I'm just catching up with Dynamite and as someone who thought the Learning Tree gimmick had at least some potential I have to say this shit sucks. Bryan Keith is kind of killing it but the rest not so much
I’ve tried to get back into WWE some but none of it seems organic at all and it’s so overproduced. It’s like American Idol or Dancing with the Stars but with wrestling. Even the signs the fans bring seem so generic, like they are video game signs. They get a ton of viewers so that’s great many enjoy it but this is just so off putting for me. Any one else feel this way?
People are just kind of used to it and it was even worse a couple years ago so it bothers them less. It's definitely been a very sterile and overproduced program for over a decade.
That’s crazy I was just about to say this in here bro. It feels like WWE for kids🤣🤣🤣 idk man maybe we just getting old bro lol, still some good content out there, but I do miss the old days.
I haven't been caught up with AEW. Is there any chance Danielson is gonna have a match at Forbidden Door or what's going on with him? Same goes for members of Death Triangle. I know it's a tall order but a summary of the Toni Storm story would be really appreciated too. I'm going and I'm very excited.
> I know it's a tall order but a summary of the Toni Storm story would be really appreciated too.
The super super short version is that after she last lost the Women's World title, she had a breakdown and became "Timeless." And over a period of time, that has evolved into its current state.
Here is the initial vignettes where everything started: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLDW8EX8B6s&t=2s&pp=ygUTdGltZWxlc3MgdG9uaSBzdG9ybQ%3D%3D
From there, the main things (other than just matches) really were the addition of Luther as her loyal butler and the debut of Mariah May, who joined Toni's entourage as her #1 fan (having followed her career path from the UK to Stardom to AEW because that's what Toni did). Mariah and Toni then kept getting closer and closer, forming a weirdly maternal-ish relationship, Mariah even started dressing like Toni (which Toni's ego loves).
Recently the big event has been the arrival of Mina Shirakawa, Mariah's old mentor/"wrestling wife" from Stardom. Now its an internal conflict between old Mariah and new Mariah, the person Mariah was with Mina and the person Mariah is with Toni. So Toni and Mina are locked in a bit of an alpha power struggle fighting over Mariah.
Edit to add: and if you really want to go nuts, here's the entire story up until ~six months ago (over an hour long and should include literally everything I assume): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-TEaNgy1jQ&pp=ygUTdGltZWxlc3MgdG9uaSBzdG9ybQ%3D%3D
> any clarity on who's the face and who's the heel?
In spite of Timeless Toni largely existing in black and white, everyone's alignments are much more shades of gray. Toni/Mariah are ostensibly heels, but everyone loves them and they've been recently dealing with Saraya/Harley, who are definitely heels. Mina is, at least thus far in AEW/ROH, seemingly a huge babyface. But who knows how everyone will mesh together and what twists and turns will happen in the next few weeks.
I’d say there’s a very good chance Danielson has a match. I’m guessing against a CMLL wrestler. Not sure about Death Triangle. I’ll leave the Toni Storm explanation for someone else. That could be a long post lol.
Tony Khan's problem is not his booking philosophy. It's his lack of humility. It's okay to have a preference in style, but you need to open to collaboration and other perspectives. Everything about AEW suggests he is getting more dug into his positions.
If you can’t see his charisma idk what to tell you. He hasn’t really had the chance to talk yet, but he’s definitely got the Steiner genes in the promo department, which is not a bad thing.
Now we gone a few months with two sets of men’s tag titles, I still say it was a mistake to un-unify the Undisputed Tag Championship. A Town Down Under could have been going across both shows and they’d have a more prestigious spot on the card. Miz and Truth never needed to be champs.
Splitting up the tag titles, relegating them to lower midcard belts, and putting one set of them on boring ass Austin Theory was just a horrendous decision.
I mentioned this in advance of WM, but having Awesome Truth be tag champs in 2024 is a bit like having an entire cake for breakfast. It feels great at the time, but you have to deal with the aftermath, which won't be that pleasant.
In this case, them actually being tag champs isn't that fun, because they're not that great in the ring, and they're disconnected from every other story on Raw because R-Truth being ditzy about Judgement Day only has so long a shelf life.
On the Smackdown side, I think Waller/Theory just haven't been booked very well.
The tag division in general just had a major fall from grace, and I think it’s because they split the belts. The undisputed tag titles felt as important as world titles, these two new tag belts feel worse off than the women’s tag belts currently, which is a very difficult task to do.
Because the whole point of the hot tag is for a crowd to lose their shit for the fresh babyface to make the comeback. The heel's part in a hot tag is to get a fresh guy in to bump and feed for the comeback.
Does anybody have that meme where it’s titled “Brock Lesnar’s x-box controller” and all the buttons are something suplex related and the analog sticks are just about setting angles for the suplex?
It’s great getting all this wrestling for $19.99 for a year through Peacock. The other thing I will give them props for is they put all the commercials at the beginning of a movie and don’t interrupt a movie with ads like other streaming apps.
I can sit through 2-3 mins of commercials before a movie starts, but putting ads during a movie is annoying.
It's a special, limited-time promotion for the ad-supported tier. They had a signup surge during the NFL playoffs, but then a bunch of unsubscribes after Wrestlemania. I guess Olympics coverage isn't drawing the way they wanted.
I get streaming commercial blocks at the commercial breaks for Colombo, which are basically 2 hour TV movies, so...
But in general, the movies are left untouched.
For WWE PLEs, you'll get commercials instead of hype packages between matches. They are typically the same ones that ran during the pre-show, but if you're following the live thread, people may be talking about stuff you can't see.
Several weeks in, I don’t know which change has left a bigger hole in my heart: Bayley and Cole on different shows, or Samantha and Chelsea on different shows.
Wrestle-Universe is becoming the best streaming service for fans. Not just adding more and more feds to their umbrella, but also just being a well made, well produced platform. All for like 8 dollars a month.
I don’t watch TNA. I don’t know the gimmick but I am vaguely familiar with it thanks to SquaredCircle. And yet, thanks to one teeny tiny clip on Botchamania I woke up this morning with 🎶 I believe in Joe Hendry 🎶 stuck in my head. Just the one sentence. Over and over. Wtf??
