El-P

Pro-wrestling fans commenting about the #1 pro-wrestling promotion having the #1 pro-wrestling show of the year on a pro-wrestling board is crazy behaviour, I know...

Yes, especially since he was hired back in 96 anyway. Agreed. Good stuff on that episode.

He wasn't in WCW at the time (he just showed up at Slamboree the following months for that one match), so maybe he was just visiting. That's my take, I don't see why Bruce would just bullshit about that kind of detail. The fact he said "I think Barry was doing the Blackjacks" shows he was confused about the Barry timeline, but it came off like trying to make sense of Barry being backstage at Mania X. Barry was at the first Mania, he wasn't doing anything at the time (still injured), so why not.

Oh, of course. I love Charlotte, especially as a heel, she's terrific. But the feud was Becky vs Ronda, it simply didn't need anything else.

Hijo de Fantasma, Joey Ryan, Ivelisse & Kobra Moon have been granted releases from Lucha Underground. I guess Ryan has ties why AEW already (he's been all over BIT). WWE apparently had interest in Fantasma (because they did such a good job with Andrade). I would love to see Ivelisse and/or Kobra Moon land in iMPACT/AEW.

I was wondering why there was no hype whatsoever for this show. Even the Takeover didn't get much reaction around here. Well...

This year's build to Mania has been pretty much awful on all accounts if you consider the good and fresh stuff they stumble upon (Becky vs Rousey, Kofi/Ali as the ultimate challengers). They just mess everything up and make everything worse than it should be. The same company in 1997 certainly wouldn't be able to make Steve Austin vs Bret Hart what it was.

Uh... proven how ? She wasn't given anything to do after winning the belt, now she's taken off the show so Charlotte can parade with a title in a main event she shouldn't be involved with in the first place. Asuka is off the show, yet you'll get people no one really wants to see like Baron Corbin, the Ilconics, Nia Jaxx & Tamina and so on... It's just stupid booking. Asuka is being totally wasted, like many others, that's pretty much the only thing this last minute decision "proves". As far as her being off the show not changing anything, it's pretty much the case for everyone not named Ronda Rousey (and Becky Lynch to some extent).

Charlotte didn't need the belt at all. It just bumps Asuka off Mania. It's stupid and needless and yet another way to over-contrive a whole storyline that has been nothing but the shadow of what it should have been at this point. Really, it should have been Becky vs Rhonda and that's it.

Omega making fun of the Bucks for not getting a pop in AAA in this week's BTE was pretty funny. "You really got that crowd going mild."

Yeah. Does that mean Charlotte does the job, and then titles vs titles at the next PPV ? That's kinda dumb indeed, Mania should be the end, not a vehicule for the next thing. Reminds me of the switching of IC/hardcore titles before Mania 15... "Hey, they don't expect THAT". Poor Asuka.

Steph as special referee, special ring announcer, special commentator at the same time, also special guest to present the belt and she'll also be the timekeeper. (remember, women's wrestling barely existed before Stephy. Hell, women in sport finally are getting a chance thanks to Stephy)

That got a laugh out of me.

This. Twitter (social network in general) followers mean jackshit. I'm sure Roman Reigns has more followers worldwide than any semi-famous talk-show host of each country. But I can assure you no one knows who the fuck Roman Reigns is in France apart from WWE fans, for instance, whereas any semi-famous talk-show host on French TV is, well, at least semi-famous in the mainstream. Yeah, that's stuck-in-the-bubble talk. The Real World doesn't care about WWE (which is why they can get way with the Saudi deal, mostly, and try to portray themselves as "innovators" when they are 20 years behind the times).

They should have announced their next Saudi show at the same time.

Wait, the situation has got so fucking bad that some people are actually remembering Jinder Mahal's push "fondly" ? That Indian Guy main event push was god awful and totally flopped on every level. Can't believe it was two years ago though, seems like yesterday, kinda.

