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If you've got a 6PM Saturday slot then you're booking for a younger demo. I say lean way into it. AEW PG is fine an hour out of the week. You've got too many short flippy babyfaces. Perfect. Let Action Andretti flourish. Book him against really talented heels who lean goofy, you don't want to see him vs. JD Drake in a Best of Five series sponsored by GOGURT? Fuck Frick you. Pop a dumb rating somehow. Have House of Black work their same gimmick and see if they aren't the exact thing that 11 year olds would think are the coolest or evilest thing in the world. Pre-tape them losing their Trios Titles to Best Friends, make sure the spoilers leak deeply and get a dual Foley-During-The-Fingerpoke ratings bump from the diehards who want them to win some titles + have every kid who would have been a Velocity mark 20 years ago lose their shit. Yes this is Double IPA Fantasy Booking Nonsense but I gotta put it out into the universe one way or another.

I decided to quit smoking weed after about seven years of constant (and around 10+ years of on and off use) last week and I am feeling so proud of myself. Unfortunately, the side effects of me quitting have been a big lack of appetite (shouldn't always smoke before you eat), insomnia, and some anxiety here and there as well as a little shaking. Currently going on day seven right now, but I knew I had a problem and needed to stop. I've always been an advocate for marijuana and still am for that matter - but I realized that I was addicted and to the point where I felt like I would always need a to be high just to feel normal. Not exactly something I'm "proud" of, but quitting it definitely is something I'm proud of. Honestly, I ever wondered if this day would come but I just felt the time was right. After this, I plan on kicking the nicotine pouches that I use down the road and really getting everything straightened. Since I quit smoking, I've also been drinking LOADS of water which is something I never did. It would always be a Snapple or a lemonade, maybe a soda - but rarely ever water. Back in the fall I decided to also go back to school since I was terrible at it my first go around 14+ years ago now (how does time fly by so quickly when you get older) and finished with a 4.0 GPA and am still maintaining that this semester, so I'm trying to right all the wrongs I've done for myself and man do I feel some of the most gratification and satisfaction I have in a while. Might be getting some natural dopamine here soon! Just wanted to share with my pals here as I haven't been posting too much recently.

Replacing Derek Carr with Jimmy Garappolo is like replacing Dusty Rhodes with the Midnight Rider.

EEAAO making the big sweep is soooooo sweet to me because my in-laws just saw it and HATED it and won't shut up about it.

Late to the discussion but watch how over Sid is here in 92 right before the turn Whether it was the plan or not, they made a mistake.

I have this irrational belief that if Duke Droese had come in with any other gimmick, he could have been something. He had good size, could move, and had some fun offence for mid90s WWF. Get rid of the back brace thing he had to wrestle in and make him a no nonsense tough guy. You could even keep the coveralls, they work without the brace or gloves. Sort of a "I just walked in off the street and I'm here to fight" vibe. Kind of like a proto-Austin or Moxley.

The only interesting thing Jade has done in months and an angle that made the belt and the matches actually fresh? More of that please.

Everyone will be well-dressed.

@Technico Support, tagging people is *hopefully* fixed now. DEAN just hit the server with a comically oversized wrench.

Occasionally I'll visit Reddit for wrestling stuff and boy oh BOY just that experience alone tells me I would take DVDVR broken to the point of only being able to read it via Virtual Boy over ANY other place on Lemmy's internet.

As someone who was also been watching some 94 WWF over the last year or two I can concur that there were quite some decent jobbers around at that time. Other names to add: Kanyon (he had multiple matches against Waltman), Mark Starr (a couple of days ago I watched him wrestle Scott Hall, Starr hit some pretty stiff chops which Hall did not like at all, Hall replied with full-force chops to Starr's face) and the OMEGA guys (Hardys, Jason Ahrndt and Marty Garner).

