General

I don’t watch wrestling for realism lol. But some stuff was just ridiculous. Like Hangman wrapping barbed wire around Swerve then doing a fallaway slam. Maybe do that and have Swerve land on the barbed wire so it doesn’t hurt Hangman too. The aforementioned glass spot was just dumb and could’ve been done so much more effectively. Swerve could’ve put a chair on top of the glass and stomped on it, both not hurting himself and protecting Hangman by stomping on a part of the chair with no/less glass underneath it.

This is the only place I talk about wrestling on the internet. I deleted Twitter/X some time ago and if I could hide every stupid Facebook wrestling page forever I’d do it. I don’t care about what the IWC thinks lol. I’m also old and I’d rather watch crap from 1983 than 2023.

Yah I mean, I don't necessarily care what the IWC say either, it just gets obnoxious having to sift through all the bad faith losers who make it their job to demean anything AEW does after every single show. Deleting Twitter is a smart idea, but there are some accounts who I genuinely enjoy reading so I stick it out.

As for the spots you talked about -- they're really no different to the things Foley or Funk, or any number of the more "hardcore" wrestlers, would do back in the day. Throwing "caution to the wind" and all that. Yah it'll also hurt Hangman, but the added momentum from his body performing the move itself and crushing that barbed wire between the two would be real painful. I dunno, there are just always way to explain away wrestling moves, so I never get hung up stuff like that. Once you see a wrestler continue to run after being Irish Whipped, all logic goes out the window haha. But to each their own, if ya don't dig it ya don't dig it.

I had no idea this was ever a thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE5_Lu9CeUs

That’s news to me. I’ll have to watch that later.

I remember something like 10 or 11 years ago about some match that was supposed to be a big deal. Kevin Nash was supposed to wrestle Ricky Morton I think. It got a little media play but apparently the whole thing was a crap show and it never ended up going anywhere.

I wonder if this was meant to be that at some point.

Edit: it’s exactly what I thought it was! Holy crap!

If you're ok with the Steam version instead of console, you can currently get WrestleQuest for $10 bundled with 12 other games (or $20 for the entire 15 game bundle).
https://www.humblebundle.com/games/black-friday-sc...

I might be alone here, but this Survivor Series later today looks like the most underwhelming one in the almost 40 year history. As one of the 'big 4' events of the year, I was really expecting something more to be added other than swapping out Carlito with Dragon Lee. I don't mind the Wargames thing, but I'd prefer if it had its own PLE. There actually isn't a single thing advertised that I care about. Everything seems to be built around having maybe one or two things happen like Damage CTRL turning on Bayley and Orton probably RKO'ing Jey to wreck those matches.....which are both horribly one-sided for the babyfaces.....and if something happens and they lose....who cares?

Guenther vs Miz......ugh, as if Miz wins.
Ripley vs Stark..ummm..sure
Dragon Lee vs whathisname with the beard...who cares? Maybe he'll add some of the NXT guys and they can have a feud with the LWO that nobody will care about.

The only noteworthy thing about the entire event is the speculation that someone who isn't going to return will return. Names like Sasha Banks and CM Punk are floating around....but what would they do? Show up and ruin a crap card? I guess they sell it based on what people hope might happen instead of actually booking a meaningful card.

Also.....umm....where is everyone? Big 4 event?

LA Knight?...this is the big one
Roman Reigns?.
Solo?
Logan Paul?
Women's Tag champs? Big shock that Banks and Glowy chick tossed the belts in the trash and walked. These things are less important than the 24/7 belt.
Alpha Academy?
Street Profits?
Bobby Lashley?
Austin Theory?
New Day?
DIY?
Pretty Deadly?
Kevin Owens?
Nakamura?

Honestly, looking at the card on paper, I don't think I'd go if it was in my backyard.

Meanwhile Brody King vs Eddie Edwards and Shibata vs Yuta on AEW… those 2 matches alone make Collision/Rampage worth watching tonight over Survivor Series imo.

Always down for a good ol’ Wargames match though… even if the angle doesn’t really warrant it.

The last Survivor Series I ended up hyped for was the year NXT dominated. Before that, I can't remember the last one I really enjoyed. Out of the "Big 4" PPVs/PLEs, Survivor Series would be the one I'd miss the least if they were to replace it. I know back in 2010 they were actually close to canceling it but I think too many got in Vince's ear and whined about it being a tradition or something..Just once I want them to hold it on actual Thanksgiving night for old times' sake.

