El-P

He has lived with it for a while now, to the point he could not lay straight on his back without seeing the room circling around, as he has told in an interview a while ago now. Very clearly it did not affect his work, as showed by the way he would perform, as he found ways to counterbalance it. But still, pretty much a mindfuck.

No one said it was about martyring himself "for the boys". Of course it's all about business and marketing himself. When I talk martyrology, I'm speaking purely about the spectacle of a grotesque looking injury and the narrative of being able to endure the legit pain as a way to get himself over. He's absolutely making it worse for people coming after him with this display. Just like Foley in 98. I do think the guy has also issues in term of wanting to show his toughness though, or what he perceives to be toughness in a very old-school, toxic, mentality.

So Matt Cardona was supposed to face Nick Aldis next Sunday for the NWA Title but he's injured with a torn bicep. He should 100% do a mock version of the Cody Rhodes show now.

I had the exact same thought. Fuck Cody and his martyr syndrome. This is not about being concerned for Cody's own health. I'm telling you honestly, I couldn't give a flying fuck, I've been a pro-wrestling fan for far too long to ignore I'm watching people destroying their bodies for my enjoyment (which in itself, asks a whole lot of questions). I obviously don't want anyone to get injured, including Cody Rhodes, but I laughed my ass off watching his stupid ass take a bump onto fire because he was desperate for cheers. The issue here is the martyrology. Onita was working on the same vibe, with the cries, the blood and the entire presentation. But he was a cult hero on a sleazy Japanese indie with no-TV, not the guy showcased by the n°1 wrestling promotion in the world shooting for the Mania main event. Let's be real, if not for the visual injury, both guys would probably have had a great match no one would talk about two weeks later.

At least the booking is easy now. He goes away. Comes back to win the Rumble, beats Roman Reigns at Mania. Oh wait...

This is completely different. Omega never told anyone he had vertigo until he stopped working. People wearing straps is usual in sports, sadly, people work injured. This is not good, but this was another thing entirely : this is Cody entering the match with a severe injury and *making a spectacle* out of *his real pain*, and being glorified for it. Glorified for enduring the pain, glorified for working injured not only as part of the story of the match but *being the integral story of the match*. This sends an absolutely toxic message. The fact he worked hurt is one thing, and one thing that is done all the time and is problematic for sure, but this is not what this is all about. This is all about the absolute glorification of working hurt and the spectacle of sustaining the real pain of a real injury as the story of a pro-wrestling match. This is making things worse for everybody on a different level. The fact so many pro-wrestlers have tweeted their admiration shows how fucked up the mentality still is. I'm sure some think it's bullshit, but I bet they would never go public with this kind of opinion, because they would get murdered on social media for it... Can't wait 'till he comes back after the magic John Cena cure too...

It's easy to make an audience "feel", whatever that means, when you're actually in tremendous pain. Even Onita's stuff looked more painfull than it probably was. Gotta invent a new term for this. Pain-porn wrestling. "Look at me, I'm working injured, look at my grotesque looking body, I'm suffering for real ! I'm suffering for your ! Please glorify me !". Yuck. Someone pointed out that it was also on a C-level PPV with no hype going on, against a guy he already had beat, so it's not like the overall picture is fantastic. So he had to suffer that much to beat a guy he already beat twice in a row ? What a dumb fuck kayfabe-wise, so unnecessary.

Women's side is obviously WWE by a ridiculous margin, of course.

Poor child. And of course, pro-wrestlers loved that Cody did it. It's argue to garner sympathy for them after that point, really. This, the reactions, everything is so off-putting to me. Positive thinking and survivor bias bullshit galore.

Not to mention self-imposed pressure. Of course all the old-school carnies will go "Great work kid !", but if I was a worker today, I would be *pissed*, not admirative. I was wondering before the show what stupid shit Cody would do, jokingly saying he was probably thinking about doing even worse than the fire spot, and there you go. Honestly, there's something almost disturbing going on with him if you put everything on perspective. Like the crowd turning on him in AEW kinda fucked his brain and he will do anything to get the love and validation he so badly wants from the pro-wrestling audience. I dunno. I'm really kinda grossed out by the entire thing. And BTW, I would say the very exact same words if this had happened in AEW (I would hope TK would not have let him work in this shape).

Gross and incredibly stupid (who knows what this actually will do to his injury in the days to come ?). Sets a bad precedent and bad message for everyone too aka "Working way injured is how you get yourself over, kids". Worst of old-school mentality pushed to the worst extreme. There was signs in late AEW that Cody was crazy desperate for attention (the fire spot being the most obvious), but this is just *bad*. How is someone with a lesser injury gonna argue against the company that he/she shouldn't work now ? In term of setting a worse precedent in a HITC match, this is probably even worse than Foley's stunt (which was also a terrible precedent to set, but limited to the use of the gimmick). Also : Yeah, no shit. Really, this is amazingly stupid on all accounts. No idea how anyone could praise this simply for the message it sends to other workers. May have been awe-inspiring (although honestly, the whole morbid aspect of "OMG this is REAL PAIN" is extremely questionnable, what's the difference between this is some gory GCW deathmatches in term of dealing with actual self-imposed physical torture ?), but really, Cody... I also wonder. If the MJF drama doesn't happen last week, does Vince allows Cody to work ? Also, blood & guts (aka, blading) is gory self-mutilation. This on the other hand, is ok. Point taken.

AEW.

