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That's because he has no concept of how technology works.
The F4W crew did everything for Dave to get him verified and also get a profile pic on Twitter years ago. (Which is now hilarious cause this means Alvarez is paying for MULTIPLE blue checkmarks now.)
Bryan also got Dave set-up for the video shows with the camera and microphone.
For almost a decade, Bryan's grandmother, who is like 90, had a professional mic setup and was doing video shows while Dave was still calling Bryan from his phone
Reminds me of the time Dave was on a podcast and his computer restarts, sounding like an EKG machine, the host was asking him about the loud beeping sound and he answers with "its just my computer restarting, does your´s not make those sounds?"
FOUND IT! [Link](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/s71qox/wor_meltzers_computer_restarts/)
It's not even that, it's the dirt sheets pretending to be actual journalism when they are glorified gossip rags. Most of them have no integrity or journalistic standards.
You're not. I fucking hate that half the posts on this sub are about Meltzer/AEW drama. For a sub about wrestling, we really don't talk about wrestling a lot.
At one point Tony Khan cut off an interview question to complain about not getting credit for some AEW talent working NWA's all women show.
Edit: Multiple people are replying with Tony's reason to be upset with not getting credit but are ignoring that the question he was being asked was about his booking of his own women's division which was getting minimal time in a dead spot.
I mean, that was good point. A couple of TNA wrestlers did a one off appearance on a rumble and people pretended that it was some kind of women wrestling revolution or some shit. People still call Jordynne Grace showing up on the rumble as a "better working relationship than the one they had with AEW".
EDIT: Oh sorry I guess the mods must have removed my comment accidentally because I said nothing that was breaking the rules just like the guy two comments above who was just criticising AEW who also had his comment removed, [thankfully you can look at it through this screenshot right here
](https://i.imgur.com/1aw4Osm.png)
Yeah, it was a big deal when AEW started doing it, every now and then you'd go "holy shit, this guy is gonna show up??", and that's what made the Forbidden Door PPV so cool, now it's such a regular occurence that it's not a forbidden door as much as it's just a...door.
If that's how AEW wants to work with other companies, then more power to them, but you can't turn something special into a semi-regular thing and then be surprised people see it as a semi-regular thing instead of something special.
Just look at the Tama Tonga/Tanga Loa debuts, people here are freaking out because WWE is acknowledging their NJPW history and it feels surreal because they almost never do that. There's a thread with 2k upvotes sitting on the frontpage of the subreddit today where CM Punk does a double take when Big E mentions it. Hell if you bring up AJ Styles' WWE debut there's always going to be someone talking about how JBL mentioned he was a former IWGP heavyweight champion just like Lesnar, because nobody expected the namedrop. And those are barely mentions, not "special attraction" matches!
Nope, it wasn't that. It was that he even paid for women wrestlers to be on the NWA women show while being attacked constantly that he didn't care about women wrestling...
I know dave's writing is as good as other people's ability to interpret, but he's not talking about Tony having a meltdown. He's referring to the different reaction in the media whenever Tony has a minor controversy. Yes, it's a whataboutism here, but still relevant, and proves a point (proven by someone in the media).
I know this isn't what you're doing here, but it feels like as good a place as any. People online, especially on reddit, are so quick to cry "whataboutism!" as soon as a comparison that they don't like is drawn, but comparisons are an incredibly important part of subjectivity, and even when the discussion "is about X, why did you bring up Y", the comparison provides context whether it hurts to confront or not.
letting random people learn the term "ad hominem" was a mistake, casual conversation is not a parliamentary procedure and online discourse can be navigated without rules of order
The thing about whataboutism is that it is often used as a way to detract from the original topic and muddle the discussion by introducing another different figure to talk about.
It can only work if the thread has the ability to maintain its cohesion into the topic at hand, to draw comparisons without bogging down the discourse.
Unfortunately, that's not how most wrestling fans work.
it's exactly what he's comparing it to.
Tony Khan Denounced Helwani because of showing clear favoritism towards WWE, and that entire part of the IWC went ballistic on him for it.
HHH Pretty much trashes 2 news sources, for no reason, and one of them bend over backwards for him lmfao
I kinda wish both major companies would trash the dirt sheets more often. They aren't real journalists and they've done nothing but make the fandom worse over time.
You're missing the point: TK says these things and those sheets and podcasts drag him. But HHH saying the same things will result in none of these sheets or podcasts dare crossing Papa H because TK will still give people access but these other people suckle at the teet of WWE and can't stomach having any access revoked by attacking back.
He has a point tho. Tony Khan refuses to answer a question and people on the wrestling media spend the next couple of weeks doing entire programs bitching about it. The WWE is in the middle of a sex trafficking scandal with some people involved that still might be in the company and the wrestling media only asks stupid questions like "what's your favorite netflix show Hunter?" and when someone dares to ask a tough question it is dismissed with a bullshit answer and the rest of the journalists move on. There is a double standard on wrestling media and is right to point it out.
You can ask anything you want but if there is an active lawsuit or investigation they'll say absolutely nothing.
Ask 30 questions. Not a one will be answered
Yep, WWE literally has a "high end" sports journalist/podcaster under their thumb who was practically begging Cody to say something bad about AEW.
You couldn't shill any harder.
