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Talked to the box office and sorted it out, so we got tickets!

Just a small note on the commentary team tonight: the way Taz and Excalibur showed genuine concern for Schiavone, asking was he ok and did he need attention in a very low key way really added to the impact of the moment. Avoiding hyperbolic, "that diabolical MJF" type diatribes in favour of checking up on your beloved colleague is so much more resonant. Excalibur and Taz feel like real people on commentary and that adds so much to the presentation.

I understand that Khan should have paid Orange Cassidy extra to string along Johnny Ace for months completely in character.

I think it's about time we start having some serious talks about Daddy Magic and his promos. This man is a red hot chili pepper when it comes to selling matches.

By this time next year, there will be rumblings in WWE that not all is great and that people want out of there too. Just too many wrestlers for two promotions to keep happy plus this will be the easiest Triple H will have it regarding keeping morale and fan interest high. Just do away with the most antiquated and ridiculous Vince-isms and you're suddenly a genius. What we need is not WWE, not AEW, but a secret third thing (Freddie Prinze Jr.'s rumoured promotion or another Jarrett promotion).

Hope Orange Cassidy doesn't take his loss to hard

Brilliant.

Sami Zayn was though. Merchandise wouldn't lie to me!

That is not as big of an issue as fans make it out to be. Having the belts is at least 3rd or 4th in line behind how much they get paid, how creatively fulfilled they are, and how they are treated / how important they are presented. They already have 3 sets of belts. I think being presented as legitimately the best tag team of this generation, getting to be part of a main stable that got a War Games match, getting to main event a PPV with a 45 min tag match treated as the most important match on the show by far (ROH) are all more valuable to them than if they have AEW tag titles on their waist or not. They got to team with Punk. They get treated as legitimate stars. Dax's daughter got to knock a guy out on PPV and pin him. Even with Triple H in charge there's no way they get presented as lovingly / respected as AEW has presented them. There's no way they get as much importance and creative freedom. Triple H may love those guys and give them a 10 year tag title reign. But it's not going to compare to the feeling of Dax getting to have that moment with his daughter. That's not me saying they won't go back to WWE. They may. But it's not going to be based around them being mad about the number of days they had AEW tag titles in their carry ons.

Seriously. I know things are marginally better with HHH in charge but Dax isn't getting singles JTTS duty where he gets to have great matches against top guys in WWE. From your mouth to God's ears, my friend.

It just hit me that we went from: "Scott Steiner has a brown goatee and he bleaches the whole thing except a strip in the front" to "Scott Steiner has a white goatee and he dyes a strip in the front." Father time is undefeated, friends.

No more rhymes now! I mean it!

The sheetz are saying that when Bobby Fish left, he tried to get Kyle and Adam to leave with him, so they could all go back to WWE together.

I really enjoyed the first three episodes of Andor, while I'm assuming we'll see more of the Empire soon the Star Wars equivalent of old timey Pinkerton's as the villains is a cool change of pace.

Mr. Immortal being sued by his ex-spouses for support after he faked his death is pretty much exactly the type of shit I want out of this show.

If Matt Barnes is saying it's a messy and ugly situation then you know it's gotta be pretty fucked up.

The old top American Titles

I am constantly torn between wanting to see not-2.0 get pushed because they are awesome and wanting them to continue eating massive ass-beatings because they're great at it.

It feels a little silly to write up how I'm looking forward to these when there are spoilers out there (even if I haven't been spoiled) but we'll do it quickly. 25 Man Grand Slam Battle Royale for the #1 Contendership To The AEW Championship * I like Battle Royals! Lots of guys get to interact with one another. I'm glad Archer's back doing some stuff. Hopefully Rush is a dick to everyone and does something that completely defies logic. I feel bad for Alex Reynolds. FOR THE TBS CHAMPIONSHIP - Jade Cargill (c) vs. Diamante Presumably this will be a mauling. I think Diamante's looked fine for the most part on Dark/Elevation but she doesn't seem like she's on a hot streak or anything. I liked this more when I thought it'd lead to a Martinez match. NO DQ MATCH - Sting / Darby Allin vs. Buddy Matthews / Brody King We all know what to expect here. I will say that I'm looking forward to Matthews specifically interacting with these guys. LIGHTS OUT MATCH - Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ricky Starks There needs to be something special here, something memorable. They honestly need Starks to get to the next level somehow. More so than ever. And I want him to get there. Eddie Kingston vs. Sammy Guevara Kind of weird situation as this was where all the legit heat was a few weeks ago. And hey, now they're doing business. I'd make this the main event? It's definitely what everyone's looking forward to the most. Eddie should try to kill him. Sammy should use his anger and sneak away and get quick, high impact stuff in. Eddie should eat it until Sammy makes a mistake. More violence should ensue. I really want him to use the rosary beads as a weapon. We shall see. Ray Fenix vs. Jungle Boy Good, spotty fun. I'm less annoyed by this pairing than other potential pairings, I guess? Wardlow / Samoa Joe vs. Tony Nese / Josh Woods Most interested in how Joe and Wardlow interact, what sort of tandem offense they do, lingering on the tags, etc. Action Bronson / Hook vs. Jericho Appreciation Society (Menard / Parker) There have been articles about Bronson in the last week. I have not read them. I still don't know who he is in any real sense. I'm sure 2.0 will make this very entertaining though. All Wrestling* is so much better than All Elite Wrestling *with hangman in battle royal purgatory.

