Ryback Hates Bullies

Apparently WWE remain high on the guy. Noone will care that he jobbed to Ron Killings if he's on a push. There was obviously a trust issue in AEW - every bit of it we'll probably never know, but it was somewhere between the injuries, the Collision politics, and a willingness to try to 'ptotect his character' which he wouldn't even think about trying in WWE. You can say the same about Miro, who I honestly think would have been AEW World Champ if he'd played ball. Yeah, he's racked up some wins on Raw, but noone cares.

I will say, I felt like they telegraphed the upset Dustin win by mentioning a couple of times on commentary how Fletcher was the odds-on favourite. I mean, are you really the favourite when you have 3 opponents, 2 are in a tag team, and all 3 hate your guts? Also, I mean, are they really going to put Dustin in another match when he's just done 2 matches in 24 hours unless he's going over? But I still thought it worked out well, and also obviously seeded the inevitable Sammy Guevara turn. And I like the surprise finish - I mean, that's exactly how you should be trying to win a multi-person match.....don't get me started on that. But more importantly than that, a wrong was righted tonight - a wrong from over 3 years ago. Putting the title on Punk was the right thing on paper, but it was spiritually the wrong thing to do. Which seems like a weird thing to say, but there it is. It's been a journey, but AEW looks vindicated - not really in a 'we win' way, but just more in a 'Brooks belonged on that other show' way. I think Mox doesn't really get enough credit for being the garbage man that could. Was never the chosen one, but became 'that guy' anyway.....and then bet on himself and pro-wrestling to join AEW. Honestly think he's underrated because we live in an era where stuff doesn't get rewatched in the same way as previous eras. Hope he gets a nice long holiday with Renee and...well I hope we see him back before too long in whichever way.

Yeah I feel bad for Adam Cole. My guess is that this one of those things where he's maybe not done done, but he's going to be an occasional performer at best. I think, in all honesty, that he had been shuffled way down the card anyway - noone thought he wasn't dropping the belt tonight. So I think we were on a wind-down trajectory anyway. I think he'll be ok, but yeah it sucks even if I've never been as high on him as some.

I dunno, it looks Statlander might outweigh him thesedays. But yeah I made the initial error; I don't think that's a mistake anyone would have made 2 years ago. Tbf that's probably partly a reflection of the actual TBS belt being one of many in Mone's collection. Tbf it's also a reflection of the TNT belt becoming largely a Collision belt since Garcia won it.

Well, it's not like I haven't. And tbh going with a snarky response, as opposed to a positive, active defence of his work, suggests to me that I'm probably on the right lines in my assessment and use of time. I'd probably enjoy him in the context of the G1 Climax.

I find it really strange that people could be against John Silver getting a run when Adam Cole is diminishing the value of the TBS Belt at an alarming speed, and taking the Collision Midcard Phantom Zone down with it. Paragon....more like Tarragon...of all the classic herbs the most unnecessary. And I will say this - good for Kyle Fletcher that he got a push, but I'm not seeing main-event guy right now or anytime in the next 2-3 years. I get that he can work 'good AEW' matches with Ospreay, Omega, Swerve etc...but I think he's a long way from being a star. I don't tend to watch anything he's in, unless Takeshita is also involved.

Zelina was obviously going to drop it to someone they actually wanted to push, but I suspect Fatu will see a title again soon enough.

Congrats to Technico on the weight loss (at-ing not really working for me). The last few months I have almost exclusively working out in a really busy big box gym. And tbh, it's been a lot better than I thought it would. I've enjoyed having access to lots of stack-loaded machines - a few really blow (the seated leg curl is basically unusable). The Dumbell area is really busy, so are the cable stacks, but they have a lot more power racks than they used to so that's been not too bad. I am actually now transitioning to using the gym at the office, given they're 'requesting' more regular attendance, though I will be going to the box gym today and likely Monday. Pressing-wise, things have been going well. It's been 2 1/2 years since the injury and I am now finally at the point where I feel I'm pushing past that. I've recently hit rep PRs on medium-close, close and super-close bench at 100kg (11, 10 & 9 reps respectively). I also hit rep PRs at 105 and 110 on my medium-close (8 and 6). My all time 'best set' is 115kg x 5, which was probably around 3 years ago. It was on a bench where I could set the rack height though - which is not the case at the gym I've been using or the gym I will be using (No safetys eihter)....unless I want to set-up in the rack. Tbf my work gym is quiet....so that might work, though I might occasionally visit some better gyms on daypass. I also recently hit an OHP PR of 80kg. I actually failed 82.5kg but nearly got it and probably would get it another day. That said, new gym means realistically starting with the weight tapered down. New work gym has an angled smith machine which I've not had regular access to previously. Maybe I can finally get Smith Machine GMs to feel good. We'll see. One thing I did really like is that they had this wide straight-bar attachment for the cable station - doing curls with it is *chefs kiss*. They also have a landmine set up with a proper row bar attachment - not as nice as a full on T-bar, but a good lengthened-bias row nonetheless. They also have all 5 of the Imitation Mag Grips. And the power rack has band pegs.....do I finally do some proper Westside training. Maybe! Leg wise, I had a bout of Meralgia Paresthetica recently in my left quad....due to too much work on the Abductor I think. Had to keep to leg extensions for a few weeks. It seems ok now though. After a weight-loss period last year, I have realistically been on a bulk of sorts for 10 months. And I actually think it's been pretty successful, but I probably do need to contemplate another cut at some point. I really don't want to though haha.

