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Socially distant meetings sound fine to me as long I have a sec to pay my complements to the person. Heck, we went to a live show featuring two Youtubers recently and from what I heard their VIP thing had people legit 9 feet away. Nobody had an issue as they were just happy to be in the same room. And while I won't go on about creeps there's tons of places where you can pay $130 and expect contact with a woman. Wrestling shows aren't it. And I've been very fortunate to have met a ton of wrestlers be it at wrestling shows or fan conventions. They might not remember the interaction much later on because we're all human but there is something satisfying in having the chance to say thank you. For example the last convention I went to had a ton of people to meet and about half were AEW wrestlers. That and the Hardys and Sting had huge lines for them. So with all that going on Jake Roberts was there and his line was small if not nonexistent. So we go up there and before I can say anything my wife was tearfully telling him how much she fondly remembered watching him on TV with her dad. As she's going on I see Jake starting to get a bit misty as well and he was just an absolute sweetheart. Then my friend talked to him about she had to fight her way through cancer but overcame it which he was really happy to hear. I gave my appreciation as well but there was something really wonderful about seeing them have that moment with Jake. The photo op didn't cost that much but the memories are priceless.

I’m bringing a work buddy along that doesn’t know wrestling but is interested. So I plan on playing along with any shenanigans that arrises. Also, I’m being naughty and taking the rest of the week off. So I will drink beforehand and have overpriced drinks there. I’ll do a road report.

Booking ROH on the AEW programming was a mistake that watered down and diluted the product.

This is total speculation, and I know no more than anyone else here, but my personal theory has always been that they had originally planned to do Flair/Andrade vs Sting/Darby and the DSOTR episode fallout on Ric derailed the whole thing. As for the rest of your post, it's accurate but doesn't tell the whole story. Ratings are down across the board for every single cable network except Fox News (I'll save my jokes) because everyone's starting to leave the house again Edit: You know what I think the coolest thing to do with Andrade is? When Pac's AA title run is over, he should be the next champ and take it to Mexico. I have been loving these defenses on Dark.

I watched this match on my phone this morning while stuck at the train crossing on Branders Bridge Road on my way to work. I think the guy in the car behind me laughed when I threw my hands up in the air and shouted "Oh, fuck! She's dead!"

No.

He should have gone with escorts — legitimate sex workers — instead of these independent contractors.

I mean, I definitely consider "only shows up once or twice a year" a big part of the appeal to the old Jack "On The Take" Tunney approach to on-air authority figures even 90's WCW brought Bockwinkel and Dillon out a bit too regularly

Chris Jericho is good in general and really good for AEW. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.

It would be pretty dope if they started negotiating trades. It seems like the type of thing TK would be into with his sports background.

YES PLEASE

Jamie Hayter really should get that belt soon. I think she might be AEW's Sasha Banks in the sense that she was initially a supporting character that got organically over and progressively steals more and more spotlight each time she's out there. She's winning the fans over and hopefully TK realizes this is his real star in the women's division. When it comes to Rosa, I love her presentation, the wardrobe, and the effort and enthusiasm she brings, but yeah... She's kinda floundering right now. Luckily, AEW believes in cycling people out, so I think a break would do her good. Let her come back to a good spot and rebuild that momentum she had when she won the belt.

Don’t know about Rhea’s chances, but that’s Carol Burnett’s Emmy for guest actress next year locked up.

Apparently it's Rukus doing a spot-on Jane's take: It's really accurate. I wonder who is singing? Maybe the guy from The Ghadarvas? Jane's Addiction was my favourite band for several years. Probably seen them live third-most out of all bands that are not my friend's bands (Pearl Jam and DOA are prob 1 and 2 on that list). The lyrics are legitimately funny. You can read them in the comments section of the video. Probably the only time I will ever recommend reading a YouTube comments section. I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure out if that was a Jane's or Porno for Pyros or Satellite Party or Ghadarvas song I hadn't heard before. "Cash In" is a pretty good Jane's reference, too.

This out of focus kid is an amazing fan:

You’re a good muscular bald guy and we all get caught up in derp online.

