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Wrestling Challenge 103.9 had worse luck with their logo

Lots of people unwilling to let a story play out before it's started here. Why am I unsurprised. EDIT: "Fickle!"

The interesting thing with the Bo/Wyatt Sicks deal is that this gives the group/angle a grounding in real life that Bray's stuff never really did, and I wonder if that is a thing that may allow them to avoid painting themselves into a corner like Bray's stuff usually seemed to. Yeah they have this presentation/aesthetic but the story of Bo continuing his brothers work and the rest being cast aside when Bray passed as they were no longer needed, and hence being gathered up to "finish the story" and strike back at those who saw little of value in them... that's an actual story/motivation with its feet on the ground. Like I still think this faces an uphill battle for a few reasons, but in terms of making an attempt at it this at least has the initial appearance of a well considered approach.

Dug Drew's opening promo. The man really has become the Frank Grimes of WWE, and I love it. Bron/Kaiser was good up until the dq by Sheamus interference. I'm kind of torn on Bron getting a title shot at Sami without a big win beforehand, but I also just like the idea of this match maybe serving as a humbling experience for Bron when/if Sami beats him. If that happens I hope its via flash pin just to piss of Bron ever further. Kairi/Lyra/Shayna was pretty solid despite Lyra whiffing her strikes occasionally. Was nice to see hear the crowd so into it. Liv, Dom, Zelina segment was solid stuff. I like how this and the general story with Judgement Day keeps playing out. Gable/Braun/Reed was fun. The post match was even better with Nikki coming out after Gable's victory with the box. Loved Gable's reaction, and the later backstage attempt to reconnect and apologize to Alpha Academy. Really liked that Otis didn;t just take him back while Maxxine offered a bit of an olive branch. The tease with Diamond Mine checking on Chad right after was nice as well. Fyre & Dawn vs. the KCs was nice while it lasted. I wish both teams would be given more segments however small to develop their characters more in front of the audience. I did like the Damage CTRL attack post match. The Seth/Damian segment was fine but not as good as last week's save for Guther's bit at the end. The VHS tape interview of Bo/Taylor by Uncle Howdy was good. You could tell there was probably some decently legit emotion there while also giving an interesting explanation for why the Wyatt Sick6 came together. Curious to see if they only focus on Bo or give similar reveals for the rest. Kofi/Kross was perfectly fine while it lasted, but it was more an angle to further the feud between their groups. Awesome Truth vs. Finn/JD was pretty solid. Dug all the segments from earlier leading into this, and I loved how the match played out with Liv helping the Judgement Day take the titles. A part of me is disappointed Judgement Day are champs again, but it was probably about time Truth & Miz's reign ended. Match wise this was nothing special though most everything was at least fun. The women's MITB qualifier and tag titles main event were easily the standouts. Segment wise I thought this show delivered more, especially with so may parts moving forward and building. Raw is always too long, but this was solid.

Bo Dallas had to hit a home run on that promo to explain last week and completely nailed it

Raw fired on all cylinders. The Uncle Howdy stuff is so different than anything else I can remember in wrestling. Bo Dallas ruled and was one of the best portrayed characters of his time. Taylor Rotunda really brought his real emotions and tied it into the story motivation just enough — a perfect balance of real emotion and character. A+ for the weirdo presentation. The Liv stuff is absolutely great. She’s stealing the summer. Great manipulative heel. She’s really hitting the character stuff out of the park. Liv vs. Rhea is going to be a main event PPV feud.

Tomorrow:

I did something I've long tried not to, had to ring First Response last Saturday which you only do if shit really hits the fan. Almost hung up when he said it wasn't a talking service. Talking saves lives, prick. Some of the questions I've been asked before, some different. Been struggling with my mental health since May. Tomorrow will be the 10th anniversary of losing my Mum, 10 fucking years. Build to this has been one of the worst and that's really saying something.

It’s the Junior station to the local Nitro radio station

I often wonder how these Collision shows/pitiful ROH tapings, and previously the Live Rampage/Dark Squash Marathons, have effected ticket sales. I've attended both. It probably goes without saying, but these tapings and Collisions are nowhere near as satisfying as a Dynamite (or more obviously a PPV). The Rampage/Dark Squash marathons felt particularly damaging. The less star-powered Collisions and long ass lifeless ROH tapings just drain the crowd. It'd be interesting to see some numbers surrounding how many of those in attendance came back the next time around.

