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DMJ

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  1. Not to yuck anyone's yum because I'm a fan of the storyline but I just wanted to note... The Rock is being named on commentary as the literal boss, with more backstage power than even Triple H, and I think that element is kinda still catnip to some of us, even if we don't want to admit it. I bring this up because I haven't really seen anyone mention that what we're getting is actually not all that different from the same ol' Authority Angle storyline that the company has leaned on heavily for the past 25+ years. What I think is making it work better than every other derivation since the original Austin/McMahon saga is that: (a) The Rock is much more physically imposing and has much more in-ring credibility than Vince McMahon did as Austin's rival, which is why Roman being the Corporate Surrogate is kind of unnecessary. At the same time, this alteration - where Roman's status as being the chosen "Corporate Champion" is not guaranteed because The Rock views himself as the true Final Boss in a way that the non-wrestler Vince could never be - of the "traditional" Boss vs. Held Down Employee narrative actually makes for a more intriguing storyline. Though it is still not a wholly original one because... (b) 10 years ago, a similar dynamic was playing out with then-Authority Figure Triple H and his surrogate, Randy Orton, against Held Down Employee #2 (Daniel Bryan). In that story, Triple H inserted himself into the fray when his own greed for the Championship and disappointment in his "Corporate Champion" Randy Orton failing to stop Bryan's rise boiled over. The Triple H/Orton tension built over time, just like The Rock and Roman's is now. But, again, The Rock and Roman - and arguably Cody Rhodes - have made this a much, much better story because, frankly, they're far better characters with more charisma and better sports-entertainment chops than Triple H and Orton were ever capable of. I'm a huge Bryan fan too, but at this point, Cody has also proven to be the true heir to Cena in a way that Bryan, as much as I love him, was really never going to be. Plus, and this goes without saying, The Bloodline saga of the previous 2+ years has given this current storyline a context and background that set the stage in a way the WWE were never able to manufacture before. I mean, as good as Bryan's rise was in 2013, tagging with Kane and wrestling gauntlet matches just doesn't compare to the stage that has been set here. If the Vince/Austin storyline was the organic result of the months leading up to the Montreal Screwjob and the creation of the Mr. McMahon character in late 97', the current Rock storyline feels very much like it could really only have existed after Roman Reign's historic Head of the Table run, Cody Rhodes managing to maintain his top babyface status after a controversial loss at last year's Mania main event, and the non-kayfabe appointment of Dwayne Johnson onto the TKO Board of Directors. TLDR - The Rock/Cody storyline is hitting lots of familiar notes, but it doesn't matter: the song slaps and it is being played by a crack band.
  2. While not a good thing, this show's ratings decline over the course of the night was basically me, the perfect encapsulation of my own preferences when watching AEW. - I was psyched for Mercedes' debut. I didn't necessarily love the promo, but whatever. It felt like a big deal to me and I tuned in for it. - I'm a Samoa Joe mark. Love him as champion. Was hoping for and did get a Swerve appearance to continue their feud. Again, no complaints really. I'm going to tune in for a Joe match whether his opponent is Wardlow or some jobber. - Okada wasn't just the missing ingredient in the Young Bucks' new act, he's the star of it now. I'm here for it. - Ospreay/Danielson hype? Yessir. - Jay White vs. Darby Allin. Again - I'm pretty much game for anything that Jay White does these days and Darby Allin always brings the goods. I'm not changing the channel at this point. And then.... Jericho is just so, so, so overexposed. I'm not nearly as down on him as others, or, maybe a better way of saying it is that I haven't been off the bandwagon as long. There were still times in the past 3 years where I've found him interesting or enjoyed his stories and promos. But he's been cold for a long time now and really needed to disappear at least 6 months ago. In fact, had he disappeared 6 months ago, him returning on a show like this would've probably been a pretty cool moment. He is moldy. He is wrestling mold. He has just been in the environment too long for anyone to not only miss him, but to feel excited to see him. No aura. No momentum. And, personally, I think HOOK has been overexposed a bit too and clearly needs to be working with very, very good workers to make him look better than he is - which is HOOK vs. Joe worked and HOOK vs. Brian Cage didn't, at least for me. Willow vs. Riho probably wouldn't main event an episode of Rampage, let alone Collision, let alone one of the biggest TV shows you've put on all year. That match was going to tank the rating because it is not a legitimate offering as a main event. Also, even if you're teasing Mercedes' appearance all night, I don't think a Mercedes/Willow showdown is "must see." Now, had this been a Toni Storm vs. Willow match, for example, you'd have had the title on the line leading to Mercedes showing up - with appearances by Julia Hart, Statlander, Thunder Rosa, Deonna, Deeb, etc. - and that could've been a cool closing segment where you basically have all your top women in the ring together, the champion (and maybe the audience too) now realizing that the AEW women's division landscape has changed and that you're cooking with gas. But that wasn't it.
