TheVileOne
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Posts posted by TheVileOne
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Drew McIntyre utterly eviscerated CM Punk with his promo last night, and frankly, CM Punk sounded bored and directionless. He struggled to get his comments back on track, and it was the same old tired schtick from him. He's done nothing of note since he returned.
Is Kofi wearing new ring gear that doesn't look like New Day ring gear signifying that New Day is winding down?
Not sure why Jinder Mahal is all of the sudden in a title match against Seth Rollins, but hey why not. Never been a Jinder hater, and it's a fairly fresh matchup at least.
I realize that WWE wants Cody to continue looking strong going into the Rumble, but what the hell do you do with Nakamura now? He's pretty much just good hand or good heel at this point. He hasn't won a major feud since like 2021. Just seems like this is his destined role at this point. That aside, I do like how they've incorporated the cool anime clips into his promos and amped up his heel character. I simply wish he could win an important match.
Not sure where they are going with the R-Truth/Judgment Day stuff, but it's funny at least. Got to hand it to R-Truth. It's 2024. He's 51 years old. Wrestled his first WWE match over 23 years ago, and he's in WWE now, getting TV time and being every entertaining and part of a top angle. Good for R-Truth.
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https://twitter.com/tonykhan/status/1744835475901227380
QuoteA moral victory for USA is one win more than their World Title challenger Jinder Mahal has in the past 364 days... because it's been literally a full year since he won a match. You really put AEW in our place getting Jinder Mahal in a big match on your tv show. Do it more often
Tony Khan really showed that USA Network social media intern what for. That was an All Elite clapback.
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Let's get ready to go to hell, baby.
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I'm open to the idea of Riddle trying to rehab his image and career in NJPW and places like MLW, GCW, other indies, but he's got to be serious about wanting to salvage his career. Otherwise, he's going to be another footnote on Dark Side of the Ring.
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Since I get a lot of stupid BS here from some a-holes here who say I'm always negative and dislike everything:
I frelling loved this show. I felt everything clicked relatively well for WK18. Up and down everyone looked solid and ready to bring their A-game. You saw fun entrances and great ring attire throughout the show. It definitely felt like the right shot in the arm that New Japan needs right now. From start to finish, I haven't liked a big wrestling show this much in quite a while.
The first couple of matches were short little sprints, and they didn't go that long. That worked though because they kept the pace fast and they didn't feel like there was any filler. I think having President Tanahashi win the TV title now is fine. He can have a couple of defenses and transition the belt to someone else hopefully. Sabre got to run with the title for a whole year, so he had a decent run with it. I think Sabre is very underrated as a heel worker sometimes. Those neck twists were brutal.
Kind of surprised that Uemura beat Yota Tsuji at WK since everyone seems so high on Tsuji as a future ace right now.
Tama Tonga and Shingo Takagi also had a fun match. If Tama Tonga is leaving the company I don't get putting him over with a victory here. Does he relinquish the belt? Is he going to stay and defend it a couple more times? I don't really get that booking decision. I've seen reactions on Reddit saying this was done as a reward for all the time Tonga put into New Japan. No doubt Tama Tonga is a hard worker, and he's underrated as a singles talent, but dunno, having him win over Shingo in a title bout especially when he's leaving seems like an odd choice. Regardless, this was a fun match, and both guys looked like they were ready to put on a show tonight. Everyone from top to bottom felt like they were trying to outwork one another.
Happy that ELP and Hikuleo won the belts. I think it's probably time to merge the Strong titles or drop them already. It feels like Strong is kind of irrelevant as a sub-brand at this point, and I'm not sure what purpose Strong or the Strong titles really serve at this point. ELP is actually one of my favorites, and I'm happy he picked up another title but I feel like he could be doing more in singles, which I hope he does at some point down the line. Still shocked he never won the junior heavyweight singles title.
El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi was cool. However, I do kind of want to move on from this matchup and see some fresh faces and matchups for the Junior Heavyweight division. Shocked that they never got El Phantasmo in there for a title run. But another good Despy/Hiromu match. Hiromu's entrance attire was fire.