I don't think there's an issue with finding potential bookers with good ideas. The problem is finding someone who can think on their feet and pivot when someone goes down with injury. Or where politics create some sort of pitfall. There are so many intangibles that go into what is presented on TV every week. Not things all that well considered all that often by our resident DVDVR fantasy bookers. A good booker also vitally needs ppl that can properly produce the presentation. Where AEW lacks isn't the booking, it's the presentation. Not specifically the production, but rather the direction and flow of the show. They constantly speed thru all the stop signs. Something significant happens and the announcers are quickly sending it to a Draft Kings ad or something else and then something else, and then the significant issue is forgotten. It's a lack of 'selling'. They don't properly 'sell' any of their angles or segments. It's something they're failing to learn from their competition. The weekly 'Road Tos' are often really great, and it feels like a mistake not running those packages, and more like them, on TV regularly. That's how you sell the goddamn story. I suspect there's a line of thinking within AEW creative, Tony in particular, that they want to try and get as many ppl on the shows each week as possible, but that attempted goodwill is coming at an unnecessary price. But to the original question, clearly @Dean's the man for the job. Let Schneider Patterson @Dean's ideas. Oh, and let Dax Harwood in on the booking team. Phil, Dean, and Dax.

Or, they could just never mention Bray and his puppets and Uncle Howdy ever again. I know which outcome I’m hoping for.

Performers who went an entire calendar year undefeated in WWE (min requirement of 3 wins and at least 1 on main roster TV/PPV): 2022: Cody Rhodes 25-0 2020: Becky Lynch 17-0, Jackson Ryker 5-0, Jinder Mahal 3-0 2019: Lars Sullivan 3-0 2018: Ronda Rousey 48-0 2017: Kurt Angle 3-0, 2013: Hornswoggle 3-0 2007: Chris Jericho 8-0, Ron Simmons 7-0 2005: Akebono 3-0, Frankie Kazarian 5-0, Hulk Hogan 6-0, Roddy Piper 3-0 1999: Nicole Bass 4-0 1997: Mark Henry 15-0 1996: Brakkus 8-0, Furnas & LaFon 17-0 1995: Ahmed Johnson 38-0, Aja Kong 3-0, Travis of Tekno Team 3000 14-0 1994: Henry Godwinn 8-0 1992: Bob Backlund 34-0, Mr Perfect 3-0, Paul Ellering 8-0, Yokozuna 15-0 1991: Owen Hart 6-0 1990: The Undertaker 9-0 1989: Earthquake 21-0, Rockin Robin 35-0, Tugboat 29-0 1988: Mr Perfect 60-0, The Bushwhackers 4-0, 1986: Cowboy Lang 7-0, David Sammartino 8-0, 1985: Angelo Mosca Jr 5-0, Ted Arcidi 3-0 1984: Antonio Inoki 4-0, Buddy Roberts 8-0, Michael Hayes 17-0, Terry Gordy 14-0, Dynamite Kid 8-0

I dunno, Angela Bassett's homage to Sasha Banks when JLC won her Oscar was pretty good.

First match signed for the House Rules show in Troy, Ohio this Saturday: Blackpool Combat Club's Mox & Claudio vs. The Firm's Lee Moriarty & Big Bill. https://www.f4wonline.com/news/aew/tag-team-match-set-for-aew-house-rules-live-event I offered to drive to the show and do commentary for future digital content.

Botchamania 469 - YouTube New Botchamania. I have to post it because it has THE RETURN OF THE NORTHERN BOYS~! And yes it is almost as funny as the Vince one. Since there are multiple promotions/wrestlers, and because it is hilarious, you'll probably want to watch it more than once.

In the Forever Hardcore doc he said he was producing at the same time, so he'd call the office and tell them he was at the venue, call the venue and tell them he was at the office, and go back to sleep If he was (literally) sleepwalking through a production job I can only imagine what he was like on the mic then. As far as Wyatt goes, the dude no-showed Madison Square Garden. Think about that for a second. Methinks he ain't coming back.

Ayo what the fuck?!

Re: presentation issues and things not having time to breathe, I can't remember which episode of the podcast it was but Jarrett got to talking, as he does quite a bit, about the issues with booking one hour Impact with too big of a roster and mentioned how plugging in too many people with short packages or backstage bits can water down a product. Wonder if he's had a chance to get granular on that with his current employer.

