El-P

Great promo. Amazing to think it's the same guy who for years in WWE couldn't buy charisma. The shot at Trip was brutal and very accurate too.

No shit. I mean, Goldy, really ? Also, the idea that the product is gonna get magically good because they are doing surveys (yeah, our "beloved" Macron just did the same thing as a reaction to the severe social crisis happening these days, which led to "Well, your ideas suck, I'm gonna do what I want anyway" basically) and because they are gonna get on FOX is comical. The same inept crew of people will be at the helm. They can't book write for shit, they can't make a babyface, their production sucks (epillepsy warning should be obligatory), the announcing won't get any better, no magic star will be created from now to then (Stone Cold Becky was a nice little joke for a while), Ronda is trying to get pregnant so she won't be around, and the morale in the locker room apparently is pretty shitty if you think about all the people who want to leave and the pettiness ensuing. You know what's coming ? More Shan-o Mac, more Baron Corbin, more wasting Roman's emotional comeback (seriously, how the fuck do you fuck THAT up ?). Plus, if AEW does sign a big TV deal and debut roughly at the same time, the hype in the industry will be all about them, not cold-as-ice WWE moving TV station. Also, by gaining visibility by sheer virtue on being on FOX, maybe those wonderful Saudi shows will not be ignored as much, which could be an issue.

And don't forget what's coming next. The fucking XFL. Vince trying to do both will drive him insane (I mean, insane for someone who's already proven he's a sociopath).

Dunno who produced this, but it makes him look like a bigger star than he ever was in WWE. And the symbolism is hilarious too.

Between Luke Harper getting royally fucked for politely asking his release publicly and the Revival being humiliated on TV for simply not signing a new deal, Sasha's "taking her shit and going back home" stuff doesn't look like the worse idea in the world after all. But yeah, they let 50 years old Dustin go. Good guys they are. It's crazy they are getting all this money when their product is sinking to the lowest lows of popularity. This company is WCW, except with two awesome (uh uh) money deals.

The Korea episode is quite fascinating, for obvious reasons. It's not like a lot of people can talk about going on a trip to North Korea in the mid 90's. The "going for a run across the city" anecdote is something else. (and yeah, I second most of what Thread Killer & Something Savage say)

I got a kick out of that title. Yeah, for fuck's sake, King Useless. You ain't gonna get no Iron Throne after this.

I guess this is the place for the Crockett Cup, as this was basically an amped up ROH show with outsiders. Some really good matches. PCO & King vs Briscoes was the best tag match of the tournament, to the surprise of no-one. Stuka Jr. & Azteca Guerrera Jr. vs Bandido & Flip was also quite good, although a bit sloppy at points (and Flip looked the lesser of the four). The Rock'n Roll match was nowhere near as good as the LAX one. The booking was kinda puzzling though, with the tow random dudes going to the final only to get slaughtered. PCO was easily the star of the tournament, as always. Cabana vs Willie Mack was really good. James Storm showing up as the next challenger I guess means another really good match. The women's match was decent. Madusa's promo was brutal, it looked like she had no idea what to say. Main event was excellent and well worth watching, the best I've seen Nick Aldis looked, but it's obvious Scurll is the terrific worker of the two and made it *that* good. Not sold at the NWA concept though. Still looks like a convention show. These belts are all fine, but there isn't an actual promotion with a roster and stories to follow. So these are just new belts named after old belts, and a bunch of workers from other promotions are trading them. The whole lineage blabla is forced as fuck, no one actually believes it, it feels like a giant cosplay. As far as production goes, I have no idea what you'd want to make it dim on purpose. I mean, that ugly ass NWA logo in the ring, straight out of the 80's, is just retromania. It's not even cool looking, it just looks old for the purpose of looking "like it used to be". The last time the NWA belt actually meant something, of sorts, was when Shane Douglas threw it away and it's because it created something new. Give me the stuff of tomorrow, not the stuff of thirty years ago that don't actually mean anything anymore despite Corny giving history lessons during the entire event (which gets tiring, honestly, as much as Corny rules it on color) . Give me Lucha Underground, give me AEW, give me something different. The obsession with the past is boring.

Not watched the show yet. Going through the Crockett Cup before. Well, if Callis & D'Amore manage to get me even somewhat interested in anything involving Micheal Elgin, who was the worst part of last year's awe-inspiring G1 Climax (yeah, I was more interested in Tama Tonga or Bad Luck Fale), they truly are working some magic.

Yawn and yawn. Elgin thrown straight into the world title scene against Brian Cage (who hopefully is allright) just brings my interest down big time. Why couldn't Elgin go straight back to ROH anyway ?

Not keeping track of anything, but Barbario Cavernario vs Forastero from 03/29 was easily a MOTYC, and maybe the best mexican match I've seen this year (single match at least). A must-see, really.

Anyone listened to the JBL episode ? I have zero will to do so, not willing to put myself through Brucie defending his pal through the bullying stuff, the flat main event stint that came from basically being there forever and all this stuff.

