w. josh

What's weird about that is that other than Edge and MVP, no one seemed like a surprise. Hardly any NXT guys, no 205 cannon fodder, no big debut, no retired vet in a comedy role. I would much rather have seen Santino in the Men's Rumble doing that exact same Cobra self-elimination spot against Brock than the ridiculously tone-deaf Santina return.

Credit where it's due - they did a good job with Keith Lee in the Rumble. Brock's reaction was great, the one-on-one was perfect, and he got eliminated cheaply rather than Lesnar just picking him up and chucking him. His two big PPV appearances have done a good job of making him seem like a big deal going forward...so far.

It's absolutely because it's carny shit and nobody cares. In the past, the stigma carried by pro wrestling was such that any politician or legal/law enforcement official trying to build any momentum on "cleaning up the business" would get laughed at and blown off, same as with sex work or travelling carnivals. The public perception there has changed, but the legal and political perception still hasn't; it doesn't make sense to those types to blow any goodwill or political capital on a "fake sport" followed by "rubes."

I forgot the Outliers have been doing the Florida loops for a while with Robert Stone. Kona needs a big monster for a partner so he can be a cowardly prick. And a manager so he doesn't have to cut promos where he says "the finest" every four seconds. Babatunde and Bivens are right there...

That's what I meant - even if you don't get a viable tag team out of the deal, you give a guy like that a chance to emerge.

The Alex Shelley announcement makes me irrationally happy. I assume it's just for the tournament, but it would be awesome to see him come in as an Ohno-style player/coach. Beyond that, this tournament definitely shows how weak the NXT (US) tag division is compared to previous rosters. Aside from the tag champs, there's exactly one regular, named tag team in it, and they lost. They really need to take a few of the newer or ready-for-a-repackage dudes - Joaquin Wilde, Dexter Lumis, Riddick Moss, Kona Reeves - and get them on television as gimmicked teams. Best case scenario you get another Street Profits, worst case you get a Buddy Murphy out of the deal.

I'm guessing they'll find a way to get Adam Cole/UE on the card - you would think they will have moved him/them to another brand by then.

Homeless Jimmy. Came out with a shopping cart full of weapons he'd "found in dumpsters." Man, XPW was awful.

I don't know if DDP was technically homeless when he was doing the "lost all his money" gimmick pre-Diamond Cutter breakthrough, but he was destitute until he got a mysterious benefactor.

The commentary for Black/Murphy is maybe the only time I've sort of enjoyed Lawler in forever. They were clearly told via headset to keep focusing on Black's jaw and ignore the obviously busted nose, and Lawler having none of it - "Forget about his jaw, his nose is broken! How can you guys not see that!" - was endearing, even if it did throw his partners under the bus. I would say that was a star-making performance from Black, but that would require a competent follow-up, soooo....

Having an NXT guy win the Rumble would be one way to get back to the Fiend vs. The Demon. Not that I think that's actually a good thing.

Oh hey, fuck Hulk Hogan.

Rollins vs. Morrison sounds like the match being played on a loop while my eyes are forced open Clockwork Orange style in my bleakest nightmares. So that's going to happen.

Pretty sure Rusev is choosing t-shirts solely for the amusement of DVDVR the last couple of weeks, though, so we've got that going for us.

As long as your name isn't Ken, you're fine.

AJ's US title feuds have gone from Ricochet to Cedric Alexander to Humberto. If they're just working their way down the 205 Live depth chart, I'll take a Jack Gallagher match next please and thank you.

With the voice and soothing presence, he's a perfect fit for the "monster who's also a cultured intellectual" gimmick that they've tried a few times, most recently with Rowan. He's got an Avengers Endgame Hulk vibe that is really engaging. Riddle I'm more worried about. That's the guy that they could pretty easily turn into a midcard comedy act despite his credentials. "Stoner bro who never wins matches because he always has the munchies" seems like a peak "that's good shit pal" gimmick.

It's hard to imagine how they're going to fuck up Keith Lee being a huge star, so I look forward to seeing which route they go to do exactly that.

Who is the Cousin Greg in this scenario?

While we're betting on unionization odds, anyone want side action on a Mansoor waterboarding angle happening in the next 30 days?

Too bad Lars Sullivan is injured, he'd make a perfect corner man for Fury.

I'm convinced they just used the digital de-aging process on a photo of Robert Forster.

Of all the ways to deal with the Rollins/Wyatt stuff, I have to admit I hadn't considered "just ignore it" as a likely option. As a guy with a barely passing interest in MMA and boxing, I'm really not enjoying having two major angles run with MMA/boxing guys (especially if it's in service to Saudi Arabia). It really is shocking how much this is starting to resemble late-era WCW, with a few hot undercard acts having to carry the weight of weekly shows and a bunch of part-timers and "celebrities" on top.

Putting the decision on the ref is pretty much the only way out of this storyline-wise. If you trust him to cut a promo, have him come out, say he got too personally invested in Seth's soul or whatever and overstepped his bounds. If not, farm it out to one of the authority figures. Fine him, fire him, assign him exclusively to Mojo Rawley matches for the next year. Even then, though, Seth is going to get booed out of the building for at least the next month. The SECOND that crowd thought he was going to win with 19 stomps, they started jeering. Not a vocal minority - the entire crowd. He's in Reigns territory now, without the natural charisma that Reigns at least had to ride the storm. I have no idea what you do with him now, other than turn him and make him Wyatt's new lackey. I buy Rollins way more as Flock Kidman than Shawn Michaels anyway.

I really liked the show ending early. It made the brawl feel more chaotic, in a way that "authority figure storms out and sets up next week's match at 9:59" would not have. Obviously they can't play around with time like that on USA, so going short (and maybe long next week) while they still have the Network slot is another way to make the show feel different.