Greggulator

This is incredible. Dude from Turner Movie Classics is introducing “Timeless” Toni Storm tonight. Even better: Ben Mankiewicz is the grandson of director Joseph Mankiewicz, who directed All About Eve. That’s the inspiration for the Mariah May gimmick they are running right now.

Only saw the main event. That was a wild, brutal strike fest. I was really hoping Kingston was going to get one back on Danielson, but that was just two dudes blasting each other for my entertainment, much respect.

Please give me Bronson Reed vs. Ivar every Raw from here until the end of time, thx. That ruled.

Please give me Bronson Reed vs. Ivar every Raw from here until the end of time, thx. That ruled.

Wasn’t Punk getting boo boos because he couldn’t main event WM but The Miz did? The Miz is a pretty remarkable WWE performer and also a very solid wrestler who does absolutely anything needed and works to get everything he can over. Or he makes others go above and beyond to cement their spot — LA Knight. He is a PROFESSIONAL and the kind of performer who should get big spots.

And my final thoughts on Punk, because man this is going to take up too much oxygen: * The dude got into at least two fights with co-workers. That’s so lame. * He went off-script on TV because ha had boo boos about Adam Page (that alone should have benched him) and then he did so even worse in his press conference where he put Colt Cabana’s mom on blast. * His biggest beef were apparently with The Bucks and Omega and etc. I am not a fan of their in-ring style. But those guys have done everything outside of the corporate wrestling structure, built up a brand completely on their own, and essentially started a new national TV promotion. Want to talk about DIY punk ethos? * Punk got paid a lot of money to perform in the promotion they were the backbone of. Punk had creative freedom, which he abused. Then TK even gave Punk his own TV show and he flamed out on that for who knows why. That is not a guy who should be rewarded with a big spot in any promotion. The WWE has been REALLY great and for a while now. I know a lot of big wrestling fans will never like WWE, and that’s fine, different tastes. But for people who like big US mainstream wrestling — it has been awesome. The Bloodline story was awesome. They do things like have a 20-minute Raw Main Event with Chad Gable and Gunther (as good a Raw TV match as anything)or will have Ivar of the Viking team go for a multi-segment match against Kofi. The anchor of the promotion right now is arguably Rhea Ripley. Cena ate like 19 Samoan Spikes. And the main core of dudes — Sami/KO/Cody/Seth/Jey Uso/Finn/Damian Priest/Drew/Dom Mysterio— is a really weird and awesome mix, and they can all chew up TV time with good mic work and back it up with high-end matches. I really don’t want those guys or a lot of other people a little further down the card like Santos Escobar to get less time because of a guy who is a spoiled brat AND also does a mic work style I am completely over.

AEW only exists as long as a TV network allows it to exist. TK might be able to put on a YouTube show or something but that won’t be sustainable. He can have all the billions he wants but if a TV network says “no dice” and he can’t get another to pick it up then sadly AEW is gone. There’s enough demand for programming out there but maybe not at the really big payday AEW is hoping for. That’s reality. It’s not a good thing if that happens. AEW is pretty hit-and-miss for me, but having as much good wrestling as possible is a good thing.

I actually skipped out on AEW a bit for the MJF feud because of parenting. Will watch these now!

I really am not excited for Punk. Everyone has their own taste obviously. But worked-shoot stuff to me is empty calorie cheap heat — kind of the same thing as, say, insulting a local hockey team (another Punk specialty.) My tastes lean much more into how wrestlers use character work to tell their stories. I think a lot of wrestling fans are over that. The Bloodline ran its course (or is on pause) but it was the best storyline in WWE history, IMO. There was almost zero work-shoot stuff in it, and Paul Heyman — who leaned into work-shoot stuff harder than anyone — is actively involved. I really can’t remember a Punk promo I dug in AEW. The only one I really remember was the one with Kingston, and Eddie stole the show by delivering his material with real emotion while Punk was saying cornball stuff like “ST. LOUIS KNOWS!!!” If Punk was coming back as a sXe goon and tormenting other members of Rey Mysterio’s family — I would be all in. Being able to deliver stories while playing a character I am all in on. But “maybe we’ll bring back ice cream bars NOW!!!” is not for me.

Glad to know HHH and Nick Khan also do t-shirt and web design.

Here is how this story goes: 1) Punk does shoot-y style promos and they are irritating because the WWE doesn’t really do that right now and it hasn’t missed a beat. There are quickly diminishing returns but people pretend to like it anyways. 2) Punk gets hurt in about six weeks. 3) Punk comes back and some drama happens and he’s gone by SummerSlam.

I am glad we are at the time of year when The Miz reminds everyone why he has been here for 20 years and is really high on the list of best WWE performers in the company’s history. Dude’s career is absolutely remarkable.

Yeah, this was a keeper of heel work. The infection is what really sells it. A lesser heel would just say “I hope your leg gets amputated.” But saying “I hope your surgery goes bad” and then saying you hope it leads to an infection and then amputation — that’s such a great specific detail and reflects on just how much thought Santos has given to hurting Rey.

The Iowa/VA Tech women's game tonight was so good. I am going out of my way to watch every Caitlyn Clark game I can this year. She's absolutely incredible. A female Pete Maravich pretty much.

I have to say that I'm so impressed with Lexi King so far. Brian Pillman Jr. in AEW was the dregs. He was so complete uninteresting in terms of personality and in-ring. I had no idea this was coming. It's so weird because the guy he reminds me of the most right now? He's doing an era appropriate version of his dad's Loose Cannon shtick. We're not in the time period where he's going to do the "bookerman" stuff but he's breaking out as a chaos agent stirring the pot to skip the line.