El-P

Omega & FTR already feels pretty big. I would not be surprised to see Best Friends in the undercard. As far as the challengers for FTR, looking at the World Tag League teams, I'd say either SANADA & Naito either Aussie Open.

KAIRI vs Tam Nakano at the Tokyo Dome. People unfamiliar ain't ready for the brillance that is Tam Nakano. Omega vs Ospreay at the Tokyo Dome ? A QUADRILLION STARS (deserved too) WK already feels like the WK of old on paper. Legit excited about it now with what's announced thus far.

I was wrong about two things and right about one. I was wrong about the cage match. Totally overdelivered. Apart from the fact they HAD TO get out the the cage because you HAVE TO (no), just an excellent match, I did not think heel Luchasaurus had it in him. Jack Perry is awesome. Was totally wrong on that one. Glad it took place. I was wrong on Jade vs Nyla, well, half wrong because I did say it could be a car crash. And it was. Also, is Thundercats actually a thing in 2022 ? Last time I checked, it was a shitty cartoon from when I was 9 years old. Did this get a reboot, a movie, a Netflix show ? Sometime, the geek culture really has gone way too far... Anyway. Doing cosplay is nice, but when this means you have to adjust your outfit every two seconds because you're afraid of something happening, not the best idea either. And I was right about Elite vs Death Triangle. This is so above pretty much everything anywhere. This is why we needed AEW. Best of 7 ? I'm so there. Felt like AEW again. Omega vs Ospreay at WK is legit one of the greatest dream matches ever too. Also, CM Punk did get a chant. The four way was great too. Terrific work, super well laid out, Sammy looked awesome like every pillar did on the show, I was half expecting him to win but I guess the right way is to have Jericho do the job at the actual ROH PPV where the match is the main event and means more. The three-way was pretty fun. Nothing earth-shattering. The idea of Wardlow going from this into the main event scene is super dubious to me (although of course, since MJF is the champ, maybe they he regain some of the heat he used to get). He is just not that over at all and although he does a few cool stuff, he did not even look like the bigger or most intimidating guy of the three, Hobbs did. Hopefully Joe getting the belt means some actual cool feuds and matches now. Saraya had not worked in 5 years, and she had to stop because of a career injury and was only cleared very recently. So considering the context, I think she did a good job, and Baker was super solid leading the match. I thought it was pretty good, but it tried to reach for something it could not be. Saraya beating Baker (aka the biggest star of their division) after 5 years off is problematic though. That's the only booking flub I see. Would have gone the other way, especially how rusty (not a knock, absolutely understandable) she looked. The Double J Special was fun in its dog & poney show clusterfuck glory. Made a good use of Singh, the very first time he wasn't a waste of space. But I hope it's done for Jarrett for now as an on-air talent, he can show up from time to time to do a novelty match. Also, a TNA chant. Holy hell. The Acclaimed vs Swerve & Lee was quite good, but by this time it was obvious the crowd was tired. Went too long probably. The angle was a repeat of the hammer deal with the Death Triangle, this time with the opposite result. Caster did improve in the last few months, while Bowens does not look as great as he used to (blame the injuries). The split was really well done and Lee should get a good babyface stint while Swerve is a terrific heel already. All good. Hayter vs Storm was great, despite the crowd being tired at times also. Kinda feel sad for Storm, who has suffered from crappy timing (Hayter should have gotten the belt from Rosa, Storm getting that "interim" belt while Hayter was getting over did her no favors), but they really had one of the best women matches in AEW thus far. Been a fan of Hayter pretty much from the start, I'm glad she finally got the belt, felt super over again. Mox vs MJF was a great match also, with Mox at the top of his game, working heelishly against that partisan crowd. I'm so glad there was no Firm bullshit at all involved. I can take the Regal swerve, as it was a possibility which at least leads to something cool. MJF also was as good as he ever was, really. Feels like finally a new start with something clear cut after months of Punk stop start. Oh, and of course, Akiyama vs Kingston. Eddie sure was something to see. That is when pro-wrestling is more real than real. Show was too long though. Totally peaked with the second match, then had the 4 way pick it up again. After that point, it was spotty in term of crowd heat. That's the thing with AEW, if you don't have great matches, crowd is not gonna sustain the excitement, and there were sure a string of not so great matches in this show, but also 5 excellent to great ones. Overall, quite the success. But one hour less would be appreciable (yeah, they have too much talent still).

