CavemanLynn

A dozen people's phones went off in the middle of drills at training. Neither me nor my wife got one though. Being on 3 and on a Chinese phone, I was basically off the grid.

I apologise if my analogy wasn't spot on. I heard there was a new 2hr wrestling show coming and being associated with a one older star, and with the 90s fresh in my mind watching a YouTube series, Thunder was what popped into my head. Regardless of who put forward the idea, whether it was AEW or the network, it seems a massive risk considering at least two new shows have been launched in the past year and TK seems just as involved in them as his flagship show, plus market saturation. If Punk is going to be thr focus, it'll be interesting seeing if there is a specific style or direction. 

No doubt CM Punk's name would have brought up in the TV negotiations, but AEW's low production costs and consistent ratings would have been much bigger factors in sealing the deal.

I just hope it's something different. For all the shit he comes out with, Bischoff cites having to generate 2 weekly hours of Thunder as being one of the big reasons WCW started really going downhill. If Tony K has managed a better financial deal than that (which was, supposedly, nothing, so Thunder ate into the Nitro and PPV budget), then it needs a clear visual and in-ring identity. Right now it feels like this:

Dynamite - THE wrestling

Rampage - wrestlingwrestlingwrestlingwrestling

ROH - wrestling ... wrestling ...

If their house show schedule was more frequent than one weekend a month, I'd be advocating for a show of highlights and full matches fromthe road, in different venues with a focus on roving cameras, but not for 2 hours.

It won't happen because we've had 30 years of WWF/E and WCW telling us everyone on the roster is a Super Star, merch mover and potential title contender, but it'd be great if they were brave enough to allocate part of the roster as the lower midcard exhibition guys, a la the original cruiserweights. No angles, special individual entrances, or guarantee you'll see them next week - just jog out there, do your gnarly shit for 5-8 minutes, then get out of the way for the following promo segment. If all anyone can think of for you is a title match, you're just not interesting enough to get invested in. You can teach anyone to wrestle but that doesn't make them a wrestler.

The Four Pillars angle feels like they've managed to hotshot 3 or 4 angles at once, and I fear all this is going to do is show up the gulfs in talent between them. That's especially if it's going to be build on this snarky, bitchy bullshit. If the lads are having a say in the content, it's a classic case of young wrestlers being stuck in the bubble and thinking that the only way to get heat is to get actually personal. It's another facet of the lack of personality issue re: the cruisers.

On the flipside, I'm all in on baby face Cole. Actually being the decent, humble guy we see in his podcasts and interviews combined with his massively over entrance, it's clear he just needed to get out of his own way. The fiery underdog suits him far better than dominant ass kicker heel.

41 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

he's another guy who just throws out Hayabusa's moves like they're whatever. Not a fan.

That never occurred to me, but you're dead right. No sense of "fxxx this - I'm going to murder you with my body using a move I learned off an alien bird God", just "hey, look at this cool thing I can do. Mum. Mum! Mum, look!..." 

Raekwon Cocktail.

19 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Presumably recognising it as another AEW show and picking it up on my series link, I noticed my Sky Plus had recorded Episode 1 of All Access, so I watched it this morning. I wasn’t even aware it was airing in the UK.

It’s exactly what you’d expect. Really phoney, E!-style reality TV. I’m sure it appeals to a certain demographic, but personally I just found it an incredibly frustrating watch because all the bad acting was getting in the way of the stuff I’m actually interested in.

Somewhere in the edit there’s a fascinating show for nerds like me. Seeing the locker rooms listed, with the EVPs, Sting and Chris Jericho having their own private rooms. Of course Jericho has his own locker room! Seeing the Young Bucks going through spots before the show, talking about how the new ring is less bouncy. I’d love to see how they put together a match and somehow remember and execute it so flawlessly. Seeing Britt Baker have infinitely more sexual chemistry with Chad Wardlow than her little rat of a boyfriend. They should turn that into a storyline where Wardlow smashes Adam Cole and steals his girl. Plus, if nothing else, I’d watch an hour of Tony Khan in Gorilla. It had the exact same energy as this meme. God bless that mental, rich weirdo.

