Godfrey

Rad! Can't wait to see it in action It's totally reckless. I remember how he compressed Vinci a few months ago

I found Creeds/DIY and it was pretty dope. The Creed Bros have a lot of fun signature spots already like Julius suplexing a guy from his knees which is my kind of wrestling physics. They're still rough though and there's at least a couple of things in every match that don't quite work but thankfully they're strong enough that they can compensate and land guys like DIY pretty much anywhere. One day they will hit one of the impressive spots they try to do, this one was Julius trying a one-armed powerbomb to Gargano while holding Ciampa in an ankle lock with the other hand. Total madness to even try really and yet he almost got it

Had to work last night so I'm just catching highlights although I need to find Creeds/DIY in full Really dug the developments in the IC title hunt. One thing Sami has learned in WWE is the small movement of TV acting, his expression after Gunther started psyching him out was great McAfee referencing pumas for Ricochet was a nice little nod. Ric is one of those wrestlers like Adam Cole who always seems to be mid-thigh slap in the youtube thumbnail Rollins and McIntyre is a ton of fun. Seth deserves credit for being a part of the top two programs for this Mania even if he's the Other Guy in both You know what? I'm into Candice LeRae's turn Does Cody think Homelander is an aspirational character? Could be part of the problem Lynch/Jax was up in full and it was a pretty good brawl. The Samoan drop onto the chairs had to suck, in fact Becky took quite a beating throughout. Jax has improved since returning but I had to laugh when she stumbled into position for the final table spot

I don't think he stuck around long but Hidaka was a fun addition to ECW's juniors scene to break up the Tajiri/Crazy/Guido series. Great sprint of a match too, built well, both guys looked good, and it ended at the right time

I was just having some fun and don’t actually want to jump into this but we do have an idea of what they want (keep it over 500k) and half the discussions on this board are pointless speculation

For real though Darby is attempting a serious physical endeavour while already banged up and without a ton of training and body fat for energy/warmth so good luck to him. Apparently you can’t make a climb without a group to vouch for you so he shouldn’t be able to do anything too dumb but a dude died climbing solo 20 years ago. Hopefully he’s been training enough that he doesn’t get altitude sickness at base camp and can’t do anything

Ratings only matter when they’re going up

I keep coming back to this interview. I can't tell if it's foreshadowing a heel turn or just adding fuel to the fire for Gable to eventually unseat Gunther. Or heck, have Sami win at Mania and then Gable challenges and wins the title on the RAW (Raw After Wrestlemania). Dude's been doing such good work that I almost want him to go straight to challenging McIntyre because I think those matches and promos would rule but he's been on a losing streak so it wouldn't really be justified. Also, for a brief second I wondered if he would join Imperium but no, then I thought they might shove him into the tag title whatever with Otis and that actually seems plausible

Checked out some highlights and it was a hot show! Mone and Okada will breathe new life into those divisions and Ospreay is earning every penny so far even though he’s already fallen into the FTR trap of giving fired up promos about how well he’s going to perform which seems counterintuitive to me

Joaquin Wilde hit another amazing dive last night, I timestamped to it https://youtu.be/AAm0nswRe80?t=91

That’s a good point. I try to find a balance, enjoy it in the moment and think about it more afterward

That’s interesting, do you mean you think there’s more marks as opposed to smart marks in wrestling audiences again? What part do you think they don’t realize is fictional?

It’s also a rich person’s idea of punk

The Scorpion King shoots an arrow with a fist on it that hits this guy and sends him flying through the ceiling. That's high cinema

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k7iJFHMm6Q&ab_channel=WWE Chad Gable's post-match interview. Good stuff

I think there’s some intention behind heating up Gable at the same time as they’re building Zayn and then pitting them against each other. Maybe a Gable heel turn on Sami? He’s in need of a character change as it is

Some fine Greek theatre pro wrestling with Seth and Drew and later Cody who even broke out the waterworks Lynch/Morgan was rad, solid showing from Liv Turning Maxxine's flubs into an angle is better than ignoring them, plus now Candice LeRae has something to do. I read Dupree's response to the internet on 411 and it was self-aware and confident so now I want her to get better and succeed (in NXT) Stark and Baszler/Kabuki Warriors was pretty dope but it was heel vs heel so nobody cared Goddamn, another month of R Truth and the Judgement Day? They built the IC title and the gauntlet match throughout the night and by the end I wanted to see Gable go against Gunther as much as Zayn. Match itself was really well executed, every guy paired well with the others since they've all been bumping around this division for a while. Nice reminder that Ricochet is incredible and they probably could be using Bronson Reed a little more. Interesting ending with Zayn/Gable, another split crowd reaction for two underdog babyfaces but they still got the crowd there by the end. I did a little fist pump when Sami went over although I agree that Gable has earned a way into the match and there's no better way to get the title off Gunther and keep him dominant than having not one but two underdogs beat him

I don't care who the asshole is in all of this, sometimes assholes are right and either way you have to find a way to work with assholes especially in wrestling. I think it's a failure on the part of both parties that guys like Miro aren't used to even half of their potential. I also think that after being forced to do bad creative in WWE that some folks would be reluctant to trust in the process in AEW when they have creative control

From what I’ve been able to glean of Tony’s booking style from bits and bobs on podcasts he either allows talent to create their own angles or gives them angles at the last minute but won’t force them to do anything. Seems to me Miro had a couple of bad ideas of his own and then refused to do any of Tony’s ideas at all. And to be fair I wouldn’t show up for a hastily booked Meat Madness cluster that I was going to lose only to disappear again either, that’s just protecting your value as an on screen character. And the way contracts are structured he has no reason to acquiesce, he gets paid either way. So I’d agree it’s an AEW problem only in as much as managing difficult talent and getting a return on investment from them is most of what bookers have done over the years. You can’t count on everyone being Sting

I agree it almost seems inevitable now, but the last time Cody had that stip he still lost so you never know

That said, I'm glad we didn't get Spike Dudley pinning Tenta as part of the giant killer swing

Overall I thought this was a bit of a dud ep until the final promo. The matches were nothing to write home about and a lot of the segments were a mess or more like two years ago WWE than some of the newer styles they've been experimenting with Orton and Owens/Waller and Theory felt like a house show match. Randy moves slower every match and people love it, it's wild. I'm not sure why I don't give a shit what Kevin Owens is up to but I don't Speaking of things to not give a shit about, what to do with Karrion Kross? Lashley and the Profits could be doing better things Tiff "Sparkplug" Stratton started flexing like she's Dana Brooke And your main event is Angel Garza/Dragon Lee. Lee's got an entrance like he's a Mortal Kombat character and a dope new robe but he had a bad night One whole segment was entrances. Amazing. I started grinning like an idiot when Rock had new Black Adam lightning and didn't stop until the end of the show, great over the top stuff and even Rollins managed to come back up a little. The only misstep was Roman's shitty 'crossdresser' line but fortunately it seemed like everyone else was as put off by it as I was. I can't believe there was a 'diarrhea' chant, Seth looked so happy after getting dunked on all week for it

I’ve heard a lot of different formulas for how views translate into dollars on YouTube, they keep changing it. Does anyone know what a million views equals these days? Someone mentioned offsetting any losses to TV ad revenue with YouTube and in my old head there’s no way the money is the same

Every young wrestler should read that passage about Kawada not being able to eat soup regularly cause his neck and back are destroyed

Roman won the main of Mania 37 because Jey returned and interfered so it’s been a while