El-P

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.

who just faced 28 other guys for 45 minutes, while Cody got the lucky number and came off fresh as a daisy when the other guy was already exhausted and bleeding from the back. I mean, I'm joking because obviously it was really good in execution, and the short "match" they had was excellent (Hopefully Gunther gets a huge match at Mania, he sure deserves it), but if you think about it kayfabe-wise, it's really Cody Rhodes, the "grandson of a plumber" (but really the son of one of the biggest star in the busines and a rich kid with a name) getting the obvious favoritism treatment for WWE babyfaces (I mean, Hogan always came out in the latest spots too), while Rhea Ripley had to work her ass like crazy to win the match. It absolutely fits with Cody's meta character, which really is a carny mofo, always full of shit behind his charming smile and crocodile tears (he has nothing on Jarrett though), which makes it actually really funny. Also, the "From dashing to Stardust to the road to WrestleMania main event" line totally cracked me up. Sure, he was Stardust, then vanished and came back as a big star for whatever reason.

He came in #30 and then had his ass beaten by a guy who was there since the beginning. Still won though. #Youdeserveit. Meanwhile, heel Rhea came in #1 and tangled with Liv who also came in #1 (or 2, but that's the same thing) at the end. Kayfabe wise, who REALLY earned a victory in the Rumble ? I still can't figure why they thought the sperm police light was a good idea for a "creepy" match. Really, is Uncle Howdy some kind of swinger's club owner now ?

