Who you got for Rumble winner?

Any Predictions on who goes to Wrestle Mania and who walks away as champ?

Kota Ibush is your new IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion. How long will his reign last?

Will Omega collect other titles from other companies and because the new Ultimo Dragon of this generation?

This should be an exciting year in Pro Wrestling.

=================
Official Okay-Super Villain™

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

>Who you got for Rumble winner?
>
>Any Predictions on who goes to Wrestle Mania and who walks
>away as champ?
>
>Kota Ibush is your new IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental
>Champion. How long will his reign last?
>
>Will Omega collect other titles from other companies and
>because the new Ultimo Dragon of this generation?
>
>This should be an exciting year in Pro Wrestling.

I have a feeling they’re gonna do something weird. I want them to do the Daniel Bryan win so that he can go at Perfect Heel Reigns at Mania. Reigns will ultimately win the belt back if he even goes as far as losing to DB but that’s the move right there.

I have no idea what they do with the Raw title for Mania but I could easily see Brock showing up all lazy and shit and getting a bitch ass Rumble win too. Or maybe they skip that he shows up on a Raw and Goldbergs his way into a title match. I assume/hope Goldberg doesn’t beat Drew.

I have no idea who takes it for the women. Belair seems like the one but maybe not.

Omega going around collecting titles COULD be a fun way to unite the remaining indies.

i havent watched consistently in a few weeks since football and nba are back

<--- Big Baller World Order

>Who you got for Rumble winner?
>
>Any Predictions on who goes to Wrestle Mania and who walks
>away as champ?
>
>Kota Ibush is your new IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental
>Champion. How long will his reign last?
>
>Will Omega collect other titles from other companies and
>because the new Ultimo Dragon of this generation?
>
>This should be an exciting year in Pro Wrestling.

I liked this rumble show. I only really wanted to see both rumbles but I enjoyed it all.

I’m really happy with both winners too. Sometimes, cut the cutesy shit and book towards the faces.

I don't dislike him like HHH

and it was actually cool to see him get back into it last year after so long out

but he's just kind of emblematic along w/ Cena of the era that turned me off the product

on the women side i LOVED the Bianca win. i would've liked a Rhea Rip win too. i cant believe she is only 24.
as long as it wasn't Charlotte I was fine with it.
i guess this year will be Toni Storm's big NXT year and then she'll jump main roster next year?

<--- Big Baller World Order

>Who you got for Rumble winner?

I had Belair (correct) and Bryan (incorrect) but had a sneaking suspicion the Men’s winner would be a part-timer (correct)

>
>Any Predictions on who goes to Wrestle Mania and who walks
>away as champ?

Edge could challenge either one and I’d be cool with it. Either way, I think his opponent is walking away champ. I’m more interested in Edge vs. Drew*. Roman has a lot of interesting options

*oh god, just occurred to me they could throw the title on Randy again just to run back that tired ass program. There are still 2 whole ppvs before Mania!

>
>Kota Ibush is your new IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental
>Champion. How long will his reign last?

If I understand NJPW history, this reign should be short and then his next reign will be long. Idk though... he’s in his late-30’s and I don’t think they’ll fuck around ( especially after the EVIL experiment). Guessing he holds it till next WK, if not longer.

My predictions may hinge on what they’re doing with Jay White, but right now I have Okada penciled in as G1 winner to set up a Tokyo Dome rematch.

Ibushi wants to condense them into one belt, which may be necessary, but it’ll still be sad to see the IC title go.

>Will Omega collect other titles from other companies and
>because the new Ultimo Dragon of this generation?
>

I think he gets the Impact Title (cause why not?). I’m hoping for the relationship with NJPW to develop enough to see Ibushi vs. Omega at some point, even if the titles are not on the line.

>This should be an exciting year in Pro Wrestling.

Hell yeah!

because there's no way in 2021 they could've trot out Goldberg in a title match or put Edge and Orton in the final 2 in front of a smark crowd and not have the audience completely shit all over it.

Sometimes I wish AEW wasn't mostly trash and was a legitimate alternative, then sometimes I think I just don't like this stuff anymore

>because there's no way in 2021 they could've trot out
>Goldberg in a title match or put Edge and Orton in the final 2
>in front of a smark crowd and not have the audience completely
>shit all over it.
>
>Sometimes I wish AEW wasn't mostly trash and was a legitimate
>alternative, then sometimes I think I just don't like this
>stuff anymore

I’m fine with old dudes who can work. I’m really fine with old dudes who have stories that make them compelling..ie: hurt dudes who got well enough to come back. Edge and Christian for instance. Not Goldberg for another. That mfer can’t work and he’s like a fake Brock who is more willing to show up and job here and there. And even with him, I appreciate that he does the physical work to at least try to look good when he shows up.

I’m mostly not fine with the guys who are stuck in the middle with no way out. Ie: Cesaro and Sheamus. Daniel Bryan and AJ now to a lesser degree.

Aew got who they could get. If they stay with it long enough, they might stumble into just the right set of guys and things could get fun. I honestly don’t expect much from them right now at all. Maybe that’s my fault. But I get that shit is tough when rando folks are making 75 - 200k to work 5x a month if that in wwe. You need a guy who is good but still hungry to do more who is almost clean contract wise. That’s not always gonna happen. And shit, would AEW do any better with a Sheamus? Or even someone crazy like an AJ Styles? What about Ricochet? Lucha Underground was fun with him as the main face but what would AEW really do with him?

