NoFistsJustFlips

Hoping for a WWE logo tat on the other side of the neck. Fingers crossed.

Well thank god I didn't place that parlay bet lol. Free agency this year is just bonkers man. The way that contract is structured is shady as fuck but also maybe the smartest move in all of contract history. Hope Watson doesn't shit the bed or blow out his ACL again. Browns would be on the hook for so much dead money. I don't see Baker going for much. There's no leverage, everyone knows he needs dumped. He's in the final year of a contract. His iffy play won't help. He's better than a few options but he is so not worth the gamble. He wants The Colts but I don't see it. I don't see The Seahawks having interest. Maybe The Panthers? Texans obviously want to ride with the cheap option. New Orleans won't risk it. Jamis also has a higher ceiling. Maybe The Bucs would have been interested before Brady. Falcons are gonna stick with Matt Ryan. Idk man, The Jets? Pittsburgh? (No way he'll go there, but he's better than Trubiski).

I think it could be more fun if Tully brings in a million different indy teams trying to take them out. It's pretty thin on narrative, but I would enjoy a bunch of one offs. Almost like when Cody was working random indy guys in TNT Title matches. AEW gets to tryout some fresh faces, and maybe they find a few teams they'd like to keep. I mean Cody's deal did lead to Starks & Kingston signing. But FTR is doing a run of the indys working randoms. Could be fun if they were able to pick the teams they liked to work every few weeks on Dynamite until the story gets to it's next stage.

I have a feeling the league office has informed the teams involved of what the current stance is. If nothing more salacious comes out during the civil depositions they will stick him with like a 2-4 game suspension. What's 2-4 games in the grand scheme of having a franchise QB for the next 5-10 years ya know. Now the real comedy ensues if some craziness comes out in the civil cases. If it's enough to suspend him for a year or more there's going to be a very pissed off GM in Atlanta. (Or New Orleans. But probably Atlanta).

As for The Hardys quarter hour rating, who gives a fuck lol. If there are 4 or 5 episodes in a row where The Hardy's match dips, and the matches are placed in different quarter hours, sure then decry them a failure or whatever. This is one episode. With a match against a cold team with minimal story. It's a bad quarter hour but maybe people checked out because they didn't care about The Hardys vs Private Party? It's far too soon to start taking a victory lap on your hatred of The Hardys.

I can't exactly say this is a wrong statement, but man what a fucking terrible world view to have lol. Let some joy in brother. No. What? No. You're conflating good workers with drawing well. The highest ever sold TNA PPV was 45,000 buys with the Angle Joe MMA Lockdown Match. If you think 1/2 of WWE's lowest PPV ever or doing 1/4 of the average AEW buys is good, you're wrong. TV did good by today's standards on Spike. Slightly above what AEW does now. But the TV landscape was much different. What they got was 20% of what WWE was getting at the time. So no, that wasn't good in context. Moved tickets in what sense? The PPVs on the road would do about 3,000 -4,000 tickets. Is that good? How many of those 3,000 - 4,000 were papered? I sense a good deal of it. Because house shows did about 800-1000 in that era. So that shows about what they can sell without the paper. Is that good? No. TNA was doing the best they could. Their backbone was built on a carny Memphis mentality. They over achieved while simultaneously coming up way short of what they should have achieved. Don't let a fondness of the memories cloud the truth of their history. AEW has surpassed them in every possible metric and it's not even close.

I would think WWE legal would be all over that one. Unless he pronounces it Ces-Row, that's not going hold up. I know there are work arounds like nZo for Enzo. But Enzo's full name was Enzo Amore. So just a similar sounding partial name skates by. Just keeping the same name but spelling it weird wouldn't get by I don't think.

Fixed that for ya. Put anyone's name in there. Still true. Because no one drew for TNA. Because TNA was TNA. So it's not fair to indite someone over not getting them over the hump. They had a Hulk Hogan debut, nWo runion, RVD, Ric Flair, & Jeff Hardy all show up on the SAME NIGHT and it popped exactly one decent number before everyone was like nah this sow sucks. (Not a shot at any talent. That's a shot at how it was ran and promoted as a brand).

I have no idea what The Browns were thinking. I don't know that much about Watson, but nothing about Cleveland seems like a situation he would be interested in. They have Amari Cooper. And a great run game. But it's not really the system he wants. To me it's pretty foolish that they sacrificed Mayfield for what essentially would be super long odds. This will be fun tho. Predicting Watson goes to Atlanta. Matt Ryan ends up in Indianapolis. Baker sits out this season. Browns pick up Jamis Winston. Jimmy G ends up in New Orleans. Jordan Love ends up traded to The Panthers. Sam Darnold to The Texans. Quick someone find me a sports book parlay lol.