Yeah, I'd definitely look forward to a Smackdown vs Raw vs NXT Survivor Series. I recall, many years ago, they actually took the survivors and stuffed them into a 'Sole Survivor' match at the end. I'm not sure how many times that happened.......once for sure.

I'd take Kingston vs King over the entire 'Survivor Series' posted card, too. I really do expect some swerves and new people popping in....but I wouldn't hate having at least a couple of matches to look forward to. Really, both Wargames matches should be complete squashes by the faces. As hyped as I was when Kairi Saine showed up again, every time she's been on TV, she's one of the first ones tossed on her head. Iyo is great but she definitely has not been booked as a strong champ. Asuka has been great at being a jobber since WM. Bayley is meh......and they're fighting 3 of the most dominant women of the past few years.....and Shotzi.

Oh well...I guess it's another WWE PLE where all the hype is around 'who might show up' instead of any of the actual matches.

Not really looking too forward to either company’s shows this weekend. Survivor Series at least has the War Games match type to see, though. That and Orton returning should be a little bit of fun. Otherwise… meh.

Survivor Series was better than I thought it would be. They’re playing the long game with Damage CTRL and I like that, but I also want them to move that along. Miz and Gunther was better than I thought it would be and I kinda forgot how good Miz can be. Zoey and Rhea went longer than it probably should have. Dragon Lee is really good and Santos is back to where he should be, as a heel. The men’s War Games was what it should’ve been. It was cool seeing new Flair and Rhodes wrestlers in one of the best creations Dusty ever had, and arguably Dusty’s greatest rival.

We also had a big return and I hope that Larry Talbot’s owner can get along with people here better than he could before.

Haven't heard a pop that loud in years
Well, okay maybe a smidge of hyperbole, Cody's was loud too last year, but there were also a lot more people for his. Still, this was one of those rare moments where the pop actually gave me goosebumps.

FYI I was talking about R-Truth. Sorry, didn't mean to spoil it, but this news was too huge not to talk about.

I knew the whole time. His segment with Pretty Deadly was the best thing all night and it wasn’t even close.

I hope this all works out and doesn't backfire down the road and lead to regrets from all parties involved. I know R-Truth doesn't have the best reputation backstage, but the WWE Universe has been waiting a long time for his return and I'm sure he has a special pipe bomb rap planned for Raw that will boost the ratings in ways Seth Rollins wishes he was capable of.

I hope he’s on Smackdown telling Pretty Deadly what’s up. Maybe we can get some cross brand action going on and he’ll team with the rising star Akira Tozawa. Hopefully he’ll declare for the Royal Rumble again too.

I hope this cm punk thing doesn’t backfire. I read that it was sort of a rush job. McIntyre and Seth been with the company a long time and should know cm punk and his antics of voicing his opinions.

I felt surprised reading about since punk basically left wwe on his own terms

I doubt things weren’t really rushed unless their is specifics in the new contract before he signed.

We’ll see what happens. I’d like to think Charles Montgomery will be on his best behavior and knows he’s on triple super not-very-secret probation.

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

Lol this popped me

Survivor Series was just okay besides the Men’s WarGames match and that big boy return, which were real fun. Hopefully they don’t try to stifle ol’ Chick Magnet’s shtick and we see a bit of a tonal shift in the E.

Something tells me Clobbering Man will be on his best behavior, at least in the beginning. He was opinionated and outspoken, but he didn’t get into fist fights in WWE like he did in AEW. Different management, different circumstances and different surroundings can do a lot for a person. Also, Triple H has shown he’s decent at answering ‘What’s next? where Vince really wasn’t able to do that.

I bet they throw CM Punk right into the Seth Rollins championship road track

I watched Saturday Night Main Event for 2 seasons and Wrestlemania 1 and 2 the past month or so. I love it. Roddy Piper is amazing. I might spend a while chronologically catching up through the next few years of WWE. I won't really watch NWA until like 1988 or so. I binged a big chunk of it about 5 years ago.

Punk looks suspiciously much healthier than he did during his AEW thing. I did end up finding a means of watching it and I guess it was basically what I expected. Wargames matches were both alright. I'm still disappointed how weak they're bringing Kairi in as. The other 3 matches were almost mid. It's interesting that a lot of WWE fans make fun of AEW and call it a spotfest and not wrestling...yet, basically the entire Survivor Series this year was exactly that. Trash can off the top of the cage, moonsault off the top of the cage (that almost looked like it could have been really bad for someone's neck), Orton last second arrival, and Punkster arrival. Happy to see R Truth back.