I have not red the thread yet. So there. Well, WWE is such a losing proposition in term of pro-wrestling content overall. Sure, there was *this* angles at the end. But overall, this was by far the worst and most boring show I've seen in forever. It kinda reminds me how spoiled I actually am with what I'm getting on a weekly basis and with big shows from Japan and other matches here and there from Europe, indies of Mexico. But first, some positives. Like I said, I haven't watched a WWE show since last year's Rumble. It seems, maybe it's just me being in a good mood, that the direction is quite a bit less epileptic than it was before. Also, the announcing is better, with less idiotic WWE tropes (also way too much still). Speaking of which, it's the first time I heard Pat McAfee. Meltz referred to him after Don West's passing, and I totally see the comparison. He's so fun and refreshing, making some boring stuff watchable simply because he's engaging and funny and enthousiastic in a non-fake way. He also namedropped Musashimaru for no reason. Love me some McAfee for sure. Also, and I hate to be that guy, but I did enjoy the non-ramped entrance. Very much an old-school (there, I said it) feel, which also was refreshing as hell. I thought both Rumble worked in opposite ways. First part of the Men's Rumble I thought was fun enough, mostly carried by Gunther, Sheamus, Kofi (gotta love the "his feet is still on the chair" bullshit call which I thought was hilarious) and such. One thing about the Rumble, is that there's always this moment with the very first person that is gonna get no reaction whatsoever and you feel kinda bad for them. Poor Karrion Kross really. The silence was crushing, despite the push, the production, Scarlett (why wasn't she in the Rumble ???? They just won't let her do anything, what a waste). Totally peaked with Lesnar entering, then Lashley ejecting his ass. From there, I thought the match really kinda died until Edge showed up, then died again. I could not believe Cody would actually enter N°30. Think about this, the babyface won after entering last and eliminating the heel who lasted the entire thing. Talk about ass-backward booking in term of what it says about Cody. Also, despite the ending stretch being excellent, there was no doubt whatsoever in the result. I mean, come on. Also, we talked about how really the only interesting and fun thing in the Rumble was the surprises and returns, well we ain't got none for ya. Except Booker T aka the stupidest guy in the pro-wrestling landscape this side of Disco Inferno, who really is neither a surprise nor a return when he's announcing NXT. He looked like shit too. Also, let the whole "people are interested in giants" discussion die already. Omos got crickets. Braun kinda got the crowd excited for him to thrown his useless ass out for ten seconds, then silence was back on. And finally, his Austin Theory really slotted to be the future chosen one ? Because he's fucking mid as they come here. The one thing finally, is that Cody did not get that giant pop I expected. Not nearly as big as Lesnar, Edge or Rollins (or Becky and Asuka). Sure, he did get a big pop, but I expected much bigger. More on that later. Women's Rumble was the opposite in that apart fro Rhea and Liv starting out, it was dead and boring for the whole 2/3 and really only picked up when Becky showed up. So many not over people. Dana Brooke still looks like a rookie who has one year of experience. Roxanne Perez on the other hand, killed it. Raquel came off like a future star possibly. Hey, that's Chelsea Green. Hopefully she gets paid way more than in IMPACT, because she sure was slotted as a complete joke already. Way to re-debut someone. Between her and Emma, well, those "return to my dream job, I have so much to accomplish" wishes just won't go nowhere fast. Think about this, Mickie James last, year, as IMPACT champion, was treated much better than those two were this year. And speaking of surprises and me dreading people I really care about showing up, I actually thought she could show up and holy fuck was I maniacally laughing when Nia Jax popped up. And it took her a minute or two to display her amazing ineptess, totally blowing up the most basic monster highspot in the world, that dumb fuck can't even take a fucking bodyslam right ! Still as shitty as ever. I'm so glad she won't show up anywhere I care about. Watch out for concussions girls though. And THAT was the big surprise return ? I can't think of any worse, really. What was good though was the ending stretch, as unlike the men's Rumble there actually was some doubts (well, some, not a lot) with a strong three ways of Asuka, Rhea and Liv. Michelle McCool going from the audience to the ring was kinda cool, although really, MAGATaker's wife, yuck. She's there every year now, not really a shocking or surprising thing either. Piper Niven getting back her identity was very cool. Finally she may have a decent run now. Says a lot about that someone who is not watching the week-to-week product was able to guess both winners, without much doubts at all. The mid-card was..... BAD. Seriously, I felt bad for BeLair. Is that the same girl I watched killing it with Sasha Banks in a Mania main event a few years back ? She got crickets, the match wasn't very good at all, it was just there and basically a backdrop for a second LORE bullshit angle that really wasn't anything more than what you'd expect on a weekly TV show. And OMG the Bray stuff was WrestleCrap gaLORE indeed. First, I find it hilarious that we were supposed to find scary a match that had SPONSORED BY MOUNTAIN DREW placated al over it. Kinda ruins the atmosphere. But it's not like the atmosphere was anything eerie either. I mean, the whole fluorescent light shit was hilarious because it has nothing evil or creepy about it. At all. It rather had the feeling of being in a nightclub in Dubaï with crypto-bros and shit-ass influencers (hey, Logan Paul was on the show, fuck him) with escort girls on their arms drinking flashy cocktails and listening to crappy EDM. Plus, the match was a totally random and dull WWE style garbage match, there as fuck. The post match was nothing short of Black Scorpion tier in term of amazingly dumb "scary movie" bullshit, complete with a hobo doing his worst Jeff Hardy cosplay while Bray "I swear I'm not doing the Fiend now, it's a completely different and deep character despite me wearing a mask and no-selling weapon shots" Wyatt was looking on firecrakers go off (and thankfully nothing caught fire this time). How in the hell anyone can defend this shit ? This is cinema ! Sure, maybe. Like, really really really shitty cinema that only used to be released on third rate straight-to-DVD editions. The main event was what it was. Again, good, solid if you will, but honestly very unspectacular (apart from Kevin Owens doing his best "Darby Allin wants to break his neck on the stairs" spots) and unefficient work considering the match was just a backdrop for the post match and the issue was never ever in doubt. It's hard to build a match around throwing bombs and doing nearfalls galore when there's 0% chance any of them will actually led to a finish. The post match angle however, and really this was all about this, was AWESOME. And I say this as someone who again, don't watch the product apart from clips here and there, so I'm totally not invested in this. And still, I popped like crazy when Sami finally hit Roman with a chair. Just wonderfully done from everyone here. Finally got them some "Fuck Roman" chants (I mean, really, these people are complete trash apart from Jay). After seeing this, is there any doubt that OBVIOUSLY Sami Zayn is the one who should beat Roman Reigns in the end ? They are not giving this to Cody, right ? First, Sami is much more over as displayed tonight, plus really, this is the best angle they did in like at least 10 years, the build is awesome, Sami is over as fuck all. There's only one right conclusion to this, Sami beating Roman for the titles. Cody can win later. If they don't run with Sami NOW, then they still don't get it.

I finally took the time to watch this. The hype is deserved. Rocky Romero is one of those under the radar great worker who have been great for like 15 years now. I don't think I had seen him in Arena Mexico before, but damn this audience hated him. Awesome match, easy MOTYC level stuff, and that HEAT was just something else. Only in Mexico can you get that kinda heat anymore, and it's not like it was a full house either. Great, great pro-wrestling.