Dressed like Vince used to, with that awful blue suit. I wonder if she calls Donald "his excellency" too...

Agreed. We've seen it countless times now. I wouldn't say that. She's a JTTS basically, and she's not doing *anything* that makes her fun to watch because they introduced her as some vanilla babyface real-backstage coach. She is not over and she hasn't looked very good in the ring either. Just a pity, she was so much fun in IMPACT and she has years of making the most out of not so great booking during Russo-era TNA. Just a complete waste because apparently no one knows what she's good at, and that is being a fun bitch heel with cool promo abilities. When I see people like Emma, Mia Yim and soon Chelsea Green going back to WWE coming off cool IMPACT runs, I really can't blame them, seems like a much better move now. That's another thing. Riho comes back, looks awesome of course and then we don't see her again and she isn't figured anywhere. They should find something for Shida, maybe turn her heel or something, the poor girl is getting crickets when she wrestles. Hate to be that guy, but they need two women matches during Dynamite every week if they want to seriously build a solid division, ratings notwithstanding. Working once every other week is not helping them at all.

PPV looking better already. Gotta say though, AR Fox getting a contract is nice. I have very fond memories of his LU stint (that match with Strickland, damn, those scars on Swerve's back, well...) and he looked terrific in the trios match.

Hint : it was founded by Jeff Jarrett. He had to instill some of his GOAT carny soul into it.

Because they are. I honestly don't even fathom the people who have been watching this for 20 years straight or more. I've been back watching some form of weekly TV (after basically quitting for 15 years) since about late 2014, so that's 8 years, and I kinda feel that exhaustion again. And it's not like I've been religiously watching the same promotion during those years. I was all about Lucha Underground, then quite a bit of NJPW, some big WWE shows mostly for the women wrestling which was so fresh and a period of NXT big shows, then got into weekly IMPACT since 2018, then AEW. I go through phases. Right now I'm clearly feeling a cool down period more and more. But I can't even imagine how people who have seen Randy fucking Orton for 20 years straight on their TV would give a damn, no matter how "refreshed" he can seem at time. I use him as an exemple, but really even people who have been there for like 6 years is an eternity.

