Loki

On that topic the current Private Eye cover is magnificent

Doing what most people do after a serious operation, stay at home.  Something like a hysterectomy can take a long time to recover from.

It is rather curious, but I think the Wales' are just genuinely shit at PR.  They felt they didn't need to justify her absence (and they're right) but then succumbed to the pressure and put out a badly touched up photo which just made things worse.

A 30 second video clip would put all this to bed, and failure to clear things up really does fuel the conspiracy nonsense.

Conversely, Buck Palace has been incredibly open about Charles' cancer diagnosis and treatment and it's made it almost a non-issue.

21 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

God you lot are such fun sponges!

"Ooooooh look at me, I'm so pragmatic and had to find out more" 

Grow up.

I'm thinking we should start a GoFundMe to raise that billion for you @SuperBacon...

53 minutes ago, deathrey said:

get that inclusive spaces is a complex issue. I believe trans women are women and have no issues in sharing a bathroom, changing room etc with them but I am not a victim of domestic abuse, serious sexual assault etc so I know I can not speak for those women and can understand that they may not feel comfortable in those situations. Its complex. You can acknowledge that without being anti-trans. I know I am not best placed to voice an opinion or make decisions about this kind of thing so I shut up and let those who know more do the talking.

You're better placed than the rest of us, I'd argue!

There seems to be a lot of fallacious "slippery slope" arguments around the subject, where if you discuss a theoretical you can have one opinion but reality is more complex.  Asking the (cis) women in my life about the impact of trans women is interesting because when pushed there's definitely an opinion that some of the victories of feminism over the years might be under threat, by the theoretical incursion of those they consider "men" into female spaces.  But it's not actually something any of them have ever experienced in real life so outside of the conversation it's not like trans women have any actual impact on their rights.

Similarly with sports, if you could show that a particular sport was being changed noticeably by the participation of trans women then that might be an argument to exclude trans women from those sports on the basis of fairness.  But that really hasn't happened yet at a high level.  I've read some things about college sports in the US but not seen any actual concrete examples.

We are still somewhat at the beginning of this change to be fair - identifying as trans seems a lot more common amongst the current teenage population than it was even 10 years ago so maybe those people will mature and go into sports in enough numbers to make the argument less theoretical.  I doubt it though.

 

Wade Barrett is a good shout.  He always felt one major win away from being cemented as a main eventer and it never came.  Odd to think of him as a has-been when he's only 43 now and in perfect health.  I understand the long-term thinking behind being a commentator but Samoa Joe has made the transition back into being a wrestler and I kind of hope Barrett does too.

So often in AEW and WWE they bring in someone who's "big in Japan" and it falls flat for me.  AEW in particular with its strong connections with the Japanese scene tends to endlessly parade Japanese stars or gaijin stars and they don't really connect in the same way.

I was fully primed to hate Will Ospreay, particularly as the clips I'd seen of him were some of the most egregious spot fests.  But he's been an absolute delight every time he's appeared in AEW.   And what a tremendous promo that completely sold me on the upcoming match with Danielson.   Everything about him screams Superstar, he has the charisma that a lot of the homegrown AEW talent struggle to show.

Rest of the show was a lot better than the card suggested.  Moné looks good and is a fantastic addition to the roster (is she a bigger signing than Paige? She's a better long-term prospect for sure).  I see she's brought Mia with her though 🙄

Joe v Wardlow felt it didn't get out of second gear and I agree with @LaGoosh that Wardlow just doesn't seem to have the extra step or gear to go any further.  Some fun meat spots though, and Joe kicking the security guard is what I watch for.  A surprisingly convincing win for the champ.

4 minutes ago, air_raid said:

But the flip side is that soon we'll have a generation of fans that don't remember the crushing misery of thinking "Fucking hell, not Big Show and Kane again..." in the closing stages of a Royal Rumble. So, swings and roundabouts.

There was a match once where Big Show and Kane were teaming, I forget against who, on Raw and at the start of the match Big Show tagged himself in and said quite distinctly "let's get this shit over with", which was exactly what I was thinking at the same moment.

Nowadays I'd be so happy with a big man team where no flips or dives to the outside were likely.

That just makes me sad to think there's now a generation of WWE wrestlers who never got to have a one-on-one match with Kane on Raw.  Something of a rite of passage for so many years!

