[NXT on USA - 3/4/2020]

I thought the finish to the women's cage match was great. Creative, and a great visual being trapped between the mesh.

I hope they get out of Full Sail soon. Something is just not connecting with me for their TV even though I really enjoy all the Takeovers.

[AEW Dynamite - 3/4/2020]

Man what a turn around for Hangman. We were all complaining he wasn't ready to main event a PPV back in August. Now we're all pretty much in agreement that he's the most over thing on the whole show. Putting the beer on the post and not spilling a drop was god level. As was him flipping off Matt. I hope he's the final entrant in Wargames and just goes off. Imagine that building with 10k+ in the building coming unglued. Can't fucking wait. Give me that superman highspot where he kicks all 5 heel's asses, then beats the shit out of Matt too lol.

I had a real uneasy feeling when Jake first got out there. God damn was that a home run promo tho. That final line was fucking aces. I think Brodie fits with Jake a little better than Archer. Broodie can be that silent monster badass who just stares at the camera with his crazy eyes while Jake paints the picture for him. Archer is too chaotic and intense for Jake to be really effective. Cody's tattoo looks even dumber with a suit covering half of it. Ugh. lol

Darby with the hot tag to himself, fucking money. 

[AEW - MAR 2020]

47 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

Those could've been plants. 

Ding ding ding. The beer one I would bet money on. I mean christ Cody's dive spot on Wardlow was preceded by Brandi getting Wardlow back with beer. That type of cooperation and continuity is just not possible for an unscripted thing when you got what 4 or 5 performers. All on the same page without missing a beat or any hesitation? And it tied back to a previous story beat? Even the for the most experience of the experienced, you aren't gonna have 4 or 5 people all come to that same improvisation idea at the same time like that. Doesn't take away from how cool it playing into the match was tho.

But hey having people questioning if it was off the cuff or planned means lots of people are buying in and suspending disbelief. Can't get mad at that.

[AEW Revolution - 2/29/2020]

I got my money's worth, happy with the decision to buy. Over all the show was closer to a thumbs in the middle for me tho. Not because anything was overtly bad, but just some pacing issues because of the order they chose to go with.

Buy In tag was good pre show stuff. Timing was rushed on the end segment. And it was weird Cabana had to wait for his full into on his theme before hit hit the ring lol, but well done segment that got a big response in Chicago. Not 100% sure who the higher power ends up being, and that's a good thing. 2020 wrestling is lacking in real surprises.

Hager & Dustin was a slower big man brawl. Solid work. Just not an ideal opener. Heel over in the opener was another factor to a weird crowd for the whole night. Idk if sexual assault is a good babyface highspot in 2020 anymore tho. Yikes, lol.

Darby & Sammy was right up my alley. The 630 through a table was fucking crazy. Dope from start to finish.

Tag titles was killer shit. Page is over brother. Great storytelling. And even better post match foreshadowing. The Buckshot Lariat being lined up and teased, but not being hammered by the announcers was so refreshing. WWE style commentary would have all three dudes in the booth screaming over each other about it and showing replays 100 times.

The women's match was rough. Statlander was sick, so giving her some slack. But man, Nyla is going to hurt someone. The superplex you could hear Statlander telling her to wait til she had both feet on top before they go, but Nyla jumped the gun anyways with only one foot on the top and they are lucky no one got hurt. Scary. Even worse was the second rope powerbomb where Nyla was trying to switch her feet inside after already having her up. She ended up doing a one foot in one foot out jump and they are so damn lucky Stantlander lander okay. I think they may have aimed too high for what they can pull off cleanly, factoring in the flu.

Cody. Brother. You're the guy I enjoy watching most right now. I dig everything since you left WWE. But that neck tattoo is... bad. I'm not against neck tattoos in general. But that one is so big and so colorful and placed so prominently when he has hardly no other ink. It's just one of the worst tattoos I've ever seen. Damn dude. Maybe in time it just becomes normal. But def very jarring on first sight. Liked the finish, and most of the story elements they threw in. Bad live music performance aside, another  thumbs up from me here.