Worst AEW go-home show leading to by far the lesser AEW PPV on paper in front of a god-awful crowd. This made the 2019-2021 AEW fan in me a bit sad, not gonna lie. So because they figured they had to affirm the Elite was gonna be at the PPV, they totally screwed up the cool build they did with useless reveal. Match should be awesome nonetheless, and the Elite has been VERY BADLY missed on TV. AEW without them just isn't the same, as demonstrated since they vanished. I like Ethan Page. He's a solid guy. But having him beat a newly signed Bandido is idiotic. This entire tournament is a waste of time. I don't wanna see any tournament ever until the Owen, and no tournament at all apart from the Owen during the entire year. Only Vince Russo booked as much tournaments. The final to crown who's doing the job to the next champ is a waste of PPV time and will probably die a painfull death. Speaking of waste of PPV time, I am sick and tired of that Jungle Boy vs Christian Cage & Luchasaurus stuff. And the last thing I want to watch is a single heel-Luchasaurus-in-a-cage match on PPV. And with all due respect, yes the Acclaimed are very over, and yes the first match totally overdelivered, but in a company which very seldom runs rematches, of all of the rematches we can have, we get a third Acclaimed vs Swerve/Lee ? While FTR are not on the PPV... Saraya is a total mystery at this point in term of what her work will look like. As long as she doesn't get hurt, I guess I'm happy with it. Jade vs Nyla could go both way. Either a cool little match with some cool spots, either a complete car wreck. I would probably bet on the former though, but who knows. I hope we get some new things for Jade, her beating everyone has jumped the shark a while ago. But not sure I'd want Nyla to beat her (although the character she displays now should do her lots of good with actual solid booking, and away from Vickie). The Firm bullshit has been diluting the Mox vs MJF program. Why the fuck is W. Morrissey on my TV involved in a main angle ? So they are gonna do some kinda swerve, uh ? I have honestly bad feelings about the booking of this match, despite some really terrific mic work from Mox & MJF. Some stuff I look forward though. The three-way hoss fight (with people who can actually do cool shit, unlike Braun or Tyrus, ya know), the ROH four way to some extent (although even I at this point wish we would move on now and get some fresh stuff from the BCC to do) and really, Hayter vs Storm and the trios match (which will completely steal the show, bank on it). The Sting/Jarrett tag match too for the novelty aspect and Double J having one of the most WTF year ever in pro-wrestling history. But overall, by far the least hyped (basically not hyped one bit, even dreading some stuff such as dead matches and stupid booking decisions) I've ever been since AEW started. Well, I get Kingston vs Akiyama this week-end, then probably won't be able to watch the PPV before Monday or so. Hopefully nothing completely ridiculous happens this time around and I get all behind some hyper-drama again.

Nah, he should get that Billy Corgan entire NWA champ star making presentation.

Austin vs Tyrus. That's obviously the one. Mainstream audience baby !

Bound for Glory ended up being one of the best and favorite show of the year to me, despite the very questionable Albany crowd (they kinda sucked at times). The 1-2 punch of Jordynne Grace vs Masha Slamovich and Josh Alexander vs Eddie Edwards great main events was incredible. And the undercard was plenty good, with Kazarian vs Mike Bailey as a terrific opener, MCMG vs the Kingdom also very good, fun enough stuff like the Death Dollz (Jessica is a pretty cool turnaround for Havoc, I feel this is the best character for her) vs VXT and the Call Your Shot Gauntlet (although I'm on the fence with Bully Ray coming back as a full fledge member, but thus far his stuff has been interesting enough character-wise). Mickie James vs Mia Yim was also quite good (I'll sure miss Yim). Overall, this has been a terrific year for IMPACT. Really enjoying what they do in term of out of the box stuff like the desert brawl between Eddie Edwards and PCO (yes, I still enjoy some cinematic stuff when done right), or the Killer Kelly stuff. Alan Angels ending up back in a cult (VBD) is kinda cool too.

"Yeah but it will not do anything for the ratings, who cares ?" Well, Eddie Kingston sure cares. Awesome for him, and really cool from Akiyama too. Fuck the ratings. More of this, as long as we can.

Braun now getting owned by Jeff Jarrett is the next best thing in this ungoing saga of him being a useless sack of shit getting owned by everybody on the planet. He should be NWA champ or something. Remember the story of him being humbled by Karen a few years ago too after he was acting like an asshole.

The latest developments in the NWA are some of the most hilariously stupid shit in a while. Corgan ranting about "8 stars Dave Meltzer's kinda matches" and wanting to "appeal to the mainstream audience" while drawing jackshit and getting FOX News sex pest/mascot the title, while saying there are not enough talented women who can work the "NWA style". Holy fuck, they did not realize it at the time, but IMPACT has dodged a HUGE bullet back in 2016. Infinite sadness indeed.

Odds of this happening : 0% Probably still enjoying her life with Andrade. Don't worry, she'll be around to win the Rumble.