21 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

I think it's similar wishful thinking, personally. Feel free to argue the points made if you disagree. But I don't think it's hyperbole at all. We all know how opinions are shaped by people's opinions of certain personalities in wrestling. Was ever thus.

Well seeing as it was me you were directing the comment at, I will say that I don't think wondering to what extent someone knew about the abuse of someone else by a third party is even remotely similar to excusing a man murdering his son. 

You are right that opinions are shaped by people's existing opinions of certain personalities, but you can't then claim to have "no skin in the game".  You're very consistent on your hatred (not unjustified I may add) of WWE but that will surely colour your opinion on this story towards the "they're all guilty" point of view you now hold.

I'm not particularly interested in defending Hunter, although I do like the guy from what I've seen on tv.  If he knew about the abuse then he should be lined up against the wall with the rest of them.  But I'm loathe to point fingers at people indiscriminately.  The suit doesn't mention him, and that's probably significant.  I don't think it's in the realms of conspiracy theories that HHH knew or suspected Vince was having an affair, but not the details.

Edit: I think the Christian Horner news story offers an interesting corollary in terms of how abuses of power are dealt with, or not dealt with, by large organisations.  Coverups and shooting the messenger are standard HR tactics.

7 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

Like wishing Chris Benoit was just putting his poor disabled kid out of his misery

Come now.  We can discuss these things without resorting to hyperbolic comments like this surely.  

World Party were great, and of course they wrote Robbie Williams' greatest hit.  They're also one of those bands with loads of interesting connections around the music industry.

Particularly loved this track - 
 

I suspect Hunter is probably wilfully oblivious - as in, he didn't want to know and tried as hard as possible not to get involved in Vince's shit.  Which is quite typical at large organisations sadly where there's a culture of bullying, people avoid looking left or right as they know there are issues but want to remain non-complicit.

He was also down at the PC/NXT for a lot of the years in question, and then off ill for an extended period of time.  So his contact with the high level shenanigans at Titan Towers might have been limited by that.

None of this will stop people campaigning for his downfall though - I blame the denim shorts era.

Stephanie though - the circumstances of her leaving the WWE, in and around McMahon's original ouster and return.. there's a real story there to be heard, assuming any of this gets to court.

Quote

Khan, a childhood friend of new TKO board member Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson,

Ruh roh.

You could argue that the title is well enough established and they have enough high quality candidates to go all Attitude Era and just have the title change hands quickly back and forth between Joe, Page, Swerve and a returning MJF.

 Create some genuine excitement and intrigue about each title defence.  Hell, have it change hands on Dynamite.

 Let’s do something different for a change.

My favourite of all his novels in fact are the Nomad Of Time books - a trilogy about travelling to alternate versions of the first world war.  They're brilliant, and probably the most obvious of his books for a tv/film adaptation but they seem mainly forgotten about.  They might even be out of print!

On 2/27/2024 at 10:32 AM, BomberPat said:

lovely stuff!

I just finished Michael Moorcock's latest, The Woods of Arcady. It's the second part of what's at least a trilogy, in which Moorcock begins writing autobiographically, but then it all gets waylaid into a fantasy story. He ends up going on a Boy's Own adventure romp through the desert with the Three Musketeers, musing on his ideas of the Multiverse, while there's also a little sci-fi side-story that pops up unexpectedly into the narrative at times. There are some references to the previous book, but it doesn't seem to follow on directly (multiverse, innit), so I'm not sure whether the next book is intended to tie it all together or just more of the same.

It had its moments, but I don't think it really worked for me. The autobiography sections are interesting, because Moorcock is an interesting guy who has been around the sci-fi/fantasy world for decades, met everyone and done everything, and it's interesting when fantasy tropes and ideas start infringing on that story. But then for most of the second half of the book, at least, it just becomes a fairly pedestrian sword-and-sandals adventure with pretty odd pacing, and the fact that the central character is Michael Moorcock is barely relevant. It just feels like an idea that's never fully explored, but maybe that comes of being book two of three.

I've read a ton of Moorcock's earlier works and loved them, but I think his extraordinary imagination is what drives them, more than a great storytelling ability.  So when he's not completely on it, his stuff can drag.

