El-P

Damn, Gate of Agony are about as boring as Guerillas of Destiny (well, actually Tama & Tanga are much better at this point as babyfaces). The most "there" FTR match I've seen in a long time, maybe ever. I actually look forward to them vs the Ass Boys though. Gates of Agony belong in MLW or NWA or something. Willow needs to be signed if she's not already. She is only gonna get better, and she's already charismatic as hell. Future AEW champ, needs to be. Just build her character. This whole Jade Cargill streak has jumped the shark a while ago. I love the fact she's from the Randy Savage school of never wearing the same outfit twice, always loved that aspect of pro-wrestling presentation, but even though I'm a fan, I really want Jade to evolve past the Goldy formula. Also, Vickie Guerrero needs to get the fuck out of my TV already. Why is she still there, bringing nothing to the table and still doing that cringe mid-00's WWE shit ? I want to watch PAC wrestle every week until I die. This guy is just a wonder. His bump/sell of the DDT is one of the most beautiful thing ever. Battle of the Belt felt like a total B-show. NEED CHANGES.

The is amazingly ironic considering the godawfull bullshit Inoki booked during that time. The Good Brothers are smooth operators. They were in NJPW during a hot period, then they got in WWE and were part of Taker's last match ever. Even though they end up in IMPACT because they re-signed with WWE during a bad time (aka pandemic, meaning WWE had to fire a whole lot of people they just signed because they were in financial disarray, you see), they found their way into AEW during their hottest period ever thus far, they are in the picture during the infamous debut of both Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson. Now they're gonna be back in WWE during Triple H's honeymoon. These guys know their shit. Kevin Nash tier.

Mox working on a handshake before he re-signed says a lot about his character. Glad he's there for the long haul, he's been awesome this year. Having Renee is a really good thing for AEW if they use her to the most of her abilities. Both true professionals too, which is badly needed right now (plus I would guess Renee is pretty much universally loved, so that's a good vibe in the locker room).

You having a good week, bubba ? How's the Triple H honeymoon going ?

Isn't that Matt Riddle's audience ? Everything about Riddle triggers me, even before the rape accusations. I know he's a great worker, but damn, he's basically a synthesis of everything I loathe. The good thing about Wyatt's comeback is that at least people around here will finally leave Kross alone for a while.

Saw Bray Wyatt's return. Man, that shit was soooo fucking cursed. Good luck people.

Mia Yim vs Deonna Purrazzo from July 7. Yeah, I have missed IMPACT. Gotta kinda speedrun through three months and two specials to catch up to BfG while avoiding spoilers for a while.

I would guess the Bucks got a bunch of Elite trademarks (I mean, Being the Elite existed way before AEW), but everything All Elite is obviously the Khan's IP (yeah, I've been listening to Jarrett's podcast quite a bit lately).

So they release Nigel and put Booker T on the NXT announcing. *facepalm* SIGN HIM TONY ! (I mean, why the hell not, he's got a great ROH heritage)

Meltz mentioned he would advise them to not go longer than two years deal. And really, having guys under long-enough but not too long contracts would probably also tighten up the booking. When you have guys for two years, you better make the most out of it. When they are locked for 5 years, oh well...

Just saw this. I was *almost* ready to give NXT not3.0 a chance, but holy fuck I'm not waching anything with Booka on announcing. I'd rather have... Well you know who.

This. It's useless to keep people who don't want to be there, unless you basically job them to death on TV (which is not very classy). But delivering them on a plateau to WWE is not exactly smart either, considering WWE would never do it, and they are in a war. There should be a middle-ground that does not keep the workers locked where they don't want to be, without just handing out talent to the opposition. And yeah, the people starting trouble are the issues, the fact Sammy may be an abrasive douchebag is irrelevant. In the end, people like Mox or Starks are the one with the right attitude about it.

Sure, don't let reality in the way of a good anti-TK stance. In AEW, 3 years contracts actually are 3 years contracts, not 90 days contracts reconductible for 3 years that can be cut at any moments for no reasons. AEW guys work AAA, Impact, NJPW, various indies all over the world, and thats' including guys like Moxley doing shit in GCW that's barely conceivable for a top star of a mainstream company. But sure, it's *exactly* the same thing, ya see. The most hilarious thing is WWE stans actually talking about worker's rights and what the right thing to do is all of a sudden. Like, what ? If I'm Tony, I just let the guy work anywhere he wants to except WWE for the reminder of his contract. I mean, if punching a guy is your ticket to actually get what you want, that's a pretty shitty signal to send. But like I said, you're Triple H, do you really want a guy like Andrade, who's had issues in AEW and AAA ? Espeically when he has Santos Escobar under contract, who last time I checked was a better worker (arguable) and better promo (not even close), as a good character, and is also a super professional guy.

