El-P

Can we still say that in 2019 ? But yeah. Leva Bates is funny and adorable. And she's got dat ass too. She's basically the comical relief to Avalon's Barry Horowitz. I believe Nakazawa is mostly office and Japanese relation, working the occasional comedy/job match. Him throwing out the oil was a nice attention to detail too.

Ok. I promise to never EVER say this word on this board, ever again. Because I'm cool like that. Callihan is just terrific though, best grudge angle worker I've seen in the last three years, always delivers and elevates the person he's working with. MVP everywhere I've seen him, in late LU, MLW and IMPACT.

Agree. Schiavone was saying on an MLW broadcast that you don't need to talk all the time and you should let the match breathe and let the viewer digest what is happening. A three men booth doesn't allow that. It could work if you had at least three very defined roles, like a total straight play-by-play, a fun heelish color guy and let's say a guy like Tenay in WCW or Charlton in NJPW bringing detailed infos when needed only. Here you have three straight guys, one of which... Well, yeah, basically.

As far as using the term derogatorily, well, it comes straight from Cornette, who has used it for a long time now to shit on the indy guys (some of which AEW employees on TNT now, outlaw mud show notwithstanding) he felt weren't "real wrestlers", whatever that meant. So, when he used it on the very first episode on NWA Powerr which had this absolutely, completely retro look and presentation, well, the irony was on himself, really. Ah, yeah, the old "you have awful taste" thingy. Well. I'm a Raven fan.

If this show proves anything, is that they don't care about winning a bogus ratings war and they are focused solely on building themselves and having a promotion. People can bitch all they want about Dark Order, but at this point, what is even annoying about them ? They have really good matches with everyone and have been used to help get other talent over, much like today with Luchasaurus. People can bitch all they want about the Librarians, but they are just funny jobbers, what's wrong with that ? Avalon is actually a really good worker too, he can run circles around a bunch of people... So, people wanted squashes and promos and angles ? They got just that. Also, Spears did not do the 10 sign this time around. They are paying attention. Well, I kinda like that the whole Janela thing is gonna develop, because it shows they demand patience and I will do too although I'm not exactly interested in Spears at all right now. I just hope it's gonna be an opportunity for Janela to show character and cool ideas and get over more. Allin vs Mox ? Don't tease me like this. Allie on TV, finally ! That MJF vs Jericho segment was all kind of awesome. They had me legit laugh my ass off at points, and it doesn't happen often. Dustin selling an injury, what a crazy idea. Omega selling his wounds, what a crazy idea. They could put PAC vs Page every week, these two are just having a terrific series of matches. PAC is easily one of the best worker of any promotion that I'm watching. Main event was quite interesting, in that I had guessed the finish before it occurred. I was feeling the whole "Jericho is making a mistake putting himself in a tag title match just after his big single defense, and someone is gonna be made." Scorpio is sure gonna get pushed as a single eventually, so here we go, he's the first guy pinning le champion. That's booking. The only criticism I'd have this week is that they put the Nyla Rose squash and Awesome Kong attacking Allie back to back, which was redondant. Also, no Shanna. Hope she's on Dark ! And also, JR sucks. "Waldrow, whoever that is." "Swagger... Hager, well, he's got Swagger but he's Hagger... he's not Swagger... uh..." Meanwhile, Schiavone on MJF : "You can cut the J is you ask me". Fuck, send JR backstage do production work and let Schiavone kill it with Excalibur already. Anyway, that company is in for the long run, and that's very cool.

Honestly, he wouldn't bother me that much if he would just talk less and stop yelling. The constant pop-culture references are annoying as hell, but you can shut someone off if he's not litteraly screaling in your face non-stop for two hours.

Wow, thanks for the definition. I'm sure no one knew and used the term wrong all this time. Actually, the very first instance of the use of cosplay in pro-wrestling was in believe in reference to HHH "cosplaying" Ric Flair & Harley Race and the classic NWA style long match. In the mid 00's. I do think people knew what cosplay meant back then already. Of course it's not meant litteraly. Everyone knows what cosplay means. And everyone understands the meaning of how it's been used here and there. Yeah, and I totally look forward to Sami Callihan do Corny.

Maybe a blessing in disguise. Promos promos promos, which is MJF's strong point. They won't touch forever that way, and the very first match will only be more heated because of it if they do it right.

Well, IMPACT has got Mack, who's fat and flippy and awesome. Flying fat guys are some of my favourites. Ditto Acey Romero. You also got Jessica Havoc there. AEW's got Awesome Kong, who despite being way past her prime can probably work a monster style better than most. But yeah, big fat guys were great when they could really work like Quake, Yoko, Bossman, Gang. I miss this kind of body-type and work-style too.

"Don't call me by that slave name". You know, sometime people are just embarrassing. There are *actual* slaves in the world right now.

