John from Cincinnati

When I express a desire to see tired 50-50 booking or Feast or Fired matches or promos at the start of every show to set up dull main events that'll end in pointless DQs, feel free to use this one on me. I like to think I'm capable of holding a critical opinion of Tony Kahn's competence or lack thereof without comparing him to anyone else. That doesn't excuse barely using people at all. If a company can go from May to late January without properly showcasing on Dynamite a guy they allegedly see as a real prospect like Jungle Boy, then the booking philosophy behind that kind of choice amounts to gross negligence. Unless the message is meant to be that Tony doesn't see him as a star and isn't interested in treating him as such. In which case he should carry on doing what he's doing and maybe give Jungle Boy another proper singles showcase in August or somewhere around then. As for this booking year to year thing, it's fine in a broad sense. But if they're padding some things out too long because they think in years, it will have an adverse effect on the weekly television product. You're correct, what is now is not necessarily forever. It's entirely possible down the road someone smartens up and actually gives some of these performers a chance to get over. In the meantime, it seems they're happy to squander perhaps some of the best years for these guys to develop by tucking them away in nothing matches on Dark that will be seen by a fraction of their US television audience. Or in other cases, they're happy to keep people in an aimless holding pattern on their main show. Maybe Tony Kahn is just smarter than me and giving their big project Adam Page nothing of value for going on three months will payoff. I'm sure when he actually gets to do something worthwhile, we'll all be tickled pink by the novelty of actual forward momentum. But for the time being, it's hard to get excited about Page as a solid guy with not a lot going on. This dull mope who feels unworthy of love is certainly proving himself right, as his booking is getting no love from me. Give me something to sink my teeth into. An issue that will build to a match I want to see. That's all I ask. I've got news: Scorpio is a JTTS. He's a veteran gatekeeper, and the company he keeps has helped to solidify him as such. His chances of really breaking through on this roster are next to nil, especially with the backlog of promising young talent they have waiting patiently in a line that isn't moving very fast. If they'd like to hide him away on Dark where most of their audience won't see him and pretend he's something more and pad his W-L record, that's certainly their prerogative. But I'd prefer him on TV, where at least he can do what Janela can't and make some actual stars look good. He's a guy that slots in as a single on this roster at about the same place as Dustin Rhodes. And there's nothing wrong with that. Of course Sky clearly isn't among my main concerns. My point remains, if someone has something you value, put them on TV consistently and ride them and shine them up properly and see what sticks. This starting and stopping stuff is no way to build momentum and a good way to potentially burn a guy with your audience. And this concept of hiding people on Dark who stand a chance of being properly over is for the birds. I do wonder how much a second TV show would alleviate some of my qualms. I think an extra hour or two frees up space to solve the Jungle Boy problem. But the Adam Page stuff reflects choices they've decided to make consistently on their A-show. Same with what they've got going on with Darby. And that doesn't fill me with confidence.

The shows can be fun and targets for harsh truths at the same time. I largely enjoy Dynamite, but that feeling of running in place has really made the shows feel less vital. And Tony's booking definitely strikes me as the work of someone who confuses dragging things out with long-term storytelling. I couldn't say who will or won't be hurt, just that it's dull. The Sammy face run hasn't kicked off in earnest yet, so he should be in reasonably good shape once that gets going and people get into the novelty. But the process of getting somewhere we're all pretty sure we're going is a snooze. Page, who knows. Getting someone hot then cooling them down and trying get him hot again is questionable practice in the best of times. Cooling him all the way down to sad drunk getting stung along by Matt Hardy for even a week? How many ways do these dingdongs need to try and reinvent a perfectly good wheel?

