RedTwoster

It’s difficult, particularly with babyface champions - I think they’ve nailed it with most of their heel champions. While I don’t disagree with you about momentum slowing, I don’t think it’s been through their choice in first challenger. I don’t disagree, but Cole was never treated like a step down or, I suspect, viewed as such by Tony Khan. I think that’s was a sincere attempt at a significant first challenger, it’s just that Cole wasn’t really perceived as being that. He deserved his Wembley main event, though.

C&C vs New Level has never happened in any company, so perhaps that’s your eventual avenue to New Level/Bucks?

It's not so much that it's the match that's the most fun (although it definitely is), it's that it feels like the biggest tag team match they've put on in quite some time. I'm totally up for it closing the show, but you're right - there probably will be some sort of moment post-match with Moxley. My guess is that it'll be the Death Riders finally turning on Mox, or at least walking out on him. I don't think the year ends with Moxley as their leader. Do you think? I know Danielson took on Jack Perry, but on the whole, they've done quite a good job at not throwing a 'Kane' at the new World Champion on their first PPV title defence. Even Omega facing Kevin Knight served a purpose other than giving Omega a win - I'd argue that Knight came out of that feud and match feeling like a future main eventer, whereas beforehand his performances as a character had been quite mixed. He's really good on the mic now, and I think being forced to step it up in that way is a significant reason for that.

Is that really true, though? TNA never felt anywhere near a legitimate competitor to WWE. AEW, on the other hand, has managed to maintain a core audience; many of whom seem to have stopped watching WWE completely. In addition, they compete for wrestlers on a level playing field - heck, it might even be balanced slightly towards AEW given that they pay wrestlers more now. While a handful of wrestlers did indeed choose TNA over WWE (the most notable of which being Christian Cage and Sting - with the former only doing so in the short term before jumping back) it really wasn't common. Because of how we watch these things being different now, it's difficult to compare viewership but I don't think TNA had a chance in hell of selling out Wembley or of holding big audience PPV shows in the way AEW does.

I think that's the best use of her to be fair. Perhaps I'm being unfair, but her character feels very WWE to me.

Even with that, I'm very curious as to what kind of audience it would attract - not just in terms of numbers, but you have someone who is very openly a MAGA type with extremely problematic views. He may have interesting stories to tell, but so would Rudy Giuliani if you were to bring him over to discuss his experiences of 9/11. I'm not sure how I feel about companies like Inside the Ropes putting money in the pockets of someone like Hager. Maybe they should be more selective about who they work with, I don't know.

Sorry for the double post, but I've just watched the Dynamite/Collision hybrid show and I do like sharing my AEW thoughts on a Thursday morning. It was another slightly tepid show, but I've come to accept that with AEW - immediately after their red hot 'big' story for the year - whether it's Hangman ending the Death Riders, Danielson winning one last World Title or Ospreay becoming World Champion for the first time, things cool down for a bit. The programming is still perfectly entertaining, it's just not must-watch. But I think it's OK to have a bit of rest time in between big stories, and maybe even sensible so that they still have that sense of magnitude. If every moment is 'big' none of them are. Anyway, I'm not sure how I feel about Swerve doing comedy with the New Level, but we'll see where it goes. I'd been enjoying his heel run, and he felt menacing as fuck in the run-up to All In. The promo segment with Hangman and Brodido was decent and I suspect it's the beginning of something rather than a one-and-done. What Hangman said was true though, the trios belts feel meaningful. I do wonder if they'll be able to keep up the momentum post-Swerve/Hangman, but I hope they can. Britt Baker feels like a relic from a time when the AEW women's division wasn't quite what it is - and her presentation feels a bit dated in the sense that she acts like a WWE-style 'mean girl' heel. Although AEW really should have had a women's match main event a PPV by now, they have been excellent at presenting female characters as actual human beings with a real diversity in terms of the characters they play. Maybe there's room for the kind of character Britt is playing since it's a rarity in AEW, but given that it's essentially the only way WWE presents a female heel, the character isn't working for me. Nick Wayne actually looked good in the suit - I'm still not convinced by his potential, but at least he's making the effort to look like a big deal. And heck, his mic work has improved. I thought Chris Jericho was good in their promo segment too, when he drops the comedy he can still be effective as a character. Okada is one of my favourite characters in wrestling right now. When AEW signed him I was expecting ring work - while he's perfectly decent in ring, that isn't the strength he's ended up bringing to the company, he's brought the most brilliant heel character - an absolute twat who feels totally believable in that role. He's so fucking fun and when the time is right he'll make a superb babyface - he won't need to change his character up at all, he'll be the dickhead you can't help but enjoy. Talking of my favourite characters in wrestling - Thekla saying she's 'for the children' made me laugh out loud. She's absolutely brilliant and I can't wait to see her interact with Toni Storm, when she returns to action. If I was Tony Khan, I'd be seriously tempted to close All Out with the tag title match. It feels extremely significant and I have a feeling it'll end up being the match we all remember coming out of that show. And finally, I hope Akira fucks off soon. He's awful.

Not quite @gmoney’s 22, but a score I’m proud of nonetheless!

Oh god, a Brawling Birds interview segment. I’m looking forward to the trios title match, I can’t believe they’ve actually managed to make that division exciting. And fuck me, how did ‘Tony fumbled’ become a thing when you have Swerve, New Level and Ricochet all let go by WWE and all absolutely killing it in their new home. Side note: @Kamran is quietly one of the most underrated posters on this forum, his show previews actively add to my viewing experience.

