MPDTT

So here's my take:

Presentation, production  and commentary were great. Considering it was show 1, there was nothing out of place and the addition of Schiavone completed the commentary team and I got a kick out of the Nitro references.

Great crowd, not full of kids and loud all night.

I really enjoyed the Cody / Sami match and the segment that followed.

I liked the amount of wrestling on a 2 hour show - long may that continue.

The MJF / Cutler match used up precious TV time that could have been used for a multi man match to get more people TV time on the first show. I could have done without that match.

I liked the minimal backstage segments and the fact interviews happened in front of the live crowd.

TV-14, "bastard", "prick, "shit", glass table spot.....great stuff!

Hangman and Pac was great - building Pac as a top guy continues and makes sense.

Fite TV - well worth the money to see what happens during ad breaks.

The choice of female characters to compete for the title still surprises me. Neither wow me and I'd much rather have seen the Priestley / Baker fued take centre stage in the women's division. Also what was the point of Kenny coming out at the end of the match?

I don't want the Bucks and Kenny entering to the BTE theme, didn't suit the moment at all. Loved the whole match, the attack, the Hager reveal and the formation on a new heal stable to take on the Elite. Chuffed to see the former LAX in such a good spot on their debut.

Overall, a great start and 2 hours flew by.....even without Bea Priestley, Jimmy Havoc or Joey Janella!

I'll be in Baltimore on November 9th and can't wait!

 

It's been going downhill since Mallrats.

"It's the greatest night in the history of our sport!" - Tony Schiavone

54 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

I think I'm looking forward to MPDTT's review of the show more than the show itself.

I've toned it down, but yeah, I'm excited.

Download Festival RIP tickets bought....first time in 3 years. Last time I was there was was for Aerosmiths farewell.

AEW Plus on Fite. That'll do me fine

Hopefully ad break free

On 9/15/2019 at 8:59 AM, Frankie Crisp said:

Free Solo.

Chronicles the attempt of some mad bastard who wants to climb Yosemite’s El Capitan (3,200 feet) without any harnesses or safety gear. Just him and a bit of chalk. Uncomfortably wonderful to watch and it’s only at the very end that you realise the scale of what he’s doing. I’ve watched it twice this week. It’s incredible.

It’s on Channel 4 catch-up.

It is incredible. I'd recommend Yosemite to anyone doing a West Coast US trip. Spent 3 fantastic days there.

On 9/15/2019 at 8:40 PM, Thunderplex said:

Watched something very similar to this a couple of years ago where a guy was climbing what looked like a sheer cliff face in South America.  Got me that churned up I had to pause it half way through to check google that the bastard hadn’t fallen off.

Come on......that's a stretch.

Did he fall for Carl Beach's lies? Yes he did. So did the Metropolitan Police! So did the media!

Do you believe Tom Watson believed he was a fraudster, criminal and paedophile when he threw his support behind the case? I certainly don't. Was he wrong not to let the criminal justice system run its course before speaking out? Yes he was.

20 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said:

Whichever Milliband was leading the Tories would have had an uphill struggle against the Tory backing media onslaught, especially with the prospect of being able to avoid the EU tax transparency laws as presented by the referendum. 

Maybe the Tories would have had a smaller majority, or someone would have had to make some deals to get into power, but I don't think we'd have ended up with an actual Labour government. 

Possibly, but as I recall all the damage Eds rise to prominence did, I still think David Milliband would have been an entirely different proposition. Stabbing his brother in the back, the fact the PLP voted for Dave and unions put his brother over the top, the Red Ed campaigns, the stone tablet...... I think a David Miliband led Labour party would have seen a rebirth of the rebirth of the New Labout movement which was so popular for so long with the public. At the time, I don't think the New Labour ethos was toxic, but Blair / Brown were.

David Miliband would have been a far more formidable opponent for David  Cameron.

5 minutes ago, hallicks said:

Credit where it's due, you're a very smart troll, because nobody is this stupid.

Not a troll, stand by this. Thank you.

This news on Jon Lansman and his move to oust Tom Watson, one of the few remaining moderate voices in the Labour front bench makes my blood boil. Momentum are such a disgusting movement that have ruined the Labour party. If we could go back in time ame stop Ed Miliband standing against his brother, this country would be in a radically different position today. Labour wouldn't be the joke it is today, he would have defeated David Cameron in 2015 and brexit would never have happened.