This is a bonkers take to me. I 100% believe you that you prefer that. And there's nothing wrong with that at all. We all like what we like. But you can't think your opinion is the majority one. Stories and promos and conflict is what drives wrestling. When you really love the art form you can be entertained and appreciate the art of a match for the sake of a match and find things to critique and enjoy like we all do here. But the general viewing audience for wrestling overwhelmingly isn't that. It's the group that wants spectacle and conflict and story and stakes. Bringing back arguably your top homegrown star and the former champion off of a long break due to injury just to stick him in a nothing enhancement match at his first ppv back is counterproductive at best. Nothing that's going to tank the company or anything. But it's an odd booking choice that deserves questioning. I get that not everyone enjoys dissecting the business decisions of the wrestling business, but this is the finances & ratings etc thread. This is the specific place they like all that kind of talk to be kept to lol.

I had to go to a mental hospital for 8 days. Was there over Memorial Day weekend. My bipolar got really hard to manage and I had been struggling for a while. It was a wild 8 days. I am glad I went because I was going down some very dark places unfortunately. But even better — I really learned there what empathy for others really looks like. My first few days there were very scary. I was still completely out of it but when I came to — I was the only person my age who was functioning. People were either talking to delusions or just really zonked on medication. There was one 23-year-old who could have a conversation but that was it. My first night: We were also in our little outside area when there was a major fight in the building next to ours that was filled with really hard looking dudes — a lot of smashing and yelling and they had to evacuate all of the people on that floor to their rear pen while staff fled to whatever was going on. I was afraid it was a planned breakout and was just freaked out. A few other things were jarring. First — multiple homeless people were in the unit. This was not jarring in a bad way, but when do you ever share space with unhoused people? It was also affecting me because I went down the “these people have real problems, what the fuck is wrong with me?” rabbit hole. In PA, if you go to an emergency room and say you’re suicidal, they will find an available bed for you at a psych hospital. A lot of homeless know about this rule and will use it for housing, especially in the winter. It sounds like a loophole (it is) but if you’re homeless you also very likely need psychiatric care and that’s the only way you’re getting it. Another jarring thing: There was this really big guy who is schizophrenic on the floor. He would fight with the voices in his head and because of that would scream obscenities. He was in the room next to me and trying to rest and relax and sleep with someone screaming that all night long was really scary. But then later on, one of the staff members told us he was just a scared 23-year-old kid dealing with this awful disease and felt horrible about how people were scared of him. We started incorporating him more and more into activities and conversations. And over time (and because of the inclusion, partly) he started not having his outbursts. It was really great to see. The wildest stuff came from disruptive patients. Remember what I said before about the ER rule? A lot of addicts know about that rule, but a lot have no intention of trying to get clean. People with addiction are supposed to get into a drug unit but since Philly is the drug capital of the country these are few and far between. People in addiction who are there to get clean are usually very quiet since there is a huge amount of shame involved. But a good amount are there to try and score a dosage and prescription of some kind of benzo (Ativan and klonopin the most popular, especially from meth users.) They intend to be there for as few days as possible and will be as disruptive as they possibly can do a doctor will write them a prescription and send them on their way. One of the rules where I was at was that you had to keep your door shut if you were not in your room. So if you needed to go to the bathroom, you needed to get a floor tech (there are only 2) to open your door. But if someone is busy threatening a nurse or busy using the n-word or hiding a pill under their tongue and lying about it — that takes up all of the oxygen and attention so you have to wait to take a leak until that stops. But it got more comfortable as we progressed. More people were able to talk and it was a lot of really nice people who were dealing with similar stuff like I was — manic episodes lasting a few days where people were so sleep deprived they were having hallucinations (I have come close to that), or people dealing with major life stressors dealing with depression and suicide ideation (yep!) who wanted to become safe. People end up taking care of each other that way — even if someone is delusional or paranoid but really functioning. I will write more about all of this later. But it has been a wild summer for me.

Goddamn they really did port UMK3 to everything

Also announced: Moxley, Yuta and Claudio v Shingo Takagi, Titan and Hiromu Takahashi Toni, Mariah and Mina v Saraya, Harley and Anna Ospreay & Swerve v Gates of Agony Fenix v Jay White Daniel Garcia segment

I was reading some TV and radio news today and stumbled across a country station with a familiar looking logo.

Khan would be a fool to not take what WBD is offering. His product is trending the wrong way right now. Take the offer then start running this promotion like a business not a rich kid passion project. Hand the reins of the B and C shows to someone else. Let the roster get to a normal manageable size. Figure out if ROH is something viable on its own or a reason for people like Mike Bennett to walk around with a belt on his shoulder

Here's the thing to consider: I think WBD not putting AEW on Max by now is a lot more worrying than is being let on. They've been working on doing live sports and events for close to a year now - heck, even this week's presidential debate is going to be on it - but AEW has never been included. Either that means they don't see AEW as a viable option for streaming, or something in the relationship is preventing AEW from going onto Max. With that said, they are in a difficult spot. Their TV options are slim, and they need some form of streaming component. WBD is their best option to provide both, but AEW believes they're getting lowballed in negotiations. NBC/Universal is out. Paramount's a mess. Disney is likely not an option. Who do they really have aside from WBD? They're not exactly in a great position for negotiation. They would have been prior to WWE locking down their rights earlier in the year. Now, the field's very narrow. So then what? Do you take the lowball offer that might not even have streaming, or take the risk by going into business with exclusive streaming? If not rolling their own via Triller/YouTube, then Amazon? Who knows? Realistically, we may be in a world where they may not have the option but to go into exclusive streaming, considering how the market has evolved.

