caley

I remember Bret saying much the same in his book and how the two were on the booking committee and came in to tell Bret he'd beat Rock clean with the Sharpshooter (I can't remember if it was for the IC title or not) and Bret thought it was pointless because he didnt need the win and it would hurt Rock (also, Bret was probably also opposed to it because it stuck it to HHH and HBK a bit!) so he went and got the ending changed to Bret getting DQed for doing the figure four around the post on Rock and how Rock thanked him and Bret warned him to watch his back. I don't watch Young Rock, do they put current WWE wrestlers/characters on the show? Maybe since Shawn is still very much a part of WWE they have an understanding with WWE not to portay current characters/wresters?!

I always get Tatum Paxley and Fallon Henley's names confused. Were i running NXT, I'd randomly switch their names one week, just to see if anyone notices. Actually, I'd just switch the wrestlers complete: put Paxley in the jean cut-offs and hanging out with Bro Country with Fallon teaming sporadically with Ivy Nile and see if it makes any discernible difference. I will say, I do like that one sort of diving backkick that...oh now I honestly have forgotten which one is which...the girl in the cut-offs does. And feel better, DEAN!

I think it was "buried" in the sense he was largely stuck in the cruiserweight purgatory (In one of his books, Jericho talked about how the cruisers were like "lepers" in WCW and Booker T (whom he said he'd later count as a friend) once remarked "I ain't no cruiserweight" when matched up with one of them); how the division was largely looked down upon. Outside the cruiser division, his biggest moments were over Hall (Who did it just to stick it to management) and the Goldberg "angle" (which Goldberg and all tried to scuttle). He did also say, to your point, that he was expecting Bischoff to crush him on the way out as he'd gone back on his word about re-signing (IIRC, he thought the "Loser wears a dress" stipulation with Saturn was going to be punishment for him before finding out it was because Saturn wanted to wear a dress for his new gimmick) but they were quite fair with him. So, I think the "buried" thing is that he was given top status, but it was in the division nobody cared about, so you never saw him in any Nitro or PPV main events.

I like to imagine Vince McMahon actually saying this: "Vince McMahon, WWE’s Founder and Executive Chairman said, “WWE’s upcoming media rights cycle will take place amid a rapidly evolving media and entertainment landscape, and we believe exploring our strategic alternatives at this critical juncture will enable WWE to fully capitalize on the significant value of our intellectual property. I am highly confident that our outstanding Directors, outside advisors and executive team will provide valuable expertise and counsel to help guide the Company through this important process while our management team and employee base continue to deliver results and content our fans love.” There is no way he actually said this without the words: 'Grapefruits', 'Testicular fortitude', 'whatamanoovurrr' or 'You're Fired' being involved. Seriously, read that paragraph and imagine it coming directly from Vince's mouth...you can't do it.

Fyre-Dawn was the most fun I had all week. I loved the toolbox spot (Never seen that before) and the pre-match brawl was so violent and over-the-top that I was sure it was being used to "injure" one of the wrestlers and push the match back a couple weeks so was pleasantly surprised when it was just an over-the-top and violent introduction to an over-the-top and violent match.

Fyre-Dawn was so much fun and kind of seems like it could be headed in the direction I was thinking (creepy Dawn voodoo/black magic-ing Fyre into turning to the dark side and maybe becoming a team; there's no real road for Fyre to the title right now so she needs something to do in the meantime, and they could be a fun eeeeevil team before Fyre breaks the spell). I only wish she'd hit that swanton clean, but the Gori (Gory) Bomb through the table was a nice back-up plan.. Thought the toolbox spot was pretty brilliant in that it looked really painful and vicious. Was that the NXT makeup crew (as seen in the Stacks Lorenzo match) working overtime on Dawn or was that an actual massive welt on her back after the backstage brawl? I sometimes think Thea Hail could end up being the breakout star of this pack of NXT women because she is ridiculously young (She was somehow apparently born in 2003?!) but also because she throws herself 100% into her goofy Chase U character. I loved her "Girrrrrrl fight!" line tonight. Was kind of funny watching that segment because it made me think you have Toxic vs Roxanne; Jade vs Choo; Fyre vs Dawn; James vs Country girl (forget her name); Indy vs Lopez and Starks vs Lyons all as ongoing feuds in the women's division with only one involving the women's title, and WWE has two women's titles on their main shows and struggle to write feuds for anyone but the champs. Chase U vs Drew Gulak/Hank somehow also vs Regal's son is such a fun, odd little feud.

