Greggulator
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Posts posted by Greggulator
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On 4/9/2024 at 7:44 PM, Technico Support said:
It's crazy that Vince can force TKO to buy his shares. Apparently, if he sells them on the open market, it will make TKO stock prices drop, so TKO has to use a line of credit to purchase them whenever Vince wants to sell. What's to stop him from deciding to sell it all off and put them in some pretty bad debt? I mean aside from the fact that "pretty bad debt" doesn't exist for corporations and billionaires.
There are all kinds of ways this can work. Vince’s shares (and any other shares given to executives who work for a company) are given a special kind of status.
How it works — a company has what is called its treasury. The company holds there what Re called “authorized shares.” When a company wants to raise money, it will then sell what are called “issues shares” out on the market. It’s usually done through an underwriter (think some giant investment bank) because of the technical steps that have to happen for it to work, and then to the general public. This is when a company receives money to operate in exchange for selling off ownership stakes in the company. Once they are able for someone like us to buy and sell on RobinHood, they become what are called “outstanding shares.” (And they do not result in the company recieving any money.)
When a company decides To grant stock to its employees (like Vince in this case), they almost always come from the treasury directly. They will also have a lot of technical restrictions on them (how long you have to hold onto them before you can sell them, etc.) and are usually given a certain specific designation. This designation essentially means that if whoever holds them wants to sell these shares, the company has to be notified first in case it wants to buy them back.
Companies buying back stocks from investors happens regularly. If you buy shares back, you are limiting the supply and raising the price of each share — not a bad thing to do if you think your company is being undervalued, and then in a few years when investors now “properly” see what your company should be valued at you can reissue the stock. But, also, it might help the company’ board of directors consolidate ownership.
Also — Vince owns an insane amount of shares. He can’t just say “I want to sell this $45 million worth of shares” and use a brokerage like RobinHood or TD Amweittade to do so. They aren’t equipped to handle something like that.
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One of the best promos you’ll ever see. You really can see how the staging and blocking of this promo is seeping into production for the past bunch of months. https://youtu.be/40SBZ2f1mAc?si=gDdU_cTmzAoLlv29
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Yeah, this isn’t the end of AEW at all. It’s just really indicative of the problems they have as a company and it’s a self-inflicted wound that could not have come at the worst time. It’s such a stupid idea.
WCW was awful before 2000 and before Vince Russo took over. In my memory, WCW from the nWo onwards had a decent amount of good matches, occasionally something fun from someone like Jericho, a lot of stuff involving people like High Voltage and Sonny Ohno, and about 75 percent really annoying and repetitive stuff with the nWo, especially the Wolfpack vs. Black and White split. How many Scott Steiner insinuates he enjoys sexual assault while Buff Bagwell prances around with a top hat with his face on it promos can one promotion have? WCW in that era was good and interesting for like 6 months before it became annoying. (And I say that as someone who loves older WCW.)
AEW is better written with a more organized show and product. It’s not even close to the dregs of WCW.
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1 hour ago, Greggulator said:
I admittedly have not seen (or plan to) see the whole dumb Punk stuff. But The Bucks claiming they lost to FTR at All In because they were busy hobnobbing with King Charles or buying up post-Brexit peasant housing and ran late to the arena is so much better than what they did. Then the FTR “We’re country boys just like you, and these corporate California snobs…” like you suggested is just so much better in every way.
The West Virginia point is so spot on. One of the biggest single throughlines in wrestling history is blue collar people just trying to do right for their families against priidged rich assholes who stack the odds to their advantage even more than they already have. Even still to this day when we all know it’s performance art. That resonates with who we are as wrestling fans — and especially in West Virginia, where the class divide issues are just in the background of your lives at all times.
Man, just have FTR touch on what you said before until the Bucks do something heinous in throwing their weight around. Or have the Bucks come out and act sanctimonious about having to come to this worthless hillbilly state when they should be having caviar with executives like them and you’re all going to die poor until FTR come and punch them in the face a bunch of times.
Just give me wrestling please.
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I think that maybe the biggest motivator is that the WWE is the hottest it has arguably ever been and coming off a really great WrestleMania. The buzz bin factor of AEW has fallen off, a lot compared to when Punk and Danielson and etc. came aboard and a little bit from other really good stretches they had.
TK wanted to get people talking about AEW again. So they threw this out there to get people talking, but everyone is just dunking on this because it’s so dumb. That’s not the conversation you want, and you absolutely don’t want the CM Punk chants coming for the next few months (and I don’t want those anywhere in my life.)
