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Umm. Am I an outlier in thinking both Jungle Boy vs Luchasaurus matches were really good?

So, funny story... I worked for a promotion back in the later 00s/10s that only ran shows in the southeastern Ohio/Northern KY area. They had two championships, the "Heavyweight Championship" was the top title, and the secondary title was the "North American Championship". The guy that held the NA title was going over to Thailand for a few months, and defended the title there a few times, this making it a "world" championship using the ol' PWI criteria. So the secondary title was now the "World North American Championship".

Oh, there's this too. It's just not a fun product to watch anymore. The world's grim enough, I don't need Jon Moxley and his neo-Nazi gimmick stomping around when there are real neo-Nazis marching on towns. Give me back Alien Kris Statlander and push Willow Nightingale to the moon. That's all I ask.

GTFOH Vince lol

I was following the pack, all swallowed in their coats, with scarves of red tied 'round their throats.... The Continental Classic ramped up last week as, let's see here... Darby Allin lost? Wait, that can't be right. And Daniel Garcia went 20 minutes with the Rainmaker and got a draw. Huh... okay. To keep their little heads from falling in the snow... And I turned 'round and there you go... We're also in preparation for Winter is Coming! Mina Shirakawa is on the warpath for Mariah May. And Kamille just pulled the "You can't fire me, I quit!" bit with Miss Mone. So that will probably not go over too well with Mercy Two Belts. And Michael, you would fall and turn the white snow red, as strawberries in the summertime. Here's what's on tap for tonight! I, for one, can't wait to see Swerve break Caster's skull open like it's a Faberge Egg. (You could tell me Fleet Foxes are from Seattle, Sweden, New Zealand, or whatever's the most depressing part of Ireland, and they'd all be equally believable.) Enjoy the week!

Still not the worst Jets trade in recent times.

Bama getting in is really annoying and fucking dumb. They're a 3-loss team. I'm a little surprised Arizona State and UNLV fell as far as they did. Why not Miami at 11 and Alabama at 12? Yeah, Miami just lost their last game, but at least it was to a ranked opponent. Two weeks ago Oklahoma, an unranked team, beat the brakes off of Alabama. I just really hate the prospect of what feels like shoehorning in Alabama because it's Alabama. If they had 2 losses, I probably wouldn't give a shit. I also really don't want to play Alabama. I'd rather play Miami or SMU or anyone else.