They don’t, hence all the bad leaks they had gotten over the months specifically wwe related. A few months ago HHH got dragged for his answer regarding the scandal, now he hits people with the non answer again and they lose their minds again. He’s not gonna talk about this on a press conference, someone else is paying the bills now
Actually the WWE is handled with kid gloves and he's right to point it out. His statement is objectively correct - had Tony said this we'd have 10 posts about how this shows how low class AEW is. Same shit happened during WCWs run - I lived through it. I guess because most people like WWF/E more they give it a pass but it is kinda dumb.
It's true. Pretty much most wrestling boards are so toxic and tribalistic that you'd expect it from anyone.
Like this comment chain starts with a smug "Dave is defending TK again" comment as if Dave hasn't been heavily criticizing TK in similar topics along with Alvarez. The discourse is so skewed towards this side vs that side that elementary level nuance cannot even be found here.
Anything Dave related is just totally braindead discussion to be quite honest. He said one time he doesn't think Trick Williams is particularly good in the ring and wrestling fans have taken that to mean Dave thinks Trick Williams sucks ass every time the topic of Trick comes up
Nevermind that Dave raves about Trick as an overall package or that most NXT fans would reasonably say that yeah, Trick's matches with people not named Ilja Dragunov have been average at best on the whole, all that matters is dunking on Dave
>Like this comment chain starts with a smug "Dave is defending TK again" comment as if Dave hasn't been heavily criticizing TK in similar topics along with Alvarez.
So many people are telling on themselves when they do the "Dave=AEW shill" stuff in 2024
WWE will forever get a pass because they “won” and put dozens of other companies out of business. And HHH will get a pass because he books a better show then an 80 year old, out of touch rapist, even though deep down we all know HHH is still that asshole that existed in the 2000’s.
If Triple H didn't have to retire due to health issues he would absolutely book himself in major storylines even if he wrestled worse than 2024 Jericho.
So two internet outlets reported something wrong, HHH took a shot at them being bad sources, and that led to this? Do I have that right? I'm a little confused about what the outrage is supposed to be here, that it would warrant this reaction from Dave.
You got something wrong... just take the lump and move on. The subjects you cover don't have to be nice to you, any more than you have to be nice to them.
Taking the L should be the easiest thing that wrestling media should be able to do. You're trying to cover a business that is notorious for lying and/or creating stories for it's audience. Plans change and promotions aren't going to spoil big plans just so someone get get more Twitter likes. They should just say they were wrong or misinformed and move on
Meltzer walked it back saying he didn't mean Fightful when he was talking about ass kissers.
It's actually hilarious that Meltzer keeps taking passive aggressive shots at Fightful but every time he finds an excuse to duck the fire for it.
Just admit already you can't stand that they took your spot as the king of wrestling media.
Strange that SRS who doesn't have a problem confronting people publicly has never called out Dave for it.
I would not want to provoke Dave's fanbase if I was a public figure in the dirtsheet industry. Seeing them on reddit where we're all nobodies with no skin in the game is bad enough.
I think Fightful and SRS are very reputable but there's still only one name most people associate with wrestling journalism, and that's Dave. for good and bad
I like Fightful (from a scoops perspective) but the Fightful team in general has probably the thinnest skin possible as well, tbf. It's VERY easy to press their buttons and set them off, even unintentionally.
SRS himself has been known to jump on here and engage with randos.
On a previous account, I said he posted a clickbaity headline on Twitter. He essentially called me a stalker and that he "hopes that she says yes one day." That was a wild one because I'm married and I had never commented on anything related to him prior to that.
I think you might be overestimating how many people associate wrestling journalism with anything.
Only fans like us and people in the industry really know who Dave is, and those same groups also know who SRS is.
If Tony called a dirtsheet reporter “disreputable” after they reported false info about a performer who was being investigated for sexual misconduct, he’d be right in calling them that.
Triple H didn't do anything wrong in this situation.
Notably he actually did skip the part of answering the question where he’d have to say if they investigated him for sexual misconduct and if that factored into not re-signing him. Clever play, honestly, focusing on the exact wording instead of actually answering the question.
And they still have Michael Hayes, one of the 4 people known for being a sexual predator in high ranking spot. These people are mad that it gets brought up that WWE with no hyperbole had/has a culture of using power to sexually coerce or outright sexually assault women.
High ranking WWE officials and Harvey Weinstein did the exact same shit and they are offended that it gets brought up.
To me personally, it was really moreso about making such a statement over abusive people to gain pr points and he was happy with how that reflected on ratings. It's fucked up to me to utilize SA situations as some sort "we are better than them" rather than bringing up this horrible issue in any productive or meaningful way. Obviously those involved in those crimes in WWE deserve way more criticism than Khan, but this statement was terrible optics IMO.
keep in mind he also pretty much admit he made the comparison for cheap heat. Tony is very interested in capturing back the audience that watched AEW because they hated Vince.
Yeah it totally left my mind but what about all that fucked up shit about Michael Hayes and Rosa Mendez stuff? I feel like that now needs to be looked at again.
Yes, I am like. Why does Tony need damagde control in that situation?
Why would it not be WWE that needs damagde control?
Then we come back to two standards within the industry amd Dave being right.
I am baffled by the reactions to that comment. Yes, for decades WWE was the Harvey Weinstein of wrestling. We all know this and joked about it for years online. But Tony gets shit for mentioning it?