Starks should take 90% of it or overcome a lot of interference if he has to work from underneath. He needs to make a statement.

There was a lot going on during the telephone call scene, as well as the scene where they signed the divorce papers. Gene clearly wants to reunite with Kim, but Gene, or Saul, if you will, is a gross caricature of the man she loves. She tries to appeal to him as Jimmy, not Gene, Saul or Viktor, which causes him to flip out and begin attacking her. He goads her into confessing, and somewhere between the telephone call and her arrival in Albuquerque, she decides to do just that. I thought it was brilliant the way she switched back to being Kim when she returned to Albuquerque. As a former lawyer, she knew the affidavit wasn't enough to get her charged for any crimes, so she went a step further and confessed to Cheryl. When Cheryl threatened to take everything that Kim has, it was clear that for Kim, her "Miracle Whip" life in Florida didn't amount to much. When she told Gene that he can't be living much of a life and that he should turn himself in, she might as well have been talking about herself. That said, she deliberately chose that life in Florida so that she wouldn't hurt anyone anymore. She probably would have continued with her mundane routines if Gene hadn't called her, and may indeed return to it. The call was the catalyst for Gene going off the rails in Nebraska, and whatever his final outcome is, and Kim finally confessing, and was the crossroads moment we saw in the previous episode. Kim's confession also implicates Jimmy in the crimes (if that's the correct verb), but I don't think she cares by this point as the Jimmy she loved is gone. I suppose she has to feel some guilt over that as it was her decision to leave Jimmy that pushed him over the edge. but their relationship was already strained by their opposite reactions to Howard's death. It's interesting that she protected Jimmy at Howard's memorial, but is now making an effort to have even more charges laid against him.

When you saw Tunney on the tv, you knew whatever was being addressed was a big deal. I'm fine with AEW's approach of wrestler X challenges wrestler Y and the announcers let it know it was made official during the break. I don't need more info than that.

TK said on an interview recently that Black's got like 5 years left on his AEW deal. FTR ain't going back. Miro is doing more acting, apparently. One thing I think we're discounting is the appeal of the AEW schedule as opposed to WWE's. You're home more. You have more leeway with your likeness ie third party appearances and whatnot. WWE is still a publicly traded company. Nick Khan still has a lot of sway. Some folks will flock back toward WWE, sure. But I don't think it's an exodus of talent TK needs to worry about so much as it is a rabid cost-cutter in the driver's seat at WBD.

When the JAS first formed, Meltzer did a segment about how hard it is to get audiences to boo aging vets near the end of their careers (Flair, for example). I’m not a huge fan of the Inner Circle or the JAS, but Jericho’s working pretty hard to be hateable and get people to boo him. I give him a lot of credit for that. I do wish he’d stop coming out to whatever Fozzy song he uses for an entrance theme. The singalong stuff is annoying for a heel act. It’d be more effective if he’d come out and tell crowds they don’t deserve Fozzy then enter without a theme. Also, not playing Fozzy would probably be be doing most of us a favor.

I'm so sick of the on-air authority figure that I (wrongly, I'm sure) don't even give Impact a chance. I've heard in a few places how it's worth watching now, but then I tune in and see Scott D'Amore running around in a suit and director's headset, telling people what to do, setting up matches, etc., and I just nope the fuck out like Abraham Simpson in that gif. It probably doesn't help that the time I tried giving them a chance was during the angle where Honor No More was invading. So we had angry D'Amore setting up matches to get back at them. So not only did we have "angry authority figure using his STROKE in THE BACK to get back at wrestlers," but you had INVADING FACTION WHO DOESN'T WORK HERE AND HATES THE COMPANY on top of that. Really didn't do wonders for The Promotion Formerly Known as TNA's attempts to not be WWE Lite.

At the time, Rosa did make sense as the next champ. I thought she was a great choice, personally. She just hasn't delivered since winning the belt (IMO, of course). So, I think she was a good choice to dethrone Britt, it's just not worked out so great since then. I don't put it all on her, either. She just hasn't had a compelling story since getting the belt, really.