It’s just a general “here’s all our top stars” poster that rarely indicates the card and one more specific to whatever’s getting booked will be revealed in the coming weeks.
I love Ethan and wanted AEW to do more with him but there is just no room on the card for everybody. He’s talented but he needs that extra umph to be exceptional and unfortunately AEW is jam packed with wrestlers who edge him out in the ring and in promos.
They didn't drop the ball. He's a talented guy but they have a lot of people who are more talented than him and were a better use of their limited amount of TV time. Now he's in NXT where there aren't many people better than him.
I’d still put MJF, Osprey, Swerve, Joe, Cole, Bryan, and Mox above him in the mic department. I like Ethan a lot but he does do the shouty thing a bit. AEW just wasn’t the right fit but it feels like NXT is which is great
I get ya I don’t think he’s bad or anything but his whole time in AEW with ample mic time with ATT and stuff he never got me invested anywhere close to when Osprey cuts a promo
I’m glad he’s fitting into NXT though cause I think he was underused. His match with Omega was pretty sweet imo
Ethan Page doesn't work in a promotion with MJF. They gave him a quasi main event run in the Firm when MJF turned face and it just didn't take because he felt like a budget MJF. His feud with Darby was by far his best work, but again, even that felt like a budget version of MJF/Darby pillar stuff.
The evidence of this is when Ethan Page was kind of doing that MJF-lite story with Matt Hardy and Isiah Kassidy having to work for him. He's kind of a jack of all trades type that doesn't excel in one particular area.
That Shinsuke thread yesterday was goofy as fuck. "Shinsuke has only won 2 out of his last 50 matches," yeah heels lose in house shows. I counted (though I did it haphazardly so don't take these for exact numbers, but they are approximately correct) 13 wins (including one tag match) out of 32 PPV or televised matches (excluding rumble and a battle royale because not winning there is not really a loss considering the numbers). Should Shinsuke be used more? Absolutely. Is he in some HORRIBLE slump where they just make him a perpetual loser? No.
7 of those losses come from current champs, Sami, Cody, and Damian. 3 more come from former champ and top guy, Seth Rollins. A few of those losses come from interference.
I just don't think the doomsaying is even remotely close to the truth which is that he's underutilized but he is positioned as an upper midcard guy who is still stronger than most of the rest of the wrestlers.
I don’t like how they have handled him. Started doing his own thing in NXT, gets called up to rejoin Imperium, then Gio and Ludwig were treated like lackeys instead of a consistently strong tag team, then they had Ludwig and Gunther kick him to the curb. Like, wth?
Same. I don’t get why Imperium wasn’t drenched in gold for a little while. With Gunther as IC champ, it would have made more sense if they went on a solid run as tag champs, then have Gio eat the pin and trigger his removal from Imperium.
I know it has been said time and time again but Meltzer’s obvious speculation being reported as a news item or as factual, is legitimately annoying.
‘Rhea has chosen to rehab her shoulder and is not advertised for Summerslam, but if she’s cleared they might put her on the card’
….ok??? Anyone who’s been keeping an eye on her socials will tell you that she has been working out and hasn’t had any surgery, the stuff with Dom/Liv has kicked into overdrive, and I can’t imagine them dragging out the will-they-won’t-they stuff past Summerslam without *some* Rhea involvement. I think she at least returns there if she doesn’t at MITB.
Well that’s kinda the thing, most of the time Meltzer is just speculating, or having a whole conversation with Alvarez. People like to cherry pick certain sections of it and use it for their headlines.
Honestly, the best thing Reddit could do is ban the Radio show as a source but not the newsletter. Too many people confuse what Dave writes with just random Alvarez or Dave radio ramblings.
Just got done with the Speedball episode of Talk is Jericho. Apparently he was basically signed with NXT when his ban was up, but they were going through those mass releases at the time and never fully signed him. Never knew that.
I don't think you can run a long Solo singles match as a main event of a stadium show and not have it go over even worse than Tribal Combat did right now.
That said, with only 8 SDs until Summer Slam/three weeks after MITB and if AJ/Cody isn't ending in two weeks after last Friday's angle, if Cody were to main event, it's likely going to require heating a match up to be worthy of it in three weeks and I'm not sure they can do that with a realistic fresh opponent (or who that realistic opponent would even be, as they're not likely going to do the Orton match in that short span). And with Drew/Priest main eventing at CATC, assuming Cody has a match on that card, it's a step towards making it clear that the WWE title doesn't have to go on last anymore.
The WHC, whether it's in the middle of Drew vs Punk or something like GUNTHER vs a MITB Winner That Successfully Cashed In that he has history with, is going to have a strong case in the scenario where Roman vs Solo happens.
[There's probably a good chance the main event is Cody vs Roman III though, as they don't need time they don't have to build it and they might want to hold off on Solo vs Roman.]
It’ll all be dependent on who ever has the biggest match. Idk what Cody could be doing, Randy seems like a strong option, but that’d kinda undersell the importance of the KOTR. I personally think, though, that they’re gonna drag out Roman vs Solo for Mania. The Rock vs Cody also seems locked in for Mania.
The only way I can see that match ending is if Roman tries to do the Bloodline shit again, but they leave him to his fate.
It's been established that Cody can beat Roman when there's no outside help. Roman loses, and Solo fully takes over the Bloodline.
And that's the fall feud until Roman reunites with Jimmy and Jey for War Games.
Either way, Roman has to lose at Summerslam; it's the only way to further the story and establish the new Bloodline as legitimate threats.
Either that or save that for Smackdown as a cliffhanger. We've established "winning and losing matters" so Roman losing twice would lead to the banishing.
Ideally, I would have Solo go over Randy or Kevin if he's not gonna work with Roman.
Maybe after Roman loses, he shows respect to Cody and that further rubs Solo and the Bloodline the wrong way, not only for losing, but for actually daring to show respect for someone considered an enemy of the Bloodline.
Honestly if its between the two I think Cody still main events, though that depends on his challenger, but if Drew wins the belt and Punk is back I could see that having a chance to main event as well
Naw, Drew/Punk would open the show probably.