Pac vs OC was perfect. The right guy won. And won convincingly. But OC got to show he's legit. 3000% perfect from everyone involved. I'm sure the Cornette hate will still flow, but even JR seemed genuinely impressed by the dude.

Main was hampered by that post malfunction. Jesus christ. Mox couldn't judge the post with that stupid eye patch and legit split his head deep AF. 99% sure he had a concussion. Shit was gnarly. They get a pass from me for the clunky match. It's hard to do much else but brawling when you're that loopy. Mostly okay with very little crowd heat. Right guy got the win, but a better match would have made the moment seem like a bigger deal.

Wargames will be interesting. Do we do Team Cody vs Team MJF? The Inner Circle vs The Elite? Dark Order vs The Elite? Surprised they went all in with two rings and a top on the cage. The first REAL Wargames in a long time. LOVE naming the episode Blood & Guts too.

[Super ShowDown III - 2/27/2020]

4 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

Goldberg actually appearing live on Smackdown last week amounted to maybe about a handful of more viewers. He's not getting ratings up in a meaningful way. 

Maybe you missed this post :

1 hour ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

Despite his brief appearance during Friday's WWE SmackDown on FOX, WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg brought a big ratings boost for his return to TV last week.

It was noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that the quarter with Goldberg's "live via satellite" appearance was "through the roof" and the biggest quarter SmackDown has had in a long time. Dave Meltzer noted that he doesn't get full data on the quarters for SmackDown, but he does receive data for the top 10 markets.

The quarter with Goldberg's appearance, which was interrupted by WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt, drew around 3 million viewers. The quarter also featured the brawl with Roman Reigns and King Baron Corbin, but the draw in the segment was Goldberg, who was good for an increase of around 19%.

They are struggling to gain viewers. No one is gaining viewers. So when someone's appearance hits 19% growth, they pay attention. It's a big deal.

[AEW Revolution - 2/29/2020]

I haven't posted much in the weekly threads but I'm still watching and loving what AEW is doing. The ironman match this week was killer. The cage match last week was great. And I'm definitely buying Revolution. Really well built card. Most looking forward to MJF vs Cody and The Elite Explode tag match.

One thing that's very refreshing to me is the patience they have debuting some of their wrestler. Hager showed up in October and is just now having his first match. Wardlow showed up in November and didn't wrestle until February. Orange Cassidy's been there since May and this is his first singles match. It feels organic that they're debuting people and not forcing them into matches until they have an issue.

[Super ShowDown III - 2/27/2020]

4 hours ago, TheVileOne said:

If Fiend vs. Reigns is cold as ice, what is Goldberg vs. Reigns? It must be absolute zero.

To people that haven't watched wrestling in a decade? A bigger deal than any two current guys would be. I'm trying to put myself in their shoes to understand. The Fiend is pretty cool. Most everyone watching today at least enjoys the firefly funhouse segments. But the cap of people watching these days is 3 million. The cap of people watching when Goldberg was hot shit was 10 million. It's not crazy to think putting a big name from a previous era vs a big name from this era could conceivably pull in some of the viewers that don't watch anymore.

 

Wrestlemania 32 tickets were selling poorly until Shane McMahon vs The Undertaker was booked. THAT moved tickets. That's the type of thought process they're using. It's irrelevant who would have a better match quality wise. (Which I truly believe actually *is* Goldberg vs Reigns, if Wyatt is in boring no sell mode). It's also irrelevant if his jackhammer is impressive to you, you're already watching.

 

[Super ShowDown III - 2/27/2020]

All the outrage in here is crazy. First, I do think Bray is a solid worker. The Fiend character is cool as hell and I was all in when he debuted at Summer Slam (back when he was just a scary dude that squashed a guy). But then they went way overboard on his presentation. The red light. Him working like a supernatural being instead of a scary badass. It got over worked and lost it's cool factor. All his promos are fun, but his matches are a chore. It's not because of work rate or him not working 5 star matches, it's because the story they tell with him is so one note.