>because there's no way in 2021 they could've trot out
>Goldberg in a title match or put Edge and Orton in the final 2
>in front of a smark crowd and not have the audience completely
>shit all over it.

Bryan's elimination would've disappointed a crowd, but I don't think it's a situation like in 2015 where the fans would've hijacked the show or anything. Edge winning may not be ideal, but of all the part-timers or old guys who could've won the thing he's by far the least bad option. Overall I thought it was a really good show and am really happy Belair won.

Drew mowing down Goldberg in front of a crowd would have absolutely worked. People are tired of his one trick, and he adds nothing to the people he beats.

Drew is the anti-Golberg, because he's a workhorse and a legitimate leader.

2. An audience would have been all in on Edge to win the rumble.

He's been gone a decade, and even as a part timer in the main event of Mania, isn't here to kill anyone's darlings and won't suck the air out of anyone else's momentum.

-Bluetista showed up the year Bryan happened
-Goldberg ate both KO and Fiend
-Brock ate everyone for years.

These guys got jeers due to tone deaf booking.

Edge is as fresh as a returning legend can be, is loved by fans, and has a story anyone with half a heart can get behind.

Bianca winning would have also popped the crowd, because she had an extremely strong showing last year, and represents a fresh face who just took out the Queen.

This was the most fan-friendly Rumble in recent memory.

Put this show in front a crowd, complete with the stupid bits we got, and it goes up a full letter grade, at a minimum.

Is it me or do they seem to be veering more in the direction of taller/bigger performers in the main event on the non-nxt shows? I know that’s kind of their norm but it seems like an even more clear shift recent in their title pictures. I’m thinking so and I’m thinking it is a way to further differentiate themselves from an AEW or the other indies, which generally just don’t have as many tall/bigger folks who can work.

Lashley. Big E. Reigns. Belair. Edge. Taller/bigger folks.

>Who you got for Rumble winner?
>
>Any Predictions on who goes to Wrestle Mania and who walks
>away as champ?
>
>Kota Ibush is your new IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental
>Champion. How long will his reign last?
>
>Will Omega collect other titles from other companies and
>because the new Ultimo Dragon of this generation?
>
>This should be an exciting year in Pro Wrestling.

Or at least until the Kross injury they were. On the women’s side I feel like Raquel Gonzalez is gonna win the women’s title next and she’s crazy strong.

Christian was the easy highlight for me. I popped when he came out, and popped again for the Edge reunion

and he looked fucking GREAT. he should be working unless he just doesnt want to

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

I still love it, cause the Rumble is always fun, but if you'll let me rant for a moment, I hate:

- the wrestler who stays out most of the match and comes back. at least they spun it so Orton didn't win this time.

- the 2 feet rule has gotten pretty foolish. i love the crazy spots, but there's no reason a person with their entire torso on the ground should still be in.

- eliminated wrestlers or affiliates shouldn't be able to eliminate anyone. Shit is lame. There's a million refs here and they're not allowed to make this call? The 92 Rumble is kinda ruined by the fact that Hogan assisted in Sid's elimination.


I also think they should make better use of tag teams, friends, and factions. There's always an agreement to "eliminate everyone else and then fight each other," but EVERYONE turns on each other too early! Just bad strategy. I believe only Randy Orton has successfully used his faction to the end (the Legacy vs. Triple H year). I do like that most wrestlers don't take it too personally when a friend eliminates them though. It'd be lame if every tage team broke up just cause of the Rumble.

>- the wrestler who stays out most of the match and comes back.
>at least they spun it so Orton didn't win this time.

This and the wrestler's number is called but they wait ten minutes to get in the ring thing. If you're number 9 and you don't enter before number 10 does then that should count as an elimination. I know people liked the Billie Kay thing in the women's rumble but I thought it was annoying and repetative. And then there should be like a limit of five people allowed to enter total if you enter the ring and then leave. Cumulatively, not each time you enter and exit the ring.

>- the 2 feet rule has gotten pretty foolish.

Yeah, this has just gotten ridiculous now. People landing on their backs on the floor and other nonsense.

I don't even really like the spot where someone is thrown over but grabs onto the top rope to keep their feet from touching the floor. It happens about 150 times per match.

---------------------

http://www.last.fm/user/dagu85

>This and the wrestler's number is called but they wait ten
>minutes to get in the ring thing. If you're number 9 and you
>don't enter before number 10 does then that should count as an
>elimination. I know people liked the Billie Kay thing in the
>women's rumble but I thought it was annoying and repetative.
>And then there should be like a limit of five people allowed
>to enter total if you enter the ring and then leave.
>Cumulatively, not each time you enter and exit the ring.
>

They’ve established in previous years that you’re supposed to get in the ring before the next person does, but I think they only use it selectively to explain (after the fact) why someone was eliminated by never getting in the match.

Oh I drew #5? That sucks. I guess I'll just wait until #30 is out and go in then.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

>- the 2 feet rule has gotten pretty foolish. i love the crazy
>spots, but there's no reason a person with their entire torso
>on the ground should still be in.