With the turtleneck he was in Emmanuel Marcon cosplay. Turtlenecks are the new thing because we gotta save energy this winter, you see. Show was mostly terrific. So there. Very good matches after very good matches. You can see the seeds for an MJF face turn because he's there already. Fun little detail that shows one very positive things about the company, Sky Blue acknowledging she needed work on charisma maybe (after she was criticized for not showing any afew weeks ago), while delivering a good punchlines to the heels. That's nice attention to detail. Women match was really good again. Athena is just ridiculous in term of what she's able to execute. Willow is getting over. Penelope has looked really good since her comeback. Jury's out on Saraya, if she works or not. Rush vs Hangman was as good as I expected. Fuck, Rush has totally overdelivered. I hope he doesn't want to follow Andrade's lead. Speaking of overdelivering, Wardlow vs Brian Cage was maybe Wardlow's most fun match. Cage can do so much, just put him back on TV every week already (and I mean Brian). Mox vs Hangman segment was excellent. Yeah, that last line was quite the message to some people in the back. National Scissoring Day was like one of the best feel-good moment in a long while (when did Bowens turned into that promo ? He was the worker of the two, but if he can cut promos like this now, sky is the limit). Main event totally delivering in forwarding the story, Garca and Sammy shined, what else do you want ? As far as Andrade goes, it's ridiculous. The guy physically attacks another worker so he can get fired and go to the opposition ? Sammy gets a lot of shit, but let's be real, even if he's an abrasive asshole, he did not physically attack Eddie Kingston nor Andrade. Because people love Kingston (hey, I do too) they don't see the big picture. Sure, he may be kind of a douchebag, but you also gotta recognize that him and Tay got shat on just because they got together and people got irrational and harrassed them on social media and that was the beginning of the Sammy hate. Nothing he actually did that was unprofessional or some shitty match/performance or unwarranted push. So now Guevarra is the guy to hate because... whatever, he's awful or something. Nah. Honestly, if I'm Paul, I'm not even sure I want Andrade back considering how shitty his attitude seems to be. Of course Charlotte is gonna push for it, but then you have a couple of divas and maybe it's not the best thing for your locker room, especially at a time where optimism rules.

I lasted about ten minutes in front of Tales from the Territories. I'm sure it's cool for Vice and mainstream audience and all, but I've heard the same kinda stories for about twenty years now, and the production I find unbearable with constant camera moves around a bunch of old dudes sitting around a table and non-stop distracting music. After using and abusing every KC shoot interviews, years of Cornette podcasts and such, there's no added value to me there. Not to mention Jerry Lawler looks like an IRL cursed deviantArt moving pic, and I have no desire to hear this guy talk about anything. EDIT : gave it another shot. Dutch tells a few good stories (shocking, I know). I would rather listen to extracts from his podcast on Youtube though. Some stories were downright lame (tiger balm rib, really ?). I understand it's a Vice show and not for hardcores, but even then, I don't see how it tells anything that interesting about the Memphis territory (Meltz actually had the most interesting point last week in that basically of all the territories, Memphis really is the one who predates what modern pro-wrestling is, more than any other). Maybe the Kaufman episode will be better with the focus on one topic.

Come on now. Garcia & Danielson vs Jericho & Sammy is a great main event that showcase both established stars and (excellent) younger guys that are pushed. MJF vs Yuta should be really fun and another good test for Yuta. Rush vs Hangman beating the fuck out of each other sounds terrific. The six-woman tag looks good. Darby vs Lethal will be at worst very good (Lethal is a perfect TV good to have really good matches with and can lose without a problem). The Scissoring Day can be fun and lead to an actual feud or be WWE-like cringe bullshit. Getting Brian Cage back on TV to do a job for Wardlow after being gone forever is more puzzling, but then again, I would rather have Brian Cage on my weekly TV than Wardlow. Luchasaurus squash is a fucking waste of time, like it's been since day one of this angle that apparently will never end. Overall, it's sad that on the three years anniversary there's no Omega nor Young Bucks, but honestly that show looks mostly really good and fun on paper.

Sammy gives me a Shawn Micheals circa 96 vibe. Immature douchebag, incredibly talented, heat magnet both in and out of the ring. AEW should sign Bandido and push him hard as the latino star they crave (I know they offered a contract, but he apparently has not signed, yet). And fuck, just do something more with Rey Fénix, he totally outshined Ricochet in LU as a single star. And have Penta also work his magic in singles and do some crazy-ass brawl with Swerve Strickland. And try Rush. They have the right people, they don't even need Andrade for that kind of cast.

