El-P

It's not about "whataboustism" (which honestly is a rethorical trick that is totally overused to DQ any kind of criticism during an argument). It's about being kind of a hypocrite on the subject matter. When you *work* for Vince McMahon, you probably don't need to make fun of someone for being a Trump supporter. Zayn does raise some good points about dissonance (gotta love the line "I live in the United States, you know what I mean ?"), but also I don't remember Sami Zayn acting houlier than thou on social media and/or pointing fingers. The guy is probably smarter than most guys there.

I mean, he debuted 30 years ago at Survivor Series. That would be a fitting end. They can dress up Brucie as Brother Love one last time too... He clearly is a guy who have overstayed its welcome by a number of appearance now, teasing a Final Farewell and having him show up yet again would be really ridiculous, but then again, pro-wresting retirements... He's not gonna get anything nearly as good as the AJ Styles "match" this year, so he could leave on a good (actually great) note. Sounds about right to me.

So a Vince McMahon employed guy is making fun of Jericho for being a Trump supporter. Ok. Whatever. I mean, calling out Jericho for being an idiot is one thing, but when you're getting your paycheck from the N°1 supporters of Trump themselves (and whose money also comes from that great humanitarian MBS), you should probably just shut the fuck up, really. Because it makes you a weeeee bit of a hypocrite.

Allysin Kay not being under contract with the NWA anymore makes this even more intriguing to me. Hopefully Kay looks good and gets a contract from AEW. This NWA thingy is dead in the water (like this new Smashing... ok, you know).

He's talking about *pro-wrestling history* (yeah, I know, the grade school line is kinda ridiculous). In this context, Rikidozan is more important than Hulk Hogan. It's not even a debate. Without Hulk Hogan, well, there was already pro-wrestling in the US, for about a century, there was already stadium shows being sold out, pro-wrestling on TV, pro-wrestlers in movies and whatnot... But some people in the US seem to believe the US equals the World, then WWE equals US pro-wrestling, then WWE began in 1984...

Yeah, it's way to much of the same thing, and although it's a good deal for talent who can get to work, it gets tedious to watch. The announcing crew is much more fun that the Dynamite one though (because, well, no JR). The highlight of this week's show was Pretty Peter Avalon's vignette. So, the Librarians seems to be done. Hopefully Avalon gets featured more in the future, he's a super solid worker and a good character.

He kinda freed himself, really. Is that why WWE has been booking Lana to go through a table every week now ? Are some idiots already calling him an east-european commie or something ? What's remarkable is him saying something like that today while employed by AEW, when you know Cody (and many others I'm sure) stance on unions in pro-wrestling.

Indeed, but I don't think the current WWE audience will get nostalgic in 25 years about the current product. Well, of course they won't, because they're so old they'll all be dead by then. Ba dum tss !

He's actually doing the exact same thing Shane Douglas did in ECW when he basically got the TV Title over as being the "Ace" title as Cody said during his promo. Which is really smart.

On paper, Full Gear is the best card they have put out top to bottom. Don Callis showing up was cool, if nothing else. If not for him, AEW basically doesn't exist since he was the one pushing for that Jericho vs Omega match in NJPW I believe. Interesting that at the same time, TJP and Chris Bey, both signed with IMPACT (although TJP was a NJ regular before), have been announced for the upcoming Super J Cup. I know, means probably nothing, but still, I like the little connections between the three promotions I'm currently following. Jericho did say Cody Rhodes once. Hey, here's something, after he loses the TNT title to Darby, hopefully, because it's time, he can sure challenge for the World Title. Not the AEW one, the NWA World Title. I mean, we have yet another NWA Women title match at Full Gear during the pre-show with Allysin Kay, and honestly with NWA not doing jackshit itself, just build a rematch between Cody & Nick Aldis already for a PPV. This was a draw for All In, it can only help everyone involved. And let's be honest, there are as much people excited with the current form or the NWA than there are excited by this new Smashing Pumpkins album... One striking thing about AEW is how they let people get over. Eddie Kingston shows up, kills it, gets hired, gets thrown into the mix, kills it again and now he's main eventing a major PPV. Who were the odds like two years ago ? And what about John Silver ? The guy was basically a nameless jobber. Got given a part in what was then the only "miss" gimmick of AEW. Then the gimmick got much better and John Silver got over on BTE and then stole the show on BTE. Then was given some time and wins on Dark. Then gets some time on Dynamite and gets featured during Brodie Lee's last big match, and now he gets a PPV spot. All in a matter of a few months. Now, just for the sake of it, picture Eddie Kingston and John Silver signing with WWE in 2020. Yeah...

The crap was more "fun" back then and probably a lot less boring and infuriating (because there was not so much you could ruin, whereas it's been a pattern forever now on WWE's part to systematically ruin 95% of the talent they sign). Also, there was a lot less content, so it was much easier to digest.

That's the main issue with JR. He knows how to put over some part of the product, but has no idea how to do it whenever it doesn't subscribe to his old-school mentality (lastest instance last week, his insistance on saying Wardlow doing acrobatics from the top rope is basically stupid, Schiavone had to run in and defend Wardlow's spot). Please no, Tony Khan, never do that. I love AEW, and this could legit turn me away. 50+ years (yeah, young and revitalized) old excitable Mauro never shutting the fuck up and burying Schiavone and Excalibur in the mix is exactly the last thing AEW does.

I'm French, I never got those "Canadians are polite" jokes. Humour really is cultural, sometimes... Meanwhile, Trump is going full Florida Recount/Montreal Screwjob. Recycling angles from 20 years ago. Yeah, he's booked by Vince.