I actually think Cora Jade would be a better Toxic Attraction leader as you could play into their shared history but Ford's attitude change putting them in the same wavelength and backing her up as she goes after Roxanne again. That multiple tope spot was brilliant and well done. My fave match of the week. The Henley-James match was weird because they were clearly trying to tell a dissension story but commentary basically ignored it, even talking about them cheering Henley on when they were obviously fighting. Also I love Booker T on commentary. Gives me Dusty vibes in that you never know if he's going to make a great point, say something funny or absolutely say something insane that has you reaching fo the rewind button.

That's the best "on a pole" match since "Judy Bagwell on a pole"

I think there was too much lingering on Mandy at the end for her to be going anywhere except a rematch with Roxanne, then maybe we see some movement. Also Mandy's arm was very close/possibly under the bottom rope, so I wonder if they use it as grounds for a rematch. MVP of this shw was possibly Booker T. He had so many great moments. Getting annoyed at Malik Blade for wearing his dead dads sweater: "You need to let that go once you turn 10". When Woods was talking about Kofi having the most tag team titles in history he was going "That's not true. I had 16. I did some research." Then when he was rooting against Duke and Vic asked him where his school spirit was he said "I hate school. I skipped class. I even skipped recess" or something like that. Then him admitting he was not going to be very unbiased and being so happy for Perez. Then just maniacal/happy laughter as the show goes off the air. Some strange clean wins tonight. JD McDonagh pinning one of the Creeds relatively cleanly and easily. Ikemen Jiro beating Javy rather easy (Only an upset because of how much more airtime Javy gets). Duke walking over Damon Kemp after the latter got so much TV time, push and write-ups about how impressed the brass was with him.

I've come to put it right in my middle-of-the-pack-hey-it's-a-Christmas-movie-but-we-don't-HAVE-to-watch-it-every-year pile. It's biggest pluses are its relative lightness (the biggest crisis in the movie is resolved really quickly and relatively painlessly), the cast (lots of people in here!) and Vince Vaughn's performance (which I still like but like you said, would determine on your tolerance of Vaughn's schtick). It is a rather polarizing film in our family: my sister LOVES it, my dad HATES it and will never watch it again. My favourite little throwaway easter egg is that, since this was directed by the same guy who directed 'King of Kong', he finds a tiny, non-speaking role for Steve Wiebe (he even gets to play video games). It's weird to see Jon Voight now after his weird Trump-worshipping stuff and even weirder to see Kevin from 'The Office' speaking at a normal cadence.

I think they should play it up: "The only team too dangerous for network TV! You can only see them in ROH on pay-per-view!"