But man The Fiend vs Reigns is just ice cold as a draw. Wrestlemania hasnt even sold out yet. The card needed changes. There's legitimately no draw this year. And when Goldberg's Smackdown interview episode did the best rating in a while, I knew then they were gonna go all in with him again. Reigns vs Goldberg is a much bigger draw. The old dominant badass vs the new dominant badass. They aren't trying to draw us. We're already gonna be watching. They're trying to draw the people not watching. And that match is definitely going to draw more eyeballs.

Full disclosure, if I were booking I'd be going with Goldberg defending again Cena. That's a match that would get some attention. Put Cena over. Let him break the title record and you probably pop a huge post Wrestlemania rating for people checking in to see who he loses the title to, figuring he isnt sticking around.

We're deep into the part timer era. This is just what WWE is now. They lost the ability to create new stars. So the only people that move the numbers are the people that were stars in a previous era. Complaining that part timers are taking spots away from full timers is just a moot point. The full timers aren't drawing (and it's not their fault in my opinion, it's the heavily over scripted sanitized promos & production style since the shift to PG). But I digress. Long story short, this was the better business move. No one in power cares about the nuts and bolts of the matches at Wrestlemania. They just care about the business Wrestlemania does.

[AEW Dynamite - 1/8/2020]

Just now, Casey said:

Sonny Kiss ran down with Big Swole, but he stayed outside the ring. The announcers even mentioned him.

I must have missed that. Awkward on me, lol.

[AEW Dynamite - 1/8/2020]

12 minutes ago, caley said:

Also why was Sonny Kiss out there at the end?  He's not part of the women's division, so it was weird; I think it's probably just an awkward way to have him eventually team with Statlander et al. as the counterpart male wrestler to face Luther, but it was weird and unexplained.

 

Awkward.

I think you're mistaking Sonny Kiss for Big Swole. I know I saw Big Swole out there. I don't remember seeing Sonny Kiss involved.

[AEW Dynamite - 1/8/2020]

1 minute ago, Oyaji said:

His body is probably as broken down as Kong's at this point.

This is the correct answer.

And if he's nameless and faceless, why would we need him in that spot? Keep that spot for extras trying to get noticed instead of paying whatever expense a 60 year old dude who had his run 30+ years ago would cost vs a local indy worker.

Or when you merge the two groups, run an angle where Luther tries to take Uno's spot as the mouthpiece over time. Eventually he gets caught and someone rips his throat out. Bonus points if they bring Meng in for that lol.

[AEW Dynamite - 1/8/2020]

15 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

If it were up to me, I would dissolve the Nightmare Collective into the Dark Order with Brandi either going back to being Cody's valet or not being on screen at all.

 

1000% agree.

I'm very pro AEW... but this gimmick is getting worse as time passes, not better. It ruined a perfectly good match with two legitimately over wrestlers. And it made both of them less over as the segment played out. Statlander having to dive half speed and walk into clotheslines for Kong was rough. Hey I'm not shit talking Kong. She was great when she was great. But everyone's body ages and breaks down at a different rate of speed. Unfortunately her body gave up on her. She still has a ton of knowledge and can contribute. But her days of being an on air character should be over. Riho got booed out of the building when it looked like she was going to go for the double stomp after the interference. Luckily she got the dive in and got them back. But man, could you have imagined a scenario where Riho was booed like that?
 

Merging them with the Dark Order is a great idea. Merge them. Keep Melanie Cruz in the gimmick. Keep Kong as her heater. Get Brandy away from this stuff. And send Dr Luther back to wherever the fuck he came from lol. Straight up the Nightmare Collective is the Female Dungeon of Doom. Irredeemable campy horse shit. At least The Dungeon had Meng ripping out  dudes' throats.

[2019 Ring Of Honor Thread]

Straight up fuck Ring Of Honor.

 

I hope the talent at the meeting stick together Friday, and stick up for Klein. That's no way to do business. If you don't want to do business with her anymore, let her contract expire. Do it WITHOUT sending her a passive aggressive email stating that you're actually the nice guy for not suing her for breach of contract. All but asking her to thank you for it in the process. Fuck off. Everything Joey Mercury is fighting for is being proven true. Greg is not inside the wrestling business, and has no business making decisions based on lack of understanding of what he's in charge of.