Beware with the pimping, you know how I've been badly burned by comments like these before (2001 WCW is really good, 2011-2013 TNA is the best TNA) But yeah, I'm actually looking forward to getting in 2016 because I know there is some at least intriguing stuff then. The idea of the Dollhouse is kinda cool, but the execution was hokey as hell. Marti Bell is just... not very good, and Mia Yim was a total miscast in the role. Taryn on the other hand, that girl is an absolute forgotten gem. She had no right to be as good as she was, and she indeed was all in on every role she did and made the crazy sexy-doll character entertaining. I've seen a bit of her current NWA stuff and yeah, she's funny as fuck. I would LOVE to have her back in IMPACT today.

X-division champ Tigre Uno cutting a promo defending the people of Mexico after Trump's racist campaign was quite the nice and unexpected turn of event. Cool. X-division champ Tigre Uno challenging Trump to show up at the Impact Zone so he can show him the pride of Mexican culture was true wrestling carny shit. Oh... TNA... Serena Deeb showed up on the same show BTW in a rare TNA appearance (to work a mixed tag with Storm against Mickie James & Magnus the following week) Taryn Terell went from an awesome babyface to whatever the Dollhouse embarrassment was supposed to be. Then again, that girl gave it all and was entertaining anyway. And Gail Kim is a fucking ninja now apparently. Holy shit, Billy Corgan not buying TNA really saved the company in the long run, his booking is straight out of Russo's playbook, repetitive, over-gimmicky, swervy... The obsession with every babyface saying how the fans were the most important thing (Drew Gallaway kinda cringeworthy pandering promos) is a reminder that 2015 was really the year of WWE turning itself brutally against its own audience.

He's a smart guy. He's either coming back whenever his health allows it as the savior and be super over while being an IRL good guy and a professional , either gonna end up back in WWE getting a megastar reaction in a few years and as Trip & Shawn's boy, you know he's gonna be taken care of. Danhausen still gets big pop, but in term of what he actually does, he's been completely meh to me after the first few times. He's Santino Morella. Is Abadon still around ? She really came off like a third rate Su Yung / Rosemary to me, never saw the appeal (especially when her work was not good anyway). Pretty much. I would also work on the inner pace of the shows. Backstage segments feel super rushed usually. The fact they never replay any spots after the matches also gives the show a feel of everything being way too rushed and moving way too fast from stuff that just happened. I don't need a comeback to the Nitro style (although I loved it) but for fuck's sake when Toni Storm does a second rope piledriver to win, you need to show that shit 5 times in a row including in slow-mo during the post match and let the celebration breathe a bit.

Shawn Spears contract may have expired. The highlight of his AEW career was playing off Wardlow during the early MJF angle, he was really funny then (and really more interesting to watch than Wardlow). He was also really good as an early Dark announcer. It's not like he was ever a difference in the company, he was one of Cody's guy and he's having a kid with Cassie Lee. I wouldn't mind him in IMPACT, he could be fun in a small pond. In WWE he would be basically nothing again I guess. Super solid worker though.

Holy shit. And Whatever his name is The Assistant is siding with Andrade, I guess hoping he would get a job wherever Andrade ends up (I have no idea why, the guy has brought literally zilch to the act since day one). And whether it's legit or not (if they end up beating the everloving shit out of each other in the ring in the end, fine), it's time for TK to be a boss and stop all the nonsense going on in his company.

Yeah, Starks should be the next one to be heavily focused on. He's the total package.

Sammy's resume in AEW is nothing but terrific work. Andrade has been super hit and miss (including when he showed up in AAA). Sammy has been over as a heel, as a babyface and now super over as a heel alongside Tay (they really should push them to the moon too, they are just a perfect heel act). Andrade never got nearly the same reactions (granted not helped by booking either) and has been completely overshadowed by Rush in a span of a few weeks. And I like Andrade as a worker. But come on now, there's no comparison between the two in term of output in the last few years. Andrade's social media work is all about him not wanting to be in AEW. Not sure having guys like this in your locker room in the best thing. Not to say Sammy is not kind of a douchebag, but whatever case may be, he's making the most out of it as a character.

Such a wonderful atmosphere in the locker room. Coach TK should grant Andrade his release so him and Charlotte can piss off everybody over there too. Yep. Some have clearly not been the best addition to the team in the long run.