THAT is motherfucking PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING. DADDY MAGIC is so fucking great.

I think Sammy Guevara is a way better heel than MJF. Cuz people are, like, "Man! MJF is such a good heel!" but " Fuck Sammy! I hope Eddie beats the hell out of him!" and in my opinion the latter is a much better reaction.

If they held it at this time of year, and then someone was scornful of it, they could refer to it as “this folderol of a Sprawl for All in the Fall”.

So yeah, my interest level in this show was nonexistent when it was first announced. I LOVED Rogue One, but I didn't know that Cassian Andor was a character I was interested in exploring more. SHIT I WAS WRONG. This show is incredible, and it's mostly based around how un-Star Wars it feels. No hamfisted cameos, no rush to make it all connect to everything else, but at the same time, it still furthers the overall SW narrative. It just happens to be a gripping thriller set in the Star Wars galaxy. I also really, really like the fact that, at least through 3 episodes, someone who knows absolutely nothing about Star Wars could watch this show and get full enjoyment from it. A show like this is how you "subvert expectations" with Star Wars. Not by trying to force something with legacy characters that fans will reject, but by taking an unexplored part of the mythos and making it in a completely different style than what we are used to.

Make it pin or submission. Goes to a time limit most takedowns wins. Sprawl for All

He can alternatively make him play for the Jags.

Feud of the Year 2022

Lacey Evans! Liv Morgan! Evans is fun. She is a 1970s buttkicker and that makes her stand out in the women's division. I love how she paces a match so that she can garner the most HEAT! Evans is fucking great. Who could boo Evans? She is everything YOU love about Pro Wrestling. Evans is Serena Deeb if Deeb played it much broader. Morgan kinda brings everything to a close quickly. Evans was awesome. Morgan was very much THERE. Postmatch, Morgan going crazy is awesome. The SENTON THROUGH THE TABLE WAS FUCKING AWWWWWESOME! Especially the camera angle. That was fucking great. I dug how Morgan went from passively accepting an ass beating from Evans to TRANSFORMING into a complete lunatic. That's good character development. Maximum Male Models! The New Day! I love that MMM wrestle all fancy but they also lay it in. They are also bumping like maniacs. That was over before it even began. It's Braun Strowman. It's Otis! I assume this will be a HOSS BATTLE! Strowman is the new Mike Knox! Which isn't a bad thing. This is good. Strowman POUNCES to make Otis fly onto the announcer's table! Strowman BEELS Chad Gable in a Keith Lee-esque way! Fun nearfall as Otis hits an AVALANCHE FOR TWO! Strowman POWERBOMBS Otis! That was fun! A true hoss battle! Strowman sold a bunch in that match, which I wasn't counting on. Otis was great manhandling the gigantic Strowman. This is the best crowd in the history of Me Watching The WWE Again. Salt Lake City, wrestling capital of the world! I started watching at 8:38 and I caught up by 9:10. Drew McIntyre/ Karrion Kross with the straps was good. Scarlett should have hit a Canadian Destroyer on Drew instead of kicking him in the testicles. I remember her doing that once in the indies. Scarlett is a good little wrestler and wish would work a couple matches. IMPACT! interviewer Gia Miller is a great Southern heel wrestler. Dasha Gonzalez is good in the ring too, though I think she may have physical liabilities keeping her out of the ring now. Dakota Kai takes on Raquel Rodriguez! I assume Raquel is going to beat the crud out of Dakota. And she does early. Shotzi Blackheart runs down and distracts Kai! Rodriguez Schoolboys Kai like it's 1986 and we are in Memphis! Nobody does that anymore. They always hit the Schoolboy but it's always a nearfall. HERE'S TO HHH BRINGING BACK THE CLASSICS! Postmatch was a train wreck but it established Shotzi and Raquel as allies- Dudes With Attitudes!- against DAMAGE CNTRL! So that worked, I guess. WWE is running Virginia State? That's cool/odd. If they are running the auditorium where I got my Covid shots, it holds 3,000ish, I'm guessing. (Yep, they are running the VSU Multi-Purpose Center. It appears that it can seat between 5,100 to 6,100 people! PETERSBURG! WRESTLING COMES TO P-TOWN!) It's the Usos against Ridge Holland and Butch! Butch mangles Jey's fingers. Ridge Holland and Butch beat on Jimmy Uso with the clubbing thing that Sheamus does. Butch does a thing where I couldn't really figure out what he was trying to do. He is bumping all over the ring. Ridge makes the hot tag and brings the THUNDER! Or something. Butch tags in he brings the THUNDER too! Great double superkick on Butch mid-Moonsault! FOR TWO! This match is GREAT. Imperiom comes down and distracts the Brawling Brutes! The Usos take advantage and get the win! That was fucking great. That was a good episode of SMACKDOWN.