ROH has a lot of hard working good people working there. But unfortunately for them this dumpster fire is just spiraling out of control. It's been a steady decline since The Elite left and at this point the writing is on the wall. They ran an event in Pittsburgh the same night as the local Pittsburgh promotion IWC this month. ROH drew about 100. IWC had over 500. New Japan is certainly going to ditch them as soon this agreement expires. ROH is not long for this world.

I need to find a flux capacitor, I could make a lot of money placing a bet back in 2014 or 2015 on Impact out-living ROH. Or betting on NWA becoming more popular than ROH. What a strange time in wrestling 2019 is lol.

[AEW Dynamite - 11/20/2019]

2 hours ago, NikoBaltimore said:

I don't say this to be confrontational as I'm cool with you.  But aside from personal experience do you have links to either other people's accounts of this from AIW or elsewhere or anything else to back this up?    In the age of "Fake News" (a term I abhor but I digress) be it with politics or wrestling whatever sources that are available for this would really help your case.  I just genuinely curious.  But as it is she's not that good at wrestling right now so I can't say I'm asking as a fan of hers.

I have overheard conversations myself where she trashed IWC's school and claims AIW as her trainer as well.

I like her as a person. Any interaction I've ever had with her has been positive. I won't back up any of the other claims made here tho. I've never heard her trash AIW. Nor have I heard of any inappropriate stuff to advance her career. She's worked hard to get where she is. It isn't her fault they have miscast her. She is not equipped to be the 20 minute epic baby face ace yet at this point in her career. Less is more. I just hope for her sake it works out okay in the long run.

 

It's not out of the realm of possibility they are force feeding her on purpose to try and create a hot Die Rocky Die heel. Unlikely, but not impossible. And even if it wasnt planned this way, they can still switch gears and make it work.

[NXT on USA - 11/20/2019]

12 minutes ago, D.Z said:

916k. NXT beat AEW.

A win is a win.

And it only took them throwing 50% of the main roster on the show to make it happen.

[AEW - NOV 2019]

6 minutes ago, Casey said:

Random thought here, but I can't wait until Wardlow turns on MJF and he becomes a mega babyface. That shit is going to rock.

I promise you they have 2002 Lesnar on their hands, raw talent and potential wise. And if they go down the logical path of Batista Evolution booking for him slowly getting fed up with MJF's shit, they are going to have a Goldberg level breakout star. WWE is going to fucking kick themselves for not signing him when they had the chance.

The Shadow knows.

[AEW - NOV 2019]

The Dynamite Thread is still closed, boooo.

I thought Fenix vs Merch Freak was a fun opener. They did some really cool stuff. That crowd was HOT too.

Did anyone else have trouble hearing the commentary? The audio mix has been weird the last couple weeks and it's hard to actually hear the announcers over the music and the crowd. That isn't just me is it?

Jericho promo was great. The execution of the SCU stuff was a little rough. But I liked the idea in theory of them doing something different and having the face lull the heel into a title match by pretending to not want one. Playing off the heel's ego and contrarian nature. The beat down and saves were a little awkward but the crowd reacted big to them.

God damn Billy Gunn is 56 and jacckkkkeddd. I didn't mind him being in here. You need surprises from the past to keep that anything can happen feel. But yeah he probably shouldn't have gotten so many eliminations. The outcome here was pretty obvious.

Them missing the camera shot in PnP vs Private Party saved their ass. Santana def forget to interrupt the count. They totally lost the live crowd with that fuck up. Luckily the tv audience didn't see that the ref stopped for a ghost, and they covered for it okay.

Mox vs Darby was my kinda shit man. Two dudes OVER AS FUCK. Going out there and knowing who they are and being allowed to do what makes them so over. It felt alive. It felt organic. That is what I want out of pro wrestling. Hook it to my veins. That finish was gnarly as fuck tho. Hope Mox's torso was big enough to cousin Darby's neck.

