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The opening with Rhea and Io wasn't particularly interesting but did what it needed to do in setting up their match. Thought it would be the direction they would go though I was partially hoping we might get Asuka/Io. I assume Rhea finally gets her big win over Io though I hope Io retains. Was not sure what to expect from Finn/JD vs. New Day given both teams being heels, but it was nice to see the crowd gradually fully turn on New Day and get behind Judgement Day just to see New Day lose. Thought this ended up pretty good with the crowd getting quite hot by the end. Was surprised to see Finn and JD take this one. I don't hate it as I think they gave the New Day the titles way too later after their turn but it is just a pinch disappointing since this run hasn't been what it could be. I did like Finn later using his win to push Pearce and Aldis to keep the women's tag belts on Raquel and let Roxanne replace Liv as champ. Roxanne getting the official vote into Judgement Day was nice as well. Sheamus/Rusev was good though it still feels like Rusev has no real momentum with the crowd. All the stuff with American Alpha backstage was fun. Its a shame Gable is out though I love that he immediately placed Ivy in charge. Kaiser getting the nod for EGA was surprising. I don't hate or love it though I suppose I'm happy he finally has something to do. Bayley/Lyra was rough in parts but good. The roughness kind of added to it a pinch as emotions were running hot going into the match. I assume the draw finish means we get a triple threat with Becky. Just curious if its on Evolution or SNME. Sami/Penta vs. Bron/Bronson was good. Post match went as expected though its nice to still see Jey with high role as he came in for the big save. The wrestling was good here though 4 matches in this time frame is still too little. Tag titles match was probably MOTN though the other three are worth checking out. The build to SNME an Evolution was in full swing here with some solid matches being set and other general stories moving decently forward. Pretty solid show, arguably even good though the small match count still keeps me from going fully that direction.

Wasn't it Rude that told Vince about Percy's funeral background? It would make sense with Percy managing Rude in World Class. Or was Rude gone by that point?

I never read Snow Crash.

Twice your boy was the beneficiary of WCW's papering practices. I was there in the Ga Dome for WCW's best moment and worst moment on television.

The ring announcer is utterly convinced that Arn is Gene.

I am persuadable.

Wow at least someone still cares over at WWE. Is this the first time WCW's The Great American Bash 1985 has been released in full? This is beautiful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nqDfXv9GIY&ab_channel=WCW

Not only crazy thunder and lightning tonight at work, but now a tornado warning.

This... is the most rational response in here. Yes, I'm jumping the gun a bit here. I could be full of shit by bell time. To be clear I wasn't comparing AEW vs WWE ticket prices. WWE's gouging is out of control and AEW is nowhere near reaching that category from my perspective. What I meant by jacking up ticket prices, is that tickets for All In 2023 were cheaper than All In 2024. All In 2024 was cheaper than All In 2025. Still reasonable unlike WWE. But the only reason they can claim these gate amounts are because they keep making the tickets cost more every year. They're selling way less of them at a higher price per head. Just speaking for me, I don't want to say it was unsuccessful. I want it to be super successful. And yeah honestly once you get to show week, I would love for them to paper it full. WCW's biggest houses at The Georgia Dome sold their most tickets ever... and they still papered. It looks way better. Full and loud. Loud and full.

Update: the lawsuit against him has been dismissed, though he will still be facing the suspension for having premarital sex.

Zeuxis just posted she just had surgery for the torn meniscus she's had for a month.

Yeah, I was about to recommend the Amazon Prime series to @Andrew POE! It's not five star art but it's certainly above average and really fun. Nails the feel of the books.

I don't even know what "Virtuosa" is supposed to mean. Like is the whole gimmick "I'm smart and really good at wrestling?" Because that's some two decades ago e-fed shit. It's All Elite Wrestling. Being good at wrestling is supposed to be everyone on the roster's baseline. Unless you're literally the best wrestler in the world or top 3ish, you seriously cannot make "really good wrestler" your whole thing. Deeb is flopping for the same reason.

