DavidB6937

There's definitely a benefit to opportunity and roster depth. But it does also mean that TK's booking often jumps all over the place depending on who he's into that week and there's so many you could argue are capable but never capitalised on. Or ones that have breakout performances but either get forgotten about or there's no room for them to move up. Having too many is arguably a good problem to have but it does also mean you get a lot of sitting around and waiting for something. Treading water will lead to a lot of unrest, especially with the more ambitious ones. If they're just in it for the money and they're happy for any role then it's not such a problem.

Tony doesn't really know what he wants AEW to be. He doesnt seem to have a single focus. It's very much trying to please the talent across the board plus being liked by other companies too and the fans. And there will always be issues with trying to please that many people and giving them everything they all want. Mostly the fact that it's just not possible. I'm not sure if that'll ever change because he's just a fanboy with a shit ton of money who is able to do whatever he wants. And what he wants is to be everything to everyone. So we'll keep coming round to these issues like inconsistent booking and bloated rosters and random crossover distractions. Spinning that many plates at the same time will never allow the cohesion to be any more than what they are. And he sounds happy with what they're doing anyway so that's that really.

Can't see anything on there? Did see some quotes floating around social media but they were old ones.

Depends what they do really. You can cut back in some areas and put the focus on the different camera shots etc and the overall feel of the show differs so it's something you just get used to really. I doubt they'll ever cut back to the point where it feels too small or minimalist. That goes against everything they are.

I never did finish that. Guess I'm better off keeping it that way. Although sounds like they might do something else to finish it off.

Good news.

Happy late birthday! Watched some Disney movies in your honour.

Yeah surely they should ALL be entertaining. Whether you love to watch them or love to hate them. But as has already been said, not everyone's going to like the same stuff. And that's okay.

That's probably how Tony justified it to himself I imagine.

Isn't she meant to be? She's a cocky arrogant mean girl heel. I always assumed she should be irritating. I enjoy it and I think she's great in that role.

Blah blah Bloodline blah blah NO. TIFFY TIME. Sorry. KO definitely deserved a mention too.

Would make a pretty solid Chris Jericho 2024 head.

And yet he still hasn't trademarked Piss Jericho.

What did he even say about Ospreay? I missed it, but surprised he'd reference him directly.

I've never been a huge Top Gun fan. I liked it but it's not something I've watched that many times, so I really wasn't bothered about it getting a sequel. But Maverick is one of the best examples of why we need cinemas in a long time. There will always be a place for movies like it and the spectacle and experience on a big screen is everything I could ever want from that. I have to be very picky with my time and cinema visits and I'm really glad I took the chance on it.

I hope you land on top of a chippy.

It's a curious one regarding replacing typically white cast roles because I always see a couple of different arguments: 1) It would be incredibly powerful to cast a black person as something as big as James Bond. 2) It's almost lazy and glosses over the bigger issue which is the lack of creation of similar roles for black people. As a white middle aged man, I'm not in the position to say what's right/wrong there. I do tend to lean towards the second one just because I think there needs to be a drive in opportunity and creativity, but again I'm not the person it would need to happen for. I can't say what would be more impactful or powerful or important for moving forward. We've seen it all when it comes to Doctor Who over the years - race, gender, whatever else.. you'd think it'd be a lot easier to accept when it's an alien role but apparently not. So no surprise there's always similar debate about James Bond, if not worse in some ways. Arguably I suppose it needs to be both - a more open minded world when it comes to casting/writing AND re-casting. Although there's obviously far more nuanced discussions to be had when it comes to what roles/properties and the best way to approach them. But yeah, it's daft that such casting decisions have been going on historically for years and yet in many ways we're more backwards and closed minded now in certain sectors than ever.

I think the thing with AEW - for me anyway - is that it was an opportunity to almost start with a clean slate and do things "right". For all WWE may be trying to do now, we know there's multiple dark clouds hanging around various people and they'd have to do a total clean out in order to really set things completely right. And that's blatantly not going to happen. But I guess if you know enough about the wrestling business then maybe you just accept that no company is going to be completely clean and maybe the hopes were too high for AEW. It just feels like a lot of us were really rooting for it to be the decent alternative that showed you could do things right in the industry. I know they've done a lot right but the cracks started to show and the questionable decisions started to creep in and it has obviously been a lot of pressure for TK from different directions and it does take its toll. It's silly really but it does feel a little more disappointing knowing the chance they had when it was launched and became successful. It has managed to achieve a lot but it has been dragged down into a lot of shit that many hoped it would avoid.