The shame of it is that AEW was building up some its reputation again. I told a few people who stopped paying attention to AEW that it’s gotten fun again. None of them stopped watching because Punk left. They stopped watching because there’s only so much wrestling they want to watch and the WWE has taken their attention. But things like Mercedes Mone showing up or me describing Swerve Strickland or that Joe rules or Toni Storm’s awesome character and etc. just gets swallowed up by this stuff.
And it’s all being done to set up the fourth friggin’ feud between The Bucks and FTR. I love FTR and am so into the EVP Bucks, but literally anyone with a passing interest in AEW has seen that already, and putting up a stupid fight that’s loosely, at best, connected to the parties involved.
Or it’s going to reintroduce Jungle Boy, and he maxed out with the Jurassic Express and Christian feud, and a work-shoot Jungle Boy (and his history of awkward promos) is probably DOA.
Like… give us things like Orange Cassidy Becomes The Best Wrestler Alive or The Acclaimed have really funny raps or Swerve’s rise or Will Osperay brings down the house with his awesome Bruv persona and insane moves you’ve never seen before or MJF doing fun stuff.
It’s just really disappointing to me. I really like so much of what AEW does. When it works, it is so much fun. But this sideshow stuff just swallows everything with it up and it’s so dumb.
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1 hour ago, Zimbra said:
If AEW weren't cowards the heater for FTR/Bucks would be FTR telling the crowd that rich pricks like the Bucks are the reason you got laid off and you're paying $4 a dozen for eggs so we're going to beat them to death with chairs about it. That shit would kill in West Virginia. I didn't sit through two years of golly-gee-we're-just-good-ol-boys FTR promos for them to fumble it like this.
I admittedly have not seen (or plan to) see the whole dumb Punk stuff. But The Bucks claiming they lost to FTR at All In because they were busy hobnobbing with King Charles or buying up post-Brexit peasant housing and ran late to the arena is so much better than what they did. Then the FTR “We’re country boys just like you, and these corporate California snobs…” like you suggested is just so much better in every way.
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This is all exhausting and stupid and a waste of time. Do you know what would make me want to watch another big FTR/Bucks match? They have a natural rivalry and now there’s a new dynamic with the awesome new Bucks EVP personas that can use to pull rank against the old-school FTR dudes who will fight fire with fire. Not something with friggin’ CM Punk. Work-shoot stuff is the same to me as referencing a local sports team for cheap heel heat. There’s no art or craft to any of this at all in terms of storytelling.
TK just needs to stop with thinking this is good. Just do what you do well (have good matches with a lot of variety) with fun characters. Whether angles work or not is always going be to hit and miss with any wrestling company.
But this isn’t doing anything for anyone. It overshadows absolutely everything else on the show that was probably worth checking out. It reeks of desperation. And it is all so easy to just avoid.
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I have never hear of Chris Colt. Dude is completely off the chain. Calling himself “The Chris Colt Experience” and coming out to an Alice Cooper song in like 1975 is so far ahead of the game. The part where he’s nearly intentionally run over is about the 18th craziest thing in this thing. Man, I love Chris Colt now.
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2 hours ago, Eivion said:
She loves the role. She is one of the few wrestlers around who just wants to be a character opposed to being the world champ.
Best role you can have for long-term work, too.
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Also: Sami and Gable is going to be awesome next week. The Montreal crowd and those two who already have great chemistry? Give that a few final hour segments and end it with Sami winning and a sore loser Gable trying to snap Sami’s ankle right in front of his crying wife and you could end up with a riot.
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They kind of remind me of The New Day in that matter — from the DOA gospel gimmick to one the all-time best stables who could do everything asked of them and always make it work. Judgment Day have a long ways before they make that happen and are a different kind of group. But they really click and make it work. It’s really clear that they all do enjoy each other’s company in real life, too. Their coming out after Damian’s cash-in and celebrating really felt organic.
They also do have the benefit of having Rhea Ripley. Like… she is just an absolute star. Could easily see her headlining a PPV or two this next year if she gets a really hot feud with someone. Not sure Liv is it (although Liv is really solid) but Bianca or Jade? That would do it.
I also think we could easily see Rhea not in the WWE in a few years to start playing a hench woman in some action movie. But she also is really funny and could even show up in some bit role in a comedy. I think she has that much of an it factor.
