TheVileOne

Hard to believe we are just about 10 years removed from the first season of the Netflix series, and here we are.

The general belief is Miro didn't want to lose and didn't want to job or was turning down all his creative pitches. My general problem with that is that it's mostly coming from Dave Meltzer, so I filter it through that voice. I'm willing to give Miro some credit because whenever he was on TV, I always thought his work was strong. I thought Redeemer was a great little run for him and he was really hitting his stride at that point. And considering Miro has never talked about any of these rumors at all publicly, I think it would at least be fair to hear him out first. So I won't completely dismiss him as some guy who refuses to job. I mean maybe some of his creative pitches were terrible and he had good reason to turn them down.

Huge news. I think a Demolition Hall of Fame induction and those guys getting some well deserved flowers is long overdue.

It makes no sense to continue paying guys you have no plans of using again and who don't want to be there under lucrative contracts. It's bad for business. Even if it's just to make a point or keep them away from WWE. It's just petty nonsense and it's the same type of garbage people used to rake Vince McMahon over the coals for. I don't know where the breakdown was with Ricky Starks, whether it was the Copeland promo, him going with Cody to WWE events, or whatever. It's still sad to me that you have strong talents and don't create an environment where they want to stay and want to work there. Starks easily could've been a future world champion or guy in the mix that they really could've used right now against The Death Riders or any number of top talents.

https://twitter.com/njpwglobal/status/1889266693849202966 Love everything about this. Feel good moment of the year. I really thought this was never going to happen for Goto.

Were these actual releases besides Miro or just their contracts running out? Seems like they kept Starks as long as they could. EDIT: Take it for what it's worth but Dave Meltzer said on WOR that Black's contract expired, but that Miro and Starks were both "released."

The Elite vs. AEW was definitely significant to the main event scene. You asked when Tony Khan has pivoted. Also, Harley Cameron/Mercedes Mone is not significant to their main event scene either.

Plenty of times: * All but dropped The Elite's war with AEW and Tony Khan. No payoff to any of that. * Dropped The Nightmare Collective * Dropped QTV * Men of the Year all but disappeared * The constant turns of Sammy Guevara after the fans turned on him * They pivoted the tag titles to The Acclaimed when they got really over in 2022 and had that huge ovation against Swerve in Our Glory. * They spent weeks building up Swerve vs. Keith to never follow through on the actual blow off match. And then they finally booked the blow-off match months later when Swerve had not even been in Lee's orbit anymore before Lee had to be taken off TV. * Shawn Spears/Tully's feud with Joey Janela not long after Janela tied Blanchard up on TV. That's off the top of my head.

I'm bringing up Mercedes lack of drawing power because I see no reason for her not to lose the title next weekend. Her holding the TBS Title doesn't make her a bigger star or draw for AEW. Her losing the title could potentially transform Harley Cameron into a new star and make her a made star in AEW when they could really use that right now. Why can't she lose? Because it's a glorified tape-delay Collision? Why not? That's not a good reason for why she shouldn't lose the title in Australia. At this point, Mone losing and Cameron winning is a low-risk maneuver. And if it doesn't work out, they could quickly take the belt off of her. I say why not.

I definitely question the amount of money they've spent on both Okada and Ospreay considering they aren't moving the needle at all or maximizing any drawing potential they might have had/have.

AEW is an insane promotion. They might as well own it. Mercedes Mone is not a draw or needle mover. She hasn't improved AEW or drawn money for them in any discernible fashion. I have no hatred for her at all, but her stardom hasn't measurably helped the company. There's nothing wrong with the hometown girl who has drawn a grassroots following winning after an unlikely upset. They should happen in wrestling from time to time. Regardless of the broadcast format for Grand Slam, the promotion of the event has been piss-poor and barely to the level of a Battle of the Belts special. There's been no hype or fanfare at all. And even though Tony Khan said this was always planned as a TV event, they didn't announce it was airing on TNT until the last minute and then didn't even get the start time right or explain how it would work with All-Star Weekend. They failed to get the word out or bring any additional interest. They blew it with Grand Slam Australia in every conceivable way.

https://youtu.be/ffdEpOCFsGs Harley Cameron should beat Mercedes Mone. She's the hottest thing in the women's division right now.

Harley Cameron wins at Grand Slam, or we riot.

Yes, apparently they had a handshake deal to join AEW but signed with WWE instead. And look I can't really blame them. The re-upped at a time when WWE was scared to lose people to a fledgling promotion and it probably over-inflated their value. Jericho should've gotten it in writing.

Bea Priestley. What was even the point of drafting her to SmackDown in the first place? The Unholy Union were actually a women's tag team in a division that doesn't have many actual women's tag teams and are mostly just a bunch of singles people smooshed together. At one point AOP were a monster tag team. During their NXT run and Dusty Classic run, they looked great. Triple H still couldn't figure out how to wash the Vince stain off of them.

A lot of these releases this week show that Uncle Paul Levesque misused plenty of talents during The Triple H Era.

No more awkward than Charlotte Flair working SmackDown tonight. I would think Lashley/MVP would try to smooth any of that over.

They called him back from Japan for absolutely no reason. They clearly have no plans for him. I like Omos, but I can't make sense of keeping him on a main roster contract and never booking him for a year. It makes no financial sense.

Don't pick up the phone Omos.

Sad about Cedric being gone. Felt like the dude had a lot of upside and never got a fair shake. The Hurt Syndicate connection does give him an easy into AEW if they want. But there could be other opportunities out there for him right now.

Give Harley Cameron all the titles. Not just all the titles, make up new titles and give them to her as well. Make a Ventriloquist Wrestling Championship and give it to her. https://youtu.be/-9XZlFboTGo

While WWE reached a deal with Twitch that would let Superstars resume their streaming on the platform, UpUpDownDown is owned by WWE.

If the office did that to him and has no intention of using him, that's also idiocy and promotional malpractice.

Damian Priest only started looking like a bigger star IMO after he lost the title and became part of the Terror Twins with Rhea Ripley. I don't think Iyo Sky came out of her title run looking like a bigger star. Even Bayley's latest title run was fairly ho-hum. Conversely, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, and Nia Jax were treated like much bigger deals as champions under the Triple H Regime.