HHH nailed it in the post-event thing saying people talk about CM Punk and made an interesting comment about Cargill. Punk definitely has people talking. I'm glad they're going low and slow with Jade. I interpreted what he said about Cargill as what a lot of people thought of her in AEW...under-developed in the ring. Hoping she's smoothed out enough by Royal Rumble and doesn't become another disappointment like the last 2 'blue chippers' they brought in to development - Steveson and the Great Value Brock Lesner clone.

Tammy Sytch (Sunny) got 17 years in jail today for her nonsense last year, crashing into and killing a man. So many charges I don’t remember them all. I hope she gets the help she needs while she’s in prison. She didn’t get it while she was out.

That six team turmoil match was pretty damn good. Just one more benefit of Vince being gone, tag teams get to show their stuff.

Bronson Reed and Ivar just stunk up the joint. Post-match fight was better than the match itself.

The lack of reaction for Tegan Nox hurts my heart. I hope she can get back on track. She’s too good.

I don't think that pipe bomb left quite the impact the fans were hoping for. Not even sure it was worthy of being called a pipe bomb (I don't think they actually referred to it as one, but it's what we were all expecting) and didn't really need to close the show, though obviously I can understand why they did it (don't wanna end the show with a Randy "Ratings Killer" Orton match).

I think people were expecting him to take a dig at AEW or Tony, maybe slip in a line similar to "Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler would be standing right here with me if they weren't being held hostage by AEW" but I'm not sure that would've been smart to do (X-Pac had some legal trouble when he tried it).

Still, not a bad episode overall. A couple of matches were stinkers, but we've come a long way since 2018's episode on this date, which is regarded as being one of the worst episodes in Raw history.
https://twitter.com/OTD_in_WWE/status/172876204306...

I don't expect it to last, and I wasn't expecting anything wild, but Punk felt neutered in that promo. It was essentially just his AEW debut promo but instead of "I'm back" it was "I'm home" and he was just overall less edgy (probably because he, like Khan, can't legally say anything disparaging). Either way, I'm not sure the lovey dovey "forget everything I ever said about WWE up until 2 months ago" Punk is what I'm really here for, but I'm sure he'll at least put on some good matches when the time comes. Heel Punk would be interesting to see in this landscape. But yah, definitely not a "pipebomb," just sort of an "I swear I'm likable" promo from a guy who built a career by being unlikeable.

Orton's a beast and I'm actually happy to see him back. He seemed more driven to be there than Punk, in all honesty. The match was whatever, but that's mainly because I don't care about Dom. I'm just very over the Judgement Day. I feel like it jumped the shark when the Finn/WHC scenario didn't pan out to be anything interesting (which is ironically when I finally started buying into their shtick a bit), or when Mcdonough officially joined. Priest in particular is disappointing me lately. Loved his work in ROH... but he's so boring in Judgement Day. His monotone voice takes me right out of any promo they have. Balor needs to go solo again, he's the only dude in that group I actually care about (despite WWE's best attempts to make him an afterthought).

Ivar vs Bronson was terrible. I agree the fight in the crowd and with security was much better... but I have no interest in a long-term program between the two.

The tag gauntlet was probably the best thing on the show, glad WWE is showcasing their tag division a bit more nowadays.

I don’t know that I expected a big, grandiose Punk promo. I expected something different than what we got, though. The AEW return was far, far more special than this return. The WWE return was a surprise. The AEW return was an experience. The ‘Cry me a river’ sign was kinda funny, though.

I feel the exact opposite about Priest. He was boring in ROH and WWE made him an interesting character to me. Eh, that’s wrestling. You like what you like.

Got home to see the Drew promo and onward. Again, the lack of reaction for Tegan sucks. But, I still hold out hope she’ll make it one day. Orton is jacked more so than ever before and I’m here for it. Adds something to him and I like it.

Anyone else notice how quiet the fans were for Rollins compared to usual?

I did not. I got home just in time to see Seth tell Drew that he was fighting Jey Uso next week, and then the headbutt.

I’ll be home tonight and I got Sling back for a month. I’ll pay $20 a month here and there for a month at a time, but they want $40 a month usually and I’m not about to do that on a regular basis. Anyway, I’ll probably watch Dynamite. I should try to see the show, since I’m going in 3 weeks and context is hard through YouTube clips.

I watched Dynamite. The matches were really good. The storylines are meh at best, but tonight was mostly about this tournament thing where they’re crowning another champion? Why does AEW need yet another title? And why did Eddie Kingston give up his titles? Tony needs another title so he can make a Triple Crown? What am I missing here? There’s already too many titles. We don’t need more titles.

