Fallacy!

Hell of a Ricky Morton impersonation from Cody tonight. It's a shame he did all that in front of a crowd that primarily only wanted to see someone get thrown through a table.

Is it too late for a Teddy Hart run in WWE? I've been catching up on MLW lately and he's been on fire.

I think you need to look at last night's debuts in the context of the reports that WWE's current mandate is essentially to get ratings up however they can before the FOX deal begins. WWE might be trying to go back to the "anything can happen in the WOOOORLD WRESTLING FEDERATIONNNNNN" mantra of - hey, you can't miss an episode of RAW. Doesn't matter if it's in New York City or Bumfuck, Louisiana, something special might happen that you're going to be hearing about tomorrow. Obviously, a hot crowd is preferable, but at the end of the day with solid booking (which is a big question mark) it's not going to matter for any of these guys in the long run. They all looked strong and went over pretty prominent opponents. I do think WWE's biggest problem creatively with these NXT guys is being victims of their own echo chamber. Creative/HHH/whoever is a little too invested in these guys and gals to be able to put themselves in the shoes of the audience, many of whom need, at the very least, a crash course on who these guys are before they just throw them on TV.

I don't see the issue with Dave calling AEW the No. 2 company. I liken it to college football preseason top 25 rankings. Oklahoma or whoever might come into the season ranked No. 1, but that could change once the games start. At this point, given the money they're throwing around, plans for TV they're allegedly making, etc. I don't think it's outrageous to call them No. 2 behind WWE.

I doubt Flair would have let him hang around to begin with if he wasn't RICH rich.

Of note is that Starrcast is also advertising Arn Anderson and Shane Helms, both of whom are WWE employees.

Well, Conrad's day job is a loan shark. He strikes me as the kind of guy who has a lot of money, and also knows how to get his hands on a lot of money quickly.

All this time we thought it was WWE that kept dusting Undertaker off and forcing him to trot out there every Wrestlemania, maybe it was the other way around.

Does seem like a work, especially after the "father in law" line to HHH last night.

Catcalling WWE worked out so well for TNA, though.

Fans show up for Double or Nothing, only to realize it's being held at the Park MGM, not MGM Grand. Both MGM hotels are overbooked however, so AEW fans who purchased a travel package will be taken by bus down the street to stay at the Circus Circus. Cody and the Bucks couldn't get a ring set up in time, so a moon bounce house has been erected inside the Park MGM theater.

Hate that stoppage. Let him go out fighting.

I can't wait for The Revival's "THE SUITS UP NORTH DON'T APPRECIATE REAL 'RASSLIN" promo on the debut episode of AEW.

Well if we're talking about rankings, standings, and win-loss records (these are all Cody's words) - what sense would it make to have these and then not abide by them in terms of matchmaking? That's usually how stuff like this falls apart in wrestling. I'm not holding them to any of this, just spitballing about it because it's something they put out there in public. We'll see how it plays out, or if they end up doing it at all.

I'm right there with you in terms of making winning/belts important, but rankings, top 10, win-loss records, etc. is where I start to lose interest. There's a way to make that stuff meaningful while still intertwining good storytelling. How does 1-2-3 Kid ever get in the ring with Razor Ramon if we're matchmaking a fake sport based on fake rankings? My completely untested theory on wrestling in 2019 is that the more reality, the better. Not necessarily presenting it as "real" because everyone knows it's not, but to give us reality in storylines. Wrestling fans are more knowledgeable than ever about what goes on backstage and wrestling is probably the only entertainment medium where the drama that plays out behind the scenes is usually more interesting than what you see on the screen. AEW is such a perfect opportunity to play out something like that because they're kind of already doing it. Part of what makes BTE so cool is that you get a peek into glimpses of their real life, or at least you feel like you are. The Kenny-Cody storyline was great because it was totally believable that there could be friction with those two guys with Cody coming in and quickly assuming a leadership role. I guess at the end of the day, my point is that I hope they don't forget what got them to the dance. Tony Khan seems really, really invested in this "real sport" concept and that's cool, but it feels like it flies in the face of everything The Elite did to gain their notoriety.