Ziggy

The original card got cursed, I've been listening to a bit of interviews and podcasts hyping this show since I haven't really been keeping up with AEW so closely but it's still going to be interesting how this card turns out. Plus this is where all this added talent AEW has been signing come into handy. Hopefully next year I'll be in a better financial situation and not to buy to where I can watch AEW more consistently and occasionally buy a PPV. I was hugely in to New Japan before the shutdown but I haven't resubscribed to New Japan World since they started back up and you got the Gaijin touring again so I'm thinking about getting back in to NJPW. AEW haven't really handled the relationship well enough yet for me to get excited but I do expect it to get better as guys from both promotions get more comfortable traveling back and forth again. This card still has the potential to be good because even with the original line up it seemed to be built up strictly based on the match up and not so much on angles or programs.

Honestly Era Attitude Era WWF like probably a month before Survivor Series 97 to like When Smackdown started in fall 99 is the only WWF/WWE I have do desire to watch or rediscover again. I remember alot of internet fans around either stopped watching WWE or wrestling all together after the Benoit tragedies but me personally, I just recently discovered this board. Being around this board grew my fondness of WWE back that I hadn't had in years. I was back watching Smackdown and Raw every week in ' 07 till probably around ' 12 or '13 because of this board. The first half of '07 was really good I think especially for Raw. I Became a fan near the end of the New Generation Era. As bad as the gimmicks were most of the top guys gimmicks weren't so cartoony and the roster was small and the top guys were larger than life.

I've said at the beginning of the walkout that I'd love to see Naomi wrestle outside of WWE. I don't know it she'd want to wrestle outside of WWE but she's married into a prominent wrestling family and even outside of that she seems to enjoy wrestling and seemed to seemed to a level of pride in wanting to have actual great matches. I've also said before that I think as athletically gifted as she is WWE hindered her growth as an inring performer by having her do so many dance routine spots in her matches. Some of these spots are over but I think subconsciously fans can't take her as seriously as the other 4 horsewomen in comparison because of those spots alot like Emma. I could Naomi becoming like Tay Conti as far as surprising people with how good she could be outside of that system. But I also she Naomi feeling like she might be a big enough star to get TV roles and stuff outside of wrestling but I guess we'll see

I'm a big fan of Sasha, I definitely hope she continues to work atleast semi regularly for a national wrestling promotion. AEWs women's division I feel is not at the level it could be. I've yet to feel like I would enjoy any of the 4 horsewomen in AEW. Impact is way less profile company but they book their women's division much better. AEW has a great talent pool now but they haven't yet gotten a good foot on booking the women. Although I'm not confident in AEW booking their women's division properly, any of the 4 horsewomen would be the equivalent of Bryan or Punk coming in for that division where having Sasha would be enough to get people excited about it beyond just a great match and giving it real star power. As much of a "Diva" and "Superstar" she is in her own mind, she definitely is compared to 97% of AEWs roster, she still prides herself in being the best in the world. It would be interesting just from an inring perspective how she does without the handcuffs of WWE. She'd really be trying to kill herself with out the micromanagement of Titan

So people suspect this is the real reason Steph stepped down. WWE has been super bizarro World since Nick Kahn took over from Hunter losing power to. NXT changing to Steph being made like an incompetent employee now this scandal comes out. What next?

It was basically Nash building a faction with Konnan who was probably the most hip to popular culture at the time and the 2 most over babyfaces in Luger and Sting. Smart move on Nash's Part. Wolfpac became a thing because of Nash and Hulk and Eric's heat with Nash. It got so Over that Hulk had to realign with Nash. It would have been better for NWO to have been done by '98 but I'm sure Hulk was probably unsure about going back babyface that early and probably was scared to be ca singles act without being aligned with anyone else. I think if Hulk thought he was going to be Over as a Face again then I believe Bischoff would've cut the NWO all together much sooner

I'm surprised they put the belt on Punk, I didn't expect either Punk or Bryan to win the World title in their first year in AEW. I certainly expect TK wanting to put the belt on either Bryan or Punk within their first year in the company but I pictured them not wanting to hold the main title so soon. Its going to be interesting to see where they go it because I find it hard to see him just be this straight laced babyface fighting champion for his entire run. Unless he wants to be 94-95 Bret but Punk has been for the most part big on feuds and angles. Didn't expect Hangman to lose but he's do well as Champion and he's a made man which is most important

They've been freezing people's contracts alot in the modern Era for while now. Mainly when a guy is injured though. Why are people reacting as if this is new. Sure it's petty but people are signing shorter term contracts nowadays but even 1 to 3 years is a long time to be stuck any place you do not want to come in to work to.