Excalibur sucks. Get literally anyone else.

The Edge and Christian segment was delivered well but the story was really, really dumb. We all knew what was going to happen, minus the Go Fudge Yourself that made air and didn’t get bleeped out.

Rush had a great match tonight. I liked it a lot. I don’t know if I see what others see personality wise, but I hope I get to see more. I feel like either he’s not wanting to break out of his shell, or he doesn’t quite know what the next step of his character should be. He’s better than whatever faction he’s in, too.

Seeing Ric Flair on my TV is not something I need to do in 2023. I wish I could go to Greensboro, though, to see Sting. I still hope he shows up in OKC in 3 weeks since I bought tickets. Hopefully the Bucks and Hangman aren’t there.

If you want great matches, AEW was a good show. If you’re looking for more, you’re not going to get it. At least not tonight.

BucketofJustice wrote:

It wasn't a super heavy story-driven show. Some Dynamites are story-driven (like most of the build up to Full Gear, which was great), some are wrestling-driven. That's sort of AEW's ebb and flow. That said, I disagree that they were "meh." Maybe it's just because you haven't been following along week-to-week, and picked an episode where less interesting plot points played out. You watched a "beat" week.


AEW has as many belts as the whole of WWE and considering some are defended more depending on the show, I don't really see what the problem is when people present this criticism. They all get air time and are made to feel important (save for the Trios, which feel lackluster these days). The NJPW Strong title can't really be considered an "AEW" title either, it's just present on AEW TV -- similar to the territory days when champions would carry their belts with them regardless of where they worked.

Plus this new title will apparently be defended in different promotions -- NJPW being the most obvious -- as opposed to feeling like just another midcard title defended randomly on AEW TV. Regardless, the Continental Classic tournament alone makes it all worth it. Round Robin tournaments rule so hard, and this one is fudgein stacked -- it's being presented as a coveted tourney like the G1. We're getting PPV-caliber matches happening on weekly TV like the early days of AEW. Jay White vs. Swerve is a legitimate MOTY contender, with no doubts whatsoever.

Eddie explained point blank why he put the titles up when he first announced he was doing it -- and his story is that he may be regretting that now. Eddie initially put them up to prove that he was the best out of this tournament -- and wrestling -- bar none. Then he lost his first match, so they aired the promo from him tonight where he said "maybe I was too confident" before assuring the audience (but mostly trying to convince himself) that he'd be ready for Danielson in the next match. It's a story of hubris and it makes all the sense in the world if you've been following Kingston's career (AEW or outside of AEW).


Big, giant disagree. One of the most knowledgeable pro wrestling commentators and it's really not even close. He also actually acknowledges the points for the Round Robin tournament, saying things like "he just barely missed out on the 3 points, but got the shoulder up," etc. Almost feels like the points themselves are little mini titles that are must-have, because they are -- and also makes the match, and tournament as a whole, feel so much more legit. Excalibur is one of the best.

I also dug Danielson out there tonight, that was fun.


The GFYS thing was a play off when Copeland initially returned and Christian made it seem like they were getting back together, only to tell him to GF-HIM-S. Just fun little banter. Of course we knew what was going to happen, that was sort of the point. Christian was trying to squeak his way out of the TNT title match he has with Copeland, and Copeland wasn't having it. It was a standard beat in a pro wrestling angle, no more dumb than anything we see on any other show.


He is better than the AEW leg of the faction he's in, for sure, but LFI as a whole rules. It's pretty much the Bullet Club of Mexico. Otherwise, I sort of agree he's not connecting as great as he could be. I think that's a booking misstep tbh. He was ultra over in ROH (until they put him in a program with fudging PCO), so I feel they just need to put him in a focused angle, with legitimate mic time, and let him cook.


Bucks and Hangman rule. Ric Flair does not. Sting will probably be there, he seems to be at every show.


You will get good story from AEW, you just won't get the same type of storytelling that you get in WWE. If you need constant soap opera drama (that, imo, often doesn't hit any emotional nerve), go WWE. If you can accept good wrestling in between major story beats, go AEW. Again, I think this was a case of you not keeping up week-to-week, so a "breather" week won't seem too compelling compared to someone who keeps up. Pro wrestling and, heck, novels, TV, movies... it doesn't matter, they all need to take beats in their storytelling to let them breathe.

Also no idea why I felt the need to break that down quote-style lol. My bad.

