El-P

Yup. Try "no one" actually. Fun fact, all big men singles match participants in Mania this year that came through the WWE system are nepobabies : Rock, Roman, Jey & Jimmy Usos, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes. And pretty much all of the others are products of the indies (Rollins, Owens, Zayn, Gunther, Styles, Knight, Drew), basically. Dunno what that says about the WWE developmental system.

Damn, they're out of luck with lawsuits and rapists. I have no doubt Gable Stevenson will end up on the roster anyway at some point, so there. I guess the point is "Vince is gone, izoké". I just realized I haven't watched a second of Mania since the beginning of the second night of Mania three years ago. Strictly for significance purpose and overall quality, I probably should watch this one though (through Extremely Legal Means ofc).

That Brutus episode could be summed up in one question "What does friendship means ?". It was quite interesting from that perspective, really, as the rest of it is already well known. Especially interesting the differences of perception of his friendship with Hulk and how it played into his career (basically, 100% responsible for it) and how they fell apart. The "no-comment" from Knobbs really resonated as a "I won't lose *my* meal-tick friendship with Hulk over that one" to me. Missy Hyatt came off like she usually does, and that's really good. My brain was kinda confused at how Brutus girlfriend is named Missy too and actually looks more like what you'd think Missy Hyatt would look today. Greg Valentine looking EXACTLY like you'd picture a 70+ Greg Valentine would is always funny too. He almost has the best line (pun intended) of the doc too. Bischoff had the meanest (yet most pragmatic) line with the "Hogan tax" bit. This was also a great illustration of how people who are getting privileges (because that's what Brutus did for a while) almost have to convince themselves that they work so hard for what they got as a way to overcompensate. The fact he thought he did a great job with all his gimmicks in WCW is amazing. When Brian Knobbs of all people says you're the shits, well... I gotta say though, it never struck me before the irony of Brutus finisher being a high knee to the face, and that's basically what he took.

Final Boss is a term that you just see more and more in very different fields now, as video game culture has gotten more and more mainstream. And Rocky is indeed the final boss in WWE today. I wonder how much of the current booking on top is Levesque (who indeed was never exactly known to be a great babyface maker in his days....) and how much is directly coming from the Rock when it comes to him and Cody.

Yup, exactly. Except you don't use the MCMG like the Hardys of course. The Bucks, FTR, Callis boys, BCC, the Kingdom, House of Black, Lucha Brothers whenever Fénix is back, every other young team they got. Please. PLEASE.

The idea Court Bauer would spend some of that settlement money to get Mauro Ranallo is so funny to me (aside from the fact that it would insure the guy would not risk ruining a product I actually enjoy, which is a good thing, so please do). The whole thing about Ranallo is calling epic matches in the most epic way possible (for better or worse). Except there's not a company less epic than MLW this side of Corgan's NWA. Lately only Mistico vs Rocky Romero (which is a CMLL match) and Kojima vs Suzuki (which is a NJPW match) have been really good. Usually the rest of the card is still underdeliver city. Gotta say, Matt Striker not getting booked anymore after making a really stupid edgy comment about Matt Riddle is the most Matt Striker thing ever. I still would rather have him than Mauro though (his replacement has been quite competent, but Striker idiotic edgy shit fit the product quite well actually, and with Cesar Duran around, that added to the "Hey, 'member Lucha Underground ? Well, we're not quite the same at all" vibe).

Utami is obviously the biggest loss (apart from Giulia, but how long is she even gonna stay with Rossy before going to WWE ?). The fact there's no mass exodus is quite interesting though. Who knows in one year where Rossy's new promotion will be, and if by then some Stardom people will leave, but thus far, it doesn't look that bad for them.