Show #246 – 26 June 2000 "The one that seems to already be figuring out its post-Bischoff, post-Russo direction" Well, I can say with confidence that we should be Hogan-free before I take my winter break from these reviews in a few days! Bash at the Beach 2000, here I come! Thirteen more days, you goofy bald asshole! Recap: Tank Abbott s Three Count, Scott Steiner probably should be the world champ, and other stuff from last week. I’ve typed it before, but I’m so happy that the Jimmy Hart Three Count theme is on these recordings. M.I. Smooth helps the Cat book the show in the front seat of their limo. Unfortunately, this Cat theme dub still exists on these recordings. Our fair commissioner comes to the ring, and I get a chuckle out of him getting some corner pyro. I love that in kayfabe, he used his position to get himself a little pyro. One of my favorite things about the run-up to BatB is that Hulk Hogan hasn’t really been on these shows at all. Maybe I’ve sat through my last terrible Hulkster promo in this watch, or at least close to it, which I am thrilled with either way. Anyway, the Cat bigs up his New Blood friends’ chances at BatB, then books some matches: Nash and Scott Steiner have qualifying matches against Mike Awesome and Shane Douglas respectively; if they win them, they’re into a Four Corners match for the world title against Jeff Jarrett later tonight. The fourth corner in that match? Goldberg, who is not required to qualify. Hacksaw Jim Duggan walks onto the ramp, still dressed like a janitor (though sans the now-retired WCW Television Championship – R.I.P., noble title belt with a mostly awesome lineage). Duggan is bummed that most of the Millionaire’s Club guys are off television and laments Goldberg’s change in attitude. Whoops, that remark means that Goldberg now has to qualify for the main event title match; The Cat impulsively books him against Duggan tonight. Duggan’s willing to risk his other kidney to defend his manhood, which is pretty dumb! You only have two kidneys, and you’ve already lost one of them, Duggan! The desk talks about tonight’s card before kicking us to the back, where Vampiro acts like a complete goof in front of a dark backdrop and lighting that some WCW techs picked up at a Spencer’s Gifts and demands that Dale Torborg and Asya meet him there. Torborg and Asya see this on a monitor elsewhere in the arena; Torborg storms off to make that meeting while Asya worriedly calls after him. Shane Douglas shows up to the locker room and is shocked when Slick Johnson shows him tonight’s booking sheet. Kanyon is at a book signing. Also, two security guys are at his signing. And I guess the cameraperson is there, too, since this is being taped. Those four people are the only four people at the signing. Kanyon tries to give a copy of his book away for free; the security guy balks at the cost. Oh wow, we've got Sean O’Haire and Mark Jindrak for the first time on this Nitro watch! Here are two more guys who did nothing in the WWF/E, but who probably are long-term upper-midcarders on U.S. television if WCW survives into the new-aughts. Man, WCW getting sold to Vince McMahon is the most catastrophic thing to happen to pro wrestling in this part of the world, and I’m not sure it’s particularly close. The future Natural Born Thrillers have a tall short, but skilled task against Rey Misterio Jr. and Juventud Guerrera (w/the Filthy Animals). I get a kick out of the end of the Animals' pre-match jabbering, where after Disco does some dorky mic work, he and Konnan put their arms around one another’s shoulders and smile about how good it was. Tony S. puts over that these rookies only had a short stint in the Power Plant as O’Haire and Jindrak clear the ring to start; O’Haire then destroys Juvi with a press slam before Jindrak tags in and pins Juvi for two off an O’Haire lariat. Jindrak misses an Asai moonsault, and Juvi gets some punches in before combining with Rey on a lariat/sunset flip combo for two. Juvi goes up and drills Jindrak with a missile dropkick for two more. Juvi wheelbarrows Jindrak on the ground, opening Jindrak’s junk up for a diving double-legdrop into his most sensitive of spots. Juvi and Rey rain blows upon Jindrak’s head, but Jindrak ducks out of the way of a double-dropkick in which the Animals try to dropkick Jindrak from opposite sides. The heels kick each other in the balls and aren’t free to stop the hot tag. Rey and Juvi get on one another’s shoulders to try and mitigate the height advantage that the rookies have, but it doesn’t work; they get suplexed. Rey gets deposited to the floor, and Jindrak lands a side slam before O’Haire hits a Seanton Bomb for three in what would be considered a major upset if WCW hadn’t already booked their cruiserweights into the dirt. Post-match, the other Animals attack the rookies, but Lance Storm runs in for the save. WHERE IS TEAM CANADA, DAMMIT?! Anyway, great way to get Jindrak and O’Haire over as phenoms (of the non-Undertaker type) who are so gifted that they were rushed through the Power Plant and then beat two former WCW Cruiserweight Champions on their debut. You know what weird matchup I wish we got on television? Jindrak and O’Haire against High Voltage. Give those teams eight or ten minutes, and I bet it gets on my Good Matches list. Speaking of, this match got on my Good Matches list, so hooray for that. Back from break, the Filthy Animals yell about Lance Storm; the Cat is displeased with Storm’s constant run-ins over the last few shows and tells the Animals to find Storm and haul him in. In a funny aside, he also demands that someone check the Animals’ pockets as they leave his office. Jim Duggan’s wife Debra is having flashbacks to when Yokozuna destroyed her man back in late 1992 or early 1993 or whenever it was; trying to avert another massacre, she pleads with Duggan backstage not to get destroyed by Goldberg because their kids sure would like a father who is functional! This was actually a good segment, by the way, as Duggan calmly, but seriously reassures his upset wife that he’s got to do this for himself and ends by saying that he really does believe he can win. Huh. I guess when you turn down the volume on a loud character and he and his wife do some decent (for pro wrestling) acting, it stands out. It’s also helpful that this is actually a simple story – over-the-hill wrestler with kidney problems and too much pride vs. world destroyer. I’m actually interested in how this match will play out. Vito insists on talking before defending his WCW Hardcore Championship. He proclaims himself the best hardcore champ ever in this company by audience acclaim and then casts out an open challenge that is answered by a masked Jamie Noble. Oh, and an unmasked Jimmy Yang. Ah, and finally, an equally unmasked Kaz Hayashi. Wouldn’t you know it? The cruiserweights are easily handled by Vito until Kaz gets there. This is actually something of a match, if a handicap match, where the kendo stick that Vito is holding gets the most play as a weapon. The numbers game gets to Vito; the Dragons hit a triple splash from the top rope and Kaz pins Vito while Yang counts. There’s no title change here, though. The Funker continues training Johnny the Bull by directing him to attack a dummy with Vito’s face plastered over it with a chair, but Funk backjumps the Bull as Johnny advances on the dummy and reminds him that all’s fair in love and hardcore wrestling. The lesser future members of the Natural Born Thrillers, Palumbo and Stasiak, bust into the production truck and start causing trouble again. Shane Douglas finds M.I. Smooth and tries to plot a way to get out of his match against Scott Steiner; Smooth offers him a plan for avoiding the match that we don’t hear on camera. The Filthy Animals have determined that Canadians are both dumb and weak, so Lance Storm shouldn’t be hard to find and, when found, chains are unnecessary for beating him up and bringing him in front of the Cat. Bret Hart would have something to say about that assertion, probably, and he'd say it with crisp lifters and back-breaking Sharpshooters. I really wish we got