I despise Boris Johnson, the direction of the conservative party and the purge of one nation Tories, yet there is no credible opposition and that's reflected in the opinion poles. The Lib Dems have my vote these days, but the state of our 2 main parties is a sad sight to see.

12 hours ago, garynysmon said:

Tbh i don't think that politicians are grossly overpaid by any stretch of the imagination. Most of them walked into politics from, or could easily gain better paying employment in the private sector.

The DEPUTY chief executive of my neighbouring small, rural local authority gets £90k. Meanwhile, the MP gets £79k and the Welsh Assembly Member gets £67,649.

Totally agree. I'd like to see our politicians paid much more. I'm a firm believer that if we want to attract the brightest and best minds into politics, to run the country, we need to pay salaries equivalent to leadership roles in corporates in the private sector.

As things stand, what beyond a sense of civic duty would attract anyone to politics? Why would the smartest, highest potential minds want to go into politics? Constantly harassed, under the tabloid microscope and with earning potential well below what they could earn in the corporate world......and then we wonder why our politicians leave us constantly underwhelmed.

MPs should be on a base of roughly 100k a year and I'd expect those in cabinet to be on double that. You'll regularly find that Senior and Executive Vice Presidents in corporate companies receiving base salaries in excess of £300,000 base plus bonuses and political top jobs should be no different.

Plus you pretty much have zero job security and your future isn't determined by how competent you are, but by a popularity contest voted on mainly by people who have no little understanding of the issues.

I missed the release of Sum 41s new album back in July, but now I've found it, I'm really enjoying it.

I'm a little disappointed. I hoped for a tournament double the size given they still have Angelico/Evans, Santana/Ortiz, the Brotherhood, Stronghearts plus some makeshift teams they could put together.

Great news for Impact. I can't find any data online about how AXS compares to other US cable channels though.

On 9/4/2019 at 7:51 PM, Doog said:

Need some advice please.

Currently really worried right now, I work in a call centre type role with lots of admin associated with it. I’ve never been one to follow processes as such and I know some of this is my fault but I need to know my options. So when we make calls we are judged on certain things by the QA department, have to say certain bits word for word, ask the right stuff, you know the score. In May i received email feedback from QA advising that my call scores were not good and I had failed on some mandatories and that “I would be referred to my Team Leader and call coaches for extra support. Fair enough. Then radio silence. No feedback for ages, no input from team leaders or anything. In early August I randomly got a message advising QA we’re going to sit with me. They sat with my for 1 hour. During that time I made several calls but no one answered and did admin work. They only observed.

No feedback again, nothing happened.

Today I’m pulled into a meeting with my Team Leader and Manager. They advise they have received a lot of feedback over the last couple months about my calls ad need to to do an investigation. We will meet again in 1 week and if the reports are upheld I will be going down a capability and disciplinary route.

Now I appreciate I may not have done all I need to do on the calls, i accept that, but I have been offered support and then it has not been delivered, and today was the first I’d heard about all of these so called terrible calls I’d done.

Do I have a leg to stand on relating to the potential disciplinary? What should my next move be? I’ve had no feedback since May, no support that I was promised and now this.

As a caveat me and my Team Leader get on well which makes it more awkward but she clearly doesn’t have my back in this instance. The manager and my Team Leader are also friends outside of work with the head of HR so I need to be careful how I play this.

Any advise would really be appreciated. Thank you

Hi @Doog, as an HR Director, let me give you some advice. 

As said above, Capability and Conduct are different processes - conduct is typically dealt with under disciplinary processes (when you "won't do" what is required), Capability processes apply when you "can't do" (i.e. training gap or some other reason eg disibility). The investigation they undertake is likely to identify whether there is a capability issue or you simply choose to disregard the requirements of your role.

Capability procedures, otherwise known as Performance Improvement Procedures, should be used by good employers to help employees reach the standard required - usually by putting a Performance Improvement Plan in place with clear objectives, training, coaching and support specified - followed up with regular check in reviews and ongoing feedback. Typically I will ensure my managers put these in place for 12 weeks (with 3 x 4 weekly reviews). If performance has not improved after 4 weeks, we issue a written warning. If performance is still insufficient at 8 weeks, we issue a Final Written Warning. At the 12 week review, we would dismiss if performance is still below expectations. I do expect my managers to document concerns informally approximately 4 weeks before entering into formal processes to give my employees the chance to improve without entering formal processes (something I'm very passionate about, although not legally required - I hate managers coming to me to talk about "getting rid" of an under-performer when they have zero documented evidence of coaching for improvement of giving feedback to the employee). Employment lawyers tell me that tribunals would not look favourably on performance related dismissals if employers can't demonstrate 4-6 months worth of performance management, but I rarely let processes run that long and make a commercial decision to usually terminate employment at the 12 week mark (unless there is a protected characteristic).

