Zakk_Sabbath

Oh certainly not, but I don't think I've ever seen it go quite that far without a swift and deserved Cashing from the mods - nine times out of ten, if there's an argument here it's relatively civil, maybe some light ball busting but no one's like, "yeah I hated that show, it had to have been booked by a coke head"* * = Except the times they actually were booked by coke heads

Imagine the fact that we're fellow viewers of the show, too - I can't begin to think what some of the outside world would think of the "discourse" on places like wrestling twitter, or squared circle were they to stumble on it. Like imagine someone going on, idk, Al Pacino's page and being like "YOU DONT LOVE MOVIES, YOU LOVE DRUGS! YOURE KILLING FILM! WHY DO YOU MAKE MOVIES AT PARAMOUNT WHEN YOU KNOW MGM IS THE ONLY STUDIO THAT MATTERS?! MGM 4 LIFE!!" It's just so fucking bizarre, man. I don't watch WWE for a variety of reasons, but I certainly enjoy other wrestling besides AEW from time to time. I recently gotten some great MLW and Lucha recs from you guys here, I catch TNA on the streaming channel once in a while, an NJPW on AXS rerun here or there. Even back in the '90s as a kid, I certainly had my preferences, but I watched WCW, ECW, and the WWF all the same (as well as whatever else I could find) - some of these replies are right out of like, an election thread, or like arguing with a visiting Red Sox fan in the bleachers or something. Is this just like, how everything is now??? Like, people seem aware of it - I'm sick to fucking death of reading the word "tRiBaLiSm" - but no one seems to take any steps to correct it, it's the weirdest shit. I'm all for debate but my God

This is not a joke: I saw a theory recently that this is a very real thing, and some of it may have to do with the lead they used to use in pencils, paint, and gasoline. I'll link you if I can find it

Dude, this was news to me also. I had no idea either were at it for that long. Really gives some credence to the idea of "TV age"

Hard agree, and I make no secret of it - but I assure you I'm serious! I'll take "different" any day over what could've essentially been a segment from any RAW from 1998-20??. And again, to focus on the positives: @Just Davemade a great point on the last page, it's not an every week thing (yet) and probably ain't that big of a deal - for me, it was just the totality of the long show opening promo AND the set-up for a same-night match AND the feuding partners trope AND the Nickelodeon LEDs all over the place. But what I should really focus on coming out of it: all the right guys were involved, Wardlow was treated like a threat, crowd's behind Swerve, Samoa FN Joe is still our WHC... there's lots to love about the players, it just wasn't the segment for me. The rest of the show ruled ass though, I hope we can at least agree there!

Oh yeah dude, definitely not bad tactics, and as you alluded to, that was basically the way I consumed WWE by the end. It's just one of those things that's like, a slight bummer because the M.O. on Wed/Fri/Sat has historically been "Inject every second into my veins" thus far. Even the goofy shit was at least *different* - I'll take a million Brandi Rhodes Nightmare Collective promos or Cracker Barrel matches over Swerve and them having to give Shakespearean soliloquies. But again, to end this on a positive note: despite my being a baby about some of the visual and formatting choices made, they turned around and gave us Okada, the wild Hook/Cage match, and THAT main event - if that means tuning out for 1/8th of the show, I guess so be it The "buffet" just has a couple more options now, and that's ok

Gotta get a double-Natch-quote for this one: 1) happy birthday dude! Hope it's a great one 2) hard agree. I remember when they first changed the border from gray to white, I think you and I were among the first to be like "Aww, what the hell man." I like the symmetry of it, but there's something peculiar to me about taking the words out - the only other time we saw that was when Collision started, and it was understandable/explainable due to the Punk beef. I don't hate it at all, but something about it has that kinda weird, "branding" feel for lack of a better term. I'm sure it will grow on me, though, probably much more than the other changes (and it was nice to see the gold 'E' back on some of the ringside stuff). Edit: FWIW, they kept the logo the same on the AEW on TBS bug in the corner, but it's also plausible that was merely an oversight

That's gonna be so killer - though, I do think we might first make a quick pit stop at Kingston/Danielson(who now respects him)/a partner vs. Okada/Bucks. Looking at the Okada/Bucks alliance through the lense of the tag tournament: there's a story to tell between the Bucks and Okada's former buddies from CHAOS, Best Friends for sure. I also think there's a strong possibility based on the Bucks' promo that we get a Bucks vs Hangman/Omega rematch. This was an interesting show because, I'll be honest: the first ~20 minutes pissed me off immensely. Three of my absolute least favorite WWF/E tropes in one segment (a 20 min opening monologue, a match booked for 'right here tonight in ___,' and feuding tag partners) looking like its some kind of cross promotion between NXT 2.0 and Hot Wheels... And then a funny thing happened: the rest of the show was killer!! Seriously, I don't have a damn thing to complain about - if anyone ever catches me crying about the color of the ropes again, remind me Okada is here and things are gonna be ok 9/10 show - just what the doc ordered after a big PPV (though I gotta say once again - if we're gonna keep up this Sunday PPV nonsense, I think it might behoove AEW/WBD to explore putting Collision on Monday night - capitalize on the months with no Raw, AND get that immediate PPV follow-up while the buzz is still ... buzzing). Edit: Also I have to give all the props in the world to Hook/B Cage - they really over delivered here, especially days removed from the awesome Sting match under similar rules