American Gladiators was on ITV at like 03:30 in the morning when it first aired, and I used to VHS it as a kid. I found the British version to be pure cringe mind. But I will probably watch this. Looking forward to Wadlow, Kamille, Boogs and Jesse getting silly names. I suspect Boogs asked for Horse C**k but will probably have to settle for something more PG.

Would have imagined they would run IAFD check on their silly names, but if Playmates count I think it might actually be *two* pornstars.

I sort of thought Dustin's reference to 'Day 1 Guys' kinda sorta maybe seeded a heel turn. I mean if MJF turns and joins up with the Sons of Texas as 'Day 1 Guys' or whatever it might be - well..you then have a MJF/Sammy/Dustin vs MVP/Bobby/Shelton match....which sounds great. And gets ppl heel Sammy. Heel Dustin......well less sure about that, but he is on a multi-year deal and him becoming more of a manager could make sense.

Tbf Nakamura being paired with Boogs was great, and that probably could have been a big act for a while if Rick The Stick hadn't got injured. Admittedly Bugenhagen wasn't a great worker, but he was fine in tags.

I'm pretty sure it's not happening, but I just realised that it would have kind of been very funny in a really, really dark way if they'd have released Aleister Black again.

Obviously bad news for all those guys & gals, I have sympathy for all, but mostly for the NXT people who got paid buttons to appear on live TV. - I'm not that surprised with regards Dolin (Priscilla Kelly). I like her look personally, but she's no Paige/Saraya in terms of charisma/workrate, and she didn't really seem to be improving. Actually surprised Jacey Jayne didn't get cut too. - Cora Jade (Elayna Black) did surprise me a bit, but Roxanne basically took her spot. Hopefully Punk doesn't delete her phone number and she comes back after a bit of seasoning/retooling. - People seemed to think Dakota Kai (King Kota) was always on the brink of a push, so presumably they see something, but I could never see it personally. - Shayna Baszler (erm Shayna Baszler)...yeah in another world she would have been a monster heel, didn't happen and it is what it is. Wouldn't surprise me if AEW bring her in to work with Shafir, and maybe Kai comes along for the ride. - Jakara Jackson (Jamara Garrett), Orah Mensah (Oliver Carter/ Mr. Exotic Erotic?!). To be honest, I loved Meta-Four so this upsets me though yeah I can't really say that either showed massive potential. Idk Orah was Swiss. - Wolfgang and the Coffeys, I mean nothing against them but I was amazed they made it to NXT USA nevermind the main roster. I guess the thought was that they might eventually team up with McIntyre but not sure that would do much for Drew. - Carter/Chance (Lacey Lane/Katy Catanzaro). Yeah they had their chance and nothing happened. - Strowman (Adam Scherr). Yeah it's hard to really argue with that one. Obviously he still had value as an utility big guy, but idk - when they gave his most over spot to Breakker, the writing was on the wall. Felt like he was never quite one of the boys. The most interesting thing they did on his 2nd run was the Ricochet pairing, but it never really went anywhere - having him as Bald Trev's Heater in AEW could work and if he digs through old DVDVR posts he'll find a bunch of alt names he can run with. I personally think he would be a decent pickup, as whilst big meaty men slapping meat is hardly central to AEW's style, it has its place and he can supply it adequately enough. - I barely paid any attention to Eddy Thorpe (Karl Fredericks). Maybe that means something, maybe it doesn't. Back to New Japan? - Similar deal Javier Bernal (Randy Beidelschies). He's 26, only wrestled in NXT/Evolve as a job guy, maybe he can get some opportunities elsewhere. Yeah, capitalism sucks but I can hardly take major issues with these releases. Though I probably would have released Liv Morgan before she ever got to the main roster, so what do I know? I'm mostly just pleased that they didn't release The Secret Hervice and Pretty Deadly.