El-P

I mean, of course the problem was that CM Punk was an entitled shithead with a gigantic ego. But it's always fun to rant about some kind of poetic justice and the figure of a guy who postured as some kind of prophet when in the end he was a fraud and all. (and the idea that guys like Omega and the Buck need psychology lessons from anyone is absolutely laughable, they own pro-wrestling psychology)

There's something that cannot be overstated too about that little CM Punk comeback thingy. He became the cult hero of a generation in 2011 because he stood as the voice of hardcore wrestling fans tired of WWE's sterile product and Cenamania running wild. He embodied the spirit of the indie scene, of why it was not only cool but right to do things different. That's why he caught on as much as he did and why his name was chanted as a symbol of refuse at WWE shows for years when fans did not accept what the company was forcing them to gobble up. He was the outcast, the alternative. Fast forward in 2021. An entire company was built out of the spirit of the indies, of a will to build an alternative to WWE's product (which by then was already very different from what it was in 2011, but more on that later). The Elite had been the embodiement of that spirit, of why it was cool and also right to be different and do things another way, and AEW was built from that will to change, but not from within the WWE system, because everything aligned at the right time. When CM Punk gets in, with 7 years off the business to boot, people may remember him as "The Pipe bomb guy", but it's been 10 years since that time. Now he's coming as the former WWE superstar. He's representing the establishment (which is also why his hardcore fanbase has the reactionary if not plain outdated discourse they have) and he's looking down at everything his old self was supposed to represent 10 years before. That is, if he was sincere, which is another issue. The business had effectively passed him by, because the voice he carried in 2011 was useless now. It was empty. But maybe it was always empty. The cherry on the cake being the fact that at the very same time, another guy came into the company, a guy who also represented the spirit of the indies and a different way of looking, working and thinking. Only he was not performative about it, he just, well, made you feel it through his work. And HE actually made it to the very top of the WWE, he actually got put over by Trip at Mania. And he changed the way WWE looked at talent (well, not totally, as showed by the Sami Zayn booking this year, but still). And he did not came as "The guy who knows it all because he's a former WWE star". He did not had to make grand lectures about "everything he does is a love letter to professional wrestling". He just came in, worked, put people over, had terrific matches, probably the best stint of his entire career (which was supposed to be over years before, but not because he quit over not getting what he wanted, but because his body betrayed him), and had nothing bad to say about the people he worked with. Yeah, that Danielson fellow. Be wary of the people who like to say they are this and that all the time. They usually are the worst. I'd rather trust the ironics and the silents. And the true humbles.

Did you chant "Cry me a river" ? On screen, it was one of the most fun crowd ever. I wonder what Kawada thought of the strap match. Speaking of which, Danielson was there at the scrum talking about how he was carried through the match by Ricky Starks. Damn, that guy is so... I hope he remains in AEW forever and gets a full-time creative job.

And really, considering how the crowd reacted as a whole, Punk probably hates Chicago as a whole too, really... I mean, a "Cry me a river" chant to drown his name...

The first part is actually halfway serious. When I watched the match and FTR and the Bucks (who by the way, obviously think A LOT of each others, despite what people projecting their own little pro-wrestling insecurities into believe) doing those spots together, I thought about that in a very serious way (and it did crack me up too). The latter part is obviously a joke, I don't wish any harm to good ol' Corny, although he's an irrelevant old fart.

Also, I wonder if CM Punk is gonna remain friends with FTR after he just witnessed them do a fucking superkick party spot alongside the Bucks. That alone probably almost killed Corny too. Yeah, fun times were had by all.

This is exactly what AEW was supposed to be (well, expect the women division, which still needs a shitload of work). But apart from that, ridiculously great show with a totally awesome crowd (the chants during Miro vs Hobbs were a hoot, so were some during the 8 men). That Danielson fellow really likes violence, uh ? Christian Cage re-signing may lead to something else. And in the old tradition of PWO : Karen Jarrett and CJ Perry. Respectfully. And yeah, I also only bought the show after Da news. Winning bet.

Even the United Center crowd doesn't give a fuck anymore and celebrated Hangman, Kenny and even the Young Bucks, for a large part of them. That ship has sailed and sunk. That horse had left the barn and died on the sidewalks.