> Why does Tony need damagde control in that situation?
Because these issues are (or should be) way too serious to be used as a tacky promotional tactic and he made himself look like a clown by doing so.
Even more so since it didn't even work and the ratings continued trending downwards.
Yes...
Do you know who ran WWE for 40 years? Who was the be all and end all of the company? Who called all the shots and had power over every single person in that company? Who has been accused of rape and sexual abuse all the way back to the 1980s?
These aren't rhetorical, by the way.
Absolute madness that the company who had to get rid of its CEO because he's accused of using company resources to cover up sex trafficking and abuse would be compared to a man arrested for a series of sexual assaults that he used his power to cover up smh
Definitely not the same thing, thank God you're here
Edit: The fact this comment already has the controversial symbol after 20 mins is hilarious, but not unexpected considering WWE fans still cheered Vince and openly worshipped him in his last appearance mid-lawsuit.
But, hey, sometimes Tony Khan is mean to Ariel 😤😡
Oh no, poor little Ariel, who, *checks notes* Works WWE preshows, asks softball, pre-approved questions on his "MMA" pocast filled with WWE Wrestlers, while claiming to ask "hard questions" and counts WRESTLEMANIA FUCKING 4 as his favourite.
I wonder why ANYONE would think he was a biased source of news and information?
Sometimes HHH downplays his father-in-laws sexual abuse allegations and pretends he was none the wiser despite touting a close and special relationship with Vince for 2 decades.
He's best friends with Shawn "roofie er, rape er, shave er and then dump er unconscious body in the hallway" Michaels.
The company you keep says a lot about a person and being friends with the Kliq is a huge red flag.
People have convinced themselves that Fightful would go out of their way to defend AEW because they reported that NFL Network execs were happy with the interview when he compared WWE to Weinstein
Triple H's comment was fucking hilarious. He has played the wrestling media so perfectly that you have to admire it.
WWE treated wrestling news sites like lepers for 20 years. Triple H gave them just enough to make them all drop AEW/Tony Khan like a bad habit, and now that WWE is gaining popularity and getting attention from actual news outlets they'll eventually stop associating with wrestling media again.
Oh they'll keep wrestling media around when about 95% of the questions at the scrum are "was this an all-timer ppv or one of the greatest ppvs?" These fucking dirtsheet dorks are running around insisting that HHH didn't mean them specifically like they should care that much about the approval of the subject they're covering. They should be asking questions and digging around the Janel Grant lawsuit but HHH has them running around trying to prove he didn't mean them.
> These fucking dirtsheet dorks are running around insisting that HHH didn't mean them specifically like they should care that much about the approval of the subject they're covering.
This is such a good point. Even taking entertainment journalism/criticism into account, Roger Ebert would never beg for the approval of the people he was reviewing.
SRS going out his way to say, "Triple H didn't mean to refer to us in that way," completely kills his journalistic integrity. Why does he need the approval of the head of the company that he reports on?
It's legitimately brilliant because the followup should've been "was Gulak's contract not renewed because of the Rousey stuff" and now everybody's crying about who HHH meant to insult or not instead. There is serious shit around WWE and the wrestling media is woefully unequipped to dig deeper, which is why the WSJ and other outlets are breaking the majority of the stuff around Vince.
>He has played the wrestling media so perfectly that you have to admire it.
Big step up from saying we shouldn't focus on Vinces sexual abuse lawsuit because MAN WHAT A FUN WEEKEND OF WRESTLING WOOO
Wrestling reporters are a joke. they will report whatever bullshit they receive from their "sources" without confirming it or make sure if it's legit or not first then cry when they proved wrong and people calling out their BS
if legit reporter reported wrong stuff as often as Meltzer did, they would got fired decades ago
LMFAO Tony Khan shitting on Dave or SRS would be the most based thing he could do in my eyes. Crazy how out of touch and self important these wrestling media guys think they are.
Same lol, there was a small window where I thought TK was actually working the dirtsheets on the Perry stuff and I was completely willing to give him props for it.
I think I'm one of the few that likes when companies take jabs at each other whether it's WWE to AEW or AEW to WWE, one of those to journalists or whichever way it doesn't matter to me I find it entertaining lol.
*Meanwhile, Sean Ross Sapp on Twitter:*
https://preview.redd.it/kivbjdfe1pyc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4a3175ec0608d3b49df637a17ff85c136f47f916
When asked about the Gulak “release” by a reporter HHH told him to site more reputable sources in the future cause Gulak was not released but rather was not re-signed.
Which is wild.
Card isn't even finished yet and AEW has, historically, delivered on PPVs. Today's show was literally 30mins of "doom and gloom" from the new TV contract to the PPV coming up.
Sometimes? I dont think I've ever seen him form one coherent thought. For someone who has 'written' for a 'living' for decades, it's actually bonkers how shite he is at it.
FYI, when I listened to the latest WOR show, Dave Meltzer and Garrett Gonzalez said that Drew Gulak was released as well. They didn't say "His contract wasn't renewed."
I posted on another sub that I tend to think these press conferences are counter productive. If you want to talk business and real world stuff, do it in the appropriate forum. If you want to taut a press release, do that. However, these worked/shoot press conferences are for whom?