Bret/Rey and Bret/Juvi, by the way, two matchups that I don’t remember seeing during my watch. WCW, why are you so withholding? Shane Douglas tries to pull a version of a plan executed months ago by The Total Package and pretends that he slipped on some water and busted up his leg. The Cat wants ol’ Shane to wrestle anyway, but Shane suggests Buff Bagwell as his replacement. The Cat decides that he thought of that idea himself and books it; once the Cat leaves, Shane cackles with glee and slips M.I. Smooth some cash for providing him with the idea for his scheme. Cranky-ass Tank Abbott snaps at people in the back until he settles down in front of a monitor to watch Three Count, a group that brings joy into the hearts of even the crustiest old bastards. Three Count dances to their theme music. Tank also dances; he’s actually worse than Three Count is at grooving. Meanwhile, The Perfect Event fucks with Three Count’s music in the truck, which pisses Tank off. The same now-bald production guy from last week points Tank toward The Perfect Event. Abbott marches them toward the ring, then grabs a mic and demands that TPE put their tag belts up against Three Count as compensation for fucking up their dance routine. The crowd seems baffled by these developments; did they not see the segments that led up to this on the TurnerTron? Helms and Moore hit stereo planchas and please, please, PLEASE put the tag titles on them. The crowd settles on a THREE COUNT SUCKS chant, and dumbass Palumbo yells SHUT UP at the crowd. They’re not chanting at you idiots because you’re not over as heels, Palumbo. Chill out. Helms ends up as guy in peril, but is able to DDT his way out of a powerbomb attempt and score a cold tag. Moore is a heel, remember? The match is fine, mostly because of Helms and Moore, but the reaction from the crowd hurts the match. Moore is able to wriggle away from Palumbo and shove him into Stasiak, but Palumbo intervenes with the Lex Flexer after Helms lands a Frog Splash. TPE lands their weak double-flapjack finisher for three. KroniK’s music immediately hits after Stasiak scores the pinfall; they beat the shit out of TPE while Madden annoys the shit out of me on commentary; FATTY BOOM BATTY, BANGGGGGGG is one of the worst calls ever. As is TIME TO BURN ONE. As is almost everything this guy yells. SPINAROONIE x3 is the only catchphrase this guy yelled that ever stuck. Shane Helms gets up and demands that KroniK’s music is cut and that their music is played again; Adams and Clarke are not a fan of this, but Tank Abbott comes back out here and throws enough hard rights at both KroniK members that Three Count takes the easy advantage. Actually, there’s quite a bit of promise in Three Count having a dangerous protector who helps them get and hold the tag titles. It’s just that instead of something logical (Three Count hires Tank as a bodyguard; Tank can barely stand them, but likes their money), Ruschoff went with something goofy (Tank fanboys out to one thing, and one thing only – Three Count’s music). Juvi walks down a hallway alone and looking for Lance Storm; someone just off-screen batters him with a pipe. Debra sobs as Hacksaw declares KISS THE GIRLS FOR ME! I CAN DO IT! I CAN BEAT HIM; Goldberg, on the other hand, walks out of his dressing room looking quite unbeatable. Hey, Kanyon’s book signing has a line now! There are suspiciously no kids or teens in the line, though, and that’s because Kanyon is giving out free alcohol to get people to take his book. This bit hasn’t been funny, but it’s not so unfunny that I completely hate it, so that’s a small win for WCW's creative. Hype video: Hacksaw beat cancer, but can he beat Goldberg? I personally think beating cancer is far more impressive than beating Goldberg anyway. Here we go: It’s Duggan/Goldberg up next. The Cat pops in before Goldberg comes out to remind Duggan of his no interference rule and to extricate the 2x4 from Duggan’s grasp as it is an illegal object. Check this cheating fuck Duggan for a roll of tape while you’re at it, Cat. Duggan gives up the 2x4. Goldberg enters the ring, and then, in a rare case where Duggan should be standing toe-to-toe with a main eventer, he fires up and actually out-strikes a mildly surprised Goldberg before Goldberg levels him with a lariat. Duggan empties the tank to try and put Goldberg down, but Goldberg is never in danger, no matter how much Duggan gets the crowd behind him. Goldberg lands a punch to the kidneys, maneuvers around Duggan firing up out of a neck vice, and pops right up from a body slam to cut off a football tackle with a spear, Jackhammer, SPLAT. An irritated Goldberg rapid-fire punches Duggan in his remaining kidney after he gets three. Duggan bleeds from his mouth as Goldberg stalks away; Debra cries over her fallen husband’s body as Hacksaw does a stretcher job that is actually appropriate and would have hit harder if WCW didn’t do stretcher jobs every other show already. Well, if you’re trying to make Goldberg a heel, this is one way to tamp down the GOLDBERG chants. I liked this match an awful lot and had to think about whether or not it constituted a Charming Uniquity or flat out good. I shade toward the former because the strength of this whole deal was that it was a successful angle built to use Duggan’s eternal overness and earlier health problems to stop Goldberg from being cheered so damned much. The match was an important part of that, but on its own, it’s not something you’d watch and enjoy in isolation, I don’t believe. Anyway, I put this on the Charming Uniquity list, and this is the first time that I’ve put something on that list since THE WALL, BROTHER destroyed Crowbar on Thunder back in early March 2000. This leads me to my next point; I think the lack of matches that I’d put on the Charming Uniquity list over the past year or so of television is one of the biggest signs that this company is creatively cooked, maybe more than the additions (or lack thereof) to any other list I'm keeping. WCW used to have weird matches that were supremely enjoyable even if they weren’t mechanically great all the time. Now, most of those former charming uniquities have been replaced on these shows with forgettable or flat-out bad segments that often try to capture some of the unique weirdness of classic WCW, but fail miserably. The babyfaces are upset about Duggan being gravely injured; Nash is disgusted as he watches paramedics loading Duggan into an ambulance and intones that THIS SHIT IS GONNA STOP. Mike Awesome comes to the ring and is almost certainly going to be the focus of Kevin Nash’s ire. Maybe the Cat should have consulted with M.I. Smooth on his match sequencing; he might have let Nash cool off a bit in the back before getting him into the ring. Nash dominates Awesome early and like Goldberg, never feels even remotely close to being beaten, even when Awesome gets 2.5 on a diving lariat and another near fall on a top-rope splash. Awesome is feeling himself a bit too much, tries a powerbomb, and gets back body dropped out of it. The bout spills outside, and though Awesome is able to get some space and grab a chair, Nash boots it into his face back in the ring and gets a quick three. Tygress walks up to a hurt Rey, who was jumped off camera. After a break, Konnan gets hit in the head by an unseen assailant's pipe while looking for that punk mark buster Lance Storm. We get a recap of Shane Douglas and Buff Bagwell’s recent beef before former annoying bro buddies Buff and Scott Steiner (w/Midajah) wrestle one another once more. They face off; Buff does his dance and Steiner responds with a middle finger and some fierce clubbering. Madden asserts that Scott and Buff are friends again and Hudson states that they respect one another. First of all, when did they become friends again, and second, I just saw one guy do a mocking dance and another guy respond with a rude gesture, none of which seemed very respectful to me. Buff manages a spot of control and lands a Vader Bomb, but after Scotty is done taking a half-back body drop when he’s supposed to be landing on his feet, Steiner gets right back into