Okada/Danielson topped their match at Forbidden Door. I think it went just about the right length and didn't need to go any longer. Visual with the UV color-changing attire for Okada was a neat concept. I do feel you could run this match one more time as a tiebreaker now that Danielson and Okada are 1-1. You could tell this was an emotional experience for Danielson. I feel like Okada is really good at trying to keep it very cool and stoic even when his opponents are clearly trying to make him angry and you can see it getting to him. You can see the change when his fuse is about to blow and he's had enough.
Global title triple threat felt like the 2024 NJPW version of Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles from TNA Unbreakable. Moxley looked fired up and was moving like a junior heavyweight. Whatever he does to maintain his cardio and stamina definitely came through for him here, especially since he had the long travel and was coming off a pretty physical, grueling match with Eddie Kingston on PPV. It's on YouTube, but he also did a great job putting over David Finlay in his press conference. I'm not a David Finlay hater like some people. I think he held up his heel role fine in this match, and Finlay walking away with the win and the title is the right decision for right now. It is crazy to kind of see how far Will Ospreay has come over the last 7-8 years. You can see the little changes and things that have improved his overall game, and he's also put on more muscle and mass. But the Triple Threat just had this epic, big match feel that was cool. Even though this isn't goodbye for Ospreay and New Japan, this is sort of like a goodbye for Ospreay as a full-time "New Japan guy." But it feels like he truly hammered out and discovered himself through his matches and run in New Japan. Through the ups and downs, Ospreay has found himself and become fully formed, so now it's time to see what he can do in AEW. This may not make sense, but it kind of reminds me of the changes Styles went through after leaving TNA and only becoming an even bigger star from there. It was nice to see Moxley reminiscing about Fit Finlay and saying he respected David for smashing the belt because it took balls. For Moxley, it makes sense that he'd respect a guy smashing titles since that's the kind of rebellious, anti-authority shit he goes for.
Nic Nemeth I think is a good pickup for NJPW, and I hope it's one that sticks. AEW is overcrowded right now, and where would he even fit in there right now? NJPW can use him, and it could be a way for Nemeth to easily reinvent himself and give the veterans on the roster someone new to face. The brawls with Finlay were fun, and this could be good for everyone involved.
Sanada's transition to being champion and headliner has been impressive to watch. I'm glad he dropped the whole unkempt hobo lion mane look. Now he looks super clean-cut, wears custom suits and looks every bit like a main event champ. He carried the match here very well for Naito, and the fans were all in for Naito winning the big one one more time. Not sure how much time Naito has left as a top guy, but enjoy it while it lasts I suppose. At first, I was ticked when EVIL interrupted the post-match speech, but they got it well with Sanada rallying back and helping Naito, paying tribute to his senpai. Naito clearly has an emotional connection with the fans and the fans were rabid to see him get the win, so it was the right decision to end things.
I think going back to one night this year was the correct decision. And even at one night, this year's card didn't feel overstuffed. I think they can go back to two nights if it makes sense, but it worked out well this year.
Man, I've always found Chris Charlton to be a good, solid analyst who knows what he's talking about along with acting as a translator for the English-speaking audience, but this is the most switched-on I think I've ever heard him for an event like this. Charlton sounded really fired up throughout the show. Usually, Charlton sounds really level, but he was very fired up throughout the event. I nearly lost it when Sanada and Naito retaliated against Evil and he said something like, "Ain't that a kick in the dick!" Good for Charlton he brought it to this show. I don't know what it is but it was like everyone drank some espresso doubleshots or Celsius before the show started. Charlton doesn't have to bring that level of enthusiasm every show, but he definitely shined on commentary. Walker Stewart isn't quite there yet, so it felt like Charlton had to pull a little more weight, but I think Stewart will get there eventually.
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Not sure what happened with Yeun, but if I can guess, he's probably a highly in-demand talent right now and he was coming on before the strikes hit which caused major delays throughout the industry. So he likely had to move on to other projects.
