles on the shows and then promos on "Road to" format and maybe some on BTE too.

Actually I'm a pretty big Corny fan if you except some (most ?) of his views of modern pro-wrestling. I dunno, MLW always had that annoying kinda dated cosplaying stuff anyway (the Robert Parker guys from the early shows which thankfully are gone), but I think the show has been a lot worse lately, and some of the stuff really reeks of mid-90's mentality and presentation in a bad way, so I put two and two together. Maybe I overstate Corny's influence on the product, but the result is there, it's been pretty boring/bad lately to the point of me barely wanting to check it anymore. That Lawlor vs Samael match was awful, really.

Word. Carlito ? For fuck's sake, have a little dignity. No. But Rusev & Lana showing up sometime by surprise on AEW TV/PPV would be cool as hell.

Gotta love that, apart from the main event, they're nothing remotely closing or even involving feuds of storylines that were built in the last few months. Kinda fun to see that basically, AAA is working with both AEW and iMPACT at the same time. Come on, let's lend Kross to AEW like MLW does with MJF and Havoc, and recruit Scarlett already. The women's TLC match should be entertaining if only because of some really good workers on a car crash format. I don't know shit nor care one bit about MMA, so I have no idea who Cain Velasquez is. The AEW vs AAA six-men rematch should be terrific again and easily steal the show. How many interference in the main event ?

This week I learned the world cuckholding thanks to Maria Kanellis an Paul Heyman. Yep, you learn everyday. BTW, Maria Kanellis = Das Worker, better than Kevin Nash is term of knowing how to get money and when to do it. Mike is gonne get Meroed the fuck out on TV I guess, but as long as everything is fine at home, they probably won the game anyway.

It's hard not to see a correlation between how MLW has been evolving into a more and more dated and boring product and the fact Corny works here as a producer. Also, that "cosplay" reference feels awfully convenient and timely with Corny's current AEW vents. That being said, now that you mentioned the fact it may be Aries' feelings, I doubt Corny even knows what "cosplay" means, although it still feels exactly like what Corny thinks about what's going on (in his dated, biased mind). Anyway, it was completely ridiculous, as was the audience midly booing the reference to Aries' "former employer". Talking about cosplaying being hostile to an "opposition" that isn't even one (how long have they been sharing talent like Lucha Brothers, Callihan, Swann, AAA guys etc...) like they are an ECW crowd from 1998... As far as Aries goes, well, although I really like his work, his new look sucks, this match was ill-conceived and he way he left iMPACT was the epitome of unprofessional, so, there you go, have a blast working in the official SMW cosplay league...