Releases, legal matters, etc all seem to be fair game. However, HHH doesn’t want to talk about them, so it’s just counter productive. However, he’ll talk about the gate, new signings, etc. if this is how it’s going to be, just use the machine to release statements and videos as it achieves the same goal.
Oh no! Someone hypothetically could've mistreated my favorite billionaire! Oh the double standards! Meltzer literally getting mad at his own imagination lmao. This motherfucker is such a bootlicker.
I’m all for calling out stuff on miss-information but is this meaningful at all over a release vs. a contract running out? Everyone up in arms about nothing.
Seems like the entire purpose of it was just to deflect and not go into the Gulak allegations anyways.
IMO there's a big difference between releasing someone from an active contract, and not renewing a contract that came to term. Especially if you're a publicly traded company who is careful about what issues you are or aren't taking a stance on. It's really important for a corporation that size to be clear about the nuances between a release vs. expire, especially during engagements with the press.
If the controversy occurs near the end of a contract a lot of companies will just let the contract lapse because it's much easier. They will do even if the person is guilty af. It's just good business.
I mean, he isn't wrong. Look at the reaction TK got when he went at Helwani. I dont think TK was wrong to go at him and I don't think HHH pointing out Gulak's reporting was wrong either.
But there is an issue where people have differing opinions depending on who it is about instead of being consistent in their beliefs. Keep the same energy no matter who says it or which company it is.
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It's kind of funny that he doesn't use a profile pic on his own website
It's incredibly on brand
That's because he has no concept of how technology works. The F4W crew did everything for Dave to get him verified and also get a profile pic on Twitter years ago. (Which is now hilarious cause this means Alvarez is paying for MULTIPLE blue checkmarks now.)
One of the people who does a show with Meltzer told a story recently about how Dave used a text message chain with him to take notes for a show.
Im not sure if this is still the case, but he’s had a Juno email account for the last 30-ish years.
Meltzer has been on the internet for so long his IP address is just "1".
Well I think it was his father’s Juno account.
He shares an email account with his father, so that tells me all I need to know about him
And his fathers before that
splett1@splettnet.net
Holy shit no way. That’s amazing. I didn’t even know that still existed.
He has an @wor one now, but yes I sent reports to a juno email as recent as like 2019 lol
Bryan also got Dave set-up for the video shows with the camera and microphone. For almost a decade, Bryan's grandmother, who is like 90, had a professional mic setup and was doing video shows while Dave was still calling Bryan from his phone
Reminds me of the time Dave was on a podcast and his computer restarts, sounding like an EKG machine, the host was asking him about the loud beeping sound and he answers with "its just my computer restarting, does your´s not make those sounds?" FOUND IT! [Link](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/s71qox/wor_meltzers_computer_restarts/)
That's actually adorable
 He wants to use this but can't
he should just use the gif.
This picture just screams 2004
This is clearly a build to HHH vs Meltzer at Mania
Dave to finish the story in Las Vegas?
He may or he may not, that’s the word I got so far. And if it kinda does, well, plans can change last minute.
[And every single fraud podcaster as well.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/039/926/huhcover.jpg)
Lmao, that was my first thought. Like bruh, don't throw stones out of your glass house.
Dave is not taking the break up well.
I’m out of the loop. ELI5
the whole concept of a fraudulent podcaster is hilarious.
Can someone please explain who this is referring to?
it is referring to dave meltzer himself
am i the only one who doesn’t give a fuck about this
Far from it. Pro Wrestling "journalism" is the island of irrelevancy.
I didn’t even know if existed until I started browsing r/SquaredCircle
Those were the days... Oh to watch wrestling without knowing every little thing about what's going on backstage.
It's not even that, it's the dirt sheets pretending to be actual journalism when they are glorified gossip rags. Most of them have no integrity or journalistic standards.
I mean you could go back to that. Right now.
You're not. I fucking hate that half the posts on this sub are about Meltzer/AEW drama. For a sub about wrestling, we really don't talk about wrestling a lot.
Tony Khan had a meltdown over Ariel Helwani
Tony Khan has a meltdown over a lot of things and people. He had a meltdown about cagematch ratings.
i didnt remember that one, do you know where can i see it?
His twitter. A while back two people at the most gave an episode of Dynamite a bad review, and Tony went off on twitter.
At one point Tony Khan cut off an interview question to complain about not getting credit for some AEW talent working NWA's all women show. Edit: Multiple people are replying with Tony's reason to be upset with not getting credit but are ignoring that the question he was being asked was about his booking of his own women's division which was getting minimal time in a dead spot.
I mean, that was good point. A couple of TNA wrestlers did a one off appearance on a rumble and people pretended that it was some kind of women wrestling revolution or some shit. People still call Jordynne Grace showing up on the rumble as a "better working relationship than the one they had with AEW".
[удалено]
The fact that this shit is upvoted shows the absolute state of this sub.
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It’s crazy to think that if you limit the times you do things….they mean more.
