El-P

I mean, his previous statement was already worse than Orton's, ponder that for a second. But this is straight "fuck it" level. The SMELL of WrestleMAGA 1.

Oh, and by the way : https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/movies/john-cena-wrestlemania.html "I don’t care who hears it: I love Vince. I’m not downplaying anything that needs to be decided or allegations, but when I love somebody, I love them wholeheartedly. I know people are going to be angry about that, but they can’t put their value on my relationship with somebody I love." John Cena. I think they are actively trying to complete a bingo card of being utter pieces of shit. (and it's also probably done on purpose to see if that will affect their business or not, in which case they will go more and more into the UFC route of full-on fascist manosphere. They already had racist pseudo-comedian doing guest commentary. One day you'll see Andrew Tate in the audience) (sorry for the hurt feelings of eventual lurkers afraid to post on this forum though. Hearts to you)

This. All this. The whining is hilarious though when 95% of the online discourse is about how WWE is awesome and the best and how Papa Trip is cooking and saving wrestling. I guess it's another case of running alongside the domination system yet still playing the victim. WWE is throwing politics at you, right at your face. Now more than ever. It seems they are feeling free to finally drop the mask (not that it made any kind of illusion) these last few weeks. But hey, YEEEET YEEEET YEEEET and shit, I guess. "No politics in my pro-wrestling" doesn't fly in 2025. It really never did, but now less than ever.

He absolutely should. Too bad he's all about being performative only. Also, Roman Reign's reasons for supporting Trump make him sound dumb as a brick (not that there are any good ones, but at least the usual anti-trans, anti-women's right, anti-foreigner, basic racist shit is more honest, ya see). On many levels. Especially coming from a Samoan cancer survivor, if you catch my drift. The "empathy" displayed for Janel Grant is also pretty fucking cringe, with the "it has to be embarrassing" line. Trump getting the Tribal Chief treatment *JUST NOW* is incredible. Who booked this shit ? Also, Stephy's first podcast guest is Dana White. Mania 40 was the beginning of the brand new era (lulz). Then there was the Netflix era (which really hasn't panned out as played, apparently). Mania 41 is the beginning of the MAGA Era. Have fun everyone. And don't forget to send hearts to the crowd like Elon does !

This. No idea how the "pimping ain't easy" segment got out there. Rest of the show ? Complete fire and everything that AEW promised to be. The venue was awesome too. More of this.

There. They are slowly but surely getting more confortable with it, because they trust their audience in term of denial/approval/acceptation. The Big MAGA Dawg. It's gonna get more and more difficult (because yeah, I realize there are probably a whole bunch of MAGA shithead in AEW too, we know some of them already).

Of course. This is as old as wrestling wars are. Honestly it'll all irrelevant and in the grand scheme of things, TK should probably ignore these MAGA fuckheads. But still. Both Nick Khan and Levesque came off like what they are, insecure little shits and very, very little men. Like everyone of their ilk are.

Best episode of the season thus far. I actually enjoyed the fact they addressed the well-know fetish in a non judgemental, respectful way, even more when he actually links it a youth trauma. Good stuff about racism and token black workers being put in competition with each others for the sole spot on the card, as well as Dick Murdoch being referred to a KKK member in plain light. The Saba Simba story is also super revealing of how much Vince is a piece of trash, but hey, nothing new to learn here. The ending is heart-wrenching for sure.

No, you can't put an equal side between the two of them. They are not in the same position of domination. TK has been under attack since day one with petty remarks like "pissant company" and such. WWE had been trying to prevent AEW from even existing since day one. So no, it's not equivalent. Since this week is Dynamite going longer than Nitro, it has to be said how much I LOVED Uncle Eric being a complete shithead with WWF at the time. It was funny as hell and they deserved every bit of it. Sometime I wish TK would just say "fuck it" and take the same kinda attitude and shit all over the opposition. And it would not be hard to do considering the ridiculous bagage. Between Nick Khan stupid ass quote about being the underdog and how they don't sign talent to park them (holy fuck) and Paul Levesque's quote talking about how NXT talent are complacent when they get to the main roster (aka "I'm not responsible for anything that happens, it's the talents fault when it doesn't work out"), it's just free shots being handed over. Without of course going into the really sleazy stuff.

The underdog ?. These people are so fucking pathetic. It's good for them they makes so much money, because that's all they have. They are rich ass clowns.

But then they'll give standing ovations to "Papa Trip", uh ? https://bsky.app/profile/iamjohnpollock.bsky.social/post/3lmwslpwto225 (no bluesky integration ? Damn, forums are old) Nick Khan on AEW: “Nothing but respect for the father who finances it and owns the Jaguars and all those other things.” - The Bill Simmons Podcast Says the guy who still praised Vince the Rapist (a self-made man himself of course) *after* he was outed from the company the first time around. Nick Khan is such a huge piece of shit. He fits right into the picture with the rest of his MAGA promoting partners. Also, the president of the company talking like a random podcast grifter/X troll is quite embarrassing, really.

There you go : AEW doing a show at Arena Mexico on June 18. That is pretty fucking awesome. Can't wait for the eventual AEW show in Japan too. It has to happen.

