AVM

This guy surely has to induct Bulldog?

Would love another Gargano/Ciampa match. The storytelling in those were about as perfect as wrestling gets. You can flip about and do Canadian Destroyers all you like and you'll get a pop here and there but nothing sucks me in like a beautifully crafted story and I think they nailed it with their Takeover matches a couple of years back. 

Standard fare I think, Fury will comfortably out-box Wilder for seven or eight rounds then Wilder will land a right hand out of nowhere.

There this weird 'styles make fights' deal going on for the top three heavyweight IMO. Wilder beats Fury, AJ beats Wilder, Fury beats AJ - Usyk possibly beats all of them. 

7 minutes ago, mim731 said:

I think that is doing Riptide a disservice, some of their long term storytelling over the past few years has been superb, and Progress would be lucky to be doing such good work. 

The storytelling is alright TBF, Riptide is a solid entertaining promotion, it was more the name power of Progress' bookings now. 

I'd guess it'd be possible for Matt Richards to stay back then you have someone fill in for Jon Briley but yeah it's probably going to have to move (which has happened before). I do question how long it'll be before Progress shuts its doors (at least in its current guise). I mean WWE even seem to be signing up folk from the newest generation coming through - Pretty Deadly, Dani Luna, Candyfloss. You just need them to get OJMO and Cara Noir and you're pretty much at the point where you either get lent talent regularly (guaranteed) or you downgrade regular chapter venues. 

Comparatively, Rev Pro seem to have a really sweet deal with NJPW and ROH. I do prefer the storytelling style of Progress but I do think we're reaching the point where it's basically Riptide in a bigger venue. 

Mike Awesome's late 99 ECW run. What a beast, what a waste.

Cobb is an outstanding talent, but he needs a mouthpiece. 

17 hours ago, Michael_3165 said:

He hardly talks like he could kick the arse of hard cases though does he? Threatening bucky beaver teeth AND Russo hardly qualifies. 

Didn't he threaten to kill Brock Lesnar once?

I'm going to Mania and I'd quite like Reigns vs. Goldberg. Reigns vs. Fiend could just as well be main event of No Mercy as it could be Mania main event. 

I'd like Golderg/Reigns and Taker/Fiend as big name, big spectacle attracttion then further down you have the spotfest matches. Reigns/Fiend and McIntyre/Lesnar are fun but they don't scream Mania to me.

Was a really fun show. Best I've seen from the WWE in quite a while, they really invested my energy in it. 

There's seems to be some disagreement on how much notice Eaver actually gave. There are two conflicting first-hand accounts out there. Where I stand on that situation entirely depends on how much warning fans were given.

As for acceptable behaviour, I draw the line on personal abuse. If you're going to have a go, direct it towards the character being portrayed, not the actual performer. Obviously, you don't get physical and you don't stray into racism, homophobia or mysoginy. Likewise, wrestlers should act within the realms of their character and not stray into personal abuse, respond in the context of confines of the show.

With regards to the physical side, I do like it myself just because it immerses you within the show. I've had my pint punched in by Spike Trivet, people whipped in my direction (with warning) and have had a little shove from Pete Dunne - all of it just part of the show, never, ever any genuine malace and all of it left a smile on my face which I'm sure the performers intended. 

This theory you go to wrestling to 'let off steam', though? That's really, really dumb. I can't relate on any level to that.

Would I be able to swap my picks round?

Cain Velasquez, Cocaine Velasquez, the ghost of Pablo Escobar accompanied to the ring by his pet hippos 

38 minutes ago, Chris B said:

 

The idea that there's someone else behind the Dark Order was probably the plan all along, but I'm entertained by the thought everyone suddenly realised Uno didn't convince as a big bad and went into damage control. There are some fun theories on Reddit, with the top contenders for the 'exalted one' being Christopher Daniels (unlikely, but likely to join), Marty Scurll (most likely) and... Matt Hardy (due to Uno's 'Wonderful' reference - unlikely, but his contract does come up in a couple of months, so not impossible).