I think the way to book this that's the most grounded in reality is that all this has blossomed from Bo's grief process. If you'll notice, that last "2 shot" of Howdy & Bo made it looked like the whole interview was shot on the old Firefly Funhouse set. Bo's grief driving him to malice is relatable and grounded enough to work for a modern audience, and you could give each of the other Sick6 members their own motivations. Maybe Rowan is also grieving and found a common thread with Bo. Maybe Joe Gacy is exploiting Bo for his own purposes. Maybe Dex and/or Nikki got caught up in this trying to help Bo process. If I were writing it, it would lead to an eventual confrontation with Cody, where grief becomes the central focus of the story. Cody can be all like "I lost the most important person in my life, too, but I didn't go running roughshod and hurting a bunch of people." Again, I wouldn't try to book anything like this, and I'm not sure it's gonna work, but if someone forced me to book this, that's how I'd do it...

Absolutely. Years ago, we went to a ROH TV taping with a friend of mine and his wife, both non-fans. It was a marathon show and my buddy, who is a more laid back, inquisitive type, dug the entire thing. His wife, a more reserved and dare I say uptight person, was really pissed off and wanted to go maybe two hours in. Davey and Eddie were tearing down the house and she was like a raccoon in a trap gnawing its foot off, desperate to escape. My point is, non-fans will all react differently, depending on the individual.

Scorpio apparently never stopped carrying that shank he prepared for Hawk.

I think in-ring-wise you can hide everyone reasonably well enough in a big plunder 8 man blowoff that it would be ok. But storyline-wise I don’t see how you get there? Normally, “wrecking havoc on the promotion” is a heel angle that calls for the top babyfaces to band together to ward off the threat in Wargames or something. But there’s no way that works here, right? “Sorry your brother died, dude, and I get the promotion overlooked you for a decade, but you gotta stop murdering people” — who cheers that babyface? But at the same time, how do you book a group banded together to save a promotion, as heels? Curious to see where it goes but not sure how you get it the payoff, or what the payoff even is.

Incredible. Also incredible: Bonds misses all of those and more by .002 BA. Only three players have 600 hrs and 300 steals (in fact, only three have 500/200): Mays, Bonds, and A-Rod. Only Bonds has 500/400, 600/400, 700/400, 500/500, 600/500, and 700/500. I'm not sure who the best baseball player ever is, but I'm pretty sure it's either Willie Mays or his godson.

The best commentary on Dynamite is when they go to commercial.

Funnily enough in my experience in those situations the non wrestling fan will just as often make light of the in ring action as guys pretending to fight in their underwear. A “funny move” to someone like that is just as likely to illicit derision as it would laughter. But the idea that stories aren’t needed to draw in casuals is ridiculous and a complete misunderstanding of what works in the business and it has been that way since the 50’s. Characters and stories that connect with the audience are infinitely more important than match quality. No company with TV has been successful without those two ingredients.

Trailer for Robert Eggers' Nosferatu remake-

I finally got around to starting Disco Elysium, since I've been consuming enough DnD-based things that I figured I should go with a different dice-roll video game. I'm realizing now that this game is the absolute pinnacle of the video game genre I've been looking for all my life: A recycling simulator.

I saw Mel Gibson's The Patriot of all fucking movies at that drive-in. We're lucky to have two drive-in theaters within a close drive of us. One is only a couple years old, and is nice enough, but not a lot of character. The other (Georgetown, IN) is incredible. Looks like it's barely been updated since it opened, in a good way. Has great food at really reasonable prices for a movie theater. We try to go at least once a year. It's so much fun and the people there are so friendly.

I've been lucky enough to see MMJ play some major hometown shows and they never disappoint.

A little after 40 was when I noticed that my hair in front was getting thin and small patches weren't growing at all. Been shaving it weekly/bi-weekly with a #1/2 guard ever since.

So... McAfee not being there tonight on seemingly short notice despite being in his city and him hosting his show today feels odd, right? WWE may have the short term issue of Wyatt Sicks and Bron Breakker both being positioned as destructive heels that the crowd seems destined to cheer no matter what.

