SturmCRF

You just saved me a lot of time and effort writing basically the same thing, thanks. I'm a huge AEW fan, but I agree with a lot of AK's criticisms, it's just that they're mostly very small fry for me compared to what I like. Jungle Boy and Sammy suck at promos, agreed, but I like watching a company that lets them try and fail. I don't like reading most of what AK says because it makes me feel worse about something I enjoy, but I'm capable of having my opinion challenged. Where it comes across as disingenuous is in how little criticism I see from him towards WWE, and how a lot of his praise of them, and forgive me if I'm conflating this with someone else's take, is that they're good because they're doing record business and are currently very popular with the mainstream wrestling fan. Which, for me, is a bit too close to the 'Ed Sheeran/Coldplay must be great artists because they sell out stadiums and do billions of Spotify listens' school of criticism. It's one thing to deconstruct the issues with AEW and make me question the fact that it's the best weekly TV wrestling show in history, but good luck making a convincing case for current WWE not being mainly a travesty still.

I have! Three times, I think. Excellent fun, not insanely loud, but I think the UK has some sort of upper noise limit these days. I saw SunnO))) in a theatre in Birmingham before that though, and that has to be the loudest, I was stuffing tissues in my ears so I didn't go deaf or shit myself.

Thanks a lot dude, much appreciated! It's on Sunday. I will be spending it in a sling as some idiot teenager dropped me on my shoulder on Tuesday, but on the plus side the arm is looking and feeling a lot better now than it did then. Going for a Chinese with some friends tomorrow and having sushi with the family on Sunday, so I will be very well fed. And it was very considerate of AEW to do a Saturday Rampage for me to watch the next day.

Chad Gable beats Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.

You're right. I don't think I outright said it was on TV for any significant time before AEW, but I guess I implied it. I'd maintain it was a Being A Good Wrestling Show success though, and its decline largely coincided with having to compete for ratings with AEW. Less time for new acts to find their feet, while anyone who had a hint of potential star power got grounded there for an indefinite and storyline ruining duration.

Yeah, I'd love to see the cranky maniac back, but not at the cost of a brand split. I haven't officially retired from the joys of the pit, but in a post Dillinger Escape Plan and Every Time I Die world, it's rare I feel compelled. I do four gym sessions, two Judo lessons and a 10K run pretty much every week, so I guess I'll either maintain an excellent level of fitness for my age or evaporate into a fine mist by about 42. Only major injury so far is a torn meniscus last year, but I think that was 90% a 180lbs man falling on me and only 10% age or genetics.

Cheers mate! Yup, I remembered that we were basically the same age, the early 90's WWF UK media offensive took so many young minds.

Wait, is he? And don't we? I'm of Polish descent on both sides and 38 next week, I hope my bones don't start exploding whenever I leap triumphantly over a barricade into a melee of people.

I'm not an Adam Cole fan at all, and could probably list 50 guys I'd rather seen pushed at a main event level than him, but it's not really fair to blame him on AEW beating NXT. NXT is a developmental show/indy wrestler storage facility that was put up against AEW to disrespect the competition and set up HHH to fail at something. As soon as NXT went head to head with AEW it was doomed, because it trapped your Ciampas, Garganos and Coles in a stagnant treadmill of bullshit, forcing them to pretend they were part of a viable third brand. It gummed up the works, undermined the headliners' characters by making them look like losers with no ambition to go to WWE proper and fight for the big boy belts. Pre AEW, NXT always had some mix of novelty, with a regular churn of new wrestlers and gimmicks (which is the main thing keeping it watchable now, for all the bad acting and Shawn Michaels over emoting), and indy dream matches. Once AEW was on the scene, anyone with more of an interest in the wider world of wrestling could go elsewhere for their dose of work rate, and even the WWE die hards must have been confused by the sudden end to main roster ascension, and new wrestlers finding their feet no longer being trusted to draw a rating now there was a war on. The happiest I ever was to see Adam Cole was when he debuted, as part of a CM Punk and Bryan Danielson debut sandwich. He's perfect as a roster depth guy, who's good enough to meet the level of his opponent and over enough to be a credible sometime main eventer. He just shouldn't be allowed to turn every match into a neverending finisher and kickout exchange, and no wrestling show should be allowed to become the Adam Cole hour, solely focused on the travails and doings of Adam Cole.

I feel like I went to many a metal club night in Birmingham in the mid '00s featuring at least fifteen couples who looked approximately like Rhea Ripley with Pac.

Seems like Danhausen could make hay out of a Gremlins promotion. I had no idea there was new Gremlins coming out, and am quite excited. I inexplicably find the Gremlins theme song to be one of the most moving pieces of music ever recorded. It just seems to sum up the ever hopeful but ultimately doomed, chaotic tragi-comedy that is humanity. And also the film Gremlins.

I'd say so. Those matches were both excellent, and ZSJ vs Shota, Aussie Open vs Bishomon, Hiromu vs Eagles werent far off. Maybe not worth a full PPV price if you know the results, but $7, sure.

Aleksandar Mitrovic vs Aubrey Edwards could be huge if they book it right.