What Thunderbolts should do is pivot to Zemo. Make Zemo leader of the team as Citizen V. When Zemo shows his hand and offers the T-Bolts a place by his side, they will side with Winter Soldier. Have Zemo as Citizen V earn the public and government's trust so he can take over the world since that's the only way to save the world and cleanse it of superheroes.
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So what happens to Damian Priest now and where does he fit in? He's failed to cash in his briefcase umpteen times at this point.
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14 minutes ago, tbarrie said:
The thing of it is, he didn't even bring it up, assuming the quote somebody posted earlier in the thread is accurate. He merely said Jericho had done bad things, then used Harvey Weinstein as an example of what happens when your bad deeds come to light. He neither said nor logically implied that Jericho's specific misdeeds were in any way similar to Weinstein's.
Legally, of course, I don't think that matters much if at all. To reinforce what you said earlier, to the best of my knowledge under civil law words are no different from other actions, and you can in fact be liable for any consequences of your words that a reasonable person could have predicted. I think a reasonable person could conclude that accusing Jericho of wrongdoing than immediately mentioning Weinstein could lead an incautious listener to think he had said Jericho was guilty of the same things Weinstein was, and that this would spark a shitstorm that would be damaging to Jericho's reputation.
He also said this:
https://twitter.com/Nick_Hausman/status/1739289735607042111
That's a fairly pretty suggestive point to make only a few days later to make the Harvey Weinstein comparison.
On that podcast that came out today, Hausman claimed, "I knew full well it was probably going to hit in some way. I didn't know it was going to hit near as hard as we've seen it hit. But I'm just tired of watching Chris bully people around and be very abrasive, especially publicly like that. I didn't appreciate the things he said about Ace Steel's wife, Lucy, and some of his tweets, and I'm just tired of it. That's all it was behind it."
He definitely backtracked on those comments earlier today. Whether he got some threatening legal emails over the weekend or not, I don't know.
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Saying you know people who were hurt by Chris Jericho and his actions is not an opinion.
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Jericho hasn't done himself any favors lately. There was no reason for him to act erratic and start drunk tweeting on Christmas Day about Brawl Out, Stephen P. New, and CM Punk. There was absolutely no reason for him to revisit that situation at that point especially when it was over and done with and everybody had moved on. Also, it was f'n Christmas morning. What the hell was he doing he needed to get in a social media shouting match with a lawyer?
Why did he choose that time to speak out about the incident that happened over a year earlier? Especially when he kept his mouth shut forever about it. He was on Howie Mandell's podcast and they tried to talk about Brawl Out and he was tongue-tied and didn't offer any details then. And that's just one example. There have been others. But that incident is when Nick Hausman first responded to him, implying Jericho has had people sign NDAs.
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1 hour ago, JohnnyJ said:
Part of the madness of the internet wrestling world is the stirring and stirring of a nugget of information. I don't think us "asking questions" is doing anything to help the situation as there's now a whole thread giving credence to bare accusations. The right of both the accused and the alleged victim matter. My preference is to reserve judgment until more facts come out and get back to discussing wrestling.
Beyond the Kylie Rae issue, Nick Hausman voiced that "a lot of people have been hurt" by Jericho during the video where he compared Jericho to Weinstein. Like it or not, and that is a vaguely broad claim, that's still a pretty significant allegation. And Hausman is a member of the media. It's not just Twitter conjecture that's driving all of this.
This might be an odd example, but one situation where there was this weird allegation that somewhat had a resolution, I remember going back years ago there was this story going around that emerged that Megan Fox auditioned for Transformers at like 19 by going to Michael Bay's home and washing his car. I forget where the story started. I think it was a press junket or something. But people brought it up again during the #MeToo movement because Bay was viewed as a filmmaker who objectified young women and might've been displaying predatory behavior toward Megan Fox.
