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Sadly, the internet is too fucking dumb to put it to rest. The DVDVR is the only place worth discussing wrestling.

Yeah, I'm going to put you on ignore now as you figure out how to put together how you're lecturing someone about racism with a caricature of an Indigenous person as your avatar, while at the same time finger-wagging at them for not being sufficiently scoldy enough of a queer person for you.

Now I understand why they don’t let Marina Shafir wrestle. Woof.

Pahaha you crazy Americans and your place names, meanwhile I live near Cockburn and Gaywood .

Peoria doesn't exist, and cannot hurt you. Anyway...

This is so weird to me. People used to say WWE would bury guys for coming in from other companies by making them do jobs to prove that WWE was superior, now the argument is that putting titles on guys who came from other companies is somehow attacking that company. I need someone to explain this to me, because I don’t see what the argument is here at all. What am I missing? If it’s the shots that Starks burned his bridges elsewhere, okay, I guess, but I legitimately don’t understand how putting titles on people who came from AEW is supposed to make AEW look bad.

Yeah, if he rehabbed too hard to get back quickly it'd kill his gimmick >_>

Somehow I don’t think Cassidy will have the same “recovery regimen” they did.

Can we dead the whole "AEW doesn't tell stories" thing now... or is the internet too fucking dumb to put it to rest?

nah Paul Turner wouldn't do that. Now, Rick Knox....

I finally got around to watching Duggan/DiBiase All-Gimmicks Match in 1985 that someone posted last month. I had seen it before, but never within the context of the television, and with that context, my opinion on it is much more aligned with the general consensus. The two best spots in that thing are 1) Duggan finally landing a haymaker with the coal miner's glove, which was appropriately cathartic and b) some fan yelling TED DIBIASE, GET YER ASS OUTTA HERE after DiBiase was pinned and sent packing for an All Japan tour.

Ospreay vs Mox only to have Mox take the title off of Mox, a person he hasn't been remotely involved with, would be extremely questionable booking. Hangman is the face of the company, their franchise, and the best actor in the company. If Hangman is 1A then Swerve is practically 1B. They have the best history against each other, their booking has practically been perfect, each have shown a ton of growth, and the DR stuff has more than run its course. You're far better off having Swerve win the title this weekend, have Hangman go through hell to win the Owen, and set up the biggest match ever on the biggest stage between Swerve and Hangman. Hell, if Darby is actually ready by All In, you can still do Moxley vs Darby, Ospreay vs Okada for the Continental Title, Kenny vs whoever for the International Title, and then have Ospreay get a huge achievement at Forbidden Door in a title unification match between him and Kenny.

"I KNOW" "What did you say?" "I said...I know." I FUCKING LOVE THIS ANGLE. COME ON HANGMAN! DO IT FOR THE CHILDREN! DO IT FOR THE FANS! HELP SWERVE BEAT MOXLEY AT DYNASTY! GIVE. US. SWERVE. VS. HANGMAN. AT. ALL. IN. MOTHERFUCKERS.

Uh oh. I found another album for you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mestarit_salilla

As great as Austin-McMahon was, it also popularized the Heel Authority Figure, a blight on creativity that affected multiple promotions and that WWE is maybe only just now coming out of, 27ish years after it was first done.

The women's Owen seems tough to call with Mercedes and Athena on the same side of the bracket. Nobody jumps out as an obvious Toni opponent to win, or Bayne could win the title before. While I'm sticking with/rooting for Ospreay in the men's. Tornado opener was a lot of fun, as was Penelope/Toni. Loving Penelope's continued involvement and the build up to Toni/Megan. Ospreay/Knight ruled as a team and I'm glad to see Archer get some shine even with Cage out. Solid main event from Cope/Claudio and I loved the chaotic ending with the Hangman/Swerve confrontation feeling like an important moment.

Time to start a Bobby Lashley fashion watch.

