twiztor

i agree with your larger points (especially with Vince having control issues, to put it mildly!), but i think there's definite potential for using WWE IP in a non-wrestling way. First, we've seen the wrestlers themselves in other settings. Putting aside movies, we've seen Legends House and shows like Total Bellas. In animated form, they made Camp WWE or whatever that was called. They've produced comic books for decades. Didn't Mick Foley write a kids' book with wrestlers in it? I know, all of these were isolated examples and failed to catch on with the general public. But it's not like they've never tried this kind of thing already. Personally, i would love an animated cartoon featuring wrestlers of today and yesterday having non-wrestling adventures. The best episodes would play into the wrestler's character traits. Imagine Ted DiBiase with a Scrooge McDuck-style vault of cash. The Lex Express on a cross-country tour. A trip to Samoa with the Anoa'i family. An Undertaker haunted house. Or Kamala in deepest, darkest Africa (ok, i don't trust WWE to represent this very well, but the idea stands). Whoever mentioned a Macho Man space adventure, while that doesn't play well with his character, i'm totally in. Add in a Max Moon cameo for kicks. Done anthology style, this could work to both (re)establish the wrestlers with a younger audience, and find out what gains traction with the public. wrestlers are real life superheroes. larger than life characters. outlandish costumes. Play this up. Unrelated, but if Vince didn't have such an aversion to masked wrestlers, he could easily re-debut new wrestlers under old costumes. Hell, they did it with Sin Cara.

then that is my mistake and makes more sense. i must have overlooked his name on the list.

Serena Deeb/Riho was a good solid bout. excellent way to get the crowd going. Hangman/Cage was easily my MOTN. hard hitting, good reversals, solid storytelling. that's my pro wres right there. Bucks/Mox & Kingston was fine until the end. both Bucks were in the ring for the last 10+ minutes of the match. usually that stuff doesn't bother me, but this took me way out of the match. when, THREE TIMES IN A ROW, one of the Bucks stepped from the ring to the apron specifically to tag in to the match, your ref is fucking terrible. if the storyline isn't that ref Knox is 100% in the Bucks' pocket, then it makes absolutely no sense. Casino Battle Royale was fun and well booked for that sort of thing. hated Isiah Kassidy not being a participant but spending half the match in the ring. Jungle Boy was crowned in front of a live audience. LOL Cody wins. i like Cody. he was my highlight of the first year of AEW. but ever since he lost the TNT title to Brodie Lee, he has been largely unbearable. Sting ruled in that tag match. all the warm fuzzies. Miro/Archer was fun. the bit with the snake in the bag was LOL worthy, but was just meant to keep the fans hating Miro. Omega 3 way was good, but the winner never being in question took a lot of my interest away. haven't seen Stadium Stampede yet but cautiously optimistic.

i'm kinda tired of Kenny Omega being the "World Champion" but Hikaru Shida being the "Women's World Title". time for the men's belt to be referred to as such. if titles are only for specifically one sex, they need to be addressed as such. Men's World Title Men's Tag Team Title Men's TNT Title Men's FTW Title (?) Women's World Title really drives home the imbalance

does WWE recognize Hacksaw Duggan's wcw tv title reign after he found it in the trash?

it's going pretty well. i'm up to around ASM #210 and PPSM #50. I meant to make a post after hitting ASM200, but never did. thanks for asking! Pete graduating college and becoming a TA came quicker than i expected. i know he stays in school to further his degree, but a big complaint is always that Pete can never grow. Seeing his college career progress shows that's not the case (yet). Pete proposing to MJ, only for her to reject him and move on with her life (!) is not something i expected at all but makes sense for the characters. the stories have been very solid, but nothing amazing (no pun intended). i double checked your list and see that you don't have anything since my last update included, so i guess we're on the same page. Marv Wolfman, Roger Stern, and Denny O'Neil are all excellent writers and have been the highlights lately. Notable characters introduced since the last update: The Jackal (via the original Clone Saga), Carrion, Human Fly (who also was in a Spidey hostess ad and looks a lot like the MLJ hero), Black Cat. i hope Carrion shows up again, he looked interesting and really came across as a threat. Black Cat obviously will show up plenty and has potential. Looking forward to the Hobgoblin's emergence (no idea how soon this happens) and the black costume around #250.

oh hell yeah! Holloway vs Yair will be fantastic!

