garynysmon

Impact recently debuted a (legit) Russian wrestler, Masha Slamovich, who was playing a monster heel and using Russian in promos etc.

It'll be interesting to see where they go with her character now. (I have a fair idea what would have happened in Vince Russo's day...)

I miss WCW so much. 

I've never wanted a promotion to fail so much.

39 minutes ago, WeeAl said:

Casket is another one. Never in my life have I heard someone over here use the word casket unless it's in reference to wrestling. Coffin reverts to being the norm whenever wrestling is not a topic of discussion. 

Survivor Series 92 disagrees.

Must say that I agree with @BomberPat.

As sad as it is, we were half expecting his death 10-15 years ago when he was at his lowest ebb.

Instead, his is a story of redemption where he was able to bask in the adulation of the wrestling fanbase and live out his final years in relative peace after what must have been decades of mental torment off and on.

Due to the undoubted beating that his body took on all fronts, I'm thankful for everyone concerned that he got that time.

It may be a cliche but while I was never the biggest Razor Ramon fan, I will never forget the shock of Scott Hall turning up on Nitro during a squash match.

Watching TNT at the time it felt so surreal, no one made their debut like that! And while I never felt he rose above upper midcard level in the WWF, he was part and parcel of the biggest and hottest angle in many years.

He was the perfect blend of being a student of the game and having a great mind for the business, yet never taking it too seriously. I remember him expressing his almost horror after being taken to Bret's shrine for himself at his home.

I could listen to his shoot interviews all day, in fact, I'll probably whack one on later. 

Stopping Dixie Carter’s email account which got TNA thrown off Spike TV.

They like using Liquidator don’t they?

Fuck 'em.

Spent 15 years riding on a crest of a wave thanks only to his money. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch. 

Those bastards.... They've got me.

I hope that Sky don’t copy any more WWE TV production techniques….

Fulham fans will be chuffed.

A super spreader event if there ever was one. Makes the Chris Jericho Cruise seem like a fun holiday away.

Yup, another very good show.

The sad thing is that these weekends are getting ever more packed, yet again it will get ignored on the whole with another AEW PPV and even a WWE house show contributing to sucking all the air out of the room.

On 2/12/2022 at 12:52 AM, garynysmon said:

Its almost certain that Alexander has already resigned, given how strong he's been pushed with even a squash win this week.

Its clearly at attempt at dragging out the eventual Moose world title match for Slammiversary. 

I meant Rebellion.... 👀

This departure is so intriguing for many reasons.

He's AEW's first major departure so that's an interesting dynamic seeing that its been one way traffic in the other direction until now.

I must say that it had always been my assumption that the original 'gang' were minor shareholders as well as talent, so the news that he was working without a contract didn't really jump out at the time. 

Anything he does is going to be a step down now surely? I'm not saying that WWE isn't a bigger platform, but going from pretty much a management position to being a bog standard WWE talent is very reminiscent of his dad's run with Titan in 1990 isn't it? 

Plus, surely its tough to go from what sounds like a more laid back and closer knit environment to the "look over your shoulder" WWE culture? Plenty of others who left to join AEW, Impact etc all say how much of a relief it is to get out of the shark tank.

I just can't see him in WWE. I know wrestlers have burnt bigger bridges than him but surely anyone can telegraph this from a mile off. If they can spend over a decade chasing Sting and still try to make him look a cunt, what chance has Cody fucking Rhodes got?

The thought of him going to the NWA is just as bonkers for different reasons and I'd really rather that Impact not spend the money someone like him would demand (not that I think its a goer anyway).

Maybe New Japan is the only realistic alternative? There aren't many big name Americans out there at the moment are there, and with things opening up now who knows?

It still doesn't seem right tbh. With all the talk of a budget increase and the long term planning I still find it mental if this is legit.

There's pushing a talent and there's pushing a talent in the way that Impact's been pushing Josh Alexander to the moon.

I mean, it was clear that the long game was/is a Moose v Alexander rematch where Josh eventually got his revenge.

The logical thing, if knowing he wasn't sticking around after this month, would have been to set up Moose v Alexander for the title at Hard to Kill or even this weekend's No Surrender show, to solidify Moose as champion.

Just the way that he was written out, even squashing Big Kon on his fucking debut on last week's show, doesn't feel like modern day Impact booking at all or the way they've dealt with prior departures (LAX, Lucha Bros, Taya etc).

If he is indeed gone then the past few months of booking make absolutely no sense given that most wrestlers on the way out of Impact put someone over on their way.

Just a month ago he was bulldozing Jonah on PPV so I'm still dubious he's actually leaving, although going down the visa route and cancelling indy appearances does seem a pretty extreme way of keeping a work going.

Its a fucking idiotic move on Impact's part if he is indeed a goner and throws a year of booking down the swanny.

I wonder how many of these will be looking for new employment over the coming months...

Reckon this thread needs a name change...

Unfortunately, for the peak of my fandom as a kid, the idea of going to London for something like Summerslam would have been unthinkable and until I was a university student the only live wrestling I'd ever seen was Orig Williams tribute shows (although I did see Giant Haystacks wrestle in Llandudno in 1993, which was pretty cool).

My first ever WWE show was a Raw taping (the first in the UK I think), headlined by Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels and Edge beating Evolution, which was pretty star studded in fairness.

My experiences with Roddy Piper were pretty unique though, given he was diagnosed with cancer just before a scheduled tag title defence with Ric Flair in Manchester, resulting in him  being "taken out" by Randy Orton and Edge before the match could even start. He was also supposed to turn up at Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling taping, which I attended while on holiday in Vegas, only to peg it the week before.

Otherwise I suppose that the Undertaker was the only star still active past the mid noughties that I was bothered to miss out on, having tickets for a Smackdown taping in Manchester a few years later but not going because it clashed with a Wales v Norway friendly in Wrexham!

 I can't moan too much though, being in attendance for the already mentioned final Hulk Hogan match at a TNA house show, again in Manchester. Also got a picture with the big man pre-show (the year after).

30 minutes ago, Love-Wilcox said:

Tell that to Tessa Blanchard.

Not really the same scenario though was it?

Its almost certain that Alexander has already resigned, given how strong he's been pushed with even a squash win this week.

Its clearly at attempt at dragging out the eventual Moose world title match for Slammiversary. 

That said, I'm sure he'll show up on New Japan and maybe even AEW just to play it up a little.

Not a bad episode but the crowd seemed pretty sparse, which I assume will be the case for next week too given both tapings was held in a single block.

Loving heel Cardona.

29 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Kross has been doing interviews, thirstily begging for an AEW contract. It’s a bit sad.

He's burnt his bridges elsewhere, the daft twat.

Takeaways that won't take cards and insist on cash only. Fuck right off.

I'm not one that usually gets tied up in 'dream matches, but having just seen this on Twitter, just book it and take my money....