Kofi had a great run of creative rescues, but now they are taking the "2 feet must hit the floor" way too literal. It doesn't help that they've moved that gimmick off of Kofi and onto Naomi, who tbh I can't stand at alllll so I probably am a little bias in my hatred of these spots nowadays.

He’d get tackled and be on his back claiming “my knees were never down though!” trying to get back up and run. SMH.

>He’d get tackled and be on his back claiming “my knees
>were never down though!” trying to get back up and run.
>SMH.

Bwahahahaha! Was he out there doing HBK kip ups!?

It created genuine tension.

Seth's back, we all know Orton is still here, and so far it looks like they are, at a minimum, teasing Orton showing back up at the last second to either win, or cost Edge the win.

They eliminated Seth, Randy popped up and made it feel like Randy was about to get it but NOPE!

So I think they used that trope to great effect in this case. One guy made great sense- Seth, one guy made NO sense- Orton, but nobody wanted to see that for about 73 reasons- and Edge, who I don't think warranted serious consideration as a winner outside of being a dark horse.

That they managed to combine both the "guy who enters #1/2 and wins" and "guy who gets put out early and comes back for the win" tropes and still create a moment of sincere, reasonable doubt about who would win made for one of the better finishes in recent memory.

and i hate every fake physio scene along the way

keeping them mostly apart, but in the ring throughout, would have done a lot more for me.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

I was legit mad for a second when it looked like Orton would steal it, and I was legit happy when Edge won it. That rarely happens to me now. Well done, IMO.

>I was legit mad for a second when it looked like Orton would
>steal it, and I was legit happy when Edge won it. That rarely
>happens to me now. Well done, IMO.

WWE is self-aware. Now, they seem to be more interested in saying 'let's book people into wanting something then give it to them before anyone can change their minds'. In this environment, that's likely the best call. After that it is a matter of having solid follow-ups and a little luck with injuries. So hey, if Edge is healthy right now, fuggin do it..give him a Royal Rumble win and title match. Nakamura has been languishing? Okay, get him in the mix on something! Finn isn't working on the main roster? Stick him back with NXT so that we can have someone other than DIY or Adam Cole as champ. They're even pulling the trigger on a Big E thing. I can dig it. People want Cesaro!? Fuck yawl..too bad..let's keep using him as a hand when we remember that he exists.

For me, it is too bad that there's a parade of podcasts and stuff that exist mainly to throw shit at just about everything any wrestling show does ever. I understand wanting shows to tighten up. I REALLY understand wishing that some of the 'good hand' guys would get their real chance to shine without having to go back to the indies. But some of the Cornette and crew folks tend to show up with their minds made up and then they just look for what they want to not like. And I can enjoy that stuff in small doses...Cornette's hatred for AEW and Omega especially is some parts funny. And he DOES have a point about some of Kenny's weaknesses as a top guy. But sometimes it is just a bit much. And it doesn't help anyone anywhere.

he compliments AEW when its good, and shits on it when it isnt

its true that he'll never have anything nice to say about anyone who wrestled an inanimate object, but i cant really blame him for that. in fact im glad there is a prominent voice who still thinks it should have an be taken and presented seriously.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

This isn't the 70s

And if you looked at some of the shit he's come up with you wouldn't believe that he's one to crap on anything else someone is trying.

Same dude that got fired from NWA's most recent show for something some racist shit on their broadcast.

Yeah, I'm good on Jims take on most of the younger talent. Some people enjoy the stale side of a lot of what wwe is doing now so what are you gonna do.

=================
Official Okay-Super Villain™

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

because for some reason you jumped straight to ad hominems about me.

and how can he be that out of touch when mainstream culture seems to agree with him? actually everyone agrees with him, in that just about everyone agrees wrestling is silly now. its just that a small slice of people think thats a positive thing, while everyone else ignores it.

seems pretty on the nose to me, because no one has ever explained how any of this shit can be good, yet still be this unpopular. I promise that if it were good, people would watch.

>This isn't the 70s

well the observer named him best booker in the 2000's so im not sure what you thought you were saying there, but its meaningless in any context.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

>because for some reason you jumped straight to ad hominems
>about me.
>
>and how can he be that out of touch when mainstream culture
>seems to agree with him? actually everyone agrees with him,
>in that just about everyone agrees wrestling is silly now.
>its just that a small slice of people think thats a positive
>thing, while everyone else ignores it.
>
>seems pretty on the nose to me, because no one has ever
>explained how any of this shit can be good, yet still be this
>unpopular. I promise that if it were good, people would
>watch.
>
>>This isn't the 70s
>
>well the observer named him best booker in the 2000's so im
>not sure what you thought you were saying there, but its
>meaningless in any context.

I’m a nerd. And an asshole. I don’t give a fuck if a bunch of people are or aren’t watching what I watch. And really, a bunch of people being into something does not mean it is good..somewhat clearly.

I know a gang of folks who watched wrestling mainly during the attitude era. They were not and are not long-term wrestling fans. They weren’t really on it before that time and once the bumps calmed down and/or the main stars quit, they were out. I’m not sure them watching wrestling made it better then or if would be a sign that it is better if they were to spent time on it now.

