Greggulator
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Posts posted by Greggulator
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17 minutes ago, zendragon said:
I wonder if they released that to get ahead of this story.
But Wow, just wow
Nah. Netflix released its quarterly financial report that day and had its phone call with the analysts who cover the company. Companies always release big news on those days, especially when they know they did well financially. I doubt that anyone at Netflix even knew this was coming.
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The Toni Storm segment was wrestling ridiculousness at its absolute best.
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I am not a media industry expert (despite working in the media) by any means. But my early thoughts:
1) $5 billion over 10 years for Raw and overseas things is insanity. I think that shows Netflix had to pay a giant premium (up their bidding price) to get Endeavor and the like to hand over the show to a streaming platform and not keep it on a basic cable network. I know there is cord cutting and etc., but a lot of people have Hulu or whatever to essentially watch cable. That is essentially though $500 million for 52 episodes of Monday Night Raw and international broadcast. I have no idea and don’t have time to look up how well international broadcasts do for the WWE. But if you factor it in just for Raw — Netflix is paying $9.6 million to air every single episode of Raw.
2) I saw Netflix has an out after 5 years. They also can extend for another 10. I have no idea if that extension would be at the same price or if there would be a negotiation. But Netflix is hedging it’s risk on both ends — it can cut bait if this doesn’t work, and it can avoid a bidding war if it doesn’t.
2A) Why would the WWE not want to have another bidding war for Raw in a few years? Because Netflix is paying them $9.6 million to broadcast a single episode of Raw. Take the money and run.
3) Can wrestlers please become full-time workers? The people getting paid from this are going to be company executives with stock options and big Wall Street investors. (Technically any investor but you get what I am saying.) Do the WWE guys still pay for their own travel? And health insurance? They should be in SAG or something already. They literally risk their lives every week and man none of them are getting anything close to their fair share.
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From what I was able to watch tonight:
Edge is not my guy. I am not interested in The Cope Open. But it serves something more important — a really good veteran gets to have matches with guys like Dante Martin and Lee Moriarity and that’s pretty invaluable. I wish they had some kind of circuit or house show because there is so much talent with the real young bulls of AEW but development is tough. But having an 8 minute match with Edge is going to be a well-organized match. I am sure before the match Copeland is sitting down with whoever he is facing, putting the match together, and explaining why the match is being put together that way. And after they go over like a few dozen times how it was executed.
The Thunder Rosa match was fine. It was exactly what a returning match should be. Her opponent looks cool.
I am so ridiculous invested in The Bang Bang Scissor Gang. I don’t remember when we have seen a really big group like that? Especially as faces? I was expecting it not to happen. I hope they stick with it because all of those guys have a lot of charisma and are fun acts.
Toni Storm is the best. Best character in wrestling right now.
Danny vs Buddy was expectedly good. A very smart match that had excellent usage of their seconds, leading to a great brawl and set up for a match.
I am now watching Roddy Strong and Matt Sydall and calling it a night even though I really want to see Eddie/Ortiz vs. BCC
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11 hours ago, Zimbra said:
Anybody know if there's transit from the Philly airport to Williamstown? Am I stuck renting a car if I go?
There’s probably some combination of trains and buses you can take but I can see that easily lasting longer than your flight.
There are probably a few van services or something that can bring you. Not sure if the costs but here is one: https://www.kinglimoinc.com/our-services/personal/airport-shuttle-service-gloucester-county/airport-shuttle-service-williamstown/
But, yeah, you might get stuck renting a car. Williamstown is probably 30 minutes or so from the airport without traffic.
Also, where is the event being held at specifically? “Williamstown” is pretty far spread out and overlaps with a lot of zip codes.
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9 hours ago, John from Cincinnati said:
Surprised you enjoyed something so worked-shooty. Not trying to score points or anything, just happy to see you got something out of it. Not what I normally associate with your taste.
It didn’t feel work-shooty to me. Like it touched on a few things outside of kayfabe but they used it to douche it up like quality heels. It wasn’t something like Punk blurring the lines with Adam Page referencing Colt Cabana. Was more within the grounds of kayfabe.
