Swiftian

The Shorty G thing isn't great but you can see where they're trying to go with it. They're setting him up as a plucky underdog who'll pull off a surprise IC title win in the future. I'm surprised some of you guys are getting all worked up about it. Now whether it works or not or whether they get bored and forget about it is another matter of course. Dull show overall and sadly I've been increasingly bored by their shows for quite a while now.

Just coming online now after watching Smackdown this morning. I knew there'd be a ton of moaning about Kofi's quick loss but I wonder if the 7 second match wasn't due to Lesnar's contract? The thought popped into my head that maybe his contract doesn't require him to wrestle on TV and that this was a compromise between him and the company. "Look, we need you on this Fox show and we'd like to have the title on you for the Velasquez feud, how about wrestling one match but we'll make it quick and painless?" I think I'm very much an outlier on here, but Lesnar is probably my favourite guy to watch on the roster. He genuinely comes across as a big deal whenever he shows up and because he's not on social media or Ride Along/other backstage stuff, he retains a kayfabe aura of being a legit tough guy and asshole that none of the other heels can even hope to achieve. His matches get shit on here too but give me a reckless and wild and sometimes brutal slugfest over overly choreographed stuff any day of the week.

Does NXT just not air in Canada now? The Network had a 2 hour block listed, but it's just a goddamn watch along.

When the limo showed up I was hoping that Vince threw a ton of cash at Jericho to have him show up. Would've been an hilarious dick move.

So they're calling him King Corbin now. Does that mean that his actual first name is Corbin and that Baron just meant he was the head of a barony?

Some notes from the Calgary house show last night. Opener and match of the night was Ricochet vs. Cesaro. Both got loud pops. Cesaro was wearing the skinny pants and running shoes again so I guess that's his new look now and not just "the airline lost his ring gear" like I thought when watching Raw. Both guys work great together and are hopefully bigger stars in a year from now. Dana Brooke & Tamina vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross - I didn't even know Tamina was still working lately. Has she been on the road the whole time or is this the beginning of a comeback? I feel sorry for the people who get very little screen time and therefore have to walk out in front of a mostly quiet crowd amid hushed tones of "who's that?" Brooke did do some decent work in the match in terms of jawing with the crowd. Allow me just one moment of settledownitis to say that Alexa Bliss has a nice bum. Viking Raiders vs Lucha Hose Party vs. OC - Decent match, not much to comment on Robert Roode says he's glad to be back in Canada but pity it's in Calgary. Says Ziggler couldn't be bothered to come. Issues an open challenge and out comes Strowman for the loudest pop so far. This was the second best match of the night, not because of any ring work but just for pure entertainment. Roode did a hilariously ridiculous amount of cowardly stalling before finally locking up. I've always found him a bit dull so his comedy heeling impressed me here. Later, they did a seemingly unnecessary and unexpected spot for a house show where Strowman ran full speed and over the guardrail when Roode moved. Strowman is an absolute giant in person and sweats immensely, just pouring off him at the end. He was probably the star of the show, spending quite a while after the match with the fans signing autographs as he made his way back. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch - Both were over, but basically a nothing match. It seemed like they had a hard time getting coordinated with each other which is something I've noticed with Becky. She looks to be scrapping with people rather than working smoothly. Sasha brings in a chair, hits Becky with a weak jab to the stomach and gets the DQ. They tease a chair shot, but Sasha misses and Becky does her submission on her on top of the chair. After the intermission, we come back to Cedric Alexander vs. Mojo Rawley. A dull match with Rawley in control mostly. Some boring chants broke out. I guess they figure a match like this is a good thing to put on after intermission as everyone gets back to their seats. I find Rawley dull as dishwater but he did a heel spot I've never seen before where he wiped sweat off the backs of his legs and flung it at the crowd which is probably the most memorable thing I've seen him do. Natalya obviously gets the loudest pop of the night. She beats Lacey Evans who had run down Calgary in pre-taped segment earlier. Brings her (presumably) nieces and nephews into the ring afterwards to celebrate. There was a guy following her the whole time filming - maybe just her personal videographer or possibly the subject of a WWE doc. Seth Rollins gets another loud pop. Place goes dark for Wyatt's entrance. Everyone's hugely into it - cheers mixed with awe-filled apprehension, but man his entrance took forever. Images flashed across the tron for maybe a full two minutes before he comes out. His new look is impressive in a Slipknot way but it's still the same guy wrestling. He seems to have gained some super powers though as he would no sell the curb stomp and just get right back up. By the way, either the move is very weak or Wyatt just takes it badly. It looks much better on TV with commentary covering for lack of a thud and I guess the shakey-zoom camera thing helps too. Match ends in a DQ after Wyatt doesn't stop choking him while in the ropes. Very anticlimactic ending to the show with the crowd confused and booing. Rollins tries to get his heat back with more curb stomps to keep him down, maybe 5 or 6. Wyatt then recovers to get the mandible claw and the flashing lights and then goes to the back. Rollins, selling the finish, just kinda slinks to the back too clapping some hands as he goes and the show's over. Like I said, bad way to end the show and they should've just put on Natalya to finish on a high. I get that Wyatt (and Sasha) need to be protected but there's better ways of doing it surely. This was our 4th time attending in recent years and these were the best seats we had. I only looked for tickets a few weeks ago and we ended up with centre ice tickets behind the player's benches for a similar price to what we've paid previously for higher up seats. That was awesome seeing the action up close. I don't know if it's just because it's a house show and they work looser but it was easier to notice a lot of moves not connecting and the cooperation involved in putting on matches. It always makes me wonder how adults could ever have thought this stuff was real back in the day.

The guy on the left, the Canadian, is speaking Punjabi. The other guy is presumably speaking Albanian (it definitely wasn't Dutch, and had an eastern European sound to it)

Good to see AOP on TV too. That was a good evil foreigner promo in two different languages.

Just saw that ad posted on the previous page. I'd imagine it's a safe bet to assume that Fox are pushing hard for WWE to bring back Rock for some shows?

Any word on Canadian TV for this thing?

Richard Madden, the actor who played Rob Stark, talked about this exact thing earlier this year right down from being a pudgy guy in school to now having to be toned and buff - https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/richard-madden-james-bond

I'll always remember the line some wag had online after Randy Orton debuted. WWE were hyping up the third generation thing and in the video package, grandpa Orton said "He's got the looks of George Clooney combined with the wrestling ability of his father" to which some guy posted "more like the looks of his father and the wrestling ability of George Clooney"

Haha wtf? I didn't even watch that trailer thinking it was just some generic action film, but the mention of D-von got me curious. WTF?

Roman Reigns and Miss Elizabeth? Kofi Kingston and Ricky Morton? Yeah, that's some good shit.

August photo challenge for you guys. It's fun to see pictures of wrestlers as kids posing with wrestlers of the time, but we always see the same ones - Bayley with Cena, Orton with Hogan, Rock with Andre, etc. Post some more unusual ones... I wanna see Alexa Bliss with Big Boss Man or Joey Janela with Owen Hart or Cody Rhodes with Doom. The last one is at least very possible. In fact, there must be a ton of Cody with old wrestlers.