Willow said on her Sessions interview that one woman was allowed to blade when Ruby did a double Chigusa. I'm assuming Ruby can bleed for ten.

Sorry, you lost me here.

She’s from Norwich

Yeah, Lady Gaga getting all emotional talking about a song from Military Industrial Complex Propaganda The Movie Part 2 had me cracking up.

The most visibly angry reaction I’ve seen from a award-losing nominee was Burt Reynolds when he missed out for BOOGIE NIGHTS. While I think that the Academy is fully capable of being racist, I was a bit disappointed by how many people claimed that only racism could explain Angela Bassett’s loss. She was great, but in a small part of a pretty middling movie. If the award had been for hottest actress or best arms, she’d have won in a landslide. (Angela Bassett deserves all the awards, but hard to see this, in particular, as a snub)

Laura Bailey! Ashley Johnson! You love to see it. Joel is fuckin’ dead next season, man. I can’t wait to see the casting for Abby too. Great season. Probably the most faithful adaptation of a video game ever, movie or TV. Some people will have nitpicks about them changing small things, or not having something from the game, or having hardly any infected. But I’m fine with all of that. Enjoyable ride all the way through (didn’t really care for the Left Behind interlude episode, but I get why it was there). Season 2 now, please.

I was rewatching Survivor Series '96 today as I was doing some house work and let me say.. 1. Bret-Austin still holds up, it's so damn good.. not quite as good as the WM match but really great 2. I always found it funny how MSG shit on HBK. Sid is really over and everyone is just thrilled at the outcome

I mean, it's 100% a better use of QT than being involved in the finish of a main event title match on Dynamite between two not so distant future top heavyweights, so I have to reluctantly vote in favor of it

Or this. Have I mentioned I'm a million years old?

I wouldn't put it this way, maybe - @dean has been laid up in the hospital recently, from what I recall, so the board is probably not his priority right now - but I will say that as someone who spends money on a few sites like Defector and who gives five bucks a month to places that I appreciate reading, like Pro Publica, I'd be glad to toss some money to Rippa and Dean to get a new board/get whatever is needed to upgrade. I'd be bummed beyond belief if this place went down, and it's not like we're paying for the service of posting here. So, uh, if y'all who run this place want to pass around the collection basket, I'm glad to give so that this place can work better. Just say the word.

Re: AEW TV hours I will watch all of it. I don't even care. Give me more.

Great birthday on the 6th of March. For presents: A Batman: The Animated Series sweatshirt made up of nearly all the characters from 1993-1995. Bryan Danielson's first AEW merchandise, I got the last in my size. A Batman: The Animated Series Ultimate Guidebook. A Batman USB charger stand. A Brother bracelet and largers. The day started with AEW Revolution 2023. I met Aje for a Wetherspoons breakfast before he set off home. I was sad seeing him go. I had some big crying spells mourning my marvellous much missed Mum but didn't resort to what I sometimes do. As Shimla Spice doesn't open on the Monday as I usually have a takeaway tea for my birthday, we brought that forward 24 hours. Curry is my favourite food. I had homemade lasagne yesterday and right enjoyed it. Thanks to those taking the time to wish me a happy birthday. Most appreciated. Love, Paul xxx.