I highly recommend watching the A&E Lex Luger documentary. I highly enjoyed looking back at Luger's career and his personal struggles/mistakes/generally being an idiot.

I don't think the Neutralizer really works in a federation where people actually hit piledrivers reasonably frequently. Britt's reign was fine, though it did need to end. Rosa's now needs to end too.

John Krasinki/Chris Pine/Pratt/Hemsworth trapped inside Tron…I mean Pong, while running into vintage game characters like shitty ET played by Peter Dinklage or Paperboy played Timothy Chalamet. Then they win and say “So that happened!” followed by an ironic nostalgia gag like Sisqo singing the Pong Song. Pay me.

Queen Aminata shows everyone how to take Athena's finisher.

Megan Meyers looked awesome. SIGN HER, TK! Ruby Soho and Skye Blue call out Tay Jay after the match! STREET FIGHT! Is Parker Boudreaux coming out to Jane's Addiction? I never really listened to them, for whatever reason. He does a GREAT Beel. Hey! It's Queen Aminata. She's pushed hard in the Women's Wrestling Army. I don't think she will be able to use her best move, her Flying Hip Attack. JESUS! Athena hits the greatest dropkick of the MONTH! On the floor. Athena likes to tell a story. The story is that Queen Aminata is disrespectful to Athena. She gets some offense in but can't set her up for her Flying Hip Attack- which does rival Toni Storm's. Athena crushes her skull and wins. That was good. Hey! It's Freya the Slayah! I see that Leila Grey got all her friends from OVW a gig on Elevation. I love the Leila/Kiera DYNAMIC. Get some tag titles and PUT THEM ON THEM! It will become Akira Hokuto tagging with Shinobu Kandori! Remember how great that was? Instead of tagging they would smack each other upside the head. That was fucking great. Let's get these Baddies smacking each other upside the head! LET'S FUCKING DO IT! It's Lord Crewe from Championship Wrestling from Hollywood! Alex Reynolds has grown a beard! He is changing his looks so he won't be recognized and is trying to avoid getting let go! Fun finish. John Silver is safe. PRETTY PETER AVALON- THE PRETTIEST BOY IN AEW! YESSSSSSS! Of COURSE he's pretty! When we last saw Ryan Nemeth he was having a barnburner with Konosuke Takeshita! Awesome! It's PENTA. He will want to tell a little story, so the Wingmen will get in some offense. Awesome! The Wingmen are UNSTOPPABLE! PENTA must have said before the match, "Get in ANYTHING you can think of." Rey Fenix takes a DDT like RVD because the Lucha Brothers are AWESOME at making Ryan Nemeth look like a total MAN-SLAUGHTERER! They fucking totally kill PPA with a Toprope Spanish Fly into move that would be TOTALLY outlawed in Mexico- a gnarly Piledriver! Postmatch, Andrade and Rush come out to set up prolly the best match Wednesday. I am VERY excited about Alex calling out Jose the Assistant to get his ass in the ring!

Him and fucking Adam Cole. One of the worst remnants of almost 2 decades from WWE exclusivity is the super long entrance sing-along song, especially for a heel.

Babyface Ricky Starks vs Aaron Solo is also confirmed.

Like the... time crossed Jimmy Del Ray/Big Bubba version?

God. That's some heavy shit. Heavier than I already thought it was. That changes how I viewed all of that stuff now. I didn't even think about the stuff with the cartel or Mike or whatever.

I'm fairly sympathetic to wrestlers and other athletes who want to try anything and everything to avoid the knife. It's not like surgery isn't without its own risks that aren't just a very long amount of time to rehab. You have recovery, rehab, setbacks, etc. and that's just if the surgery goes well. Kenny is still all kinds of fucked up even after having surgery or at least he was all kinds of fucked up enough to be mentally exhausted and frustrated and this is someone who was in multiple G1s. I also always remember those images of Olympic swimmers with cupping marks all over their body. Just all of them covered in these giant hickies because it's the Olympics and you can't afford to quit at that stage. So I mean, I get it, but I'm also not an athlete and I'm quick to call that shit quackery and go for whatever the most hi-tech shit I can get at a hospital is. Except for my back. I have three family members who went under the knife for their back problems. Two of them walked before and then never walked again after. That weighed heavily on my brother who has spinal stenosis and other issues from being 6'5" and playing basketball and running, like, man in his 50s going running. It was either live with terrible pain and try some alternative remedies or get surgery and risk what happened to two of our other family members. Eventually he couldn't put it off any longer. Post-surgery he can't play basketball anymore, he can't run, but he can thankfully still walk, bowl, play with his grandkids, etc. and not be in a bunch of pain.