A buddy on Discord attended Dynamite last night. He says on the Rampage taping there was a promo by Ric Flair where he came across as a dirty old geezer by throwing out an open invitation to any single women in the crowd to meet him in his hotel room. I know it's just part of his gimmick, but I also know the dude is in his mid-70s and there comes a point where it's just like...stop, grandpa, you can't even get it up anymore.

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

Lol yah there’s a big hubbub about it online. They gotta stop bringing the guy out on TV. He’s been embarrassing himself for a long time and it’s only getting worse with age.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that him, Sting and Schiavone were in the Dynamite promo last night either. Feels like TBS thinks they’re the key to a better show because they were in WCW… literally decades ago.

McKenzie Mitchell was released by WWE. Also, allegedly there are layoffs going on at WWE HQ today.

BucketofJustice wrote:


I was wondering what you meant by that, now I see it's because their PPV will be in Greensboro. I'm gonna try to see if I can convince a couple people to go.

I don’t need to see Flair on TV, but nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

That Bianca and Kairi match felt pretty sloppy, and hate to say it, it looked to be mostly on Kairi's end. They've had good matches in NXT together, must've just been having an off night. It sucks because NYC crowd is always hot, in the Attitude Era this would be one of those crowds you don't want to have a bad match in front of.

Went to GCW for my bachelor party last night. Card didn’t look incredible but holy crap was that fun.

I'm a little bummed I didn't get to see GCW at the WrestleCade thing last week. It just was too expensive, would've had to buy a WrestleCade ticket, then a separate ticket for GCW, then upwards of $50 for each autograph and/or pic with any of the wrestlers. I wish I had known about it over the summer so I would've had more time to save up.

Got a photo with Effy, so that was a win. Dude just hangs out in the crowd after his match lol

Any one watch Wrestlers documentary on Netflix about ohio valley wrestling? What are your thoughts on it?

I thought it was really good. I hope it leads to an increase in OVW business.

Looks like Kenny Omega is out of action indefinitely due to diverticulitis. Brock had that when he had to step away from UFC a while back. My brother-in-law also dealt with that for the past couple of years before finally getting surgery for it (twice) this year. It ain't no joke.

Yah that fudging sucks, but explains why he’s taken a bit of a backseat for a while. Glad they caught it. Positive vibes to Kenny.

Also, ROH Final Battle has been fudging awesome so far.

I hope Kenny can get better and fully recover. All the positive vibes.

Sitting at Dynamite now. ROH will have matches first. People still filtering in it looks. Building isn’t as full as it was for Raw, but OKC rarely sells anything out.

BucketofJustice wrote:

Crowd has sounded great on TV all night. Yall brought it. Been a fun show so far.

I hope it came off better on TV than it did from my seats. AEW won’t get any more of my money based on tonight.

Lol alright

looool hell yah. "I hate you... ahhhyuck gwarssh"

Also Punk is proving a hypocrite more and more every day. Unfortunately. Hope his matches are at least still good so I have a reason to remain a fan.

If I could plus you Mr. TheHutt, I would.

Man, I'm gonna miss the Continental Classic when it wraps up. Sad we're already in the last batch of matches. Easily my favorite US tournament in years (if not ever). There have been no bad matches throughout the entire thing, and now after White beat Mox last night, we get a triple threat between Mox, Swerve and White on the next Dynamite. Plus Danielson/Claudio, Garcia/King and Kingston/Andrade on Collision.

Gonna be nothing but bangers this point forward.

After sleeping off last nights experience, I should probably think on it more than my immediate reaction of ‘they won’t get my money again’. I definitely did not have the good time last night that I did at Raw. There were definitely some good things that I saw live, but I’ll be honest in that floor seats at the Paycom center aren’t the best decision. I couldn’t see as much as I’d have liked, and I severely underestimated the amount of hardcore wrestling fans that were there. The ones that I was near, were annoying as crap. Next time, I’ll be a level up. The wrestling in the matches was consistently really good, as far as I could see anyway. The in-ring has never been the issue. Seeing Tony Khan in person makes me dislike him even more, and I didn’t need to see him 4 times. I’m probably too out of touch on the AEW storylines, which as best I can tell was a whodunit with a disguise MJF used last year, this tournament for a bogus Triple Crown and Roderick Strong doing whatever he was doing. I thought the way he yelled people’s names and put the neck brace on after the match was hilarious. I haven’t watched it on TV yet, but I plan to do that today. I don’t know if I’ll watch Rampage because of time, but I look forward to seeing if OKC comes off better on TV than it did live.