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Did everyone rightfully think the original version of Judgement Day was the absolute most DOA thing in years? Now Priest and Rhea are world champs. I think Judgment Day have been the past year or so the heart and soul of Raw — Rhea, tag champs, Dom’s awesomeness, etc. Well deserved for a stable that has clearly worked really hard with a lot of individual talent who know how to make each other shine as a group. Priest really looks like he’ll be a pretty good heel champ for a few months until they have a good face to put over.
I loved the Rhea/Dom walk-and-talk last night. They set up a match for next week, Liv gets the jump, and then they go to the next match — all in one of those long take single shots.
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I would like a successful AEW as differentiated from WWE as possible. AEW is at its best with things like crazy good random matches, Eddie Kingston, Orange Cassidy title reigns, Toni Storm, The Acclaimed, etc.
Who the hell cares about any of this? Like… just move the hell on. It is so pathetic looking. I really don’t like Punk and would be perfectly fine never seeing him ever again but this is just so lame.
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Saw the main event on Wednesday is going to be Joe vs. Dustin. LOL
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Also, how great is Samantha Irvin? OMG.
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I think Roman/Sami might be the best match in the WWE. Ever. There were certainly matches with more intricate moves and the like (even though their match was great technically) but wrestling is ultimately about emotional manipulation. They had one of the handful of the hottest crowds ever eating out of the palm of their hands and then gave us the ultimate moment in heartbreak. We don’t get taken on rides like that very often. The best villain of his era versus the best babyface looking for ultimate redemption after recovering from the dark side. Plus, Roman in the match was punching Sami in the face while saying to Sami’s wife stuff like “I wanted to take care of you and your family.”
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What a really fun two nights. I missed the Street Profits and the LA Knight matches. But if everything I did see:
1) The end to Drew/Seth was great. I loved Drew trolling Punk. Absolutely did not see the Priest cash-in coming. Well done moment of comeuppance for one of the best heels going right now. It’s also a great way for the Judgment Day (who in a lot of ways have been the heart-and-soul of the show) to regain some face after they lost both straps last night.
2) Man, Bayley/Iyo was special. Was it the best women’s match ever at WrestleMania? It was an incredibly laid out match. Someone said it in the chat — Bayley selling the injury from the start really made it. I fell for it and thought Bayley blew out a knee. Iyo came out of the match looking like the best wrestler in the world but not the champion, and it was because Bayley earned the win and not because of a banana peel.
3) The triple threat was a lot of fun. I liked the psychology of it at first where KO and Randy were a tag team against Logan, and loved the part where Logan tried to stir the pot and they just shrugged him off. Fun stuff and a really unique take on the triple threat.
4) The main event was fun. I wanted ga ga and they gave us all of the run-ins we could want — and as the conclusion to what was a really awesome brawl between two of the best there are.
Who saw this ever coming with Cody when he was teaming with Sandow? He had two things in his first run I liked — Dashing Cody and him and Dustin against The Shield. Everything else was lame. But man, that dude bet on himself like no one else in wrestling ever has and he did it. Total respect. He changed wrestling.
So did Roman. That was a truly historic title reign. Everyone he interacted with came out bigger and better than they were going in. He leveled up how you have to perform as a character and if you can’t put some acting chops with your work now then you don’t belong at the top of the card. As it should be. Wrestling is theater, and I think Roman understands that better than anyone.
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9 minutes ago, ExcellenceofAirPollution said:
I meant to look for production differences from the Dunn era because people are saying there's been big changes on TV, but I didn't really notice anything different from the usual WWE presentation. I did notice the continuous shot of Sami going from his wife/kid to Gable to his entrance and thought that was a cool touch, and I gather they've been doing that on TV
I'm going to keep a closer eye on the match production tonight
On Raw, they have had a really long single camera track like that the past few weeks. They have also had a lot of really quick 30 second promos to promote a match without an interview. The Sami thing was a combination of the two pretty much. Was really awesome to see that because it felt like a great storytelling representation of Sami’s journey for this WrestleMania.
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I fell asleep during the main event, so I still have to watch. But from the show:
1) Sami/Gunther was absolutely incredible. Gunther is an all-time great Goliath type. Sami is the best underdog babyface of his era.The opening camera shot of Sami told such an awesome story — Sami’s doubt came because he lost against Roman in front of his wife and entire hometown, Gable is the one who picked him up, KO reminded Sami of exactly how good Sami is. A+ presentation.