I regularly argue that the era right after the attitude era had mountains of good ass wrestling but folks just missed it cuz wrestling cooled off in popularity and the most over dudes were around a lot less. And WCW died and the invasion didn’t go as well as we dreamed it would cuz they didn’t have everyone they needed until well after the fact. Brock, Angle, HBK 2.0, Eddie, and Benoit were all pretty damn excellent. It ain’t their fault that Austin’s neck was shit and Rock hit big on movies.

I have friends who have never seen and won’t watch peak Ric Flair so they leave him off of their lazily created Rushmores. Is flair worse cuz folks didn’t see him? Fuck naw he isn’t. And if I catch myself fully trusting folks who didn’t and won’t see stuff, I’d be fucking up too. I feel the same about trusting folks who clearly have a known bias towards and against certain eras or companies. The all indy/gotta be Japan/movez and bumpz forever crowd is brutal in their own way too so I’m not anti Corny. Im old. I went to midsouth shows and remember them shits fondly. I’m anti limitation. And I like a lot of rasslin. 80s Midsouth. Heel heavy 80s nwa. Cartoon wwf. Attitude. Ruthless aggression. 90s all Japan. 2000s indy.

Cornette can be fun but, in general, if anyone has a show where most of the talk is negative, I will lose interest cuz I view it as a gimmick even if that’s how he actually feels. Ie: I generally hate new popular hiphop but here’s 150 episodes of me going on and on about new popular hiphop. If you hate it too, please listen to me so we can be mad about how and why it’s so bad. And every now and then, let me talk about a few things I actually like. And oh, I’m mostly gonna like new stuff if it reminds me of old stuff.

>Cornette can be fun but, in general, if anyone has a show
>where most of the talk is negative, I will lose interest cuz I
>view it as a gimmick even if that’s how he actually feels.
>Ie: I generally hate new popular hiphop but here’s 150
>episodes of me going on and on about new popular hiphop. If
>you hate it too, please listen to me so we can be mad about
>how and why it’s so bad. And every now and then, let me talk
>about a few things I actually like. And oh, I’m mostly gonna
>like new stuff if it reminds me of old stuff.

You nailed it.


He seems to cater to the people who can't look past something being not what they remember it to be. I love all wrestling and grew up on the territory stuff myself but times have evolved and wrestling can't be JUST the same as it always was. You still have some acts that give you that old school feel but just like everything else its an evolving form of entertainment. Just like if you ask a lot of the older school guys they'll tell you flat out these new kids are far more athletic than they are, so why wouldn't they display that? There are still classic matches going on. I've seen him flat out shit on something just because he doesn't like the person in the match despite it being an amazing match.

Cornette show seems more hate than anything else. Put that with the fact that he's been recently very misogynistic towards females expressing their views on the business just because he knows his fanbase will back him up. Nah, I just can't ride with Cornette anymore.

=================
Official Okay-Super Villain™

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

>Cornette show seems more hate than anything else. Put that
>with the fact that he's been recently very misogynistic
>towards females expressing their views on the business just
>because he knows his fanbase will back him up. Nah, I just
>can't ride with Cornette anymore.
>

Try not to listen to/read anything that's too positive or negative, and Cornette just hates everything, so what's the point? I don't even think he actually hates half the things he says he does, it's mostly an act to drum up outrage, listens, retweets, etc. Every time I see articles about his opinions pop up I think "Congrats, it worked" but I refuse to get into the weeds with all his nonsense. You can dislike indie wrestling, AEW, or any other product without trolling or making people feel like shit but the guy has no class. That along with the aforementioned awful views he has (not to mention the #SpeakingOut stuff) and I see no reason to fuck with him.

...current wrestling.

I'm not going to front, listening to stuff from his podcasts and shoot interviews while at work is part of what sparked my interest in wrestling after being away for a while. And from listening to him to the way he described Omega, he made sound like Erik Watts crossed with Vince Russo. Then when I finally started watching AEW, I was a bit shocked at how largely inoffensive he is. Yeah, he's pretty far down the list in terms of what I enjoy about the company, but he's far from disgracing the business out there.

And speaking as someone who works as a critic from time to time, if 95% of what you have to say is negative, then that doesn't speak well of your critical abilities. Yes, it can fun to shit on stuff, but it shouldn't make up the lion's share of your schtick. It's telling when the longest clips of the podcast are him shitting on whatever was on AEW last weeks, and he can barely scrape together 5 minutes of discussion about what he actually enjoys.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

>...current wrestling.
>
>I'm not going to front, listening to stuff from his podcasts
>and shoot interviews while at work is part of what sparked my
>interest in wrestling after being away for a while. And from
>listening to him to the way he described Omega, he made sound
>like Erik Watts crossed with Vince Russo. Then when I finally
>started watching AEW, I was a bit shocked at how largely
>inoffensive he is. Yeah, he's pretty far down the list in
>terms of what I enjoy about the company, but he's far from
>disgracing the business out there.

Key words: out there. He's actually done plenty to disgrace the business and any reasonable person could understand why someone like Jim Cornette would have strong feelings about someone who comes across so fake.

>And speaking as someone who works as a critic from time to
>time, if 95% of what you have to say is negative, then that
>doesn't speak well of your critical abilities. Yes, it can fun
>to shit on stuff, but it shouldn't make up the lion's share of
>your schtick. It's telling when the longest clips of the
>podcast are him shitting on whatever was on AEW last weeks,
>and he can barely scrape together 5 minutes of discussion
>about what he actually enjoys.

