El-P

Memphis Wrestling. The guy who would have taken over WWF's operations if Vince had gone to prison. And yes, TNA.

He's the one who should beat Roman Reigns. Simple as this. And really now, with this segment, they planted the idea of Cody vs Sami at Mania, and you know what, after years and years and years of Roman Reigns and despite the fact he's the hottest he's ever been, this could absolutely be the way to go, because Mania would then look more fresh and different than it's been in forever, and they are in a position where they take zero risk being bold. That is, if they had a special opponent for Roman on the side (wink wink). Now, that would have been some mindfuck and way to really adapt to what's been happening. Of course, they could also do a three-way, but I'm not sure anyone wants to see that formula. As it is and if Sami doesn't beat Roman, oh well, it will still be huge when Cody beats him (he will, won't he ? RIGHT ?), but that's clearly not the optimum scenario. Now, if they don't do Cody vs Sami at one point after Mania, and preferably SummerSlam, then it's pretty much done, the peak will be behind. Of course, there's this whole "sale" thingy that nobody seem to think about anymore that is looming and could change many things too.

I really enjoyed the Rosemary stuff I had seen when I started to watch then current IMPACT in 2018 (she was already batshit Bunny then I think). She's been really misused since, but AEW really hasn't been very good in term of making strong or fun strictly character based angles (they screwed up a simple wrestling wedding, come on now). It's why sometimes it's just better to be in smaller promotions when you can be used at your best, monetary issues notwithstanding. Maria Kanellis was a wonderful foe for her too. I agree that after the Summer, Bennett became more fun to watch, because it became obvious his entire gimmick was being a loser (as opposed to the guy who would became the champ) and he was going all the way with it, humiliations after humiliations. His in-ring work at the end of 2016 and early 2017 seemed better too (he's ten times better in a tag team setting with Taven though). Yeah, that was an interesting idea on paper, but you gotta have the workers to go along with it. Aron Rex getting the title made it immediately meaningless. Moose was not as good as would become, but he was much better carrying the thing, but really, that was a useless title in replacement of the King of the Mountain title which basically was a useless belt that changed names a bunch of times and came from a gimmick belt made for Booker T when he was there. When you see the Wolves, at first Davey Richards looks like the star, because of his obvious Dynamite Kid filiation, but Eddie Edwards developed into a really good babyface despite questionable promo skills and no "jump at the screen" charisma, and really over the years has evolved into the heart of soul of IMPACT Wrestling, terrific worker, great babyface and since last year has showed really good work as a heel too. He's gonna stay under the radar for ever because he's associated with IMPACT and I doubt he ends up in WWE ever now (even in AEW, I'm not sure how far he would be pushed), but he's certainly a super high end worker of the last 10 years who can do anything and work with anybody (he really made W. Morrissey, excuse me, Big Bill, look better than anyone ever had).

Sean Oliver's Lynch impersonation made my day. Did a pretty damn good job (Lynch is my favorite director ever and I love his music and art in general, so I'm quite familiar with his interviews). Should have made the hand gesture though (the Lynch fans know). Thanks for posting this. That sure gives me the urge to check some of those clips too.

Aron Rex doing a Liberace/Lanny Poffo gimmick in 2017 is one of the most cringe inducing shit I've seen in a long time. Totally died a painfull death immediately too. Seriously, this guy, apart from the short time doing the Mizdow gimmick, is the fucking pits. Early 2017, before Jarrett and the GFW crew made any more creatively, was basically 2016, for better (the same people praised earlier) or worse.

Billy Corgan is controlling his narrative. Not sure what's worse and most irrelevant though, current NWA or the latest Smashing Pumpkins albums. Granted, I have not watched nor listened to either. But sometimes, what's obvious is obvious.

Tanahashi vs Okada in San Jose. That's a nice fan service match for sure. Without his front teeth, Tanahashi now has the Kawada smile. That ages him about ten years. Okada vs Takagi was one of those "we've seen it before, yet it was a wonderful display of pro-wrestling" match. Tama Tonga sure has become an interesting late bloomer, excellent match against a serious El Phantasmo. Jay White made Hikuleo look better than he ever had, and probably will in a long time. Bittersweet great performance, as his goodbye to NJPW. Him checking Tanahashi on commentary was pretty significant. Whoever gets him gets a prodigious pro-wrestling mind.

