El-P

From memory, the true greatest match I've seen in the WWE in this decade were : Andrade Cien Almas vs. Johnny Gargano John Cena vs AJ Styles (from Rumble) Sami Zayn vs Nakamura (from Takeover Dallas) I had loved that first women HITC match (Charlotte vs Sasha), but I have no idea how it would hold up today, I kinda fear it was a bit rated on a curve back then.

Agreed. Hell, Jackie could probably *actually* beat up a lot of guys in the locker room. Agreed. Sometimes, things are odd like that. Sidebar : the gay wedding law was like a piece of cake in catholic, very much macho Spain, where seemingly no one cared. In much more progressive (on paper) and mostly un-religious (thank god, pun intended) France, it was hell with the resurgence of ultra-right anti-gay demonstrations for weeks and weeks and a huge rise of assault on LGBT people. Go figure... That Lawler video is cringeworthy on so many levels. (I guess Jackie was too old for him already too...) The thing is, with most modern day intergender stuff, it's not even an issue. The only thing that is taken into consideration is that the woman's body is usually smaller (I say usually because there are some darwfy motherfuckers on indies these days), so they are treated like Rey would be against a bigger guy (which was always the case). Like I said, Tessa was just treated totally as equal and damn, her work was spectacular.

The Luchas Bros vs Daga & Tessa Blanchard at the January Bar Wrestling show was the most fun ten minutes spotfest I've seen in a long time. Tessa is crazy good and she worked wonderfully with these guys, I sure hope AEW grabs her whenever she wants to graduate from iMPACT. It's so cool to see these kind of intergender pro-wrestling matches where no one even blinks at the notion of Penta chopping Tessa or Tessa kicking out of Penta's finisher. Both the Lucha Bros & Daga put her over big time after the match too. Pro-wrestling has come a long way from Disco Inferno quitting over doing the job to Jackie in a novelty match.

Fuck me, he'll be The Artist, remember that late Prince Iaukea gimmick ? That's it, you've ruined Velveteen for good.

Like it's been said, Conrad Thompson is one hell of a seller. And he's connected like nobody's business at this point.

I can't believe this happened, but during the great comedic TV game Burger Quiz, one question was about Joey Ryan's dick spot. They showed the original one to confirm the answer. Awesome.

Yeah, me too. And by interpromotional matches, I don't mean ROH guys. Those Honor shows in Korakuen are completely missable, nothing to see there apart from Cobb vs Goto.

Yeah, two years ago he was the host of a podcast with Prichard, now he's hosting the AEW press-conference... Personally I can't stand sellers, but he sure knows his way around.

Well, Rousey has *not* moved the ratings, which are steadily going down. She also hasn't brought her MMA fanbase along with her. And the women audience apparently doesn't give a flying fuck about her since they are seemingly leaving in droves. I know Rousey is now the new darling around here, and I have loved her work in the ring, but she isn't the golden goose (unless you consider the Fox deal is only do to her, in which case, all the rest doesn't matter). As far as Lana goes, I dunno, why would she drop the corporate line if her and her hsuband are miserable here anyway ? Would love to see what they could do in a different context.

Not The Man in the long run (Kobashi was destined to be probably) , but the TC win definitely came too late in the Misawa vs Kawada saga.

Yeah, at their level it's truly a style in and of itself. Terrific spotfest. Fenix has to be one of the most graceful and explosive wrestler ever. Those iMPACT tapings in Mexico really make for fun TV episodes, with AAA workers showing up (Faby Apache vs Tessa last year was so cool) and the mexican feel to the atmosphere. It's too bad iMPACT is on a station that basically buries them, because they have a really fun and easy show to watch. A PPV once in a while also makes it so much less "forced" in term of "everything has to be so important". Not everything is great but it flows very well. Easily my favourite weekly pro-wrestling fix at the moment. And Don Callis is the most enjoyable announcer today, easily. When I think I was a fan of his back in 98 and was disappointed he was never given a chance. He finally sure made a name for himself.

And if Gedo has made a mistake, this is it. Meltz mentioned on his Dome show report that the LIJ merchandise was not as prevalent as it was a year before. Naito may not be as over as he was one year ago. After a while, people get tired of waiting. If there's one analogy to be made, it's Baba waiting too long to pull the trigger on Kawada beating Misawa for the TC, and then Kawada never was the Man. I'm afraid when Naito is gonna get his due it's gonna look like an honorific prize and not capitalizing on the hottest star they have. The fact White is getting the IWGP title while Naito still seemingly is feuding with Taichii over a secondary belt is kinda ridiculous. I know White is probably just a transitional champ, but still. Good for him now, but that may be a curse in the long run.