And for the last words, which were amazingly well pre-shot by Mox : Over and done. Cry me a river indeed.

TK addressed the (quite hostile) crowd before the show. They got it out of their system. Sure, when the Young Bucks (as showed by the run-in at the end of Collision) and probably Omega will be in the ring at All Out, you'll probably get them chants going to a certain degree, maybe even big time. But in the long run, the CM Punk craze is cooked, he's been totally exposed. Only the hardcore of hardcores toxic fanbase is gonna support his bullshit, I red a lot of "I'm a CM Punk fan and even I agree it's the best decision, he can't help himself" and other "I was a CM Punk fan and during the last year I did a 180°" (which happens to be my case too) around. Considering his track record and in retrospect, he should not have been brought to AEW at all. If by the fall of 2021, only Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson jump to AEW, it's not as big of a boost, but it's still a boost at a point where the company was *already hot*. Would have been much, MUCH better in the long run.

CM Punk is the leaving breathing demonstration of the old sayin' "If you meet one asshole during the day, that sucks. If you meet two assholes, that's really bad luck. If you meet only assholes, you're most probably the asshole". The guy was asked to be a part of AEW's foundation alongside Jericho and Omega, those were the three names TK wanted to start with. Two took the risk and contributed to build a successful pro-wresting alternative, alongside Cody, Mox and the Bucks. Punk's "love" for pro-wrestling I guess wasn't strong enough back then, or maybe he did not had the balls to take an actual risk. Only when AEW was hot and successful enough (built on the backs of people who have "accomplished nothing" apparently), he finally choose to join in and was given the red carpet treatment. But it wasn't enough and he managed to flip his lid and still act like an unprofessional shit, like only he can. Then he was brought back and even given his own TV show, his own little kingdom because "he's a big star" and that's how it works. It would be "a drama free environment". It took what, 5, 6 weeks before drama surged up *again*. AEW just had the biggest paid crowd ever, a stadium show that just pulverized whatever number they were supposed to do. Hell, some people talked about how ridiculous 20.000 people would look at Wembley. Nope. Bigger than Andre vs Hogan. And what was the talk of the day ? Another CM Punk drama and backstage fight (that is, of course, never his fault). Ryan Nemeth was actually spot on : softest guy ever. Overinflated ego and sense of self-importance. Toxic as fuck as his *entire* career as now demonstrated. I'm actually amazed that there is still people simping for this guy and trying to find excuses. Guess what, AEW got hot before CM Punk. Sure, he boosted their business for a PPV or two and a few big ratings. Short term. His comebacks were already diminishing returns. I for one was on the verge of not watching Collision anymore because there was no reason to even invest in what he was doing, because it was surefire he was gonna act like a prick again and the product would get fucked. Jay White and the boys really kept me there. To quote an hilarious post on reddit : Dude wanted to be Bret Hart, he ended up Austin Aries. Cheers.

Good fucking riddance. Long overdue indeed. He should have been fired just after the media scrub disaster. Also, people wanted TK to act like bossman ? Well, he just cut CM Punk with not one, but TWO shows, one being a PPV (and for obvious reasons their weakest one ever, but that' pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of things) at the fucking United Center. He don't give a flying fuck. Also, if I'm Lesveque I'm like "Yeah, no, thanks, we actually have a really successful, drama free thingy going on, I'll pass on that one". Plus, Cody is the one designated (for now) to beat the tribal chief, and Cody IS part of the Elite, he's still tight with the Bucks. Now really, all I want is Hangman Page getting Punk's spot feuding with Ricky Starks, at least I'll get really good matches out of it and not overlong dull affairs with tribute spots galore. This week has been crazy, for awful reasons (Terry & Bray passing away), awesome reasons (the All In show), and hilarious reasons (yet another drama involving CM "I'm doing business here, this is a drama free environment" Punk leading to THIS). Pro-wrestling in a nutshell. Life in a nutshell.

Terry Funk was everything that is great about pro-wrestling. The greatest.