Which is kinda ironic because, ya know, he's basically canadian... I have for a long time renounced to expect anything intelligent from pro-wrestlers. And I mean, why should I ? I remember this quote from Buzz Osbourne of the Melvins about if you look toward rock stars for political opinions, you're looking in the wrong direction. Even Cody, whom I really enjoy as a pro-wrestler and obviously I'm an AEW fan, said this really dumb-ass thing about pro-wrestling could not survive if pro-wrestlers would unionize... Yeah... really now... Because unions have killed Hollywood, that leftists hive...

Can't believe no one mentioned the biggest news of last week's Dark : Brandon Cutler finally got a win over Peter Avalon in a match that included bumps on books and dies (which had to suck), with the Young Bucks finally showing up to support their friend. Also, Leva Bates apparently split up with Avalon. I hope they keep both of them around because they can do so much more (pretty much anything, really). Anna Jay really looks like a futur star, so there's that, and Leyla Hirsch really has a cool thing going with the MMA style. Gotta browse though those überlong Dark episode though, it's generous of them to feature all of those people, but as much as I enjoyed the shorter episode, almost a PPV-like lenghts of a bunch of competitive squashes and a few actual competitive match is way too long.

SMW wasn't a threat to anyone, the promotion was done by that point. These guys got hired because WWF needed veteran JTTS who could work and help other talent get over, and since this was the era of "everyone is a gimmick", well, there you go. TL Hopper was by far the worst though. The Freddie Joe Floyd name was a rib on the Briscoes I seem to remember.

Sounds like Road Dog has hacked your account.

Yeah but... *they made her*. I mean that's what WWE fanboy actually told her on social medias. Yeah, this company is a cult. He never took the side of his co-workers during the Covid stuff before, he just went home. He's not a "locker room leader", he's a good little corporate soldier (which actually may be the same thing when you think about it).

Come on, that's the greatest reason for a name change ever. Trivia for the ages.

You got me there ! (actually "jealous" of not thinking of that one myself !)

I wonder how is Conrad's podcast business going. I mean, I don't think about it, but when I see all those "exciting" prospect he's putting together, I'm just scratching my head. I mean, paying stuff to hear shows with Reba and Mance Warner ? And a conversation with Jim Herd ? Wait, what ? As far as hanging out in Conrad's fat house, it's the stuff nightmares are made off. Conrad seems like the kind of guy I'd be bored/annoyed with after about 90 seconds IRL. "Do you know I own this Rick Rude robe from 19..." "SHUT THE FUCK UP !"

To me it's not a matter of a lack of time at all. It's a matter of lack of good booking, and hell, sometimes a lack of just plain booking. Look at what IMPACT does with its women roster. Granted, it's overall much stronger in both talent and characters, but still. The women are basically equal as men as far as importance on the show. Taya, Purrazzo, Jordynne Grace, Rosemary, Kylie (when she was there), Su Yung and now Dashwood (they struggled with her, but they found the right gimmick now with the influencer) are top characters on the show and they are featured every week in matches/angles/vignettes. They take someone from the indies in Kimber Lee and in a matter of a few weeks, she's integrated into the storylines. Same for Tasha Steelz. They always are in the mix both in midcard level and at the top of the card. AEW, well. Shida is the champ but you can go weeks without her doing anything. No angles to speak of. Nyla is the N°1 challenger, gets a manager (who BTW brings nothing at all to the table, she actualy detracts from Nyla's to me because she reeks of mid-00's WWE, which is the last thing I want to think about when I watch AEW. Wanna manager ? Use Veda Scott !) and then spends two months in the crowd alongside Dark enhancement talents. Why is she getting a title shit on PPV now when Baker has been killing girls every week and looks really good doing it (I don't quite understand how she looks better in the ring coming back from injury, but good for her) ? Speaking Dark, there are plenty of women you can use there, Kylinn King for once (they seemed to give Red Velvet some attention, good, but keep it up now), just throws them on Dynamite, give them characters and small angles. Instead, the featured talent seem to go through a revolving door : Penelope Ford was getting hot (pun intended) and then she's basically back in the background of Miro & Sabian. Allie is even worse, that girl should be in the mix at the top or at the very least in a big-ass angle, she's a great character who can work both bitch heel or cool babyface. She went from being the Bunny (which is cool but let her WORK too) to the QT angle which was going well and evolved into the Nightmare Sisters which got confusing as Brandi kinda took the heel role, now she's back to being the Bunny which basically gets her in the background again. Then you have the Big Swole push, who gave us the worst feud in AEW thus far. So yeah, basically, the booking of the women is simply not very good and kinda comes off like an afterthough. Thunder Rosa showing up was so cool, get her BACK (she's so wasted in nothing-happening-NWA land). Let Ivelisse punch some bitch in the face. I dunno, push Serena Deeb as a grumpy veteran and give her a run. When is Shanna back already ? So yeah, after one year of Dynamite, there's no twisting around the fact AEW has not done a very good job booking their women division thus far. On the positive side, it can only improve as the talent will also gain experience (Penelope & Baker have improved quite a bit during the year on every level).

BTW, sumo's next basho will be at 50% capacity in the building. Wonder if NJPW will follow the trend for their next big show on the 7th. Not sold on Great-O-Khan, but sold on Priestley being Ospreay's Sensationnal Sherri.

The most absurd is Cody not being able to write a book about his father because he can't write his name. Total and utter insanity.