Gotta say, as exciting as it is to see them working with other promotions, this company has become masterful at stalling people's momentum for no good reason. Darby Allin's a guy who got over with his crazy physicality and physical charisma and his never-say-die style in the ring. So of course he wins his belt on November 7th, what's essentially a TV title no less, and he's wrestled three times on TV since then. I guess making him the guy who stands next to Sting is supposed to elevate him or make him more appealing. All it does is make me stare at my phone till these repetitive segments are over. And of course he's finally wrestling again next week but it's against Janela, so I guess the lesson is to be careful what you wish for. Similarly, Adam Page has done sweet nothing since losing to Omega on November 7th. He's having competent matches palling around with lower card goofs and getting suckered into tag match with Matt Hardy and job guys. At least that was a dominant performance for Page. But this sad-sack mope is running in place when a year ago he was the most exciting thing in the company. I see a lot of people say you can't really step on the gas with him till the pandemic is starting to get in the rearview mirror and you can have proper crowds. I call bollocks on that. If you can hotshot FTR-Bucks during a pandemic, you can certainly find something worthy of your future #1 guy's time. There isn't a single match this company is explicitly building with Page that anybody should have any excitement to see. It's disgraceful. And then we have Jericho and MJF challenging the Bucks for the tag belts at Revolution. I guess that means Sammy Guevara gets to sit around and twiddle his thumbs waiting for either of the matches he ought to be having while this interminable MJF-Inner Circle story meanders along. Cody's momentum has also stalled from the heights where he was in the most interesting stuff in the promotion. But so many of those wounds are likely self-inflicted that I won't cry too much for him. At least they know better than to ask people to pay money to see the Shaq match. Even for a promotion with an audience as forgiving as theirs, that might have been a bridge too far. We were all so excited for Archer and Miro to be brought into the fold, but both have serious Just Another Guy energy right now. Looking at trend of this promotion over the last few months, I'm doing my best not to get excited about them doing anything with Jungle Boy So I guess we have to cling to the promise of cool interpromotional stuff, because Tony's doing a great job squandering all the toys he already has. Hey, look, it's KENTA! Pay no attention to how dull so much of this other stuff has become!

Triple threat gauntlet! TNA lives!

Almost an entire year of weak world title booking and slow-walking Hangman's push for Kenny's pretentious ass sounds like a hell world. But it'll probably be just what Tony needs to be crowned 2021 best booker.

Any show that jumps straight from the opening fanfare directly to Jungle Boy's entrance is doing something right. More of that, Coach T.

No worries, we all have our own pop culture blind spots. I'm just excited to see you getting excited about TV, since I'm so used to seeing that happening for you with other mediums. Also, if you could only pick one TV show, Parks and Rec is definitely in the upper-echelon on twenty-first century TV comedy. And one that established the bulk of its core cast as stars. You'd be hard-pressed to make a better pick if you were stuck on a desert island. Good choice.

I never see you in on many TV shows on here, so this is kinda fun.

I mean I'm not going to get too worked up. Even acknowledging that awards shows are dumb, the Globes are extra dumb. But somebody could be reasonable and give Seehorn some hardware already. Hawke wrecked shop in Good Lord Bird. Well deserved.

Renewals also in for The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.

So comparing ex-WWE guys to Wire characters, Ryback is Herc, right?

*Ctrl+f rhea seehorn* *sigh*

Fightful Select following up with Lars:

Sorry, Zakk. 0% chance that happens now.

Which seems silly and convoluted now that I know Tony can just suspend them for a week. The obvious explanation is he has less regard for Jake's health than he does for Luchasaurus' horns. Nothing else makes sense!

Nice to see some consequences for the reprehensible conduct of certain bad actors on the AEW roster. I assume similar action has been taken to bar Butcher, Blade, and Bunny from ringside during Kingston-Archer 2? *crickets*

Some perhaps SPOILERy news regarding Falcon and the Winter Soldier:

Speaking of VOD: Since this is now a film instead of a miniseries, gotta assume it's Warner VOD in Canada for $30 (or three Macdonalds). The big question to be answered with this is where the Canadian consumer really stands with regards to HBO Max content. Locked Down shows up free for Crave subscribers and I still gotta spend six Lauriers to see Zemeckis' Witches? This is a bullshit country! Looking at the Warner slate for this year and what perks my interest, I'm looking to be out a Borden and a Queen Elizabeth on: Dune Matrix 4 Judas and the Black Messiah The Many Saints of Newark At this point, I'm holding out hope this thing drops free on Crave so I can have some hope of saving money on any of those titles. Edit: Nevermind, just watched the February HBO Max preview. I'm no doubt eating the $30 for Judas and the Black Messiah, and thus pretty much anything that stood a chance of hitting theaters.

So am I. But in a different way. And I'm also happy for you!

The Final Ultimate Re-Cut Director’s Cut of the Snyder Cut will be UnRated.

Don’t worry. If enough fans meme negatively about him, he’ll be cut out of the Final Utimate Re-Cut Director’s Cut of the Snyder Cut.

Yeah, now I’ve got the image in my head of some poor schmucks undusting in the middle of a subway tunnel.