  3. That Maxxine angle might've been the fastest Bingo! in the history of WrestleCrap Bingo Cards. I mean, it just had it all and it had it all in under 60 seconds... - Awful use of insider jargon (Candice LeRae screaming "You think we're going to take that?" as in "take that move") - Blatant use of the phrase "the internet" - Blatant use of the phrase "the locker room" as a reference to "backstage heat" - Everyone being a bad actor, using bad facial expressions, delivering lines poorly - Wrestler "not following the script" by attempting to walk out on the match - The wrestler whose gimmick it is to be "bad at wrestling" not being noticeable worse than other competitors in the match (Indi Hartwell didn't exactly look like the second coming of Bobby Eaton in there)
  4. The company line is going to be that Vince made a victim out of everyone - we're already seeing John Laurenaitis using that exact play. Nick Khan, Brad Blum, and Stephanie McMahon (also "outed" in this article, as if we didn't know it was her before her name was revealed) are only guilty of hiring who Vince told them to hire, even if they weren't qualified and there was gossip that he was sleeping with them. Vince told them to find a fake job for her, so they did. Vince told them to move her from legal to talent relations, so they did. How were they to know that she was being trafficked and forced to participate in degrading sex acts or lose her job? How were they to know Vince was using company money to cover massive payoffs to women for "consensual sex of an embarrassing nature"? It was Vince! It was Vince all along! A lone villain in a company full of virtuous, honest people who were just following orders and would never willingly be bystanders for such heinous and inhumane acts. Except that is exactly 1000% what they did. They enabled. They stood by and did nothing. They actively helped Vince try to evade detection and steer clear of potential legal landmines (if you believe the lawsuit, which I do, Grant being shuffled around the office and kept at arm's length from certain figures seems purposeful). They knew Vince was using power and influence to harass and proposition women - even if we won't go as far as to say "assault" - and they let it go because that is, historically, the corporate culture at many major entertainment/media companies and they let it happen. Miramax. FOX News. WWE and the list goes on.
  5. Only halfway through last week's Dynamite, but had two thoughts... - Love Swerve. Love Joe. Love Swerve vs. Joe being on the horizon. Didn't like Joe choking out Swerve without first doing something - a forearm to the back, some stomps, maybe strike him with the AEW Championship. Or, have Joe nearly apply the hold but then Swerve somehow snakes out of it using the ropes, and now Joe can be all, like, "I was this close! Next time it'll be in the center of the ring!" Ending segments with Swerve "knocked-the-fucked-out" is just not what I would want the final image of Swerve being right now. For some babyfaces, sure, there is sympathy to draw from, but Swerve is not that sympathetic underdog babyface character. - At first I thought the EVP's theme music was a take on Roman Reign's. It took me a couple weeks, but now I get it - its a take on the theme from Succession.
  6. Speaking of copyrights... I know its just your run-of-the-mill "Fuck WWE" comment, but supposedly (I could be wrong, we'll see) the WWE didn't grant permission for AEW to use any of the footage they own for tonight's Sting send-off. I'm not surprised, but assuming that AEW reached out and asked, its still a dick move and one that I don't understand. The WWE permitting AEW to make a video package about Sting that includes all of his WCW highlights is basically having AEW produce and air a commericlal for the WWE-on-Peacock on one of their biggest shows of the year. I mean, if your rival business wants to start advertising your brand for you, let them.