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Hook looks like every dipshit high school athlete I saw at LA Fitness when I had membership. It’s a very current look. But he does not look like a guy who is listening to Bandsplained or going to retro indie sleaze nights.
All the hipster stuff in early 00s New York was in Brooklyn. There are books written about this. LCD Soundsystem clones were not playing shows at the last dying days of Coney Island High or the other bar at the corner. That was more pop-punk and power-pop dorks playing in front of their friends. (Source: It me.)
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1 hour ago, ExcellenceofAirPollution said:
Always stoked to enter the RICCABONEZONE
Knox' gimmick is he's the blind ref. Stolen from whoever the blind ref in WWE was for years. That finish in the tag was ridiculous. Quen didn't look ready to be back on TV yet at all. Kinda sucks for Kassidy because he'd improved quite a bit and now he's saddled with this guy working himself back into shape who was green to begin with, and it sucks for Top Flight because they'd been building momentum, were better than PP to begin with.....so yea....I would have had Quen working the rust off before doing any of this
Hook has always been billed from St. Mark's Place because he legit lives there. It's a "hipster spot" in the East Village, lower Manhattan. That whole area actually has cool history beyond comic books and whatever the fuck Greggulator was on about up there
Urange on the table was BRUTAL. I rewound that multiple times, it was back of the head straight into no give. For someone with so much core strength, Hook often looks like a young giraffe or deer struggling to get his legs under him during his matches....am I the only one? He's legit strong, but he manages to look not that at all in-between his suplexes....
Austin Gunn is a tremendous FiP, much like he's a tremendous stooging heel. During the break I was transfixed by him selling taking a beating from Bishop. It's kind of weird that BCG are ostensibly faces now and the guy who was getting the biggest face reaction of the group isn't there for it. I needed a clearer listen of their new remixed theme which took the Gunns dope theme and did something to it. Merge the 6 man belts please.
I got a kick out of Toni's "fat ass and bad attitude" comment, also confusing Ian with Tony was great once I picked up on it
It has been a minute since I have been to St. Mark’s Place but it ain’t no hipster spot. It was sleazy cool in the 70s and 80s but even in the 90s it was more for suburban kids trying on bondage pants before going to see a Lookout Records pop-punk band than anything else. (Source: It me.) Last time I went, it was perfectly fine for what it is — a good comic shop, vintage clothing shops, falafel takeaway spots and carts and the like. I think you need to learn what a hipster is.
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I will do some digging for Williamstown. Going from memory, it’s a lot of strip mall chain restaurant types of places — it’s right when the Philly suburbs start to no longer become the suburbs.
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Great show.
Dustin/Christian was so damn good. It’s two of the best to ever do it and why would else expect anything less? I am trying to think of anything they did to each other in the match that involved a bump beyond a frog slash, destroyer, a soear and Christian’s finisher. That is professional wrestling at its peak — two experts who know the craft of telling a story by working punches and feints and eye pokes. That does not include Nick Wayne — he has a deathwish apparently. The finish was a little off, but the false finish right before was awesome. Just a great match and a joy to watch.
This has been the first time I truly enjoyed The Bucks. Nicholas and Matthew leaning into the aloof EVP shtick rules. I especially loved the HR violation of calling Renee sweetheart. I know they won’t do it, but heel Bucks can just explain that they have a personal referee who understands his place that justifies the inconsistent reffing in their matches.
Swerve with the moniest of promos. I definitely do not want to see him and Hangman Part 58383883 but they do have good chemistry.
However I am invested in The Acclaimed/Gunn Club Part 37473882. The reason why is because it is Bowens taking the leadership reigns on his end. I am such a fan of that guy. This is a great way for him to build out his character more than it’s established beyond “the guy who likes scissoring.” I really miss The Acclaimed being such a huge part of the shows. They were briefly the biggest act in the company. And man the more I think about it The Acclaimed vs. Swerve In Their Glory 1 might be my favorite AEW match.
Toni Storm absolutely rules. Such an absurdly great act. She knows how to lean into it perfectly. Deonna was about to break. Also, did Deonna say she and Toni Storm were roommates? How many roommate issues has Toni Storm had considering that was the hook they used for her relationship with Jamie Hayter. (Come back soon Jamie.)