Holy shit ! That's the end of an era for sure. He had been my gateway to modern NJPW. It's insane to think he's gone*before* Tanahashi's retirement. And yeah, I don't see WWE or AEW showing any interest. The guy is *shot*. He's actually a lot more shot than Tana, who has showed he could still have some terrific matches on his way out. Naito being Mutoh leveled shot could end up in NOAH of course, but still. Bushi is the most never happening guy in NJPW this side of Yukihiro Takahashi. Well, he was better (yeah, hard task), but still I think I have never ever seen anything that I can actually remember from him. Apart from a bunch of cool masks. Maybe he was a cool junior worker years ago. I dunno. Anyway, maybe a blessing in disguise for Gedo, as now he just has to push the fuck out of the younger generation. He has no choice.

Balor from ten years ago, sure. Balor after spending a decade in the machine, not so much, considering how well that stuff usually turns out. I would have loved the MCMG in AEW for sure. Perfect fit. (btw, remember when the Grizzled Young Vets showed at at Wembley last year ? No idea what the hell happened with them. They are not even featured on ROH) Nattie ? Please don't. Well. I would, for sure. ?

The more time passes, the more they are getting at ease with the fact they are full-on MAGA. Wait, am I talking about WWE or their audience ? But this is it. TKO is 100% a MAGA company, obviously WWE also is. There's no more attention to garner at this point. People are either in denial or they are ok with it. It makes wrestling as a whole incredibly dirty, because everyone is tainted. Guys like CM Punk and Chelsea Green can post stuff about trans-rights all they want, they are taking a fat check from a company that is tied with a fascist government that wants to eradicate trans people (and are actually putting every effort in doing so). So there. MAGAMania is running wild indeed. The irony of the "Vince is gone now, the bad guy is gone, everything is fine now" discourse is that TKO is infinitely more evil as a company than McMahon-run WWE ever was.

The bloated roster is for monopoly purpose, really. Likewise the TNA "relationship" and WWEID. Yeah, that FTR segment was awesome. Dax Harwood is not only a great in-ring worker, he's one hell of a promo. Nigel being protective of Tony despite being a heel is the kind of stuff that really makes this kind of segment better. Very WCW in a good way. Since Hurt Syndicate are basically babyface, you know what needs to be done, right ? FTR gets the tag titles back and have a great heel run with them. Fucking give Blake Christian a push. Any kind of push. See also : Brody King. I love Athena & Billie on AEW TV. It was about damn time. So, Wednesday has Takeshita vs Ospreay and Mercedes vs Athena ? Plus the wildcard which is hopefully Josh Alexander. WrestleMania what ?

Two other guys I absolutely expect to jump (which may explain why they aren't around at all and haven't been for a while) are the Gunns. I mean, they literally dress like Shawn Michaels circa 93 ans Austin does the Road Dog shitty dance routine spot. If I'm Coach TK, I have to devise very precisely how I sign people and who I build considering what time I got on their contract.

I think Swerve is signed until 2027 or something. But yeah. Of course, if you're a talent, there's no way you sign for 5 years. That's not your interest. Also, Harley Cameron is probably next as she wanted to go to WWE initially I believe. Some of the long term booking decisions sure get a bit more trickier. On the other hand, WWE's roster is becoming ridiculously bloated, not to mention them trying to dry up the indies with their WWEID shit. There's just so many spot on the main roster, and that's where you make your money. It will end up fueling frustrations at one point.

*facepalm* Yeah, it's appalling. Both were responsible though. Foley just had to never get up. But Dwayne was fucking awful. The fact Noelle Foley talks about how she has no recollection of seeing her dad wrestler is telling of some traumas.

Mariah May already leaving for WWE, seemingly, is disappointing. She sure was gonna end up there anyway, but I was hoping to have one year or two more of her in AEW. Oh well.

On a much lighter note, the Mania week craze of indie shows really has lost its luster with me. The fact so many of the hot indie guys of the last ten years have been signed by the big companies and the whole Forbidden Door stuff made japanese wrestlers and luchadors popping up much more of a normal thing sure doesn't help. Plus now half of the people on the Bloodsport card are WWE guys, GCW is hosting a WWEID tournament (they really have tanked whatever was left of their rep as a "rebel" promotion), TNA is chockfull of TNA talent too, so the "counter-programing" feel is not what is was anymore. No traditional ROH show (which honestly is a good move, really). The Mark Hitchcock & Joey Janela shows will probably be quite fun (the Sabu retirement match should be cool, although probably a complete trainwreck which would be fitting), and I'm sure there are other fun stuff around (although the Stardom cards are really disappointing), but yeah, it's nowhere near what it was a few years back.

Well.... ?

Well, after Shibata they still do legit headbutt spots in Japan. Which in itself is completely dumb because it's not even a spectacular spot. But keeping doing it *now* is beyond ridiculous.

Gotta love WWE wanting the Miz to defeat Joe Hendry as part of a program that in the end was denied by the TNA office. That says everything about how WWE considers their partnership.

So NJ gave Jeff Cobb the tag titles in hopes he would stay. And he doesn't. Therefore, yet another guy who just vacates his title before going to WWE (that'll be the 4th one in a one year span basically). With the rumors of him leaving out there, why the hell would Gedo do this anyway while Cobb was not under contract anymore ?