El-P

It went from the DX band, which was basically a cheap version of a great band (Rage Against the Machine), to using the real version of the shittiest band of its time. Totally fit Taker's American MAGAs character though.

This happened the following year. Interestingly enough and with the advantage of hindsight and not having to care about financial disarray and how the promotion was crumbling from within, the first half of 2014 was actually the most fun TNA has been since, well, let's say Hogan's first year, but this was perverse entertainment. So rather the last months of 2009. One reason being that they introduced a number of good characters. Yeah, the whole "new shares owner" storyline was a complete rehash of every TNA storyline ever and every heel authority figure WWE had overdone for 15 years, but MVP was such a great talker that he made it work. And I'm gonna say this, for all her faults, I thought Dixie actually was fun in this role. She overplayed her cringy PR self to great degrees, she got better as the weeks went. And the other thing is : ECIII and Rockstar Spud were terrific dance partners both with themselves, but with Dixie as well. Crazy to think WWE never pushed ECIII to the moon when they got him back, the guy is everything they want, good body, good promo, can work comedy and serious stuff and was probably better in the ring than in 2014. Magnus on the other hand, well let's say that's where he learned to do the "Heel champ" stuff he's developed with NWA on promos, but he was still very lacking in the ring. Once the title was off of him (and he quickly got demoted to midcard stuff with Bram), things got much better. Bobby Lashley coming back was quite a catch too, he gave another vibe and had improved since his last WWE stint. Basically him with MVP (and Kenny King) was the prototype to what they have done in WWE the last few years. I thought the Eric Young rise was done really well and it came off organically, from his storyline with Joseph Parks leading to the comeback of Abyss, which was well done and progressed logically, to how he ended up actually winning the title and then was piling legit victories over legit guys like Bobby Roode. And he was killing it in the ring. The tree-way cage match with Aries and Lashley at Slammiversary was excellent, with some terrific stuff from all three guys. Bully Ray coming back as a babyface and screwing Dixie also was a good, long-term storyline and made for a terrific match at Slammiversary with ECIII. Dixie was gonna get hers in the end, as she did in the cage match at Lockdown. That's another thing, for all the talk about Stephanie, she really only did the character for a few months, was involved in two major feuds after the departure of AJ & Sting (which really made real life issue into building her character) and lost at the end each time. And it helped build ECIII in the meantime, with big matches against Angle & Bully. The Samuel Shaw storyline with Chrissy Hemme was amazingly creepy and the guy was excellent in his role, as was Hemme, although typically that's kind of a one note gimmick that only gonna be used so much. Case in point, after he lost the final match to Mr. Anderson (who really is underrated as a trooper worker in TNA, the guy was pretty much decent in every role and always got over thanks to his mic skills), it turned into ridiculous vignettes involving Gunner, a guy who had probably a good feud with James Storm but fuck Gunner. That segment at Shaw's home with his mother, a redhead hot mom called... Chrissy, was something else though. I bet that was Borash. The Wolves were a very good addition in term of heavy workrate tag-team, much needed after TNA lost so many great workers, Samoa Joe was put back in the mix and was having some of his best work in years, the Bromans & DJZ were efficient in their roles, underrated talent and really annoying gimmicks. The X-Division got an interesting twist with SANADA as champ, which I had no idea even happened. They also did some really cool vignettes for him, talking with Muto (he was in Wrestle-1 then) about representing Japanese pro-wrestling, all in Japanese and subtitled, which was way ahead of its time (hell, it really still isn't done now). They also got a AAA luchador by Tigre Uno, got a bunch of matches together, that felt different and fresh. The multi-men ladder match at Slammiversary was pretty terrific. The comeback of Madison Rayne (as a face, which is always kinda odd) and the Beautiful People brought a different dynamic again, but way too much booking fuckery on that front. Gail Kim was still carrying that division on her back, now as a face again by the time Slammiversary came. Of course not everything was good. Willow was *awful* What a stupid idea from Jeff Hardy. Bram trying to turn Magnus into the "old self" was yawn inducing at best. I gotta say although I care for exactly none of the workers involved, the Menagerie was an interesting presentation, and Rebel was stealing the spotlight for very obvious reasons. Kinda fun to see her pre-AEW too. So yeah, not *that much* Russoesque stuff, although you can spot some of his ideas here and there, but he basically worked as an undercover consultant until the Summer when he was gone for good (and this is another switch soon with the Hammerstein tapings and the six-side ring coming back). It really feels like a different promotion already, of a much smaller scale, but more fun to watch because of it. Much easier and fun to watch than the two years of booking borefest under Prichard.

If he could still work, you know how this would end. Gotta says this though. If the product gets really much better really fast and they manage to make new stars in a short span, then it will reflects even worse on Vince retrospectively.

WM 42 will be all about Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins, Charlotte Flair and the new hot star Cody Rhodes. Probably. The who makes it and who doesn't from NXT2.0 will be pretty interesting though.