Triplemania headlined by fucking Alberto is such a complete disgrace. Shame on Konnan. I get Nic Nemeth wanting to work everywhere, but jeeez. A little self-respect maybe ? It's interesting that meanwhile AEW is all about the CMLL talents and showing up at Arena Mexico, the only two guys they send for Triplemania this year are QT Marshall and, *gasp* Parker Boudreaux, who apparently is still under contract (why in the hell is that, no idea). And that despite Dorian showing up at TNA Hard to Kill to underline the collaboration with TNA, there's actually no TNA contracted people at all on the card (unless Nemeth is one of them, but I'm not sure he is, he's basically working everywhere). But yeah. Alberto ? AAA is such a shitshow.

The current All Elite (3.0, if you will) may very well be the most amazing roster ever in term of in-ring talent. It's just mind-blowing, and that's what AEW should aspire to be. Now I just want the MCMG to get signed and have a very much deserved stint as a top tag team in a big company, to complete that picture.

From the perspective of someone not watching the product and only being aware of what's getting all the hype, it's all about Rock and Cody. To the point where it's like : hey, remember about that Roman fella, who used to be the champ for a long ass time ? Whatever happened to him ? Oh, he's actually part of that supporting cast too now ? Wait, he's still the champ ? But, so Cody vs Rock at Mania is not for the WWE Title ? Wait, what ? That's not the actual match ? There could be so much said about how the biggest (in term of business) and maybe, at least on paper, the best Mania is taking place first thing after Vince is gone for "good" (although the fact the company has not been cleaned up and some of his corporate drones are still around make that statement relative), both how ironic it is and how it totally serves the purpose of making the audience look the other way and forget about the entire thing (which is a shame, really).

Ca$$h rules everything around me. AEW 2024 be like : + Stardom finally involved with AEW. Stephanie Vaquer @ Forbidden Door defending her IWGP Strong title. Gimme all that good shiznit Coach TK.

Much more a case of Maclin being awesome than anything else. From what I've seen of Nemeth lately, I'm not overly impressed. He really strikes me as a guy who was thought to be great "by 2008 WWE standards", which doesn't cut it in today's landscape. He's good, but he's nothing special, and has some pretty annoying traits (the sub-sub-Micheals style mixed with some Billy Gunn stuff). Agreed. I've not felt the women division either lately, it seems like Jordynne has no really credible challengers, and although Ash by Elegance is actually a fun presentation, she's not gonna set the division on fire. There is some really strong matches thanks to the MCMG/Kushida/GYV/System/Ali/Rascalz/ABC/Bailey/Maclin/Alexander (although he's not been given the most exciting talent lately, and Hammerstone is definitely seriously overrated) core, but something has been kinda missing, I don't see where they are going toward, and that's the first time in a long while it has happened. Usually you get a good feel of the long and middle-term feuds. I wonder about Maclin too. He would be lost in the shuffle in AEW, although he would be pretty fun in ROH for a while. Gimme Maclin vs Briscoe already. In TNA, he should be boosted straight back up to the main event picture really, but losing to Nemeth is not a good sign. I wonder if TNA is not feeling the absence of D'Amore already in term of vision... I guess the key is what they build for Slammiversary. By then things will get clearer in term of what has changed, if anything, in the booking approach.

Which is really pretty damn bad already, in term of company policy.

In some interview a few days ago, she was asked about if she would ever go back to WWE one day, and she answered "For sure, I have no doubt I'll be back in WWE one day" and such. Like I said it's maybe just being honest to a fault, as it seems perfectly reasonable for her to go back eventually. But the timing of it makes it super awkward, and some in AEW could take it as a lack of respect as she is just gonna make her big debut. I believe the answer was edited out of the interview after the fact too, but it still leaked. The other thing about Mercedes, is that she first got told her ankle injury was career ending. Hopefully she made a good recovery.

I thought the same thing watching the last show I watched. Very much so. The day he comes back to AEW, Coach TK needs to clear the right to "Cry Me a River" by Justin Timberlake as his new theme song. I'm actually legit interested in long term outsider heel Jack Perry, but no House of Torture at Forbidden Door, thank you in advance.