I work with a Fulham fan. Awful prick. No interest in wrestling. I can exclusively reveal, however, that at least two tickets for All In are as good as sold. I thoroughly enjoyed that show, even down to the MJF segment. I'm usually leaning towards being sick of him, but there's something charming about how he embraces the Long Island bizarro world reaction and is a face there. WWE would never allow that. Also, Jay White turning up made me so happy. I'm lukewarm on him overall, but I was excited to see where he'd land, and watched that epochally awful Raw the other night because of a faint hope that they'd debut him (or an NXT callup, or anyone, or do anything at all to quicken the pulse more than Omos vs Elias for Chrissakes). AEW just throw a Jay White in your lap in the first two minutes, set up Jericho vs Keith Lee straight after that and roll immediately into House Of motherfucking Black before you can even collect your thoughts. I love this company so much. Not even a top tier show bell to bell, but so much incident, so many reasons to look forward to the next show. You always know you're watching the output of someone who loves, rather than hates, pro wrestling.

Managed to nab myself and the girlfriend tickets to Forbidden Door II and the following Dynampage in Hamilton. We're going to the Canada!

I hope Sanada wins. He's very hit or miss as a wrestler, but it's much more satisfying from a storytelling perspective, and the new look/stable change sort of demands it. Plus I can do without any more mega reigns from Okada. Or anyone really.

Massively. They need to sign her, she's the only difference making star apart from Punk. More generally, while I can still barely concieve of anyone preferring WWE to AEW, they have lost something in the last year, and that's surprise debuts. I know they can't make WWE release name talent like they did in 2021 but that's what it is, it's why their ratings are down and why even people in here who love AEW are generally less enthused. Speaking for myself, even though Kenny vs Hangman was better booked than MJF vs Dragon, I care about them both equally, which is to say much less than the fresher stuff down card that hasn't had months of shows built around it. I guess I only really care about main events in wrestling when the challenger would be a first time champion, who has never held a major title before, and has a genuine shot at winning. Which I realise as I write it includes Hangman, but he had a long build and seemed inevitable when he won. Basically I think I want endless Brock vs Eddie Guerrero, which is easier said than done.

Honestly, half the reason I find WWE so unwatchable these days is their bullshit, nothing theme songs. CFO$ did some great stuff that was fit to lace Jim Johnston's boots, but these days they're nearly all forgettable trash.

I took the Mercedes heelishness as indulging her Eddie Guerrero fandom, and just generally revelling in being free to add a bit more nuance to her work now she isn't working for a company where most wrestlers have to either 'love to have fun!' or literally be Satan. But yeah, she was definitely both having and eating cake. Excellent match, maybe not quite as good as Giulia vs Suzu Suzuki from the other week, but better than anything she's had in WWE for a long while.

Might be looking forward to Cage vs Takeshita the most. Big meaty men exchanging Def Jam: Vendetta finishers, bring it on.

About this Vince wants to return rumour... Is it paranoid to think that a belief/fear he would be returning is why there have been no major changes to most of the shows, apart from fired wrestlers returning to fill out the roster, and a reduction of some of the more outrageously stupid and juvenile angles? I put it down to the fact that the content machine was simply too big to slow down or maybe everyone being scared of Kevin Dunn, but perhaps no one ever really thought the monster had truly gone away, and they're all still trying to impress him like they've been conditioned to do. But I guess it's impossible to draw a line between them booking a still very Vincey show because they never thought he was truly retired, or because years of brainwashing have convinced them that this is the only way to make money in wrestling, and any major deviation will bring ruin.

Think I've settled on Krüller by Author & Punisher as my album of the year. Long time since an album has grown on me like this one, at first I was disappointed that there was nothing quite as hooky as my favourite track on his last album, but when it sinks in, it really sinks in. The title track was lodged in my brain for a solid week. I liked the Chat Pile album a lot, and it's in my top 20 for sure, but I think I still carry a torch for noise rock where horrible deviants sing about being horrible deviants. I'm probably a prick, but I'm just not there yet for very on the nose shrieking about how homelessness is bad, it made me cringe a bit. Grimacesmokingweed.jpg is incredible though.

Sol Ruca is a one woman walking aircraft hanger of the settle-downs. I really hope she turns out to be good so she can be on TV forever.

Currently about to watch the game in a pub in Blackpool. No sign of Wheeler Yuta. Hope Preston Vance and the lads can do it, but if not I'm getting behind Ismaila Sarr bringing the trophy back to Watford where it belongs.

I hope this is just a one off thing, and they go back to proper Survivor Series matches. Wargames are usually a let down, and personally I think the one man advantage, which then nearly always has to go to the heels, is too business exposing even for 2022. Elimination tags often end up underwhelming because people get beaten in contrived circumstances far sooner than they would in a one fall match. The idea of the match is great though, and when it's done properly to sell it as a war of attrition, like some of those epic Japanese ones, or the 2003(?) Team Austin vs Team Bischoff(?) one, it's maybe my favourite stipulation. Also, no Sasha yet, please. Want to see her in Stardom, then AEW, then maybe WWE again in five years. Let chaos reign, give us as many unique matches as possible while they're at least vaguely possible, death to stagnation.