It gives meaningful wins to the champ without having to resort to bullshit "title matches". It makes the actual title matches more scarce and therefore more special. It makes sense that if you are not #1 or #2 contender and well below in the ranks, you might only be worthy of a title shot if you can prove you can actually beat the champ (unless there's a special issue or angle going on). It allows a surprise from time to time. (and it prevents WWE-like idiocy of champions losing non-title matches and then not ever having to defend their title against the person who beat the because oh well) It's just simple, efficient and logical booking. This is actually one of the smoothest thing about AEW's booking right now (which is anything but smooth in other parts).

I was thinking about listening to some of this, I had listened to his interviews with Chavo and Kia Stevens (Awesome Kong) back then during the G.L.O.W. days. I miss G.L.O.W. Never got the end of the story. Fuck you Netflix.

Selfishly I want him in AEW, but I believe he ends up in WWE. The guy is not big, but he's very simply one of the best workers in the world. His in-ring style I believe can mesh up in WWE because it's slower and more deliberate (but at the same time, very much organic crowd interaction based, which is not WWE's style at all), but it needs to be seen how seriously they would take him because of his frame. Basically, if I'm Jay White, I only go to WWE with a FAT-ASS contract and with a guarantee of main-event level spot (likewise Cody). If he ends up debuting in NXT, then it's a complete joke. Also, I only sign a 3 year deal at most. But of course, I love to watch him so please go to AEW. He's working against Eddie Kingston next week-end at the NJPW show (the one with Mercedes vs Kairi), so at least I'll get this before he probably (sadly) vanishes from my radar.

With his head shaved, Butcher looks like he's ready to put a jabronie into the camel clutch and make him humble.

The 1-2 punch of Danielson vs Rush and The Elite vs Top Flight/Fox was ridiculous. AGAIN. In some time, this era of Dynamite will be looked upon as the ultimate apex of US pro-wrestling TV in term of average level of matches week to week (and again this week, MJF vs Takeshita was an excellent opener). The fact we get to see Danielson & Omega back to back doing their thing is kinda taken for granted I feel, those are two of the greatest ever and they are in the same promotion at the same time doing incredible things. Before it's too late, AEW needs two other Danielson vs Omega matches. The main event on the other hand, well considering it had no shot of following the two previous matches, it was obvious some big angle was happening, teasing a Billy Gunn turn (that would have been awful). But really now, it was the Acclaimed worst match in forever, not bad, just there, and the result totally deflated the awesome crowd. I don't think the "bullshit" chants (which traditionally is less a chant toward a heelish act rather than toward a booking decision) is something you want to close your show. Hopefully it's just opening the door for FTR to come back and get the title off the Gunns *quick* (so they did not had to directly beat the Acclaimed, saving that big match for later). If that doesn't happen, then I guess it's as good a way of saying FTR ain't signing back. Mostly a terrific show because these two matches were ridiculous. Although hopefully the Bunny did not get badly injured and is ok, it really looked like something wrong happened at the end.

Yep. Plus, there are trying to establish a championship that really doesn't have a history of being seen as a big deal in US wrestling. And it's been an uphill battle. I loved every second of the best of 7 series, but the truth is, these championships should be made akin to legit main event material to really matter and they are far from it right now. It's like the audience is rather taking it as a transition period for the Elite, having awesome matches in the meantime while waiting to go back to the actual main event scene in more meaningful feuds (for Omega at the very least).

I just spoiled myself because I'm an idiot. I honestly kind of expected it but still. The Ass Boys ? We went from the Young Bucks & FTR to the Ass Boys. For my fellow 90's boomers out there, it's like going from the MX & Southern Boys to the American Males. YIKES. (I don't dislike the Ass Boys at all, but tag-team champs in AEW ? NOPE) Can't wait to watch Danielson/Rush and the six-men though, sounds awesome. I honestly have no idea if Eddie is working or having a meltdown on Twitter. Because if that's the latter, it can't end well, sadly. As much as I love Danielson and I think MJF has really been delivering in-ring in his last big matches, I kinda dread the one-hour long match, which is not a favorite stip of mine, as there are very few workers who can make it work without having to rely on gimmickry and/or over scripting. And over scripted one-hour long match is very much WWE style, and it's not something I want out of AEW (just like I don't want to see HITC style cage matches with the obligatory going out to jump off the top on the outside). We'll see, but I must admit I'm really on the fence about this idea.