I don’t understand how the triple crown title is “bogus,” personally. Especially being decided in such a consistently great tournament. And yah, I’ll just never understand the hate people have for Khan but we don’t need to dredge that back up.

To be honest, the in-ring never being the issue is the exact thing AEW is focusing on, and has always focused on. There are some great stories throughout AEW’s short history but for the most part they’re catalysts for the great in-ring work. That’s just what AEW is. WWE focuses more on story (similarly of varying quality) and usually save the top tier in-ring stuff for PPVs and/or the guys on their roster who can actually deliver that sort of thing. Just two different styles of pro wrestling show, which is better than just one.

As for the stories themselves, I alluded to this a while back, but it makes sense that you’re not enthralled by the stories going on considering you don’t follow the show. That would be the case for any TV show with ongoing stories — it’s hard to appreciate any story if you only see small portions of it. The MJF devil story has been ongoing for quite a while and has been super intriguing with the various clues and different guys who could credibly be revealed as the culprit. It’s fun and engaging - again, if you watch it consistently.

But yah, Roddy Strong is doing some great work right now. Finally finding his footing as a character and not just a great wrestler. BUCKETTTTT!!

So a new title, a belt that doesn’t have a brand since the last show was in January and a title that hasn’t meant anything in years isn’t bogus? I don’t understand how it’s a good thing they just arbitrarily made a triple crown out of thin air for no good reason. All Japan had a triple crown and it meant something, and this just feels like Tony wanted an American G1, and wants to have an ever-growing collection of belts for… reasons. We have differing opinions of Tony, but 10000000000% agreed that more wrestling products is better than less. I want everyone to have national TV and sell out arenas and make all the money, even if I dislike elements of their products.

I don’t see their storylines as particularly good right now. It feels like they’re going through the motions and propping everything up with a bogus tournament. The MJF/Devil thing gives me 2010 TNA vibes with ‘They’ are coming and then a few months later ‘They’ are coming but the first people doesn’t know who ‘They’ are. No intrigue for me, though you’re probably right about part of why I’m not enthralled.

I’m also sad to say, but Timeless Toni Storm doesn’t translate to a live environment very well. At least not for me. Totally becoming a Rush fan though. I saw Jay White in a different light last night, and he comes off better live than he ever has on TV for me. The Kingdom are stars waiting to happen, and I hope it happens soon. Saraya’s brother Zach (sp?) wrestled Pretty Peter Avalon in the second match. I liked Peter, but not so much Zach. Looks like a million bucks though. The presentation of Saraya is also way better live than it is on TV. Swerve was a little hit and miss. He was on for the match, which was good, but the promo with MJF was kind of eh, for me. I do like where it could be headed, though. I hope they don’t just go from MJF and Joe to that, though. I think it’s time for Joe to become AEW champion, or it’s never going to happen.

I do think like I said, I’d want not-floor seats for my next arena wrestling show. That probably impacted my overall enjoyment a lot. I did like seeing Lethal and Briscoe tearing it up, as much as I could see. The TV presentation was better than my live experience, but again that’s probably because of the view I had and the annoying people around me.

The lack of concessions, and merch stands, and the lack of traffic in and out, was weird to me. WWE had way more stuff open for food and drinks, and 3 or 4 merch stands with lines at all of them. AEW had 1 merch stand, and no line, and most of the concessions were closed. Also, there were police and crossing guards and stuff at Raw where there was not any of that last night. It seemed like a glorified Indy show in some ways, which doesn’t lend itself well to a national product in a big arena.

Oh well. That’s my review. For better or worse.

Just gonna touch on a few of your criticisms here. I know no minds are changing -- just giving my two cents on some of your criticisms because I don't feel they're entirely fair. Sorry for typing far too much, as always.

BucketofJustice wrote:

To be fair, All Japan's Triple Crown title was created because, if it hadn't been, the titles were likely just going to be retired sooner than later anyhow. None of them were treated with any priority by that point -- especially the United National title which had been vacated a bunch of times in the few years before the unification. The NJPW Strong title and ROH titles are still defended on both of those brands. You may not care about them anymore, which is fine, but that doesn't mean they're meaningless. Those who actually follow those shows still care about them -- but even if they didn't, again, all the more reason to unite them into something more relevant.

And tbh, who cares why Khan wanted to do the Continental Classic? Pro wrestling is a make-believe sport where EVERYthing has arbitrary reasoning behind it. The Royal Rumble exists because McMahon wanted a WWF Bunkhouse Stampede. Maybe Khan did just want a US G1... that isn't a bad thing. Round robins rule. Regardless, I think I remember reading that Danielson is the person who wanted the tournament more than anyone else anyhow. That dude should get what he wants out of wrestling IMO.