That would seem to say more about the available product than anything else. You're acting like wrestling is music, where the good stuff is there to be found with a little effort. Hes not ignoring good product to shit on bad product. Hes clearly stated what he thinks is good product over and over and over again. If thats on TV and im just not seeing it, Id love for someone to help me out over here.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

>I’m a nerd. And an asshole. I don’t give a fuck if a bunch
>of people are or aren’t watching what I watch. And really, a
>bunch of people being into something does not mean it is
>good..somewhat clearly.

why did you assume that i care whether or not people wach wrestling? I dont. But a publication like Billboard or something of that stature recently polled people about *why* they dont watch wrestling and the runaway answer was that its too silly. Conversely, head over to r/squaredcircle and look at all the people who use silly like a compliment. Everyone is saying the same thing while the audience crashes. Nobody abandons a good product of any sort at that rate.

>I know a gang of folks who watched wrestling mainly during the
>attitude era. They were not and are not long-term wrestling
>fans. They weren’t really on it before that time and once
>the bumps calmed down and/or the main stars quit, they were
>out. I’m not sure them watching wrestling made it better
>then or if would be a sign that it is better if they were to
>spent time on it now.

if they were to spend time on it now, at the very least it woud indicate that the show is good.

>I regularly argue that the era right after the attitude era
>had mountains of good ass wrestling but folks just missed it
>cuz wrestling cooled off in popularity and the most over dudes
>were around a lot less.

I mean, Impact has good wrestling right now. But the TV show is terrible. Like...TERRIBLE.

>And WCW died and the invasion didn’t
>go as well as we dreamed it would cuz they didn’t have
>everyone they needed until well after the fact. Brock, Angle,
>HBK 2.0, Eddie, and Benoit were all pretty damn excellent. It
>ain’t their fault that Austin’s neck was shit and Rock hit
>big on movies.

Youre still talking about 3-4x the audience that RAW has today (2005 #s), and like 7x the audience that Dynamite does. Those are numbers that a good wrestling show could still do today

>I have friends who have never seen and won’t watch peak Ric
>Flair so they leave him off of their lazily created Rushmores.
>Is flair worse cuz folks didn’t see him? Fuck naw he
>isn’t.

Thats not really an applicable point, because Ric Flair had a massive contemporary audience. MASH was good ahow from all accounts but i aint going back to watch it. However that doesnt change the fact that the people who were there to watch it DID watch it

>And if I catch myself fully trusting folks who
>didn’t and won’t see stuff, I’d be fucking up too. I
>feel the same about trusting folks who clearly have a known
>bias towards and against certain eras or companies. The all
>indy/gotta be Japan/movez and bumpz forever crowd is brutal in
>their own way too so I’m not anti Corny. Im old. I went to
>midsouth shows and remember them shits fondly. I’m anti
>limitation. And I like a lot of rasslin. 80s Midsouth. Heel
>heavy 80s nwa. Cartoon wwf. Attitude. Ruthless aggression. 90s
>all Japan. 2000s indy.

My first shows were Crockett shows so I get where youre coming from, but equivocating Cornette (who wants wrestling to be good so wrestlers make more money) with the Fight Forever crowd (which is clearly a zero growth demographic to serve as evidenced by Dynamite numbers) is hella false. Cornette has personal feelings, as would anyone who poured as much literal blood and sweat into something, but the smart marks who think they should be driving the direction of the business seem to be costing people money by insisting the shows are catered to their tastes. The show has been on the air for like a year and a half, and the numbers havent moved for well over a year. Its not coincidence that they cant add viewers. The product is clearly a turn off for the mainstream audience.

>Cornette can be fun but, in general, if anyone has a show
>where most of the talk is negative, I will lose interest cuz I
>view it as a gimmick even if that’s how he actually feels.
>Ie: I generally hate new popular hiphop but here’s 150
>episodes of me going on and on about new popular hiphop. If
>you hate it too, please listen to me so we can be mad about
>how and why it’s so bad. And every now and then, let me talk
>about a few things I actually like. And oh, I’m mostly gonna
>like new stuff if it reminds me of old stuff.
>

Thats not really what his show is tho. He spends vastly more time telling stories, and I dont think he's ever cared who likes him and who doesnt. In biology we call that convergent evolution. People come to agree with Cornette on their own. He just talks about the shit he cares about. Im 100% certain that he would rather watch Dynamite, see 2 hours of coherent booking and believable wrestlers, and say good things about it. That would mean WWE has legit competition, wrestlers are getting paid, and the product has growth potential.

And it needs to be said here that the stuff he complains about (illogical storylines, bad acting, characters that arent believable, shoddy work) are the same things that kill any bad TV show regardless of genre. The difference is that when there are 3 shitty action shows on TV, there are also 10 good ones. To use your analogy, you could do a podcast on hip hop, and despite the proliferation of garbage, you could still talk about Royce or Gibbs or Griselda or Killer Mike or etc. When there are 3 shitty wrestling shows on TV...well now what?

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

I had just watched every Rumble match before this over the course of a few weeks and this trope was really wearing on me lol.

Like that’s totally how he should behave and you should feel right there. Bravo.

This was looking like a fairly predictable PPV but they threw in a few surprises and kept the show nice and short. Miz looked right as champ.

