just drew

I probably did word that poorly. FWIW, I don't dislike you or anything. One of my many character flaws is that I get frustrated when other people don't see things the same way I do. To me, it seems obvious that Bayley is never going to be seen by WWE as the same level star as Charlotte or Becky. I have no idea why, because she's far beyond them as a worker and a good enough promo to be at the highest level. I think the other thing that mystifies me is why a guy like Rusev would rather do low-card stuff in WWE than be much higher up the card and compensated just as well in AEW. That's all intertwined to me. Like, is the prestige of being in WWE worth that much?

IDK who needs to hear this but a: I'm sober and at work. b: if I chose my words poorly I apologize. What I meant was that it's hard for me, as someone who isn't in her situation, to understand why she continues to stay in a situation where she is clearly not valued as highly as she should be by her superiors. Wrestling is a weird business. To me, Bayley continuing to stick around when she could be in a higher profile situation elsewhere, where she'd also be compensated just as well, is baffling. I don't understand why what I said is a big deal.

I mean, why would she continue to allow herself to be shoved aside?

If she had any self-respect she'd be out ASAP. Especially when I'm sure Mercedes is telling her how great it is not being in the WWE system.

Is there a dedicated Righteous Gemstones thread or do we handle that business in here?

I saw that. I also saw online that Heyman being vicious on the roast is one of the reasons they aren’t airing it.

Is WWE really refusing to air the roast thing with Tony hinchcliffe? How bad does it have to be if a maga stronghold like tko is refusing to air it?

So, is there a chance Vikingo isn't under contract? Because that would be a pretty serious middle finger to WWE for TK to sign that dude.

That was the day a pubescent Drew swore his undying loyalty to Nirvana. That ruled...

Fair enough. Maybe my tinfoil hat isn't tight enough anymore.

So, I watched this on a buccaneer stream, so WWE doesn't benefit from it at all. This was better than night 1. It still wasn't good. The women held up their end of the deal, even though it was FUCKING HORSESHIT that Bayley got pulled for no reason. Stick Becky in the title match, or, if you want to make Lyra a star, have Becky answer an open challenge for the women's IC title. Shit, I dunno. I just hate it for Bayley. She's yet another one who signed an extension and immediately got asked to do all manner of stupid shit, like Chad Gable and Natalya. That 4 way for the IC title was good. Carlito should take a month off after that spear. Holy shit. Happy for Dirty Dom. He's the most entertaining guy in the company right now. Just an absolute unrepentant scumbag and I love it. It makes me mad how good Logan Paul is at this. AJ Styles is fantastic. That was a really fun match. I can't decide if that Orton match buried Joe Hendry or not. It's not a good look for the TNA World Champ to get beaten in 4 minutes by Randy Orton. That was not ideal. He had that fun moment, though, and he got a better reaction than I thought. That main event was BAD. Plodding, overacted, and the wrong kind of deliberate. You know it's bad when the Rock can't be arsed to show up. Congrats to John Cena, though. The King stands alone.

IDK if this belongs here or in the "Hot Takes" thread, but this AAA/WWE thing just reinforces an opinion I've had for a few months now. WWE is flat out bothered by AEW's existence and continued growth. WWE can't make Tony Khan stop spending money, and WBD has told several wrestling journalists that they view AEW as a steadily growing brand. It would not shock me if AEW gets another extension sooner rather than later. Ticket sales and ratings are inching back up, and I think streaming on MAX has been a world of good for AEW. In response to AEW being a stalwart challenger brand, I believe WWE has changed their strategy. They can't directly run AEW out of business. But they think they can suffocate AEW. I don't think it's a coincidence that just a few weeks after AEW Shockwave was rumored to be on Tubi, that WWE strikes a deal to air Evolve on the same network. These contracts with arenas that prohibit them from booking any other wrestling company within a certain amount of time, while at the same time counter-booking areas AEW is having big shows on. Now they buy an entire lucha libre promotion just after AEW announces a joint show with NJPW and CMLL. This is a pointed effort. My worry for AEW isn't that they'll lose so much money TK folds up shop, or even that WBD cancels or doesn't renew the show. My worry is that WWE engages and makes deals with every other streaming outlet, so that AEW has nowhere to go if something were to happen to WBD that causes MAX to go away. It's not the most stable of operations. Currently, the only top tier streaming services that WWE doesn't have some sort of agreement with are Paramount+ and Amazon Prime. IDK. Maybe I'm overthinking it. There's part of me that thinks Nick Khan and HHH are upset that Uncle Tony doesn't appear to get flustered or react rashly online to moves like these anymore. Instead, he signs Speedball Bailey, Kevin Knight, and Josh Alexander, free agents that WWE were rumored to be very interested in. What would scare me if I were AEW is the growing probability that WWE uses their name brand recognition to starve AEW of media outlets and talent sources.

Curtis Axel.

Cool. I appreciate that. I had no idea there was a luchador's union. I guess the second part of my question is; why are guys like RUSH, Mortos, and others not allowed on the AEW/CMLL shows? Did they have something to do with the Brazos?

I'm also of the opinion that it's a way to keep Austin from appearing at a certain stadium show in Dallas. He isn't under wwe contract, and has said very recently that he hadn't heard from anyone in wwe since the TKO merger. If I were TK I'd hand him a blank check to answer Max Caster's open challenge. Broken glass, similar but different enough music to avoid a lawsuit, kick, wham, stunner, two middle fingers. Leave. Pay him like a three million dollars for every minute he's on screen.

I need someone with more knowledge of the history to explain to me why CMLL isn't an option for a guy like Psycho Clown. And, while we're at it, why certain guys can't be on that AEW/CMLL/NJPW show coming up.

She's gotta be regretting signing that extension, right? They have taken wet shit after wet shit on her since she re-upped. Especially when you know she and Mercedes talk regularly. She could be making tons of money globetrotting and cherry picking matches like Mone is.

I mean, maybe. I've been pretty open about some of the stuff I struggle with. It doesn't change the fact that CM Punk has marketed himself for the better part of two decades as a moral crusader, both inside the ring and out. Now that he needs the money, and has burned every other bridge with any company who could potentially pay him what he thinks he's worth, he's willing to be "Company Man Punk." This is a guy who cut off contact with any WWE employee in his life when he left the first time. He's made himself a target for scrutiny with his own actions. But his fans will keep moving goalposts to avoid admitting to themselves that he's just as big a corporate stooge as the performers he made a living calling out, my guy.

I mean, it's entirely feasible to me that they bought AAA just to get Vikingo. If I were a billionaire, I would.

I did. Took my son to the park. Checked again when I got home. CM Punk is still a sellout, bro.

That’s what I thought, too. It really feels like they’re ramping up their efforts to mess with AEW. Sucks that Vikingo won’t be back in AEW for the foreseeable future.

I remember liking that first Good Charlotte record.

In baseball, catchers do something called “pitch framing.” They do their damnedest to make every pitch look like a strike, including sleight of hand. Or glove. It’s the closest thing I can think of.

My kid is very excited about the live action Lilo & Stitch. That is all.

Donnybrook in the Breakfast Nook.