I've gone back to revisit Lucha Underground, and the Drago vs Pentagon Jr. vs Fenix match from the third episode is the first awe inspiring moment in the series. Really cool to see the Lucha Bros back before they were the big attraction they are today. Say what you want, but although LU was not a public success and probably will never get a closure, it really was a vehicule for some of the hottest young talent of today. And the production and approach will still look way ahead of its time in the years to come.

You just don't create fans out of thin air with a shitty product because you're on a big TV station. The actual WWE fans have been slowly but surely leaving in droves. Sure, the FOX deal will get a bump at first, but the same cold product won't get magically hot and keep new people around when it can't even maintain its attractiveness toward its core audience. Come on, they are independant contractors.

I knew I was forgetting one name, yes. Which is complete and utter bullshit, of course. BTW, Luke Harper being all professional and nice about asking his release, which apparently was the only reason why no one bagged on him online while Sasha got shit on (*wink wink nudge nudge*), sure worked wonders for him. He got totally fucked over. So there. Sasha is still way young, she's got her whole life and career in front of her if she wants to. Hey, maybe they'll make her hate pro-wrestling too. That, they know how to do, look at the way they make their own audience shrink...

It comes from the incident when Callihan injured Eddie Edward with a sloppy chair shot spot (although I guess some of the blame could have been put on Edwards too for moving when he wasn't supposed to or something, but that's beside the point). Corny went all batshit on Callihan, calling him unprofessional and garbage wrestler and stuff. Well, of course Corny really had probably seen no Callihan stuff before this, and really Edwards ended up being fine and it led to a really excellent feud overall. No idea if they talked and made up now that they are actually working together, but I thought it was pretty interesting and a sign of the genius of Cornette to actually use his own anger (true or fake, at this point) to get Callihan's *character* over.

I have a hard time figuring why Jeff Jarrett, Abyss, Sonjay Dutt & co would be more aligned with HHH. I mean, where would the relationship come from ? But yeah, after Arn Anderson (whose firing was nowhere as near the clear cut affair it looked to be BTW, the whole "he let Alicia performed while under the influence" has been disputed, and apparently a lot of the talent didn't agree with the firing), now Dean Malenko. Man. Imagine all those former WCW guys ending up working under Cody Rhodes, backed up by a big-time financial backer with TV on Turner broadcast. Like... what goes around comes around... Sure is a fascinating period.

Just watch iMPACT, people. It's fun.

There, corrected for you. I dunno, it seems like the Saudi stuff mostly flew under the radar of the mainstream anyway. It's unbearable. "He throws Roman into the WWE Universe !". What the fuck. They all talk like corporate drones. The storyline is about corporate drones either "fighting" the bosses or getting their due of being in the WWE Universe for ever. They are no pro-wrestling superstars. They are no super-heroes. They are drones. Who the fuck wants to see a bunch of drones fight to get recognize as the best drone ? But again, we're into the Brand Era, and that's not just a pro-wrestling thing. It's an übercapitalism thing. They want people to be their own "brand" and be brainless drones, while the insane amount of money the big companies make have no relation whatsoever with what they are *actually* producing (if they produce anything, that is). The WWE is a reflection of that.

That's a really good point. Pro-wrestling is a niche thing more than ever before.

Can't wait for the next panic button as they build to a show "somewhere" next month. It's hilarious that they have to work to try and identify why people have been losing interest after years of troll booking and incompetent writing. WHY THE FUCK DO YOU THINK ?

Classy. Independant contractors indeed...

I was about to make a post about that, and I guess I wasn't the only one thinking he came off awful during this bit. The level of slut shaming was incredible and it's disappointing Conrad did not call him on that. Worse being that at the end, he admitted that the picture did exist. So yeah, he confirmed the actual sexual harassement, basically. Doesn't matter if it "wasn't more revealing that what you'd see at the beach", it was a revealing picture of her posted in her workplace to make fun of her. Pretty clear cut. So yeah, Bischoff came off pretty awful there.

At this rate, they might as well rename them The Berzerkers and be done with it.

Is no one here watching MLW anymore ? I mean, it's on Youtube, it's only 55 mn a week and there is some fun stuff there. I do not get why they keep on giving wins to Gringo Loco, who still hasn't shown one bit of character or personality, don't even mention charisma, and doesn't look very impressive in the ring anyway. Also, the Contra stuff still looks weak and random to me. Josef Samael loading his boot his pushing toward the cosplayish stuff, really. On the other hand, Mance Warner vs Sami Callihan was a terrific brawl, really down and dirty. I enjoyed the fact Cornette channelled his actual distaste for Callihan going back to the Eddie Edward incident to put him over as a disgusting and dangerous individual. It went to the point of Callihan interacting with him, flipping the finger, while Corny was standing up basically cheering for Warner. Nice old-school interaction between Corny & Rich too, it felt organic and real. Also, I'm all for a Warner & Callihan vs Salina de la Renta feud, as this is clearly the direction they are going toward. Salina & Warner's promo backstage was quite good. Salina has improved a lot too. Can't wait for more interaction between the two dirty brawlers and her crew. Dynasty vs Hart Foundation next week should be quite fun. Teddy smoking a blunt with Pillman & DBS Jr. in MJF's car was cool and weird, as always.