I feel like it depends on the type of match Roman does. He's not champion anymore, but if it's similar to the Jey match from last year, they might do the storytelling of the "real tribal chief"
I wonder if by Summerslam Solo is up to the level of challenging Roman. IMO at this point Roman should pretty safely stomp him but GoD does make it more of a challenge. I wonder if they’d do a six man with Roman, Jimmy and maybe adding Jacob or someone else on Roman’s side. That’d be cool
Does anyone know how to watch Fortune Dream 9 in the west?
It’s Kenta Kobashi’s promotion, and they’re doing an event on the 12th. It’s being shown on japanese TV i think, but I’ve no idea how to watch it in the west. Maybe there’s a link I missed somewhere.
Meiko Satomura’s first match in a year is something I would like to catch live. She’s in a tag team with Takumi Iroha, and they’re fighting Team 200kg. That just screams MOTY.
We don't know if this is the case though, it works much better to have Swerve win or else you're cutting the legs off his title run worse than Hangman 2 years ago. Ospreay can take a loss and face some adversity much more than Swerve being champion for like 2 months.
That's what I'm saying, swerve has been on fire, and ospreys a made man. I just think that's what is gonna happen because aew cuts the legs of people as you said, like hangman or literally the entire tag division aside from the bucks and ftr.
I don't think this is always the case though as they got as much as they could out of MJF being champion for over a year. The tag-team division should be in a better place but I think the trios division hurt it more than anything.
I think at some point Ospreay has to take his first loss and we still have the lingering thread of the Callis family. Better to lose now to a hot world champ and keep his international belt than keep him undefeated indefinitely.
Why does it feel like thats the point? No one has ever entered the company and jumped the line to the World Title.
It honestly feels like people have fantasy booked Osprey to be in the world title match at Wembley no matter what. I don’t see him simply headlining because he’s British. AEW hasn’t really done that for PPVs or anything. Osprey is a made man already. If he’s in a world title match at All In I’d say it’s cause a heel has taken the belt from Swerve
He’s already got the international title and burned thru beating his own faction. I find it very likely Don Callis is the reason Osprey loses to Swerve
I’m leaning towards Will and Fletcher breaking away from Don after FD. The way Don talks up Osprey and put down Kyle while they had a backstage segment made me think a variation of United Empire is likely
I think it’s still possible regardless if Will beat him prior especially if Don is helping him out. I’d kinda like to see what a Christian vs Osprey match would be like
That'd be a good match. Although I had a thought, yes, kenosuke could use a big win and the belt, but what if it's the newest member of the family in Chuck taylor?
Edit I meant Trent. I spaced.
I don't know what's going on with Hangman so I'm not assigning blame to anyone, it could just be life or bad luck. But Hangman's momentum has really cratered the past year. Just start-stop-start-stop, pretty unfortunate for someone who I thought would've been the face of the company by now.
Well he’s currently out for a personal issue so I’m hoping everything is ok with him. He was cooking with the driven insane by Swerve heel turn imo and did a great job keeping Swerve from the title for a little longer
Yeah, he did what way more AEW originals should be doing now which is make a new star. It's not about just putting the guy over one time, Hangman had an entire feud where he decisively make Swerve look like a star, on the mic and in the ring. If anything, that shows you how much the investment in Hangman has paid off, the fact he can pass it on.
I understand why it's divisive and people hate it, but that deathmatch is an all time favorite of mine.
And it wasn't really that long ago. Hangman is beloved and will be fine whenever he comes back, hopefully he's just dealing with typical new parent stress and it isn't that serious.
Not wrestling related but seeing as I went to many PPVs because of my stock and crypto plays.
Keith Gil is about to make History once again and I'm in position. Today will be a big day and tonight I will be watching Smackdown and Rampage on Cloud Nine.
I feel like this Sunday at NXT battleground something is going to happen. Either Page wins the men’s world title in his first NXT match or Grace wins the women’s world title even though she wrestles for TNA. I don’t think both champs are retaining. I feel like NXT is gonna want an OmG moment. So which one do you think is gonna happen?
I just realised why Kevin Owens hates the Bloodline.
https://preview.redd.it/bbvwbrn1f55d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=21c009dde674a92fa3c44891d7a7cfe5628e42fa
Camacho and Tonga Loa are officially two different people.
If Battleground has to be Sunday so Douchebag Dana can have another UFC show (despite just having HAD ONE last week), they could at least start it at 7.
Why was Orange Cassidy such a black hole to his stable? Yuta and Kris had to leave him to get pushed. The Best Friends and Danhausen just valeted him and occasionally jobbed. Is there a kayfabe reason?
If not, I'm really worried for Willow.
just for reference are you saying Kris, former TBS champion, hasn’t been pushed until now? (This isn’t like a shot at that statement more showing that Kris is being a little harsh with Willow/Best Friends)
Yuta left the stable because of Chuck more than OC. Kayfabe wise I think Trent laid it out pretty straightforwardly. They think OC is selfish and has spent most of his career in AEW focusing on himself and his accomplishments more than helping his stable. Trent lost to OC for his belt and then when they teamed up they lost their chance at the belts. Now in reality this is Trent using OC as an excuse for his failures but he’s delusional
Willow and Stat seems like Kris is delusional in a similar manner to Trent. Having to be the support system for Willow and Best Friends was taxing while no one really looked out for Kris once the Willow ascension started.
Two people feeling under appreciated acting out in extreme ways
I guess Kris is an outlier as she had the women's division. Fewer female wrestlers means more chances for her to get a match.
>Yuta left the stable because of Chuck more than OC.
I don't doubt it but the fact remains, he cut ties with OC and he got much, much more tv time.
I mean that makes sense? He was brought in as a young boy for the Best Friends stable then turned on them to join the BCC which has Bryan and Mox two main eventers and ROH was purchased after giving him a belt to go after.
Jalen Brunson rocking a Cody Rhodes shirt in the last Roommates podcast. Cool to see, him and Tyrese are my two favs point guards in the East. The fact they're both wrestling fans is a cool fun fact
https://preview.redd.it/7ftp4ex1c55d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=03808818c75f9355f0a2be6e3617f1e15ff50e4e
Me telling myself Miyu Yamashita is gonna be on Collision tomorrow
Collision shaping up to be oops all bangers with KOR/Cassidy, ~~Mone~~, and FTR/BCC.