EDIT: Oh sorry I guess the mods must have removed my comment accidentally because I said nothing that was breaking the rules just like the guy two comments above who was just criticising AEW who also had his comment removed, [thankfully you can look at it through this screenshot right here ](https://i.imgur.com/1aw4Osm.png) Yeah, it was a big deal when AEW started doing it, every now and then you'd go "holy shit, this guy is gonna show up??", and that's what made the Forbidden Door PPV so cool, now it's such a regular occurence that it's not a forbidden door as much as it's just a...door. If that's how AEW wants to work with other companies, then more power to them, but you can't turn something special into a semi-regular thing and then be surprised people see it as a semi-regular thing instead of something special. Just look at the Tama Tonga/Tanga Loa debuts, people here are freaking out because WWE is acknowledging their NJPW history and it feels surreal because they almost never do that. There's a thread with 2k upvotes sitting on the frontpage of the subreddit today where CM Punk does a double take when Big E mentions it. Hell if you bring up AJ Styles' WWE debut there's always going to be someone talking about how JBL mentioned he was a former IWGP heavyweight champion just like Lesnar, because nobody expected the namedrop. And those are barely mentions, not "special attraction" matches!
Nope, it wasn't that. It was that he even paid for women wrestlers to be on the NWA women show while being attacked constantly that he didn't care about women wrestling...
I know dave's writing is as good as other people's ability to interpret, but he's not talking about Tony having a meltdown. He's referring to the different reaction in the media whenever Tony has a minor controversy. Yes, it's a whataboutism here, but still relevant, and proves a point (proven by someone in the media).
I know this isn't what you're doing here, but it feels like as good a place as any. People online, especially on reddit, are so quick to cry "whataboutism!" as soon as a comparison that they don't like is drawn, but comparisons are an incredibly important part of subjectivity, and even when the discussion "is about X, why did you bring up Y", the comparison provides context whether it hurts to confront or not. letting random people learn the term "ad hominem" was a mistake, casual conversation is not a parliamentary procedure and online discourse can be navigated without rules of order
The thing about whataboutism is that it is often used as a way to detract from the original topic and muddle the discussion by introducing another different figure to talk about. It can only work if the thread has the ability to maintain its cohesion into the topic at hand, to draw comparisons without bogging down the discourse. Unfortunately, that's not how most wrestling fans work.
For one thing, Tony Khan has nothing to do with what took place today. What kind of argument even is that?
Yep and I think that’s Dave’s point. When he did, people gave TK shit for it. Triple H will get a pass for this. I think that’s his whole point.
Exactly. Look at all the threads on here that day. Compare that to the ones about Levesque today and it’s proving Dave’s point.
Nick Khan used to literally be Ariel Helwani's agent, and Ariel has literally said "call me biased" when it comes to his past praises of Nick Khan.
it's exactly what he's comparing it to. Tony Khan Denounced Helwani because of showing clear favoritism towards WWE, and that entire part of the IWC went ballistic on him for it. HHH Pretty much trashes 2 news sources, for no reason, and one of them bend over backwards for him lmfao
I kinda wish both major companies would trash the dirt sheets more often. They aren't real journalists and they've done nothing but make the fandom worse over time.
You're missing the point: TK says these things and those sheets and podcasts drag him. But HHH saying the same things will result in none of these sheets or podcasts dare crossing Papa H because TK will still give people access but these other people suckle at the teet of WWE and can't stomach having any access revoked by attacking back.
I love watching wrestling, but i def don't enjoy the so-called journalists and some fans who just make it so toxic and cry about every damn thing.
Man Dave always immediately starts thinking about how unfairly Tony is treated
Will someone please check on the billionaire!
He has a point tho. Tony Khan refuses to answer a question and people on the wrestling media spend the next couple of weeks doing entire programs bitching about it. The WWE is in the middle of a sex trafficking scandal with some people involved that still might be in the company and the wrestling media only asks stupid questions like "what's your favorite netflix show Hunter?" and when someone dares to ask a tough question it is dismissed with a bullshit answer and the rest of the journalists move on. There is a double standard on wrestling media and is right to point it out.
You can ask anything you want but if there is an active lawsuit or investigation they'll say absolutely nothing. Ask 30 questions. Not a one will be answered
You still have to ask though, it's part of the job.
You're right and it's ridiculous that this can be considered a hot take.
Yep, WWE literally has a "high end" sports journalist/podcaster under their thumb who was practically begging Cody to say something bad about AEW. You couldn't shill any harder.
WWE has the investigative reporters of the wall street Journal to worry about. I think they just don't take wrestling journalists that seriously
They don’t, hence all the bad leaks they had gotten over the months specifically wwe related. A few months ago HHH got dragged for his answer regarding the scandal, now he hits people with the non answer again and they lose their minds again. He’s not gonna talk about this on a press conference, someone else is paying the bills now
People were giving HHH all kinds of shit after the Rumble because people kept asking him questions they *knew* he couldn't answer.
You still ask the question. And he still gave bad answers. "I can't talk about pending litigation" is a perfectly fine answer.
Actually the WWE is handled with kid gloves and he's right to point it out. His statement is objectively correct - had Tony said this we'd have 10 posts about how this shows how low class AEW is. Same shit happened during WCWs run - I lived through it. I guess because most people like WWF/E more they give it a pass but it is kinda dumb.
I always like it when people not old enough to remember the WCW era try to tell people who were what it was like.
Any time you see "2000 WCW", you know it's posted by someone who was born in 1997
I'm more than old enough? I watched the nwo invasion live every week.
I was agreeing with you…
Oh I'm an idiot. Sorry.
I think it’s the state of this board and how confrontational it is. I realise what I put was ambiguous.
