El-P

That sure was an episode of peaks and valleys. Ospreay vs Hobbs and Archer vs Danielson were both excellent. How shocking. This is truly the GOAT vs GOAT match of all matches. Not even in a cute, gimmick kinda way. They legit are probably the two best wrestlers I've ever watched (if Omega was around, this would be a triumvirat). Young Bucks vs Best Friends was excellent too. These damn Bucks actually made me believe they were losing for a second, just after I thought there was no way. The Beretta heel turn was really well done too, in that I saw it coming while not saw it coming *that quick*. I sure hope they don't fuck it up from now on though. As far as the tag team tournament goes, I absolutely want Bucks vs FTR 4 (is that 4 ?) with the current dynamic. The contract signing was tremendous shit. Samoa Joe is just a ridiculously great promo, but everybody knows this already. Still, that P. Diddy line. And although Swerve is not quite at that level, he shined in that post beatdown signing in blood moment. Then. Jericho needs to turn heel, no one wants to cheer him anymore, and I have no doubt that's what he's doing. And then he needs to go away for a while, the Jericho fatigue is real. I'm guessing Mariah May vs Toni Storm is the match for Double or Nothing. Would make sense. Match was kinda scuffed, and Rosa is not nearly as over as she used to be, but they sure made up for it by beating the hell out of each other. Mariah May is IT. That 1-2 punch was terrible. There's no reason why Jay White, who should be pictured in the main event scene, is not beating 60 years old Billy Gunn in 5 minutes. Billy Gunn ain't Sting. And although White cracked me up with his begging and trying to do the chant (the guy is so fucking smart), this went for way too long and a fucking DQ ? Who booked that shit ? Acclaimed needs to move on from the trio stuff and go back to the tag team scene. It was nice for a while, but that ship has sailed. Bang Bang Gang unites the trios title, then we forget about that and Jay White moves onto much bigger and better things building toward Wembley. PLEASE, NOW. And then, the BAFFLING interview segment with the back turned from the hometown crowd. Mercedes Moné saying nothing (and getting a TNT title shot at Double or Nothing because reasons I guess, in a company that is supposed to have rankings) for the third straight week. Ya know, that big corporate hire they did a few months back that comes from WWE and was supposed to oversee Mercedes stuff or something, maybe she should have been cut already, because thus far, the Moné stuff has been dire. This is AEW, "Where the best wrestle" (god, I love this campy shit unironically, this is SO WCW), I love Mercedes Moné the *wrestler*. Her doing a Jade Cargill thingy where she just stands there and say "I'm a star" is not cutting it. Hopefully she has fully recovered from her injury and she can get down to business, because this stuff thus far is unengaging as you get. Actually, not a bad choice at all, since it kinda negates (well, it won't, really) the tribalism effect, him being basically a WWE guy for ever saying "I never had that much fun ever and that locker room is as good as any I've been in". EDIT : Although you could also look at it the other way and find it kinda pathetic that they are trying to get a form of validation from a guy who has been "in the big league" as opposed to the "fuck this shit, we're the rogue company anyway, go fuck yourself" kinda promo that would be given by Mox (who also has been there, but it's different) or Eddie. Anyway, in the end that was kinda super awkward. When you're cool, you don't need to TELL people that you're cool. Copeland vs Penta should be cool in itself though, as Copeland taking on random challengers is actually fun. EDIT : Dax Harwood also cut the same kinda "promo" apparently addressing the crowd at the Collision tapings.. Yeah, actually, him saying a few cool things in-between a few choice words about the tag tournament on TV would have been much, MUCH better, for reasons that don't need to be explained.

This is the dumbest excuse this side of "I missclicked" on a Twitch chat.

Well, hopefully for them it's not actually gonna be X-7 (which I thought last year was, the day after Vince came back and Cody lost, how wrong I was). The mix of the creative being much better and the comeback of the Rock makes it gigantic and the hottest since the early 00's, for sure. Dwayne's comeback worked beyond all expectations, including as a distraction.

The Harley Race episode is both a cool look at an all-time great and super influential worker, a nice piece of old-school folklore and a case study of toxic masculinity 101. How times have changed, and for the better in term of how this kinda stuff is looked at.

It sure is a different story if they lose SLK too. It can't be good for the scene though, either way you look at it. Rossy's new promotion can't get as strong as Stardom, which has been established as the second promotion in the country after ten years, and Giulia helping them is all good and all, but the fact it's only temporary ensures you can't put too much focus on her either. BTW, her popping up in NOAH of all places seems random as hell. Kinda cool though.