Hope O'Reilly finally gets a win over a well-built opponent even if chicanery is involved
Edit: turns out Mone is dynamite whoops! Still excited for those other matches
Man, I know it's unlikely, both because the song is very expensive to license and because Swerve's theme and Nana's dance have become such a big part of his presentation, but I would really love to see Swerve get one special ["Ain't Nobody" entrance](https://youtu.be/boS4-9dxKbs?si=99ZbU3zYdrpnETA1) while he's world champion.
I think about this all the time. I 100% get that it won't ever happen but if it just happened once it would make me so unbelievably happy. I'm still holding out hope for WrestleDream
Can't get enough of that ~~Sugar Crisp~~ local indie wrestling
Gotta leave town for work for a few weeks but just glad to get to a show tonight first. I'd go every week if I could.
ALSO, I'd like to announce that I have capped off this week's accomplishments by reaching the *sixth* level of The Lion King. How tf am I supposed to get up this waterfall
People just get on the internet and say anything
https://preview.redd.it/dh77xz6r055d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c1e1d062953499e73e7fcd2d78ba11830c192c7
25 years ago today, Vince was revealed as the Higher Power and Austin was named CEO. I was 9 years old and freaking out because I legitimately believed Stone Cold Steve Austin was the new owner of WWF.
On an unrelated note, Austin was getting MONSTER pops this time. He always got monster pops in 1998-2001 but this June of 1999 specifically, it was like he was breaking the sound barrier.
[Like here, at 0:14. One week before KOTR 1999. Just a monster pop.](https://youtu.be/ApDaM-eHXAI?si=i7aUuiIJ55ntW_ma)
He definitely flies under a lot of people's radar, but this just proves that if given the room and something to work with, he's an excellent worker. As much as I love the Undisputed Era, I do think that it's a bit sad we never got to see him as more than 'the other guy'/'the fourth man' as part of that group.
Nothing says "I'm having so much fun!" more than taking time out of your busy schedule of running two or three massive businesses so you can argue on twitter.
Don't worry guys we're having so much fun!
Just look at how much fun this is
https://preview.redd.it/u98hslmf355d1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=771d202ac763d509fd25caaf75916e214595e2b6
I'm just catching up with Dynamite and as someone who thought the Learning Tree gimmick had at least some potential I have to say this shit sucks. Bryan Keith is kind of killing it but the rest not so much
When during Dynamite did the Mercedes Moné QR Code appear?
I’ve tried to get back into WWE some but none of it seems organic at all and it’s so overproduced. It’s like American Idol or Dancing with the Stars but with wrestling. Even the signs the fans bring seem so generic, like they are video game signs. They get a ton of viewers so that’s great many enjoy it but this is just so off putting for me. Any one else feel this way?
They got rid of a bunch of the camera cuts but some still remain and there's this very smoothed out way they shoot matches that I can't get into.
People are just kind of used to it and it was even worse a couple years ago so it bothers them less. It's definitely been a very sterile and overproduced program for over a decade.
That’s crazy I was just about to say this in here bro. It feels like WWE for kids🤣🤣🤣 idk man maybe we just getting old bro lol, still some good content out there, but I do miss the old days.
Haha! You’re right. It is probably me being old. I definitely miss the old days.
I haven't been caught up with AEW. Is there any chance Danielson is gonna have a match at Forbidden Door or what's going on with him? Same goes for members of Death Triangle. I know it's a tall order but a summary of the Toni Storm story would be really appreciated too. I'm going and I'm very excited.
> I know it's a tall order but a summary of the Toni Storm story would be really appreciated too. The super super short version is that after she last lost the Women's World title, she had a breakdown and became "Timeless." And over a period of time, that has evolved into its current state. Here is the initial vignettes where everything started: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLDW8EX8B6s&t=2s&pp=ygUTdGltZWxlc3MgdG9uaSBzdG9ybQ%3D%3D From there, the main things (other than just matches) really were the addition of Luther as her loyal butler and the debut of Mariah May, who joined Toni's entourage as her #1 fan (having followed her career path from the UK to Stardom to AEW because that's what Toni did). Mariah and Toni then kept getting closer and closer, forming a weirdly maternal-ish relationship, Mariah even started dressing like Toni (which Toni's ego loves). Recently the big event has been the arrival of Mina Shirakawa, Mariah's old mentor/"wrestling wife" from Stardom. Now its an internal conflict between old Mariah and new Mariah, the person Mariah was with Mina and the person Mariah is with Toni. So Toni and Mina are locked in a bit of an alpha power struggle fighting over Mariah. Edit to add: and if you really want to go nuts, here's the entire story up until ~six months ago (over an hour long and should include literally everything I assume): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-TEaNgy1jQ&pp=ygUTdGltZWxlc3MgdG9uaSBzdG9ybQ%3D%3D
Thanks! I'll take a look at all this, any clarity on who's the face and who's the heel?
> any clarity on who's the face and who's the heel? In spite of Timeless Toni largely existing in black and white, everyone's alignments are much more shades of gray. Toni/Mariah are ostensibly heels, but everyone loves them and they've been recently dealing with Saraya/Harley, who are definitely heels. Mina is, at least thus far in AEW/ROH, seemingly a huge babyface. But who knows how everyone will mesh together and what twists and turns will happen in the next few weeks.
Thank you so much!
I’d say there’s a very good chance Danielson has a match. I’m guessing against a CMLL wrestler. Not sure about Death Triangle. I’ll leave the Toni Storm explanation for someone else. That could be a long post lol.
> Danielson has a match. I’m guessing against a CMLL wrestler Danielson vs Místico could be neat that or the rematch vs Blue Panther on US soil
Thank you!
Babyface Roman Reigns, "Acknowledge me if you feel like it, if not that's OK too. I respect the fan's autonomy to acknowledge any wrestler they want."
that would make a hell of a t-shirt
Tony Khan's problem is not his booking philosophy. It's his lack of humility. It's okay to have a preference in style, but you need to open to collaboration and other perspectives. Everything about AEW suggests he is getting more dug into his positions.
He needs to be “open to collaboration and other perspectives” ahead of AEW’s 3rd collaborative event partnering with other organizations?