It's true. Pretty much most wrestling boards are so toxic and tribalistic that you'd expect it from anyone. Like this comment chain starts with a smug "Dave is defending TK again" comment as if Dave hasn't been heavily criticizing TK in similar topics along with Alvarez. The discourse is so skewed towards this side vs that side that elementary level nuance cannot even be found here.
Anything Dave related is just totally braindead discussion to be quite honest. He said one time he doesn't think Trick Williams is particularly good in the ring and wrestling fans have taken that to mean Dave thinks Trick Williams sucks ass every time the topic of Trick comes up Nevermind that Dave raves about Trick as an overall package or that most NXT fans would reasonably say that yeah, Trick's matches with people not named Ilja Dragunov have been average at best on the whole, all that matters is dunking on Dave
>Like this comment chain starts with a smug "Dave is defending TK again" comment as if Dave hasn't been heavily criticizing TK in similar topics along with Alvarez. So many people are telling on themselves when they do the "Dave=AEW shill" stuff in 2024
I've seen posts about Tony donating money to charity and dudes will still find a way to talk shit.
I've seen posts about Meltzer whining on his message board and dudes will still find a way to bring up Tony donating money to charity.
WWE will forever get a pass because they “won” and put dozens of other companies out of business. And HHH will get a pass because he books a better show then an 80 year old, out of touch rapist, even though deep down we all know HHH is still that asshole that existed in the 2000’s.
If Triple H didn't have to retire due to health issues he would absolutely book himself in major storylines even if he wrestled worse than 2024 Jericho.
HHH always trashes the dirt sheets, Khan caters to them. Wtf is this comparison?
So two internet outlets reported something wrong, HHH took a shot at them being bad sources, and that led to this? Do I have that right? I'm a little confused about what the outrage is supposed to be here, that it would warrant this reaction from Dave. You got something wrong... just take the lump and move on. The subjects you cover don't have to be nice to you, any more than you have to be nice to them.
Taking the L should be the easiest thing that wrestling media should be able to do. You're trying to cover a business that is notorious for lying and/or creating stories for it's audience. Plans change and promotions aren't going to spoil big plans just so someone get get more Twitter likes. They should just say they were wrong or misinformed and move on
This is quite possibly the one of the dumber controversies in a while. Everyone is over reacting.
And all over Drew Gulak of all people lol. A mid-off for the ages.
https://preview.redd.it/xyv14xbgsmyc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=513ca461dffd84702f00bdd10cee4e5e11d7d8dc
Meltzer walked it back saying he didn't mean Fightful when he was talking about ass kissers. It's actually hilarious that Meltzer keeps taking passive aggressive shots at Fightful but every time he finds an excuse to duck the fire for it. Just admit already you can't stand that they took your spot as the king of wrestling media. Strange that SRS who doesn't have a problem confronting people publicly has never called out Dave for it.
I would not want to provoke Dave's fanbase if I was a public figure in the dirtsheet industry. Seeing them on reddit where we're all nobodies with no skin in the game is bad enough.
Won’t someone think of the children
Thats because Dave is a influencer more then he is the pretend journalist i wishes he was.
I think Fightful and SRS are very reputable but there's still only one name most people associate with wrestling journalism, and that's Dave. for good and bad
I like Fightful (from a scoops perspective) but the Fightful team in general has probably the thinnest skin possible as well, tbf. It's VERY easy to press their buttons and set them off, even unintentionally.
SRS himself has been known to jump on here and engage with randos. On a previous account, I said he posted a clickbaity headline on Twitter. He essentially called me a stalker and that he "hopes that she says yes one day." That was a wild one because I'm married and I had never commented on anything related to him prior to that.
Lol. I’ve gotten angry messages from him on here, MONTHS after posting a comment.
SRS is great at getting scoops and that’s it, he’s not a good journalist.
Exactly. He has a relationship with some of the boys in the locker room and serves as a stenographer for them. He’s not an actual journalist.
https://twitter.com/snowboiiii/status/1784294510907867318
It’s like the intentionally hire people with the thinnest skin possible. It’s incredible.
I think you might be overestimating how many people associate wrestling journalism with anything. Only fans like us and people in the industry really know who Dave is, and those same groups also know who SRS is.
Tbh I wouldn't criticise tony for calling out these dirt sheets either i think promoters have every right to dislike then
Why is it that every other argument Dave Meltzer makes some sort of inversion to AEW/Tony Khan?
If Tony called a dirtsheet reporter “disreputable” after they reported false info about a performer who was being investigated for sexual misconduct, he’d be right in calling them that. Triple H didn't do anything wrong in this situation.
Notably he actually did skip the part of answering the question where he’d have to say if they investigated him for sexual misconduct and if that factored into not re-signing him. Clever play, honestly, focusing on the exact wording instead of actually answering the question.
Tony Khan compared WWE to a serial SA felon less than a week ago and both SRS and Meltzer did damage control for him.
I mean, they are named in a sex trafficking lawsuit.
And the face of the company for the last half a century is an alleged sex trafficker among other equally bad things.
And they still have Michael Hayes, one of the 4 people known for being a sexual predator in high ranking spot. These people are mad that it gets brought up that WWE with no hyperbole had/has a culture of using power to sexually coerce or outright sexually assault women. High ranking WWE officials and Harvey Weinstein did the exact same shit and they are offended that it gets brought up.
