mim731

10 hours ago, IANdrewDiceClay said:

Another one coming ...

 

People are wildly speculating about this, but I'd have money on this being less about a sex pest and more about a different scandal. HS2 perhaps. Obviously it could well be, but I doubt the BBC wants to be exposing anyone who may have worked for them in some capacity and all the rumoured/open secret names have had big shows on BBC at some point. Unless they're chasing a news presenter from a different network, it would seem an odd tact for Panorama to take.

The lack of subject matter could also just mean it's something they are awaiting legal clearance on. Too many people jumping to conclusions off the back of the Russell Brand doc. 

2 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

I can’t see USA paying more then Fox were offering for Smackdown either. Seems like a bust of a deal moving from one of the big 4 networks back to cable. 

1.4 billion is the figure being bandied around. No idea if that's accurate, but it would make it more than the Fox deal, on paper at least. I suspect that's a fudged number to some degree though, add ons etc, but they're certainly touting it as an upgrade. 

Shockingly, Top Dolla and Riddick Moss are both gone too. 

20 minutes ago, Callum1993 said:

As expected Talent Cuts are starting to be announced on Twitter. Mustafa Ali and Emma announced so far. 

When did Emma come back? I do not recall seeing her on TV at all!

5 minutes ago, Loki said:

It really looked like Mox was knocked out on the initial dive before the match even started.  You could see him trying to work the match and just his legs weren't under him.  I did think they'd call the match right there on that first pin.  But he seemed to recover after that.  I wonder if as a result he decided to change the result and Bryce just didn't count the three?  Or that driver knocked him loopy a second time.

Regardless, he needs 6 months off imo.  

Doesn't impact the importance of your point, 100% agree, but it was Rick Knox refereeing, not Bryce at fault (for once!).

If he goes back to WWE, he's not giving up the massive ego trip and the % of massive merch sales, at least initially, that would come with the big babyface rebel return. If he was game, he could always lean into the sell-out thing later, saying it was all an act etc, but there's no way he'd be presented as anything but a massive face if he came back. It wouldn't make business sense to do otherwise, and WWE are very much a "business-first" company these days. 

Might be easier to feel like he's being the "rebel" within the tightly constricted, rule driven conglomerate than the less regulated, free thinking, relaxed alternative I guess. Perhaps he needs the corporate structure to have something to push back against in the end?  Can't have a rebellion without a power-hungry overlord. Can't be the "voice of the voiceless" in an envirovent where people are listened to! 

20 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Nah, we had to give that one up already mate! Gotta give the others a chance to win something.

Ah hadn't even realised Spurs were out if the Worthington already! 

1 hour ago, SuperBacon said:

Yeah, we're winning the Carabao

Fixed

Random thought. Presumably for any prospective employer, the hypothetical massive pop he gets should he appear/return would be a huge part of the presentation. I wonder if Tony Khan still has the rights to Cult of Personality, and if so if Punk can use it elsewhere or if TK has the exclusivity on it, because it might be a damp squib if Punk comes out to a different song. Not insurmountable, but certainly diminishes the initial pop in that scenario. 

10 minutes ago, Weezenal said:

I sold my one WWE share ages ago. Could have retired now I imagine. Have you made anything on it? 

Nah, it was the lowest grade share, not made anything worthwhile on it. It was mostly bought as a bit of fun. 

My wife bought me a share in WWE years ago as a birthday present, mostly as a fun thing to have on the wall. 

This morning, I received a 400 page legal document in the post regarding the merger.

The postage was probably more than the value of my one share. 

EDIT: Censored to remove legal stuff as I don't want to get sued!

7 minutes ago, Infinity Land said:

Just make Final Battle an ROH v. AEW show and mark the end of ROH

I always assumed, long term the tape library was the main thing Tony Khan was after out of the ROH deal in business terms (to pad out the content offering on a future AEW streaming service), so if they aren't getting a TV deal for it I could definitely get on board with absorbing it into AEW. 