I've been kinda out of the loop, for various reasons, and I just saw the news on Bix's Twitter feed this morning. I had thought about him when I saw that DEAN sign on Dynamite, but I had no idea. I'm very sorry to hear the news. My condolences to his family and friends. Like so many others at that time, Dean was super important in shaping my discoveries of other kind of wrestling when I got online in the late 90's. I stumbled onto the DVDVR Reviews pretty quickly when searching for stuff about pro-wrestling. I remember I could't wait for the next issues and it was always so much fun to discover what Dean Rasmussen in particular would write, because he was funny as hell. In 2000 as I moved to Paris, I did not had the internet over there, so what I would do when I was back at my parents for a week-end, I would print the latests DVDVR reviews so I could read them on the train back to Paris. To this day I have memories of reading some BJPW and GAEA reviews as the train was stopped in some small train station... Over the years I had been a regular on the infamous light green board, and although I don't remember that many specific direct interactions with him (maybe there were, but it was a long time ago), Dean was always very nice to me, like he was to everyone. The last time I posted there was eons ago, and I was reviewing some old FMW stuff, and of course Dean was all about my pimping of Sambo Asako, because of course he would. The fact I always tried to make whatever I wrote to be funny and entertaining (like the WCW stuff) come straight from having so much fun reading Dean's reviews. Even when he was bashing stuff, he was so damn funny you could never be mad about it. So yeah. Very sad news. Dean was one *huge* part of the internet pro-wrestling board culture. That Coach Tony K guy knows. A billion zillions stars for you DEAN~!

There's apparently no hype on PWO about Stardom anymore, but the show on Sunday is gonna be the biggest joshi show in years, with a killer top line-up. Of course a big part of the intrigue is whether Moné keeps her title against Mayu, in which case that means she signed for one more match, as Giulia already challenged her. Now that would be quite the big time main event, whenever it occurs. And from there, who knows ? Does she really want to come back to WWE under *gasp* Vince ? Mina Shirakawa vs Saya Kamitani could see the end of Kamitani's reign (and streak of terrific defenses), as it would be quite the closure for Mina, who has improved a lot in the last year or so and who had her face shattered last time they met. And of course Giulia vs Tam Nakano, which on paper looks like a total killer match, but not the time yet for Nakano, although it will have to come eventually, I guess. Clearly one if not the most interesting show until the Summer.

Finally got to see Rebellion. Best IMPACT major show from top to bottom in a long time. The two main events were terrific, and there's a happy couple right now (although it's not acknowledge on screen that they are, and won't be since Maclin is a heel and Deonna a babyface now). The ending parts with Trey Miguel & Mike Baley were high art. PCO vs Eddie was exactly the brutality expected (damn, PCO was on WWF TV in the Spring of 1993, and he's having his best years now). The multi-person garbage brawl had its share on insanity and comedy (the ladder spot with Bully and the ref was hilarious, really, great trolling), Sami expectedly turned on Deaner (typical case of what's obvious is actually good). Just good stuff all around. Nick Aldis showing up certainly was a surprise. I never was a big fan, but he's a great promo and has developed his best identity in the NWA, with the benefit of the ever reliable IMPACT booking (as demonstrated tonight, so many of those matches were logical conclusion or development to very long-term storyline that have pretty deep roots) and working with a some excellent worker on top, Mr. Aldis could have his best stint ever. I'm guessing Mickie having such a string stint there for the last year and a half played a part. As far as Jordynne goes, well, she's a great get for whomever gets her, especially now that she's peaking both in ring-work and presentation. If she gets picked up by AEW, she needs to be in conversation for the top belts right away and presented as a total star. WWE, well, I dunno what Chelsea Green (who was at Mania still) and Emma would have to tell her about their stint there since she signed back, but probably not the greatest destination. Although maybe Trip would enjoy a fellow bodybuilder. But yep, excellent showcase by IMPACT, especially considering the bad hand they've been dealt with.

I'll add this and I'm so out of this argument. The irish whip thing is funny. Like there was different degree of implausibility that went from acceptable (the irish whip, which can be done in a context of very much "struggle" based matches) to unacceptable (whatever crazy spot or sequence you can think of). In reality, the degree of plausibility of the irish whip is exactly this : ZERO. Null. Void. Nada. And I'm not even the one saying this, I've heard Bryan Danielson (some dude) say it : if you throw someone onto the ropes, there's no world in which he bounces back. It's ridiculous. The plausibility is FUCKING ZERO. From that point on, considering we're already at zero, there's nothing less plausible. It doesn't matter that people believe it's "more credible" because it's been there seemingly for ever, it's just that they have been used to it. There's no degree of implausibility between an irish whip and a Canadian Destroyer. None of it is happening in this world. It's an equal level of plausibility : zero.