  7. I had Christian as my number #22 when we did our Top 100s last time around.* I'm most likely not going to submit a ballot this time around (though, maybe I will just because why not?**), but even just looking at my old list, unless he were to be bumped by a bunch of wrestlers I didn't rank before (very possible), there's a decent chance he moves up at least 3-5 spots and maybe even lands at #15. I think what puts him over the edge (yeah, yeah) is that unlike his kayfabe brother or Chris Jericho or Angle or some of his other contemporaries, he really has a low rate of cringe. Which is saying something for a guy who spent so much time in TNA. That's not to say Christian hasn't been in some silly angles or done his fair share of comedy and cornball stuff - in fact, he's done a ton of it - but that his performance has always made it work whether it was the Trish/Jericho/Christian love triangle stuff or the Christian Coalition stuff with Tomko and AJ (better than you remember it) or now teaming up with a dinosaur and getting heat by going after dead fathers. When Jericho strikes out in a segment, it is painful to watch. Some of Angle's comedy stuff, to me, was too silly. I could go on with other wrestlers who are really hit-or-miss for me with their characters and promos, before we even talk in-ring stuff (Dustin Rhodes, Booker T, etc.). Christian just has a knack for finding the right space for his character in every situation/setting. * As I explained when we did the previous GWE, I'm an admittedly ignorant wrestling viewer who has really only watched the major US promotions of the past 35 years - most everything WWE and WCW, followed by ECW and AEW and comparatively much less TNA or ROH - so my list skews heavily (99%) towards American wrestling. I'm not proud of the ethnocentricity of it, but I've also not really got the time or drive to watch 100s of hours of international or pre-80s wrestling, as terrific as it might be, as "homework." ** On one hand, if everyone voting were like me, you'd have zero votes for Misawa or Kobashi and even my ignorant ass knows that's silly. On the other hand, gatekeeping a fan vote about pro-wrestling just because a person is uneducated seems (for lack of a better term) elitist.
  8. I don't hate #DIY, but I do think they're victims of NXT being vague "pseudo" canon. They don't deny their backstory, but, remember, their backstory involves legit attempts at maiming each other so its a little jarring to see them doing a full-blown updated version of The Rockers, two happy-go-lucky best friends that are undersized but technically skilled. Bringing most anyone from NXT to the main roster requires some version of a "soft reboot," but with them, its kinda difficult for me as a viewer to get excited about them when we got a very good, organic story of their rise to tag team glory (and nasty break-up and feud) already. Instead of feeling excited about what will undoubtedly be great matches ahead for #DIY, I'm more excited about a team like The Creeds, who still have a ceiling they haven't yet reached. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like #DIY peaked creatively, even if they didn't peak professionally (Gargano, in particular, could have years of great work ahead of him as compared to Ciampa, who has obviously had more serious injuries).
  9. Oh, I know that. I was speaking in kayfabe terms. If you were trying to follow the character motivations over the past 7 days, you'd be so thoroughly confused because nobody - save for Roman (and, arguably, Seth, who has consistently been portrayed as being a "pick me"-type and clearly jealous of Roman) - is acting like the characters they've established. Cody gave up his spot for no kayfabe reason, after spending the past 12 months trying to "finish his story," including entering and winning the Royal Rumble - which should be treated like a Herculean feat with a huge, undeniable prize, but that Cody handed over willingly. The Rock, a popular babyface for the past few decades who was seemingly ready to lay the smackdown on his cousin Roman last week, turned heel in an interview on The Pat McAfee Show and was all buddy-buddy with Roman at the Peacock-exclusive Kickoff Show. And then you insert Triple H because no "working the marks," "wink*wink," "breaking the 4th wall" storyline can happen without an Authority Figure...which, in kayfabe terms, would be Nick Aldis, right? Nope. Because this is such a "smart" storyline, it has to be Triple H...the guy most associated with the sex trafficker who once ran the place. Its just shitty writing. Russo-at-his-worst-level garbage where the thought process is, "We need you to be a heel and we need you to be a face right this moment, so let's just do that as quickly and messily as possible, motivations and character-building be damned, because the pay-off will be worth it, bro, I swear."