control and cranks his good friend Buff’s surgically reconstructed neck, lands an overhead suplex, and tries a Steiner Recliner that Buff scoots away from. Buff is able to hang Scotty on the ropes and hit a sloppy double-arm DDT. He also hits a sloppy Blockbuster, but Steiner kicks out at two, attacks Buff while the latter is in Slick Johnson’s face about the pace of Slick’s count, and lands a belly-to-belly suplex for three. After the match, Scotty and Buff actually shake hands and hug, so I guess there was some respect there that only showed up after the match was over. Shane Douglas jumps the rail and clubs Bagwell from behind; Scotty has to come back to the ring to chase him off. Scott and Buff pose, and Tony S. is cut off in mid-sentence so that we can go backstage and watch a woman who I think is Pamela Paulshock (even though honestly I didn’t recognize her at first) interviews Jeff Jarrett. I honestly couldn’t pick Pam Paulshock out of a lineup, but I really struggle to recognize blonde men and women (unless I’ve seen them often), so probably that’s it. Jarrett is confident about his chances both tonight and at BatB. Ms. Hancock slips out of David Flair’s dressing room. Why in the wide, wide world of kayfabe does David Flair have his own dressing room? That is absurd. Anyway, Daffney hides behind a crate and once again confirms what we already know, which is that her low-rent boyfriend Dopey Dave got confidence after a woman genuinely liked him and immediately figured out how to trade her in for another woman whom he thinks is hotter. Dammit, Dopey Dave! Hancock comes to the ring, asserts her sexuality, and then dances while that idiot Madden nonsensically yells SNOOCHIE BOOCHIES. Daffney rushes the ring tries to jump Hancock in mid-dance, eats a high heel to the face, and rolls around on the mat while Hudson expresses his disbelief that these women would fight over Dopey David Flair. And here’s where I’d insert the stingiagree.gif if I could. Hancock, uh, wins this fight? That doesn’t seem right. She walks away; Daffney gets a mic and for some fucking reason is ready to fight for David Flair’s affections. She challenges Hancock to a BatB match and promises to send Hancock packing for her old job at Hooters. An unseen assailant has turned back the hapless Filthy Animals, or at least all except for Disco, who suggests a change in tactics. In a production snafu, we get told for the first time all night that Kanyon’s book signing happened EARLIER TODAY, which they really should have been consistent about. Fuckin’ Craig Leathers, dammit, I don’t care what Russo’s showrunning directions are, DO YOUR FUCKIN’ JOB RIGHT. Booker T. walks up behind Kanyon, asks him to sign a brick, and then destroys Kanyon with punches, a chair, and a table slam. Wait, Book, you forgot to get Kanyon’s signature on that brick! Pam Paulshock interviews Hancock, the latter of whom agrees to take up Daffney’s challenge, but only if the match is a Wedding Gown Match, which is like an Evening Gown Match, but with wedding gowns. I thought they were wedding dresses with trains. Is that different from a gown? Anyway, Hancock says she’ll be wearing something MUCH MORE SEXIER than Daffney at the PPV, but there’s nothing more sexy than good grammar if you ask me! (Uh, please ignore my various typos in the pre-edited versions of these reviews. Thanks!) Disco Inferno demands the presence of Lance Storm in the ring for a match right now; Storm jumps Disco in the ring and easily controls him. I do not remember Storm coming into the company as some sort of crusading babyface at all. I just thought he was a full-on Canadian supremacist for his whole run. Disco manages to gain control of the match, sparks a small DISCO SUCKS chant, and then is awkwardly tackled on a duckdown that they do again because the first attempt at the spot was so ugly. Disco dodges a dropkick, whiffs on a second-rope elbow, and is hit with a rana for two. Storm scores a mediocre-looking handspring lariat and lands a Northern Lights Suplex with a bridge for two more. Storm shoots Disco into the corner and gets elbowed out of a corner charge; Disco lands an inverted atomic drop. He tries to follow up with a Chartbuster, but Storm slips away, grabs Disco’s leg, and rolls into a half-Boston half-Canadian Crab for the submission. The Filthy Animals attack Storm after the match, but Billy Kidman hits the ring with the same lead pipe that we saw take out the Animals from off screen, so I guess it was him clubbing his old on-again, off-again friends over their heads. Every single person in this segment is being booked aimlessly, including the debuting Storm. What Ruschoff is doing with Rey in particular is just criminal. Before a break, Dale Torborg enters the basement of the arena. After that break, Vampiro jumps him and tries to hang him with a chain. I forgot about the challenge that Vampiro made to Torborg earlier, so coming back to this shitty angle was a somewhat unpleasant surprise. Oh, well, they can’t all be winners, especially considering who’s booking. You can’t see much of this boilerplate brawl what with the shitty lighting, but it doesn’t matter. Let me just tell you how it ends. Vampiro puts Torborg in a casket, but before he can close the lid, someone in a Sting mask attacks Vamp from behind and places the mask on his face. Very dumb. Also, Vampiro as cosplay Undertaker deeply fucking sucks. Pam Paulshock and Konnan have a contentious interview, but ultimately, Konnan challenges Lance Storm and Billy Kidman to fight the Animals on Thunder. Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner (w/Midajah), Kevin Nash, and Goldberg meet in the ring to battle for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in tonight’s Four Corners main event. This is a Nitro Special of a main event and only goes about six minutes. Before it even begins, we swing backstage, where Goldberg finishes destroying Kevin Nash in Nash’s own dressing room. Jarrett and Steiner have a one-on-one match to start, which is fine. It’s rushed, but these two have good chemistry. Goldberg runs to the ring when Steiner looks to have Jarrett down and beats the fuck out of Scotty, including hitting a sick military press into a powerslam. However, he posts himself on a spear and gets belly-to-belly’d by Steiner for two; Jarrett yanks ref Charles Robinson out of the ring to save his title. No offense to Jarrett, but I would like to go back to the two meaty men bumpin’ meat ([tm] Big E), please. Hey, there’s a light GOLDBERG SUCKS chant in the crowd. Good if you’re trying to get his heel turn over! Bad if you take a step back and realize that he was the only bankable babyface you had in the whole company! Goldberg and Jarrett toy with Steiner; Mike Awesome comes to the ring, which I guess is because he’s replacing Kevin Nash. Ah, who even knows. Awesome accosts Midajah and takes away the U.S. title as Steiner makes a comeback, disposes of Goldberg with a lariat, and tries to pin Jarrett. Awesome yanks Steiner from the ring, clubs him with the belt, and helps Goldberg beat him down outside the ring; a recovered Kevin Nash jogs down, bypasses the dudes outside the ring, and tries to put away Jarrett quickly so that he can win the big gold. Awesome and Goldberg kinda let that happen for a minute; Awesome tries to make the save, but Nash puts him down. Goldberg is next to try and save Jarrett, and though Nash initially big boots him, he’s up quickly and able to drop Nash with a standing side kick that Jarrett makes the cover on for three. Goldberg taunts Nash by waving Scott Hall’s torn-up contract in his face while Des Moines tosses beer cups in the ring (hey, twiztor, were you anywhere near this show when it happened?). I enjoyed this show well enough, actually. It’s obviously not perfect or anywhere near it, but it feels like a proto-version of what the show will become as it barrels toward cancellation: Mostly focused on young guys slowly getting over with their work, interspersed with goofy 2000-era booking because that’s just how U.S. pro wrestling was at the time. 2.75 out of 5 Stinger Splashes.

