FMKK

Someone shared this and it almost killed me. The fucking state of it.

He did like 35 minutes the night before vs David Starr

Did you watch on TV? How did the crowd come across? The reactions in the building were huge.

It's almost as if 18 years of monopoly actually has consequences

I'm interested to see what the crowd at Royal Quest is like when I go to the show tomorrow. On one hand, it'll be a smartly English crowd but on the other they might be influenced by how Japanese crowds behave. I really hope that's the case as opposed to obnoxious chants etc.

I've literally never seen anyone cheer in a movie theatre. Except maybe for the opening theme and Han Solo appearing in Force Awakens. But that was a midnight screening on opening night so it was a different atmosphere.

Yeah, just eliminate the roll altogether for as long as possible and when you inevitably run an angle that requires a mediating figure, it should be someone recognisable, trusted but ultimately a bit dull. The wrestlers should be the stars. Too much of WWE storytelling is more like a soap opera/drama about people who work for a wrestling company as opposed to an actual wrestling show.

Remember when Kevin Owens put his job on the line against Shane like three weeks ago? So he could afford to risk losing his job but can't afford to be fined £100k? And I know this is probably relatively insider but enough fans know about AEW and the sorts of deals WWE are throwing at people to know that KO would be getting a hefty wage if he's signing a new contract in the next few months. Ridiculous angle on multiple levels.

Harper?

Is there a way for AEW to win this battle but with people who I like (Dream, Riddle) managing to come out of it unscathed?

That Lawler shit looked incredible

To me, that might be a plus point for AEW. If you're considering watching wrestling or are a more casual fan (if that exists) you'll pick the company with a two hour weekly time commitment as opposed to the one with a seven hour plus weekly commitment.

Btw, when is the last time anyone cared about NXT weekly television? I feel like the brand was at its absolute peak in terms of weekly storytelling and general buzz when Zayn won the title, Owens turned and then Bayley won the women's title in Brooklyn. They've obviously done bigger Takeovers since but to me, that's when it seemed like a genuinely exciting product and it's been partially living on the goodwill from that period. It certainly seems rare that people talk about the weekly TV imo.

Someone else pointed this out to me but, with the NXT news, this could be WWE's Mania week schedule: Monday: Raw - 3hr Tuesday: Rumoured FS1 Show - 1hr Wednesday: NXT - 2hrs Thursday: Hall Of Fame (where else will it go?) 3hr Friday: Smackdown - 2hrs Saturday: Takeover - 2hrs Sunday: Wrestlemania - 7hrs Monday: Raw - 3hrs Tuesday: FS1 - 1hr Wednesday: NXT - 2hr That's like 25 hours of television in a week. Plus whatever the fuck is going on with XFL. Vince needs to get back on the coke big time.

Running campus venues is obviously a concerted strategy for them

Andrade doing the tranquillo pose in a gigantic novelty crown and robe is money imo

Haha, apologies for the ancient stereotypes. If it's any consolation, I'm bound to hear Mauro shouting "Pete Dunne has crashed through the table like his country is crashing out of the EU with no deal!" between now and November.

So he's replacing Mama Mia with Sacré Bleu and making references to Gillets Jaunes and Johnny Halliday?

Mauro is absolutely unlistenable to me. Almost Michael Cole levels. Just pump the sweet sounds of Kevin Kelly and Rocky Romero having gentle banter into my ears please and thanks.

If I trusted that they could actually book then I would be optimistic that they can elevate more than one person with their performances in the tournament and hopefully be coming out of it not only with the winner getting a heavy push but with two or three other feuds set up. As it is, I hope the likes of Andrade and Murphy get the chance to have some quality performances.

Pittsburgh and Charlestown, West Virgina for the next shows https://twitter.com/BulletClubIta/status/1163473610025160704?s=20

This all stems from Vince's pathological obsession with stamping out any competition. It was always going to end up in a war with AEW and WWE but really there's no reason why they can't both exist and do well. Nothing against any of the NXT guys, even if I don't necessarily care for the style, but I kinda hope they eat shit on this one.

Ah great news for Tony if it all turns out. He'd be perfect for those backstage/control centre segments and the odd guest commentary position, presuming he isn't going to be in the booth full time.

So it looks like TV for week two and three has sold out quickly as well. They're on a hell of a run here and if they pick the right markets, there's no reason it's shouldn't continue.

Meanwhile, everyone in the real world still says wrestling. I wonder how alienating WWE robo-speak is to anyone who's watching for the first time.