I very much agree with this point. If the plan wasn't to get Wardlow the win, then the ladder match win seems out of place. I understand the grander point you bring up having Scorpio lose after a week long title reign. (And as seen by the reaction to Brock beating champions of color I agree it would receive that kind of attention). But I was looking at it purely from the boosting Wardlow perspective. Him beating Sammy would split the crowd. Him beating an annoying heel that doesn't have cool heat, who also has this long streak, is a good idea. I was picturing Warrior squashing Honky Tony. Honky held the title forever so not totally apples to apples. But the reaction would be similar from the live audience. But when factoring in being under the microscope about diversity and the optics of how that would play out, I get it. But yeah total head scratcher. If you wanted a heel performer of color to get the TNT title I think Hobbs winning the ladder match and beating Sammy would have been much more productive. His feud with Lee now would have some real purpose. And then you don't get into Wardlow being derailed. I think we actually agree on this more than disagree. I was just a dipshit being so bull headed about how I thought the Wardlow win would play out lol.

New phone who dis? Nah I will eat that L like a man lol. I also promise not to blow up every thread claiming it's still gonna happen like Flair's Shadow ha. -I kind of don't like how it played out. Sure they got their heat on Wardlow. But some people should be above the gang beat downs. If you treat the unbeatable monster like everyone else he loses his aura. So I would have preferred if they were going to screw him they did something a little more creative / less group beat down-y. So now Wardlow eventually gets to MJF and either beats him (which doesn't actually do all that much for him) or MJF finds a way to beat Wardlow (and that hurts his aura even more). I'll let it play out but feel like they biffed it here. Quick little response to the whole "nO wAy ThEy'D hAvE ScoRpiO LoSe" rants. Seemed to be a way to add even more steam to Wardlow. He wins a title. He takes the dude's streak (he's undefeated for a year or whatever). It all seemed like it was done to strap a rocket to Wardlow. And if you'd have paid attention to how TK handled the Big Swole thing, he doesn't buy into the people of color issues. We do and it's a fair talking point. But he's an ostrich on this one and just kind of buried his head and said he himself is a minority so it's a non issue. So mayyybeee chill on the indignation here? K thanks guy. -Funny little side note on Garcia. I saw his trainer ask him why not change his name to Dante Rios (the name WWE gave him when he did enhancement work on NXT a few times in 2020). And he pointed out WWE actually trademarked that name. Which is just so odd. Did WWE want to offer him a deal? Did they actually think his enhancement name was a legitimate option to take with him? Just weird man. -Cage match had some good spots but didn't quite click enough to hit that higher level. What's up with AEW's cage being bigger? For both the Wardlow / Cody and Bucks / Lucha Bros matches there was not enough room to get out of the cage. Did they specifically extend it just so they could get plunder from under the ring? Odd choice. On first look I actually thought they were using an 18' ring for the night vs the normal 20' they always use. I mean in a way it's actually kind of cool. They went to TK and said hey we'd like to be able to do this in the cage match, and dude had the team add extensions in to make it happen. Picture Vince ever doing something like that. Yeah right lol. But if you look on a few of the cage segments they had little 8 inch pieces of metal welded in between the panels. That's how you can tell it was changed. It never had those before. And pretty sure it was done specifically to let them get weapons from under the ring. Because their big lights out match was entirely based on that.

Cage already got fired from WWE. He was a developmental guy for awhile. They cut him. He is not shy about how he hated his time there and wouldn't go back. Not to mention openly talks about how he couldn't pass a wellness test and his piss would melt a styrofoam cup lol. Money talks. I'm sure if they offered him a deal he'd take it. But I think the thing is they wouldn't offer him a deal. He has all that baggage / lots of injuries in his past / he's too old for what they want now and not a college athlete with zero wrestling experience.

With Cage, they re-signed him for a reason. I'm not sure what that reason is, but they have to have something in mind. And he must want to be there. It was an option on the contract like NFL has with rookies, which the company has full discretion to exercise but the talent doesn't have a say. That not withstanding, he obviously still wants to be there. They haven't been signing people that want to leave. So if Cage wanted out, I don't think they would have forced the contract option years on him. Miro is healthy. He just has to wait his turn in the rotation I guess. I hope they have an idea for him and are just waiting on executing it. But who knows for sure. AEW has a lot of hoss workers. Seems like they only use 2 or 3 of them at a time and rotate them. Miro & Archer were used heavily while Wardlow & Luchasuarus didn't do much for a while. Now Wardlow & Luchasaurus are on every week and Miro & Archer don't have much to do. Throw in Keith Lee & Hobbs being used regularly right now. Only so many spots that make sense for those guys. Especially with the strict match total formula AEW uses.

Okay 2 years 11 million is much more reasonable. I must have seen that 17 number and was in such a rage I stopped reading lol. I will say that I actually like The Giants not going crazy on free agents. (Cap space could be the reason in actuality. But it still counts). They spent an ass load last year and they had a 0 TD season from Golliday to show for it. It seems much more reasonable to get their system in place. Get a year under their belt. Decide if Danny Dimes is the guy or not. Then you spend money and try to get the pieces together. Crawl. Walk. Run. Under Gettleman it was all Crab Walk all the time.