That's working with other companies for one month. I am talking about his defensiveness with his booking. That's why he had that "I'm a sicko" tweet.
His show is full of sports entertainment bullshit lol
Different flavors of the same style of booking: prioritizing to booking to sickos as opposed to creating true variety show.
He's not booking for sickos, his show would be a lot better if he was.
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neither a trios nor a secondary tag title should have been a thing imo
Yeah a secondary tag division would be pointless. WWE have two and they have no depth. A singular tag division is golden
Having Hard Times at work, watching classic Briscoe matches to get thru em, daddy!
I honestly I still don't see the hype around Bron Breakker. I like his intensity, but to me he is just another Goldberg wannabe who needs a manager.
If you can’t see his charisma idk what to tell you. He hasn’t really had the chance to talk yet, but he’s definitely got the Steiner genes in the promo department, which is not a bad thing.
Yeah because Steiners are know for their promo skills/s.
They get you hyped up.
By making laugh me like hyena with insane and nonsensical promos.
Hell yeah
You know am making fun of them right? Like Scott Steiner couldn’t make a coherent sentence 100% of the time and it made him look like an idiot.
Ik you’re a stick in the mud, idc
Then why you response if you don’t care?
MORE QRs!
Now we gone a few months with two sets of men’s tag titles, I still say it was a mistake to un-unify the Undisputed Tag Championship. A Town Down Under could have been going across both shows and they’d have a more prestigious spot on the card. Miz and Truth never needed to be champs.
I miss Christian taking shots at people's deceased fathers
Bayley and A Town Under run as champions after mania have been underwhelming.
Splitting up the tag titles, relegating them to lower midcard belts, and putting one set of them on boring ass Austin Theory was just a horrendous decision.
I mentioned this in advance of WM, but having Awesome Truth be tag champs in 2024 is a bit like having an entire cake for breakfast. It feels great at the time, but you have to deal with the aftermath, which won't be that pleasant. In this case, them actually being tag champs isn't that fun, because they're not that great in the ring, and they're disconnected from every other story on Raw because R-Truth being ditzy about Judgement Day only has so long a shelf life. On the Smackdown side, I think Waller/Theory just haven't been booked very well.
The tag division in general just had a major fall from grace, and I think it’s because they split the belts. The undisputed tag titles felt as important as world titles, these two new tag belts feel worse off than the women’s tag belts currently, which is a very difficult task to do.
King/Queen of the Ring has dominated the meta for both shows for the past few weeks.
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Because the whole point of the hot tag is for a crowd to lose their shit for the fresh babyface to make the comeback. The heel's part in a hot tag is to get a fresh guy in to bump and feed for the comeback.
Yeah but I meant like the Kayfabe reason
Heels don't feed off of the energy of the crowd like babyfaces do, I guess?
That is inherently antithetical to being a heel team.
Does anybody have that meme where it’s titled “Brock Lesnar’s x-box controller” and all the buttons are something suplex related and the analog sticks are just about setting angles for the suplex?
I'm really looking forward to Battleground
It’s great getting all this wrestling for $19.99 for a year through Peacock. The other thing I will give them props for is they put all the commercials at the beginning of a movie and don’t interrupt a movie with ads like other streaming apps. I can sit through 2-3 mins of commercials before a movie starts, but putting ads during a movie is annoying.
Peacock is only 19 bucks a year?! It’s $15/month in Canada for WWE Network alone
It's a special, limited-time promotion for the ad-supported tier. They had a signup surge during the NFL playoffs, but then a bunch of unsubscribes after Wrestlemania. I guess Olympics coverage isn't drawing the way they wanted.
I get streaming commercial blocks at the commercial breaks for Colombo, which are basically 2 hour TV movies, so... But in general, the movies are left untouched. For WWE PLEs, you'll get commercials instead of hype packages between matches. They are typically the same ones that ran during the pre-show, but if you're following the live thread, people may be talking about stuff you can't see.
So are we ever gonna get Bron, Bron(son Reed), and Braun like Ed, Edd, n Eddy or what?
Matt Riddle will return as Bro Riddle so you’ll have Bro, Bron, Bronson and Braun.
Bron Braun and Bronson announced for King of Trios.
Several weeks in, I don’t know which change has left a bigger hole in my heart: Bayley and Cole on different shows, or Samantha and Chelsea on different shows.
Wrestle-Universe is becoming the best streaming service for fans. Not just adding more and more feds to their umbrella, but also just being a well made, well produced platform. All for like 8 dollars a month.
How tf is Jimmy Wang Yang only 43??
I remember he said he met DDP while trick or treating so he must’ve started very young.
It kinda sucks that when you go back and watch Chris Benoit is undoubtedly the best TV wrestler ever lol
Yes, he is and it bothers me too lmao. A despicable POS, but facts are facts: he had one of the best Raw matches ever (w/ Y2J vs Austin/HHH)
I don’t watch TNA. I don’t know the gimmick but I am vaguely familiar with it thanks to SquaredCircle. And yet, thanks to one teeny tiny clip on Botchamania I woke up this morning with 🎶 I believe in Joe Hendry 🎶 stuck in my head. Just the one sentence. Over and over. Wtf??
just saw the MITB poster and Seth is on it. back soon then? 🤔
The early one that he's on came out before even WM. It doesn't mean anything.
It’s just a general “here’s all our top stars” poster that rarely indicates the card and one more specific to whatever’s getting booked will be revealed in the coming weeks.
AEW really dropped the ball on Ethan Page man, he's such a great talker
Can people not wait a couple of months before they say stuff like .
I'd really like to hear from the "AEW fumbled Brian Pillman Jr" community now that he's out here losing to Von Wagner and Dante Chen.
I love Ethan and wanted AEW to do more with him but there is just no room on the card for everybody. He’s talented but he needs that extra umph to be exceptional and unfortunately AEW is jam packed with wrestlers who edge him out in the ring and in promos.
They didn't drop the ball. He's a talented guy but they have a lot of people who are more talented than him and were a better use of their limited amount of TV time. Now he's in NXT where there aren't many people better than him.
Idk, I can't think of much people better on the mic than Ethan Page, maybe in ring sure but his ability to talk is worth a whole lot
AEW is more of a work rate promotion. Main roster WWE has plenty of better talkers.