A few years ago, Fox addressed the story again and said her audition did not go the way of the original telling in a way that denies Bay doing displaying predatory or salacious. I think the story resurfaced because Fox was on Jimmy Kimmel and she talked about her brief onscreen role in Bad Boys II when she was only 15 years old and how Bay filmed her for the movie.
Now, it's not like Bay was ever canceled or suffered significant damage as a result of the suspicions or allegations over the original story. Also, not saying Bay is completely innocent in the matter either. But after Fox made these comments, everyone kind of moved on from Bay.
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Spoiler
https://hochi.news/articles/20240102-OHT1T51172.html?page=1
Hochi Sports says both of Ibushi's ankles are injured. I feel awful for Ibushi, but he should not be allowed back in the ring until he's 100 percent again, if that's even possible. It sounds like he returned to the ring too early to begin with.
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2 hours ago, StretchMediatedHypertrophy said:
Ok so I agreed with you on Sunday. 100%. And we were right. And now....I agree in spirit, but I gotta counsel:
Kevin Wilson's question does at least need to be looked at - until what resolution exactly?
Now we as a somewhat postmodern progressive culture are at least vaguely content to have ppl (well cis men really) thrown onto the bonfire of social & career death by the mob, based on an accusation by an alleged victim - this does offend some people's sense of natural justice (including that of many board members I suspect). But it's (rule) utilitarianism at work essentially - the *greater* good. Happens all the time, and it's forever.
Now a couple of people have argued/implied that the distinction is we don't actually have an explicitly consenting accuser. Maybe, but the problem here is that the mob isn't necessarily going to follow their nuanced version of what they think the rules are. (And really, why should they? Where there is at least the possibility that the alleged victim is bound by a NDA, anyone with a reasonable understanding of structural power & privilege could see why it would be *deeply problematic* to insist on a public accusation).
I was bantering with cancel culture with a Gen Z at work a few months ago, & basically he said 'your number comes up, you get cancelled, that's how it works'.
Or to put it another way - 'Deserve ain't got nothing to do with it, it's just his time that's all'. And this might just be what we have here.If KR doesn't proactively take any further action (either by making a public statement assuming no pertinent NDA, or making a HR complaint, what fun), should AEW reach out to her because she did the heart tweet (it remains btw)? My view is probably, but I know that's going to be contentious. The other problem with that is you then potentially have a big investigation clouding TV rights negotiations.
But if you continue to handwave it all away, yeah it potentially messes up any booking Jericho is anywhere near, but maybe ppl tune in to see how the fans react, and maybe the mob moves on to something else? I mean I'm not that convinced, it feels like Jericho's time, but......this is a man with a lot of friends, he's not accused of anything criminal, there's indeed no solid accusation (as far as we know at least), & on that basis I can very definitely understand deciding not to lean into this. I said right at the start that something like this was the worst possible situation because all the options are terrible. Maybe the mob must be left to do what it will, & then potentially the media execs step in.
Leaning the other way & putting the belts on Le Sex Gods would certainly be a choice though.
It's an excellent question but the problem is there isn't a simple, quick fix, easy solution to all of this. There might never be a solid resolution here that will satisfy all parties. The problem is the way Tony Khan handled this and responded to this at the press conference was embarrassing and made everything worse, and Meltzer and Alvarez said as much too.
It's not the best example, but there was a time where Will Ospreay was basically viewed as persona non grata and his career was in tatters over the allegations that he had Pollyana blacklisted. Ospreay's career did at least manage to recover from those allegations even though he wasn't being accused of sexual harassment and assault. He was viewed as someone who was a victim denier and hurting the career of a victim of sexual assault. I don't know if Jericho's career can ever escape this though.
While Ric Flair hasn't exactly escaped the allegations, he did manage to find a way clear out of the allegations made by Heidi Doyle on Dark Side of the Ring. Flair denied the allegations. The media eventually forgot about the story and moved on. I'm not saying that's right. I'm not saying those allegations were ever properly addressed, but Flair did lose a sponsorship. Not only that, Flair had already quit WWE before the episode came out. So it wasn't exactly like anyone could fire or cancel Flair. And plus, he's Ric Flair. I'm not saying that's right either, but basically, there was not enough of an issue to derail and incarcerate Flair over the allegations. Plus the matter had already been settled legally (to my recollection).