Also, he may just have written TOO MANY books in his long career.  There's only so many ways to tell a fantasy story!  @BomberPat did you read Mother London?

His match against Roman Reigns was really good but of course he lost, which hardly makes it something I'll rewatch for "the buzz".  And of course this is a problem shared by all the top babyfaces of the last 4/5 years - they don't get the signature win over the big heel.  And the wins over the mid-tier heels are one of the hundreds of matches they have a year on free tv so they're not memorable even if they're good!

Since turning face, Knight's got to main event one PPV so far, and he lost.  Other than that he's had one? singles PPV match against The Miz and been in a bunch of multi-man or Battle Royals.  It's hardly brawling with Stone Cold in 99, in terms of replayability.

I don't really understand the issue with LA Knight's in-ring work.  He's no high flier or anything but he's athletic, bumps well, knows how to pace his offence, and crucially is able to get the live audience well into the match.  He works a very traditional WWE style, but is able to hang with the faster guys.  I just don't see the problem really, not as far as blocking any greater push - far worse workers have been pushed further.

I think if he fails to become one of the world champions, it will be something of a missed opportunity.  I see him as a real test of the HHH era. He's not homegrown PC talent, he made his bones elsewhere and had successful runs as champion in other promotions.  He's incredibly popular with the fans.  Why NOT give him a run?

It's always about this point in the run-up to Wrestlemania that you realise what a huge machine the modern WWE is.  Its cultural reach is just so vast in comparison to its competitors, and its history so deep.  Watching the company stack up the star power for this Wrestlemania, turn the handle and crank the anticipation - it's impressive.

Despite our grouching about it, they also know how to get wrestling fans on the hook.  Look at the turn around for the Rock on this forum - it was a matter of weeks ago that he was a big steroid baby with a face in the back of his head who was embarrassing himself.  Now we're calling for him to be handed the title because he has lightning in his entrance. As Danielson said.. fickle... fickle. 😛

It's undeniable though, Wrestlemania is the biggest thing going and this one is shaping up very nicely.  Also, Smackdown is the best wrestling show on tv despite Kross.  Just don't think about what it'll be like in, say, July when Rock is gone, Reigns is on hiatus, and we're having Kross v Andrade main events every week.

This counts as off topic I think…

5 minutes ago, King Coconut said:

Obviously we'll all be skipping salary, etc. I marked out big when the fry-up question dropped.

You’ll be skipping hair colour as well I imagine…

@Frankie Crisp this is a great idea.

 But honestly you’re asking for too much info.  I’m on page two and already you could easily identify me (type of car lol) and therefore know my salary, home town, age and all sorts of stuff.

I appreciate we can skip some questions but I’m instinctively not comfortable with this amount of personal info and I think that might dissuade people from finishing the form.

2 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

Marcus Smith is an absolute hero. What a game that was. 

I haven't heard Twickenham that excited since they opened the massive Tesco between the stadium and my estate. 

Great rugby.

The people of Twickenham love a Tesco do they?

 I’m enjoying watching Wales try to avoid both the wooden spoon and a clean sweep of losses.

I was just wondering who was actually next for Samoa Joe according to the re-started AEW Rankings.  

https://www.allelitewrestling.com/amp/aew-rankings-for-february-10-2024

They’ve not updated them since the first update after they were brought back with much fanfare.

That didn’t last long!

3 hours ago, Scratch said:

Sabre was a clear favourite when this started, but she’s become a bit of a nob quite quickly.

I think that's deliberate, they've tried to make her the female "bad guy" as that was something lacking at the start.  She's insanely hot though so I'm not sure it works.

Generally the whole series has found its feet as it's gone along, with Gladiators establishing better characters and starting to go after the contestants a bit more. I agree all the pally hugging after events undermines the sense of competition.

14 hours ago, Statto said:

3 of tonight's 4 semi-finalists having lost their 1/4 is silly.

Is that right?  They explained Dev being out but didn't explain the other 2 afaik.  The whole competition side has been mystifying, they've never even shown a brackets system or anything so how we're meant to know what's going on...

They need to realise that the Gladiators are the stars not the competitors.  When Sable, I mean Sabre got injured they just moved past it without any follow up.  She's one of the most popular people on the show, you have to explain what happened and interview her or something!