Regal's nonsensical retconned promo was SOOOO close to being "I have to go now, my planet needs me, sunshine" followed by a handwritten note that he died on his way back to WWE that they really just should have done that. "When Maxwell pushed Tony Schiavone, I was so upset that I helped make him world champion because it's hard to be the champ and the BCC need to learn one last lesson from me to never turn your back and I will immediately follow this up by literally turning my back on the very someone who I'm trying to screw over..." They could just as easily have had Regal self-record a video where he says MJF offered him more money than he could realistically ever turn down but now he can't look himself in the mirror after selling out people who were like family to him and that it would be a long time before you'd see William Regal, if ever again. Starks promo was amazing. I was worried they were going to go the familiar route (especially in WWE) of MJF trashing Starks, only for Starks not even getting to stand up for himself but he did and it was glorious. MJF was weaksauce, though. "The Pebble"?! That's like something a disapproving dad would say about you watching wrestling: "He calls himself The Rock? More like the Pebble! The Undertaker? More like The Overfaker!" Fully expect after he defeats Starks, MJF will target The Acclaimed: "Rap music? More like crap music!" Joe-Allin was extraordinarily good. I liked it better than the main honestly...but then again I'm like the only guy in the world who really doesn't like FTR. Joe's walk away from a tope spot may never be topped by tonight's edition with Allin skidding on concrete. I was thinking tonight that the funniest result in the world would be Saraya ending Jade's streak and taking her title. Would love to see the online reactions after that. Britt's challenge to Saraya made no sense: "Good luck finding a partner...no one will team with you?" After several weeks of Saraya accompanying Toni Storm to the ring, after her introductory promo where she brought out all the face females and complimented them, even her debut was saving the faces from Britt and co. Clearly she has a lot of friends in AEW, so why would this be such a tough challenge: "Good luck finding a partner, popular girl!" If they had reversed it with Saraya offering up the challenge to Britt and Hayter with "I've got a surprise partner for you!" it would make so much more sense. I enjoyed when Taz went "Skye Blue and Red Velvet, they're both named after colours" (ignoring that there was a THIRD wrestler in there with a colour in her name!) to no reaction followed by his explanation of football to Excalibur to even less of a reaction (I suspect both Tony and Excalibur were laughing and on mute). I can't believe what fantastic change it was to put Tazz in the booth and remove JR. It's night and day, really. You might lose that mainstream cache of JR being in there, but all three genuinely sound like they're having a good time and enjoying calling the show. Makes a huge difference. I never really cared for Tazz' announcing prior to AEW but he's incredible now, straddling the line between PBP and explaining moves, playing the heel commentator and also just cracking jokes.

Clearly WWE is now trying to at least be wary of what they said on TV in regards to Regal as on onscreen character, last night Booker in discusiing Dempsey said "He's a throwback, like Fit Finlay or Dave Taylor" which is really funny.

I wouldn't be shocked shocked if Omega left. There's something...weird about the Bucks/Omega since they returned. You had the weird "They're going to be on the PPV" throwaway announcement of their return (I actually completely missed it and I watched that episode, it wasn't until I was reading the thread on here that I realize it had been announced instead of the big event the return of three of your biggest stars should have been). They have had almost zero promo-time (Aside from Omega doing his go home routine this past week). They threw them into the weird Best of 7 feud with no real build-up or, again, promo-time. You have the little inside digs (the biting, the Go 2 Sleep, even the new theme is a weird sort-of dig). The announcers seem to be trying hard to praise the Bucks without talking too much about them. I wouldn't be entirely shocked if they quietly go away after the Best of 7, with the California show being a pseudo-send-off.

Guys, can't we get BEYOND Thunderdome?! (I stole that joke from MST3K)

Makes sense as MJF is kind of a mash-up of Shane Douglas/Impact Player shootier stuff with some of Mick Foley's praising Eric Bischoff promos mixed in.

Have Toxic Attraction ever hit their tag finisher cleany? Feels like Jayne always hits her part clean and Dolin is usually just kicking the air somewhere in the vicinity of their opponent. That aside, that main even was really great. Mandy's knee to the face on the outside was a deadlier-looking spot than anything in the much more-hyped 6 man tag of the week. JD-Creed was nuts until the lackluster ending. That one bump McDonagh took through the ropes was gnarly. I liked the Apollo Crews-Bron diner showdown/tribute to DeNiro-Pesce in 'Heat'. I actually really dug the HOFers talking about the NXT competitors. I'm an NHL draft enthusiast, and this reminded me of those types of shows with vets talking about the prospects. I'm torn between NXT's division of woman being maybe the deepest roster of possible stars that they've had in years (Lyons, Cora, Roxanne, Stark, Stratton (if she ever comes back...) and a lot of their presentation being akin to low-budget porn parodies (Er...not that I've seen any of those) in that someone like Kiana James wrestles perfectly well but has that terrible board-room boss presentation that is fooling no one and with the tiny skirt and glasses she almost definitely doesn't need just feels like someone's weird fetish booked into existence.

I was ranting a while back about how stupid the Chase U gimmick was but inexplicably they have made it work and I've come to embrace it. I think Thea Hail's delightfully unhinged act is underrated as well.