 

Agreed. It shouldn't a full-blown ~RASSLING EXPOSED~ kayfabe-obliterating expose, but seeing the structure and workings of AEW day-to-day as well as the real lifestyles and health concerns among the talent would be fascinating and, in my opinion, a really important change in the perception and treatment of wrestling and wrestlers. Funnily enough, some of the things AEW claimed they'd be doing different to WWE.

Re: the bumps and bruises, the more things change, the more they stay the same, I guess. Old school workers worked basic matches in stiff rings for longevity, and often still ended up badly crocked. Rings got softened up, but that simply meant work got riskier and more impactful, and so the cycle continues.

Out of sight, out of mind is also an issue with wrestling, whether it's fickle fans or stretched bookers. I'm watching the Reliving The War series on Youtube, and I'm at 1997. I'd assumed Owen Hart's piledriver to Stone Cold took Austin out for weeks, but in actual fact he was back working angles within a fortnight, for fear of losing his momentum, push and spot. Without healthcare being provided by the employers, this kind of thing is going to continue. Even someone like Britt obviously has to keep working to pay the bills and maintain her lifestyle. Perhaps shows like this will also provide an alternative outlet and opportunity for talent, so they can (to put it in pretty cold business terminology) maintain their RTV.

I'll be giving this a chance, and Watching this Wrestling related show.

12 minutes ago, StrongStyle said:

 

To be fair, Batigol should probably be a daily feature in this thread.

The WWE camera cuts mean I watched that goal four times in that video, and still have no appreciation of what happened.

12 minutes ago, Chris B said:

Since Sting has already talked about retiring this year, I genuinely think it could be hyped as his final match, which could be a nice thing to have happen there. He's certainly not going to get that much of a bigger stage.

If Sting's retiring, I think he'd want it to be in Atlanta, not an English soccer stadium thousands of miles from where he made his name.

For all the talk of people here wanting this to be a multi-promotion or special-guest-filled show, I really would prefer it if it were an AEW greatest hits, with all the focus on presenting their homegrown stars in a spectacular setting. The idea that someone knows who someone like Goldberg was but isn't at least aware that AEW is a big wrestling thing seems far-fetched, and the more the marketing emphasis is on part-timers or one-offs, the less AEW differentiate themselves from WWE as a brand. That many ticket-buyers probably won't care about the difference doesn't mean AEW shouldn't make an effort to put front and centre the guys and girls that they want to carry the company forward. It just might require a bigger in-person marketing push that gets their big spokesperson stars onto couches and daytime shows. Get Adam Page on Loose Women and watch the mums flood to Ticketmaster for family tickets.

Give me the chance to see Sting hit guys with baseball bats, catcall and do the Scorpion Death Lock. PAC complaining he's only booooked because they're in the UK, but it's London so we're all soft bastads. OC entering the arena on the top of Sue's minivan (or UK equivalent) like a lackadaisical Teen Wolf. The House of Black doing their spooky bollocks at twilight. Hangman on a horse. Job done.

I've never been into football, but MOTD used to be standard weekend viewing during the summer holidays, and this belter from (still) sexiest man in football David Ginola stuck with me. Effortless but precise, a lovely bit of skill that you'd expect to see in a school field kickabout. Hits that glorious spot in the net too - forget the top or bottom corner, put it head height a foot in from the side so we know the keeper would have had a chance if you didn't look so dazzling.

I insist on casting my vote so I can feel I have contributed in some way, even if it is by picking the candidate I find least reprehensible. This time, though, I find myself seriously considering casting my vote as NONE/NOTA, but it still feels futile, a fist-at-cloud moment and a waste. 

1 minute ago, Tommy! said:

You won't want many, 1 or 2 plants will probably do as they go mad.

Can corroborate. During lockdown (when the whole economy was going to collapse and we were going to be reduced to a feudal bartering system, obvz),  I took the opportunity to get a big veggie patch going. Mostly a minor success, but my spinach and courgettes took over the whole world. The courgettes were like marrows in a couple of weeks.