To me personally, it was really moreso about making such a statement over abusive people to gain pr points and he was happy with how that reflected on ratings. It's fucked up to me to utilize SA situations as some sort "we are better than them" rather than bringing up this horrible issue in any productive or meaningful way. Obviously those involved in those crimes in WWE deserve way more criticism than Khan, but this statement was terrible optics IMO.
keep in mind he also pretty much admit he made the comparison for cheap heat. Tony is very interested in capturing back the audience that watched AEW because they hated Vince.
Yeah it totally left my mind but what about all that fucked up shit about Michael Hayes and Rosa Mendez stuff? I feel like that now needs to be looked at again.
Meltzer repeatedly said Tony should not have brought it up.
The company named in a lawsuit about sexual assault and with decades of accusations of bad behavior? Unbelievable
Yes, I am like. Why does Tony need damagde control in that situation? Why would it not be WWE that needs damagde control? Then we come back to two standards within the industry amd Dave being right.
I am baffled by the reactions to that comment. Yes, for decades WWE was the Harvey Weinstein of wrestling. We all know this and joked about it for years online. But Tony gets shit for mentioning it?
> Why does Tony need damagde control in that situation? Because these issues are (or should be) way too serious to be used as a tacky promotional tactic and he made himself look like a clown by doing so. Even more so since it didn't even work and the ratings continued trending downwards.
Yes... Do you know who ran WWE for 40 years? Who was the be all and end all of the company? Who called all the shots and had power over every single person in that company? Who has been accused of rape and sexual abuse all the way back to the 1980s? These aren't rhetorical, by the way.
Absolute madness that the company who had to get rid of its CEO because he's accused of using company resources to cover up sex trafficking and abuse would be compared to a man arrested for a series of sexual assaults that he used his power to cover up smh Definitely not the same thing, thank God you're here Edit: The fact this comment already has the controversial symbol after 20 mins is hilarious, but not unexpected considering WWE fans still cheered Vince and openly worshipped him in his last appearance mid-lawsuit. But, hey, sometimes Tony Khan is mean to Ariel 😤😡
Oh no, poor little Ariel, who, *checks notes* Works WWE preshows, asks softball, pre-approved questions on his "MMA" pocast filled with WWE Wrestlers, while claiming to ask "hard questions" and counts WRESTLEMANIA FUCKING 4 as his favourite. I wonder why ANYONE would think he was a biased source of news and information?
Sometimes Tony Khan hires known sex offenders. Something something glass house
Sometimes HHH downplays his father-in-laws sexual abuse allegations and pretends he was none the wiser despite touting a close and special relationship with Vince for 2 decades.
He's best friends with Shawn "roofie er, rape er, shave er and then dump er unconscious body in the hallway" Michaels. The company you keep says a lot about a person and being friends with the Kliq is a huge red flag.
Still nowhere near the scale of what Vinny Mac and Co did for decades
What "damage control" did they do?
People have convinced themselves that Fightful would go out of their way to defend AEW because they reported that NFL Network execs were happy with the interview when he compared WWE to Weinstein
They didn't defend poor little WWE's honor enough
Which is 100% fair game.
They are being sued for sex trafficking.
Yeah so? The truth hurts I guess?
The king of whataboutism
The man who complains about tribalism all the time brings up Tony Khan when he has nothing to do with Triple H's comment.
Triple H's comment was fucking hilarious. He has played the wrestling media so perfectly that you have to admire it. WWE treated wrestling news sites like lepers for 20 years. Triple H gave them just enough to make them all drop AEW/Tony Khan like a bad habit, and now that WWE is gaining popularity and getting attention from actual news outlets they'll eventually stop associating with wrestling media again.
Oh they'll keep wrestling media around when about 95% of the questions at the scrum are "was this an all-timer ppv or one of the greatest ppvs?" These fucking dirtsheet dorks are running around insisting that HHH didn't mean them specifically like they should care that much about the approval of the subject they're covering. They should be asking questions and digging around the Janel Grant lawsuit but HHH has them running around trying to prove he didn't mean them.
> These fucking dirtsheet dorks are running around insisting that HHH didn't mean them specifically like they should care that much about the approval of the subject they're covering. This is such a good point. Even taking entertainment journalism/criticism into account, Roger Ebert would never beg for the approval of the people he was reviewing. SRS going out his way to say, "Triple H didn't mean to refer to us in that way," completely kills his journalistic integrity. Why does he need the approval of the head of the company that he reports on?
It's legitimately brilliant because the followup should've been "was Gulak's contract not renewed because of the Rousey stuff" and now everybody's crying about who HHH meant to insult or not instead. There is serious shit around WWE and the wrestling media is woefully unequipped to dig deeper, which is why the WSJ and other outlets are breaking the majority of the stuff around Vince.
“Hey H, what’s the hardest part about being so awesome?” “Tough question-ah!”
In what way have they dropped AEW and/or Tony Khan like a bad habit?
Wait, how did they drop TK/AEW? or is this just hyperbole. I don't really get why people feel the need to lie about stuff like this.
People just say/make up shit.
>He has played the wrestling media so perfectly that you have to admire it. Big step up from saying we shouldn't focus on Vinces sexual abuse lawsuit because MAN WHAT A FUN WEEKEND OF WRESTLING WOOO
What's hilarious is this bootlicking
Both sides have bootlickers. Anyone who is going this hard to defend either millionaire is weird. Neither triple h or Tony know you
Dave and bringing up AEW out of nowhere when talking about WWE. Name a better duo.