[NXT on USA - 11/20/2019]

Here's the fatal flaw of this lame *BRAND SUPREMACY* stuff... who are the crowd supposed to cheer for? In previous years it made no sense because if you're a WWE fan, Raw & Smackdown are both WWE. And the rosters rotate so often there is NO DIFFERENCE. So who do the fans cheer for? Who is the face? Who is the heel? Now you throw in NXT. Okay in theory I could get behind WWE vs NXT because it's plausible main roster guys *could* dislike the "minor leagues" and NXT guys *could* dislike the main roster making more money or whatever. But it's Raw vs Smackdown vs NXT instead. It's too muddy. It's too artificial. There's no real brand to cheer. Its like a Survivor Series Match in the 90s that's Superstars vs Wrestling Challenge vs Action Zone.

So then it comes down to okay you're supposed to cheer for the performers you like. Shades of grey. All of that is fine in theory, but then the make the wrestlers really fucking stupid. Why would Shayna and her crew team up with their hated fucking rivals that they're fighting in a cage just cause some women with blue shirts and red shows show up? Makes me not want to cheer for any of those performers because there is no logic in that. No one wants to root for idiots. Characters that make out of character choices that don't make sense tend to turn off the audience, see Stone Cold joining McMahon and him cooling wayyyyy off immediately. A heel tun that made sense would have been fine, but they chose for him to join up with the one guy that his character would never logically team up with.

This show more than any other soured me on NXT as an alternative brand. They are literally no different than Raw or Smackdown now. Same formula. Same sound byte yelling commentary. Same illogical *BRAND SUPREMACY* booking. Listen there were some really good matches tonight. And some really fun moments. But I just can't get behind a show full of characters that do stupid things. That was never NXT before they decided to become an official third brand. Maybe I'm wrong, but a year or two years down the road this is going to be seen as a major mistake. AEW has the money to fight long term. And WWE just swallowed up their own alternative and decided to make it more like the rest of the sloppy illogical main roster brands. Which kills the edgy vibe NXT had. And it also further dilutes Raw & Smackdown because there's now three brands doing the same thing.

For clarification I'm not stating all of this as fact. This is just my opinion. There will be differing opinions and I'm okay with that. But just for me, this Survivor Series stuff is what officially turned me off of the NXT as an alternative. It's just WWECW again.

[AEW - OCT 2019]

3 hours ago, HarryArchieGus said:

I'm still sad over Jake Atlas taking the Titan Sports contract. 

Funny foot note to the Jake Atlas signing... he was on that episode of Undercover Boss WWE did last year. You know who else was supposed to be on that episode? Wardlow. His segment got cut from the show. But they rented out a gym for him to train a female wrestler. It was Stephanie in her disguise. When they do the finale in the performance center you can see there's 4 people there even tho only 3 segments aired. You can see him when Steph does the big reveal. How any of them were fooled by her disguise is beyond me. It looked like Stephanie with the big nose fake glasses deal. So obvious lol.

Wardlow got a tryout at the performance center after that and they didn't sign him. In a few years they're gonna look back and kick themselves for that one. Dude is the real deal.

[AEW Dynamite - 10/16/2019]

3 hours ago, Rehabilitated Rick said:

Imagine Darby hopping up the ladder with his hands tied, having Jericho beat, but unable to break the tape as he tries to snag the title down with his head.

That would have been an epic visual. Damn that's an amazing story to tell. It's like the Undertaker / Jeff Hardy ladder moment for a new generation. I hope that eventually happens down the line. I like the way you think.

 

38 minutes ago, goodhelmet said:

Has there ever been a hot Pittsburgh crowd?

King Of The Ring 1998 Mankind vs Undertaker Hell In A Cell was in Pittsburgh. Great reaction that night.

2014 Royal Rumble was in Pittsburgh. I was at that one live. Bryan vs Bray is the best match Bray has ever had and Bryan was close to peak 'Austin over' that night. Rey coming out at 30 and Boo-tista was a loud as hell reaction too. Also lots of loud chants during that Randy vs Cena match. Goldberg, same old shit, we want divas, ect. Crazy stuff.

I don't think Pittsburgh is a bad crowd.I just think Pittsburgh only gives a shit when they are presented with something to give a shit about. I don't think anything on Raw in the past 3 or 4 years has been anything to get hyped over. Just my opinion tho.