I've seen one too many Shen Yun commercials. Changing my BlueSky display name:

I LIKE that coat (well I did until you explained it to me)! I was hoping it would be explained as being notes with the names of his victims on it, sealed in blood. I was not hoping it would be some board game stuff!

Anyway, I just want Zaria and Sol Ruca to be buddies forever and I know my heart's going to be broken eventually.

Page won the NXT title because Trick had no legit challengers due to injuries, roster moves, and releases when he first became champ. The Page win was to buy time as they built guys up. And by the time they did they seemed to have realized they really couldn't wait much longer on someone homegrown in Oba Femi. Spears didn't win a title until a good year after his return, and he built a faction in the Culling. The title win was also clearly just a minor thank you before transitioning the belt to Starks/Saints. Ricky won his belt because he legit is that over. It wasn't the same forced feel they pulled with Page last year. He actually is the biggest signing NXT has done in years based on the reactions for him. They also were clearly using the speed of his title win for the feud with Page. Please keep in mind they do have a big show in Stand & Deliver coming and they absolutely want a sellout if they can achieve it. There were boos at MSG when they realized Starks wasn't wrestling that show. They aren't keeping him off an even bigger show. I'm curious who are the homegrown talent people think are getting left behind due those three guys coming in. The biggest three names in the men's division are wrestling for the NXT title and are all homegrowns. Tony D just ended a NA title run and is building a feud to put over a new faction of homegrown talent. Is there anyone else at their level on the homegrown side with the men?

Swerve and Hangman on screen together at any point is the best and hottest thing running in this company and the entire place should be booked around those two.

Dustin & Sammy beat the Frat House to open this week's tag team heavy episode, Dark Order come after the Frat House kinda randomly waiting to the very end of the match. Gates of Agony have a more extended squash over Deonn Rusman and the former Von Wagner, Cal Bloom, who looked pretty good. the Outrunners beat the Premier Athletes, and then the Infantry beat the Dark Order with the Frat House's distraction. Lee Moriarty vs AR Fox for the Pure Title was a fun main event. Moriarty uses a submission in the ropes to retain, ending this episode at just under an hour. Last night the social pages were advertising another Lucha trios but it did not air.

"Mr. Shartnado there, give him a hand, folks. He talks about cars but he should be a farmer, because his jokes are lemons. He'd make lemonade but when he squeezed he'd probably get motor oil."

Mance Warner being billed from Bucksnort, TN always gets a pop from me. Now I need some guys or gals to use Nutbush or Yum Yum. Other TN favorites: Christmasville, Sweet Lips, Stinking Creek, Bitter End.

Shartnado is here all week ladies and gentlemen! Please remember to tip your server and please, try the veal! And now... Mr. Henny Youngman! James

My fantasy booking is Athena beats Mone in the tournament to set up those two in a match later (maybe for All In also) and frees up Hayter to finally have a big match since returning and challenge Toni Storm at All In.

Ha, where did this come from? I can tell you that Guelph is very real. A very nice, quaint city here in the very real Province of Ontario. When I was a kid, I saw a closed circuit screening of WM5 at Guelph's Memorial Gardens. Coincidentally, this incredible Randy Savage WM5 promo found me in the algorithm yesterday. https://youtu.be/nG71K9VC0U0?si=RNyNZxePt_vfX0zh

Related due to animation and nostalgia (though not as long as other shows) Trailer for the return of Phineas and Ferb Got weirdly emotional watching it as used to be a go to for my son and I and now he is about to finish his Sophomore year of college

The Naked Gun Sigh....

I think they might go with Swerve finally. It's time.

Last year, wasn't Hangman a wild card entrant who eliminated Jarrett? So there'd be some poetry to it being Jarrett this year.

My favourite episodes are Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston and Dean Malenko.