That main event was something else. Joe wrecking dudes for a few months until there’s a hot enough act to take him down, and then Joe gets the belt back a little bit after that, rinse and repeat and you have your main event world title picture set for as long as you want. That was a fantastic beating. It worked.
But could it worked better if:
1) Hook started off taking it to Joe, who then once he got advantage trucked his ass and it ended with Hook somehow coming into the ring after getting CTE from that table spot only to immediately get choked out.
2) Taz got off the table and begged Hook to not get back in the ring, only for Hook to do so. Or maybe Tax throws in the towel when his son is being choked out.
Also, did they say Hook was from St. Mark’s in Manhattan? What the fuck is he doing there? Getting an AFI T-Shirt? Enjoying falafel? Trying to boost some graphic novels from St. Mark’s Comics? Taking a class at Cooper Union?
Either way, good night of wrestling.
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People are going to flip when R-Truth costs Priest the cash-in. Great build in this angle throughout. They really caught lightning in a bottle with Truth doing his best work and it playing off so well with the dark emo dudes. One of the most underrated parts of Judgment Day is that despite their general goth stuff they are pretty much a comedy act. I can’t believe I am such a fan because Edge and dark underlings was absolutely not for me. But they have really been the anchor of Raw the past 18 months.
There is a way where we get Becky and Rhea to headline Night 1 of WrestleMania. I would much rather see that than Punk vs. Rollins in their lame ass shooty reality TV feud coming up. Fired up Becky rules when she has something to be fired up against and maybe realizing Rhea has surpassed her is a great approach.
As much as I do not want to see Seth/Punk, I did enjoy Seth vs. Jinder. One of the reasons why WWE is so hot right now is because matches are laid out so well. They did a great job in using Jinder’s goons, the looming presence of Priest, the distractions and all of that to get to some really good heel near falls before Seth figured out the puzzle.
Even the women’s tag match — while it was sloppy, it had a fun layout.
Good show from what I was able to watch.
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Sting is such a great smoke and mirrors wrestler. Dude is 65. He does wild garbage match-y stuff for a reason. A match where Sting takes a crazy table bump and sells for a while or wins with his scorpion drop from the rafters — maybe the crazy bump is not as crazy as a non-wrestler thinks and they’ve done a good job protecting a lot of the damage. That is part of the illusion and magic of wrestling. I mean, maybe Sting is just insane. But I could see there are possible ways where the bumps he takes in these matches (or bump?) are a hell of a lot easier on a body than a whole bunch of regular back bumps in a ring. Higher degree of difficulty with the table bumps but maybe they’re not as dangerous?
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56 minutes ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:
Apologies for the back to back posts, but I really gotta co-sign this one - good call GTS.
Also: It bears repeating how friggin badly I want a Dutch singles run. Vincent is a little too over the top for me - I want "meth head" energy, but he's giving me "theater kid."
I am the same with Vincent. I was never clear why he was doing some variation of jazz hands on his way to the ring. Very much an “all-star high school cast doing Grease at a prominent regional theater” vibes and not desert dwelling weirdo with Messianic vibes.
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Prediction: The Sting/Darby vs. Bucks match is going to be a fun, goofy all-over-the arena brawl with a few completely insane spots.
The Bucks are actually good in a match where you can have chaos. They are a bunch of athletic dudes who are bump freaks and know how to get heat either as faces or especially as heels.
They’re just awful in a type of match that requires structure and psychology and — most importantly — keeping the facade alive that you are watching an athletic competition with rules. Because the most important part of a tag team match is that the referee is a “strong” character so it makes the heel’s cheating and wrong-doing feel important and builds up anticipation for the faces to overcome those odds. The Bucks just do not do that at all in a regular tag match and it sucks.
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Fun show. It had all of the stuff I want from an episode of AEW.
OC/Dustin/Preston Vance/Edge might be the leader in all-time great goofy "WTF" pairings.