I was wondering if Cody would go all blood & guts, which would have been hilarious for obvious reasons, or if he would have taken a stupid bump (after all the ridiculous things he did the last 6 months of his AEW stint, including getting himself on fire), but with such an injury, if he's able to work the match at all it will be an accomplishement.

Dropping like flies, insane.

Sure, a bunch of chops...

*facepalm* Seriously. Regal. First topic, birth of AEW. Second topic, a ridiculous failed gimmick in WWF. It couldn't be like "Debuting in WCW", of course not, why would it be ? Or "Training at the Snake Pit". Who would think of that ?

Which doesn't make sense. If you cheat and you're DQed, you should lose your title. If you run out of the ring and don't return, you should lose your title. Which is the case in Japan and I believe also in Mexico (although titles are less important there). The title changing hands only by pinfall or submission has been a cop out for shitty finishes in US pro-wrestling for ever and honestly, I would gladly do away with it. There's an innovation AEW could have gone with at the beginning, which would have made a statement. The Japanese way of "If you can't defend the title, you're stripped of it" is the most basic way actually. No bullshit. Of course that has other effects on the booking.

Totally agree. I find it annoying too, especially when they make a belt for it. Like, Cody was gone for a few weeks, so they crowned an "interim" champ who was not the champ but still had a belt. So what does the "real" belt means if the interim champ has also the same belt ? And he can defend it, like KENTA who defended the briefcase of #1 contender for ever when there was no US IWGP champ, which was completely stupid to me (not to mention the aggravating briefcase visual which no one should have copied). Either you are the champ and you've got the belt, either the title is vacant, either you crown a new champion. Yeah, I really don't like this new habits of having interim champs. I do not care about "But UFC does it" argument either. This is especially true in a company where the TNT title is supposed to not be a secondary title (which it totally is, and pretty much always was, let's not kid ourselves, maybe the argument could be made with the very first reign when Cody was still super over, but after that point, and especially after Miro lost it, there it is).

I want Excalibur to explain me those rules at the pace he usually announces the following Rampage's card. Who faces Mox ? Someone who can lose without getting hurt by it. Cole wouldn't be a bad choice.

Well, yes and no, because they obviously don't care and go "Well, Mox is #1" But yeah, the rankings and win/loss record are WCW level folklore (how is Nyla Rose #1 contender ? She's never on TV. And really, beating a hundred jobbers on Dark is not equivalent to having 2 or 3 meaningful wins on Dynamite/Rampage, this whole idea of numbers really doesn't ad up in a TV pro-wrestling context).

So they get Regal and the very first theme is something he wasn't a part of. Oh boy....

Well, fuck. AEW is now in some of the most intriguing time of its existence to kickstart its fourth year. Not the best times, but most intriguing in term of how to manage the unexpected. AEW ranks have always been random as fuck in true WCW spirit. You only realize that now ? I would guess the winner of the #1 contender match goes on to face Tanahashi at Forbidden Door. I say fuck it. Have Tanahashi win the damn thing. Interim champs really don't mean anything anyway, might as well try something different and shocking. In the meantime and *since context has changed dramatically*, have Wardlow beat Scorpio Sky (I mean, I gave it time but this isn't working) while he's still relatively hot off the MJF win and try the megapush there. Have the tag-team division the home of great matches galore on weekly basis because AEW needs this (Bucks vs Lucha Brothers is basically Rey vs Eddie everytime, this is crazy, they work a top tier match in their sleep together).

That guy gets engaged every 6 months.... "At the Eiffel Tower", as they say. But no you fucking tourists ! They were not AT the Eiffel Tower, they were at the Trocadero ! I lived in Paris for 15 years and I never ever bothered to stop nearby that old pile of steel. At night from afar it's kinda beautiful though, I gotta give you that. Still, fucking tourist cliché . Well, at least it wasn't in Montmartre... I laughed.

But who is fed up with her ? The audience ? Apparently not. As far as being overexposed, I agree, I was the first in line to beg for her to lose the title, as her reign was getting stale. And I just said that Toni Storm should have won the Owen. But there's no actual movement in the audience indicating people are fed up with her being pushed. I think they'll end up having a big feud against Toni Storm which Toni will win. I mean, that is what should happen to properly build Storm. Yeah, they are going full bore with it. Gotta give credit where it's due, whether it'll pay off or not. Gotta love the sports-entertainment company line. 100% work, obviously. Well, 99% .

You're projecting your Baker haterz fantasy on Baker here. No one is accusing Britt Baker of being too dominant. This narrative doesn't exist. That may be your opinion, but you're pretty isolated thinking that way (I mean, PWO be like, as usual in term of odd takes at times, so I know you're not alone on the board), she's clearly still the biggest star of the women division and beloved by the audience (as a heel, mind you). They don't book to do pretend "See, Britt lost so it's ok" because no one is attacking them on that front. You've been watching way too much WWE for far too long to picture this as some sort of "defensive booking". There's no actual issue with Baker winning a lot. She is not Charlotte Flair and there's actually no "Britt must pose" (BTW, using a tired Brucie gimmick ? Come on, you can do better bubba !!). Could that happen eventually ? Sure. But as of now? Nah. What irked me (well not really, but) was that Soho of all people got the win. I'm not sure where they go with Baker, although at one point the direction seemed to be her vs Hayter, which could be quite cool because Baker is not afraid to get beat up and retaliate. Honestly, the only one who's been overpushed lately is Soho. Either Riho, Statlander or Storm would have been better choice in term of in-ring quality and/or overness to get to the final.