El-P

Totally forgot about that one ! But again though, I don't see how this relates to the Miz at all. Just kinda cheap heat like he insults the city he's in, really. BTW damn, I wish you are right on that one too.

I dunno. I don't even get the anti-Japan or anti-indies stuff. What does that even means ? MJF comes from the indies. He doesn't come from a TV reality show or a corporate developmental program. If by "Japan" or "indies", that means "lol movez" and is strictly a "stylistic disagreement" (which infact it is not, since it would be an idiotic generalization anyway), then it's something that only WWE drones and the likes of Corny audience says. I don't get how this relates to MJF at all, honestly. It's not like he's working like a cosplay of guys from the 80's/90's either. The fact he doesn't do a thousand dives doesn't make him less of a very contemporary worker. Not that Miz is doing it either though. Miz just work like a shitty mid 00's WWE dullard.

They actually have too many hoss right now. W. Morrissey is so not needed for what he can bring to the table (which is better that what he ever could, but really now, when I saw him chokeslam poor Jungle Boy on the apron, I was thinking hell, poor Jungle Boy is running in circles now, hopefully he doesn't get settled with a Luchasaurus Minus). Complaining about your push on social media has done no favor to anyone in AEW before. Brian Cage literally vanished after his wife made that tweet about how he was underutilized. There is so much that could be done with Miro, but I'm fearing this is one guy who will end up Andrading himself eventually. Hopefully not.

Thanks for the clarification. Seems like fair criticism.

MJF is a pure product of the indies though. One of the funny point of him saying he was gonna send Starks back in Corgan's NWA and wrestle on Youtube, is that himself was wrestling in Court Bauer's MLW on Youtube not too long before still (maybe even at the same time during his last MLW days where he was on both shows for a short while). First time I saw him was on one of Janela's promoted show, and he never came off like he was working some "anti-smark/indies" gimmick.

Would you mind clarifying this bit ? Being unfamiliar with the issues at hand that you seem to point out, and having a "distant" only knowledge of lucha libre (but also some opinions about the way it's been handled in term of prescription in the last 20 years), I would be interested in what you precisely mean by that.

I expected a great TV match. I did not expect *that* kind of match (thanks for not spoiling any of it btw). Easy MOTYC. These two are just two of the best workers anywhere in the world today. Both had an incredible year and this capped off in a very classic way. The more I watch Bailey, the more I'm convinced he is one of those rare pro-wrestling "genius" (I don't like the term, which is also overused, but there you go). Alexander is one awesome worker too. Just wonderful pro-wrestling, that will go unnoticed because it happened in IMPACT, but it's not exactly a rare thing nowadays. On a totally different topic, I enjoy the fact Deaner is taking a totally different approach with the cult gimmick, while keeping it in line with what EY did. He totally looks like a creepy guy on Youtube trying to convince people that he can heal cancer with vegetable juices.

Mind blown.

I never understood the Miz comparison with MJF. Like, at all. On any level whatsoever. They are nothing alike, in any way shape or form. On the other hand, as I'm still going through my TNA watch, it's obvious that MJF is basically the best ECIII ever. There's a LOT of similarities. And really I find ECIII to be a fascinating case of "what if", especially now that I've reached his babyface turn in 2016 and see that he was just as efficient in this role. It's easy to make fun of him now because of the CYN stuff, but really, ECIII at his peak in TNA is a fascinating study because you see him as a guy you could/should have been a HUGE star in WWE, as he had *everything* they wanted at one point. MJF doesn't have the same kinda body, although he really worked on it, and he is an even better promo (and really, ECIII was a great promo guy, legit great, at least in TNA), but he's a better in-ring worker. Not to say ECIII wasn't good, as he was quite decent and worked quite hard too. But anyway, to me the ECIII (again, in TNA) and MJF comparison make a whole lot of sense.

I was glad to have Regal in AEW, even for a short time.

And that he could work with anyone from any style. Put him against Arn, Rey Jr., Ultimo, Finlay, Davey Boy, Goldberg, Benoit, he's gonna deliver every time. That's not always true when someone feels he has to force his style (whatever it is, but technical makes it harder for obvious reasons) onto the match and his opponent. Regal was one of those, "No matter who he faces, it's gonna be worth watching" workers. And there are not that many of them (although now more than ever before probably, for different reasons).

By definition, they are. There is a whole thing about why smaller guys *had to* be more technical too, but that's for another day. Josh Barnett is a quite okay shoot-style pro-wrestler. Never struck me as a technical wizard though. I'm searching for bigger guys who were doing a lot of technical shit now... The fact most British wrestlers were smaller guys doesn't help me thinking.

Yeah I know. But that makes her a tricky character to use. Obviously like I said before, as long as she's healthy and doesn't paralyse herself, it's all good. Let's not be stupid about working pro-wrestling matches.

ZSJ has been a heavyweight in NJPW for ever. There was no weight distinction in shoot-style. And Yoshida was not competing in "junior" divisions either, whatever they were in women's wrestling at the time. And really I don't see how the weight class is a factor at all. The thing is, "technical wrestler" has often been a gimmick in itself. And don't get me wrong, I thought Regal was terrific at it. The best, nope, but obviously excellent. But some people that were called "technical wrestlers" in US wrestling were basically guys working limbs and shit.

ZSJ is not just "flashy" (plus his "flashiness" is part of his character of being a douchebag to his opponents) . He's absolutely a master of transitions too. He can also be comedic, dramatic, epic, whatever you want, he's done it, his body of work is just incredible. People just take him for granted at this point. And I'm willing to bet that the first guy who would tell you that ZSJ is a much better technical pro-wrestler and a better worker is Regal himself. Fun fact, Will Ospreay is actually terrific at the style too. His match with ZSJ this year was a clinic.