Because it's all about DA BRAND. Crying about going to live a Mania Moment and point at sign once a year. What else ? They have the money from Fox and the Saudis. They don't need to do anything else anymore, and they don't want to make anyone special because they could leave, those ingrates. It's all about the McMahons and the Brand, and being happy to work for the McMahons and the Brand.

Well, except from what I get from the Aldis vs PJ Black match, Nick Aldis kinda sucks, really. It didn't strike me at All In, but there was tons of smokes and mirrors and great heat for obvious reasons. Dull as fuck both as a worker and as a character, which he doesn't seem to have at all (he's wooden). He was in poor positioning three times at least during the match, two of which making Black's spots look bad. The old-school stuff looks forced and totally cosplayish (don't get me started on the announcing referring to legendary 80's matches like this stuff was any different from Chris Candido vs Dan Severn). Kamille basically took the most impressing bump of the match (kudos to her, although the crowd chanting "this is awesome" was kinda odd). This NWA stuff just isn't working, there's no company, no one seems to care. I guess I should say, "like the last Smashing Pumpkins album", but that's too easy... Also, judging from that month of TV I've watched, ROH doesn't give a flying fuck about its women division. And finally, a reset angle is always lazy and never works, but just throwing a bunch of guys together from nowhere and declaring "we are going to bring honor back to Ring of Honor" is like the laziest, level sub-zero of booking. How is this company even considered N°2 in the US, I have no idea... Oh, well, Marty Scurll (whom I hope is gonna join AEW eventually, and the fact he's still well present in the Being the Elite intro hints that will be the case eventually) doing Quebecers spot with Oulette was fun, but that squash match was pretty much the highlight of this week's TV, and it's not like I'm given the urge to keep on with that product...

Watching the match, to me it's a letdown. The match itself is really good, although way too long, it did not need to go 30 mn. And the Jay White win kinda comes from nowhere, really and there isn't a real sense of "oh shit it's done" happening to me. And although he's a really good worker and has been excellent as a heel, White doesn't have much charisma. He's like the greatest Tim Horner ever. It's obvious what Gedo is trying to do here, but really, White is not Styles and definitely not Omega. So yeah, really good match, but very underwhelming booking decision to say the least.The whole "cutthroat era" and "breathe with the switchblade"sounds as dumb as any WWE catchphrase BTW. Tanahashi's great quest looks wasted on a guy who's being pushed faster than he should (the Sasaki curse ?), on what was clearly a B-show. Taguchi vs Ishimori was very good and probably my favourite match of the show and I like the idea of Liger competing for the title on his 30th birthday year. The Suzuki-Gun vs LIJ six-men was very good too, these guys can have these kind of all-action match in their sleep at this point. No idea where they are going with Naito, the Taichii feud is done (really enjoyed the match BTW, Taichii is underrated as a pure worker). Suzuki vs Kojima and Liger was the fun part of the opener, but again, waste of Suzuki here. Meanwhile, Bad Luck Fale has his usual good match with Okada, but really who cares at this point ? I'm so over the whole Bullet Club stuff. I never enjoyed the americanization of the NJ product, and Bullet Club is more tired than the nWo B-team in 1999 on Thunder. The real "big" news here is Ibushi staying with NJ. It was to be expected honestly. We need more Ibushi/Naito/Okada/Tana on top in a all-native main event scene, with Ishii/Goto/Sanada challenging. Omega was awesome in his role. White is "solid". But the IWGP champ ? Not seeing it.

They are the real stars. They really believe it. It's both insane and inane at this point. 22 years and counting.

No one ever got creative control in WWE. Not Hogan, not Bret, not Austin, not Cena. Daniel Bryan probably has the most stroke other than Cena and Lesnar, but don't kid yourself, he doesn't have creative control. It's too bad he renewed his deal before AEW came around, because I would have loved to see him in a context where he's actually totally free.

Wow indeed. Way too early and way to waste Tanahashi's great storyline of last year. Jay White just isn't that guy (yet ?), although he has improved a whole lot last year. The whole push seemed forced from the Tokyo Dome on, with him beating Okada and them beating down Tanahashi at every show. But winning ? I guess I'll have to see how that whole thing unfolded, but on paper not a fan at all. Plus honestly, this whole card looked really weak for NJ's standards. Bad Luck Fale in the fucking semi-main event ? Naito and Suzuki buried in six-men on the undercard ? Taguchi, who's merely been a comedy figure for ever at this point, challenging for the junior title ? If they want to run two Dome shows next year, they'll have to build to something a whole lot better than what is happening now. Seems like the Dome Show was the apex of last year, but 2019 thus far doesn't look so hot.

Oh yeah, Baby Doll, of course. Thanks, corrected. Tully Blanchard jumping on Magnum was such a true babyface move. I believe I saw that one when I went through a bunch of WCCW years ago. But the promotion left me with such a mediocre impression overall that I probably forgot about that stuff.

