El-P

I'm gonna play Devil's advocate, because I have nothing against Baker, I like Baker. She's not a great worker, but she's good enough in the ring and she's over. But I see zero reason why Toni Storm did not win the Owen. Zero. Or Statlander. And then the only reason Soho gets in the final is to put Baker over again. So now she has beaten her too in a tag match (after the fact, which is a bit too 50/50 to me) but I for one don't look forward more of Soho vs Baker taking up the TV time allotted to the women. The Owen final turned into a good match, but it wasn't as good as the two previous Soho matches (because of her opponents, really, although Soho looked the best she has since her debut). Like I said, give me more of Storm vs Hayter and I'm gonna be happy because I really enjoy their game together. But there's a point when Toni Storm has to be built to the level of being the N°1 babyface star. And that's TV time and meaningful angles and wins.

One could argue that if she kept on doing fun segment alongside Schiavone, she wouldn't get the PWO backlash. One thing WCW had, is Ric Flair & Okerlund, and even when the booking was shit, Flair doing an interview segment with Okerlund always had a different, well, flair to it because of the chemistry between the two. I noticed Jade has been making "Tony cut the shit !" part of her usual mic routine now (and it always crack me up). Is Tony Schiavone getting abused by top heel female stars the way to help them get over ?

That woman has had a rough life. Still remember that interview Vince did with her the day after Brian died.... talk about distasteful and awkward. That DSOTR episode really shed a gloomy light on her life. I dunno why I did not make the joke myself actually.

Which in itself, is laughable. "Hey, happy Pride month everyone ! Support ya fellow LGBTQIA+ people ! And don't forget to tune-in for Crown Jewel in November, live from a beautiful, progressive country where being LGBTQIA+ leads to you to have no rights at all and can get you killed !"

Removing MJF from AEW's website is showing they are going all in on this, pun intended. This is also a smart play on the Sasha & Naomi situation. Very Pillmanesque indeed. Now, people predicting automatic gloom & doom for this angle only think in a "What would WWE do ?". I'm totally willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, because they usually don't make the stupid mistakes other have done in the past. In the meantime, this is still pretty fascinating to me because it's yet another occurence demonstrating how pro-wrestling still keeps that ambivalent relationship to reality, always, because it's inherent to what it is. Rosa is frustrated, Shida is frustrated. Some people on PWO are frustrated with Baker being pushed as the ace of the promotion. I dunno how we went from Britt being the favorite part of everyone when she hugged Tony last year, to the out-of-nowhere (and for no noticeable reason) backlash. I thought the end of the title run was getting stale, but she is the most over female in the company (although Jade might have something to say soon). Her title reign wasn't so memorable ? Well guess what, you remember any other female title reign being memorable ? The most memorable was probably Shida, only because she had the title the longest, during the pandemic. Anyone remembers Nyla Rose as champion ? I sure don't. Fact is, this is not a Britt Baker issue, the issue is that they never were able to have many memorable angles and title reigns for the women division, for a bunch of different reasons, some perfectly logical (you gonna give so much time to green performers, and the reality is that, especially at the beginning, lot of women they had were very, very green, and that is still the case to a degree honestly), other going down to just not having interesting booking for them (the running gag of someone getting attacked during an interview segment backstage). One issue is that AEW remains a hardcore promotion at heart built on great matches. Some people are able to get over without this, and actually both Baker & Jade are testament to this (which also could be talked about in ways some people would not like, but whatever), but if you don't deliver in the ring in one way or another at a certain expected level, you're not gonna get the precious TV or PPV time. From that perspective, Thunder Rosa & Serena Deeb have proven that they deserved the time and spot they were given on the PPV, having one of the best match of the show. Toni Storm and Jaimie Hayter getting more time is good too, these two beating the shit out of each other is what AEW need in term of establishing a certain level of work in the women division. Athena should be a nice addition. Why is Riho not on TV way more regularly, she always gets over and works circles around pretty much the entire division. Give Alliiiiiiiie something !

Maybe they can develop a slow build toward CM Punk vs MJF at All Out, with MJF winning the title there. That is, if MJF resigns with an extension, because there's no upside building someone on worked shoot angles in which he buries the company up to the big star status so he can leave one year after. They should gently transition from this starting point, which has roots in reality, toward something else as an ending goal. And do not, I repeat DO NOT, make any authority figure angle out of it. I'm diving right into the DIxieland era of TNA, and although the cringe factor is amusing enough and actually way more fun to watch than the previous 2 years of Brucie booked boredom, AEW needs to stay far away from such creative for, say at least ten more years or so, when maybe this will seem fresh again and be done in a brand new way. Maybe.