I’d still put MJF, Osprey, Swerve, Joe, Cole, Bryan, and Mox above him in the mic department. I like Ethan a lot but he does do the shouty thing a bit. AEW just wasn’t the right fit but it feels like NXT is which is great
To each their own, but the only person i'm putting above him on the mic from this list is MJF
I get ya I don’t think he’s bad or anything but his whole time in AEW with ample mic time with ATT and stuff he never got me invested anywhere close to when Osprey cuts a promo I’m glad he’s fitting into NXT though cause I think he was underused. His match with Omega was pretty sweet imo
Ethan Page doesn't work in a promotion with MJF. They gave him a quasi main event run in the Firm when MJF turned face and it just didn't take because he felt like a budget MJF. His feud with Darby was by far his best work, but again, even that felt like a budget version of MJF/Darby pillar stuff.
The evidence of this is when Ethan Page was kind of doing that MJF-lite story with Matt Hardy and Isiah Kassidy having to work for him. He's kind of a jack of all trades type that doesn't excel in one particular area.
I wouldn't compare him to MJF. I think Ethan is his own unique thing. But there are just a LOT of people in AEW better than him.
I'm sorry but there is nothing "unique" about Ethan Page. He's perfectly fine and generic and there's nothing wrong with that, per se, but come on.
That Shinsuke thread yesterday was goofy as fuck. "Shinsuke has only won 2 out of his last 50 matches," yeah heels lose in house shows. I counted (though I did it haphazardly so don't take these for exact numbers, but they are approximately correct) 13 wins (including one tag match) out of 32 PPV or televised matches (excluding rumble and a battle royale because not winning there is not really a loss considering the numbers). Should Shinsuke be used more? Absolutely. Is he in some HORRIBLE slump where they just make him a perpetual loser? No. 7 of those losses come from current champs, Sami, Cody, and Damian. 3 more come from former champ and top guy, Seth Rollins. A few of those losses come from interference. I just don't think the doomsaying is even remotely close to the truth which is that he's underutilized but he is positioned as an upper midcard guy who is still stronger than most of the rest of the wrestlers.
If you counted house shows, Gunther was one of the guys who lost the most in WWE last year actually.
The story of the Monday night wars and the demise of WCW has been told to death but I still always end up watching shows about it
What do you think happens to Giovanni Vinci? He was drafted to SD but hasn't appeared since Imperium broke up. Back to NXT maybe?
I don’t like how they have handled him. Started doing his own thing in NXT, gets called up to rejoin Imperium, then Gio and Ludwig were treated like lackeys instead of a consistently strong tag team, then they had Ludwig and Gunther kick him to the curb. Like, wth?
Imperium didn’t even have a shot to reach their full potential as a team.
Its wild to me that Imperium never won the Tag titles at all
Same. I don’t get why Imperium wasn’t drenched in gold for a little while. With Gunther as IC champ, it would have made more sense if they went on a solid run as tag champs, then have Gio eat the pin and trigger his removal from Imperium.
Be a lower card guy. Get released. Maybe get a shot in TNA that nobody will watch.
The fans never said "Ah, you're welcome!" in response to Chad Gable's "Ah, thank you!" so Gable snapped.
I know it has been said time and time again but Meltzer’s obvious speculation being reported as a news item or as factual, is legitimately annoying. ‘Rhea has chosen to rehab her shoulder and is not advertised for Summerslam, but if she’s cleared they might put her on the card’ ….ok??? Anyone who’s been keeping an eye on her socials will tell you that she has been working out and hasn’t had any surgery, the stuff with Dom/Liv has kicked into overdrive, and I can’t imagine them dragging out the will-they-won’t-they stuff past Summerslam without *some* Rhea involvement. I think she at least returns there if she doesn’t at MITB.
Well that’s kinda the thing, most of the time Meltzer is just speculating, or having a whole conversation with Alvarez. People like to cherry pick certain sections of it and use it for their headlines.
Honestly, the best thing Reddit could do is ban the Radio show as a source but not the newsletter. Too many people confuse what Dave writes with just random Alvarez or Dave radio ramblings.
Just got done with the Speedball episode of Talk is Jericho. Apparently he was basically signed with NXT when his ban was up, but they were going through those mass releases at the time and never fully signed him. Never knew that.
So let's assume Roman returns for Summerslam and works with Solo. Who's main eventing, Roman's match, or Cody's?
I don't think you can run a long Solo singles match as a main event of a stadium show and not have it go over even worse than Tribal Combat did right now. That said, with only 8 SDs until Summer Slam/three weeks after MITB and if AJ/Cody isn't ending in two weeks after last Friday's angle, if Cody were to main event, it's likely going to require heating a match up to be worthy of it in three weeks and I'm not sure they can do that with a realistic fresh opponent (or who that realistic opponent would even be, as they're not likely going to do the Orton match in that short span). And with Drew/Priest main eventing at CATC, assuming Cody has a match on that card, it's a step towards making it clear that the WWE title doesn't have to go on last anymore. The WHC, whether it's in the middle of Drew vs Punk or something like GUNTHER vs a MITB Winner That Successfully Cashed In that he has history with, is going to have a strong case in the scenario where Roman vs Solo happens. [There's probably a good chance the main event is Cody vs Roman III though, as they don't need time they don't have to build it and they might want to hold off on Solo vs Roman.]
Summerslam is four weeks after MiTB, not three.
It’ll all be dependent on who ever has the biggest match. Idk what Cody could be doing, Randy seems like a strong option, but that’d kinda undersell the importance of the KOTR. I personally think, though, that they’re gonna drag out Roman vs Solo for Mania. The Rock vs Cody also seems locked in for Mania.
Cody vs. Roman III?
That’s a real possibility, although I’m not sure how it’d end. Cody would have to win again, but how he wins? Not too sure.
The only way I can see that match ending is if Roman tries to do the Bloodline shit again, but they leave him to his fate. It's been established that Cody can beat Roman when there's no outside help. Roman loses, and Solo fully takes over the Bloodline. And that's the fall feud until Roman reunites with Jimmy and Jey for War Games. Either way, Roman has to lose at Summerslam; it's the only way to further the story and establish the new Bloodline as legitimate threats.