The women's match didn't have the random weirdness of the men's match but I really liked it? It definitely reminded me that Ruby Soho is just an absolute world class wrestler. She completely held that match together. She's always in the right place at the right time, knows how to sell, knows how to taunt and knows how to express herself via body language and facial expressions.Samoa Joe is THE perfect champion. The only thing I keep thinking whenever I see him with a World Title is why hasn't he ALWAYS been the world champion? The guy has an aura and presence like only a few others have. He's awesome in the ring. He's also the only person who can be a monster bully and suit-wearing, scheming puppet master at once. We're all guilty of overthinking wrestling (duh) when "just give Joe the belt, let him be a dickhead heel, build up a face over the course of a year to beat him" is all you really need to anchor any promotion.
I'm not feeling Hook and never have. I don't get the character. That said, he's a perfectly fine choice to be the first guy to put Joe on the ropes for a little bit before getting his shit wrecked.
Sammy/Ricky was such a weird match. I don't know if I liked it or not, but it was very interesting. Ricky did that insane rochembeaux on the ring apron. It looked like DEATH and probably could have been used to set up an injury angle. Instead, it was the spot to a commercial break for a match that ended via a random superkick. WTF? I loved Ricky's "man, come on" when Jericho's music started. He spoke for us all.
Jericho having his song playing ala New Jack was a nice touch and then it hit me as to the possible reason for it. I'm only half-joking. The ring entrance is short at Dailey's, so he can't do the extended entrance. But there has to be a stipulation in Jericho's contract where they have to make it through the chorus of his song so he gets some kind of royalty fee, right? That has to be it.
The main event was really fun. I thought we finally saw the anticipated on-screen paralysis of Darby Allin when he got overtossed in that playground bully spin thing he did where he neck cracked off the rope. Bryce FLEW over to him to see if he was okay. What an insane person. I don't care about the Young Bucks but man that was a fashion CHOICE. Between them and Hangman the mustache game tonight is off.
My one big criticism for the night -- someone should have thrown a shoe at Renee in the Toni Storm segment.
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Kawhi just got a bag.
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Anyone else love Lexis King?
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Stevie Richards
Emma
OC
Colt
Regal
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5 hours ago, For Great Justice said:
Truth is a shoe-in WWEHOF of course, but I strongly believe he also deserves WONHOF consideration. Former world champion, main evented against John Cena, 54 time 247 champion….
But more importantly, with a shout out to Yano, Truth’s been the best comedy worker on TV for over a decade.
Rey Mysterio was the best flyer in the world for a decade and he’s in. Mick Foley was the best brawler in the world for a decade and he’s in. Ric Flair was the best main event epic worker in the world for a decade and he’s in.
Why shouldn’t the best comedy worker also be in? If you’re pulling from the past 30 years of wrestlers to book a 3 hour TV show…I kind of feel like Truth has a role on that show?
To make a baseball HOF analogy, I get that this is kind of like talking about relievers (comedy) vs starters or position players (main event acts, workrate guys) in WONHOF criteria, but insofar as he’s a reliever Truth is Trevor Hoffman out there.
Dude is awesome. Thank you for listening to my TED Talk.
I'm absolutely with you on comedy workers and premier "mid-card" people getting into the WONHOF. Not everyone is supposed to be a main event talent. But not everyone is also built to be a comedy guy or entertaining non-main event star, either. What's a more important slot on Raw: the main event at 10:40 pm you've been building to all night or the 9:15 slot where there's a bigger audience (due to more kids being awake) and you're trying to keep people invested in staying tuned for what's next? The R-Truth's and Santino's are such a huge part of the show. You absolutely need people like that. John Cena and Roman are the stars, but the best middle card guys are the staple.
I kthink the MVPs of the WWE this century have been The New Day. Those three dudes have done everything on the shows for a decade. Comedy heels. Comedy faces. Dominant tag team. From hosting WM to winning the world title at a WM. Even something like Kofi/Ludwig's awesome 15-minute match/segment on Raw last night is so insanely valuable.
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Draymond is wild. Am I alone in not buying the "I was about to retire, Adam Silver begged me not to" claim? Yeah, okay. "I got told to stop choking other players, I'm going to walk away from $100 million."