It is. End of story. Whatever works works. Plausibility doesn't matter. Not theoretically, but it actually doesn't. The biggest stars in pro-wrestling history are ridiculously unplausible, from Inoki's shitty-ass enzuigiri to Hulk Hogan's pathetic hulk-up and idiotic legdrop, to Steve Austin throwing a billion punches to the face of his opponent which never ever leaves a mark to Dwayne Johnson's PEOPLE'S ELBOW. The advantage of pro-wrestling going from a con-job to a craft appreciated for what it is is that it opened the landscape to a whole new dimension. Pro-wrestling actually takes itself, as a craft, much more seriously than it ever did before, that's the paradox. It is. It's a glorious stupidity though. But it is, in essence, completely ridiculous.

You know what it makes me think about ? And with your avatar (which I have never really identified, it's Immortal, right ?) I guess you'll get the reference. I was reading an interview with Fenriz (from Darkthrone for those who don't know) where he talked about how when he was younger metal music had something magical to him. And when he started to play music, it stopped being magical. And at the same time, he loves house music and techno but he never even tried to understand how it was done because he wanted it to remain magical.

No one. It was part of the joke post about boomers complaining about contrived wrestling, which has always existed. A joke post that some got and others did not apparently. Humor is like ring psychology, not everyone has the same idea of what it is.

Matt is correct.

Well..... You realize that my joke post wasn't even a direct reply to you, right ? No. I gave you very factual reasons to why he's doing what he's doing. Plus, yes, lucha. The irony in all of this, is that I'd much rather watch ZSJ vs Tom Lawlor than Komander vs Vikingo, so, it's not like I was even preaching for my personal tastes of choice.

It really didn't. It was supposed to be funny first and foremost and in good spirit. Because "Cooperative flippy-doe" and "Acrobat#512" is not at all mocking people passive-agressively, you see. Come on now. It's been going on for years now, people making fun of mOvEz, thinking they come off way smarter than people who chant "fight forever", because they like "smart work" and "psychology" (but don't actually get what they talk about, and hey, I'm pleading guilty, I've been there). It's really the pot calling the kettle black. There was someone on Twitter some time ago who posted a newspaper article from like the 30's I believe, and it was pretty much the template for my post, right down to the "it's all gymnastics now and has no credibility anymore". So yeah, probably some people were saying that stuff about Carpentier and Rocca, and it's fun to copy-paste the boomers argument from today to 1956 or something. The old guys sure did say this about Flair when he popped up : tumbling nonsense, no believability. Same old story. The older generation (and the younger people with a fascination for the past) crapping on whatever they did not grew up on. I don't begrudge anyone for their taste. I could not care less, everyone likes what they like (duh). The issue is people thinking what they like is the only way to go and everything else is wrong. It's especially true when it's a matter of thinking you're smarter (and more importantly, showing it to everybody) because you like "The amazing psychology of Buddy Rose in the Portland territory in the early 80's hey, look at me I'm so intelligent and know so much, wow" as opposed to "lolilol stoopid gen-Z crossfit wrestling flippy-doe mOvEZ".

My predictions are as follow : Punk vs Jericho match will have some Bret Hart sequences reproduced in a sloppy way Jericho will put CM Punk over PWO will complain about Chris Jericho Punk will make a snide remark about something unrelated in a promo FTR will beat some JAS guys Dax Harwood will tweet about how much he loves working with JAS PWO will complain about Chris Jericho CM Punk will reveal that he's hurt but coming back soon Dax Harwood will make cryptic complaint about Dave Meltzer Chris Jericho will put over Dax Harwood in a singles match PWO will call Chris Jericho a carny CM Punk will comeback and get hurt again while trying to do a figure four around the post PWO will complain about Chris Jericho CM Punk's contract won't get renewed Dax Harwood is gonna whine about it on his podcast PWO will call Chris Jericho a piece of shit

Thanks !