2) Rhea/Becky ruled. The electric chair spot was mind boggling. I really liked Becky’s expressions throughout and Rhea’s reactions in how she could not put Bex away.
3) The Rey/Andrade vs. Escobar/Dom stuff was silly fun. They shoehorned a lot into the set up of the match, which doesn’t do anyone any favors. But a good match with the awesome catapult. Kelce’s involvement was definitive Philadelphia. He’s essentially a Messiah type figure here. Beloved by all. I don’t watch football much but he could spit in my mouth as my child watched and I would thank him for the honor of it occurred. We love him that much.
3) Every WM needs a nonsense and chaotic car wreck match. Glad we got this and can move on.
4) Jimmy/Jey was there. Disappointing because they had an epic build for it. Going for a match so dependent on in-ring acting at a football venue was a really bad decision. A quick brawl like how brothers fight would have been ideal. But I don’t hate it like everyone else. Just forgettable.
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22 minutes ago, AxB said:
I don't think Suge D's DVDVR Board name was Suge D, he only started using that as his wrestling name 5 years ago. He was Sugar Dunkerton for years and years before shortening it.
He started his wrestling career using the ring names Carl Wilson and Lamar Phillips (which I think is his shoot name). And Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
Oh, was he the dude who in some indie once dunked a basketball and then hung on the rim before using that to perform a Hurucanrana on someone?
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I had an absolute blast last night. Pro wrestling live is always fun. And some of Dean’s best stuff came from his road reports, where it just made me wish I lived in Richmond so I could have a 40 and watch some indie sleaze. This show was really in that spirit. It had a lot for everyone.
I know nothing about indie wrestling anymore. The only guy on the show I knew was Timothy Thatcher. But I was really impressed by as someone said earlier the curation of the show — some really good goofball stuff to brawls and etc.
The post-intermission stuff was a little more “serious” but the matches were really great. Some of the highlights:
The tag match with Wasted Youth was a really great 2000 indie juniors tag team match. And you know what? People shit on that stuff now (9/11 changed everything) but we all loved it back then. It had what those matches should have: Long haired babyfaces who have emo theme music and an insane name, cocksure jock arrogant heels who talk shit, and just the basic tag structure match but in the style where the ref at the end just stops enforcing the five count and let’s double teams happen and they all break out moves that were so completely new. It felt very OMEGA or that indie in Delaware that did the Super 8. My only notes are that I do not believe any of the participants had the first name of “Shayne” or any of the other derivatives of that name so common to indie wrestlers born in the late 70s. (I believe Dean made this commentary at one point.)
The double dog collar match was so great. Usually that’s a stipulation to end a blood feud and I could easily see some dork complaining about a dog collar match with some random pairing of dudes who never met before being an awful booking decision. But fuck that noise. Dean was a huge fan of the absurdity of wrestling and “yeah, sure, I will fly in from Mexico to get in a dog collar match against a guy who was apparently decreed by a royal authority as the King of the Dog Collar Match” is hilariously absurd. And Dean also loved blood and gore. One of the best Dean reviews was on the Dump Matsumoto hair versus hair match where she did something despicable to win and shaved the beloved babyface’s hair — writing about it being representative of the darker nature of life, and the fears of the innocent have about being corrupted into darkness. This match obviously was not part of a broader angle that was the Hulk/Andre of Japanese women’s wrestling, But any kind of match like this, where a guy from Mexico is willing to fly to the fringe of the South Jersey suburbs to get the fuck whipped out of him with a chain and to bleed, is always representative of mankind’s darker natures. We all have a dark side. But almost all of us abide by a social code where we will not give into the demon’s we all carry. A match like this — chaotic, brutal, ugly, bloody and for no real reason than to just be chaotic, brutal, ugly and bloody — always feels somehow cathartic to me. There’s a part of me (and I assume all of us) that would like to drown in chaos of my own making. (Also, that match was fun as fuck.) (Also, I have no idea how to do footnotes, or else I would in homage to the DVDVR’s usage of footnotes, which I believe was a Ganc trademark.)