Thankful there wasn't a teabag or that would have led to Attempted Murder charges.

There is a positive side out here: Gibson City, IL's Harvest Moon Drive-In has done twice their typical business this year! I mean if you are showing Jurassic Park yeah that's a big piece of bait on the hook, but it's also awesome. And of course... I've still not been there, and even passed on their Dawn of the Death/NOTLD double bill. *holds head in hands*

I can confirm that the old ladies I work with do not view soap opera ratings the same way we view wrestling ratings.

Have you ever watched a Wrestling show with someone who doesn't like wrestling? You should try it. See how long it takes before they say "When are they going to stop talking and start fighting?". All of this "We need stories for the casuals" is a nonsense. People who don't watch wrestling, they might like a funny move, or something spectacular. They don't want 20 minute soliloquies, or 30 minute matches that are 5 minutes of wrestling and 25 minutes of stalling.

The Chiefs are going to release Isaiah Buggs

Counterpoint: Vince said a lot of things

One thing I do want to highlight during AEW's run is those kind of happy accidents, like Jamie Hayter getting over and becoming a top star. Also Rusev of all people striking gold with his whole Redeemer thing. It didn't last that long, but there was that short stretch where it finally felt like Rusev was back where he needed to be. Also, Eddie Kingston probably one of the most genuine and believable guys on the roster. I think Eddie Kingston coming in to answer Cody's open challenge and managing to earn his spot in AEW was pretty incredible.

I think this really crystalizes the disconnect here. I truly believe that some of you are being sincere when you talk of the Premier Athletes being bult up for this match in your eyes. That said, in my eyes and the eyes of some others here an act as cold as the Premier Athletes would need months of consistent rehab (or an utterly exceptional event) to even get to the point where they'd be considered viable. It is booked perfectly if outside context doesn't matter much (that being their standing for the year-plus before this) and what is really interesting is to see how much or little it does based on the individual. FWIW again I think it was fine as a way for Joe & Hook & Shibata to kill time for a week or two and establish themselves as a trio, but any effort to make it compelling as a match-up was kind of a waste; no one would have cared either way if it didn't open so it's probably more of a card placement issue (and giving it too much time but AEW does that across the board as long as you aren't a woman) than anything else. Also I ain't gonna lie, the fact that we haven't been told of a major announcement being announced on Dynamite has honestly surprised me a bit.

I know its become a joke (of his own doing) but it really is a show for the sickos. The hardcore fans absolutely love it but if I asked my brother (a hardcore AEW fan but not much else) to pick Naito out of a line-up he'd have no idea. I don't think it does any real damage and the PPV always delivers in-ring, but at a time that interest is trending down I'm not sure if its a positive for ratings either.

I see that point of view but it's a different regime. I'm not saying if this current regime was in place 7 - 8 years ago maybe Bo Dallas would still be released at some point but I'm sure Bray would have never gotten released when he did. Hunter did have Bo Dallas as top talent in the very beginning of NXT so you can't say he never saw anything in him. If it was up to Bray Wyatt, both Harper and Rowan would have been with him during the first Fiend run and he probably wouldn't have never went to AEW at all. I think Bray would have had something for his brother alot sooner than he got a chance to but obviously Vince didn't want to use him in way. That's not to say he would have been any better of a worker in the Wyatt family. I just think Bray would have had a place for him in the group. This is sort of a dead end group for some of these guys and alot of people aren't going to want to shit on it like the first time because of Bray Wyatt. Because of Bray’s legacy it's more of a reason they'll probably hang on to it longer than then should no matter how bad it gets. I'm a fan of some of these guys in the group like Cross and Gacy so for them I hope this works or atleast it doesn't completely kill them as far as having a decent run when it's done

Matt and I were talking last night. This will be the 10 year anniversary of UG losing the mask. And, we disagree about this. While UG had a good mask, I wouldn’t describe it as iconic. Maybe because it was too similar to the other masks in his group. And I def agree about the UG formula. The fact it was compared to powerbombing Kidman is all you need to know.

they coulda used the corporate synergy to bring back Freakazoid as someone's lucha gimmick in the 2001 WCW that never happened

Kellner canceled Freakszoid I have never forgave him.

Yep: https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1802082476312981583

Sublime w/ Rome is breaking up this year, and the two remaining original members will be touring with Jakob Nowell (Brad Nowell's son) as Sublime. Anyway you slice it, I hate Sublime.

My biggest issue with 83 Weeks right now other than Bisch desperately on some NOTICE ME SENPAI shit with TK is that Conrad sucks as a host. He is either not mentally agile enough to effectively address Bischoff's nonsense or (more likely) not interested in an adversarial relationship with a guy who he's making money with. It's frustrating a lot of the time.