El-P

Sucks. He seemed like he was in good health, at least a few years ago. Back in the days of shoot interview craze, he always came off really smart and a better person than most pro-wrestlers of the era. He had some great ones with KC. The Genius gimmick was really embarrassing, even more in retrospect, but Lanny himself was quite a good worker, especially earlier on in Memphis and was a super fun jobber in the 80's. It's the end of the Poffo legacy I guess.

That's interesting. It kinda goes along the idea that @Embrodak mentioned earlier about how the part of the WWE audience that could has rejected Cody have already left. Which is probably why the tribalism is at its worst also (well, that and social medias and echo chambers effects), because the audiences of both company seem to be very much split with a small shared part only. The overlap between audiences of each wrestling companies is one of the most fascinating aspect of the business that I'd love to know more about, including with the smaller companies like IMPACT, MLW, GCW, NWA and the Japanese and Mexican promotions.

Ironically enough, I'm right at the point before BFG 16 when rumors of a sale were going crazy, as they had no money left to even fund the PPV. And remember who debuted at BGF 2016 ? CODY !!! The product has taken a dramatic turn for the better during the summer, after a dire four months, with Lashley as world champion, the feud with Eddie Edwards, the debut of Moose, the Grand Championship gimmick (three rounds of three minutes with judges, interesting enough gimmick when the right guys are working the matches, like Drew and Eddie). But the product was really carried by two main stuff : the Broken Hardy saga, which was insanely absurd and great at every turn (like they took the best aspect of LU and made it their own and pushed it further, with a very self-aware sense of how absurd it was, which kept it fun) and got so over as its own thing that soon enough, the entire Broken family was reunited as babyfaces, leading with the very enjoyable, horror movie inspired feud with Decay, but then again, absolutely playing with its own absurdity (as opposed to the ridiculous pseudo-deep Wyatt LORE) and carried on Decay's side by Rosemary's character. And the other being the Maria Kanellis/Allie storyline which again was 95% angles since Maria isn't really a worker and Allie's character is that she is not a worker either. Yet this is just classic pro-wrestling at its finest, and Allie is just killing the game of a worker playing a non-worker (she's seriously great at it, better than anything I've seen), going from absolutely unbearable at first (that voice) to adorable when she's getting bullied by Kanellis, who herself is terrific in this role, a cowardly fake lady in denial, ready to flip her lid at any moment. This is intertwined with Kanellis long time feud with Gail, who was the Bret Hart of the division, really. You want some character work and great angles, well, this is it. On the other hand, Aron Rex (that's Damian Sandow) coming in as a serious main event level guy was vintage LOLTNA and really came off lame as all hell. Like Corgan did not learn anything from the company's former mistakes. And it's not like he was a super worker either. Can't be taken seriously, brings jackshit in term of in-ring work. Yep, a really dumb idea. It's interesting to see that a bunch of people he was using then he's gonna get back in the NWA later on : Bram, Marti Bell, Aron, Tyrus. There was a real effort done on vignettes and video packages too at this time, which alongside the entire Broken Hardy stuff made the product look like super well produced (despite the monetary issues the promotion was having). Still, at this time, this was basically a soon-to-be-dead promotion on paper. And there comes Anthem...

Vikingo works Spring Break. Against Speedall Mike Bailey. Prepare your GIFs already. This is gonna be ridiculous.

Ok. Against Mike Bailey (who's meeting Vikingo at Janella's Spring Break BTW). My Mania week-end is already done. Won't get better than this. Meanwhile, and although it was not a given Ibushi would even be back form his injury, NJPW still loses him and Jay White in a matter of weeks. That's two main eventers (not to mention Bronson Reed in whom they saw great potential obviously). Hopefully that triggers some interesting pushes to refresh the top of the cards, they will badly need it.

Considering AEW was not around, yeah, no shit. But Drew did the exact same thing that Cody did, he went and work all around the indies for years and got hype for himself (and got better). The big difference is that when he came back, he was not slotted as a main event star immediately. Took him a while. Neither was Bobby Lashley, who followed more or less the same path, he really found himself in IMPACT where he became the total package in term of work/promo (his 2016 champ run is so much fun, he's really shining on every aspect). When he came back it took him like 3 years before he won the big one. Neither came back the way Cody did, with a huge comeback win at Mania, then the Rumble win, then straight to Mania main event the following year. It's not even debatable that his AEW stint is the reason Cody Rhodes came back with the status he did, although of course of Vince had been a petty idiot then, he absolutely could have not capitalized on it. Context is as important as anything. There's a positive exchange of symbolic capital when you leave a company as a star to go to another that has the means to use it (which is part of why TNA was never able to really capitalize on Jeff Hardy for instance, because their own status did not allowed them to, although obviously there were other issues). If Cody comes back to WWE before All In happens, maybe he ends up as a big star after a few years, but it's obvious he comes back and is IC champ at best in their minds. WWE is obsessed with owning the pro-wrestling business as a whole, but this is a perfect example of why it's beneficial even for them that it doesn't happen.