Johnny Gargano is beating on Dominik! Gargano and Dom go all lucha on the mat. Damien Priest wants a piece of Dexter Lumis. Lumis' tattoos make him look like Plymouth with mismatches quarter panels. Priest Snake Eyes Gargano to become out face in peril but Gargano gets some stuff in before we go to commercial and return to Gargano receiving an ass beating. Priest and Dominik look all dynamic and shit on offense. Gargano sells all wiggly. Dominik is a HEAT MACHINE. DExter Lumis makes the hot tag and hits two very nice Spinebusters. He then goes all Rick Steiner with the Bulldog. Candace LeRae keeps Dominik from CHEATING to WIN! Rhea CRUSHES Candace on the guardrail! Lumis confronts Rhea and Priest destroys Lumis with a Lariat on the floor. Dominik with a Love Machine Splash but Gargano makes the save! Gargano topes to Priest through the announce table! Dominik dropkicks Gargano through the ropes! Lumis applies his submission but Priest secretly tags Dominik and Chokeslams Lumis for the win. That was good. It's Cody Rhodes! It's LA Knight! They do some lowgrade wrestling. Nice Superplex by Knight. Dustin-esque Powerslam! Cody Cutter! Cross Rhodes! That was good. Elias and Bronson Reed WRESTLE! Reed does that fun steamroller thing. Elias gets in a knee! Good Elbow drop by Reed. SWEET Powerslam by Reed. Tsunami for the win! SQUASHISH! Angelo Dawkins goes for the title against Austin Theory! Dawkins goes COMPLETE BattlARTS to start! Dawkins looks great in this. Austin with an almost Bulldog Choke! Dawkins punches Austin in the face! Austin drags Dawkins out of the ring into the bafficade! GREAT fucking EXPLOIDER by Dawkins! Angelo Dawkins looks great in this. Austin is great at leaning into Dawkins offense. Theory hits his finisher and wins! That was good. Dominik comes out and is hated by a lot of people! I love the King Arthur and Mordred dynamic. I await the "EMBRACE ME, FATHER!" moment. Seth Rollins and Baron Corbin wrestle a wrestling match! Rollins Topes Corbin into the announce table. Rollins steps on the Miz to stomp Corbin! Not a real match! But it was fine. Bianca Belair takes on Chelsea Green! Chelsea Green is wearing a giant hat! Carmella CHEATS at ringside! Chelsea gets in some stuff. NICE Brainbuster by Belair. Nice Burning Hammer by Belair for the win. Kevin Owens and Solo Sikoa have a street fight! THIS is fun! They are lying it in! NICE Samoan Drop! Sikoa putting the table back under the ring is such a great heel move. GREAT spot where Owens flies off the top through six chairs. Usos ambush Owens as they go backstage! SAMOAN SPIKE! Sikoa wins! That was good. That was good episode.

Meltzer and Alvarez talked about the long-term plan for Bray back when he came back. It sounded horrible. And pretentious, All of his puppets taking human avatars. Sister Abigail being reincarnated as someone on the women’s roster. All the various Bray characters having a bleeping wrestling match to fight the age-old war between good and evil and decide the future of humanity Lol.

When people talk about Lesnar/Gunther as a match I think they aren't really being honest with themselves. What people want is 2002-2004/2012-2014 Lesnar when in reality it will just be the same suplex city Lesnar we have had for the past 9 years. That just isn't likely to lend itself to a good match even if Lesnar likes Gunther. I feel like its a match that should be avoided at all costs unless Lesnar is finally willing to break away from the suplex city style and work an actual match with someone who should have some evenness to him.

If I am “handful” then I accept the position.

I'm probably going Satomura/Perez (even with the gross injury angle) but got to catch the OC and Kingston matches first. Unfortunately I don't have Honor Club. I'm probably gonna have to get Honor Club, aren't I? Isn't is just $10 a month?

Even better, how do you do a WB montage and END IT on a shot of Miller?

I commented in the Dynamite thread how BCC isn't doing it for me because they're now just being booked as bullies and assholes and how that doesn't work if they're supposed to be faces. Well this episode definitely put some credence to the idea that they're supposed to be heels now. Yuta cheated to beat Thatcher and Claudio was an arrogant prick about possibly not defending against Kingston. More real heeling, please and thanks!