The last months of Dixie Carter's TNA really smelled like a dying promotion again. Sure, there is Cody and Brandi Rhodes showing up for a cup of coffee (Cody defeating Mike Benett is a meh match and then having an very good one putting over World Champ Eddie Edward), but you soon see the impeding signs of doom again during the last tapings, in a darkened Impact Zone. Aron Rex has already reverted into an annoying semi-comical figure, doing a "hidden foreign object" angle like it's 1985 (the guy is right at home in the NWA). Talk about a guy who was praised as underrated for nothing while doing his best stuff in WWE. Interestingly enough, he's also very much influenced by Lanny Poffo (without having half of his skills). The undercard feud of The Tribunal (the only legit french workers in a US TV company since Andre ?) vs Al Snow & Mahabali Shera is a complete waste of time (and Shera, talk about a guy who never improved one bit, he still shows up in IMPACT from time to time and is the same mediocre worker he was then). Then you have the DCC aka James Storm (they apparently had no idea for him anymore), Bram (same) and Eddie Kingston doing a crappy "creepy" Anonymous inspired gimmick. At least it introduced Kingston I guess. The X-div is really kind of an afterthought, although you have really good guys like DJZ and Trevor Lee feuding aginst each other seemingly over and over and over again, all of it seeming aimless. ECIII always in the main event scene and falling to recapture the title is ok, and the guy was a great babyface just like he was a great heel. Fine enough worker too. All thing considered, I enjoy him way more than I thought I would. The rise of Eli Drake is pretty ok too, although the constant gimmickry in his promos gets annoying fast. Can't believe he's still doing the same exact thing in WWE as I write this. The year kinda logically concludes with a match between ECIII and Eddie, who really was carrying the promotion as a workhorse all year long alongside Lashley, with a kinda crappy shit-finish no-contest. Decay has been a case of the whole being much better than the sum of its part, the whole thing being carried by Rosemary's character work. She ends up winning the vacated women's title, as Gail Kim is clearly going toward retirement because of piling injuries. Kinda crazy Rosemary never ended up in WWE at some point, although I have no doubt they would have misused her completely. Really now, Allie & Matt Hardy are the MVP of the promotion in 2016, both for their character work. Allie slowly developing into an actual worker and confronting the excellent Maria & Laurel Von Ness (a platinum blonde Chelsea Green) keeps the arc going and she's awesome at every turn. Like I said, I've never seen a better instance of a worker doing the "non-worker" gimmick, she's awesome at every turn (in-ring work, promos, big angles, backstage vignettes) and such a great lovable babyface. The Broken Matt stuff is just gold absurdity, all of it. Fitting that the year would end with a Broken Matt show, with yet another ridiculously fun cinematic match (and Rockstar Spud doing the job for 1 year old King Maxel, because of course he would). Gotta love of Matt was throwing so many stuff at the Bucks of Youth, as this was the hype of the days. The disappearance in screen of both Corgan (who was doing a good job actually as an authority figure) and Dixie Carter was the sign of the looming changes in the company. On paper, 2017 looks pretty terrible, and not just because Alberto el Patron was brought on board (that guarantes tons of FF), but also Dutch Mantell's Make Impact Great Again stuff, Corny & Brucie aka two irrelevant boomers yelling at clouds being brought back for a short while, the GFW debacle (which looks interesting from a backstage standpoint) and so many people leaving, including of course the Hardies, who were one of the only thing that made the company interesting in 2016. Seems like really, after Anthem bought the thing, it did not settle into the quality product it became before they gave the book to D'Amore in 2018.

IMPACT & NJPW are doing a joint PPV March 30th. Forbidden Doors II before the fact. And as if Josh Alexander vs KUSHIDA and Moose vs Jeff Cobb don't look great enough (it does), Will Ospreay vs Mike Bailey. Jaw drops.

That kinda cracked me up.

That's a good observation. And really, Cody likes to listen to himself talk a lot. And WWE style promo is mostly monologues after monologues, it never ever comes off like people really talking to each others. That very practiced, slow (because they have a lot of time to fill) and obviously very scripted WWE pacing is yet another reason why I don't care to watch their stuff (that is, if I did not find the company repulsive to begin with). Even the great Roman/Sami angle at the Rumble, I noticed that it went way long and was super heavy handed (don't get me wrong, I thought it was an awesome, all-timer WWE angle) compared to what I usually watch (AEW, IMPACT, Japanese stuff which of course is not exactly heavy on angles either). Even the great stuff they manage to do, there's something so "operatic" about it, so non-organic. It would be interesting to see when this style of promo really started. I'd say sometime during the early 00's, maybe only to that degree with Cena, not sure.