ZSJ has no challengers. Not even close. Him, Tamura and Mariko Yoshida are (were) poetry in motion.

The Saraya interview struck me most in term of how she basically ain't wrestling for an entire month now. Not sure about that one. Her tag partner, well, maybe Kris Statlander ? She was on such a roll when she got injured again.

The Dutch Mantell episode is worth it for the dutchisms only. Conrad had one of the worst take possible at the end of the episode though, when talking about the differences of mindset between Mantell and D'Amore, mentioning how D'Amore enjoyed more steak and less sizzle (while Mantell did not mind Memphis like bullshit) and giving the exemple of not doing stuff like Mickie James being murdered by being thrown under a train. Which happened when Mantell wasn't there anyway. And when it wasn't actually a murder. And while Eric Young just was murdered *last week* on IMPACT, as booked by D'Amore. Also, at one point, while defending Mantell as not being any kind of yes-man, there's a funny moment where Jarrett launched himself into the argument of Prichard not being a yes-man and after two or three sentences you can almost HEAR the lightbulb in his brain as his basically switching off the topic, as he just realized what he was saying wasn't making sense AT ALL. It all was invalidated anyway later when there was this quote from Jerry Jarrett to Dutch, as he told him pretty early in his stint that he could either "be right, or keep your job". The TNA stuff is still endlessly fascinating to me.

Because he does take in account some personal situations like Regal's, that doesn't mean he just gonna release everybody because they want to work for the opposition if a family member works there. I mean, come on now, let's be serious.

Awesome show, period. Ricky Starks hanging on with MFJ (the best promo in the business in at least the last 20 years) on the mic. Joe vs Darby, holy hell. Yuta & Garcia foreshadowing possibly a terrific match. Red Velvet coming back and looking like she has not missed a beat. That mofo of a main event. CLEAN too. Gotta give it up to Caster, who has step up big time in the last 6 months. And Cash Wheeler was in "ok, everybody is talking about Dax all the time, enough now" mood. The post-match promo by the Ass Boys was AEW at its best fake-teasing something to deliver something better. The Briscoes case is really unique... That match is the unexpected gift of the end of the year. As far as the Acclaimed go, I guess they wipe Lethal/Jarrett on TV and move on to the next challengers. Ride the wave of the scissors. Kudos for trying to correct the trajectory of the Regal angle, I thought they did a decent job trying to tie the loose ends here, all things considered. Gotta give it to TK for that one and actually being a class act to Regal too. Also, the fact he did acknowledge there will be less ROH presence on AEW after this week means that either ROH gets some TV deal, either he just listens. Hopefully both. Mox talking about how the BCC are gonna be done with the JAS also strikes me as a sign of listening. I must say I have no idea why anyone would think Mercedes Varnado would end up in AEW at this point, I fully except her showing up back at the Rumble. That would be a coup for TK for sure though, but then again, we've been there before, and it did not turn out that well. So, either way I'm fine with it.

This is probably why Joey Janela is better off on the indies. To be able to do stuff like this. (or maybe I wanted AEW to be more of this and less of "Wardlow's World" and Bow Wow angles...)

Yeah, the Dynasty stuff was one reason I enjoyed MLW back then. I actually thought he would be a guy AEW would try to get as soon as possible. Very sad news, it really sucks, so young too. Hopefully he will get better. Joe Doering too (battling brain cancer for the second time).

I kinda agree with both dynamics, although getting the belts was needed for the Acclaimed to put them to the next level. Do FTR need the belts more than the Acclaimed ? Yes. They are like Bret Hart. Their gimmick is that they are the best pro-wrestling tag-team at pro-wrestling. They aren't like the Bucks who can make any match must-see because they can go in a thousand different directions, from straight comedy to highspots orgy to classic southern tags, whether heel, babyface or just plain meta-stuff. To me their regular TV matches with some underneath tag-teams have been kinda lacking tbh (Gates of Agony, Butcher & Blade). They are awesome big tag-team titles match workers (their first Briscoe match is probably my MOTY from the top of my head), but when they are not working in a championship setting, they aren't coming off exactly the same. The issue now is that yes, FTR would be better off with all the belts, but you don't want the Acclaimed to lose the belts already. That's too soon. The Acclaimed can be a NAO deal of lasting for only a little while, but who knows, they could end up being like the New Day also. I guess losing to FTR is not that big of a deal, but you don't want to cut their momentum off for no good reasons. Plus, there's what Dax said in interview. If he really thinks about leaving in April, why push the hell out of FTR now, with the risk of losing them anyway in 6 months ? That's tricky, especially in the current context of having put Regal in the middle of the biggest angle in the company only to have him leave in a matter of weeks.

Well, Kingdom actually would be a good choice and they would have a terrific match to boot probably. I want Kingdom on my weekly TV. I was thinking Ass Boys actually, and really this is a not ROH PPV match at all. Kingdom are identified as ROH talents at least. Worst case scenario.... gasp.... Gates of Agony. Which probably won't happen as FTR already defeated these dull ass clowns on the C-show.

Yeah, that's a puzzling piece of booking for sure. AAA probably don't give a flying fuck though. And really now, who are FTR facing at the ROH PPV for the ROH titles. Don't tell me "No one", ok ? FTR kinda got screwed by the Acclaimed getting over huge at the same time they collected belts. If the Acclaimed doesn't catch up like they did, they sure win the titles from Swerve/Lee (or the Hardies if Jeff doesn't fall off the wagon).