Well, you do openly admit to not following their programming, so -- to sound like a broken record -- you're bound to not get the full reach of the stories. The Devil storyline is nothing like that TNA angle -- I watched both as they were happening. That one was all smoke and mirrors, whereas the Devil angle has blatant beats that allow for the reveal to be several potential people while still making perfect sense to the story that came prior. The Continental Classic is so far from a bogus tournament too. You may not care about the titles up for grabs and may hate the ground Khan steps on, but the tournament has consistently been one of the best bits of wrestling TV from any national brand in years. Far more engaging than what WWE did with the King of the Ring last time they held it, and with wrestling that WWE hasn't even come close to touching outside of Gunther matches.


WWE treats their events like a Disney On Ice level experience -- with overpriced nick snacks at every corner of the building -- and their audience as folks who will gobble up anything they sell regardless of quality. Which works for them, but that's not what a wrestling company needs to be. AEW is admittedly not at that level but to be honest, it doesn't seem like that's the experience they're going for either way. They ARE trying to emulate the indy style of a wrestling show to some extent, just on a larger stage. Also, I feel like the crossing guard situation is on the building itself, not AEW. I know when I worked for the Garden for a short time, all that detail was organized by the venue and the crossing guards were paid staff. Heck, even when I went to Lowell for ROH Death Before Dishonor 2022, there were crossing guards and ample security. Not sure that's an AEW issue.

It's neither here nor there and none of this affects our real lives but I do need to say some of these criticisms feel designed solely BECAUSE it's AEW and not necessarily because of the actual content. Like... WWE has had terrible stories over the years -- far worse than anything on AEW TV right now -- and an objectively craptier person than Khan in charge for years... so I just can't grasp the need to be so overly critical of AEW for these reasons without taking that same hard stance toward WWE. There are DEFINITELY things AEW needs to do better, but nowhere near the degree that I feel it's an overall bad show. But alas, it is what it is.

When I went to AEW Collision in August I also was surprised at the lack of merch available. The merch booth was on the small side and there were only between 10-12 different t-shirts to choose from (zero representation for the ROH side), some autographed action figures that were $100 each and some replica championship belts. I got a Bullet Club Gold t-shirt and that was it, and now that I think about it I'm not sure if I've even worn it yet. Not even sure why I bought it all these years later. Buying a Bullet Club t-shirt in 2023 is like buying a nWo t-shirt when the only ones left in the group were Horace, Crush, Virgil and Stevie Ray. Alright, maybe not that bad, but the point is the group has run its course and everyone knows it but them.


As for CM Punk being a hypocrite, I absolutely agree. But the entire industry is full of hypocrites. Right off the top of my head I can think of probably a dozen instances of wrestlers crapping on a company after leaving it or a specific person from another company, but they're only human after all, so if enough money is shoved in their face suddenly their minds have changed and they're now happy to be part of said company again.

Yah, BC still has a much larger presence in NJPW but even there, under Finlay, it’s definitely lost a bit of its prominence. (A bit = a bunch.)

I still think BCG in AEW is a great stable though, though I’d like to see White go off on his own a bit more. Which has been the case in the Continental Classic because everyone’s banned from ringside as a surface rule for the tournament. I’ve been enjoying him a lot more lately.

And Punk hasn’t really even crap talked AEW or anything much so far (probably the NDA tbh) - it’s just the way he acts outside of the ring seems antithetical to the crap he claimed to believe in for his entire life. But whatev.

Watching Smackdown the past several weeks, it really feels like WWE has cooled the jets on LA Knight....very little TV time, not on the SS card, and has barely had a mic in his hand since Crown Jewel. Damage CTRL still feels like Jobber CTRL. Overall, Smackdown feels like it has slid behind Raw, despite adding Orton, Aldis, Kairi, etc. At least their belt holders are all part timers. Does anyone realistically expect either Owens or Escobar to go over Logan?

I gotta hand it to AEW for their tournament. Pretty much every match has been great and the guys who appeared wouldn't be winning are doing some great character development...looking at Garcia and Jay Lethal especially. I love the round robin plan so it doesn't feel so pre-determined. Definitely looking forward to the triple threat next week with White, Strickland, and Gimpy Ambrose.