Trading jets for a stadium is, to put it mildly, batshit.

Earl competing for the Pangaean title really should have been an episode of Dinosaurs

Shelton Benjamin vs Kyle Fletcher was a match I never knew I needed in my life until now. ATHLETIC NEO-HOSS BATTLE! LFG!

To be fair, they own the Jags. He doesn't have much experience with the playoffs.

Not a lot AEW has been doing lately is working well, but the Kyle Fletcher push absolutely is. He can veer into Ospreay/Takeshita overkill at times, but when he is locked in, he is so, so good. It’s early but we may need to consider the possibility that this AEW run is the best Shelton has ever been.

FUCK. I thought we were done with McAfee.

That's definitely part of the problem. There's some fun/goofy stuff on the weekend shows from time to time but Dynamite hasn't had the "must see" anything can happen party vibe in a while. I think the tonal shift to being more WWE-lite is a big part of it too And there aren't any top babyfaces for the crowd to really get behind. Darby still has the connection but that's about it. They took the belt off Swerve just when he was really gaining momentum. OC has a ceiling and is a retread. They've squandered Ospreay's momentum. Ricochet isn't that guy and he's already been beaten a few times. Whoever starts getting hot they need to pivot and run with IMO because they need someone to catch fire fast. If it's a heel, F it, turn em. They need something. It was really noticeable on the PPV with so many heels going over, then Mox winning, and it was kind of a draining bummer to watch. And it's felt that way for months, with the Danielson stuff, it's just been heavy heel heat and heel champions up and down When business is down, ratings are down, they're struggling to sell tickets....I really question the logic of going as heel heavy as they have in their booking. You've got Mox & Company, Callis Family, Hurt Syndicate, MJF as a big bad......it's too much and most people aren't going to get invested in a product like that There's also the problem of Tony trying to manufacture pushes stubbornly when people aren't over to that level. I like Daniel Garcia but he's not over at the level they're pushing him. Same with Perry. The Private Party thing was forced because Tony wanted to reward them for being around for 5 years or whatever but they're coming out to crickets. Putting a title on someone doesn't just automatically get them over. Meanwhile Outrunners, who I'm fine with but not over the moon for, were really over and if they'd struck while the iron was hot and had them beat the Bucks who knows? They're fun and unique and were selling merch, why not try to hotshot something? Same thing with Mortos, he was getting increasingly over week by week, always getting cheered despite being a heel.....and they refuse to run with it. Make it make sense. This has been a shitty year of booking for TK on the whole. Blew it with Ospreay. I liked the use of Okada at the start but they're definitely not getting their money's worth at this point. I can only think of a handful of people who are more over now than they were when the year started, and it's mainly people like Harley getting themselves over and people the crowd take to. I don't watch WWE but just looking at their booking on paper it's so much more competent. Just from reading/listening to recaps I know where people are in the pecking order, what the overarching stories are....it all looks and sounds simple and effective, and it's clearly working. I watch AEW and I forget what's going on, wonder why people disappear for weeks without explanation etc. etc. I know TK is capable of booking a good product, and AEW has gone through a lot of ups and downs......but the other stuff on his plate and burnout is clearly taking a toll on the product. I care less about the ratings than the crowds and the crowds say there's a problem

I got myself a VPN on Black Friday, and got AEW Plus. No more commercials and cheap PPVs from now on! Huzzah!

Kid should probably have a PhD by the time he leaves there.

I still think we're underestimating cord cutting too. Especially for those who might be inclined to watch something like AEW. I don't have cable anymore. I did two years ago. It'd be one thing if they put on a really good show or pushed a really exciting match and it impacted the ratings but it almost never does, or it only does in very small ways. The ceiling is far lower than it was no matter what they do and while I think some of that is the product itself or the way people feel about it, it's just mostly there being less of an audience overall. We'll see what happens with the Max jump in a few weeks I guess.