He has improved, but let's be real too, he is still very limited in what he can do. IMPACT had him working mostly with Eddie Edwards, including in garbage brawls, for a long time as to make him look good and hide his weaknesses. When put in the ring alone (he worked a bunch of three ways, again involving Edwards) for a main event with Moose, who had been really, really good in big singles matches, he just did not deliver and was kinda exposed in that setting. Then he was used basically as Sid in ECW, showing up and powerbombing people through table and giving fist bumps to the crowd, which was a pretty fun short run as a babyface. I don't see what AEW would gain from signing him, they have shitload of great talent they don't have the time to focus on already. WWE could sign him back for sure, because he's tall and cut now, and better than he was before.

The fact "swear words" are still considered a big deal on american TV is completely baffling to me, I've gotta say. This whole idea of "bad words" is so infantile. Unless you're doing a kid's show, just have people talk like in real life already.

The PWO reaction to MJF's stuff is exactly what I expected. To me, it's a matter of seeing where it's gonna lead. If the end destination ends up working, whatever it is, then it's good. If not, then it's basically WCW shooty stuff. One interesting thing is the announcers and basically the entire show following it up as if it did not even happened. That was a nice touch. The thing is, context matters, and we're in 2022 in AEW, not in 2000 WCW. *Everybody knows* that this is a work. So we've almost reached the level of meta worked-shoot (as in, it's not a work that is trying to look as a shoot, but it's a variation on shoot-promo as a inherent part of pro-wrestling history, for better or worse, usually worse), because if they have studied their history, they know this doesn't work well if you don't have a legit interesting in-ring match at the end. They are not Russo, nor Bischoff. So, basically, everybody knows what they are doing now and people have to remember why it almost never works (the Pipe Bomb was great, then the follow-up was pathetic, and even TNA did a much better job with their copycat angle with AJ Styles. Well, that is, until they actually did not resign him, but as far as production went and leading up to AJ vs Magnus, that was better than anything WWE did with Punk after the Cena win). Now, it's either a matter of, they find a good destination for it or not. And yeah, it absolutely had Ric Flair on Bischoff vibes, which back then was considered an all-time great moment on Nitro. In term of follow-up : I said it since day one and although I think he still has winds in his sails, it was obvious to me he would not sustain the massive heat he got from the MJF angle, which mostly stemmed from, well, MJF himself. They have to find something for the guy to do, but he's absolutely not a guy who's gonna get thrown in the main event mix tomorrow. There's only so much about a big guy who does multiple powerbombs in a row in 2022 (of course he does a bit more than this obviously, but still, this is why he got as over as he has). Miro coming back was terrific. Tanahashi of course. Mox vs Garcia was an awesome main event, star performance by Daniel Garcia here, I legit bought he could beat Mox several times. The multi-men match was awesome too in a totally different (opposite) way. Damn, say what you want about Matt Hardy, but that bang heads in the corners Delete spot was ridiculously over. It's quite obvious where they are going with Jungle Boy & Christian Cage. Just hope they won't wait too long to pull the trigger (aka don't Julia Hart this). Overall I'd agree with this : About coffee, caffeine don't do jackshit to me I guess. I say I drink coffee to "wake me up" at work, but actually, I can yawn and feel just as asleep just the same. Never felt anything from drinking a coffee (and I drink 2-3 a day usually). And I drink actual coffee, not what passes for coffee in North America (let's talk real now).

Is there even an argument that Britt Baker is way more over than Ruby Soho or even Thunder Rosa, and that Adam Cole is one of the most over guy on the roster ? Cole vs Page as a PPV main event absolutely worked (although MJF vs Punk obviously also drew, but people who hate Cole will be quick to give him no credit whatsoever).

They absolutely won't play it straight. There is gonna be double lecture galore in this. It doesn't need to be Brian Pillman level mindfuck nonsense, just playing on real stuff like it's 1997 WWF.

Well, they had a meeting together with Coach Tony K. after Double or Nothing, so maybe they ended up settling their issues. I absolutely did not expect this, I have to say. Fascinating. Also, the Warner/Discovery, whoever are the new people in charge, are there so they sure have to do some big time angle to impress them.

What legit kills me is that she's flexing like she's some hot shit yet you can see the nunchucks literally flying off her hand just before the video cuts. She missed the phone by not much. Bull Nakano would not be proud.

Sooooo... Wow, thats' pretty impressive how she goes with those nunch... wait a second. (search google). Oooook, so the audio is actually from a rapper who played this song at the Trump rally the day of the Capitol assault. Song has been banned from Spotify after this apparently (although it appears where I am). Ya learn something everyday.

No indeed. They don't take "blows" to the stomach by "banging them" against each other, nor do they hit their belly (they slap/push the chest and occasionally also slap the fuck out of the opponent, Minoru Suzuki style, which is always super impressive). They do however fall on their stomach a lot when their opponent push them straight down. Wait, did you just say a blow to a full stomach can be deadly ? Well there you go. Doudrop was probably hitting catering before the match. Then she squashed her belly on the mat missing the Vader Bomb and Alexa fell on her stomach again, she was all but done ! She's probably happy to having survived this match.

