just drew

I think Swerve comes down to counter-act Young Bucks interference, maybe screws something up, and accidentally costs Hangman the title. Hangman's big character beat is that he learns to let shit like this go. Idk. Maybe it's too complicated.

Yeah, I've been on both ends of the "oh shit, this submission is REALLY gonna hurt." IRL, you don't try to fight out of an armbar or omoplata or anything once it's in deep and your hands are out of position. You tap and "nope" the fuck out of the hold and the mat. I had zero issue with Aminata tapping and getting out...

Hangman Page was right.

I'm not gonna do a review for the whole 4 hr block of TV from wednesday. I will say that I had a wonderful time watching the show, and anyone who was on the discord can attest to that. What I want to point out is that I think one of the big things to take away from what happened Wednesday is that it's so much more fun to naturally integrate Lucha Libre into your product than to shoehorn it in, WWE style. I watched the youtube highlights from nXt tuesday and the whole AAA integration felt so forced. Like, "look at all these people you're supposed to care about now! not as much as our talent, but care! Exactly as much as we tell you! And make sure to watch 'Slim Jim presents Prime Energy Drink's 'When World's Collide' super show! Brought to you by Cricket Wireless and that Insurance Guy!!!" Woof. Kudos to TK for figuring out the right balance.

Damn. I’m torn between my love of Lucha and my hatred of WWE. I want to watch this show, but I don’t want to cast a “yes” vote with my viewership…

I was thinking novelty coffee mugs and one of those decorative wall hangings, but I like a yard sign...

i'm honored.... I think?

fwiw, they are not fans of one another as people. I would suggest enjoying this.

A one-shot of tafka R-Truth appearing in a Casino gauntlet match, throwing all the competitors in the ring over the top rope, and then climbing to the middle turnbuckle would rule. Like, he's looking for a Wrestlemania sign to point at, thinking he's won the Rumble, he's confused, and then someone like Lance Archer or Kyle Fletcher just obliterates him.

Fair enough. I ruminate sometimes. As I continue with therapy it becomes more apparent that I have some deep seeded issues with anger going back to an incident from childhood. Crazily enough, I work with autistic children now. One of the things we work on the most is "emotional regulation." Like, they get mad about things they should be mad about, but they have no idea where to draw the line in terms of how best to express that anger. It's an ongoing process, and it's lifelong. As someone on the spectrum, I learn a lot about myself through my work with these kids. I WILL say that to some degree, Punk drew this target on himself. He spent years talking about how WWE is soulless and evil, but now that he needs the money, he's willing to overlook all that. Like, they're even more soulless and evil now that they are part of TKO and Punk is on tv every week smiling and toe-ing the company line. Hypocrisy bugs me. Probably more than it should. Sometimes I have trouble figuring out how mad I should be about shit like this. I consider guys like you and @nikobaltimore to be level-headed members of this board, so if you say I'm overreacting, I'll take your word for it.

I think he's a gutless coward too. And I'm typing this while touching grass, so your normal advice won't work. Silence speaks volumes. I'm sure your boy was busy purchasing tickets to Jeddha...

Where’s Mr. “Workers Rights?” Mr. “Voice of the Voiceless?” Oh yeah. Doing a photo op with Demolition. CM Punk’s silence on all this speaks volumes…

Wrong thread. Good times. Still, today and every day, in this house, it's 'fuck Phil.'

I've said this other places, but maybe not here, but Killings showing up during a "go-home" Dynamite and cutting a promo about how he was going to win "Rage in the Cage," while a ring full of ex-WWE talent stares on lovingly & incredulously, would be all the dollar signs. Shit, make him the authority figure for AEW. And I need one interaction between him and Danhausen.

I've been saying this for years. It's why he's not believable at his size when other guys his size are. I have no desire to see him perform, but he does seem like a good guy and I'm glad his health seems to have improved.

I have been busy and haven't gotten to review the PPV or the last couple Dynamites. I'm not super interested in going all the way back, so let me just say that the term I saw used most often for Mercedes/Hayter is "casual banger" and I thought that was an apt description. DoN didn't have a bad match on it. I loved Dynamite this week, and it's crazy to me how much the overall quality of their television show has improved. My only real complaint is the TNT Title situation, but I'm willing to admit that a lot of that is personal preference. Hopefully Kyle Fletcher remedies that soon enough. Da Meltz talked about both the strong PPV buyrates and the PR missteps WWE has made lately in their dealings with AEW. I want to give some credit to TK here; he is handling WWE counterprogramming him much better than he did a year or so ago with that "not gonna take this shit anymore' rant. Good on him.

they aren’t showing much faith in their new TNT champion…

I got to know Shan the last few years of her life. She came into a bar & grill I worked at pretty much every day. She was an incredibly sweet soul. I'll be skipping this episode but I hope the world gets to see what an incredibly beautiful soul she was and how dirty the wrestling business did her.

careful. You're gonna be told to "touch grass," because nothing Phil does is real and if you point out his rampant hypocrisy, you'll get snarky responses and be called "bro."

Yeah, I didn't see it at first, but that kid is all the dollar signs.

I think what's most telling is that Jade Cargill and Ricky Starks' themes are as close as their AEW theme as they can be without anyone getting sued.

Even the staunchest of FedHeads think Def Rebel sucks ass...

The short answer is that Hayter needs the win more. Mone's been doing great stuff lately, and it feels like she's really shaking off the WWE forced promo delivery style and come into her own even more as a TV presence, but she doesn't need to win the Owen. TK clearly sees Hayter as someone who could be a big deal, and she was a big deal not long ago. Mercedes is going to be a star whether she wins the Owen or not. A win over Mone could propel Hayter back to where she was, and that would be a good thing. For the record; I'm not sure if that's the way I'd book it. Sometimes the simplest is the best. I'm just saying that you could tell two compelling stories going into All In instead of just one. Hayter getting her rematch for the title she never lost by winning the Owen, and Mercedes Mone showing signs of vulnerability for the first time since she joined AEW. Also, let me state clearly that I don't buy into the "Mercedes Hogan" narrative. Your highest paid stars should win most of the time. In sports, your highest paid guys play the most, until they show you they're incapable of producing. Mercedes is producing.

Man, my bad. Am I thinking of a regular gauntlet match?

Or, OR, piggybacking off my Megan Bayne idea from earlier, have a Casino Gauntlet match. The #1 entrance is someone like Queen Aminata. Megan jumps her on the entrance way and takes the #1 spot. She could then go on to eliminate the entire field. For the first time they get all the way through a lineup in a Casino Gauntlet match. Then as she's celenbrating Thekla comes out and confronts her.