I think they've hit a point where the brand has a stink to it. (I know that sounds harsh. I still enjoy a lot of what they're doing but this is the best way to put it). They've done enough things that people don't like for long enough that what AEW is... is just not what a lot of people enjoy. I'd also throw in a little of WWE getting hot hurting them in. In 2019 they were the alternative to a tired Vince run company. In 2024 they're more Vince like than WWE is. WWE production has improved. Their storytelling is better. Their attendance. Everything. And then your top story is annoying people. Your booking style is annoying people. The over saturation is annoying people. It's just inertia. So much negative momentum steam rolling for so long has burned people out. There's no magic bullet to get their mojo back either. Once people check out it's reallllyyyyyy hard to get them back.

I haven't really chimed in because honestly, there isn't much I'd change that would make a huge difference and I'm overall happy with things because it's not the wrestlecrap clusterfuck that TNA or WWE was. Although if pressed, I guess this is what I think some missed opportunities/changes that should be made... The title situation isn't a missed opportunity, but too many opportunities? At this point for the men I'd limit it to the World, International, and Continental titles. I'd merge the International with the TNT title and treat it more like how it was during OC's run - Open challenge each week, but add some limitations to it like a 15 or 20 minute time limit. I remember Steven Regal's run with the TV title in WCW and I loved how he'd stall and wait out the time limit to retain the title. The Continental title I like because again it's unique in that there are rules for it where there is no interference allowed, no seconds/managers allowed, and it's tied to the CC. And I don't need to explain the world title. It's too late now, but the Best Friends were so ready for a short tag title run. They built them up well, looked good in their challenge, and ultimately lost. They could have beaten Kenny and Hanger and then dropped the titles right back to them and it wouldn't have hurt Kenny and Hanger at all. In fact, it probably would have helped their storyline even more. Again, this is more of a too many opportunities thing, but they could have done without so many signings. In some cases I think no one could have known Miro would have been a headache and if you look at the numbers, it made sense to bring Adam Cole in. As big of a fan of Cole that I was at the time, I can now see that his ceiling really was NXT and on the main roster in WWE, even if Vince wasn't there anymore, it would have been as much of a disappointment as his AEW run has been. I honestly didn't think his size would be that much of an issue because of how good of a talker and how charismatic he is, but boy did he get exposed in AEW and he turned into one of those high priced players on a sports team that you feel obligated to use because you paid all of this money for them. Know one knew just how shot Keith Lee was. I still think the jury is out on Black and overall, the House of Black is a big win, but I think doing more with Malakai is a missed opportunity but he also was more fucked up than anyone knew. He says he's healthy now, but I will never believe a wrestler saying how healthy they are. In the beginning and even all throughout COVID, TK really seemed to have everything booked out in a very logical way and not much was just dropped or left to linger until it was revisited months later. I think a missed opportunity is not being better prepared to adapt and pivot whenever injuries or other issues were thrown his way when they got out of the COVID era. It feels a lot like how past Phase 3 in the MCU they'd introduce characters or teases in post credit scenes and then do nothing with them or if they eventually did then it was too late. I still say the last two years of booking now have been the best run in the company's history even if some angles aren't as hot as they could be, but at least you're not just seeing shit just dropped and never mentioned again until months later. Not promoting their upcoming shows and straying away from how they would go over matches coming up over the next 2 to 3 weeks. This includes Collision. Hot take: Not sticking with a soft brand split after Punk left to make Dynamite and Collision both worth watch, but again, that gets to the point above where you actually have to promote Collision as hard as you do Dynamite and be consistent with doing it. Give me a reason to watch Collision. I'm still excited to watch Dynamite each week. Collision though? I miss more of those than I watch now. Another hot-ish take...Not having more shorter world title runs. I think the title runs have been way too long in general for the world title. Again, would it have really hurt Moxley if OC won the title at Full Gear? No. Would it have hurt OC if he lost the title back to Moxley in three weeks because an OC win prompted Moxley to up the violence? No. There are other examples, but that's the one that comes to mind because it's the most recent.

For years, the NHL had goons in charge of player safety. I guess it's the hiring a thief to watch your money thing.

I think there are legitimate discussions to be had about how defenders hitting players near or over the sideline are officiated, but that is not what happened here. This was a). a head-shot to b). a player who had clearly given himself up on the play. You cannot do that in the Year of Our Lord 2024. As a wise man (I think John Gibbs, but I could be wrong,) once said: "it's very simple: you can't hit 'em in the melon."

Having one title based on a weight designation, while the other is geographical, is amazing. Unless you meant both from a weight class perspective, where "heavyweight" went to like 280lbs, while "North American" was either: A harsh commentary on the North American diet wherein only real fatasses gentlemen of size could hold it A range from "281" to "the actual weight of the North American continent"

I only know Fleet Foxes as a band that is listened to whilst smoking drugs and enjoying a lapdance Vaguely topical as always Dolfan

Caught the finale last night. Was just too late to really mention it then. They seriously deserved another 2-3 seasons at least. I thought this season in particular might have been their best with how they handled the human drama, Doomsday story, and Luthor. The finale was excellent, and I suspect that epilogue was something they already had down to happen regardless of whenever the show ended.

The World title is more prestigious than the Intercontinental title, because if you're IC champion, you're only champion of the landmasses of the earth. If you're World champion, you're also champion of the Ocean and the Sky as well. There was a time when PWI was refusing to recognise things like the USWA World title as a legit World Championship, because it was only ever defended in Tennessee. So they declared that for a belt to be an actual World title, it must have been defended in at least two different countries. Which does mean that things like the Ruthless Pro Rustbelt title is now a World Championship, because Big Lou Nixon defended it in England for a few months. There was one time on an ICW NHB show in England, where the H2O Deathmatch belt was being defended, that got a bit emotional. Because they had previously renamed the belt to honour the late great Danny Havoc, and it was about to be defended internationally, meaning it was going to become an actual World Championship. And people who loved and missed Danny Havoc thought it was great that the belt that bore his name would forever more be the Danny Havoc WORLD Hardcore Championship.