I know Punk comes across as a prick in his delivery but I never saw it as an attack on Rusev personally as much as it was an example of how on eggshells the new guys are in that company. He was brand new to the main roster and you can really blame the guy for not wanting to step on any toes. It was really good of Punk to give him that advice knowing the environment. And the situation with he and Lana has to be the most obvious example or at least top 2 or 3 blantantly obvious examples of them fucking with a couple just because they could long before the angle with Lashley. So I can see Punk being genuinely bothered by them not standing up for themselves especially by the time the Lashley angle came around Plus Rusev had been around long enough any had no delusions about where they saw him in the company by then. I agree with Mark Henry 100% about how unnecessary WWE burying Naomi and Sasha on TV. I do believe he is genuinely upset about it but up until he wasn't under contract with WWE he seemed to be very pro company over the talent in other instances. His response to the situation really makes me hope Uce really voiced his displeasure about the situation. If he walked out over it , it probably would have hurt company more than Sasha and Naomi given how the Usos are directly tied to Roman on TV.

I think Shelton was one of the guys hurt by the MitB match being a thing early on because he became one of those guys that they had to slot into that match because he was important enough in their plans to have an actual angle going on but he was important enough not to leave out that match because the knew he could hit a Tom of crazy spots to keep the match exciting. Kinda like Kofi and Naomi are the their respective Rumbles. Like you no they aren't out there to win but you know they are going to do some off the wall spot.

Well, Stephanie hasn't been involved directly in creative for about 15 years. Yes she's been an on air authority figure and had like 1 or two major angles that she was the focus of but she's mainly been on the corporate end. Shane's story had a bigger effect because it effected one of the biggest matches of the year and Mania plans. As for Sasha and Naomi, I agree with Dave that this was probably more of a contract leverage thing than anything else. If so than WWE is probably looking at this as these women are setting a bad precedent and is just another reason for WWE not to push the person over the brand itself. I was surprised how many news outlets outside Wrestling covered Naomi and Sasha walking out or WWEs statement E news and TMZ an a few others I seen

This reminds me of when I was 8 years old an Guerrilla Monsoon announced that the Ultimate Warrior was indefinitely suspended

WWE tends to do this alot, they force the person they want the most to be the one to cross over commercials and stuff representing the company over someone else who may be a better person for that spot. I think that has left plenty money off the table for them. Like I always bring up way back when Underarmour was still new they wanted Shelton Benjamin on some commercials and WWE said they wanted them to use Orton or they weren't going to work with them at all. Of course Punk talk about Chael Sonnen wanted Punk to walk him to the ring for a fight and the told him no. I think WWE has gotten better with letting other guys that aren't their handpicked guys do outside stuff involving celebrities lately but it was ridiculous in the past

Wasn't Sasha's spot at Mania taken by Ronda? I know Ronda denied it, and I'm sure she's telling the truth but Wasn't there no Mania plans for Sasha up until a few weeks before Mania? I was waiting for Ronda and Sasha again easily Rondas best 2 to 3 matches

I woke up a few hours before having to get up for work and I saw a post on Instagram about the Sasha and Naomi thing. It's crazy how WWE just completely broke kayfabe even more than it already is trying to put the heat on Noami and Sasha. I've been a big fan of Sasha since the beginning. I'm aware of her "reputation" but the wrestling business, especially WWE has always been so One sided in terms on contacts. They thrive off the idea of 90% of the wrestlers that come in are marks for the business or atleast marks for WWE. When guys precieved worth is bigger than the WWE is ready to deal with then that person is an asshole. Growing up I liked the idea of Warrior fighting for his likeness and going toe to toe with them legally on different things. I'm not saying he handled things in the best way alot of times but he certainly wasn't a mark for WWE. Or even a guy like Punk who loved this business and they totally made him hate it. Maybe Sasha may think she is a bigger deal than she really is but I do believe she has qualities that could get her over outside Wrestling. I do believe she has the ability to be a star outside of wrestling. I Naomi doing decent outside of wrestling as well honesty especially since she already has a history on reality TV. She married into the Wrestling business, its not like she Has no love for it herself and for someone who came in from the outside she became pretty good. To be honest with you I think she'd be much better outside of WWE because style is too showy with all the dancing offense. As for Sasha, I've expected her to eventually attempt to be like Cena or Rock or Batista and move on to Hollywood under the WWEs banner. Sasha is still a huge wrestling fan so I think if she doesn't come back then she'll be working for somebody even if it's a handful of dates. This situation is going to be interesting because with Noami being tied with Jimmy Uso you would think they'd want to keep her happy. When they didn't put her in the bloodline I really realized she isn't as valued as she could be because honestly her in the bloodline in this current run would have done way more for her than being Women's tag team champion. Without a belt she would have been made. Let's be honest, that title had mostly been held by makeshift teams after like Sasha and Bayley I couldn't even tell you would held those titles. Watching Wrestlemania I had no clue Carmela and Zelina were a team. When they started the division I was hoping for late 00's early 10's TNA women's tag team division type deal with a handful of real tag teams and not 2 women put together only to last for till the next PPV cycle