This week's Hey! (ew) featured Bryan Keith and it was really good!

I'm neutral to Outkast in general as they don't play music I generally enjoy, but "Roses" will always have a soft spot with me. In the summer of 2004 post-college me was working at a decrepit minor league baseball stadium, mostly working an area at the edge of the field people could rent out for parties before the games. I'd be finishing up by the end of the first or second inning, and if I wanted some extra hours and the business necessitated it I'd either bartend or work at the main concession stand. Work at the stand sucked for multiple reasons, but all the people I was friends with there ran it and that made it palatable. The local hip hop station was almost always playing in there, and any time "Roses" would come on, we'd all sing along with it and not bother to censor the chorus no matter the demographics of the people in line (we did the same thing if "Get Low" came on). Good times, even if that was a low point in my life. So I guess tonight starts the build to Summer Slam?

Holy shit that sounds awesome. I wrote this in the Peacock or Netflix thread, but if we're talking Steiners vs babyface superteams, Steiners vs Sting & Luger from whatever Superbrawl that was was an awesome match. I love face vs face matches that eventually break down as guys lose their cool, and that's what the match was. It was a little sloppy but you can kayfabe it by attributing it to the teams slowly getting more irritated and chippy. Just a fun match.

This past weekend's beer: finished off the last can of the Sierra Nevada lager, and then moved to Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA. Somehow Sierra Nevada stays inflation-proof at 10.99 a six pack while everything else is going up. I'm sure the independently-owned stores near me sell it for a few bucks higher...big win for my local county-owned stores. Torpedo is 7.2% alcohol and really a can't miss beer if you like IPAs, just really flavorful.

I didn't take your post that way, I just wanted to give my views on why I think the show is looking to successful.

RIP Jim.Shooter.

Opening soliloquy was a regular feature of both shows in 1997 and was an entrenched feature by 98 which it has remained for far too long. The only real difference is that WCW virtually always had Hogan + Entourage while WWF had greater variety (I specifically remember one where Brian Pillman rather brilliantly got a US crowd to boo a prayer circle.) Sometimes it'd be Bret + Entourage, sometimes it'd be Austin hijacking the opening to call out Bret + Entourage or whoever else he was mad at that week. Nascent Degeneration X took several turns as well. IIRC the "character breaking" pre-recorded Vince segments talking about Bret screwing Bret and We Think Fans Are Tired Of Having Their Intelligence Insulted were used as cold opens, so they established a pattern of Evil Mr. McMahon opening the show once that character became a consistent fixture. Both companies seemed to independently invent it and since wrestling has long since committed to replicating the WHAT of the attitude era divorced from the HOW and WHY of the attitude era in a flawed attempt to recapture the magic thereof, we're still stuck with it.

Took this year's first photo of the cut today, after a 55-minute jog/stairs, sauna and 90 minute pump workout outside . I will probably go back to the professional photos for my profile pic, but I put this up, so you can see it's business as usual, even at almost 48 years old!

Win or lose, I think the Aspinall fight would have been the best note to retire on because that would have been the closest to a top HW in his prime that Jon would have fought. The Ngannou fight wasn't gonna happen so that's the next closest thing. That and somehow an unintentional ground swell of interest made it seem more important than probably actually was. If this was boxing, especially in the height of HBO/TVKO PPV or Showtime/SET PPV, that is a fight you overpay the participants because the ceiling for what could actually be made would probably make the guaranteed purses a drop in the bucket. It's a fight you have to get made. Plus, with the lack of quality opponents for Aspinall, he needs to be legitimized. He beats Jon Jones, then he is a made man and whoever beats Aspinall then becomes a made man. He loses, then no harm, no foul. He only lost to one of the three or four best MMA fighters in the history of the sport.

ONE MILLION FOR EACH STANLEY CUP FINAL GOAL. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I feel like it's happened here and there in WWE with gimmick changes but I can't think of it being a true part of the character. Closest I can think of would be Danhausen calling The Gunn Club the Ass Boys and them running with it.