Thought the Women's Last Chance 4-Way was really good. Sometimes matches like this, especially in NXT, can feel a bit too choreographed but this didn't. I give a little bit of credit of that to Wren who has always been a really good glue girl but really has seemingly taken that to another level. Agree that Cora seems to look a little bit better every time she steps in the ring. Liked the finish and thought it was creative. Thought the Jaida and Lola segment was perfectly fine but also wasn't crazy about Jaida getting the flash knockout with the elbow shot. Jaida has basically dominated or came out looking better in 90% of this feud and while I feel Jaida is the better investment at this moment, I don't think there's a reason to have Lola look so weak though out this. I enjoyed the tag team battle royal and also thought that the rule change really helped things. I don't think anyone really got to shine in the match but no one looked bad and it did a good job of somewhat establishing a pecking order and some future matches. Happy for Myles and NQCC to be such a major part of Deadline. Bischoff was pretty unnecessary but wasn't offensive and didn't actually interfere or subtract from the Trick/Ridge segment, so I was fine with it. Do feel like Trick needs to be careful with his mic work as sometimes he can bury his opponent a little too much. That said I don't think there was any harm in it tonight with Trick doing the stretcher job. Thought Nikita was a pretty good match for the two. I like Nikita's style since she has come back and I think Karmen is doing a better job of working her kicks into her matches. Poor Ashante just can't win. Was nice to see Izzi on Tuesdays and I thought her match with Gigi was pretty solid, outside of way too many irish whips. I assume that the idea is for Spears to create a 3 man/1 woman stable to match up with The Family but I can't imagine they actually go with Gigi as their fourth. Thought the Men's Last Chance 4-Way as a good showcase for all four wrestlers. Lexis continues to impress with his growth after getting by on his character work for so long. Eddy getting the opportunist pinfall was a great "not illegal but not a cheerable" action finish. Will be interesting to see if he actually competes on Saturday after the (?Samoan?) attack in the locker room. The Roxanne/Iron Survivors segment to end the show definitely felt a little tacked on. It felt a little bit like an acknowledgment that they really haven't given any focus to each qualifier after they qualified. Really enjoyed the show and really didn't have a problem with anything except Jaida knocking Lola out. The Women's 4-Way probably eeks out my match of the show with the Men's 4-Way coming in second.

Jaida vs. Wren vs. Cora vs. Kelani was pretty solid. Every woman got in a nice showcase with this easily being the best Cora has looked since she returned. The finish was not what I was expecting, but I enjoyed it for the result and comedy value, especially when Dempsey was letting Wren know she won. The post match with Jaida accepting Lola's challenge for an Underground match was not bad though I was a bit annoyed since they gave Jaida too much of a badass moment. Stuff like that is why the CWC crowd are cheering despite her being a heel. The tag team battle royal ended up more fun than expected with some neat action and eliminations. I also dug both team members needing to be eliminated. Thought a good chunk of the teams got in decent moments and showed some nice personality or spirit. Was very happy to see Myles take the win. The dude is the most bland looking guy in NXT, but he can be fun goofball as a second and works well with the rest of his NQCC compatriots. Skipped most of the Trick/Ridge/Bischoff segment outside of the ending with Trick going into the table. Just don't have interest in Bischoff in 2024, and there really wasn't a need for any more segments to build this match anyways. Could have just used typical promo vids. Nikkita/Karmen was pretty decent and one of Lyons better showings since her return. The finish was another amusing addition into the Karmen/Ashante love saga. Izzi/Gigi was another decent match. Was glad to see Izzi get some decent offense in and this not just be a showcase for Gigi. Curious to see where they go with Spears having his eye on Gigi. Don't really think Spears' group needs a female addition though if they add one I hope its someone else who gets the spot. Thorpe vs. King vs. Cedric vs. Axiom was good. Was happy to see Thorpe get the win and how it played out since it felt cheap. I like this darkening of Eddy we are seeing as time goes on. Skipped most of the last segment. Felt tacked on to make up for time and give the women one last showcase. This is where again promo vids during the show could have come in handy and worked just as well since there was really nothing new to add. Dug all the matches with the 4-ways being the arguable standouts. Enjoyed the shorter segments but skipped the longer ones.. Generally solid go home show for Deadline.

I eagerly await the Pangaean title.

This undersells it a bit: he pus Misawa out with it within the opening few minutes of the match... and they had to perform CPR on Misawa to revive him! ...it did not get over, that part was correct.

Damn, Juice had wonderful chemistry with Ospreay and that match on Collision was way better than I expected. But yeah Komander is more exciting although he's gonna get about as many points in this that Juice would have (so close to zero, probably).

So before this thread goes away, I wanted to mention that I really liked booking the C2 champion vs champion match to a time limit draw. Reminds people early that draws are possible in this tournament. I'm less happy with the results of the other two tourney matches. I think I'd have had Juice win just to establish that the foregone conclusion matches actually aren't. And I'd have had The Beast Mortos win because he's The Beast Mortos. Good matches though.

I’d rather watch Kommander than Juice any day.

I feel like I'm the only one that kept watching Superman & Lois, but I thought they had a killer final season, with a beautiful finale. Outside of the Donner films, this show will go down as my live action measuring stick for the character.

I've been meaning to say how much I like the change to the semifinals. Doing intraleague finals for each league after you've just done a round robin felt silly. The crossover semis make much more sense.

Go figure, I gave up the time for Collision and Rampage to help everyone out and forgot all about it myself. *facepalm* Anyway, here's the postmortem. COLLISION

Pretty much everybody from that show has had an incredibly successful career by TV standards. They’ve all worked constantly for the past 15 years. Matthew Fox kinda had a movie career cooking before being a dirtbag got the better of him. Josh Holloway decided he’d rather stay in Hawaii with his family and opted out of chasing a career for years afterwards. By the time he really got working again, his moment had passed. But, again, when he wants to work, he gets good work. (His character on YELLOWSTONE was killed by someone throwing a rattlesnake at his face. It really doesn’t get any better than that.)