I hadn't seen an update here, but it's great to see that Stevie looks to be well on his way to recovery, after a serious scare from a sudden chronic spinal infection. Here's a couple of videos he posted, a long one from several weeks ago where he gives a full update on what happened, and a newer shorter one where he proudly shows he's back to cane walking. A lovely, articulate, humble guy.

No need to worry about coverage. I've just checked and there's 20 chip shops in the area, so they'll be getting two posters each. I've not even looked up roundabouts or bus stops yet.

1 hour ago, ElBigFella said:

I reckon we can expect a rematch either at Summerslam or Mania 40. My theory is that they reckon the disappointment will elevate the reaction even further when Cody finally gets the win.

I think this is what they MIGHT be thinking, but rather than the euphoria of Cody finally winning, it'll be more a sense of relief at Cody FINALLY winning.

Any use of the Rock would further dilute the idea that Cody, the face, will have won on his own terms, which was one of the big positives and causes of his incredible momentum going into this year's Mania. Just a good guy who couldn't get the job done without a REAL star turning up.

Fxxxing hell. The merger must have been going down on afternoon of Night 1 for there to have been this seismic a sea change in the last 48 hours. Poor Hunter; to have spent a good year trying to get things creatively on a new track ands to finally be seeing the fruits of his labours AND making it to the milestone of his first Mania at the helm, and it gets undone for the sake of corporate continuity. Even that idea sounds like bullshit - is there past evidence of a change in champion shifting the share value? It can't be coincidence that UFC merges with WWE and the 'big' post-Mania reveals are Lesnar and Riddle; it has that Saudi-esque stink of an exec spouting out names they know without knowing the state of the current show. Vinnie Mac must be able to turn it on at the right times, though, because I don't know how the mad bastard manages to convince people he belongs in the lead. It feels like he's chucking Lesnar at Cody because he wants to see Cody bumped to fuck. Thanks for putting the company before your own health and turning the whole audience around on you to make this year's Mania one of the hottest of all time - now get destroyed and back in line, Stardust.

"Losing the belts" and "the end of the Bloodline" are two different things though. Would they break apart, or reunite stronger than before to take back what they think is theirs from the three men who took them down?

To me, a Backlash rematch where champion Cody has to face Roman again, but this time Roman's had a month to stew and boil and plot and rage - THAT's got stakes and story lines and isn't a foregone conclusion at all.

Nah, sounds like some bullshit reasoning from Hunter, deliberately misinterpreting what an angle is. You don't drop a Chekhov's gun keyword in a lead character's promo then have a producer after the event state it's never gonna happen. As much good as he's done these last few months and in a lot of this show, this is the guy who convinced top brass to have a heel over at Mania. Old habits. It almost feels like the Vince-on-comms info was leaked specifically to cast doubt on who made the call, knowing it was going to get people up in arms.

1 minute ago, Tsurutagun said:

Why is no-one talking about the big plotline development on Dynamite. 

Hangman in saying that the BBC attacked the Bucks he was accusing the Homes Under The Hammer team of the attack right? 

LAX coming back under the management of Greg Valentine would be a helluva swerve.

Bit more poetic in my household, with "dropping the kids off at the pool" *blub blub* and "claiming the house by jungle law."

This thread isn't about whether CM Punk is a wrong'un; it's about whether we think he's a twat. He's a thin-skinned Napoleon who ruined a lot of my enjoyment in my favourite wrestling promotion through his unprofessional, narrow-minded and arrogant behaviour. Yes, his behaviour isn't as bad as the abuse and noncery that goes on elsewhere, but it doesn't belittle that fact to say it isn't relevant here.

12 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

It's wild that the most you'd really get even in the attitude era was an arsehole.

But a hell of a lot more tits and homophobia, so, swings and roundabouts. I'm watching Wrestling Bios' Reliving The War series, up to '97-98, and, yeesh.

Bumping into the Out Of Context UKFF thread via <Next Unread Topic> then going hunting for the original post to see what on earth the original was.

.