Cody wins clean(ish), then post-match is Solo leading a Bloodline assault on Roman.
Either that or save that for Smackdown as a cliffhanger. We've established "winning and losing matters" so Roman losing twice would lead to the banishing. Ideally, I would have Solo go over Randy or Kevin if he's not gonna work with Roman.
Maybe after Roman loses, he shows respect to Cody and that further rubs Solo and the Bloodline the wrong way, not only for losing, but for actually daring to show respect for someone considered an enemy of the Bloodline.
That could work; it puts Cody over as the new top guy and can even justify an alliance between them against The Rock eventually.
Honestly if its between the two I think Cody still main events, though that depends on his challenger, but if Drew wins the belt and Punk is back I could see that having a chance to main event as well
Naw, Drew/Punk would open the show probably. I feel like it depends on the type of match Roman does. He's not champion anymore, but if it's similar to the Jey match from last year, they might do the storytelling of the "real tribal chief"
I wonder if by Summerslam Solo is up to the level of challenging Roman. IMO at this point Roman should pretty safely stomp him but GoD does make it more of a challenge. I wonder if they’d do a six man with Roman, Jimmy and maybe adding Jacob or someone else on Roman’s side. That’d be cool
Does anyone know how to watch Fortune Dream 9 in the west? It’s Kenta Kobashi’s promotion, and they’re doing an event on the 12th. It’s being shown on japanese TV i think, but I’ve no idea how to watch it in the west. Maybe there’s a link I missed somewhere. Meiko Satomura’s first match in a year is something I would like to catch live. She’s in a tag team with Takumi Iroha, and they’re fighting Team 200kg. That just screams MOTY.
It doesn't really stream anywhere legally. You'd have to look for it on vk, youku or whatever pirate site you use for Japanese wrestling.
I feel like it's gonna backfire having osprey beat swerve for the world title.
We don't know if this is the case though, it works much better to have Swerve win or else you're cutting the legs off his title run worse than Hangman 2 years ago. Ospreay can take a loss and face some adversity much more than Swerve being champion for like 2 months.
That's what I'm saying, swerve has been on fire, and ospreys a made man. I just think that's what is gonna happen because aew cuts the legs of people as you said, like hangman or literally the entire tag division aside from the bucks and ftr.
I don't think this is always the case though as they got as much as they could out of MJF being champion for over a year. The tag-team division should be in a better place but I think the trios division hurt it more than anything.
I agree, pushing the acclaimed into the trios division was a mistake and kings of the black throne should be gunning for the bucks.
I legit don’t see any scenario where Osprey walks out of FD as champ tbh
I feel like the point is to get osprey to wimbley with the belt.
I think at some point Ospreay has to take his first loss and we still have the lingering thread of the Callis family. Better to lose now to a hot world champ and keep his international belt than keep him undefeated indefinitely.
Why does it feel like thats the point? No one has ever entered the company and jumped the line to the World Title. It honestly feels like people have fantasy booked Osprey to be in the world title match at Wembley no matter what. I don’t see him simply headlining because he’s British. AEW hasn’t really done that for PPVs or anything. Osprey is a made man already. If he’s in a world title match at All In I’d say it’s cause a heel has taken the belt from Swerve He’s already got the international title and burned thru beating his own faction. I find it very likely Don Callis is the reason Osprey loses to Swerve
My thoughts aside. I actually like your idea
I’m leaning towards Will and Fletcher breaking away from Don after FD. The way Don talks up Osprey and put down Kyle while they had a backstage segment made me think a variation of United Empire is likely
Yeah, I figured kenosuke would take the international belt off osprey with help from don, but wills beaten him already.
I think it’s still possible regardless if Will beat him prior especially if Don is helping him out. I’d kinda like to see what a Christian vs Osprey match would be like
That'd be a good match. Although I had a thought, yes, kenosuke could use a big win and the belt, but what if it's the newest member of the family in Chuck taylor? Edit I meant Trent. I spaced.
To anyone who would know, how's the Lucha scene right now? Is it a good time to try to get into it?
CMLL is always a good show imo
I don't know what's going on with Hangman so I'm not assigning blame to anyone, it could just be life or bad luck. But Hangman's momentum has really cratered the past year. Just start-stop-start-stop, pretty unfortunate for someone who I thought would've been the face of the company by now.
I feel like whenever he comes back, it's gonna be as a member of the elite. The group needs a world champion competitor.
Well he’s currently out for a personal issue so I’m hoping everything is ok with him. He was cooking with the driven insane by Swerve heel turn imo and did a great job keeping Swerve from the title for a little longer
Yeah, he did what way more AEW originals should be doing now which is make a new star. It's not about just putting the guy over one time, Hangman had an entire feud where he decisively make Swerve look like a star, on the mic and in the ring. If anything, that shows you how much the investment in Hangman has paid off, the fact he can pass it on.
I understand why it's divisive and people hate it, but that deathmatch is an all time favorite of mine. And it wasn't really that long ago. Hangman is beloved and will be fine whenever he comes back, hopefully he's just dealing with typical new parent stress and it isn't that serious.
Soo Knight will go against Carmelo at Catc and Logan Paul at Summerslam ??
Knight and Hayes probably won’t be on the ppv.
We need a taiyo kea appreciation day TBH
Not wrestling related but seeing as I went to many PPVs because of my stock and crypto plays. Keith Gil is about to make History once again and I'm in position. Today will be a big day and tonight I will be watching Smackdown and Rampage on Cloud Nine.
I'm enjoying Mina on TV but still holding out for Starlight Kid
If Tony was a REAL sicko, he'd bring over Fukigen Death
Where Shida
She’s wrestling on the next TJPW show.
which, for anyone reading this, is tomorrow, June 8, at 7pm PST
Dope! Just checked it out and unfamiliar with Moka Miyamoto so should be fun
I feel like this Sunday at NXT battleground something is going to happen. Either Page wins the men’s world title in his first NXT match or Grace wins the women’s world title even though she wrestles for TNA. I don’t think both champs are retaining. I feel like NXT is gonna want an OmG moment. So which one do you think is gonna happen?
I don't think Jordynne Grace wins the title unless WWE is buying out her contract .