The history of sports is absolutely fascinating on that matter. Visiting the museum of nazi history in Berlin a few years back, there was an exposition about sports under the nazi regime, and it's amazing how the representation of athletes then has influenced the entire way sports are presented by the entertainment industry. And really, Pierre de Coubertin loved those 1936 games. In a way, and as a mostly non-sport fan, pro-wrestling is kinda the "ideal" version of sports for a society of entertainment, because it's (almost) honest about what it is. Probably both, considering the polarization of the world thanks (no) to social medias. I can't wait to see the new IWC Twitter game under Elon Musk (NOPE).

And so WWE confirmed this event was their most viewed Saudi show. Like I said, normalization and gobbling up propaganda. Should we call that pro-wrestlingwashing or sports-entertainmentwashing now ? I dunno. Quite the business model.

Indeed. Also, you gotta love hypothetical whataboutism. The ultimate piss-poor non-argument.

This. So, Paul is actually doing Wargames at SS. Since this is topical, with the NWA talk and all (plus the sportswashing) I wonder if they will do a women only PPV again. It's not like it matters one bit now in term of how much people watch it or not, it costs them nothing to actually do it. It's been 4 years now. Both NWA and IMPACT have done it last year. It's not like WWE doesn't have the talent.

All things considered, I'm glad I was able to enjoy her work in IMPACT where she got featured in the best way possible for about 6 months, rather than her being lost in the shuffle and vanishing on Dark after losing to Jade like Athena did. Damn.

She was WWE bound pretty much as soon as her IMPACT stint was over (which was excellent, tons of fun to watch here there, and she talked about how that really revived her love for the game too). Triple H is bringing back as much of his NXT people as he can. Yeah, one year ago I would have said the same thing about Mia in AEW, and obviously I'd rather have her at a place I actually watch, but considering the overall booking, ya know... the "she would be used so much better in AEW" argument has kinda sailed. That's kinda sad actually. Speaking of IMPACT, and of course it's much easier to book when you have less people and are not in a ratings war, but the way the present their female talent is amazingly better than AEW. What they did with Mia is another exemple. Everyone has a very definite character, a definite spot, they use vignettes (and they do an awesome job at it, really great production with their budget), they do good backstage angles, give promo time, match time to everyone of them. But anyway. Good for Mia I guess.

Spotify and Netflix says hello. (not saying it's a good thing, but it's how things go these days) I have a X-Box. Used the Game Pass from time to time when there's that 1€ a month deal. (but I don't play enough to make good use of it, I have mostly played only bigger games that I have actually bought, at reduced prices though)

That's twisted relativism and pathetic tribalism at its best. "Hey, nobody cares about what you like, that's why they don't get the blood money, if they were successful they would get that opportunity and run with it." I pass on the idiotic "It's easy to be on the morally pure side", when I just mentioned Jericho's awful politics and he's one of AEW biggest star, imagine the weekly cognitive dissonance (him and others). Guess what, if AEW would do the same shit, I would quit watching it in a heartbeat. Speaking of which : Passing also on the ridiculous "random indie band" as an pro-wrestling equivalent of AEW (you realize they are the second biggest pro-wrestling company in the world, right ?), that does not constitute an excuse for Beyonce, Rihanna or WWE anyway. So : relativism, fanboyism and tribalism. Clap clap clap. You see, *that's* actually the easy stance. When basically used to just play the idiotic tribalist game of "What I like is more successful than what you like" like a 12 years old on Twitter, it's not just easy, it's downright embarrassing. All of that about a topic which has nothing to do with this btw, Braun being a giant douchebag.

Wait. Are you really gonna pull the "morality" card when Braun was just flexing about a match he did on a propaganda show for a criminal regime ? Really ? Sure, Jericho's politics are awful, but it what does it have to do with this ? Nothing, really. Considering his social media game, I'm not sure Braun's politics are very different btw, so, whatever on that front. And if you think he's not serious about "Giants > flippy guys", think again. That guy is a giant untalented douche and he deserves all the shit he gets.