This is an interesting one because I assume Jeff has much more time remaining on his deal - no disrespect to Matt at all, but I'm not sure I see WWE interested in him at this point without Jeff (who may not necessarily be welcomed back after the way that last run ended). Curious how this one shakes out. If D'Amore hadn't left TNA, I could see a potential return there for Matt or both. If everyone stays well-behaved for a while, I could see a WWE HOF/t-shirt/video game run maybe - an 83rd Jeff DWI is probably preeeetty low on the totem pole of potential P.R. nightmares over there at the moment

Oh yeah, no argument from me on that one - what I meant to say is, if he doesn't come back from Japan with a little more fire in his belly, it might be time

I don't entirely disagree, but I would assume this NJPW excursion is at least partially meant to fulfill a similar "seasoning" function as an NXT stint (setting aside all the 'heat from Wembley' stuff, naturally). Edit: Which is to say, if he comes back the same guy, then yeah, I have very little issue with the next excursion being permanent and in Orlando...

TEAM TAZ EXPLODES! I'm actually psyched for this - kinda sucks Hobbs is wrapped up with Callis and Starks just dropped the titles with Bill, it would be fun to play off of that stuff. I mentioned earlier but I'm on a real 'year one' kick today for whatever reason

I was just gonna say, watch it be Sting

I still can't ever tell when Black is hurt, or when it's just not his turn to be on TV. He exists in that weird realm with Miro where one minute they're like "Observe this, brother!" and the next it's "Oh, actually, I've been hurt for like six months. Forget that one match, though. And that other one." If his back really is that bad, then he should be the mouthpiece for Brody/Matthews* for six months while he heals up and they get a legit tag push (it'd great timing w this tourney!). Plenty of shit for him to do with Julia/Skye if they wanted, too.

I loved your idea above about putting Hager with Christian, so he's fresh in my mind - what about teaming Ortiz and Hager as a pair of ex-Jericho guys with something to prove?

Ah, man, I should've known! That's kind cool to play off their history, though. If Scorp heals up I wouldn't hate a mini-Men of the Year reunion (sans MMA bullshit)

Thinking about names for the tag title tourney, and chatting a bit about PnP yesterday has me reminiscing about the early days this morning: where the hell is Scorpio Sky? I cannot remember seeing him since he returned from injury on Collision during the Punk era with the cool snapping/lights out thing. Edit: I forgot to mention, another impetus for this thought was @Go2Sleep mentioning people on excursion from TNA and NJPW - I thought it might be a cool idea to borrow Kazarian (if willing) for a mini-SCU reunion, with them cutting a promo about not having a tourney without the inaugural champs

You're entirely correct here, but how good their team was and how much I truly enjoyed them has me kiiiiinda wanting to say "Uh, sir, Santana is wrong." But that's a total knee jerk reaction. And it's no ill-will or doubt in the guy's abilities, I hope he headlines a WK or WM or whatever he wants to do, I just think they had a lot of stories left to tell together.

I could see that, or maybe something closer to the Hogan '02 title run where there's a bit of hybridization - really, I could see the argument for that when Sting beat Jarrett for the TNA title around '07ish, he had the crow paint but with some more red, no shirt, red boots. One could look at it as the sendoff for that iteration (if ya squint)

Yeah, I've been in a meeting since 8 (thankfully mine didn't involve Goodell) so I didnt get to comment on it yet, but that Sting match was everything I hoped for and more. Just exceeded every wildest expectation. I was super moved by knowing the guy's father just passed, and having his kids in there with him... Special, man. Just really, really special.

I don't think it's necessarily unfair at all, but I'll add the caveat that IMO he's always been miscast as a heel alongside Cole, Strong & co. by both major orgs, when I think if handled right he could be a great scrappy underdog babyface in the vein of a Danielson or Sami Zayn

Off topic, but its gotta be one of the most absurd things ever that they signed Taya and changed her name to Frankie Mone, only to turn around and give this name to someone else. It reads like one of those awful "What's ____ doing in the Impact Zone?" jokes from reddit or something.

Angelica Risk is a good name for her because boy howdy would I risk it all

I had a feeling this was something that happened, and am glad it's been confirmed. Very classy move.

This news along with TK mentioning at this week's press call that they're expanding to 9 PPVs a year (12 counting ROH) has got me thinking streaming deal once again.