Raw's been some fun the past little while. It feels more like something is building compared to Smackdown that feels more like spinning wheels waiting for the Rumble. Hoping Punk can bring it in the ring again without a mic. His matches in AEW were a mixed bag but he was looking slow and disinterested in most of the actual matches, other than the ones with MJF.

AJPW announced some kind of partnership with NXT a few hours ago. Pretty cool.

As for WWE kinda cooling down on LA Knight, I think so too, and I'm fine with that as my overall opinion of the guy has kinda cooled down as well. First off, they took a little too long to finally pull the trigger and get behind the guy (not unlike the situation with Zack Ryder). And now that they did, I feel like he's just cutting the same promo every week. I give him credit though, like The Miz and MJF, all he needs is a microphone in his hand and he will present himself as a big star, and the people will eat it up.

I said it when it was happening — to put him in a big time title match vs Reigns without having him win it would destroy his momentum. That’s exactly what happened. It’s like they heard the crowd actually enjoying a wrestler organically and gave him a title shot to satiate his fans. Now they can’t claim he’s being fumbled because all the weirdo WWE diehards will just say “UH HE GOT A TITLE SHOT HOW IS THAT A FUMBLE!?”

They fumbled him. And if Cody isn’t the dude to take the title from Reigns at Mania, they fumbled him too. His last year has not been all that engaging at all. The Brock feud was the best bit.

PizzaTheHutt wrote:


Looks like they're sending Charlie Dempsey (Regal's kid) over to AJPW for an event on January 3. Hopefully something else comes out of this, I like that dude. He hasn't had a chance to show any of the charisma his old man has, but I'm a fan of his in-ring work so far even though you could certainly argue he hasn't been in any real meaningful feuds to show what he's really capable of yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HeJ2A93Doc

That’d be cool if it worked out. I think there’s something more there, but time will tell. I hope Charlie will get time to develop since his dad is in the office, but they’ve made weirder and dumber decisions, so who’s to know?

Charlie Dempsey is almost as bad a name as Lexis King.

Names like Lexis King or Dolph Ziggler I think are in totally different categories. They just sound stupid. It's completely up to the talent to make you remember them for something other than a name like that (which Dolph did, but jury is still out on Lexis). Charlie Dempsey as a name reminds me of Daniel Bryan, like it's a name you'd first hear and the words "wrestling superstar" is the last thing you'd think of his profession being because it just sounds so...normal.

Of course it could always be worse, like the infamously bad Ken Raper, who I don't think accomplished anything noteworthy in his career other than his name reaching meme status 20-30 years later.

It’s not a bad name per se, and it’s not so bad it’s good, but it’s just a normal sounding name that won’t headline Wrestlemania or be picked very much in WWE 2K. They’ve done worse names, and they’ll do worse names later, but his name is the least of his worries. It’s not like WWE is opposed to changing anyone’s name mid-run.

BucketofJustice wrote:


I know there are plenty of other examples, but the first one that comes to mind is Hennig's boy going from Michael McGillicutty to Curtis Axel, and you'd think with a name like Michael McGillicutty you can't really get worse than that, but they found a way.

Ric Flair has crypto now. Did he launch a fake currency because he’s so bad at real currency?

https://www.officialwooooocoin.com/

It's getting to the point that I feel like the folks he partners with on these endeavors are taking advantage of a clearly out-of-touch old man to sell their crap. First an energy drink, now crypto. You know Flair isn't coming up with these ideas on his own haha

Kevin Dunn is leaving WWE. Can’t say I’m surprised as he didn’t want to work for anyone but Vince.

I guess if anything changes over the next few weeks we'll see if he really contributed anything other than constant camera cuts. It doesn't seem like anyone credits him with anything good about the company's production, it's always the bad.

He's been there for like three decades if not more, it's safe to say he is set for life and can just retire right now and not have to worry about anything.

Yeah he’s set for life, and his kids lives and so on and so forth. I’m sure he’s got generational wealth now. I doubt he does anything in wrestling again.

Fudge Kevin Dunn.

World’s End was a mixed bag. Some not very good stuff (Julia/Abadon, the Callis Family 8-man tag match), some decent stuff (Andrade/Miro, BCC/Briscoe/Garcia vs the other CC losers), and some fudging great stuff (Copeland/Christian, Kingston/Mox, MJF/Joe). Everything else was just fine.

The Devil was paid off in the most sensible way - it was Adam Cole. Duh. But the reveal was very cool with the whole chair shtick.

The show will be a divisive one, but I thought it was overall real good. Not great, not bad. It was good. AEW has so many banger PPVs, a “good” one will be treated like the end of the world. Fitting name tbh.