I'm not sure what recourse Jericho has here, and if he will ever address this publicly. I don't know what the solution is here. However, Jericho does have to be taken off TV as that's the only way to PARTIALLY mitigate this situation right now. It sucks, but I think about Kylie Rae too, and my concern is what happened to her once-promising career and what she's been dealing with the past several years.
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46 minutes ago, Casey said:
Look no further than the Saudi shows to see that money matters to these people above everything else. If the Australian tourism board or whatever is willing to back a Brinks truck up to WWE for a Rock match, they’re going to do it.
WrestleMania sells itself. Elimination Chamber at 3am US time doesn’t. This would sell it immediately - and they also no longer really care about immediate views, but what social media does and the first 24 hour coverage of the event.
I think you’re wrong. There’s a possibility Rock might only be free for the next month and some change, and will be busy come spring possibly with the Smashing Machine.
The Rock at 51 years old is not coming back for his long-awaited prophesied match, his first actual match in over 10 years, with his family member Roman Reigns for it to happen at Elimination Chamber.
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8 minutes ago, The Green Meanie said:
When did they get rid of wrestler rankings? I was thinking about that the other day, I haven't seen them in a while.
Going by their website, they stopped updating them in September 2022. Right before All Out 2022. When the promotion first went to hell.
It's crazy to think that AEW came out of the COVID-19 pandemic fairly unscathed and weathered that storm fairly well. It was everything came after the pandemic being in the rearview mirror that got them in trouble.
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Taking Jericho off TV right now until this situation gets resolved is the only choice to make right now.
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The Rock just finished the story. They aren't booking Roman Reigns vs. The Rock at Elimination Chamber. There is only one place they are doing that matchup, and they are doing it at WrestleMania.
Nick Khan doesn't give a shit about "finish the story." Ari Emanuel doesn't give a shit about "finish the story." Triple H didn't care enough to do it when the iron was hot to do it, and Triple H wants to make his bosses happy. They aren't going to blow off The Rock wrestling Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber: Perth. That's not frelling happening. They will do everything they can to make this year's WrestleMania 40 the biggest WrestleMania of all time. And you do that by putting Roman Reigns vs. The Rock in the final Night 2 headlining spot. Stockholders don't give a shit about finish the story either. They want numbers and milestones and accolades. Finish the story doesn't do that. The Rock at WrestleMania versus Roman Reigns does that. This was the final trump card to play for Reigns and the Bloodline, and WWE has clearly been waiting patiently to play this. They aren't playing it at an Elimination Chamber show in Perth.
They are serious about having Roman Reigns' title run surpassing Hogan's in the 1980s. And they just might do it now.
Everyone who claimed Cody Rhodes didn't have enough adversity last year are going to be eating their words soon.
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12 minutes ago, AxB said:
FTFY.
You know what I didn’t dislike? Godzilla Minus One.
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39 minutes ago, NoFistsJustFlips said:
Why do you watch AEW? You clearly don't like anything they do. Maybe for your own sanity you should stop forcing yourself to hate watch?
It made 100% sense. As much sense as any MITB cash in can. A bit more actually because the contract was unsigned and Christian signed it on the spot. They put the extra thought into it to give it a touch of real world details. I basically called this entire finish (except the Christian sub in) this week. It's good booking on multiple levels and keeps things interesting. The match was really solid. The audience got a nice cathartic moment because Edge finally beat the shithead heel and everyone got to celebrate. The heel left with more heat because he found a shitty loophole to get the belt back. The underling has more sympathy on him for being abused yet again. It's literally wrestling 101. An up and down story telling roller coaster with feel good moments and bum out moments.