Well, expect it wasn't at all. It was the finish. Myron did not kick out, but the ref got dragged outside and then Samael burned Teddy Hart. Mr. Velvet always cracks me up. The most laid back cat ever. The match itself was everything you'd want from Teddy vs Reed. As much as I thought the whole Injustice thing has been dumb as a way to put these three together, they really show tons of personality as dickhead heels and can work beyond just do crazy spots. Koto in particular is gold. Loved Ki vs Thatcher, clearly one of the best MLW match I've seen. Thatcher is a great catch for the company : great worker, great look, his matches are always a pleasure to watch and you can pair him with anyone and he's gonna make it interesting. I'm just waiting for Low-Ki vs Aries, honestly. I love both as workers and there's the "Malcontent dream match" aspect of it that is pretty funny in a meta way. I don't mind Contra vs Hart Foundation, waiting for Salina to come back for a vengeance. I mean, yeah, the match with the Von Erich probably won't be any good, but I'm all for Fatu vs DBS Jr.

Of course, Rusev in NJ would be cool, but I've always been a fan of male/female act dating back to Savage/Sherri, and Rusev/Lana had the potential to be a main event act together. She was definitely a big part of the reason why he got over big in the first place (he wasn't that good of a worker at first, honestly), and they both lost tons of steam when they split them up with the dumb Ziggler angle (BTW, first attempt at splitting them up IRL ?).

Being part of it doesn't make you a good historian though. Especially when it distorts the perception you have of things because of personal bias. Corny is a great archivist and storyteller.

You know, I sure hope they actually have an actual story that makes sense of all the Aldis/Storm/Storm/Drake/Kamille/Latimer-Isaacs stuff, because at this point, it kinda looks to me like it's supposed to be some really intricate stuff while in reality they just throw a bunch of nonsense together with the pretense it's such a complex mystery and all. I dunno, intrigue is good, but at this point, there's no understandable story at all, people just interact and argue and don't talk and talk about people not talking... I did enjoy the main event though, Trevor Murdoch should wrestle there every week. And between brutalizing jobbers like a regular Kevin Sullivan and that MMA movie, Thunder Rosa looks legit like the biggest star apart from Aldis/Kamille. Lots of good promos again, including from Cabana. Although two comedy/silly segments on a 46 mn shows is kinda ironic, considering Corny's stance about that stuff. Especially the ?Mark which is so, totally, absolutely self aware cheesy 80's shit cosplay (yep, it is). I guess it's better than Jocephus. Hope the Spiritual Advisor shows up, because that video is old after three weeks straight. I wonder how the next set of tapings are gonna go, now that there has been hype for the product and Corny has gone completely insane in the meantime. Also, I wonder how many of these guys are actually signed and if the cast of this first set of tapings will change much or not.

He looks disgusting, that's how he looks.

The Attitude era was the most successful and it was also 90% complete garbage, so…

Or maybe they sign PCO away from ROH and make him Jean Pierre Lafitte again.

I watched the Youtube clip. The script is rotten. The whole angle is awful, Lana is pictured as a slut, Rusev as a bitch (yeah, I wonder why...), Bobby Lashley as a guy who has a first and a last name. The delivery was awful too, but honestly, how do you even save something as poorly written as this ? I so wish Lana & Rusev would work elsewhere.

Been there, done that.

He said the same thing basically in the very first show, which honestly is why I went so hardcore with that notion, because it came off so ridiculous. It was always self-aware as far as the presentation goes. And those commercials. Only Corny isn't aware of it apparently.

They are not trying to mutilate each others. And what's the difference between this and the thousands blade jobs Dusty or Flair did in their careers ? Omega and Mox will most probably end up with much less ugly scars than these two when it's all said and done. And really, pro-wrestling destroys bodies anyway. Hogan dropping the leg drop a thousand times destroyed his hips. The bumps, even the most basics ones, are destroying these guys bodies in the long run. Pro-wrestling isn't healthy. Most guys end up broken down. Tanahashi, probably one of the most brillant storyteller in the history of pro-wrestling, is completely shot at 40 some years old. Bumping on fake glass once of twice is not doing much more damage, really. Pro-wrestling conveys violence. So, here goes the moral compass to begin with…

Now that's a cosplay show I want to watch ! With IMPACT going full fledge with the dick spot, using ref Cameron Adamson who has no legs and Tessa working with men, they really are carving up a different spot for themselves. Mack vs Moose & Fallah vs Elgin were really good I thought last week. I like how they are mixing up really solid matches with the silliest aspect of pro-wrestling (that Ace Austin angle was pure cheese, with Aleshia classic bad acting).

So you'll never watch the ultimate classic that is Headhunter A vs Headhunter B from IWA Japan, in Korakuen. Where the crowd is chanting B ! B ! B ! B ! B ! when A is cutting is own brother's forehead with glass, and believe me, that was actual glass, not the sugary stuff they probably used here (and again, good for them, the just need the visual effect). The 90's japanese sleaze was so awesome before everyone was bumping daily on a thousand lightbulbs...

Drake asked for his release from IMPACT because he did not want to work with Tessa and they let him go, so that's as much as they valued him (granted, they totally fucked up with Kross & Scarlett). I dunno, is there really that much interest for guys like James Storm, Aaron Stevens or Ken Anderson in 2019 ? Older TNA guys, WWE comedy guy…

His absence is definitely a loss for the board. (see what I did ?)