The Gaffer

All Khan said was that it's definitely backstage footage. The graphic doesn't mention Punk, a brawl or an altercation of any kind either. I think the most likely scenario is that they do one of those "No lies were told" bait-and-switches where footage from around the brawl - but never explicitly showing it or Punk - are shown and it's used as a prop/lead in to a worked angle.

This banal surge of Arsenal gloatposting is giving me a rash.

I saw it as Cody weighing up the situation and thinking "Sure, what's the worst that can happen, but let me take your one as collateral when you do it." Basically just gives them some good visuals to stick into the vignettes whenever Rock returns and they decide to build to the match.

They've pretty much already come out the losing end no matter what they do. It's pretty spectacular. Somebody said it on another page as well - and even though I didn't mind the promo in isolation - especially coming a week after Copeland's "We're the positive wrestling guys!" schtick it's just horrendous, completely hilarious decision making.

Think you might be pulling yourself back in, chief.

He's a lifer at a place where he's probably surrounded by a hundred people a week he considers family and loves it. You go on suffering sometimes. In fact, I hope Samantha Irvin is the one to narrate The Passion of the Cole on Peacock next month.

Crying Era has got me again.

I tried watching Punk/'Taker back last week because they chucked it up on YouTube and I was shocked at how awful the commentary was. It's like a reversal of that "You don't know how much of a good thing you have until it's gone" mentality. I knew it was bad at the time. It was a pubic domain opinion on WWE. We all agreed it was bad. But watching it back now - with it finally, officially being a bygone era - it's crazy how much it dragged its arse across the carpet of one of the matches I thought was a high point of those years. And I realised with a genuine pang of pity for the guy that my fixed image of Cole for all those years involved no movement because he wasn't permitted any. Hunched shoulders, focussed voice, taking a constant bollocking on the cans. He was like one of those greyscale, plugged-into-the-system slave people you see depicted for dramatic effect on conspiracy videos. JBL to the right delivering the big "We hate our audience" lines. King to the left doing his passionless face thing. Can you blame any of them for emoting? Of course it's all real. Anyone within shouting distance of gorilla's going to need talk therapy until at least WrestleMania 50. They probably have a dart board with Satan's face on it on the way out the curtain. People have probably been sneezing as a joke in booking meetings for months now.

I think it's just an easy assumption from an outside perspective that the big hook of WrestleMania writes itself every year and that it's in a position to pretty much automatically sell itself with the company on autopilot. In reality you aren't banking your billions on that, and you're not going back to your board and investors with an "It'll be fine, it's WrestleMania." It's like those finishers in the old Smackdown games. You only get a limited number of them. They carved out another year of monster business without having to use their Cody finisher. It's a conservative move from a business perspective, for sure, but that's WWE. We just have the good fortune of having them do that now with programs that are actually gratifying to watch. I'd get used to it. From a longevity perspective, stretching your top level program to two WrestleManias is probably the way this stuff's going to be done for the foreseeable.

I probably shouldn't feel bad because he's a millionaire who goes to bed with Becky Lynch - and I've spent months joining in the slagging on his characterisation - but I did spare a thought for Seth losing the title then having to shower, don his Bossmans and put the hair dye in just to get immediately sparked out as essentially set dressing in the main event with all the proper big stars.

Nailed it. If they made me feel like a 10 year old, life must have been pretty sweet as a 10 year old watching that. That's where it starts and ends, lads.

All out of sync for me this morning as well. Panic bought the Network last night and ended up watching wrestling instead because this best-in-class media empire can't get their own platform right.

Mami California. The Eradibip-bop-badicator.

Brilliant. I'm more excited for it than anything tonight. Long live chaos.

Hopefully Michael Cole buttons up tonight and stops mentioning the temperature every other minute.

Thread is getting dangerously close to that shit, overused "People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis, Jeremy" meme.

It does feel like there's a lot of rush jobs/dead matches on the undercards both nights. I guess even X-Seven had a hokey Jericho/Regal feud, thrown together Right to Censor tag and anonymous European Title match, though. I suppose some stuff will always pale in comparison to the mega hyped stuff. Some of the build for this stuff seems to have just happened in the unconscious though. Granted I've mostly had it on in the background but it feels like the Uso match hasn't had any build to speak of. It just turned up announced one day. Jey's easy to keep hot but poor Jimmy's just the bloke who points up at the sky for Roman to me, nowadays.

Don't they broadcast the Hall of Fame in the U.S. straight after Smackdown? I'm pretty sure getting to go first pretty much is the headline slot.

The fact that it doesn't have a giant physical bell that somebody can get launched into to make a DONGGGG sound has confirmed for me that even in a purple patch, these people will never be quite as creative as I want them to be.

Tony's guy gets another ping, looks to the heavens, and resignedly cycles back up the hill.

I really hope this is true. What an insane man. Nab a potential retrospective era name that can be used for years and legally tie it to yourself. This is how you do it.

Him wrestling Brock for the title at Backlash 2003 is like some mad temporary aberration from another timeline. The first time I personally got the sense he was headed straight to the top of the Smackdown brand before long was that little forgotten gem he had with Angle at No Mercy 2003. One of the first examples of the crowd split chanting for the heel. I was 12 at the time and thought it was cool how Taz openly acknowledged that on commentary with that "That's awesome, you come here, you pay your money, you do what you want" line.

It's definitely not a gimmick I hope he drops any time soon.