Random shit: Props to the fan with the "Boring me to Death Riders" sign Swerve's punches on Mox to start the match were baaaad That mixed tag was awesome. I guess limited man on woman violence is okay. Really smart how they worked around that, deftly avoiding it until the Moxley DDT on Willow, which made it all the more impactful. Dax needs to visit Cody's acting coach. My dude only has one way of emoting and it's pretty awful. Also, SHOOT NAMES HAVE BEEN UTTERED! I died at Taz's reaction to Dax's "don't cash that until Friday" line.

Yeah I agree, the Death Riders storyline is 'not the worst storyline in wrestling history'. That would be a ridiculous overstatement seemingly by somebody who’s missed out on a lot of wwe, wcw tna etc. I don't see this story being anywhere near that conversation, but I also don't even dislike it. Austin/McMahon? As far as money metrics are concerned, you're gonna be hard pressed to find even a storyline you like that's anywhere near close to that. Call me crazy, but I'd rather watch another year of Death Riders than anything Cena did in WWE nor McMahon booked Danielson or the mostly corny Bloodline saga. The Death Riders story has never featured lame magic camera skits with hammy performances from the likes of Roman Reigns or an Uso. I don't remember lengthy drawn out Death Riders entrances followed by long winded nothing promos to get catchphrases in, but to each their own. I'll take consistently good Mox promos over that shit. Further, I have no issue with other storylines and characters challenging for the most important story. The package card is a feature of AEW that I love, and it’s not a new thing. It's wonderfully the antithesis of shitty McMahonland booking. This hasn't been the greatest story ever told in a Wrestling ring, but maybe part of the problem is expecting that. There seems to be a lot of holding on to shit that happened in the first month of this story. The show has moved on, and the build for this Swerve/Mox match has been pretty damn great. Very much looking forward to Sunday for many reasons - maybe Mox v Swerve the most.

Probably? But in my opinion, this is the first title defense of this reign where Moxley could plausibly lose. I suspect he'll retain, but I wouldn't call it a lock.

I really, really hope not. I know that the story was supposed to lead to Darby winning the big one and being AEW's "savior," but I think that moment passed and, the good news is, you can still have Darby win the title down the line because the real story with Darby Allin is not beating Jon Moxley, the story has always been that Darby Allin is undersized, doesn't have "the look," is "too wild" to be a World Champion...but he has heart. The Death Riders thing isn't the worst storyline in wrestling history, but it doesn't feel like the "A" story and that's a problem when it is supposed to be at the top of the card. There was never any question what the "A" story was in WWE or WCW at any given time - whether it was Hogan in the 80s or the nWo or Austin/McMahon, Cena's lengthy run as the clear top guy, Daniel Bryan vs. The Authority, Becky Lynch's peak run as The Man, and most recently, the Bloodline saga. Sure, there were other angles and stories going on that were more engaging or more interesting and brief moments when a guy like Jeff Hardy might *seem* to be even more popular than the "top guy" like Cena, for example, but ultimately, when you tuned in to RAW or a PPV, there was always a sense that the top act in the company was in the top story. The Death Riders is not the top act and they're certainly not the top story. In AEW, I think the crowds are much more engaged in whatever Ospreay and Omega are doing than the Death Riders story. The crowd was more into Toni/Mariah May than the Death Riders story. I think Swerve/Ricochet had "hotter" segments than Cope/Mox did in the build-up to Revolution. The Death Riders story feels like part of the show - same as Jericho's Learning Tree - but not the "A" story. I've written about it elsewhere, but if I had the pencil, I'd take the title off Mox (and Swerve is a fantastic option this weekend) and send him home for a little. Then, you keep the Death Riders around and put PAC in the leadership role because, in terms of in-ring ability, he's gonna deliver the bangers on TV (vs. Ospreay, vs. Swerve, vs. Omega, vs. whoever) that is really AEW's bread-and-butter. Down the line, you bring back Mox and let the audience cheer for the guy again because, if MJF is "our scumbag," Moxley is kinda like "our idiot." He's a guy that the AEW fanbase wants to cheer and see do his act - even if that act is absurdly dangerous and stupid. He's likeable because, for all his bad ideas and sloppy work, for all the different ways he can make our eyes roll, I don't think anyone doubts his genuine passion for pro-wrestling and AEW. Its endearing.