That's not so surprising. He only worked a bunch of times on Dark and then on ROH. He was more around at the short time they did the terrible Thrustbuster thingy (with Boudreaux, talk about a winning proposition), but he was never really a regular. There's this notion that because you're on TV, you have to make a shit tons of money, but really only a handful of big stars are. The discrepancies between the top dogs (pun intended) and the guys at the bottom of the card are kinda ridiculous, really. And if you consider WWE and the obscene money they are making, even the top dogs are basically underpaid. I remember the French referee working at NXT UK told that she never earned *less* in her entre life, ponder that for a second. And then you have Mr. Workers Right who is talking about how workers should be paid on the house (yeah, sure, now that he's an established big-ass star and the company brand is the draw anyway, what a fucking clown). There's only one way, and it is known : unionize. Won't happen, but this is the only way stuff like a guy getting his jaw broken working against another company contracted guy and getting cut a few weeks later won't be tolerated. Yup. No one expects anything decent out of WWE. Which, ironically enough, actually benefits WWE, because it doesn't matter what they do or what you learn, it's a given it's always been a shitshow, as Ronda Rousey has been saying. AEW was perceived very differently for a while. With high expectations come high responsibilities, or something...

Been enjoying The Wrestling Revolver (Sami Callihan's promotion) lately. With lots of TNA talents alongside people you'd see in MLW, and the Ohio crew (Jake Crist, who is terrific, Fulton, who is quite ok), and some AEW people popping up (lately Billie Starkz, Marina Sharif, even Jon Moxley earlier this year). Easy to watch, relaxed, indy feel but with some ace talents, with a touch of old ECW chaos, Gia Miller playing "classic" ECW valet for Ace Austin, in very different babyface roles that they have in TNA, Alex Shelley being great as a small territory douchebag heel world champ. Fun stuff.

Agreed. Although you can also look at it in another way in term of timing, is that everybody is looking at WWE anyway because it's Mania week, and arguably (not even arguably, really) the biggest Mania ever, so it's gonna be forgotten in two days anyway (which would makes it quite a bit cynical). Still. Context surely has changed, and releasing people is nothing new in pro-wrestling, and it's way far from what WWE did during the pandemic, during which AEW held it together for so many people. But it's a clear sign that the company has changed. Nothing new. But it's yet another occurence of "Oh, it's just another pro-wrestling promotion".

That CMLL show was just awesome, period. Show of the year candidate for sure.

Yep. Don't get that one at all, totally out of nowhere. Anthony Henry is the worse though. Got a broken jaw against another AEW contracted worker on an indy show and now gets cut ? Big time fail on those ones.

Ok, that is pretty funny. She is still listed on the roster's page.

I guess this was inevitable at some point, especially when you have such a bloated roster. Still. I don't get the Stu Grayson deal. He was not re-signed, then re-signed, then he worked on ROH for a while, then disappeared, now gets cut ? Hope he ends up in TNA or something, the guy is really good. The Boys is even more puzzling, unless basically Dalton ends up a goner too after his feud with Johnny TV, which has been super fun btw, or he just switches an act that has gone for a long-ass time while now. Anthony Henry, now that one sucks. He and JD Drake are an excellent and super fun team, and the guy just broke his jaw. Kinda WWE-like move on that one. And Dasha, noooo not Dasha ! She and Tony Schiavone were such a fun pair at the beginning of AEW and during the pandemic. I'd rather have her doing the ring announcing (despite the occasional mistakes) than Justin Robert and his fake-ass creepy smile. She really was one of the OGs. I never ever understood why Jose the Assistant was in the picture to begin with. Parker Boudreaux choose one hell of a time to do an interview about him still being in the company (will he still do the AAA show ? I would hope so, one AEW talent less on a show headlined with Alberto is a good thing, AEW should just pull out completely really). The guy has shown basically jackshit both in WWE and AEW, and ended up being cut out of both major companies. Maybe Corgan will get him... Gravity was kinda cool though still green, and they don't even use Komander right. Come back later I guess. Slim J was a cool indy scene veteran. I don't remember who Jora Johl is, to be honest. So there. Meanwhile, Jacked Jameson is still employed. Yeah, sorry, I have to vent about this eventually. I do like the former Bear Country guys as workers, especially Boulder, but the Iron Savages gimmick is the cringest shit I've seen in pro-wrestling in forever, it makes me embarrassed to watch it every time. I have no fucking idea who the fuck Jacked Jameson is and why is he actually featured. He has to be someone's Brutus Beefcake. Overall, it seems pretty random overall, and unless some of these people asked for their release (I could see Stu Grayson doing it, I highly doubt Dasha did), I don't see the point and it breaks with the perception of AEW not cutting people unless they really did something bad (or are just bad at their job and aren't used because of it like Boudreaux).

Collision was joy, apart from the Ricky Starks scare. Like he wasn't checked out enough already. He's such a goner, having been upstaged in every way by Big Bill since they started tagging. Thankfully it doesn't seem he's injured. Not sure we'll see much more of him on AEW though. Writing is on the wall. Matt Cardona showing up from nowhere to have a banger with Copeland was certainly unexpected, after he showed up on the lastest TNA tapings to help Steph de Lander. So fun to get the ROH crew, Infantery, Lady Frost, JD Drake, and of course the Righteous for that killer of a main event. Sometimes I just have to remind myself how ridiculously great it is to get Shibata on TV in 2024. Hope he tags with BCC for ever, he's the perfect fit. House of Black vs Copeland/Kingston/Briscoes is a wondefully random and fun 6-men. Gotta say, Copeland finally won me over and he finally seems to fit right in. Hopefully the same goes for Mercedes eventually, if you know what I mean. Watching FTR vs Infantery, it's crazy how different their approach from the House of Black has been. And how they actually think the exact same way the Young Bucks do. They'll do everything to not only have the best match possible, but make their opponent look as good as possible in the process. "This is the same picture". The Mariah May/Toni Storm storyline is taking its next steps. Deonna is totally turning heel (pretty much has already happened). Thunder Rosa is slowly getting her groove back (after what she came back from, no small feat, really). Good stuff. That ROH show is shaping up very nicely too, with Eddie vs Chicken, Billie vs Queen, Athena vs Shida, the Stardom 6-women match. Hopefully Dalton Castle vs Johnny TV and SAP vs Maria's Boys, which has been built up on the ROH shows. Next week is gonna be exhausting if like me you're interested in what happens on the side of Mania.