10/10/90: Jumbo/Taue/Inoue vs Misawa/Kobashi/Kawada: First half of this was very back and forth. We come in on them beating on Kobashi, to the point that Jumbo just tosses Kobashi to the corner so Misawa can tag in, which is not something I've seen much of post-Tenryu. From there, it really is back and forth (with beating down in between, of course). Misawa takes over on Jumbo. Jumbo catches Kawada's foot and slams him down. Kawada reverses a whip and knocks Inoue out so he can dive on him. Inoue slips around on a whip to get a belly to back on Kobashi. Kobashi rolls out of the way of an elbow off the turnbuckles from Taue. They finally get to all beat on Taue for a while (and maybe this should have been Inoue?), including holds, and credit to Kawada but he was really wrenching and also hit a big slam on the outside, until he gets a foot up on Kobashi and rolls to Jumbo. Then Jumbo's side destroyed Kobashi for a while. Kobashi survives and survives and survives until he ends up close enough in the corner that they're able to stomp Taue and he gets a belly to back. I kind of hate when guys just randomly break up Taue's hundred hand slap out of the corner. I feel like Kawada does it the most? If it's a big moment it's one thing. Anyway, they go into an exciting finishing stretch after that, a good Kobashi showcase where he survives a lot against Jumbo and then matches up well with Inoue, missing the moonsault once but hitting it the second time. Felt like a big win for the kids. 10/19/90: MVC vs Spivey/Furnas: We just get five minutes of this. Fans are really into the idea of Furnas standing up against these guys. Gordy hits a DDT on Spivey and Furnas makes the save and the crowd goes nuts. He takes it to Gordy in the corner and Doc comes in to even things up and the fans give him tons of heat for it. Hot tag to Furnas has everyone, again, popping big for the dropkicks but he runs in to a nasty Doc boot. Spivey breaks up the stampede pin but it's all but over here as he eats an assisted powerbomb and a clothesline kills Furnas. I have other matches from 10/19 to watch and this one bodes well for the crowd.

The Kyle Fletcher vs. Hirooki Goto match from last night in Shiga was outstanding, maybe even better than Fletcher vs. Yoshi-Hashi. I think the only matches that equal Fletcher's two outings so far were the first night's matches (ELP-Naito, Taichi-Sanada) and Shingo vs. Henare. I'm pretty excited for Lio vs. Hiromu, and Bishamon vs. Aussie Open (whenever that may be). The matches already feel important. The ELP-Finaly saga continues, and it's really pulling me in, mostly due to ELP's creativity. The crowds are all way into it as well. I have to admit, I'm kinda liking Finlay as a super-dickish heel. Part of the reason I never really got fully invested into Jay White was that he's such a cool heel, whereas Finlay in this role comes across as a guy who doesn't deserve his spot, and he's actually leaning into it and being surly about it. It's a work in progress, and I'm still not so sure if Finlay is a main event-level guy, but the interesting twist of this angle is certainly helping to establish this new character much better, with a huge assist on ELP's part.

Boo this man until his ears are bleeding.

Dude...Chris Duffy. Look at this fucker. There was one getup he had where he had spraypainted his boots solid gold like a bootleg Goldust. However, he had a singlet with trunks probably made by Garanimals. It was HIDEOUS. And guess what? He tagged with Bert Centeno. The winner from this period is L.A. Gore though.

AEW diehards give JR such a hard time but he's never had a hard time letting you know he wasn't feeling something.

Thoughts on The 3-Way Dance Stevie Richards told the Broad Street Bullies that if they lost, Raven would fire them. Then Stevie brought out The Pitbulls to destroy the Bullies. The Pitbulls abandoned their burgeoning popularity and pledged that they would win the belts and hand them to Raven. Stevie had another surprise for Raven: Beulah McGillicutty, who was not as "fat and disgusting" as Raven had remembered from when she attended summer camp with teenage Raven and Tommy Dreamer. Raven battled Dreamer, but Stevie decided to plant a kiss on Beulah, who slapped him. Stevie attacked Beulah, but when Dreamer came to her rescue, it was a setup! Beulah squirted hairspray in Dreamer's eyes, leading to Raven scoring the first of many wins over Dreamer. Best fan sign: We Want Raven's Blood (that's supposed to be red) Spoiler alert: they got it. Mikey Whipwreck continued to be the James Bond of ECW. Instead of just pinning Mikey, Ron Simmons had to chokeslam him twice and then get disqualified for chokeslamming the ref. Of course, this brought out 911. Simmons actually chokeslammed 911. When several wrestlers came to help, 911 said thanks by chokeslamming them. Eddy Guerrero looked fantastic in his win over 2 Cold Scorpio, avenging brother Hector's loss to Scorpio at Return of the Funker. Ian Rotten entered the hair vs. hair match against his brother looking like he had already lost, as his head was 80 percent shaved. Axl won the match and finished the job. Of course, Ian gained control of the scissors and attacked Axl, because this is the feud that will not end. Woman lit Sandman's victory cigarette before he could win the ECW title from Shane Douglas. But Sandman did not prove to be the Red Auerbach of wrestling. Woman slipped his Singapore cane to the Franchise, who used it for the win. Sabu no-showed the biggest match in ECW history. The fans were not pleased. They popped huge for his replacement, Rick Steiner. He and Taz suplexed everyone. They were the first team eliminated, but they beat everyone up again before they left. Benoit and Malenko seemed to have the win in the bag, but The Public Enemy rallied for the victory. Even though the Pitbulls attacked them after the match, Rock & Grunge became three-time champions and the MVPs of this show.