[AEW Dynamite - 10/16/2019]

Loved this show. That crowd was hot and it made everything even better. Shit man Scorpio Sky's shoe was more over than 90% of WWE's main roster lol.

Scorpio Sky was pissed at himself for not hitting that finish clean.I feel for him. He didn't even celebrate just put his head down in the buckle out of frustration. You could see Kazarian trying to snap him back into it and get him to celebrate instead of breaking character. Regardless of the finish, he came off like a star in that one.

The squash was solid. Santana & Ortiz have a much better look in AEW. They've always been great but the basketball shorts look was a turn off for me. Custom overalls that match is a way better look. Agree with who ever said Ortiz kinda ruined Jericho's promo with his ranting.

The women's match was rough. Britt used to be pretty solid. She fit in great at All In. My theory is her trying to shoe horn 1) the dentist shit and 2) trying to fit in Adam Cole spots to be cute for the smart mark pop is throwing her off her game. It's just too much going on in her head at once and needs to dial it back down a bit. Riho is over as hell and the crowd elevated that one. The women's division needs some guidance.
 

JR is dead set on willing Jungle Boy into a name change. It's not a mistake. He's def doing it on purpose. I sense it being a deal where Jungle Boy doesnt want to live off his dad's name & is trying to make his mark on his own, and JR just doesn't care and thinks name dropping his real name is going to help the kid out. Who knows, JR may be right. But man I did not expect that match to be as fun as it was. Good on The Lucha Bros for not eating them alive and making that a hell of a segment.

Omega, Mox, Hangman, & Pac are all in their primes and that tag match was also really fun. I didn't think Mox & Omega would gel as well as they did but man their ppv match is gonna be killer.

Main was perfect booking. Darby looks even better in defeat. I don't think they needed the Hager spot. Should have just had Jericho move & have him miss the coffin drop / lost clean. But I get what they were going for. Weird choice to have rope breaks in a street fight tho. The crowd even chanted its a street fight at one point. Pretty tame for a street fight but it told a great story and I liked it a lot.

They are 3 for 3 with me.

[OCTOBER 2019 WRESTLING CHAT.]

4 minutes ago, L_W_P said:

Im certain the Reigns is going to win this match and then get picked #1 for SDL.

Anyone want to try and do a top 10? Raw gets 3 picks for every 2 SDL yeah? They should have just announced that because RAW gets the extra pick, SDL goes first.

#1 - SDL - Roman Reigns
#2 - RAW - Becky Lynch
#3 - SDL - Charlotte Flair
#4 - RAW - Seth Rollins
#5 - RAW - The New Day
#6 - SDL - Brock Lesnar
#7 - RAW - Braun Strowman
#8 - SDL - Matt Riddle
#9 - RAW - Daniel Bryan
#10 - RAW - The Kabuki Warriors

I think you're exactly right with 1 & 2. Reigns wins, Reigns goes first. Becky goes second.

3,4,5, & 6 are wrong for 100% sure.  You must not have see that only certain people can be drafted on certain days. For some reason Charlotte, Rollins, New Day, & Brock can't be drafted Friday and can only be drafted during Raw on Monday. Why? Because reasons. Unspecified reasons with no logic.

I'm with @Niners Fan in CT, they should legitimately let the networks pick them as a shoot. I totally understand why that would never happen. But can you imagine how much buzz there would be with fans if you legitimately had no idea who could go next? That's what I mean about having no pulse. We all basically know how it's going to go already. Dolph & Roode will get drafted to Smackdown. Oh no the Raw Tag Titles are now on Smackdown. OMG. But wait. The War Raiders win them Monday on Raw so the titles move back to Raw at the last minute. Whew. That was close. Yawn.

[OCTOBER 2019 WRESTLING CHAT.]

3 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

You could stop watching. I did and I can't tell you how much happier I am with AEW, New Japan, Impact, MLW, NWA, Beyond Wrestling, and other indies. 

That's a fair point. A break would probably do me some good. But it's a dirty dirty addiction and I just can't do it. I'm 35 and haven't taken a break at any point in life. If the dying days of AWA & WCW didn't push me away, nothing can lol.

