A_K

Matt Hardy's hairline is certainly getting deleted. Dressing him up in his late 90s New Brood / early 00s HBoys outfit is a little questionable .. but I guess black is slimming. Overall its a fun novelty (the music esp. conjures a lot of memories) but that's where it should stop. I'm not sure there have ever been nostalgia-tag teams that draw really .. these things tend to fall a little flat. While its an inherently self-referential industry .. the business as a whole seems weakest when its focused on looking back rather than forward (WWE/F always at its height with a young new star at the front of the product for example .. TNA fell flat on its face with its host of old stars etc.).

No rants (my statement in full was: "Given the diversity furore on Twitter, Wardlow will not be winning the title next week. A 1 week humiliation reign is not going to happen here"). I just state observations that usually come through or else I wouldn't post them (e.g. Cody to be an inevitability to be bounced from the company). You chose to quote one of my posts to say you'd resurface it, not me. I do appreciate your wider post and don't want to labor the point but just to highlight this element as I think it does merit discussion: RE: Khan - I think you misunderstand him. The guy is a P/E guy from a corporate background/upbringing. He also has media shareholders to satisfy. While he will not have publicly come out in recognition of that point (and I myself as I have said before think it was a baseless accusation, and that he was right to defend as he did), they will 100% factor it into future decision making. For a very PC core fanbase, the last thing they want was for that accusation to fester. Having Scorpio Sky lose to a huge white dude from Ohio a week after taking the belt was never going to happen. You need to look past the carnyness at times and realise it is still a business after all (and TK is a highly commercial person) and this will affect decision making. Ultimately Wardlow simply shouldn't have won the ladder match (Lee probably should have .. that feud with Hobbs is going to be an unproductive one for those two as well .. and Lee probably should have taken the TV title given they already have a host of underdog champions. They're in a bit of a bind now with their title programming, and I expect ratings to suffer somewhat in the near-term tbh).

I listened to Wardlow last week. Like I said, it was too long, and the first part was Tito Ortiz levels of awkwardness. Yes, the Devon angle worked: while “presentation” / tackiness of gimmick was variable, functionally within 6 months Batista had debuted in the company, gone through the low card “hired muscle” stage, and gone over Devon and was established in mid card. All within 6 months. Then he was in Evolution by month 8 and the rest was history. That was the function of the angle - It did the job it needed to do to facilitate him moving on to higher stakes via a gatekeeper talent. That was the purpose. MJF isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a gatekeeper talent - but that’s what he’ll be as a stepping stone at the very beginning of the Wardlow journey (and he is at the beginning, as he has no big singles bout wins but numerous big single bout losses - the ladder gimmick match being biggest win). The sequencing here is all off. MJF has lost two consecutive intensely long feuds. A third and his machination character that they have built (to great effect) simply looks stupid. The two could have split and be kept apart while Wardlow built integrity of independent-singles-star with some strong wins, MJF re-legitimised his Machiavellian character after being made a fool of by hired hand and then they come together with serious stakes. This isn’t going to work for either. @SirFozzie - no “wah” here - I’m simply telling you how this is going to go. The angle will fall flat and the enduring outcomes will not be beneficial. Quote me when I’m wrong.

See second sentence of paragraph quoted. Was never going to happen, and that contributes to why this decision-making process is so stupid.

They just had Sammy as transitional. Why on earth would they ever have had Scorpio as transitional too? Not to speak of the fact they were accused of burying talent of colour recently. Not sure what people were smoking who saw the quick title turn. Who will believe MJF feuding with a “top champ” after dropping blow offs to Jericho, Punk and (presumably) Wardlow all in succession? Nobody. He becomes a “Machiavellian” jester. They just end up in the same drawn out bind as they did with Page, and they’d need to turn MJF face at that point for any benefit. Equally if Wardlow loses this then he’s dead in the water already as well. Think about it. This is not a clever or beneficial program to be running right now.

Yes they do need stakes. Batista over Devon worked because Devon was a gatekeeper. Batista over Triple H worked because it was for the title. This is completely the wrong time. MJF lost blow off matches vs Jericho & Punk. He loses this one too (eventually). That completely cools him for any title run, and he shouldn’t be a gate keeper either. Wardlow out there last week talking like Tito Ortiz (keep him away from 90 s + promos). AEW frequently has a pit fall of bad planning still, and this is very bad planning. They had to keep these two away from each other for now. You can quote me like the other guy when this falls flat of expectations later on. Separately no, we now have 3 out of 5 “underdog champions” (4 if Hangman is still considered to court “underdog” status). That is too many. The title presentations have become too lopsided.

As noted last week, it is not possible for Scorpio Sky to drop the title in short order after the diversity row on Twitter. Separately, you heard it here first that they have blown the Wardlow/MJF feud. There are no stakes, and after the intense & lengthy CM Punk program this was not the one to run. It is also going to present problems for the mid-term representation of both talents.

@NoFistsJustFlips — Hey yo. Quote me.

He was a jobber for a start up promotion that had very little leverage to acquire more than a handful of notable stars. For an organisation with multiple network shows with aspirations to being the pre-eminent organisation he is amongst the most obvious of chaff to be cut.