I wonder if they realize this is just Raw Underground. Like do they think they invented this concept?

This may just be semantics and what you actually meant anyways, I just want to make sure it's highlighted. It is an intentional choice. Unless there is a behavior issue (ala speaking out) or a request from an unhappy talent (ala Kylie Rae) AEW does not release people. They are the anti WWE. They are going to pay you your entire contract, no matter what. They don't do early cuts (without cause) like WWE. Ain't no budget cuts here brother. They will choose to not re-sign people when their contract ends. But if you get a 3 year deal, you;'re getting paid for the whole 3 years. Regardless if Tony accidentally signs 500 new wrestlers, you won't be cut just because. But AEW doesn't do releases. At all. Period.

2 years & $17 million for a backup?? Ugh. Are we sure Gettleman actually left? I get that having a reliable backup can be an important piece of the puzzle. But surely they could have found more value out there. At least throw the number 56 on Tyrod so it feels like The Giants got a better deal. #56 Taylor for $17 million? A steal!

I'm going to choose to only look at the silver lining. Scott had a long painful path where he was self loathing and suicidal for a very long time. He was able to grind his way from the very bottom back to the top of the mountain. He did the work. He was happy, he was healthy, he was sober. It's tragic that this is how his story is going to end in all likelihood. But I'm thankful he gets to go out on the top of the mountain instead of where he was 10 years ago. He got to mend relationships and re-write his story and completely rehab his legacy. If this is how he passes, he's going out on maybe the best note of his whole life. Personal acceptance and happiness. Incredibly tragic, but I also can't help but to smile knowing he won his battle with the demons in the end. Top of the mountain. No self loathing. No depression. Nothing but love and support on the way out. We should all be so lucky.

Debra's puppies drew more money than Jarrett ever did.... soooooo.... lol

I'm not real strong on my position on this one. I see both sides of it. Forgiveness is definitely a thing we all need more of. On the other hand, I'm not so sure someone so strong in their beliefs that they say they will shoot people that teach their kids gay marriage exists is ever going to actually learn or grow. How does anyone know if he's remorseful or his stance has changed at all? Don't mistake silence with regret. He may not regret what he said at all. He just hasn't spoke about it in 10 years. Jay Briscoe is talented as hell. It's a shame he lost opportunities. But there are hundreds of talented guys that never even got to be in Jay's position in the first place. I wouldn't be offended if they gave him a second shot. But I also wont lose any sleep if they choose not to roll the dice on him either.

I mean I kind of don't get the hate? On the scale of what the WWE Hall of Fame is she fits fine. Her as queen to Booker's king was a very entertaining side character. Isn't that enough? She was also a Nitro girl and a valet to Prince Iaukea's weird Prince gimmick. Torrie Wilson is in and she didn't do much more than that. It's fine. It's the WWE Hall of Fame. It's not a legitimate thing to care about.

I just disagree. This isn't me siding with "the machine" or anything. It's me seeing one player abusing his power. Sure he has a no trade clause. He should 100% use it to his advantage and only go where he thinks it would be a good fit. But there's a line that can be crossed where you go from this under appreciated player that wants to prove you are a great player in a great system, to an over reaching prima donna just trying to control every little thing because you can. Even the best QB of this generation (Brady) didn't demand to pick the coach of the team his signed with. Sure he wouldn't have gone somewhere with a coach he thought was bad, but he didn't demand anyone get fired to get his guy in there or anything. Watson is coming off a scandal. And a whole year of sitting at home. He's not this all time legend. He won one playoff game. So I just don't think he should be demanding to move all these parts around. Find a good situation. Find a good fit. Have a say in future hires. But don't just say you can't have me unless you fire X, Y, Z. That's bush league.

I hear ya man, but there's also taking that shit too far. *If* what was posted is true (he will only go to The Panthers if they fire their head coach), that's taking it too far. He has the trade clause but at a certain point if he doesn't like the situation he should just say no to The Panthers. Even if only for the optics. It makes him look bad to start demanding an organization to fire someone they are happy with just to placate his wants and needs. Does Matt Ruhle deserve to lose his job based on the wants and needs Watson and not the merit of his work? If The Panthers are happy with his work thus far, Watson demanding that paints him in a bad light. Which should impact other teams being interested. Should. But won't. I'm starting to get all kinds of Antonio Brown vibes from what's being reported on Watson.

Orrrrrr my completely unfounded theory that tickets to NXT are cheaper than a hotel, so it's mostly people trying to sleep on the cheap ?

That's... excessive... right? If true, that's some drama queen shit. $40 million isn't enough. I also want to be the GM, get to design the logo, and pick the flavor of soft drinks we sell to the fans. Idk who is in his ear telling him these demands are reasonable. He should be thankful he's escaping (mostly) consequence free from this whole ordeal. In his shoes I'd be chomping at the bit to just get on the field somewhere and get all of this stuff behind me.