El-P

He fucking did a shout out to them when he won the Rumble. Last year he stated in an interview that they were still in contact fairly regularly, and that they were bonded for life. Crazy to think that people might be friends, and that not everything fits people's fantasy narrative.

Netflix : "Love is sharing a password" Also Netflix : "Hey, you people are cheating us, you can't share passwords no more !" Also, they don't pay taxes like they should (yeah, that covers a whole lot of companies). Fuck ya, Netflix. Then again, all big streaming service are awful, really. Choosing one is having to choose the lesser evil, just like with music. Fuck you too Spotify, by the way, you're an awful company.

I just picture Rock powerwalking backstage up to Cody's locker room and give him the "That finishing the story stuff, doesn't work for me brutha." while Lesveque is shrugging in the background. Watcha gonna do when Netflix runs wild ?

Mauro's announcing is god awful. Yeah, sign him for 20 years on Netflix, please.

He's been with TNA since 2014. Hell, 2011 considering Ring Ka King. And he's never been any good. So yeah, he's a job guy, because at this point that's all he can be. I'm actually amazed he's still employed, really, he must be real good friends with someone. He's basically just as poor now as he was 10 years ago when he started as a regular. Barely improved at all.

WWE is all about nepokids now. Orton, Cody, Charlotte, Dominik, Ava... Roman. And it's only gonna get worse with time, especially now that pro-wrestlers date each others, marry each others and have kids together. It's gonna be a big-ass incestuous bourgeois family in no time. It is hilarious though. Like, maybe a little more subtlety ? A little LESS obvious ?

While at it, gotta say this, and that has nothing to do with WWE at all : I always though Netflix was kind of a shitty service. Shitty interface, übershitty search device, shitty mentality to boot.

'member when Mike Santana basically threw away a great tag-team because he thought he could be a single star, got a few vignettes and a match on Rampage against the guy who he would barely talk to ? Where he is now, while Ortiz just main evented Collision against Danielson & Claudio, tagging with his friend Eddie Kingston ? Funny thing is, when you looked at LAX, as they were called, Ortiz always was the most charismatic of the two. If anyone would break out, it would have been him.

I'm sure glad I did not spoil myself, because I did not expect Will Ospreay to put over Josh Alexander. That really meant something for him, because he did not need to do this at all. Awesome match, of course.

Okada is working in NJPW until February something. He ain't appearing at the Rumble. And no, there's NO justification for Okada to be in NXT. NONE. It would be a complete joke. He's the biggest japanese star of the last 15 years. He's one of the greatest wrestler ever. The Idea that WWE is so damn specific that someone like him would have to spend some time in NXT is completely ridiculous.

Okada in NXT would be a complete joke and the sign that nothing has changed. Jade Cargill would debut in the main roster (or not, whatever happened to whatever hype she ever had), but Kazuchika motherfucking Okada would go to NXT ? This would be so fucking pathetic.

I was thinking more than the other way around. Things don't stay hot forever. Usually it's a matter of a few years. Cyclical and all. 3 years ago, WWE was not hot, as the Hulkster would have said. They better be hot in 2030, because if they aren't, Netflix is gonna cancel their ass like nobody's business. And then, yeah, what you said too.

As the buddhist saying goes, there's no way to know if any event will end up being bad or good.

Ok, so 5 years. Netflix is basically Cancelmania. 20 years ? That's Bret Hart in 96 contract ludicrous right there. Things go way too fucking fast to be engaged for 20 years anywhere.

Yep, a funny flex kavana.

"What goes around comes around". Julie Hart. Montreal. 1997

Top 5 ever. 10 years though. Who knows what the media landscape will be in 5 years. Does that mean AEW will try to sell themselves to Amazon Prime or something ? This certainly is super intriguing in term of the evolution of the business, on many aspects.

The Streaming Era. 10 years is a long-ass time.

I put it there although it's really not the right thread for it but.... The Rock is now part of the board of directors of TKO. Can you smell what he's cooking ?

Or rather when he's in there where he can't afford to act like an asshole because he's not in position of supposed power. Let's be real, WWE doesn't need CM Punk at all. It's just a bunch of bonus ratings point for them, and the satisfaction of sticking it to AEW, from their point of view (which is highly debatable, all things considered). They were hot as fuck without him, if he leaves, they don't even blink. He has exactly zero pull over there right now. And it's not like WWE would be afraid of Punk going back to AEW either. Cody speaking the truth in that promo was insanely ironic too. It's like he was actually dropping a pipe bomb, but without any gimmick needed. And you know he actually means it too, since he's friends with the Bucks still.

To me it's less the match itself (which will infact be whatever, most probably) than the fact it is happening. Call it the old WAR Randomizer effect, if you will.

One great thing about AEW is that thus far, every world champ has been very different from one another. Each has brought a different mood and dynamic. Not even one month in, Samoa Joe is my second favorite already. He's such an awesome pro-wrestler. Shithead meta-troll Young Bucks are the best Young Bucks. They are just the greatest, period. I wish they would have introduced Deonna as a heel, because she's that much better in this role, but I understand why they did not (big pop in her hometown, facing Toni Storm who is kind of a heel, Serena Deeb coming back soon). She'll be fine anyway, but I sure hope she gets to turn eventually and be all dismissive and vicious and unlikeable. She's awesome at it. As much as I haven't cared for the E&C Nostalgia Feud, Adam Copeland facing random young talent has been very fun. And now what ? WHAT ? MINORU SUZUKI ?!? Yeah, this is what AEW is all about. There's definitely a shift of mood of sorts in the last few weeks, and it's one for the better, I must say (and I'm not even an MJF detractor at all). Fun and promising start of the year for sure.

..... As his name clearly states, he's not Samoan. Making him a fake Samoan would be so WWE though. Although "things have changed", despite the striking portait @sek69 did of japanese talent presentation in curent times, or the fact they just did a "foreigners talking shit about 'murica = bad" angle just a few weeks ago, for the Rock's no less, like there was nothing better for him to say. It would be such a lack of imagination too. I dunno, this would feel like total typecasting. Jacob Fatu on the other hand. Still baffled he's not getting that WWE contract (when actual rapist Gabe Stevenson would, ya know). Then again, since we're talking about Fatu, he was on that NJPW Valley show, and I'm still exactly at the same point with him as I was years ago when I watched MLW. He's doing these few super impressive flying spots, and that's it. Still way overhyped to me. Maybe in a different environment he would blossom, but... And speaking of Stevenson and rapist and shit, Matt Riddle kinda got a tedious reaction I thought. Certainly not the big-ass former indy sensation & former WWE star you'd expect. Not that it'll make any difference in Japan, I guess. Still, not exactly the kind of booking that'll make NJPW more desirable to me right now.

The question is, would he be presented that way ? In other news, EVIL is your new Openweight champion. Yeah, jokes writes themselves. And so Tama Tonga made his goodbye. He's not a guy that would have been in the main events, but in the past few years he really found his mark as a great babyface worker. So yeah, that's yet another loss (although he's been in NJPW for ever now, basically made his entire career there). I'm guessing he's showing up in WWE. The guy is 41, but at his peak right now. He's a good catch for whoever gets him, really.

Aldis outfits have always been the best thing about his entire act. I can't get over the fact that even WWE found he was so dull in the ring that they'd rather make him an authority figure. BTW, and before this aptly thread ends, I gotta say that Paris 2024 ain't about Roman Reigns either. I am guessing Berlin can fuck off too, since it comes just after SummerSlam.