The first episode of Lost was just over twenty years ago. So if the guy wanted his video to be accessible to teens and/or young adults, assuming no knowledge of the show was probably the right way to go. And getting back to your original question, I suspect there are lots of shows that were big in their time but failed to make much of a lasting impression. I can't name them, though, because they failed to make a lasting impression.

I actually profoundly disagree with the framing that having to vaguely operate within the bounds of realism and logic is artificially handcuffing yourself. And it's that kind of thinking that has got pro wres into all sorts of issues at certain times. AEW hasn't been much good at storytelling in some time. But even if they were, WWE exists and in a profoundly more competent way than 5 years ago. That isn't likely to change. They produce 2 A shows, & a B show that has developed into a quirkier show that usually outrates AEW even though they are working with a pretty inexperienced talent base. That's the reality. Why do people need a less interesting version of all that with more flips? You dun changed brah. Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker wrestled for WWE; you're not getting that match in AEW. This might seem like a really asinine point, but it's not because if you said 'A world with no Jack Perry vs Luchasaurus** matches is not a world I want to live in' people would think you were insane and that's kind of the point really. And you might say, 'ah but what about Darby Allin vs Brody King?'. But I've already articulated how you can still have those matches. The reality is though that AEW hasn't been all that good at booking for size discrepancies either, so why you advocate for centering around them I'm not really sure. In all honesty, if you're having to essentially pretend the Undertaker still exists and wrestles in AEW then you may want to re-examine things - because an argument like that is essentially doing that. 'Oh obviously I didn't mean that', will you stop?'....well don't say it then The truth is a 199lb guy against a 185lb guy is still a big man vs little man match. And so is 225 v 280. Strickland vs Lashley for the title could still happen. Garcia vs Lashley no. Good. People watch sports movies, including ones not based on true stories. You can use the actually devices of real sport in a creative and artistic way to tell a story in a way that doesn't easily happen within the messy confines of real life. I'm not saying you have to completely restrict yourself to that by any means, but I really don't agree with any of your framing. And as for people want real fights...sure some people do, other people want strong looking action that's more reliably interesting than the majority of MMA. I do believe, to an extent, in the 'Strength of the Job' (a phrase that William Regal uses a lot). In all seriousness, I have said that 'I can defend my pov to a point' - and I recognise the limitations here because someone with standard preconceived ideas of what wrestling is will very naturally struggle with what I am suggesting - trying to unpick all that would be very tedious, time-consuming & quite likely to be unpersuasive even if I presented a highly logical argument. So the temptation is to be slightly flippant/snarky but the point is that I basically disagree with all of your framing and I don't think they are helpful to the point at hand. Ultimately what I have said is " My slightly more abstract point is that AEW will likely need to change in some significant way in order to get the feeling back". I don't think essentially being a WWE clone is going to be the thing, and whatever vibe the Elite & their Indy friends brought 5 years ago has left the building and is not coming back. ** I realise Luchasaurus has not been doing so well healthwise, and I realise wrestlers do read this sometimes - so nothing against the guy and hope he does well and gets back to wrestling if he wants that.

I'm messing around with the july WWF No Mercy Beta. Being irish whipped into the ladder animation selling is like running into the barricades selling. Ladder falls but you are selling while nothing is behind you. I'm not sure about this, while there is no quick submissions option the game seems to have it on. Im trying to make the unused muscle buster work for caws without hacking. I dunno if it will work. Gotta do some mumbo jumbo. I had Dlo Brown "win" the team elimination rumble (none of the teams member come out and it dont works) then i as Perry Saturn elimated d lo brown by grabbing his leg and dragging him outside, and nobody won and the camera greatly zoomed into the mat. The clock and match still was on.

I don't think my body is ready for POE 2 but I'm going to give it the old college try anyway.

Should have been Hechicero, but this is acceptable.

Oh and supposedly Adam Copeland has been cleared but he's filming right now. So, I guess we have that to look forward to.

ALBOROTO ES LUCHA

I am really not enjoying any of this Marina Shaffir stuff.

I think this is why the announcers paused awkwardly when it happened. "Mother's Milk on Jay White" is a really weird thing to type, let alone say aloud.

I think Hayter has some gnarly acne going on and the the marks are bleeding after working a match? The matches tonight were great. The Death Riders stuff was not great, this might be partially because it seems likes is obviously set up for Darby to win which is which is meh to me. I can't see some other outcome and if they do pivot I might just change course. But for now, it's very meh to me. Mariah coming in with the glass bottle at the end of the interview segment was amazing.

First show I've watched live start to finish in a while now besides skipping the Jericho match, and overall it was pretty fucking great despite the crowd. TK please I am begging you, stop running Chicago. The territory has been killed. Brody King should win the whole damn thing.

Things I Remember From This Week's Edition of AEW Dynamite An actual hard out because Alabama/Rutgers College Basketball cannot be delayed Darby continues to job to dudes The audio is out for awhile, so here's some sounds of pounding Kamille is no longer with Mercedes Jay White gets choked out by Marina Shafir (with help from Moxley) as the people just watch quietly Jericho retains the women's match in the women's time on the show was a match Shelton gets called Lashley Shelton vs Briscoe was fun Hangman is angry Swerve is beating up dudes backstage MJF has a pretaped promo Rampage/Collision is on Saturday Afternoon

Counterpoint: Shelton Benjamin is a fantastic talent who has been unterutilised (in America) for his entire career, and for his longterm fans it's great that he's finally getting booked appropriately.