I wouldn't touch that price with an eight foot pole.

No more punks and pagans, just the cowboy and the bastard left. two down two to go

Can confirm. We were among those who left, and I was legit shocked at the amount of people who also did so. I felt absolutely terrible about it because I love both of em, but my better half and I both had work in the morning, and a long drive home ahead of us - I suspect many were in the same boat. Again, I must stress my guilt in doing so, but, man... after an hour drive, four hours in line, and another seven plus in the building, they could have sent Hogan vs Austin to the ring and I'd have still thought about going home

At least one family enjoyed the game yesterday:

Thought the first three episodes were solid-good if a bit slow. I think TheVileOne was on the right track about them probably needing to keep or make it a movie. Andor's backstory is interesting, and I dug the general theme and look. Kind of love how the security were mostly comprised of 9-5ers trying to get through the job with only Mosk and Hyne's group being wannabe Imperials. The Security chief was awesome. His ability to gleam what happened based on Hyne's report and what he knew of the men was so damn spot on. Felt sorry for Bix though her shitty boyfriend brought all of that shit on himself. What I'm really digging is that this seems to be the live action project where we will truly explore the seedier and darker aspects we knew existed in Star Wars. We saw bits in Rogue One, but it wasn't the movie to fully explore that aspect with the story they had. And as much as some wanted Solo to be more of this I feel people kind of forget the entire point of Han is that he isn't this guy. This is the type of shit he pretended and maybe at one point wanted to be opposed to who he actually is. Andor on the other hand is completely this guy, and I'm looking forward to seeing this part of the Star Wars universe explored with him.

Interesting WCW logo variant

Lmao, if FTR asked for their releases after being highlighted so much this past year... Miro and Andrade I would not be surprised by. Tony clearly has His Guys he trusts and believes in and Andrade is not one of them. Why isn't Rampage the Andrade and Miro show? Is Miro even in the battle royale? Wtf is going on here with those two? And no I will not stop banging that drum. Two of the most talented guys in the world afterthoughts. Buddy does nothing for me so I'd be fine if he walked. Joe's been doing work on Twisted Metal. Read that very recently Saraya hadn't been cleared. If she still hasn't why sign her when women who can wrestle barely get any tv time as is? So many mind boggling decisions the past year that aren't being corrected like they were in the first 2 years.

Menard is the heir apparent to Jericho as far as wrestlers who can oscillate effortlessly between goofiness and intense menace.

and I'm fresh outa bubble gum!

Have you been ingesting tetrahydrocannabinol? Who could possibly have the wherewithall to overhaul such a free-for-all?

Vince Gilligan's next TV show will be on Apple TV+ An untitled drama that will star Rhea Seahorn No other details are known but some reports are saying the show will be like The Twilight Zone

I was goin got make a joke about the Jags, but then I remembered I’m a Colts fan. Probably not a good time to be making fun of them.

That's a crazy angle to work with a babyface. I'd call it misguided or ill thought out, but it was a different time and place and I guess it worked for Memphis. But with 2022 eyes, the idea of a babyface champion backing down from a local company's title match because he might lose and, in turn, lose his shot at a bigger promotion's better title, is crazy. A babyface should never back down from a match, let alone a title defense. Renesto is fully in the right here and Lawler comes off as whiny. That would make an awesome local heel gimmick, though. Heel blows into town, comes right out and professes his dislike for this podunk territory and its low-level title, but admits that he needs that belt as a stepping stone. Wins it by cheating and then uses every trick in the book (intentional DQs, walkouts, cheating to win, etc.) to keep it so he's champ when the NWA champion comes to town. Take it a step further and make it like he's a carpetbagging politician, like he chose this territory specifically for its weak competition.

Hasn't he always been a heel though? I mean he came in as a face and people cheer him, but character-wise he's always been a dick to people... he's just on the same page with Lee in-ring.

Macho Man appreciation post

Andor is fucking great. Chief Hyne may be the best cop boss I have seen in recent memory on any show. He knew the security dudes that were trying to shake Cassian down were up to no good, so he set them up with a dignified end and did not even bother with an investigation since he realized the dudes had it coming and got killed trying to extort the wrong man.

I have an incredible idea: When Takeshita returns to AEW when he makes his entrance you do the gimmick where they parachute packages from the rafters down onto fans that's popular at sporting events with the packages being boxes of Cinnabons.

His site also, angrily, reported that Brodie Lee died of COVID and AEW covered it up. Motherfucker has ZERO credibility remaining. Speculationn from Keller has no actual value. It's safe to re-lock this thread (for now).

Seattle Dynamite and Portland Rampage are definitely minor league soccer teams.