quoting from the last UFC event thread: re: Cody Garbrandt. i feel like this guy has some of the worst fight IQ around. He seems to have been trained and built specifically to unseat Cruz, which he did. But since then, between his chin and his ever-increasing likelihood of engaging in slugfests, he just can't put it together. He accomplished his goal, now he just fights. It's like he lost all of his focus and can't stay on the path again. re: Dominick Cruz. i agree that he is the GOAT BW. No doubt. But i do find it really odd that he never beat the previous BW king, Miguel Torres. And he never beat the guy that reigned while he was off getting zombie legs, Renan Barao. Now, i would fully expect that Cruz would destroy both of these guys, both at the time and now. But it is a weird little anomaly. Unrelated, but i'm also disappointed we haven't seen Cruz vs. Marlon Moraes.

i only know Mauro from his MMA announcing, but i have never been a fan. If he became the lead announcer on Dynamite i would likely cut my watching down significantly.

i just ..... what? how does somebody pick THAT band?

found a few of them for you. If i had ever seen these before, i certainly don't remember them. fun stuff. and my favorite:

finally watched this show. avoided spoilers as much as possible. watched one episode a day for six days straight (much to my wife's chagrin). fantastic show. Captain America is my favorite corner of the MCU, and this was an excellent addition to it. Hoping for a BluRay release at some point in the near-ish future, but not holding my breath. Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Madame Hydra is going to be so good. i didn't see the Power Broker reveal coming. interested to see where they go with Sharon's character. i (as a white man) feel they handled the race parts excellently. hope it plays that way for most people. Bucky's story seems like it came to a close here. I hope not, as he's one of my favorite characters from the comics.

been mulling this over in my head. I've been excited for the story of the Masked Raider since Marvel Comics #1000, but unsure about if i'm interested enough in a Defenders series to follow along. With this only being 5 issues, i'm probably in. Intrigued by the woman at the top (Cloud). i don't know anything about her so i should probably check out wikipedia first.

i don't need my Riddler to wear a gimp mask, thanks.

my buddy got married on May 19th a year or two after the Kane stuff happened. We did not let that go by unnoticed. We would call and just repeat "MAY 19TH", either in whispers or loudly. We'd text him "MAY 19TH". if he walked by while some of us were talking, we'd just say "MAY 19TH" repeatedly until he got close and then just clam up. we'd leave notes at his work, on his car, or at his parents' house. it was a lot of fun. probably less so for him.

this one from Pride is one of my favorites for its pure WTF-ness. NSFW.

it's a sport. you play to win. swing on any pitch you want. is there a mercy rule or blowout rule? no? then play hard to the end.

her pic in the Title Belts thread makes me have to agree. settle down, @twiztornetico!

fucking boxing.

yeah, i see A2 doing well, but not "we immediately need multiple sequels" good. the first did so well because of (A) being the first of the new style 3d film, and (B) the crazy amount of CGI and how good it looked. now no film does 3d and every blockbuster film does ungodly amounts of CGI. where's the hook for this film? the first one came out 12 years ago (only 12 years? it feels like an eternity ago) and nobody is clamoring to revisit these characters or their world. is there even a fervent fanbase for cosplay, fanfic, or deviantart (is that even still a thing)? it just screams of trying to create an epic IP without the consumer buy-in

i watched Wonder Woman '84 over the weekend. i knew it didn't have a great reputation, but the first WW movie was pretty great, so it was worth a watch. Narrator: "it was not" the story wasn't compelling. Diana is mopey about a boy and barely appears as WW. Steve Trevor saves Diana at least as much as the reverse. Kristen Wiig carries the film as Minerva, but the transition to Cheetah spoils it. the final conflict with Max Lord is a joke, and the resolution is a horribly failed punchline.

nope, i'm right here with you.

i feel the same way. i was very much enjoying the talent that pre-pandemic NWA had and the shows they were putting on. To lose SO much talent, plus your head (only?) writer (to the MeToo movement) is a tough thing to bounce back from. Replacing Eli Drake, James Storm, Ricky Starks with Tyrus and Chris Adonis? nothing against those guys, but i am a hell of a lot less interested. To follow that up with removing your content from YouTube and putting it behind a paywall? nah, i think i'm done unless something major changes. also, the Question Mark was easily my highlight of the show. His passing still makes me sad.

@El Gran Gordi i agree 100% with your post. my ranking the B&G match so highly is mostly due to my love for stipulation matches. the spectacle is on equal footing with the execution. i know that's not the general consensus, so maybe one for the HOT TAKES thread? @The Naturali am also sorry to hear about your dog. my condolences.

3. Thor (slightly ahead of Dr Strange) 2. Black Widow 1. GotG vol. 3