Luke Harper I reckon... Assuming I wasn't dreaming that he got his release.

Marty Scurrl, Rikishi, Stacy Keibler

https://youtu.be/ipSPvQGGPMw

Terry Funk - Middle aged, crazy but also the greatest pop star we never had. Here he is singing about Barbara Streisand's nose.

There are a fair few combinations I'd love to see..

Reigns vs. Rock, Punk vs. Rollins, Punk vs. Bryan, Punk vs. Joe, Lynch vs. Rousey, Fiend vs. Taker, Lesnar vs. Joe

Very little faith we'll get any of them, though. 

I have severe doubts about this narrative that 'Labour would have won a hung Parliament if they had backed Brexit'. Assuming a 3% Con>Lab swing from what eventually happened you're still looking at a net loss of between 52 and 57 seats - between 20 and 25 remain seats, 6 Scottish seats and 26 marginal seats . 

Brexit was always going to be a tough nut to crack with Labour needing to please the remain majority of its popular vote and the leave minority that were key in terms of seat count. 

That is also ignoring how unpopular the leadership is/was, which was equally key to the result as Brexit was. 

Honestly, if its Long-Bailey and Burgon taking over then I'd say it's more likely that the Labour Party gets replaced as the official opposition in 2024 than it would be for them to get into Government. 

The best possible combination would be Dan Jarvis with Yvette Cooper as deputy, but it'll never happen. Of the realistic options I think Keir Starmer as leader, Dawn Butler as deputy would at least be a step forward. 

I think Punk vs. Rollins would be my choice. Great story behind it (I'd prefer a 'rebel vs. arse-kisser' narrative to 'rebel vs. the authority' which has been done to absolute death), I'd expect a superb match athletically to assuming Punk can get some practice in.

One key thing that hasn't had much scrutiny is that in the Tory manifesto there is a pledge not to negotiate any trade deal with the EU beyond December 2020. That effectively means a deferred 'no deal', which we're sleep walking towards. It'll also be convenient for Boris to have a fresh mandate, meaning he won't be held to account for the consequences.

Merry Christmas.

My only hope is that Labour elect someone with a broader reach such as Keir Starmer (retaining the good policy that Corbyn has brought in such as the National Education Service and National Care Service - both of which would have real impact if they were the key focal points of the campaign) rather than a continuity candidate like Rebecca Long-Bailey and Laura Pidcock. I fear that will be the difference between five more years of Tory rule and ten more years of Tory rule.

Bit of a weird one this. Always been a fan of Edge but I actively want him to stay retired. The guy has a history of sustaining pretty serious neck injuries and by getting back in the ring he’ll be risking really severe, life changing injury for little pay off. 

4 minutes ago, The King of Old School said:

Thing is though, it is nothing. 

Everyone moaning online, everyone booing last night and everyone chanting "AEW!!11" will still be watching Raw tonight, they will still be subscribing to the WWE network, they will still go and watch a live event when they are in there town, so Vince can be as "delusional" as he likes.

100% Correct.

Vince will only shit himself when fans vote with their feet and it starts to hurt him in the pocket. 

They've proven they won't. The product still gets eyes on it, therefore advertisers still want in and the networks will shell out vast sums. At the same time fans will continue to pay $120 a year for the network and will shill out on merch etc. Frankly, why on earth would Vince charge tact? 

Punk was clearly nackered and demoralised by 2014 - you can tell that just by his look at the time.

Will Punk come back? Yeah probably. I think he’s trying a few other avenues to make a mint first but inevitably he isn’t a fighter, he isn’t a Hollywood actor - he is a wrestler. He will only be able to make a mint as a wrestler, so he’ll be back. His anti corporate narrative is really based on a falsehood given he has built a career essentially by attracting an audience for advertisers/directly making money for corporate machines.

I used the greyhound from Miami to Orlando for Mania 28. Cost us $1 each and got there without any hassle. Our trip is planned to be Miami - Tampa - Orlando. Between cities we'll probably use the greyhound.

Isn't it going to be on ITV 4 or am I dreaming?