Aw god not another 6-woman ladder match I'm gonna be bummed if they don't have a spot on the card for Perez, but unless they do 5 matches and a scramble among the lovers, I don't see where she'd possibly fit. All that said, fun-ass match. Spears/Saints was good as expected but not a jawdropper. The Darkstate "intel briefing was corny even by NXT standards I have high hopes for Inamura/Lee

Gimmick infringement! ;).

Said it before but I'll mention it again: I absolutely love Cornette in this specific type of setting. Knowledgeable, funny, good stories, etc.

So, Here's the update on my right knee. The x-rays showed I didn't do any damage. I just banged it really, really hard. My knee is wrapped up and I was given prescriptions for Ibuprofen, a muscle relaxer (Methocarbamol), and a topical gel.

The most offensive pricing in the whole presentation was making their tech demo for the console a paid game in a post- "Astro's Playroom as a free PS5 pack-in" world.

Triple H said that Jade Cargill "wasn't trained" when she came into the WWE which is 100% false and that they would "train her up the right way". 2 years later and I'm not sure what's so different about Jade in comparison to AEW where I felt she was green but still having some decent matches with Statlander and Red Velvet. Fast forward to now and she's still green but able to play the powerhouse role effectively and that's really all she needs. Now why do I bring this up? Because that was just one example of WWE claiming that AEW talent were either mistreated or misguided. So what's really happening here in NXT is them bringing in these guys like Page or Starks, Spears, etc.. and slapping a belt on them quickly so they can play into the "HAR HAR these guys were mistreated but look at them now!" narratives that they themselves have played into in these internet circles that I try to stay away from. Why is it "bad"? I don't know if it's bad, it just is. They are definitely taking time away from some of the homegrown talent to do this and in my view, I don't think they really have a clear vision for any of these people beyond the initial push so they can try to score some cheap internet brownie points from marks.

I'm pretty over the whole Death Riders deal, but ONE thing it absolutely deserves credit for is improving the character and presentation of Claudio by a million percent. The ominous opera entrance music, the ring jacket, the no-frills tights and ABSOLUTELY the German (?) promos; everything about him has been improved immeasurably. Now I think he needs to win some matches (Him being the constantly-defeated gatekeeper from Mox is the only thing hurting his aura). As much as I'm cool on the Death Riders, I wouldn't be upset is if Mox ever loses the title, for Claudio to take over the leadership of the group, surrounding himself with a few more like-minded (European?) followers.

Yes. Hangman Adam Page was the Wild Card last year and eliminated Jeff Jarrett.

You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. This is easily found on Youtube. I got through maybe a half hour of it before and still need to finish. It's... something else. EDIT: I looked it up again. In retrospect, I don't think I got through even ten minutes of it before. However, the gauntlet has been thrown down, so I got to watch it now.

they needed that Finnish crew in order to finish the episode

PWI is reporting that April 2nd (and every day thereafter) will henceforth be known as RUSEV DAY

I don't think Blair/Bea won any WWE gold either. Nor Thea, nor Jack Cartwheel, but I feel like calling them AEW wrestlers is a bit of a reach. anyway! Broadly agreeing with Elvion, but I think I preferred Roxanne-Kelani over Zaria-Lash. The latter had a few bits that seemed too cooperative or too giving; Roxanne wrestled a really smart match and Kelani mostly held up her end of it. Glad someone else called out the Meiko tribute cartwheel knee. A bit worried that Zar-uca will cost each other the title in the ladder match (and honestly a bit surprised that people like Lola and Cora, who feel like World title contenders, are in the mix for the NA title)

"He's back... and he's pissed!" - Bill Hicks