Looks like a brilliant concept based on the New Day’s Black History Month gear sets:

Www.ourheroesrock.org

---------------------------------
Photo zine(some images NSFW): http://bit.ly/USaSPhoto

"This (and every, actually) conversation needs more Chesterton and less Mike Francesa." - Walleye

My guess is that it's a transfer to Lashley though, and we'll get Lashley/Drew, I think.

This has been the worst MITB season ever. Otis is trash, Miz is Jeff Jarret with promo skills and that's not a compliment, and everything they've done with that briefcase has been trash.

There’s major $ in having McIntyre chase chickenshit Miz

How hilarious would it be if a you do that fatal four way. Miz takes all the Hoss abuse, the other three guys beat the shit out of each other , and then weasel Miz retains

http://i.imgur.com/vPqCzVU.jpg

And doing some commentary, how is that a wreck?

You want vets like this in a backstage type of role that can give some help to younger guys advice. Especially the big guys since he knows how to work as a big man. I seriously doubt he's going to be wrestling weekly. You MAYBE get one match a year out of him on some side shit that isn't meant to be taken seriously.

I swear some of y'all just hate wrestling now with all this complaining lol.

=================
Official Okay-Super Villain™

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

I was wrong. It’s a mashup of all
The hokiest parts of Impact, Nitro, and 2000s Raw. No stakes, no new ideas, lots of ex WWE guys at the top. It’s not a good program, it’s just not.

Though a lot of that was Jericho....and he’s really gone off the rails, pretty much since he lost the title.

But yeah, this is not even better than TNA circa 2006-08. Still better than Raw though. Smackdown is probably the most watchable show right now.

both in the ring and out of it

and the last few weeks hes trying to just turn that off but its too late

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

I have no idea how they pulled off that Spanish Fly from the top rope, but I hollered.

I also have no idea what some of you are wingeing about.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

took me right out of that match...and the women's match...and the varsity blonds match

all 3 of those were good...until i was looking at my phone in the middle of them

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

I'm in favor of longer matches. And the main event and the women's match definitely deserved to be longer matches. But I also recognize that they need to pay the bills. It seems like the only match they're able to commercial free is the opening segment, which is usually pretty good (Except when you need Moxley to squash someone segment to prove a point).

At least they seemed to structure the matches so that the break happens during the methodical heel beatdown/babyface in peril segments. And I have larger issues with those portions of a match in general, especially during the pandemic. But those issues aren't unique to AEW, as they happen on every televised match in every company.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

and the comeback starts within 30 seconds of coming back. for me personally, that screams "FAKE". so its not just the commercial break, its that their structure around the break is predictable.

maybe ive been away from TV wrestling too long for those little things not to bother me. like regular viewers got acclimated to modern things like that, but im getting it all at once. i dunno.

and im actually on the other side of the fence as you. i think the TV matches regularly go way too long. this is another thing my "wrestling as a sport" mentality has trouble with. every NBA game isnt a 121-120 barnburner, not every boxing match goes 12 rounds, and sometimes its just not your night. people rightfully complain about 50/50 booking, but 50/50 matches can wear on me as well. its like getting the match over to the smart marks is a higher priority than getting a wrestler over. if they cant have a 6 minute TV match where both guys make an impression, 6 more minutes becomes diminishing returns for me.

i think as an adjunct to that, a million kick outs until one guy is teetering on the brink of becoming a vegetable is way too prevalent too. "real" wrestlers get pinned while they are still full of piss and vinegar all the time. id like to see more of that.

like i said...i dunno. i like my wrestling show to be at about a 65-35 split between wrestling and talking, and dynamite feels like its around 85-15. the pandemic actually improved the show imo, in that in front of fans it felt like 95-5. maybe it will even out when there are enough good talkers for that.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

So if you're going to have to put in a commercial break, you might as do it in the heat spots, because there's no crowd to play off of.

Now, this relates to my larger issue, in which I do think that during this time of COVID all federations should find different ways to structure their matches, since that aren't crowds for heat, pops, etc. But that's not an issue that's localized to AEW.


>maybe ive been away from TV wrestling too long for those
>little things not to bother me. like regular viewers got
>acclimated to modern things like that, but im getting it all
>at once. i dunno.
>
>and im actually on the other side of the fence as you. i
>think the TV matches regularly go way too long.

I can only talk personally for myself, but I'll say what drew me back into watching AEW (and hence, wrestling) were the longer match times. No maybe I got spoiled because the first episode I watched had a bunch of high quality matches right there, but I enjoyed see the majority of the focus on the in-ring action. Maybe because what drove me away from watching WWE for the endless 15-minute segements/constipated HHH promos that would open Raw and Smackdown during the '00s.


>this is
>another thing my "wrestling as a sport" mentality has trouble
>with. every NBA game isnt a 121-120 barnburner, not every
>boxing match goes 12 rounds, and sometimes its just not your
>night. people rightfully complain about 50/50 booking, but
>50/50 matches can wear on me as well. its like getting the
>match over to the smart marks is a higher priority than
>getting a wrestler over. if they cant have a 6 minute TV
>match where both guys make an impression, 6 more minutes
>becomes diminishing returns for me.

Well, I know it's indicative of every week, but I thought that last Wednesday's episode did the right balance in terms of match length.