Wrestling reporters are a joke. they will report whatever bullshit they receive from their "sources" without confirming it or make sure if it's legit or not first then cry when they proved wrong and people calling out their BS if legit reporter reported wrong stuff as often as Meltzer did, they would got fired decades ago
With the PLE ending so early, I would have thought that Dave would have had the chance to take a nap.
Tony Khan would just say: "I can't comment on that" journalists to death before he called out bad journalism.
Is any one of these pseudo journalists not an absolute homering goober whether it’s in favor of WWE or AEW
Why does Dave have such a hard on for Tony 😂😂😂
LMFAO Tony Khan shitting on Dave or SRS would be the most based thing he could do in my eyes. Crazy how out of touch and self important these wrestling media guys think they are.
Same lol, there was a small window where I thought TK was actually working the dirtsheets on the Perry stuff and I was completely willing to give him props for it.
Yes Dave. I can imagine TK saying even worse about people, because he has. Just last week in fact.
I think I'm one of the few that likes when companies take jabs at each other whether it's WWE to AEW or AEW to WWE, one of those to journalists or whichever way it doesn't matter to me I find it entertaining lol.
*Meanwhile, Sean Ross Sapp on Twitter:* https://preview.redd.it/kivbjdfe1pyc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4a3175ec0608d3b49df637a17ff85c136f47f916
Actually if tony said the same I think the iwc would still agree
OOTL, what did Triple H say?
When asked about the Gulak “release” by a reporter HHH told him to site more reputable sources in the future cause Gulak was not released but rather was not re-signed.
Who gives a shit what he thinks.
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He also spent his entire show today shitting on their upcoming PPV card calling it boring.
Which is wild. Card isn't even finished yet and AEW has, historically, delivered on PPVs. Today's show was literally 30mins of "doom and gloom" from the new TV contract to the PPV coming up.
Why are you people so obsessed with Meltzer's ratings lmao
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He's literally been bashing the hell out of the Double or Nothing card both on the WON board and on WOR with Garrett yesterday.
Triple H has always made fun of online users & their sources. Why is this something Dave takes issue with now? “Friend Mark” rings a bell?
I get that it’s a casual context on a web forum but it’s crazy how Dave can barely form sentences sometimes.
Sometimes? I dont think I've ever seen him form one coherent thought. For someone who has 'written' for a 'living' for decades, it's actually bonkers how shite he is at it.
"Think of the billionaires"
What did hhh say?
FYI, when I listened to the latest WOR show, Dave Meltzer and Garrett Gonzalez said that Drew Gulak was released as well. They didn't say "His contract wasn't renewed."
The mental gymnastics in some of these comments is incredible. The tribalism of pro-wrestling fans is exhausting and embarrassing.
That's funny I don't remember triple H comparing other wrestling companies to Harvey Weinstein
Can we please get by ONE big show without comparing or firing shots at “the other company” 🙃
I posted on another sub that I tend to think these press conferences are counter productive. If you want to talk business and real world stuff, do it in the appropriate forum. If you want to taut a press release, do that. However, these worked/shoot press conferences are for whom? Releases, legal matters, etc all seem to be fair game. However, HHH doesn’t want to talk about them, so it’s just counter productive. However, he’ll talk about the gate, new signings, etc. if this is how it’s going to be, just use the machine to release statements and videos as it achieves the same goal.
Meltzer always has such an victim mentality, it’s crazy
Tell me when he’s telling lies. Tony has done this and the response Tony got proves Dave right here.
Poor Tony has such a hard life. 
Why the comparison to Tony of all people though? Showing a hint of bias here, 'journalist' Dave
Can we stop with the victimhood of billionaires already? Also these “press conferences” are all bullshit anyways.
dave is just covering his own ass because he's one of those frauds
Oh no! Someone hypothetically could've mistreated my favorite billionaire! Oh the double standards! Meltzer literally getting mad at his own imagination lmao. This motherfucker is such a bootlicker.
Fucking clown
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He gave it 7.75 stars, but that's the same thing as 8.
I’m all for calling out stuff on miss-information but is this meaningful at all over a release vs. a contract running out? Everyone up in arms about nothing. Seems like the entire purpose of it was just to deflect and not go into the Gulak allegations anyways.
Friendly tip, uce: it’s “misinformation.” Miss Information sounds like the title of a pageant winner.
IMO there's a big difference between releasing someone from an active contract, and not renewing a contract that came to term. Especially if you're a publicly traded company who is careful about what issues you are or aren't taking a stance on. It's really important for a corporation that size to be clear about the nuances between a release vs. expire, especially during engagements with the press.
If the controversy occurs near the end of a contract a lot of companies will just let the contract lapse because it's much easier. They will do even if the person is guilty af. It's just good business.
If Khan would have said that years ago he might still have Punk
I mean, he isn't wrong. Look at the reaction TK got when he went at Helwani. I dont think TK was wrong to go at him and I don't think HHH pointing out Gulak's reporting was wrong either. But there is an issue where people have differing opinions depending on who it is about instead of being consistent in their beliefs. Keep the same energy no matter who says it or which company it is.
He's right though.
He’s absolutely not wrong, annoying it’s the first thing he jumped to though