Firstly, thank you to @Devon Malcolmfor that post. It's one of those things I'm absolutely aware of but have no personal link or knowledge of, so that insight is invaluable to people like me. And as much as many of us try our best and try to understand, it's those more informed and experienced perspectives we should all be learning from. Same with race or gender discussions for example. There's only so much you can really understand from a white privilege male perspective despite believing you're open minded and supportive. Secondly - and this is where the tricky personal stuff comes in - the Harry Potter series has played a huge part in my life. I've made many friends because of it. It has brought me closer to my mum and her favourite place in the world is the studio tour. We've always made it our thing to go there every year. And our eldest daughter loves it too. So thinking about letting it all go is something I really struggle with. I know a lot of people feel the same. Probably in the same way about walking away from WWE when you've watched it for nearly your entire life. It's tough. I guess I have been justifying it by thinking well I'm not paying for stuff because I like JK or anything like that. But having read stuff on here, I get why that's incredibly problematic while still claiming to want to be an ally. So it's definitely something I need to try and reevaluate somehow.

Honestly I'm just disappointed. The whole thing just feels a bit sad. AEW was always meant to be an alternative. A place where the best wrestle and fans could just go and watch exactly that. To share that love of professional wrestling and ENJOY it. To see it being dragged down to this level and actually become more WWE than WWE itself in 2024 is just ridiculous beyond belief. If TK thinks this is the best way to get eyes on the product then that's a real step in the wrong direction for me. I really can't be arsed with it all.

Don't get me wrong. I love the debates on here and its a big part of why I enjoy reading stuff on here daily. But damn sometimes I think wrestling just needs to be enjoyed for what it is and not overanalysed. Not everything is written and built to be picked apart from bottom to top. Sometimes things are just done because they're cool and enjoyable and that's really the end of it. And that's actually enough for the majority of the audience I think. At least at an event like this where people go in wanting the spectacle and the crazy randomness of whatever WWE want to throw out there at their biggest show. So if the Undertaker shows up and people love it then that's surely enough. WWE will always have that history to play with. Its one of their biggest strengths.

Decent enough show I thought. Nothing spectacular but a solid show that built on existing momentum. Part of me loves the surprises etc but they're in rare form with a LOT of over talent across the roster. It's really great to see. I know it was partly because it was in London but being in such an enthusiastic crowd for MITB was just a total vibe shift compared to other WWE events. And that enthusiasm has carried on through so many crowds in different areas and countries. It really does make such a difference. Even the crowd for Raw was actually mostly into the show rather than trying to get themselves over. Over the years they became the worst crowd to watch and WWE had to try and push them as "ooh look at these crazy fans! They'll do anything they want!" it's never a good thing when they're more interested in creating their own entertainment than what is in front of them. There's very little of that now. Not a huge amount of dead crowds. They tend to be into most things these days to some degree. But yeah obviously part of that Rock/Cody stuff with the belts was super awkward. Terrible idea. Somehow worse than that time there was that weird tug of war with the belt. I'd like to forget that and just remember how the crowd loved Cody. How Cody is so genuine and overcome with everything right now. And how Rock managed to pull something fucking fantastic out of an originally stupid idea for Mania. Will be interesting to see where they go with Smackdown and what Roman's direction is now.

That main event was a real life version of that excited Vince meme really wasn't it. Only they're finally able to book shows everyone can enjoy and not just that old bastard. Knackered now though. Thought I'd be skipping through night 2 but ended up watching the whole thing and the press conference, and then read 10 pages of arguing about crying. I didn't film my tears so I assume that passes the genuine test. Honestly thought it couldn't get any better and then I read Scorchy isn't watching anymore? Best few days ever!

Yeah I tried that first but the connection was being annoying on the hotel WiFi so I just left it to download and watched it later.