It was absolutely about the Rock. Of course it was. It's well documented. Of course. But the destination was always supposed to be the Rock match at Mania. Which Roman would have won. That being said, Roman is still nowhere close to what Cena was/ still is. He's not a mover like Cena. So, was it worth it to make your entire roster useless for two years straight ? If you ask me, the answer is still no. If I was a WWE follower, I would be so damn tired of Roman Reigns on top by now, great Bloodline storyline notwithstanding.

I believe the first time I saw Emi Sakura, then Motokawa, it was on an FMW tape, most probably facing Kaori Nakayama since they were basically the entire FMW women division at this point (this was after the retirement of Kudo). 24 years later (gasp), she's out there in AEW at 46 years old having one of the best matches of the division thus far against Jaimie Hayter. Crazy how some things turn out.

I mean, it's time he put someone, anyone over. They have sacrificed their entire roster to him for more than two years straight for a match that is not going to happen. I highly doubt Roman Reigns is putting two people in a row though.

I dunno. As an outside observer, my first instinct is that Sami Zayn should be the one at this point (would certainly not have said that 6 months ago). What's that compelling about Cody's rise ? He was in AEW, he came back so now he's a big star, he worked with a torn pec, now he beats Roman Reigns. Yipeedoo. I don't think he's getting the mixed reactions either. But the rise of Sami Zayn has kinda changed the overall dynamics. A few years ago I went through all the RR matches with the idea of making a project about it. Then I wrote zero. I do seem to remember that too now that you mention it. Fuck, another genius idea from the savior of pro-wrestling I guess.

The other thing that would blow for Cody, is that because the Bloodline storyline is so damn over and Sami Zayn is so damn loved, he would end up receiving the same mixed reaction he did at the end in AEW because the audience wants Sami more than him. Oh, the ultimate irony. Odds of him crying when pointing at sign ? I also wonder what the revisionist history will be for Cody in a few years. Because he's basically Kevin Nash going back to WCW in 96 as a made star after leaving as Vinny Vegas. And they won't have that.

Well, not quite, but still. It's been 30 years since Yoko first won a Royal Rumble whose price was facing the champ at Mania. Since then, it has become basically the #2 PPV of the year and a tradition of pointing at signs. What's interesting is that we as wrestling fans take so many things for granted as "making sense". Not just irish-whips, limb-selling and such, but also the fact the Royal Rumble is the pathway to main event the biggest show of the year as a challenger for the biggest title in pro-wrestling (fuck, Vince is back) sports-entertainment. But when you take one or two step back and think about it for more than 5 seconds, it appears this is actually quite ridiculous. Take NJPW for instance. They have made a similar stipulation with the G1 in the last decade. So basically, to main event the biggest show of the year and challenge for the biggest title, you have to participate in a grueling one-month round robin tournament that includes basically the biggest stars and best wrestler in the promotion (and often the world, really, for the later), you have to win your block and face the winner of the other block and win. That's fucking A cred. Meanwhile, in WWE, there is two requisite that gives you the equivalent status and right : the ability to not get thrown over the top rope (and have *both* your feet touch the floor, because I guess one foot on the floor means you haven't touched the floor or something, which is way odd); be lucky. I mean, let's get real. The stats tells us that almost 60% of the winners have entered between 20 and 30. So basically, luck is the biggest factor. Which in a way, is actually totally realistic. But still, in term of kayfabe, the person who main event Mania basically is mostly lucky and their biggest actual pro-wrestling ability warranted is staying inside the ring. Mind explodes. It's utterly ridiculous, and it's a trope that has spread onto every other american promotion, sadly. Of course that comes from the fact that the Royal Rumble, at the start, had nothing to do with actually main eventing Mania. It was just a special attraction, like every Battle Royal were. And most of these special attractions, in WWE territory at the very least, was mostly a showcase for the freakishly big guys aka Andre. Hence the idea that big guys are the most dangerous in these type of match when in fact, they actually never win it. If you think about Yoko-like monsters, who else ever won the Royal Rumble to go to Mania ? Well, I can give you Lesnar, although a different type of monster in a different era, who won twice, Taker I will concede although he's really not the same kinda monster either.... and that's it (yeah, Braun winning the Blood Money Rumble doesn't count). And really, the entire thing is build on idiotic tropes. Not only the "abilities" in questions, but also the fact actual monster never win despite always being represented as big menaces, the fact you can walk on the barricade and not be eliminated because you have not touched the floor (which is totally the equivalent of a child game where you can't touch the floor because it's lava or something, but as long as you're jumping from chair to your bed, you're ok), the fact there's stereotyped roles that are now part of the pretty aimless "now it's your turn to do it" booking (the Diesel role, the Flair role, the Bushwhacker Luke role) and so on... And since all leads to the Mania main event, the fact that oh well, pretty much only 2 or 3 people out of 30 can really win it, making the whole thing easily either super boring or rather entertaining in a very contrived, overly scripted way. And then of course, pointing at sign. Which hopefully won't catch fire this year. All of this to say that really, everything is on rails, and the only thing that can make a Rumble really interesting are the surprises, either cool because actually surprising (aka not the same old same old "surprise" you see every three years) or because totally unexpected debuts (AJ style) or returns (Cena). This year, the only surprise that would do it would be some name from AEW (I don't see who, honestly) or, of course, The Rock working everybody in the media. That would blow the roof off (and would also blow for Cody). Anywoo. The Rumble was the only WWE show I watched last year, and neither Rumble were good, the men's was a complete bore and the women's only was fun because of figuring who they would bring back (and Mickie James showing up as IMPACT champion). Well, the same this year on paper, really. I'm guessing whoever they bring as a surprise from the Diva eras haven't signed an NDA. I wouldn't be surprised to see Lana, honestly, considering how much she kissed their ass lately. So there. My former favorite PPV of the year (until 1999, which killed the WWF fan in me, and for that I'm forever grateful considering the turn everything took in the long run). Roman Reigns vs Kevin Owens (probably the highlight of the show, unless Rock's shows up) Bianca BelAir vs Alexa Bliss Hopefully Bliss vomits some fluorescent goo and goes straight to LORELAND. Bray Wyatt vs L.A Knight Bullshit LORE for dummies ? YEAH Men's Royal Rumble Either Cody wins, either The Rock shows up and proves that there is, after all, only one pro-wrestling royal family Women's Royal Rumble Ronda Rousey won last year's Rumble. Seems like something from before the pandemic right now