For sure, awesome promo from both. I still can't do anything but chuckle at Cody doing his facial "emotional ticks" that he's done a hundred times by now and comes as forced and fake as any goofy Shawn Micheals pathos acting, really. That being said, the closer of Cody saying he just wanted to win a championship and people always want to make it personal was a nice line. A bullshit line, because he's always referring to his father"s legacy anyway, but still, quite a necessary line. All in all, from an outside point of view, Sami vs Reigns at Mania still looks like a much better peak match, but they did as good a job imaginable to jumpstart the feud. I said it before even when he was in AEW, Cody was made for WWE's style. From memory, angles and promos were terrific, match was garbage. But that was eons ago, there's a possibility I would enjoy the match much more now (but maybe it was just garbage too, I dunno and probably will never rewatch it at this point anyways).

Meltz had a very nice interview with Mary Fries, daughter of Pampero Firpo, talking about Lanny Poffo.

Beyoncé and her damn French accent breaking the board.

Well... From a mainstream POV, *nothing* equals the Rock being at Mania. But really, the hilarious part is when he mentions "one story is about finishing something that started in 1978". HOLY SHIT how much BULLSHIT can you feed your audience ? That's what is annoying as hell. The totally made-up story of Dusty Rhodes never winning the WWE title and how it's an actual story that somehow happened. For fuck's sake. Story dating back to 2016, when Cody left, sure, that's the one to tell, but trying to make-up a fake-ass storyline dating back to his father is exactly why in the grand scheme of things, the Cody stuff is carny bullshit meets WWE revisionism (since Dusty "never winning" the WWE title means it's what mattered to him, sure, SURE) as opposed to the actual hot storyline, which was Sami finally facing Roman Reigns at Mania. I wonder after all if at one point (not at or before Mania obviously), the audience won't turn against him anyway because he just can't help himself.

He censored "cunt" as well. I thought "cunt" in Australia was basically a punctation mark.

The reality is that it doesn't matter to them. They make more money than they ever had thanks to the status they have acquired as a brand, and whoever is on top really is pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. The Rumble and Mania were to beat the record numbers of viewers no matter what for the simple reason Peacock has way more viewers than the previous year and because they are not on PPV anymore. The TV right fees bubble for live "sports" profited them to amazing degrees. And of course, the Saudi money (hey, btw, there has been a recent report about how executions in the country have doubled during the reign of MBS, blood money is a real thing, not just a "cute" tagline) which makes them profitable beyond beliefs. Since last year, they got hotter and hotter after a long down period, and hell, retrospectively it's argue to argue against the fact Cody jumping was absolutely a factor. The company is idiot proof in term of booking. I would even say they are idiot friendly since Bray Wyatt sells a whole lot of merchandise despite being a terrible act on pretty much every level, but then again that would be pretty condescending toward his fans (still, when I see people going gaga over this shit like it's "next level cinema" or "such a deep storyline", it's just hard not to be sometimes). Then again, being popular or big has never had anything to do with being any good, especially when you consider the entertainment industry and how it works. WWE is striking gold with not one, but two main angles at the same time, which has not happened in, how long ? 20 years ? Their finances are at the highest its even been. On one hand you could argue, well, then now more than ever they could put Sami Zayn in the Mania main event, because it really doesn't matter who is anyway. But nope. Even now, when the "risk" is exactly zero (and really, we're talking about the "risks" of putting over the most over babyface in the company since Daniel Bryan), the guy has no shot. I don't see why anyone should be surprised though. Triple H's track record is well known and although he's much more open minded in term of in-ring style for the overall product, WWE is still WWE. It's always gonna be limited because of their limited mentality. And of course, there's no way to know what happens after it's sold. Cody Rhodes being a huge success in WWE absolutely opens doors for some people from AEW that might not had the same opportunity before. But then again, Cody Rhodes started in WWE, he was groomed there. I have no doubt they see him as a WWE guy first and foremost. Hell, they might even be delusional enough to think that they are making him a star now and that, no, it has nothing to do with where he was before. But there's a reason he fits their needs. Cody is a good looking American guy with (fake) blond hair, blue eyes, a stars & stripes tatoo on his neck. Sami is a muslim Canadian redhead from Syrian origins with a crazy beard. And he supported Bernie Sanders.

And this is why Google Translate is *not* your friend. (that would literally mean it's shit)