Did not even think about that ! And now I'm gonna be disappointed if that doesn't happen. What have you done ? (that being said, he better SIGN the guy before having him on TV. They screwed themselves already with Dragon Lee, there's no need to do the same mistake twice, especially not with Ibushi, who's on another level altogether)

At Mania you mean ? Come on. They need to make new stars. Then again, the woman does seem kinda in denial about some stuff... As far as the Mania card goes, funny how six months ago the talk about about The Rock and Austin having matches to none happening. Which really, may be much better because it will force them to book matches without relying on old glories, apart from Cena, who apparently has a match with Austin Theory for whatever reason (don't tell me he's the guy supposed to be the next chosen one). So yeah, I don't see any reason why Charlotte would not do the job to Rhea.

I'm there. I wonder if AEW would pick him up. Nobody knows what shape he's in. Obviously if he's even at 80% of what he was before, he's a no brainer. Plus the Omega connection is obvious. If he goes to WWE, I can see him becoming a Nakamura pretty quickly. Having one great introduction, then cruising along for the rest of his career. That is, if he even gets the Nak star treatment to begin with, which is not a given. Of course he could stay in Japan too, but then again, would he end up in NOAH ? They sure need a shot in the arm after Mutoh's retirement, so that could be another nice catch for them. Especially if he's not physically able to do all the acrobatics he used to, the style there would allow him to just work hard hitting matches without having to rely on spectacular spots.

Not to mention he has this illness over his head like a Damocles sword. For sure, I fully expect Reigns to be gone for a while. I also fully expect Reigns to be back for next Mania season at the latest and get back his title at Mania next year. In the mids of this there's the sell of the company happening, who knows what that'll mean for the booking ? Fun question though. If Cody doesn't jump from AEW, does Sami gets the match ? I just can't get past the irony of the former "AEW guy" (remember how Cody was ridiculed by the same WWE audience for not being a star and a midcarder 4 Life at best when he was in AEW ?) being the one defeating Roman in the end. Tells a lot also about how the process of "moving from territory to territory" is absolutely needed to keep things fresh for everybody, the fans and the workers (Cody leaving when he did was the perfect choice for him). There's a reason why Cody is as over as he is, and that's become he came from a strong opposition company as opposed to coming back from IMPACT/ROH (same thing happened with AJ Styles, who came to WWE as a star, less so but still, because he came straight from a then very hot NJPW instead of straight from TNA).

I have not watched the WWE produced Ric Flair documentary (I don't watch bullshit), but apparently it was "Yeah, he used to be the NWA champ, then was in WCW during the Monday Night Wars that WWF won then the really important part if how he had lost his confidence and how Vince and Triple H give him his confidence back and he was part of Evolution and that was very very important for him and then he retired against Shawn Micheals at Wrestlemania".

In other news, there is a new series of A&E revisionist historical documentaries coming up and the last one on March 26 before Mania is... Dusty Rhodes.

In the ring, he was black trunks with a logo, black boots, black kneepads with some logo on it I believe. Actually at this time there was kind of a return to more "traditional" in-ring garments after the excess of the Mid 90's where everybody got more and more dressed up, including in "job" outfits. It was kinda refreshing for a while, then got toward the dullard style of the mid 00's. The Rumble matches are actually a good way to gauge how the "fashion" has evolved over the years.

Steve Austin, The Rock and yes, Roman Reigns disagree. Odd, that did not strike me at all this time, like for instance how everybody looked dull and the same in the mid 00's, with the short trunks, crew cuts and tribal tatoos. Maybe I just did not pay attention. Seth Rollins looks like Juice Robinson now (the Flamboyant version, not the lame current Bullet Club one).

It's because Peacock has much more viewers than last year. Still huge numbers of course, but it was predictable. Like Mania is gonna be the biggest ever, by far. The most viewed moment that has nothing to do with a shitbag influencer is, well, the Sami Zayn/Roman Reigns angle. As far as Vince not getting involved, there's no point for him to make more waves until the company is sold.

By the Summer, the company will be sold and Vince is gonna take over everything anyway, so...

There's a very real possibility that they split the titles again, one for each "brand".

One of the most intriguing thing is how are they gonna book a babyface star, something they have been totally inept at for almost a decade now. Because let's face it, Triple H record says everything you have to know about his approach. They haven't booked a babyface champ well since the Cena days. Not to mention, at a time where a sell will be imminent. And although it can look like a goofy argument on the surface, honestly the fact that the Saudis are in the race has to not help Sami Zayn in the long haul.

Literally no one is saying this. Sami Zayn is going to be fine either way, and Cody probably will too (unless they really fuck things up to the point they turn the crowd against him, then again, that never happened, right ?). If after the Rumble angle, you don't get why Sami Zayn vs Roman Reigns is the right match for Mania, then really, that's called being completely tone deaf.