There are no characters like Hall in the business today. Effortlessly cool. Effortless flow. Effortless characterisation. He lived the role. No smarky nods; no carnyness; no nods to “match ratings” and all that silliness. True great.

Sid looked otherworldly. Genuinely larger than life, and those kind of talents are exceptionally rare - perhaps generational. No “big men” debutants have carried themselves like Sid in the past 10-15 years.

Hobbs / Lee is a really stupid feud to run. Neither can take that loss.

Paige had, what, 5 wins in UFC? A 5-round loss against Rose is nothing to sneer at. She wasn’t a championship Calibre fighter but she was a more-than-capable member of the roster and at peak probably a top 10 fighter in her division. A legitimate athlete who then found more money in Dancing with the stars, photo shoots, media etc. It happens. V big pick up for AEW (probably paying her a fortune). Jade / Paige will be the money angle.

As a note to the above - there is absolutely no chance of MJF taking the title in any foreseeable future if they kick the Wardlow program off now (he also won’t go over Wardlow at the end of it, which creates its own dilemas).

Didn’t hear any real sentiment in the Regal promo shared here, yes he gave more credence to Danielson but he is more closely identified with Danielson. No real negativity or bad body language to Moxley. Having taken pains to pair the two and having already had a no-stakes singles bout, they won’t blow these two off yet. The money is in Moxley doing what Danielson couldn’t and beating Hangman down the line (feel good story after substance-absence), then having the split occur there and the two face for the titles.

Given the diversity furore on Twitter, Wardlow will not be winning the title next week. A 1 week humiliation reign is not going to happen here. Surprised WWE don't have that Hardy music on lock. Its one of the most recognisable entrance tracks there is. Acclaimed should have won the title. Shit-talking Acclaimed like an early 00s E&C getting through each defence with cunning & cowardice then facing Danielson + Moxley and trying to talk/scheme their way out of a title defence was the money angle.

Sting just looks outrageously good for his age. Given Funk is mentioned above, Sting is like a decade older than Funk was on his final WWF run. Obviously the make up helps a lot, but few words to describe how much better his conditioning is compared to other peers who were performing a decade or more younger.

While general public obviously have limited exposure to Punk, it is nice to see that his palette has been cleansed and that he did not finish his public career with the tail-end of the WWE run / UFC fiasco. An incredible personal rebuild.

A night of epic entrances. Jade's MK attire & Miseria Cantere. Boom. Big league event without an ounce of kooky carnyness to be seen.

Masvidal also 37 and his stamina is an absolute joke. He looked woefully unfit out there, certainly not fit enough for a 5 rounder. Guy must be close to being done at this level, surprised they dont try and run him/McGregor for the pay day.

Because it is camp in a trailer-park-trash / lowest-form-of-wit kind of way, not in a self-referential or empowering way. Billy & Chuck, Cena/Rock "brokeback" jokes etc.

Masvidal stamina woeful. He had nothing round 3 onwards. Literally nothing in the tank to even move forward after the fluke counter punch in 4th.

They could of course run Wardlow / Spears first then down the line do MJF / Wardlow with the title in play. That would be a bit of a refreshing way of tackling that narrative. It is quite cliche for Wardlow to physically turn on his storyline-employer off the bat (it’s been done many times before) .. simply have him walk away from MJF without physical confrontation in questioning the morality of it all, then have him as a looming menace building a win streak up in the background, the only talent on the roster that gives MJF shivers as he knows all-too-well his power and ability first hand. Merge the Batista/Evolution & Goldberg/Hogan runs in the storytelling.

Danielson & Punk don’t need the title. They haven’t had a “super team” tag champs combo yet however, and Danielson could fit well with that as a tag champ. Punk has a few more narrative-based storylines that could easily take him through the next 12-18 months in the upper card without needing gold (esp. if his appearances become intermittent). The MJF sequence to the title feels a bit off with the Wardlow dilemma looming in the background. No clean way to manage that via an MJF title win first. They’re in a bit of a corner on that .. MJF is hot enough for the title now but only if they pass on the Wardlow feud.

Yeah the Joker card reveal scene at end of Begins was very good, Begins of course also coming after a string of mostly lame superhero films before they were quite so entrenched in cinema culture: this scene probably read well on paper (Dano + Keoghan having a psychotic telepathy .. what’s not to love in theory) but the fact both are separated makes this all very awkward and trying to be a little too clever. They really have no chemistry here simply speaking through a wall. I understand why Reeves wanted to hide Keoghan’s face (just as they hid Dano in all trailers & promotional material) but it wasn’t necessary. That said, his role in Killing of a Sacred Deer also should give some insight into how he’s going to tackle this .. we are going to get an understated psychopath whose brawn is in his stare alone. Exciting. RE: Nolan’s film .. I haven’t seen these in years, but was a little disappointed watching back some clips how hammy these were after-the-fact (Bale’s voice & cowl .. a lot of very wooden dialogue .. I prefer Reeves’ presentation at this point understated as it is).