So, looking at your case, there is clearly an under-performance issue. As long as you don't state in investigation that you know what you should be doing, but just choose not to do it, then this will be dealt with as a Capability /  Performance Improvement matter - not conduct. I would recommend you say at this stage that you are disappointed that you've been taken down this formal route at this stage without any informal coaching or support from your line manager or QA to improve - that should push the buttons of your Head of HR.

Now here's the more dirty stuff?

• Do you have 2 years service? If not, and your employer has an agenda, they can fire you and you don't have any comeback at tribunal unless you have a protective characteristic and are claiming discrimination (are you gay, an ethnic minority, pregnant etc). 
• If you are in your probationary period, they may decide just to terminate your employment without following any Performance Improvement Procedure - I probably would, so be wary
• Employers will always tell employees being put on a Capability / Performance Improvement Procedure that this is being done to "help the employee achieve the performance levels required" - your employer might genuinely mean this, but (trade secret) there are 2 types of performance improvement procedures - those designed to get someone out the company and those designed to genuinely support someone to improve. You need to figure out which it is - based on how achievable the targets are they set and the level of support offered (remember that if performance doesn't improve to the required level you will be dismissed). If its a genuine process and you are confident you can achieve expectations, then you have no problem. If on the other hand you get the sense that you are being managed out with unfeasible expectations, I'd begin looking for a new job - they will take several months to get you out (during which you can be looking for a new role). Whilst you could consider a tribunal claim post dismissal, there are no guarantees of success and any payout would be significantly reduced if you found another job in the meantime.

I do hope this helps. Let me know if I can be of any more assistance.  

Great thread by the way....

1. AEW on TNT to be a ratings hit and eventually move to Monday's against Raw

2. AEW to enter into a partnership with NJPW and Rev Pro

3. An ROH / Impact merger that creates a viable and stable #3 promotion with a good TV deal

3 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

I thought your lot were against immigration?

Your still pushing this MPDTT is a Tory Cunt thing....I'll save you the time of searching through old posts...I was a Tory member until 2016, quit my membership post referendum and supported the Lib Dems ever since. Voted for them at the last election, although Steve Reed won the seat (Labour). Remainer over everything.....

I can never see myself going back, what's left is just rotten.

Also I'm a 2nd generation immigrant and dual national!

What incredible and scary times we live in. I just wish the Lib Dems were flying in the poles.....at least then I'd have some semblance of hope!

I can see a scenario where Boris does a deal now with Farage to allow Boris to extend to avoid breaking the law (without being eviscerated by Nigel et al), then have Nigel's backing and a Brexit Party pact, standing on a no deal platform at a subsequent GE. It's shaping up to be the Brexit Election in December and my biggest fear is Corbyn will be the blocker of a true Remain Coalition coming together to fight it.

Cody has been a genuine main event player for about 2 years now in my view - as I said during the EOY awards.....some scoffed, but I think he's going to be one of the big stars of the next wrestling  boom period that I'm convinced starts now.

Doesn't make sense for him to go over Jericho yet though, but a great headline fued for the first month of TV.

1 hour ago, Dead Mike said:

TBH, according to the polls its the Momentum types that the casual voter finds the most toxic. Labour being unappealing to the masses is their biggest problem. The Tories can lurch to the right & not lose many voters as people will grumble & still vote Tory. Those on the left are more fickle, always been the way.

Do you genuinely think that a Corbyn led Labour could win an election held within the next couple of months?

This is correct, and why no labour leader has won a general election with a socialist platform since the 1970s. By creating New Labour, Tony Blair made the party electable. Now it isn't (to the detriment of our democracy).

In fact the whole Tory strategy is reliant on Corbyn remaining in office....if Corbyn was replaced by Tom Watson the Conservatives would replace Johnson in a heartbeat.

The road to AEW on TNT starts here....

Killer hangover today. Had a blast last night at NJPW and then watching All Out. Was 7 rows from the front for this show.

Firstly you need an intermission! Especially when its New Japan as they cant throw in a token women's match that acts as the same thing....

Highlight for me was probably GoD v Ausie Open - I've wanted to see GoD live for ages and Tama Tonga is just an absolute superstar. Great match.

Ishii / Kenta and Okada / Suzuki were awesome too.