C.S.

Agreed 100%. Eva means more than half of the women's division, and that's not even an exaggeration. Her time on Total Divas gave her exposure outside of the usual WWE bubble fans, and her character work gets an instant reaction, unlike half of the women (and men) floundering around with no personality, star power, or charisma. Knowing how to apply a waistlock means nothing by itself - NOTHING - and never, ever will. If I ran WWE, I would instantly fire anyone who is a "good rassler" but has no character, charisma, personality, or charm, because those types will never, ever generate interest and attention. They are beyond useless. I wouldn't even want them training my future talent, because why would you want them exposed to some lower card, lacking charisma, bore who never main evented outside of Main Event and therefore has no wisdom to impart about how to become a star and make money? Maybe they can join the ring crew or become a ref. Not even a commentator, because you need personality and charisma for that.

Great signing. Half the women in the division could learn a thing or two about showmanship from her. "Good rasslin'" alone means nothing, and that's why their careers are on the skids and we're all talking about Eva.

I think Sean Waltman would be interesting, for a variety of reasons: - He is an underrated pioneer of Light Heavyweight/Cruiserweight-style wrestling in the U.S. but never gets the credit he deserves for it. - He was the first truly "undersized" wrestler in the WWF to break the glass ceiling and get a push. (Don't mention Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, who may not have been Hogan, but they were still large men.) - He was in both the nWo and DX. One of them is genuinely one of the most groundbreaking and revolutionary stables of all time. The other is what WWE revisionist history would like you to believe was groundbreaking and revolutionary, and while it was neither, it was still fun and impactful for the time. In any case, being in both stables meant he was around, bar none, the biggest stars of his era in both the WWF and WCW. - He stuck around for the early part of the Ruthless Aggression era, so he has insight to add there about Cena, Angle, Eddie, etc. - He was (still is?) a WWE agent or some kind of backstage worker, so there's rare insight to be mined from that as well.

Lars Sullivan and Austin Theory are dreadful and have zero upside, so why keep them? Velveteen Dream and Matt Diddle obviously had dollar signs printed all over them at one point, but they ruined that and probably won't ever recover. WWE is living in a delusional bubble by thinking otherwise.

The cynic in me wonders if he wanted that to leak so people stop thinking he's gay.

All of that would be well and good, except that all three members of New Day have expressed a strong desire not to split up. The company basically said "fuck you" to them. I'm sure E appreciates the push, but he'd probably appreciate it a whole lot more if he could share it with his best friends.

So, Otis/Mandy remain split, and now New Day has been split? Seriously, WTF is this company's problem?!

Any clips of the WWE/FOX/USA boardroom cheering wildly and losing their shit for Cattie?

I agree with you for the most part, but SVU was genuinely good for several seasons. It's dire now though.

Thanks. I completely agree with your reasons for not going into detail. Now, whether I can tolerate a half-hour of Jim Cornette is another story (or Brian Last, who I'm unfamiliar with - but if he's anything like his co-host...), so I may have to just suppress my natural curiosity and forget about the whole thing.

What did Bix do?

It was light, sweet, and fun. Exactly what the doctor ordered in the neverending nightmare that is 2020.

That's where we differ. I can get into ringwork alone for maybe the first 3-4-5 weeks when I first start following a fed (NXT when the WWE Network was launched, NWA Powerrr, etc.). After that, you better have compelling characters and storylines for me to sink my teeth into. Good rasslin' alone in a vacuum isn't entertaining or meaningful to me, and I suspect I'm far from alone in feeling that way. I could see a so-called "five star match," but if I don't care about the wrestlers or story, I won't care about the match. All of that being said, I find it much easier to watch old stuff in a vacuum (a random NJPW or AJPW match I've never seen, revisiting an old WCW match I probably saw but have no recollection of, etc.). I don't know if that's because of nostalgia (even if it's a promotion I never watched regularly) or if things were just better 20 years ago. I try not to be the bah-humbug, back-in-my-day old man, but even though the athleticism is far superior now, I'm not sure the actual work is.

So, Mustafa Ali was revealed as the leader of Antifa Retribution... So many ways this can go wrong. *Bites nails* Hope it doesn't.

Imagine if Paige ends up being the one to make a union happen. It would cement her legacy as the perpetual outsider in the best way possible.

I mean, if you're not gonna read my post properly, sure. What I actually said was: the build sucked, the storytelling sucked, the characters suck, Finn does nothing for me, O'Reilly is generic (being a "good rassler" means diddly shit to me when there's little else happening there), so I didn't care about the match and therefore couldn't bring myself to focus on it properly. I never said the match itself wasn't good, as I obviously can't render a verdict either way - I just said I couldn't bring myself to give enough of a shit to find out. Fair enough for you?

Great post, @Coffey. People (not here) are calling Finn Balor vs. Kyle O'Reilly a MOTY contender. I did not care. I DID NOT GIVE A SINGLE FUCK! I barely watched the match, to be honest. I couldn't focus on it. Why? Because there were no characters, there was no story, and there was no reason to care. Finn already doesn't do it for me, and now I'm supposed to muster up the enthusiasm for a generic ex-tag guy I've been given zero reason to give a fuck about before now? Look, I love the idea of new matches, but new doesn't always mean fresh, new doesn't always mean compelling, and it sure as hell didn't in this case. Ditto for Damien Priest vs. Johnny Gargano. Priest is killed dead, DOA, Fang McFrost this motherfucker with such a stupid fucking name. And Gargano is beyond stale in the NXT setting. Bubba argued against a call-up, saying it would be even worse. He's right. But Gargano remaining in NXT a second longer would be death. Bring the guy up, even though he'll inevitably be a jobber on Main Event, and have him return to NXT in two years with a new lease on life, a completely different set of opponents, and a fresh playing field. Same for Ciampa. KUSHIDA vs. Dream...ugh. I don't need to rehash the obvious issues there. KUSHIDA is good though. The Cruiserweight Match seemed fun, and both guys worked their asses off, but I had a hard time maintaining interest, because - guess what - if you treat a title like it means nothing for two years, I'm not going to be able to flip a switch and suddenly care. Santos and Swerve deserve better. Just get rid of the title, because it was killed deader than a doorknob years before it ever got to NXT. Ember as the mystery person, immediately after Toni Storm appeared, was such clunky, clumsy, shitty, WCW levels of timing. I won't say I'm disappointed, even though I wanted Bo or Gable, but I will say the placement of the segment did her zero favors. It felt so forced and rushed, and it didn't need to feel either. Why not save Toni Storm for another time? Why did those two returns have to happen back-to-back? Less is more.

She actually has a Hollywood career though, so I blame that on WWE, not Lana. I still say Lana made the most of that horrific Lashley storyline and going as over-the-top as she did was the only way to play it. Was it good? No. But it would've been even worse if she wasn't trying to chew the scenery. Serious acting would not have helped.

The match happened. The match is over. That's about all I can say, because I was barely able to muster up the interest to focus on it and watch it properly. Finn has never done it for me, and Kyle O'Reilly is a generic indie guy. WTF with this ending though? Who was that throwing Cole toward the ring?

Kyle needs to brush his hair.

It's a change, which is desperately needed. Even if he doesn't work out, he can return to NXT in two years a conquering hero and have dozens of fresh matches waiting for him.

Is he? I said he should (just because he is beyond stale in NXT now), not that he is.

It wasn't BO.

This dumb trope of the ref being blind as a bat really needs to be updated. Made no difference ultimately, but still. Gargano's cartoonish reaction to the kickout was hysterical though.

I have to BO-lieve!