42 and looking not a day under 50. As far as the Rumble goes, well of course Cody wins. Anything else would be ridiculous, unless it's Sami. Which won't happen. The women's Rumble, well, who cares ? They obviously don't. Rhea sounds like a sure bet. I mean, who the fuck else at this point ? I fully expect Matt Cardona & Chelsea Green to be "surprise" entrants. I enjoyed Green in IMPACT as a heel. I fully expect her to end up like Emma (whom I also enjoyed in IMPACT as a heel) aka "totally lost in the shuffle after one week". Hopefully there aren't too many of them that I really care about.

Timothy Tatcher vs Bryan Danielson. HOLY FUCK. AEW remains the gift that keeps on giving. Big time lump in my throat during the post-match. This was really heart-warming though.

We'll see. I've heard the same thing about Damian Sandow (which, ironically enough, I just saw debuted in my TNA watch in 2016 in a very much lolTNA moment, as he cut a typical "shoot" interview and was presented as a main-event level guy), and considering what I've seen him do out of the WWE system, well, nope. He was right where he should have been. Damn. The fake Russian accent and all. "Different times" I guess...

This. He's the epitome of mid 00's style WWE comedy. Aka "don't enter the room while I'm watching this, please". Yeah... ya know, I tried to avoid the subject in the IMPACT thread, because as much as I really enjoy the promotion, this one did not make me happy at all (not to mention his first appearance was a miss in term of booking to me). D'Amore was so great in his role of babyface authority figure, which was realistic (because, well, he is) with just a little bit of dry sense of humor, the last thing I want in my IMPACT program is a WWE comedy product. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt (IMPACT has the knack for making things work), but I'm not thrilled about that one at.

Well, GOOD. Someone finally heard what time it was.

Well, at least a good news ! Much needed. That will probably also be positive for Mark's state of mind.

By the way, the Bellas did not come to the show because they were kinda pissed apparently. Brie is also retweeting Mandy Rose's latest special offer or something. That's quite unexpected from whom you'd perceived as more or less lifers (whether in the company or not). Case in point, they really did not bring out any women at all (well, expect the Bella's, who ended up not showing up). Food for thought in term of who you want to sell to or just your usual pettiness ? I dunno...

Well, if anything he could still show up at Mania to announce the attendance number then.

Cody wins the Rumble. Sami wins Elimination Chamber in Montreal (he has to, since Kevin Owens is doing the J.O.B at the Rumble, and not getting a huge win for the local crowd would be ridiculous when they have two Montreal boys at the top of the booking sheets). Then what you said. And Cody "former EVP from AEW" Rhodes can slither his way into crying after winning the biggest match at the biggest Mania ever, because Dwayne can't be bothered anymore. What a life !