I also love his whatever back-and-forth with KD. In some point of his rant, he said:
"I'll tell you it really pissed me off when Kevin Durant said, '[Green] wasn't like that when I was around [him and] I hope he gets the help he needs,'" Green said on his podcast. "And then I start going into this deep dive. ... I went back to Kevin Durant's statement ... as I sat with myself, I said, 'I think it is time that the world gets to know me, who I am. And if I can look at Kevin's statement the right way, through the right mindset, through the right lens, he is acknowledging essentially what I want the world to know about me.'"
LOL, my dude -- you have a podcast and are one of the biggest media spotlight hoggers in the NBA. I think we all know you.
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We are all going to forget about Kofi/Kaiser in two weeks but WTF??? This is so good. I mean, Kofi and Ludwig are both top quality but I don’t really associate these guys with stuff, hate-filled brawls. I love Kofi but never really think of him as working the most tight style.They are really leaning into it. Great double countout brawl and I want 100 matches between them.
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I used to hang out a lot with Bryce. He was in a sketch comedy group in Philly when he was also working for a Chikara and a bunch of indies. I did stand-up and performed with his group dozens of times. Hung out a lot socially, too. Bryce is a good dude. We drifted apart and I haven’t seen him in ages. But he’s a really nice guy.
Claudio was living in Philly and he and Sara Del Rey used to come to a lot of our shows. I watched the Phillies win the 2008 WS with a whole bunch of Philly comics and Claudio. Really nice guy. It was right before he signed with the WWE. I met a whole bunch of other Chikara dudes from back then because there was a huge crossover with Philly comedy but I can’t remember any specifics. I spent one truly insane night with Larry Sweeney that involved him defending the Texarkana title against a few recent art school graduates at some hipster loft party.
I also did a pro wrestling themed comedy show with Bryce. I co-hosted it with Colt Cabana. I forget the exact timeline but at some point in time Colt met by brother (most of you know who my brother is) somehow and they are really close friends. Colt has even met my mom and dad. He’s just absolute aces.
I also never met Eddie Kingston but he was on my brother’s old TV show. My brother says he’s a great dude.
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On 12/25/2023 at 1:04 AM, NikoBaltimore said:
Thank you, friends. Pretty awesome that I share a birthday with Greg who's pretty damn great.
Thanks man! I am.
Happy belated to you -- our birthday traditionally sucks, it's great to comiserate.
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Banger song from The Iron Claw by Little Scream. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugy2c6wzbH4
The Wall Street Journal Vince McMahon Thread.
in The PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
Posted
Here's the lawsuit itself. I read it -- it's even more fucked up than what the articles are writing. (Especially one part about Brock.) https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/WWE_complaint.pdf
So the legal stuff in the lawsuit the lady
1) There's a law called The Speak Out Act. According to the filing, the Speak Out Act means NDAs are unenforceable if the sexual harrassment/etc. violates federal law. Essentially, the Speak Out Act makes and NDA null-and-void. (According to what her lawyer says. I have no idea.) The lawsuit also says the NDA itself was poorly constructed ("too broad") and wouldn't even allow her to tell anyone she even worked for the WWE.
2) She was under duress and unfairly pressured to sign the NDA.
3) Human trafficking is alleged because McMahon was traveling across the country when he was saying insane stuff to her and/or showing people her photos/etc. while traveling around and had others fly to Connecticut to "meet" her. Also, since McMahon and Laurinitis used fraud and coercion to lead her into what she's alleging.
4) Human trafficking is also alleged because the company financially benefited because Vince offered her to Brock when he was negotiating a contract, and that a lot of WWE bigwigs knew about all of this and didn't do anything to stop it.
(Note: I have no idea at all about what human trafficking laws actually say or not. Just explaining the complaint itself.)
5) Negligence (The WWE didn't do anything to stop this.)
6) Battery (According to the lawsuit, Vince hit her a few times during one of their encounters, along with a bunch of other awful things.)
Also: I said above things like "According to the lawsuit." That's drilled into me as a reporter. You'll notice that across anyone writing about this today (or any lawsuit.) That's because none of the allegations have been proven yet. So, the reporting on it is going to be completely objective and just report what's in it.
But as a wrestling fan -- man, this is so gross, and I hate that I watch this stuff.