[OCTOBER 2019 WRESTLING CHAT.]

Quote

The following Superstars will be available to draft tomorrow night on Friday Night Smackdown:
Becky Lynch, Roman Reigns, The O.C., Bray Wyatt, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, Sasha Banks, Ricochet, Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross, Lacey Evans, The Viking Raiders, The Revival, Natalya, The Street Profits, Lucha House Party, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Humberto Carrillo, Akira Tozawa, Sin Cara, Eric Young, EC3, Chad Gable, Heath Slater, Drew Gulak, The B-Team, and Tamina

The following Superstars will be available to draft this upcoming Monday on Raw:
Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar, Charlotte Flair, Titus O’Neil, Shinsuke Nakamura (w/Sami Zayn), Aleister Black, The New Day, Daniel Bryan, Bayley, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, The Miz, Ali, King Corbin, Elias, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, Samoa Joe, The Kabuki Warriors, Rusev, Cedric Alexander, Rey Mysterio, R-Truth, Carmella, AOP, Heavy Machinery, Apollo Crews, Andrade, Liv Morgan, Jinder Mahal, Buddy Murphy, Mojo Rawley, No Way Jose, Dana Brooke, Shelton Benjamin, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, The IIconics, Sarah Logan, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, and Drake Maverick

This is my main gripe with WWE these days, can anyone explain how any of this makes ANY sense? There is zero internal logic to anything anymore. It's all random with no rhyme or reason. So say Reigns wins and Smackdown gets the first pick. Well they can't draft either of the top champions... so who cares?? They aren't eligible to be drafted until Monday. Also, how are champions even eligible to be drafted at all? The Smackdown Tag Champs can be drafted to Raw and The Smackdown Tag Team Titles can theoretically be a Raw brand title? HOW? Of course every draft they run the same exact story where some champion gets drafted and the titles are uneven but that champion *just happens* to lose his title at the last minute to even things out. Happens every single time.

WWE has no pulse. There's no danger. It's the some boring illogical safe stuff over and over. This is my purgatory.

[Hell in a Cell XI - 10/6/2019]

Wow. I've lurked here for like 15 years and that ending was sooo bad it compelled me to actually comment.

First the positive... Becky & Sasha had a killer match. Probably the best HIAC match I've seen since it became it's own PPV concept. This is the match they should have ended on. Solid work with two super over characters, and a clean decisive finish. If you're gonna do that hokey hee-haw rasslin finish with Seth & Bray open the show with it and just get it over with.

This show was in Sacramento too. Not some hot bed of rebellious insider internet fans like Philly or Boston. This was about as normal of a town as you'll get for a WWE PPV and even they booed the shit out of that horrible finish. My first gripe, one that no one mentioned yet, is the HORRIBLE red light effect for the match. It sucked when they did it for Kane. It sucked when they did it for Sin Cara. And it still sucks now. Its like watching a Virtual Boy from the 90s. Pictures from inside the arena were even worse. Probably as bad as the Orton AJ lighting issue from Mania this year. They also already changed the lighting effects of his entrance and made it considerably worse (I'm a nerd for lighting / production cues).

But this company is so stuck in their formula that they will never ever shake it up and go with the hot hand. It's really simple. If you don't wanna put the title on Bray... don't book him in the title match. Ugh. What they delivered was bad. It's not Seth's fault. It's not Bray's fault. It's 100% on creative. I'm fairly sure with the vibe Bray created with this character it wasn't his idea to do a ridiculous oversized cartoon mallet. It's the same guy that thought Moxley should drag a wagon. Or get a shot to inoculate him from "a town like this". It's all good shit in Vince's head.

When a crowd stays way after the show ends to boo your product, chant refund & bullshit, and chant for the other product... you have a major problem. Especially in Sacramento of all places. But history has a tendency to repeat it's self. And WWE def feels like it's 1995 all over again with cartoony non-sensical stuff that makes you embarrassed to admit you watch. Thank god for AEW. Even if you don't prefer their product (I do), it will push WWE to stop booking for one guy's tastes (Vince), and start actually pushing what fans want.