Well, it says that the guy knows nothing about pro-wrestling, for one. But it also says something about how pro-wrestling fans are perceived, for sure. And you know, it's not exactly completely undeserved either, let's be real. The fact it's already a complete flop is kinda comforting though.

Nothing screams "Royal Rumble match actually don't matter" more than the fact we're 4 days before the show and only 7 women have been announced. Hard to not give less of a fuck in term of booking. As far as nostalgia goes, I think the question that should be asked is what does that kind of nostalgia even means. Racism and sexual assault notwithstanding, do people really are happy to see old guys standing there looking old while they are reminded or remind themselves of the "good ol' days" when "wrestling was good" and had "real stars" ? I mean, if that's your thing, then why don't you just watch some prime Flair, Hogan, Taker stuff. Is there a kind of schadenfreude to remind yourself that you don't actually consider pro-wrestling good anymore and that the people from 25, 30, 40 years ago are always be better in your mind ? Ins't this a little morbid to begin with ? If I'm a huge Roman Reign fan, I really don't care to be reminded that, hey, actually, John Cena is a much bigger star and he's going on the cover of the pro-wrestling game. If I'm a Sami Zayn fan, I really don't want to have old guys telling it's time to suck it like boomers edgelords on Facebook. And of course, you have the elephant in the room. Hulk "I guess we're all a bit racist" Hogan being celebrated. Ric Flair showing up at the same time Vince McMahon is taking back control of his company while paying ridiculous amount of money to women he absolutely did not sexually assault. Lawler's case is so old that most people don't even think about it anymore, since back then it was still the "groupies will be groupies" mentality, but if that happened during the #speakingout movement, I doubt he would be allowed on TV (then again, here goes Matt Riddle). And Taker, oh well, he apparently came on his bike, full on MAGA style, at least he's owning up his shitty views on life considering it was even part of his promo. So yeah. What's the point ? What's the message being sent ? What's the fun in this, expect blind validation of awful people from the past who also happened to be huge stars and great workers ? In 2023 ? Really ? (looking at the state of the world) Oh, of course. Obviously. Meanhwile, Mark Briscoe, who has not done anything wrong, won't be allowed on TV by WBD.

...... WBD really comes off sleazy and hypocritical as fuck, ESPECIALLY while at the same they have fucking Dana "I slapped my wife in public in front of cameras" White promote SLAPfighting (which in itself is sleazy as hell anyway).

Although this is not NJ, I'm gonna post this here. The Great Muta retirement match was everything you possibly wanted from a Great Muta retirement match in 2023. SO much improbably great elements, like Sting being a part of it (they played his old theme too, with stills of his matches with Muta), the fact Hakushi came to the 1995 WWF Hakushi music theme, Darby Allin getting over in Japan because of course he can, AKIRA doing an amazing 56 years old superfly splash, Hakushi being a ghost (he's been killled by Taker in 97 in a match announced by Sunny at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, gotta love pro-wrestling facts) and looking *exactly* like he did 25 years ago, Hakushi trying to one-up Darby in term of taking a death bump, Hakushi drinking his own blood, an exchange between Marufuji and Darby (a match between those two would be so awesome), the fact they brought Great Kabuki who did the nunchakus trick (despite really looking like a legit zombie now, aging sucks), Muta doing calligraphy with Hakushi's blood... In term of maximizing what everyone could do, and that's including in term of character presentation, you can't ask for more in a match were the second youngest guy was a frisky 42 years old youngster, as Gorilla Monsoon would say. Yeah, there was one blown spot toward the end, but after all it humanized the one character that did it, and he did pay for it quickly enough. I'm still stocked to having seen the Great Muta retire against Hakushi, another of my all-time favorites, teaming with Darby Allin, a current absolute favorite of mine. I am so lucky. Also, and it was very apparent already at the January 1st show, NOAH's production values are ridiculously great. The undercard also has a terrific Timothy Thatcher vs Mochizuki match, and also a women tag team match that was the very first on a NOAH card. Considering they'll do that again at the Tokyo Dome (Maki Itoh at the Tokyo Dome !), it's quite interesting to see if that will end up being a more regular feature on NOAH shows. They also had way more time to showcase their stuff than KAIRI and Tam Nakano had at WK. Well, bye bye to the Great Muta, legit one of the greatest character in pro-wrestling history. The career of this guy is absolutely fascinating when you stop and think about it. Now, one last stop and Naito's plate is something else, considering in what shape Muto is right now (he really looked banged up as hell after this match, despite doing really not that much at all).