Yes, but again, it makes it look like WWE is the only destination of any worth. These people work in the pro-wrestling business, not the WWE-business. Sure, people might want to go to WWE now that Vince is gone because they believe they can get a better shot now. But how does that make AEW any less appealing ? There are two major pro-wrestling organizations on the field now, with two very distinct approaches. The idea that all of a sudden, every guy is gonna run back to WWE and the AEW audience will dwindle because they can't wait to watch WWE again is just, a totally WWE-centric thought process.

That Stardom in Showcase show was certainly different, and really I was thinking that's actually what I want to see sometime from pro-wrestling. They got a DJ (no, not DJ Ran and she wasn't all up in yo area either) to mix some music, every match had a special theme, some of it more serious like the hardcore match between Donna del Mondo and Prominence or the "I Quit" match between Syuri and Kurumi Hiragi (which has a really interesting finish, as Hiragi finally quit out of fear of being thrown off the stage, which I thought was quite a cool idea to play on fear instead of pain, Syuri did thrown her anyway afterward), some of it a lot less so. The Cosmic Angels match was a mix between comedy, burlesque and actual pro-wrestling, with interesting dynamics between the players (Mino, oh, Mina). And I thought I had seen one of the most absurd match ever before the four way falls count anywhere match, in which there was actual fight *inside* a giant inflatable structure, costume swapping, figure-four on an inflatable slide and whatnot. That kind of completely absurd stuff taking place in a major promotion kinda makes me long for the days of the pandemic era (yeah, I just said it) where the context allowed you to try some completely new stuff to play along with the ever expanding pro-wrestling notebook. And made me kinda miss LU too.

Madusa was on NWA last week to announce a Women's TV title. She just needs to pop on AEW and IMPACT now announcing more new women's title or something.

Thanks, that's him ! Crazy to think he has basically worked for IMPACT since the mid 00's now. Which also explains why IMPACT has done some really cool thing in term of outside the ring production. No idea if that was his work, but in 2014 they had some very good vignettes about SANADA in which he simply spoke Japanese and was subtitled, which is totally something that should be done today for people who don't speak English at all or well enough to cut promos. This would be so much better than mildly annoying "Penta says !" stuff for instance.

I understand that point, but again, not really. That's assuming people in the business only see AEW as a "If I can't get a push in WWE" case, which obviously is ridiculous. That's the whole WWE-centric mentality that has plagued both some workers mind and a vast part of the audience. Plus, let's be realistic, because Trip is in charge, I doubt that it means guys like Darby Allin would magically get recognized for what they are in WWE. Trip was also a bodybuilder at heart, not just a guy with fetish for some 80's wrestling. Sure, he pushed the hell out of Adam Cole in NXT. Adam Cole was also a Shawn Michaels guy. And pushing guys he liked/saw as hot because of their already established indy cred in a non-factor NXT on the then Network is vastly different from dealing with the main brand. One thing is for sure though, with stuff coming out with Vince needed to be "edited" in production notes and stuff, MANY MANY people are probably so glad of the change that is happening. Probably more than we realize.

I don't remember his name, but the guy who was doing all those great videos package quit the company sometime in the mid 00's or something, wanted to do something different with his life, then ended up in TNA as a director shortly after. Kid Rock is the shits though. Nothing apart from Limp Bizkit screams more "shitty early 00's crackers music" than this.

This. Meltz basically summed it up the best : Vince beat Vince. No one else. He got to the point of being so rich that no one could beat him, except himself.

First year I'm not watching the whole thing since 2017 I believe. Probably gonna cherry pick when it's done and I'll get an idea of what was worth watching.

It was a terrible idea. The worst of it being Conrad "working". That was heavily cringe-inducing. He really came off like a money-mark during that podcast, living his own little pro-wrestling fantasy.

One of the most hilarious bad take is "WWE is gonna be great again under Triple H, that will hurt AEW a lot because people will come back to WWE". No they won't. First, you gotta be really naive to think that 1/major changes will happen fast 2/Triple H is the savior of pro-wrestling in WWE, that has been exposed a long time ago. Second, why in the hell the AEW audience would stop watch AEW just because WWE is getting better ? Speaking only for myself, although I may have some curiosity about the product if something really different occurs, we're still taking about the same company run by some of the same people who have been there since the early 00's + Nick Khan. Still owned by Vince BTW. There's already too much pro-wrestling available that I would want to watch and don't, I won't come back following WWE just because all of a sudden the product is better. I've got my alternative, I don't need more. But hey, even Vince being outed for sexual harassment has to mean gloom & doom for AEW, because everything does.

One running gag on the Jarrett podcast is that he pretends he was part of the Kliq (before it was called that). Well... Who would have thought Jeff fucking Jarrett would be a WWE higher up official in a non Vince McMahon-run WWE ? He may have been fired live on Nitro, but guess who's still employed by the company and who's not ? It ain't over 'till it's over.