  10. I don't really care where we are on the "We're All Getting Worked"/"WWE Had To Pivot" spectrum. I just know, this storyline sucks. They had a clear narrative that everyone was happy with. Cody won the Rumble. He pointed to Roman. He was going to finish his story. I don't really understand why CM Punk getting injured needed to effect Roman/Cody. Rollins/Punk being off the cards obviously hurt Raw significantly, but they have plenty of time before Mania, including the Elimination Chamber show, to get someone else hot: GUNTHER and Drew are already there, but you could've had Sami win the Chamber (it'd make for an interesting dynamic face/face dynamic against Seth plus Sami being Sami means he probably would've made the storyline even better than we know) or Jey Uso or bring someone over from SmackDown because 'tis the season for brands to not really mean that much. But, instead, ignoring the fan response, we saw Cody give up his title shot last week to the Rock for no apparent reason like a doofus, The Rock turn heel via social media and The Pat McAfee show, Seth Rollins doubling-down on his "Pick Me" energy and getting ether'd on the mic by Roman, and then Cody reconsidering and deciding he wanted to finish his story after all. Oh, and Triple H is involved now too? Great. He's exactly the guy I want to see on my screen a few days after it was essentially confirmed that top WWE execs covered up Ashley Massaro's rape. Fuuuuuuuuuuuck thiiiiis. This storyline, whether its been "the plan all along" or they're just making it up as they go along, has had no logic, Cody has not been the character that guy that I was rooting for prior to all this nonsense, and they've found a new way for me not to like Rollins (which is commendable, I must say).
  11. Haven't watched the whole show, but a few thoughts... - Loved the opener. To me, you give Swerve the title by having him pin Hangman. I'm not sure where you go with Hangman from there, but...I don't care? The fact is, a truly great worker will survive and strive and I'm ready to see if Hangman is that truly great worker. Right now, he seems like it and I think he'll be just fine as one of AEW's top heels. Plus, in the scenario I'm pitching, we still get Joe/Swerve down-the-line as Joe can say he never got pinned or submitted. Swerve is OVER. Prince Nana is OVER. This company needs to not be so hesitant and just pull the trigger, unlike, y'know, that other company that has fans losing their shit because they don't trust that their guy is going to finish his story. As Bischoff once said, you have to differentiate if you want to be Pepsi to the WWE's Coke. - Oh...and another thing that giving Swerve the W does is that it allows MJF to return and just get through the Undisputed Kingdom shit as quickly as possible. MJF coming back, kicking the shit out of Cole & Co., is what his storyline should be. But then, he should be right back in the title mix. Swerve vs. MJF is a really cool dynamic and a bit hard to predict as both guys can work heel or face and you still have the lingering "Is MJF going to WWE?" question in the background. I think the crowd's would be very hot for that match. - Toni Storm and Red Velvet had a doozy of a match, IMO. Toni is fantastic, I like that she started off the match with some old-school wrestling, and, overall, slowly-but-surely, I see more and more of the women's division getting to that next level (not top-tier, best-in-the-world, but you're being overly negative if you haven't seen some improvements in Skye Blue, Julia Hart, and Velvet over the past year). - I haven't seen the final match so I'll reserve judgment a bit, but I do wonder about Ricky Starks' future. He's been pretty open about viewing Cody and Punk as mentors and I'm curious if that has him on the outs with some of the other boys backstage. That's fair if its true. I'm a Ricky Starks fan, but if AEW is going to regain some of that momentum of yesteryear, I do think the narrative has to be 1000% of the roster wanting to be there. Maybe I'm just a weirdo whose gone hippy-dippy over time, but the energy of a show matters almost as much as the actual content. Say what one may about Jon Moxley, for example, but you never get the feeling like he doesn't fully believe in AEW and it comes across. While, even in his best matches, I think you could always kinda tell that Andrade's performances were a bit like auditions for an eventual return to the company he really wanted to be in. - Mercedes in the company? Let her cook.
  12. He'd have to start as Governor, I reckon, to have any chance at some sort of national office. Trump is different than just being an entrepreneur/celebrity who ran for President and won based on "good feeling" popularity. He's not just Schwarzenegger on the national stage or Reagan or Bill Bradley (a former NBA player who became a US Senator). As others have pointed out, aside from Arnold, others ex-Hollywood stars or former athletes usually have some background in political organizations, activism, or unions. Trump's MAGA campaign was built on pretty blatant racist, anti-woman, conspiracy theory-ridden rhetoric that, at its onset, many people thought was so ridiculously far right and wacky that he wouldn't even win the Republican nomination (let alone the Presidency). But Trump doubled-down on his gimmick. He didn't just take the low road, he took the gutter. He joke about John McCain's military service and being a POW. He made fun of Ted Cruz's wife's looks because he couldn't actually debate him on policy. He crowed about not paying his taxes or ever making a single sacrifice for others. And his base grew because of it! Trump had no background in real politics or activism or even charity work. He's a mud-slinging brute and his base loves him for it. He ran on nihilism and cynicism masquerading as "Making America Great Again." Obama was all about optimism and hope, Trump was the boomerang effect. The Rock, like Arnold, is more of a centrist and I highly doubt he'd be willing to spew the kind of garbage that Trump does to cater to the Q crowd and white supremacists that have made Trump their god. The Rock may be greedy, may have a massive ego, may be not a great person - but I'm not sure he's as morally bankrupt and PROUD of it as Trump. So, if The Rock were to enter politics, I do think it'd be in a scenario very similar to Arnold where he'd be elected Governor of California. And, like ol' Arnie, it wouldn't surprise me if it were as a Republican.