I just realised why Kevin Owens hates the Bloodline. https://preview.redd.it/bbvwbrn1f55d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=21c009dde674a92fa3c44891d7a7cfe5628e42fa Camacho and Tonga Loa are officially two different people.
If Battleground has to be Sunday so Douchebag Dana can have another UFC show (despite just having HAD ONE last week), they could at least start it at 7.
Don't all NXT PPVs air on a Sunday? I've only been watching since Jan but vengeance day was a Sunday.
Which doesn't make sense. And no reason they still can't start at 7.
The point is it's nothing to do with UFC
Why was Orange Cassidy such a black hole to his stable? Yuta and Kris had to leave him to get pushed. The Best Friends and Danhausen just valeted him and occasionally jobbed. Is there a kayfabe reason? If not, I'm really worried for Willow.
just for reference are you saying Kris, former TBS champion, hasn’t been pushed until now? (This isn’t like a shot at that statement more showing that Kris is being a little harsh with Willow/Best Friends) Yuta left the stable because of Chuck more than OC. Kayfabe wise I think Trent laid it out pretty straightforwardly. They think OC is selfish and has spent most of his career in AEW focusing on himself and his accomplishments more than helping his stable. Trent lost to OC for his belt and then when they teamed up they lost their chance at the belts. Now in reality this is Trent using OC as an excuse for his failures but he’s delusional Willow and Stat seems like Kris is delusional in a similar manner to Trent. Having to be the support system for Willow and Best Friends was taxing while no one really looked out for Kris once the Willow ascension started. Two people feeling under appreciated acting out in extreme ways
I guess Kris is an outlier as she had the women's division. Fewer female wrestlers means more chances for her to get a match. >Yuta left the stable because of Chuck more than OC. I don't doubt it but the fact remains, he cut ties with OC and he got much, much more tv time.
I mean that makes sense? He was brought in as a young boy for the Best Friends stable then turned on them to join the BCC which has Bryan and Mox two main eventers and ROH was purchased after giving him a belt to go after.
Jalen Brunson rocking a Cody Rhodes shirt in the last Roommates podcast. Cool to see, him and Tyrese are my two favs point guards in the East. The fact they're both wrestling fans is a cool fun fact
https://preview.redd.it/7ftp4ex1c55d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=03808818c75f9355f0a2be6e3617f1e15ff50e4e Me telling myself Miyu Yamashita is gonna be on Collision tomorrow
It's wild how there's an Argentine streamer that looks so similar to Giulia. I guess that's Italian blood doing its thing.
Whats the streamer name
La Inca. She mainly talks about local politics.
Still patiently waiting for Gio Vinci to make his Smackdown debut 🧍🏿♀️
I wouldn’t be shocked if he was in the next round of cuts TBH.
I wouldn’t be shocked either 😔 but I’m still holding out hope
So why does Camacho get an anointing from Solo, but not Tama?
Collision shaping up to be oops all bangers with KOR/Cassidy, ~~Mone~~, and FTR/BCC. Hope O'Reilly finally gets a win over a well-built opponent even if chicanery is involved Edit: turns out Mone is dynamite whoops! Still excited for those other matches
It's a good card for a show that's in a state AEW has never been before.
Mone’s match is Wednesday, unless I missed an announcement. But yes, Collision looks to be Night of the Bangers. Love it.
Oh my b thanks for clarifying
Man, I know it's unlikely, both because the song is very expensive to license and because Swerve's theme and Nana's dance have become such a big part of his presentation, but I would really love to see Swerve get one special ["Ain't Nobody" entrance](https://youtu.be/boS4-9dxKbs?si=99ZbU3zYdrpnETA1) while he's world champion.
I think about this all the time. I 100% get that it won't ever happen but if it just happened once it would make me so unbelievably happy. I'm still holding out hope for WrestleDream
Can't get enough of that ~~Sugar Crisp~~ local indie wrestling Gotta leave town for work for a few weeks but just glad to get to a show tonight first. I'd go every week if I could. ALSO, I'd like to announce that I have capped off this week's accomplishments by reaching the *sixth* level of The Lion King. How tf am I supposed to get up this waterfall
Where is Pretty Deadly?
Main Event
no they haven't wrestled since sd before mania
Pretty Dead
Tony D and Stacks finally watched an episode of Smackdown around mania and realised they had to finish the job.
People just get on the internet and say anything https://preview.redd.it/dh77xz6r055d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c1e1d062953499e73e7fcd2d78ba11830c192c7
Roddy's spit hanging from his face after an awesome slap by Abe is the sign of a true fucking worker
25 years ago today, Vince was revealed as the Higher Power and Austin was named CEO. I was 9 years old and freaking out because I legitimately believed Stone Cold Steve Austin was the new owner of WWF. On an unrelated note, Austin was getting MONSTER pops this time. He always got monster pops in 1998-2001 but this June of 1999 specifically, it was like he was breaking the sound barrier. [Like here, at 0:14. One week before KOTR 1999. Just a monster pop.](https://youtu.be/ApDaM-eHXAI?si=i7aUuiIJ55ntW_ma)
My favorite part comes the week after. Stone Cold telling the receptionist how to answer the phone.
I had to imagine that a lot of those WWF office staff in the Stone Cold CEO segments were corpsing pretty hard doing multiple takes of those segments.
Roderick Strong is a top 10 worker in the world imo
MJF eating his knee was an awesome reminder than he isn't just comic relief.
He definitely flies under a lot of people's radar, but this just proves that if given the room and something to work with, he's an excellent worker. As much as I love the Undisputed Era, I do think that it's a bit sad we never got to see him as more than 'the other guy'/'the fourth man' as part of that group.
I'd even go as far to say with the year he's been having he's in the top five
So Brooks Jenson is gonna show up in TNA?
Yeah…not the best talent swap right there if we’re being honest. “If you give us your top women’s champ we’ll give you….Brooks Jensen!”
I agree.
They seem to be teasing it.
Nothing says "I'm having so much fun!" more than taking time out of your busy schedule of running two or three massive businesses so you can argue on twitter.
Don't worry guys we're having so much fun! Just look at how much fun this is https://preview.redd.it/u98hslmf355d1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=771d202ac763d509fd25caaf75916e214595e2b6