Danielson actually is getting Blue Panther at Arena Mexico. This timeline is incredible.

Glad I'm not the only one who immediately thought of this. Making a special "show" just for fucking X in 2024 is the most WWE thing ever. Takes one to know one.

Damn. So I guess Rossy and Aja still have heat dating back to the ARSION days (Aja wasn't at the ARSION reunion show). The Mania week-end shows are still my favorite part of the wrestling year. Janai Kai vs Tam Nakano !

Basically AEW & Stardom & TNA in one match. Plus, a Stardom 6 women match at the ROH show the next day. Things are way in motion now that Rossy is gone it seems.

That makes him Laurinaitis. Not exactly much better.

There isn't. Never have been either. They are the greatest ever at it. They made people think that Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrisson were ready for a run as tag champs because of how great they looked. Ponder that one for a minute. No shit Sting selected them for his last match ever. Workers know. AEW is the greatest in Dream Epic Match Randomizer mode. And they have the greatest roster and all the connections to keep on bringing that good shit for years.

Can't really complain when on the same weekly show you got matches like Josh Alexander vs Tracy Williams, Eddie Edward vs Mike Bailey and Chris Sabin vs Steve Maclin. Ash by Elegance keeps on being a fun character, Xia Brookside definitely has lots of potential. AJ Francis does what he does, that is being charismatic and talk while the work gonna be on the shoulders of a way more talented guy (in this case Rich Swann, who really needed a change, so a heel turn is welcome). Mustafa Ali has been straight awesome in every way, and the ABC/Rascalz/GYV are high quality always. Won't complain either about a TNA OG Full Metal Mayhem match between Kazarian and Eric Young. So far so good, the next PPV is shaping up nicely. Not sold on Nemeth nor Hammerstone yet, and Kon vs PCO is a pretty shitty program, but thus far the post D'Amore product really has not changed from what it was before. I wonder what is the status of Gisele Shaw though, she hasn't been seen in a while, she is also D'Amore's girlfriend, so there. If she's done, I would hope AEW would grab her, she's good.

For sure. David Sammartino and Erik Watts represent. With the landscape changing from the model of the territory where the owner/booker would push his not-so-talented kid to today's big-ass corporations owning pro-wrestling promotions, it's not exactly the same dynamic either (not to mention the much, much bigger emphasis on being actually good). Still. Honestly, if Brian Pillman Jr. was not who he is (and despite the fact he actually wasn't privileged at all during his upbringing, for obvious reasons), there is ZERO chance he gets signed to an NXT deal and pushed after his AEW stint. ZERO. The funniest thing in this is that they change nepo-kids names (see also, Bron Breakker) almost as if it's not as obvious, despite the fact no one can ignore it in today's world.

Interesting. I had no idea about Misawa having kids either btw. I was thinking about Sumo wrestling, which inspired a lot of how pro-wrestling functions in Japan, where you actually have quite a bit of wrestler dynasties, but it doesn't seem it has really worked the same way in pro-wrestling, to the point Shota Umino being the son of a famous referee really stands out as an exception. Hashimoto's kid really never made much strides. Of course you had Hana Kimura. Out of the top of my head, I really can't think of anyone else in the current scene.

Months after the fact, they haven't run any PPV since Coke-a-Mania and every "big" event has now been turned into tapings for their "TV" show. What a wonderful dumpster fire this entire thing has been. Meanwhile, Court Bauer got 20 Mil.

Ronda Rousey throwing Vince and his croonies under the bus is my favorite news bits of the week.

Irony aside, it will probably only get worse now that you'll get entire families where both the father and the mother are pro-wrestlers, especially in the case of the really weathly ones in WWE. And it's really not just a pro-wrestling thing at all, really, it's all over the map. But anyway, the point I was making with that list is that the nepo-babies all came through the WWE system, while the non-nepo babies come from the indies. The one thing that I find fascinating is that it actually hasn't really worked that way in Japan. I have no idea why. Lucha libre is basically mafia level shit. Big time US pro-wrestling has way more than one royal family (although you could say that WWE really has become the Samoan mafia too lately). Still, I think a study on a very large timescale would be super interesting. Even by the standards of the time and the promotion, he was a weak-ass worker. Valentine did all the work and he would do a stomp or two and a bodyslam. Gotta love the fact he really believes he "proved all his detractors wrong" when he got back in WCW as the Disciple. The level of denial is insane.