Well, yeah, dumb shit like that was to be expected, despite the fact AEW did not even commuicate on any identity or gender issue. What amuses me is the narcissism of those people, making announcements about some video on twitter or facebook or whatever about how they are gonna state their opinion damnit and it is gonna be controversial damnit. Like, who gives a fuck ? Who the fuck are you anyway ? Just say what the fuck you want to say already. Oh, and it's stupid shit like that ? Ok, bravo. That being said, some of the reactions to her post aren't much better. She's saying some stupid stuff, ok. But to be called a "disgusting human being" ? Really, people ? Yeah, it's easy to pile up on someone you don't know when you're never gonna actually meet that person and simply assume stuff based on a digital social presence (which is a form of representation anyway and never the actual person). The hive mentality of the people with "good" morals repulses me just as much as the dumbfuckery and bigotry. Yeah, I hate everyone, basically.

Considering it killed the crowd dead, it was rather fitting. But yeah, it's too damn bad Schiavone wasn't there, him calling Sandman's entrance would have been something.

Actually I'd argue it was more relief that Nia wasn't gonna win the Rumble at this point, considering everyone expected a "big surprise". WTF were they thinking anyway with this idiotic idea ? About Sherri taking atomic drops from Hogan, let's never forget Hogan was actually a dick as a babyface, not that it's any excuse. As far as the inner workings went, Sherri was probably begging to take that kind of bump from Hogan anyway (and who wouldn't at this point, really ?), it's a well known fact women worker like her were considered "one of the boys". I guess that mentality really infused the product, as they were not considered "women" but first and foremost "workers" and as such, just another specimen of "bumping characters", like managers were. Probably with non-working valets (like Liz or Missy), things were different... and thus, more offensive because more suited in good old sexual assault, way on the creepy side at times ( babyface Magnum TA forcing himself on Precious Baby Doll while the announcer rejoicingly shouts "She likes it ! She likes it !")

That was quite a weak teasing, honestly, the Lucha Brothers are still under those LU contracts, there's no reason why they would stop take bookings from MLW. Why the fuck is El Gringo Loco winning a match ? Third time I see the guy, third time he doesn't look good. All moves, zero charisma nor presence nor character. The Parka match was just bad, as was this one. DJZ vs Myron reminded me of the times where Sean Waltman was considered small. Myron going heelish is good, because he kinda looks like a millenial douchebag, so I can get behind winning a match by pulling the tights (although honestly, after a billion crazy spots, it's kinda stupid, why don't you do it sooner instead of killing yourself ? I guess opportunity...). And yeah, I marked the fuck out for Sandman being the mystery partner of Dreamer. Still the best intro ever. He looks older than his age though, but he's still the same otherwise. Funny to see some of the more "family" audience in the crowd not wanting anything to do with Sandman's beer sharing. He still licks it from tits too. The match was fun for what is was. Pillman coming out with his Best Rookie Award reminded me of Owen. Davey holding Dreamer in a delayed suplex reminded me of his father. Sandman and Teddy Hart totally broke kayfabe by hugging before the match (and BTW, Teddy talking about pussies during the Valentine's Day advices sequence was something else). No idea what is the direction of this company, but this ECW reunion match warmed my heart (and I won't spoil what Pillman finally found under the ring).

The Stunner to Chyna was great because it was the first time anyone had laid his hand on Chyna after more than one year of her beating up men. No one ever touched her because they wouldn't dare to and she was taking advantage of that fact, except she was also sold as just as strong if not stronger than some of the guys. So when after all this time Austin finally stunned her (which is different than punching her in the face, because the Stunner is a goofy pro-wrestling finisher as opposed to something you'd do IRL), it was an amazing climax (especially since there was doubt it would ever happen, much like when he stunned McMahon in 97 for the first time). It had nothing to do with "men on women violence" or "misogyny" or "exploitation", really. Tons of other stuff were about to be (remember we're in early 98 still, the worst was yet to come, PMS anyone ?), but certainly not Austin stunning Chyna for the first time. Dean vs Nia is obviously leading to Dean doing to job to the useless one on the way out. Hopefully she doesn't concuss him with a punch on the eye or something, that's all the best you can hope, really...

Oh yeah, in the WWE context, I agree this would be different because of the long history they have of lingerie battle royal and stuff. That's why to me Scarlett Bordeaux in iMPACT is a cool character, because she's unique doing what she does (and she's actually funny) and the promotion was featuring Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong 12 years before this already. Really enjoying AEW's presentation too. I'm gonna be honest, I haven't been so excited by anything happening in pro-wrestling in maybe 20 years.