  13. It will be interesting to see how they try to spin Cody blatantly saying that he would not challenge Roman at Mania and then adding himself back into the match. Every idea I've seen is worse than him just coming out and saying, "On second thought, no, I want the match after all," which doesn't make a lick of sense but at least will allow them to just pretend last Friday's segment didn't happen. People have been making jokes about "what inning we're in" in reference to the clusterfuck booking going on, but if I were Nick Khan, Triple H, and The Rock, I'd be much more concerned about the fact that the last two weeks are just the beginning of a whole new game involving the FBI, the courts, sex trafficking, and the single most important figure in their company's history. Congratulations to them for changing the headlines, but this Vince story is not going to go away and, ultimately, if the stories that emerge are as extreme and wild as the ones that came out, no amount of controversial booking is going to beat out people learning more about Vince's debauched sexcapades.
  14. "I'm also a victim" is an interesting defense, but a wolf will chew its own leg off to get out of a trap. Vince's only move is to deny. There's no bigger fish to fry than him, no on else to push blame onto (unless he somehow can turn this into all being his buddy Donny's fault). ....but John Laurenaitis can absolutely try to make it seem like Vince was the puppetmaster forcing everyone around him to engage in wild orgies. And it's not that far-fetched. Naming his dildos after wrestlers, the texts, and roleplaying as Brock Lesnar to engage in rough sex tells me that he is turned on by power dynamics and humiliation and group sex. I just don't think Laurenaitis can successfully convince anyone that he was forced to engage in a forced threesome under duress.
  15. WrestleMania sells itself, so there's no real reason to worry about the gat or the viewership, but there's the card they wanted to give us and the card we're going to get now and one is clearly "bigger" than the other. Especially on the RAW side. Losing Rollins was a big hit, but I think the plan was always to build Rollins/Punk with mostly mic work and maybe a pull-apart segment down the line. I think Rollins would've toughed it out to wrestle and drop the title at Mania. Even if he were healthy, I believe we would've seen him in limited action and they probably would've gone the usual route with Punk and Rollins teaming together on various episodes of RAW. But now with Punk out...that match and the entire build is out the window. It was clearly going to be the anchor of the show for the next 9 weeks. I still think Rollins will wrestle at Mania, but as much as I really like McIntyre's work over the past month (and believe he should beat Seth for the title at Mania), that's just not a program that is at the same level as Punk vs. Rollins. Meanwhile, it seems the B-storyline on RAW was going to be Lesnar stalking the Judgment Day, most likely leading to some sort of Lesnar vs. Dom (w/Judgment Day) match not dissimilar to the Brock vs. Wyatt Family match years ago. Lesnar squashes the heels, Dom gets his butt kicked, the crowd goes home happy. I don't think it was going to be some revolutionary or awesome storyline, but Dirty Dom constantly escaping Brock only to get his comeuppance at Mania would've been good. Plus, there was potential with Lesnar and R-Truth getting screen time together over the next few months. That storyline is also out the window. To make matters worse, they didn't do shit with Becky Lynch at the Rumble, which was just bad booking. They can heat her up at the Chamber, but hindsight being 20/20, they needed her to be involved with an intriguing drama ASAP, not 3 weeks from now. They really should've had Rhea screw Becky out of the Rumble towards the end to make it clear that Rhea is "ducking" Becky. I know that Rhea isn't a cowardly heel, but she's also a villain and a villain should be doing villainous things to the hero. The rest of the RAW roster has some really terrific and over performers - Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, Drew has been doing career work, obviously GUNTHER - but most of these acts have been spinning their wheels a little for the past few months, playing side characters in the bigger storylines involving Cody, Seth, and CM Punk.
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