All you do is complain and point out how everything sucks. At least accompany your negative takes with an alternate way to do things that wouldn't suck in your opinion. Because otherwise every post you make is the same. This sucks. That sucks. This is the worst. It's fine if those are your real feels. But for the love of god add some constructive content to your criticisms.Like you said it was a shitty loophole. It was never established that Killswitch can exchange the title shot with anyone he chose. It wasn’t done organically. Why did AEW allow it? When Ted DiBiase tried to buy the WWE title reign from Andre, WWE said no in storyline and said a monetary exchange of a title champion status is not allowed. The whole mess was badly executed.
Secondly, I gave multiple pieces of constructive criticism for last night’s show and said things I liked about the show. I will continue to comment on things where I see fit whether I dislike them or not.
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But Jericho does need to be quietly removed from TV right now until this situation gets addressed. Otherwise, it's only going to get worse. It's definitely going to get worse either way, but removing Jericho from TV is the only way to partially alleviate this situation until it gets addressed.
QuoteNot to mention Saraya had her own issues with viral videos and her personal life with other wrestlers being revealed.
Not to pile on Saraya because I realized she went through a personal hell and was in an abusive relationship with Del Rio, but there was also the issue of her current boyfriend and the video she released that shows him pretending to stab and murder someone, noting her current boyfriend's history.
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3 minutes ago, Kev said:
This moment was good. But as a counterpoint, Nigel’s heel schtick is awful. It stinks of toxic WWE commentary from 2018-21ish. There’s no need for a commentator without any storyline background in the company to be making himself such a character. He’s so much better just doing straight colour with the occasional dad joke thrown in. (As an aside, heel commentators generally feel like a relic).
I’m slightly more sympathetic if this is leading to a Danielson match. But if that is happening, I presume it’d be at Wembley with him as hometown hero, so the aggressive heeling seems counterproductive.
Also, why the fuck has he insisted on running with ‘clam digger’ as an insult? (I’m being semi-rhetorical, I think I get it, it’s just terrible).
He's calling Danielson a clam digger because he's saying Danielson is like this hobo hipster type who likes to dig clams out of the sand. Also, Nigel is a former wrestler, and he has history with a lot of the talent and guys in AEW like Danielson. Even if it doesn't lead to anything, I don't see a problem. This has been a part of heel wrestling commentary as long as there has been heel color commentators.
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So can anyone explain what the Triple Crown Title means for AEW/ROH's World Title? Will titles still be defended separately? Is the Continental title simply a ceremonial title? Is it basically like the Double Gold in NJPW where the champion just basically holds both belts and defends all belts at once whenever they are defended until a new singular title is made?
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To share something positive here, the timing between Nigel and Adam here was perfect. And Nigel was great, as per usual, on commentary last night.
EDIT:
Twitter version:
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4 hours ago, hammerva said:
Lost in the bullshit of everything else yesterday was whatever the hell this is
https://twitter.com/istomatoafruit/status/1740964180411498831
This does produce the funniest thing which is someone only showing the Saraya part and then showing clips of Chris Jericho holding a camera
Since I've been down this TikTok/Influencer/Trend rabbit hole before.
This is a TikTok trend that YouTubers/influencers are doing. It involves a group of people or two people posting a video saying, "We're [married/siblings/best friends/wrestlers/influencers/etc.]," who then proceed to call out the behaviors or habits of their group, "We're [this]. We [do this]." So this was an attempt by the AEW social media or I guess Saraya in this case to create a viral video capitalizing on a current TikTok video trend.
The problem is that Saraya's bit in this is kind of tone-deaf and bad in light of the recent rumors and Tony Khan's comments last night. I get that it's meant to be comedy/parody, but it basically implies that AEW employees are harassing the women's wrestlers.
AEW - JANUARY 2024
in ALL ELITE WRESTLING
Posted
How does AEW have a social media code of conduct and fine people for their social media behavior when Tony Khan routinely melts down and acts like a jackass on social media? Sheriff Danielson isn’t going to say diddly squat about this.