@BobbyWhiouxhaving a mental catalog of every insult Bobby Heenan ever lobbed toward Jack Tunney has got me rolling.

I don't want him gone forever, I want him gone long enough to want him back.

Do the Donkey Kong is the superior song on the Buckner & Garcia video game song album. The world does not need a cover of Pac-Man Fever by Billie Eilish.

Gotta admit, I find it hilarious that any time there's a story about wrestler X or Y maybe not being wholly content with their position within AEW, there's a reliable chorus of "AEW is fine, they can leave and I'll be just perfectly happy with wrestlers A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, and P. And they're so great at creating new stars, just look wrestlers Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, and Z. AEW's fine!" Nobody's saying AEW's not fine based on there predictably being stories and rumours about people who could be happier. The Tony defense force could really afford to turn down the energy sometimes.

This might be unpopular but I enjoyed Dr. Britt Baker's reign as AEW Women's World Champion. Speaking of unpopular, I really like Claudio Castagnoli's Ricola Bomb but I think I prefer the Neutralizer as a finisher.

Guy still looks exactly the same. Doesn't age at all.

"Palaquin" is probably the word Excalibur used.

The line of thinking I've seen online is that the Stokely Hathaway story of him collecting a little roster of frustrated "non-WWE" guys is a cover for MJF building a stable. MJF and Stokely do have a history of working together in, I think, Beyond Wrestling. But I'd be fine if MJF fucked off to WWE.

Let’s not forget how much time Andrade spends with one of the biggest malcontents in the history of the business. His father in law is probably in his ear constantly about how much bigger of a star he should be. And to be fair, Andrade should be a bigger deal than he is…

Yeah. Tony Khan should be ashamed, right? ? Seriously: if anyone is unhappy in AEW and thinks they could do better elsewhere, I genuinely hope Tony Khan just cuts them free. I popped hard for Miro's debut and enjoyed his run and want to see more of him in AEW and hope there is nothing to the rumours... ...but if he really wants out, let's not be petty about it. Wish him well. Let him go. Burn zero bridges. I also really really hope AEW is keeping Bryan Danielson very happy. And Mox. And Yuta and Claudio. And Regal. And Garcia. And JD Drake and Bear Country and Legit Leyla. And Darby. I hope 2.0, the Gunn Club, Brody King, Buddy Matthews, FTR, Dante, Dustin, Fuego, Jungle Boy, Keith Lee, Comoroto, Fenix, Hayter, Emi, Shida, Storm, Kiera, Wardlow, Sonny Kiss, Starks, Sammy and Tay (yep), and Toa Liona are all tickled pink working there and have already told HHH as much. But AEW should be the good guys here. Let the "grass is greener" folks find out for themselves whether it really is. That being said... If Eddie Kingston leaves to go to WWE, I will lose it completely.

“Yup yup yup yup yup.” I died.

My two cents, as someone who has never paid for an autograph: It should always be the signer/celebrity's option and comfort level, regardless of pandemic. I got to meet Simon Pegg years back at a book reading and signing (actually was able to meet him beforehand privately as my friends worked at the bookstore). I didn't ask for a photo, but he offered to pose with us and did the arms on lower backs pose. Likewise with Springsteen, the books were pre-signed but there was a 30-second photo op so I stood next to him and when he did the lower back arm I did the same. I've never bothered a celebrity at an airport or a bar, although in retrospect I wish I had yelled some choice words at Ted Cruz at DFW.

Better yet, just print the picture and then fold it like one of those things in the back of Mad magazine.