Moxley - Squash, then setting the match with Omega
Hager - Squash, then further the Inner Circle/Bucks feud
I think both Baker/Rose and Fenix/Archer were both the right length.
You could argue that the Cage/Starks match should have been shorter, but honestly, I just like watching those two wrestle. Plus, they've both been doing two-minutes or less squashes on Dark for the past month or so, and it was good to see them do some cool shit.

Which leads me to my next point: I can and do get to warch the non barn-burner stuff by watch dark. Those usually go six minutes tops, aside for the occasional 10-minute main event. It establishes who needs to be the bad-asses and gets over the guys on the "main roster." But I feel like if it's going to go on their two-hour prime time slot, then I'd rather see more lengthier matches than less.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

>I have no idea how they pulled off that Spanish Fly from the
>top rope, but I hollered.

Talk about a guy who could put on a great match with a broomstick. For my money he's the best high-flyer in the world. Ricochet is a little crisper, but Fenix wows me more with his moves. I want to see him get a little run with either singles title. Tons of great matchups they could do with the guy, especially now that he's a face again.

>
>I also have no idea what some of you are wingeing about.

I get a lot of the complaints about AEW, I really do. It's too indie. There's some guys who look ridiculous on TV. They need more writing/coordination. The women's division is still in bad shape... but they do enough right that I look forward to watching every week. That's more than I can say for NXT, even if that show is a little more consistent.

>Ricochet is a little crisper, but Fenix wows me more
>with his moves. I want to see him get a little run with either
>singles title. Tons of great matchups they could do with the
>guy, especially now that he's a face again.

Ricochet is indeed crisper, but Fenix looks like he's actually fucking his opponent UP in the ring. It looks so flashy but so effective. When he runs halfway down the top rope and does that kick to the face it looks like he took the other guys head off.

Dude is on another level right now and deserves all the attention. He needs that TNT title real soon.

=================
Official Okay-Super Villain™

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

>they do enough right that I look forward to
>watching every week.

the best stuff in AEW is the best stuff on TV, regardless of how dumb some of the other stuff can get. theres a vitality to it, and even if the good stuff comes out in uneven little bursts, theres nowhere else to get that good stuff.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

Cause of death is undetermined, but Dutch mantel said it could be a stroke or aneurysm. I binged NWA Powerrr a few months back and he was a super entertaining comedy act, especially when he was paired with Damien Sandow. This is a huge bummer.

Merging the IWGP Intercontinental and IWGP Heavyweight titles into one and making a brand new belt.

It'll just be the IWGP World Heavyweight title now but damnit its the best looking championship in wrestling hands down and I have no idea what they could design to top this.

Guess we'll have to wait for the reveal but this whole thing has a lot of fans upset. It's going to be a hard belt to beat, almost feels impossible to think they could create something better.

=================
Official Okay-Super Villain™

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

https://twitter.com/JayWhiteNZ/status/1366275652949803009

---------------------

http://www.last.fm/user/dagu85

It’s going over like a ton of bricks and the fact that they lingered on Tanahashi’s disapproving face the other day made me laugh.

The only way I could see this working is if they were phasing out the clunky and confusing “IWGP” branding to call it the New Japan World Heavyweight Title. That appears to not be the case though.

and he can still remind me why

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

The flow of the match itself was decent, but I still marked out at all of it. JJ Dillon. The vintage belts. The shoe. The tope fake-out. The slingshot suplex. Hell, I even went for Spears dressed up as the cameraman and clocking Luchasaurus with the glove. And the post match stuff, with Arn flashing the Horsemen symbol and Dillon going old school on Schiovane made me smile as well.

And while we're here, the Shaq match... I've seen much, MUCH worse. AEW never made us care about it during lead-up, but it seems like they figured out it wasn't working. So they moved it off the PPV and had it as the opening match. Yes, they were moving at 15 mph. And Cargill was green as a leaf. But Shaq seemed like he took the training seriously. His powerbomb was decent. Him taking the chair shot and beating up the Gunn brothers was fine. And clearly the highlight was him going through both tables, which he sold like he got hit with a truck. And now I ex
The episode in general was kind of "eh." Even though it was a hard sell for the PPV, there was very little about the main event. I wasn't feeling the Rose/Mizunami match; it also seemed like it was in slow motion. They built up the Street Fight decently. I was fine with the Fenix/Pac squash; I'm guessing Serpentico got hurt, so they're putting 2/3 of Death Triangle into the Tag Team Battle Royale. And I was fine was the Caster/Ten match.

Not their strongest episode, but sort of looking forward to the PPV.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

HOF-level is what they've called it.

Who is it?

I'm thinking it is RVD or Kurt Angle.

I kinda wish it was Christian, but it isn't. And Cesaro just resigned too so no dice there either.

It is never Phil, so I can't figure it is him this time either.

I've heard folks say Brock. It could be but I just don't see it.

I don't know who else it could be. Someone mentioned Austin Aries. It better not be Austin Aries.

Zelina Vega is coming at some point too but I don't think they'd hype her as a HOF-level talent and ruin her debut that way.

>Who you got for Rumble winner?
>
>Any Predictions on who goes to Wrestle Mania and who walks
>away as champ?
>
>Kota Ibush is your new IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental
>Champion. How long will his reign last?
>
>Will Omega collect other titles from other companies and
>because the new Ultimo Dragon of this generation?
>
>This should be an exciting year in Pro Wrestling.