I am like a minute into it and there has already been a Rochester Roadblock mention. I'm sold.

I'm gonna guess that by 1995, they reconfigured and adjusted for the worst and won't spending as much. In my 1994 weekly viewing journey, I am at the syndicated shows the week before Mania X and this is the first week of the taping cycle with the shows running through WM with the last week being the week after Mania. There are no syndicated matches the weekend of Mania. The Superstars taping took place at Stabler Arena. That's not so bad. However, the Wrestling Challenge tapings (along with part of the March to WrestleMania X special) took place at Paul Gerry Fieldhouse in LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY. It looks dire, man. They may have had 300 people there. Five years prior, that's the C crew show with like Tito Santana headlining versus The Model or Dino Bravo. They did the week before WrestleMania tapings there. To make it worse, I believe the show I watched is the last time Randy Savage wrestles on a WWF non-PPV televised event. One of the biggest stars in wrestling history, who despite coming through a wacky outlaw promotion earlier his career, that has been a part of big arena and stadium shows for the last 8 or 9 years is wrestling in front of 300 people. I know he does a run in Smoky Mountain Wrestling at some point with Bruiser Bedlam shortly after this, but goddamn for WWF, that's brutal. The place is so small that I believe they don't even have the regular video wall. This is early 1994 so we ain't even close to the tip of the iceberg.

Thoughts on Return of the Funker The Pitbulls (without any Jasons) opened the show with a squash win. The fans were on their side and the superbomb was getting over as a finisher. While the masked Jason wasn't on the show, another guy in a weird mask attacked Hack Myers and caused him and Mikey Whipwreck to lose to Paul Lauria and manager Jason, who was wrestling more often. Before facing his brother in a barbed-wire baseball bat match, Ian Rotten ran to the ring and grabbed the bat from the guy who was trying to attach it to the pole. Brilliant! This show should have been called "Return of a Lot of Old ECW Guys." Stevie Richards brought back The Broad Street Bullies to help Raven battle Tommy Dreamer. Cactus Jack's mystery opponent in a surprise box was DC Drake. So we get to the end of the show, and before we can liken it to "In Your House 12: It's Time (to watch everyone but Vader)," Terry Funk also pops out of the surprise box. ECW kept trying to build up Shane Douglas as World champion by pitting him against former WWF and WCW stars like Road Warrior Hawk, 2 Cold Scorpio, Tully Blanchard, and here, Marty Jannetty. For surviving this challenge and spurning Woman's invitation to join Funk and Sandman in attacking his former training partner Cactus Jack, the Franchise is the MVP. Not only that, but the Franchise's Triple Threat group collected all the gold. Malenko already had the TV title when he and Benoit won the tag team belts from Sabu & Taz. Before the match, The Public Enemy talked too much smack about Benoit & Malenko because with Rocco in a wheelchair, they were sitting ducks for an attack.

So much disgusting shit . At the same time, it's frustrating to me that people give attention to the trolls. Why even comment on a garbage tweet from some loser with 2 followers?