Awww, rich people issues. I'll never understand. Nor care.

Even wilder. We know TK is willing to work with anyone. With new people in charge (and I mean actual new people, not the quick "change but not really" stuff we're seeing right now), would WWE be willing to actually work with AEW eventually ?

Maybe he watched that ROH PPV and thought Vince had bought the thing and just gave a new name to Cesaro and the Revival.

Too cheap to pay with his own money. Cheap-ass billionnaire. What a debacle.

Holy fuck ! I'm so having a drink over that one ! Maybe I'll be able to watch WWE again without getting a migraine. Bye Kevin Dunn, you were the fucking worst and apparently a poor excuse for a human being too.

Trip not having followed pro-wrestling for one year be like : call Adam Cole, he's getting up to the main roster ! What ? WHAT ?

I was off the news so I had no idea about Gresham. I get it better now why he came to the ring without his gear and why the match felt like a pretty good semi-competitive prolonged squash as opposed to the great match it should have been. Bummer about Gresham, I love his work. TK really has an issue with communication it seems, whenever someone is not gonna be used. I would be pissed too honestly. Dunno if it's Daniels fault, but they need to address this issue, there's a clear pattern of ghosting people. Enjoyed the six-men match. Dalton & the Boys are a cool act. The other 3 (I only knew Vincent from watching him in IMPACT) looked interesting as well. The Pure Title stuff is so cool, like an updated, pro-style take on UWF-I. Enjoyed the match a lot. Ditto Rush vs Dragon Lee, in a totally different style. I sure hope Dragon Lee gets signed tomorrow. Martinez vs Deeb was good, but I gotta say I hoped Deeb would win, so I was kinda disappointed in this. I always come off a bit underwhelmed with Martinez. I can see she's good, but there's something not clicking. The fact I've heard insane level of pimping for years about her probably doesn't help, sadly, that's what ridiculously overrating "cult" figures do. Deeb is always a pleasure to watch. Joe vs Lethal was very good, but I admit I got tired by then, so I wasn't into the match as much as I should have. Joe looks like the best Old Joe he can, and Lethal has looked nothing but excellent since he showed up in AEW. Right guy won. The main event was awesome. Probably not at the same level as the first match, I dunno, but still easily in the MOTYC category for 2022. This is an all-time great feud we're witnessing in real-time. What an awesome year for FTR, this is all they ever wanted and could never have in WWE. Great for them ! If the show ends up a success, that's really a good news for this ROH project.

The irony of Flair getting a last "moment of glory" after basically getting "cancelled" (I mean, everybody expected him in AEW when Dark Side hit) for sexual harassment one week after Vince retires covered in shame (I mean, he should) for sexual harassment is pretty amazing. Flair thanking Vince is like "From one to another"....

Honestly Eddie losing is not even in the top 5 of what was wrong with this week of AEW. Between the awful tag team champ celebration (yeah, the cake shot looked good, but for fuck's sake), yet another waste of time of Christian Cage/Luchasaurus segment (Cage is really making the EZ money at this point) ending with a puzzling swerve, some NXT2.0 NPC who just got fired for failing a drug test showing up on TV (and looking crappy too, is there no quality control at all anymore about who shows up ?), Athena having to carry 3 person at the same time (gotta be honest, as much as I enjoyed Kiera Hogan in IMPACT, she has looked lost a lot on live TV), Acclaimed vs Gunn Club rap battle with WWE references galore, Claudio cutting a *brutal* promo (I love watching him in the ring, but never let him go alone without Regal to cut the promo for him), Rampage overall looking like a chopped up show with way too much segment for its duration... Like I said, I know they're in the rough right now with all those big name out with injuries, and they choose to build a ROH PPV with people who are not necessary over nor present (Briscoes anyone ?), but the last few weeks have had some really rough spots to me. Loved Darby vs Brodie, Best Friends vs Mox & Yuta and most of the main event, and of course Dax promo, so it's not like there isn't some great stuff still (and three really good matches on Rampage too, and the Baker/Hayter squash was fun).

This thread should be like the infamous "Is Teddy Hart in Jail ?" Twitter account, with a daily answer. No. As far as things changing, it depends on so many factors. It can go so many ways. There's the inertia of that huge-ass company that is WWE and a corporate culture that has been established (by Stephanie, among others) for like 20 years now. There is gonna be power struggles for a while, which may disorganize things quite a bit. There is gonna be different approaches clashing and most probably Vinnie in the shadows with puppet strings (never forget that Stephy was supposed to "take time away to spend it with the family" just a few weeks back and that Trip is a guy with serious heart issues which doesn't go along well a super stressful job). There is gonna be that "Do we sell" issue probably thrown around. In the mids of this, Vince not being around will make some people's jobs so much easier and less stressful. One thing is for sure, this is gonna be a super fascinating period as far as backstage politics go. It could go pretty much every way, including becoming a complete car crash or becoming a much better pro-wrestling promotion.