The main event blew me away. Timothy Thatcher was the one guy I knew, and that was only because he was on AEW for a minute. But this was pro wrestling as art. “Telling a story in the ring” is the wrestling snob’s cliche. But so often, the wrestlers might think they are telling a story but it’s really hard for the audience to see the story — especially live and without announcers. They told a great story. The Wrestling Genius believes in sportsmanship. Thatcher did not cheat, but he was uncomfortably ruthless and dickish in a lot of his actions (all expressed with his facial expressions.) Thatcher targeted Macabee’s left hand succesfully. Macabre went after the ankle but was never able to fully hook his submission. Instead, he had to win by another method — And that was three punches from his right hand. (I don’t remember ever seeing a punch ending a match unless it was a guy’s finisher or involved a roll of coins. But when you think about it — it’s the best finisher. Punches end fights, even when thrown in real life by people who have never thrown a fist.)
But what was best about this was the crowd’s reaction. It was silent for a lot of the beginning — but because we were all focused on the intensity and wizardry and seeing their strategies unfold. Then we got louder as the match progressed, with everyone acting it was like a horror movie because someone twisted an elbow in a funky way or bent a wrist back. We all know what it’s like to roll an ankle or jam a finger, and seeing that in an exaggerated visual form 10 feet in front of you really makes you conjure up those memories. And I’m sure the knot tying joint work hurts, but it’s also not going to hurt or cause the damage of blading or back bumps. (I assume.)
But one thing I noticed (and I am sure everyone did) was that they did not talk at all during the match. We all know the tricks of when a spot is being called (even when we can’t hear it.) I talked with Macabee after the show and asked about it and how they didn’t seem to talk or call things. He said they didn’t. They had a few matches against each other before and wrestled a simulated “real wrestling match.”
I am so blown away by that. As you guys probably know, I was a comedian for about 15 years. Comedy and wrestling are both live performance art. One of the many things in common is that you have to learn to feel or hear a crowd. But, most importantly, you have to recognize what the crowd is telling you — when to pick up the pace or when to heighten your act/work to a spot that will pop the crowd or when to slow things back down and start to build to your next punchline/spot or then how to build to the big finish.
I usually don’t care how wrestlers build their stories when Bret Hart or whoever brag about not needing to plan out a match or call a spot. The final performance is all that matters. But watching it in an intimate setting, it really just blew me away that they were able to dance like that.
Amazing time. DEAN~ FOREVER!
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1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:
That was an MCW show, and yes it was Axl Rotten. Dean, the Phils and everyone went to that and it was really bad because there were little kids there, figuring out how to flip off people even though they didn't know how to (like holding their fingers up to do it), just totally uncalled for filth. I think considering the content of the show as long as you aren't saying some really egregious stuff you'll be okay. Just take the temperature of the room and see if there are any kids there. Be smart.
Slim J is gonna get a lot of love tonight. It would be nice if he got a lucha rain of money at the end of the match. I'm not sure if that would be viewed as respectful or mocking his situation however.
Also wondering if there are title changes! I'll see y'all in the chat.
I said my own variation of Dean's incredible performance art from the 400 level of Citizens Bank Park. Surrounded by children. My heckle was received with laughter, applause and gratitude -- especially from the parents in this section. We raise them right here in Philadelphia!
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Not sure if I can watch this week because I really don’t want to see Best Friends break up. Ever. They should have been kept like The New Day — forever friends who stick with each other no matter what.
As someone put it: The episodes that end with Best Friends standing talk are the best episodes of AEW. The thing that finally made me check out AEW was not Punk or Danielson. It was the end of Arcade Asylum. Wrestling perfection: A goofy hardcore match, Rusev wrecking shop, Stat popping out of a video game, Sue driving off in the mini-van, the gang celebrating with a group hug as “Where Is My Mind?” plays and Tony Schiavonne screaming that we have to go while plugging The Accountant coming up next!
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Also, how crude can we act tonight? I am not a fan of being crude. But I remember a road report where Dean went to some horrible show and reported he screamed “My mom wants her clit ring back” at a wrestler. That is high end heckling. I used my own variation of that at a Phillies playoff game this year when I screamed at an umpire that I hope his wife’s clit ring didn’t give her an infection. This is the only time I have ever used that phrase in my life.
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WWE TV - 4/15 - 4/21/2024 - Policy of Awesome Truth
in WWE PROGRAMMING
Posted
The Sami entrance from him at the front of the building until the commercial break was one of the best 90 seconds in Raw history. Such a beautiful shot that really captured why we are wrestling fans — the utter joy that comes from watching someone like Sami. There’s at least one kid who saw that tonight and is now a lifelong rasslin’ fan. Hot damn that was just something else.