Ok, so the WM X podcast was much better than the XX I thought. Solid episode to cover what was an old favourite of mine back in the days. I guess if I consider my "complete mark" days, Owen winning is probably one of my favourite, legit mark out moment of that period.

Back to the topic, really good iMPACT show this week, with a good opener OVE vs Swann & Mack & Dreamer, Tessa vs Jordynne being really good, a nice heel turn by Johnny & Taya at the end (with Callis calling it like it's still the 90's, which I loved) and fun stuff to fill time (Kikutaro vs Glenn Gilberti on my weekly TV show ? Hell, it's more random than a WAR match ! Love it). I really enjoy the "back to basics" approach to the promotion, they are doing basically a better job getting me interested in Tessa vs Gail than WWE has done with their convoluted McMahon suckitude infused Becky, Ronda & Charlotte stuff. Give me something basic or give me Lucha Underground insanity, basically, and I'm happy to follow you.

Good for him. Kane is in my Top 10 of the worst, most boring workers I've sever seen. WWE big man style worker indeed. You can spot awful matches and performances in the 90 up to the 10's. Sucked then, sucks now.

That's the effect of being there FOREVER, even though you suck and your angles have sucked forever. Just being there FOREVER makes you someone.

And they are cold as fuck too, ratings and attendance are plunging (not that it does because they are legit MMA fighters, either). Two of WWE's biggest stars ever were Hulk Hogan and The Rock. Two larger than life comic book characters, basically. The "realism" element doesn't matter. The "star power" element does. Whatever works. Hell, when Ric Flair got the belt the first time, some old-timers didn't agree and thought Flair sucked because he wasn't a shooter and his stuff looked goofy and too cartoony. But we're stretching away from whether intergender stuff works or not. To me it does, at this point I have zero issue with it, honestly.

It's odd, but this Mania kinda feels like the end of a cycle for me. I pretty much got interested, to some degree only, back during Daniel Bryan's rise to the top. There we are, five years later, and I kinda feel "obligated" to watch Mania despite having no real interest in doing so. I guess years of Mania becoming a giant chore didn't help. Last year the two Saudi shows killed any bit of interest I had, and I know the same shit is gonna happen again later on. Despite some of the best talent in the world in the roster, it's like I can't be bothered to care even about the really good matches. I guess this has been a transitional period in my life too... I dunno, at the same time I really am interested about the first AEW show. I guess I want something exciting and new, in wrestling and otherwise...

That card was kinda crazy when you think about the fact it had both Jeff Jarrett (WWE), Killer Kross (iMPACT) and Cody & the Bucks (AEW) on the same show. The fact every damn match is a garbagey brawl does get tiresome after a point, but I did like the cage match. It's still amazing to me that the biggest star of the company is basically a guy doing the Doink gimmick. Super Porky is sad to watch. Jarrett is fun to watch in this context. The Fabi Apache face turn was well done. Superfly didn't die and he's lucky, because it was one of the most horrendous bumps I've ever seen. Lucha Bros v Young Bucks was quite the spotfest, the match at Vegas could be great with more time. AAA is still an odd company with all these guys dressed in military/anti-riot squad outfit (a look I really can't stand), a dozen factions and the fucking urn being presented at the beginning of every show. The woman is kinda freaking me out BTW, she looks like Medusa.

Cool signing. Honestly, the Su-Yung storyline with Dark Allie was going nowhere at this point, but she is very solid and charismatic and can work both side of the fence too.

Pro-wrestling isn't a combat sport. It's a fiction. Was Hulk Hogan, Sting or Dusty Rhodes more comic book or simulated athletic contest ? Jim Cornette working comedy spots with the referee was a simulated athletic contest ? Jerry Lawler hiding *nothing* in his tights pretending there was a "foreign object" ? Abdullah the Butcher isn't comic book material ? The Undertaker anyone ? John Cena and his Five Knuckle Shuffle and fist bump that wouldn't hurt a fly ? Should I go on ?