Roman Reigns is still the Ace of the company even after losing. Don't get confused, people. He's coming back at the latest next Mania to get his title back, probably as a straight face, which he can be now without any rejection from the audience. He's the Man and will remain so. Cody winning it makes him close to be that guy, but there's no need to replace Roman Reigns as of now when he's at his best and most over ever, unless he wants to branch out into movies. Cody is also a banged up 38 years old guy who had said in the past he wanted to retire at 40 (yeah, I know). And fuck, if I'm Cody and get the Roman Reigns streak victory, as soon as my contract ends, I'm flying back to AEW and cut the following promo : Cody, looking emotional : "I know you feel I abandoned you when you most needed it. But I needed to conquer the other guy, not gonna lie, yes I did it for me, I did it for my father, but above everything, I did it for you, I did it for US ! And now I'm back home !!!!!!!!!!" And then doing the teary eye gimmick. Do it, ya carny mofo. BTW, Cody doing a salute to the Bucks after his victory was really cool and says a lot about their personal relationship.

This. The idea that Sami Zayn would *lose* something if he beat Reigns at Mania for the titles is amazing. What the fuck. And it's not like it means Sami has to become the face of the company. He won't. But he's a made man after this. Like Foley was when he beat The Rock. He can lose the title in 3 months after this. But this is the match the audience wants to see now. Not Sami & KO vs the Usos. Cody's story has *nothing* to do with Reigns. He can win '"the title that his father never won" (talk about a bullshit story BTW, like it mattered one bit to Dusty Rhodes when he jumped after fucking up Crockett's territory with his shitty egoistical booking) at any point against anyone. So they'll build a pissant story in two months for Cody and Reigns just for Mania when you have one of their greatest angle ever leading to a logical blow-off at the right moment, with the right timing and the audience begging for it ? And people are gonna argue about that because of Sami's beard or because "but WWE said" ? WWE has done so much damage to people's mind, it's crazy.

If they job Sami in Montreal of all places after this, they are still the biggest idiots ever. So, Cody points at sign, goes to Mania and gets the ultimate rub. It tells a whole lot that after years and years of "developmental", the guy who will end up beating Roman Reigns is a guy *they did not* make a star themselves. Even more ironic, at the very point where they actually have that babyface star that got over on their own watch (of course, being a product of the indies, like Danielson & Punk before, but still). And they still gonna go with "the AEW guy" (you can twist it anyway you want it, if Cody comes back to WWE after his stints in IMPACT and ROH, there's no way they see him as anything of a bigger deal he was before he left, as experience showed, AEW is the only reason why Cody came back with the status and pull he got). Not that I think Cody is taking Roman's spot at all as the Ace (and face) of the company, but he has the biggest shot ever getting that close. By the way, the men's Rumble having no surprise reminds me that Bronson Reed just resigned. A few months ago, he was beating Okada in the G1 and then main eventing against him. He shows up to be the fucking Miz heater. He wasn't even in the Rumble where he could have shined. No Eric Young either (I mean, if Chelsea Green was there, why not Eric Young, at least it would have been a cool little surprise return). Really a dull Rumble on that aspect. Nia Jax returning is still the funniest (well, from my perspective when it's like I'm safe from harm) thing though. Of all people.

Four if you count Bray. I know I know, I feel your pain.

Yeah, good point too. What did Gunther even do to him that warranted this ? Although everybody was going gaga for Cody's first year as a babyface in AEW, and obviously he did great back then, my favorite Cody Rhodes is the Cody & Brandi kinda Macho King & Queen Sheri act I've seen them done in ROH and NJPW. That was the most fun Cody to me and really when he started to click, thanks in part to Brandi's terrific heel valet work. As far as WWE's audience turning on him. Not convinced because : Yep. Also, and I hate to be that guy (well, not really), but I'm not convinced that if Cody cuts the infamous "I resolved racism, USA is the greatest country in the world" promo in WWE, the crowd doesn't cheer him like crazy. Let's be real, the WWE audience (a loud part of it at least) chanted "Thank you Vince", ok ? I know I sound patronizing, but like LA Knight would say, it's just a fact of life. To me Cody is a heel at heart and there's something that reeks of duplicity in his game, complete with the teary eye and the never-ending references to his father (I don't care about psychoanalysis whatsoever, but for fuck's sake, move on). All in all, he's a perfect WWE corporate babyface. You know why ? Because it was not supposed to happen when it did. Because the segment has been changed at the last moment. Because Dwayne could not be bothered. Not watching week to week and seen as a one-off, I thought it was tremendous. Kinda long though, it could have been faster paced. But that's WWE style, everything has to be heavy-handed and underlined as all hell. That's the style. I won't ask them to not be what they are.