I actually think Kevin Patrick might be their best PBP guy since Tom Phillips. Somehow he calls everything all night long absolutely breathlessly. First match of the night and he is gasping and shouting and super into absolutely everything. But it doesn't feel forced at all, rather he just sounds like he is super into it. He might not know the names of all the moves (He might, as well, I haven't listened to him a lot, granted) but for WWE style is basically perfect.

Just to be a contrarian, I went Duke/Chase-Pretty Deadly but actually it was the most fun I had all week watching wrestling, Chase U is way OVER with the crowd, Pretty Deadly cheats and double-teams, then keep manipulating Duke who is either REALLY trying to win over Chase U or playing dumb REALLY well before turning on Chase U.

One thing I noticed during this week's WWE is that in the hype for next year's WM, they're hyping Raw up again as part of the package with WM and HOFand called it something like "The most anticipated Raw of the year" which is something WWE had inexplicably moved away from in recent years. I know there was some annoyance with the smarkiest audience trying to take over the show, but it was such a huge noisy crowd that made debuts so much more important (I still remember the absolutely molten reaction to Enzo and Cass' debut) and everything seemed like such a major event that it was so weird that the buried it and stopped trying to make it matter. I think that was the weirdest thing about the most recent years of Vince-led WWE was that he made every show seem the same, there were no big surprises or major heel turns, everything just kind of coasted along. i think Triple H is at least trying to shake things up a bit with some surprise returns (Braaaaaaun, Lesnar) and surprise debuts (Gargano, his wife etc.).

I liked in the Scrypts match when Vic Joseph went "Then NXT Universe aren't quite sure what to make of Scrypts..." and I thought "He has the worst mask I've ever seen, keeps miming that he's writing with a pen, sprang into the ring on a trampoline and you just described him as a "Poet", I don't blame them!" Glad Dijak is getting another chance. Ever since he was in ROH, he's looked like such a prototypical WWE Guy (big, good build, athletic) that which made it all the more perplexing that Vince flubbed him so bad on the main roster. The Bron Brekker promo where he basically said he was tired of wrestling and wishes he could just fish all the time was certainly an interesting way of building up your world champ... The Chase U stuff will never likely translate to the main roster, but it's sooo good with the home crowd who are way into it. I was waiting for Duke to turn on them and be all evil, but now I'm kind of enjoying the new goofy Duke and hope he actually stays with them. The promo where he was out of breath because he "ran all the way here" was a hilariously strange idea when you're pushing him as a major athlete. Regal Jr (Which is really what they should just call him...it's ok acknowledge it!) 's promo was really good. He'd be a really fun opponent for Wes Lee's goofiness.

I think it's great as the crowd reacts EVERY time. Like if he did the Cero Miedo thing 5-6 times and the crowd popped once, then tailed off, it woud be one thing, but theyre into it, every time. I will say it was a little jarring to see this Penta doing the taunts when he first got to Impact! after he'd been evil Penta in Lucha Underground but I got used to it and might like him as constantly-taunting dark Mysterio even better than arm-breaking evil Penta.

I'm not a fan of Rick Ross (not anti-Rick Ross either...he's just not really within my popular culture purview) but he was AMAZING in that segment, especially when he just pointed at Lee and shouted "ACCUSATIONS!" I absolutely would love him to be a recurring AEW character. Also, The Acclaimed tease being adopted by Daddy Ass and the Ass Boys come out and DON'T sign the papers themsleves?! I mean the obvious route was them to beat up the Acclaimed and their Dad, then having one of Austin or Colton to sign the adoption papers, and then claim the Acclaimed as their children and shouting "WHO'S YOUR DADDY NOW?" to the Acclaimed. They could then sarcastically call Billy "Grampa Ass". I mean, it makes more sense than Mark Sterling somehow buying the "Scissoring" catch-phrase storyline from a month of so back.

JD-Ilya was great stuff. Dragunov is so super corny and over-the-top and fighting spirit-y and would have absolutely been laughed out of the arena a number of years ago, but he's so perfect in this exact era of WWE. I could see Triple H bringing him up to face Gunther on the big show. JD McDonagh is amazing. I love both those guys.