Remember that people actually argued that him going to NXT was not such a bad idea because he needed to learn, ya know... And here he is doing the perfect storm squash match, getting over his key spots (which he really does not even need to at this point, but still). I got a huge kick at the fact Okada's first opponent in AEW has been Jon Cruz, the guy who gave us the greatest Samoa Joe "steps aside" spot ever and who is just a terrific JTTS (and wrestler, really) by all accounts. Okada the dickhead is the best Okada too.

The Buff Bagwell episode ended up much better than expected. Both tragic, absurd, funny at times, with an interesting twist at the end (the Scotty Riggs stuff). At the end of the day, Marcus Bagwell sure came off like a good dude who kinda lost himself for a while, and who's really lucky to still be alive today. People just have crazy lives. Enjoyed this one a lot.

Come on people, it can't be that bad. (check the results) Ok, what the everloving fuck is happening here ?

The Redeemer was actually awesome. Plans got derailed by injuries and a case of "that doesn't work for me brothers", apparently. Same issues were had by Malakai Black, who never EVER does any single job. There was clearly a lesson to be learned with this kind of very much WWE-brained guys. The only thing I hope now is that Mercedes is not gonna be one of them and that the interview bit was just her being honest to a fault (which very well might be the case). As far as Miro & CJ splitting, private matters. I wonder what that means for either of them in AEW, as the creative has to change if they get back on TV.

I've been a fan of Angelico since the days of Lucha Underground. He really never was featured much during the early days, teaming with Jack Evans (whatever happened to him after he left ?), but I've been enjoying him and Serpentico getting somewhat of a push in ROH quite a bit. Needless to say, watching him against Mistico made me happy. Also, Jeff Jarrett being involved in a brawl which ended up with Mark Briscoe going through a flaming table is yet another one to add in the never ending list of never to be expected "Double J facts". He's easily having one of his most fun stint ever.

Also, apparently Brock Lesnar is back on the roster's profile page ? The stench...

It's either of two things, they are dirty liars about it, or they are incompetent. That also goes for "Papa Trip", the head of creative of WWE, who "did not read the lawsuit" that everyone on wrestling forums and reddits and Twitter had read. Not aware, sorry 'bout that, learnin' as we go.... TKO is basically a dirty company anyway from the very start. They cut a deal with Vince knowing about the NDA debacle. They kept Dana White in charge of UFC, the guy who publicly slapped his wife in the face (while promoting slapfighting). UFC shows are actively promoting Donald Trump, who himself is a sexual predator, rapist, white supremacist and self-professed futur dictator. All good fun. The long-time relationship of Donald Trump and Vince McMahon (and his family) is quite the elephant in the room too. WWE has avoided as much as possible to even refer to Trump after he got elected, but he's still a WWE Hall of Famer (imagine being put in the last honorary list as this guy), and he's been a non negligeable part of Mania history. There's tons of similarities between Vince and Trump on a personal level too. Damn. I wish I thought of that one myself. Clap clap clap. This.

Nick Khan keeping on praising Vince *after* the NDA's and the first departure, *after* he came back in power, was a clear sign he was a piece a trash. So there. He's also Dwayne's long time friend. People really thought it was all over, uh ? "Move on", as JR said, uh ? Nah. Ok, now Nick Khan needs to be swiped off the wall of this dirtbag company already. Come on. He did not even know what was in the lawsuit.... Yeah... Happy Mania Seas... oh, who the fuck are we kidding ? This is not over, and the company is still dirty as fuck.

Pretty much as bad as expected. It's really sad. Of all the guys from the previous generation, only Bret Hart really has said what needed to be said. The rest is either silence, vague useless stuff like this or plain really embarrassing stuff like Orton and even worse, Cena. What a glorious bunch.

The movie was released in France. There were articles in newspapers talking about how it was very much a QAnon themed movie, with the explanation of what that meant (because QAnon is not really a thing in France, although we can see some traces of it in some circles, you can guess which kind). To me ignorance is also a choice. The choice of not thinking about what you consume. This is actually scary, especially considering the artificial intelligence stuff that is gonna totally fuck everything up in term of not being able to trust anything anymore. Well of course. And since he wasn't very good at his job, there you go.