Funny how Jarrett comes off as the most forward thinking and progressive guest of Conrad's podcast. Which, in a way, should not be surprising, considering his company choose to showcase the X-division and serious women wrestling way before stuff like this became the norm. But still, it's kinda delightful to hear him talk about how he *wanted* the X-division guys to go full speed and get over doing crazy spotfests, because it was the alternative. In one of the latest ones : "No one in the 50's thought this was real". What really separates Jarrett from the other interview, is that he's both a worker and a promoteur, so he always takes both sides in consideration, and the TNA episodes really are totally fascinating to me.

I explained to you what the atari is, the very first contact in the fight, when the two body meet, which is the most brutal chock (well, or not, depending on how they do it). After this it's either slaps and pushes on the chest, either a matter of positioning and technique using the arms and the belt as pressure points to control your body's opponent. That's a fact, not a "take". Sumo is not about "banging stomach". Only people who don't know anything about sumo would say such a thing. Checks out... So, I did not mock the notion of, say, Brock Lesnar squatting more than Zach Gowen (WTF do you get that out of what I said, who the hell would say that ? ). I mocked the fact that there is this trope in pro-wrestling where a guy which is either big and muscular, big and fat or tall is *by default* considered thougher and more resistant to pain than a smaller guy. It's a general trope. Not just in pro-wrestling of course, but we talk pro-wrestling here. Being muscular and tall doesn't make you a tough guy. Anyone can have a glass jaw, it has nothing to do with you body frame. Of course, being heavier means that you should *hit* heavier, but you gotta also consider technique (I mean, who looks the most dangerous in a fight to you, Giant Gonzalez or Bryan Danielson ?). And again, hitting heavier doesn't automatically mean you're able to sustain pain better. If you believe some old-school guys including Bret, Raymond Rougeau could have whipped most of WWF's roster's ass in 1987. Bob Backlund was way stronger than any of the huge steroid-looking freak pushed in the Hogan era and who were supposed to have that superhuman strenght. As far as believing being big, tall, fat = being weaker, well, I did not even hint at such a thing, but whatever.

Seems like the plan was : "well we have no actual plan, but keep the doll because it still sells."

So wait, we are arguing about THIS ? Seriously ? Doudrop just totally squashed herself, she has like 5 HP left after this ! It's funny, people talk about "Aww, it's video game, it's not realistic !" and yet, when you really think about it for more than two seconds, there are a lot of mechanisms in video game that make way more sense than in pro-wrestling. Doudrop sold the hit quite well too.

I've watched sumo for more than 20 years now, and I have very seldom seen rikishis bang their stomach on each others . That's such a pro-wrestling fan take it's not even funny ! Banging stomachs would be like the worst atari ever. They bang their shoulders and hell, sometimes their heads, Ishii style. When ? Where ? All I hear is "Ohhh, this guy should work *big*", Morrissey is pushed as a monster in IMPACT just because he's tall and cut, immobile fuckers like Omos are sold as impervious to pain freaks of nature, and we're in 2022.

Speaking of Queens and whatnot, it always irks me whenever someone make reference to "wrestling royalty". Yeah, IRL that's actually called "nepotism" on a small scale, and "social reproduction" as a systemic issue. Royalty my ass. I see the Rock's daughter has signed with WWE. Unless she is completely worthless at pro-wrestling, I can't wait for the unbearable automatic push and praise she'll get. Not her fault obviously, she hasn't chosen to be the Rock's daughter, but be ready to hear some really bullshit narrative about "deserving it" and "working hard". How old are Trip & Stephy's daughters ? Mania 40 needs a main event.

Well, he wasn't supposed to. First time he fucked it up and Hangman did such a great job covering up by jumping on him that it almost looked like a planned spot. The issue is that they redid the spot, because it was a key spot in the build, and Punk would not hit it again. If that would have been the finish, yeah, I agree it would have hurt the match. As it is, it's like a matter of "Oh, I'm gonna retract a quarter star" geeky shit. Punk making fun of it in the post-show promo with FTR and the again at the media scrub, telling Meltz he would not be giving him five stars with this one, I find actually quite refreshing. Yeah, reality sets in sometimes, and unless a match totally falls apart, it's not a big deal when the overall match is terrific, which to me it was, and the audience was not affected past about 10 seconds of it (which is factual, the crowd was hot as hell for the entire thing).

Fun fact : pro-wrestling fans still believe that being big/tall/fat makes you more resistant to pain and stronger than smaller people. And then they talk about "realism".

It's kinda crazy it took 25 years before anyone remembered the Gangstas match gimmick in ECW was a genius idea and should be done again. When they played the entire song I was like "It's gonna start again, right ?".

That's like my beautiful dark twisted fantasy or something, as both an old RINGS & FMW fan. Give me a mix between Khosaka & Onita. Preferably in a cage in a middle of a pool.