9 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said:

Yeah, he's done some rather interesting stuff. Red State had its moments, and I'm fascinated to see whether Moose Jaws ever actually ends up getting made to complete the True North trilogy with Tusk & Yoga Hosers. 

Is Yoga Hosers worth tracking down? Having read it has some connective tissue with Tusk, I'm vaguely interested to see where it goes. 

So I watched the Kevin Smith film Tusk earlier, having somehow never heard about it on release (it's on Amazon Prime now) nearly a decade ago. That was...something. I can't decide whether I think it was good or not, it was certainly weird and I am usually pretty happy to gravitate towards unusual stories, but that was...maybe too weird.  

1 hour ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

The confirmed number of sold was announced a few days ago at over 83k

@Daddymagic thats bollocks. The capacity could have been 100k if they didn't tarp the hard cam with the floor seats as well. You could see empty seats in most sections but it was pretty full which is why 81k seemed a realistic figure with that factored in and feel is more accurate based on what I saw and the fact turnstiles aren't used for everyone. 

In fairness, you're both speculating based on your own perceptions, so his point is no more bollocks than your own non-factual "feel" that that the number is more accurate.

There are two numbers, both are quantified and caveated (turnstiles and tickets distributed respectively) and the likelihood is the truth is somewhere in the middle. Frankly, why anyone so passionately gives a flying fuck about the attendance figure is beyond me. It was a massive crowd either way for a very good show, can't we just have nice things for once without arguing about the most tedious of details?

2 hours ago, Vamp said:

I'm fairly sure Punk was asked about her coming to AEW with him and him saying he wouldn't want that because he liked her "chunky." Which was probably innocuous. 

He was definitely asked in an interview about her coming in and mentioned her neck was too messed up. Not sure about the other bit. 

18 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

If he wants to stay in wrestling, I honestly wonder if the best thing for him would be an out-of-ring creative role - he's obviously a creative guy, with a lot of love for the history of wrestling, and could have something to offer once that work is removed from his own ego and his own performance. I have no idea if he'd be interested in that, but stranger things have happened in wrestling than Phil Brooks putting on a suit to go and work in the office. 

If not a creative role, he could definitely offer something as a commentator provided he was able to keep himself within the bounds of the role (big "if" naturally). He's worked in that capacity before on WWE TV and he was very good as a colour commentator. I guess it largely depends on whether he thinks he has one last run left in the ring or not. 

6 minutes ago, David said:

What the fuck even is "thumbs in the middle"?

Well it's neither thumbs up or thumbs down, you'd imagine. 

The idea of beans and lettuce together just made me gag. That's proper rank. 

On 9/2/2023 at 11:49 PM, Daaaaaad! said:

My parents are travelling to Japan soon and have asked if anything I want bringing back. I don't expect they'll be heading to a show any time during their stay, but is there anything cool or exclusive I should think about asking for?

I have a base level knowledge of NJPW (went to Royal Quest but I don't keep up show by show) so I'm not necessarily massively attached to any specific stable or wrestler. A little research suggests there's a merch shop near the Tokyo Dome/Korauken Hall, so I'd guess that's where to start.

Worth remembering if you ask them to bring you back a t shirt or anything clothing related, Japanese sizing is quite different. If you usually wear an L T-shirt, you'd want a Japanese XL at least, for example. 

EDIT- Double postaroonie

34 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Well, one of the very men in charge, so that does sort of put the kibosh on it slightly I assume.

I dunno, wasn't he backstage recently and had a chat with Triple H. Suggests he's squashed that. Wasn't he very complimentary of Trips at the CAC the other day too?

I reckon for the Goldberg schedule and being treated like a "legend" he'd wind his neck in long enough to main event one night of Mania and get his HOF induction. 

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

At this point, I’m not sure what value there’d be in it being a work. Does anyone want to see a Punk vs Tony Khan feud?

Urgh, if this is a work and goes all mid-00s shooty bollocks with Punk doing "run ins" from the crowd, I will 100% be done with AEW. That shite can get in the bin. 

I can't imagine it is a work tbf, just to clarify. 

If you have a spare 15 minutes, this is actually a lot of fun.