I’m not a fan of combat sports in general, but I’m genuinely baffled as to what the entertainment value of this is for anyone. It’s obviously dangerous and stupid, but in the most boring possible way.

The odds of getting zero must be tiny - getting one player per round who hasn’t scored at all seems very unlikely. And that makes your score of 32 incredibly impressive, I’m definitely going to try to score lower than that, but I think it’ll be tough. EDIT: lowest score so far for me is 68, but it’s challenging to even score under 100 DOUBLE EDIT: 56 now!! Heading in the right (…wrong?) direction!

I reckon Mone/Willow will close Wrestledream, and I hope I'm right. And I'd love to see Bayley jump to AEW. Back on the subject of NXT, though - at the moment, I don't look at the men's section of the NXT roster and see anyone who I could picture holding a world title. I can only assume their decision to underpay wrestlers is biting them in the arse, with the better prospects all ending up in AEW. If that's the case, ha. Maybe reassess how you treat your wrestlers, TKO.

I didn't even notice that, however... Finally.

It's fucking dangerous when you get close - I've had 441, 443 and 446 and it really gives it that 'just one more go' quality as 4-4-2 feels attainable. My biggest flaw in this game - aside from being terrible at maths - is totally misremembering how impactful certain players were when it came to goals. Some seemed more prolific than they actually were (generally because their spells in the EPL were short) and others seemed crap but scored far more than I realised. On the subject of maths - I genuinely thought I'd hit 442 before my final pick, and I was punching the air when Ali Dia came up in the final round of players. And almost punching the table when I realised my sums were off and it was 441. Absolutely crushing.

It's not petty at all you're right, but I would point out that I said 'as valuable' as opposed to 'as big a star' and that, I would stand by. She's only 33, she's become one of the best promos in the company and every segment she's involved in is tremendously entertaining. You remove her from your roster and you notice it - and as far as emerging stars in AEW go, I'd sooner retain her over Kevin Knight, Kyle Fletcher or Takeshita if I that bizarre decision ever had to be made.

Any Blackburn fan or regular Championship viewer able to tell me anything about new Scotland call-up Kristi Montgomery? Is he any good? He's a new name on my radar, I'm a little surprised that he has ended up getting called into the squad over James Penrice, although there's every chance it's a fair decision given how little I know about the guy.

I'll let the cat out of the bag here and admit to being one of the two people who has met Trump (pre-presidency, I should add - back when he was simply the guy from The Apprentice) - I'm very curious as to who the other person is, if you're willing to share?

You're right about WWE's shift being motivated by perception/PR - but I suppose my counterpoint to this would be that if you don't present an act as being main event level, how can they possibly cross that threshold? I think it's hard to argue that the likes of Mercedes Mone, Rhea Ripley, Toni Storm, Willow Nightingale, Thekla and Becky Lynch have become every bit as valuable to their companies as any top male wrestler.

Totally agree with this, I’d be willing to donate this way.

You're right, I guess I subconsciously looked at him as being more established on the main roster than he actually is. Certainly, the current group of male wrestlers on NXT is about as underwhelming as it's ever been. I also think the early years of actually treating female wrestlers seriously would have been affected by the fact they initially had a very small group of extremely talented wrestlers, and then you had the remnants of the former divas division. These days though, you're completely right - they have the best women's roster they've ever had with genuine 'top star' candidates among them (Rhea Ripley being the most obvious). Frequently, female wrestlers are having the stand-out match on any given show, there's no reason why they couldn't be closing events really. Same goes for AEW - you have a real golden generation there with Mercedes, Willow, Toni Storm, Thekla and others, it's mad that they're yet to close a show - although I'm optimistic that we'll see it happen at Wrestledream.

Neil Lennon is inexplicably bookies’ favourite for the (not yet vacant) Celtic job. For the fan reaction alone, I hope this happens.

Popped through a donation via your email address since the donation link isn’t working. Seeing the costs involved though, I really just wanted to publicly say thanks for keeping this place going. As you’ll have seen from this thread the forum means a lot to so many of us, and shamefully I hadn’t realised or considered that it all came down to the efforts and dedication of one person. So yeah, I’m enormously grateful and I’m pretty certain I’m not alone in feeling that way.

Honestly, if I was Triple H or Nick Khan I'd be looking at the male side of the roster feeling genuinely worried. You have Trick Williams and Oba Femi, but outside of that it's genuinely difficult to see where the next generation of stars are. On the women's side it's an embarrassment of riches, if they weren't so stuck in their ways the very easy solution would be simply pushing female wrestlers as their top stars or co-top stars going forward.

I'm kind of sad to see Celtic falter in the way they are thanks entirely to the fact I really like Martin O'Neill as a person. As gutted as I was to see Hearts miss out on the league title, I kind of wish O'Neill left on a high at the end of last season. I'd hate to see his legacy tainted by what's happening right now. If he were to step down this week, I think his legacy will remain intact. I'd be sad to see one of Scottish Football's great personalities leave so abruptly, but...maybe it's for the best.

His tag team with Ethan Page was objectively brilliant, and it's a huge shame they split up, but outside of that I've always found Sky to be incredibly bland. His ring work is fine, his mic work is fine and his look is fine, but he doesn't excel in any area. When a roster is as stacked as the AEW roster, that's a problem. Sky Flight is probably the blandest stable AEW has ever offered up, amazingly made even more bland through the addition of Matt Sydal. But I could see him getting a main event run in TNA, if he ever fancied a pay cut.