For Great Justice

So how exactly does this shake out? I’m not trying to go all DC Comics here and retcon the history of the universe every 3 years, but isn’t the logical option to present Cena’s title as the Bruno/Hogan/Austin WWE title, and Jey’s belt as the WCW/Batista WHC/Big Gold title? It all gets real messy with the Lesnar/Goldberg/Reigns stuff, but like…just put that all in the WWE Title continuity. That may be what they’re doing here, but I dunno. I think the typical fan sees it the way I describe here. Maybe most see Jey’s belt as a new, separate thing (I know it was presented that way at origin), but why not just do this.

I love the new pairing as the two have been completely separated from each other this whole time. It’s fresh. It will be interesting to see if they go with a Sith and Apprentice dynamic or if they present Bron and Seth more as equals. I think the latter would be more successful because in their heart of hearts I think the fans view Bron more credibly as a world title type guy. Seth’s sort of that long time main event revered guy, but no one really wants to see him as The Guy The Guy. Very cool pairing though because of how out of the blue it is, yet it fits. Sort of like if Randy Savage linked up with Shawn Michaels in 1994 or something

The problem with Kross is that he’s a “and then the bell rang” guy. If this were the late 90’s he’d be a strong candidate to remake himself doing plunder matches and promo work in ECW

None of this would have ever happened if the WWF still ran on Diesel Power

Late to the party here but this felt like the weakest Mania in a while. It had no juice going in, and has no juice going out. And that’s with playing the big Cena heel turn trump card. My theory is that the lack of Sami Zayn on the show is the same as AEW’s lack of Best Friends. No heart and soul. Sami has done more than anyone with the “ultimate fun and entertaining” Mania presentation than anyone, dating back to the Jackass match

Wow, what a main event. Hobbs coming into play with his own backstory with Moxley is perfect. He rounds out the Ops in the best way. Someone said it before, but Samoa Joe is the “default starting world champion in CAW mode” wrestler of this generation. Always 100% credible as a main eventer, always delivers.

I am such a sucker for stuff like the $400k purse tag match. It’s Mid South as shit and I just cant not love it. Coming up after the break, Boyd Pierce sits down with Anthony Bowens and we’ll have a Kung Fu demonstration from Speedball Bailey

Dang, Ospreay as BRB (presuming Omega is Thor in this analogy) is excellent And yeah, Hangman is AEW’s Cap. Has to be him. Darby is their Batman or Wolverine, who is The Guy in a lot of ways but not The GUY Guy

Absolutely dreadful, viewer-repelling ending. This is going to lead to Hangman and Swerve vs the Bucks. Who wants to see that?

I do like the high stakes in the Owen this year. I would stretch this out and have whatever combination of the Hangman/Ospreay/White/? final four as both the semis and finals at DoN. Also we have said it many times but the smaller arenas are so much better

I had a reply all typed up basically suggesting that they can’t end a PPV with their most popular babyface losing to Death Riders bullshit….can they? But alas, they can. And they will.

Yeah I think Spike is the opposite of what I dig in my garbage wrestling. It looks gimmicky and stupid, but actually hurts. I think the goal is to present violence that looks authentic and grimy, but doesn’t actually hurt It’s a close cousin of the Fiend’s mallet

Within a 30 minute span of unwatchable Death Riders bullshit lies a 30 second span of one of the sickest things I’ve ever seen in TV wrestling, as Moxley’s fatty tissue is on full display Life is full of contradictions

Lots of discussion the last few days on what kind of “trade compensation” would be adequate for AEW to allow Sting to induct Lex into the WWE HOF So, here is my apples to apples (legends contract for legends contract) suggestion: Mick Foley to somehow be involved with (referee, announcer, or intro video) whatever death match they have planned for Mox in Texas Given the respective histories, maybe Edge and Christian vs Mox and Claudio in a Texas Death Match. That feels like a win/win. E&C reunion while hiding the limitations of Edge in particular. Blows off the Death Riders angle without the title involved (Swerve vs either Ospreay or Hangman in the main event).

Speedball’s WMAC Masters Ho Sung Pak gimmick just makes me miss Morris