Punk or Lesnar are the only ones that would move the needle, if we’re talking about “HOF level” guys. Or Cena, lol.

I think they’ve hyped it up too much and I can’t tell if it’s deliberate or accidental. “HOF-Level” is pretty vague, but now it’s taken on a life of it’s own so if it isn’t Punk or Brock (which it won’t be) people will be disappointed. Christian is the only realistic option that might be interesting and wouldn’t get a bunch of groans. Otherwise it’s a completely washed wrestler or they’re stretching what “HOF-level” means to fuck with people.

>

Since that's apparently someone that they've just signed as well.

I'm not expecting it to be someone on the level of Brian Kage, but I hope it's not someone from Impact or something to further that angle.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

Maybe not the signing a lot of people were hoping for, but Ethan Page is awesome. They probably should come to some agreement to change his last name though with Hangman there.

>Maybe not the signing a lot of people were hoping for, but
>Ethan Page is awesome. They probably should come to some
>agreement to change his last name though with Hangman there.
>

Oh I thought the mystery entrant and the big signing were the same lol.

What I said for Ethan’s last name applies to Christian too though. They’re calling him Christian Cage when they already have Brian?

Christian had a helluva career then injuries screwed him from going out on his own terms. If wwe was really trying to Ziggler him after all he probably had to do to get cleared and in-shape, he was right to walk on their asses and try his hand in aew.

I hope he looks good and can still go in the ring enough to have a good run. A decent run for him would be great for all of us. And it would at least give wwe folks an idea to go elsewhere if they want a certain spot on a card with some visibility still.

And all of the crying about his age? He retired in 2014 so that 47 isn’t so bad. And shit, folks! There’s no 34-year old badass holy shit free agents right now. So aew took about the best available guy they could get. He was at least fine in his TNA days so I’m figuring it can work. I am pulling for him.

>HOF-level is what they've called it.
>
>Who is it?
>
>I'm thinking it is RVD or Kurt Angle.
>
>I kinda wish it was Christian, but it isn't. And Cesaro just
>resigned too so no dice there either.
>
>It is never Phil, so I can't figure it is him this time
>either.
>
>I've heard folks say Brock. It could be but I just don't see
>it.
>
>I don't know who else it could be. Someone mentioned Austin
>Aries. It better not be Austin Aries.
>
>Zelina Vega is coming at some point too but I don't think
>they'd hype her as a HOF-level talent and ruin her debut that
>way.
>
>>Who you got for Rumble winner?
>>
>>Any Predictions on who goes to Wrestle Mania and who walks
>>away as champ?
>>
>>Kota Ibush is your new IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental
>>Champion. How long will his reign last?
>>
>>Will Omega collect other titles from other companies and
>>because the new Ultimo Dragon of this generation?
>>
>>This should be an exciting year in Pro Wrestling.
>

I've always loved Christian's work, but after listening to these podcasts and seeing the level of praise he gets from damn near everyone, it's clear that he's a pro's pro, and it wasn't just me being a mark for another mid-size guy.

He's a high quality addition, and he can do a million things for them.

His matches, promos, working with younger wrestlers, he'd be great at commentary, managing, you name it, he can do it at a high level.

He doesn't need to be a main event guy to be invaluable to them- but he can absolutely be an intriguing main event option for a spell here and there.

First time I've been intrigued by an event since COVID started I feel.

https://s.kast.live/g/8lf7lrmxzl

=================
Official Okay-Super Villain™

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

Not their best, but the high's were really high.

Great main event but whoever rigged those explosives to go off at the end may be out of a job in the morning.

=================
Official Okay-Super Villain™

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

>Great main event but whoever rigged those explosives to go off
>at the end may be out of a job in the morning.

Lol, what kind of Mickey Mouse explosion was that? Kingston and the announcers tried to sell it but that was impossible.

>
>>Great main event but whoever rigged those explosives to go
>off
>>at the end may be out of a job in the morning.
>
>Lol, what kind of Mickey Mouse explosion was that? Kingston
>and the announcers tried to sell it but that was impossible.

Yeah, somebody is gonna get run off. They framed the shot beforehand like it was gonna be some crazy looking fire pro wrestling explosion. Then oops..bad Roman candles shit.

All wrestling companies need to come together and agree to not sell botched stuff in all situations. If someone kinda misses a strike, don’t give it the full sell. If a big spot goes off with limited impact, have a plan in place. This can be done!

I’m guessing Kenny will eat it and say ‘yeah, I flubbed the design..Moxley is a lucky sob’ and it’ll be fine. And Moxley gave a promo afterwards and bashed Kenny over it.

https://youtu.be/MyHUXYexIaE

>Not their best, but the high's were really high.
>
>Great main event but whoever rigged those explosives to go off
>at the end may be out of a job in the morning.

https://youtu.be/rGSYhdTbxVQ

If they had gotten closer to this, things would have gone over very well. Folks would still complain about something because that’s earth in 2021 in the land of the amazingly unappreciative, but hey...here’s what it looks like.

The only problem is, you would have had to shoot it outside. And I don't if you want to take the "limited" crowd out of for two matches that night, much less two matches in a row. Though I guess they could have rejiggered the match order.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/