For Great Justice

Thing I didn’t think I’d say yesterday: “Tomasso Ciampa gets the hot tag”

Say what y’all want, that first shot of Mike Tarver in the crowd during the Nexus intro is a top 5 WWE camera shot for me. That moment went from “what is this?” To “Oh shit!”

For the record that is the best HIAC match ever re: Raw news- Lord knows that show needs some kind of shakeup on the men’s side. Outside of Elias and Balor the singles scene is a total black hole of suck.

I’m not that hip to BTE but if AEW really did sign The Yet-tay that’s a game changer

Fantasy booking warning. New Day vs Bryan/Rowan/Harper at Fastlane. Kofi pins Bryan Four way number one contenders match at WM: Samoa Joe beats Rey, Orton, Hardy Kofi pins Bryan at WM. Bryan drafted to Raw to feud Rollins. Joe pins Kofi at Backlash when Usos turn heel and interfere. Jealous of New Day getting the HW title when they are better than them, etc. New Joe/Usos faction vs New Day six mans carry SD through the Spring. Joe drops title to whoever the new Guy on SD will be in the Summer.

For the record I can’t say the name of this show without doing so in Eric Biscoff’s voice after about two decades of that same video package

Eddie is the greatest of all time. Face, heel, flying, brawling, grappling, talking. Just fantastic at absolutely every element of being a pro wrestler.

That crowd was something huh. I mean Omega/Jericho isn't the most creative option to kick this thing off, but no denying it functions as a good main for the first show.

After a strong show last week, this was so bad. Only positive worth mentioning is how much better Elias is a heel. Its a shame they don't have a TV title because his act of coming out, heeling on the crowd, facing the challenger of the week and sleazing his way to a win (or better yet a time limit draw) is perfect for a belt like that.

How can you not love this. It’s Do Fixer vs Blood Generation at a Mid South taping filmed at Irish McNeil's Boys Club in Shreveport

Side note: I thought that the Phoenix crowd was fantastic every night this weekend. Engaged and into everything and yes a little clever at times but nothing over the top like past traveling crowds.

Oh and Joe/Shayna as 2019 MMC winners writes itself

He really should have had a title run last year. I think they left some money on the table not running with a Joe / Usos heel stable that runs wild on Smackdown with the belts. I know Joe isn’t part of the clan technically but all three of those dudes carry themselves with amazing swagger and would have crushed promos and six man tags. Merch with whatever name they gave themselves would have sold big. Maybe they can still do this.

I feel like Charlotte is in a 2001 Triple H situation here. A top guy in her own right, but the tippy toppy transcendent biggest-match-in-several-years main event for Wrestlemania just doesn't have her name in the cards this year (e.g. Rock/Austin). I think we'll see this play out similarly to 2001, and even see them play with internet fan emotions a bit by strongly hinting at a three-way on the way to the big show, but at the end of the day they will go with the obvious big match. I'd expect something like Becky/Charlotte at Fastlane and if Charlotte wins it becomes a three way. Fans somewhat freak out or groan. Ronda comes out to cost Charlotte the match at the end as to ensure she has all the glory of beating Lynch to herself. Something like that. Disappointed not to see Rey there at the end. Ronda/Becky, Brock/Rollins, Asuka/Charlotte, Bryan/Rey would be a really nice set of four pillars to build WM around. Each with a different style.

Slippery, slippery slippery slope man. Forget your scissors?

My reaction after seeing the press release was that they wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t a work. But then I saw the ESPN bit. So either this is the worst kind of “da BOYS in da BACK!” Russo deal or just extremely strange. Why do this if it’s real?

Man, who produced and wrote this show? The production was so good tonight and such a refreshing improvement. The pacing, the transitions, the continuity was all spot on. Becky/Ronda is LIT and is three orders of magnitude more over than anything else. This is their biggest money match in years.

My big takeaway is that Rhea Ripley is going to be a megastar. She just has it.

The only thing they have left to do with Ciampa/Gargano is the first ever NXT HIAC and even I have little desire to see those two go at it again, especially in that environment (hello, vibes of HHH and HBK from 2003/2004). They have a clean slate storyline-wise to get to the show so they could go in any direction, but it still feels to me like we are headed toward Riddle and Dream getting singles wins for the belts and DIY off to Smackdown as a heel tag team to mix it up with the Usos et al.

I think the time is now to pull the trigger on a Big E / New Day championship run. This is my fantasy booking pick.

Great show, even if the main went about 2 finishers too long. They can go a ton of different directions with every single one of the titles for the WM show, and I'm excited to see how it plays out. On the men's side, I suppose Riddle and Dream are the likely two up for each belt, with Dream/Ciampa the main?

Chiming in for the first time in a few years to also praise The Comic Book History of Pro Wrestling. Fantastic artwork, totally accurate, easy to read. Someone please let me know if they have located a high res electronic version of the territory map from this book. Else I will contact the artist. That needs to be on my wall ASAP.